Urban Planning in Developing Countries

Urban Planning in Developing States Introduction In recent old ages, there has been an increasing involvement in 3rd universe urban planning. Over past three decennaries at that place has been a big migration of China`s population from rural to urban parts. As Grubler says: â€Å"Fast urbanisation and consequent land usage alteration had altered ecosystems, destroyed wildlife home grounds, changed regional climes and released big sums of C into the atmosphere† ( Grubler, 1998 ) . At the same clip, the metropoliss are developing really fast but ignored the quality of planning. As a effect, the citizens` life quality has dropped quickly. There is grounds, nevertheless, that citizens who live in a well-planned metropolis happen it easy to hold a high felicity degree. For illustration, Barcelona`s metropolis program remains one of the best theoretical accounts in the universe even Spain may be confronting important economic and political challenges these old ages. Compared with other metropoliss in the development states, Barcelona has paid more attending on the metropolis users` perceptual experience and experience, the metropolis contrivers ever put the users` feeling foremost and so comes the regulations, that is why Barcelona`s citizens can easy bask their life at that place. On the other manus, citizens of the developing countries` metropoliss will be harder to advance happiness index. A inquiry originating from these considerations concerns the best manner to plan metropoliss or re-plan metropoliss of developing states. The undertaking will analyze the urban design in developing states. It will look at how to do the most suited determination for every 3rd universe states ‘ planning. It will explicate why we should pay more attending to this country. First, the undertaking will do a comparing between the urban design in developed states and that in developing states. Second, the undertaking will speak about how to do a good program in developing states. Third, the undertaking will analysis the feasibleness of doing a good program in developing states. Section 1 Urban planning in the universeUrban planning in developed statesPlaning used to be a physical infinite theory, but for now, the developed countries` planning is a theory of public policy and public direction. As the basic urban building is completed, what they should make now is merely to maintain upgrading each country of a metropolis and increase public engagement. As Potter says: â€Å"By now, many states in both the developed and developing universe parts espouse the demand for greater public engagement in planning, although in pattern, many may merely pay it lip service.† ( Potter, 2012, p.149 ) In developed states, the contrivers play an of import function in the society. The contrivers ever spend batch of clip to understand the metropoliss and forecast the development of the metropoliss. City is like a system and the system is a complicated entireness, which contains a batch of objects and subdivisions. The contrivers in developed states will make their best to unite them and do them related to each other. On the other manus, the contrivers are ever glad to listen to the citizens and roll up their sentiments ; they will unite assortment of particular demands and programs to go a comprehensive rational pick. For these grounds, the citizens in developed states are much easier to obtain felicity.Urban planning in developing statesThe planning procedure in alleged developing states, like China, is radically different from western states. In recent old ages, big Numberss of instructors came back from abroad conveying back the thoughts of aliens, so base on balls on to their pup ils. However, the urbanisation procedure in China is rather different with foreign states and we do non hold a ain theory which is suited for this state of affairs, the manner we are be aftering is copying western theoretical accounts, that is why we have so much jobs in today`s metropoliss. Developing states ever have economically backward, the easiest manner to turn economic system is to increase the population. With the growing of population, many jobs will be much harder to work out than earlier, such as the relationships between persons, lodging, transit and environment. The contrivers in most of the developing states ever put net incomes in the first topographic point and disregard the metropolis user`s experience, they will believe small about the city`s hereafter. Developing states besides used to pursuit the develop velocity and disregard the quality of a metropolis. Any city`s development is a long historical procedure, there must hold a big figure of civilization relics in this procedure. But as this phase of urban planning in China, most of the historical and cultural sights were badly damaged by our alleged development. When speaking about the environment in China, it is besides a immense job. A good environment is a critical status of metropolis developing. With the unsuitable method of program a metropolis, the air quality, H2O quality and other environmental quality decreased aggressively in these few decennaries. Compared with the urban planning in developed states, there is a deficiency of future chances in developing states ‘ urban planning. Section 2 How to do a suited program in developing states 2.1 What should authorities and contrivers do? The authorities should pay more attending on metropolis planning than earlier. They used to pay excessively much attending on the economic system increasing and about ignored the metropolis planning, so they should alter their head to maintain the balance between them. The authorities should beef up the earnestness of urban be aftering which including strengthen jurisprudence enforcement, promote the enforcement procedure, better enforcement steps and other related steps. During the planning procedure, the contrivers should set citizens to the first topographic point but non net incomes. Environmental quality is really of import in presents, the contrivers should non disregard it because urban planning is a theory of functioning the persons, and they should develop the metropolis without harm the environment of citizens. Urban be aftering should reflect the net incomes of the populace such as the country of transit, amusement, medical attention, instruction and so on, contrivers must do certain people-oriented. As Silva says: â€Å"Urban contrivers face major challenges in the aggregation of informations towards analyzing the invariably altering societal, economic and environmental conditions in cities.† ( Silva, 2010, p.388 ) 2.2 What should citizens make? Urban planning is non an matter of authorities and contrivers, the populace should besides take participate in it. The citizens of a metropolis should better their quality and have an international position to convey aid to urban development. In developed states, the correct theory said that urban planning is a collaborative procedure. When necessary, public should give nonsubjective advices and helpful suggestions to assist the contrivers, guarantee the procedure is come oning. On the other manus, everyone should make their best to protect the environment and cut down the waste of resources in the procedure of urban development, in order to cut down the force per unit area of authorities and contrivers. The connexion between cities` users and contrivers should be a co-operation relationship. Section 3 The feasibleness of urban planning in developing states. 3.1 A instance analysis of Shanghai This paragraph presents a instance analysis of Shanghai, China ‘s largest and most of import industrial centre. Rapid industrial and economic development in China over the past three decennaries has resulted in a big migration from rural countries to metropoliss, the population of Shanghai was more than twofold and building country increased quickly every bit same as the figure of vehicles. For this ground, it is a truly tough work to re-plan a metropolis like Shanghai. Since we can non cut down the figure of population, the lone manner to re-plan the metropolis is to accommodate the current state of affairs and happen out the suited solutions. During the past decennaries, Shanghai had spent a immense figure of money on the urban substructure investing ( see Appendix 1 ) . Even the authorities used this portion of fillip to upgrade a batch of countries of substructure investing, but it is still difficult to equilibrate the relationships between persons, lodging, transit and env ironment. 3.2 Problems and troubles The migration and urbanisation is still keep increasing in the metropoliss like Shanghai and we can non calculate the hereafter. If we can construct little and moderate-sized metropoliss, which have perfect map, surround the large metropoliss, they may pull people to travel in from the large metropoliss. This method will alter the migration and urbanization tendency, it besides can better the growing and development of both large metropoliss and other metropoliss. As Pacione says: National industrial-development policy, including the determination to construct little and moderate-sized metropoliss for investing allotment intents, has straight affected the growing and development of Shanghai†¦ They conclude that the Chinese achievement in large-scale urban transmutation and their success in incorporating the spacial growing of big industrial centres is a singular accomplishment in urban and regional planning, which should be studied closely by contrivers in both the developed and the underdeveloped states. ( Pacione, 1981, p.26 ) On the other manus, this method may be useless to China because of the population. There has more chances in large metropoliss such as Shanghai, it is truly a tough work to alter people`s head to migrate to smaller metropoliss. With a immense figure of population and deficiency of public engagement in big metropoliss, the work of program and re-plan tend to be harder. Compared with developed states, there will be much less jobs in urban design or metropolis re-planning. Decision Taking the suggested solutions could work out the jobs in developing states but it will take a long clip for developing states to maintain gait with the developed states. The developing states should larn the manner of developed states, but still necessitate to happen out a much more suited manner to be after the metropoliss or re-plan them. A good metropolis planning contains a batch of elements and it is non merely a procedure to incorporate assorted of resources, it should convey urban occupants a more comfy and harmonious life environment. Although many of the developing countries` metropoliss are upgrading, but in most of their program there still exist unscientific, irrational and follow blindly. The cities` contrivers made their determination to do the metropoliss become a new Manhattan or a new Hong Kong irrespective of the specific fortunes, the figure of these metropoliss now is at least 40 harmonizing to relevant statistics. We can non merely concentrate on economic development and bury the significance of urban be aftering itself. Developing states has a batch of jobs in the urban planning procedure, it is due to miss of research establishments for urban planning. At this point, the developed states ever have their ain urban be aftering research establishments, which will happen the most suited solutions to upgrade the metropoliss. The developing states should construct research centres like the developed states and understand the metropoliss so that the contrivers can do the right determinations. Mentions Grubler, A. ( 1998 )Technology and Global Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Potter, R. ( 2012 )Urbanization and Planning in the Third World.Routledge Ltd. Silva, C. ( 2010 )Handbook of Research on E-planning. Information Science Reference ( Isr ) Pacione, M. ( ed. ) ( 1981 )Problems and be aftering in Third World metropoliss. Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. Shanghai Bureau of Statistic ( 2011 ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm? d1=2011tjnje/E1001.htmYearEntirePower CoevalsTransportation systemPost and TelecommunicationsPublic UtilitiesCivil Constructions2000449.964.6148.8368.69104.4163.342001510.7872.2260.72107.792.25177.892002583.4962.1463.01108.23148.42201.692003604.6266273.7776.5836.91151.362004672.5889.52316.9654.3926.92184.82005885.74124.22385.5858.3241.33276.2820061125.54116.23589.52113.7256.23249.8420071466.33163.3840.46101.5760.9300.1120081733.18129.53838.91108.59112.81543.3420092113.45253.39978.24122.66135.95623.2120101497.46148.5754.66111.5486.58396.18100 million kwai Appendix 1: Urban Infrastructure Investment of Shanghai ( 2000-2010 )

Apollo Theatre

Jose 1 Janelle Jose Professor Pappas AAS 254 16 April 2008 â€Å"Our Theater: The Hey Dey of the Apollo Theatre† Apollo was the Greek God of music, Poetry and the arts. His temple was at Delphi and was known to be a place of purification. There is a temple of a different that bears the name of the Greek god and its at 253 West 125th Street Harlem in New York City. The Apollo Theater would become as famous as the temple at Delphi. The Apollo Theaters home was in Harlem. Harlem is known worldwide as a major African-American cultural and business neighborhood.It wasn’t always the Harlem we know today. Harlem didn’t become an African American neighborhood until the Great Migration. During the first decade of the 20th century, Growing unemployment and increasing racial violence encouraged blacks to leave the South. The way they came up north was by working for northern manufacturers who had recruited the southern black workers to fill factory jobs. So from 1910 to 193 0 between 1. 5 million and 2 million African Americans left the South for the industrial cities of the North.By 1930 more than 200,000 blacks had moved to New York. As black communities in Northern cities grew, black working people became the patrons for an expanding black professional and business class, gaining in political and economic power. As more and more educated and socially conscious blacks settled in New York’s neighborhood of Harlem, it developed into the political and cultural center of black America. During the 1910s a Jose 2 new political agenda advocating racial equality arose in the African American community, particularly in its growing middle class.A black middle class had developed by the turn of the century, fostered by increased education and employment opportunities. There was something emerging in the midst of social and intellectual up rise in the African American community in the early 20th century. Harlem Renaissance was the name of the African Amer ican cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem. The Apollo Theater has been the most lasting legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. The Apollo grew to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance of the pre-World War II years.By the time the Apollo had open its doors the Harlem Renaissance was coming to a close. The Apollo Theater that we know today didn’t start out that way. It began as a all white music hall and burlesque theatre. It gained fame a Hurtig and Seamon’s Burlesque in the twenties and early thirties. The 125th street Apollo Theater didn’t open until January 1934. This is when they started showcasing black entertainment. The Apollo theatre was originally owned by Sidney Cohen. After Sydney S. Cohen's death, Morris Sussman and Frank Schiffman got together.Schiffman ran the Harlem Opera House and a merger between the two theaters was formed. Schiffman is credited with guiding the Apollo Theater to greatness. Schiffman's mot ivation for featuring black talent and entertainment was not only because the neighborhood had become black over a two hundred year period of gradual migration, but because black entertainers were cheaper to hire, and Schiffman could offer quality shows for reasonable rates. For many years Apollo was the only theater in New York City to hire black talent. Jose 3With black performers as the main entertainment in the Apollo came an important facet of American life that has been dominated by blacks. That is jazz. In jazz the black man stands supreme. The products of his creative energies are sought after by musicians and listeners of every background. Jazz didn’t start in the Apollo theatre. It didn’t start in Harlem either. The roots of jazz lie deep in the history of New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, and New York. The true ancestral roots are buried even deep in the music traditions of West Africa and Latin countries.But the Apollo was one of the places that provided a home and a receptive atmosphere in which jazz practitioners felt at ease, where their art could thrive and flourish. Although jazz was a true American genre of music it was formerly held in relatively low class by certain intellectual. Many believe the reason for the low appraisal of jazz’ value was made because most of the jazz practitioners were black and the critics were white. Although the Apollo Theater was essentially a black theater, the main interest was always in quality rather than color.Even though jazz was predominantly the creation of black musicians, the amount of interracial jazz was relatively small thought the history of early jazz. It wasn’t because of discrimination from the performers but rather the performers were keeping up with the climate of the times. Many white musicians were accepted with respect and affection by Apollo audience. The first show was called â€Å"Jazz a la Carte†. All the proceeds of this show were donated to the Harlem Children's Fresh Air Fund. Since then the Apollo Theater is known for starting careers of many music pioneers. In 1934, it introduced its regular Amateur Night shows.Billing itself as a place â€Å"where stars are born and legends are made,† the Apollo became famous for launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross ; The Supremes, Gladys Knight ; The Pips, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye, Luther Jose 4 Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Mariah Carey, The Isley Brothers, Lauryn Hill, and Sarah Vaughan. The Apollo also featured the performances of old-time vaudeville favorites like Tim Moore, Stepin Fetchit, Godfrey Cambridge, Dewey â€Å"Pigmeat† Markham, Moms Mabley, Marshall â€Å"Garbage† Rogers, and Johnny Lee.The Apollo didn’t only make careers but they also had big name artist. By the mid-thirties, the era of the big band was in full swing. Of all the personalities we ever played at the Apollo, none were as vibrant as Fats Waller. There was never any question about Fats playing the Apollo. It was a semi-annual engagement, which he never missed. The Luis Russell Band was a band that was put together to showcase the talent of Louis Armstrong. They played a 1937 engagement at the Apollo without Louis, who had left the band by then.They band did include clarinetist Barney Bigard, who later starred with Ellington; Big Sid Catlett, who also played with Hines, on drums; and trumpeter Henry â€Å"Red’ Allen. Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are probably two of the most influential men in the history of jazz. Louis Armstrong played with them all because they all wanted to play with the master. In 1949, Louis’ band in an Apollo show included such legendary figures as trombonist and vocalist Jack Teagarden, drummer Cozy Cole, clarinetist Barney Bigard, pianist Earl Hines, and bassist Arvel Shaw.A jazz lover could only be at awe at this line up. Louis influences everyone, even the singers. Billie Holiday once spoke about how she wanted to sing exactly as Louis played his horn. The fun-loving genius had vocal trick of finishing his songs with â€Å"Oh Yeah†. In 1939 Duke Ellington played the Apollo. He had played there and at the Harlem Opera House and the Lafayette and, of course, was legendary figure at the old Cotton Club. He played the Apollo again, again, and again. He was one of the Jose 5 giants and one of the transcending figures in jazz history.You can’t talk about Duke Ellington musical genius without talking about the incredible number of compositions that he penned. Probably in the whole history of music no one has composed more songs the Ellington. There is said to be over two thousand songs. Women were also very popular in the Apollo Theater. Most of the women were singers, the major exceptions being pianists Mary Lou Williams and Hazel Scott. They were the International Sweethearts of Rhythm . Another talented jazzwoman was Blanche Calloway, sister of Cab Calloway.Although she frequently copied Cab’s style as a leader, she was a serious musician. Later Blanche ran a club in Washington and brought us Ruth Brown, who became a major Apollo attraction. In addition to introducing a vast number of rising stars, the Apollo quickly became a vital stop for any black entertainer, and virtually every major African American musical act performed there at least once as did several white acts, who often were booked because they were assumed to be black. The management maintained a policy of alternating live stage shows with B movies.The Apollo was the pinnacle of the â€Å"classic circuit† of venues including the Regal Theater in Chicago and the Howard Theater in Washington, D. C. that catered to African American audiences. As a show of respect for its legacy, the building was left untouched during the riots of the 1960s. In 1977 the shows were discontinued, and the the atre was operated as a movie theatre. A year later the building was closed. Purchased by investors in 1981, the Apollo received landmark status in 1983, was renovated, and was reopened to the public in 1985. | | | | | | | |

Analysis Of Jane Eyre English Literature Essay

Analysis Of Jane Eyre English Literature Essay 3. Themes and/or purpose of work: Throughout her life, Jane meets three different models of organized religion that she initially rejects, but eventually uses as foundation for her own personal doctrine of faith. Helen Burns exemplifies an all forgiving, tolerant, and benevolent Christianity that is too docile, submissive and fruitless for Jane’s natural temperament. Jane watches Helen suffer a cruel life and die all whilst being a quiet and obedient Christian, and determines her meekness was ultimately useless. Mr. Brocklehurst’s represents the hypocrisy of religion; he preaches the Christian values of poverty and humility while he unjustly deprives and punishes the students of Lowood and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle with his family. St. John represents a Christianity of martyrdom and strictly practices sacrifice and righteousness at the expense of his compassion and human emotion, and is described as â€Å"inexorable as death.† Jane denounces this model of rel igion as too cold and detached, and lacking the love she desires. In addition to Religion, passion (fire) vs. reason (ice) is another prevalent theme Bronte sprinkles throughout the novel. Fire is illustrated as passionate, warm, but sometimes dangerous, while in contrast ice is represented as detached, unfeeling, and metallic. Bronte stresses this contrast by attributing the motifs to certain characters. Particularly cruel, heartless or detached characters, such as Eliza Reed, St. John, and Mrs. Reed are associated with â€Å"ice.† Passionate, warm, benevolent and loving characters such as Helen, Jane’s cousins, Miss Temple, Georgiana Reed, and Mr. Rochester, are associated with â€Å"fire†. Bronte reveals her personal preference for fire over ice in showing the reader that although both are destructive elements, Fire’s destruction can be positive. For example, Bertha’s setting fire to Mr. Rochesters bed facilitates the intimacy between him and Ja ne. Her setting fire to and destroying of Thornfield Manner leads to her death, and frees Rochester from his painful past. Despite the fact the second fire was destructive in that it blinds Rochester, it allows Jane to realize his new dependence on her and overlook her past concerns about the inequality of their potential the union. Bronte does not directly say that the characters associated with ice are completely cold, unfeeling, and undesirable; however, she emphasizes the importance of â€Å"fiery† passion and love as the way to personal happiness. 4. Characters (major and minor): Jane Eyre: The narrator and protagonist of Jane Eyre. Jane begins the novel an impassioned and confused orphan but gradually develops into a sensitive, maternal, and independent young woman. Jane’s self-esteem, sense of self, and character as whole is formed in path through various worlds: Lowood, Thornfield, and particularly Moor House. Jane serves as a heroine to which everyone can rela te; she embodies the desire for love, the emotional conflict between passion and reason, the search for independence, and the demand for justice that every individual seeks. Edward Rochester: The master of Thornfield Manor, where Jane taught as governess. Mr. Rochester embodies and encourages the passionate side of Jane, as well as offers a contrast to her reason. Mr. Rochester is also particularly important to Jane because he provides her with the unconditional love and sense of family that she searches for throughout the novel.

Week 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Week 3 - Essay Example Weekly meetings are ideal because they allow the stakeholders to internalize the elements and implement them (Stetler,  Ritchie,  Rycroft-Malone,  Schultz, & Charns,  2007). Evaluation tools have been extensively used in projects and their use is increasing with time. The rationale for an evaluation tool for any evidence-based change project is that evaluation tools provide advantages to the project by capturing how well the project performs or aligns with the objectives set and the goals that it must fulfill. Therefore, an evaluation tool must have enough detail to measure all the deliverables and give appropriate feedback to the project participants. An evaluation tool in an evidence based project enables decision makers to make proper choices and decisions for the project based on the available evidence provided by the tool. Evaluation tools show if changes are needed in the project, what kind of changes, the time to implement those changes and the reasons why the changes are required (Patkar, Hurt,  Steele,  Love,  Purushotham, Williams, & Fox,  2006). Adolescent depression has become rampant among teenagers in the present world because of the pressures that they face each day. There are several reasons for adolescent pregnancy including poor grades, feeling of worthlessness, family life, environmental stress, social status among peers and sexual orientation. Generally, when things that an adolescent enjoys or likes do not help him or her to improve or get a sense of belonging, it is bound to create problems. There are several symptoms of adolescent depression that include apathy, headaches, withdrawal, lack of attention, loss of appetite, sadness, drug abuse, anxiety and memory loss among others. The primary intervention is to ensure that adolescent depression does not occur. This can be done by engaging adolescents in

National Guard Recruiting and Retention Support Essay

National Guard Recruiting and Retention Support - Essay Example In the event of federal control of the federal authority, the National Guard is used to supplement the regular Army. This supplementation involves the bolstering of the regular army forces with additional combat units. This paper discusses the National Guard Recruiting and retention support. Origin The National Guard in the United States is the oldest unit of the Armed forces. In addition, the National Guard is one of the longest enduring institutions nationally. This year, the National Guard celebrated its 376th birthday on December 13. The origin of the National army dates back to the earliest North American English Colonies. Since the colonies were responsible for their own defense, they relied on the traditions of English Military and organized militias consisting of able-bodied male citizens. Through this militia, the colonists managed to defend citizens from foreign invaders and Indian attacks. In addition, the militia assisted in winning the war on revolution. After independen ce, the United States’ constitution authors gave power to the congress to allow for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia. However, the recruitment and training of the militia was the role of state. Until now, the national militia is a state-federal force (Nationalguard.mil, para2). The size of the regular army has remained small throughout the 19th century. ... After the Second World War, the National Guard Aviation units became Air National Guard Units. The Air National Guard unit is the latest Reserve component. During Berlin Crisis, the Air National Guard sends soldiers to fight Korea and reinforce NATO. Since then, the federal role of National Guard has changed. This role is currently characterized by call up to crisis response in Kosovo, Bosnia and Haiti. In the 2001 September 11 attacks, both state and federal authorities called upon guard members to offer national security and combat terrorism activities outside the nation. In the year 2005, 50000 guard members were deployed in Gulf States during the Hurricane Katrina event. For the states, the National Guard provides units that are trained and well armed to offer protection of property and life. In addition, National Guard continually provides defense to the United States and other interests throughout the globe. The National Guard is divided into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, the District of Colombia and 3 territories. In each unit, the head of operations is the respective governor (Doubler 13). Functions of the National Guard The role of the National Guard includes responding to domestic disasters and emergencies. In order to get involved into active duty during such disasters, the state governors or territories commanding generals call the National Guard. Most common emergencies and disasters include those caused by earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Members of the National Guard can become temporary or permanent members of the armed forces. Such appointments occur at the consent of the state governors while the National Guard members can remain active or inactive at the service of the nation. Army National

The significant of 'GUANXI' towards contractors to endure in the Essay

The significant of 'GUANXI' towards contractors to endure in the construction industry - Essay Example There is one slight problem, however, which concerns business ethics and sense of fair play. When you work your way into the good graces of a client by establishing the personal connections of guanxi, you effectively shut out of this loop other contractors who are not into the practice, which is neither fair nor just. In addition, guanxi is often established by extending favors or giving gifts, which takes on the appearance of bribery and corruption. All the above postulates - the increasing interest of Western management scholars, the distinct significance of guanxi in the multi-faceted construction industry, the thin line that separates it from bribery and corruption - make guanxi an interesting study area for anyone seeking new management tools that could provide control and efficiency in an otherwise intractable industry. This is what Project Management in Construction is all about. Personal connections in guanxi are looked upon as a necessary condition for doing business successfully in China. The actors in the guanxi relationship may purposefully create or accidentally discover the affinity as they look for shared experiences to establish a common social identity. This then sets the stage for the guanxi interactions, which may be expressive or instrumental. Expressive interactions refer to socially oriented activities, while instrumental activities are pragmatic transactions and exchanges related to work and business. After the two persons become familiar through common bases, they proceed to engage in a wide variety of transactional activities to move from an outer to an inner circle. (3) 3. Relevance to the Course Guanxi has attracted the attention of Western management scholars who saw its rich potential as a business formula for success not only in China but elsewhere. This interest is evidenced by the frequent and copious mention of guanxi in popular and academic literature that no longer requires literal translations. There is a strong possibility that such fascination with the Chinese principle prompted the

Lucas-Phelps model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lucas-Phelps model - Essay Example Government’s interest in stabilising the economy is not only rooted on its political responsibility to control fluctuations in prices but equally to reign-in inflations that is brought about by temporary economic stressors as well. Ensuring the predictability of its economy will strengthen the job market and will also reinforce the collective confidence of the people to the government and its goals. Governments that are heavily involved in its country’s economic activity can, by its regular function, control interest rates that will restrict the liquidity of the market. By introducing temporary tax incentives however can create a situation that will lead to an excess supply of goods which circumstance will similarly bring down prices for that commodity. While enforcing stricter rules and regulation, the government can also influence the supply or the availability of goods in the market that will, in turn, force the prices of that commodity. These controls when implement ed on key economic indicator products such as oil or even wheat are effective tools in stabilising an economy. However, the end-results of these controls are not absolute due to the volatile nature of the economy. There are tangible variables that can be controlled through fiscal policies or through the degree in which laws are enforced but the collective consciousness of the market is very hard to control much less predict. The â€Å"rational expectation hypothesis† or â€Å"theory of rational expectation† posits that in uncertain conditions, the main players—composed of the people—in any economy make decisions based on their perceptions of how economic stressors will affect them (Muth, 1992). Meanwhile, economic agent’s rational expectations revolve around other market forces that would include government intervention, raw materials or input materials availability to create the best possible economic model for the future. Thus, the rational expec tation hypothesis propose that economic predictions based on the correlation of an infinite number of different variables are correct even if individual predictions made on the different variables turn out to be erroneous or inaccurate so long as the expected model holds. The primary reason why stabilisation policies are enforced or applied to a volatile market is to stabilise the economy, if not make it more predictable in order for economic agents to settle. However, if economic agents create an economic model base on the current economic values of economic stressors towards stabilising the economy, the introduction of a new variable from the government base on the â€Å"rational expectation hypothesis† will not make a huge impact. The primary reason for this is that over time, given that the economic agents also need to respond to the economic model they created the economy will eventually stabilise or settle. Cyclical Aggregate Demand Policy defines an economic systemâ₠¬â„¢s fluctuations as far as demands for goods are concerned. Counter cyclical or reversal of the economic system’s demand for goods to force it to follow a different path is not an absolute solution to stabilise prices in particular and stabilise the economy in general. This is especially accurate at full employment since the output of the work force will eventually find its way to mainstream market where its price is subject to market forces. The proposition that stabilisation policies are negated by rational expectati

Science fiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Science fiction - Essay Example However there was one catch, the replicants had a four year life span. But in that four year life span some of the replicants were beginning to develop underlying human emotions. It is these human emotions which led to the revolts of many a replicants making them illegal to be on Earth. Thus, special replicants hunter units, called Blade Runners, were formed to eliminate the illegal replicants. â€Å"Burning Chrome† by William Gibson is a predecessor to many novels he wrote characters from this short story mad their way into other sci-fi novels written by Gibson, such as Neuromancer and the Sprawl series of novels. â€Å"Burning Chrome† shows a computer cowboy, named Bobby Quine jacking into cyberspace, reminiscent of the movie Johnny Mnemonic, based on one of Gibson’s short stories of the same name, and his partner, Automatic Jack. The story is set in the point of view of Automatic Jack. This part of the paper will compare the tone and the settings of the movie Blade Runner with the cyberpunk short story, â€Å"Burning Chrome.† Both are set within the city in which they inhabit, but both there is a time in each story where one loft is the center of attention. Both â€Å"Burning Chrome† and Blade Runner are set in the future with technological advancements beyond our wildest dreams. Furthermore, both are set in differing urban settings, in the streets of a city. However, where the setting in Blade Runner shows are more even playing field for the inhabitants of the city of Los Angeles, â€Å"Burning Chrome† shows that the city, in which the story is set, has a very big discrepancy on those who have it and those who don’t. Blade Runner is set in the city of Los Angeles in the year 2019. The setting allows the viewer to see that this is a bustling metropolis with millions of different things going on all the time. There are several specific

Multicultural Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Multicultural Film - Essay Example A good definition of film noir was given by Borde and Chaumeton (1955), who refer to film noir as a purely affective phenomenon in the sense that it disturbs viewers, disorients them and produces a profound uneasiness. And it does this by whatever means possible. The historical nature of film noir derives, in large part, from its attempts to disturb. Film noir succeeded in creating a malaise in its audiences by refusing the stylistic and thematic conventions of classical Hollywood cinema. That is, noir arose in the 1940s as a response to and rejection of 1930s Hollywood cinema. In certain films, this refusal of 1930s cinema takes the form of a single scene or shot that violates the norm, such as the tight close-up of an unidentified hand firing a gun at Sam Spade's partner, Archer, near the beginning of The Maltese Falcon movie in 1941 (Belton, 2005). The majority of those who explored the darker reaches of the noir experience were American, born and bred. The source material for the bulk of noir narratives came from the underworld of American pulp fiction. Nearly twenty per cent of the film noirs made between 1941 and 1948 were adaptations of hard-boiled novels written by American authors. Film noir deals with a uniquely American experience of wartime and post-war despair and alienation as a disoriented America readjust to a new social and political reality. Film noir was discovered and christened in postwar France. In 1945, after the Allies liberated Paris, France, an enormous backlog of American films, which had been made during the war but had not been seen in Nazi-controlled territories like France due to the ban made by Germans, reached French screens. A succession of extremely downbeat films is shown in France. This cycle began with a Hammett detective film entitled Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941). It was an observed that in this cycle of films has subversive strain of behavioral deviance in American films, which at this time became dominated by crime, corruption, cruelty, and an apparent unhealthy interest in the erotic. The French believed then that American film had suddenly turned grimmer, bleaker, and blacker. II. Analysis of the Movies "Maltese Falcon" and "Basic Instinct 2" as Film Noirs The adjective "noir" aptly conveys not only the films' antecedents in the "romans noirs" or black novels but also the essential nature of experience that audiences have in watching the films. These films unsettled audiences. Through their violation of the traditional narrative and stylistic practices of classical Hollywood cinema that oriented and stabilized spectators, these films created an uncomfortable and disturbing malaise or anxiety in their viewers. Film noir is a specific emotional reaction produced by certain films in an audience. In the "Maltese Falcon" and "Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction", film noirs can be seen as a purely affective phenomenon such that it produces some emotional responses in people. Not every film noir needs to be noir from start to finish. It needs only to be noir for a moment or two. It requires only a single character, situation or scene that is noir to produce the disturbance or the disorientation that is necessary to give the audience an unsettling twist or distressing jolt. In

Conservation of the environment Essay Example for Free

Conservation of the environment Essay Protection of the environment is very important as the world moves into a new era. This new era also seems to be presenting us with many major environmental issues. Some of these problems are: pollution, rapid industrialization, over population, deforestation and loss of important animal and plant species. The best way to protect the environment is to conserve and protect it by being more conscious of our impact on the planet. Conservation is the philosophy and policy of managing the environment to assure adequate supplies of natural resources for future as well as present generations. One way to be more environmentally responsible would be to cut down on undesirable C02 emissions and to put good things back into the atmosphere. One of the best ways to do this is by planting trees. Trees play a critical role in keeping our air clean, both by releasing oxygen into the air and by trapping carbon. The more trees we have, the better our air quality, and thats why planting trees is an excellent step to take toward saving the environment. While youre at it, plant a tree in a spot that will give your house shade, as that will help reduce your need to crank up your air conditioning in the summer months and be esthetically leasing. Its also important to take a stand against deforestation. Losing large swaths of forest, such as the rainforest, to development or industry means that were losing millions of trees that would otherwise be purifying the air for us. Protesting deforestation, both through activism and by refusing to buy products that are created at the expense of the worlds forests, can help slow and even halt deforestation. Renewable energy is another great way to heal the environment. It significantly cuts down on greenhouse gases, air pollution and the amount of carbon emitted into the air. In the USA around 71% of electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. Burning coal or other fuels emits greenhouse gases and pollution in the environment. An average home powered by a coal utility will burn twelve thousand pounds of coal a year and will cause about the same amount of pollution as two cars. By using renewable energy as the primary power source, the reduction of pollution per household would be equivalent to that of planting four hundred trees. We can each play a part in improving the amount of trash we throw away by reducing our waste. Buy fewer items and reduce the overall consumption of goods. If less is onsumed, then less energy is used and less waste is produced. Regardless of how consumption is limited, people are bound to produce some waste. We can buy in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging thrown away, but to make a difference, we also have to focus on recycling and repurposing the items that are consumed. Simple changes can be made, like shopping with reusable bags and keeping food and other items in reusable containers, rather than defaulting to plastic bags and disposable containers. Recycling refers to buying recycled products and sorting waste into the appropriate categories: aluminum cans, glass, plastic, paper and cardboard. However, the definition of recycling can be expanded to encompass donating items you no longer need or want to Goodwill or the Salvation Army so others can reuse them. Many cities have freecycle e-mail lists that fill a similar role. If you cant reduce your consumption or tind a way to reuse a product, recycling is a better choice than simply throwing something into the trash. Gandhi wisely said, You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Thats certainly true when it comes to saving the environment, and each of us has an individual responsibility to make the changes and decisions that will benefit the natural world around us. Even our most concerted efforts will have a minimal impact if were the only ones making them, or even if were part of a small group making such environmental choices. The power in the steps on this list comes from getting everyone to take them together. After doing all the other things mentioned here cutting energy consumption, conserving water, driving less and everything else the most important thing is to be bold and vocal about encouraging others to do the same. The environment wont be saved by a handful of activists or even by a collection of powerful world leaders. It will be saved by the collective action of mankind.

Americanism In Back To The Future Film Studies Essay

Americanism In Back To The Future Film Studies Essay If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything: Constructions of America across the space-time continuum. Robert Zemeckis Back to the Future is a motion picture classic. The time traveling Delorean and the Marty McFly character are imprinted upon the minds of audiences all over the world. The American government recognized the movies significance to American culture by inducting it into the archives of the National Film Registry in 2007. This induction officially made the movie a culturally, historically or aesthetically significant work to be preserved for all time, thus labeling it as an important non-traditional cultural text in the context of American society. In his article Reconfiguring Academic Disciplines Paul Lautner presents the analysis of these kinds of non-traditional cultural texts as being a vital part of the American Studies discipline. He reasons they help construct the frameworks, fashion the metaphors, create the very language by which people comprehend their experiences and think about their world. Using Lautners approach, this essay will examine the significance of the first Back to the Future movie for key aspects of American culture and society. Topics that will be discussed are American exceptionalism, American identity, American myths, American political rhetoric of the 1980s and popular culture. The movie starts off in the year 1985 and focuses on seventeen year old Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), who is part of a lower-middle-class family living in suburbia. His father, called George McFly, is afraid to stand up for himself and his mother, called Lorraine McFly, is an alcoholic. Martys friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) has created a time machine which takes Marty across the space-time continuum back to the year 1955, the year that his parents fell in love. At the movies first turning point, he endangers his future existence by accidently preventing his parents meeting. Thus, Marty spends the rest of the movie solving this. He helps his future father stand up for himself and makes his parents fall in love at the high school dance while playing rock and roll music. In the end, Martys actions changed the future, because when he returns to 1985 he sees that his family has transformed into yuppies who live in upper-middle-class suburbia. This is the exact opposite of the family life Marty left at the beginning of the movie. Having explained the movies plot, one can take a more in-depth look at the movies cultural significance. First of all, American exceptionalism, often defined as being the way in which America differs from other nations. The movie shows idealized versions of the typical American way of life in the 1950s and 1980s. These time periods show how Americaness is also deeply rooted within American history itself as it provides a distinct American identity. The 1950s are pictured as being peaceful, conservative and family oriented. Traditional values maintained the importance of community and family life. In 1955, Marty is warmly welcomed by Lorraines family who lives in quaint suburbia. Lorraines mother is a happy housewife, who cooks dinner and takes care of the children, while her father supports the family. As for the town, it looks clean and fresh during Martys exploration accompanied by the upbeat song Mr. Sandman. In contrast, the 1980s at the beginning of the movie look miserable. Mar tys family flaws and failures are expressed and there is no happy family life. The town square is filled with litter, almost to a point where it becomes cartoonish. Martys house stands in a run down neighborhood and its interior looks old and smudgy. However, at the end of the movie, Martys home and family have transformed into the 1980s version of idealized America. His home looks newly build and his family is all smiling faces wearing slick looking clothes and having a BMW standing in the driveway. These developments promote a celebration of Americanness, it is part of the 1980s version of the American Dream. The filmmakers commentary state that European reviews were very critical of this outcome. An internet search was unable to locate these reviews, but according to the filmmakers they did not agree with the fact that the movie equated happiness with material possessions. However, once again according to the filmmakers, not one American critic commented on this. Therefore, exemp lifying how exceptional America is on a cross-cultural level. Moreover, the movie also promotes Americas exceptionalism by focusing on individualism, an important element of Americanness. Martys individual actions changed his future. Related to this is the notion that the movie sees the future as having unlimited possibilities. It treats the future as the new frontier, hence comparing it to Wild West. This frontier is the origin of the strong sense of freedom and individualism deemed essential in American life. Throughout the movie, Marty is constantly reminded of his individual freedom and liberty as demonstrated by the often recurring line If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. Political rhetoric of the 1980s embraced this mindset. It is no secret that President Ronald Reagan loved this movie, because of this message and the fact that he was the subject of a joke. Reagan even quoted the movie in his 1986 State of Union address: As they said in the film Back to the Future,Where were going, we dont need roads. Once again promo ting Americas access to unlimited possibilities and its exceptionalism in contrast to other nations. However, the movie also expresses the double-edged characteristic of American exceptionalism, an idea put forward by Seymour Martin Lipset in Exceptionalism: A Double Edged Sword. Lipset explains that America is a country of contrasts. High morality is promoted in society, yet Martys morality is constantly being challenged. It starts off high by not willing to seduce his mother, but it declines rapidly when he finds out that it is an essential part in the scheme of making his parents fall in love. This also suggest that Marty is more concerned with the ends rather than with the means. He is willing to seduce his mother if it helps secure his future. This focus on the ends rather than on the means is typical for American identity according to Lipset. He states that Americans put a lot of stress on success which often leads to a decline of morality. Criticism on the movies showing of American exceptionalism is centered on the argument that it mostly focuses on white heterosexual middle class America. The filmmakers included a small subplot on an African-American male, who starts off being a cleaner and ends up being the major of the town, but this storyline feels very forced. Thus, the movie mainly addresses the experience of one specific group in explaining America, at the expense of other groups. This kind of criticism relates to Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean perspectives on the subject matter. They explain that subordinate groups are not completely ignored, but they are given a certain position within the dominant group. Thus, Back to the Future gives the African-American male an identity within white society. An issue related to this idea is Martys redefinition of the racial history of rock and roll music. Marty plays the song Johnny B Goode at the school dance. Chuck Berrys cousin hears this and calls Chuck Berry to tell him that they found their much needed new sound. It is possible to overanalyze this segment as being part of a white supremacy narrative, but it is better to accept it as a joke made by the filmmakers. The plot is temporarily stopped to demonstrate Michael J. Foxs comedic guitar playing skills. Nevertheless, white hegemony remains the consensus in the movie and this consensus is incorporated into the prevalent power structure with the help of ideologies and cultural myths. These ideologies and myths help construct an American identity. There are three prevalent American myths present in Back to the Future. They are incorporated into the overarching ideology of the American Dream. First, the myth of small town America. Small town life is pictured as being the perfect definition of American society. The localized life excludes Big Corporations and the Big Government which fulfills Americans desire to be free. The second myth deals with the suburban dream. This myth is embodied by the McFly family at the end of the movie. Their happiness sends across the message that every American should pursue such a life, because it is within everyones reach. The third myth concerns the idea of the scientist who in his own garage invents something which can change the world. I.e. Doc Browns DeLorean. Thus, the ideal of living happily without needing any help from big corporations or the government is once again promoted. This also refers back to Americas strong sense of individualism. These three myths are used as discourse for the construction of Martys America and they serve as ideologies. They convey and reinforce an image of both 1950s and 1980s America. In addition, the movie touches upon Americas fascination with the past and its attempt to reconciliate between the past and present. The time traveling aspect addresses this attempt of reconciliation, while the 1950s outlook shows a nostalgia for the past. This nostalgia is much in line with Reagans 1980s political rhetoric. He had a 1950s conservative outlook, as he promoted traditional values and gender roles. However, 1950s Lorraine challenges these values and roles by drinking, smoking and being assertive. The filmmakers specifically state that they rebelled against Reaganite politics by addressing parts of the rebelliousness of 1980s teen movies. Consequently presenting a vision of American youth challenging power and authority. Moreover, youth practices are used as a junction point for various discourses within the story. For example, the school dance being the crucial place where Martys parents fall in love. Overall, the movie prefers to connect to youngness and newness. Two notions which America prefers to associate itself with. Teen culture is put into the spotlight, thus demonstrating America as a place of renewal. Lastly, by being part of popular culture, Back to the Future helps American society understand itself better as M. Thomas Inge reasons in his introduction to American popular culture. The movie analyses American society by giving a sketch of American culture in the 1950s and 1980s. However, the 1950s and 1980s that the movie shows are specifically developed for the story. I.e. Back to the Future provides interpretations of those time periods. Thus, the 1950s images are constructions and fabrications in themselves. The portrayed 1950s cannot be considered to be more real for an audience who experienced the 1950s firsthand than for the 1980s teen target audience. Hence the movie fits within a postmodern perspective, because it creates one cultural memory narrative. This particular approach to filmmaking is probably what made the sequels so successful. The interpretations of the past, present and future make the movies fascinating. To conclude, Martys adventure enabled him to take a step back from his culture to understand his own 1980s reality, consequently learning to see events in their particular form and context. This essay attempted to follow in Martys footsteps. By critically analyzing Back to the Future audiences are able to reconstruct and renegotiate American identity and exceptionalism both from a 1980s and 1950s perspective, even though they are Hollywood fabricated. These perspectives can then be incorporated into a broad overview of American culture which helps form answers to the question: what is America?. This essay cannot provide definite answers to this question, but Marty McFly himself seems to have found his answer to it. He negotiates his identity and constructs his reality through a discourse centered around the motto If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. This encompasses his America, it is a variable within the grand narrative of American identity construction.

Alexander the Great :: essays research papers fc

Alexander the Great Introduction Alexander III was born on July 20th, 356 BC to King Philip II and Olympia’s. He was born in Pella, Macedonia. In 343 BC Aristotle was hired to educate Alexander at the age of 13. In 338 he commanded for the first time the Calvary during the battle of Chaeronea. Alexander ascends the throne of Macedonia in 336 BC after the murder of his father, King Philip II. 336-323 BC is when he started his empire, conquering kingdom after kingdom. Why was Alexander the Great? Alexander III was known as Alexander the Great to his people from 336-323 BC. Why to this day do we still look at Alexander the Great as one of the greatest rulers of the world? Even though Alexander ruled for only 13 years as king of Macedonian what made him gain the title as Alexander the Great? Should he be known for it because of his military skills, his popularity with his people or his leadership skills? Why did Alexander deserve to be called â€Å"the Great†? He was not the first of his time to be called it. There were two others before him that were called the Great, the Persian King Cyrus the Great and the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses the Great. To this day his leadership skills are still considered by military experts as being the most outstanding commanders of all time. Alexander was able to motivate and inspire his troops to fight any battle for him by leading his troops, talked to every single troop and received the same wounds that they did. One thing that can only be marveled at is the over whelming factor, his charisma. He was the only individual that was able to hold together an empire together. After his death the empire fell apart into competing kingdoms. Alexander III is known to have helped shaped the world the way we know it today. Persians, Egyptians, Babylonians were eastern cultures that dominated the world until Alexander came into rule. He changed the focus on civilization from the eastern to the western societies, Greece and Rome. Alexander took the gold reserves of the Persian Kings and minted it into currency, using his resources to build new cities while continuing his conquest of other kingdoms. This enabled the Greek civilization to spread through out the known world and improving trade relations and activities. Alexander established an economic system that remained active until the industrial revolution in the 18th century.

The Death Penalty Debate Essay -- capital punishment debate

The death penalty is one of the most debated issues in the United States. It is a judicially ordered execution of a prisoner for a capital crime. There are many people who oppose the death penalty and then there are many people who support the death penalty. People who are against it think it is inhumane or it is too expensive. The people who are for the death penalty feel that it gives a chance for individuals to be accused for their wrongful acts. Each year billions of dollars are spent to sentence criminals to death. The death penalty costs $24 million dollars on average per execution (Pudlow). Since the death penalty is so expensive thirteen states have made it illegal to use the death penalty, and thirty seven states still have the death penalty. The US military and the US federal government still have the death penalty so thirty nine jurisdictions in all still uphold the death penalty to this day. This paper will examine reasons to support the death penalty and reasons to go against it and what type of crime determines whether or not you get the death penalty in America starting at colonial times. There are reasons to support the death penalty for instance it keeps people who are convicted of heinous and brutal crimes off the streets. The death penalty also keeps killers from killing again. The death penalty can also deter future criminals from committing murders (White). If felons believe that they are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and executed, they will be less inclined to commit homicides. The use of the death penalty is extremely rare since 1967 there has been one execution for every 1600 murders, or 0.06% (Hugo). There have been approximately 560,000 murders and 358 executions from 1967-1996 (Oshinsk... ...ose morale and righteous conflict among people. There is no clear answer to the resolution of this problem. Works Cited Hugo, Bedau. The Death Penalty in America. 1. 1. New York: Oxford University Press inc., 1998. 213. Print Oshinsky, David. Captial Punishment on Trial. 1. 1. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2010. 178. Print Pudlow, Jan. "Take a hard look at the real cost of the death penalty." The Florida Bar News, 13/02/2011. Web. 13 Feb 2011. . White, Deborah. "Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2011. . Death Penalty Information Center, 11/02/2011. Web. 13 Feb 2011. .

Legalization of Marijuana Should Not Happen Essay -- cannabis should no

The legalization of marijuana is a very controversial issue that is being debated across the United States. In the article "Going to Pot?," by Damon Linker, Linker attempts to persuade readers that legalizing of marijuana can cause more harm than help. This publication was released in November of 2001. Although two other writers, Richard Lowry and Andrew Sullivan, try to change readers beliefs Linker maintains his stance against marijuana. Without discrediting their facts he explains and defends why he feels they are wrong. The article is formal and although religion is not talked about, morals and society standards are questioned. Throughout the argument, Linker proves that effects of marijuana are detrimental to our society and will hinder social relations if legalized by our government. Linker is trying to sway the 34% of Americans who believe marijuana should be legalize to realize that more future problems will come from legalization. The audience Linker is reaching is primarily readers of the Religion and Public Life Monthly Journal. He is also trying to reach the 34% of Americans that approve the legalization of marijuana and the conservatives that seem to be shifting from prohibition to legalization. Linker focuses on today’s generation of parents and young adults because the choice will be in their hands soon. Society, as a whole, does not want marijuana to be legalized but as Linker states the attitudes appear to be shifting. The act of smoking marijuana is still perceived as bad and something that is looked down upon in society. The beliefs of people today are not the same as it was thirty years ago, and will continue to shift for times to come. Linker’s claims are logical and have basis. He p... ... article. This argument is good for the average American who knows little of the effects of marijuana. According to Linkers facts 66% of America still believe marijuana should not be legalized. This article is good for them because even if they were thinking of shifting opinions he proves that it would be wrong to legalize marijuana. Those Americans are the people that would agree with this argument because they want to believe that marijuana is harmful and should not be legalized. Obviously the other two authors and the 34% of America that believe marijuana should be legalized would disagree with this article. They could disagree with this continuously but the fact is that marijuana, however pleasurable it may be and seemingly less harmful than cigarettes, is still harmful in the long-term. The consequences of using and legalizing marijuana far outweigh the benefits.

Camp Wahanowin Swot

Internal Analysis: Strengths: †¢Facilities: High end facilities which accommodate up to 450 campers at one time, located on a 150 acre plot of land with water access not too far from many of the clienteles homes while remaining in a secluded area. †¢Partnerships: Keeping a close relationship with their â€Å"sister camp,† Green Acres Day Camp allows them to offer accommodations to day campers and spread their name to the day campers segment at the same time. Their partnership with the Toronto District School Board and their music program, Music by the Lake, brings revenue and word-of-mouth advertising to the camp. Management: Wahanowin has a strong management team coming from a variety of backgrounds, the university credentials of the team along with the range of skills and work experience are a big strength for the camps team. †¢Customers: Wahanowin has customers that not only come from within the GTA area, but also internationally from USA, Mexico, Israel, Fra nce, and England, providing a large clientele basis for the camp. Weaknesses: †¢Competitors: There is many other residential summer camps within a two hour drive from Wahanowin that offer different adventures luring customers away.There are also day camps which are less expensive but also offer some of the same activities and experiences which are increasing in popularity. Not to mention that there is a larger opportunity for children to travel in the summer now instead of going to camp. †¢Finance: Most of Wahanowin’s financing has come from the retained earnings of the company which are produced from the previous year’s profits. Not having any outside investors could be seen as a weakness to Wahanowins financial future. External Analysis: Opportunities: Natural: The summers are naturally getting longer and longer in North America as time goes by which provides more time for residential camping. Camp Wahanowin can capitalize on this opportunity by extending t heir summer camp season and bringing in more revenue for a longer period of time. †¢Technological: As society become more dependable on technology and the internet it becomes a more useful marketing tactic. Since today’s generation of children have grown up with technology and spend copious amounts of time on social media and other web pages, this would be an excellent opportunity to market to the children. Threats: Economically: The market for camps in Southern Ontario is actually quite saturated which makes it difficult for Wahanowin to capture the market share that they desire. Furthermore the recession of 2008 also pushed some of the higher income families out of the higher tax bracket which shrunk the potential market for these camps. †¢Social: Some social factors such as the increasing desire to travel over the summer have affected the market for residential summer camps. Other social factors such as the increasing amount of â€Å"helicopter† parents wh ich over-protect their children and forbid them from taking part in these experiences. Cultural: As the GTA (Wahanowin’s main client pool) is becoming more multi-cultural the cultures could begin to group together and form camps specific to each culture or religion (such as Jewish camps), leaving open camps such as Wahanowin on the backburner. http://wahanowin. com/facilities http://wahanowin. com/chronology http://wahanowin. com/staff http://www. livescience. com/7124-study-summer-longer. html http://www. ourkids. net/overnight-camps-s-ontario. php http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1940697,00. html

Organizational Theory & Research Essay

Organization is a â€Å"concept used in a variety of ways such as (1) a system or pattern of any set of relationships in any kind of undertaking; (2) an enterprise itself; (3) cooperation of two or more persons; (4) all behavior of all participants in a group; and (5) the intentional structure of roles in a formally organized enterprise† (Koontz, et. al. , 1980, p. G-11). Organization development is a â€Å"systematic, integrated, and planned approach to improve the effectiveness of people and groups in a enterprise through the use of techniques for problem discovery and various intervention techniques for solving these problems† (Koontz, et. l. , 1980, p. G-11). One of the key aspects of managing is â€Å"organizing† and it is a skill required of any manager if he or she is to be effective and successful in attaining organizational objectives and effecting change (see Koontz, et. al, 1980, p. 330). Management literature has acknowledged that people tend to cooperate with one another in the face of a crisis because man has learned that it is better to cooperate than to compete with one another. In cooperative activities, goals or objectives are achieved much easier than when individual persons act separately in attempting to achieve a group goal or objective. Organizing involves identifying the right people to involve in the design, development, and implementation of the process of problem identification and problem solving. One requirement of effective organizing is knowledge of the fundamental nature of group dynamics. When two or more people are formed to work on a particular task, they usually undergo certain stages of group development. These are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During the â€Å"forming† stage, group members tend to be cautious and almost become aware of each word that each says to others; in the â€Å"storming† stage, members become impatient of formalities and tend to express themselves and demonstrate antagonism and sarcasm; in the â€Å"norming† stage, members learn to tolerate frustrations and become more acceptable of other members of the group; in the â€Å"performing† stage, team members has put aside their differences and concentrate on the objectives of the group, thereby performing to the fullest and achieving their preset goals and objectives; in the â€Å"adjourning† stage, group members have achieved their objectives and disbands themselves and return to their home organizations or department.

Introduces Odysseus

The Odyssey, one of the most well known epic stories Introduces Odysseus, the King of Ithaca. This story demonstrates Odysseus’s physical and intellectual strength. Striving to return home after 20 years of his treacherous journey, he uses strength, skill, and superior ability to overcome his troubles. Although he faced numerous obstacles and fought many battles, he made it appoint to get home to his kingdom through his physical ability, intellectual insight, and overcoming his epic flaw. In the beginning of The Odyssey, Odysseus describes his homeland Ithaca and states â€Å"A rocky island, good for a boys training†.By saying this he makes it clear that he is proud of where he had grown up and that he had trained there. This introduces the physical prowess. He had been trained as a young boy to fight and carried that on with him as he grew up. Early on in the story he immediately shows his physical strength. The first story, Sailing from Troy, demonstrates this clearly when Odysseus states, â€Å"I stormed in that place and killed the men who fought. Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women to make a division, equal shares to all-†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 43-45). In the battle of Troy he and his army had won, obviously giving him experience and strength in killing.When he killed the men of Ismarus, it was evident that he had no problem doing so. Odysseus felt like he could take on anything that would come his way, feeling invincible. After they had won, Odysseus shouted to the Gods that nothing they throw at him could bring him down. One of Odysseus’s first encounters with trouble after he shouted to the Gods was the Cyclops. After the Cyclops killed several of Odysseus’s men, he finally came up with a plan of how to kill him. After the Cyclops is passed out, Odysseus plans to take a sharpened pike to its eye.As Odysseus describes, â€Å" I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and I leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 329-335). Not only is Odysseus showing physical strength, but so are his men. It clearly took a lot of strength, physically and mentally, to kill the Cyclops. Odysseus’s physical strength continues in the story The Land of the Dead. It takes several people and a lot of strength to get their giant ship going.In the story it describes the process, â€Å"We bore down on the ship at the sea’s edge and launched her on the salt immortal sea, stepping our mast and spar in the black ship†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 523-529). In order to get the masts and sails up you had to be very strong, and each time they left a place, they had to do so. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men all display physical prowess in order to return back to Ithaca, but Intell ectual prowess also aids them in their return. Odysseus, using his intellectual prowess, is able to outsmart the obstacles he faces and also to make better choices for himself and his crew.In The Lotus-Eaters Odysseus land on an unknown Island and decides to send some men out and see what the land holds; â€Å"Then I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of men that island sustained. † Instead of Odysseus risking his own life, he sends out others instead. This is a smart decision because he has no clue what is on the island and he wants to keep himself safe. In The Cyclops Odysseus had come prepared for anything that could happen, â€Å"A wineskin full I brought along, and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon us soon-â€Å" (Homer, Lines 153-155).He knew that they were going to need food and supplies when they arrived on the island, so by using his intellectual prowess, he was prepared. Also in the Cyclops, he says, à ¢â‚¬Å"We beached there, and I told the crew to stand by and keep watch over the ship; as for myself I took twelve best fighters and went ahead. † (Homer, Lines 134-137). Wanting to stay safe, Odysseus took his best fighters with him and had the others stay back and watch the ship to be sure nothing happened to it. One of the most difficult obstacles Odysseus faced was overcoming if epic flaw.Odysseus had excessive pride, or Hubris, which sometimes got him in more trouble than he was already in. For example, in the Cyclops, as Odysseus and his men are leaving after stabbing the Cyclops’ eye, he shouts â€Å"Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca. † Before this, Odysseus had told the Cyclops that his name was â€Å"Nohbdy† and could have gotten away without the Cyclops knowing who it really was, but Odysseus had to boast and brag that if anyone were to ask, it was him who blinded the Cyclops.Also in the beginning of The Odyssey after they had one the Battle of Troy, Odysseus shouted to the Gods that nothing could stop him. By provoking the Gods, he brought his 20 year journey onto himself. But by overcoming this flaw in the end, Odysseus finally returned home. Although he faced all of these battles, Odysseus combined all of his skill to defeat them and got back to Ithaca to reclaim his title as King. He couldn’t have done it on his own, but with the help of his men, using his physical and intellectual prowess, and overcoming his epic flaw, he achieved his goal after 20 years of difficulties.

Issues in Scottish Curriculum Design Essay

The way that any curricula is broken up into is two main ways; one being the curriculum in action, where the aims, content and experiences of the curriculum on paper are implemented in practice. The other is the curriculum on paper which is the ideology of what should be implemented in education across the board. The ideology in curriculum can be split up into four main categories. Most papers on this topic, agree to an extent what the four ideologies constitute of, but Schiro’s (2008) ideologies are the most commonly known. The ‘Scholar Academic’, the ‘Social Efficiency’, the ‘Learner Centred’ and the ‘Social Reconstruction’ ideologies are the four main categories explained in the Curriculum Theory that will be discussed in this paper in relation to The Curriculum for Excellence, the current curriculum in Scotland. The oldest of the four ideologies is the Scholar Academic ideology which focuses on the accumulation of knowled ge and understanding. The aim of this ideology is to pass on the knowledge of certain disciplines (subject areas), to allow there to be future scholars in that particular area and therefore, further develop understanding. The academic disciplines are the result of the culture’s compiled knowledge and understanding of each area, and with this in mind, the purpose of education is to assist pupils to learn this knowledge. The next ideology is Social Efficiency. This is pretty dominant in our curriculum today and means to prepare the learner for becoming an efficient and contributing member in society. The learner’s objective is to learn certain skills that will in turn achieve certain objectives that benefit society (Lorrie A. 2000). The individual will learn a mixture of knowledge and skills that can be put together, therefore making the skills more efficient and more beneficial to society. The learner centred ideology focuses more on the needs and interests of the individual rather than the c ontent they are to learn. The idea behind this theory is that learning will take place due to the interactions between the individual and their environment, therefore being more down to the experiences rather than the content. The newest of these ideologies is Social Reconstruction. This is where the social reconstructionists are aware of the problems in society and see the job of the educator to correct these problems in the classroom, hoping that it will reconstruct their society as it is (Groenke, S. 2009). The focus of the curriculum would not be based on knowledge but more of values and opinions that would benefit the society and make it attain the greatest satisfaction of its members. In ‘Building the Curriculum 3: A framework for learning and teaching’ it has examples of all four of the classifications of the curriculum ideology provided by Schiro (2008). It has examples of Academic ideology as it discusses the importance of knowledge and the ability and opportunity to increase the depth of knowledge already acquired as it states â€Å"Throughout a young person’s learning there will be increasing specialisation and greater depth, which will lead to subjects increasingly being the principal means of structuring learning and delivering outcomes.† (page 20, Building the Curriculum 3). From this quote we can relate the academic ideology through the concentration on developing knowledge further to specialisation in certain subjects, therefore being able to pass on the knowledge and allow it to grow from there. There are many examples of ‘The Social Efficiency Ideology’ in the paper as it focuses on health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes where the individual’s get the opportunity to gain skills that benefit the individual in life and work, but also the community around them. This is to help them become effective contributors in society: †¦support all children and young people in developing skills which they will use throughout their life and in their work, including the development of pre-vocational, enterprise and employability skills, personal skills, high levels of cognitive skills and the opportunity to put learning into a practical context. (page 15, Building the Curriculum 3) This example shows that the curriculum is aiming to encourage the learning of certain skills that will improve chances of employability and life skills that will help the young people settle into society and be able to play their part within it. The Curriculum for Excellence sees itself as being centred on the learner, and their individual needs. There are plenty examples throughout the paper of this ideology where the child is involved in what they are learning and setting themselves goals to achieve and having choice in what they learn within the curriculum, â€Å"All children and young people should experience personalisation and choice within their curriculum, including identifying and planning for opportunities for personal achievement in a range of different contexts† (page 17, Building the Curriculum 3). This quote shows that the idea of the curriculum is to give young people freedom to make their own decisions in what they are learning and at their own level. There are four capacities that make up the purpose of the curriculum that are described in this paper. ‘Successful learners’, ‘confident individuals’, ‘responsible citizens’ and ‘effective contributors’, are the capacities that the curriculum aims to enable young people to become. ‘Responsible citizens’ is a good example of The Social Reconstructive ideology as it explains how they will learn respect and about different cultures and how to behave responsibly within the community in all aspects (political, cultural or otherwise). As Building the curriculum states: †¦able to develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it, understand different beliefs and cultures make informed choices and decisions evaluate environmental, scientific and technological issues develop informed, ethical views of complex. (page 22, Building the Curriculum 3) Here in this example, it shows that the curriculum wants to provide young people with varied knowledge so that the decisions they make in the future will help to create a better society. The idea is to teach them about values and respect so that they may make better informed decisions as to what is best for the society around them. Building the Curriculum 3 contains examples of all four of the ideology categories, but there are two that are most prevalent, ‘Learner Centred’ and ‘Social Efficiency’. Upon examining the evidence in more depth it seems that the ‘Social Efficiency’ ideology is the most dominant within this paper. Its main focus is on preparing and equipping individuals for future endeavours. For instance, the skills needed for future work prospects upon which Kridel’s (ed.2010) summary, of David Sneddon’s idea of social efficiency, explains the curriculum as a way to make individuals efficient for work. As discussed by Arnoldy (online), social efficiency in education is more for the benefit of the social economy than for the individual, but contradicting that theory in this paper, are the examples of learner centred ideology that is dotted throughout. Though, combining these two theories, Valades’ (online) talks about the idea that to help out society, educating young people to learn and improve their skills and capabilities to help the community in the future, is the way forward. From Building the Curriculum 3 and having summarised that the main ideology behind it is focusing on preparing the individuals to become more efficient and productive for contributing to our society, we can see that there will be some implication for teachers. Teachers who have been teaching for years under the same curriculum will struggle to accept the new curriculum, if it is as completely different way to how they have been teaching before. Although the main focus of the curriculum in Scotland has been focused on preparing individuals for the future, it has not been focused on the more individual level. This may cause implication for teachers as they only have specific allocated times to be with classes and it will be hard to offer each individual, the time and attention they need to develop specific skills to the point of being efficient. The teacher will have to focus more on the experiences and outcomes the learners are objected to, to develop the skills needed for the real world. This causes some problems as it depends highly on what the school can afford to give in ways of experiences, as most of these will probably be met outside of school. So, teachers need to find a way of achieving the outcome of making the individual a more effective contributor to society by combining what they learn in and outside of the classroom. This would be a task for teachers, as the environment each individual they teach will be different and this therefore means that the teacher will have to find a way to combine these different environments or find a similarity and focus on that. Building the Curriculum 3 has some implication for teachers, but the focus being on social efficiency means that in some ways there are not so many changes from the past as at least for the last hundred years the school curriculum has been focused on making learners that will have skills that will help them achieve objectives that will make the society a more efficient place. A Comparative Overview of the Curriculum Ideologies – Chapter 6 http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/47671_ch_6.pdf (visited 29th dec 2012) Critical Pedagogy and Teacher Education in the Neoliberal Era: Small Openings pp 3 Springer Netherlands, 2009 volume 6 Susan L. Groenke http://www.geocities.ws/rf_valades/index2.htm Social Efficiency Theory – SAVE SOMETHING TODAY Rodrigo Valades visited 29th dec 2012 The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture Lorrie A. Shepard Vol. 29, No. 7 (Oct., 2000), pp. 4 American Educational Research Association http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/47671_ch_6.pdf Chapter 6 – A Comparative Overview of the Curriculum Ideologies visited 29th dec 2012 Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies edited by Craig Kridel SAGE Publications Inc 2010 Pg 4-7 Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns, Schiro, M. (2008a) SAGE Publications, Inc Pg 199-245 Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns Second Edition, Schiro, M. (2012b) SAGE Publications, Inc Building the Curriculum 3: A framework for learning and teaching, The Scottish Government, 2008

DCF Modelling methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

DCF Modelling methods - Essay Example One finance model used to assess an investment's attractiveness based on these two factors is the Capital Asset Pricing Model or CAPM. CAPM equates the expected return with the market return, the risk free rate, and the relative behaviour - defined as beta (of the price of a security relative to the behaviour of the market. CAPM's basic criterion is straightforward: an investment is attractive if its risk premium (the additional return over the risk-free rate) is equal to or higher than the risk of the market. If the risk premium is the difference between the expected return r and the risk-free rate rf, or (r - rf), and the market risk is the difference between the market's rate of return rm and the risk-free rate rf multiplied by the of the stock (Sharpe, 1964 and Lintner, 1965), then the CAPM formula can be shown as follows: The risk premium of the security (7%) is greater than the risk premium of the market (6%). Put another way, the security's 12% anticipated return is above the expected return of 11% that makes the security attractive to an investor given its or price behaviour. According to CAPM, this security is attractive. Empirical evidence from Sharpe and Lintner showed that the expected return of a security d... The two sides of the CAPM equation reflect two aspects of risk, a non-diversifiable market risk and a diversifiable risk that can be minimized by holding a portfolio of securities. Beta measures risk and provides the investor with a method to assess whether the investment conforms to his/her risk appetite; a beta higher than 1 indicates that the investment is riskier than the market portfolio. Risk appetite is one issue that affects the investment decision. Another is whether the company's share price is under- or over-valued. If analysis of the company shows that the market price of the security is under-valued relative to its intrinsic value, or that the market will continue going up over time, then an investor would willingly take on the added risk in exchange for a higher upside potential and buy the security even if CAPM shows otherwise. As Graham (p. 88) argued, the "rate of return of any investment will depend on the amount of intelligent effort the investor is willing to put into the task". CAPM is one model used to value the attractiveness of a security by relating risk to beta. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory of Ross (1976) is another alternative to estimate a security's return based on macroeconomic factors (like inflation, interest rates, etc.) and market "noise" (rumours, news about the company, etc.). Another is the use of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation that we discuss in the next number. Beta. Investopedia.com. Available from: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/beta.asp Graham, B. (2003). The intelligent investor. New York: Harper Business. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Investopedia.com. Available from: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capm.asp Question 5 Outline the ways risk is analysed in the various DCF

Credit Risk Assessment of Bank Customers using DEMATEL and Fuzzy Research Paper - 1

Credit Risk Assessment of Bank Customers using DEMATEL and Fuzzy Expert System - Research Paper Example The research is carried out using data from the Middle East Region of the Asia. Banking has become a necessity to individuals who require safe storage of their financial assets(Bilal,7). Among commercial banking various benefits, some risks are associated with them especially credit risk which requires management for any bank institution to make profits for its stakeholder and investors. Assessment of credit risk is necessary for sustainability of banking institutions especially in the Islamic realm where moral laws such as shari’ah and social justice are adopted in order to preserve customer associations, reasonable dealing, protection and precautions of staff amongst others(Bilal,7). Management of credit involves mitigating the exploitation of the risk, which is applied by including credit scoring models that serve as structures for providing credit to customers. Research has been conducted on how to evaluate credit risk with success factors being evident in the use of GA-based SVM and Rough set theory that provided effectiveness in data mining therefore contributing a positive impact on risk restructuring(Jianguo and Bai, 3). Other studies included credit risk assessment with support vector machines and hybrid neutral systems that resulted in robustness in the use of fuzzy logic in real time applications to solve problems specifically in credit risk management(Shin, Lee and Kim, 130). This paper concentrates on credit risk assessment using Dematel and fuzzy expert systems applying credit scoring models. The objective of this paper is to study consumers’ credit risks that are obtained from previous research that includes financial ratios obtained from banking balance sheets. Rules are used to determine the correlation between consumers’ financial credit risk levels and resultant financial circumstances that is improved by expert decision making that is from filtered financial ratios(Amorim, Vasconcelos and Brasil,

The role of regulation and crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The role of regulation and crisis - Essay Example The subprime crisis was also an outcome of negligence of financial regulatory body as well as the professionals engaged in accounting and auditing process. To have a better understanding of financial crisis the role of government, regulatory body, accounting system & standards, political environment and capitalism needs an analysis. From 2001, the Lamfalussy framework was introduced in EU system of supervision and regulation. The framework was arranged in four separate levels and published by European council (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee, 2009, p.12). These regulations are responsible for making the accounting and auditing process more transparent. After the great depression, International Monitory Fund and World Bank were established to avoid the causes which actually results into depression. But these regulatory bodies are almost 65 years old and are ill equipped to handle the complex banking environment of 21st century. Almost all the major economies have their own regulatory bodies, like Financial Services Authority (FSA) of UK and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in US, but they failed to check the financial crisis. Even the Basel II Accord agreement that was published in 2004 failed to detect and control credit crunch. Many banks are blaming Mark to Mark et system for development of such a disastrous financial crisis (Rayner, 2008). The financial system is based on the trust and faith, but collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bank of America and PNC Bank Corp are few examples of how the policymakers and regulators failed to maintain people’s faith in them. Most surprisingly America’s financial system failed to manage risk and proper allocation of capital (Stiglitz, 2008). Fair Value Accounting or US Accounting Standard FAS 157 is basically used for determining fair value or market value of the assets and the liability. Many critics argued that fair value accounting is highly

Final Consulting Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Final Consulting Report - Assignment Example In this sense, we already live in the â€Å"future† of wireless. The current state of affairs with its ubiquitous LAN connections and 3G access would have been hard to imagine just fifteen to 20 years ago. It is possible to imagine that the next â€Å"future† of this critical technology could be just as difficult to imagine today as the current iteration might have been to a generation of dial-up using chat room denizens. On the other hand, two decades of trends in changes in the marketing and technology of wireless provide some clues to the expected future of the technology, along with the technological developments and directions provided by service providers. Additionally, developments in the global market for wireless communications suggest possible futures for internet and communications. This paper reviews the history of wireless communications and links to the future, along with developments in the technology of that makes wireless communication possible. Finally , it concludes with predictions as to the direction in global applications of wireless In its initial stages, wireless communication faced several hurdles that made it most appropriate for indoor, limited networking and required new conceptions of network and the internet. Initially, limits on signal processing meant that wireless communication had far less capacity than tradition, wired LANs. As a result, the technology was only appropriate for applications in which the communication area was strictly limited and mobility within that area was highly prized. Early adopters of the technology, then, included inventory warehouses, logistics operations, hospitals and universities (LaMaire 1996). Geographically, wireless technologies were first adapted in countries and industries which were already technically advanced, with military applications in

Proofs for the Existence of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proofs for the Existence of God - Essay Example There are unanswered questions even today about the importance and existence of God as creator of this universe or the galaxies that astronomers see through their ever more powerful telescope. If it is conceivable that this universe had a beginning and will have an end, then it is logical to assume that it must have had a creator, since nothing can be created out of nothing. While John Leslie in his treatise on the subject of ethically required existences argues that there must be proof of God somewhere in the system of things, St Anslem of old puts the cart before the horse and argues that the importance that religion and mankind gives to God proves his existence (Anslem, 4)1. Explication To my mind, both philosophers are arguing for the existence of God, but each from a different standpoint. John Leslie, in his argument for what he calls ‘ethically required existences’, relies on the tenets of naturalism and prescriptivism to explain his viewpoint (Leslie, 1972:222)2. St. Anslem however takes a more unconventional approach and states that to think of God is to think of the Greatest Power that the Universe has ever known, and undoubtedly since some Power created this Universe and every living and inanimate thing out of nothing at all, that Power can only be God and belong to God. No one can create something out of nothing except God. Therefore it is imperative that we believe in the existence of God, the Creator and Master of All the known universe and its galaxies etc. It is far better to accept the existence of God because each creature in the universe is the product of intelligent design and that presupposes a creator. Main Argument John Leslie starts with the notion that we cannot label anything as intrinsically good or bad unless we know what good and bad is, therefore we are making a judgment that can only depend on prior knowledge or something that is inherent in man’s nature or existence. If morality or ethical behavior is what sepa rates us from the animals or at any rate, the creatures that lie below us on the totem pole of existence, then there is someone or something that put it in our hearts, or minds and our souls, and that could only be God. No wonder it is often said that ‘Conscience is the voice of God in man’. The very fact that we all come into this earthly existence with an inbuilt sense of morality is proof enough of the existence of God, a creator that prefers us to be good and do good, but has given us free will all the same, in order to test our level of obedience to him in this earthly life. To support St. Anslem’s argument, since it is so confusing, I prefer to put forward what has been called Pascal’s Wager to prove the existence of God. Pascal’s Wager induces us to wager that there is a God, rather than there is not. He has very interestingly drawn out parallels whether we believe in God or do not believe in God because we cannot do both. Either we believe i n the existence of a Supreme Being or we do not. But suppose if we did and there is indeed a God that meets us at the Pearly Gates or whatever as we pass into the afterlife. In that case we would indeed be pleased that we assumed correctly that God did exist. Indeed this assumption also makes our moral life on Earth easier as well. We take pains to do good and be good because