A Comparison Between Film Versions of Emma and Clueless Essay

A Comparison Between Film Versions of Emma and Clueless The features I will look for in both films for comparison is setting, location, lighting, costumes, props, camera angles, dialogue and weather. Emma is set in the early 20th century and Clueless in the 1990s. The director changed the era to refer to the fact that girls nowadays are more mature than young women in the early 20th century. The diversity between the locations in both films is very minor. In Clueless it is set in Beverly Hills in America and in Emma is set in England. England in the early 20th century is largely countryside with prosperous houses, and a rigid hierarchy. Beverly Hills is quite comparable to England as it is rich†¦show more content†¦This is also a casual place where the teenagers of this film hang out. Settings from both films imply wealth and that both characters are spoilt. The lighting in the film Emma is dull in the interior setting this gives a romantic atmosphere, and makes her look as if she has a smooth complexion, as the main light source are candles, which are subtle and did not show blemishes like modern lighting does. These added to her beauty and enact desirability to men. Other means of light in the interior settings are also subtle as there is no electricity; light sources are windows, and fireplaces. They also used rich colours in their furnishing that increased the darkness of the film. But in the exterior settings the lighting is brighter, but this is natural and subtle lighting, for example the weather. The director does this to create the scenes to look natural. There is a great contrast between Emma and Clueless as technology has improved and we no longer have to live in darkness. So there is extra lighting in Clueless indoors. Also because Chers house is modern it has neutral colours that repeal a lot of light and makes the rooms look bigger, unlike Emma. Out doors, like Emma, is bright and natural and is often sunny. The darker setting is in the party. The darker light gives off a more alluring side of you, which you would want in a party, as in the intimate settings in Emma. TheShow MoreRelatedJane Austen s Emma And Clueless Comparison1655 Words   |  7 PagesAlex Escribano Professor Klingensmith 4 April 2016 ENGL Emma and Clueless Comparison Jane Austen’s Emma can be categorized as a bildungsroman, better known as a coming-of-age tale, in which the reader follows the title character as she comes to terms with her position in the world during the Regency period. However, looking beyond the titular character, one can look at Emma as a satirical work regarding the restrictions and conventions of 19th century society. This satirical element later went

Unit 1 †a Managerial Approach to Marketing Free Essays

Kimberly Bell American Intercontinental University Unit 1 Individual Project MKT640 – A Managerial Approach to Marketing November 11, 2012 Abstract This paper reflects challenges brought on by starting up a new product, the effectiveness and efficiency of technology when marketing, and the battle of legal and ethical complication. Given are examples of different situation of each topic to demonstrate how each take place when starting a new product or service. The Marketing Scenario Introduction When bringing a new product or service together there are certain aspects to be considered for a successful product or outcome. We will write a custom essay sample on Unit 1 – a Managerial Approach to Marketing or any similar topic only for you Order Now Those aspects may include target, sector, location, creating an effective marketing plans and advertisement strategies. There are also certain issues and challenges that may arise when bringing this new product or service into existence. Challenges in New Product Launches When bringing the new product or service into the market, without a plan in place for its targeted consumers, sector, location, sales and distribution tactics there will be several issues and challenges to face. According to Bloom, if all these problems are anticipated and handled creatively, social marketing efforts can succeed (Bloom, 1981). Challenges: Target Market and Sector. One challenge that is very distinct is target consumers and sectors. These two challenges differ where ever you go. When bringing that new product into existence you must do the research of the market for the sector and target market. Therefore, realizing the market sectors as well as the target consumer can determine the difference that one or the other may cause for a major challenge. For example, 1990’s McDonald’s launched a product called Deluxe line to target the older people and launched a tag line â€Å"Especially for the grown up taste† to market it but the launch failed disastrously due to wrong selection of target market. Challenges: Effective Marketing Plan Another challenging task is creating an effective marketing strategy. Creating a effective marketing strategy when initiating a new product is all about keeping the consumers needs in mind. The information presented in the marketing should so explanatory that it gives precise information to the consumer about the details of the product. To give misleading information will cause product failure. Therefore, the marketing will be unsuccessful. For example, Levi Strauss came out with a product called type1 jeans with some different features in 2002 but the marketing and advertisements wasn’t properly devised and erroneously lead consumers in turn leading to failure of the product launch (Bonander, 2010) Challenges: Competition Another challenge is competition, when initiating a new product in the market because the market is constantly changing, entrepreneurs are constantly taking risks (ThinkQuest : Library). For example, in 1985 Coca-Cola launch a new version of the drink with a tag line â€Å"The best just got, better†, but the taste and quality of the new drink was not accepted by the consumers as the strongest competitors PepsiCo took the advantage and maximized its sales (POM final). Technology and New Product Development Marketing efforts can be enhanced by the use of technology. While sales and profits are progressing, it can also help the organization succeed in its marketing campaign. For example most companies are using social media and networking site like LinkedIn to market their business and services. These social networking sites can make the new product campaign even more effective. Technology: Distribution Technology can also allow way for distribution of products or services. Therefore, through desk top advertising, e-marketing, and online marketing, technology has led the way to easy access marketing (Herbert and Grace, 2008). For example, a software Gold Fire Innovator, developed by Invention Machine has three modules and comprises of tools that make use of value engineering and well formulated problem-solving methodology (TRIZ) to provide assistance to the users concerning the problem definition. Its second module called researcher Facilitates Engineers in executing semantic searches related with the powerful databases for finding appropriate resolutions and concepts (Frey, 2006). Technology: Efficiency and Effectiveness Technology also helps in the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of product data. For example, in the banking industry several models based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) have been developed to help with the analyzing and processing of data (Yang, 2009). This process not only helps the organization to be more efficient but also more effective when servicing its customers. Technology: Display Technology can also help to display your new product in an arena for a big or small audience. For example, with a web page the new product can be advertised and sent over the internet, whereas it will be displayed in a database to allow a professional and systematic presentation to a large audience and sharing the of a wealth of information on a continued bases. Legal and Ethical Implications in New Product Development Many legal and ethical implications are faced when launching a new product or service. For example, packing, labeling regulations, disclosures, and standards. There are difference regulations set forth in different countries. There is a must that organizations understand the responsibilities regarding regulations are crucial to ensuring worldwide compliance and sustained economic edge (Akin-Ogundeji, 2010). Legal and ethical implications: Packing and labor There are various countries, which have specific regulations regarding packaging and labeling. There are also stipulates on how and where the labels should be placed on a products. For example, in the US the PDP, is that portion of the package label that is most likely to be seen by the consumer at the time of purchase (General Food Labeling Requirements). This PDP must appear on the front of the product. Legal and ethical implications: Advertisement or Display The media also creates controversy due to interpretations of the signage used to advertise. For example, baby food called Gerber, when it was launched in the France, it means stack or vomiting, which had very bad impression on the customers and led to the reduced sales of the product (Perlman, 2008). Legal and ethical implications: Media Advertisement and Display can really damages the launching of a new product because the audience can misused or misunderstand the given information. For example, when Coca-Cola entered china with the same name, the characters revealed the meaning as â€Å"Bite the wax tadpole† which was very unfortunate and misinterpreted by the people resulting in a controversy (Bite the Wax Tadpole). Conclusion It is to be concluded that from the above discussions that product development is extremely important. It also determines the organizations success and failures. Therefore, it can provide a great advantage to the company success. However, in technology can provide a huge advantage and shorten the time of developing and marketing a product. Technology allows an organization to customize their product in the market. Lastly, the product should comply with the legal aspects to avoid problem with its success. References Akin-Ogundeji, D. O. Get Your Business Ethics Articles and Articles on Corporate Social Responsibility From Ethicsworld. rg. Get Your Business Ethics Articles and Articles on Corporate Social Responsibility From Ethicsworld. org. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. ethicsworld. org/ethicsandemployeesBhasin, H. (2010, January 22). Bite the Wax Tadpole – Why we chose a silly name. Web Development Ireland. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www. bitethewaxtadpole. com/bitethewaxtadpole. htm Bloom PN, Novelli WD. Problems and challenges in social marketin g. J Mark. 1981 Spring;45(2):79-88. PubMed PMID: 12280283. Retrieved November 11, 2012. Bonander, R. 2010. Top 10: Failed Product Launches. Retrieved on November 11, 2012 from http://ca. askmen. com/top_10/entertainment_100/139d_top_10_list. html Brand Failure – McDonald’s Arch Deluxe. Marketing Strategy, Marketing Management, Marketing News, Advertising reviews. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. marketing91. com/brand-failure-mcdonalds-arch-deluxe/ Competition in the Market   The laws of supply and demand are bestevident in a competitive market. ThinkQuest : Library. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://library. hinkquest. org/C008486F/iiid. htm Frey, C. (2006). Goldfire Innovator takes product development, process innovation to the next level. Retrieved November 11, 2012 from http://www. innovationtools. com/Resources/ideamgmt-details. asp? a=147 General Food Labeling Requirements. U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www. fda. gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocum ents/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/ucm064866. htm Herbert, H and Grace, A. (2008). Technology. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. npgoodpractice. org/Topics/Technology/Default. aspx Perlman, C. (2008). 10 marketing Faux pas. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. level2wo. net/? p=35 POM final. Scribd. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. scribd. com/doc/75844842/POM-final Yang, Z. Bank Branch Operating Efficiency: A DEA Approach. Bank Branch Operating Efficiency: A DEA Approach. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from www. iaeng. org/publication/IMECS2009/IMECS2009_pp2087-2092. pdf How to cite Unit 1 – a Managerial Approach to Marketing, Essay examples

Assessment of Enterprise Resource Planning System

Question: Discuss about the Report for Assessment of Enterprise Resource Planning System. Answer: Introduction: In the contemporary corporate world, the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is one of the most profitable software systems. It immensely assists the organizations to make crucial decision regarding the business organization. It is highly effective for saving money, improved collaboration, better analytics, happier customers, simplified regulatory compliance, improved inventory as well as production management. In addition to that, the ERP system is also effective all level of operations ranged from senior management to ground level activities. It has been identified that Reliance crucially depends on ERP system to conduct their operating system with a greater efficiency. This particular article effectively evaluates the functionalities as well as application of the ERP system in terms of Reliances line of business. At the same time, the article identifies the benefits of the ERP system along with the challenges faced by the company. The article also includes a SWOT analysis of the for the Reliance company. Figure 1: Logo of Reliance (Source: Reliance 2016) Concept of Enterprise Resource Planning System: Enterprise Resource Planning System refers to business management software that conducts the data collecting, data storing, data managing as well as data analyzing the business activities (Tsai et al. 2012). In this context, the ERP system software is highly effective for finance activities, shipping process, payment procedures as well as inventory management. In addition to that, the ERP system plays a very significant role in marketing, sales, manufacturing as well as product planning purchase. In addition to that, it has been observed that ERP system can be used for visualizing the processes of core business operation using a common database. It also tracks the business resources such as capacity, production, raw materials as well as case in order to indicate the business commitment status (Hoch and Dulebohn 2013). Generally, Reliance uses the ERP system in several major areas of business operation. These areas are described below Financial Accounting: The entire financial operation of Reliance Company is depended on the ERP system. It has been identified that the major financial fields, where the ERP system is used, are financial consolidation, cash management, receivable cash collection, receivable cash application, matching and payment, vouchering, fixed asset as well as general ledger (Monk and Wagner 2012). Management Accounting: The senior management emphasizes on the ERP system as it successfully provide a clear picture one the business processes. In other words the ERP system provides a distinct advantage in the decision making system of the organization. The major management accounting areas, where the ERP system is used in Reliance are activity based costing, cost management, costing as well as budgeting (Kwak et al. 2012). Figure 2: Functionalities of ERP system in Reliance (Source: Reliance 2016) Human Resources: The ERP system is also proved as essential part of human resource management in Reliance. ERP system immensely assists several human resource operations such as training, recruiting, payroll, roster development, retirement, benefits, retirement separation, diversity management as well as pension plan (Shao et al. 2012). Manufacturing: Reliance uses the ERP system in the manufacturing operation just like numerous popular companies in the contemporary business world. These manufacturing operations are product life cycle management, manufacturing flow, manufacturing projects, manufacturing process, quality control, workflow management, capacity, scheduling, work orders, bill of materials as well as engineering (Bhawarkar et al. 2013). Order Processing: Another major application of ERP system is order processing. Reliance uses this system in several important order processing activities, which are sales commissioning, sales reporting and sales analysis, shipping, inventory, promise availability, pricing, credit checking, order entry as well as order to cash. Supply Chain Management: Supply chain management of Reliance is one of the major part for the success of the organization. In this context, the company immensely concentrates on ERP system in order to achieve a better efficiency (Olson and Staley 2012). These activities are warehousing, claim processing, inventory, order to cash, product configuration, supplier-scheduling as well as supply chain planning. Project Management: ERP system is also very significant part of the project management operation of Reliance. These operational activities are recognized as activity management, performance units, time and expense, billing, work breakdown structure, project costing, resource planning as well as project planning (Sykes et al. 2014). Customer Relationship Management: Reliance also emphasizes on the customer relationship management activities such as call center support, customer contact, service, commissions as well as sales and marketing. Data Services: There are also several crucial data services operations in Reliance which are assisted by the ERP systems. These operations are numerous customer interface services, supplier interface service along with employee interface services. Benefits of the Enterprise Resource Planning System: There are several distinct benefits of ERP system, which are immensely entertained by Reliance. These benefits are described below Improvement of quality and efficiency: Reliance has been highly benefitted by ERP systems in the form of improved efficiency as well as quality of the business. The ERP system effectively operates the entire business operation in a smooth fashion. Moreover, it leads towards better output in manufacturing as well as customer service operations (Altamony et al. 2016). Support for senior management: Another major benefit that is entertained by Reliance due to the ERP system is effective support to the senior management. The ERP system can significantly provide a clear visual of the operational processes so that senior management can make an nformed decision regarding any business activity. Figure 3: Benefits of ERP system entertained by Reliance (Source: Reliance 2016) Development of flexibility: The ERP system has effectively made the business operation of Reliance more agile. This way the business activities of Reliance have been transformed into a flexible operation. It makes the business operation less rigid, cohesive as well as able to perform internally as well as externally (Tsai et al. 2012). Improved data security: The ERP system has effectively secured the Reliances data management. The common control feature of the system enabled the company to ensure that the data cannot be compromised. Increased collaborative opportunities: ERP system has provided the opportunity to reliance with respect to collaboration of the business operation more smoothly. The major feature of the ERP system is that it can take many forms of information such as emails, video, audio, forms, files as well as documents, which has helped the business operation more significantly (Hoch and Dulebohn 2013). Challenges for the company: The major challenges that have been faced by Reliance are described below: ERP system is highly expensive in comparison with the less integrated solutions. The major challenge in the ERP system is customization issues. Reliance specifically faces the challenge in maintaining the focus and competitiveness at the time of revamping the business processes. Reliance has to extensively focus on maintaining management attention at the time of sharing sensitive information The company has to initiate training activities regularly in order to execute the ERP systems properly. The ERP system is highly effective for integrating the independent division of the company. In this situation, the departments often transform into overly dependent entities. Developing a smooth and cohesive ERP operation is considered a gigantic task. This is huge challenge for Reliance as it takes lots of money, planning and time. The negotiating cost associated with the ERP switching cost is considerably expensive. It increases Reliances expenses of upgrading, maintenance and support as well. SWOT analysis of the Enterprise Resource Planning System: The SWOT analysis of the Enterprise Resource Planning System for Reliance is depicted below: Figure 4: SWOT analysis of ERP system for Reliance (Source: Reliance 2016) Conclusion: The above-described article effectively described the concept of Enterprise Resource Planning System and its impact on the organizational performance. In this context, the functionalities as well as applications have been properly explained in this paper. Moreover, the article has been able to identify the benefits of ERP system in terms of Reliances line of business. The identified benefits are improvement of quality and efficiency, support for senior management, development of flexibility, improved data security as well as increased collaborative opportunities. In addition to that, the article has been able to identify the major challenges that have been faced by Reliance. The article has been able to analysis the ERP system of Reliance a SWOT matrix. The article has been able to conclude that despite several challenges the organization is heavily dependent on ERP systems with respect to its operational activities. Reference List Altamony, H., Al-Salti, Z., Gharaibeh, A. and Elyas, T., 2016. The relationship between Change Management Strategy and Successful Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementations: A Theoretical Perspective.International Journal of Business Management and Economic Research,7(4), pp.690-703. Bhawarkar, R., Dhamande, L., Jain, G., Noorani, N., Badole, V., Ankush, A.M., Kasat, N.N., Sawari, S.S.M., Raju, N.M., Jadhav, V.K. and Rao, B.M., 2013. A Framework For The Implementation Of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) To Improve The Performance of Business.international journal of research in Advent Technology. Hoch, J.E. and Dulebohn, J.H., 2013. Shared leadership in enterprise resource planning and human resource management system implementation.Human Resource Management Review,23(1), pp.114-125. Kwak, Y.H., Park, J., Chung, B.Y. and Ghosh, S., 2012. Understanding end-users acceptance of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in project-based sectors.IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,59(2), pp.266-277. Leon, A., 2014.Enterprise resource planning. McGraw-Hill Education. Monk, E. and Wagner, B., 2012.Concepts in enterprise resource planning. Cengage Learning. Olson, D.L. and Staley, J., 2012. Case study of open-source enterprise resource planning implementation in a small business.Enterprise Information Systems,6(1), pp.79-94. Reliance. 2016.Reliance. [online] Available at: https://www.relianceada.com/ada/index.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2016]. Shao, Z., Feng, Y. and Liu, L., 2012. The mediating effect of organizational culture and knowledge sharing on transformational leadership and Enterprise Resource Planning systems success: An empirical study in China.Computers in Human Behavior,28(6), pp.2400-2413. Sykes, T.A., Venkatesh, V. and Johnson, J.L., 2014. Enterprise System Implementation and Employee Job Performance: Understanding the Role of Advice Networks.Mis Quarterly,38(1), pp.51-72. Tsai, W.H., Lee, P.L., Shen, Y.S. and Lin, H.L., 2012. A comprehensive study of the relationship between enterprise resource planning selection criteria and enterprise resource planning system success.Information Management,49(1), pp.36-46.

My Super Hero free essay sample

My Superhero September 2, 2013 Introduction I thought Id start out with heroes. We all have leaders. Leaders are those that we respect the most and want to be like. None of these leaders the ones you know or the ones you dont know yet are perfect, and if they were, I doubt if I would want to emulate them. They are Just leaders who followed the facts to where the facts led them, and when they found themselves in some odd place, coming to some even odder conclusions, these leaders didnt back down. Leader I admire Everyone has their own admired leader. And for me, that leader is a very famous aperture Superman. This is simply because he is too much of a hero not to admire. First, his background is really extraordinary. Born into a family that lived on a farm, Superman had to disguise his talents. Ata young age, he took an interest in many things, but could not par take due to his super power strength and so he began controlling it. We will write a custom essay sample on My Super Hero or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He was also such an intelligent student that there were times were he had to be average so not to give up his identity in anyway. However, he decided to leave after high school and become a reporter to be closer to any crisis that may be accruing. But that is nothing compared with his life saving actions. He is the one who created a turning-point for good versus evil. When there was trouble you can count on him to be there. There was nothing that en would not do tort the people to earth. He was someone that people could look up to. An icon for those that had no hope and needed a saver, he was there. When most of other famous superheroes usually have messy lives, superman did not. His personal life was a happy and peaceful one. Evaluation of my leadership style When doing my evaluation I tend to accept input from one or more group embers when making decisions and solving problems, but I do retain the final say when choices are made. Group members tend to be encouraged and motivated by my style of leadership. My style of leadership often leads to more effective and accurate decisions, since I cannot be an expert in all areas. Input from group members with specialized knowledge and expertise creates a more complete basis for decision-making. My plan to improve To improve I will continue to boost morale and boosts retention. When boosting morale I will continue to recognize their efforts. Of course this is not as effective in titivating people as involving them in important decisions. I will also look for those that can serve my organization at a later date. I enjoy encouraging active involvement on the part of everyone on the team. When boosting retention I will encourage employees to give their opinions on company issues, getting a variety of solutions to choose from. Empowering employees to be creative would develop more productive work and make the company more efficient. By allowing employees to be active in the growth of the company will encourage them to stay with the company. This will improve employee retention and cut down on the costs of turnover.

25+ TERRIFIC Repetition Examples in Literature

25+ TERRIFIC Repetition Examples in Literature 25+ TERRIFIC Repetition Examples in Literature Editing 101 will always tell you the same thing: avoid repetition in your writing. But make no mistake, repetition isn’t a pariah in   the world of prose! In fact, when executed with finesse, it can make a piece of writing all the more compelling.This post will take you through the basics of repetition. And because the best way to understand a literary device is to see it in skilled action, we’ll also cover 30 remarkable examples of repetition in literature. (To skip past the next section where we define repetition, you can jump straight to those examples!)Repetition definitionRepetition is the act of repeating sounds, words, phrases, or full sentences. As a literary device, it’s used to stress key points, or to achieve a certain rhythm, tone, or style of prose - which is why you’ll often find it in poetry.However, while it can be used to highlight important details or enhance rhythm, repetition needs to be done with care. If you accidentally repeat wor ds or re-state the same information for readers over and over (and over) again, it can become jarring. For instance, if you’ve already told readers that a character has an unusual beauty mark on their shoulder, mention it once and leave it at that. Hearing about the beauty mark every time that character is in a scene is tiring. If it’s crucial to bring it up more than once, find new and interesting ways of bringing attention to it - instead of just stating its existence, maybe you can have another character comment on it.If you’re going to repeat a word, phrase, or idea, it needs to have a purpose. Pinpoint exactly why it needs to be said again - or if there’s another way you present it that adds more to the narrative.To   figure out the right way to use this literary device, you first have to learn the different types of repetition. Learn more about how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.Types of repetitionDid you know that there are at least 15 main types of repetition? They fall into two categories: words and sounds. Let’s start with...Repetition of Words1. Anadiplosis The last word of a clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the next one.Example: "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hatred; hatred leads to conflict; conflict leads to suffering." - Yoda, in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.2. Anaphora The word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences is repeated.Example: â€Å"It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place.† - The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger3. Antistasis The repetition of words or phrases in different or contrary senses.Example: â€Å"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.†   - Benjamin Franklin4. Conduplicatio The frequent repetition of a word or phrase within a paragraph, in order to expand upon its meaning.Example: â€Å"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." - Martin Luther King, Jr.5. Diacope The repetition of words separated be additional words, which alter their meaning.Example: â€Å"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.† - Henry V by Shakespeare6. Epanalepsis The word both at the beginning and at the end of the clause or sentence is repeated.Example: â€Å"Next time there won't be a next time.† - Phil Leotardo, in The Sopranos7. Epimone The word or phrase is repeated to place emphasis on its meaning.Example: â€Å"Mr. Dick shook his head, as utterly renouncing the suggestion; and having replied a great many times, and with great confidence, ‘No beggar, no beggar, no beggar, Sir!’† - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Are you a Dickens fan? Read up on 15 of his classics novels in our guide to Dickens!)8. Epiphora The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a series of clauses or sentences.Example: If you did know to whom I gave the ring, If you did know for whom I gave the ring And would conceive for what I gave the ring And how unwillingly I left the ring, When naught would be accepted but the ring, You would abate the strength of your displeasure. - The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare9. Epizeuxis The successive repetition of a word or phrase within one clause or sentence.Example: â€Å"The horror, the horror.† - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad10. Negative-Positive Restatement An idea or phrase is presented in negative terms, and then repeated in positive terms.Example: â€Å"The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.† - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde11. Polyptoton The same root word is repeated in different forms.Example: â€Å"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.† - Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss12. Symploce The repetition of a word or phrase both at the end and at the beginning of a clause or sentence. (In other words, a combination of   anaphora and epiphora.)Example: "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  - â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† by  T.S. EliotSound RepetitionDo you hear that? Is it bat, a rat, or a gnat? And speaking of sounds that repeat themselves, let’s take a look at...13. Alliteration The successive repetition of consonant sounds in the stressed part of a word.Example: â€Å"She sells seashells by the sea-shore.†14. Assonance The vowel sounds are repeated.Example: â€Å""Hear the mellow wedding bells†¦Ã¢â‚¬  - â€Å"The Bells† by  Edgar Allan Poe15. Consonance The repetition of consonant sounds in successive or closely connected words. The difference between consonance and alliteration is that alliteration is at the beginning of the word (so â€Å"Peter Piper†), but consonance can be anywhere in the word.Example: I'll swing by my ankles. She'll cling to your knees. As you hang by your nose, From a high-up trapeze. But just one thing, please, As we float through the breeze, Don't sneeze. - â€Å"The Acrobats† by Shel SilversteinOkay, now that we’ve gotten seamlessly up to speed (pardon the alliteration), on the different types of repetition, let’s look at some exemplary examples from literature (pardon the polyptoton).Repetition examples in literatureLet’s turn this section into a little quiz. Try to guess what kind of repetition each quote is using as you read through - the answers will be provided at the bottom!Example #1:  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by  Douglas Adams"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."Example #2:  The Innocents Abroad by  Mark Twain"They are not paid for thinkingthey are not paid to fret about the world's concerns. They were not respectable peoplethey were not worthy peoplethey were not learned and wise and brilliant peoplebut in their breasts, all their stupid lives long, resteth a peace that passeth understanding!"Example #3: Deep River by  Shusaku Endoâ€Å"Hatred was spreading everywhere, blood was being spilled everywhere, wars were breaking out everywhere.†Example #4:  A Tale of Two Cities by  Charles Dickensâ€Å"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.†Example #5:  Beloved by  Toni Morrisonâ€Å"Beloved is mine; she is B eloved.†Example #6:  Lolita by Vladimir Nabokovâ€Å"What I present here is what I remember of the letter, and what I remember of the letter I remember verbatim (including that awful French).†Example #7:  Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthyâ€Å"And stepping softly with her air of blooded ruin about the glade in a frail agony of grace she trailed her rags through dust and ashes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Answers:  a) Epimone; b) Symploce; c) Epistrophe; d) Anaphora; e) Epanalepsis; f) Anadiplosis; g) AssonanceExamples of repetition in poetryRepetition is especially prevalent in poetry, as it can help achieve a certain resonance with readers. Again, read through the following examples of poetic repetition and guess what type each uses.Example #1: "Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frostâ€Å"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.†Example #2: "Do Not Go Gentle into the Good Night" by Dylan Thomasâ€Å"Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight, Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.†Example #3: â€Å"Annabel Lee† by Edgar Allen Poeâ€Å"It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.†Example #4: "Song of Myself, 3" by Walt Whitmanâ€Å"There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.†Example #5: "A Child is Born" by Stephen Vincent Benetâ€Å"Life is not lost by dying! Life is lost Minute by minute, day by dragging day, In all the thousand, small uncaring ways.†Example #6: "The Gnome, The Gnat, The Gnu" by Shel Silverstein"I saw an ol' gnome Take a gknock at a gnat Who was gnibbling the gnose of his gnu. I said, "Gnasty gnome, Gnow, stop doing that."Example #7: "Coda" by Dorothy Parkerâ€Å"There’s little in taking or giving, There’s little in water or wine; This living, this living, this living Was never a project of mine.†Answers: a) Epizeuxis; b) Assonance; c) Consonance; d) Epiphora; e) Diacope; f) Alliteration ; g) Epizeuxis Did you know there are over 15 types of repetition? Now that you know how to make repetition your writing’s best friend, let’s give a shout-out to your best friend when it comes to removing unnecessary repetition: CTRL+F. We are all guilty of over relying on specific words that crop up in our writing again and again. Get acquainted with your own habitual words, and then use CTRL+F to sweep your document for them. Find, remove, repeat! 😊Do you incorporate repetition into your prose? Is there a specific type that you favor? Leave any thoughts or questions in the comments below!

Lessons in Life and Marketing Yourself (a.k.a. What I Learned at the River Food Pantry)

Lessons in Life and Marketing Yourself (a.k.a. What I Learned at the River Food Pantry) Last Friday evening I volunteered at the River Food Pantry, the busiest food pantry in my county. The pantry distributes 30 thousand pounds of food to 600 families per week- I think I personally distributed about 1000 pounds of it, as I was in charge of giving out cabbages. These were not just ordinary cabbages like the ones you see in the grocery store. Some of them were bigger than my head and easily weighed 7 pounds. My cabbage volunteer experience taught me many lessons about life and even resumes. Here’s some of what I learned: I *do* have time in my life for volunteering, and it feels good. All it takes is putting it in my calendar. This time it helped that a group of friends all decided to volunteer on the same day. Volunteering is even more fun as a community and when you can go out with friends afterward! (Maybe you are procrastinating something that would get done if you put it in your calendar and/or made a group experience out of it?) When there are small cabbages and big cabbages, most people do not want the big cabbages. But when there are only big cabbages, people take the big ones. Of course some people simply don’t like cabbage. But if you’re interested in cabbage, the desirability of any given one is all in your perspective. (It is your job to make yourself or your product look desirable when compared to all the other choices around it.) When told, â€Å"You can have one of everything on this table,† (a table filled with berries, pumpkins and potatoes in addition to heads of cabbage) people often skip over the cabbage. But when asked, â€Å"Would you like a cabbage?† most people will take a cabbage. And when further offered, â€Å"A nice big one?† most people will take a big one. This phenomenon reminded me of how simple our minds are. Put whatever you want people to notice in front of their noses; draw their attention to it and they will probably bite. We humans are so suggestible. (This strategy works on resumes too!) People like variety. On a cart to my right there were packs of cut watermelon. No one was taking them. But when they were placed on a table next to packs of blackberries and people were told they could choose two things, they chose variety: one watermelon and one blackberry instead of 2 blackberries. The watermelon, previously unwanted, flew off the shelves. (Workplaces and colleges look for variety too. You might be the right fit just because you are different!) People like things that look pretty. About an hour into my shift, I decided to start cleaning up the cabbages, taking off the outer leaves, before offering them to customers. The number of cabbage takers increased significantly. (Can you see an implication for your job search and marketing documents here?) I like to finish what I started. Even after my friends had completed their tasks, I found it impossible to leave with them until I had given out cabbages to the last patron. I’m sure someone else could have peeled cabbage leaves just as well as I did, but for some reason I felt I needed to see my job through to the end. And so I did. Do you have a tradition of volunteering at holiday time? I’d love to hear what it is! And perhaps this year you can use the occasion as a way to learn some life lessons as well as spread holiday cheer.

Leadership - MBA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership - MBA - Essay Example Thus the only thing that will be found common between various leadership styles will be the â€Å"social influence† (Robert K. & Angelo K., 2004). This factor is the key in leadership. There are a number of leadership styles that are proposed in various books journals, periodicals and the internet. In this paper, only some of them are discussed very briefly as it is not possible to discuss each and every leadership style also these are discussed briefly so that these can be applied to the selected organization in much more detail. But are these styles of leadership actually followed in the organizations today? To look into the practical application of the various leadership styles, a company that specializes in the manufacturing of computer hardware components, Softech Company is selected and leadership styles followed at two different levels of management are discussed and analyzed. There is an in-depth analysis conducted on the style of leadership that these managers follow and the way they deal with their subordinates and what influence their subordinates have through their personalities. For the purpose of analyzing the application of leadership, Softech Company was selected. The company background and rationale for selection is discussed later in the paper. Two levels of the organization were focused for the analysis of the leadership style possessed by the leaders. One top level executive was chosen for the purpose of analysis and another middle level manager’s leadership style was studied. The names and complete designations are kept confidential as the respondents didn’t want to disclose this information. The styles of these managers vary broadly in terms of their approach to the tasks and subordinates. Unlike the trait theory, the behavioral aspect of leadership focuses on the behaviors of the leaders which largely influence their followers (Sadler, P., 1997). In this respect a number of

A Discussion of Macroeconomic Policies used by the USA Government over Essay

A Discussion of Macroeconomic Policies used by the USA Government over the past three years, their impact on the USA Economy and how successful these Policies have been - Essay Example f a real-estate slump and related financial problems, there were predictions that margin squeeze from high energy prices or a dollar shock could be crucial factors tipping US growing economy into a downturn. With the global political situation ever changing, foreign policies fluctuation in split second, the economy has suffered too over the recent years. This paper describes the United States of America’s macroeconomic polices in the recent years and their impact on the people. We shall consider the past three years and look at how the changing economic policies changed business interests and how they impact the overall economic situation of the state. In 2006 U.S economy was still suffering from the effects that the hurricanes such as Katrina had on the U.S. economy and because of their reverberations in 2006. The health of the national economy was facing threat, due to the severe beating that the infrastructure took—most notably the infrastructure for energy. For the preceding year and a half, energy prices had surged worldwide. When the storms hit at the end of August, economic activity had been quite robust for several years, supported by monetary accommodation and strong productivity growth. Real GDP had grown steadily at, or above, its potential or long-run sustainable pace, which is estimated at around three and a quarter percent. This pattern continued even during the third quarter—immediately following the hurricanes—when real GDP grew by just over four percent. In the fourth quarter, growth did drop sharply to about 1 Â ½ percent. However, a good deal of this slowdown appears to have been due to sev eral temporary factors, none of which were related to the hurricanes. In 2006 the US economy was facing a great deal of un-certainty; the economy appears to be approaching a highly desirable glide path. First, real GDP growth currently appears to be quite strong, but there was good reason for it to slow to around its potential rate as the year

Political Correctness in the Media Essay Example for Free

Political Correctness in the Media Essay Political correctness in the media refers to the use of appropriate words and ideas to minimize racism in all its hideous manifestations, in addition to sexism and offences against identity groups of all sorts. In other words, it is a â€Å"concept that one has to shape their statements (if not their opinions) according to a certain political dogma (â€Å"Political Correctness,† 2008). † Hence, it is rude to say ‘nigger’ in an advertisement especially created for the African Americans even if a Caucasian Congressman uses the politically incorrect word in his home. However, during periods of history when certain races, identity groups or the weaker sex must be looked down upon – according to policies created by the government to raise a race, identity group or gender over another, in the minds of the people – it is not considered politically incorrect by the media to refer to those looked down upon as rascals, despite the fact that the notion of political correctness had originated during World War I (Lind, 2000). Given that political correctness must needs concern governmental policies at any given time, it is interesting to consider the fact that political correctness or incorrectness in the media has taken different forms according to governmental needs at different times. In the United States, racism in reporting against the African Americans seemed to have peaked during the 1950s. Perhaps the reason for the peak was that the whites and the blacks in America had shared a master-slave relationship in the past. The Civil Rights Movement had called for changing the status quo. The demand for equal rights for the blacks was met with resistance, however. This is the reason why an article published in The Birmingham Post-Herald in 1955 quotes a white sheriff thus: â€Å"†¦We haven’t mixed so far down here and we don’t intend to (â€Å"10 Jurors Picked as Till Trial Opens,† 1955). † The sheriff was, of course, describing the relations of the white race with the black race. The above mentioned news article was actually a report on a trial. All of the jury members selected for the trial were white men. Eight of the men were farmers and one of them was a laborer. There were â€Å"eight Negro reporters† present at the trial, but all of them were â€Å"segregated at a separate table (â€Å"10 Jurors Picked as Till Trial Opens†). † Considering that the theory of racism is based on the assumption that a race can be superior to another race for any number of reasons, the news report of the 1950s describes blatant racism. So, even though the blacks had worked as laborers for the whites in the past, for the reason that the blacks had served the whites as slaves, they could not be members of the jury even if one of the jury members was a white laborer. Contrary to the stance of the whites with respect to the blacks described in the above mentioned article, a news article published by The San Francisco News in 1942 describes the value of the Japanese Americans to the economy of the United States. The author of the article, â€Å"Jap Ban to Force Farm Adjustments,† states that the internment of the Japanese Americans would adversely affect the agricultural produce of California. The article refers to the Japanese Americans as â€Å"[f]ast and efficient workers (â€Å"Jap Ban to Force Farm Adjustments,† 1942). † Even though the work of the Japanese Americans on Californian farms had required â€Å"the most arduous form of ‘stoop labor,’† the article mentions that the white farmers would be able to handle it, but not as well as the Japanese American workers (â€Å"Jap Ban to Force Farm Adjustments†). Stoop labor is defined as â€Å"[b]ack-bending manual work (â€Å"Stoop Labor,† 2008). † If the news article published in 1942 had clearly stated that the white farmers will not be able to replace the Japanese Americans on the plantations because the latter were engaged in stoop labor which the white farmers simply would not engage in; it would have been obvious that the reporting is racist. However, this was not the case. Rather, the Japanese Americans are lauded for their efficiency in the news report, as some of them were capable of tending to forty to fifty gardens at a time (â€Å"Jap Ban to Force Farm Adjustments†). Even though the Japanese Americans had been interned during World War II, the whites did not seem to look down upon them or consider them inferior. On the other hand, the blacks were obviously considered inferior because they had served the whites as slaves. These differences of perceptions are made clear by the news reports. Even so, racism against the African Americans is considered a totally taboo subject in the media in the beginning of the twenty first century. The reason for the taboo, too, is obvious: the African have a history of fighting racism in the United States. The government of the United States no longer wants to harass them through its policies and the media. As a matter of fact, the taboo is accompanied by policies such as affirmative action, simply for the fact that racism against the Africans of the U. S. is met with ample resistance on the part of the Africans themselves, as well as their friends among the Caucasians of America. Seeing that the United States government would like the country to maintain a semblance of a civilized nation, racism against African Americans does not make sense any longer. The ‘Islamists’ are targeted nowadays. All the same, trends in racism reporting as described above reveal that this too would change one day, somehow. Political correctness or incorrectness in the media is undoubtedly related to political framing. As mentioned previously, it is the policymaker that decides what the media would eventually reveal to the public. Political communicators are skilled at framing the debates over controversial issues through an emphasis on policy goals that deserve the highest priority, according to themselves rather than the people they communicate with. Such rhetoric affects political attitudes by influencing the importance that individuals place on competing issues. Frames do not only affect opinions on the issues, but they also influence the judgments of the participants in the communication process with regards to the relative importance of competing values. Thus, political persuaders shape public opinion through the framing of their policy goals and choices (Nelson, 2004). Politicians attempt to control public perception through the use of words. Thus an encyclopedia has defined framing as â€Å"a process of selective control over the individual’s perception of media, public, or private communication, in particular the meanings attributed to words or phrases. Framing defines how an element of rhetoric is packaged so as to allow certain interpretations and rule out others (â€Å"Framing,† 2008). † Moreover, media frames may be created by the mass media as well as specific political and social movements or organizations. As shown through the several examples mentioned already, the media works alongside political and social movements to control the perceptions of the public at large through the communication theory of framing. Hence, in recent years the media was frequently heard discussing the ‘war on terror,’ seeing as the politicians had coined the phrase and used it regularly to advise the public about their policies concerning the issue. Another important example of framing in this context was the popularization of the term, ‘escalation,’ to describe an increase in troop levels in war torn Iraq. The term, ‘escalation’ implied that the United States was deliberately heightening the scope of the conflict in a manner that was provocative (â€Å"Framing†). Spielvogel (2005) points out that both George W. Bush and John Kerry, during the 2004 presidential campaign, had relied upon the moral framing of the ‘war on terrorism’ and the situation in Iraq as a battle between ‘good and evil’ in their day to day political discourse. Moreover, President Bush had employed this rhetorical frame â€Å"to politically and morally cloak the war in Iraq under a larger war on terror (Spielvogel). † Is war politically correct or incorrect? It depends on governmental policies at any given time. Now that the U. S. is going through an economic recession, perhaps war will become a taboo subject in the media and ‘nonviolence’ would reign. All the same, if the U. S. government continues to perceive all Muslims as the enemies of the United States – the media would continue referring to ‘Islamists’ the way it does at present. Even though stereotyping is by itself a taboo subject, advanced degrees in mass communication are not helping journalists and advertisers to be honest in their understanding of people and cultures. Given the responsibility to relay truthful information to the public; journalists, advertisers and all distributors of entertainment and news across different mediums such as television, newspapers, radio, Internet, etc. should have known that all people and cultures cannot be appreciated through stereotypes. Moreover, through mass usage of stereotypes, the media creates a mass culture, the representatives of which consider it abnormal to step outside the stereotypes. According to the Media Awareness Network: â€Å"The pressure put on women through ads, television, film and new media to be sexually attractive—and sexually active—is profound. The National Eating Disorders Association reports that one out of four TV commercials send some kind of ‘attractiveness message,’ telling viewers what is and is not attractive (â€Å"Media Stereotyping,† 2007). † Thus, the media happens to contribute to the mental illnesses suffered by an increasing number of people in our world. Although this form of stereotyping in the media may not have anything to do with political pressure, or political correctness and/or incorrectness, the fact that the media has stereotypes for women is accompanied by the truth that the U.  S. government has never been headed by a woman! The Media Awareness Network explains another reason for stereotyping before outlining other problems associated with stereotypes: Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, ocial role or occupation. But stereotypes can be problematic. They can: reduce a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations; transform assumptions about particular groups of people into â€Å"realities†; be used to justify the position of those in power; and perpetuate social prejudice and inequality (â€Å"Media Stereotyping†). Although the reason for stereotyping as described above is clear, the main reason for it continues to be understood as governmental policies. Of course, stereotyping is another form of political incorrectness in the media. Then again, there are those who opine that political correctness is a confusing notion, disallowing intelligent debates from changing our world for the better (â€Å"PC thinking ‘is harming society,’† 2006). In other words, by trying to be politically correct or incorrect, the media is veiling the face of reality. Even so, the media is considered an important educator of society as a whole. Furthermore, the media has the power to shape culture by introducing positive changes. It is a shame, therefore, that people must consider educating the media so as to do away with falsehoods that it imparts due to political pressure. Undoubtedly, political correctness and incorrectness must necessarily concern governmental policies at any given time. Whereas the government benefits by the strength of the media through its declaration of certain words or ideas as politically correct or incorrect at any given time – it is the public at large that suffers because it has been taught lies by the media. By perpetuating social prejudice, the media – through governmental notions of political correctness and incorrectness at any given time – may even shoulder responsibility for bloody wars around the world.

Old Testament Connections from Grapes of Wrath :: essays research papers

John Steinbeck makes many Biblical allusions in his book The Grapes of Wrath. Many of these connections are on a small layer, perhaps applying to only one individual. Jim Casy, the Christ figure, is one example of an allusion from the New Testament. However, the whole book can be seen as a Biblical allusion to the story of the Exodus and the life of Moses. Not only does the story of the fictional Joad family relate to the Exodus, but the story of the Okies and the great migration that took place during the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. This compelling story of the migrants can be divided into three parts: the oppression, the exodus, and the Promised Land. The chronicle of the Exodus begins with the Hebrews being enslaved to the Egyptians. Because of this, God sent ten plagues to Egypt. After the tenth plague, the pharaoh agreed to let the Hebrews become free and their journey across the desert is known as the Exodus. Thus the modern word exodus refers to any mass migration or departure of a large group of people. The excursion of the migrant workers can be described as a modern day exodus (compared to time-period of the Biblical story). Like the Hebrews, the Joad family and the rest of the migrants end up fleeing from their oppressors, which happens to be the banks. The period of time when the Okies use Route 66 as a way to move cross-country is the true exodus of the story, as it is a migration of a people. The migrants reaching California can be compared to the Hebrews finally reaching the Promised Land of Israel. Not only does the book relate to the movement of the Israelites, but also to the legendary man who lead them: Moses. Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider Moses a great prophet. One reference to Moses comes when Uncle John puts Rose of Sharon’s baby in the river. This is much like the life of Moses, when he is sent down the Nile River as a child.

Media Policy

The issue of coming out versus staying in the closet is one that has the potential to provide a news media organization with a large amount of readership or viewer-ship because of the still novel aspect of the situation. America is quickly becoming a more liberal society, yet the conservatism within the country is still high. While many people have pushed the envelope of conservatism, still a lot struggle with the idea of challenging traditions because of the many consequences that attend such a decision.The idea of being homosexual (gay or lesbian) within American society still carries with it a stigma that many try to avoid. The main reasons for the avoidance of this stigma are the attention that such a lifestyle will bring to those who live it and the possibility of overt protest against such a lifestyle by activist or religious groups. Therefore, the â€Å"coming out† of a homosexual provides news that the public is highly interested in, and the developments that often fol low such a declaration are also highly news worthy. Since it is the business of this media house to provide information to the public that it finds interesting and seminal, it is therefore the policy of this organization to aim to be the first at announcing the â€Å"coming out† of individual homosexuals.The information regarding the lifestyles in which people choose to engage is often considered by critics of the media as personal and not as the business of the public. However, the American public has consistently identified what it considers its own business through its attention to the details of the lives of many individuals. In fact, the public has demonstrated its commitment to learning such news through its active awareness of televised news programs, feature stories on the internet, and its paid subscription to print media of varying levels of credibility.Unlike some media houses of lower credibility status, this media house is dedicated to providing the truth about t he lives of any individual labeled as coming out of the homosexual closet. This media house takes this type of claim very seriously and is held to a high level of integrity in providing proofs of any claims made to such effect. In this way, the curiosity and concern of the public regarding such matters will be satisfied not with lies and fabrications, but with factual accounts of very real and troubling issues.The media as an industry is not just a group of organizations that provide an update or commentary on the things that take place in our society. Rather, its role encompasses that of creating cultural artifacts and historical records of the socio-cultural metamorphosis of a particular society over time (Gauntlett 115-6).Without this record, anthropologists who study a given era are at a loss when trying to compile an accurate account of the cultural practices within a given society. Homosexuality is an integral part of the social practices of many Americans today, and fear or a n inordinate level of concern for privacy often pushes people into a mode of overprotection of such lifestyles. The role of the media is to effectively uncover such practices by aiding these persons in making their lifestyles and sexual preferences known to the public and therefore to posterity.Statistical considerations also prompt the media to engage in practices that â€Å"out† homosexuals who would otherwise remain hidden. Many reasons exist why statistical bodies seek out demographical data that will give the percentage of homosexuals within a given district or in the country itself. Such measures as the creative capital level of a town use data concerning the gay population as integral factors for calculation (Florida, 41).Such measures help gauge the tolerance level of certain regions, cities, or towns. In fact, it is often in the interest of even the homosexuals themselves to come out, as it increases the confidence level of others like themselves who want to live the ir lives out in the open and refrain from hiding. Yet, homosexuals who decide to keep their lifestyles in the closet succeed only in skewing the statistical data, resulting in the underestimation of the level of homosexual practice in a given region. This media house is committed to playing a role in this by encouraging, prompting, or otherwise effecting the open acknowledgement of the true level of homosexuality within a given area.The role of the media as an announcer of the coming out of certain homosexuals is one that succeeds also in helping such persons to liberate themselves from a confining public image that, in effect, adversely affects their lifestyle. Homosexuals who remain in the closet tend to have unnecessary burdens placed upon them, which the media should consider its humanitarian duty to remove. Such persons are unable to proclaim their love in the open.They are unable publicly to perform simple actions, such as holding hands or kissing, which demonstrate their feel ings toward their significant other. It is often the case that such persons want desperately to rid themselves of these confinements and reveal their sexual preferences to the world. However, they lack the courage or the nerve to stand up and make the declaration themselves. The media therefore provides a service to many of these persons by performing the unsavory act of â€Å"coming out† for them, so that they may begin their enjoyment of life openly professing and living what they indeed are in private.The media also plays a role that publicizes the lifestyle of homosexuals far beyond the borders of influence than they themselves would have been able to proclaim it. Public knowledge of the true proportion of the population that desires such a lifestyle provides in turn an impetus for changes in the legal structure of society that would facilitate such lifestyles. In other words, if enough homosexuals step forward and â€Å"come out,† they may even get the legal recog nition they desire.The media therefore facilitates not just the open lifestyle of such persons, but also justification and recognition of such a lifestyle so that they may be more able to live fulfilling life that contains all the accessories that make life fulfilling for heterosexuals. The role of the media in helping these persons come out will broadcast the view that such a lifestyle is legitimate. This is likely to prompt legislation that will allow such persons to marry, adopt children, and perform other partnership roles once available only to heterosexuals (Vargo, 114).Critics of the media are likely to cite the observation that the publicizing of lifestyle practices of homosexual should be left to their discretion. However, it is often the discretion of these persons that lead to the media finding out about their lifestyles in the first place. Furthermore, the media is also involved in publicizing romantic details about the lives of heterosexuals—mainly those persons such as public servants and entertainment personalities who live a large portion of their lives in the limelight.Since such stories are the domain of the media, then other very similar stories involving the coming out of homosexuals are also considered to lie within the jurisdiction of the media. It is often the case that people are opposed to things only when they affect them personally, and this double standard ought to be avoided. Since a large proportion of Americans show themselves interested enough in this type of material to purchase magazines, then the media should consider it a duty to provide that material.It should be considered the perpetual policy of the media to continue to provide information to the public regarding the sexual status of the individuals who live within its domain. The efforts made by the media to out these personalities are beneficial not only to the individuals themselves, but to anthropologists and sociologists of posterity who may seek to understand the socio-cultural practices of persons of this era.The actions of the media concerning the state of homosexuality in a given area are also beneficial to historians, who are likely to consult the media as cultural artifacts that give insight into the synchronic and diachronic development of certain occurrences of note in a given time. The media should be active in publicizing the coming out of homosexuals because of its role in informing the public and in legitimizing the homosexual lifestyle in a manner that is likely to lead up to the legalization of activities that occur in connection with it.Work CitedFlorida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class: and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Community and Everyday Life. Cambridge: Basic Books, 2002.Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2002.Vargo, Marc E. Acts of Disclosure: The Coming Out Process of Contemporary Gay Men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Birmingham: Haworth Press, 1998.

Elie Wiesel’s Changes Essay

In the memoir, Night, we discover how Elie Wiesel, one of the minority of Jews to survive the holocaust during World War II, identity changes in response to his concentration camp experiences. The war had been raging for two years and was about to enter Sighet. The Germans believed in the Aryan race and attempted to commit genocide on the ‘lesser’ races, particularly Jews. The separation from Elie’s loved ones and the horrible conditions of these camps affect Elie immensely. Elie is affected in the following ways: physically, emotionally and spiritually. Through the brutality witnessed, acts of selfishness, the death of his father and the loss of his faith Elie changed. The Holocaust had changed him into a completely different person. The greatest change to Elie Wiesel’s identity was his loss of faith in god. Before he and his family were moved to the camps, Elie was a religious little boy who cried after praying at night. After a few days in Auschwitz, a concentration camp, Elie Wiesel heard about the crematory and the fact that the Nazi’s were killing the sick, weak, and the young. In his first night in the camp, Elie experienced his first crisis of faith. â€Å"Never Shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever†¦ Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust.† Later, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Elie was not able to celebrate the New Year with the other Jews in the camp. When the Rabbi said â€Å"Blessed be the name of the eternal,† Elie thought â€Å"Why, but why should I bless him?† In these quotes, Elie’s frustration and anger is directed towards god because he has no one else to blame. He is appalled by everything happening around him, and cannot believe the god he spent all his time praying to was letting this happen. Elie’s faith in god waned while he was in the camps. Since Elie used to be a religious Jewish person, losing his faith changes his identity.

The witch-hunt in Early Modern England Essay Example

The witch The witch-hunt in Early Modern England Paper The witch-hunt in Early Modern England Paper There has been long established belief about witchcraft, which has never been disputed. The belief in maleficium, which is the practice of harmful magic, has been entrenched in popular belief since before the Middle Ages. However, the idea of diabolism didnt really arise in English popular fear, because there was no specific torture involved in the prosecution of witches in England. With European elements, such as diabolism and Sabbath missing, it can be assumed by the process of elimination that the English public themselves were at the heart of the witch-hunts and this was down to superstition mainly, although the witch-hunt was multi-causal. The first piece of literature that provided information on the witchcraft on a large scale on witchcraft was the Malleus Maleficarum. It was first published in 1486 and was written by two Dominican monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It defined the crimes of a witch, but it didnt include diabolism, which was to make a pact with the devil. However, there was no English translation of the Malleus until modern times, and therefore this shows why European ideas may have been very slow to take effect on the English people. Also literacy in England was very low and the only real way of European ideas reaching England, would have been the elite, who were not really that keen to promote witch-hunts on the basis of diabolism. Therefore the accusers of a witch could not try her solely on suspicion and in England more evidence was required for proceedings to go ahead. This meant that in England there wee less cases of witchcraft of witchcraft and lower conviction rates than compared to Europe. In England, there were no legal reforms like the ones in Europe. If a person was accused of a crime, the lay-jury would intiate the proceedings and the trial jury would dwell over the facts, and the judge focussed at the evidence, before making decision. It was an accusatorial system in England, where victims had to prove the crime had been committed and provide witnesses, who were themselves open to prosecution if the accuse was acquitted. There was no legal excuse for the use of torture and therefore it was difficult to extract confessions, from the witches about their activities. This way the idea of diabolism never really penetrated the mind of the English people, and maleficium remained the main crime of performing witchcraft. In 1468, the Papacy ruled that witchcraft was a crimen exceptum, which means an exceptional crime. This legalised the use of torture and basically permitted the use of any methods to deal with the witchcraft crimes. However, King Henry VIII had broken away from the Roman Catholic Church and had formed the Church of England. This meant that the ideas were being devised by the Papacys intellectuals for prosecution, were not implemented in the English legal system and witchcraft was not an exceptional crime in England. In England, witchcraft for most people was still an activity, which was doing harm to others by supernatural means and so it wasnt heresy. The Acts of Parliaments verify this, when the first two statutes were passed. In 1542m it was made a felony to conjure spirits or to practice witchcraft, in order to find treasure along with other activities. The Act clearly treated the crime of witchcraft as consisting in positive acts of hostility against the community, rather than forming relations with the devil. The first act was repealed and a second statute was passed in 1563. The second statute was more severe in punishment and using maleficium for any means was a serious offence. The level of the offence depended on how seriously the victim was injured. However, in the third witchcraft statute in 1604, there was some element of Continental belief. It was felony to perform maleficum that resulted in anyones death and it also banned evil spirits. On of the reasons that the third statute, included diabolism was because of Englands monarch, James I, who was Scottish and had Continental view on witchcraft. The statute was repealed in 1736 and this showed how far English Law on witchcraft could go, in order to be aligned with Continental doctrines. The English witch-hunt claimed very few lives, compared to the rest of Europe, but it does have some statistics to be aware of and one of the reasons was Mathew Hopkins. He was professional witch-hunter, who assisted in the prosecution of many cases. In 1645, under his influence, there were sixteen people convicted for entertaining evil spirits, but seven of them were accused of killing other people. The Essex Circuit had 492 indictments for maleficium and eighteen were for entertaining evil spirits, which were influenced by Hopkins. English judges, such as Sir Robert Filmer, said that the were unlikely to condemn, unless murder was involved. The only notable exception to this practice was during Hopkinss campaign. Between 1645 and 1647, some 200 people were most likely to have been convicted, because of Hopkinss assistance. During the late sixteenth and seventh centuries, the courts were slowly treating cases along the Continental lines. This was due to the fact, that when an allegation of maleficium reached the courts it could easily be turned into one of devil worship and it was easier for the prosecution if there was a clear confession of a link with the devil. However, despite the increasing bias in the courts, the popular concept of witchcraft was restricted to maleficium. Therefore the judicial machinery was gradually becoming available, but there seemed to have been no desire by either the Church or people to take advantage of it.

Postposition Definition and Examples

Postposition Definition and Examples Postposition is a word that shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence. A postposition is similar in function to a preposition, but it follows rather than precedes the object. Its generally accepted that the only common postposition in English is the word ago. Together, prepositions and postpositions are called adpositions. Examples and Observations Here are some examples of postposition from various writers: I decided many years ago to invent myself. I had obviously been invented by someone elseby a whole societyand I didnt like their invention.(Maya Angelou)Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.(Will Durant) Ago and Its Complement Ago in English must follow its complement. (87a) John received a very generous offer a few minutes ago.(87b) *John received a very generous offer ago a few minutes. In contrast with notwithstanding, ago must piedpipe, and cannot strand. (88a) How long ago did John receive the offer?(88b) *How long did John receive the offer ago? (Peter W. Culicover, Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999) Hence Although ago is . . . usually said to be the only independent postposition of English, the formal use of hence with the meaning from now (as in three weeks hence) seems to be used identically. Traces of postpositional constructions are found in expressions like the whole week through and all the year round.(D.J. Allerton, Over the Hills and Far Away or Far Away Over the Hills: English Place Adverb Phrases and Place Prepositional Phrases in Tandem. Adpositions: Pragmatic, Semantic and Syntactic Perspectives, ed. by Dennis Kurzon and Silvia Adler. John Benjamins, 2008) Clitic Though not usually so treated, the clitic -s could be seen as a postposition in e.g. my friends daughter, my friend in Washingtons daughter.(P.H. Matthews, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford Univ. Press, 2007) Postpositions In Other Languages Many languages, such as English, express thematic roles by means of prepositions. Some languages, however, use postpositions (i.e., morphemes that express the same thematic roles but come after head nouns). Languages that use postpositions in this way include Korean and Japanese...For those students who have prepositions or postpositions in their native language, English prepositions are still a source of difficulty, and they remain so even as students levels of proficiency increase. One reason for this is the problem of polysemy. In learning a second language, students attempt to draw correspondences between their L1 [native language] prepositions and prepositions in the L2 [second language]. Perfect one-to-one correspondences would facilitate learning, but, given polysemy, finding these is virtually impossible.(Ron Cowan, The Teachers Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide. Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Corrosion Protection in Offshore Pipelines Essay

Corrosion Protection in Offshore Pipelines - Essay Example According to the research corrosion in offshore pipeline environments is a critical and unresolved issue for oil and gas industries. Due to the nature of subsea facilities and infrastructures, corrosive processes are more abundant and varied than their onshore counterparts. The maintenance and monitoring of such problems is also more expensive given the challenges of access and context of the location. The aggressive nature of sea environments leads to pipeline systems becoming vulnerable to corrosion from various internal and external forces such as chemical reactions induced by seawater composition. Currently there are several techniques used by oil and gas industries to combat offshore corrosion. Corrosion resistant alloys are often used to prevent corrosion, as well as certain pipeline coatings and cathodic protection of pipelines. Offshore monitoring is often executed as a preventative measure, via electrical resistance monitoring, electrochemical methods, hydrogen monitoring, w eight-loss coupons, non-destructive testing techniques and analytical techniques. Offshore pigging is also a common practice. Researching and investigating case histories is a crucial way in which industries may improve their knowledge of corrosion protection techniques. Overall, there are many diverse methods, various apparatuses, several technological platforms and a wide spectrum of concepts involved in preventing, combating, managing and monitoring corrosion in offshore pipeline environments. However, these measures alone do not guarantee corrosion protection. Further research and experimentation using cutting-edge technology must be used in order to fully mitigate this issue. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION....................

Digital Millenium Copyright Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Digital Millenium Copyright Act - Research Paper Example Additionally, DMCA created fines for people violating the Act that include up to $25,000 per download in civil court and up to $500,000 or up to five years in jail in criminal court (â€Å"Public†). Two of the biggest supporters of the DMCA were the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) – both groups that represent in the MPAA’s case film production companies and in the case of the RIAA, record companies. Both see illegal downloading, which is also called piracy, as a huge threat to their industries. The RIAA claims that in in 2009, 63 percent of all music possessed by Americans was illegally downloaded or otherwise â€Å"shared† at a profit loss to the music industry of up to $20 billion a year. (â€Å"Scope†) The MPAA says their levels of piracy are not yet that enormous, but in 2010 gave the example of the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which they claim was legally downloa ded 50,000 versus 1.1 million illegal downloads. (Zima 1) It’s important to note that the DMCA went into effect in 1998 to stop illegal downloading and yet, according to the RIAA and the MPAA, the situation is only getting worse. Napster, a peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading site that a RIAA member once called â€Å"the single most insidious website I’ve ever seen,† (â€Å"Recording†) didn’t start operations until several months after the DMCA was signed into law. So does the DMCA have any effect on piracy? Is this now nearly 13 year-old law still relevant to new technology? First, understand ­Ã‚ ­ that the DMCA didn’t outright ban all downloading of copyrighted material off the Internet. What it did was outlaw the use of technology to get around the anti-piracy technology that copyright holders added to digital technology. For example, the DMCA made illegal the creation and dissemination of software designed to override the anti-copy protecti on on a newly purchased CD, allowing that CD to be converted into MP3 or MP4 format – which then can be easily shared on-line or burned onto a blank CD. It did not specifically make it illegal to use a P2P downloading service to download pirated music or movies, but it did make it illegal to create and host a P2P downloading service where copyright protected digital material was knowingly made available by users, which was in a nutshell what caused Napster’s demise. (Skolnik 1) Here’s what the DMCA did do – it placed more restrictions on â€Å"fair use† of a copyrighted product. Fair use is â€Å"the principle that the public is entitled, without having to ask permission, to use copyrighted works in ways that do not unduly interfere with the copyright owner’s market for a work† (Von Lohmann). For example, it is presently within a person’s fair use rights to trade in or sell that DVD to a store for resale. But according to curre nt interpretations of DMCA, it is not within fair use for the person to use software to extract the electronic information from that DVD and convert the files so the movie can be played on an iPod – even if the person it only doing this for personal use and not with any intention of sharing the file. (Von Lohmann) As one critic of the DMCA puts it, â€Å"Photocopiers, VCRs, and CD-R burners can also be misused, but no one would suggest that the public give them up simply because they might be used by others to break the law†

Educational Issue in the U.S. Supreme Court Essay

Educational Issue in the U.S. Supreme Court - Essay Example In the words of the new Chief Justice at the time, John Roberts, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.† This is a key remark and the key to understanding the view the court has taken of race and education since the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. What this really means for classroom practice is that we should see students for all that they are, not just the colour of their skin. Many people who wanted to so-called public school choice plans were keen to get more diversity in their school districts. That’s not a bad idea, but as with so many things when you being to legislate something that doesn’t always obvious follow. The government is not the best way to go about such business. Diversity is a lot more than race and using such superficial qualifications to impose diversity would likely not create diversity in the first place. The court ruled that looking on at race in the drive for greater diversity was unconstitutional and effectively a reversal of Brown v. Board of Education. Justice Breyer used a phrase, "Never in the history of the court have so few done so much so quickly." And he was talking about Chief Justice Roberts and Justice [Samuel] Alito making this court a far more conservative institution in just one year. And at that phrase, "And never have so few done so much so quickly," both Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts looked over at Breyer and went, whoa, thats pretty personal by the standards of the Supreme Court. (Toobin, 2007) It is clear that some parents may still have different views of what diversity means compared to the court and would like impose more racial diversity even if it means limiting students choice. It is important to be mindful of this. What this case also means is that there is a little bit of a rollback of the Nanny State is on that uses excessive state controls, be they regulations or laws, to restrict its

Literature Review On The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

Literature Review On The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay The hospitality industry is experiencing growth even in times of recession. Between 2004 and 2014, the hospitality industry is expected to add 17 percent in wage and salary employment (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006-07). A growing demand of hospitality workers can be translated into a growing need of hospitality educational programs to adequately prepare the workforce to meet present and future demands in this enormous industry. Programs need to provide an education that improves the employability of the hospitality graduates. However, employability of the future graduates will not increase until and unless they convincingly demonstrate the skills and competencies required in the workplace. In an education program, students develop skills and competencies through courses in various subject areas. In that aspect, the hospitality curriculum needs to prioritize the subject areas according to the perceived importance of the industry practitioners, and this prioritization has to be up-to-date to reflect the changing needs of the industry. Although curriculum of hospitality and tourism programs have been examined in a plethora of research studies, little attention is given to hospitality programs housed in accredited colleges of business. Because of the limitations obligated by the accrediting bodies, important aspects of the curriculum such as course offerings, and credits become restricted to certain extent. As a result, there is a need to evaluate the curriculum of such programs separately from other hospitality and tourism management programs such as the independent ones and those housed in various different colleges. Gursoy and Swanger (2004) investigated the curriculum of a hospitality and tourism management program housed in an accredited college of business. As part of their study, they ranked hospitality subject areas according to the perceptions of hospitality professionals, identified any gaps between the perceptions and the current curriculum and suggested a model of curriculum for hospitality programs in accredited colleges of Business. However, hospitality curriculum needs to be ongoing and relevant to the current industry needs and expectations. Also, the changing nature of the industry calls for recent graduates to reflect the changes and challenges of the industry. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to replicate Gursoy and Swangers (2004) study, and provide an updated ranking of the hospitality subject areas. In addition, the changing needs of the hospitality industry is highlighted through a comparison of their 2004 ranking with the current ranking of hospitality subject areas a ccording to hospitality professionals perceptions. As such, likely changes to the 2004 curriculum model are suggested based on the findings of this study. The specific research questions that will be answered through this study are: What are the current perceptions of industry professionals regarding the importance of course subject areas? Are there any significant changes in the perceptions of industry professionals in the last five years? Are there any gaps between the industry needs within the changing operational environment and the current hospitality curriculum? Literature Review Hospitality students have often been criticized for having unrealistic expectations of the types of responsibilities they may be given and consequently the types of skills they will be expected to exercise on entering the hospitality industry (Purcell and Quinn, 1996). At the same time, the industry often discounted a students formal qualifications on the grounds of lack of experience and frequently we hear the complaint that students are overqualified but under experienced for even entry level management positions (Raybould Wilkins, 2005). In order to bridge this gap, the hospitality programs underwent several changes in its content, focus, and structure. In 1996, Formica published a study of tourism and hospitality education in Europe and America that examined programs and future trends. In his study, he argued that there was an international movement that supported the emancipation of hospitality education from its vocational base to an academic field of inquiry. Formicas claim was later supported by Morrison and OMahony (2003) in their case study regarding the liberation of hospitality management education. Rappole (2000) stated that programs have shifted from a home-economics focus towards a business-related one and Chathoth and Sharma (2007) noted this as the likely reason behind the change in curricular structure of hospitality programs in the United States. Most programs in the 1980s and early 1990s were geared towards developing the operational skills of the students, but during the past decade, universities were focusing on both operational and management-related courses as part of the curriculum (Chathoth Sharma 2007; Rappo le, 2000).   Developing a hospitality curriculum broadly involve three major components: substantive knowledge, skills, and values (Dopson and Tas, 2004). While operational issues such as working knowledge of hospitality services were important (Kay and Russette 2000), managerial and behavioral issues such as managerial skills were often considered to be more important (Okeiyi, Finely and Postel 1994).  Thus, the hospitality curriculum should not only teach the students in crucial operational skills but also facilitate them to learn and demonstrate the art of management.   To accomplish this purpose, it was necessary to incorporate the perspectives of the industry professionals into the hospitality curriculum. This was basically achieved in two ways. First, regular industry professionals were invited to visit classrooms as guest lecturers and industry experts, or to participate in executive education programs, as part of the curriculum review process (Lefever Withiam, 1998). Second, comp etency models were devised through which industry practitioners ranked the competencies and content areas most important in the workplace. Educators then made a strong note of these important competencies, and likewise incorporated them into the curriculum. In the course of time, a wide number of studies were undertaken regarding identifying and ranking competencies of hospitality graduates. One of the first competency based studies in hospitality was undertaken by Buergermeister (1983) where he found human relation skills and attitudes to be a very important area for hospitality graduates. Among others, Tas (1988) put forward a hospitality curriculum by identifying 36 skills college graduates expected to possess from surveying general managers of 75 hotels. While, most competency based studies in hospitality management focused solely on the perceptions of the hospitality industry practitioners (Ashley et al. 1995; Breiter and Clements, 1996; Kriegl, 2000) a few incorporated the perspectives of educators along with the industry practitioners (Su et al. 1997; Tsai et al. 2006) and a few even added the perspectives of students to the group (Enz et al. 1993; Okeiyi et al.1994). Among the studies from the industrys perspective, the majority focused on either the hotel industry itself (Tas 1988; Siu 1998; Kay and Russette, 2000; Tesone and Ricci, 2006) or the overall hospitality industry (Ashley et al. 1995; Breiter and Clements, 1996), with a few focusing solely on other sectors such as the food service sector (Horng Lu, 2006; Okeiyi et al. 1994). Notable works in the competency-based approach include Chung-Herrera, Enz, and Lankaus (2003) presentation of an industry specific and future based leadership competency model. In their study, they identified and ranked 99 key hospitality work related competencies. In another case, Nelson and Dopson (2001) compared hotel managers, human resource specialists, and hospitality alumnis perceptions of competencies necessary for success in the hospitality field. Eventually, Dopson and Nelson (2003) ranked 37 course content areas using the same three groups, and found several differences in their perceived importance of those course content areas. Competency models were developed as a descriptive tool to identify, categorize and summarize competencies that might be relevant to perform a specific job effectively in an organization (Chung-Herrera et al., 2003). However, these competency models are often broad and generic in nature and lacks emphasis on specific hospitality skills. Employers, who generally do not want narrowly trained graduates, recognize the importance of generic competencies (Harvey, et. al., 1997). Raybould and Wilkins (2005) integrated a generic skill framework to rank important skill areas of hospitality graduates from both employers and students perspectives. However, the nature of hospitality workplace, demands mastery of both generic skill sets and hospitality specific skill sets. In that aspect, taking into account hospitality subject areas, and course content areas, provides an extensive representation of the skills and knowledge graduates will require at the workplace. Chung (2000) laid out an effective plan for reforming the hotel management curriculum of Korean universities based on required competencies of hotel employees and career success in the hotel industry. Their study found significant relationships between competencies required of hotel employees and hotel management courses of universities, between competencies required of hotel employees and career success in the hotel industry, between hotel management courses of universities and career success in the hotel industry, and last but not the least between hotel management courses of universities and their contribution to career development in the hotel industry. While this method might be easier for the industry practitioners to identify with, it might be difficult for educators to reform a programs curriculum based on such models because of the broad and diverse nature of such competencies. Since, there is a significant relationship between competencies required of hotel employees and ho tel management courses of universities, in this regard, it makes more sense if the industry practitioners rank the actual subject areas and course content areas offered in the curriculum. However, the subject areas and course content areas in the hospitality program might be difficult for industry practitioners to identify with especially if they are not graduates of hospitality programs. In this regard, the concerned school has to rank the subject areas from the perspectives of their own alumni, who are now established hospitality industry professionals so that they can easily identify the subject areas and relate them to their skill requirements in the workplace. Keeping the hospitality curricula rigorous, relevant, and current to the industry trends seems to be a clear concern of the hospitality practitioners. According to Dopson and Tas (2004) the biggest challenge for hospitality educators today is to determine clear objectives for the curriculum that takes care of the constantly changing needs of the industry. In that aspect, it is of utmost importance to close the gap between what is taught to students and what the industry expects of the students being hired (Dopsan and Tas 2004; Okeyi et al. 1994). Therefore, in addition to being an industry and faculty driven process, curriculum development needs to incorporate the changing needs of the industry, and foster innovation. In short, the process needs to be ongoing (Dopson and Tas, 2004). Methods The purpose of this study was to identify hospitality subject areas and rank them according to the perceptions of hospitality industry professionals. In addition the current perceptions of industry professionals regarding hospitality subject areas were to be compared to their perceptions five years ago to reflect the changing requirements of the industry. For gathering data from industry professionals, the same survey instrument developed using a four-step process by Gursoy and Swanger (2004) was used. The four steps included conducting a series of focus groups, developing the survey instrument to systematically measure the perceived importance of the course subject areas by industry and to investigate the gaps between hospitality curriculum and industry needs based on the findings of the focus groups, pre-testing the instrument on a sample of industry professionals using an on-line survey method and last but not the least revising and finalizing the instruments based on the pre-test results. Based on the feedback received by Gursoy and Swanger (2004) from their respondents, the survey instrument was modified in 2009. For the purpose of comparison only the common subject areas between the 2004 and 2009 surveys were retained. The final instrument was employed to collect data on hospitality industry professionals perceptions of the importance of the course subject areas. Development of the Survey Instrument The procedures recommended by Churchill (1979) and DeVellis (1991) were followed for developing the survey instrument. Initially, an item pool containing a total of 39 subject matter variables were developed or identified from the literature, current hospitality curriculum, and from a series of five focus groups conducted with the advisory board members, restaurant executives, hotel executives, university alumni, and hospitality educators. The content validity of the items that were identified from the focus groups and from the literature was assessed by ten faculty members. The faculty members feedback on content and understandability was gathered based on which the items were modified to enhance their clarity, readability, and content validity. Based on the same process any redundancy in the scale items was removed to improve the proposed scale. After the content validity check, it was pre-tested using an on-line survey method involving 50 industry professionals. The survey instrument was modified one last time based on the pre-test. Each variable was measured using a 5-point Likert scale (5=extremely important, 1= not important at all) as to their importance for success in the hospitality industry. The final version of the 2004 survey instrument consisted of four parts 40 subject matter variables, 128 course content variables, demographic information, and information regarding the performance of the company the respondent was part of. For this study, only the part that deals with the subject areas and demographic information are considered. In 2009 some changes were made based on the feedback received from the participants of Gursoy and Swangers 2004 study REPEAT. While the 2004 survey dealt with 40 subject areas, the 2009 one had only 33. 11 subject areas were removed from the 2004 survey, while 4 subject matters were added based on the received feedback, in the 2009 survey. The subject areas that were taken out of the 2009 survey instrume nt are: Fundamentals of Cooking, Math, Accounting, Economics for Decision Making, Tourism, Gaming/Casino Operation, Distribution Channels, Secondary Revenue Management, Beverage Management, Destination Management, and Dining Room Service Management. The subject areas that were added to the 2009 study are: International Tourism, Public Relations, Convention and Meeting Planning, and Food and Beverage Management. For the comparison, the 29 common areas between the 2009 and 2004 surveys were considered. Data Collection A self-administered survey questionnaire was mailed to the selected sample of industry professionals. An individually signed cover letter containing the name and address of the respondent was included with each questionnaire, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. A reminder was sent after 3 weeks, to increase the number of responses. Data Analysis Descriptive Analysis was undertaken to rank the means of the respective variables from the survey. Independent samples t-tests were carried out to compare the 2009 rankings to the 2004 ones. All the data analysis was performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. Results The survey was sent to a total of 2340 target participants. 369 responses were returned, resulting in an acceptable response rate of 15.8%. Profile of the Respondents: The demographic characteristics of gender, present position and company, education level, ethnicity, type of property, and size of the property were included in this study in an effort to provide a descriptive profile of the survey respondents. Gender: The survey asked the participants to indicate their gender (male or female). Out of 369, 358 respondents indicated their gender. The number of male respondents was 177 (49.4%) while female respondents were 179 (50.6%). Present Position/Name of Company: Over 180 different companies were represented in the study. Regarding present work positions, the respondents provided more than 200 different positions or titles, which were grouped into 15 categories based on their similarities. Some of the dominating categories included Sales/Marketing with 42 responses (11.4%), Finance/Accounting with 29 (7.9%), General Manager and Human Resource each with 28 (7.6%), Chairman/President/CEO/CFO/COO and Business Owners each with 16 (4.3%), Educator/Teacher/Trainer with 13 (3.5%), Other Managers (restaurant, FB, convention, events, store, regional, training, guest services, other departments) with 43 (11.7%), and Retired/Unemployed with 26 (7.1%). Besides these major categories, there was an Other category for the grouping of many positions that were listed less than 3 times and did not readily fit into another group, such as Attorney. Education Level: Out of 355 individuals who provided education level information, 298 indicated they have a bachelors degree (80.8%); 38 have a graduate degree (10.3%); 17 did some graduate level work (4.6%); 1 individual was a high school graduate (1.6%), and 1 person indicated other (1.6%). Ethnicity: Of the 352 respondents who indicated their ethnicity, 328 (93.2%), circled Caucasian/White; 10 (2.8%) circled Asian American/Pacific Islander; 8 (2.3%) circled Hispanic/Latino; 3 selected Black/African American; 1 (0.3%) circled American Indian/Alaska Native; and 2 (.6%) circled other. Size of Property: For lodging properties information regarding the number of rooms in the hotel was collected and for restaurants, number of seats information was gathered. If respondents worked in neither a lodging property nor a restaurant, they were asked to provide size information using other appropriate measures. Of the 195 individuals who responded to the survey, 92 provided the number of rooms information, 34 provided the number of seats information, and 69 provided the size information by reporting other measures such as total revenue, number of employees, square footage, and others. Of the 92 managers who provided the number of rooms, 2 (2.2%) indicated the property had less than 75 rooms, 17 (18.5%) indicated the property had 75 to 149 rooms, 18 (19.6%) had 150 to 299 rooms, 29 (31.5%) had 300 to 500 rooms, and 26 (28.3%) indicated the property had more than 500 rooms. Most of the individuals who reported managing more than 500 rooms were regional managers, vice presidents, or presidents and CEOs of hotel corporations. Of the 34 managers who provided number of seats information, 6 (17.6%) indicated the restaurant had less than 100 seats, 13 (38.2%) indicated the restaurant had 100 to 199 seats, 8 (23.5%) had 200 to 300 seats, and 7 (20.6%) indicated the restaurant had more than 300 seats. A good number of the individuals who reported managing more than 300 seats were regional managers, vice presidents, or presidents and CEOs of restaurant corporations. Due to the diverse array of survey respondents, a great many different types of responses were received regarding measure of size. Thus, among the 69 respondents who chose, other in the measure of size category, measures such as square footage of convention/conference/meeting/banquet space, number of restaurants/stores/units, number of employees, number of hotels, amount of revenue generated, number of locations, number of accounts, and various others. In addition some respondents provided multiple measures of size. Type of Property: 188 responses were recorded regarding the type of property the respondents were affiliated with. Of those, 99 (52.7%) selected lodging, 27 (14.4%) circled restaurants, 16 (8.5%) indicated managed services, and 39 (20.8%) selected other types which included vending, marketing/advertising, airlines, associations, distribution/suppliers, cruise lines casinos, clubs retail/convenience stores, cruise lines, health care, real estate/property development, banking/finance, and consulting. Type of Ownership: In the Type of Ownership category 225 responses were recorded. Of them, 124 (55.1) properties were company owned, 68 (30.2%) were independently owned, and 33 (14.7%) were franchised. Ranking and Comparison Results The 33 course subject areas were ranked in the order of importance by the industry professionals. The ranking is provided in table 1. The top ten subject areas are Leadership, Internships/industry experience, Preparation for Industry Employment, Ethics, Overview of the Hospitality Industry, Revenue/Asset Management, Hospitality Management and Organization, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Foodservice Operations and Controls, Computer/Information Technology. The results were compared to Gursoy and Swangers 2004 survey results. Results show that 10 out of 29 hospitality subject areas Hospitality Management and Organization, Principles of Marketing, Hospitality Marketing Strategy, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Ethics, Strategic Management, Service Management, Revenue/Asset Management, Study Abroad, and Innovation and Product Development are significantly different compared to the 2004 rankings. Discussion A look at the two ranking tables (2004 and 2009) reveal that highly important subject areas which were quite consistent in their perceived importance among industry practitioners include leadership, Internships/industry experience, Preparation for Industry Employment, Overview of Hospitality Industry, Foodservice Operations and Controls, and Computer/Information Technology. Leadership, the highest rated subject area, especially has been rated as one of the most important skills deemed of hospitality graduates a number of times in hospitality literature (Okeiyi et al. 1994; Breiter and Clements, 1996; Siu 1998; Kay and Russette, 2000; Kriegl 2000; Nelson and Dopson, 2001). There were some major changes in the rankings over a period of 5 years. The ranking of Ethics went down from 1 to 4, service management from 10 to 18, Principles of Marketing from 12 to 19, and Hospitality Marketing Strategy from 14 to 20. On the other hand, Revenue/Asset Management went up 14 places to number 6, and Finance from number 18 to 13. Finance, accounting, and related skills were recognized as very important by hospitality employers in various studies (Getty et al., 1991; Umbriet, 1992; Ashley et al. 1995; Nelson Dopson, 2001; Agut et al. 2003) in the past. In that aspect, this improvement in ranking of finance and related areas is consistent with past literature. As mentioned before, t-tests revealed significant differences in means between 2009 rankings and 2004 rankings in 10 out of the 29 subject areas. 8 of those 10 subject areas had significantly higher means in 2004 compared to 2009. These areas include Hospitality Management and Organization, Principles of Marketing, Hospitality Marketing Strategy, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Ethics, Strategic Management, Service Management, and Innovation and Product Development. Ethics, especially, showed a very significantly high decrease in means (t (670.079) = -5.116, p = .000). Time and again, ethics has been recognized as the most important skill in the hospitality workplace (Enz et al., 1993; Nelson Dopson, 2001; Gursoy Swanger, 2004). This significant decrease in the ranking of ethics shows that it is not quite deemed as important in the hospitality workplace as it used to be. This decrease in importance can be accounted to two reasons. Firstly, following the wake of Enron, WorldCom, an d Adelphia corporate scandals that shook the business community in early years of this new millennium, audit firms were increasingly putting a lot of emphasis on having stringent audit practices. Consequently, businesses all over the world were paying special attention to preventing corporate fraud through promoting ethical practices within the organization. This has increased the demand for ethics, as a top level competency/skill/subject area deemed of recent graduates in the workplace during the time period of Gursoy and Swangers (2004) study. However, the increased emphasis coming out of the shock the business community received from the corporate scandals has faded away a little as time went by. Moreover, business schools all over the world have been producing much better graduates reflecting ethical preparedness in response to those corporate scandals and the increased pressure from the business community. This can be demonstrated by the increased importance on ethics posed by universities in response to industry pressure. MBA programs that require students to take a course dedicated to business and society issues have increased dramatically over time: 34% in 2001 to 63% in 2007, and to 69% in 2009 (Aspen Institute CBE, 2010). In the accreditation standards of AACSB, formulated in 2003, an increased emphasis on ethics was made, and schools were mandated to integrate ethics across the curriculum to meet the accreditation standards, although there was no requirement of a standalone ethics course in the curriculum (Swanson, Fisher, 2009). Having received better prepared graduates, it can be argued that the business community no longer rate ethics as important as it rated in 2004 because they are more content now compared to six years ago. Secondly, the prolonged economic downturn has caused the business community to put more weight on other skills/subject areas. Consequently, this shifted the importance on other areas such as leadership and financial competencies, which diminished the relative importance of ethics. Also, in the beginning years of the economic downturn, firms were under shock, and had to operate under strict financial conditions prompting them to avoid any unnecessary lawsuits which might cause them to be ultra protective. Thus, they were in need of better ethically prepared employees, which are reflected in the 2004 rankings. Moving away from ethics, marketing related subject areas were also rated significantly less important in 2009 compared to 2004. 11.4% of the 2009 respondents were associated with Sales/Marketing compared to 8.9% in 2004. In this regard, it was expected that the ranking of marketing related subject areas would improve, but the results are contrasting indicating that the importance of marketing related subject have indeed gone down. According to IBISWorld industry reports, the overall lodging industry showed positive growth in revenue from 2004 to 2007. However, the report also showed huge decrease in revenue growth in 2008 and 2009. Especially in 2009, revenue decreased by as much as 9.4% for hotel and motel industry, consistent with the projections made in 2008 (IBISWorld, 2010a). This decrease in growth has caused the hospitality industry to be ultra-protective of their expenses. As a result, there has been a decrease in the importance of marketing oriented subject areas, which acco unts for a good chunk of costs in hospitality industry. The same reason can be cited for the significant decrease in hospitality operations subject area. A better argument can be presented from the employment perspective. Because of the sudden economic downturn in the lodging industry, it can be argued that firms have reduced their hiring practices in areas that greatly add to the cost of the hotels such as marketing, operations, and innovations and product development. Same holds true for managerial level positions, which accounts for the decrease in the perceived importance of subject areas such as service management, strategic management, and management and organization. However, reflected in our analysis, it can be pointed out that firms are looking for leaders, who can think out of the box, and bail them out of the financial crisis, which accounts for the high perceived rating of leadership subject area. Especially, it can be argued that hospitality firms are looking for employ ees who can lead from the front and make their decisions, instead of relying on other people such as the managers. Thus, it can be argued that, hospitality firms are trying to cut down the costs of employing specialized managers by trying to promote leadership qualities on their regular employees. The subject areas that showed significantly higher means in 2009 compared to 2004 include Revenue/Asset Management and Study Abroad, which were both highly significant (p Suggested Curriculum Model Gursoy and Swanger (2004) suggested an industry driven model of a hospitality curriculum for programs housed in accredited college of business. Based on our study, some suggestions and improvements are offered to make the semester-based model more rigorous, relevant, and up-to-date. The model of hospitality curriculum was developed based on three different components: business core requirements, hospitality core requirements, and hospitality electives incorporating the ranked subject matter by hospitality industry professionals. Based on the limitations regarding number of credits in the hospitality program and on the suggestions from the focus groups and advisory boards, some subject areas, such as ethics and leadership, were embedded throughout the curriculum. The curriculum model did not embed those subject matters in the business cores and in the general education cores as business core and general education core classes were outside the hospitality programs locus of control. The Senior-level hospitality capstone course integrated all curriculum areas in the program. Subject matters with a mean ranking of 2.0 or lower were suggested to be part of elective courses and were recommended for Sophomore or Junior level. Like the 2004 model, learning a second lang uage (M = 1.76) and studying abroad (M = 1.50) were not deemed essential for success in the industry by the professionals surveyed and hence were not included in the model. Similarly, Entrepreneurship (M = 2.34) and Real Estate/Property Development (M = 1.61) courses, which were thought to be as part of other electives under a different department or program in business, were kept outside the curriculum model. For the 2009 model, electives such as Destination Manag