Salamander Essays - Amphibians, Mole Salamanders, Salamander

Salamander The Salamander The salamander is a curious creature. Among the kingdom Animalia, they fall in the Phylum Chordate and in the Sub-Phylum vertebrata. Their Class is Amphibia, and their order is urodela. They are amphibians, which comes from Greek words meaning both life. This truly describes the life and life cycle of the salamander. The salamander, along with the newt, frog, and toad belong in the order Amphiba and all are ancestors to the first aquatic vertebrates to begin to colonize on land. Salamanders are found in the Americas and in the temperate zones of North Africa, Asia, and Europe. Often mistaken for lizards, salamanders have soft moist skin covering their long bodies and even longer tails. No scales are found on their body, and they have no claws or external ear openings. There are basically three types of salamanders. The first is the aquatic, the second is the semi-aquatic, and the third is the completely terrestrial. The aquatic live out their full life cycles in water, while the semi aquatic live primarily on land, and hibernate as well as bread in the water. The Terrestrial salamander spends its entire lifetime on land, though they are never found far from water. The larva of a Salamander is often confused with tadpoles, the offspring of frogs. The only optical difference is the size of the tadpoles head is larger then the larva of a salamander. The reproductive systems of salamanders have numerous steps. First, the Courtship's take place. The courtships are often elaborate, and filed with specific positions and movements. Next, the male secretes a spermatophore, or sperm packet, and the female picks it up with the lips of the external opening. This opening leads to the cloaca, where the oviducts, intestine, and urinary ducts empty. Her eggs are then fertilized by the sperm packet, and may be laid right away, or retained. If the fertilized eggs are retained, several layers are secreted around the eggs, including the ?jelly? like substance that swells with water and moisture to protect the eggs as well as hold them together. The young are then retained throughout their development and then are born. Most salamanders grow to be around ten centimeters. The largest salamander, the Andrias Japonicus, found in Japan, can grow up to seventy inches. The majority of all salamanders and their larva are carnivores. They eat anything from insects, small invertebrates, fish, frogs, and other salamanders. The salamander is voiceless and chiefly a nocturnal animal. Salamanders from cooler climates bury themselves in soil or the mud at the bottom of ponds or lakes. They do this when they hibernate to avoid frost and to maintain an even temperature. Science

Cuneiform - Mesopotamian Writing in Wedges

Cuneiform - Mesopotamian Writing in Wedges Cuneiform, one of the earliest forms of writing, was developed from Proto-Cuneiform in Uruk, Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. The word comes from the Latin, meaning wedge-shaped; we dont know what the script was actually called by its users. Cuneiform is a syllabary, a writing system used to stand for syllables or sounds in a variety of Mesopotamian languages.   According to illustrations included in Neo-Assyrian sculptural reliefs, the triangular symbols of cuneiform were created with wedge-shaped styluses made from the giant cane (Arundo donax) a reed widely available in Mesopotamia, or carved from bone or formed from metal. A cuneiform scribe held the stylus between his thumb and other fingers and pressed the wedge-shaped end into small soft clay tablets held in his other hand. Such tablets were then fired, some intentionally but often accidentally- fortunately for scholars, many cuneiform tablets were not meant for posterity. Cuneiform used for keeping momentous historical records was sometimes chiseled into stone. Decipherment Cracking the cuneiform script was a puzzle for centuries, the solution for which was attempted by numerous scholars. A few major breakthroughs in the 18th and 19th centuries led to its eventual decipherment. The Danish king Frederik V (1746-1766) sent six men to the Arab world to answer scientific and natural history questions and learn the customs. The Royal Danish Arabia Expedition (1761-1767) was comprised of a natural historian, a philologist, a doctor, a painter, a cartographer, and an orderly. Only the cartographer Carsten Niebuhr [1733-1815] survived. In his book Travels Through Arabia, published in 1792, Niebuhr describes a visit to Persepolis where he made copies of the cuneiform inscriptions.Next came philologist Georg Grotefend [1775-1853], who deciphered but didnt claim to translate the Old Persian cuneiform scripts. The Anglo-Irish clergyman Edward Hincks [1792-1866] worked on translations during this period.The most important step was when Henry Creswicke Rawlinson [1810-1895] scaled the steep limestone cliff above the Royal Road of the Achaemenids in Persia to copy the Behistun inscription. This inscription was from the Persian king Darius I (522-486 BC) who had the same t ext bragging about his exploits inscribed in cuneiform in three different languages (Akkadian, Elamite, and Old Persian). Old Persian had already been deciphered when Rawlinson climbed the cliff, allowing him to translate the other languages. Finally, Hincks and Rawlinson worked on another important cuneiform document, the Black Obelisk, a Neo-Assyrian black limestone bas-relief from Nimrud (today in the British Museum) referring to the deeds and military conquests of Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC). By the end of the 1850s together these men were able to read cuneiform. Cuneiform Letters Cuneiform writing as an early language doesnt have the rules about placement and order as our modern languages do. Individual letters and numbers in cuneiform differ in placement and position: the characters can be arranged in different directions around lines and dividers. Lines of text can be horizontal or vertical, parallel, perpendicular, or oblique; they can be inscribed written beginning from the left or from the right. Depending on the steadiness of the hand of the scribe, the wedge shapes may be small or elongated, oblique or straight. Each given symbol in cuneiform could represent a single sound or syllable. For example, according to Windfuhr there are 30 Ugaritic word-related symbols that are made anywhere from 1-7 wedge shapes, while Old Persian had 36 phonic signs made with 1-5 wedges. The Babylonian language used over 500 cuneiform symbols. Using Cuneiform Originally created to communicate in Sumerian, cuneiform proved very useful for the Mesopotamians, and by 2000 BC, the characters were used to write other languages used throughout the region including Akkadian, Hurrian, Elamite, and Urartian. In time the consonantal script of Akkadian replaced cuneiform; the last known example of the use of cuneiform dates to the first century AD. Cuneiform was written by usually anonymous palace and temple scribes, known as dubsars in early Sumerian, and umbisag or tupsarru (tablet writer) in Akkadian. Although its earliest use was for accounting purposes, cuneiform was also used for historical records such as the Behistun inscription, legal records including the Code of Hammurabi, and poetry like the  Epic of Gilgamesh. Cuneiform was also used for administrative records, accounting, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, medicine, divination, and literary texts, including mythology, religion, proverbs, and folk literature. Sources The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative is an excellent source of information, including a sign list for cuneiform written between 3300-2000 BC. This entry was updated by N.S. Gill Cathcart KJ. 2011. The earliest contributions to the decipherment of Sumerian and Akkadian. Cuneiform Digital Library Journal 2011(001).Couture P. 1984. BA Portrait: Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson: Pioneer Cuneiformist. The Biblical Archaeologist 47(3):143-145.Garbutt D. 1984. The significance of ancient Mesopotamia in accounting history. The Accounting Historians Journal 11(1): 83-101.Lucas CJ. 1979. The Scribal Tablet-House in Ancient Mesopotamia. History of Education Quarterly 19(3): 305-32.Oppenheim AL 1975. The Position of the Intellectual in Mesopotamian Society. Daedalus 104(2):37-46.Schmandt-Besserat D. 1981. Decipherment of the Earliest Tablets. Science 211(4479)283-285.Schmitt R. 1993. Cuneiform Script. Encyclopedia Iranica VI(5):456-462.Windfuhr G. 1970. The Cuneiform Signs of Ugarit. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 29(1):48-51.Windfuhr G. 1970. Notes on the old Persian signs. Indo-Iranian Journal 12(2):121-125.Goren Y, Bunimovitz S, Finkelstein I, and Nadav Na. 2003. The l ocation of Alashiya: New evidence from petrographic investigation of Alashiyan Tablets. American Journal of Archaeology 107(2):233-255.

Virginia Colony in Colonial America

Virginia Colony in Colonial America In 1607,  Jamestown became Great Britains first settlement in North America, the first foothold of the Virginia Colony. Its permanency came after three failed attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh beginning in 1586 to attempt to establish a stronghold in the land he called Virginia after his queen, Elizabeth I. And its continued survival was very much in doubt for the first fifteen years. Fast Facts: Virginia Colony Also Known As: Colony and Dominion of VirginiaNamed After: Queen Elizabeth I (the Virgin Queen), named by Walter RaleighFounding Year: 1606Founding Country: EnglandFirst Known European Settlement: Jamestown, 1607Residential Native Communities: Powhatan, MonacansFounders:  Walter Raleigh, John SmithImportant People: Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, Thomas Dale, Thomas Gates, Pocahontas, Samuel Argall, John RolfeFirst Continental Congressmen: Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph, George WashingtonSigners of the Declaration: George Wythe, Richard Herny Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton Early Colonial Life On April 10, 1606, King James I (ruled 1566–1625) issued a charter creating two companies for Virginia, one based in London and one in Plymouth, to settle all of the land between the Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine and the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Plymouth would get the north half and London the south.   The Londoners left on December 20, 1606, in three ships carrying 100 men and four boys, and they landed in what is today the Chesapeake Bay area. A landing party scouted for a suitable area, and the three ships worked their way up what they called (and is still called) the James River, landing at the site of Jamestown on May 13, 1607. The location of Jamestown was chosen because it would be easily defended since it was surrounded by water on three sides; the water was deep enough for the colonists ships, and Native Americans did not inhabit the land. Unfortunately, there were reasons the Native Americans did not inhabit the land; there was no potable water source, and the marshy landscape emitted great clouds of mosquitoes and flies. Disease, heat, and skirmishes with the Native Americans consumed both colonists and their supplies and by the time the first supply ship arrived in September, only 37 of the original 104 colonists were living. The Starving Time Captain John Smith assumed the colonys leadership in September 1608, and his leadership is credited with improving conditions and stockpiling stores. England continued to send supplies and colonists and in late Spring 1609, after the colony had been reorganized into a joint stock venture, London sent nine ships and 500 colonists. The ship bearing the deputy governor Thomas Gates wrecked off the Bermuda coast. The 400 survivors straggled into Jamestown in the late summer, too sick to work but fully capable of consuming the stockpile of stores. Disease and famine set in, and between October 1609 and March 1610, the colony population dropped from 500 to about 60. The winter became known as The Starving Time, and the colony became known as a deathtrap. During the early period of the colony, Jamestown was primarily a military outpost, populated by men, either gentlemen or indentured servants/ The servants who survived were obligated to work for their passage for a period of seven years. By 1614, those indentures began to expire and those who chose to remain became free laborers. Signs of Recovery Leadership of the colony by Thomas Dale and Thomas Gates kept the colony going between 1610 and 1616, and the colony began to grow strong after John Rolfe began his experiments with tobacco, Nicotiana rustica, to make it more palatable to the English taste.  When a royal family member of the Powhatan tribe named Pocahontas married John Rolfe in 1614, relations with the Native American community eased. That ended when she died in England in 1617. The first enslaved African Americans were brought to the colony in 1619. Jamestown had a high mortality rate due to disease, colonial mismanagement, and raids from Native Americans. The presence of women and family units encouraged some growth and stability, but factionalism and fiscal insolvency continued to plague Virginia. In 1622, a Powhatan attack on Virginia killed 350 settlers, plunging the colony into warfare that lasted a decade. Charter Changes Jamestown was originally founded from a desire to gain wealth and to a lesser extent to convert the natives to Christianity. Jamestown went through several forms of government in its first decades, and by 1624, they used a representative assembly known as the House of Burgesses, the first institutional instance of representative self-government on the North American continent. Threatened by the House of Burgesses, though, James I revoked the charter of the bankrupt Virginia Company in 1624, but his timely death in 1625 ended his plans for disbanding the assembly.  The colonys formal name was the Colony and Dominion of Virginia.   Virginia and the American Revolution Virginia was involved in fighting against what they saw as British tyranny from the end of the French and Indian War. The Virginia General Assembly fought against the Sugar Act which had been passed in 1764. They argued that it was taxation without representation. In addition, Patrick Henry was a Virginian who used his powers of rhetoric to argue against the Stamp Act of 1765 and legislation was passed opposing the act. A Committee of Correspondence was created in Virginia by key figures including Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry. This was a method by which the different colonies communicated with each other about the growing anger against the British.   Virginia residents who were sent to the First Continental Congress in 1774 included Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph, George Washington. Open resistance started in Virginia the day after Lexington and Concord occurred, on April 20, 1775. Other than the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, little fighting happened in Virginia though they sent soldiers to help in the war effort. Virginia was one of the earliest to adopt independence, and its hallowed son, Thomas Jefferson, penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776.   Significance First permanent English settlement in the New World at Jamestown.It provided a source of fertile land and great wealth to England in the form of the cash crop, tobacco.With the House of Burgesses, America saw the first institutional instance of representative self-government. Sources and Further Reading Barbour, Philip L. (ed.) The Jamestown Voyages under the First Charter, 1606–1609. London: The Hakluyt Society, 2011.  Billings, Warren M. (ed.). The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century: A Documentary History of Virginia, 1606–1700, revised edition. Durham: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007.  Earle, Carville. Environment, Disease, and Mortality in Early Virginia. Journal of Historical Geography 5.4 (1979): 365–90. Print.Hantman, Jeffrey L. Monacan Millennium: A Collaborative Archaeology and History of a Virginia Indian People. University of Virginia Press, 2018.

Improving Customer Service at Hotels Term Paper

Improving Customer Service at Hotels - Term Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that service delivery is the main issue which arises most often in case of the hotel industry. The persons responsible to deliver the state of the art service are either not efficient enough to do so or the service delivered is not effective enough. They sometimes lack the skill to generate client satisfaction. The clients often show dissatisfaction with the menu list or the price list charged against the dishes the hotels offer. Many hotels charge a much higher price for their breakfast for example in case the customer prefers to have an omelet then he or she will be charged double the price that is being charged on the street. Some other problems are related to crunch in parking space and the high rate charged for providing the internet connections. The customers who visit frequently to the hotels especially the business clients mainly face the problem of lack of outlets for charging of their phones and laptops since they do not find the place for charging their gazettes. When the hotel authorities fail to provide satisfactory services to the customers as per the terms and conditions that are agreed upon, they often claim for a refund and this is critical for the authorities. The hotel authority is also alleged for the false and misguiding information that is provided about the company in the website, magazines etc, the amenities and the price structure of the hotel is sometimes misleading since the price and the amenities that are provided in the advertisement is not offered in reality. Therefore the customers or the clients have to suffer while visiting the hotel on the basis of the advertisement that is published, the behavior of the employees or the staff in the hotel is not always up to the expectation. At times they behave very rudely with the clients and it hampers the goodwill, image, and reputation of the hotels. The hotels are required to focus on the quality of the service that is provided. They need to t ake urgent care in taking measurements to improve the quality of the services offered and the food that is provided by the hotel to its customers or the clients.

INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example For example, Apple Inc was on the verge of destruction in the 80’s and 90’s because of the huge competition from arch rival Microsoft. However, the company was able to introduce some innovative products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc at the beginning of 2000. The rest is history now. Apple Inc. is currently the most valuable technology company in the world and they are the second largest in terms of market capitalization. According to Rigby et al, (2009, p.2), â€Å"innovation is both a vaccine against market slowdowns and an elixir that rejuvenates growth†. On the other hand knowledge management (KM) is the process of discovering, developing, utilizing, delivering, and absorbing knowledge inside and outside the organization. The aim of KM is to meet current and future needs of an organization (Poorebrahimi et al., 2012). As in the case of innovation, the ultimate aim of KM is to improve the competitive power of an organization. If knowledge is the raw material, data will be the finished good for an organization. If data are the building blocks, then knowledge is the finished house. In short, knowledge management is extremely important for an organization. This paper analyses the importance of innovation and knowledge management in improving the competitive power of modern organizations. ... These phones are modifications of Samsung’s previous smartphone; Galaxy S2. In other words, S3 and S4 can be described as examples for incremental innovation. On the other hand, Apple has introduced world’s first touchscreen phone (iPhone) at the beginning of 2000. No other phones available in the market had touchscreen technology at that time. Therefore, iPhone can be described as an example for radical innovation. â€Å"Incremental innovation modestly improves a firm’s products or processes or fine-tunes its business model. Radical innovation significantly improves existing products and services or replaces them with new ones† (Susman et al., 2006, p.16). Radical innovation occurs less frequently than incremental innovation since radical innovation is an expensive act compared to incremental innovation. There are two types of organizations in the market; leaders and followers. Leaders always develop innovative and new products whereas followers try to im itate those products. For example Apple was the first one who innovated the touchscreen phone. Samsung, Sony, Nokia and many other mobile manufacturers followed the path of Apple after watching the success of iPhone. According to Tellis et al (2009), radical innovation is crucial to the growth of firms and economies. Both radical and incremental innovations are necessary for an organization to sustain its competitive power. However, radical innovation seems to be more effective in improving the competitive power of an organization. According to Rubera, & Kirca (2012), radical innovation is more effective than incremental innovation. For example, Microsoft is one company which introduces many innovative products such as Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows

A Raisin in the Sun - “Success” Essay Example for Free

A Raisin in the Sun â€Å"Success† Essay Success. Webster’s dictionary defines it as â€Å"The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted; the gaining of fame or prosperity.†Although to truly understand the meaning of success, one needs to understand the relationship between success and goals. Success can simply be accomplishing your goals, but can also have a deeper meaning, such as personal growth. In the book A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger’s, Walter and Lena especially, are portrayed as a typical African American family in the 1950’s, trying to fight the prejudices that haunt every aspect of their lives. Lorraine Hansberry takes us through the journey of the Younger’s as they attempt to accomplish their dreams and achieve success. Overall, despite the obstacles they face such as racism, sexism, and dishonesty, Walter Lee and Lena â€Å"Mamma† Younger achieve success to certain extents; Walter achieves complete personal success and Mamma is completely successful in her goal to buy a house for her children and Travis. Walter Lee Younger reaches personal success by achieving personal growth and improvement. In the beginning of this book, Walter is irresponsible and selfish which is shown through many occasions such when Mama tells Walter â€Å"Ruth is thinking ‘bout getting rid of that child.† (75) And later â€Å"Walter†¦ has obviously been drinking.† (pg. 77) Essentially, Walter learns that his wife is pregnant and thinking of getting an abortion, and being the irresponsible selfish man he was, he went out and got drunk. Additionally, we learn that Walters’s investment did not work out and Mama asks him about his sister Beneetha’s money and he says â€Å"Mama†¦ I never†¦ went to the bank at all† (pg. 129) This quote indicates how utterly conceited he really was, to throw all of his sister’s money laid out for her tuition just for his own investment. It also shows that he no longer has any self worth or pride in himself or his family, which is obviously greatly valued throughout the family. At the end he ends up losing the money, for which most people would look at him as unsuccessful, but at the end of the book, he truly does he redeem himself. On pg. 148 Walter invites Linder over and intends on forfeiting any pride left and getting on his knees to beg for money, but instead something incredible happens. His intended message was forgotten when he looks upon his son and family and a renewed sense of self worth and value possesses him as he says â€Å"We have decided to move into our house because my father- my father- has earned it for us brick by brick†¦ we don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors.† (148) Through this one quote, Walter’s self growth is apparent as he finally stands up for his family and transitions into an honest, caring man as opposed to the selfish boy he was at the beginning of the book . As a result of this personal growth, Walter Lee Younger has attained absolute personal success. Throughout the book A Raisin in the Sun, Lena Younger, aka Mama, has been portrayed as the overbearing, but caring mother and grandmother whose main goal seems to be to buy a real house for her children and grandchild. This goal is made apparent on when she finally buys the house and says â€Å"Well- at least let me tell him something, I want him to be the first one to hear†¦ Come here, Travis.† (pg. 90) This quote shows her obvious love and fondness for her beloved grandson and later on she says â€Å"You glad about the house? It’s going to be yours when you get to be a man.† (pg. 91) These quotes clarify her dreams to move into a new house to make Travis happy and they are accomplished when after Walter’s speech, Linder questions her approval and she firmly states that â€Å"My son said we was going to move and there ain’t nothing left for me to say.† (148) Lorraine Hansberry then ends her book with the Younger’s finally leaving their apartment behind, showing that in the end, Mama did accomplish her dream and was successful in her goal of moving into a new house for her family. Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s novel A Raisin in the Sun, Lena and Walter Lee Younger face many prejudices and obstacles in the way of accomplishing their dreams, but in the end they are successful.

We Must Put an End to Police Brutality Essay -- Black Lives Matter

â€Å"If you wish for peace, prepare for war.† This Roman proverb can be applied to police; they must be trained for the worst possible incident but they should try hard to avoid using their training in real experiences. Most police departments and officers would believe strongly in this proverb, however there are a few examples in the U.S. in which the officers’ use of force has been excessive and unnecessary where they used their training to harm rather than protect and enforce the law. During their service, police are given several authorities to exercise the law and make sure that the law is carried out among citizens. This can lead to an officer having a sense of entitlement and a possibility of them losing respect for their boundaries. Such a case is called police brutality and even though police officers are responsible for enforcing the law, they have breached these laws and taken advantage of their position; such violations of human rights must be eliminated . Lt. Col. David Grossman compares innocent people to sheep and officers and soldiers to people who have a compassion for citizens but also a capacity for violence. "The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed.†(139) Officers can be compared to the sheepdogs since most citizens don’t enjoy a cop’s presence and are fearful of police; however citizens need their presence to protect them from harm. But when an officer does harm a citizen he must face the consequences like the sheepdog since they violated the basic rig... .... "Controlling Police (Excessive) Force: The American Case." International Journal Of Human Sciences 10.2 (2013): 285-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. Lewis, Neil. "Police Brutality under Wide Review by Justice Dept.." New York Times 14 Mar. 2010: 1. Print. "No Applause, Please." National Review 32.12 (1980): 703. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. "Shielded from Justice: Overview." Shielded from Justice: Overview. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . Walter, Andrew. "Police Brutality: An Overview." Points Of View: Police Brutality (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "What Is Police Brutality? Depends on Where You Live." NBC News. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. . We Must Put an End to Police Brutality Essay -- Black Lives Matter â€Å"If you wish for peace, prepare for war.† This Roman proverb can be applied to police; they must be trained for the worst possible incident but they should try hard to avoid using their training in real experiences. Most police departments and officers would believe strongly in this proverb, however there are a few examples in the U.S. in which the officers’ use of force has been excessive and unnecessary where they used their training to harm rather than protect and enforce the law. During their service, police are given several authorities to exercise the law and make sure that the law is carried out among citizens. This can lead to an officer having a sense of entitlement and a possibility of them losing respect for their boundaries. Such a case is called police brutality and even though police officers are responsible for enforcing the law, they have breached these laws and taken advantage of their position; such violations of human rights must be eliminated . Lt. Col. David Grossman compares innocent people to sheep and officers and soldiers to people who have a compassion for citizens but also a capacity for violence. "The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed.†(139) Officers can be compared to the sheepdogs since most citizens don’t enjoy a cop’s presence and are fearful of police; however citizens need their presence to protect them from harm. But when an officer does harm a citizen he must face the consequences like the sheepdog since they violated the basic rig... .... "Controlling Police (Excessive) Force: The American Case." International Journal Of Human Sciences 10.2 (2013): 285-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. Lewis, Neil. "Police Brutality under Wide Review by Justice Dept.." New York Times 14 Mar. 2010: 1. Print. "No Applause, Please." National Review 32.12 (1980): 703. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. "Shielded from Justice: Overview." Shielded from Justice: Overview. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . Walter, Andrew. "Police Brutality: An Overview." Points Of View: Police Brutality (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "What Is Police Brutality? Depends on Where You Live." NBC News. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. .

Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices

It is ironic to see how an organization like Nike would response to its negative labor practices in quite an immature way, especially when it carries a big brand image in the industry and has a lot on stake to lose; with respect to its loyal clientele and future growth opportunities. In my opinion, Nike’s approach was almost prohibitive, specifically for the initial few years. I agree, later on in May, 1998 Knight announced a series of sweeping reforms however; what is shocking to me, it took Nike roughly 18 years to realize that some serious steps are needed to address the allegations and their future steps must go beyond and over than what they had committed themselves to. Nike was pressed by the circumstances to think this way as their bottom line had truly started to suffer. Evidently, since 1980’s the corporation had been plagued by a series of labor incidents and public relations nightmares but what has astounded me is â€Å"despite the criticism; they insisted that labor conditions in its contractors’ factories were not — could not — be Nike’s concern or its responsibility†. Initially, Nike was moving quite fast from one country to another just to accomplish their low cost manufacturing agendas. It is quite relevant, applicable and fair for any organization to outsource where they can save cost but it should not be on someone else expense where the organization is violating human rights and/or the labor is not even making enough to meet their bare minimum necessities. All these bad business practices of Nike got them in mainstream where they were not able to come up with innovative ideas to be in command of this bad publicity. As the matter was heating up Nike did try to address many issues which are surely commendable but the major issue of workers minimum wage was never resolved up until 1998. This is exactly where Nike was getting benefited from (low-wages). In response to the entire kiosk, Nike did draft a series of regulations for its contractors; they also tried to be cooperative with government made organizations, hired an outside firm Ernst and Young in 1996 to audit its suppliers manufacturing facilities, created another labor practices department to keep checks and balances, hired a civil rights leader to do an independent evaluation of their code of conduct and so on so forth. Doing this gave birth to another problem: All these were on Nikes pay roll which dilutes the purpose in itself. In the end Nike’s initiatives were becoming self contradicting. Where Nike has done an awesome job is, when Knight almost surrender Nike and accepted indirectly that their company has been a part of slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse and also showed his true commitment to abolish all these from Nike’s business. It was not just words at this point but some fundamental changes have been made in their existing policies and also many further effective steps were taken which were relatively appreciable. Nike’s becoming a part of FLA (Fair Labor Association) was the right step in right direction but of course at very later stages. No doubts, Nike could have done many things differently. First, they should not have made a rough statement at early stages that Nike has nothing to do with what goes in their vendor’s facilities. Second, they could have hired a complete NGO to check and evaluate their labor practices overseas. Third, they should have taken the full responsibility right from the beginning for their wrong doing acts instead of defending their image and keep executing their same old policies. Basically, what Nike has done in the end by almost confessing its all wrong doings, is what it must have done way earlier in the game. Doing this should have given a positive spin to the entire situation and must have helped Nike to save its image while making its remarkable name in the industry for using good business practices.

Is There a Filipino Identity? Essay

Is There A Filipino Identity? A glimpse of our historical past will surely reveal who the Filipinos really are, the Filipino identity as it is called. Yet, due to external factors like technological advancements and colonial influences, the true essence of being a Filipino now reaches the point where it is slowly degrading. Evidently, our colorful history truly defines our identity as a Filipino, but as I said earlier, changes threatened this identity. Now, despite of these changes, â€Å"Is there still a Filipino identity? † Let us consider for example our national flag which is the symbol of our nationality. This rectangular piece of cloth identifies us being a Filipino. But according to Prof. Randolf S. David, â€Å"We may sing the national anthem, as the flag is raised, and recite the pledge of allegiance everyday, but these do not do not automatically evoke in as a consciousness of being a part of a nation. †What’s the use of uttering such if we don’t even recite it by heart? In other words, we are just taking it for granted. National symbols like our national flag may give us a sense of being a Filipino, but these do not reveal our identity. Like for example, the barong tagalog, â€Å"without doubt, it is the garment of defining moments in the lives of Filipinos, from cradle to grave. The barong reminds the Filipinos of who they are. †It may really identify us apart from other nationalities, but it is only an external identification. Knowledge of these symbols is not enough to identify yourself as a Filipino. What really matters most is our culture. Culture is our identity. †Filipino cultural values are widely-held beliefs which make some activities, relationships, goals and feelings important to the Filipino people’s identity. † Yet, observance of this culture is now deteriorating. The culprit behind this is our colonial mentality. â€Å"The Filipino way of thinking that everything foreign is good is still embedded in his personality. †We prefer foreign culture more than our own. Now, I can conclude the fact that there is still a Filipino identity. Yet the identity we have in the past is different from what we have now. Ronnie John Pascua SOURCES: Ma, Corazon Alejo-Itila, Mitzi Marie Aguilar-Reyes, and Anita Feleo, Garment of Honor, Garment Of Identity (Manila: En Barong Filipino, 2008), 17,271 Tomas D. Andres and Pilar B. Ilada-Andres, Understanding the Filipino (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1987), 5, 151.

Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously

Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously Synopsis The current social and environmental conditions in the world demand that the level of social entrepreneurship to be improved as it is yet to get to the desired level. This is due to the fact that there are still pertinent issues that affect the world population.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These issues include; poverty, curable and non curable diseases, violence and conflicts driven by ethnic or tribal differences, global warming, environmental pollution, slavery and human trafficking, as well as poor standards of education. An evaluation of these issues calls for intervention measures to be tried and corrected in order to ensure that people live in a better world. The situation has placed great responsibility on governments to ensure that they promote social entrepreneurs. However, most governments have failed in this endeavour as a result of inefficiency, corruption, bureaucracy and politicising of social and environmental issues. Intervention by social entrepreneurs is therefore critical as they possess the skills and level of devotion required to improve these issues. The author suggests that support from the government will go a long way to ensure that the work of social entrepreneurs touches on all affected people and is effective in terms of solving social and environmental issues (Dees, 181-183). Personal opinion on social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship can be used to solve most of the social and environmental problems currently facing the world. This is due to the fact that social entrepreneurs are mostly concerned with making the world a better place for both the current and future generations. This is in line with the view of the author of the article and therefore means that there is need to encourage more people planning to engage in social entrepreneurship to do so since the world ne eds them. My opinion is that the social and environmental problems that the world is facing have been as a result of the negligence of both the people and the governments of the various countries. It is therefore the responsibility of both the people and the governments to take measures to ensure that these problems are mitigated. The role of the government in this should be to support the social entrepreneurs in their activities. It is therefore clear that what the author of the article has suggested about the need for increased investments by social entrepreneurs and increased support by the government is a true representation of what should be done.Advertising Looking for article on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More My experience with social entrepreneurship is based on the contact I have had with non-governmental organisations and other not-for-profit organisations currently involved with initiativ es that seek to improve the living standards of people in various countries. There are various initiatives all over the world seeking to solve social and environmental problems and most of them are carried out by these organisations. The idea that the government should offer support to these organisations should be taken seriously so that any organisation seeking to invest in social entrepreneurship can get the support needed in terms of finances and infrastructure. It has been established that organisations which are supported by the government, even if it is in terms of legislation of appropriate laws and regulations, are more effective in serving the people than those that are not supported by the government. In real life, most human rights activists have consistently argued that the efforts of the government to solve social and environmental problems are wanting and that governments should focus more on solving the issues. Human rights activists all over the world are also known to call for social entrepreneurs to take up the responsibilities of improving the living conditions of people. They have also been known to encourage business entities to participate in solving social and environmental problems through their corporate social responsibility programs. Dees, Gregory J, â€Å"Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously† Society, 37.3 (2007): 179-184.Print

The Difference Between Hard and Soft Water

The Difference Between Hard and Soft Water Youve heard the terms hard water and soft water, but do you know what they mean? Is one type of water somehow better than the other? What type of water do you have? This article looks at the definitions of these terms and how they relate to water in everyday life. Hard Water vs Soft Water Hard water is any water containing an appreciable quantity of dissolved minerals. Soft water is treated water in which the only cation (positively charged ion) is sodium. The minerals in water give it a characteristic taste. Some natural mineral waters are highly sought for their flavor and the health benefits they may confer. Soft water, on the other hand, may taste salty and may not be suitable for drinking. If soft water tastes bad, then why might you use a water softener? The answer is that extremely hard water may shorten the life of plumbing and lessen the effectiveness of certain cleaning agents. When hard water is heated, the carbonates precipitate out of solution, forming scales in pipes and tea kettles. In addition to narrowing and potentially clogging the pipes, scales prevent efficient heat transfer, so a water heater with scales will have to use a lot of energy to give you hot water. Soap is less effective in hard water because it reacts to form the calcium or magnesium salt of the organic acid of the soap. These salts are insoluble and form grayish soap scum, but no cleansing lather. Detergents, on the other hand, lather in both hard and soft water. Calcium and magnesium salts of the detergents organic acids form, but these salts are soluble in water. How to Soften Water Hard water can be softened (have its minerals removed) by treating it with lime or by passing it over an ion exchange resin. The ion exchange resins are complex sodium salts. Water flows over the resin surface, dissolving the sodium. The calcium, magnesium and other cations precipitate onto the resin surface. Sodium goes into the water, but the other cations stay with the resin. Very hard water will end up tasting saltier than water that had fewer dissolved minerals. Most of the ions have been removed in soft water, but sodium and various anions (negatively charged ions) still remain. Water can be deionized by using a resin that replaces cations with hydrogen and anions with hydroxide. With this type of resin, the cations stick to the resin and the hydrogen and hydroxide that are released combine to form pure water.

Class work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Class work - Assignment Example Waterfall used stages. With waterfall once the stage is over there is no going back except if a process change is followed that can take longer. In the case of Agile, where requirements are in need to change, then they are handled better with the process. Waterfall roles generally differ from those of agile. Agile does have the role known as scrum master that is a type of project manager as well as release manager and may fail to be IT specialist. Water fall does have a traditional manager of the project who happens to be an IT person always in the sense of tradition. What is needed ideally is a model that combines both the predictability as well as the accountability of waterfall approach with the agility as well as the adaptability of agile approach. An effective balance in between the both ideas could come up with a much more efficient model for software development. Mcrosoft. (2013). Microsoft Solutions Framework application development project plan. Retrieved may 20, 2014, from office.microsoft.com: