Predicting School Violence Essays - Motivation,

Predicting School Violence This is an overview of the types of constructs which one might look at to determine if a student is in a high risk category for acting out in a violent manner, and the types of tests which would measure those constructs. We will look at some of these predictors, the constructs they attempt to measure, and how this might aid in predicting future behavior. There have been a lot of studies, interventions, programs, and models designed to reduce or predict violence among our youth. The strongest predictor being past violent behavior. Most of these studies have been linked to some type of deficiencies in the home environment and school environment. The overwhelming question facing America now is - Why would a student who has almost anything he desires, living in an upper middle class neighborhood, bring a gun to school with the purpose of killing his classmates and teachers? The question for researchers is - Can we predict which students are likely to engage in this type of behavior? The resounding answer so far seems to be negative. There is not any test, inventory, or self-report scale which can tell us which students will act out in this manner. However, reviewing the literature there appears to be different types of measurement when looked at aggregately, might identify those students who would be at higher risk although they do not show a past history of violence and therefore fall outside of the previously researched areas. Some of the things we would hope to assess in identifying violence-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among youths would be broken into three categories: 1. Attitude and Belief Assessments - aggression, couple violence, education and school, employment, gangs, gender roles, television, handguns 2. Psychological and Cognitive Assessments - aggressive fantasies, role models, attributional bias, depression, psychological distress, fatalism, future aspirations, hopelessness, hostility, moral reasoning, perceptions of self, responsibility, self-efficacy, impulse control, self-esteem, empathy, and social consciousness 3. Behavior Assessments - concentration, aggressive behavior, conflict resolution skills, drug and alcohol use, handgun access, leisure activity, parental control, social competence, social problem solving skills, victimization, disciplinary and delinquent behavior. 4. Environmental Assessments - exposure to violence, family environment (adaptability, bonding, cohesion, relationships), quality of life, quality of neighborhood Assessment of Self-Esteem One of the psychological and cognitive assessments we choose to look at is self esteem. Self-esteem has been viewed in different ways. Block and Robins (1993) have viewed it as a global entity: "we view self-esteem as the extent to which one perceives oneself as relatively close to being the person one wants to be and/or as relatively distant from being the kind of person one does not want to be, with respect to person-qualities one positively and negatively values". Self concept theory has stressed that self-esteem is an attitude about oneself as a whole (global self-esteem) as well as one's functioning in specific areas of concern to oneself (specific self-esteem). Relatively little is know concerning relationships between a child's self-esteem and observations of the child's behavior. Most have come to a clinical assumption that children with externalizing behavior suffer from poor self-esteem. The other issue about self-esteem revolves around whether or not it is a stable trait or a fluctuating state. Heatherton and Polivy (1991) referred to the short-lived changes in an individual's self-esteen as "state" self-esteem and developed a scale to measure it called the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) which is a 20-item Likert-type scale designed for measuring temporary changes in individual self-esteem. There are three self-esteem factors in the scale: Academic Performance, Social Evaluation, and Appearance. Coefficient Alpha for the scale equals 0.92. Linton (1996) conducted a study to test its validity by comparing it with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. It consists of ten items answered on a four point scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". The scale has a Guttman scale reproducibility coefficient of 0.92 and a test-retest correlation of 0.85. Her results showed a significant correlation between self-esteem measures on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and four components on the SSES. She demonstrated that SSES measures four distinct components within the state self-esteem construct and provides evidence that there is a fluctuating nature of self-esteem. It also supports the use of the SSES for study within the adolescent populations. Another study by Frankel (1996) compared Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale(PHS) and the Child Behavior Checklist Inventory (CBCL) with the Pupil Evaluation Inventory (PEI) to get a better understanding of why children with internalizing problems (withdrawal, somatic complaints and sadness) consistently demonstrate low self-esteem, while results of children with externalizing behaviors (aggression, poor impulse control, and non-compliance) have been inconsistent.

The Changing View of Slavery essays

The Changing View of Slavery essays Justus Engelhardt Kuhn and Robert S. Duncanson held respected reputations for their artistic abilities. Kuhn was the first Maryland portrait painter, of German descent from the Rhine Valley who continued his painting until his death in November 1717. Duncanson was a pre-Civil War African-American painter widely recognized as one of the great landscape artists. Given the time period and background of the two artists, one can expect their artwork to also differ in style, content, and meaning. Kuhns Henry Darnall III as a Child and Duncansons Uncle Tom and Little Eva appropriately reflect societys different and changing views towards slavery during each of the artists time periods. The first stark difference that stands out about the paintings certainly has to be the setting. Despite the fact that both paintings contain some form of a master and a slave, the setting certainly is different. Kuhns painting is set on a balcony with a balustrade behind the child along with formal gardens and pavilions behind that are complete fictions. During that time period, no properties in America looked like this. Kuhn was meeting the illusory desire of Colonial gentry to seem like important extensions of European culture (Pohl 65). This type of grandeur did not begin to be realized for another century or so, when Americans were actually able to accumulate wealth comparable to Europe. These types of aristocratic pretensions (Pohl 65) made it seem appropriate that there would also be a strict division of class during the time. With such a class difference, one can deduce that servitude or some form of slavery would also be accepted during the time period. This argumen t is validated by the fact that the slave population was growing dramatically during the first half of the 18th century when the number of slaves rose from 15,000 to 100,000 (Pohl 64). The setting for Duncansons painting is sligh...

How to Locate TreeView Node By Text

How to Locate TreeView Node By Text While developing Delphi applications using the TreeView component, you may bump into a situation where you need to search for a tree node given by only the text of the node. In this article well present you with one quick and easy function to get TreeView node by text. A Delphi Example First, well build a simple Delphi form containing a TreeView, a Button, CheckBox and an Edit component- leave all the default component names. As you might imagine, the code will work something like:  if GetNodeByText given by Edit1.Text returns a node and MakeVisible (CheckBox1) is true then select node. The most important part is the GetNodeByText function. This function simply iterates through all the nodes inside the  ATree  TreeView starting from the first node (ATree.Items[0]). The iteration uses the  GetNext  method of the TTreeView class to look for the next node in the ATree (looks inside all nodes of all child nodes). If the Node with text (label) given by  AValue  is found (case insensitive) the function returns the node. The boolean variable  AVisible  is used to make the node visible (if hidden). function GetNodeByText(ATree : TTreeView; AValue:String; AVisible: Boolean): TTreeNode;var Node: TTreeNode;begin Result : nil; if ATree.Items.Count 0 then Exit; Node : ATree.Items[0]; while Node nil dobeginif UpperCase(Node.Text) UpperCase(AValue) thenbegin Result : Node; if AVisible then Result.MakeVisible; Break; end; Node : Node.GetNext; end;end; This is the code that runs the Find Node button OnClick event: procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);var tn : TTreeNode;begin tn:GetNodeByText(TreeView1,Edit1.Text,CheckBox1.Checked); if tn nil then ShowMessage(Not found!) elsebegin TreeView1.SetFocus; tn.Selected : True; end;end; Note: If the node is located the code selects the node, if not a message is displayed. Thats it. As simple as only Delphi can be. However, if you look twice, youll see something is missing: the code will find the FIRST node given by AText.

Unemployment during the Great Recession Assignment

Unemployment during the Great Recession - Assignment Example This means that these individuals are working in low paying freelance, contractual and part time jobs and out of these individuals who constitute the 26%, 27% of the employees were only working with a retirement plan and 39% were working with a health insurance. According to Allan S. Blinder, an economist at the Princeton University stated that in the next two decades, the US employers are going to outsource and about 22% to 29% of the US jobs will be available to offshore employees. The statistics of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics show that during 1979 to 2000, the number of temporary workers working within the US rocketed up from around 0.4 million to 3.9 million which is an eye opening increase of 760 percent and during 2000, the total percentage of the workforce of the US working as temporary/part-time workers was 2%. The condition of the US work force is such that they are constantly working day and night since they are being paid in accordance to piece rate or an equal syst em. They do not have time to take part in social life and they even have to ignore their recreational side. This is because they know that the job market is in such a bad position that if they seem to produce less even as freelance or part-time workers, they will end up losing their jobs. During 20009 the government of the US increased the minimum wage of employees to $7.25 but this increase is on lower than the minimum wage paid 30 years down the road in context of real value. Another major concern is the pay accordance to education, those who were earning minimum wages during 1979 at least had a high school degree this constituted a total of 57.5% of the total workforce of 1979 (Economic Policy Institute 2012). During 2008, the number of people of the workforce who had a high school degree has increased to 71.9% but the minimum wage rate has

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) Essay

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) - Essay Example ements are prepared in accordance with the accounting standards with a view to provide reliable, comparable and very useful information to various stakeholders, but also they are duly audited fairly and reported properly. Given the multiplicity of transactions involved, it is not easy for the ultimate owners to go through each and every entry so as to safeguard their interests. Auditors normally perform such functions. In the United States, the American Institutes of Certified Public Accountants have prescribed Generally Accepted Auditing Standards in order to facilitate fair auditing procedures. These Auditing standards mostly deal with what auditors should be performing, how they should do the fieldwork and what they should report. These auditing standards specify that audition function should be done by qualified auditors with appropriate technical skills and proficiency, free from such mental attitude that may obstruct auditing process and should have the capability of giving independent opinion on the books of accounts and accounting practices followed. Further, the auditing standards discuss the importance of checks and balances to be instituted by auditors in the fieldwork not only concerning auditing and accounting procedures but supervising assistants. And, finally, the standards provides a very good description of the meaning of independence that needs to be exercised by auditors while providing opinion. It has to be fair on the issue of comprehensiveness of accounting procedures, their sufficiency, transparency and ability to provide such opinions. Given the institutional feature of corporate America, there is a need to understand the meaning of corporate governance. Though the subject attracted a wider interest with formulation of Cadbury Code by London Stock Exchange in the early 1990s, the collapse of giant organizations like Enron and Worldcom attracted wider interest in United States and elsewhere internationally. The fall of various public

Master Slave Dialect Essay Example for Free

Master Slave Dialect Essay The insightful analysis of Hegel in his Phenomenology of Spirit concerning the development of self consciousness revolves around the important impulse to â€Å"Self Consciousness† in which he details the master/slave dialectic. Contrary to preceding German Idealists, Hegel does not hold the assumption that the conscious agent is self conscious a priori; rather, the agent must establish this notion of self-conception through experience. This experience become developed through time and is therefore associated with the concept of â€Å"history†. It can even be claimed that any development of self consciousness must be conditioned historically as much as it draws upon the demands of desire and the means to its sating. Self consciousness is therefore far from innate with regard to individual agent. This break with tradition appears to be in arguing that self consciousness emerges out of non-self consciousness over time in a process which is conditioned historically. Commentators are however not in agreement in regard to the specifics of this historical process and its holistic ontological location, particularly in the nature of the process which underlies the development of self consciousness. Alexandre Kojeve finds Hegels dialectic of the mater/slave relationship to be referring to historically conditioned, material processes. The basic question concerns the amount of historicity required for the development of self consciousness: is it a purely external process brought about by the conflict between two living beings, or is it an internal struggle that encompasses the conflict between various faculties? Kojeve argues for the former interpretation. Kojeve on the Historicity of the Master/Slave Dialectic Kojeves analysis of the master/slave dialectic integrates Marxist conception of class struggle with Hegels phenomenological account. Beginning with Hegels view of desire, Kojeve holds the assumption that the physical creature is the basic unit of consciousness and the locus of desiring. It is from this foundation that humans, together with animals, have desire referred to as the drive to alter external shapes or forms of being to that which would suit their own interests and being. Desire seeks to transform the world, to negate the external object in its own existence and put it to the use of the desiring being. Kojeve, for instance, points to the desire of hunger as a clear example of a desire that a being has that negates the very existence of an object through radical change. The essence of human being lies in this power of negation; he argues that man is negating action, which transforms given being and by transforming it, transforms itself (Kojeve, 1980: 38). The difference that lies between human desire and animal desire is that human desire goes so far as to surpass itself. Humans possess desires that result in the negation of their conception as natural beings. This leads to the possibility of self consciousness which needs â€Å"transcendence of self with respect to self as given† (ibid 39). The key to this transcendence could be human desire if it focuses on that which liberates oneself from that mode of being. The ability to desire non-being is characteristically human and enables an individual to free himself from the concept of being that so enslaves human life. Instead of corresponding to the pulls and pushes of nature, humans can employ desire to transcend the mere â€Å"freedom of the turnspit† and achieve self consciousness. Kojeve is stressing on the biological basis of the master/slave relationship by labeling biological drives â€Å"desires†. The major difference between humans and animals is the ability of humans to desire non-being or death. According to Kojeve, the ability to desire non-being is the extreme limiting case of human freedom. Humans are free from their essence in the most basic way possible; they can opt to end it through their own desires. It is at this point that a desiring consciousness makes the realization that there are more than objects of desire in the world. The desiring subject becomes cognizant of other conscious beings in the world. According to Kojeve, a conscious being can only be satisfied when the other desiring conscious meets its desire for recognition. This is not a natural reciprocation from other beings, and the consequent lines of action are competitive in nature. There exists a struggle between the two agents in a life and death fight for recognition of the other. It appears that since humans demand recognition from the other being and possess the capacity to transcend natural animal desires through the desire of non-being, a struggle ensues between these desires. It seems as if Kojeve is arguing that freedom and ultimate worth reside in the ability of the being to defy nature and desire, and risking destruction in the face of inclinations towards natural preservation. Why is this risk being taken? The non-essential end of this endeavor is identification from another desiring consciousness. The only moment that animals seem to risk their lives is when they are pursuing the means to preserve their life. Humans on the other hand can defy nature to achieve desired recognition from other creatures of the same capabilities. Recognition cannot be gained from any animal in this scheme. It must be from a being that can also risk all of its natural prerogatives in the pursuit of the same end of recognition. Kojeve conceives of Hegels transition from a life and death struggle to one in which no being dies as a last and irreducible premise in the Phenomenology. It appears to be a mere assumption that the deadly struggle ends in one being assuming the role of the master and the other of the slave. According to Kojeve, this results from the ability of the master, and the inability of the slave to resist his natural instincts for survival. The master was strong enough to continue risking his life, while the slave eventually succumbed to his natural desires and attempted to preserve his life through assuming the role of the slave. Kojeve suggests that, â€Å"the vanquished has subordinated his human desire for recognition to the biological desire preserve life. The victor has risked his life for a non-vital end† (ibid 42). At the beginning of the struggle, the two agents appear to be unequal with regard to resolution and stamina. The one who is to be the slave is not capable of continuing the struggle and is therefore forced into subjection as the only way of preserving his life. It must be judged therefore that if both agents had similar resolution and power, the struggle could possibly and with both being slain. This is of course a condition that would not aid the establishment of self consciousness or the extension of biological life, perhaps explaining which Hegel stresses on the ascendance of one master and the servitude of one slave. The work of the slave is the intermediary between the master and the world of nature. According to Kojeve, it is this work that enables the master to satisfy all his needs without personal expectation; the master desires while the work of the slave bends nature to meet these desires. From the masters perspective, desire is followed by immediate satisfaction. From the perspective of the slave, the desire of another is answered with their labor, which then results in the others desire being satisfied. In this scheme, the master is tied to the drives of nature; while he could risk his own natural drives to secure recognition from the subjugated other, his courage and freedom then faded into a mere pursuit of particular biological desires. According to Kojeve, the master remains a natural being, an animal since he maintains this state of egocentric desire and the satisfaction of desire. The actual action of negation and transformation that is achieved in the instantiated relationship of the master and the slave appears in that of the slave. He is the one that is acting and transforming the world, whereas the master merely has desires qua natural being. Given this foundation, Kojeve realizes that the base is set for the possibility of a historical process which is holistically the history of the Fights and the Work that finally ended in the Napoleonic wars and the table on which Hegel wrote the Phenomenology so as to comprehend both those wars and the table. History starts with the resolution of the initial struggle into two classes, those of the master and slave. All material products and future struggle are to be comprehended within this simple framework of master/slave dialectic. History is nothing but a product of the master/slave struggle, made up of entirely of such struggles, and is no more when such struggles end physically. The materialist tendencies in such a conception is quite evident especially when Kojeve remarks that man must always be either master or slave, and that beings must be in a relation with each other for them to be at least considered human. The extreme historicity of the master/slave dialectic is obvious in this conception which is important in describing not only the progress of world history but also the universal history, offering in details the interaction of humanity with the rest of the natural world. According to Hegel, the slave interacts with nature. It therefore follows that natural history details the progress of slave overcoming nature and bending it to its will. The will of the slave is however not the operative force here; instead, it is the masters mediated will that drives the slave to his interaction with nature through his labor. According to Kojeve, it is this fundamental interaction with nature that enables the dialectic reversal of the masters dominance and the slaves subservience in the Phenomenology. The reading of Hegels master/slave dialectic by Kojeve is quite materially founded in its historicity. It involves conflict of individuals or groups, and requires that they resolve into two groups; those that fear death and become the slaves and those that can surpass this fear of death by risking their life and become masters. History starts with this struggle, and the entire history is the continuation of this struggle until the slaves are finally freed from the tyranny of the masters. The sources of this ultimate freedom are work, fear, and service, but only after the slave journeys through a series of ideologies, by which he seeks to justify himself, his slavery, to reconcile the ideal of freedom with the fact of slavery (ibid, 53). The final point of history, according to Kojeve, is when the physical struggle between mater and slave ultimately ceases. History reaches its final point since it is nothing but the constant struggle between masters and slaves. It is in this note that Kojeve ignores much of Hegels true purpose behind Phenomenology. Inadequacy of Kojeves formulation The materialist reading of the master/slave dialectic has been characterized by much criticism owing to what it has ignored concerning Hegels phenomenology. In emphasizing on the purely external struggle between two agents, such a reading simplifies the integral, internal role of another in the establishment of the subjects self consciousness. Kojeve unduly restricts the master/slave analysis in Hegels Phenomenology to the external struggle between two creatures. The true reading of this dialectic must encompass other perspectives as well. The master/slave dialectic can be explicated from three perspectives. The first is the social which is exclusively adopted by Kojeve. This reading focuses on the physical, actual struggle of persons or groups to acquire recognition and power. It is however not enough to take this social perspective for the entire master/slave dialectic. The psychological perspective complements it, which regards the dialectic as an interpersonal struggle within the individual ego. With this regard, the master and slave are various powers or patterns of the mind itself. The latter perspective is one of fusion between the previous two perspectives; the ego is changed by internal processes that are set in motion due to the external struggle between agents. As far as the limitations of the social perspective is concerned, there is no problem with Kojeves analysis. The actual disagreement with Kojeve is enabling the historicity of the psychological account of the master/slave dialectic without reducing it to material conflict between physical agents. The heart of Hegels though is the Platonic parallel between conflict in the stater and conflict in the individual agent. According to this interpretation, the quest for harmony will enable the master/slave dialectic on the levels of both the social and the psychological. The psychological perspective on this dialectic is required to comprehend the succeeding development of self consciousness. Vital to this conception is the idea that the faculties of the ego must contend in order to act because a single comprehensive faculty, regardless of the number of egos, would render them either completely static or completely destructive. Therefore, internal conflict must underlie any external conflict. There is thus the possibility of giving a psychological interpretation of the master/slave dialectic as a struggle within the soul, of the ego striving for self consciousness. Problem with Kojeve according to Carl Schmitt and Emmanuel Levinas The fundamental commonality between Schmitt and Levinas is their replacement of a Hegelian conception of politics as a struggle for recognition emanating from an originary battle to the death with the view that the originary relationship is rather between the rescuer and the victim, always in the presumed presence of some third whose ethical position is not known. At the end of a century that is characterized and dominated by the dialectic of revolution and counter revolution, a shift to Levinas and/or Schmitt can help in understanding the post cold war linkage between the global and the local as a humanitarian relation between the rescuers and the victims and a political doctrine of preemptive third party intervention. Lavina argues that, by relating to beings in the openness of being, understanding finds a meaning for them in terms of being (Lavina, 2006: 87). With this regard, understanding does not invoke them but only names them. Understanding therefore carries an act of violence and of negation. Violence is therefore a partial negation. This partial negation can be defined by the fact that without disappearing, beings are within ones power. Violence denies the independence of beings. Possession is the means whereby a being, while existing, is partially denied. Lavina holds that it is not merely a fact that the being is an instrument and a tool, that is, as a means, it is also an end. According to Lavinas, peace is the paradigmatic ethical relation between one and another in proximity. As a relationship of pure exteriority of two neighbors, each of whom is incapable of knowing the others inner life, peace is entirely different in its origin and demands from the political pursuit of justice. Lavinas sees the responsibility for other human being as anterior to every question. Lavinas acknowledges politics as involving comparison, reciprocity and equality which is external to ethics and is always about peace rather than justice, and presumes human incommensurability. The specific political distinction to which political actions can be reduced is that between friend and enemy according to Schmitt (Schmitt, 1996: 26). The antithesis of friend and enemy does not contradict to the relatively independent criteria of other antitheses. He conceives of the distinction between friend and enemy to denote the utmost degree of intensity of union or separation, association or dissociation. It can exist both in theory and in practice without having to draw from other distinctions. His view shifts from that of Kojeve in the sense that he conceives of the other not to be necessarily an economic competitor. In other words, he does not view master/slave dialectic in the sense that Kojeve views it. According to him, a political enemy does not necessarily have to appear as a competitor. According to him, only the actual participants can correctly identify, comprehend and judge the concrete situation and settle the extreme case of conflict. Each participant, he argues, is in a position to judge whether the adversary intends to negate his opponents way of life and therefore must be repulsed or fought in order to preserve ones own form of existence (Schmitt, 1996: 27). Terrorism as it pertains to master slave dialect Terrorism is an ideology of violence meant to intimidate or cause terror for the aim of exerting pressure on decision making by state bodies. It encompasses a series of acts that are meant to spread intimidation, panic, and destruction in a population. These acts can either be carried out by individuals and groups that are opposing a state or acting on behalf of the state. The question of violence is closely connected with sovereignty. The master slave dialectic must be a violence that makes sense, violence that results in the production of sense in the form of man and history. Terrorism on the other hand is a senseless violence that lays waste without recognition. In order to produce history, the master slave dialectic must produce the positions of master and slave. Because the master has not encountered death in all its terrifying reality as the absolute master and the slave has, the slave possesses the power over the master. In this situation, the act of terrorism is a struggle between masters and slaves. The terrorists have confronted the reality of death. Having defeated the slave, the master forced him to work. This labor implies that while the master is idle, the slave labors at transforming the world. The transforming labor of the slave eventually gives it the power to take up once the liberating Fight for recognition that he refused initially for fear of death. Terrorism thus becomes an element of a struggle between the master and the slave. According to master slave dialectic, the course of history is determined by this struggle.

Women in Music Entertainment Essay -- Alicia Keys Gwen Stefani Essays

Women in Music Entertainment There are so many talented female artists in music today that it's hard not to think of some right off the top of my head. Not only do they have great voices, but they're successful and confident, not to mention pretty darn rich! Some of these artists knew that they were going to become a star while they were still in diapers. The two females that I will be highlighting are two of the younger musical talents that are out in the industry at this time. They both worked hard to get to where they are today by starting off with many of the same dreams and aspirations many of us women share. These women have contributed so much at such a young age that it's almost hard to believe. Music is such a strong influence to many people today. It's especially nice when you can relate to the message that the singer is trying to provide. Sometimes it's almost as if the person is singing about your life or a situation that you are also going through. Music can heal, it can bring joy, pain, forgiveness, and realization to many of the problems we face today as women, or just as people. The first talented musician that I would like to talk about is a beautiful young woman who is pretty new on the scene, Miss Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys, who is biracial, grew up in Manhattan, New York, with her ultra-supportive mother, who put Alicia through piano lessons at the age of five. She studied classical music, and grew up to collaborate it with a jazz/hip-hop/R&B soul kind of sound. Not only can this girl sing and play the piano, she also writes her own music. Highly sought after by different record labels, Alicia Keys was signed to Arista Records in 1998. There, she continued the proc... ...o a whole new level. Gwen is always ever changing and an inspiration to many people. Her look is so different from others with her unique fashion and personality. She has even collaborated with other types of artists such as "Moby," and rapper "Eve." Gwen has graced the covers of numerous magazines, and her videos can be seen about everyday on MTV. "I'm going to be myself. I can't pretend I don't like to wear lipstick. I can't pretend that I didn't grow up playing Barbie," she said. "I guess a lot of girls feel the same way. I feel really kind of proud for that fact. I never thought I'd influence anyone," said Gwen in her interview. Well Gwen, you don't have to pretend. You're at the top, and making great music. I like you just the way you are. I'm sure many would agree! Oh, and keep on the lookout for No Doubts new CD â€Å"Rock Steady† set to come out on December 11th.

Gke Task 2

Literature, Arts and the Humanities Romanticism and Realism 02-01-2010 Romanticism and Realism are two very different periods in literary and art history. Although both periods completely disagreed with each other they were a result of the social and economic revolt. Romanticism was an artistic, literary and social movement that originated in the second half of the eighteenth century in Western Europe. The French revolution laid the background for this era as people wanted to get an escape from the confines of daily life.This late era gained momentum in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Many revolted against higher society and the political aspect of the time. The movement put a new outlook on difficult emotions such as fear and terror. Romanticism was known as a new revival of the medievalism as certain elements of the era are seen as a way to escape the new bustling world and ever populating cities in Europe. This era also attempted to embrace the exotic and the unfamiliar by using the imagination to escape. Although Romanticism began in Germany its effects were seen through the world.This influential era reached America in the early nineteenth century and was just as diverse as the movement that was quickly transitioning in the Western Europe. A modern characteristic of romanticism could be considered misunderstood and anything that may differentiate from the trends of life. Many scholars have different opinions on the characteristics of Romanticism as some believe it is a beginning of a tradition of resistance to the enlightenment and other believe it is a direct result of the French Revolution.Charles Baudelaire was quoted as characterizing romanticism as â€Å"precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth but in the way of feeling† This era emphasized intuition and imagination that has led many to believe that romantic thinking is simply irrational and crosses the line of what is acceptable thinking in and of the world during this era. In art most found a recurring theme from criticism of the past. Often artist would use woman and children in their works to depict the new pure nature. A famous artist from the Romanticism period named Thomas Cole epicted a Man’s journey through life in his â€Å"Voyage through Life† series. This exceptional expression of art shows a struggle of survival through an immense nature, from birth to death. The realism period made its mark in history from 1830 to 1870. Realism’s main principle was considered to be more of a way of thinking instead of a movement that involved a large culture. Realism went against everything Classicism and Romanticism had so strongly emphasized accusing the movement of being blind to the real world and not depicting the beauty in everyday life.This late 19th century movement took all of the elements that could falsify or bring a cloudy view to the true life hardships and successes out of art to show the beauty of real life Re alism came to France in the late 1840’s with democracy in mind. The English focused realism on social liberation of the middle and lower class by taking a stand against materialistic views from the Royal Academy. Artist during the realism period focused on optic effects and lighting and how it affected everyday life. Artist believed that Science held the key to solving the problems that every day life brought fourth.As a result, a tendency flourished among realists to produce paintings that reflected the everyday mental experiences of contemporary life. This included abstract concepts such as cultures, problems and customs which tended to focus specifically on the immediate surrounds of the artist and thusly include objects and people traditionally not considered of any artistic merit. (â€Å"A Short history,†) Romanticism was the sugar coated escape for the reality occurring around people in the late 18th century however Realism went completely against what romanticis m held to be so important in its period.The Realism period provided a scientific answer for the imbalance in society caused but the Romantic views of people in the late 18th century. Realism showed how important it was to appreciate everyday life and the works that contributed to your society as Romanticism tended to rebel against all political and social influences of the time period. Realism waged a metaphorical battle against any art that depicted emotions or romanticism. Realism seemed to fade when the Impressionism period came to light. This period has some similarities to realism.The Impressionism period reflected a more extended version of realism. Impressionism was more scenic and landscape but still focused on using everyday life as the basis of the art. . Francisco Goya’s performed etchings such as his work â€Å"The Sleep of reason† he believed art should reflect the way the world was without illusion. (â€Å"Learn about realism,†) These periods broug ht us great writers such as Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne and artist such as Eugene Delacroix that have greatly influenced the artist and writers of today.Although both periods completely disagreed with each other they were both a result of the social and economic situation that was in need of a solution. Bibliography Learn about realism. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. arthistory-famousartists-paintings. com/Realism. html A Short history on realism. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. frontpainting. com/famous-paintings-realism. html Honour, H. (1974). Romanticism. New York, New York: Westview press .

The Contingency Theory Of Management

Starbucks has evolved one of the fastest flourishing companies in the United States. Get downing from 1992, the company ‘s net gross improved at a compounded growing rate of 20 % , to $ 3.3 billion in financial 2002. Gross net incomes have grown at an one-year compounded growing rate of 30 % to $ 218 million in financial 2002, which is the highest figure in net earning of company ‘s history ( See Exhib it 1 ) . As Business Week tells it: On Wall Street, Starbucks comes last biggest growing narrative. Its stock, including four splits, has raised more than 2,200 % over the old decennary, exceling Wal-Mart, General Electric, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and IBM in aggregative return. Now at $ 21 [ September 2002 ] , it is vibrating near its all-time high of $ 23 in July [ 2002 ] , before the overall pronounced bead. 1 To go on this rapid gait of growing, the house ‘s senior executives are looking to spread out internationally. Specifically, they are interested in farther enlargement in Europe ( including the Middle East ) , Asia Pacific ( including Australia and New Zealand ) and Latin America. Expanding in these three continents represents both a challenge and an chance to Starbucks. While the chance of increased grosss from farther enlargement is readily evident to the company ‘s top direction, what is non clear is how to cover with turning â€Å" anti-globalization † sentiment around the universe. This instance looks at issues that are originating as Starbucks starts to rule java markets around the universe and explores the alterations which might be required in scheme. The 25-year end of the company is to be an enduring, and great company with the uttermost respected and recognized trade name in the universe, known for inspiring and fostering the human sprit. The mission statement of the company is to joint several steering rules to estimate the rightness of house ‘s determination. In depicting Starbucks ‘ echt attack towards competition, Fortune notes: The scheme is straightforward: Blanket an country wholly, even if the shops cannibalize each other ‘s concern. A new shop will frequently pull off to capture about 30 % of the gross revenues of a nearby Starbucks, but the company takes this as a good thing: The everywhere attack of the Starbucks cuts down the costs direction and bringing, it decreases the client lines at single shops, and increases pes traffic for all the shops in an country. Last hebdomad 20 million people purchased a cup of java at a Starbucks. No American retail merchant has a highest figure of client visit. A typical client Michigans by 18 times a month ; since the company went public, It has climbed an norm of 20 % a twelvemonth. Even in down economic system, Starbucks traffics have risen between 6 to 8 per centum a twelvemonth. Possibly even most noticeable fact that Starbucks has managed to bring forth those sorts of the Numberss with virtually no selling by giving merely one per centum of one-year income on advertisement. For several old ages, Perceivers have found that US coffee-bar market may be nearing towards impregnation. They point to tag consolidation, as bigger participants of java saloon snap up some of the smaller java saloon rivals. More, they take a note that Starbucks ‘ shop base is excessively maturing, and making to lag in the growing of unit volume and house net income. In the response of that, some point, Starbucks has changed its way towards foreign markets for the continued growing. For illustration Business Week notes: To counterbalance the hesitating returns of its first decennary, Starbucks has no pick but to export its construct smartly. Indeed some perceivers give Starbucks merely 2 old ages maximal before it saturates the U.S. market. The concatenation now [ in August 2002 ] operates 1200 international mercantile establishments, from Beijing to Bristol. This gives immense room for grow. Infact, about 400 or its planned 1200 new shops in this twelvemonth would be constructed overseas, which will stand for a 35 % rise in its foreign base. Starbucks hopes to duplicate the measure of its shops globally, to about 10,000 in 3 twelvemonth period. Our attitude towards international enlargement is to set focus foremost on the partnership, and state 2nd. We believe in local connexion to get everything up and working. Finding the right local spouses is the key to negociate local ordinances and others jobs. We search for spouses who are common in our values, civilization, and motivations about community development. We are fundamentally interested in spouses who could steer us in the procedure of induction in foreign location. We are seeking the houses with: ( 1 ) common doctrine to ours in footings of shared values, corporate citizenship, and committedness to be in the concern for long draw, ( 2 ) experience with multi-unit eating house, ( 3 ) For the bar of impersonators, holding resources to spread out the Starbucks construct rapidly. , ( 4 ) To pick premier existent estate locations, holding strong real-estate experience along with cognition, ( 5 ) Must be holding cognition of retail market, and ( 6 ) committedness of the peop le should be available to our undertaking. In an international joint venture, it is the spouse that chooses shop sites, does all the preparatory and choice work, which are so submitted for blessing to Starbucks. Cydnie Horwat, VP for International Assets Development Systems and Infrastructure, elaborates how a Starbucks market entry program initiates with trade name edifice, which afterwards facilitates further rapid enlargement in a state: When come ining a market foremost, we look for different things in the initial 1 to 3 old ages than subsequently on. During these early old ages we are developing our trade name. Our shops are the largest beginning of advertisement, as they do n't make a batch of separate advertisement. Therefore we possess higher investing in shops in the first 3 old ages. Approximately 60 to seventy per centum of shops which are opened in these initial 3 old ages are our biggest brand-builders. Before 10 old ages, we had 125 shops and 2000 employees. Today we have 62,000 employees working in 30 different states outside of North America, who are functioning about 22 million clients in a hebdomad. Our nucleus client comes about 18 times a month. With the bulk of grownups throughout ball imbibing 2 cups of java a twenty-four hours and with Starbucks holding less than seven percent portion of aggregative java ingestion in the U.S. and less than one per centum globally, these are the initial yearss for the growing and advancement of company. We have got a theoretical account that is rather good tested from market to market. Starbucks is good on its way to go a planetary trade name. Harmonizing to Business Week: [ T ] he Starbucks name and image is associated with 1000000s of people around the universe who consume its merchandises. In Business Week study of the top hindered international trade names published in August 5 [ 2002 ] It came one of the quickly turning trade names. At a clip when one corporate star after another has collapsed to earth, brought down by disclosures of net incomes misstatements, executive greed, or worse, Starbucks has non faultered. But being a international company is non risk free. As Business Week points out, Global enlargement carries a large hazard for Starbucks. For one thing, it makes decreased money one every overseas shop as most of them are operated with local spouses. While this makes easier to get down on foreign sod, it decreases company ‘s portion of the net incomes to merely 20 to 50 per centum.

Definition and Examples of Syncrisis in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Syncrisis in Rhetoric Syncrisis is a  rhetorical figure  or exercise in which opposite persons or things are compared,  usually in order to evaluate their relative worth. Syncrisis is a type of antithesis. Plural: syncrises. In classical rhetorical studies, syncrisis sometimes served as one of the progymnasmata. Syncrisis in its expanded form may be regarded as a literary genre and a variety of epideictic rhetoric. In his article Syncrisis: The Figure of Contestation, Ian Donaldson observes that syncrisis once served throughout Europe as a central element in the school curriculum, in the training of orators, and in the formation of principles of literary and moral discrimination (Renaissance Figures of Speech, 2007). EtymologyFrom the Greek, combination, comparison Examples I pictured a rainbow;You held it in your hands.I had flashes,But you saw the plan.I wandered out in the world for years,While you just stayed in your room.I saw the crescent;You saw the whole of the moon! . . .I was groundedWhile you filled the skies.I was dumbfounded by truth;You cut through lies.I saw the rain dirty valley;You saw Brigadoon.I saw the crescent;You saw the whole of the moon!(Mike Scott, The Whole of the Moon. Performed by the Waterboys on This Is the Sea, 1985)He always feels hot. I always feel cold. In the summer when it really is hot he does nothing but complain about how hot he feels. He is irritated if he sees me put a jumper on in the evening.He speaks several languages well; I do not speak any well. He managesin his own wayto speak even the languages he doesnt know.He has an excellent sense of direction, I have none at all. After one day in a foreign city he can move about in it as thoughtlessly as a butterfly. I get lost in my own city; I have to ask direction s so that I can get back home again. He hates asking directions; when we go by car to a town we dont know he doesnt want to ask directions and tells me to look at the map. I dont know how to read maps and I get confused by all the little red circles and he loses his temper.He loves the theatre, painting, music, especially music. I do not understand music at all, painting doesnt mean much to me and I get bored at the theatre. I love and understand one thing in the world and that is poetry. . . .(Natalia Ginzburg, He and I. The Little Virtues, 1962; Carcanet Press, 1985) The Wider Implications of Syncrisis The syncrisis . . . is an exercise with wider implications: a formal comparison (compare and contrast). The original sophists had been notable for their inclination to plead for and against, and here is the art of antithesis on its largest scale. To produce a syncrisis one could simply juxtapose a pair of encomia or psogoi [invective] in parallel: as in comparing the ancestry, education, deeds and death of Achilles and Hector; or one could produce an equally effective sense of contrast by placing an encomium of Achilles, say, beside that of Thersites. The celebrated contrast of Demosthenes between himself and Aeschines illustrates the technique at its briefest and most effective: You did the teaching, I was a pupil; you did the initiations, I was the initiate; you were a small-time actor, I came to see the play; you were hissed off, I did the hissing. All your dealings have served our enemies; mine the state. . . . [T]here are the same obviously sophistic implications to such an exercise as for encomium and psogos: that details may be emphasized or manipulated in the interest of balance rather than truth, sometimes in the most patently artificial way.(Graham Anderson, The Second Sophistic: A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire. Routledge, 1993)   Syncrisis as Modelling by Luke the Evangelist Syncrisis is an ancient rhetorical device. It consists in modeling the presentation of a character on another in order to compare them, or at least to establish a correlation between the two. . . .The most complete example of Lucan syncrisis is the Jesus-Peter-Paul parallel. . . . To summarize briefly: Peter and Paul heal as Jesus healed (Luke 5. 18-25; Acts 3. 1-8; Acts 14. 8-10); like Jesus at his baptism, Peter and Paul receive an ecstatic vision at the key moments of their ministry (Acts 9.3-9; 10. 10-16); like Jesus, they preach and endure the hostility of the Jews; like their master, they suffer and are threatened by death; Paul is brought before the authorities like Jesus (Acts 21-6); and like him, Peter and Paul are delivered miraculously at the end of their lives (Acts 12. 6-17; 24. 27-28. 6).(Daniel Marguerat, The First Christian Historian: Writing the Acts of the Apostles. Cambridge University Press, 2002) Pronunciation: SIN-kruh-sis

Causes of Disequilibrium in the economy

Causes of Disequilibrium in the economy Economists usually define general disequilibrium as the state in which contrasting market forces of supply and demand fail to reach a balance and there exist an intrinsic inclination for change. The main indicator of market disequilibrium is the continuation of shortages either in the demand or supply side of the economy. There are two main models that hold divergent views concerning disequilibrium namely the classical and Keynesian models   [ 1 ]   . Causes of disequilibrium Generally, the major causes for disequilibrium in the markets if the deficiencies created either in the aggregate demand or aggregate supply side of the economy. This means that in such circumstances the market does not clear. Main causes of disequilibrium are understood in the light of the economic model s followed by scholars. For instance, the Keynesian theory’s causes differ from that of classical economists. For instance, following Keynesians’ view, disequilibrium arises when there are di sparities between leakages and injections where as classical economists argue that if such cases arise, price always adjust to bring the economy back to equilibrium.   [ 2 ]    In the above diagram, equilibrium occurs at point P2-Q2 where AD2= AS. At that point, the economy is at full employment. Below this point the economy is in disequilibrium whereby it is operating below full employment. Keynesian theory’s view s about disequilibrium Keynesian theory is the widely used model that explains the general equilibrium using the IS-LM model. Keynesian model construe that markets may not be self-adjusting therefore the markets would not lead to full employment equilibrium if the economy is left to self-regulate. Keynes used the income-expenditure theory to explain the concept of disequilibrium and full employments. He came up with a detailed analysis of the functions of money, functions of interest rates as well as the aspect of relative prices. Keynesian theory postulates th at equilibrium usually occurs below the full employment level. Keynes argued that constant equilibrium cannot prevail due to the existence of involuntary unemployment.   [ 3 ]    In the commodity markets, Keynesians clearly outlines the major disparities that usually reinforce a state of disequilibrium. They compare the aggregate expenditure which includes household consumption, investment function as well as government spending with the effective demand. They postulate that when the economy operates below the intersection of the two, it means there is an imbalance/disequilibrium.   [ 4 ]    Keynesians denied the supply side of the classical economists. Keynes stated that firms should be given the supply schedule so that they can demand smaller amounts than the existing national demand schedule. Keynes explained the causes of disparities in supply and demand separately. According to him, supply creates income. He postulated that what people produce is the one which is bought therefore supply’s value at all times equals the income value. The income is spent by the earners in consumption of more goods. Keynesian economists advocate an increase in government spending when the economy is below full employment in order to stimulate the economy.   [ 5 ]    Classical economists Classical economists holds the notion that markets are self regulatory which is opposite of Keynesian views. They construe that whenever disequilibrium state occurs between the leakages and the injections, prices usually adjusts to re-establish the general equilibrium. They held assumption that there prices are flexible savings are equal to investments as well as embracing the say’s law which states that supply creates its own demand. Explaining the aspect of disequilibrium through say’s law, classical theorists construe that aggregate production in the economy have to create sufficient income that to buy all units of income, failure to which disequilibrium occ ur.   [ 6 ]

Financial Performance of Morrison Plc Assignment

Financial Performance of Morrison Plc - Assignment Example Return on equity (ROE) provides information regarding how much profit the company has been able to generate in regards to its equity. A high ROE is desirable. Return on assets (ROA) tells an investor how effective a company has been at producing profits from its assets. A high metric is the desired output. The debt to equity ratio measures how much debt a company has with regards to its total equity. A low ratio is a good sign. The current ratio compares the current debt a company has in regards to its current liabilities. The formula is current assets divided by current liabilities. A high ratio is a warning because it’s a sign that the firm is having liquidity problems. Working capital is calculated by subtracting current liabilities from current assets. A positive working capital is the desired output. The quick acid ratio is calculated with the same formula as the current ratio except that in the numerator you must subtract prepaid expenses and inventory. The sales to asse t ratio represent how much revenue a company is generating in regards to its total assets. It is important to understand that in order to perform a complete analysis of the company’s performance utilizing ratio analysis the financial analyst must perform research to obtain information about the industry standard ratio performance. The results of the financial ratio analysis reflect that the performance of the company has declined between 2008 and 2009. The net margin, return on equity and return on assets metrics decreased in 2009. The current ratio went up by 4%. The company has liquidity problems evidence by its negative working capital for both 2008 and 2009. Based on the ratio analysis performed on Morrison Plc for the years 2008 and 2009 the researcher would not invest in the company. Prior to making giving this recommendation, the author would need to compare the 2009 ratio results with the industry standard.