Something important that you learned from this course Essay

Something important that you learned from this course - Essay Example They view the need for change as the opportunity for employees to succeed in their professional lives and increase the level of productivity. According to Lussier and Achua, an effective leadership is one that influences constituencies to make a shift from self-interests to collective interests of the group (348). In short, the role of leaders is to identify the need of the followers, make them aware of the need to fulfill those needs, provide followers a well-designed and practical strategy to follow, and to motivate people to continue their efforts for the achievement of goals and objectives. On the other hand, managers are people who supervise and control the activities of their subordinates in order to keep organizational system running. Here, an important point to mention is that managers are not born, they are appointed as managers by the top officials and stakeholders of their respective companies. Conversely, leaders are not appointed, rather they are born as leaders. Manager s have all abilities of an effective leader due to which they get the opportunity to manage other employees. Top management officials include the stakeholders and owners of companies who appoint managers based on their effective management and leadership skills. Managers are the most talented employees of a company who are able to show their managerial skills and decision-making ability in carrying out their job tasks as the result of which the top officials appoint them as managers of their respective departments. They get those promotions based on their ability to manage and control their own tasks and other employees’ activities in an effective manner. Leadership plays a key role in motivating people to achieve the desired set of goals. Without having an effective leadership with a clear approach and strategy, it is impossible for the followers to make a successful struggle towards the achievement of goals (Coutts 1). Employees need to keep up their confidence and motivati on to continue working for the cause in an efficient manner even in recession. Sometimes, such phases occur in a project when the level of enthusiasm and motivation of employees go down. In such cases, managers are the people who play the role of effective leaders and drive employees towards completion of the project without any delay. Analyzing these aspects of leadership and management, it is evident that both concepts are interconnected and do not have any considerable difference between them.

Hawthorne effect Essay Example for Free

Hawthorne effect Essay In today’s competitive climate lots of business owners are trying to get more from their workforce at the same time however their employees are trying to get more from their jobs. Reward and recognition programmes are one way that employers can motivate their staff into changing their key behaviors and work habits, thus benefitting the business. At the same time these schemes can also give the employee that little bit extra they are looking for from job. Motivation and reward are closely linked and there have been many credible theories written on the subject. It is widely recognised that human beings have a need to feel valued, both in their home lives and in the work place. To keep people motivated they need to be encouraged, rewarded (where appropriate) or recognised in their endeavors. One of the most valued of the motivation theories was written by Abraham Maslow from the USA back in the 1950’s. As part of his study into motivation Maslow developed a five tiered hierarchy of needs. He argued that the way to motivate individuals in the workplace and indeed in life is to satisfy the need sets one by one and in order. The first of the need sets and the most basic are the biological and physiological needs. These are survival requirements ingrained into us and evolved with mankind for tens of thousands of years, things such as food, shelter, warmth etc. In Maslow’s model it’s these needs that need to be satisfied before anything else, for example there is little point offering status as a motivator, when the individual has not yet satisfied basic requirements such as achieving a livable wage in order to eat, secure shelter etc. Reward Systems Peformance at Mark-it-Down Co Ltd is not what it should be and it has been decided between senior mangement and the Human Resources department that the introduction of a reward scheme is whats required to motivate the workforce and improve performance overall. The team in charge of deciding on the reward system to implement have come up up with the following suggestions: Variable Pay/Bonus Scheme A scheme of variable pay is one possible solution for the supermarket. In this scheme a portion of the employee’s pay would be considered at risk. This portion of the wage will be rewarded according to the performance of the company as a whole, on the basis of personal acheivement or based on the results of a department or team (this would probably be the most effective for this type of commercial business) Targets will be set at the beginning of a specified period (per annum is the common period) at the end of this period depending on the how well the targets have been met, a percentage or full quantity of the â€Å"at risk† part of their pay will be paid to the individual. This payment could take a few different forms, possibly a cash bonus, a quantity of stock or shares in the business. Whilst monetary reward has been proven to be effective and can encourage hard work amongst a team or individually, it has the disadvantage of impacting on profit made by the supermarket, for example if the grocery team meet their target for keeping the produce displays replenished to a defined level, then the whole grocery team will have earnt the bonus which must be paid from the profits. You also may have a situation where part of the workforce become demotivated, if their team or they personally have missed out on a bonus. Bonus and pay based rewards are considered differently depending on which motivation theory you study. For example in Maslows hierachy of needs, financial remuneration is only mentioned within the first tier of the hierachy which covers the most basic and obvious survival needs (physiological needs) Money was not considered by Maslow be a long term motivator. Frederick Herzberg considered financial reward to be amongst his â€Å"hygiene factors† that is that money in itself is not a motivator but actually will only act as a â€Å"dissatisfier† if the individual feels that their financial expectations and requirements of the role are not being met. In contrast to Maslow and Herzberg, John Stacey Adams might have argued that bonus schemes and pay related rewards can indeed be effective motivators. If the individual percieves that they are gettting a fair input to output balance in comparison to their peers eg, works hard (input) for a pay bonus (output) However that motivation through financial reward might not last. If the individual learns that a colleague or peer is benefiting from a better input to output ratio (eg doesn’t work as hard, but gets paid more) then the individual can quickly become dissatisfied. Promotion The introduction of a promotion programme could be a viable option. If the employee’s are aware that there is a realistic opportunity for them to progress within Mark It Down Co then they will likely feel motivated towards improving their standard of work in the hope that they will be one of the employee’s chosen for promotion. Maslow’s heierachy of needs supports promotion as a motivator, however depending on the person promotion/status as a form of motivation might be quite high up on the tiers and as such it would only work if the tiers below have already been satisfied. There could be several downsides to this however; often with promotion comes a rise in salary for the individual, which will of course impact on any profit made by the supermarket. There might also be a risk of a culture developing within the company whereby individuals take the attitude that they are â€Å"out for themselves† Employee of the Month One of the suggested recognition programmes is an employee of the month scheme. The idea is that all employee’s and managers are provided with a brief form to be used to nominate an employee that they believe deserves recognition (they should also explain the reasons behind there nomination) Due to the nominations for employee of the month being business wide not only is the playing field for recognition level, but there is the scope for recognising excellance in all of the different area’s of the organisation. This reward system could be as low or high cost as Mark it Down Co directors see fit. There is support for this type of recognition reward in Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Effect theory. Following his studies of workplace behaviour at the Hawthorne Plant Chicago in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s Mayo deduced that emotional factors acted as far better motivators than economical ones, as such a reward scheme of this nature could be very effective indeed, not to mention low cost. On the downside employee of the mon th schemes can have a tendancy to be considered a little cheesy and may require a little effort on the part of the programme managers in order to keep all of the staff motivated to particiate by completing the nomination slips. Pass on Praise Something as simple as passing on positive comments you have heard about an employee direct to the individual can have an extremely motivational effect. Again the hawthorne effect supports this belief. The praise could passed on by way of email, copying in managers or even with a visit to a senior managers office in order to receive thanks directly. The main advantage of this idea is that it costs nothing and is extremely easy to implement, however it may not be enough on its own, I would suggest that this tactic be used in conjunction with one of the other employee recognition schemes. All of the afore mentioned reward options have the potential to be effective, however the success of the chosen scheme could have a lot to do with the indviduals in nbeed of motivation. For instance in McGregors theory, the two employee types, X and Y differ greatly. What might motivate a Y employee (someone that is naturally happy to take on repsponsibilty and excepts work as part of life) might have the opposite effect on an employee of the X variety (someone that’s avoids repsonsibility and needs to be heavily supervised. The type of employee’s to be motivated should be considered before a motivation and reward scheme is decided upon. Monitoring Performance There are various ways to monitor the performance of your workforce. In the supermarket setting of Mark it Down Co, these could be; Physical: the number of sales made, the number of employee’s served, punctuality or attendance. There can be no disputing these types of performance indicators they are unambiguous and offer a realistic insight into the performance of a team or individual. Qualiative: these indicators are based on opinions and judgements (the view of a supervisor or the such like). These indicators are just as important as physical ones but managers should be careful to ensure that any measures of performance are considered fair by both the employees and employers. Goals and Targets Performance measurement can also be linked to the companies appraisal system, that is performance can be measured by assessing progress made on targets and goals agreed at the previous review. Appraisals are valuable in this respect. In order to effectively monitor performance in this way it is important to ensure that your employees are aware of the difference between target and goal. Goals: These are long term ambitions that should relate to the individual aims for progressing within the company. Targets: These are the steps taken in order to achieve the goal. There is an acronym that can act as a guide for the criteria that any targets should adhere to. They should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. There is little point setting targets outside of these parameters. Monitoring progress towards identified goals and objectives as a way of determining who deserves reward does have its pros and cons though. On the one hand it can be considered an easily measurable method of monitoring performance, but on the other (particularly when the goals and targets have been set for a team or group) it could be argued that the fact that a company/team or individual is achieving its set goals and targets is not a true indication of who has made the most effort towards making that happen and as such is not an effective method for identifying who should qualify for reward. This is an important thing to consider when applying motivation and reward schemes, as an incorrect or ill managed monitoring technique could be costly to a business. For example a company will not want to be handing out cash bonuses to a whole team for reaching a set goal if it transpires that 3 out of 5 team members have made no improvement to their work output and had nothing to do with the team’s progress or achievement! When considering target setting as a way of monitoring progress and establishing where reward, praise or recognition should be given, serious thought should be given to how the company plans on pinpointing exactly who has been responsible for progress, both positive and negative. Benchmarking Another way to monitor company performance is to measure its successes and failures against those of other businesses in the same market. For example Mark it Down Co could measure its sales figures against one of its competitors, Lidl for instance. This method is known as bench marking and it’s all about taking the best practices of the highest achieving businesses in the same market and applying them back in the business in question. Job Evaluation Its has been brought to management attention that one of the employee’s at Mark it Down Co believes that he is receiving less salary for the same work as one of his peers. The following two methods can be used to evaluate the jobs of the individuals in question in order to assess whether theses concerns are justified or not. Job Ranking Job ranking is one of the simplest methods of job evaluation. Its considers the job as a whole and ranks it against another whole job within the organisation. This is usually carried out by the raters comparing the jobs using their general knowledge of the roles themselves. The jobs are ranked in order of the difficulty of the job itself or the importance of the role to the company. The procedure is followed for each department and then a comparison of jobs at all levels is made and jobs are given grade levels which define salary groups. The job ranking method is easily understood by all employees and simple to administer, however it does have its disadvantages, this technique is not really suitable for large organisations with complex structures where its is much harder to gain familiarity with all of the job roles. With this in mind it is probably not the solution that should be used at Mark it Down Co Ltd. Point Factor Method The point factor method establishes job values by assigning points to each area within a group of defined factors, below are some examples but there any many different factors that could be defined further and given points in order to be used for job evaluation; Skill: Within this group there might be points available for, experience or training. Effort: The points available for effort might be divided between mental and physical effort. In this method each job is rated using the defined points system. The points are totaled to form the final score for that particular role. From there jobs are grouped into salary grades (jobs with similar points ratings would be placed together in the same salary grade) This method can be tailored to meet the needs of specific companies and is suitable for use within larger organisations where there are a large number of jobs to evaluate. It’s an easy model to work with once it’s in place but can be very expensive and time consuming to develop in the first instance. In my opinion the point factor method would be a the better job evaluation model to use for Mark it Down Co. Job ranking is just too simplistic to cope with the amount of individuals roles at this organisation. The factors I think should be used to develop the point system are as follows; Skill – Experience, Training, Ability, Education Responsibilities – Monetary, Supervisory, Reporting Effort – Mental, Physical Environment – Job Location, Hazard’s In order to establish if the employee in question has a case for querying the wage he is on in comparison to his colleague. His overall score for the above factors should be calculated in order to establish his pay bracket. If the pay grade is the same as that of his colleague then his concerns are justified and his wage should be brought into line. If it is not and he is in a lower wage group then there is no case for a wage increase. Equally if the individuals wage bracket is determined to be higher than that of his colleagues then his wage should be adjusted to reflect as much.

Sports Ethics Essay -- Athletics Sports Ethics Drug Abuse Essays

Sports Ethics Vince Lombardi, most likely the best coach to ever lead a team to victory or multiple ones on a football field. His ethics sometimes questionable, but never misunderstood, were always meant to lead and encourage his team to be nothing but the best, and the best was achieved in 1967. After nine incredible winning seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi decided to retire as head coach. The Packers had dominated professional football under his direction, collecting six division titles, five NFL championships, two Super Bowls and acquiring a record of 98-30-4. After less than a year, however, he realized that he still wanted to coach. He accepted the head coaching position for the Washington Redskins in 1969. During that season, he kept what had become the Lombardi tradition and led the Redskins to their first winning record in 14 years. In January of 1970, his professional coaching record stood at a remarkable 105-35-6, and the NFL named him their acclaimed "1960s Man of the Decad e."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  His statement that â€Å"winning is the only thing that matters in sport†, is one of the truths that is still inherent in today’s world of sports. Athletes are willing to cheat to guarantee success, either through the use of performance-enhancing drugs, or through the act of injuring others. These days, drugs, blood doping, corruption, injuring others and the consequences of winning and more importantly losing is all evident. Lombardi’s statement is not only applicable to athletes, but it also applies to the countries that the athletes are representing. Events such as the Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey, are a source of national pride and some countries are willing, and fully wanting to try and do anything to bring prestige back, many of them resorting to unethical tactics. Lombardi’s statement does not only affect players, or athletes, it also affects coaches, owners, and managers. They too place winning as their number one concer n. In many cases, fair play generally takes a back seat to the desire for winning. The truth of the matter is that, some will bend rules, while others will outright cheat. The corruptness of sports today has lead to the endless methods and desires of unethical behaviour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the history of ethics there are three principal standards of conduct, each of which has been proposed as the highest good: happiness or pleasure; du... ...n the world of sports today. Although many people put a huge influence on winning, many if not more put more of an influence on losing, or trying not to. Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing –Vince Lombardi –. Works Cited 1. A September to Remember. 7 Apr. 2001 . 2. Beckham, Darren. Blood Doping: Is It Really Worth It? 25 Apr. 2001 . 3. Jennings, Andrew. The New Lords of the Rings. Toronto: Pocket Books, 1996. 4. Lajis, Razak Haji. The History Of Drug Abuse In Sports. 14 Apr. 2001 . 5. Microsoft Encarta (http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761555614&pn=1&s=1#s1). 6. Simon, Robert L. Fair Play Sports, Values, & Society. San Francisco: Westview Press, 1991. 7. Stoll, Sharon Kay. Who Says This is Cheating. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1993. 8. Ten Controversial Olympic Moments. 15 Apr. 2001 . 9. Vince Lombardi Homepage http://www.vincelombardi.com/bio.html 10. Washington Post. The Tonya Harding Nancy Kerrigan Saga. 12 Apr. 2001 .

Manhunt: American Civil War and James L. Swanson Essay

a) In Manhunt, by James L. Swanson, John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln because he has very strong beliefs that African Americans should have rights. In the success of Lincoln’s attempt to preserve the Union and free the slaves, Booth took matters into his own hands by killing Lincoln. Although this was a very extreme way to deal with things, I can connect Booth’s passion to myself. His cause was not good, but he set out to do what is right in his eyes and did it. I can connect his motivation in doing things to myself. My passion is to live my life as environmentally friendly as I possibly can. Some things I do are take caps off water bottles, and bring them to centers where they collect them. I always try to get my mom to only buy products that were made from recycled materials this way there is less garbage in landfills. This is something I am very passionate about as Booth was in rights of African Americans. b) I can relate Manhunt to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare. There is a similarity between John Wilkes Booth and Romeo in the way that they are very rash characters/people. They both don’t use their heads, and this ends them both up in bad positions. Booth thinks by shooting Lincoln this will benefit the cause of the South, but it ends up making a big mess for the whole country. Romeo thinks by killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, this will avenge the death of his friend Mercutio, but he ends up being banished ruining his relationship with Juliet. Both their plans end up in turmoil because of their impulsive behavior. If they would have thought things through more they could have seen that their actions were nonsensical, and would not result in any type of benefit to either of their causes. c) Martin Luther King Jr. was another great leader like President Abraham Lincoln who believed in equal rights for African Americans. Both courageous people tried their hardest to accomplish it, and really did change America for the better. President Lincoln ended slavery as this was the result of the civil war, and King fought against segregation and discrimination. In the end both fell victim to assassination because of their brave actions and beliefs. For both Lincoln and king there were people who thought that what  they were doing was wrong and decide to stop them. For Lincoln it was John Wilkes Booth who assassinated the President in Ford’s theater to avenge the South. James Earl Grey assassinated King because he was a racist, and did not want segregation to end. Although they died fighting for equality their ideas, and words did not. Personal Reaction: All over the world there are people who live under corrupt governments, and there is always a person who starts the catalyst for change. In Tunisia a revolution started, but many people do not realize how. Al Bouazizi was a poor 26-year-old right out of college and struggled to get a job to support his family. When no work was to be found he got himself a cart and sold fruit on the street. A police officer said he did not have the paperwork to have the cart so Bouazizi took a stand. He burned himself in front of a government building to protest the unjust government. This is what Tunisia needed to get their selves to stop the corrupt government, and thus the revolution started. Al Bouazizi did not live to see how his heroic actions will change the history of Tunisia, but he was the hair on the camel’s back that made the citizens of Tunisia say this is enough. To take such a valiant stand is remarkable as was when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Booth’s beliefs contradicted Lincoln’s and Booth was determined to stop him. Bouazizi and Booth both believed that their leaders were corrupt, and risked their lives to stop them and make a stand. Booth killed President Lincoln to avenge the South after their loss in the civil war. Bouazizi made his stand to show the government no matter how hard you try to do what is right there is no way to make it under Tunisia’s corrupt government. They were both very hardworking people, and not ready to give up all that they worked for, and I do not blame them. Some people might call their actions rash, but for them to have that much courage is remarkable. After Bouazizi’s stand started the revolution started, and set the country into mayhem; this was much like the United Sates was during the Civil War. The South disagreed with the North and thus a war started. They had  different views on rights of African Americans, and social differences. The South was based on the plantation system while the North was focused on city life. This change in the North meant that society evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together. On the other hand, the South continued to hold onto an old-fashioned social order. This could be related to how the citizens of Tunisia revolted against the government. Tunisia is much like the South they thought they were being short-handed so they decided enough was enough. The South seceded, and Tunisia revolted. They did not like what the government was telling them, and said enough was enough. The South needed slavery for their cotton farms, and was not giving it up without a fight. Tunisia’s employment was almost nonexistent; there were no opportunities to be had, and it just was not fair anymore. Different people, time period, and place, same problem.

Arsa

Spiegel Online Economics Edgar Atukeren MBA SBS (Swiss Business School) Alex Rau, Daria Revanchenkova, Arsa Grgurevic Table of Content: 1 Background 2 Assignment 3 Interactive Classified Advertising in Germany 4 Choosing the right segments 5 Business Idea and Concept 6 Competition 7 Financial Projections 8 The Problem 9 Possible Solutions 10 Conclusion 11 Recommendations and Lesson Learned Background Spiegel Online is one of the leading news Web sites in Germany and other German speaking countries, as Austria and Switzerland.It is a part of a Spiegel Group, publisher of several print products in addition to Der Spiegel and producer of the Spiegel TV Magazine. The Spiegel Group was also active in television film production. It took first steps toward internationalization by English-language editions of Spiegel special and the monthly publication of magazines in Hungary and Poland. In 2005 the Spiegel Group had more than 1,400 employees. Total revenues of the Spiegel Group were approxi mately around 322 million euro, of which Spiegel Online contributed 15 million euro. 0% of revenues resulted from online advertising, making this the most important source of income for Spiegel Online. The webpage is covering various topics as politics, business, panorama, arts, science, education, entertainment, sports, and travel. Spiegel is also a major contributor to the Hamburg Media School. It organized as a public-private partnership and offers MBA in Media Management, film, and journalism. In their second year, MBA students typically engaged in consulting projects with major media companies. Assignment This year the students must research on 2 questions: ) Were there any chances for an economically successful entry into the market for interactive classifieds? 2) What would the business model look like in detail? They had only 2 restrictions: anything in the adult segment was seen as inappropriate and the budget will be limited. The student team split their analysis into four steps: * Research of market volume and growth * Analyses of possible competitors * Selection of lucrative niches * Development of adequate concepts Interactive Classified Advertising in Germany The interactive advertising in Germany is based on offering space for classified ads for other companies.There are approximately 20,500 Web sites, which are doing that and they generate around 4 percent of all online revenues. Online services had gradually replaced newspapers and magazines in the classifieds segment. There are 3 most important interactive segments nowadays: * Automotive (which cover 1/3 of all customers looking for a car) * Real estate (200 billion euro are generated per year) * Job advertisement (30% of jobs are found online) Choosing the right segments Spiegel Online is following a brand new strategy: horizontal integration into a new market (interactive ads). The company decided to expand and cover new arket, which can generate additional revenue for the company. As autom otive, real estate, and jobs interactive segments are already dominated by large competitors, Spiegel Online needs to interfere in the industry, by carefully choosing the segments, which are the most profitable ones. So it decided to concentrate on high quality standards and products that matched the image of Spiegel and chose high-quality cars, high- paying jobs and art objects. Spiegel Online Art Platform The team prepared a full business plan on each of the three market segments. The automotive and job segments seemed to be generally profitable and growing.Art, on the other hand, promised to be an interesting niche that had not yet been covered by any well-known company. Competition Most Web sites were positioned in the upper price segment. Serve as a marketing and sales tool for high-value objects. In the lower price segment, Web sites are mostly created by amateurs and hobby artists. These Web sites did not attract large audiences. The online art market had received some attent ion from investors and media companies (Example Burda-photo gallery Lumas). Opportunity for Spiegel online is to create platform in the middle and lower price segment.Business Idea and Concept The concept consisted of two integrated parts for the Spiegel online users interested in the arts: a selling platform and a community platform. Art platform Core to the Spiegel Online art platform was the sales platform. The sales platform homepage would lead to all art objects up for sale. A search engine would allow sorting objects by price, style, size, artist†¦ Navigation menu would allow quick access to additional site functions. The home page would also include a voting area. Community The Virtual Art Gallery could be customized, like MySpace. Users can create their own profiles.The profile included a virtual walk-through to gallery. Artist and galleries could use the Virtual Art Gallery as a marketing tool. Target group The Spiegel Online art platform addressed two target groups: f irst, people interested in art, and second, artist and galleries. Consumer benefits For buyers: low-risk playing field, moderate prices, high transparency, users don’t need specialized knowledge. For sellers: Low entry barriers, low sellers fees, attractive for young unknown artists. Benefits for Spiegel online Monetary: New revenues by commissions, insertion fees, and shop sales. Non-monetary: Parent brand, high-quality image.

Egyptian Pyramids Essays - Giza Plateau, New Age, Free Essays

Egyptian Pyramids Essays - Giza Plateau, New Age, Free Essays Egyptian Pyramids The Egyptian pyramids have been the subjects of many outlandish claims and construction theories for centuries. The Great Pyramid for example has been associated with pyramid power, curses, Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, Biblical prophecy, Martian faces, advanced civilizations, space aliens, cavity resonators, and even levitation. It is not surprising that some that have proposed such theories have been dubbed pyramidiots. This paper will attempt to give a more logical solution to the methods ancient Egyptians may have had used, and the problems they may have had, using factual information, scientific evidence and a bit of common sense. It is time for a rational explanation of how the pyramids were constructedan explanation that relies on nothing extraordinary, technologically advanced, paranormal, supernatural, mystical, psychic, or extraterrestrial powers. The Egyptian pyramid's aesthetic beauty, its geometrical shape, its complex system of internal features, and the precision of its construction beckon us to search for a design scheme. It seems unlikely that the builders would have undertaken such a monumental construction project without a comprehensive plan. Unfortunately, no records, plans, blueprints, or direct accounts of the pyramid's construction have survived. There is no inscriptions or texts, and the names of the architects remain unknown. There is no way of knowing exactly how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids, in a time of only primitive tools, and at best only simple machinery. There are many theories of how the Egyptians gained their knowledge of math and science to build these amazing structures. The blocks used to build the pyramids are composed of granite and or limestone; each single block has an estimated weight of approximately two and a half tons. Each block would to have been quarried or cut, and then hauled to the work site, and eventually placed in the correct position. The Egyptians had an amazing understanding of math, which helped them plan the erection of the pyramid, but the only driving force behind them was manpower. The actual people who built the pyramids were all voluntary workers; they were not slaves contrary to popular belief. New archaeological evidence shows that those who dragged and laid these two and a half ton granite slabs were condemned to an early grave, and they died with deformed bones and broken limbs. An Egyptian excavation recently uncovered the burial ground of hundreds of workers who helped to build the great pyramid for King Cheops 4500 years ago. Originally over one hundred and forty six meters high, it is the tallest of the three famous pyramids at Giza near the Nile delta. The workers burial ground is one kilometer west of the pyramid, close to their living quarters. Zahi Hawass, the Egyptian archaeologist leading the excavation says that most of the workers skeletons have abnormal outgrowths known as osteophytes, which are caused by chronic heavy labor. The joints of numerous bones show wear and tear and many bodies have damaged spines. Six skeletons have severed limbs or splintered feet. Workers died on average between the ages of thirty and thirty-five, compared to between fifty and sixty for members of nobility. They literally worked themselves to death, says Hawass. This evidence shows they did in fact use human power in the construction of pyramids but it does not explain how a group of men were able to lift a two and a half ton piece of rock. It also does not explain how these rocks were carried from the quarry, or how it was lifted up the pyramid, as it became taller. If one was to build a pyramid today assuming the slabs were already cut and ready to put together the fastest and easiest way to move them would be a crane. In order to get an exact placement of the slab it would take the crane nearly one day to position itself and drop the block in place. The pyramid Khufu has about two million three hundred thousand stone blocks; its dimensions are four hundred eighty one feet in height, seven hundred fifty six feet in length and its base covering a little over thirteen acres. The pyramid is a geometrical wonder it is absolutely level and perfectly square, the mathematical skills of the people are not at all contested, but

thermohaline circulation essays

thermohaline circulation essays What is the oceans role in climate? The oceans play a vital and pivotal role in the distribution of life sustaining water throughout our planet. 86% of the evaporation that occurs on earth is over the oceans. The oceans are the planets largest reservoir of water transferring huge amounts of water around the hydrological cycle. In fact the oceans dominate the hydrological cycle, for they contain 97% of the global water inventory . The hydrological cycle can be disrupted by changes in ocean circulation that play such an important role on evaporation and precipitation. When the ocean circulation system changes it can change how much heat and rainfall is distributed around the world. Changes on a global scale can ultimately lead to flooding and long term drought in various regions. The big questions are can we monitor the oceans circulation and watch for climate changes? Can we predict what might happen if the ocean circulation changed dramatically? We have experienced major climate cha nges in the past; can we look for evidence of ocean change during these periods? The global ocean circulation system is called the thermohaline circulation. Often called the conveyor belt courtesy of Wallace Broecker who in an article for Natural History in 1987 had an artist draw a simplified version of the thermohaline circulation and called it the conveyor belt. Wallace Broecker is the Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. He has taught at Columbia since 1959, and his research interests include paleoclimatology, ocean chemistry, isotope dating and environmental science. He conducts much of his research in Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. Broecker has received many awards for his scientific work, including Arthur L. Day Medal from the Geological Society of America (1984), the Alexander Agassiz Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (1986), the Wollaston Medal f...

Richard M. Nixon Biography and Presidency

Richard M. Nixon Biography and Presidency Richard Nixons Childhood and Education: Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He grew up in California in poverty, helping out at his fathers grocery store. He was raised a Quaker. He had two brothers die of tuberculosis. He went to local public schools. He graduated first in his high school class in 1930. he attended Whittier College from 1930-34 and graduated with a history degree. He then went to Duke University Law School and graduated in 1937. He was then admitted to the bar. Family Ties: Nixon was the of  Francis Frank Anthony Nixon, a gas station owner and grocer and  Hannah Milhous, a devout Quaker. He had four brothers.  On June 21, 1940, Nixon married  Thelma Catherine Pat Ryan, a Business Teacher. Together they had two  daughters, Patricia and Julie. Richard Nixons Career Before the Presidency: Nixon began practicing law in 1937. He tried his hand at owning a business which failed before joining the navy to serve in World War II. He rose to become a lieutenant commander and resigned in March, 1946. In 1947, he was elected a U.S. Representative. Then, in 1950 he became a U.S. Senator. He served in that capacity until being elected Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower in 1953. He ran for President in 1960 but lost to John F. Kennedy. He also lost the Governorship of California in 1962. Becoming the President: In 1968, Richard Nixon became the Republican candidate for President with Spiro Agnew as his Vice President. He defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey and American Independent George Wallace. Nixon received 43% of the popular vote and 301 electoral votes.In 1972, he was the obvious choice for renomination with Agnew as his running mate again. He was opposed by Democrat George McGovern. He won with 61% of the vote and 520 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments of Richard Nixon’s Presidency: Nixon inherited  the war with Vietnam  and during his time in office, he cut the number of soldiers down from over 540,000 troops to 25,000. By 1972, all U.S. ground combat troops were withdrawn.On April 30, 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops raided Cambodia to try and capture the Communist headquarters. Protests erupted around the nation. The most visible was at Kent State University. Students protesting at the campus were fired on by the Ohio National Guard killing four and wounding nine.In January 1973, a peace treaty was signed whereby all U.S. forces left withdrew from Vietnam, and all prisoners of war were released. Soon after the agreement, however, fighting resumed, and the Communists eventually won.In February 1972,  President Nixon  traveled to China to try and encourage peace and more contact between the two nations. He was the first to visit the country.Acts to protect the environment were huge during Nixons time in office. The  Environmental Protection Agen cy  was created in 1970. On July 20, 1969,  Apollo 11  landed on the moon and man took his first step outside of earth. This fulfilled Kennedys goal to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade.When Nixon ran for reelection, it was discovered that five individuals from the  Committee to Reelect the President  (CREEP) had broken into the Democratic National Headquarters at the  Watergate  business complex. Two reporters for the  Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,  uncovered a massive cover-up  of the break-in. Nixon had installed a taping system and when the Senate asked for tapes recorded during his time in office he refused to hand them over due to  executive privilege. The  Supreme Court  did not agree with him, and he was forced to give them up. The tapes showed that while Nixon was not involved in the break-in he was involved in its cover-up. In the end, Nixon resigned when he was faced with impeachment. He left office on August 9, 1974. Post-Presidential Period: After Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, he retired to San Clemente, California. In 1974, Nixon was pardoned by President Gerald Ford. In 1985, Nixon mediated a dispute between major league baseball and the umpire association. He traveled extensively. He also provided advice to various politicians including the Reagan administration. He wrote about his experiences and foreign policy. Nixon died on April 22, 1994. Historical Significance: While many important events occurred during Nixons administration including the end of the Vietnam War, his visit to China, and putting a man on the moon, his time was marred by the Watergate Scandal. Faith in the office of the presidency declined with the revelations of this event, and the way that the press dealt with the office changed forever from this time on.

Human Sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Human Sexuality - Essay Example Moreover HIV infection is serious symptoms in this case which leads to death and is non-curable. In the recent statistics of United States there has been a shocking image of the youth turned out. It is estimated that from 1989 to 2008 there has been a rise of Chlamydia syndrome from 102.5 to 401.3 among 15-24 years. Among women, incidences of Gonorrhea were at the peak. Globally adolescent and young pregnancy is highest in USA (CDC). So certain measures have been undertaken like adequate sex education, use of condoms, doctor’s frank suggestion etc to overcome the problem of STI’s in all over the world. The course of the study deals mainly on the growing sex attempts in the young generation and rise in the extent of HIV virus among them. The research entails some strategies for a prevention programme. Adolescence is an age where children become inquisitive about sex and explore their relationships with friends. They also become potential romantic partners or sexual partners falling prey to flirtation, dating and excitement of sexual feelings. They are much influenced by the sexual experiments among them. Due to the excitement and immaturity in their age, these teens are prone to STI and STD like diseases. Having a safer sex can be initiated by various measures like: Having sex is not a crime but here should be transparency between the partners is important. The most important part of sex is to be away from STD infection and for that talking between the partners is very important. Both the partners should be aware of the fact whether their partners are affected or not or if the partner knows about STD and its consequences. Many teens before sex become excited and nervous to talk about issues on STD as being informed is no wrong. The conversation may be tough at times but an exact time and situation makes it easier (Kidshealth). Use of condoms during sex is widely practised between partners now-a-days as people are more concerned about their health

Reciprocity in Intergenerational Family Therapy Research Proposal

Reciprocity in Intergenerational Family Therapy - Research Proposal Example Va Satir is regarded as the creator and contributing driver within the developments associated with Experiential Family Therapies. Their basic principle focuses on maximizing the actual understanding, durable transformation, comprehension the actual structure associated with a conversation, reshaping partnership as well as establishing associated self-confidence, and building of congruent lifestyle. Furthermore, its strengths consist of focusing on multigenerational behaviors, prognosis associated with dysfunctional character within family relationships, and appreciating the novel ideas associated with existence. Many experts have belittled this because of its reliance upon therapists’ creativeness, charisma and character, minimal research on its applications, and its presumption that all of the human beings grow along with families (Satir, 1988) Emotionally Focused Therapy is an approach to work with couples and families. Basically, the theory is based on the principles of Emotions Theory and Attachment Theory. Strong points of the theory include the accessing of buried primary emotions, enhancing the emotional bond between partners, and engaging positive change in the couple’s negative interaction sequences.   Focusing on connection and mutuality, and validating both men’s and woman’s need for a sense of secure connectedness, is a weak area because it promotes autonomy.  Ã‚  

Immunolocalization of the microtubule cytoskeleton Essay

Immunolocalization of the microtubule cytoskeleton - Essay Example The most prominent methods are: Western blot, spectrophotometry, enzyme assay, immunoprecipitation and immunostaining. In immunostaining, the method used during this procedure, an antibody is used to detect a specific protein epitope. These antibodies can be monoclonal or polyclonal. Then enzymes such as horseradish peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase are commonly used to catalyse reactions that give a coloured or chemiluminescent product. Fluorescent molecules can be visualised using fluoresence microscopy. During this experiment, the distribution of the protein tubulin in normal rat kidney (NRK) cells is explored. A monoclonal antibody that is specific for the -subunit of tubulin is used. Tubulin polymerizes into long, 25-nm wide microtubules that we will visualize with tubulin antibodies. The formation and maintenance of microtubules is cold sensitive. At 4C, microtubules are destabilized and they depolymerize. At 37C, human body temperature, they remain polymerized. Photograph 1 shows cells incubated at 4 0C, while photograph 2 shows cells incubated at 37 0C. At this stage of the procedure, microtubules cannot be detected in either of the photographs. 3 separate plates are used to create the NRK cells culture. ... The coverslip is then immersed in 3.7% formaldehyde (in PBS) at room temperature. Immersion in 0.2% Triton-X 100 (in PBS) detergent at room temperature follows. To prevent the subsequent antibody from sticking non-specifically to the cells on the coverslip, the coverslips should be incubated with cell-side-up with a 100-l droplet of 3% (w/v) bovine serum albumin (BSA). The incubation is done on a piece of Parafilm in a humid Petri dish for 15 minutes. An anti-tubulin dilution is prepared with 1 part antibody + 75 parts 1% (w/v) BSA in PBS. A 200 l total of antibody is necessary for the three coverslips. This tubulin antibody is a monoclonal antibody (12G10) and recognizes the -subunit of tubulin. Then each coverslip is overlayed each with a 100-l droplet of the diluted tubulin antibody. After that, a secondary antibody with 1 + 200 in 1% (w/v) BSA in PBS is used. The coverslips are placed back into the Petri dish chamber and overlay with a 100-l droplet of secondary antibody and they are incubate for 30 minutes at 37C. Therefore, we have 3 coverslips, all treated with the secondary antibody, 2 of them are treated with the primary antibody (one of them is incubated at 37C, and the other incubated at 4C) and 1 that is not treated with the primary antibody (incubated at 37C). The coverslips then are placed back into the Petri dish chamber and are overlaid for 30 minutes at 37C with a100-l droplet of Vectastain ABC reagent. This reagent contains a complex of avidin and the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP). They are washed again with PBS. The drops of DAB (diaminobenzidine; a carcinogenic compound) are applied to the coverslips and incubate at room temperature for 5 minutes. After DAB incubation,

Strategy quality managment in SABIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategy quality managment in SABIC - Essay Example Custom Technology Solutions (CTS, 2006) describe strategic management as ‘a combination of strategy formulation and strategy implementation’ (P.5). Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi Arabia’s largest corporation is a global leader in the manufacture of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and steel. The Saudi government is the majority shareholder with a 60 percent stake with the balance of shares distributed among the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries of the Middle East. It has a major presence in Asia particularly the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Europe and Africa in addition to the Arabian Peninsula [Figure 1] (Asia Pacific News, 2008). Established in 1976, SABIC has a broad range of assorted merchandise encompassing ‘basic and intermediate chemicals, polymer resins and polyesters, fertilizers, metals and industrial gases -primary building blocks for products’. These are found in the conglomerate’s 21 manufacturing firms employing over 16,000 employees globally (Al-Abdulgader, 2007). The demand for petrochemical products has increased globally thus ensuring SABIC future growth prospects are bright being one of the largest producers in the world with a rich natural source in Saud Arabia (Jaroudi, 2007). SABIC petrochemical production has subsequently quadrupled over the last fifteen years surpassing 45 million tonnes while aiming at raising the production to over 100 metric tonnes by 2015 (Thomasson, 2007). The company’s expansion plans targets the emerging Asian growth economies of China and India. In China, the country’s enormous expansion and development has meant it is unable to meet its demand for polyolefin resins thus needing 34 percent imports, which puts the Chinese market on top of SABIC agenda. According to SABIC’s country manager for China, Lee Lam Lee,

Military and the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Military and the Media - Essay Example This paper will analyze the various factors that influence main stream media and its reporting of the military activities happening under the guise of freedom or otherwise. Human society has always been influenced and commandeered by Militarism until recently. As a matter of fact even the present has not moved out of such imbroglio. The powerful have always played key roles in deciding the way history took its turns. Since the days of feudalism in Europe until today militarism was used to amass wealth. Whether it is the Mongols who overran Asia Minor and Europe or the English who laid siege to the Chinese Ports to sell Opium in their country, military might was invariably used for the wrong purpose (Taylor et al, 1992). The same has happened with the US when they wanted to sell arms and military equipment, creating war became a necessity. Again military might came in handy every time, when the US businesses wanted to make more money. Human society throughout the world has experienced this skewed thought process at one time or the other. In order to get the best deals for their business, whether it is the English or the French or Spanish or for that matter any colonizing country has made use of the military might. And the maxim, might is right has been right. History is replete with incidents that were portrait to the advantage of the victor and almost always to the disadvantage of the loser or to the person who does not have the required clout with the media. 3. Media and the Chomsky Propaganda model Chomsky's Propaganda model states five different causes that affect the media coverage and propaganda. Its five filters in the following, 1, Ownership: Ownership of every media through a multitude of its shareholder population is greatly influential on the performance of the media and its output. Chomsky and Herman argue that 'all mainstream media outlets are embodied in large corporations', which are normally a part of much larger conglomerates that are pretty influential on the performance of the media. With the profit centered market economy in place, it is necessary for the media to perform in line with the thoughts of their owners. 2, Funding: Mainstream media is dependent on advertising for its survival and the revenue that flows from it is very essential for the media. Before any news is printed on the media, it goes through this filter to ensure that it does not hurt any of the funding agencies or advertisers. This becomes a necessity for the media for its very survival and t herefore, the media needs to be more lenient to the funding agency and cannot bend itself to hurt people there. Moreover, the media is expected to popularize the current trend of incorporating advertisements as part of the story that is run by the media. 3, Sourcing: The information source for the media is from major companies or governmental sources. These need to be kept happy in order to get continuous and on going information. For instance, a crime magazine needs the help of the police for continuous news to keep their magazine interesting and accurate. This is also needed for timely

Strategy quality managment in SABIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategy quality managment in SABIC - Essay Example Custom Technology Solutions (CTS, 2006) describe strategic management as ‘a combination of strategy formulation and strategy implementation’ (P.5). Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi Arabia’s largest corporation is a global leader in the manufacture of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and steel. The Saudi government is the majority shareholder with a 60 percent stake with the balance of shares distributed among the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries of the Middle East. It has a major presence in Asia particularly the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Europe and Africa in addition to the Arabian Peninsula [Figure 1] (Asia Pacific News, 2008). Established in 1976, SABIC has a broad range of assorted merchandise encompassing ‘basic and intermediate chemicals, polymer resins and polyesters, fertilizers, metals and industrial gases -primary building blocks for products’. These are found in the conglomerate’s 21 manufacturing firms employing over 16,000 employees globally (Al-Abdulgader, 2007). The demand for petrochemical products has increased globally thus ensuring SABIC future growth prospects are bright being one of the largest producers in the world with a rich natural source in Saud Arabia (Jaroudi, 2007). SABIC petrochemical production has subsequently quadrupled over the last fifteen years surpassing 45 million tonnes while aiming at raising the production to over 100 metric tonnes by 2015 (Thomasson, 2007). The company’s expansion plans targets the emerging Asian growth economies of China and India. In China, the country’s enormous expansion and development has meant it is unable to meet its demand for polyolefin resins thus needing 34 percent imports, which puts the Chinese market on top of SABIC agenda. According to SABIC’s country manager for China, Lee Lam Lee,

Cyber Security and Startups Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cyber Security and Startups - Case Study Example A small company can protect itself from DDoS attacks by registering for website hosting services with giant organizations like Amazon and Google that can hold bulky flows of attack transfer. Another way to protect against DDoS attacks can be through subscribing for mitigation services that monitor the flow of data from servers and other data sources (Perlroth & Wortham, 2014). These strategies enable smaller companies to block the viruses that block the smooth scream of information or access to important resources. Small tech start-ups have become frequent targets of the attacks because they possess valuable data that the DDoS attack can hurt (Perlroth & Wortham, 2014). New companies attract numerous users who visit their websites for information concerning the firm. They do not also install security measures to protect against such attacks, which make them vulnerable to pay the ransom demanded. It is apparent that the attackers target new establishments that do not have the experience of dealing with modern elements of cyber attacks. The post clearly illustrates the meaning of DDoS attack and the various ways of avoiding such challenges. However, the writer does not give a detailed analysis of the attack and how small companies are the prime targets. This causes confusion, especially regarding the ransom charges since the post indicates two conflicting charges of $20 and $2000. The charges posted here reflect the ones that future DDoS attackers might demand and not the current

Divorce Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Divorce Research Paper Essay Pondering question to get reader thinking about topic II. What the problem is d. â€Å"Children do not fall behind their peers in these areas during the potentially disruptive period before their parents divorce, the study revealed. Instead, its after the split that kids seem to have the most trouble coping. Include this from Healthday reporter Alan mozes e. What the child feels, they feel its their fault and makes them more upset III. Statistics f. What classes children with divorced parents are struggling in g. Average grades for the kids h. What it does to teens IV. My personal experience i. How my grades were before and after j. What classes I was struggling in k. My personal feelings about it V. Conclusion l. Say how parents really need to think about how it will affect their child before going through with it. m. My views on the statistics and why it is valid info n. Opinion about parents being more involved in children’s schoolwork. Christian Startt Mrs. Pantusa English 1 A. P Prep April 26, 2013 Divorce and How It Affects Children Introduction Divorce can be the most inconvenient and hardest long-term problem of a child’s life, affecting all parts of his or her life all because of the parent’s failing marriage. 41% of first marriages end in divorce (Irvin, M), which is a substantial percentage of marriage that has not followed through with their vows and left their kid’s normality in the dust. Grades, emotions, and innocence all are changed in the process of the divorce, as well as a new set of challenge and problems these kids have to face in everyday life. Divorce isn’t just a split between a family, it’s more of a life changer. â€Å"As soon as me and my wife Terri divorced†, explains Chris Startt, â€Å"basic life changed heavily. Laundry, cooking dinner everyday, and constantly worrying about my son’s grades has really kept me busy and stressed†. I asked Chris how his son’s grades were after his divorce. â€Å"When me and my ex were still together, Christian’s grades were outstanding, strait A’s. But later (a year passes) his grades went from strait A’s to B’s and C’s later on in middle school†. According to Healthday reporter Alan Mozes, â€Å"Children do not fall behind their peers in these areas during the potentially disruptive period before their parents divorce, the study revealed. Instead, its after the split that kids seem to have the most trouble coping†. Research suggests that the odds of a divorce occurring in a household before the children become grown rest at about 50% (Ahilburg and DeVita, 1992), with divorce rates beginning to soar in 1963 (Jeynes, 1999). A 60-year literature review of 347 experimental studies confirmed that many studies have concluded that divorce has negative consequences for childrens academic achievement (Kunz, 1992). Most research shows that the child’s math scores were the ones that were mostly affected. â€Å"Kim found that while a divorce is in progress, first, second and third-graders experience a dip in math test scores — a decline that holds steady once the divorce is final†. (Mozes) But, at the same time reading scores didn’t really seem to be changing, as research from (Mozes) shows that â€Å"†¦however, Kim found that reading scores remain unaffected†. When my parents divorced, about 6 years ago, I was 9 years old in 3rd grade and that’s when my grades went from strait A’s, to A’s and B’s, and then a C here and there. Mathematics really begun to get more and more difficult to concentrate to and the tests were getting harder to understand. Reading, however, was my strength in elementary school, and it remained un-affected after my parents divorce. Researcher Hyun Sik Kim explains, Reading is not that cumulative. But with math, you must understand previous things to develop. For example, if I do not understand that one plus one is two, then I cannot understand multiplication. Divorce really puts a child’s mind in motion. After the divorce the child may feel like it was his/her fault, causing stress and emotional problems. By this happening, the child will become more stressed by the moving between houses, therefor making it harder to concentrate on schoolwork and thus grades beginning to lower. My personal experiences also help support my argument. Divorce should be decided with caution; you have to think about how its going to affect your child and how its going to affect their future.

Eat Pray Love Moving Metaphysical Journey English Literature Essay

Eat Pray Love Moving Metaphysical Journey English Literature Essay This paper considers the contentious space between self-affirmation and self-preoccupation in Elizabeth Gilberts popular travel memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. Following the surveillance of the female confessant, the female traveller has recently come under close scrutiny and public suspicion. She is accused of walking a fine line between critical self-insight and obsessive self-importance and her travel narratives are branded as accounts of navel gazing that are less concerned with what is seen than with who is doing the seeing. These tales of inward journeys, which are typical of New Age travel writing, necessitate thinking about representations of the other, as they call into question the conflicting aspects of authorship, privacy and the subjectivity of truth. The recurring emergence of these themes in womens travel not only reflects an absorbing feminist interest in questions of identity and existence, but also highlight continued anxieties about ontological questions such as Who am I? and What am I to believe? In reading these questions against the backdrop of womens travel, the possibility arises that the culture of narcissism is increasingly read as a female discursive practice. Following the backlash against Elizabeth Gilberts best-selling travel memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, the polar responses to the text from its female readership exemplify this problematic. The novel, which has been praised by some as the ultimate guide to balanced living and dismissed by others as self-serving junk, poses questions about the requisites in Western culture for being a female traveller and for telling a story that focuses primarily on the self. At present, womens travel writing is intersecting new spatial hybridities that have not been crossed before. The genre of travel is still considered a suspect site of exclusionary practices in which masculinist ideology has dictated the formal and epistemological terms of the genre. The genre of self-help, however, is increasingly read as a female discursive practice that is more concerned with ontological questions of being. What we are seeing increasingly, however, is not a separation of the two, but a blending and stretching of the rules and conventions of both. The result of this fusion is the emergence of new kind of hybrid writing, which one academic from Park University calls, the middled-aged narrative (Wood 2006). The middle-aged travel narrative follows the traditional quest of the male hero who leaves home as a rite of passage, except the prototype of the protagonist has changed. The narrator is now a restless female who is writing at mature age and usually, in the midst or aftermath of an existential crisis. This crisis is often knotted in the restraints of domestic duty. Her narrative, which emphasises a desire for personal growth and balance, employs travel as the register for this self-realisation. She typically embarks on a travel adventure that is based on undermining the decisions she has made in the past, in an attempt to facilitate activism and change in the future (ibid). The obvious implication of this, as Wood explains, is that if gender is a performance which defines identity, then identity can be changed, or redefined by new performances that may or may not still have the same gendered meaning (2006, 4). On leaving home, for example, the female travel writer assumes two positions that have traditionally been cast as male roles-the traveller and the writer. While travelling, she may perform multiple roles in an attempt to resist the self that has been previously imposed upon her. In doing so, she attempts to develop an autonomous female identity, and then, to give voice to that process afterwards. In considering this trend, and its social and cultural implications, it is difficult to move past the recent global success of Elizabeth Gilberts travel memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. At the time of writing, the book has sold more than 8 million copies world-wide on a seemingly simple premise: One Womans Search for Everything in Italy, India and Indonesia (Gilbert 2006). The memoir, which spent 155 weeks on the number one spot of the New York Times bestseller list, found its success on the story of a once happily married woman, who reeling from a contentious divorce, takes off around the world in search of what Bitch magazine calls an international safari of self-actualization (2010, par 5). The work, which has been translated into thirty languages, has spawned multiple lines of Eat, Pray, Love merchandise, including goat pillows, prayer shawls (which retail at $350 dollars), a Republic of Tea blend, a digital reader which comes preloaded with the book, a collection of fragrances and a fas hion line by designer Sue Wong. The film adaptation, directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Julia Roberts, opened in August this year to mostly unfavourable reviews. The film also has its own official travel partners, namely Lonely Planet (who sell pre-planned Eat, Pray, Love travel packages) and STA Travel, who advertise various trips to the cities featured in the film. For high-end travellers, there are also invitations from more luxurious tour companies, such as Micato Safaris Inspiration Tour, which encourages Eat, Pray, Love pilgrims or true devotees, to trace Gilberts steps in India for just under $20 000. The memoir then, which has become a global business phenomenon as well as a tourist mecca, appeals to a readership that is just as interested in self as with other. In the opening chapters, the novels narrator, Liz, a professional American woman in her mid-thirties, begins to question the performative roles that have defined her. She tells the reader, I dont want to be married anymore. I dont want to live in this big house. I dont want to have a baby (Gilbert 2006, 10). She explains that she is tired of being the primary breadwinner, the housekeeper, the social coordinator, the dog-walker, the wife and the soon-to-be-mother (ibid, 11). Similar to Rita Golden-Gelmans travel narrative, Tales of a Female Nomad, Gilbert also opens with divorce (Wood 2006, 8). She writes, On September 9, 2001, I met with my husband face-to-face for the last time, not realizing that every future meeting would necessitate lawyers between us, to mediate. We had dinner in a restaurant. I tried to talk about our separation, but all we did was fight. He let me know that I was a liar and a traitor and that he hated me and would never speak to me again. Two mornings later I woke up after a troubled nights sleep to find that hijacked airplanes were crashing into the two tallest buildings of my city, as everything invincible that had once stood together now became a smoldering avalanche of ruin. I called my husband to make sure he was safe and we wept together over this disaster, but I did not go to him. During that week, when everyone in New York City dropped animosity in deference to the larger tragedy at hand, I still did not go back to my husband. Which is how we both knew it was very, very over (Gilbert 2006, 5). Newly single, though not for long, Gilbert brands herself as a woman on the brink of becoming a self-governing individual. She decides she would like a spiritual teacher and constructs a fantasy about what it would be like to have one. She writes, I imagined that this radiantly beautiful Indian woman would come to my apartment a few evenings a week and we would sit and drink tea and talk about divinity, and she would give me reading assignments and explain the significance of the strange sensations I was feeling during meditation (ibid, 7). From the outset then, Gilbert articulates a desire to use (or misuse) travel as the vehicle for what she believes is her search for spiritual fulfilment. She decides she will spend a year travelling in three countries and goes onto establish an explicit reason for visiting each-Italy (to explore the art of pleasure), India (to explore the art of devotion) and Indonesia (to learn the art of balancing both). It was only later, Gilbert writes, after admitting this dream, that I noticed the happy coincidence that all these countries began with the letter I (ibid, 10). In Gilberts case, this constant reference to the e/motional I is particularly telling of the preoccupations of New Age Travel. Increasingly, women are using travel to pose questions such as, Who am I? Why am I here? and What am I to believe? These questions not only reflect an absorbing feminist interest in questions of identity, but also highlight continued anxieties about a collective female experience, which Bitch Magazi ne describes as wealthy, whiney and white (2010, par 5). The hybrid text that arises is more concerned with a search for self than with a search for an authentic travel experience. That is, the travel writing is less preoccupied with what is seen than with who is doing the seeing. What we are finding repeatedly in the work of Western women travel writers, is a resurgence in the obsession with the self which has less interest in the other. At its worst, this kind of writing can be self-obsessive, self-important and self-serving, but at its best it can create a richness and intimacy which is lacking in more objective travel texts. The middle-aged travel narrative, in particular, focuses on travel as a metaphor for a spiritual journey. It is rarely, if ever, framed as an objective investigation into an unknown culture. As the travel that emerges then, is imagined rather than reported, and creative rather than journalistic, the inward looking eye becomes more important than the outward. The central problematic then, in many books sold as travel memoirs, is that they actually minimalise and even dilute the travels they seek to voice. In Eat, Pray, Love, this usually happens in one of two ways. Either the place Elizabeth Gilbert ventures to (for example, the Balinese village of Ubud) is romanticised as an exotic other, or it is reduced, in the case of Naples and Mumbai, to a backdrop in her personal dramas. As a result, the memoir pushes the boundaries between self-insight and self-preoccupation. The consequence of this pushing is that the female travel writer has come under close scrutiny and supervision. She is dismissed as a pulp producer, a pawn under industry pressures and an over-exuberant performer whose work emerges, in what Jonathan Raban calls, literatures red-light district (1987). The consequence of this surveillance for the travel memoir, is that its reception draws polar responses from the reading public. Since its debut, the novel has been accused of being self-absorbed and sexist, and even branded by the New York Post as narcissistic New Age reading, curated by [Oprah] Winfrey (Callahan 2007, par 13). According to Karlyn Crowley, in The Oprahfication of American Culture, Winfrey is a mainstream spokesperson for this kind of writing, as she marries the intimacy and individuality of the New Age movement with the adulation and power of a 700 Club-like ministry (2010, 35). In recent interviews with guests, Oprah announces to her audience, Live your best life! She promotes the message again on her website, in her magazine and during her book club. But according to some critics, much of Oprahs advice actually moves women away from political, economic, and emotional agency by promoting materialism and dependency masked as empowerment (Barnes-Brown and Sanders 2010, par 3). Much of the backlash against the book then, is tied up in what readers perceive as Gilberts own privilege, as well as annoyances they have with her everyday travel complaints and her preoccupation with sacrificing everything for David-a New York actor who she dates after divorcing her husband. On a trip to Bali, in which Gilbert is commissioned to write a story about Yoga vacations, she is invited to visit a ninth-generation medicine man. Gilbert, spends significant narrative time grappling over what she will ask him. She writes, Our Yoga teach had told us in advance that we could each bring one question or problem to the medicine man, and he would try to help us with our troubles. Id been thinking for days of what to ask him. My initial ideas were so lame. Will you make my husband give me a divorce? Will you make David be sexually attracted to me again? (Gilbert 2006, 9). Later, Gilbert admits, I was rightly ashamed of myself for these thoughts: who travels all the way around the world to meet an ancient medicine man in Indonesia, only to ask him to intercede in boy trouble? (ibid). Many readers (who obviously agreed with Gilbert on the matter) voiced their own complaints online. Who does this woman think she is? one blogger asks, Anyone should be so lucky to eat a pizza in Naples off their publishers pay check. If she thinks she has something to complain about, writes another, (under the alias Eat, Pray, Shove), then she should try raising a child alone. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilbert told how she has stopped going online to read her reviews. All you end up doing is defending yourself to people who you dont know, she said. Two weeks later youre on a lovely walk in the woods with your dog and youre having an argument in your head with somebody from Amazon.com (Valby 2010, par 6). Perhaps the most gender-specific retaliation to Eat, Pray, Love is Andrew Gottliebs travel memoir, Drink, Play, [emailprotected]#k, which sold itself on the premise of One Mans Search for Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas and Thailand (Gottlieb 2008). In the book, Bob Sullivan, a jilted husband, embarks on a quest to find meaning amongst the glitz and glamour of Vegas, rediscover his passion for drinking in Ireland, and finally, to experience the hedonistic pleasure palaces of Thailand. As the blurb reads, After a life time of playing it safe, Mr. Sullivan finally follows his heart and lives out everyones deepest fantasies. For who among us hasnt dreamed of standing stark naked, head upturned, and mouth agape beneath a cascading torrent of Guinness Stout? What could be more exhilarating than losing every penny you have because Charlie Weiss went for a meaningless last-second field goal? And what sensate creature could ever doubt that the greatest pleasure known to man can be found in a leaky bamboo shack filled with glassy-eyed, bruised Asian hookers? Bob Sullivan has a lot to teach us about life. Lets just pray we have the wisdom to put aside our preoccupations and listen (ibid). Others, however, praise Eat, Pray, Love, as an everyday womans guide to balanced living. A shared message that many female readers seem to distil from the novel is that a woman should not have to apologise for writing a travel story that is primarily about herself. As one bloggers explains, Gilbert has written about what she feels is the most important and defining time of her life, and millions of women like me, have found it useful and stirring. Despite this sense of belonging, or collective appreciation, Gilbert constantly wonders throughout the novel, how she will fit into some sort of community after she returns from her travels. Much of Gilberts angst seems to originate from a sense of alienation from both herself and those around her. As her mother explains to her, You have to understand how little I was raised to expect that I deserved in life, honey. Remember-I come from a different time and place than you do (Gilbert 2006, 29). According to Wood, Gilbert then attempts to answer the difficult questions of her life with the knowledge that, unlike Cinderella, she can choose not to go the ball (2006, 11). It seems her struggle is, essentially, one of choice. In India, she finally finds a place for herself, not at a physical location, but in language-or more specifically, in the Sanskrit word antevasin which Gilbert translates as one who lives at the border (ibid, 70). She writes, When I read this description of the antevasin, I got so excited I gave a little bark of recognition. Thats my word, baby!Im just a slippery antevasin-betwixt and between-a student on the ever-shifting border near the wonderful, scary forest of the new (ibid). In a recent interview with the Borders Book Club, Gilbert also describes how many women have attempted to follow her journey, literally. Every once and a while, I get a letter from somebody who says, Okay, so I went to Italy, I found the gelataria where you ate that gelato and then I went to Naples and I found that pizzeria, and I had the pizza, and now I want to go to India. Can you tell me the name of your Ashram? (2010) This idea that happiness can be packaged through anothers travel experience is not without consequence. Should readers of Eat, Pray, Love fail, the genre holds them accountable for not being ready to get serious, not wanting it enough, or not putting themselves first (Barnes-Brown and Sanders 2010, par 7). Gilbert herself seems to acknowledge this, and affirm it, with a proclamation of what she calls The Physics of the Quest. If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared-most of all-to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourselfthen the truth will not be withheld from you. Whether or not the book is the ultimate spiritual guide to balanced living or just self-serving junk, the central question that the memoir poses is perhaps more important than its reception. What is the requisite for being a female traveller and for telling a story that is focussed primarily, perhaps even extravagantly, on the self?

Gay Marriage Should Be Legal Essay -- Gay Marriage, argumentative, per

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Yet, same-sex marriage continues to be a highly debated issue that leaves our society searching for answers. This has been very apparent during elections when politicians, in order to distract or sway conservative voters, all took a side and had an opinion on the issue of same-sex marriage. The debate has been presented on the left as a civil rights debate, equal rights. And on the right, as a morals debate, a referendum on homosexuality (Rauch, J. 2004). Everyone has an opinion on whether two men or two women should be allowed to get married, and in doing so, have all the same rights granted by the federal government to them as are granted to more â€Å"traditional† couples. It is my belief that gay, lesbian, and transgendered couples should be afforded the same privileges as any other citizens including the choice of marriage. Singling out and disallowing certain r ights to any person based on sexual orientation, just like race, ethnicity, or religious background, is discrimination. Also, religious views on homosexuality should not have an effect on our laws. By conservative estimates, there are probably about ten million gay men and lesbians in the United States. And they're going to be there. They're going to be having relationships and they're going to be having kids no matter what we do in our laws and no matter what courts say. And the question about whether gay and lesbian couples should have an equal right to get married under our state laws--we're talking about state laws here, we're not talking about private religious organizations. (Wolff, 2005) In the past marriage was something everyone was expected to do. ... ...arch 8). Hollywood: World of Wonder. Inalienable Rites? Gay Marriage in the Courts (2005, March 25). Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson [Radio News Program]. http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/2934426.html Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) Masci, D. (2009, May 21). A Clash of Rights? Gay Marriage and the Free Exercise of Religion. http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=216 Masci, D. (2009, July 9). Public Opinion on Gay Marriage: Opponents Consistently Outnumber Supporters. http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=424 Rauch, J. (2004, April 1). Can Gay Marriage Strengthen the American Family? [Brookings Briefing]. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2004/0401children%20%20%20families/20040401.pdf Strasser, P. M. (1999). The Challenge of Same-Sex marriage: Federalist Principles and Constitutional Protections. Westport: Preager Publisher.

Metalworks Case

| 2012| | KLU | Metalworks case study| Students: | Introduction : Metalwork is a company supplying cabinets and safety boxes. At the moment it has two plants and two warehouses which are â€Å"Des Moines† and â€Å"Dover†. Metalwork also uses an external supplier in case they can’t meet the demand. However in the case Metalwork has to buy products from supplier it doesn’t make any profit since the selling price $75 for the cabinet and $107 equals the buying price.Regarding this situation Metalwork has decided to improve its logistic efficiency by either increasing its capacity in â€Å"Des Moines† or investing in Juarez, Mexico by building up a new factory. Our job in this condition is to analyze the best option, to optimize the logistic efficiency and help Metalwork make a decision. At first we will see and optimize the current logistic system and then we will try to run the two solutions. And see which one is the best in order to give Metalwork th e best possible answer. Baseline scenario 1: without distance constrains and with direct shipment from supplier to customers.The first job we had to do was to actualize every data and verify everything was correct. This work consisted in adding the data for the 3 time periods missing (2011-2012-2013). So we added the data regarding warehouse capacity, production capacity, production costs, and customers demand. We allowed direct shipment from the supplier to customers. We also checked the flows between every actor of the logistic process (exhibit 1). We use the Rail Warehouses Midwest between warehouses and ABC fleet carrier from warehouses to customers. Then we made the software run for a first try and saw the results.So as a result we can see that first the scenario is feasible. Hopefully by the way since it is how the Metalwork is supposed to work. We can see that the total cost (which contains manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, variables, and holding costs) is $321  7 41  907 75 and total profit of $2  001  748  527 44. So the situation is pretty good since the company realizes profits. We can also see that in this baseline scenario we order 629  398 84 units to our supplier. Units on which we don’t make any profit. So we can clearly see that there is a need to invest in order to meet the demand thanks to our products.Baseline scenario 2 without distance constrains and without direct shipment from supplier to customers. In this scenario we will try to see if it is possible work without direct shipment from the supplier to the customers. That is why the lane visual changes compared to the first one. The answer in this case is that this scenario is not feasible, because of warehouses capacity. Indeed we begin to see that it is necessary to work with more than 2 warehouses. Baseline scenario with direct shipment and with distance constrains for warehouse to customer. In this scenario we will introduce constraints regarding the maxim um distance to customers.Indeed high quality service and responsiveness is highly important to Metalwork that is why we add a distance constraint of maximum 800 miles to Tier 1 customers and 1000 miles to Normal customers. We keep the same data and the same lanes and logistic system. Except that we allow this time delivery from the supplier to the customers. Because if not we would have add the same problem as in the second scenario since the situation is even harder regarding the distance constraints. That is why we decided to run it with this scenario. So we can see that the two warehouses supply the customers in within the 1000 miles away.That is why the supplier has to send directly to the other customers and also to supply the rest that is needed by the customers. We can see that only having two warehouses is really not enough. In this situation the supplier has much more importance and that has huge effects on the costs. Dual supply On the diagram bellow we can see that the su pplier has a huge importance on the production since it produces even more than the Plant in Dover. So in this situation we can see that the total costs have dramatically increased from $341  741  907 75 to $887  796  558, 11 and the profit has gone down to $1  435  693  607, 07.The manufacturing cost is really high: 749  750  420 $ compared to 138  145  001$ in the first scenario. Regarding the new constraint we really realize that Metalwork needs to invest in new plant and in new warehouses. Baseline scenario with direct shipment and with distance constrains for warehouse to customer and supplier to customer. The scenario is not feasible because the warehouse capacity is limited and the distance from supplier to some customers is greater than the distance restriction. We decided to apply this restriction because we fought it was necessary to apply the distance constraints to the supplier also.Indeed the service level must be equal for every product to every c ustomer. Indeed the customer doesn’t need to know and don’t care if the product is from the supplier plant or Metalwork plant. Increased demand scenario in Des Moines We increase capacity of Des Moines. The production capacity of the safety boxes increases by 25% and cabinets by 50%. We set the additional $1  250 000 operation costs. And we decrease the cost for each unit produced in Des Moines by 50 cents. We apply these directives into our data base for every time period. We also add the possibility to go from 2 warehouses to 4 warehouses for the 4 time period.Two of the warehouses are fixed. One in Des Moines and one in Dover. So in this scenario we can see that the total cost has decreased compared to the first baseline scenario. Now we have a total cost of $248  104  881 97 and a profit of $2  075  385  283 22 which is much higher than in the first baseline scenario. We can also notice that with these investments the supplier is no longer needed. So th e objective achieved. Plus we have 100% of the demand met. We clearly see that the Plant in Des Moines is the main motor of Metalwork. Plus even with the distance constraint we see that the scenario is feasible.This is able thanks to the 2 more warehouses available. So as we see on the map bellow, all the customers are supplied and the 4 warehouses are dispatched on every side of the United States. Plus there are only a few customers supplied by two warehouses, because of warehouse capacity. So clearly the result is conclusive. The demand is met the costs go down and the profit rises. Double supply Mexican Plant scenario In this scenario the objective of Metalwork is to improve the network of its plants and also to relocate its investment into a low labor cost country.The opening cost of this plant opening is $5  000  000. In order to make this scenario work we had to reset the data for the 4 time period, that is to say cancel the downsize in costs and production capacity in Des Moines. We also forbid the direct shipment from supplier to customer if needed. And used the railway West transportation for Railway warehouses West to supply our products to the warehouses. But we still have the same problem as in the previous scenario that is to say that some customers are supplied by two warehouses. Double supplyAs we can see can see in the chart below, our total cost is $ 243  950  541 68 which is smaller than in the previous scenario. The profit is also a little bit higher, with $2  079  539  623 51. 100% of the demand is met so we can say that the objective is met. And with better results on every side whether it is financial or quality we can say that we would recommend this investment rather than the first one. However this also depends on the image the brand wants to have, something such as made in America and avoid social problems in the plants.When the activity is relocated. We can see on the last chart that the production almost equally balanc ed between Des Moines and Juarez. The good thing is that the supplier is no longer needed. So every unit sold makes the company make profit. Conclusion: 1. After comparing the different scenarios based on the guidelines we had, we found that the scenario that involved building a plant in Juarez, Mexico turns out to be the best one. 2. While comparing the increased capacity scenario and the â€Å"Mexico† scenario we found that they are nearly the same.In both of these scenarios we find that we don’t need an external supplier, we would be able to supply the demand on our own. 3. Compared to the baseline scenario we can see that increasing the number of warehouses decreases the overall total costs. 4. While optimizing the solution, we figured out that having to use two given warehouses might not be the optimal choice, those two warehouses should be catalogued as potential, the maximum number of warehouses should be increased. 5. We observed baseline scenarios can’t compete with the improved capacity scenario or the â€Å"Mexico† scenario since the cost of buying from a supplier is too high.

Oral history essay

The Vietnam War effected the whole world in many ways. But when talking about wars in class only give you one perspective which is the big picture. But what about the small picture? The effect the war had on individuals and their families. Sometimes hearing the story from someone who was in the war can give you a better understanding about the conditions they faced. For this oral history paper interviewed my uncle Steven Mangled who was an engineer sergeant in the Vietnam War.During this time before the draft was abolished n 1 973, many troops were selected for service through the drafts but those who didn't want to go to war would sometimes flee to Canada or other places. 25 percent of the troops that served in this war were draftees. These people were called â€Å"draft dodgers. † My uncle didn't want to be one of these people and wanted to do his duty as an American citizen so he joined the army in the 1 ass's after graduating college. He went through NCO school, which is a course to becoming a non-commissioned officer.He then went through his training to become a sergeant and entered the U. S Army Corps of Engineers. Shortly after, around 1 970, he was sent to Vietnam. His mission there was to support an artillery unit that was stationed on the border of North and South Vietnam. He built and designed things like helicopter pads, flood protection systems, facilities for the army and many other things. During his stay he also had the opportunity to help build a hospital for the Vietnamese people.One of the things that affected my uncle during the war was the subject of races. At this time period there was a lot of civil rights movements going on. The Vietnam War had a very high percentage of blacks more than any war before it. Blacks made up about 13 percent of the troops that served. Before joining the war my uncle had a lot of prejudices about the different races, but started to think differently after working closely with people from all different r aces and ethnicities. He learned to live with them and became very close to a lot of them.The Vietnam War provided these African Americans and Hispanics their first experiences of white comradeship and really opened peoples eyes to the fact that they weren't all that different. Of course there was bound to be occasional racial tension but they tried to keep this tension from affecting the performance of the troops. My uncle started to gain respect for Hispanics in the war. He said that they were the hardest workers and had a great work ethic. His visions of the races totally changed.Another thing that really affected my uncle was when he was building the hospital for the Vietnamese. The hospitals in the Vietnam War were different from any other war. There wasn't a very good road system through Vietnam so transportation was very hard so most of the hospitals were semi-permanent. Before the hospital was completed they started treating patients. The patients were of all ages, from chil dren to elderly. Since he roads weren't very good the helicopter was a great help in getting patients to the hospitals and saved many lives.My uncle described the injuries as brutal and a lot of times fatal. Seeing all of the wounded really got to him. He expected to see some injuries but figured that because he was an engineer that he wouldn't be too close to a lot of them. He had time to talk to a lot of the Vietnamese, and was shocked at the fear that they lived in. Men his age had been living in war zones all their lives and grew up in very bad poverty. This made him appreciate where he comes from. He realized how lucky he as to have grown up not scared about having his home raided or burned down or his family torn apart.The American dream was a real thing and he was glad to be living it back at home. We read about wars all the time but almost always just look at the big picture. You hear about mass causalities and death rates. Talking to my uncle made me see the effects of war on a smaller scale. I now better understand how people felt while at war and the things they Saw. Know that he is very proud Of his service in the war, and I am too. If it weren't for the brave men and women who fought for our country we wouldn't have the freedom we have now.

Warhol: the Flatness of Fame

THANK YOU all for being here this brisk March afternoon. I’d like to thank the GRAM for the invitation to speak in conjunction with such a wonderful exhibition, and especially Jean Boot for all of her diligent coordination on my behalf. (There are 3 parts to my presentation. First, a virtual tutorial on the process of screen-printing; secondly, a discussion of the formal and conceptual potential inherent to printmaking, and the way in which Warhol expertly exploited that potential. Finally, I will conclude with an actual demonstration of screen-printing in the Museum’s basement studio. In coming weeks, you’ll have an opportunity to hear much more about the cultural-historical context for Andy Warhol’s work from two exceptional area scholars, beginning next Friday evening with a lecture by my colleague at GV, Dr. Kirsten Strom, and on _______ Susan Eberle of Kendall College of Art & Design. As Jean indicated in her introduction, I teach drawing and printmak ing at GVSU. In other words, I’m approaching Warhol’s work very much as a studio artist. As a printmaker in particular, I’m predisposed to note the large degree (great extent? to which the innate characteristics of the medium – in this case screen-printing – enable and inform the meaning of Warhol’s work. At the outset of each printmaking course I teach at Grand Valley, I provide students a brief overview of the social history of the print; I divulge its rich heritage in the service of dispensing and preserving our (collected cultural discourse, from†¦) verbal and pictorial languages, knowledge and history, cultural discourse, from ancient scripture to textile design to political critique. In addition I cite the formal qualities specific to the print – multiplicity, mutability, and its recombinant capabilities. I open with this background as a means of framing the work students will produce in the course. I’d like to provide a similar overview here, as a means of framing the work of Warhol, which is so richly informed by the native characteristics of his processes. As the expression goes: the medium is the message; form and content are inseparable. First I offer a brief tutorial on the process of screen-print, in the hopes of providing a bit of context and a richer appreciation for the images/discussion to follow. â€Å"With silk-screening, you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across so that the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. †) The Imagery Warhol screen-printed images onto canvas in the early 1960s, and he began simultaneously to translate this technique to printing on paper. His subjects related directly to his paintings of the same period: James Cagney, the Race Riots, and Ambulance Disasters. These works on paper were printed in monochromatic tones and screened in a method that retained the graininess and immediacy of the mass media images on which they were based. Warhol considered these works to be unique drawings. Changes in the ink saturation and/or in the composition during the printing process created variations in each work. Screen-printing was ideally suited to Warhol in two distinct ways: First – technically, it allows him to harvest images from a vast bounty of sources. Secondly – he fittingly adapted a â€Å"low culture†, commercial process for the production of images chronicling life in celebrity-crazed, consumer-driven, Post-War America. One of the well-known strategies of Pop Artists – Warhol and Lichtenstein, among them – was their appropriation of the visual characteristics of mechanical reproduction (which you can see clearly here in Lichtenstein’s Ben Day dots pattern. Warhol went further than borrowing the language, employing the means of commercial printing itself. As of the 1930s, screen-printing was a widely-practiced process for the printing of posters, t-shirts, and other graphics in the US. In other words, Warhol chose this medium for its associations with the culture of advertising and shopping/consumerism. I want everybody to think alike. Russia is doing it under government. It’s happening here all by itself. I don’t think art should be only for the select few. I think it should be for the mass of American people. † But how exactly does one represent â€Å"the mass of American people†? Through it’s proxies: (A) Through the objects of its consumption : Campbell’s cans, Coke bottles, Brillo pads and Mobil Gas (B) Through the media icons it reveres, and (C) Through the images of anonymous tragic figures Disaster and death were not his primary concerns, but rather the anonymous victims of history – the masses. D and D evoke this mass subject, for in a society of spectacle this subject often appears only in stories and images of mass death. â€Å"I want to be a machine†: The History of the Print as a means/tool for social and political critique) Although screen-printing as Warhol practiced it is primarily a 20th century advent, the tradition of the print as a vehicle for disseminating ideas and information (as the vox populi) is centuries old. Among the earliest surviving printed artifacts in Western civilization are these two contradictory images: a Holy Picture on the left, and playing cards on the right. Each dates from the mid-15th century, each is the product of the same â€Å"technological innovation†, the wood block (and in the eyes of the Catholic church, working at cross purposes with one another! ) Many of the most widely reproduced and well-known prints in the Western world are images of cultural unrest and political and social critique. These are a few examples: Francisco Goya, 18th C Spanish printmaker William Hogarth, 18th C English printmaker Honore Daumier, 19th C French printmaker Kathe Kollwitz, early 20th C German printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada, late 19th C Mexican printmaker â€Å"All of what I have to say is right there on the surface – Remarks such as this one are at times misconstrued as superficiality – a dismissal of content – suggesting to some that Warhol’s choice of imagery was indiscriminate. Especially today, Warhol is often mischaracterized through his studied, stoic affect – as an artist who felt nothing more for his work than for the contents of his local grocery store. I would argue that Warhol’s imagery is anything but indiscriminate, and is instead engaged in the popular tradition/rich heritage of the print as a means of social and political critique, especially obvious in the years between 1962 and 1980, from the â€Å"Death and Dying† series to the â€Å"Endangered Species† series. (Over this prolific period, Warhol’s ouvre included references to the Civil Rights movement, the death penalty, and of course the Cold War. Even the artists’ early celebrity portraits are shrouded with both private and public tragedy: Marilyn, Elvis, Liz Taylor, JFK and Jackie O†¦ ) To me, Warhol’s deadpan cynicism has always seemed a calculated critique of the turbulent social and political climate. It’s an ironic persona reflected in his works – an expression of apathy intended to induce the appropriate response from his viewers: shock and bewilderment that any artist, could produce images of graphic violence and human trauma with such apparent passivity. Multiplicity – The first of three formal qualities innate to printmaking â€Å"I like boring things. † â€Å"I don’t want it to be essentially the same – I want it to be exactly the same. Because the more you look at the same exact thing, the more the meaning goes away and the better and emptier you feel. † Such statements suggest a strategic, pre-emptive embrace of the very compulsive repetition that a consumerist society demands of us all. If you can’t beat it, Warhol implies, join it. More: if you enter it totally, you might expose it; you might reveal its enforced automatism through your own excessive example. These remarks reposition the role of repetition in Warhol. Here repetition is both a draining of significance and a defending against effect. This is one function of repetition in our psychic lives: we recall traumatic events in order to place them into a psychic economy. Yet the Warhol repetitions are not restorative in this way; they are not about a neutralization of trauma, for his repetitions not only reproduce traumatic effects, but sometimes produce them as well. Repetition in Warhol is neither a simple representation of the world nor a superficial image. His repetition serves to filter traumatic reality, but it does so in a way that points to this reality nonetheless. Ultimately I would suggest that Warhol’s use of the multiple functions as a form of potent cultural critique, whether it emphasizes the horror, or whether it desensitizes us to the violence in many of his images. Mutability – (â€Å"With silk-screening, you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across so that the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple – quick and chancy. I was thrilled with it. †) The screen-printing technique affords artists the latitude for simple yet dramatic changes, from impression to impression. With little trouble, one can shift color, and even scale. The image can be altered through adjustments to the matrix (or stencil, in this case), or during the printing process itself, through the irregular application of ink. When I originally conceived of this talk, I intended to speak primarily to this one formal aspect of Warhol’s prints: his exploitation of the process to produce deliberate imperfections that (reflect the true disposition of his subjects) (inform the meaning behind his images. ) (further enable the content of his work. ) contribute to the flatness of his subjects – thus emphasizing their artificiality. Purposefully crude printing and mis-registration disrupt the pictorial illusion, drawing attention to the flatness of each image that, in a metaphorical sense, speaks to the nature of fame. Warhol’s arbitrary colors suggest the un-reality and artifice of each subject. These aren’t real people, but products, and you can have them anyway you want them. We construct reality the way we desire it to be – the lips are larger, more red, the hair is more golden; they remain young and beautiful forever. Marilyn image that disintegrates and fades out. Elvis that overlaps. – (silver screen/motion Recombinant Potential – The screenprint is among the most versatile of print techniques in regards to substrate. In other words, one can print on a diverse array of surfaces, including paper, wood, glass, plastics, textiles. The exhibition here at the GRAM demonstrates Warhol’s affinity for the aesthetic of the print on canvas – a practice that effectively elevated screen-print – a low-art technology of commerce – to the privileged status of painting. Their visual translation into the language of screen-printing homogenizes every subject; the queen, a skull, a shoe, a can, Marilyn, all become part of the same glossy, colorful language. In addition to one’s ability to print on a wide spectrum of surfaces, screen-printing allows an image to be â€Å"saved† (one may simply store and re-use the stencil or matrix in a later situation. Thus we see Warhol’s â€Å"vocabulary† (lexicon? ) of celebrities and other iconic images juxtaposed in shifting circumstances – being exercised in a language of signs. These (printed signs) juxtapositions can homogenize even the most horrific of images, emphasizing our mediated relationship to the trauma depicted. T his homogenization leaves space for interpretation – it can be argued that Warhol has intentionally treated the car crash and the Campbell soup as equal – not as references to the actual world. Alternately, it might be argued that the images are intended to shock a complacent consumer culture back to reality through conspicuously violent juxtapositions. By positioning such horrorific images in the proximity of the celebrity portrait, in the â€Å"low art† language of the advertisement, Warhol critiques a consumer culture lulled into apathy since the War by the numbing effects of Television, advertising, glossy celebrity tabloids, and the veritable glut of shiny new objects available for purchase on every store shelf. I’d like to congratulate the GRAM on a wonderful exhibit. Curator Richard Axsiom has done a marvelous job of pulling together a broad spectrum of Warhol’s strongest/most resonant images†¦and I’d like to invite you all downstairs/to the museum’s studio for screen-printing demonstration. THE IMAGERY: Celebrities or anonymous – these are images to represent the â€Å"masses†. Art should be for the pubic, but how do you represent the â€Å"public body†? – through the icons they look to, or the anonymous Marilyn image that disintegrates and fades out. Elvis that overlaps. – (silver screen/motion Warhol’s remark that all of what he has to say is right there on the surface is misinterpreted as mistaken as superficiality – a dismissal of content – argued that it supports indiscriminate images and passivity. I would argue that Warhol’s imagery is anything but indiscriminate, and is engaged in the long history of the print as a means of social critique. I want everybody to think alike. Russia is doing under government. It’s happening here all by itself. I don’t think art should be only for the select few. I think it should be for the mass of American people. How does one represent â€Å"the mass of American people†? Through it’s proxies, through its object of consumption, soup cans, Coke bottles. Media icons stand it for the body of the masses. Disaster and death were not his primary concerns, but rather the anonymous victims of history – the masses. D and D evoke this mass subject, for in a society of spectacle this subject often appears only in stories and images of mass death. Celebrity and anonymity represent the mass subject. Enter into/immerse himself in the language of pop culture. With silk-screening, you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across so that the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple – quick and chancy. I was thrilled with it. † Warhol hand-printed unique silkscreen images on canvas in the e arly 1960s, and he began simultaneously to translate this technique to printing on paper. He experiments with subjects that directly relate to his paintings of the same period, as in Cagney, Race Riot, and the Ambulance Disaster. These works on paper were printed in monochromatic tones and screened in a method that retained the graininess and immediacy of the mass media images on which they were based. Warhol considered these works to be unique drawings. Changes in the ink saturation and/or in the composition during the printing process created variations in each work. Popular impressions of Pop reduced to candy – it was almost too effective in its critique, ceased to function as a critique – irony and sardonic qualities become eye candy only – another commodified visual confection. The profound flatness of images such as the soup cans – these images exaggerate the lack of roundness – these are cylindrical objects – void of their substance/their mass. Warhol Prints Not to overlook the obvious Flatness Repetition Imperfection Juxtaposition The multiple, mutable, recombinant image – Warhol’s prints are responding/exploiting each of the inherent potentials of the print. Reality as a mediated phenomenon is the subject of Warhol. Private fantasy and public reality is a primary concern of Warhol’s brand of Pop.