Ethics Issue in China Case Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics Issue in China Case Report - Essay Example Hence, the main issue was the difficulty to arrive at a decision on whether the operations in China should continue or not. The ethical stance taken by Levi’s with regards to human rights (arbitrary arrests, poor prison conditions, personal privacy) was not possible to follow in China and hence, it created an ethical problem for the organization. The ethical principles that got violated the most are the principles related to Respect for Autonomy and Justice (Trevino and Nelson, 2011). The ethical principle of Respect for Autonomy is based on the tenet that people should have the freedom to reign over them and also take the decisions that they want to. However, in China, Levis Strauss and Co found this violated their ethical stance because the leadershipin China had refused to ratify the 10 basic guidelines which prohibit the use of forced used of labor according to the International Labor Organization. Similarly, the country has also enforced forced family planning, again prov ing to violate the principles related to Respect for Autonomy. The people did not have much choice when it came to these matters of basic human rights and hence, were forced to comply, thus creating an environment where they could not do want they actually wanted to. The ethical principle related to Justice has not also been upheld with regards to human rights in China. ... Levi Strauss and Co has been known as an organization that has taken a very strong stance against any form of ethical violation. Even though there were speculations regarding entering the Chinese market (China’s stand on many human rights issue was known even before the operations began), the plan to operate from China was implemented in the hope that continued presence of many U.S based organizations can have an impact on the stance adopted by China. However, over the years, Levi Strauss realized that the issues were quite big to be solved just with the help of corporate presence. Hence, the organization was faced with a big question of whether to continue its operations for the profitability or to withdraw its operations based on ethical grounds, something that the organization has always proudly endorsed. The China Policy Group as well as deliberations by the senior management failed to come up with a decision regarding China operations. In the end, the CEO took the bold de cision to bring about an end to the operations in China due to ‘pervasive violation of human rights’. A corporate organization does not merely operate with the sole goal to improve its profitability, but in addition, it also forms a set of ethics that would help it achieve its profitability with the help of certain value system. As Levi Strauss and Co had followed, endorsed and promoted these values for a long time, it is difficult for them to operate in an environment where these values do not have meaning. Hence, it becomes an ethical issue and the organization was forced to weigh out their options between ethical stances versus profitability, ultimately deciding to withdraw its operations. 2. Resolve the case using

The Gender Theory Essay Example for Free

The Gender Theory Essay Shopping is something that can be quickly defined as a woman’s paradise or â€Å"realm of expertise†. It has often been said that women spend more time and money shopping that men spend time and money shopping. In my experiment, I will go to Costco and choose five people at random. I intend to prove that women will spend more time and money shopping at Costco than men will spend time and money at Costco. I also intend to prove that more women will need assistance with placing their items in their vehicles than men will need assistance with placing their items in their vehicles. The gender role theory played a significant role in this experiment. In the theory, women assume the role of the nurturer and caregiver. Men, on the other hand, assume the role of the protector and the aggressor. Subject A- Female (37) 1. Time spent in Costco- two hours. 2. Amount spent in Costco- $149. 27. 3. Assistance needed with placing items in vehicle? No Subject B- Female (52) 1. Time spent in Costco- one hour. 2. Amount spent in Costco- $50. 12. 3. Assistance needed with placing items in vehicle? No Venus vs. Mars 3 Subject C- Male (31) 1. Time spent in Costco- three hours and thirty minutes. 2. Amount spent in Costco- $412. 92. 3. Assistance needed with placing items in vehicle? Yes Subject D- Male (47) 1. Time spent in Costco- three hours. 2. Amount spent in Costco- $371. 58. 3. Assistance needed with placing items in vehicle? Yes Subject E- Male (22) 1. Time spent in Costco- twenty minutes. 2. Amount spent in Costco- $22. 12. 3. Assistance needed with placing items in vehicle? No The gender role theory was switched with the test subjects. The women, Subjects A and B, were defensive when approached for the experiment. They both were short and to the point with their answers. They were both aggressive to the point wherein they asked me to stand at least an arms length away from them. The men, on the other hand, were quite the opposite. Subjects C and D both were inviting and talkative. They both shook my hand and held lengthy conversations with me after I assisted them with placing the items in their respective vehicles. Subject E behaved the same way as Subjects A and B. Venus vs. Mars 4 The expected outcome did not occur. Out of the five test subjects, the men spent more time and money shopping at Costco. The men, for the most part, were the ones who required assistance with placing their belongings in their vehicles. If this experiment were to be performed again, more test subjects should be used in order to have a basis for proving or disproving the gender theory.

Essay --

One job the requires algebra is an Animator. Animators have to draw all kinds of pictures and cartoons and it requires them to use linear algebra for every movement a character or object may make. Algebra also helps create special effects to make the images shine and sparkle. The requirements you must have to do this type of job is that of course you have to have talent, some type of degree in animation, and be pretty decent in math. Animators make around $47,000 a year. Another job that requires algebra would be an accountant. Accountants have to use algebraic equations and lots of graphs. The math is used to make sure things balance and that everything is correct. Using algebra when accounting is very important because it tells you or the person you're helping, know how much they can spend. Requirements are is that you must have a degree in accounting, must have all credits and good grades (pretty much just pass), you must pass the CPA and ethics exam, and have your license. Accountants make around $60,000 a year. A geologist is another job that algebra is required in. They us...

War of 1812 Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and the United States fought primarily in Upper Canada. It had many causes, few which involved British North America. The results of the war include the fact that there was no clear winner or loser among them. The only real losers in the situation were the Natives in the region. They were driven out of their lands and customs. None of the borders was changed by the war, though many attempts were made. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, did nothing to advance the state of the countries. It went so far as to end the war and put things back the way that they were, but the main causes of the conflict were not addressed or dealt with. In order to evaluate the significance of this war, Canadian victories and losses, as well as overall results, must be analyzed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most Canadian victories came in the form of preventing American attack from being successful. This is the main Canadian reason for believing they won this war. An example of this occurred on 12 July 1812, when General Hull and his troops crossed into Canada. Their invasion was promptly met and turned away by opposing forces. This also happened in the Battle of Raisin River on 21 January 1813. American General Winchester surrendered to British Colonel Proctor, losing 500 prisoners. Perhaps the most significant of Canadian victories was the burning of Washington. When the British forces won the battle of Bladensburg, it â€Å"opened the door to Washington†. The Capitol Building and the White House were destroyed but luckily, for the Americans, torrential rains put out fires in the rest of the city. To the Canadians from 1812-1814, this was reason enough to believe that they were victorious. To Canadians now it seems a shallow way to claim triumph.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Notable role models were born out of this war for Canadians. Sir Isaac Brock was a prominent figure. He was â€Å"Commander of Forces in Upper Canada† and later added Administrator to his title. Being engulfed by politics proved too much for Brock, who left to join forces in the march upon Detroit (August 1812). He led troops to victory here, but lost his life in the Battle of Queenston Heights in October 1812. To this day, Brock is well renowned throughout Canada as a fearless leader and important to the history of the country. Another... ...sp;Canada: Copp Clark Ltd., 1998 Feldmeth, Greg. Key Events and Causes: War of 1812, 31 March 1998,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://home.earthlink.net~gfeldmeth/chart/1812.html (21 October 1999, 5   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  November 1999) Filewood, Alan. â€Å"National Battles: Canadian Monumental Drama and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Investiture of History.† In Modern Drama. 38. (Spring 1995) 71-86 Stanley, George F.G. The War of 1812 Land Operations. Canada: MacMillian of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Canada, 1983 Turner, Wesley. The War of 1812. The War That Both Sides Won.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1990 Zaslow, Morris. The Defended Border, Upper Canada and the War of 1812.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Toronto: MacMillian of Canada, 1983 The War of 1812- Causes of the War, â€Å"n.d.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www2.andrews.edu/~downm.causes.html (26 October 1999, 13   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  November 1999) The War of 1812, Major Battles, â€Å"n.d† http://multied.com/1812.html (18   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  October 1999, 5 November 1999)

Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3

I neither packed nor called Dante when I got home. I was exhausted. Talking to Seth had been too depressing. I lived too close to the bookstore, I decided. What had once been convenient now felt oppressive. A few blocks simply wasn't enough distance between Seth and me. I kind of wished Emerald City had another branch somewhere that I could work. In lieu of that, maybe I was the one who needed to find a new residence. My lease here was ending soon, and until now, I'd never considered anything except renewing. Moving was a startling-and weirdly appealing-thought, and I pondered it as I drifted off to sleep that night, my cat Aubrey snuggled against my legs. The next morning, I had to scramble to pack my things. Jerome hadn't given me any specific time to be in Vancouver, only â€Å"soon.† I decided not to test the exact terms of that. Packing didn't take long, fortunately. I could shape-shift any clothing I wanted, but I had some favorites I preferred to just take with me. It was another lingering human habit. There were also cosmetics and other toiletries I wanted with me; I liked to do my own hair and makeup if I had the time. I was pouring my third cup of coffee in the kitchen when I felt the tingle of immortal signatures appear in my living room. Only a higher immortal, like a demon or angel, could directly teleport in, and I immediately recognized these two. Grace and Mei. They were Jerome's lieutenant demonesses. Heaven ran its agenda in a haphazard way, but ours was carefully organized. Territory was parceled out to archdemons, who in turn controlled a network of subordinate demons and lesser immortals like me and my friends: succubi, vampires, and imps. Jerome handled the big issues in the area, went to meetings with the demons who were above him, and was in charge of discipline. Grace and Mei handled the minutiae and paperwork and also kept an eye on the far reaches of Jerome's territory, areas he was too busy for and uninterested in. His full jurisdiction actually stretched along the coast of western Washington, though his base of operation was the Seattle metropolitan area. That was also where most of his staff was located. He only kept an occasional eye on the outskirts and left it to Grace and Mei to keep him apprised of what occurred there. For whatever reason, the demonesses always wore matching clothing. Today they sported black pantsuits, tailored to a perfect fit. Grace was blond and Mei black-haired, but their hairstyles were also similar: bluntly cut at the chin. Both wore brick-red lipstick. â€Å"Good morning, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We're here with last-minute instructions,† said Mei. â€Å"Oh, okay.† I was relieved. I'd been afraid Jerome had sent them to find out why I hadn't already crossed the Canadian border. â€Å"You guys want some coffee?† I offered them something every time they were here, and every time, they refused. So, I was a bit astonished when Grace asked, â€Å"What kind?† â€Å"Um†¦Starbucks. Their house blend.† â€Å"No,† replied Grace and Mei in unison. I shrugged and sat down on the couch. Aubrey had been lying there a minute ago but was nowhere in sight now. She hated these two. Mostly they creeped me out. â€Å"Okay,† I asked. â€Å"What's the scoop?† They remained standing. Mei crossed her arms. â€Å"Jerome wants you to understand the situation with Cedric. The two of them have had a†¦disagreement over territorial lines.† This perked my interest. â€Å"Ah. It's him, then. We'd heard Jerome had something going on with another demon.† â€Å"The two of them had been eyeing each other's areas,† explained Grace. â€Å"In the hopes of expanding their own boundaries into one large Pacific Northwest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused thoughtfully. â€Å"†¦empire?† I suggested. She shrugged by way of agreement. â€Å"Something like that,† said Mei. â€Å"But eventually, they put the dispute aside and gave up, each settling for their current territories. That's why Jerome is lending you to Cedric, as a sign of good will.† I was too intrigued to retort about the degradation of Jerome â€Å"lending† me to anyone. â€Å"Jerome doesn't do things out of good will,† I pointed out, recalling his snide remark about altruism last night. â€Å"There's more going on.† Grace nodded. â€Å"Indeed. Jerome suspects that Cedric actually hasn't given up the struggle and is still plotting against him. Jerome wants you to spy and report back.† Oh, I didn't like that. Not at all. â€Å"He wants me to spy on another demon? An arch demon? Do you know what kind of trouble I could get in if Cedric finds out?† Neither demoness said anything. It was no concern of theirs if I got smote. Considering Jerome's current attitude toward me, it probably wasn't much of a concern for him either, aside from having to send a requisition to Personnel for a new succubus. â€Å"So,† continued Mei, â€Å"you'll have two agendas. You need to let Jerome know what Cedric's doing. And, you need to infiltrate Cedric's problem cult and keep them in line-although, if you make things a little uncomfortable for Cedric along the way, Jerome won't mind.† â€Å"Right. The Canadian Satanists. What on earth are they doing that's such a big deal? Putting 666 on the backs of hockey jerseys?† My joke had no effect on either demoness. Someday, I thought, I'd get one of them to crack a smile. â€Å"They're attracting attention, enough that Cedric's superiors are embarrassed. They'd prefer this cult conduct its evil in more subtle ways.† â€Å"Last I knew, true Satanists aren't actually evil per se,† I mused. The rep aside, most Satanists were more into just acknowledging chaos and humanity's wild, base nature. â€Å"Most aren't actually out conducting bloody rituals or spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Actually,† said Mei, â€Å"this group is spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Oh,† I said. â€Å"That's lame.† â€Å"They think they're evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  began Grace. â€Å"†¦but they're not,† finished Mei. â€Å"They need to be reined in.† â€Å"Okay, sure. No problem.† Influencing wannabe Satanists was a piece of cake compared to spying on a demon. I glanced at the time. â€Å"Anything else? I should probably head out.† â€Å"Yes,† said Mei. â€Å"Jerome wants you to check in on Tawny.† â€Å"Seriously?† I groaned. â€Å"He hates me.† The demonesses neither confirmed nor denied this statement. â€Å"See you around, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We'll check in,† said Mei. They vanished. With a heavy heart, I finished my packing and told Aubrey good-bye. Then I lugged my suitcase down to my Passat, off to play Mata Hari. I just hoped my end would be better than hers. Once you clear Everett, a naval city just north of Seattle, the drive up to Canada is pretty easy. The speed limit goes up, and the most exciting attractions along the way are casinos and outlet malls. About a half-hour from the border, I reached Bellingham, the current residence of Tawny Johnson. Tawny was a succubus, a very new succubus. Technically, I was her mentor, but her assignment in Bellingham mercifully limited our interactions. She'd come to Seattle back in December and had gotten involved with an imp named Niphon who'd been trying to make my life more of a living hell than it already was. He'd roped her into his plans, and as angry as I'd been about it, I knew the fault was his more than hers. She hadn't really known what she was doing and had been convinced he could help fast-track her career. Nonetheless, she'd gotten in enough trouble that Jerome had sent her out of the city. It was better than being sent back to Hell, so really, the arrangement suited all of us just fine. I gave her a call, and we met up at a caf? ¦ just off I-5. Tawny was easy to spot when she entered the place. Despite the fact that Tawny had been kind of a con artist when she was a mortal-a profession you'd think would lend itself well to succubus work-she was actually pretty horrible at seduction. Oh, she could still get guys to sleep with her, but it was more thanks to her availability rather than any particular wiles on her part. In particular, she was convinced that the most alluring form she could take was that of a six-foot blonde with breasts that would have given a human a back injury. Tawny also had a penchant for spandex and metallic fabrics that I found disturbing but that delighted Hugh and the vampires to no end. I made a mental note to tell them about the chartreuse hot pants she wore today. â€Å"Georgina!† she exclaimed, dancing over to my table on gold stilettos. â€Å"I'm so happy to see you.† She held out her arms, like maybe I was supposed to stand and hug her, but I remained sitting. Taking the hint, she sat down as well. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"I'm going to Vancouver,† I said, wrapping my hands around my white chocolate mocha. â€Å"Jerome wanted me to stop by and see how things were going.† Her eyes lit up. â€Å"Great! I've been spending a lot of time over at Western.† She leaned forward and spoke in a sage voice. â€Å"You know, if you're ever having trouble getting someone into bed, you should go check out college guys. They're so easy.† â€Å"Thanks for the tip,† I said dryly. â€Å"I'll keep it in mind.† She pursed her lips and eyed me. â€Å"Doesn't look like you need it, though,† she added wistfully. â€Å"I could never get a glow like that.† Too bad she hadn't seen the glow in full effect yesterday. It would have blown her away. â€Å"You will,† I said. â€Å"Someday.† Some day far, far away. Tawny had miles to go before gaining the subtleties required to land really moral guys. â€Å"I don't know how you do it. You aren't even blond. I mean, maybe a little, but mostly you're a brunette. I just don't see guys going for that.† My hair was long and light brown, lightly highlighted with gold. My eyes were a hazel-green that I also suspected didn't fit in with her worldview of what was sexy, at least if her baby blues were any indication. â€Å"Yeah, well, some people are into kinky stuff, I guess.† The waiter showed up and took our lunch orders. I made myself comfortable and prepared to do some mentoring. â€Å"So,† I said. â€Å"You got any questions?† Tawny titled her head, long-lashed blue eyes filled with thought. â€Å"Yeah. There's something I've been wondering about.† â€Å"Okay, go for it.† â€Å"These colleges guys†¦they're kind of, like, fast.† â€Å"Fast?† â€Å"Yeah. You get them into bed, and it's over before it begins.† â€Å"They're eighteen or twenty. Still pulsing with adolescent hormones. They don't really know what they're doing yet.† â€Å"Yeah, yeah, I know,† she said. â€Å"Except, when you're going down on them, it takes forever . You know what I mean?† I forced a straight face. â€Å"It's one of the mysteries of the universe, Tawny. You just gotta roll with it.† â€Å"But my mouth gets sore,† she whined. â€Å"Makes my jaw ache the next day! Isn't there any way to speed it up?† My immortal friends would die if they could hear this conversation. â€Å"You can try the ‘don't stop' trick. Or maybe tell them you want them to come on your face. That'll get things moving.† â€Å"Ew! That's disgusting.† I shrugged. â€Å"Don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer.† â€Å"But how can I even say anything when my mouth is, well, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus went the rest of our lunch conversation, and blow jobs turned out to be the mildest of topics. Fortunately, no one sat within listening distance. I ate my chicken salad as fast as I could, eager to be on my way. As we were paying the bill, a thought came to me. â€Å"Hey, Tawny. You're practically on top of Cedric's turf here. You ever see any signs of him and Jerome fighting?† She shook her head. â€Å"No. I've never even met Cedric. But there's a vampire here in town who's mentioned them fighting before. He seems to think it's a big deal.† â€Å"Everyone seems to, and yet†¦I don't know. I have a weird feeling about all this. Like that someone's trying to cover up something.† Tawny placed some cash on the table, her clawlike nails lacquered and red. For half a moment, she looked remarkably wise. â€Å"Back when I was doing cons, the best way to pull one past people was to make a big deal about something else. Misdirection.† It was quite possibly the most intelligent thing I'd ever heard Tawny say. â€Å"Yeah, but if so, what are we being misdirected from?† â€Å"Hell if I know. That's for smart people like you to figure out. I'm just trying to get college guys to speed up their blow jobs.† My first minute in Canada, I got pulled over. Right after you go through customs, there's a short stretch of the freeway with an incredibly low speed limit. Every time I drive through there, I try to drive that speed. And I'm the only one who ever does it. All the locals zip through that area, already driving the speed that the freeway clicks up to about half a mile (or kilometer or whatever) later. Every time, just before I officially hit the higher speed zone, I finally crack and speed up too-and that's always when the cops get me. I've been pulled over three times. This was my fourth. I handed over my license and other pertinent paperwork to the cop. â€Å"American, eh?† he asked, like it wasn't perfectly obvious. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I said. â€Å"You know you were speeding, don't you?† He mostly sounded curious, not harsh. â€Å"Was I?† I asked blankly, looking at him with doe eyes. I saw the succubus glamour seize him. â€Å"But the sign said sixty-five.† â€Å"Sixty-five kilometers per hour,† he corrected gently. â€Å"We use the metric system here.† I blinked. â€Å"Ohhhh. God, I forgot. I feel so stupid.† â€Å"It happens a lot,† he said. He handed my stuff back without even running it. â€Å"I'll tell you what. I'll let you go this time. Just make sure you get the units right, eh? Your speedometer's got kilometers per hour underneath the miles per hour.† â€Å"Oh, that's what the little numbers are for, huh-er, eh?† I gave him a dazzling smile. â€Å"Thank you so much.† So help me, he tipped his hat. â€Å"Happy to help. Be careful now, and enjoy your stay.† I thanked him again and headed off. It's worth noting here that while I've been pulled over four times in this stretch, I've also gotten off four times. Canadians. So nice. I made it into downtown Vancouver without further incident and checked into my hotel. It was a boutique one over on Robson Street, and I decided maybe Jerome didn't hate me after all. Or at least, Hell's travel agency didn't hate me. Robson was a fun neighborhood, full of restaurants and shopping. I threw my stuff into my room and then headed off to meet Cedric. He would have sensed me crossing into his territory, but I wanted it officially noted for the record that I was here so that I didn't get in further trouble with Jerome. Unlike Jerome, who was impossible to find sometimes, Cedric actually had a suite of offices over in the Financial District. I kind of liked that. The front desk was staffed by an imp named Kristin. She seemed pleasant enough, just incredibly busy. She told me I'd lucked out and that Cedric could fit me in right now. Walking into his office, I found him at his desk, reading something on Wikipedia. He glanced up. â€Å"Oh. Jerome's succubus.† He turned from the monitor and gestured to a chair opposite his desk. â€Å"Have a seat.† I sat down and immediately began assessing the office. Nothing about it screamed evil. It was neat and sleek, with an expansive window full of office buildings beyond him. Silver perpetual motion balls sat on his desk, and one of those framed motivational posters hung on the wall. It had a picture of a struggling pine sapling in front of a larger tree and read, DETERMINATION . Cedric himself didn't look too evil either. He had an average build and pretty blue-gray eyes. He kept his hair shaved army-style, and like Kristin, the biggest vibe I got off him was busy. Inasmuch as one could be busy surfing Wikipedia, that is. I glanced at the screen, curious as to what he'd been looking at. Demonic takeovers, perhaps? â€Å"Oh, that,† he said, following my gaze. â€Å"Just a hobby of mine. It's the entry on marsupials. I just like going in sometimes and putting in incorrect information. It's always fun to see how long it takes them to notice. They're better about it than they used to be, but that just makes it more of a challenge. I just wrote about how marsupials are an integral part of the Lutheran Eucharist.† He chuckled at his own ingenuity. â€Å"God, I hated the Reformation.† I smiled, not entirely sure what to say. Cedric clasped his hands in front of him, face turning serious. â€Å"So, let's get down to business. You're here to spy on me.† My mouth opened, but nothing coherent came out right away. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He waved his hand. â€Å"No, no, it's fine. You don't honestly expect me to believe Jerome would do me a favor without strings attached? Whatever. I don't have anything to hide. He can keep his territory-I'm too busy watching my own. You can tell him whatever you want so long as you do what I need you to.† â€Å"Right,† I said, finding my voice at last. â€Å"Your embarrassing Satanic cult.† He grimaced. â€Å"God, those guys are such a pain in the ass. What do you know about them?† â€Å"That they aren't Satanists like the usual groups, not like Anton LaVey's followers or the anti-Christians.† I felt like a student reciting in front of a class. â€Å"They think they're anti-Christian, but mostly, they're just ridiculous. Just some flakes in search of identity who got together and thought it'd be cool to be evil. They have meetings in robes and keep making up secret handshakes.† â€Å"And that's a problem?† â€Å"Nah, I don't care about any of that. They can play dress-up all they want. What's annoying is that they're doing all the things people think evil people do but don't actually do. They ripped up a bunch of bibles once and left them on this church's lawn. They also appear to have a fondness for spray paint.† â€Å"I heard about that.† â€Å"They keep writing stupid stuff like ‘The Angel of Darkness is Lord' and ‘What Would Satan Do?'† Cedric rolled his eyes. â€Å"Yeah, like that's original.† â€Å"I can see why you'd be embarrassed,† I admitted. â€Å"No kidding. The worst part is that they're attracting some media attention- especially among local churches. So, now those guys are doing their own sort of backlash and triggering a whole bunch of demonstrations about faith and light and all that stuff. Not what we need. Kind of defeats our purpose, really.† â€Å"What do you want me to do?† â€Å"Kristin hangs out with them sometimes. They know her and recognize what side she works for, but frankly, she doesn't have the people skills to manipulate them. She'll take you to them and give them some bullshit about how you're high-ranking in the ways of evil or something equally absurd. Then, I want you to hang out with them and just be part of their group. Stop them from doing more stupid things. Get them to go back to their role-playing in the basement. Hell, if you can convince them to disband, go for it.† He eyed me. â€Å"You're a succubus. You've been around for a while. You should be able to talk them into anything.† I nodded. â€Å"I can.† â€Å"Good. I'm tired of them. I'm not allowed to interfere directly, and my own people are too busy.† He stood up and walked toward the door. I took the hint and followed. â€Å"Do whatever you want the rest of the day. Kristin'll take you over to them tomorrow. Check them out. See what you think. I've got some appointments in the morning, but stop by anyway and give me your impressions of those fools.† â€Å"Is there anything in particular you want me to find out for you?† â€Å"Yes,† he said. â€Å"In addition to keeping them out of trouble, I want you to simply observe them. They're not just attracting media attention-they're attracting attention from my superiors.† Ah, yeah. Hell could get pissy about that kind of thing. â€Å"If someone's purposely manipulating them, I want to know.† â€Å"Okay.† He gave me a narrow-eyed look. â€Å"And I hope it's not Jerome.† He still had that mild, businesslike exterior, but I heard the stern note in his voice. I shivered but gave him a smile anyway, trying not to think about misdirection. â€Å"I hope not either.† I was a bit surprised at how short my meeting with Cedric had been. I was more surprised still that after all the grief Jerome had given me about the urgency of this trip, I now had nothing to do. Of course, if he was trying to get rid of me, this was as good a way as any. My bad attitude and I were out of Seattle. It was dinnertime when I got back to Robson Street, so I found food at an Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks from my hotel and lingered over the remains of my meal with a novel I'd picked up a few days ago. Afterward, I wandered up and down the street, looking at various shops and designers, but eventually had to stop after passing two T-shirt stores. One sold retro stuff and had a dark purple Quiet Riot shirt in their window. Another sold Canadian souvenirs and displayed a shirt showing a map of Canada in red with a map of the U.S. below it in blue. The caption read: â€Å"Canada Likes It on Top.† If I'd still been dating Seth, I would have bought him both. He would have shaken his head and given me a slight quirk of the lips as he tried to hide his smile. The thought depressed me, and I found myself growing sadder and sadder as I walked back to my hotel. In that moment, I would have given anything to be with Seth again, to right the wrongs we'd done to each other back around Christmastime. Losing him was losing a part of me that- Searing, white-hot anger suddenly shot through me. What the fuck was I whining about? Why should I miss him? Why should I pine for someone who'd betrayed me and hurt me with my friend , of all people? Seth didn't deserve my longing or my love, and as I continued walking, that dark despair within me transformed to rage and spite-just as it had done nearly every day for the past four months. When I got back to the hotel, I was no longer sad. I was pissed. I hated everyone and everything, but especially Seth. I wanted to make him pay. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that, not here in Vancouver. Passing near the hotel's bar on my way through the lobby, I paused and surveyed the patrons. It was a veritable smorgasbord of men, most of them lone travelers making transient friends over their drinks. My succubus lust sprang up in me, and suddenly, all I wanted was to get drunk and go to bed with some guy. I wanted to lose myself in the haze of alcohol and fucking, in the hopes that it might all dull the pain that lay buried under my anger. And as I scanned the room, one guy in particular caught my attention. The face was all wrong, but he had hair almost the same color as Seth's. It was worn messy too, though it appeared as though he'd achieved that look with gel, rather than the lack of brushing Seth employed. No, this guy wasn't a perfect match by any means, but he was close, and there was an aura of shy vulnerability about him that I liked. Putting on a smile, I strolled across the room to introduce myself. I might not be able to actually punish Seth, but at least for tonight, I could pretend that I could.

Differences in the movie and book of Shawshank Redemption essays

Differences in the movie and book of Shawshank Redemption essays The novella Shawshank Redemption and Rita Hayworth by Stephen King is the basis of the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont. This moving and inspirational film follows the book very closely in relation to the characters and plot, however does include some very significant changes. These range from the atmosphere in which the characters must live, to furthering your understanding of Andys goals and desires, and to examine the idea of redemption. The ways in which this is achieved are very effective and do not detract from the original sentiments or feelings that you get from the book but strengthen the film to make it as powerful a piece that it is. The cruel reality of prison is established straight away by the use of additional scenes and the altering of events that occur. When Andy first comes to Shawshank Prison one of the felons that was brought in at the same time as Andy is reduced to tears on his first evening sleeping in the jail. Due to his insisting that he doesnt belong [t]here Captain Hadley beats him so badly that the prisoner dies later that night from the sustained injuries. This is a major difference from the book and a very significant one. This introductory scene establishes the harsh life in prison, which Andy is going to have to deal with for a long time. There are a lot of unjustified beatings and deaths within the prison that are allowed to happen because the warden or guards are the ones administrating them. When warden Norton is looking for a way to silence Tommy Williams to ensure that Andy remains where he is he, Norton chooses the most despicable thing to do. He has Tommy murdered by one of the guards who shoots him from a watch tower. This enforces the sense of brutality as in the book warden just moves Tommy to a minimum security prison, but the fact that he is shot several times instead, strengthens the over all morose mood of the set...

Airplane Case Study essay

Airplane Case Study essay Airplane Case Study essay Airplane Case Study essaySouthern Airlines is one of the most successful airlines due to its low-cost strategy. At the moment, the company still holds a strong position in the market, but there is a risk that other low-cost airlines that simulated its model could enhance their position and tighten the competition in the industry. Therefore, Southern Airlines should come prepared to possible challenges associated with the appearance of new rivals, including the increasing competition from the part of companies operating in other segments of the market.At the moment, the bargaining power of suppliers is high, although it is important to place emphasis on the fact that Southern Airlines is totally dependent on Boeing as the only supplier, while there is an alternative company that can also supply aircrafts of the same class, Airbus. The dependence of Southern Airlines on Boeing is almost absolute because it cannot shift to another supplier since such a decision would need the complete r estructuring of the fleet and training of the personnel.The bargaining power of customers is high today because the recent economic recession has had enormous impact on the airline industry and caused substantial financial losses of many airlines because of the drop of the number of customers. In such a situation, Southern Airlines cannot compensate its losses by increasing the price because it has to keep customers interested in services of the company, while the price was always the main advantage of the company over its rivals. This is why today customers are in a privileged position, while Southern Airlines offers them maximum flexibility in booking and changing tickets providing minimal essential services for the lowest price.The threat of new entrants is rather low at the moment, because even those companies that currently operate in the market face substantial difficulties. Therefore, new entrants will have substantial difficulties, if they decide to enter the market right no w, when it is in a steep decline. In such a situation, Southern Airlines puts potential new rivals in a disadvantageous position because they can hardly offer customers lower price, while the price is the determinant factor for many customers today (Calder, 2012). As a result, the company should not worry much about the risk of the appearance of new entrants although there are options of existing companies operating in other segments to develop their low-cost subsidiaries.The threat of substitute products is medium because customers cannot always refuse from flights. Southern Airlines offer faster delivery of customers than any other means of transport, like trains, for instance (Littman, 2002). In such a situation, substitutes are likely to attract a part of customers of airlines, including customers of Southern Airlines, but still customers cannot refuse totally from using services of the company, especially the company offering services at the lowest price in the industry.Thus, t he competitive rivalry within the industry is tight at the moment and Southern Airlines should come prepared to confront the tightening competition. To put it more precisely, Southern Airlines faces the tightening competition from the part of low-cost airlines which simulate its own model and offer similar services at the similar price not only in those markets, where Southern Airlines does not operate, but also in those markets, where the company counts on a large share of the market. In addition, the company faces the threat of airlines operating in other segments developing their low-cost subsidiaries.

The Myth of Cupid and Psyches Forbidden Love

The Myth of Cupid and Psyche's Forbidden Love The great Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was born from the foam near the island of Cyprus, for which reason she is referred to as the Cyprian. Aphrodite was a jealous goddess, but she was also passionate. Not only did she love the men and gods in her life, but her sons and grandchildren, as well. Sometimes her possessive instincts led her too far. When her son Cupid found a human to love one whose beauty rivaled hers Aphrodite did all in her power to thwart the marriage. How Cupid and Psyche Met Psyche was worshiped for her beauty in her homeland. This drove Aphrodite mad, so she sent a plague and let it be known the only way the land could get back to normal was to sacrifice Psyche. The king, who was Psyches father, tied Psyche up and left her to her death at the hands of some presumed fearsome monster. You may note that this isnt the first time in Greek mythology that this happened. The great Greek hero Perseus found his bride, Andromeda, tied up as prey for a sea monster. Andromeda was sacrificed to appease Poseidon who had ravaged the country of Ethiopia, which was ruled by her father after Queen Cassiopeia had boasted about her own beauty. In the case of Psyche, it was Aphrodites son Cupid who released and married the princess. The Mystery About Cupid Unfortunately for the young couple, Cupid and Psyche, Aphrodite was not the only one trying to foul things up. Psyche had two sisters who were as jealous as Aphrodite. Cupid was a wonderful lover and husband to Psyche, but there was one odd thing about their relationship: He made sure Psyche never saw what he looked like. Psyche didnt mind. She had a fulfilling nightlife in the dark with her husband, and during the day, she had all the luxuries she could ever want. When the sisters learned about the luscious, extravagant lifestyle of their lucky, beautiful sister, they urged Psyche to pry into the area of his life that Psyches husband kept hidden from her. Cupid was a god, and gorgeous as he had to have been with Aphrodite for a mother, but for reasons known best to him, he didnt want his mortal wife to see his form. Psyches sister didnt know he was a god, although they may have suspected it. However, they did know that Psyches life was much happier than theirs. Knowing their sister well, they preyed on her insecurities and persuaded Psyche that her husband was a hideous monster. Psyche assured her sisters they were wrong, but since shed never seen him, even she started having doubts. Psyche decided to satisfy the girls curiosity, so that night she took a candle to her sleeping husband in order to look at him. Cupid Deserts Psyche Cupids angelic form was exquisite, so Psyche stood there gawking at her husband with her candle melting. While Psyche dawdled, ogling, a bit of wax dripped on her husband. Her rudely awakened, irate, disobeyed, injured husband-angel-god flew away. See, I told you she was a no good human, said mother Aphrodite to her convalescing son Cupid. Now youll have to be content among the gods. Cupid might have gone along with the de facto divorce, but Psyche couldnt. Impelled by the love of her gorgeous husband, she implored her mother-in-law to give her another chance. Aphrodite agreed, but ungraciously, saying, I cannot conceive that any serving-wench as hideous as yourself could find any means to attract lovers save by making herself their drudge; wherefore now I myself will make trial of your worth. The Epic Trials of Psyche But Aphrodite had no intention of playing fair. She devised 4 tasks (not 3 as is conventional in mythic hero quests; this is a feminine story), each task more exacting than the last. Psyche passed the first 3 challenges with flying colors, but the last task was too much for Psyche: Sort a huge mount of barley, millet, poppy seeds, lentils, and beans. Ants (pismires) help her sort the grains within the time allotted.Gather a hank of the wool of the shining golden sheep. A reed tells her how to accomplish this task without being killed by the vicious animals.Fill a crystal vessel with the water of the spring that feeds the Styx and Cocytus. An eagle helps her out.Aphrodite asked Psyche to bring her back a box of Persephones beauty cream. Going to the Underworld was a challenge for the bravest of the Greek mythical heroes. Demigod Hercules could go to the Underworld without much bother, but even Theseus had trouble and had to be rescued by Hercules. Psyche barely batted an eye when Aphrodite told her she would have to go to the most dangerous region known to mortals. That part was easy, especially after the tower told her how to find the entryway to the Underworld, how to get around Charon and Cerberus, and how to behave before the Underworld queen. The part of the fourth task that was too much for Psyche was the temptation to make herself more beautiful. If the perfect beauty of the perfect goddess Aphrodite needed this Underworld beauty cream, Psyche reasoned, how much more would it help an imperfect mortal woman? Thus, Psyche retrieved the box successfully, but then she opened it and fell into a deathlike sleep, as Aphrodite had secretly predicted. And by and by shee opened the boxe where she could perceive no beauty nor any thing else, save onely an infernall and deadly sleepe, which immediatly invaded all her members as soone as the boxe was uncovered, in such sort that she fell downe upon the ground, and lay there as a sleeping corps.William Adlington Translation (1566) Reunion and Happy Ending to the Myth of Cupid and Psyche At this point, divine intervention was called for if the story were to have an ending that made anyone really happy. With Zeus connivance, Cupid brought his wife to Olympus where, at Zeuss command, she was given nectar and ambrosia so she would become immortal. Incontinently after Jupiter commanded Mercury to bring up Psyches, the spouse of Cupid, into the Pallace of heaven. And then he tooke a pot of immortality, and said, Hold Psyches, and drinke, to the end thou maist be immortall, and that Cupid may be thine everlasting husband. On Olympus, in the presence of the other gods, Aphrodite reluctantly reconciled with her pregnant daughter-in-law, who was about to give birth to a grandchild Aphrodite would (obviously) dote on, named Pleasure. Another Story of Cupid and Psyche C.S. Lewis took Apuleius version of this myth and turned it on its ear in Till We Have Faces. The tender love story is gone. Instead of having the story seen through the eyes of Psyche, its seen through her sister Orvals perspective. Instead of the refined Aphrodite of the Roman story, the mother goddess in C.S. Lewis version is a far more weighty, chthonic Earth-Mother-Goddess power.

New York in the 18th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

New York in the 18th Century - Essay Example The 1741 New York conspiracy was largely believed to have occurred in the 18th Century. But by 19th century most historians started to doubt about its existence and the justifications of the slave killings that took place. Even Daniel Horsmanden had to try and counteract the criticism by writing a detailed account of the trials so as to justify the court’s actions and wipe the doubts of peoples mind. But his was a one-sided story and did not convince many people. Historians have gone ahead to give an account of what they believe must have been the process of events for the same. First of all, the situation in New York at the time facilitated a lot to the growth of suspicions about a conspiracy. This is because the alleged conspiracy arose at a time of economic decline with increased competition between the colored slaves and the poor whites. There was a severe winter at the time and the British government had just declared war on Spain leading to increased anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic feelings. All this amidst increased fires and destruction of property was enough to elicit feelings of insecurity from the slaves. The 1712 New York Slave Revolt where about 20 slaves came together to destroy property to avenge the injustices they had been put through and in the process killing nine whites and six others being injured, was also very fresh in the minds of the white population. The political factions would also instill fear about slavery to the white community to achieve other objectives.

Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Case analysis - Essay Example Since the company used to deal with more than one currency, then the exchange rate proved to be a challenge. Foreign currency rates are never constant; they fluctuate on a daily basis due to the interaction of a variety of elements that are beyond the scope of this case analysis. Delays in ordering and payment together with exchange rate fluctuations pose a significant risk for a company like Alliance that deals with more than one currency. Although it is uncertain, it could be argued that with exchange rate could fluctuate in either direction thus providing some room for profitability. The other problem that Alliance faced was the fact that they have been in operation for only three years. Some of the company is administrative and supply chain processes, such as those for equipment procurement and generation of price quotations require improvement and formalization. This can be attributed to the fact that they have only been in operation for quite a short period (Aleshaiway, 2005). The customer can participate by modifying the price quotation process in a bid to mitigate the foreign exchange risk. This policy can be implemented through a number of various ways including, changing the acceptance period (30 days) and changing the required amount of deposits to be made. A stipulation is saying that the final charges would be based on the exchange rate at the time of project completion should be included in the original contract. To add to the above strategy, a review of the internal processes related to cash management (including collection from customers and payment of suppliers), price quotations, and equipment procurement. Although there are aspects of the overall process that are dependent on schedules and operations of others such us completion of projects, there are small issues within that process that could bring about risk mitigation of exchange rates. The company

International Adoption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Adoption - Essay Example The adoption process brings an influx of emotions for anyone who is remotely involved within the process. This is true whether one is a child awaiting an adoptive family, a family who is desperate for a child or a social worker hoping to find a match between a waiting child and a waiting family. There are as many types of adoption as there are types of families who pursue adoption in order to complete their family. Domestic, international, familial, transracial, special needs and older adoption are just some of the adoption options available for individuals and families to pursue (Adoption.com, 2009). Whether a family is pursuing domestic (within the United States) or international adoption, many of the steps are similar, however international adoptions require an intensive paperwork collection, a knowledge of the sending country's culture and demanding financial costs. In order to understand the adoption process, an individual or family wishing to pursue adoption should conduct extensive research into the adoption process and choose an adoptive agency that is suited to their needs and beliefs. A quick perusal of the internet shows a multitude of agencies available both nationwide and worldwide, many with agency locations throughout the United States. One such agency, Bethany Christian Services, offers extensive services to both birth parents and adoptive parents and has a multitude of locations and support services. "Bethany Christian Services began in 1944 as the fulfillment of a dream shared by two women, Marguerite Bonnema and Mary DeBoer. The agency now employs nearly 900 individuals and is the largest national adoption agency" (Bethany Christian Services, Working at Bethany, 2009). Bethany Christian Services houses its corporate offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan and offers "70 locations nationwide and services in 15 countries" (Bethany Christian Services, Working at Bethany, 2009). One of the countries that Bethany Christian Services participates in international adoption with is China, which they began working with in 1992 and have two programs with. Per Bethany's website, "all adoptions in China are processed through The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Beijing, China (Bethany Christian Services, Working at Bethany, 2009). China is one of 77 countries who participate in the "Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention)" (Intercountry Adoption, 2009)). The agreement was "concluded on May 29th, 1993 in Hague, the Netherlands, and established international standards of practices for intercountry adoptions. The United States signed the convention in 1994, and the Convention entered into force for the United States in April 2008" (Intercountry Adoption, 2009). "Children of Promise is a program that Bethany Christian Services provides for chidlren with speical needs as man y of the children from orphanages may have developmental or oganizational delays" (Bethany Christian Services, Working at Bethany, 2009). In 2001, China reported having "25% of the children adopted by United States citizens" (International Adoption Facts, 2009) and continues to be the top country of choice for international adoptions. Of note, China's adoption to the United States increased three times from 1992 until 2001 while in 2003, there were 4,681 children placed in the United States (travel state Government, 2009). "In October, 2001 the China

Active and Passive Listening At Workplace Term Paper

Active and Passive Listening At Workplace - Term Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that effective listening can only be achieved if both my employees and I consistently follow the necessary steps along with implementing in the workplace. Without a doubt, this paper will outline the key steps to achieving excellent listening skills in the workplace. Active and Passive listening in workplace Listening and communicating in the workplace is one of the most dynamic aspects of thriving in the modern world of commerce. Communication, in essence, is a critical aspect because it enables everyone to be productive and effective in the workplace. Poor communication does sometimes lead to personal conflict, waste of funds, poor productivity and culture implemented in the workplace. As a manager of a convenience store, it is highly crucial that there are no barriers towards clear communication. Maintaining a convenience store is no easy task. Hence, many aspects of active and passive listening will be addressed in this paper. In the work place, listening is the process of hearing and interpreting a message. According to research, 80% of the time is spent on communicating and listening is a critical part of the communication process. Active listening is an organized form of listening and giving feedback that enhances overall understanding. As a manager, active listening is almost utilized in all aspects of work from interviewing employees to collaborating in meetings.

Ford Pinto Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ford Pinto Case - Essay Example This line of thinking is supported by the first principle in Rawls’ theory of justice: that each person is entitled to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties (Oyeshile, 2008, p. 65). Among our human liberties, nothing is more basic than the liberty to be secure in one’s right to life and well-being. The intentional deprivation of one’s life and health becomes an unethical act and works against the theory of justice of Rawlsianism. Furthermore, in weighing the theoretical costs to benefits, Ford transgressed the principle of Mill’s utilitarianism which defines value as not merely that which pertains to quantity (pursuant to Bentham’s hedonism), but that which takes into account the quality, or the good making properties which determine value (West, 2006, p. 120). In short, the net benefit in dollars and cents cannot offset the threat to human life and health that their design posed. ââ€"  Is American industry at too much risks for lawsuits to remain competitive? Should lawsuits such as the one against Ford be disallowed or limited? Why or why not? Should we try to restrain, in this and other product liability situations, the litigiousness that seems to characterize American life? How might we do this? There are some lawsuits built on superficial claims of product liability, simply because they negate the role played by customer negligence. In the case of the Ford Pinto, however, the customer has a real and valid actionable claim against Ford. The sale of a product is inclusive of warranties against product defects, and in the Pinto case, an exploding gas tank is a huge defect. Furthermore, seen from the Rawlsian difference principle, social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged. In this case, individual customers are the much

Active and Passive Listening At Workplace Term Paper

Active and Passive Listening At Workplace - Term Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that effective listening can only be achieved if both my employees and I consistently follow the necessary steps along with implementing in the workplace. Without a doubt, this paper will outline the key steps to achieving excellent listening skills in the workplace. Active and Passive listening in workplace Listening and communicating in the workplace is one of the most dynamic aspects of thriving in the modern world of commerce. Communication, in essence, is a critical aspect because it enables everyone to be productive and effective in the workplace. Poor communication does sometimes lead to personal conflict, waste of funds, poor productivity and culture implemented in the workplace. As a manager of a convenience store, it is highly crucial that there are no barriers towards clear communication. Maintaining a convenience store is no easy task. Hence, many aspects of active and passive listening will be addressed in this paper. In the work place, listening is the process of hearing and interpreting a message. According to research, 80% of the time is spent on communicating and listening is a critical part of the communication process. Active listening is an organized form of listening and giving feedback that enhances overall understanding. As a manager, active listening is almost utilized in all aspects of work from interviewing employees to collaborating in meetings.

BarChris Construction Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BarChris Construction - Case Study Example The misappropriated entries included current assets having a 15% overstatement of $609,689; 42% understatement in contingent liabilities amounting to $618,853; gross profit overstatement of $230,755; $519,810 worth of sales’ overstatement; undisclosed loans to officers totaling to $386,615; and an overstatement in backlog of orders among other figures. Auditing involves the application of accounting principles as they relate to costs and revenues. Following the sale and leaseback cases, the judge’s argument that the gain on the debentures was improper is misleading since this approach is accepted in GAAP. Although the customers who acquired the leaseback properties incurred overwhelming arrears on their discounted notes, it is not considered a reasonable standard for auditors to concern themselves with the effects of business strategies of the companies they audit. Hence, as earlier stated, the auditors’ responsibility is to access, point, question, and report on accounting activities and not on investment or business strategies associated with the gains (United States District Court, 1968). The case of Berardi places himself at the center of blame for the problems associated with BarChart’s accounting misappropriations. The merits of blaming Berardi for the problems facing BarChris include his inability to dedicate more time to review the results of the S-1 review, the hiring of an inexperienced accountant, and concealing of information such as loans to officers. In order to rectify these causes of the primary problems, Berardi could have hired a qualified accountant, should have dedicated more time to review accounts, and conducted regular internal audits (United States District Court, 1968). United States District Court. (1968). Escott v. Barchris Construction Corporation 283 F. Supp. 643 (S.D.N.Y. 1968). Accessed online on February

Diversity in instructional methods toward meaningful learning Essay Example for Free

Diversity in instructional methods toward meaningful learning Essay Abstract There is diversity in instructional methods that teachers can use to bring about meaningful learning. This paper discusses five of them; namely integrated inquiry approach, 5-model of inquiry, the jig-sawing approach, role playing and WebQuest. These instructional methods are learner centered methods that consider prior knowledge, attitude and skills and promote development of new knowledge and relate them to a variety of contexts. All of them also deal with real-life situations that essentially develop interpersonal relationships, problem-solving skills and content-knowledge among others. The teachers’ tasks are to plan and carry out efficiently the instructional designs to have meaningful learning among diverse learners, instructional methods and learning environments. Diversity in Instructional Methods Toward Meaningful Learning Diversity is an essential ingredient of success of all ventures in life including education. There are different kinds of learners as there are teachers, instructional methods and learning environments; but there is only one goal in education and this is for an effective and meaningful learning. Teachers should set environments for students so they could think critically and independently and relate new knowledge learned with a variety of contexts for meaningful learning. It is the task of the teachers to match the learners, the learning environments, the knowledge to be learned and the instructional methods. Learning meaningfully means that learners relate new knowledge to what they already know. Meaningful learning is non-arbitrary, non-verbatim, substantive deliberate effort to link new knowledge with higher order concepts in cognitive structures. It is a learning related to experiences with events or objects and affective commitment to relate new knowledge with prior learning. The diverse instructional designs towards meaningful learning should identify outcomes, guide the development of instruction content and establish its effectiveness. Efforts to consider meaningful learning in the different stages of instructional design are essential. Gagne et al. (1992) identified the different stages of instructional designs as: defining instructional goals; conducting instructional analysis; identifying entry behaviours and learner characteristics; developing performance objectives; selecting an instructional method; assembling instructional materials and planning formative and summative evaluations. He and his colleagues further cited that current educational theory and researches support the use of instructional methods that make students active learners. Among the diverse instructional methods available to teachers to explore and use, the commonly utilized approach towards construction of new knowledge meaningfully are the problem –based learning and inquiry approach, cooperative learning, and technology strategies. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, but when used effectively can maximize learning. Problem-Based and Inquiry Approach Students in the problem-based and learning inquiry approach engage in meaningful learning through being actively involved in their own learning and reconstructing these based on their experiences. They further participate in active investigation, more of integrating knowledge rather than separating them so that deep understanding develop from acquisition of new facts. In this method, students are given relevant problems by teachers which inquiry must be done. The general steps in this inquiry approach are: identifying the problems, gathering of data, organizing the data in attempt to analyse the problems and analyses of the strategies to use to solve the problems. Integrated Inquiry In the Integrated Inquiry planning process, a model of inquiry approach developed by K. Murdoch, sequences of activities and experiences are developed to build on and challenge student perceptions. These sequences begin with students’ prior knowledge and experiences and move through deliberate processes wherein that knowledge is extended, challenged and refined. Students have their own prior experiences that they bring to their classes and teachers should be aware of how to address this situation. Activities and learning experiences in this model are grouped as: tuning on, finding out, sorting out, going further, making conclusions and taking actions (Murdoch, 1999). Furthermore, planning for assessment is a very important element of planning for Integrated Inquiry. Murdoch (1999) highlights the need for the collection and analysis of information about what and the how students have learned. The assessment in the Integrated Inquiry model is to determine how to improve student learning as these new information help teachers modify their plans of work to suit the needs of the learners. Students’ involvement in planning for assessment as in selecting responses to particular learning experiences and designing demonstrations of understanding are highly encouraged. Therefore, teachers are also tasked to identify and design learning experiences that will provide information for assessment purposes. The strengths of this model are focussed on assessment of learning in context and encouraging a variety of demonstrations of understanding based on the learning experiences that students undertake. Learners that may benefit most from this Integrated Inquiry Approach are those capable of setting goals in their own learning and significantly contribute in determining how assessment could be effectively done. 5-E Model In the book â€Å"Activities for Teaching Science as Inquiry† by Carin, Bass Contant (2005) many laboratory investigations were cited as inquiry approach to learning. They focused on the 5-E Instructional Model with the five main components identified as Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration and Evaluation. Each of these components is learner-centred. This investigatory method maybe time and resource consuming but it allows the learners to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills experientially. The use of this method is not limited to teaching sciences, which are considered to be not very easy subjects. This experiential learning brings more opportunities for learners to bring forth better understanding and longer retention of knowledge learned. Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is an instructional method that takes place in a small group of learners of different levels of ability and in environments of responsibility not only for their own understanding of the subject but also for his co-learners. It brings more meaning to learning because it provides shared cognitive sets of information between students, motivating them to learn the materials, ensuring that they construct their own knowledge, providing formative feedback, developing social and group skills necessary for success outside the classroom. Cooperative leaning promotes learning and academic achievement, increases retention and satisfaction with their learning experiences among students, helps develop skills in oral communication, social skills, promotes student self-esteem and fosters mutual responsibility. Although this method helps students learn to be more patient, less critical and more compassionate, some students may find difficulty with this method. Students who work alone find difficulty in sharing answers while aggressive students will tend to take over and brighter students to act superior to the rest. Teachers who will employ cooperative should prepare their students how to work in groups for this method to be successful. Jig Sawing Approach The â€Å"Jig Sawing† Approach is a cooperative learning strategy wherein students becomes an â€Å"expert† in a particular area, then shares his or her learning knowledge with other members of the group that eventually all members of the group learn the concepts. In the Modified Jigsaw, the class is divided into equal expert groups, with each of these groups working on isolated portions of the activity. Once each expert group has completed the tasks, they report their findings as group to the class. Group report allows for greater flexibility in student presentation style and prevents the possibility of unintentionally misrepresentation of information (Beaudrie et al. 1998). This method best suits heterogenous learners across disciplines. It provides opportunities for learners to show various competencies. Moreover, students are more comfortable to exchange ideas with their co-learners because of their dynamic open relationship. Role playing Another instructional method of interest is role playing. It also deals with solving problems but through actions. In role playing, problems are identified, explored through actions and discussed. The students input in their role playing their prior knowledge, values and attitudes. A role-playing strategy seems to work best when there are multiple correct approaches to solving problems. It encourages thinking and creativity to develop and practice new behaviours in non-threatening setting. It provides opportunities for students to explore further their feelings; gain more insights about their attitudes and also enhance their problem solving skills. It also promotes effective interpersonal relations. The learning in these role playing activities are meaningful as they are retained longer and hoped to be of use to the real life of the learners. Terms which are used, often interchangeably with role playing are simulation, game, role-play, simulation-game, role-play simulation, and role-playing game. Role playing dynamically promotes effective interpersonal relationships and social transactions among learners. Technology Supported Approach Technology provides a set of tool for addressing the issues on improving student learning. These issues are of providing more of learners’ time on authentic, challenging tasks with rich contexts with emphasis on multi-disciplinarity; changing of role of teachers to facilitators of knowledge that guide students and learn along with them; students working in an environment of more cooperative relationships that encourages communication and access to real-world examples towards the development of learning communities; and with greater emphasis placed on reflective thinking and productivity with the understanding that students will preform their tasks differently and have different task-relevant skills ( Grabe and Grabe, 2004). WebQuest WebQuest, the model developed by Bernie Dodge, is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. WebQuests is most often a group activity in a library or distance education setting. It may be enhanced by wrapping motivational elements around the basic structure by giving the learners a role to play, simulated personae to interact with via e-mail, and a scenario to work within. They can be designed within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary (Dodge, 1997). The WebQuest challenges he learner to be creative in problem-solving. In the world of education, there are so many instructional designs that can be utilized to end up with meaningful learning. No instructional method is better than the other but each one in the hands of a committed and learned teacher can merit students across academic levels and disciplines to bring about meaningful learning. References Beaudrie, B. , Slater,T. F. , Stevenson, S. Cadit, D. (1998). Teaching astronomy by internet jigsawing. Leading and Learning with Technology Journal, 26. , Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://www. aem. umn. edu. Carin, A. A, Bass, J. E Contant T.L. (2005). Activities for Teaching Science As Inquiry. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Dodge, B. (1997). Some thoughts about WebQuests . Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://webquest. sdsu. edu/about_webquests. html. Gagne, R. M. , Briggs, L. J. , Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design . TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Grabe, M. Grabe C. (2004). Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Murdoch, K. (1998) Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Melbourne: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.

Business Essays MBA Strategic Planning

Business Essays MBA Strategic Planning MBA Strategic Planning Basic Concepts of Strategic Planning The CEO then asked you to explain the basic concept of strategic business planning and how it would help improve performance at Lawrence? To the questions posed by the CEO I would answer: Strategic planning process can be summed up by answering three questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? and How do we get there? The basic concepts of strategic planning are best described by de Kluyver and Pearce in the book Strategy: A view from the top. The authors write â€Å"Strategy is about positioning an organization for competitive advantage. It involves making choices about which industries to participate in, what products or services to offer, and how to allocate corporate resources. Its primary goal is to create value for shareholders and other stakeholders by providing customer value†. (de Kluyver and Pearce, 2006, p. 1) The basic strategic planning process involves establishing a mission, objectives, current situational analysis, formal strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and putting measurable control systems in place to monitor the business. This basic strategic planning process is more applicable at the business unit level such as the Home Appliances; Electrical Equipment; Industrial Tools; Agricultural Equipment; Automotive Parts; and Financial Services business units already established at Lawrence Manufacturing Corporation. More detailed approaches to strategy include the newer concepts brought forth by authors Kim and Maugborne called Blue Ocean Strategy. The more traditional approach is competition based strategy such as Porter’s Five Forces of Competition model. The Blue Ocean Strategy is a largely unproven but very interesting concept that uses Value Innovation to propel the company into new markets that are untapped rather than going toe to toe with the competition battling it out for market space. This battling is known as the Red Ocean strategy where the waters are bloodied due to the battle for a competitive advantage. The Blue Ocean Strategy looks to find innovative ways to offer the customer more value in the products or services at a reduced cost creating a win-win situation for both customer and supplier. The more traditional approach would be to use Michael Porter’s five forces to analyze the position of the company in relation to the competition and then strategically position the company on a path of least competitive resistance. Basically Porter looks at: Threat of substitute products, Threat of entry of new competitors, Intensity of competitive rivalry, Bargaining power of customers, and the Bargaining power of suppliers. Strategic planning at the Corporate level She[CEO] specifically asks you what her role would be in the planning process, what the corporate headquarters’ responsibilities would be and how the corporation would add value to the business units? Strategic planning at the Corporate level is more involved in managing the portfolio of the company. Fundamentally Corporate level strategic planning involves decisions such as which business units to expand, which market places the business units should compete in, allocating resources between the business units, building and using synergies amongst business units, and merging or acquiring other businesses. Also Corporate strategic planning will involve defining the overall mission, vision and objectives of the Corporation. Corporate level strategic planning will also use such tools as Porter’s Five Forces, employ a Blue Ocean Strategy, a Gap Analysis, or a Balanced Scorecard approach. Porter’s Five Forces and the Blue Ocean Strategy are described above. A Gap Analysis is a tool used to discover the current state of the company and the targeted state of the company. The difference between them is the â€Å"Gap†. A Strategic Gap Analysis can be used to determine the gap and formulate a plan to â€Å"bridge† the gap. The Balanced Scorecard looks at the company from four different perspectives Financial, Customer Learning and Growth, and Internal Business Process. The Balanced Scorecard approach gives the company an idea what should be measured in order to â€Å"balance† the financial perspective. The Balanced Scorecard system is a management tool that enables the company to clearly see their vision and translate that vision into strategic action. The corporation will add value to the business units by coordinating and sharing corporate staff and various resources throughout the business units, utilizing business units to complement each other in the corporate structure and various business activities, and financially investing resources across different business units. Roles of SBU managers and functional executives The three Presidents of the business units and the functional executives also wanted to know what their specific roles and responsibilities would be in this new planning process, and how their performance would be evaluated and rewarded? To the questions of three Presidents and functional executives I would answer: The role of the small business unit managers and functional executives is EXTREMELY important to the strategic business plan of the corporation. (This statement will capture the attention of the three business unit presidents and functional managers allowing them feel secure in their positions and ultimately help me to get the job!) As the business unit is established and begins competing in a market place that it can be a viable performer, the business unit manager has the freedom to structure and manage their business unit to seize the competitive advantage available to the unit within that market place. Performance will be measured using key performance indicators defined in the strategic planning process by using planning tools such as the Balance Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard helps strategic planners to derive key measurable for that particular business units such as: customer, product performance, competitive comparisons, operations, supplier, cost and financial data, employee-related, and market performance. These indicators help to align the activities of the business unit with the goals of the corporation. The role of the business unit managers and functional executives are to provide input as to what these metrics should be, monitor these metrics and provide feedback, and implement changes to improve the performance. Analysis of external and internal environments The Vice President of Information Technology also wanted to know what types of external and internal information would be required to develop the business plans, and how they would obtain this information. He wanted to know what types of analytical tools, methodologies and skills they would need to generate and analyze this information? To the questions of Vice President of Information Technology (IT) I would answer: One of the primary tools used to determine internal an external environmental factors affecting the business is to perform a Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis or better know as SWOT analysis. Internal environmental factors affecting the company are primarily the Strengths and Weaknesses of the company. Strengths that a company can build on are usually items such as; brand name, intellectual property, reputation, and well developed distribution networks just to name a few. Weaknesses that a company may face are items such as; high overhead costs, poor supply chain, or a weak brand name. External factors affecting the company are the Opportunities and Threats. Opportunities presented to the firm could be thing such as; need for a new product, lifted regulations, emerging markets, and removal of trade barriers. Finally, Threats are items such as; substitute products, increased regulations, and new trade tariffs. When put into a matrix form, a SWOT analysis can provide the foundation on which the strategic plan of the company will be built. As I mentioned previously performance of the business units and the corporation will be measured using indicators defined in the strategic planning process by using planning tools such as the Balance Scorecard and a Gap Analysis. IT will be asked to assist in capturing and storing data that is internally and externally related to areas of the business such as: customer, product performance, competitive comparisons, operations, supplier, cost and financial data, employee-related, and market performance. This data is crucial to short term aggregate planning for the business units and long term strategic planning for both the business units and the corporation. IT will play a very important role in human resource management and planning, capturing cross functional knowledge equity of the business units, recognizing and protecting intellectual property, and sharing this information throughout the organization. The strategic planners will require assistance from IT to provide tools for business scenarios, marketing and sales planning, and financial projections. These inputs are necessary for sound planning decisions. Authors Anthony and Govindarajan have published a book entitled Management Control Systems and chapter 8 further discusses the role of Information Technology in strategic planning. In general input from IT will be required for management control systems and providing a framework in which the control systems can provide information and feedback to the leaders for strategic planning. Finally IT will be needed to assist with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). ERP is important to link many of the individual databases or create a central database for the various system modules. ERP will aid in the sharing of information throughout the organization and allow performance tracking of key indicators. A global business such as Lawrence Manufacturing Corporation is like the octopus in which the tentacles must be attached to the central body in order to work in unison. IT will play a crucial part in connecting the business units for purposes of strategic planning. An effective business plan One of the Presidents of the business units asks you to explain what a business plan consist of and how they will know if they have developed a good plan? I would answer this question by first verifying that when the President asked about a â€Å"business plan† that he/she was interested in elements of a â€Å"Strategic Business Plan†. Assuming this is the case I would answer the business unit President by saying: There is typically five key elements to a strategic business plan. These elements are; 1) Vision Statement, 2) Mission Statement, 3) Critical Factors for Success, 4) Strategies and Actions to meet Objectives, and 5) Prioritized Implementation Schedule for the Strategies. The Vision Statement should briefly describe the direction of the company and plans for growth. The Mission Statement should describe the capabilities of the organization to meet the needs of the customer as identified by market research. Such as: â€Å"World leader in quality Industrial Tool†. The Critical Factors for Success are the key aspects that must be addressed if the company is to achieve their vision and mission statements. The Strategies and Actions are primarily defined action plans needed to ensure that the critical factors of success are achieved. A Prioritized Implementation Schedule is basically strategies and actions spelled out in order of importance, and communicated to the team members. These basic elements are the foundation of a strategic business plan. Execution! She[CEO] asks you how you would ensure that the plans were implemented effectively? To the CEO I would answer this question by saying: Strategic business planning will require a certain amount of change within the organization and with change there will also be a certain amount of resistance. I took a course at Lawrence Technological University (curiously this is the same name as the company!) while working toward my MBA called Leading Organizational Change. In this course we studied John Kotter’s eight step process to successful change taken from his book Leading Change. Step 1: Create a Sense of Urgency Step 2: Pull Together the Guiding Team Step 3:   Develop the Change Vision and Strategy Step 4: Communicate for Understanding and Buy-in Step 5: Empower Others to Act Step 6: Product Short-Term Wins Step 7: Dont Let Up Step 8: Create a New Culture The concepts presented in the book and in the classroom were applied to a project that was begun during the time that I took the course. The project was to implement a new engineering documentation system that I can say is progressing well with the guidance provided by these eight steps. The process is logical and if followed religiously, I can testify, work great. This would be one method to ensure plans were implemented effectively. Also studied during this course was Appreciative Inquiry (AI). This is another method that would help to ensure that the strategic plans are implemented effectively. AI is a great organizational development tool that breaks away from the traditional â€Å"problem-focused† approach. Instead AI looks to identify and examine what is working well within the organization and how this activity can be enhanced. Basically the concept is to focus an organization around the things that are working rather that wasting effort trying to fix the things that don’t work. More on AI and the 4-D model used in AI can be found in David Cooperider’s book Appreciative Inquiry. After a successful implementation of the strategy measurable indicators I described earlier will determine if the business is on track with the strategic plan. The strategic plan will be revisited at prescribed intervals employing continuous improvement to advance the vision and mission of the company. References: De Kluyver, Pearce, (2006) Pearson Education, Inc., Strategy A View From The Top NetMBA, The Strategic Planning ProcessWebsite, Retrieved June 3rd,2008 from: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/process/ Balanced Scorecard Institute , What is a Balanced Scorecard -Website, Retrieved June 3rd, 2008 from: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx JaxWorks Spreadsheet Company, The Balanced Scorecard Concept, Retrieved June 2nd, 2008 from: http://www.jaxworks.com/thebalancedscorecardconcept.htm Quick MBA, Strategic Planning-Website, Retrieved June 6th, 2008 from: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/strategic-planning/ Articles-Business Plans, What Makes a Good Business Plan-Website, Retrieved June 3rd, 2008 from: http://articles.bplans.com/index.php/business-articles/writing-a-business-plan/what-makes-a-good-plan/ Kotter (1996). Leading Change, Harvard Business School press. Changing and Succeeding Under any Conditions – Website Retrieved November 25, 2007, http://www.ouricebergismelting.com/html/8step.html Quick MBA, Strategic Management-Website, Retrieved June 6th, 2008 from: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/

Why Walker Percys Literature Truly Matters :: Biography Biographies Essays

Why Walker Percy's Literature Truly Matters      Ã‚   Did you ever have one of those days when you just weren't all there? when your body seemed to be doing your whole daily routine automatically? when nothing, not even the things you love most could engage you? I know I have.    Walker Percy refers to this disengaged state as "sunk in everydayness" and as dead in life (The Moviegoer 10). In his novels, Percy relates his fears that many of us are living in this automaton state perpetually without realizing it. He warns us that until we cure ourselves of this disease, our souls, our truest selves, will remain in bondage.    Walker Percy began his life growing up in the South, and after finishing med. school, he interned to become a psychiatrist. Then a bout with tuberculosis drove Percy to marry his wife, convert to Catholicism, and give up his practice in pursuit of writing. After a writing essays for a time, Percy published his first novel, The Moviegoer, in 1961.    Percy's heritage shaped his literature from the beginning. As a Southerner, Percy understands the South better than other geographies and sets most of his scenes there. As a psychiatrist, Percy knows intimately what goes on in the minds of others, extremely valuable knowledge in character development. As a scientist, Percy understands the physical world well and notices things in nature that other authors would miss. As a Catholic, Percy wants to spread his faith to others, to share the joy he gets from his religion. All these experiences go into the mix in Percy's writing and give his novels a unique, masterful style.    Percy's protagonists are all questing after an end to the everydayness of their old lives. They are leaving behind a life they see as a living death, and they all use different approaches to escaping it. In The Moviegoer, Binx Bolling goes on a search to find "himself," his place in society, and what he believes. Will Barrett goes on a similar search in The Last Gentleman, a search to find his place in the world. Binx and Will are both in their twenties and their searches are fitting for their ages. Percy's later books use older characters and their search differ from the others' accordingly. In The Second Coming, we meet Will Barrett again, but this time he is searching to find the truth about his past, prove the existence of God, and find a new occupation worthy of his time.

Michael Collins’

Between the white knuckle intensity, the bombastic array of explosions, the sinister factionalism and the multitude of conspiratorial machinations, director Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins comes off like political history re-imagined in the vein of the gangster film. As an ambitious attempt to chronicle the life and times of one of the most important figures in Ireland’s violent struggles for independence from the British Empire, it is intelligently well-made. But it is also problematic, because it makes an obscure political struggle even more obscure by trivializing it in the way that much of historical cinema has trivialized history: emphasizing the emotional highs and lows of its protagonists at the expense of the events it uses as its foundation. Considering that Michael Collins’ epochal content is fundamentally tied to present day conflicts, namely the seemingly endless one in Northern Ireland, this is rather troubling. Collins is credited with inventing guerilla warfare, and bringing world attention to the Irish cause by forcing the English to cede authority in certain parts of his native soil and initiating a movement for an independent Irish republic. Having seen many historical dramas before, I immediately assumed that Jordan was going to spend the entire length of the film demonstrating Collins’ greatness. I was pleasantly surprised to see that while Jordan does question some of Collins’ character attributes and decisions, he fashions a historical account that somehow absolves Collins of the present state of Ireland. Jordan presents Collins, played with hearty vigor by Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson, glowing from the residual acclaim of Schindler’s List, as a patriot whose dedication to the annihilation of British rule in Ireland was compromised by the people around him. The film opens with a terrible bombardment by the English upon Irish freedom fighters, which establishes the unforgiving demand of obedience that the English crown maintained without any pretense of subtlety. Some years later, one of them named Collins is released from jail, whereupon he proceeds to give impassioned speeches as the self-dubbed Minister of Mayhem. Collins argues that the disastrous defeat in 1916 proves that a straightforward battle against the occupying British presence is an invitation to defeat. He proposes that they plant bombs to deliver unobstructed carnage to those who would oppose Irish independence. The film plays this up as an action of last resort in which Collins and his men have been forced to use violence because of the unyielding nature of the anti-independents. Yet despite to airing this sentiment frequently to his best friend/confidant/rival Harry Boland (as played by Aidan Quinn), Collins has no qualms about using the intelligence offered by a sympathetic copper played by the downtrodden hangdog face of The Crying Game’s Stephen Rea. The escalating acts of violence put the British in the uncomfortable position of acceding to negotiations, and former Republic president Eamon de Valera, as portrayed with vague menace by versatile character actor Alan Rickman, delegates Collins as a representative on his behalf. Collins recognizes his own shortcomings as a politico: the best he could negotiate was self-governance for South Ireland with allegiance to the Crown still in place. It is this halfway point of reconciliation between Ireland and the Crown that Collins argues is the best attainable agreement of the time. De Valera proceeds to disassociate himself from Collins, while Collins has a falling out with Boland, and the upset leads to civil war. Eventually, Collins dies at the hands of an assassin, which Jordan implies to have been approved by De Valera. Jordan’s Collins ultimately comes off as a violent underdog who repackages himself as a liaison between his countrymen and the occupying forces, trading in the downtrodden charisma of a scruffy brown coat with the sharp glamour of a well pressed uniform, not unlike a German officer who approves of Hitler because of the blessings in his life under Nazism. This isn’t to say that Collins was some kind of fascist, but that his frequently celebrated talents for political expedience still fall short under the lens of critical examination. After all, his agitator’s approach to moving the Irish cause forward still hasn’t brought peace today. In the meantime, conventional history writes De Valera off as a duplicitous sell out, and Jordan doesn’t attempt to challenge that view, choosing instead to portray Collins as a heroic patriot. This strikes me as strange, since Collins is the man who initiated violence and then insisted that violence must stop, leaving us with a rather ambiguous and maybe ambivalent definition of what heroism and patriotism is.       Michael Collins This oft-quoted statement is a testament as to how diverse a society’s perception of historical figures can be. Different world leaders, especially revolutionaries are often portrayed in different respects, according to the ideological prism one uses to analyze the life of the world’s greatest men and women. Mao Zedong, for example, will always be remembered by the majority of the Chinese population who lived through the years prior to the 1949 Chinese revolution as the leader of a people’s movement that liberated Chinese society from a semi-feudal and semi-colonial system ruled by bourgeois compradors and big landowners under the auspices of foreign imperialism. He is also remembered by some sections of Chinese society as a ruthless dictator who insisted on an experimental utopian social system that led to the deaths of millions of his people due to hunger and famine. In contemporary history, on the other hand, Arab nationalists and anti-imperialists view the legacy of Saddam Hussein as a triumph of the repudiation of American intrusion into Arab soil, while American conservatives view his reign of terror as one of the most dastardly regimes the world has seen in the last fifty years. Nonetheless, it is this historical ambivalence that the life of Michael Collins as an Irish revolutionary shall be analyzed in this paper, especially on questions as to whether he can be considered a villain or a patriot. Michael Collins was an Irish revolutionary who fervently sought the independence of Ireland from the â€Å"illegal occupation† of England, and led one of the bloodiest armed struggles against the British Empire. Collins came to the fore during the Easter Rising, which was one of the first attempts for centuries of British rule that militant Irish republicans sought to win Irish independence by force of arms. It must be understood that the armed struggle which was started during the Easter Rising and continued on even by the Irish Republican Army until recent past was a reaction to the timid parliamentary politics that was being espoused by the Irish Parliamentary Party of John Redmond. This party was seen by many militant republicans led by Michael Collins as a capitulating force and utterly incapable of leading the Irish people in the path to independence. As such, the Easter Rising was hatched and implemented by throngs of Irish revolutionaries which sought to grab the reins of political power from the British in the lightning fashion of an urban insurrection by seizing buildings in Dublin and cordon-off the city to surmount a violent counter-attack from British security forces, notwithstanding guerilla attacks at British soldiers – a tactic that was mastered by Collins through his flying columns. As expected, the British forces soon after counter-attacked and they were decisively able to quell the rebellion in a week, with the leading members and cadres of the Irish republican movement arrested and even executed by the British.   This foolish tactic of political violence was premised on the theory that the bloodletting of the leaders and members of the republican movement would soon after inspire the struggle of a thousand-fold more people. While this tactic of violence had a definite shock-value both to the British Empire and the Irish public, it was very costly to the Irish republican cause because it lost much of its respected leaders, especially John Connolly, the head of the Irish armed socialist movement that inspired much of the forces to wage armed struggle against the British Empire. In all of these, and even to the events leading to the signing of the Peace treaty between the Ireland and England, Michael Collins can be considered a patriot as he knew at what historic moment the necessity of armed struggle beckons, alongside his other comrades in the Irish republican movement. By supporting the armed struggle, no matter how ill-advised their insurrectionary tactic was, Collins recognized that Irish political power and national sovereignty can never be attained by simply waging a peaceful parliamentary struggle against the British crown, as the Empire will never hand over sovereignty of rich Irish lands on a silver platter. Instead, it must be forcibly taken through violent means. Nonetheless, it is only in Collins’ role prior to the peace treaty that he can be considered a patriot as he capitulated to the might of the British Empire when he acceded to the treaty and abruptly ended hostilities between the warring nations. Many in the radical sections of the Irish Republican Army saw the signing of the treaty and Collin’s support for it as a betrayal of the Irish revolution, especially to the Irish martyrs who only wanted to witness an Ireland that had its people as its sovereign and not the English throne. For this, Collins was assassinated during the Irish Civil War, dying in the same violent manner as the armed struggle he valiantly espoused in the years after the Easter Rising. On the other hand, it can somehow be said that Collins model of political violence is comparable to the theory of armed struggle by Che Guevara, particularly his foco theory. Che Guevara believed that a single guerilla force, no matter how small, carrying out armed revolution in any country is capable of spreading like wildfire and inspiring the masses to join the revolution. Both of them believed in the necessity of guerilla warfare as the most effective tool at systematically reducing the strength of the enemy, especially an enemy with almost unlimited military resources fighting against a revolutionary movement with meager resources. It must also be said that both revolutionary leaders repudiated the grabbing of political power through an urban insurrection as it opened revolutionary movement and its supporters to the heavy weight of a counter-attack by enemy forces which might be utter detrimental to the revolutionary cause. In all of these, though, it must be reiterated that despite the faults and failures of Michael Collins, especially when he capitulated to British forces instead of seeing the Irish revolution to its fruition, his life as an Irish patriot and hero can never be discounted. He lived at a concrete historical moment which challenged him and many other Irishmen to stand up against a mighty empire and determine their own destiny as a people. Works Cited: Castaneda, J. (1998). Comandante: The life and death of Chà © Guevara. Vintage Publishing. Fox, R.M. (1943). The History of the Irish Citizen Army. Dublin: James Duffy &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Co. Hopkinson, M. Green Against Green, the Irish Civil War, pp.83-87 Kostick, Conor & Collins. (2000). The Easter Rising. Dublin: O'Brien Press Townshend, C. (2005). Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion. London: Allen Lane.