10 Basic Chemistry Facts You Should Know

There are certain facts that every chemistry buff should know. How many of these fun and interesting facts do you already have stored in your brain? Test Your Knowledge Chemistry is the study of matter and energy and the interactions between them. It is a physical science that is closely related to physics, which often shares the same definition.Chemistry traces its roots back to the ancient study of alchemy. Chemistry and alchemy are separate now, though alchemy still is practiced today.All matter is made up of the chemical elements, which are distinguished from each other by the numbers of protons they possess.The chemical elements are organized in order of increasing atomic number into the periodic table. The first element in the periodic table is hydrogen.Each element in the periodic table has a one or two-letter symbol. The only letter in the English alphabet not used on the periodic table is J. The letter Q only appeared in the symbol for the placeholder name for element 114, ununquadium, which had the symbol Uuq. When element 114 was officially discovered, it was given the new name Flerovium  At room temperature, there are only two liquid e lements. These are bromine and mercury.The IUPAC name for water, H2O, is dihydrogen monoxide.Most elements are metals and most metals are silver-colored or gray. The only non-silver metals are gold and copper.The discoverer of an element may give it a name. There are elements named for people (Mendelevium, Einsteinium), places (Californium, Americium) and other things.Although you may consider gold to be rare, there is enough gold in the Earths crust to cover the land surface of the planet knee-deep.

Vista University Strategic Planning For 2025 - 1713 Words

Buena Vista University Strategic Planning for 2025 In this strategic plan, we are looking at today’s situation to help determine the future structure of Buena Vista University at the Council Bluffs location in 2025. The strategic plan consists of a vision and mission statement, SWOT analysis, strategy, and success metrics. Vision Statement â€Å"Our objective is to be in the top 10% of private colleges in financial strength and operational soundness by year 2025.† Mission Statement â€Å"Our purpose is to prepare students for life-long success in career and personal development.† SWOT Analysis Strengths: †¢ Financial position †¢ Small class sizes †¢ Class selection †¢ Location †¢ Bookstore †¢ Availability of computers Opportunities: †¢ Obama’s free community college plan †¢ Job summit †¢ Community outreach †¢ Curriculum expansion †¢ Athletics †¢ Housing †¢ Child care and pet sitting services †¢ Offer self-pace classes †¢ Routine structure of learning †¢ Virtual reality learning Weaknesses: †¢ Low enrollment †¢ Tuition †¢ Competition †¢ Size and degree offerings †¢ Classes overlap †¢ Budget constraints †¢ Inconsistency with bookstores †¢ Inability to rent textbooks †¢ Lack of teaching degree †¢ Diversity †¢ Marketing Threats: †¢ Discontinuance of academic programs †¢ Increasing tuition costs †¢ Competition †¢ Age of retirement †¢ Technology Strengths: Financial strength and operational soundness – Buena Vista University is in the top 20% of the nation’s private colleges for financial strength andShow MoreRelatedUrban Regeneration And Urban Development9597 Words   |  39 Pagesthe ‘Oxford of the East’, a legacy which came into prominence on the establishment of the University of Pune in the year 1949 (Hindustan Times, 2012). The city truly justified itself as the cultural capital of Maharashtra with its strong connections with the work of arts, music, theater and literature (Hindustan Times, 2012). Pune, being an educational hub of India by having one of the India’s oldest University (Maharashtra Tourism, 2013), has now been transformed into a major manufacture and productionRead MoreAirheads Business Analysis Essay34215 Words   |  137 PagesStrategic Analysis Project Airheads Trampoline Arena 26th July 2012 Table of contents Executive Summary 7 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS Introduction 9 Family Entertainment Center Industry 9 Market Size 9 Sales Growth 10 Stages of Industry Life Cycle 11 Trend 12 Key Competitors 12 Pest Analysis 13 Exhibit 1: Factors of the PEST Analysis 14 Political and Legal Factors 14 Economic Factors 16

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Free Essays

CJ Raia August 20th 2012 Mr. Balazs AP European History One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich â€Å"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,† the Nobel Prize winning novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, describes life in a Russian gulag during the mid-20th century. The novel describes one day in the gulag through the eyes of Ivan Denisovich or â€Å"Shukhov† as he is referred to in the book. We will write a custom essay sample on One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or any similar topic only for you Order Now It shows how Shukhov’s day begins with waking at five in the morning to negative forty degree temperatures. He then eats breakfast, which consists of â€Å"skilly,† a watery soup made of old vegetables, and moldy bread. After breakfast, he proceeds to be forcefully marched to the work field where he and his â€Å"gang† toil in the freezing cold constructing a power plant. While dressed in nothing but rags, and some felt books, Shukhov lays mortar while being buffeted by the harsh winds of the Siberian tundra. After a full 12-hour workday, he is then marched back to the gulag where he has dinner, which is again skilly, and old bread. This particular day ends up being a good day for Shukhov because he is able to get two portions for lunch and dinner, and a small pinch of tobacco. This routine is repeated every day for Shukhov’s â€Å"light† ten-year sentence. This novel gives the reader a glimpse of life in a â€Å"gulag. † It shows the reader how during Stalin’s Communist reign over the USSR, those people considered socially dangerous, disruptive, suspicious, or disloyal were thrown into labor camps to serve out there sentences. The novel gives us an idea of how harsh these camps were and how they were used to provide the communist regime with cheap labor. In addition, the book gives the reader a taste of the distrust that was circling around the USSR at the time. We see that many of the prisoners thrown in the gulag were considered spies or anti-communists. However, it is shown that the majority of these prisoners, including Shukhov, were in fact innocent. This gives us an idea of how oppressive the Communist government under Stalin was during the 1940’s. In this novel, there are many different themes. Through the character, Solzhenitsyn shows how humans can endure the most severe conditions. He shows how Shukhov and his inmates maintain their humanity through small acts and routines. Routines like, not licking empty bowls and removing one’s hat before meals. Throughout the book, the prisoners work hard to maintain their humanity and dignity. They do so despite the horrible conditions and the imprisonment. Another theme that Solzhenitsyn touches upon is the destruction of human solidarity. In the book it says, â€Å"The zek’s main enemy is another zek. † Solzhenitsyn shows us throughout the novel that the distrust and conflict between prisoners just worsens prison life. He shows how prisoners with powerful positions, such as the foreman or the cook, abuse their power and take from other prisoners. This shows how the rough life in camp and lack of necessities forces the zeks to turn against each other while imprisoned. Another theme identified in the novel was the possession of time. Since much of the prisoners day was structured and filled with work the small amounts of time in the morning, during meal times, and in the evening were precious to the zeks. They used this time to perform small jobs to earn money or go about business that would help ensure their survival. Since these small amounts of time were so precious, the zeks acted like the time was theirs and when it was taken away, they felt cheated out of something extremely valuable. The last theme identified in the novel is the importance of faith. Solzhenitsyn demonstrates how faith can help the human mind endure through and even make light of a difficult situation. The character Alyoshka, a devout Baptist, exhibits how faith can be a way of survival and happiness while stuck in the camps. At the conclusion of the novel, Shukhov experiences a sensation of inner peace, which resembles the feeling that Alyoshka experiences. This shows that religious faith gives strength in times of hardship. Overall, this novel was very helpful to me because it taught me a lot about Soviet history. It gave me insight on how brutal the Soviet gulags were. It allowed me to see what type of everyday hardships the inmates went through will imprisoned there. It also gave me insight into how severe the Soviet government was during the 1930’s and 40’s. It really taught me what labor camps were and how they deeply affected the nation’s people. The fact that this book was a novel also helped me learn about history in a more effective way. Seeing life through Shukhov’s eyes almost let me experience the harshness of the gulag. Personally, I think novels are much more helpful when it comes to learning about history because not only do they supply you with facts, but they also allow the reader to experience history through the characters. The plots in novels also help in learning about history. Unlike non-fiction, books, which are generally just dry facts, novels, supply a plot that can be exciting for the reader. It makes the reader actually concerned or excited for those characters participating in the plot line. Reading â€Å"One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich† by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn not only was a very helpful tool in learning about Soviet Labor camps during the early-mid 20th century but also a very enjoyable read. Personally, I enjoyed the book very much due to its vivid description of the harsh life in the gulag and enthralling account of Shukhov’s actions to survive. The story of just one man’s day in such a camp and his ability to overcome the adversity not only sparked my interest but also my appreciation for people in history. This novel made me respect those who actually went through these camps and survived. It gave me a new perspective on history. Not only was this novel a fascinating story but also a very well written one. Solzhenitsyn beautifully captured the emotions of the characters throughout the book. It really gave me a sense that I was feeling the hopelessness or the drive for survival that many of the characters felt. How to cite One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Essay examples

Final research HND Business free essay sample

By The Name Allah the Most Merciful and Almighty Executive Summary Of Research on Basant or Spring Festival Event for the research was decided as â€Å"Basant or Spring Festival Lahore†. Basant was started 1300-1400 hundred century. But in near past the event was become controversial. Some religious activist called it Hinduism while some people in taking lead in kite-flying start taking lives of people and this activity was banned. Its was business event too and contributing national income. Was a beneficial for hotel and food industry etc. Our research was too found out the reasons for banning it. The beneficiaries of the festival and out put from the event and Myths regarding the events as well as give some recommendation. For the purpose a detailed proposal were made and presented to supervisor after approval of the proposal. Work was started on research. Literature was reviewed for facts finding. A questionnaire were made and distributed in 500 people and collected, interviews were conducted from different stake holders and other techniques of data collection were applied. Data were organized and presented in percentage and graphically. Analysis was made. The research findings were that basant or spring festival is better business activity accepted people of the country and encouraged by the business community. Basant has nothing with religion. It is celebrated with seasonal change. Some religious groups are against it because of the immoral un-ethical musical and dance shows during the festival. Some people use alcohol in public places and commit crime these should be stopped. Kite-flying with harmful wires should be banned as it takes lives as well as damages electricity lines etc. The events mainly benefits hotel, food, garments, transport, music, traitor industry and overall positively affect the market of Lahore. Government can provide better law order situation too public and Lahore is feasible in security prospective for spring festival. Literature Review Of Basant or Spring Festival Basant is centuries old cultural festival of Punjab. It was started in 1300-1400 century. But in near past got controversial as the some religious groups called it sign of Hinduism and show zero tolerance over it. According to Dr. B. S. Nijjars book, Punjab under the Later Mughals. According to him, when Zakariya Khan (1707-1759) was the governor of Punjab, a Hindu of Sialkot, by the name of Hakeekat Rai Bakhmal Puri spoke words of disrespect for the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his daughter Fatima (ra). He was arrested and sent to Lahore to await trial. The non-Muslim population was stirred to request Zakariya Khan to lift the death sentence given to Hakeekat Rai but he did not accede to their request. Eventually the death penalty was carried out and the entire non-Muslim population went into mourning. As a tribute to his memory, a prosperous Hindu, Kalu Ram initiated the Basant mela in (Marrhi) Kot Khwaja Saeed (Khoje Shahi) in Lahore. (This place is now known as Baway di marrhi. ) It is the last stop on the route of Wagon no. 60 from Bhati Gate. Dr. B. S. Nijjar states on Page no. 279 of his book that the Basant mela is celebrated in memory of Hakeekat Rai. Another myth about Basant is â€Å"It is said that Nizamuddin Auliya had no children. He had adopted his nephew who died at the age of 20. Amir Khusro tried to cheer the bereaved Nizamuddin, but in vain. One day while Amir Khusro was walking in the fields, he saw some young women dressed in yellow clothes and celebrating Basant. Khusro donned a yellow ghagra ad covered himself with a chunni and sang the qawwali — Sakal basant aayo ri. Seeing he dressed in yellow clothes, Nizamuddin became cheerful. † But majority of the society consider all the as myth and has opinion that It is a seasonal festival of indo-Pak and has no religious aspects. It is celebrated at spring on starting of winter on fourth or fifth day of lunar month (Magh). Yellow is mainly used for basant as its is narrated for wheat row and mustard blossoms in the seasons. Yellow color is considered as the color of Spring. Yellow outfits are worn in these days mostly. In pre-partition India Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all celebrated Basant. Basant festivals held in all major cities of Punjab. Yellow clothes were worn; men wore yellow turbans and women yellow dupattas and saris. It was common to sway swings among Hindu, Muslim and Sikh women together and Basant’s traditional songs were sung that reflected the liveliness and romance of life in Punjab. Kite flying was common but on a small scale with decency. Kite flying is also part of the festival. Most of kite flyers are illiterate and labor class. They mostly use unethical ways for winning kites competition which leads to deaths of valuable lives. This factor decrease the color of this great festival from last 50 Years and the slogan is shouting Celebrate Basant- but don’t snatch away lives. Gallup Pakistan Survey: Basant as Business activity Basant is high appreciated business activity as people from the whole country rush towards Lahore and hotel industry , food industry , music and other tourism industry boost up with the festival. It is highly encouraged by business community of Lahore. According to a survey 11% of the whole year business is three days of basant in Hotel and Food industry. Same effects brought on other industries. Research Back Ground In our country every business activity is banned due to some accident or religious pressure groups same controversy is with spring or Basant festival. I want to find out the financial benefits from this type of festival and the aim of pressure groups. As part of the academic requirement, in the Higher National Diploma program in IPS, Peshawar; for completing diploma of Business Studies the students are required to write a eport for each one of their core units, this one being Research Project. This subject gives us an opportunity to learn how we can write a detailed research report in a given word limit on a business organization. Our choice of Topic will be Basant Festival or Spring Festival Lahore. In the research we will address the questions 1. Effects of Spring Festival on Business Community of Lahore. 2. Finding financial beneficiary of Spring Festival Lahore. 3. Finding good and bad of Basant or Spring Festival. 4. Are Basant Festival suits our Law and Order situation? 5. Why our Religious activists are against the Festival? 6. How much basant Festival contributing to which industry and National Income. Data Collection Primary Data: For the purpose of collection of primary Data, Spring Festival was observed. Interviews were arranged with different community members and life class as well as with Business community of Lahore. Hotel Managers, Restaurant owners, Visitors were also interviewed. For the same purpose a Questionnaire were also made and distributed in different groups of community as well as to religious groups. Collect back and analyzed. Secondary Data: Secondary data collection were made trough news paper , magazine and mainly from internet sources , where we found that government banned kite flying not the Festival while Religious groups pretending it as Hinduism but Business community appreciate it. Research Methodology We have used different methodologies for our report taught in the course book. During This report, we used both the primary as well as the secondary data. Major sources are primary data and some of it is secondary date sources. Most of information will be through personal observations and interviews. Other information was gathered through mystery shopping during the visit to the different Areas of Lahore During Spring Festival. Additional will be through questionnaires and surveys, brochures studies, telephonic interviews, newspaper, magazines and Internet sites search.. The major aim of this report was to study the about Festival as Business activity. Research techniques and Results Observation: A visit were made to Lahore during Basant Festival and observed the event 3 days. It was noticed that people of the country and business community Lahore really encourage the festival. But some citizen has the view that kite-flying should be minus from the festival as it take many lives every year and damage government property as people use harmful wires for kite-flying. Some religious groups are against it and want to ban dance parties and music shows in the festival. But large number of people supports it. Interviews: Interviews from different from different groups of community were made including government officials. Hotel Industry stakeholders, Food Industry Stake Holders, visitors and Religious groups. Interview questions were mainly same as questionnaire and including some general discussion. 50 people were taken interview including students, business man, government officials, religious activists and other community members. The questions result of the interview was as below. Results and Graphical Representation of Interviews: Q. 1: Are You in the favor of Basant or Spring Festival in Pakistan? Result: YES was the answer of 80% people and NO was the answer of 20% people. Graphical Representation: Q. 2: Basant Festival has any relation with religion? Result: Yes was the answer of 20% people and No was the answer of 70% while 10% people said that they don’t know about the Issue. Graphical Representation: Q. 3: Basant Festival Effects on Business Community of Lahore. Result: NAGATIVE was the answer of 8% while POSITIVE was the answer of 92%. Graphical Representation: Q. 4: Is Basant Festival suits our Law and Order situation in Lahore? Result: YES was the answer of 60% people and NO was the answer of 30% while 10% people said that they don’t know. Graphical Representation: Q. 5: Basant Festival Favor National Income? Result: 87% People answered as YES and 11% as NO while 2% has no comments. Graphical Representation:. Positives of Basant are more heavy than negative? Result: YES was the Answer of 78% People while NO was the answer 22% People during interviews. Graphical Representation: Q. 7: Kite Flying Should is banned? Result: YES was the answer of 67% People while NO was the answer of 20% and 13% People has no comments on the question. Graphical Representation: Q. 8: Basant Festival Should is kept Banned? Result: YES was the answer of 20% while 80% was NO. Graphical Representation: Questionnaire: Questionnaire was used to for distance stake holders. They people who were not easily reachable. Result of Question Number 7: YES: 66% NO: 34% Graphical Representation: Result of Question Number 8: YES : 20% NO : 80% Graphical Representation: Internet Search: Internet Search was used as Secondary data findings. We found some writings on Basant and Spring Festival and analyzed accordingly. These writings has two stories about basant one supporting the festival as cultural festival and No relation with Hinduism while the other showing it has extreme hindu festival and against the religious values of Muslims. While most of writings shows it a healthy financial activity with some bad strings attached with it as it make many damages to human lives , electricity lines etc in regard of kite-flying and moral ethical values in Music and Dance parties. Findings Basant or Spring Festival is acceptable to majority with some changes. Law and Order situation is better in Lahore for Festival. Kite-Flying Should is kept banned. Religious groups are extreme against it and called it Hinduism. Government is ready to allow it in business aspect. Moral Ethical Values should follow. Hotel and Food industry mainly is the beneficiary of the festival. Youngsters are the main supporters of the festival. Most of supporters are Muslim. It is given out put financial growth of the country. It’s an organized festival after Eid. Analysis After that data was organized and analyzed with different techniques of Data Analysis. Mainly the pie chart and Bar Chart method were used for Data Analysis. And result was produced for implementation. All the data formats and findings Shows that all stakeholders are in the favor of Basant or spring festival in Lahore as healthy business activity with some changes is the format of Festival. Mainly Hotel and food industry is beneficiary of the festival while Music, film and traitor industry also earning good from this festival. Garments and Fashion is industry is the indirect beneficiary of the event. Transporters, SME’s and general labor and working also get good benefits from the festival. Conclusion Recommendations Basant or Spring Festival is healthy Business activity. Government should allow the Basant or Spring Festival as per demand of Business community and higher percentage of public. Kite-Flying should ban or allowed outside of walled city. Better security should be provided. Religious groups should convince and their guanine demands should be fulfilled. Harmful wire should completely ban from manufacturing. Un-ethical and Immoral acts should be discouraged. People from other parts of the country should be properly entertained to encourage the business. Proper promotion and Public Awareness campaign should be initiated to guide the people from stopping bad of Basant. Spring Festival and other Festival should be celebrated as it warm up different businesses.

Internal and External Security for The Holiday Inn Online Reservation System

Introduction A hotel reservation system is an online method of booking hotel rooms; the people booking the rooms, who in most cases are travelers and tourists, normally do so by means of an online security system to protect their financial information and other private details.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Internal and External Security for The Holiday Inn Online Reservation System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Online reservations have a number of benefits: they save travellers time and resources, and they can book from anywhere and at any time, provided they can have access to the Internet (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005). Although a hotel reservation system is quite beneficial, it can be affected by internal and external security issues. The scope of this paper is to examine the security issues affecting the hotel reservation system at the Holiday Inn. The paper also outlines the strategies , which Holiday Inn can use to manage its security issues. Privacy Issues at Holiday Inn’s There are a number of privacy issues, both internal and external, which users of the application system can experience as they book for hotel reservations. The reservation system used at the Holiday Inn is based on hotel management software, which is prone to a number of privacy issues due to the fact that it uses the internet. The internal issues comprise threats propagated by malicious users, who mostly come from within the organization, while the external ones comprise threats such as viruses,which are initiated by outsiders. Such serious internal and external privacy issues can make the organization lose most of its customers; consequently, it is important to set up all the necessary security measures to avert any privacy issues (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005). The possible internal privacy threats that may occur to customers who make their bookings using the online reser vation system at the Holiday Inn include: malicious users and fraudsters. Malicious users refer to individuals who break into the organization’s computers without due permission from its administration department. Malicious users are mainly insiders who can manage to get access to the organization’s IT system as a result of the internet, which offers a broad connectivity of the hotel’s booking system. Malicious users attempt to break into the information system of the organization almost on a daily basis. The damages caused by such users, when they manage to break into the hotel’s system, are consequential to the organization as well as to its customers (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005).Advertising Looking for assessment on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Fraud or theft is another internal threat to the privacy of the customers who apply for reservations at the hotel using its online ap plication system. Holiday Inn’s computer systems are at times exploited by fraudsters, thanks to the automation of the earlier traditional fraudulent methods. Such fraud occurs mainly when dishonest employees use computers to float small amounts of money from accounts of customer who make large deposits. During such fraud, the financial information belonging to the hotel’s customers is put at high risk, as it can be accessed by the fraudsters; consequently, such internal threats interfere with the privacy of the customers by divulging their financial information (Tesone, 2006). Apart from the internal threats, the reservation system used at the Holiday Inn is equally exposed to external risks, which are caused by hackers and viruses. Hackers are remote users who can access the hotel’s information system without authorization from its management. Hackers have smart tactics, which they use to bypass firewalls, encryption, filters, and other security measures insta lled by the organization to safeguard its information system. They focus on the networks of the organization to gain access to information that they know is valuable, but heavily guarded. If hackers gain access to the hotel’s IT system, they can interfere with the customers’ personal and financial information (Tesone, 2006). The second external threat to the privacy of the customers’ information is the existence of viruses in the hotel’s information and technology system. Viruses are programs that can harm the organization’s IT system by freezing or deleting important information from its computers. Viruses gain entry into personal computers through infected portable disks, email attachments and shared local networks. When viruses attack the organization’s network system, it can lose all or most of the important files, including personal details and financial information of the customers (Tesone, 2006). Threats – Internal and External Computer threats, which include internal and external attacks, can interfere with the hardware that is used to store vital resources of the organization; consequently, such threats can cause the organization serious hardware and software losses. Internal threats refer to attacks that are initiated by insiders of a firm, who mostly comprise unhappy and dishonest staff.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Internal and External Security for The Holiday Inn Online Reservation System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Most employees who want become internal attackers can easily gain access to the organization’s information technology (IT) system; as a result, they are able to coverup their tracks by making the threats undetectable. The situation can get worse if such employees have administrative rights of entry into the organization’s IT system. As a result of internal threats, the organization can los e crucial files that are important in carrying out important business operations (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005).  On the other hand, external threats are carried out by attackers who are not employees of the organization. Most external attackers are malicious users who carry out the attacks by gaining access to the organization’s networks without the assistance of the employees. External threats are carried out by scanning and collecting data with the intention of causing damage to it. External threats are mostly detected through thouroughly scrutinizing all the firewall logs that exist in the IT system (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005). External threats are divided into two categories: structured and unstructured types. Structured external threats are carried out by people whose main intention is to damage important information concerning the organization, its employees and its clientele. The main inspirations behind structured external threats are ter rorism, politics, greed, and racial intolerance. These attackers comprise people who are highly skilled in up to date network attack methods, which they use to gain access to an organization’s system. An unstructured external threat is almost similar to a structured one only that it is normally done by unskilled attackers, whose motivation is to gain fame by attempting to hack into websites of either individuals or organizations (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005). Security Procedures Against Privacy Threats There are a number of procedures and resources within the organization that need to be protected against network threats. The resources include spywares, inventories, and passwords. Spyware refers to computer software designed in such a way that it is able to collect users’ personal information or change the users’ computer settings without their consent. Spyware applications are transmitted into an organization’s computer through an infected f ile, which is normally downloaded from a website. A computer can be protected against spyware by installing an anti-spyware application. Anti-spyware applications scans file downloads to ensure that none of the files contain such threats (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005).Advertising Looking for assessment on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Inventory is another resource within the organization that needs protection against threats. There are two types of inventories in the organization: software inventory and network inventory. The two inventories can be protected by installing Lansweeper into the organization’s computers and the entire IT system. Lansweeper, when installed into the system, enables inventory software to detect the applications installed on the system, and ascertains when the installations should happen. Lansweeper also enables network inventory to detect hardware appliances installed on the organization’s computers. Networks supported by Lansweeper also scan windows devices and other appliances such as IP enabled devices (Nyheim, McFadden, Connolly, Paiva, 2005). Lastly, passwords can also be used to protect the resources, which are kept in the organization’s computer systems. Passwords comprise words or numbers that are only known to the user and which they use to access their co mputer. Passwords are used to enhance system security and user privacy by preventing unauthorized people from gaining access to personal computers. The use of passwords also helps to prevent unauthorized actions, which compromise the security of the IT system. Passwords also help IT management personnel to protect the system from unauthorized disclosure or unauthorized alteration of the data kept in the system (Tesone, 2006). Conclusion The paper talks about the security and privacy issues affecting the hotel reservation system at the Holiday Inn. The privacy issues are caused by internal factors, such as malicious users, and external factors, such as hackers and viruses. Apart from the privacy issues, the paper also unveils the internal and external threats, which adversely affect the organization’s resources. Lastly, the paper recommends spyware protection, use of passwords and inventory enhancements, as some of the ways The Holiday Inn can use to protect its resources and private details of its clients. References Nyheim, P. D., McFadden, F. M., Connolly, D. J., Paiva, A. J. (2005). Technology strategies for the hospitality industry. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Tesone, D. V. (2006). Hospitality information systems and e-commerce. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Sons. This assessment on Internal and External Security for The Holiday Inn Online Reservation System was written and submitted by user Desiree Holder to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Proposal on the Project of Providing A Comprehensive Understanding of Sickle Cell Anemia Essays

Proposal on the Project of Providing A Comprehensive Understanding of Sickle Cell Anemia Essays Proposal on the Project of Providing A Comprehensive Understanding of Sickle Cell Anemia Essay Proposal on the Project of Providing A Comprehensive Understanding of Sickle Cell Anemia Essay This Project was inspired by the fatality of the subject in question. Though, many people have heard about this Disease but only a few have the knowledge of the characteristics and the know-how to handle this fragile but deadly blood poison. I propose to undertake this topic to achieve the following: To create awareness on the deadliness of the disease to both the General Public and members of the OSU fraternity. To make available to the General public the comprehensive information on the diagnosis and treatment of Sickle Cell Anemia by having a general overview of what the symptoms are. To provide the public with the various causes of the disease and the characteristics of the various forms of it that we have. To explain how it can be effectively managed and suppressed. I hope to achieve all the above by: Making use of my experience with family member who was affected by this disease and my knowledge of medicine as a student. Providing a summary and the analysis of research on Sickle Cell Anemia with great comparison on from at least five different but notable medical journals wherein informed and extensive research had been carried out. Interviewing medical staff specialized in diagnosis and treatment as well as dealing with victims of Sickle Cell Anemia. I will be able to gather first hand information on the disease and be in a better-informed position to enlighten the public with my findings, observations and inferences. My target beneficiaries of this Project would be Practitioners and the Reading Public. After this comprehensive and exhaustive report has been put together and made available to the target groups, I would have achieved the following:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A great sense of usefulness to my generation.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A broader spectrum of knowledge of the topic myself and therefore;  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Becoming a one-on-one authority on the subject matter and would be able to educate peers, families and most especially the public on the disease.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A more informed community of people with greater sense of responsibility rather than stigma to Sickle Cell anemia patients. All these I believe make the Project worthwhile and important in the achievement of a world devoid of Sickle Cell Anemia – the silent killer.

ART EDUCATION ACROSS CULTURES Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ART EDUCATION ACROSS CULTURES - Research Paper Example At the Fowler Museum, its current location, one may gain appreciation of the eruditely chiseled details in the art of the hornbill’s sculpture which is specifically prominent with its peculiarly and sharply pointed bill having a seemingly elaborate trajectory and body painting under various strokes and pigments depicting how colorful Iban festivals are. Besides its extensive recognition as an object of art of aesthetic and crucial value, hornbill carvings signify the way of life of Iban people and the unique reputation associated with Iban’s utmost festive celebration with religious rituals (Davenport). Hornbill Figure typically is a special embodiment of a bird believed to possess knowledge and wisdom of what is to come. Aside from bringing a prophecy upon which Iban communities heavily relied in the past, it is profoundly considered as a fundamental medium that allowed blending of spiritual dimension with the world of humans so that the latter may possibly convey thei r freedom to interact with spirits and supernatural beings in a variety of concerns.

Research Paper on a Terrorist Group Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

On a Terrorist Group - Research Paper Example The â€Å"Al Qaeda† was formed in Afghanistan in 1989 to fight the members of the Soviet Union in that country. During that time, the Soviet Union wanted to suppress a budding Islamic Revolution. Thus, the founders of Al Qaeda wished to counter this oppression under the common banner of Islam. A huge number of Arab Afghans travelled from all parts of the Arab world to participate in this â€Å"jihad† and enrolled at the recruitment camp of the organization at Peshawar, situated at the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri arrived at Peshawar and took over the leadership of the group. During the beginning the organization functioned as a hierarchical structure to facilitate its participation in the war against the Soviets. This arrangement helped the group to send military troops and war aids to Afghanistan and gradually prepared the organization to launch a concerted attack on the countries of the Western world. Thus, during the e arly years of its formation, the Al Qaeda was a highly structured and systematically arranged organization. After the Soviet troops were defeated in Afghanistan, the group changed its structure into a network organization. (Mishal, Rosenthal, 2005, p 3) The Al Qaeda can be classified as an international political terrorist organization. In the opinion of Mishal and Rosenthal (2005), the organization followed a hierarchical order in the beginning and later changed into a network organization. After the attack on Afghanistan in 2001, it assumed the form of a Dune organization. During the time, when the Al Qaeda was engaged in a war with the Soviets in Afghanistan, the group was a hierarchical organization. It was divided into small units which were arranged like pyramids under the group’s common leadership. After its transformation into a network-based organization, the structures within the group were redefined. Al Qaeda became more of a transnational organization which was willing to direct its activities towards multiple causes. During the period 1998 – September 2001, the terrorist group operated as a network organization. (Mishal, Rosenthal, 2005, p 2) Objectives The Al Qaeda was initially formed to counter the Sovi et Union’s attack on the growing Islamic revolution in Afghanistan. After the defeat of the Soviet troops, the group became a transnational organization which was engaged in pursuing a number of causes as its objectives. In February 1998, Osama bin Laden brought together a group of state-level Muslim leaders and organizations to form the â€Å"World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders (IIF)†. The IIF formulated its objectives in accordance with the World Islamic Front Statement of 1998: to free the al-Aqsa mosque and the Holy Mosque of Mecca from the hold of America and it allied nations, it was the duty of every Muslim to extricate civil and military citizens of USA and its allies. They were free to carry out their mission in any country which they

Psychological Assessment I, II, III Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychological Assessment I, II, III - Essay Example He was generally cooperative and seemed to give his best efforts to the tasks presented to him. It was apparent that it was easy for him to understand and respond to questions and his thought processes were mostly focused and clear, except in providing information about his past, which were sometimes incomplete and vague. When he did poorly, he became self-critical, annoyed and appeared slightly anxious. For example, in some items in the Boston Naming test, he would stare at the picture for some time before naming it, and when he realizes that he was wrong, would say, â€Å"Stupid, stupid, how hard could that be!† while pounding on the table. Dr. Anoxia was born in Wisconsin to a father who was a teacher and a mother who was a bookkeeper. When he was eight years old, his family had to move to New York because his father has accepted a teaching post in a school in Queens. When he was seventeen, his father died of a heart attack. Four years later, his mother died of cancer. According to him, he pursued graduate studies in Economics in her honor. He met his wife while attending graduate school at the New York University in 1963. Together, they raised three children who are currently successful professionals. The break-up of his marriage began when all the children have grown and left home to live their independent lives. He finally had a divorce after 22 years of marriage. His father, being a teacher had a great influence on his academic performance, expecting nothing short of excellence from him. His father’s mentoring made him excel in high school both in academics and in sports, specifically Golf. His above average school records earned him a spot at the University of Vermont where he graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Upon graduation, he was hired by one of his professors to be one of the researchers for a government-funded study. The challenge and success he derived from his work inspired

Relations in Small and Medium Enterprises

Relations in Small and Medium Enterprises Employee Relations in Small and Medium Enterprises A Non-union Approach Introduction The term SME or small and medium business enterprise is often used to describe a business enterprise that has anywhere between 10 to 15 employees for a small business whereas anything under 250 would be a medium enterprise. However, the number of employees is not the only classification that is used, and can be as diverse as turnover, industry, or business structure. According to a survey carried out by the Department for Business, Innovation Skills (BIS) in 2004, the UK had 1.16 million private sector firms with fewer than 250 employees, representing 94 per cent of all employers in the UK economy.1 These SMEs employed a total of 8.66 million employees (36 per cent of all employees in the UK) and they accounted for 47 per cent of private sector employers turnover. This suggests the apparent importance of these enterprises. The other important aspect of SMEs is their ability to be innovative, and adaptive to the constantly changing market environment, creating employment opportunities in the economy, and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). SMEs vary in size depending on the industry, and skills. A biotechnology firm is likely to have fewer highly skilled employees where as a cleaning services firm will have more unskilled workers. Nonetheless, the fact that a significant fraction of the working population is employed by an SME, it is necessary to understand how these enterprises are managed, and how human resources policies regarding recruitment, training, performance evaluation, and day to day employee relations are adopted and practiced. Management and employment relations in an SME A typical structure of an SME is largely business, product or process orientated, with little specialist involvement in areas outside the remit of the business, human resources for instance. Managers have little expertise or qualifications to conduct personnel management task, most managers tend to rely on their past experience in managing relationships. This is interesting because it provides a unique opportunity to study management issues and strategies that can be anywhere from non-existent in a small firm to informal and semi-formal in a medium firm. Tradition management styles that have been identified in Fox (1974) and Purcell and Sisson (1983), relate to management perspectives with regards to employee relations in an industrial setup. The classifications were based on the type of views held by both management and employees, where both could be either unitary or pluralist. Marchington and Parker (1990) point out that these differences were in relation to how management viewed unions and their involvement on issues like employee participation and conflict resolution. These assertions are applicable in a large complex organisation but may not necessarily be true in a small setup where human resources and employee relations may be absent altogether. Goss (1991) found that management styles at small firms were likely to be characterised by how the owner-manager experience relative disposition of power, and identified four types of management control Fraternalism, Paternalism, Benevolent Autocracy, and Sweating . The distinction was based on how much independence employees enjoyed for every degree of dependence the employer possessed. A host of studies conducted in the UK (WERS, 2004), Europe (EIRO, 2006), and Canada (CFIB, 2004) give an idea of what management practices are adopted in the SME sector generally and how working hours, training, remuneration, and employee representation are handled. A key observation found synonymous in all the studies was that employee representation, although significant, was conducted in informal settings through individual contracts and concepts of collective bargaining and unionisation were largely absent in smaller firms but rose with firm size. And where a non-union employee structure is prevalent, it is difficult to compare or comment on the effectiveness of such a structure, as all previous studies go only as far as determining the type of employee participation practiced but do not assess their quality of impact. Non-union employee participation According to Guest (2001), a non-union workplace lacks formal human resources or industrial relations departments which interface between management and employees. Dundon et al., (2005) describe a non-union workplace where the importance of union is not recognised in determining employee issues such as pay and work conditions, as opposed to whether or not employees are members of any union. They also point out the reasons, incentives, and motivation for managers for choosing a non-unionised interaction with the workforce. Guest and Hoque (1994) went on to classify the various non-union employer types, differentiating them on the basis of a range of human resources attributes. They banded employers as either good, bad, or ugly depending on these attributes. Although some counter arguments to this classification were on the grounds of methodology selected and if it collected information on employee views on their employers, and the lack of motivation and incentive, if any, from the emp loyees in preferring to be non-union (Dundon, et al., 2005). Although type of employee participation and representation is seen as an important part of the relationship between management and employees, it is interesting to understand how these become part of the culture. Freeman and Medoff (1984) describe employee representation, or employee voice, as having both consensual and conflictual connotation, and showed how participation could impact quality and productivity, whilst on the other it could help resolve disputes. Managers in a relatively small workplace are likely to view non-union participation more favourably because they may not have experience of dealing with unions and may feel more comfortable dealing with issues locally and informally. As the workforce becomes larger and larger, the advantages of a non-union representation diminish and firms tend to seek a formal approach to interaction as seen in larger firms. Ackers et al., (2004) suggest that direct communication with the employees is also one of the most significant concept of a non-union employee representation, adding that managers would be more willing to share information relating to the business, work arrangements, staffing and job prospects directly with employees. Collective bargaining, remuneration, and workplace relations The concept of collective bargaining is more or less relevant to a union based employee representation, where the propositions are deemed to be in the best interest of the entire workforce as opposed to a single employee or groups. Since the relationships between management (owners, managers) and employees are less formal, such discussions can take place individually and would reflect the firms position vis-Ã  -vis a particular employee. On the other hand, managers responsible for personnel matters may be involved in other tasks and is likely to spend more time on such tasks than those in similar positions in larger firms. Wage determinations and remuneration discussions are similarly done, and could be either set unilaterally by the management or negotiated on an individual basis. Therefore it would be common to assume a variable pay structure either by merit or performance, and the likelihood to profit-sharing. Pay reviews could be less regular in such a setup and may often requir e to be initiated by employees. Recruitment, training, and personal development The recruitment process at small firm may be less formal or rigorous compared to large organisations because of the level of expertise and sophistication available within the firm. A lengthy recruitment process can be costly, and can be counter productive to the immediate requirements of the business; hence employers may be willing to make quick decisions on the basis of the incumbents skills alone. WERS (2004) suggest that training and development opportunities were dependant on firm size, the larger the firm the more likely they were to offer on or off-the-job training. This can be true for two reasons, firstly cost implications, and second, the option to hire an already trained worker. In a non-union workplace this can be both beneficial and disadvantageous at the same time, since over-simplification could get the job done but may not necessarily represent the best interests of employees. Conflict resolution Irrespective of the size of the firm, grievances can arise and depending on the relationship an employee involved has with their manager, it could be dealt with informally in the first instance, and small and medium firms would adopt such a process not because they may not have a formal grievances and conflict resolution procedures as seen in large firms. Majority of employers have such procedures for regulatory purposes, but how effectively these are used varies from firm to firm. Since SMEs are not labour intensive collective disputes are unlikely to emerge requiring collective resolution through means of a union representation. This can be viewed as an incentive for managers to have a non-unionised employee representation to avoid the hassles of dealing with the union when a dispute arises (Dundon, et al., 2005). Employee attitudes The WERS (2004) survey reveals that managers in SMEs were more likely to involve employees in workplace related decision making processes and employee influence was greater in small firms than larger ones. Guest and Hoque (1994) suggest that employees that feel better appreciated were more likely so see their employer as good non-union employers and may be even motivated to discourage a unionised workforce which would tend to reduce their influence on management decisions. The employees perception of workplace and management being the same, changes as firm size increases. This is significant enough incentive for managers to cultivate a non-unionised workplace. To this extent there is a big difference between employees expectations for collective representation and employers willingness to subscribe to one. On the whole, the management is in a position to decide what type of representation they would like, and what mechanisms to utilize. Conclusion Small and medium-sized firms are vital for the growth of the economy, and play a significant role in providing employment to the population. The size and nature of products and services offered by these firms varies distinctly, and so does their management and employment practices. Size of the workforce does influence the type of management style that will be adopted, but it also depends on managers (owners) past experience and their perception of how work should be managed based on a set of beliefs. Small businesses have been seen to be less formal and tend to follow a close contact with their employees, and do not conform to hierarchal structures of management that are predominant in large organizations. These structures of relationships tend to get more formal as the firm size increases. Employees, on the other hand, find little or no difference between their workplace and management, an important distinction observed in larger firms which clearly distinguish between the firm and the management. Although employee relations in small and medium sized firms tend to be more informal they can be inflexible to changes in the workplace. Managers may lack the necessary experience and expertise in issues like performance appraisals and dispute resolution; they tend to rely on their experience and prefer to engage the employees directly. Issues of pay determinations and other forms of compensation are set out by managers but it allows employees to engage with management over discussions, without the necessary involvement of collective employee representations like unions. The dialogue is less formal and gives the management opportunity to consider personal circumstances of employees. Similarly conflict resolution and grievances are accorded an informal process, whereas any disciplinary action resulting from such discussions may be formal and follow a traditional approach. And because managers prefer to have a less formal involvement of employees the concept of non-uni onized representation is favoured as management sees more flexibility in running the business and find to have less control when a collective representation is sought. Formality in relationships increases with firm size when management wants to have more distance between owners and employees in order to maintain a consistent level of control through decentralization. The degree of formality exercised may vary within the firm itself, for instance management may adopt a more formal approach to employee training and development, but at the same time conduct performance appraisals informally. In regards to SMEs the nature of employment relations is not always straightforward and management practices, which may appear simple and unsophisticated, are influenced by a variety of factors and have evolved as a response to a particular need as the industry and business requirements, or regulations, evolved over time. References Ackers, P., Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A. and Dundon, T. (2004), The management of voice in non-union organisations: managers perspectives, Employee Relations Vol. 27 No. 3, 2005 pp. 307-319 Atkinson, J. and Meager, N. (1994) Running to stand still: the small firm in the labour market, in J. Atkinson and D. Storey (eds.) Employment, the Small Firm and the Labour Market, London: Routledge. Bacon, N. and Hoque, K. (2005) HRM in the SME sector: valuable employees and coercive networks, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16, 11: 1679-99. Benson, J. (2000), Employee voice in union and non-union Australian workplaces, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 453-9. Beresford, R. (2003) Trade unions and small firms, Federation News, 53, 2. Blackburn, R. (2005) Researching the employment relationship in small firms: what are the contributions from the employment relations and small business literatures?, in S. Blyton, P. and Turnbull, P. (2004), The Dynamics of Employee Relations, 3rd ed., Macmillan, London. Bolton Report (1971) Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms, Chaired by J. E. Bolton, Cmnd. 4811, London: HMSO. Bryson, A. (1999) The impact of employee involvement on small firms financial performance, National Institute Economic Review, 169: 78-95. Bryson, A. and Millward, N. (1997) Employee Involvement in Small Firms: A Review of the Literature, London: Policy Studies Institute. Carroll, M., Marchington, M., and Earnshaw, J. (1999) Recruitment in small firms: Processes, methods and problems, Employee Relations, 21, 3: 236-50. Chaplin, J., Mangla, J., Purdon, S., and Airey, C. (2005) The Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004 (WERS 2004) Technical Report (Cross-Section and Panel Surveys), London: National Centre for Social Research. Charlwood, A. (2003), Willingness to unionize amongst non-union workers, in Gospel, H. and Wood, S. (Eds), Representing Workers, Trade Union Recognition and Membership in Britain, Routledge, London. Cosh, A. and Hughes, A. (2003a) The British SME sector 1991-2002, in A. Cosh and A. Hughes (eds.) Enterprise Challenged: Policy and Performance in the British SME Sector 1999- 2002, Cambridge: Cambridge University Centre for Business Research Cox, A. (2005) Managing variable pay systems in smaller workplaces, in S. Marlow, D. Patton and M. Ram (eds.) Managing Labour in Small Firms, London: Routledge. Cully, M., Woodland, S., OReilly, A. and Dix, G. (1999) Britain at Work: As Depicted by the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, London: Routledge. Dundon, T. (2002), Employer opposition and union avoidance in the UK, Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 234-45. Dundon, T. and Rollinson, D. (2004), Employment Relations in Non-union Firms, Routledge, London. Dundon, T., Grugulis, I. and Wilkinson, A. (1999) Looking out of the black hole: nonunion relations in an SME, Employee Relations, 21, 3: 251-66. Dundon, T., Wilkinson, A., Marchington, M. and Ackers, P. (2004), The meanings and purpose of employee voice, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 1150-71. Forth, J., Bewley, H., Bryson, A. (2004), Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, Routledge, London Freeman, R. and Medoff, J. (1984), What Do Unions Do?, Basic Books, New York, NY. Gall, G. (2004), British employer resistance to trade union recognition, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 36-53. Goss, D. (1991), Small Business and Society, Routledge, UK Guest, D. (2001), Industrial relations and human resource management, in Storey, J. (Ed.), HRM: A Critical Text, Thompson Learning, London. Guest, D. and Hoque, K. (1994), The good, the bad and the ugly: employment relations in new non-union workplaces, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 1-14. Lavoie, A. (2004) Work-life balance and SMEs: Avoiding the one-size-fits-all trap, CFIB Research: 10-12 Lewin, D. and Mitchell, D. (1992), Systems of employee voice: theoretical and empirical perspectives, California Management Review, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 95-111. Marchington, M. (2005), Employee involvement: patterns and explanations, in Harley, B., Hyman, J. and Thompson, P. (Eds), Participation and Democracy at Work: Essays in Honour of Harvie Ramsay, Palgrave, London. Marchington, M., Goodman, J., Wilkinson, A. and Ackers, P. (1992), New Developments in Employee Involvement, Employment Department Research Series, Paper No. 2, HMSO, London. Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Ackers, P. and Dundon, T. (2001), Management Choice and Employee Voice, CIPD Publishing, London. Pfeffer, J. (1998), The Human Equation, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Ramsay, H. (1977), Cycles of control: workers participation in sociological and historical perspective, Sociology, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 481-506. Rose, E. (2008) Employment Relations, 3rd ed., Pearson Education Limited, UK: 58-95, 273-331, 334-420.

once upon a midnight dreary :: essays research papers

â€Å"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary†, is one of the most famous poetry lines in America. Edgar Allan Poe had a life most people would think of as crazy. He wrote a famous poem called â€Å"The Raven† that is very strange like most of the poems he wrote.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edgar Allan Poe had a devastating childhood and a dark life as an adult. He was born January 19,1809, under the name of Edgar Poe. His father soon abandoned Poe and his fate is unknown. When Poe was two years old his mother died. John Allan who was part of the Ellis and Allan Tobacco Merchants then adopted him. Poe attended many schools because he could never manage to stay in one school very long. In 1826, he went to the University of Virginia for not even one year and was kicked out because he never paid his gambling debts. Poe started living a dark life after he was kicked out because he had to live on the streets. He married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm in 1836. He was happy until 1847 when Virginia Clemm died. He was so unhappy that a year later he attempted suicide. The circumstances of Poe’s death remain a mystery. But after a visit to Norfolk and Richmond for lectures, he was found in Baltimore in a pitiable condition and taken unconscious to a hospital where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849. He was buried in the yard of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Raven† is a very great poem that has many literary devices and has great meaning. Edgar Allan Poe wrote many poems but â€Å"The Raven† is probably his most famous poem. â€Å"The Raven† was chosen because in 4th grade my teacher read it to the class and since then it has had a lot of meaning. This poem is about a †rapping at my chamber door† and then he realizes a raven causes the rapping on his chamber door. The raven is always saying â€Å"Nevermore† and then he goes so crazy he kills himself. He dies because the speaker says â€Å"And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor/ Shall be lifted- nevermore!† â€Å"The Raven† contains many literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors, sensory images, and personification. The raven symbolizes the character conscious. A metaphor in â€Å"The Raven† is the raven being a â€Å"a thing of evil† which is represented through out the poem.

P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project Essay

SK-II’s success is not only prestige skin care product or advanced technology but also its marketing approach to build the new brand. P&G succeeded to connect between the core technology or product concept and local market. Through Japanese market among the world’s toughest competitors, P&G developed potential source of innovations. In addition, SK-II’s marketing strategy built a new approach, Market research, Concept, Packaging, Positioning, Communications strategy. It was a big challenge that P&G shifted from Mass marketing, such as Olay brand, to Class marketing. SK-II’s marketing strategy. The primary issue concerning the case is the transformation of â€Å"SK-II† from a local brand to a global brand. This case allows us to evaluate how companies can â€Å"internationalize† their brands, and the obstacles and issues that they face while addressing this issue. Until now, SK-II can be characterized as local product in Japan with a sizable r egional customer base in Taiwan and Hong Kong. SK-II brand is positioned at the high- end of skin care and provides high margins for the P&G. To adopt Japanese independent sales style for skin-care, they were sold through special stores by well- trained beauty counselors. At first, to examine the underlying reasons behind the difference between Japanese and other corporate management, I sum up the significant reasons why P&G’s Japanese operation was a failure until 1984 as follows: 1. P&G did not take the time to determine the local needs based on the culture and common practices among Japanese customer. The product development was based on Western markets and it was assumed that it would streamline itself to other areas of the world. 2. Stagnation in innovation is a failure for almost any business. With technology always moving forward at a fast rate, it is imperative for all retail products to constantly put forth effort in  research and development. R&D is one of P&G’s strong points, yet the mismanagement of the division led to complacency in the development work. Due to the lack of improvements and the time lost, it allowed other competitors to release superior products quickly and efficiently. This ultimately led to a significant decrease in market share for P&G. 3. The Japanese distribution system is complex and difficult to assimilate to. P&G did not research and strategize to form new efforts in distributing the products efficiently and take advantage of the benefits of the distribution system commonly used. Instead of fixing the problem, P&G turned towards reduced pricing which drove the distributors away and caused sales to drop. Corporate management methods and the actual managers at headquarters in US and EU have certainly won many achievements in the US and Europe and elsewhere. In many cases, however, Western managers and Western management teams are ill prepared to succeed in Japan. In many cases, like P&G, drastic changes in thinking and management methods and personal changes at headquarters would be necessary to succeed in Japan. However, there are not many Western companies, which act on this knowledge. In this case, there were two major changes that P&G implemented to improve its operations to increase its profitability. Firstly, P&G increased R&D budget and secondly, they restructured with a plan called Organization 2005. Organization 2005 dealt with corporate cultural changes in becoming less risk averse and more productive with use of time. They encouraged innovation and creative high risk decisions with new products at a rate of more than once a month. Process changes included compensation reform with greater incentives based on performance, stock options to all employees, streamlined administrative aspects of marketing, payroll, and budgets on a more global/regional level. Structural changes included changing from 4 regional units to 7 global business units (GBUs) that were responsible for executing the global strategies of the company. Each GBU were tasked with creating a uniform production process for all their regional products so that they can be more cost effective and more open in new product rollouts. They also reduced the number of brands and only kept the ones with high sales and global potential. More power was given to lower level managers and the levels of bureaucracy were reduced by eliminating the amount of steps to the top. Among the human resources organization corporate cultures that have  changed Japan, foreign companies such as P&G has been the most influential. In fact, deregulation of labor aimed at strengthening international competitiveness and increasing the fluidity of employment has steadily eroded the traditional system of lifetime employment, seniority-based wages, and enterprise welfare at Japanese businesses. Many Japanese companies are now moving more toward a performance- based system when it comes to rewarding and promoting employee to be global company. In order to figure out whether SK-II is a product that can be global brand, we need to identify reasons for SK-II’s success in the Japanese market. First, by based on research of Japanese market, P&G made clear targeting and positioning, and developed new products which fulfilled customers’ needs, built the effective distribution. As a result, P&G could establish differentiation advantages for the following. †¢ Product: â€Å"Foaming massage cloth†, Elegant dispensing box â€Å"Foaming massage cloth† increase skin circulation through a massage while boosting skin clarity due to the microfibers’ ability to clean pores and trap dirt. †¢ Price: Premium price †¢ Place: Luxury and counter at department store †¢ Promotion: Counseling by beauty counselor, TV advertising, Beauty magazines P&G utilized and rebuilt its distribution channels of using trained personnel at beauty counters throughout Japan. SK-II’s success had been achieved in a culture where the customers, distribution channels, and competitors were different from in other countries. For example, Japanese customers more educated, average Japanese women spent 4.5 minutes on her face cleansing, and most sophisticated users of beauty products in the world. On the other hand, in China customers due to Olay’s education recently moved from a one-step skin care process to a three-step cleansing and moisturizing process. However, unlike China, Europe had a large and sophisticated group of beauty-conscious customers who is already practiced a multistep regimen. As we see it is model is transferable but they have to modify some of models characteristic depending on customers behavior, competitors and market factor. P&G Japan’s competitive advantage is firm-specific but SK-II’s advantage is country-specific. I would suggest that de Cesare would be to expand SK-II brand within Japan. The company should continue to build on SK-II’s success in Japan. By building on brand’s  success in the proven domestic market, Procter & Gamble would be able to fully utilize the company’s competitive advantages. In this case, the company has achieved only 3% of the market share of the $10 billion beauty product market, and in addition the Japanese skin care market is forecasted to grow at 28% two-year growth rate. Given these opportunities, de Cesare is well advised to strongly expand SK-II brand within Japan. There are other attributes that make Japanese market attractive; these include brand name recognition and development of new products such as anti-aging and skin whitening that could expand the SK-II product line. Since the Japanese market is highly competitive and requires constant innovation, the Japanese division need to constantly introducing new products that could possibly be introduced to other markets as well. Increased market share and profitability of SK-II brand would also increase the brand’s standing among various Procter & Gamble brands; this increased awareness of SK-II brand could potentially pave the way for brand’s internationalization later on. The Japanese market is also one of the biggest markets for prestige skin care products, not only that, the country is also expected to see the skin care market (both main and prestige) grow by 28% over the next 2 years. However, there are some risks if the de Cesare chooses to only expand into the Japanese mark et. This could potentially make P&G Japan isolated from the rest of the world markets. P&G Japan could be oblivious to changes in the world market, and miss opportunities that could have allowed collaboration in R&D with other divisions that could have led to introduction of new and innovative products. To remain a major market player, P&G needs to keep expanding its products at a global level. I do not believe that the choices between expansion into China or Europe or increasing sales in Japan are all mutually exclusive with each other. All three of the markets can be critical to the successful globalization of P&G and its brands. The European market will probably prove to be the most difficult to penetrate, yet by concentrating on specific cities and markets, there is still potential for P&G’s superior product to prevail. This option would be the lowest priority of the three. P&G will need to keep up with technology and continue with new developments if they want to remain a leader in the prestige market in Japan. In terms of short term profitability, the Japanese market is unmatched. Cesare has forecasted an  earnings growth potential of 200% in 6 or 7 years based off a $150 million sales level. However, the focus should be on the Chinese market based on the long term potential for growth and profitability. All the other major market players are already present in the market so P&G don’t want to fall too behind with their competitors. Although China has a relatively small subset of their population that can afford the expensive SK-II product, it also has the highest growth rate of skin care use at an astounding 28%. With China’s economy and GDP growing at a fast rate, the potential for more able consumers of the 1.2 billion residents is seemingly limitless. In my conclusion, the first priority is they would be to expand SK-II brand within Japan to keep expanding its products at a global level. The next, they should be focus on the Chinese market based on the long term potential for growth. As the lowest priority, the European market will probably prove by concentrating on specific cities and markets.

The History and Evolution of Suburbs

The History and Evolution of Suburbs Suburbs are generally spread out over greater distances than other types of living environments. For instance, people may live in the suburb in order to avoid the density and untidiness of the city. Since people have to get around these vast stretches of land automobiles are common sights in suburbs. Transportation (including, to a limited extent, trains and buses) plays an important role in the life of a suburban resident who generally commutes to work. People also like to decide for themselves how to live and what rules to live by. Suburbs offer them this independence. Local governance is common here in the form of community councils, forums, and elected officials. A good example of this is a Home Owners Association, a group common to many suburban neighborhoods that determines specific rules for the type, appearance, and size of homes in a community. People living in the same suburb usually share similar backgrounds with regard to race, socioeconomic status, and age. Often, the houses that make up the area are similar in appearance, size, and blueprint, a layout design referred to as tract housing, or cookie-cutter housing. History of Suburbs Suburbs are not a modern concept, as this 539 BCE clay tablet letter from an early suburbanite to the king of Persia makes clear: Our property seems to me the most beautiful in the world. It is so close to Babylon that we enjoy all the advantages of the city, and yet when we come home we stay away from all the noise and dust. Other early examples of suburbs include areas created for lower class citizens outside of Rome, Italy during the 1920s, streetcar suburbs in Montreal, Canada created during the late 1800s, and the picturesque Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, created in 1853. Henry Ford was a big reason why suburbs caught on the way they did. His innovative ideas for making cars cut manufacturing costs, reducing the retail price for customers. Now that an average family could afford a car, more people could go to and from home and work everyday. Additionally, the development of the Interstate Highway System further encouraged suburban growth. The government was another player that encouraged movement out of the city. Federal legislation made it cheaper for someone to construct a new home outside of the city than to improve upon a preexisting structure in the city. Loans and subsidies were also provided to those willing to move to new planned suburbs (usually wealthier white families). In 1934 the United States Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), an organization intended to provide programs to insure mortgages. Poverty struck everyones life during the Great Depression (beginning in 1929) and organizations like the FHA helped to ease the burden and stimulate growth. Rapid growth of suburbia characterized the post-World War II era for three chief reasons: The economic boom following World War IIThe need for housing returning veterans and baby boomers relatively cheaplyWhites fleeing the desegregation of urban cities brought on by the civil rights movement (the White Flight) Some of the first and most famous suburbs in the post-war era were the Levittown developments in the Megalopolis. Current Trends In other parts of the world suburbs do not resemble the affluence of their American counterparts. Due to extreme poverty, crime, and lack of infrastructure suburbs in developing parts of the world are characterized by higher density and lower standards of living. One issue arising from suburban growth is the disorganized, reckless manner in which neighborhoods are built, called sprawl. Because of the desire for larger plots of land and the rural feel of the countryside, new developments are infringing upon more and more of the natural, uninhabited land. The unprecedented growth of population in the past century will continue to fuel the expansion of suburbs in the coming years.

Cool Things to Do With Dry Ice - Chemistry

Cool Things to Do With Dry Ice - Chemistry Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is called dry ice because its frozen, yet never melts into a liquid. Dry ice sublimates or makes the transition directly from frozen solid into carbon dioxide gas. If you are lucky enough to get some dry ice, there are lot of projects you can try. Here are some of my favorite cool things to do with dry ice. Homemade Dry Ice - First you need dry ice, so if you dont have any, make it! Dry Ice Fog - The classic project is to put a chunk of dry ice in hot water, causing it to produce clouds of vapor or fog. Dry Ice Crystal Ball - Place a piece of dry ice in a bowl or cup containing bubble solution. Wet a towel with bubble solution and pull it across the lip of the bowl, trapping the carbon dioxide into a giant bubble that resembles a crystal ball. Frozen Bubble - Freeze a soap bubble over a piece of dry ice. The bubble will appear to float in the air over the dry ice. Fizzy Fruit - Freeze strawberries or other fruit using dry ice. Carbon dioxide bubbles become trapped in the fruit, making it fizzy and carbonated. Singing or Screaming Spoon - Press any metal object against a piece of dry ice and it will appear to sing or scream as it vibrates. Dry Ice Ice Cream - You can use dry ice to make instant ice cream. Because carbon dioxide gas is released, the resulting ice cream is bubbly and carb onated, sort of like an ice cream float. Dry Ice Bubbles - Place a piece of dry ice in bubble solution. Fog-filled bubbles will form. Popping them releases dry ice fog, which is a cool effect. Simulate a Comet - Simulate a comet using dry ice and a few other simple materials. It will even produce a tail like a real comet. Dry Ice Jack-o-Lantern - Make a cool Halloween jack-o-lantern that spews dry ice fog. Dry Ice Erupting Volcano Cake - While you cant eat dry ice, you can use it as a decoration for food. In this project, dry ice produces a volcanic eruption for a volcano cake. Dry Ice Bomb - Sealing dry ice into a container will cause it to burst. The safest version of this is to place a small piece of dry ice into a plastic film canister or potato chip can with a pop lid.Inflate a Balloon - Seal a small piece of dry ice inside a balloon. As the dry ice sublimates, the balloon will blow up. If you use too big a piece of dry ice, the balloon will pop!Inflate a Glove - Similarly, you can put a piece of dry ice into a latex or other plastic glove and tie it closed. The dry ice will inflate the glove. Dry ice is a lot of fun to play with, but it is very cold, plus there are other hazards associated with it. Before attempting a project involving dry ice, be sure you are aware of dry ice risks. Have fun and be safe! Dry Ice Facts | Dry Ice Science Fair Projects

Book review article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Book review - Article Example ave an enormous task to create a relaxed and comfortable environment in which learners discover the complexities associated with the language and language acquisition (Kinginger, 2013, pp.21). However, knowledge of linguistics does not necessarily lead to successful language teaching practice. Jack Richards and Theodore Rodgers (2007) in the book Approaches and methods in language teaching discusses the major trends in language teaching in the twentieth century. The two authors emphasize the benefits of cooperative language teaching in contemporary classroom settings. On the other hand, Wei Li, Vivian Cook, and Flowerdew (2009) in the book dubbed Contemporary applied linguistics focus on the different perceptions, attitude and motivation that learners have toward the target language and how they (perception, attitude and motivation) affect language learning. Meanwhile, Karlfried Knapp (2007) in the book Handbooks of applied linguistics: communication competence, language and communic ation problems practical solution, discusses the domains of language awareness. Cooperative learning (CL) is arguably one of the most efficient language learning strategies for all student types, including mainstream students, English language learners (ELLs) and academically gifted students (Richards & Rodgers 2007, pp. 192). It not only promotes learning but also fosters friendship and respect among diverse groups of learners. Through cooperative learning strategies, students learn to depend on each other in a rather positive way for different learning tasks. However, it is imperative that teachers establish classroom protocols and norms that guide students to share, encourage each other, stay on task, contribute, and solve problems (Richards & Rodgers 2007, p. 192). The classroom norms will also guide students to help each other, as well as give and accept feedback from peers. Cooperative learning is particularly useful to students learning a second language. Besides, it promotes

What is the relationship between globalisation, poverty and inequality Essay

What is the relationship between globalisation, poverty and inequality - Essay Example The essay "What is the relationship between globalisation, poverty and inequality?" aims in showing that globalization operates in specific contexts and is still influenced by policy interventions on national and transnational levels. Furthermore, poverty and inequality has been an offshoot of human development starting from the rapid human industrial activity. If one looks at the current problems produced, the solutions lie not in the replacement of the economic model but in correcting the flaws. For example, international rights and standards must be established or the enforcement of code of conduct that would govern international corporations and institutions. The essay describes that it is important to underscore that globalization is an evolving phenomenon. The problem that produces inequality, (i.e. the tariff reduction and subsidies on certain industries) are still being discussed and negotiated by countries, undermined by the influence of industrialized economies and the inde pendent bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that are consequences of politics and client. Presently, these still remain as agenda languishing on bargaining tables. The flaws of globalization are not fundamentally structural. Instead, most of it comes from the failure of states to commit to the idea that it espouses. Countries, especially the rich economies, are still resistant to eliminate trade barriers, opting to protect domestic industries. Then, there is the lack of a governing mechanism that would regulate the conduct of multinational corporations to prevent their excesses and made them accountable for their acts and force them to follow international standards - not just in the context of business, production, wage, human rights, - but also in the area of ethics.

Review of an Academic Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review of an Academic Research Paper - Essay Example The research paper conveys the whole process of research from collection of data, to analysis, and to final discussion. For this reason the researchers should be careful while writing the academic research paper and should make sure that all elements and parts of a proper academic research paper are included. The basic layout of the academic research paper consists of following elements: abstract, key words, introduction, literature review, methodology part, analysis and findings, discussion part, and the conclusion and recommendations. Along with this another important element is of the references, as it is important to properly acknowledge the sources of secondary information within the academic research paper. In this paper, the academic research paper by Stainton, Johnson, and Borodizicz (2010) on the topic of â€Å"Education validity of business gaming simulation: a research methodology framework† has been critically analysed on the basis of the proper layout for the acad emic research paper. In the research paper the authors have explored the overall validity of the business gaming simulation on the basis of the previous researches and have proposed a framework for the successful educational validity studies which can facilitate the simulation designers in the process of implementing the valuable simulation media.

Business Payment Methods Essay Example for Free

Business Payment Methods Essay At this time of building my business I need to consider the ways in which I will permit my customers to pay for the books that they buy from my book store. Today there are a wide array of payment solutions available for any buyer of goods and services and to buy books, almost all modes of payment available can be used by the customer whether it is electronically or by direct use of card at the shop or by paying in cash. If the customer is   regular and can be trusted or is a regular bulk customer, check payments can also be accepted. In view of the competitions in the sale of books I have to take some element of risk in this regard in keeping with the business practices. For direct sales at the store a wide choice of payments are available to the customer. He can pay directly in cash or by credit or debit card. I believe cash payment has the least hassles applicable as the money has already come in the moment a sale is done. In the ase of debit and credit cards a wide margin has to be provided for without any applicable discounts since a percentage of the sale amount has to be given to the financial institutions as part of the applicable commission for use of their services. The business of electronic payments is growing rapidly in view of the convenience involved and a wide array of payment options are available which are acceptable in the case of my book store. In addition to the tradition card payments other options are also cceptable to me such as mail order, online payments, acquiring bank payments and through payment bureaus. I understand that as long as a sale is taking place I can accept 2 any of these payment modes provided the financial institution is reputed to make fast payments and is reliable for its transparency in fair dealings. In such cases I may have to reduce my margins a little, but that is ok since most businesses work on volumes and hence I can make up on the low margins.

Dynasties Of The Byzantine Empire History Essay

Dynasties Of The Byzantine Empire History Essay The history of the Byzantine Empire begins with the tetrarchy introduced by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in 286 CE and the founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330 CE by Constantine I. Diocletian had established a tetrarchy. The empire gets its name from Byzantium the former name Constantinople. Once Constantine changed its name to Constantinople, he did not hesitate to call it the new Rome making it more important than the waning power of Rome. When Constantine came to power he put an end to tetrarchy replacing it with hereditary succession. Although a part of the Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire was more Greek than Roman. The principle language was Greek and not Latin and people adopted Christianity sooner than the Romans. Dynasties of the Byzantine empire The tradition of dynastic rulers based on hereditary succession was laid down by Constantine (324-337 CE) which continued until Emperor Justinian. This dynasty was also called the Neo Flavian dynasty as every ruler bore the name Flavian. Constantine Dynasty (306 CE to 363 CE) The Constantinian Dynasty (C. 306 CE to 361 CE) ruled over an empire covering portions of Egypt, Syria and the Balkans (considered to be covering Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova). Emperor Valens (364-378 CE) was the patron of the Valentinian Dynasty. Constantine was a farsighted ruler who had introduced many administrative reforms to upgrade the socio-political structure of the empire. He introduced the gold solidus (coins) which stabilised the economy as it was highly prized. Mosaic of Constantine in Hagia Sophia The strategic location of Constantinople on the trade route between the East and the West overlooking the Danube River helped Constantine to use to his advantage. He strengthened the army and extended the fortifications of Constantinople making them impossible to conquer. To ward off the continuous attacks of foreigners Constantine had started a system of giving subsidies (purportedly 300kg gold annually) and also favoured merchants who traded with the Huns and other foreign groups. Constantines successors worked towards dividing the civil and military authorities which persisted until the seventh century. They further strengthened the defences of Constantinople. The Eastern Empire was spared the hardships of the West thanks to effective administration and able rulers. Under Constantine Christianity received royal patronage in the form of generous privileges by the emperor. This helped the religion to reach the masses. The Constantine Dynaty was followed by non dynastic rulers from 363 CE to 364 CE followed by the Valentian dynasty from 364 CE to 379 CE. Under Arcadius, a ruler from the Theodosian dynasty (379 to 457 CE) the Roman Empire was permanently divided to form the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire in 395 CE. Leonid Dynasty (457 CE to 518 CE) This dynasty was founded by Leo I (457-474 CE) who made an unsuccessful attempt to reconquering the imperial parts of North Africa. His son-in-law Zeno (474-491 CE) succeeded him as the next emperor as his own son Leo II died after serving for only one year. When the Western Roman Empire fell, Zeno was in charge in the East. Zeno tried to get back the Western Empire by sending a Gothic warrior Theodoric I as the commander-in-chief of Italy. Although Theodoric ruled as an independent king, Zeno maintained at least a nominal supremacy over the Western Empire. Justinian Dynasty (518 CE to 602 CE) Justinian I (527-656 CE) the successor to the founder of the dynasty Justin I, was perhaps the only king who embarked upon the ambitious task of uniting the Western and the Eastern Empire. Justinian brought great prosperity to his kingdom. Although an ambitious ruler, some of his policies were unpopular with the masses. This unpopularity nearly cost him his crown during the Nika Riots (532 CE). His queenTheodora encouraged him to suppress the riots rather than beat a hasty retreat. 30,000 civilians are believed to have been killed in Justinians attempt to suppress the riots. Motivating words of Queen Thoedora that prompted Justinian I to face the Nika Riots were Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss. Never will I see the day when I am not saluted as empress.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Royalty is a fine burial shroud, or perhaps, [the royal color] Purple makes a fine winding sheet. He reclaimed the province of North Africa in 533 CE which had been lost to the Vandals. He reached as far as Italy and defeated the weak Ostrogoths. But the Ostrogoths soon rearranged themselves and came back with double force and evicted his general Belisarius. Justinian entered into a number of treaties with the neighbouring kingdoms to ward off the continuous threat of invasion. By 555 CE, Justinian had won victories in most places except the Balkan territory which was continually invaded by the Slavs. Justinian became universally famous for revising the old Roman legal code and creating the new corpus of laws popularly known as Justinians Code. The code serves as a basis for civil law even today and provides a valuable insight to historians into the concerns and activities of the later Roman Empire. Justinian was a devout Orthodox Christian which made him intolerable not only to other religions but even to differing ideologies within Christianity. He had become a patron of Christianity and has even been mentioned in the Bible as a saint. He regulated everything related to religion and law. The bishops of the Church recognised that nothing could be done without the will of the emperor. He brutally suppressed any heresy by opponents of the Church. He promoted monasticism, granting the monks many rights which were earlier considered a taboo, like owning property. He granted them the right to inherit property from private citizens and and revoked the ir right to receive solemnia or the monks right to receive gifts from the imperial treasury or from the taxes of certain provinces. He aalso prohibited confiscation of monastic estates for any reason. Justinian rebuilt the Church of Hagia Sophia which had been destroyed during the Nika Riots. It served as the principal church of the Byzantine Empire. BYZANTINE ART AND ARCHITECTURE Byzantine art was an extension of the Roman art. As Roman art itself was inspired by the Greek art, one can see similarity among the three. However Byzantine art differed with the latter two in its approach which was more abstract than realistic. The figures and figurines in the Byzantine art appear flat and one dimensional with little use of shadow to give a life-like appearance. Faces were long and narrow devoid of any reality. The sixth century was regarded as the Golden Age of Byzantine art. One can see a considerable shift in the thinking and application of art in this period. Mathematics was regarded as the highest science and Justinian had appointed Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician, as one of Hagia Sophias architect. Anthemius described architecture as an application of geometry to solid matter. The architecture differs from the traditional style in its execution of the domes and columns. The domes are more semi-circular than the almost circular patterns found in the West. Most of the art depicts scenes from the life of Christ. One of the most important genres of Byzantine art was the icon, an image of Christ, Virgin Mary or a saint. The kings too found a place of reverence in these religious temples. MOSAICS Mosaics were more central to the Byzantine Empire than where they originated the Western Roman Empire. Mosaics were not only found in churches but in every household in the form of small icons to commemorate the life and times of Christ. Some even depicted routine life. Mosaic art was at its peak during the fifth and sixth centuries. (From left to right) Mosaic depicting daily life; an iconic mosaic from the Patmos Monastery, Greece and a Gladiator mosaic found in Cyprus Boy and Donkey, Byzantine Mosaic HAGIA SOPHIA According to historians the foundation of Hagia Sophia was laid by Constantine I. The Church was built in three phases. The first church was by Constantius II in 360 CE and the second by Theodosius II in 415 CE. During the Nika riots in 532 CE the church was burned to the ground. Justinian built the third phase which is still intact. The Hagia Sophia Museum as it stands today-the minarets were added by the OttomansJustinian was very ambitious about the Hagia Sophia church. The church was constructed so magnificently that when it was completed, he exclaimed, Solomon, I have outdone thee! He called it the Church of Holy Wisdom. He had bought the most exotic and majestic materials from all over the Roman Empire eastern as well western. The Hellenistic columns were ordered from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, large stones from the quarries in Egypt, green marble from Thessaly, Greece; black stone from the Bosporus region, and yellow stone from Syria. Some of the few surviving mosaics from the Hagia Sophia Christ and the Virgin Mary THE BASILICA OF SAN VITALE Ravenna served as a Byzantine centre in the Italian heartland and many structures were constructed in the city. The Church of San Vitale is one of the finest examples of Byzantine art and architecture in the Western Roman Empire. Although the architect of the structure is unknown, it was sponsored by a Greek banker Julius Argentarius around 527 CE. The Church is a fine combination of Roman and Byzantine art. It has the Roman elements of archways, domes and stepped towers and the Byzantine legacy of polygonal apse (semi circular, arched space in the wall- significant to Byzantine art), pillars, columns and narrow bricks. Justinian with his soldiers and the clergy San Vitale is famous for the mosaic panels of Emperor Justinian and his queen Theodora. The mosaic of Justinian says a lot about his power and position. He is standing in the middle with soldiers to his right and the clergy on his left including Bishop Maximianus, emphasising Justinian as the leader of both church and the State. He is clad in purple, the royal colour and has a golden halo, which gives him the same status as Christ. Theodora too is depicted as a goddess, solemn and humble, carrying the chalice that holds the holy wine. She is flanked by priests on the right who are escorting her in the church and a court of ladies on the left. Theodora being escorted to the Church ANALYSE THIS! Theodora, before marrying Justinian was a public entertainer. In those days, this profession was not considered worthy of respect. According to church laws, such women were not well received. However Justinian fell madly in love with Theodora and in order to make her his queen, abrogated the law and in fact provided better protection for women offenders and created separate cells for women offenders guarded by women guards. Consider the above incident and reflect on what this incident tells us about the power that Justinian held over the Church? How has religion become a tool in the hands of the powerful? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦abrogated the law and in fact provided better protection for womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Is it applicable to the present times? Support your answerwith reasons. Laws have been held to have absolute power; however they have been twisted and amended to suit ones need, usually of the powerful. In the present context have you come across any such arbitrary law? Name it/ them and explain why you feel they are arbitrary. Use your grey cellsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Beauty in Wordsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Read the following article Talking Turkeyby eminent columnist Jug Suriya describing the beauty of Istanbul, Turkey. Courtesy blog Juggle- Bandhifeaturing in the Times of India website. TURKINAMA TALK TURKEY Istanbul has witnessed the seesaw of history between East and West Bunny and i take a boat from Europe to Asia. The journey lasts 20 minutes. We are in Istanbul, and the ferry takes us from Eminonu, which is on the European side of the city, to Uskudar, which is on the Asian side, on the other shore of the Bosphorus. Istanbul formerly known as Constantinople, after the Christian emperor Constantine is the fabled meeting place of Europe and Asia, East and West. The sprawling city of 22 million people is strikingly beautiful, a challenge to the artists brush, the poets phrase. Seven low hills crouch down to the sun-spangled Sea of Marmara, flanked on one side by the Bosphorus, which links it to the Black Sea, and on the other side by the inlet of the Golden Horn. The water is so blue that it has given us the word turquoise, a colour originating in Turkey. Europe and Asia, East and West, rub shoulders in comfortable familiarity. Sleek, French-built tramcars glide noiselessly down broad thoroughfares bounded by bustling pavements where designer-ripped jeans and hijabs go hand in hand. The slender minarets of a myriad mosques conjure a communion of earth and sky, and hard rock discos coexist with dervishes whirling in Sufi ecstasy. In the Grand Bazaar in Beyazit, the fixed price rigidity of the western supermarket is made flexible and fluent by the eastern art of bargaining, for anything and everything, from carpets and spices, to 22-carat gold jewellery and cellphone cards, for the sheer pleasure of it. For what better way for customer and shopkeeper to spend the day than in spirited negotiation, over endless tiny cups of thick, treacle-sweet coffee? This co-mingling of East and West is best represented by the many-domed Ayasofya, billed as one of the most wondrous buildings in the world. Originally called Hagia Sophia, it was built in the sixth century by the Byzantine emperor Justinian and for almost a thousand years it was said to be the worlds largest Christian church. In the 15th century, after Sultan Mehmed II seized Constantinople and changed its name to Istanbul, which simply means The City, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque and renamed Ayasofya. Five hundred years later, Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, made it into a museum. Ataturk often said to be Turkeys counterpart of Russias Peter the Great tried to westernise his country by making it into a secular state, introducing the Latin alphabet, and adopting the European hat as the national headgear instead of the traditional fez. Today, Ayasofya is still a museum, thronged by visitors who strain their necks to stare in wonder at the mosaic-encrusted central dome, so high that it can accommodate the Statue of Liberty. But Turkey has voted in favour of an Islamic government instead of Ataturks secular dispensation, a development which is one of the impediments to the countrys desired membership of the all-Christian European Union. East or West? The seesaw of history has yet to settle which of the two Turkey really belongs to. Or perhaps it belongs to both, and in doing so belongs to neither. For Istanbul, more than any other city, is historic proof that East and West are arbitrary geographical and cultural constructs which increasingly are becoming interchangeable with each other. Long before globalisation became a catchphrase, Istanbul that once was Constantinople was living proof of a cosmopolitan universality which underlies the cosmetic changes that history makes on the face of time. We take the ferry from Uskudar back to Eminonu, from Asia to Europe, from East to West. And were still in the same place, still in Istanbul, still in the city which could be given a name no other than The City, unique unto itself. Task If you had the choice, which city would you like to visit a city of antiquity and why? LIFE IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY The Eastern Roman Empire was the most prosperous civilisation from the beginning of the Middle Ages until the Arab invasions. Travellers and explorers described it as the most advanced civilisation of the time and were in awe of the people living in luxury with its superb architectural marvels. Constantinople was a trade haven, extending to Eurasia and North Africa. It was the primary western hub of the silk trade. From Constantinople, the silk was then exported to Egypt, Bulgaria and further west. The state controlled internal and international trade and held a monopoly over issuing coinage. The currency of the Byzantine Empire had a high value in the middle ages. Reforms initiated by Diocletian and Constantine laid the foundations for the Byzantium economy by replacing the gold aureus with the solidus and introducing the follies (coins) in bronze. Coins were minted both in the capital as well as provinces. Many mints were located in large eastern cities like Alexandria, Antioch, Co nstantinople, Kyzikos, Ravenna and Rome. Major guilds and corporations were supervised through taxation, controlling interest rates and regulating commodity prices. Non-monetary exchange of goods and services through barter was more typical to remote areas. The Byzantines had a strong hold on commercial activities. Professions were organised in guilds and no one was allowed to belong to two guilds simultaneously. Builders, by law, had to provide a ten-year guarantee of the structure they erected! Solidus of Justinian II from the seventh century Coin of Justinian I excavated in India suggesting existence of Indo-Roman trade People were engaged in a variety of professions, agriculture being the predominant occupation. The upper class mostly comprised of the aristocracy, state functionaries, senior military officers and large land owners. The middle class was made up of the merchants, skilled craftsmen and owners of medium size lands and properties while the lower class was made up of wage earners, labourers and destitute. Men occupied all the official posts in the imperial courts, bureaucracy and military. Women generally did not actively participate in trade and were confined to household duties however evidence of women engaging in weaving and spinning, working as fruit and vegetable vendors, herb gatherers and kourisses (women who dressed other womens hair employed either privately or in public baths). Women could also have the option of being physicians and midwives. Some served food in guest houses and taverns. Although women were excluded from priesthood, they had a special place in monasteries. Many nunneries in the Byzantine Empire were run by female abbots. FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD The Byzantine society worked on the model of paterfamilias. The male exerted absolute authority and took care of the family. The families were extended family with two to three generations living together. Nuclear families existed in urban cities where traders moved and settled with their immediate family members. The woman of the family raised and cared for the children. The more liberal paterfamilias of the Roman society was reduced to the Greek idea of paternal families where daughters were kept under strict authority of the male relatives and boys were given the freedom to act independently. A woman was invariably accompanied by someone whenever she left house. Kekaumenos, a Byzantine author in his work Strategikon has said, Keep your daughters as prisoners, confined and inconspicuous. Education was limited to reading and writing. Girls got married at the age of thirteen or fourteen and the suitor was selected by the parents. Sometimes professional matchmakers helped in bringing two compatible families together and earned by taking a percentage of the dowry. Girls usually did not have a say in choosing the partner. Marriage was a formal ceremony sanctioned by the church. A woman earned respect in society through her marriage. It was important to have at least one male child. LAW AND ORDER Christianity had pervaded every facet of human life in the Byzantine Empire, including law and order. State laws received a divine sanction as the emperor was held to be Gods earthly representative and so his laws were essential for maintaining stability. An expanding body of Canonical Laws reflect the growing authority of the church. Corpus juris civilis introduced by Justinian I served as a basis for civil jurisprudence. Many later contributions like Nomos Georgikas (Farmers Law) and Rhodian Sea Law were private collections of codes pertaining to rural life and maritime activities respectively. Criminal law mainly addressed instances of theft, robbery, damage or injury to another person or property. Courts were established to deal with these matters. Punishments ranged from financial compensation, imprisonment, exile and in cases of pre-meditated murder or fatal assault death penalty was awarded. Class barriers existed in the Byzantine Empire too. Convicted elites in cases other than treason could lose their titles, personal property or get banished to a monastery or remote province, whereas public flogging, mutilation and execution were the punishments referred for the members of the lower classes. As the influence of the church grew, such punishments were avoided and banishment in monasteries became more common. The church became an asylum for personal repentance and spiritual healing. DECLINE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE Decline of the Byzantine Empire was a process which lasted several centuries before the final collapse. Although there is no certain date for the beginning of the decline, historians unanimously agree that it all started with the invasion of the Arabs. The Arabs had conquered territories in the Levant (modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories) and Egypt by the ninth century. The loss of Egypt was a substantial blow as most of the manufactured goods and naturals resources of the Byzantine Empire came from the province. Conversely Egypt now proved to be a source of finance to the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphates, giving them the courage and resources to expand. The Byzantine-Arab Wars crippled the empire not only monetarily but the continuous state of war drained the people of their physical and emotional strength. Between the 11th and 12th centuries, the Seljuk Turks permanently settled in Anatolia. By 1025, the whole of Asia Minor, nearly 70 per cent of the Byzantine Empire was lost to the Seljuks. The Crusades were launched partly to restore the lost glory of the Byzantine Empire but majorly to get back the holy places in and near Jerusalem. However the Crusades added to the financial burden of the Empire and became a reason for its decline. Important dates 286 CE- Founding of Constantinople by the first Constatnitne Emperor Constantine I. 306- Founding of the Constantine Empire by Emperor Constantine. 330 -founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. 360- First Church of Hagia Sophia built by Constantius II. 363 to 364- non dynastic rulers. 364 to 379 -Valentian dynasty. 379 to 457 Theodosian dynasty. 395- Final division of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. 415-Second Church of Hagia Sophia built by Theodosius II. 457 Founding of the Leonid Dynasty. 518 Founding of the Justinian Dynasty by Justin I. 523- Nika Riots put down by Justinian I. 533- Justinian reclaims the province of North Africa. Use your Grey Cellsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ RECALL Describe the geographic factors that made Constantinople a centre of cultural diffusion, military defence, and trade. How were the Roman and Byzantine empires connected? What is Justinians Code? How did the Byzantine Empire help to preserve and transmit classical Greek and Roman culture and knowledge? How did Byzantine art and architecture differ from the Romans? ANALYSE Justinians Code helped establish order in the Byzantine Empire. What role do you think rules and laws play today? Given below is a law on slaves from Book I of Justinians Code. Read it carefully and answer the questions that follow; Slaves are in the power of masters, a power derived from the law of nations; for among all nations it may be remarked that masters have the power of life and death over their slaves, and that everything acquired by the slave is acquired for the master. Was it a just law? Would this law work today? Why? Justinian uses the words law of nations? Do you think the phrase is exaggerated? Why? In Grade 6, you learnt about Hammurabis Code. How does it differ from Justinians Code? Compare and contrast. Why has codification of law been an important aspect of judicial processes? EVALUATE Byzantine Empire has contributed immensely to art and architecture. In light of the statement evaluate the contribution of Byzantine art.