Friday, December 27, 2019

Police Brutality Of Police Officers - 879 Words

Recently police have come under fire for the deaths of many unarmed African American males. This has broken the trust between civilians and police and torn our country apart. People are frustrated about the killings of unarmed citizens and how it seems every officer can get away with killing an unarmed suspect. Back in 1994 a law was passed that required the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to record date on police involved shooting and deaths by police officers. Except where are the numbers that would show there is an increase in unarmed African American deaths from police officers? The 1994 law requires the FBI to keep record of police shootings across the United States. However, the only police shooting records that could be found on the FBI website was â€Å"Justified Homicide From on Duty Officers from 2008-2012†. So the question becomes where is the data that proves there is an increase in African American deaths by the hands of police officers. With the recent outc ry of â€Å"Police Brutality† you would think that the FBI would’ve released records or started recording any and all police shootings. Experts say that we aren’t experiencing an increase in police shootings just an increase in media coverage of police shootings. According to a professor from University from Albany who teaches sociology says his research has found that major news agencies have elevated the coverage of police fatalities despite the decrease of police killings according to statistics. AaronShow MoreRelatedPolice Brutality And The Police Officer1772 Words   |  8 Pageslife was taken by police officers. He was shot 7 times, the last shot to the back of his head is what took this young man’s life. He was a young unarmed black male. Just in 2014 over 1,000 people were killed at the hands of police officers. However, even though police say they are just doing their job, police should not be able to abuse their power, because more cases of pol ice brutality are being captured on cell phones and innocent people are being killed. How you become an officer is by obtainingRead MorePolice Brutality And Police Officers1231 Words   |  5 PagesThe heated issue of police brutality and police officers violating civil rights has extensively covered media headlines for several years. Hundreds of people are killed every year by police officers, and many of these cases bring up issues of police brutality. More often than not, it is usually a white police officer and an african american offender encounter that sparks media attention. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is just one of these cases that has caused a major divideRead MorePolice Misconduct And Brutality Of Police Officers1165 Words   |  5 Pagesstructured police forces across the United States corruption, misconduct, and claims of brutality by police officers has been a problem. Police officers who were sworn to protect and serve the people of their communities have been instilled with authority over people. Throughout history anyone havi ng some type of power or absolute authority over another has created controversy. This paper will look into the statements and details of concerns dealing with police corruption, misconduct, and brutality of policeRead MorePolice Brutality : A Law Enforcement Officer4738 Words   |  19 PagesWhen you take oath to become a law enforcement officer you are supposed to stand by the area that you work within and serve and protect. While working officers are put in thousands of different scenarios. While growing up you are taught proper ethics and values and should know the difference between what is right, and what is wrong. However; many officers break down and realize that being a law enforcement officer doesn’t pay as much as they like. They fall fortune to being greedy, stealing moneyRead MorePolice Brutality : Should Police Officers Keep Their Guns At All Times?1570 Words   |  7 PagesPolice Brutality – Should Police Officers keep their guns at all times? (Police Training.) Police brutality has been a very controversial matter these past few months, with citizens supporting those who claim to be victims, and others who don’t. Though most people have been supporting the victims, some people who don’t can agree that police having guns with them in a simple investigation is a little over done. There are many instances where an officer can be seen, from a citizen’s camera, approachingRead MorePolice Brutality And The United States1479 Words   |  6 Pages Police Brutality in the United States University of Nebraska Kearney Colton Blankenship Abstract This research paper is an overview of police brutality in the United States. The paper covers what police brutality is and the definition. The information about police brutality is expanded about what is reasonable and excessive use of force an officer can use. Information is included about the thoughts of what the citizens feel about police brutality. Among the white andRead MorePolice Brutality And Crime Brutality833 Words   |  4 PagesPolice Brutality Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians (What Is Police Brutality?). Recently, there have been a surplus of incidents involving police brutality. Cases like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice are examples of police brutality. All three of these victims ended up dead at the hands of police. Statistics show that, just this year alone, 1,013 Americans have been killed by cops (Cop Crisis). Social mediaRead MorePolice bruality essay for college class i guess1365 Words   |  6 PagesPolice Brutality Police brutality occurs daily across America. Police brutality can come in various forms, counting lethal and nonlethal force. Comprehending the exact commonness of police brutality is complex, because of the inconsistency in describing police brutality. The trouble in differentiating among justified and unjustified force. Police interactions often can be misconstrued, or sometimes turned around against an officer. Questionable behavior and complaints against officers can be filedRead MorePolice Brutality And The Civil Rights Movement1738 Words   |  7 PagesWhile combating police brutality everyday, what really does matter? Despite, the increased attention and actions to remedy police brutality, police brutality is still a prevalent issue in today’s American society. It has sent critics on both sides of the issue into their corners, as no one really seems to have the answer. Maybe, the reason why police brutality has been so troublesome to alter is because the people trying to alter it are only targeting only the symptoms instead of the infection itselfRead MoreEssay On Police Brutality729 Words   |  3 Pages Imagine If you were a victim of police brutality and you had done nothing wrong or you didn’t oppose a threat to the officer take a step into the victims shoes. This Is a controversial issue because people around the world are killed or injured because of unnecessary police brutality. There are many reasons why police brutality is bad and how some people might think it’s ok to use police brutality. Police Brutality is a big controversial topic the first reason is, because there have been incidents

Thursday, December 19, 2019

A Trending Lifestyle Cohabitation - 1522 Words

A Trending Lifestyle: Cohabitation Due to the shifts in people’s lifestyles, marriage has become less central in society. The traditional precept that a couple should legalize their relationship through marriage before living together has declined these days due to the transformation of people’s attitude and thoughts towards the act of marriage. As a result, couples who are not inclined towards marriage have turned to alternate courses in their relationship. One of the most common living styles most young people have chosen is the live-in relationship or cohabitation. It raises the question of whether this lifestyle choice is more beneficial to cohabiters rather than marriage. Although it is a trending lifestyle, the issue is still a social controversy nowadays. Although marriage has been a central factor and gives meaning to human lives, the change in people’s lifestyles and behaviors through a long period of social development has resulted in alternate choices such as being single or nonmarital living. As a result, cohabitation has become more popular as a trendy life choice for young people. The majority of couples choose cohabitation as a precursor to marriage to gain a better understanding of each other. However, there are exceptions, such as where Thornton, Azinn, and Xie have noted: â€Å"In fact, the couple may simply slide or drift from single into the sharing of living quarters with little explicit discussion or decision-making. This sliding into cohabitation without

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Position Paper on Stem Cell Research free essay sample

Stem cell research is a vital necessity for the growth of humanity, especially when it comes to an individual’s quality of life. Due to the fact that stem cells have the power to turn into any different cell type in the body; they have the power to replenish other cells in the body, so long as the animal or human is still alive. When stem cell divide they have the capability of having a specialized function. These functions include: a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or even a brain cell. Stem cells, which are in the blastocyst phase, are able to generate replacements for cells, which could have been lost through injuries, diseases, and everyday life accidents. There is still a lot of research that has yet to be conducted but is hard to go through with because there is not enough funding. There are many ethical and moral reasons for this lack of funding. We will write a custom essay sample on Position Paper on Stem Cell Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, I believe that we are already â€Å"playing g-d† with all the medical advances. In addition, the basis of the medical field is to improve the quality of life. Many people don’t even understand what a stem cell really is and how it comes about and they are ready to disregard the idea all together. This is why there should be more educational services as well to provide people with the correct knowledge on stem cells and their capabilities. In my opinion suffering from various conditions such as AIDS, Alzheimer’s Disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Liver Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, and Stroke can be highly treated or even cured if stem cell research is conducted to it’s fullest potential. Also, if the embryonic stem cells would be thrown out anyways and not used why not just utilize its capabilities to help out the billions of people who are suffering with various illness and disease worldwide.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Statutory Interpretation Essay Example

Statutory Interpretation Essay Kamal McPherson Cape Law Evaluate the rules of interpretation which guides judge’s in the interpretation of statutes or acts of Parliament and the presumption they applied in this process. To gain an explicit and profound competence of statutory interpretation and rules of statutory interpretation, they are few key elements and definition that must be referred to these concepts. Statutory interpretation is a source of law, which means, where laws are taken from to aid in the decision making process by the courts, and this is how the courts apply and interpret the legislations or acts of Parliament within a situation or a court case. To aid in the Courts’ application of the law, rules of statutory interpretation have been created; they are literal rule, golden rule and mischief or purposive rule. These are rules used by the courts to interpret the meaning of an Act. They are necessary because the meanings of an Act can be unclear, among other things, and these â€Å"rules† are used to make a judge’s task of reaching a clear understanding of an Act, much easier. I must point out that interpretation by its very nature is creative and not something you can view with specifics and in one way but with the view of conceptualizing the dynamics that interpretation itself has. We will write a custom essay sample on Statutory Interpretation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Statutory Interpretation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Statutory Interpretation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The dynamics of legal interpretation are such that an interpreter must go from a general view of the statute to specific evidence and then back to the general view. As such, interpretation can be defined as the art or process of determining the intended meaning of a written document, such as a constitution, statute, contract, deed, or will. The interpretation of written documents is fundamental to the process and Practice of Law. Interpretation takes place whenever the meaning of a legal document must be determined. Lawyers and judges search for meaning using various interpretive approaches and rules of construction. Legal interpretation may be based on a literal reading of a document. For example, when john doe signs a will that names his wife, Jane Doe, as his Personal Representative, his intent to name her the administrator of his estate can be determined solely from the specific language used in the will. There is no need to consider the surrounding facts and circumstances that went into his choice. When the intended meaning of the words in a document is not clearly expressed and some form of guessing is needed to determine the sense in which they have been used, mixed interpretations can happen. In such a case, the words express an individuals intent only when they are correctly comprehended. If John Doe refers only to my wife in his will, the court will have to determine who his wife was at the time of his death. How a lawyer or judge ascertains intent when words are unclear is typically governed by rules of statutory interpretation. The statutes or acts of Parliament may part take of the general uncertainty inherent in the language. Some legislation is not easily interpreted nor understands because of the language construct it has been written in. Language itself is ambiguous. Enacted Laws, especially the modern Acts and Rules, are drafted by legal experts and it could be expected that the language used will leave little room for interpretation. But the experience of all those, who have to bear and share the task of application of the law, has been different. It is quite often that we find courts and lawyers busy in unfolding the meaning of ambiguous words, expressions and resolving inconsistencies. The age old process of application of the enacted law has led to formulation of certain rules of interpretation. Words in any language are not scientific symbols having any precise or definite meaning, and language is but an imperfect medium to convey ones thought, much less of a large assembly consisting of persons of various shades of opinion. It is impossible even for the most imaginative legislature to forestall exhaustively situations and circumstances that may emerge after enacting a statute where its application may be called for. The function of the courts is only to expound and not to legislate. The numerous rules of interpretation formulated by courts are expressed differently by different judges and support may be found in these formulations for apparently contradictory propositions. Language is not a precise tool. Reason being, words often take their meaning from the given context, words are an imperfect means of communication, words very often have more than one meaning i. e. they can be ambiguous, a broad term may be used in a statute which can give rise to confusion and uncertainty, there may be errors or omissions when the statute is drafted and last but not least new developments in society can make the words used in a statute out of date and they may no longer cover the current situation. In order for consistency in interpreting the meaning of legislation, courts use specific rules in order to resolve ambiguity appearing in statutes. Those rules are known collectively as rules of statutory interpretation. Different rules of interpretation may be applied and depend upon the nature of the ambiguity and the content in which it arises. They are three rules of interpretation that aid the courts’ application of the law, the literal rule, golden rule and mischief rule or purposive rule. The literal rule allows that the words and phrases in a statute should be given their ordinary and literal meaning and once the ordinary meaning is clear the court is obligated to apply it even if to do so would result in injustice. Judges may use the extrinsic aid of a dictionary to give words their ordinary meaning. Although there has been a general move away the literal approach in recent years, some judges prefer to start with this method and apply the ordinary meaning of the word wherever possible. A useful illustration of the literal rule in practice is provided by Baptiste –v- Alleyne (1970). The legislation under scrutiny in this case was the then Larceny Ordinance Act. The defendant was found outside a house with his hand through a window choking a female occupant. He was charged and convicted of the offence ‘†¦found†¦in a building with intent†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ a provision of Section 29 (d) of the then Larceny ordinance allowed that for a person to be convicted of such an offence, there be clear and unmistakable evidence that he has been, as the section says, ‘found in’ the building. As such Mr. Justice of Appeal, Micheal de la Bastide posited â€Å"he cannot in the court’s view be said to have been found in the building on a literal meaning or ordinary interpretation of the words of section 29 (d) of the Larceny Ordinance. Therefore in this case the appeal was allowed, hence the conviction was quashed. Analyzing this case we can see how the literal rule is use to the effect of the defendant because taking the literal rule ordinary meaning and assumption which exhibited that once the act or legislation is explicitly understand then the court must apply it, but in this case the defendant was found â€Å"outside† the building and not as the intended legislation remedy to which is found â€Å"inside† in the building, resulting the case being quashed. The second rule of statutory interpretation is the golden rule. This rule provide that if the literal and ordinary meaning of the words of the statute give rise to ambiguity, repugnancy, inconsistency or absurd results which Parliament could not have intended, then the judge may substitute a reasonable meaning in light of the statute as a whole. An example of how the golden rule was used to regulate the absurdity and repugnant result that would emanate from the literal rule being used is in the civil case of R v Sigsworth (1935). Facts revealed that a son had murdered his Mother. As such, the mother had not made a will but, as per rules in Administration of Justice Act 1925, her next of kin (her son-also her murderer) would inherit her respective possessions. No ambiguity in the wording of the Act, but the court refused to let a murderer benefit from his crime. As a result, the judge using his/her discretion to ensure that all is served in the course of justice held that the literal rule should not apply and the golden rule was used to avert a repugnant situation. The third rule of statutory interpretation is the mischief or purposive rule. The literal and golden rule determines what Parliament said. The Mischief Rule is applied to what Parliament meant. The rule was laid down in Heydon’s Case (1584) and provides that judges when deciding cases must consider three factors: * 1. What was the common law before the statute was passed. * 2. What was the problem or â€Å"mischief†, the statute was trying to remedy. * 3. What remedy Parliament was trying to provide. The mischief rule may be applied to ascertain the purpose for which the legislation was enacted, by going beyond the actual words used in the legislation. Courts are in a most difficult position in this regard as they do not pass the legislation which they are required to interpret and the court will strive for a sensible meaning to the statute where at all possible. An example how the mischief rule is apply in statutory interpretation is in the case of Smith v Hughes (1960) Prostitutes charged with soliciting on the streets contrary to the Street Offences Act 1958. Defence made that they were inside a building and tapping on a window to attract men (thus not on the street). Despite such, the Court applied the Mischief Rule and found them guilty because the SOA Act 1958 was designed to prevent prostitution. The protections which common law principles of statutory interpretation accorded to are fundamental rights and liberties. Among other rebuttable presumptions that Parliament did not intend to: * invade common law rights; * restrict access to the courts; * abrogate the protection of legal professional privilege; * exclude the privilege against self incrimination; * interfere with vested property rights; * alienate property without compensation; * interfere with equality of religion; deny procedural fairness to persons affected by the exercise of public power. The presumptions are that Parliament is supreme, the highest and of highest importance, acts of parliament should not apply to a dispute/alleged if there was no act in place at the time of its occurrence to make the dispute/alleged crime wrong, acts of parliament cannot deprive individuals of thei r constitutional rights, acts of parliament should not contrast Intl law. These are assumptions judges make, however, they must be examined within the context of respective cases. Judges operate on the basis of these presumptions to ensure accurate interpretation of law. Judicial discretion is inherent in statutory interpretation. The legislature cannot craft statutes to govern every (in) action. Thus, for example, a legislature may prohibit, without exception, the willful killing of another, entrusting the judiciary with discretion to identify exceptions, like self-defense, that existed at common law at the time of the statute’s enactment. Moreover, when a statute is enacted, the legislature knows that its chosen language may bear more than one interpretation, entrusting the judiciary with discretion to identify the correct meaning of that inevitably ambiguous language. For these and other reasons, judges must exercise discretion when interpreting statutes. The judges interpret the law, and they do this within the cultural context of respective societies. If for example, a strict or literal interpretation of an act may create civil disturbance. The judge will use his/her discretion to ensure that all is served in the course of justice. And the mischief rule as well as the golden rule give judges this discretion.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Math Equations free essay sample

This paper will show two mathematical problems, the first is â€Å"To estimate the size of the bear population on the Keweenaw Peninsula, conservationists captured, tagged, and released 50 bears. One year later, a random sample of 100 bears included only 2 tagged bears. What is the conservationists estimate of the size of the bear population? † (Dugopolski, 2013, pp. 37, probem 56). The second will be to complete problem 10 on page 444 of Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. Here all steps in solving the problem will be explained step by step. The first problem is to estimate the size of the bear population located on the Keweenaw Peninsula conservation. In reading over the â€Å"Bear Population† method #56 on page 437you will notice we are to assume that the ratio of originally tagged bears to the whole population is equal to the ratio of recaptured bears to the size of the sample. The ratio of the originally tagged bears to the whole population is 2100 The ration of the recaptured tagged bears to the sample size is 50x 2100=50x Since x is on the right-hand side of the equation, we need to switch the sides so it is on the left-hand side. We will write a custom essay sample on Math Equations or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 50x=2100 This is the proportion set up and ready to solve. I will cross multiply setting the extremes equal to the means. 100(50) = 2x Here 100 and 50 are the extreme, while x and 2 are the means. 0002=22 Next we must divide each term in the equation by 2. X=50002 Cancel out the common factor X=2500 The bear population in Keweenaw Peninsula is estimated to be around 2500. For the second problem in this assignment I am asked to solve this equation for y. The first thing I notice is that it is a single fraction (ratio) on both sides of the equal sign so basically it is a proportion which can be solved by cross multiplying the extremes and means. y-1)=-34*((x+3))Multiply both sides of the equation by (x+3) (y-1)=-34*(x+3)Remove the extra parentheses (y-1) = -3(x+3)4Multiply the rational expressions to get 3(x+3)4 y-1= -3(x+3)4Remove the parentheses around the expression y-1 Since -1 does not contain the variable solve for, move it to the right-hand side of the equation by adding 1 to both sides. y=1 *44 3(x+3)4Multiply each term by a factor of 1 that will equate all the denominators. In this case, all terms need a denominator of 4. = 14 (-1*4) 3(x+3)4Multiply the expression by a factor of 1 to create the least common denominator (LCD) of 4. y= 44 3(x+3)4 Multiply 1 by 4 to get 4. y = 4-3(x+3)4 The numerators of expressions that have equal denominators can be combined. In this case, (4)4 and 3(x+3)4 have the same denominator of 4, so the numerators can be combined. y = 4-3 (x+3)4 Remove the parentheses around the expression 4. y = 4-3 x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by each term inside the parentheses (x-3). = 4-3 *x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by the x inside the parentheses. y = 4-3 x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by x to get – 3x. y = 4-3 x-3* 34 Multiply -3 by the 3 inside the parentheses. y = 14 (4-3x-9) Multiply -3 by 3 to get -9. y = 14 (-5 -3x) Subtract 9 from 4 to get -5 y = 14 (-3x -5) Reorder the polynomial -5 -3x alphabetically from left to right, starting with the highest order term. y = 14 (-3x-5)Simplify the right-hand side of the equation. Here I have notice that the solution for y = 14 (-3x-5) but the equation for x is different and x as a rational expression is (y-1)  · 4=-3  · (x+3) which is solved by which is solved by a ration. Simplify the equation for x = 4y3 53 . Another thing I have learned is if you go from x = y to x^2 = y^2 you have introduced the extraneous root. References: Dugopolski, M. (2013). Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, 4th Ed. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Math Equations free essay sample This paper will show two mathematical problems, the first is â€Å"To estimate the size of the bear population on the Keweenaw Peninsula, conservationists captured, tagged, and released 50 bears. One year later, a random sample of 100 bears included only 2 tagged bears. What is the conservationists estimate of the size of the bear population? † (Dugopolski, 2013, pp. 37, probem 56). The second will be to complete problem 10 on page 444 of Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. Here all steps in solving the problem will be explained step by step. The first problem is to estimate the size of the bear population located on the Keweenaw Peninsula conservation. In reading over the â€Å"Bear Population† method #56 on page 437you will notice we are to assume that the ratio of originally tagged bears to the whole population is equal to the ratio of recaptured bears to the size of the sample. The ratio of the originally tagged bears to the whole population is 2100 The ration of the recaptured tagged bears to the sample size is 50x 2100=50x Since x is on the right-hand side of the equation, we need to switch the sides so it is on the left-hand side. We will write a custom essay sample on Math Equations or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 50x=2100 This is the proportion set up and ready to solve. I will cross multiply setting the extremes equal to the means. 100(50) = 2x Here 100 and 50 are the extreme, while x and 2 are the means. 0002=22 Next we must divide each term in the equation by 2. X=50002 Cancel out the common factor X=2500 The bear population in Keweenaw Peninsula is estimated to be around 2500. For the second problem in this assignment I am asked to solve this equation for y. The first thing I notice is that it is a single fraction (ratio) on both sides of the equal sign so basically it is a proportion which can be solved by cross multiplying the extremes and means. y-1)=-34*((x+3))Multiply both sides of the equation by (x+3) (y-1)=-34*(x+3)Remove the extra parentheses (y-1) = -3(x+3)4Multiply the rational expressions to get 3(x+3)4 y-1= -3(x+3)4Remove the parentheses around the expression y-1 Since -1 does not contain the variable solve for, move it to the right-hand side of the equation by adding 1 to both sides. y=1 *44 3(x+3)4Multiply each term by a factor of 1 that will equate all the denominators. In this case, all terms need a denominator of 4. = 14 (-1*4) 3(x+3)4Multiply the expression by a factor of 1 to create the least common denominator (LCD) of 4. y= 44 3(x+3)4 Multiply 1 by 4 to get 4. y = 4-3(x+3)4 The numerators of expressions that have equal denominators can be combined. In this case, (4)4 and 3(x+3)4 have the same denominator of 4, so the numerators can be combined. y = 4-3 (x+3)4 Remove the parentheses around the expression 4. y = 4-3 x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by each term inside the parentheses (x-3). = 4-3 *x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by the x inside the parentheses. y = 4-3 x-3 (3)4 Multiply -3 by x to get – 3x. y = 4-3 x-3* 34 Multiply -3 by the 3 inside the parentheses. y = 14 (4-3x-9) Multiply -3 by 3 to get -9. y = 14 (-5 -3x) Subtract 9 from 4 to get -5 y = 14 (-3x -5) Reorder the polynomial -5 -3x alphabetically from left to right, starting with the highest order term. y = 14 (-3x-5)Simplify the right-hand side of the equation. Here I have notice that the solution for y = 14 (-3x-5) but the equation for x is different and x as a rational expression is (y-1)  · 4=-3  · (x+3) which is solved by which is solved by a ration. Simplify the equation for x = 4y3 53 . Another thing I have learned is if you go from x = y to x^2 = y^2 you have introduced the extraneous root. References: Dugopolski, M. (2013). Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, 4th Ed. New York, NY.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

History of the Nature Conservancy

History of the Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy joins forces with governments, non-profit organizations, local stakeholders, indigenous communities, corporate partners, and international organizations to find solutions to conservation challenges. Their conservation tactics include the protection of private lands, the creation of conservation-minded public policies, and the funding of conservation projects around the world. Among The Nature Conservancys more innovative conservation approaches is the debt-for-nature swaps. Such transactions ensure biodiversity conservation in exchange for debt owed by a developing country. Such debt-for-nature programs have been successful in many countries including Panama, Peru, and Guatemala. History The Nature Conservancy was formed in 1951 by a group of scientists who wanted to take direct action to save threatened natural areas around the world. In 1955, The Nature Conservancy acquired its first parcel of land, a 60-acre tract along the Mianus River Gorge which lies on the border of New York and Connecticut. That same year, the organization established the Land Preservation Fund, a conservation tool that is still used today by The Nature Conservancy to help provide funding for worldwide conservation efforts. In 1961, The Nature Conservancy formed a partnership with the Bureau of Land Management that was aimed at protecting old-growth forests in California. A gift from the Ford Foundation in 1965 made it possible for The Nature Conservancy to bring on its first full-time president. From that point on, The Nature Conservancy was in full swing. During the 1970s and 1980s, The Nature Conservancy setup key programs such as the Natural Heritage Network and the International Conservation Program. The Natural Heritage Network collects information about species distributions and natural communities throughout the United States. The International Conservation Program identifies key natural regions and conservation groups in Latin America. The Conservancy completed their first debt-for-nature swap to fund conservation work in Braulio Carillo National Park in 1988. During that same year, the Conservancy joined forces with the US Department of Defense to help manage 25 million acres of military land. In 1990, The Nature Conservancy launched a large-scale project called the Last Great Places Alliance, an effort aimed at saving entire ecosystems by protecting core reserves and establishing buffer zones around them. In 2001, The Nature Conservancy celebrated its 50th year anniversary. Also in 2001, they acquired Zumwalt Prairie Preserve, a protected area on the edge of Hells Canyon in Oregon. In 2001 through 2005, they purchased land in Colorado that would later form the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, as well as expand the Rio Grande National Forest. Most recently, the Conservancy organized the protection of 161,000 acres of forest in the Adirondacks of New York. They also recently negotiated a debt-for-nature swap to protect the tropical forest in Costa Rica.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Hospital Robot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hospital Robot - Essay Example Robots refer to mechanical agents controlled by computer programs and used in completing tasks. They vary in sizes and used for specific purposes. Used with artificial intelligence the machines can perfume precise functions repeatedly without tiring. In healthcare, several hospitals and health facilities in the United States have begun using robots to aid complicated surgeries (Barker 33). The machines run on specific computer programs and follow instructions as fed to them through the computer. Additionally, they operate alongside humans during the operations thus improving the quality of services. Robots have improved the quality of surgical operations and their continued use in the industry will definitely improve the quality of life by improving effectiveness in hospitals as discussed in the essay below.Robots are cost effectiveUnlike humans, a robot is a capital and an asset bought once by a health facility and can perform several functions throughout the clock. Being machines, robots have minimal requirements provided they are in good condition and accurately programmed. They, therefore, function with minimal supervision thus making the practice less labor intensive.Doctors often tire after detailed operations; this makes the operations precarious as they begin making such mistakes as forgetting some of the equipment in the patients they operate. Additionally, they serve more for their services a feature that makes health services very costly thus unaffordable by many (Ichbiah 11).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

E-loyalty and Customer relationship management Essay

E-loyalty and Customer relationship management - Essay Example Some sole proprietors use online programs in targeting nationwide and global customers by using accurate information regarding the business and the use consumer programs such as credit card reward programs as a strategy in keeping their loyal customers satisfied. It is common that these reward systems are tailored according to the needs and expectations of the customers. Business-to-business (B2B) or e-biz is an effective tool in the exchange of products, services, and information between business and consumers. Over the years, B2B has proven to be very effective in closing business transactions between the business owner and the customers. According to a study that was published back in early 2000, the profitability of using B2B has exceeded the ‘e-tailing’ by 10 to 1% and is expected to have an annual growth of 41% over the next few years. (Jones, 2001) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a ‘software’ that helps a business organization in managing its customers better. (Walsh, 2007) CRM software enables the sales people and service representatives to have a quick access over the information related to the customers. This allows the sales force of the company to immediately provide the customers with a more customized service according to the customers’ needs regarding the products and services the business is offering. (Williams, 2006) According to Kumar and Reinartz (2006), CRM is defined as a strategic process of selecting the customers a firm can most profitably serve. It is also capable of shaping the interactions between a company and these customers with the goal of optimising the current and future value of the customers for the company. (Kumar and Reinartz 2006, 6) Based on the definition, CRM is a process of enterprise-wide that has the potential to affect decisions related to marketing communications, pricing, customisation of products and services, resource allocation across different customers

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - Essay Example While the Act was initially seen as being bad for US business abroad, the long-term effects have been for the benefit of US companies both domestically and internationally. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 was implemented to further restrain the practices of American business in the areas of using undue influence in international business. According to the Congressional Research Service the FCPA was, "...enacted principally to prevent corporate bribery of foreign officials" (Seitzinger). Before the Act was passed, there were cases of corporations using secret funds to influence and bribe foreign officials. The government contended that these illegal payments, "...affected adversely American foreign policy, damaged abroad the image of American democracy, and impaired public confidence in the financial integrity of American corporations" (Seitzinger). The FCPA also reasserted the ideals of fair trade and anti-trust policies by curtailing the unfair practices that might place a corporation in an unfairly advantageous position over a competitor through a corrupt practice. While these business practices had been outlawed by the array of prev ious legislative acts, the FCPA codified and focused the illegal activity under one act. The FCPA of 1977, and the amendments of 1988 and 1998, specifically prohibits the bribery of any foreign official and making false or misleading entries into a company's financial records. Prior to the FCPA, companies would use slush funds to make payments to foreign officials to gain a business advantage. Often these payments would be incorrectly described in their accounting practices (Johnson). In addition the FCPA also expanded the definition of 'foreign official' to include not only highly placed government officials but also private persons who may have a function similar to a government employee. This could include contractors working on government contracts or doing business with a foreign government. The FCPA further outlawed the practice of influencing regulatory policies and the obtaining of permits or licenses through fraud and bribery. The FCPA also further defined and prohibited the practice of "willful blindness" where a company pays money and does not make an inquiry that any reasonable person would make as to the use of said money (Johnson). The FCPA does not differentiate between a bribe that succeeds and an offer that fails or is declined. The Act defines corruption as the intent to unfairly influence. There are two sections that define the enforcement of the FCPA. There is the criminal provision that is enforced by the US Department of Justice and the civil portion that is enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ("Foreign Corrupt Practices"). The SEC also has responsibility to monitor and enforce the accounting standards set forth in the Act. The criminal fines for violation can be quite extensive. The corporation can be fined up to $2 million, while individual violators can face fines of up to $100,000 and be sentenced to 5 years in prison (Shaheen and Geren, 3). Shaheen and Geren further note that the corporation is banned from reimbursing the fines and penalties levied against an individual violation. The fines that can be levied by the SEC for

Friday, November 15, 2019

Experiment of Hookes Law

Experiment of Hookes Law Investigating Hooke’s Law Aim This experiment is aimed to investigate the relationship between the mass that is being slotted at the end of spring and the time taken for the spring to make a 20 complete oscillations. Hypothesis As the mass of the end of the spring increases, the time period for the spring to complete 20 oscillation will also increase. This is because in newton’s second law which is F = ma, if the acceleration is being derived with the presence of time in its formula, it will be F = m(v-u)/t. Which proves that, mass is directly proportional to time. As the mass increases, the time will also increase. Variables Independent variable: Mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring (kg) Dependent variable: Time period taken by the spring to make 20 complete oscillations (s) Controlled variable: i) Spring constant ii) Gravitational acceleration iii) Length of spring iv) Amount of spring oscillations v) Air resistance vi) Amplitude of oscillations Controlling the variables Mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring: The mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring is manipulated from 0.1kg, 0.2kg, 0.3kg, 0.4kg and 0.5kg. Time period taken by the spring to make 20 complete oscillations: With the aid of digital stopwatch, the time period is taken when the spring had completed in making 20 oscillations. This procedure is repeated 3 times and an average reading is taken. Spring constant: The spring constant is kept constant so that the results are relative to each other. It will be controlled by using the same spring throughout the whole experiment. Gravitational acceleration: The gravitational acceleration is kept constant by conducting the experiment in the same place until the end. Amount of spring oscillations: The amount of oscillations is controlled to 20 so that the results are more accurate. The exact results will be divided by 20 afterwards. Air resistance: Due to the place that the experiment is being conducted in a room, the fan and the air conditioner are switched off to reduce the air resistance. The experiment is conducted in the same place until the end to fix the air resistance. Amplitude of oscillations: The amplitude will be controlled each time the mass is increased by using the same length in extending the spring to make is oscillate. For each trial, the spring is extended 5cm downwards. This procedure will be aided by a meter ruler. Materials list Retort stand Clamp and stand Meter ruler Mass holder Slotted mass Digital stopwatch Spring Diagram Method Set up the apparatus as shown in the diagram, with one end of the spring attached to the horizontal support on the clamp stand. Attach the slotted mass of 0.1kg at the end of the spring. Put the meter ruler next to spring and measure the extension. Pull the slotted mass holder down to 5cm and then release it. Let it oscillates for 20 times. Take the time taken for the spring to oscillate completely for 20 times using digital stopwatch. Repeat step 4 to 6 two more times. Record the data each time and take an average reading. Repeat step 2 to 7 by using different slotted mass, from 0.2kg, 0.3kg, 0.4kg, and 0.5kg. Results Data presentation A graph to show the relationship between the mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring, M, and the time taken for one oscillation, T. Data analysis The relationship between mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring and the time taken for spring to oscillate one cycle appears to be non-linear. The data therefore will be processed in order to find a relationship between this two variables either it is directly proportional or not. The graph is parabolic. Hence the T can be manipulated to become T2 so that the graph can be plotted with a variable of mass against T2. Data processing Table 2 – Mass that is being slotted at the end of spring, M, and squared of time taken for one oscillation, T2 Presentation and analysis of the processed data A graph shows the relationship between the mass that is being slotted at the end of the spring, M, and the squared of time taken for one oscillation,T2. Analysis of the graph Gradient of best fit line = 0.50/0.32 = 1.56 kgs-2 Gradient of steepest line = 0.50/0.30 = 1.67 kgs-2 Gradient of shallowest line = 0.42/0.34 = 1.24 kgs-2 For the second graph, it was proved that mass that is being slotted at the end of spring is direclty proportional to the squared of time period. Mathematically, m ÃŽ ± T2 After the investigation and the experiment that had been done, it was found that the formula relating the mass that is being slotted at the end of spring and time period of an oscillating spring is : We know that ; T = 2Ï€/Æœ Where Æœ = k(constant) in this investigation. Therefore, T = 2Ï€ T2 = Which is of the form, y = mx + c (equation of straight line) From the investigation, y is m, m is 4Ï€2/k and x is T2. The gradient of the line is therefore equal to 4Ï€2/k , we can now find the spring constant: Therefore, k on the best fit line ; 1.56 = 1/ = 1/1.56 k = 61.59 Nm-1 The range of uncertainty in this value can be calculated using both the maximum and the minimum lines on the graph. Maximum gradient ; 1.67 = 1/ = 1/1.67 k = 65.93 Nm-1 Minimum gradient ; 1.24 = 1/ = 1/1.24 k = 48.96 Nm-1 Therefore the spring constant, k is in the range of 48.96 Nm-1 to 65.59 Nm-1. Conclusion The aim of this experiment is to investigate the relationship between the mass that is being slotted at the end of spring and time period of oscillation. As the hypothesis being made earlier that mass would be directly proportional to time period of oscillation, it is clearly was wrong as the graph of mass against time period is obviously non-linear. The second graph of mass against squared of time period is however turned out to be linear and therefore it can be concluded that mass is directly proportional to the squared of time period. After the investigation, this conclusion is supported as the equation for time period of an oscillating spring is T = 2Ï€ T2 = So, T2 ÃŽ ± m The gradient of straight line was then used to calculate the spring constant, k, for the spring used in this experiment. This is because the gradient is equal to 1/ The value can be compared to the theoretical value by using Hooke’s so as to verify the result whether it is plausible or not. When the spring is acted a force of 1N, the extension was seen to be 1.6cm. The spring constant can be determine by using the formula of Hooke’s law; F = kx k = 1/0.016 k = 62.5 Nm-1 Calculating percentage deviation: x 100% = 1.5% The actual value and the theoretical value is not that far and only 1.5% in the percentage deviation. In conclusion, it can be said that this experiment is successful and the results are accurate. Evaluation The method and apparatus used worked well throughout the whole experiment. The results obtained are differ from the actual results. This is because they are maybe some mistakes were made during taking the reading or making the experiment works. There are some improvements that were made when collecting the data that were not stated in the original plan. Parallax error occurs when reading the ruler which the recorder’s eye level is not perfectly perpendicular to the ruler. The slotted mass were considered to be the same. Just one of the slotted mass was weighted and for one slotted mass the mass is 0.1kg. Without hesitation, the other slotted mass were all considered to be 0.1kg in mass too. This may have produced a systematic error, depending on how accurate the masses were and consistency of their inaccuracy. When lighter slotted mass were used, the oscillations was so fast. Random errors can occur. Suggested that, the spring should be let to oscillation more so that the results will be more precise. Suggested improvements The investigation could has been more accurate and precise if the following modifications were to be taken: Make sure that the eye is perpendicular to the ruler when taking the reading when doing the extension of spring. This will avoid parallax error. Use another ruler to point at the ruler when taking the reading. This will aid to read the meter ruler easier and more precise. This will avoid parallax error. To make the time taken more accurate, use ultra-sonic motion detector that is placed below the oscillating spring. The ultra-sonic motion detector will collect data more precisely because it does not involve the human interaction which is affected by human reaction. Take more reading and take the average as the lesser the reading are taken, it will create more random errors.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay

Almost every relationship has those critical arguments or confrontations and requires communication as well as collaboration to overcome its challenges. This is the case between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth where two different personalities and characteristics begin to clash against one another and push each other to their limits. As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth’s motives and desires are revealed and as a result, her aspirations get the best of her and starts to influence her husband Macbeth to take the path of potentially being king which ultimately involves elements of death, fraud, and exploitation. Throughout act one of â€Å"Macbeth†, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth share a controlling yet cooperative relationship. Lady Macbeth plays a very significant role in influencing Macbeth to choose the path towards higher royalty. Her own ambitions of being queen alongside her husband motivated her to plot a wicked act to overthrow or maybe even kill the king. Lady Macbeth first realizes the possibility of being queen in act 1, scene 5, lines 14-15 in which she states, â€Å" Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised. When she hears of the news, she immediately begins plotting to gain her husbands desire to be king but while doing so, she questions Macbeth as well as his abilities and personality. Lady Macbeth’s first instinct is to act with cruelty rather than loyalty, revealing her dark nature which go to beyond measures to obtain her desires. Also, starting from line 15 of Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth states, â€Å"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way†; in other words, Macbeth is a good-hearted man. She knows her husband too well to believe that he would be willing to do any wicked act such as murder especially against the king. As a result, she resolves to convince her husband to do whatever is required to seize the crown. She also believes that by putting her femininity aside, she can possibly do any of the darkest and most wicked acts to possibly seize the crown. Lady Macbeth plays the dominant character throughout the opening scenes, in which she asserts her ambition for her and her husband to gain hierarchic status. Her best bet is to try to influence Macbeth is by questioning his anhood. Through parts of act 1, scene 7, Macbeth gives her his reasons why he shouldn’t kill the king: karma, being the king’s host, being loyal as his subject, the king being humble leader, and compliments given to him by the king made him look favorable in the eyes of the people. It is fair to say that Macbeth does have ambition, but at this point in the play, his conscience is str onger than ambition giving him less motivation to kill the king. As a result, Lady Macbeth repeatedly questions his manhood in the hope that he will defend himself by carrying out the murders. It seems to me that Macbeth has a mental struggle with his masculinity, because Lady Macbeth deprives him of it when he is at his lowest moments and then try to win him over by giving him compliments and expletive comments for example in act 1, scene 7, lines 49-59 in which Lady Macbeth states, â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what your were, you would be so much more the men†¦.. Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done this. † Basically, she dares him to commit the murder, using words that taunt rather than persuade in which it frightened and shocked Macbeth so much that he, as a result gives in to her orders. At this point we see Lady Macbeth as a persistent and strong women, while we see Macbeth as her indecisive and cowardly husband in which Lady Macbeth’s uses her strong characteristics to undermine Macbeth’s in order for him to cooperate with her ideas. Under her spell, all of Macbeth’s objections seem to evaporate and he is left only with a weak â€Å"If we should fail? † which is in line 58 of act 1, scene 7. Macbeth is not a good man at this point in the play, but he is not yet an evil one; he is tempted, and he tries to resist temptation. Macbeth’s resistance, however, is not effective enough to stand up to his wife’s ability to manipulate him. We finally get a sense that Macbeth is willing to do what his wife asks of him. She acts as a catalyst for Macbeth to commit treason by disregarding his rational, moral arguments and challenging his manhood.. As a result, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth cooperate and plot to get the servants drunk, and during that time Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would kill King Duncan and frame the drunken guards. In line 79-80 of act 1 scene 7, Macbeth states, â€Å"I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. † Since Macbeth succumbs to Lady Macbeth’s wishes, Shakespeare re-confirms just how close the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is and that she has the power and he listens to whatever she has to say whether if it’s for his own good or not. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth share a very complex relationship between each other. Lady Macbeth is a complicated woman in the beginning of the play; she was strong and courageous, yet deceitful and problematic. Lady Macbeth endangered Macbeth’s life because had it not been for her influence and motivation, Macbeth would not have been so thirsty for the crown as well the overthrowing of those who currently held it. Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s soulmate as well as other half, and in doing so she controlled him and his brain, convincing him to do the most wicked acts. If it wasn’t for her, who knows what fate would have brought to Macbeth and his legacy.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry Essay

‘Delilah’ by Carol Ann Duffy has an undeniably sexual element running throughout – an element which is highlighted by its suggestive language and presentation of gender roles between the characters ‘Samson’ and ‘Delilah’. Many of Duffy’s poems have a similar element running through them such as in ‘Salome’, ‘Little Red Riding Cap’ and ‘Pygmalion’s Bride’ therefore it can be said that her poetry is mainly concerned with the politics of sex. However, Carol Ann Duffy states in an interview in 2005 that ‘Delilah’ is not about sex but is a love poem exploring the nature of Samson’s wish to become ‘gentle’, ‘loving’ and ‘tender’. This would therefore suggest that the main concern of the poem is more to do with love, power and gender. There are several references to sex throughout the poem, however the most direct reference comes in the fourth stanza where Samson ‘fucks’ Delilah. This is in stark contrast to his request in the third stanza only three lines above of wanting to learn how to ‘care’, or ‘be gentle or loving or tender†. Despite wanting to become gentle, Samson ‘fucks’ Delilah rather than ‘makes love’ to her, implying that his wish was only a half-hearted one i.e. a wish he only makes but not something he would act upon. ‘He fuck(s her) again’ further shows this is not the first time Delilah has been ‘fucked’ suggesting a repetitive nature of this act. Furthermore, Delilah allows herself to be ‘fucked’ – through Delilah’s submission, Duffy could be making a statement that women can not break free from this subordinate role in sex. Samson’s language is also sexually suggestive, possibly implying that a man can not have his libido driven out of him regardless of the situation. For example, in the second stanza Samson is boasting about his achievements which demonstrate his strength and fearlessness, however he is distracted by a sexually suggestive note, telling Delilah to ‘put your hand here -‘. This continues in the third stanza; he asks for a cure for his inability to be gentle and in the following line proceeds to ‘fuck’ her as though he believes the cure is in ‘fucking’ her. The situation – Samson opening up to Delilah about something personal- would usually be assumed to be free from anything conjuring violence however Samson ‘fucks’ her anyway suggesting that regardless of the time or place, sex is something which remains rampant in a man’s mind. On the other hand, it could be said that rather than sex, the main concern of the poem is with power distribution in this relationship. Whilst many would argue that Delilah was dominated by Samson in the poem due to the sex, in the end Delilah cut Samson’s hair which biblically represented the demise of his strength. Cutting his hair in the poem may be symbolic of her dominating Samson as she has successfully seduced him and at his most vulnerable (during slumber) she has taken away his strength. This is also in sync with the biblical story in which Delilah disarms Samson and gives him up to the Philistines, ultimately dominating him. Sex is only a way by which Samson is pacified after which he goes to sleep and becomes ‘soft’, thus vulnerable. Furthermore, Delilah cuts Samson’s hair with ‘deliberate, passionate hands’ suggesting she enjoyed disarming him and stealing his power away from him. This is a reversal of the typical gender roles in literature and Delilah’s ‘passionate hands’ may be showing that Delilah enjoyed this. Furthermore, the idea that Delilah had to pacify Samson through sex suggests an element of power on Delilah’s side as sex was a method through which she satisfied Samson and put him to sleep, leaving him vulnerable. Duffy may be making a statement through this that women can use their sexuality as a weapon to weaken men and thus overpower them. This interpretation is concerned with both sexual politics and power distribution demonstrating that Duffy’s poetry is not only concerned with the politics of sex.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals

Gothic Cathedrals â€Å"Throughout the earlier half of this millennium, one of the grandest stories in European history was written†¦ primarily in stone,† (Gothic Dreams 1). The Gothic age was a time of overwhelming change in the area of architecture. The origin of intellectual and religious life consumed definitively from monasteries to cities, making gothic art much more democratic. Art had to also serve a dictatic purpose during a time where few people could read or write (Norwich 114). Italian Renaissance writers originally used the word gothic as a derogatory term for all architects and artists in the middle ages, which were compared to the works of the barbarian Goths. Although now the Gothic Age is considered Europe’s internationally acclaimed, it began as a regional phenomenon (Kleiner 488). The gothic style was first recognized in northern France around 1140 A.D., during the last major medieval period, immediately following the Romanesque period. Gothic art would dominate European architectural development for nearly four hundred years (Gothic Dreams 1). These advances that were made in the cathedrals were regarded not as distortions of the classical style, but as images of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which they had built on earth. While bishops erected great new cathedrals reaching to the skies. The structural miracle was achieved as the result of man’s ceaseless striving to build vertically (Norwich 115). â€Å"The high vault, functionally so unnecessary, was mainly responsible for the cathedral taking the particular form that they do,† (Norwich 115). A new spirit had been leashed: less cloistered and introspective, more confident and optimistic. These churches Were symbols of civic pride, and for the first time since the very beginning of Christian art, an appreciation of nature. The growth of towns particularly in France, as they became more prosperous, wanted their own churches, c... Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals Gothic Cathedrals â€Å"Throughout the earlier half of this millennium, one of the grandest stories in European history was written†¦ primarily in stone,† (Gothic Dreams 1). The Gothic age was a time of overwhelming change in the area of architecture. The origin of intellectual and religious life consumed definitively from monasteries to cities, making gothic art much more democratic. Art had to also serve a dictatic purpose during a time where few people could read or write (Norwich 114). Italian Renaissance writers originally used the word gothic as a derogatory term for all architects and artists in the middle ages, which were compared to the works of the barbarian Goths. Although now the Gothic Age is considered Europe’s internationally acclaimed, it began as a regional phenomenon (Kleiner 488). The gothic style was first recognized in northern France around 1140 A.D., during the last major medieval period, immediately following the Romanesque period. Gothic art would dominate European architectural development for nearly four hundred years (Gothic Dreams 1). These advances that were made in the cathedrals were regarded not as distortions of the classical style, but as images of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which they had built on earth. While bishops erected great new cathedrals reaching to the skies. The structural miracle was achieved as the result of man’s ceaseless striving to build vertically (Norwich 115). â€Å"The high vault, functionally so unnecessary, was mainly responsible for the cathedral taking the particular form that they do,† (Norwich 115). A new spirit had been leashed: less cloistered and introspective, more confident and optimistic. These churches Were symbols of civic pride, and for the first time since the very beginning of Christian art, an appreciation of nature. The growth of towns particularly in France, as they became more prosperous, wanted their own churches, c...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

5 Essential Tips for a KILLER LinkedIn Summary

5 Essential Tips for a KILLER LinkedIn Summary Many of you might have heard that LinkedIn profiles are about to undergo another facelift. Rumor amongst career professionals has is that the new profile will highlight the Summary section in a new way- making it more important than ever to have a compelling Summary to offer your readers. One of the most popular services The Essay Expert offers is writing the LinkedIn Profile Summary. We love interviewing people and writing copy for them; but you can also do it yourself if you are a good writer and know the message you want to get across. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, some tips for writing a great LinkedIn Summary might come in handy! Well, you’re in luck. CareerCast published one of my articles that provides five tips for a KILLER LinkedIn Summary; and although I agreed not to post the entire article on my own blog, I wanted to share the link with you. Here it is! 5 Essential Tips for a KILLER LinkedIn Summary As a preview, the tips are: Never leave the Summary section blank! Use all 2,000 characters. Tell stories. Break it up (graphically). Include your contact information [NOTE: I no longer suggest doing this unless you have space to spare, since the Contact Information section has recently been made more prominent.] I will likely write a sequel to this article soon, so please take a look at the first one and stay tuned for more useful advice! For samples of The Essay Expert’s LinkedIn Summary statements, see our LinkedIn Profile Samples. And if you are looking for a professional LinkedIn Profile Writing service, please visit our LinkedIn Profile Writing page to learn more about our services and rates. Do you have more ideas about how to write a KILLER LinkedIn Summary? Please share below†¦ you might even get quoted in my next article!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Imapct of Androids and Smart Phones on the Apple I Phone Market Essay

Imapct of Androids and Smart Phones on the Apple I Phone Market - Essay Example The paper will discuss both the positive and negative impacts in respect of the topic. Proper researched material from the internet will be used to complete this paper to satisfaction. This discussion stresses that for the longest time apple has been dominating the smart phone market. This is because of the quality and fair prices that they offer. Apple has a brand of phones that is very popular. The iPhone is an intelligent phone. Every phone that has been produced, in this category of iPhone has not failed to impress. The features of this phone make it no one of the smart phone category. After androids and other smart phones were introduced into the market, there has been radical change in preference when it comes to smart phones. This is because some of the android operated phones are cheaper and offer a wide range of functions. In addition, android allows for installation of more programs than the iPhone. The popular phones from iPhone include, iphone3g, 3gs and the iPhone 4, 4s. Any cell networks support all these phones. You cannot put a number to the types of android and smart phones out there. This is because Android is an operating system belonging to the Linux family and can be used on most phones. Other smart phones can use different platforms like Symbian and windows. Because of this, more smart phones can be offered in the market at a reasonable price. This has impacted the iPhone market in many different ways. ... You cannot put a number to the types of android and smart phones out there. This is because Android is an operating system belonging to the Linux family and can be used on most phones. Other smart phones can use different platforms like Symbian and windows. Because of this, more smart phones can be offered in the market at a reasonable price (Moulton 2013). This has impacted the iPhone market in many different ways. The iPhone market has gone down drastically. Some of these impacts are affecting the IPhone market positively and others are negatively. 4.2 Literature Review When it comes to smart phones, so many reviews and articles have been written about the impact that new types and android phones have brought to the smart phone market. Talks about how these phones have dislodged giants in the market are all over the market. Some will talk about the negative effects that these phones have brought to the market while others will talk about the positives that they have brought to the market. Smart phones are solely responsible for 55% of sales from all mobile phones. Out of all sales of smart phones, android takes 82%, windows 3.6% (Mcglaun 2013). Although the iPhone is trying, it cannot be compared with android. This is one of the negative impacts, which androids and other Smartphones have on the iPhone. iPhone is making a comeback with the iPhone 5c and 5cs (Mcglaun 2013). This is a positive impact that androids and Smartphones have on iPhone because the competition is bringing out the best in iPhone. 5.1 Methodology The method that has been used to research this paper is deductive reasoning. This is where several questions are formulated to give direction on how to write the paper. These questions are answered by

Friday, November 1, 2019

Amy Chua's thesis concerning ethnic conflict and free markets Essay

Amy Chua's thesis concerning ethnic conflict and free markets - Essay Example Her hypothesis argues that a state turns into a hyperpower (a state of influence even higher than a superpower) only after it encompasses all ethnic and religious elements under an umbrella where all may co-exist in their own form without any pressure to conform. This, in her view, is the kind of democracy which would pave way for a journey inclined towards turning the state into a hyperpower. Similarly, once this diversity in terms of ethnicity or religion turns into conflict for existence and influence, the state is bound to lose its power and collapse. In order to critically analyze the hypothesis, the socio-economic scenario of the present day China would be taken as a case study and an insight into the ethnic and religious conflicts would be taken to see the deterrence behind China achieving its status of hyperpower. Prior to applying Chua`s hypothesis on present day China, the current power struggle dynamics in China need to be analyzed. Though apparently China is rising exponentially as one of the global economic powers of the world, it is also an undeniable fact the internal dynamics in China pose a threat to the long term development goal of the state, and owing to these internal dynamics, various negative indicators emerge which lead China towards a saturation point. These very internal dynamics deter China from reaching its true potential, despite diplomatic excellence and economic dominance in the world, its position isn`t as close to being a hyper-power as it should be. Since the past 30 years or so, China has been aiming to improve its internal development indicators and its progress in terms of dealing with its domestic issues (Hao & Cho 11). Yet, it`s a given fact that even today China faces many problems at home which include poverty, class gap, inequality, corruption, social reforms , demographic challenges, ageing population and environmental

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Potential impacts of climate change on food security Essay

Potential impacts of climate change on food security - Essay Example This is in either temperature or a decrease, as well as in precipitation since climate change does not affect certain areas in the same way. Current Trends A look at the production of food following the changes in climate, thanks to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reveals that food production is bound to increase based on a number of factors. This is especially so in the case of regions that grow ice, maize and wheat, as carbon dioxide increases yields of these crops, but that implies that other regions not growing these crops as set to be left out in the bumper harvest (Parry et al, 2004). As per research, the most adversely affected regions are those found in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest variation in cereal production, in a negative level. As for most of Asia, and all of Australia, increases in food production will be increased. As a result, Africa is the only region to suffer from reduced food security, whilst areas close to the north pole suffer seco nd, and the rest of the world experiences improved food security. Carbon and climate change All across the globe, one of the most common causes of climate change is carbon emission that leads to increases in temperature, which begs the question what are the effects of this gas on the climate. This has been concluded that carbon dioxide is a chief contributor to global warming, which is part of why the climate is changing to be warmer in some areas, while others get cooler. As a result, the use of alternative sources of energy that do not entail then emission of carbon into the atmosphere should be encouraged and can be encouraged by use of statistical or empirical data obtained from environmental studies on climate change. One of the ways in which climate change can be mitigated by application of natural resources and sustainability option is through use of renewable resources that have minimal impact on the environment. Those that contain trace amounts of carbon can be used as they do not release any carbon into the atmosphere and temperatures remain stable. Implications of this are that food production remains the same throughout time, and in spite of economic and agricultural activities. Resource sustainability Although there are studies that are indicative of food sustainability through climate change, the larger percentage of the human population is bound to remain in poor nutrition due to food insecurity owing to poor distribution of food resources. The use of renewable resources such as wind power are bound to mitigate these climate changes in that African regions experiencing drastic changes in reduced food production, all thanks to carbon emissions, get to enjoy similar food distribution trends. In addition, climate change can be mitigated to ensure food security by using soil conservation measures, where soil is a renewable resource, and its conservation is a guarantee for agricultural productivity. Because of these conservation efforts maintaining m oisture in the soil adds up to conservation efforts that are a largely required to ensure that soil as a renewable resource is kept intact and highly productive. This then highlights the need for water conservation, as water is a renewable resource, and one that requires the extended use of conservation to balance many other aspects such as maintain

Monday, October 28, 2019

Oscar Wilde’s Essay Example for Free

Oscar Wilde’s Essay The following essay will examine British Literature in two fold: the first being that of Oscar Wilde’s contribution to British Literature and the second being feminism in British Literature in the 1800’s and on. It is hoped that focusing on two separate but entangled subjects will make the paper more accessible and therefore broader in scope and understanding of the reader to British Literature. Peacocks and Sunflowers:Oscar Wilde’s â€Å"Immoral Aestheticism† as an Escape from Reality into the Realm of Beauty Gilbert, the author’s alter ego in Oscar Wilde’s essay â€Å"The Critic as Artist† (originally published in 1888) declared that â€Å"[a]ll art is immoral† (274), and that phrase turned into a manifesto for the â€Å"immoral aestheticism† doctrine of the famous dandy who decorated rooms with peacock feathers and showed in public with a sunflower in the buttonhole. The writer was condemned by contemporaries as a breacher of Victorian ‘moral’ style of living but justified by successors. As Ellmann explains, â€Å"[s]in is more useful to society than martyrdom, since it is self-expressive not self-repressive† and thus contributes more significantly to the acute goal of â€Å"the liberation of the personality† (Ellmann 310). The man who used to be convicted of the offence of â€Å"gross indecency† is praised now as an icon of decadent and modernist style, a revolutionary in aesthetics and ethics, and a prophet of beauty which is above and outside any boundaries. The concept of art and beauty as abstract notions being unrelated to the narrowly dichotomous morals takes a key position in Wilde’s oeuvre. Today’s critics are never tired in their coining of appropriate definitions for the writer’s aesthetic programme. Gillespie, one of the most important researchers of Wilde’s legacy, viewed it as consisting of â€Å"paradoxical gestures† which â€Å"delineate an aesthetic that celebrates the impulse to integrate, amalgamate, and conjoin rather than separate, dissipate, or disperse† (37). Although the writer was aware of â€Å"the grave spiritual dangers involved in a life of immoral action and experiment† (Pearce 164), he underlined the right of an artist to be immoral for the sake of eternal beauty. In his aestheticism, Wilde was an admirer and disciple of essayist and art critic Walter Horatio Pater with the latter’s emphasis on the esthete as a novel kind of being (Murphy 1992; Wood 2002). He was also immersed into the late 19th century cultural milieu as being involved into a polylogue on the topics of art, artist, ethics, and beauty which resulted in the emergence of Decadence and Modernism (Bell 1997). Altogether with the English fin de siecle men of art such as A. C. Swinburne, Walter Pater, Lionel Johnson, Ernest Christopher Dowson, George Moore Symons, and D. G. Rossetti, Wilde researched the concept of aesthetics as being constructed by a person who was proud of â€Å"[his] non-participation †¦ in ethical controversy† (Woodcock 53) and thus freed from the restrictions imposed by society and common law. Oscar Wilde’s â€Å"immoral aestheticism† as an integral part of the decadent and early modernist styles is what the present proposal attempts to look at. It will research Wilde’s critical and fictional legacy in regard to ideas and concepts as pertinent to the new understanding of relationship between art and morals. This proposal attempts to re-examine Oscar Wilde as a theorist of the novel aesthetics, establishing a link between the writer and other theorists and critics to prove that the call for immoral aestheticism was a brilliant attempt to overcome the boredom of reality and enter the world of absolute beauty. Modern Women’s Voices: Sexual Subjectivity in the texts of Victorian and contemporary British women writers Feminism is still one of the most popular critical lenses to zoom into details of history of literature and social life (Brennan 2002; Jackson 1998; Kemp 1997; Scott 1996), and it is proven to be useful within the framework of the given proposal aimed at tracing the common and differentiating points of the two critical periods of British literature. I am especially interested in the late Victorian epoch with its rise of independent women’s suffragist voices and the latest period with its diversity of tones and melodies composed by women writers amidst the turmoil of free speech and re-thinking of common gender values such as career, family, child-rearing, and gender relationships. The novels chosen are The Story of a Modern Woman by Ella Hepworth Dixon (1894), Anna Lombard by Victoria Cross (the pseudonym of Annie Sophie Cory1901), Foreign Parts by Janice Galloway (1994) and Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding (2004). The earlier and later books are divided by almost a century but despite a temporal distance there are common motives and aspirations which approximate the Victorian ‘New Woman’ and a modern British female as depicted in fiction. The feminist movement of the late Victorian period was pre-conditioned by many factors which made the trend not accidental but seriously grounded in the wider social context being permeated by patriarchal ascendance and rigidness of social structure (Bernstein 1997; Lewis and Ardis 2003). The ‘New Women’ movement that acquired much power during the period from the late 1890s to roughly 1915 featured a range of opinions concerning the heightened role of a female in a modern society (Walls 2002; Mitchell 1999). As Ardis (1990) observed, Dixon went farther than her colleagues in asserting the preciousness and independency of a woman as a self-sustaining creature (see also Fehlbaum 2005), whereas Cross’s Anna Lombard represents another type of the late Victorian womanhood as sacrificing her desires and aspirations for the sake of the traditional familial institution. The most recent books by Galloway and Fielding cannot be straight-forwardly labeled as ‘feminist’ writing, although they utilise some stylistic elements of feminist narration (Greene 1991). Whereas Galloway vividly portrays contemporary women as being able to function outside the patriarchic framework but provides no answer to the question about the appropriateness of such life style, Fielding is often criticised for the attempts to find consensus with a men’s world and, therefore, to abandon the programme of modern Amazons (Marsh 2004). Anyhow, both contemporary British women of letters share specific ideas concerning authorship and the interplay between feminist and non-feminist traditions to the extent that they can be seen as spiritual sisters of their Victorian predecessors. Being equipped with solid theoretical instruments from gender studies and psychology (e. g. Lacanian psychoanalytic theory) to conceptualise the evolution of womanhood and gendered selves in Great Britain throughout a century, I hope to establish a link between late Victorian and recent women’s writings with a special emphasis on the literary features of the female novel. The freshness of the proposal is in the choice of research objects (all the four novels are not enough extensively discussed by academic critics) and the carrying of analysis within the theoretical framework concerning authorship that was proposed by a Russian scholar Michael Bakhtin.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Inherit the Wind: Religion vs. Science Essay -- Inherit

Inherit the Wind: Religion vs. Science Stanley Kramer's film, Inherit the Wind, examines a trial based on the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Often referred to as "The Trial of the Century" (Scopes Trial Web Page), the Scopes trial illuminated the controversy between the Christian theory of creation and the more scientific theory of evolution. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was arrested for illegally teaching evolutionism to his class. "The meaning of the trial emerged because it was seen as a conflict of social and intellectual values" (Scopes Trial Web Page). Kramer's film dramatizes this conflict between the Christian believers and the evolutionists in "Hillsboro, heavenly Hillsboro, the buckle on the Bible belt" (Inherit the Wind). Prosecutor Matthew Brady represents the values of fundamental Christianity while defense attorney Henry Drummond is the voice of reason and science. Although the two men have been good friends and partners in the past, the case in Hillsboro illuminates the difference in their values. Through the scene on the porch with Matthew Brady and Henry Drummond, director Stanley Kramer illustrates the incessant tug-of-war between religion and science. More specifically, camera angle and Drummond's metaphor of the "Golden Dancer" help deliver Kramer's belief in evolutionism. As the scene opens, Matthew Brady approaches Henry Drummond, who is rocking peacefully on the front porch of their hotel. The tone between the two men is light and friendly and the bland music playing in the background helps to portray the easiness of the scene. The opposing lawyers converse in a genteel manner, unlike their relationship in the courtroom. In response to B... ...lues. As the camera physically turns towards Drummond, Kramer leans towards evolutionism. Not only does this scene confirm Kramer's belief in the theory of evolution; it also expresses reason for Kramer's reservations regarding Christianity. With Drummond's metaphor of the "Golden Dancer, " Kramer enlightens the audience with some of the shortcomings of religion, such as susceptibility to corruption of the church. The porch scene in Inherit the Wind is not completely one sided though. It acknowledges the existence of both theories, resolving that the debate between creationism and evolutionism will continue forever. Works Cited Inherit the Wind. Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Fredrick March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960. Scopes trial web page. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm. Inherit the Wind: Religion vs. Science Essay -- Inherit Inherit the Wind: Religion vs. Science Stanley Kramer's film, Inherit the Wind, examines a trial based on the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Often referred to as "The Trial of the Century" (Scopes Trial Web Page), the Scopes trial illuminated the controversy between the Christian theory of creation and the more scientific theory of evolution. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was arrested for illegally teaching evolutionism to his class. "The meaning of the trial emerged because it was seen as a conflict of social and intellectual values" (Scopes Trial Web Page). Kramer's film dramatizes this conflict between the Christian believers and the evolutionists in "Hillsboro, heavenly Hillsboro, the buckle on the Bible belt" (Inherit the Wind). Prosecutor Matthew Brady represents the values of fundamental Christianity while defense attorney Henry Drummond is the voice of reason and science. Although the two men have been good friends and partners in the past, the case in Hillsboro illuminates the difference in their values. Through the scene on the porch with Matthew Brady and Henry Drummond, director Stanley Kramer illustrates the incessant tug-of-war between religion and science. More specifically, camera angle and Drummond's metaphor of the "Golden Dancer" help deliver Kramer's belief in evolutionism. As the scene opens, Matthew Brady approaches Henry Drummond, who is rocking peacefully on the front porch of their hotel. The tone between the two men is light and friendly and the bland music playing in the background helps to portray the easiness of the scene. The opposing lawyers converse in a genteel manner, unlike their relationship in the courtroom. In response to B... ...lues. As the camera physically turns towards Drummond, Kramer leans towards evolutionism. Not only does this scene confirm Kramer's belief in the theory of evolution; it also expresses reason for Kramer's reservations regarding Christianity. With Drummond's metaphor of the "Golden Dancer, " Kramer enlightens the audience with some of the shortcomings of religion, such as susceptibility to corruption of the church. The porch scene in Inherit the Wind is not completely one sided though. It acknowledges the existence of both theories, resolving that the debate between creationism and evolutionism will continue forever. Works Cited Inherit the Wind. Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Fredrick March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960. Scopes trial web page. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Teaching Ethics

School for scandal? Business schools turn their attention to ethics education This case examines the role of the business school in encouraging corruption in business, and looks at the potential impacts that business ethics training might have on students. It offers the opportunity to explore the significance of the individual and their education and experience for understanding ethical decision-making. It also provides a context for investigating the specific role, purpose, and impact of business ethics courses on business behaviour.When it turns out that the key figures in some of the most infamous cases of fraud and corruption in business are alumni from leading business schools, it is perhaps not surprising that the business schools themselves might come in for some criticism. After all, if people like Andrew Fastow, the convicted chief financial officer at Enron, or his boss Jeffrey Skilling, could have got MBAs from two of America’s premier business schools (Northwestern and Harvard, respectively) and , then it is inevitable that questions will be raised about what kinds of principles and practices business school students are being taught.In the last few years, a number of business gurus and commentators have publicly condemned business schools in general, and MBA programmes in particular, for their perpetuation of ‘misguided’ amoral theories and techniques, and the lack of attention to ethics in the curriculum.For example, Henry Mintzberg, the Canadian management expert has famously condemned the MBA model, suggesting that it ‘trains the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences’, whilst Sumantra Ghoshal, the late London Business School professor has argued that the ‘worst excesses of recent management practices have their roots in a set of ideas that have emerged from business-school academics over the last 30 years. Ghoshal’s ire is directed to typical theories taught at business schools s uch as agency theory and Porter’s ‘5 forces’ model, which he claims perpetuate an idea that everyone is self-interested, managers cannot be trusted, business is a zero-sum game, and shareholder value is the only legitimate aim of business. The perpetuation of such assumptions, he suggests, leaves business school students devoid of any sense of moral responsibility. These criticisms have received a lot of attention in academic debates, but have also been readily recounted in the media and the business community.For instance The Economist ran a 2005 article headlined ‘Business schools stand accused of being responsible for much that is wrong with corporate management today’ which brought the arguments from Ghoshal, Mintzberg, and others to a wider audience – albeit in a context where the magazine rather predictably mounted a strong defence. After all, as The Economist argued, there are plenty of examples of corporate crooks who have not had a bu siness school education, so there are clearly other aspects to consider too.Nevertheless, whatever else the debate has done, it has certainly helped refocus the attention of business schools on their curricula, and especially on the provision of courses on ethics and social responsibility. At one level, this debate is simply about whether more business schools should be encouraged to introduce such courses into the curriculum. Whilst some schools have long included ethics in their curricula, others have tended to focus more on areas such as strategy, innovation, marketing and finance, whilst others have even dropped ethics courses due to low enrolments or political manoeuvring by sceptical colleagues.As one Wall Street Journal article put it, ‘MBA students and professors bristle at ethics requirements. Some faculty members resent being forced to squeeze ethics lessons into an already jam-packed syllabus, while students grumble that ethics classes tend to be preachy and philoso phical. ’ In this context, the evidence on the scale of ethics teaching is revealing. A recent survey of US schools found that 34 per cent required an ethics course at undergraduate level whilst only 25 per cent did so on MBA degrees.In Europe, the figures are if anything a little lower for compulsory courses, but more than 50 per cent of business schools report having an optional module on ethics or responsibility at undergraduate level and more than 30 per cent at masters level. Essentially, though, most business students can still complete a degree having had hardly any exposure to these subjects in the classroom – a situation that some are now trying to change. One development comes from the US, where a long running campaign by business ethics professors has been trying to make courses on ethics and responsibility compulsory for business students.Over 200 professors offered support to the campaign, but the AACSB (the body responsible for accrediting business degree programmes) appears, so far, to be unconvinced. A recent redraft of their guidelines for accreditation did not bow to the campaigners’ demands, and business ethics remains outside of their list of accredited subjects. Diane Swanson and Bill Frederick, the campaign leaders responded by condemning the AACSB’s arguments for excluding ethics as ‘desperate and out of date against the backdrop of unprecedented corporate scandals, increased public distrust of business, and a virtual sea change in corporate governance. However, some leading schools have moved towards greater attention to ethics. Harvard Business School, for instance, introduced a compulsory course on ‘Leadership and Corporate Accountability’ for all first year students in 2004 – a development that the school claimed represented ‘the most far-reaching course we’ve ever introduced on this subject’. In Europe, the situation is also changing, and in fact there appears to be significantly more support than in the US from European accrediting bodies.The Association of MBAs for example, has issued new criteria for the accreditation of MBA programmes that stipulate that the curriculum ‘should pay attention to ethical and social issues’, while the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is also considering ways to integrate CSR into its EQUIS accreditation. New academic departments and centres have also sprung up in universities to lead ethics and responsibility teaching, such as the Business and Society Management department at Rotterdam School of Management and the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility in Nottingham University Business School.Whilst there is still a long way to go before schools successfully infuse ethics education across all of their courses, such developments certainly point to an increased emphasis over the past decade. Ethics and corporate responsibility feature far more prominently in the prospectuses of business schools than they did even a few years ago. Questions remain though about how ethics should best be integrated into the curriculum, and even whether exposure to the subject really has a positive effect on the decisions made by managers.While some maintain that a stand alone course on ethics is necessary to develop a suitable understanding of the subject and to consolidate its importance on the curriculum, others argue that this raises the prospects of generating an ‘ethics ghetto’ unconnected to mainstream business subjects such as finance and marketing. And the jury is still out on just how much of an effect any form of ethics training is likely to have on individuals. Various objections have been raised over the years, including the suggestion that students’ morality is already fixed and cannot be improved, and the accusations that ethics teaching is abstract, mbiguous, subjective, and little more than indoctrination from self-r ighteous ideologues. Of course, the extent to which some of these accusations are true will vary from course to course, and on the goals of any specific programme. In the main, evidence suggests that courses are rather better at enhancing students’ recognition of ethical issues, stimulating their moral imagination, and developing their analytical skills rather than improving students’ moral development or changing their values.As one business ethics professor puts it, ‘I do not want to teach moral standards; I want to teach a method of moral reasoning through complex issues so that students can apply the moral standards they have. ’ This highlights another growing debate among business ethics professors about the very purpose of business ethics education – and even what a business ethics course should consist of. Whilst one camp retains belief in the established practice of teaching moral philosophy to develop better normative thinking among student s, other camps have started to emerge.Some business school professors see more need to focus on practical management concerns, such as managing the corporate reputation or preventing accounting fraud, whilst others point to the need to understand ethics within wider social, political, and economic structures. One recent business ethics textbook (by Jones et al. 2005) was even introduced by the authors with an admission that they were ‘not particularly fond of business ethics’ because ‘business ethics in its present form is at best window dressing and a worst a calculated lie’!Ultimately then, developments in the field of business ethics education suggests that business schools and accreditation bodies may be beginning to take the subject more seriously, especially in Europe where something of a momentum appears to be building. However, the future direction of business ethics remains in some doubt. Not only will its integration into the curriculum remain pro blematic for some time yet, but as the subject expands and develops, the approach to teaching business ethics will probably shift quite considerably into new conceptual territory.Whatever the outcome, business ethics will have to go a long way before it presents a completely convincing antidote to corporate wrongdoing, and misconduct in the workplace. Questions 1. What are the main factors encouraging business ethics education and what are the main barriers to its further development and expansion? 2. To what extent can business education cause or prevent ethical infractions in business? Give arguments for and against. 3. Given the importance of situational factors in shaping ethical decision-making, what are the limitations posed by business ethics courses that focus on individual students?How would you design a course to focus primarily on situational issues? 4. Consider the aims and approach of the business ethics course that you are currently studying. What are these, and how ef fective is the approach for achieving these aims? What would you like to see done differently? Sources Alsop, R. 2005. At MBA programs, teaching ethics poses its own dilemmas. Wall Street Journal, 12 April. wsj. com. Boston Globe. 2003. Harvard raises its hand on ethics. Boston Globe, 30 December. Ghoshal, S. 2003.Business schools share the blame for Enron. Financial Times, 18 July. Ghoshal, S. 2005. Bad management theories are destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4 (1): 75–91. Jones, C. , Parker, M. , and ten Bos, R. 2005. For business ethics. London: Routledge. Lacy, P. 2005. From the margins to the mainstream: corporate responsibility and the challenge facing business and business schools. Business Leadership Review, 1 (2) (April): 3. Matten, D. and Moon, J. 2004.Corporate social responsibility in Europe. Journal of Business Ethics, 54: 323–37. McDonald, G. M. and Donleavy, G. D. 1995. Objections to the teaching of busi ness ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 14: 839–53. Mintzberg, H. 2004. Managers not MBAs: a hard look at the soft practice of managing and management development. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Swanson, D. and Frederick, W. 2005. Campaign AACSB: status report, January. www. pitt. edu/~rorst6/sim/aacsb. The Economist. 2005. Business schools, bad for business. The Economist, 17 February. Teaching Ethics School for scandal? Business schools turn their attention to ethics education This case examines the role of the business school in encouraging corruption in business, and looks at the potential impacts that business ethics training might have on students. It offers the opportunity to explore the significance of the individual and their education and experience for understanding ethical decision-making. It also provides a context for investigating the specific role, purpose, and impact of business ethics courses on business behaviour.When it turns out that the key figures in some of the most infamous cases of fraud and corruption in business are alumni from leading business schools, it is perhaps not surprising that the business schools themselves might come in for some criticism. After all, if people like Andrew Fastow, the convicted chief financial officer at Enron, or his boss Jeffrey Skilling, could have got MBAs from two of America’s premier business schools (Northwestern and Harvard, respectively) and , then it is inevitable that questions will be raised about what kinds of principles and practices business school students are being taught.In the last few years, a number of business gurus and commentators have publicly condemned business schools in general, and MBA programmes in particular, for their perpetuation of ‘misguided’ amoral theories and techniques, and the lack of attention to ethics in the curriculum.For example, Henry Mintzberg, the Canadian management expert has famously condemned the MBA model, suggesting that it ‘trains the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences’, whilst Sumantra Ghoshal, the late London Business School professor has argued that the ‘worst excesses of recent management practices have their roots in a set of ideas that have emerged from business-school academics over the last 30 years. Ghoshal’s ire is directed to typical theories taught at business schools s uch as agency theory and Porter’s ‘5 forces’ model, which he claims perpetuate an idea that everyone is self-interested, managers cannot be trusted, business is a zero-sum game, and shareholder value is the only legitimate aim of business. The perpetuation of such assumptions, he suggests, leaves business school students devoid of any sense of moral responsibility. These criticisms have received a lot of attention in academic debates, but have also been readily recounted in the media and the business community.For instance The Economist ran a 2005 article headlined ‘Business schools stand accused of being responsible for much that is wrong with corporate management today’ which brought the arguments from Ghoshal, Mintzberg, and others to a wider audience – albeit in a context where the magazine rather predictably mounted a strong defence. After all, as The Economist argued, there are plenty of examples of corporate crooks who have not had a bu siness school education, so there are clearly other aspects to consider too.Nevertheless, whatever else the debate has done, it has certainly helped refocus the attention of business schools on their curricula, and especially on the provision of courses on ethics and social responsibility. At one level, this debate is simply about whether more business schools should be encouraged to introduce such courses into the curriculum. Whilst some schools have long included ethics in their curricula, others have tended to focus more on areas such as strategy, innovation, marketing and finance, whilst others have even dropped ethics courses due to low enrolments or political manoeuvring by sceptical colleagues.As one Wall Street Journal article put it, ‘MBA students and professors bristle at ethics requirements. Some faculty members resent being forced to squeeze ethics lessons into an already jam-packed syllabus, while students grumble that ethics classes tend to be preachy and philoso phical. ’ In this context, the evidence on the scale of ethics teaching is revealing. A recent survey of US schools found that 34 per cent required an ethics course at undergraduate level whilst only 25 per cent did so on MBA degrees.In Europe, the figures are if anything a little lower for compulsory courses, but more than 50 per cent of business schools report having an optional module on ethics or responsibility at undergraduate level and more than 30 per cent at masters level. Essentially, though, most business students can still complete a degree having had hardly any exposure to these subjects in the classroom – a situation that some are now trying to change. One development comes from the US, where a long running campaign by business ethics professors has been trying to make courses on ethics and responsibility compulsory for business students.Over 200 professors offered support to the campaign, but the AACSB (the body responsible for accrediting business degree programmes) appears, so far, to be unconvinced. A recent redraft of their guidelines for accreditation did not bow to the campaigners’ demands, and business ethics remains outside of their list of accredited subjects. Diane Swanson and Bill Frederick, the campaign leaders responded by condemning the AACSB’s arguments for excluding ethics as ‘desperate and out of date against the backdrop of unprecedented corporate scandals, increased public distrust of business, and a virtual sea change in corporate governance. However, some leading schools have moved towards greater attention to ethics. Harvard Business School, for instance, introduced a compulsory course on ‘Leadership and Corporate Accountability’ for all first year students in 2004 – a development that the school claimed represented ‘the most far-reaching course we’ve ever introduced on this subject’. In Europe, the situation is also changing, and in fact there appears to be significantly more support than in the US from European accrediting bodies.The Association of MBAs for example, has issued new criteria for the accreditation of MBA programmes that stipulate that the curriculum ‘should pay attention to ethical and social issues’, while the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is also considering ways to integrate CSR into its EQUIS accreditation. New academic departments and centres have also sprung up in universities to lead ethics and responsibility teaching, such as the Business and Society Management department at Rotterdam School of Management and the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility in Nottingham University Business School.Whilst there is still a long way to go before schools successfully infuse ethics education across all of their courses, such developments certainly point to an increased emphasis over the past decade. Ethics and corporate responsibility feature far more prominently in the prospectuses of business schools than they did even a few years ago. Questions remain though about how ethics should best be integrated into the curriculum, and even whether exposure to the subject really has a positive effect on the decisions made by managers.While some maintain that a stand alone course on ethics is necessary to develop a suitable understanding of the subject and to consolidate its importance on the curriculum, others argue that this raises the prospects of generating an ‘ethics ghetto’ unconnected to mainstream business subjects such as finance and marketing. And the jury is still out on just how much of an effect any form of ethics training is likely to have on individuals. Various objections have been raised over the years, including the suggestion that students’ morality is already fixed and cannot be improved, and the accusations that ethics teaching is abstract, mbiguous, subjective, and little more than indoctrination from self-r ighteous ideologues. Of course, the extent to which some of these accusations are true will vary from course to course, and on the goals of any specific programme. In the main, evidence suggests that courses are rather better at enhancing students’ recognition of ethical issues, stimulating their moral imagination, and developing their analytical skills rather than improving students’ moral development or changing their values.As one business ethics professor puts it, ‘I do not want to teach moral standards; I want to teach a method of moral reasoning through complex issues so that students can apply the moral standards they have. ’ This highlights another growing debate among business ethics professors about the very purpose of business ethics education – and even what a business ethics course should consist of. Whilst one camp retains belief in the established practice of teaching moral philosophy to develop better normative thinking among student s, other camps have started to emerge.Some business school professors see more need to focus on practical management concerns, such as managing the corporate reputation or preventing accounting fraud, whilst others point to the need to understand ethics within wider social, political, and economic structures. One recent business ethics textbook (by Jones et al. 2005) was even introduced by the authors with an admission that they were ‘not particularly fond of business ethics’ because ‘business ethics in its present form is at best window dressing and a worst a calculated lie’!Ultimately then, developments in the field of business ethics education suggests that business schools and accreditation bodies may be beginning to take the subject more seriously, especially in Europe where something of a momentum appears to be building. However, the future direction of business ethics remains in some doubt. Not only will its integration into the curriculum remain pro blematic for some time yet, but as the subject expands and develops, the approach to teaching business ethics will probably shift quite considerably into new conceptual territory.Whatever the outcome, business ethics will have to go a long way before it presents a completely convincing antidote to corporate wrongdoing, and misconduct in the workplace. Questions 1. What are the main factors encouraging business ethics education and what are the main barriers to its further development and expansion? 2. To what extent can business education cause or prevent ethical infractions in business? Give arguments for and against. 3. Given the importance of situational factors in shaping ethical decision-making, what are the limitations posed by business ethics courses that focus on individual students?How would you design a course to focus primarily on situational issues? 4. Consider the aims and approach of the business ethics course that you are currently studying. What are these, and how ef fective is the approach for achieving these aims? What would you like to see done differently? Sources Alsop, R. 2005. At MBA programs, teaching ethics poses its own dilemmas. Wall Street Journal, 12 April. wsj. com. Boston Globe. 2003. Harvard raises its hand on ethics. Boston Globe, 30 December. Ghoshal, S. 2003.Business schools share the blame for Enron. Financial Times, 18 July. Ghoshal, S. 2005. Bad management theories are destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4 (1): 75–91. Jones, C. , Parker, M. , and ten Bos, R. 2005. For business ethics. London: Routledge. Lacy, P. 2005. From the margins to the mainstream: corporate responsibility and the challenge facing business and business schools. Business Leadership Review, 1 (2) (April): 3. Matten, D. and Moon, J. 2004.Corporate social responsibility in Europe. Journal of Business Ethics, 54: 323–37. McDonald, G. M. and Donleavy, G. D. 1995. Objections to the teaching of busi ness ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 14: 839–53. Mintzberg, H. 2004. Managers not MBAs: a hard look at the soft practice of managing and management development. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Swanson, D. and Frederick, W. 2005. Campaign AACSB: status report, January. www. pitt. edu/~rorst6/sim/aacsb. The Economist. 2005. Business schools, bad for business. The Economist, 17 February.