According to Arlov Grammatically

Many instructors urge their students not to start their sentences with the word â€Å"but†, or any other coordination conjunction for that matter. This can be disheartening for students because we commonly speak with our sentences beginning with a conjunction. However, writing is not like speaking. There are two schools of thought on beginning a sentence with the word, â€Å"but†. According to Arlov, â€Å"Grammatically, it is correct to start a sentence with but or any other FANBOYS conjunction.However, your instructors may discourage the practice for two good reasons† (343). She goes on to list the reasons. One good reason not to begin a sentence with the word but is because it is informal and casual. Academic writing is not usually casual or informal, and using â€Å"but† at the beginning of a sentence may make a more formal paper appear less than well thought out.While it is OK for some sorts of writing such as narrative or dialog, a professional paper is seldom written with coordination conjunctions at the beginning of sentences. Also, using words like â€Å"but† is addictive! It is easy to use and overuse. Arlov advises using conjunctions to begin sentences sparingly so as not to make it a hard habit to break. The other side of the issue says using but is just like using any other word to begin a sentence, and therefore, there is nothing wrong with it.

Women in A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is the story of a struggling black family in Chicago. This story embodies Hansberry's use of strong black women, she was a realistic artist, fascinated by ordinary and real people with each one clearly and vividly drawn. In this play, Hansberry portrays courageous and revolutionary women who share struggles with each other and also with their men. Hansberry speaks loudly about the role women have played in the struggle for freedom. In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry shows three major female characters in very different stages in their lives. Lena wants to save her family from dissolution by resolving conflicts, remaining righteous and being the rock and the leader of the Youngers. Beneatha wants to both develop her intellect by attending school and be of service to humanity by practicing medicine; Ruth, on the other hand, wants Travis to grow up in a decent home in a decent neighborhood. However, they all share a common goal for their family. Although different from each other, the women remain unified at the end of the play when the whole family decides to move into a new house, significant because they would rather face the dangerous risk of moving into a racist neighborhood than stay in their poor situation. Mama portrays the traditional, holy, black woman during the period of the civil rights movement, much like that of the time she is the backbone in their house and supports the family through their many trials and tribulations. Throughout the play Walter, Lena Younger’s son, is undoubtedly a catalyst in the troubles the family faces. He seems helpless and feels he is less than a man because his family is poor and he has so many aspirations. During the play he lobbies for the support of the family to give him the money to invest in a liquor store, and finally in a critical scene, even though she has her doubts, Mama hands over part of the ten thousand dollars of his father’s life insurance to him. Walter may not know it but she is handing over the duty as the head of the household to him. After their heart-wrenching face to face talk with her son, Lena doesn't want his dream to be deferred, she says, â€Å"Listen to me now. I say I've been wrong, son. That I been doing what the rest of the world been doing to you† ( ). Through giving this money to Walter, Lena hopes his spirits will lift before the family loses him. She then says, â€Å"There ain't nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else if it means it's going to destroy my boy†. ( ). It is evident that there is nothing more important to Lena than her family's happiness, and as a mother she only has Walter's best interest in mind. Although Lena can be seen as an old-fashioned black woman she also displays some forward thinking on her part when she buys a house for her family. Not only does she just buy a house but she dares to buy one in a white neighborhood. She knows she is taking a risk but she does it anyway to improve her family's living situation, advancing on the concept that her family always comes first. The house that she brought was the best she could find for her money and she wasn't going to be denied such an opportunity because of the racist neighborhood. She is tired of her family being held back by white society in which Walter is mostly the victim. At one point Lena waivers at moving because Walter loses the money. She loses hope for a moment. This scene is the most dramatic scene because when Lena learns that Walter lost the money, she slaps him with anger. She then illustrates how hard his father worked for the money. She says â€Å"I seen†¦ him†¦ night after night†¦ come in †¦ and look at that rug†¦ and then look at me†¦ the red showing in his eyes†¦ the veins moving in his head†¦ I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty †¦ working and working like somebody's old horse †¦ killing himself †¦ and you – you give it all away in a day†¦ † ( ). Lena just couldn't stand the thought of her husband working everyday for nothing. However, even though she didn't like what he did, she later scolds Beneatha for criticizing him because she doesn't want Walter to be hurt any further. Ruth and Lena show tremendous understanding with Walter. In the story Hansberry describes Ruth by writing, â€Å"We can see that she was a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face† ( ). It is apparent by the way Hansberry describes Ruth that times have been hard for her. It is understandable though, black women were expected to do domestic work as well as work outside the home to complement their husband's income and effectively handle both major tasks. Ruth also displays a lot of strength when she deals with a pregnancy that the family may not be able to support. Through all of these responsibilities more stress is added on to the fact that Walter shuts her out emotionally. Ruth’s relationship with Walter becomes distant as the play goes on, Walter simply doesn't feel the support he needs from her and he doesn’t know how to get back to a good place with their relationship. Ruth doesn't seem supportive at first, however she really understands him, she wants a better life for her family, too but she's just more of a realist. Ruth does tip-off Lena that Walter wanted the money to start a business when she says, â€Å"Ain't nobody business people till they go into business. Walter Lee say colored people ain't never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world – investments and things†. ( ). After Lena mentions buying a house Ruth gets excited because she knows that to save her marriage and her family they must move into the new house, it also means that she can keep the new baby on the way. Beneatha's character in A Raisin in the Sun portrays how a radical, independent black female would act, she represents a new generation of women that to be free. In one part of the play Beneatha rejects God, saying â€Å"I’m sick about hearing about god† Her intense personality and stubborn attitude is probably what causes her to lose her faith. She doesn't realize that faith is what helped her family through hard times. Beneatha's main goal throughout the play was to pursue her education and become a doctor. During the civil rights movement a black female doctor is very rare and even thinking about entering practice may be looked down upon. In the beginning Beneatha was not supported by her brother Walter, he may have felt jealousy and couldn't stand the thought of part of the insurance money going to her schooling. He criticized Beneatha's dreams, which is hypocritical because he does not want anybody criticizing his. Walter doesn't support his sister's dream of being a doctor because he wants the money for himself. Beneatha's love interests in the story confirm her beliefs. George Murchinson essentially believes in what her brother thinks and Asagai supports her. George is not sensitive enough to notice that Beneatha is an intellectual and only feels he needs to suit her physical needs as well. Asagai, on the other hand, appeals to Beneatha's intellectual and psychological needs. Beneatha is at a stage where she wants to feel at ease and be encouraged to philosophize and express her opinions. She is definitely more receptive towards Asagai because he supports her dreams. The Younger women may argue and disagree but would never betray their family or their race. They, as a whole, act not only as the rock of the family, but the glue that bonds everyone together. Walter would be lost without the support he receives and although he does not show it very often, he loves all of them very much. The women of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun play a key role in the stability of the family and a clear picture into the hearts and minds of the characters, they are an integral part of the play.

Seamus Heaney Clearances Poems

The â€Å"Clearances† collection is an insight into Seamus Heaney and his mother’s relationship, it deals with his mother who is deceased , sonnet 3 is set in the past, it deals with distant past and the author’s link to his mother’s family history which he is not directly part of. The sonnet is relatively staright forward, In the first eight lines we are given a simile describing the potatoes peeled: †¦ let fall one by one Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:Next is a metaphor describing the peeled potatoes sitting in a bucket of clean water: Cold comforts set between us, things to share / Gleaming in a bucket of clean water In â€Å"When all the others were away at Mass† Heaney moves from the distant past of the first two quatrains, through a telling break in lines, the into a place nearer the present in the final quatrain. But this present reality is too much to bear, and he retreats again to the past in the final couplet.In this way memory serves as a shield to protect him from his mother's death. Onomatopoeia is used with little pleasant splashes. There is a pivotal shift found at the beginning of the ninth line, where the scene changes in the writer's memory, to fast forward to his dying mother's bedside. A metaphor (and idiom) is used with: â€Å"Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying,† indicating that the priest is working energetically administering the late rites.In line thirteen, beautiful imagery is used in remembering how they peeled the potatoes together â€Å"†¦ our fluent dipping knives. † Also, in this last section (known as the â€Å"sestet†), we hear end rhyme used twice, where it has not been used before, perhaps providing an auditory focus for the listener to tie the â€Å"before† memory with the â€Å"last† memory: â€Å"dying†¦ crying,† and â€Å"knives†¦ lives. † The pace of the first sonnet is maddening, while the r hythms of the third sonnet are warm, inviting and endearing.The poem possesses a power that portrays the haze of his memory whilst presenting darker imagery of his mother’s death. Despite this the true reveal of the close bond shared by both mother and son is seen most apparent in sonnet 3, whereby Heaney describes the activities shared between them on times where it was just ther two of them alone. In sonnet 3, he mentions himself and his mother preparing Sunday Dinner ‘I was all hers as we peeled potatoes’. ‘They broke the silence, let fall one by one’.The close bond between them is easily spotted here as peeling potatoes is seen as a feminine image, yet Heany is eager to help and share quality time with his mother, emphasising the importane she has in his life. The fact there is silence also indicates their loving relationship, as neither feel the need to speak and are bothe just enjoying each others company. ‘From each other’s work w ould bring us to our senses’, this yet again shows the unifying element between the both of them, almost as if part of one another, showing how alike they are.The change in the mood in the second stanza emphasises Heaney’s great pain at the loss of his mother. Yet, despite this they are still as united as they were in the first stanza , ‘her breath is mine’ once again highlighting the love shared between the two of them. The final line is a confirmation of the bond between Heaney and his mother as he feels the closest he has ever felt at a time when he should feel distanced by her death, ‘never closer the whole rest of our lives’

International Interview Project Assignment Research Paper

International Interview Project Assignment - Research Paper Example Chan, personal communication, January 29, 2012). Located in Southeast Asia, the country shares its water borders with China in the form of the South China Sea which is east of Vietnam. It turns out that the Philippines has a long history of being colonized by other countries and their quest for independence as a country is still being fought for until today. The first and longest staying colonizers of the Philippines according to Jennifer were the Spaniards. The country was annexed by Ferdinand Magellan in the name of Spain which was the country that financed his expedition into Asia but, the management of the country was left mostly to their Mexican counterparts. It was during this colonization that the Chinese came to settle in the Philippines. This was followed by the American Occupation, the Japanese Occupation, American Liberation, and finally, independence for the republic that began as a Commonwealth country. Jennifers ancestors came to settle in the country during the American Liberation era and have become naturalized cit izens of their adopted country. I would be hard pressed to find a Filipino with pure Filipino blood she told me. Their population always carries a mix of either one, two, or all of the following bloodlines: Chinese, American, Spanish, Japanese, and Arab blood due to the interracial marriages that always freely happened even during their colonized periods. If there is one thing that always strikes any person who first meets Jennifer, it is the fact that she has such a bubbly personality and seems to always put the comfort of those around her before her own. The department of tourism website for the Philippines (2012) explains that this spirit of kinship and camaraderie is something that was inherited from their Malay forefathers. The local hospitality though, is something that seems to be hard wired into their DNA. Nobody really knows where the race inherited it from.

Business decision making question paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business decision making question - Term Paper Example The Principal-agent relationship refers to a contractual or non contractual relationship between two persons or parties (principle and an agent) whereby the principle authorise the agent to act on his or her behalf to establish a legal relationship with the third party. An agent may make non-optimal solution (irrational decision) to a problem facing him or her especially when undertaking tasks that are useful to the principle but costly to him or her. If the cost of running the project is higher on the side of the agent, the principle may undertake to compensate the agent by paying him or her more benefits or supervise the agent more keenly to protect project’s interests from those of the agent. Thus promote a more rational decision making approach. Satisficer is a person who seeks a satisfactory solution as compared to the optimal (rational) solution. This kind of a solution is arrived at when it becomes too costly or when resources are not adequate to arrive at an optimal solution. Therefore, the decision maker tries to select solutions that meet a specific need or solutions that seems to address most of his or her needs. For example, there is a task for sewing a patch onto a military uniform. The best needle to do the sewing is a four and half (4.5) inch long needle with a three (3) millimetre eye. However, the correct needle is hidden in a hay stack along with 2000 needles of different sizes. It will be extremely hard, waste of energy and time to find the exact needle. Therefore, a satisfying solution is to pick the first needle that can sew the patch. Tricky Dicky Enterprises is considering the possibility of expanding its factory premises. Local elections will soon take place and the firm assume that pay-offs will vary as follows depending on the outcome of the election: Assume that the probability of Party A winning the

Optional subject ( apple is recommended ) Assignment

Optional subject ( apple is recommended ) - Assignment Example I will also take reference from Lance Whitney and Josh Lowensohn’s articles that would put light on the tactics used by Apple. Apple has emerged as a renowned and very popular company in the recent past due to its innovative and high quality products. Apple has always tried to come up with customer’s expectations with it continually improving products. It has always looked to bring innovation that has helped the company to compete with other brands. The organizational structure of the company is designed in such a way that it promotes competition and encourages employees to present new ideas. I think it was a very clever move by Apple to adopt innovative strategy with appealing applications as its competitors were not bringing much innovation in their products. Introduction of iphone was an example of such innovation, which had brought a revolution in the technological world. iphone helped Apple to register revenues of $65,225 million, increasing by 52% in fiscal year 2010. The company also adopted a strategy to market its product worldwide and not restricting it to a particular place, which helped the company to gain significant market share. Research and development is also a very important aspect for the company. Apple lays strong focus on research and development in the company and always come up with new ideas and suggestion that help the company to develop new products. When the company was entering into the Chinese market, initially it did not get a good response, but extensive research helped the company to make few changes in the product. These changes made it easy for Apple to introduce its product in China, which became a great success. The focus on research and development helps the company to compete with its competitor very efficiently. Initially, when Apple introduced its smart phones in the market, it was a totally new concept, so it decided to charge higher prices due to the advanced features of its

I am awesome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I am awesome - Essay Example Awesome managers listen to the staff since they offer insights on how to run the property better. I always share what I know with my staff not only to foster a sense of empowerment but also to make my job easier. Teaching is part of my job as I equip my staff with knowledge and skills that they can use to perform their job without constant supervision. Having regular collaboration sessions with my staff gives me a well of ideas on areas to improve in including customer satisfaction. Dedicating some little time a day to read industry news keeps me abreast with the current affairs and emerging trends in the industry (Daum, 2010). I always ask for help since I cannot pretend that I know everything. Even though everybody expects me to handle virtually everything that comes my way, I have limitations just like any other human being. I do not get embarrassed to admit not knowing an issue if confronted, and this helps me to get help from my staff. I am liberal and welcome criticisms. Instead of being defensive, I take criticism as a stepping-stone to get better at the job. I also motivate my staff and challenge them to achieve bigger. I give credit where it is due and goes an extra mile to know my staff at personal levels. I don’t micromanage my staff and always have the organization’s interest at

Advertising Strategy and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advertising Strategy and Planning - Essay Example About 6% of the UK population is vegetarian which approximately 3.5 million individuals are. In early 1990’s this population was about 3-4% (Case study notes). The diet for vegetarians comprises of nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and grains and at times eggs and products. Fundamentally a vegetarian does not take fish, meat or poultry. There is a considerable section of the UK population that inclines towards minimizing meat in their diet. According to the survey conducted by TGI, 6.3% of the people admitted to be vegetarian while 13.3% admitted to have done away with meat diet on voluntary basis (Case study notes). The largest populations of vegetarians are women aged between 20 and 44 years and those living in the southern part of UK (The Vegetarian Society 59). There is a close relationship between the high consciousness of issues to do with environment and the vegetarians like carbon footprint, sustainability and global warming. The forces for the pattern in consumption of less quantity of meat are attributed to the current lifestyles and an interest in wellbeing and health. The five day campaign launched by the government in 2003 encouraging five segments of vegetables and fruits per day is attributed with the supporting awareness of the advantages of consuming vegetables and fruits (The Vegetarian Society 59). The rise in ethnic food has resulted into more foreign spices and savoring into the diet of the country and supported increased shift away from the conventional diet of two vegetables and meat. There are about 110,000 restaurants in UK with joint sales revenue of  £25 billion (Powers and Cathy 47). Even though majority of the restaurants provide vegetarian foods, reasonably very few offer exclusively vegetarian alternatives. To use 5% of the advertisement budget on social media, 39% on digital advertisement, 27% on public relation, 18% on

Disaster Preparedness & Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disaster Preparedness & Response - Essay Example This phase also tries to minimize the effects of disasters. Because of this, they are not dealing with the disaster directly, and have time to make long term plans and programs that are best suited for them to carry out. These plans include things such as making building and zoning codes, which this phase is mot adept for because of the time they have not during the crisis to plan out these codes. You wouldn't send in a quick recovery team to try to figure out planning codes. This phase is also best for planning out and figuring out which areas are vulnerable to disaster, and analyzing this data and figuring out what can best be done about it. And lastly, the Migation Phase can best handle public education, as they have the time when there isn't a disaster going on to help educate the public about emergencies. The Preparedness part of the cycle is just as important, but can best handle its own inner workings. If is best left to making the preparedness plans, as they are going to be the ones using them and putting them into action. They are also the best to handle the warning systems, as they know how to best set up a system that can be ready to go and prepared to help people if an emergency is to happen. The Response Team has its own activities that it is best at.

JFKs assassination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JFKs assassination - Essay Example The successor of JFK Lyndon B. Johnson suffered a credibility gap as illustrated in the polls. That showed that Americans no longer trusted their government due to other evils happening around the same time such as Vietnam War, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior,and the unfolding Watergate scandal preceding years of malaise. The death of the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald dispelled shock and confusion during an abortive transfer by strip club operator Jack Ruby. President Johnson instituted the Warren Commission to unravel the mysterious death of JFK. It became as one of the most vilified investigation panel in American history due to conspiracy and cover up. Hawken investigates that Lee Harvey Oswald is the likely assailant linked to the death of JFK. Prior to the death of JFK, Oswald was a Marine that worked as a radar operator based at U-2 spy plane. Once he left the Marines, he went to Russia where he interacted with KGB operatives. He lived an extravagant lifestyle probably due to crucial information he passed to the Soviets concerning U-2 spy operatives. In reality, Oswald was working for the CIA while smokescreen as a traitor to America. Warren affirms that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK from the building’s southeastern sixth-floor window. That is the same evidence depicted by Dallas Police Department, FBI, and Texas School Book Depository employee. Conspirators’ theories posit Oswald as a lone gunman in the league of other plotters that fail to gain foothold in the popular imagination of the likelihood of having another gunman. A Philadelphia attorney observes confusion, shock, and pandemonium at the crime scene amidst sensory assaults of wailing sirens, roaring motorcycles, and animated throng cheering the arrival of the President. Skeptics stress on the eyewitnesses reports that seem to contradict the official conclusion. Several witnesses claim of hearing four shots while the Warren report cites of three

Career Development Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Career Development Assignment - Essay Example Having a variety of options opens up a multitude of choices for my future career. First consideration that I should take is passion – where does my passion lie? Is it in serving others? Is it in exploring sites and sounds or is it in running my own business? I have decided to approach it in two ways: in the short-term, I would like to learn as much about the industry as I can. Therefore, my decision was to get involved in the services sector. I would like to target a hotel management trainee position, in the likes offered by Tangloom Resort, which provides a comprehensive understanding of all the aspects of the services sector for the industry. With that I will have exposure on the variety of roles that I can take, at the same time, be exposed to the tourism industry aspect of the resort service. A resort-type of environment offer challenges in meeting more variety of nationalities and cultures. Having spent the first five years of my career being exposed in those aspects of t he industry, I will now have to look at my long-term plans. In the long-term, I would like to prepare for retirement. Thus, my experiences in the short term should be able to bring me an opportunity for a long-term career and gain experience and resources, especially financial resources, for a respectable employment. At this point, I have yet to paint a clearer picture of the long-term goal. Having limited exposure to the industry and what it can offer me financially, I cannot complete my long-term plans. However I look forward to taking the path towards my short-term goal which exposes me to the possibilities in preparing for my long-term plans. To set me on the right path, I will focus my learning plans to my short-term goals. I will make sure that my curriculum covers the necessary courses to provide me with tools to be successful in the hospitality industry. During summer, I will take up

An experiment to show Essay Example for Free

An experiment to show Essay To see whether there is a relationship between the surface area and the diffusion rate Hypothesis I predict that the smaller blocks of agar will turn clear, or diffuse first, as it has a smaller surface area. This is because there is less surface area and volume for the sulphuric acid to diffuse into. Apparatus   Three sizes of agar, 20x20x20mm, 20x20x10mm, 20x20x5mm 40ml of sulphuric acid [80ml per beaker] 3 100ml beakers   Tile used for placing the agar   Tissue to wipe off the sulphuric acid off the agar   3 scalpels   Ruler, measurable in mm. Stop clock Method 1. First, cut three pieces of sulphuric acid in the following sizes 20x20x20mm, 20x20x10mm, 20x20x5mm, as accurately as possible 2. Next, fill the three beakers with 80ml of sulphuric acid each 3. Then, prepare the stop clock, and make sure it is has been reset 4. After, place the three blocks of agar into the sulphuric all at the same time, as well as starting the stop clock once the agar is in the sulphuric acid. 5. Carefully stir the three beakers using the scalpels. 6. Watch until one of the blocks have gone completely clear. 7. Once one of the blocks have gone completely clear, stop the stop clock and take out the three blocks of agar and place on the tissue, and wipe off the excess sulphuric acid from the blocks of agar to prevent further diffusion with the two other blocks which have not been fully diffused to fully diffuse 8. Cut the blocks in diagonal, through the middle and using a ruler, measure how much of it has turned clear on each side. 9. Record the data for time taken, and the depth of the clear part on the table. Results Block number 1 2. 3 Block dimensions/mm 20x20x20 20x20x10 20x20x5 Predicted order of clearing 3 2 1 Actual order of clearing 3 2 1 Time taken for clearing 8mn56. 29s Depth of clear part on block/mm 3 4 5 Surface area/mmi 2400 1600 1200 Volume/mmi 8000 4000 2000 Surface are to volume ratio O:O. 3 O:O. 4 O:O. 6 Conclusion My prediction as to which block will go clear first was correct, being the smaller block, as its surface area to volume ratio was the greatest out of all three, even though there was not much difference between the three values. This is because the third block has a greater surface area for the sulphuric acid to diffuse into the agar, causing the diffusion rate to be greater. The blocks have become clear through diffusion caused by neutralization between the sulphuric acid and the agar, which is an alkaline. Evaluation Quite a few things did not go as planned in this evaluation, but I have come up with ideas on how to improve them if we do an experiment like this again. Firstly, the jelly size may not be accurate from cutting it, and when it has been stirred, bits of it may have chipped off causing a change in its surface area. Next time, to avoid this, we could measure the block of agar more accurately when cutting it, and also be more careful when stirring the agar and stir softer so that no bits may get chipped off. Not only that, but the time we place the three blocks of agar into the sulphuric acid may be different, as well as the time we started the stop clock. Next time, we may possibly find a different method of putting in and taking out the agar so that it remains a fair test, and so that there are less mistakes in the test, which may be reduced by having one person per block of agar and beaker, as well as another person for the stop clock and placing it in and taking it out all at the same time as well as starting and stopping the stop clock. Another complication may have come from the amount of sulphuric acid in each beaker, which may not have been equal. This problem may be reduced by measuring the sulphuric more carefully, maybe with a measuring cylinder before then placing it into the beaker, instead of measuring it into the beaker straight away. Our measurements of the depth of the clear layer of the blocks of agar jelly may have been incorrect as well, and to prevent this, we could possibly use a microscope next time and use a graticule to measure the depth that the jelly has diffused to obtain a more accurate result. The last problem I noticed while doing the experiment was when we were blotting the sulphuric acid off the agar. I found that there may have been some sulphuric acid left on the agar after we have blotted it, which may have caused further diffusion and adjusting our result. This is caused from not blotting off enough sulphuric acid off the agar. Next time, we could carefully blot all the sulphuric acid, and use one piece of tissue for each block of agar so that there is no sulphuric acid on the tissue before blotting each block of agar.

Problem Diagnosis Using Organisational Behaviour Concepts Business Essay

Problem Diagnosis Using Organisational Behaviour Concepts Business Essay There are several significant concepts which are used when managing the workplace in changing business environment. The workplace environment becomes more complex in which the complexity of interactions, relationships and processes often makes difficult to understand. In the organization, managers are required to be effective in organizing, decisive, and maintain good relationship with employees (Kimball 1997). According to the case analysis, practise of empowerment is used as the new tool by Becker for the hotel to be more effective and implement the capacity of employees to make decisions and to be innovative in the working environment. On the other hand there are certain situations where employees were not familiar with change in the management. Focuses on issues and problems of implementing empowerment within the organization. Motivation refers to the forces acting on and coming from within a person that account, in part, for the wilful direction of ones efforts towards the achievement of specific goals (Dennis Michael) According to the case, in the past Regency Grand Hotel was one of the most prestigious hotels in Thailand and the employees enjoyed working. Example: The hotel provided good welfare benefits and good salary rates to the employees. End of the year employees were given a salary increment regardless of the hotels overall performance. This could be due to personal relationships to build a more close relationship with the employees. Employees were motivated and they enjoyed working with the current general manager. Motivation theories are very important in the corporate world. Primarily motivation theories are divided into two types. (Dennis Michael) Theory 1: Content theory This focuses on identifying the specific factors that motivate people internally which contributes to strengthen and direct the behaviours of employees within the organization. (Dennis Michael) Content theories focus on specific factors that motivate people. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y and Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory will be discussed linked to the case. 3.1 McGregors Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor proposed two different motivational theories. Managers tend to believe one or the other and treat their employees accordingly.   Theory X states that employees dislike and try to avoid work, and must be coerced into doing it. Most workers lack ambition and value job security more than anything else. According to the case the employees were rewarded with a yearend bonus regardless of the hotels overall performance, may be due to lack of motivation which the manager saw in his subordinates to work within the organization. Due to that we can identify that employees were satisfied and job security was ensured and also for it to become a prestigious hotel the efficiency of the fellow employees would have been a reason. 3.2 Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory According to Herzberg, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction exist in the corporate world. Hygiene factors could cause an employee to become unhappy with their job. Lack of motivation could bring out job dissatisfaction such as pay, job security, and physical work environment. On the other hand Motivation can increase job satisfaction by providing recognition for their achievements and more responsibilitys. Change Internal and external factors affect the organization towards the complexity and changing situations. Mostly, people do not accept and understand the benefits in changing the management. Organization needs to consider the internal and external factors in implementing a new strategic management. It is important to develop strategy to help employees learning about the change (Cameron Quinn) Managers are also required to develop good communication within its employees since people may come from different cultural background, skills, age, and gender (Holden 2001). These differences will create barriers in communication based on different values and perceptions. The effective management of workplace in organization requires an understanding of leadership and motivation in managing the workplace on performing the job and being motivated to do so. (Holden 2001) In the case with the change of ownership there will be a change in the organizations business practises. Its important that the existing employees are aware of the change and that they should adopt according to the change. For that there should be trainings, workshops organized by the management in order to make them understand about the change. Without effective diagnosis, managers may believe that the problem is significantly different than it is, and the change alternative may be ineffective in resolving the problem. (Dennis Michael) In organizational development one should recognize; The need for change Diagnose problems Develop change alternatives Implementation of change Reinforcement of change Evaluation of change Implementing further change actions 4.1 Delegating authority When delegating authority Becker did not explain properly what are the responsibilities of the employees. As stated in the case he did not give a criterion to differentiate minor and major issues which arose in the organization. Proper organization structure was not implemented. 5. Culture   According to the case the Regency was able to merge with a large American chain that was very keen on expanding its operations into Thailand. With the new ownership the current general manager decided to take early retirement. There is nothing more valuable than local knowledge or understanding culture of a particular organization when merging with an organization. It is important to be aware of the culture and business practices especially when changing ownership with a different country. Organizational culture is referred to, a code of attitudes, norms and values and the way an individual thinks. It determines how we see ourselves and how we see the world. Culture can be either right or wrong inherited about individual behaviour. Organization culture affects the way strategy is determined, how goals are established and how the organization operates. (Marie Roger, 2008) With the retirement of the current general manager a new general manger from the US was appointed to the Regency. According to the case, John Becker the newly appointed general manager has 10 years of management experience in the hotel industry and was selected because of his previous success. The case states that in his previous achievements he took over organizations with poor profitability and poor morale and managed to succeed in achieving desired objectives. Organizational culture can be different from one country to another. The success of an organizational culture has to do with external and internal factors (Marie Roger, 2008). With the change of the ownership one should identify the cultural variations from one organization to another or from country to country. Considering the culture in Thailand and in the US the business practices can be completely different there can be a cross cultural affect within the organization. Cross culture explains the behaviour of people in organizations around the world and describes and compares organizational behaviour across countries and cultures seeking to understand and improve the interaction of its subordinates (Adler, 2002: 11). Identifying organizational culture 6.1 Corporate Culture in the US The worlds third largest country both in size and population, the United States is a nation moving forward rapidly and successfully with its unique cultural diversity. Today, the US is considered to have the strongest and most technologically powerful economy. (Communicaid Group Ltd. 2009) In the US people are more work oriented where individualism and equality are two main important aspects in the US corporate culture which has a significant effect on their business etiquettes (Cameron Robert). In the US performance is more important and individuals will be rewarded according to their achievements this is why individualism is important in the US. American business culture is task oriented. Paying attention to guidelines and rules dictated by business policies, laws and procedures is important in the US. 6.2 Corporate Culture in Thailand Thai people are mo re relationship oriented when doing business. International business practices are widely accepted for Thai business person. In general, Thais are naturally friendly and open-minded; however, there are some practices and values to be considered (Thailand Business Guide, 2010) Thai business people can accept new ideas quickly. Thai people are calm and quite. Thais take confrontation extremely seriously. In the west you loosing temper may be familiar and accepted where in Thailand its not accepted. There is nothing worse than an upset, impatient employer who is making demand on Thais. Acting this way will serve no purpose other than alienate. (Thailand Business Guide, 2010) 6.3 Cross Culture (United States Thailand) According to the research carried out its clear that from one country to another their business practises diverge. Culture in one country can be different from one another. What is suitable in the US will not be applicable in Thailand. Certain practises used by Becker will not be applicable in Thailand. His success in previous organizations can be a failure in the Regency. Understanding organizational culture at all levels is important because the culture points out both appropriate and inappropriate behaviours of the employees. According to the case Becker wanted his employees to think out of the box. He expected the employees to be creative, innovative and to make judgments to satisfy guest needs. Throughout my research I identified that being innovative and creative will help to achieve organizational goals. The culture Becker previously worked is a culture based on innovation and creativity. With his new placement in a different country (culture) he implemented the same theory assuming he will succeed. Contrary to the culture in Thailand and the US, the existing employees were used to a different organizational culture from the culture Becker worked previously. According to the case, under the previous management the responsibilities of the employees were to ensure that the instructions from their managers are carried our diligently and conscientiously. Innovation and creativity were discouraged. Indeed, employees were punished for their mistakes and discouraged from trying out ideas that had not been approved by management. As a result, employees were afraid to be innovative and to take risks. This can be due to the normal organizational culture carried out in the industry in Thailand. We assume that they were more task oriented. Team work was not encouraged and individual achievement was encouraged. An organizations culture also determines the way in which employees are rewarded. (Business Management Group, Inc) But without considering the performance of the employees everyone was rewarded with a yearend bonus. Because of this there can be dissatisfaction and un-equality among employees. Management tends to focus on a dominant source of motivation, such as pay, status, or opportunity for personal growth and achievement. The accessibility of management and the ways in which decisions are made are reflections of an organizations culture as well. (Business Management Group, Inc) Empowerment Empowerment can be defined as a term used to express the ways in which employees can make independent decisions without consulting their superiors. Employee empowerment can begin with training and converting a whole company to an empowerment model. Conversely it may merely mean giving employees the ability to make some decisions on their own (Murrell   Meredith) According to the case Becker is a strong believer in empowerment. He believes empowerment increases employee motivation, performance and job satisfaction. He expects employees to go beyond guidelines and make work more effective. According to Becker employee empowerment has always been a successful tool for him in the corporate culture. He believes that by introducing empowerment to the new organization will replicate his previous success in the industry. Implementing empowerment might not work in the new place where it will be difficult to change ones perception and employees will not like to deviate from his/her believes, attitudes and routines. Since empowerment is new to the existing employees they might not understand what Becker is expecting unless he should provide certain trainings to educate his subordinates. On the other hand empowerment will encourage the employees to be innovative, creative and make judgments. Managers believe when they delegate jobs, they are empowering their employees; empowerment is more than simple delegation. It is giving the employees the authority, training and resources to make decisions within defined boundaries. Through these actions, employees gain the power and potential to both grow and strengthen the company  (Weiss, W. H.) Existing employees at Regency had to go through administrative control which result more bureaucratic procedures in the organization. The front-counter employees needed to seek approval from their manager before they could upgrade guests to another category of room. The front-counter manager would then have to write and submit a report to the general manager justifying the upgrade With Beckers implementation of empowerment, the employees will have to follow his instruction if not there will be a contradictory between the employees and the general manager. In the previous management employees were punished for mistakes and they did not have the freedom to be innovative or creative or make decisions on their own. With Beckers new plan the employees might hesitate to adopt directly according to the change if relevant training and briefing isnt done appropriately. So Becker should communicate fully in order to build confidence among the fellow employees. 7.1 Advantages of implementing Empowerment at the Regency Gives more freedom for the employees to be innovative, creative and make decisions End output will be more effective More flexibility within the organization Motivated employees creates a good working environment 7.2 Disadvantages of implementing Empowerment at the Regency Fear about job security when the lower level employees in the organization have power/authority the existing managers will have a fear of losing their jobs. Employees might use the power un-necessarily There will be more people involved in the decision making process which might take more time and disagreement will rise resulting divergence. (Murrell   Meredith) Problems and symptoms Employees had lack of confidence High employee turnover rates within the organization due to delegation of authority With the implement of the new plan Becker did not monitor the progress of the new plan implemented Becker did not have alternatives if the plan of implementing empowerment failed Becker failed to identify/study the corporate culture of Thailand didnt study the culture before implementing new tools to the organization he is not a good consultative leader Assumptions were made without any prove based on personal judgement Employees who displayed initiative and made good decisions in satisfying the needs of the guests rarely received positive feedback from the superiors Becker did not take in to account the feedback he got from several managers the body language (nodding their heads) meant a disagreement to some extent Delegated authority without considering the impairment which will occur within the organization Proper organization structure was not implemented employees didnt know to whom they should report. Lack of organizing, planning and controlling Solutions 9.1 Having alternatives Empowerment is not the only tool to motivate employees in the corporate world.   By using performance appraisals, superiors can praise and recognize the employees at Regency who displayed good innovative and good decisions to satisfy customers. Employees like been appreciated and like to hear the superiors say that they have done a good job. Reward systems for their accomplishments such as incentives, salary increments, yearend bonus for good performers and promotions can be used to motivate employees rather than only using empowerment. A manager should always be transparent and should not be biased when evaluating ones performance. 9.2 Conduct research When implementing a new plan one should always study the culture and identify the need for change. According to the case, Regency was a profit making organization and the need for change was not necessarily important. Without studying the culture Becker implemented empowerment in to the organization based on his personal judgements. To motivate employees at Regency, Empowerment was not the appropriate tool. If prior research was conducted Becker would have introduced different tools to motivate employees. Its very important understand that corporate culture can vary from one country to another. 9.3 Conduct Trainings With the implementation of empowerment employees at Regency was not aware of what exactly they should do and was afraid to be innovative and to take risks due to the bureaucratic procedures conducted by the past management. In order to build confidence in employees, trainings, workshops such as Employee Performance Management trainings can be conducted to educate them about how important empowerment is to succeed in the corporate world. 9.4 Observe the employees By observing the employee superiors can identify what employees should stop doing, what employees should continue doing and what employees should start doing and write reports about relevant employees in order to be more effective and achieve desired goals. 9.5 Have a proper organization structure Becker had lack or planning, organizing and monitoring. He did not monitor after implementing the new plan. Once a new plan has been implemented its important to monitor the progress to see whether it has been effective throughout the organization structure. Close relationship with the employees According to the research Thai people are more relationship oriented so its important that Becker should have a more close relationship with the subordinates. Having meetings at least twice a week is important in order to build up a good relationship. Its important to listen to your subordinates. Active listening guarantees that the other party understood him or her. It is a necessary part of any exchange to motivate employees. 9.7 Decrease employee turnover To decrease employee turnover in future superiors existing should consult ex-employees and discuss the reasons for leaving and make decisions to avoid turnover in future and try to maintain a lower number of employee turnover within the organization. Implement better hiring decisions to fill in the existing gaps. 9.8 Keep employees up-to-date Its important to keep the employees informed about all changes that may affect them. When implementing tools within the organization its important that you make them aware about every single rule and regulation in order to avoid stress and un-efficiency. Recommendation Considering the above solutions the most appropriate recommendation is to first identify the difference between organizational cultures and when implementing new business practises its important to train and provide sufficient information to the employees in an organization. Conclusion The purpose of this report was to diagnose the problems in this case using organisational behaviour concepts and recommend solutions to overcome or minimise the problems and symptoms in this case. There are several solutions identified in order to minimise the problems and symptoms occurred during the implementation of empowerment at the Regency. Using several organizational behaviour concepts to diagnose the problems at the Regency, such as motivation, organizational culture, employee empowerment, crosses cultural effect and change. The report found out that what may be applicable in one culture will not always be applicable/suitable in a different organizational culture. Empowerment was not effective in Thailand though it was effective and gave excellent results in the US. There are a number of contradictory findings among different authors and therefore due to a lack of clear findings at this stage it is not possible to definitively state whether empowerment is the only method of motivating the workforce. Monitoring the progress once a new plan is implemented will greatly increase efficiency and productivity within the organisation. Having alternatives will have a great deal to do with the organizations progress and how it handles the various unexpected situations such as employee turnover and low profitability. Planning, organizing and monitoring the organization are important tools in order to succeed.

Judicial Precedent A Practice Of The Courts Law Essay

Judicial Precedent A Practice Of The Courts Law Essay Judicial precedent: Where past decisions of judges are followed in future cases when the facts of the cases are similar. Once a judge decides a legal principle, it is required that is used in future legal cases with similar issues or facts. This is also known as case law or common law which has developed by broadening down from precedent to precedent. Therefore the legal definition of Judicial precedent can be stated as a courts judgment quoted as an authority for deciding a similar set of facts; a case which serves as authority for the legal principle established in its judgement. It refers to the way in which the law is made and amended through the decisions of judges. Thus, judicial precedent is based on the judges judgement, hierarchy of courts and a good system of law reporting judges. The judicial precedents doctrine is based on the stare decisis principle to stand upon decisions and by which precedents are authoritative and binding and must be followed. In practice, this means that lower courts are bound to apply the legal principles set down by superior courts in earlier cases. This provides balance and certainty in the law. A precedent is always based upon the two factors the ratio decidendi which means a reason for the decision and obiter dictum which means something said by the way and also the decisions made in the previous relevant cases. The ratio decidendi of a case is the important part of establishing precedents that binds inferior courts in the hierarchy. When a judge makes his judgement in a case, he outlines the facts which he finds have been proved on the evidence. Then he applies the law to those facts and reaches at a decision, for which he gives the reason (ratio decidendi). Whereas obiter dictum is a decision given by a judge that has only incidental bearing on the case in question and is therefore not binding in later cases. The decision of the judge may vary according to the facts of the case and is not strictly relevant to the matter in the issue in the original case. The ratio decidendi is the binding part of a judicial decision whereas an obiter dictum isnt. Though, an obiter dictum may be of persuasive (as opposed to binding) authority in later cases. Even if any difficulty arises, the judge will give reasons for his decision, however he will not always tell what the ratio decidendi of case is, and it is then up to a later judge to figure out (elicit) the ratio of the case. However, there may be disagreement over what the ratio is and there may be more than one ratio. Thus, it is not always easy to distinguish ratio decidendi from obiter dictum when evaluating the effects of a particular decision however; when judicial precedent is used, the judge follows or takes the reference of a decision made in a similar past cases that has already been judged upon and he is ruling the same way using the other case as a guideline. Whereas whilst setting judicial precedent the judge renders a decision in a case of a type that had never been tried, or ruled upon in the past, which is completely new, and that his verdict would set the precedent by which all future cases might be judged. Judges, by the way, are not always required to follow prece dent in making rulings. Therefore law reporting, hierarchy of courts and a method of distinguishing between obiter dicta ratio decidendi are considered to be the key features of judicial precedent. The general rule of the precedent is that all courts are bound to follow decisions made by their superior courts and appellate courts are usually bound by their own previous decisions. Any decision made by a superior court is utterly binding on subsequent inferior courts. However, certain of the superior courts consider themselves as bound by their own decisions whilst others dont. Until 1966 The House of Lords was bound by its own previous decisions when Lord Gardiner LC announced a change of practice. The Practice Statement [1966] 1 WLR 1234 stated that even though the House of Lords would treat its decisions as normally binding, it would move off from these when it appeared right to do so. This power has been used carefully. A decision of the House of Lords binds all lower courts but does not regard itself as strictly bound by its previous decisions, for example, in Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1990) the House overruled its earlier decision in Anns v London Borough of Merton (1978) on the issue of a local authoritys liability in negligence to prospect purchasers of property. The Court of Appeal is bound by decisions of the House of Lords although it considers them to be wrong. However in Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718, the Court of Appeal held that it was bound by its own previous decisions subject to the following three exceptions: i. If there is conflict between own previous decisions, the Court of Appeal must decide which is to be followed and which is to be rejected. ii. The Court of Appeal must not follow its own decision which cannot stand with a decision of the House of Lords even if its decision hasnt been expressly overruled by the House of Lords. iii. The Court of Appeal need not to follow its own decision if satisfied that it was given per incuriam (literally, by carelessness or mistake). The High Court and the county courts are bound by the decisions of the court of appeal. Principally there is no difference in the application of stare decisis in the civil and criminal divisions of the Court of Appeal. In practice, in addition to the Young exceptions, because a persons liberty may be at stake, precedent is not followed as strictly in the criminal division however judges tend to follow the decisions of the high court for the sake of certainty. For example R v Taylor [1950] 2 KB 368. The High Court is bound by the decisions of Court of Appeal and the House of Lords however it is not bound by other High Court decisions. The county courts are bound by the decisions of individual high courts. House of Lords and the Court of Appeal binds Divisional Court and normally follows a previous decision of another Divisional Court but if they believe that the previous decision was wrong, they may depart. For eg. R v Greater Manchester Coroner, ex parte Tal [1985] QB 67. The Crown Court judgements are not binding, though they are of persuasive authority. Therefore, Crown Court judges are not obliged to follow them. The decisions made by the judges of county courts and magistrates courts are not binding. They are not usually reported in the law reports as they are rarely important. Judicial precedent is one of the most important source of English law. An original precedent created and applied a new rule whereas the later decisions, of the higher courts, can have a number of effects upon precedents. Particularly they may be: Reversed: where on appeal in the same case the decision is reversed and the appeal court substitute its own decision. Overruled: Overruling can occur if the previous court fail to apply law correctly, or because the later court considers that the rule of law contained in the previous ratio decidendi is no longer desirable. then a higher court can overrule a decision made in an earlier case by a lower court. For example, the Court of Appeal can overrule an earlier High Court decision. A refusal to follow: the court may refuse to follow the earlier decision especially when it is not bound by the decision or can not overrule it but does not wish to follow it. Distinguished: where an earlier case is rejected as authority, either because the different material facts or because the statement of law in the previous case is too narrow to be properly applied to the new set of facts. Explained: a judge may seek to study or discuss an earlier decision before applying it or distinguishing it, thus the impact of the earlier case is varied in the circumstances of the present case. A decision which is reached per incuriam is one reached by carelessness or mistake, and can be avoided. In Morelle v Wakeling [1955] 2 QB 379 Lord Evershed MR stated that the only case in which decisions should be held to have been given per incuriam are those of decisions given in ignorance or forgetfulness of some inconsistent statutory provision or of some authority binding on the court concerned. In Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Desai (1991) The Times 5 December, Scott LJ said that to come within the category of per incuriam it must be shown that the decision involved some manifest slip or error but also that to leave the decision standing would be likely, inter alia, to produce serious inconvenience in the administration of justice or significant injustice to citizens. However, this rule does not permit the Court of Appeal to ignore decisions of the House of Lords. In Cassell v Broome [1972] AC 1027 Lord Denning MR held the House of Lords decision in Rookes v Barnard [1964] AC 1129 to be per incuriam on the basis that it ignored previous House of Lords decisions. He was rebuked sternly by the House of Lords who considered that the Court of Appeal really only meant that it did not agree with the earlier decision: Even if this is not so, it is not open to the Court of Appeal to give gratuitous advice to judges of first instance to ignore decisions of the House of Lords. (Lord Hailsham) There are three types of Precedent, Original, Binding and Persuasive. Precedent can be used instead of statutory law in civil cases. Precedent is also known as a common-law, whereby judges follow the outcome. Original Precedent: If the point of law is absolutely new and has never been decided before, the decision then judge comes to will form a new precedent for subsequent cases. These cases are persuasive but not binding on the court. Original Precedent is whereby the case is new and has never been in trial, for eg. the cases heard regarding the 7th July 2005 London bombings were Original Precedent as the cases were never heard before a UK judge and hence this rulings would be Original Precedents. Binding Precedent: When a case involves a point of law, the lawyers for both sides will research past cases to try and find decisions that will help their clients win the case. A past decision is only binding if the decision is at the right level in the hierarchy and the facts of the second case are sufficiently similar and also Only the ratio decidendi of the earlier case is binding If a court previously decides on a case the same as the one in front, precedent would be used. For eg, if a person commits murder and there are circumstances whereby the judge ruled that this person is not guilty, then a case in equal standing or the case having the same circumstances, in a later ruling can use the precedent to find the person not guilty. Persuasive Precedent: A persuasive precedent is not completely binding on a court but may be applied. The examples can be given as: a. Decisions of English courts lower in the hierarchy. For eg, the House of Lords may follow a Court of Appeal decision, and the Court of appeal may follow a High Court decision, even though not strictly bound to do so. b. Decisions made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. c. Decisions made in the courts in Scotland, Ireland, the Commonwealth (especially Australia, Canada and New Zealand), and the USA. These decisions are usually cited specially where there is a shortage or absolute lack of English authority on a point. d. Obiter dicta of English judges. Judges use a tool called Distinguishing to avoid following a previous decision which they would otherwise be bound to follow. Distinguishing helps to keep judicial precedent and the law flexible. Where a judge founds that the material facts of the present case to be considerably different from the earlier case, then he may distinguish both d cases and refuse to follow earlier decision. For eg. Merritt v Merritt (1971) and Balfour v Balfour (1919) Judicial Law Making Decisions of judges are used to develop many areas of the law, for eg. Tort of negligence. The speed at which the law develops mostly depends on whether the judge is an active or passive law maker. in the case of R v R (1991) an active law making can be seen, where the House of Lords ruled that rape within marriage was a criminal offence. Also in the case of C v DPP (1995) An example of passive law making can be seen where the House of Lords refused to change the presumption about criminal responsibility of children under the age of 14, thinking that it was the job of Parliament to make such major changes to our law. Like every coin has two sides, there are also advantages and disadvantages of Judicial Precedent Advantages * There is certainty in the law. Only by looking at existing precedents it is possible to forecast a decision and plan accordingly. * There is uniformity in the law. Similar cases will be treated in the same way. This helps to give the system a sense of justice and to make the system acceptable to the public. * Judicial precedent is flexible. There are a number of ways to avoid precedents and this enables the system to change and to adapt to new situations. * Judicial precedent is practical in nature. It is based on real facts, unlike legislation. * Judicial precedent is detailed. There is a wealth of cases to which to refer. Disadvantages * Difficulties can arise in deciding what the ratio decidendi is, particularly if there are a number of reasons. * Rigidity The system is too rigid and does not allow the law to develop enough. * Injustice The strict rules of judicial precedent can create injustice in individual cases * Slow Development The law is slow to develop under the system of judicial precedent. The law cannot be changed until a case on a particular point of law comes before one of the higher appellate courts. * Confusion Hundreds of cases are reported each year, making it hard to find the relevant precedent which should be followed. * Complexity The law is too complex with thousands of fine distinctions.

Individualism versus Collectivism in The Fountainhead Essay example --

Individualism versus Collectivism in The Fountainhead      Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme of The Fountainhead as stated by its author, Ayn Rand, is "individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man's soul." Three major characters serve as types for the noble, contemptible, and parasitic in this comparison. Howard Roark is an architect who serves as Rand's model for individualism to the extent that he is willing to sacrifice everything he has in order to retain his status as an individual. Ellsworth Monkton Toohey is a charismatic genius who uses his knowledge of human nature and collectivism to manipulate and control the masses, who hang on his every word. Peter Keating is an ambitious young man who is in all actuality exactly what the public says he is; he reaps the benefits--and the curses--of collectivism in his rise to and fall from the top. The actions and motives of these three men serve as a means of bringing the two concepts in question to life for the readers of The Fountainhead.    Howard Roark summarizes his philosophy of existence when, in the course of a courtroom speech, he states: "I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life."(1) Roark designs buildings for a living, or more accurately, he lives to design buildings. He sees his clients as a secondary--albeit necessary--element of his profession. When someone asks him to design a building, he accepts only the basic requirements and funds for the project; he designs the structure to make optimum use of the building materials and construction site. He will agree to no suggestions or modifications; he builds for himself only, and his clients may accept it as they accept him, or reject it in much the same... ...ions of three distinct philosophies. Roark is the individualist--the man who will not borrow his life from others; he is the man who will give all he has to preserve the fundamental purity of his soul. Toohey is the propagator and employer of collectivism, the voice of the people, the enemy of the individual and everything it stands for. There is no Peter Keating--the name represents the shell of a man who is shaped and directed by society and its caprices. Peter Keating is collectivism incarnate. It is through the concrete characterization of each of these men that the reader is able to grasp the meaning of individualism and collectivism, and their effect on mankind.    1. The Fountainhead, 50th Anniversary Edition (Penguin Books), page 686, line 3. 2. ibid. page 640, line 7. 3. ibid. page 640, line 22. 4. ibid. page 637, line 6.   

FAMOUS PEOPLE :: essays research papers

Rosa Parks is widely known as the African-American woman who refused to get off her seat on a bus. She did not want to forfeit her seat in order for a white individual to replace her. She was arrested and taken into custody against her will, just because she felt the need to stay on the seat she felt she rightfully deserved. On December 1st, 1955, according to history, Rosa Parks was tired and exhausted from a long day of work. In fact, under different circumstances, she would have probably given up her seat willingly to a child or elderly person. But at this point in history, Parks was tired of the treatment she and other African-Americans received everyday of their lives. This included racism, segregation, prejudice and the Jim Crow laws of the time. After she took a stance, Americans seemed to notice and the laws and regulations of the time were questioned and subsequently, revised. Before her arrest, Parks had the fire inside of her to change what was wrong with things that were unjust. She served as secretary of the NAACP and later an adviser to the NAACP Youth Council and tried to register to vote on many occasions when it was basically impossible to do so. Not only was Parks a legitimate figure in the African-American community, but also she initiated change without really realizing so. After the bus incident, the establishment of the Montgomery Improvement Association was implemented, led by a young pastor named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The world today is clearly different all because of Rosa Parks refusing to give her seat up. Her action lead to reaction, which is the most important part in establishing change. Her act of defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America. This meant that people of different color could finally start drinking from the same water fountain, restrooms were not designated â€Å"colored† and â€Å"white,† and one of the most important things was that schools started desegregating, which mean t black and white children could attend the same schools. This last item was finally implemented by the passing of the Brown v. Board of Education law, but it would not have been able to happen if Rosa Parks had gotten up from her seat. Had she done that, our future as Americans would have been compromised and the laws that are active today might have been something African-Americans would still be fighting for.

Fulbright Research Proposal Essay

Claudia Ukonu, Netherlands, Interdisciplinary Studies The Effects of User Generated Content on Cross Channel Communication Strategies Summary As a recipient of the 2013-2014 Fulbright Grant I plan to enroll in the Masters in Methodology and Statistics for Behavioural, Biomedical and Social Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. While completing this degree I will also conduct a research study where I will seek to answer two questions 1) How Dutch companies use cross channel communication strategies to market new products and 2) How user generated content (i. . Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. ) effects the implementation of those cross channel communication strategies. The study will use surveys, interviews and statistical methods to examine purchasing behavior and the relevant results will be analyzed with the establishment of an internship at a Dutch market research firm. My goal in completing this study is to apply the knowledge gained from my Masters courses to the relevant topic of consumer purchasing behavior, which will build a solid foundation for entering a PhD program in Statistics. Introduction Here in the United States Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram have become the way of projecting a glamorized image of oneself online. The idea of being modest and not bragging about one’s newly purchased Lamborghini or vacation to Tahiti is long gone. Consumers are now becoming the trendsetters as they now dictate the trends that companies tailor their products around. Examining how user generated content fulfills the Esteem and Love/Belonging parts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can be used as a model for predicting consumer habits. With the creation of social media networks, traditional ways of marketing seem to have little to no relevance. In order for companies to be effective when introducing new products and maintaining existing ones, it is vital that they are up to date with current trends in marketing new products through multiple communication channels. While each of these channels may have different demographics (i. e. the age difference between Facebook users and people who read newspapers) the goal of cross channel communication strategy is to ensure that the product being marketed conveys the same message on all channels. This can be a daunting task given the number of communication channels available to companies. Location In 2011, ComScore named the Netherlands as the number one country with the highest LinkedIn and Twitter penetration. This provides the perfect backdrop to see how Dutch companies are not only using cross channel communication strategies but, more specifically, how they are incorporating social media into those strategies. During the grant period I will be under the supervision of Dr.  Irene Klugkist, Associate Professor of Methodology and Statistics in the Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Utrecht University. Methodology Upon arriving in Utrecht I will begin my MSc in Methodology and Statistics for Behavioural, Biomedical and Social Sciences at Utrecht University. I will enroll in the following courses for the fall semester: Advanced Survey Design and Missing Data Analysis, Multivariate Statistics, Foundations of Statistics, and Computational Inference with R. During the first two months in Utrecht I will spend my time focusing on becoming familiar with the foundations of statistics. In order to obtain accurate results when trying to determine the objectives of the study, it is vital that a selection of study participants is made. The participants will remain the same throughout the course of the study. This will be accomplished with the help of a study participant letter that will outline who I am, my purpose of study, what information I will collect from participants and how that information will be used in the study. I propose that no less than 100 participants be selected for the study. Having more participants will allow for a greater range of differentiation as well as data collection. The first two months of the grant period is also when I will spend time locating the participants of the study. I plan to include participants who are current students and working professionals. The demographics of my study will focus on men and women who are between the ages of 18-35. I am open to the possibility of changing these demographics given that after some time of living in Utrecht, I discover a niche market, to which this study’s objectives would be more relevant. The second objective–‘How user generated content (i. e.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc. ) affects the implementation of cross channel communication strategies– will be partially addressed in months 3-7 of the grant period. It is during this time that I will track the social behavior of the study participants. Relevant factors to the collection of this data will include: the time the post was made on the social network, the content of the post and responses to the original post. Surveys will also be given to participants asking about their desire to purchase items marketed on various communication channels. The first objective of the study will be applied in the form of an internship at a Dutch marketing firm where I will first observe the current cross communication strategies. After doing this, I will analyze the data collected in the first portion of the grant period. This analysis will help to determine whether 1) Consumer purchasing behavior can be predicted on the basis of user generated content and 2) If this behavior can be predicted, how can companies utilize this to their advantage. Dr.  Klugkist has expressed willingness to help me secure an internship for months 8-9 at a Dutch market research firm. During the internship I will examine the past and existing cross communication strategies of the company while looking at what factors went into the planning of this strategy. Part of the MSc program requires students to participate in a traineeship in their desired field (Behavioural, Biomedical or Social Sciences) in their final year of study. Dr. Klugkist sent my research proposal to Dr.  Van Hattum, a former Utrecht student who now works at a market research firm and he expressed interest in having me as a trainee during my final year at Utrecht University. Goal Throughout the study I hope to uncover cross communication opportunities that utilize social media and then use those opportunities as a foundation upon which I will develop new and existing product entry strategies. I will be able to apply this research and the resulting Masters degree to the completion of a PhD in Statistics.

Case Study “Scouts Canada” Essay

Question 1 Using the full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how Scouts Canada could segment its market place. Scouts Canada is a Canadian organization; therefore the organizations segmentation strategy is primarily geographic. The company focuses on the Canadian market, including all provinces and territories of the country. Based on what the organization wants to accomplish Scouts Canada should dedicate their marketing strategies to study and segment the market based on demographics (age, family size, life cycle) and psychographics. Demographic Segmentation fragments the market into categories according to different demographic factors, usually with regards to the wants and needs of multiple consumer groups. The organization provides opportunities for many people of different ages and gender. Whether people want to participate in a program, volunteer, or strive to be a leader. Scouts Canada caters to their target market and offers incentives to attract people in various life cycles. The programs of Scouts Canada are aimed at different age groups: Beaver Scouts (5-7), Cub Scouts (8-10), Scouts (11-13), Venture Scouts (14-17), and Rover Scouts (18-26). They can tailor their programs to those with large families, in which each member can feel included and involved. Psychographic segmentation – this marketing strategy incorporates the lifestyle aspect approach, because part of their mission is to provide adventure, healthy active living, getting outdoors and learning how to be environmentally friendly and responsible, etc. Question 2 What changed first: the potential scouts member or the scouting experience? Explain your response by discussing the principles of market targeting. â€Å"It began with a vision. It was nurtured with passion. It will succeed through action.† In accordance with their targeting strategy differentiated marketing, the organization strived to alter and improve their scouting experience to appeal to a larger number of scout members by customizing separate offers to appeal to appropriate segments. They updated their programs to have an increase in appeal to a broader range of members. In doing so they also created more volunteering spots as to provide easier access and increase opportunities. They also increased their appeal to younger members by providing potential for leadership growth. In addition they had the uniforms redesigned by Joe Fresh, an innovative Canadian designer. Also they intensified their environmental campaign and centric values by planting trees, promoting recycling, and other projects. To further promote their new image they published a simple and effective scouts manual, detailing new information, as well as designing a new logo and bilingual motto to appeal to the countries two official languages. Finally they fabricated new print advertisements that highlighted health issues such as obesity, and â€Å"quirky† ads, which captured the public interest. Question 3 What steps did Scouts Canada take to reposition its offering? An initial aspect that Scouts Canada has reconstructed is their experiences, with the hopes of expanding their potential scout member range. The case study stated that members would start when they were very young and lose interest after a few years. So one of the things Scouts Canada had to do was find a way to retain them past those few years. The reason why Scouts Canada faced its loss of potential members was because they failed to understand their market segments. They could not tailor their product or ‘membership’ so that it would meet the needs of more individuals; they just kept a simple plan across the board. Because they did not apply differentiation and understanding of the cultural shift towards â€Å"being green† they suffered a high member loss between 1996-2000. Question 4 Will Scouts Canada ever return to the membership levels its experienced in the 1960? Why or why not? Scouts Canada has the potential to reach equal or higher membership levels than in 1960, (maximum member period), but only if they continue to take certain actions. They need to target specific groups of people who focus on being â€Å"Green† and invironmentaly friendly, as well as creat valuable exciting experiances for all. Scouts Canada’s target market is relatively sturdy, and there stands much to be harnessed from it. Conclusion Since the internal and external reefurb of the organization, membership has increased in every province. Almost 6000 scouting groups have increased membership by over 15%. Scouts Canada should strive to continue to watch and analyze the changing market, and adjust its marketing and retention strategies accordingly. They should also Implement a stronger training program for scout leaders, as they are the future of the company. Finally, they should seek to increase their efforts in focusing on alumni members because experienced members serve to help in grounding the organization and further legitimize the company’s existence. Thanks to the innovative marketing strategy, the new company branding has proven a successful overall increase in acquiring new members, and maintaining loyal participation throughout the country.

Social Media and Violence

Why are so many young people turning to prescription drugs to get high? By survey, almost 50% of teens believe that taking prescription drugs is much safer than using illegal street drugs. Prescription drug abuse is a major issue that does not seem to be moving towards a solution. There's a reason why prescription drugs are intended to be taken under a doctor's direction if people don’t use them as they are to be taken, they can be extremely dangerous. Despite what many people think, abusing prescription drugs is not safer than abusing illicit drugs.The facts do state that prescription drugs can have dangerous short and long-term health consequences when used incorrectly or by someone other than they were intended for. Medicines are drugs that are intended to speed up or slow down or change something about the way your body is working, to try to make it work better. Sometimes they are necessary. But they are still drugs: they act as stimulants or sedatives, and too much can ki ll you. So if you do not use medicines as they are supposed to be used, they can be as dangerous as illegal drugs.People take drugs because they want to change something in their lives. Here are some of the reasons young people have given for taking drugs: * To fit in * To escape or relax * To relieve boredom * To seem grown up * To rebel * To experiment Young people think drugs are a solution. But eventually the drugs become the problem. To some it may be difficult to face problems, the consequences of drug use are always worse than the problem a person is trying to solve with them. The real answer is to get the facts and not to take drugs in the first place.Something that is not known by most young people is the risk they are taking by consuming these highly potent and mind altering drugs. Long term use of painkillers can lead to dependence, even for people who are prescribed them to relieve a medical condition but eventually get caught up in an addiction. In many cases, the dange rs of painkillers don’t surface until it is too late. In 2007, abuse of the painkiller Fentanyl killed more than 1,000 people. The drug was found to be thirty to fifty times more powerful than heroin. Association, 2012) Prescription painkillers are powerful drugs that interfere with the nervous system’s transmission of the nerve signals we perceive as pain. Most painkillers also stimulate portions of the brain associated with pleasure. So, while blocking pain, they produce a high. The most powerful prescription painkillers are called opioids. They are manufactured to react on the nervous system in the same way as drugs made from the opium poppy, like heroin. The most commonly abused opioid painkillers include oxycodone- is the number one abused prescription drug and has the greatest dangers.It is as powerful as heroin and affects the nervous system the same way, hydrocodone, meperidine, hydromorphone and propoxyphene. (htt2) According to the National Center on Addictio n and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, teens who abuse prescription drugs are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use marijuana, and twelve to twenty times more likely to use illegal street drugs such as heroin, ecstasy and cocaine than teens who do not abuse prescription drugs. (Association, 2012)What is our government doing to help? In 2011 the Obama Administration with the help of the National Drug Control Strategy came up with a prescription drug abuse prevention plan and is as follows. * Education. A crucial first step in tackling the problem of prescription drug abuse is to educate parents, youth, and patients about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, while requiring prescribers to receive education on the appropriate and safe use, and proper storage and disposal of prescription drugs. * Monitoring.Implement prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) in every state to reduce â€Å"doctor shopping† and diversion, and enhance PDMPs t o make sure they can share data across states and are used by healthcare providers. * Proper Medication Disposal. Develop convenient and environmentally responsible prescription drug disposal programs to help decrease the supply of unused prescription drugs in the home. * Enforcement. Provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to eliminate improper prescribing practices and stop pill mills. (htt4)Prescription drug addiction is a huge problem and appears to be growing. All people of life are affected by prescription drug abuse. Drug abuse in any form is a very serious issue and should be addressed as quickly as possible. http;//kidshealth. org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/prescription_drug_abuse. html http://www. theantidrug. com/drugabuse/prescription-drug-rx-abuse/default. aspx http://www. whitehouse. gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse Association, A. p. (2012). School Librarian's Workshop, 32(4), 6. In Dealing with drugs.

Assessment of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a sophisticated and renowned Gothic romance novel. Its plot has many unconventional twists and turns and, although the novel has been widely accepted and appreciated in the world of classic literature, it has also had its share of controversy. From the beginning of the novel, it becomes clear that it does not perhaps preach the same religious values as other books written during its time (the 1800s), and some have taken the view that this aspect of the book is wrong and will poison the mind of every young, susceptible person who reads it.Some of this has to do with the fact that the novel centers around the growing love affair between a sardonic, brooding gentleman named Mr. Rochester and his governess and the main character of the book, Jane Eyre. The possible objections people might make to the novel are the differences in rank, connections and wealth between Mr. Rochester and Jane, not to mention the difference in age (Mr. Rochester is 20 years Jan e’s senior). Even more objectionable; however, is the fact that Mr. You can read also Analysis of Literary Devices of Jane EyreRochester proposes to Jane even though he is already married to a madwoman (his wife had a heritable condition that made her savage and insane), and is keeping her safeguarded in a room upstairs in the very house in which he met Jane. These objections are expressed succinctly in a criticism against the book found on a pro-book-banning website: â€Å"Readers of Jane Eyre often see Edward Rochester as a dashing, romantic hero–and therein lies the problem. Rochester is already married when he woos Jane, and he has locked his mentally ill wife into an attic.What kind of a person would do this, and do we really want impressionable teenage girls idolizing such a person as a romantic hero? † (CC2K 1). The website also states that it finds Jane Eyre to promote adultery and the abuse of the mentally ill. It’s all well and good for someone on a website to say that certain circumstances of the novel were socially or ethically immoral (especially when the circumstances were taken out of context and generalized), but one of the main reasons that the book was banned in some parts of England in the mid to late 1800’s (Jane Eyre was first published in 1847) was the fact that it was written by a woman.Charlotte Bronte first used the pen name of Currer Bell to avoid the prejudice against female writers, but it was eventually found out that she was a woman and certain readers found it disturbing â€Å"that a woman had written such a passionate novel and seemed so knowing sexually† (Brooklyn. cuny. edu 1). Some of the harsher reviews of the book state the reasons it was thought unfit to be read: â€Å"Jane Eyre is, indeed, one of the coarsest books which we ever perused.It is not that the professed sentiments of the writer are absolutely wrong or forbidding, or that the odd sort of religious notions which she puts forth are much worse than is usual in popular tales. It is rather that the re is a tendency to relapse into that class of ideas, expressions, and circumstances, which is most connected with the grosser and more animal portion of our nature; and that the detestable morality of the most prominent character in the story is accompanied with every sort of palliation short of unblushing justification (1848)† (Brooklyn. cuny. edu 2).Fortunately for the world; however, the voices of these critics were drowned out by the majority of the supportive and positive criticism of the novel. Personally, I found the novel to be a refreshing upheaval of many popular conventions that existed in the 19th century and that still exist in some places today. It is a story about two people who ignored the rigid vice that society had placed upon them and did what they truly felt to be right. The novel doesn’t ignore or refute morals, rather, it shows the reader the things that are truly important in life; some of the things we tend to forget.For example, neither Jane Ey re nor Mr. Rochester is considered physically attractive by their peers. Jane is considered plain and almost child-like (she is 18 when she becomes Mr. Rochester’s governess and has a small, slight frame) and Mr. Rochester is a dark, brooding, erratic 38-year-old man, so unlike his daintier male counterparts of the time. This is such an understated phenomenon that the two main characters in a romance were considered ugly. It means, for once, that beauty doesn’t mean everything; in fact, it means absolutely nothing at all. Jane and Mr.Rochester end up loving each other more strongly and completely than almost any other romance ever heard of. As for preaching immoral practices and ways of life, Jane Eyre exhibits the merits of strong will and self respect that people, and women in particular, may never have known was an option for them. Women were allowed few rights in the 1800s and when Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester because she has discovered that he is already ma rried to a woman who has gone insane (and therefore divorce is not an option) and she makes both herself and the man she loves absolutely miserable in the process, what bad message is a reader to find?Jane refused to give up her self respect, she refused to do what she thought was morally wrong, even though it was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life. Some reviews of the novel clearly express the feminism it exhibits: â€Å"the story is very much about the nature of human freedom and equality, and if Jane was seen as something of a renegade in nineteenth-century England, it is because her story is that of a woman who struggles for self-definition and determination in a society that too often denies her that right† (EBooks 1). When Jane and Mr.Rochester do end up together at the end of the novel, it is only after his wife has accidentally died in a house fire (she jumped off of the roof and committed suicide) and Mr. Rochester had lost both an eye and a ha nd in the process. This signifies to the reader that Mr. Rochester couldn’t get away scot-free after trying to trick Jane into a false second marriage. He had to pay for some of his â€Å"sins† before he could be happy again, showing that those who act wrongly (even if they have good motives) do not profit from it. In the end, one of the most novel aspects of the book is the fact that Jane Eyre and Mr.Rochester are not brought together by worldly or material concerns. They are brought together by a true love and a desire to make themselves and each other happy. One of the reasons the novel was banned is also one of its greatest strengths; Charlotte Bronte’s use of love and passion in the novel allows the reader to connect to the characters and it causes the story to have meaning. This is expressed by one review of the novel in which it was highly praised: â€Å"This is not merely a work of great promise; it is one of absolute performance.It is one of the most p owerful domestic romances which have been published for many years. It has little or nothing of the old conventional stamp upon it †¦ but it is full of youthful vigor, of freshness and originality, of nervous diction and concentrated interest. The incidents are sometimes melo-dramatic, and, it might be added, improbable; but these incidents, though striking, are subordinate to the main purpose of the piece, which is a tale of passion, not of intensity which is most sublime. It is a book to make the pulses gallop and the heart beat, and to fill the eyes with tears (1847)† Brooklyn. cuny. edu 1). Jane Eyre is necessarily eccentric in its values and after reading it, one is convinced that if all of its values were adopted by the rest of the world, we would all live in a much better place. Given the above evidence, one could say that it is almost a sin in itself to ban the novel to young readers. Jane Eyre uses descriptive and sophisticated language, so it is probably ideal f or a young adult or adolescent’s eyes, but a reader of any age may benefit from it by being exposed to new thoughts, principles and ways of life.Charlotte Bronte managed to support rights for women, marriage for love, self-respect and the false value of beauty all in one novel. Jane Eyre is eccentric and one of a kind and should not be restricted from the world, but shared with it. Works Cited â€Å"Charlotte Bronte ‘Jane Eyre. ’† Brooklyn. cuny. edu. n. p. , 29 March, 2005. Web. 2 Feb, 2013. â€Å"Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. † Ebooks. n. p. , 18 Dec, 2010. Web. 2 Feb, 2013. Woodward, Beth. â€Å"Let’s Ban All the Books: An Argument for Book Banning. † CC2K. n. p. , 3 Oct, 2010. Web. 3 Feb, 2013.

Mohammed Morsi Essay

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi has become Egypt’s first freely elected president after a delayed announcement of the results of last weekend’s runoff. He beat former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq by more than almost 900,000 votes. Morsi secured 51.7% of the vote, compared to 48% for Shafiq. Mohammed Morsi heads the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm. Mubarak appointed Shafik as prime minister in response to the protests against his regime. Shafik resigned a little more than a month later amid protests decrying him as a holdover from a discredited, ousted regime. Supports the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF): â€Å"SCAF is serious about power handover and is seeking to achieve the goals of the revolution. SCAF stands at an equal distance from all political and religious powers.† Parliamentary elections: the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party seems set to emerge as the biggest winner, with some analysts estimating it will capture about 40% of seats in the new legislature. Al-Nour, a more conservative Salafist party, looks likely to secure second place. The Muslim Brotherhood (known in Arabic as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen) is Egypt’s oldest and largest Islamist organization. As the most organized opposition group following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the Brotherhood became the country’s dominant political force, winning a near majority of seats in the post-revolution parliament, and its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, winning the presidency. Some Egyptians are concerned over the group’s aim to establish a state ruled by sharia, or Islamic law, and ambiguity over its respect for human rights. Such concerns intensified after Morsi announced new sweeping powers for the presidency in late 2012 and a draft of theproposed constitution was published. The domestic political challenges also provide a difficult road for U.S.-Egypt relations, especially with regards to foreign aid. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, could not have come into being without the 25 January revolution. Up to that time, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Egypt’s most powerful Islamist organization, was not only denied the right to form parties, but also barred – at least legally – from political life. As a result, the group had to pay a heavy price in detentions and repression to practice politics under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. The group had been trying to get a foothold in the country’s political arena for decades but was met with entrenched opposition by the Mubarak regime, which tended to accommodate the Brotherhood, but only within strict limits. Now, after the 25 January uprising, the group’s political ambitions have resurged on an unprecedented scale. Officially founded in May 2011, the FJP says that it is committed to a modern state, democracy, women’s rights, and national unity. The FJP’s initial membership of nearly nine thousand included one thousand women and one hundred Copts. New members are subject to a probationary period of six months after which, and based on their performance record, they become eligible for permanent membership. The FJP—along with the Salafist Al-Nour—is among a very few Egyptian political parties that issue probationary membership Formed alliance with name of Democratic Alliance (Freedom and Justice) Al-Nour Party Established in the wake of the 25 January uprising, Al-Nour (â€Å"The Light†) Party is the largest of Egypt’s three licensed Salafist parties (the other two being Al-Asala and Al-Fadila Parties). It was established by Al-Da‘wa Al-Salafiyya (â€Å"The Salafist Call†), Egypt’s largest Salafist group, commonly known as Al-Daawa Movement. Al-Daawa started in Alexandria where it now enjoys a considerable following. Al-Nour Party was officially licensed in June 2011. Official registration is of paramount importance in Egypt at the present time, as the current election law limits the right to contest two-thirds of the seats of the upcoming parliament to a limited number of officially registered parties, including Al-Nour. Under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, the state generally did not allow for the formation of Islamist parties, but after the revolution many Islamist groups managed  to obtain official political party license. The Islamist Bloc is an electoral coalition formed by three Islamist political parties with the aim to integrate their efforts in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Islamist Bloc is comprised of the Salafist Al-Nour and Al-Asala Parties, as well as the Building and Development Party, the latter of which was founded by the Islamic Group (Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya). Wafad party: Wafd Party is one of Egypt’s oldest liberal parties and is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming elections. With deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party officially disbanded, Wafd has emerged as an influential player in the political arena. The party commands the largest network that any political party in Egypt possesses today, covering major cities in twenty-four out of twenty-six Egyptian governorates. With a distinguished group of top Egyptian businessmen on its membership list, Al-Wafd stands out as one of the few established parties that do not face the same financial constraints that have historically challenged many of the country’s political parties. The party also enjoys a very strong presence in the media, thanks to its famous daily newspaper, its Internet portal, and a professional, well-equipped media department. Additionally, Wafd’s current leader Al-Sayed Al-Badawi is owner of Al-Hayat, one of Egypt’s top five television channels. Such are luxuries that very few Egyptian parties possess. Wafd’s history dates back to the beginning of party life under the monarchy, making it the oldest among existing Egyptian political parties. The name of the party is Arabic for â€Å"The Delegation,† and it references Saad Zaghloul’s attempt in 1919 to lead a popular delegation to the post-World War I Paris Peace Conference to demand independence for Egypt against the will of British occupation authorities. Threatened by the immense popular support that Zaghloul was able to garner for his mission, British authorities exiled the Egyptian nationalist leader along with members of the prospective delegation to Malta. This move instigated a mass uprising, which led to the 1919 Revolution. The Egyptian Bloc: The Egyptian Bloc consists of the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and Al-Tagammu Party. The Bloc is often portrayed as a â€Å"secular-leaning† alliance that seeks to counterbalance the influence of the Muslim Brotherhoodin the upcoming elections, specifically the Brotherhood led Democratic Alliance’s electoral coalition. Members of the Bloc announced in early November that their partnership is not simply a short-term electoral coalition, but encompasses a long-term political alliance aimed at turning Egypt into a civil democratic state. Magdi Abdelhad:iMiddle East analyst The Islamists’ rise to power in Egypt will send shockwaves through the courts and palaces of conservative Arab kings and presidents who have tried for decades to put the lid on political Islam. But foremost among Egypt’s neighbours who watched the brotherhood’s success with increasing alarm is Israel. Cairo was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel and the brotherhood has traditionally been vehemently opposed to that. But its opposition has softened over the years – at least publicly. It is widely believed that the Muslim Brotherhood have reassured Washington that an Islamist government in Egypt would respect the peace deal with Israel. Given also that the ruling military council will continue to have the final say on matters of war and peace, it is unlikely that the brotherhood can put that peace at risk. It is also more likely that Mr Mursi’s immediate priority will be to concentrate on Egypt’s many daunting domestic problems including rampant poverty and unemployment. Debating leaders: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/opinion/21iht-edzewail21.html?pagewanted=all From the time of Ramses II, the strong pharaoh who ruled Egypt thousands of years ago, until last year when Hosni Mubarak’s reign ended, Egyptians were never able to witness a debate over who should take over the democratic reins in the highest office of the land. Our new culture of debate, together with the election of the Parliament last December, are milestones in the history of the nation, paving a new, but rocky, path toward democracy. The open debate between the secular and religious orientations of politics was  unthinkable over the past 60 years. This new openness means the Egyptian body politic is maturing. In the end, Egyptians know that, for the first time, they can choose their future. It won’t be dictated or imposed by anyone. Army protected revo: Unlike in nearby Syria or earlier in Libya, the Egyptian Army has taken the high road and protected the revolution in its infancy. And it has been the guardian of these unprecedented transparent elections. Problems: Among the most serious problems are economic hardship, the uncertainty of the political climate and the deterioration of security — a feature that Egyptian society faces anew. These problems have been compounded over the past 15 months as each of the three main constituencies involved in the revolution — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is in charge of the transition period; the politically liberal as well as Islamic-oriented parties; and the youth who triggered the uprising — have stumbled in one way or another. Little bloodshed: It is a hopeful sign indeed that we Egyptians are still marching forward toward democracy with relatively little bloodshed. All signs indicate that a counterrevolution is not in store for Egypt. We will not turn back to a totalitarian governing system. Perhaps the most encouraging of all is the confidence of Egyptians in their future. In Egypt, a Victory for Democracy but Fear for the Future: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-25/in-egypt-a-victory-for-democracy-but-fear-for-the-future â€Å"So many questions remain unanswered that what can best be said is that either SCAF and the Brotherhood have worked out a deal of some sort or the political jousting has only just begun,† wrote Issandr El Amrani, a popular blogger on Egyptian politics. â€Å"Both the Brothers and  SCAF have positioned themselves in a manner in which backing down from their respective positions on the question of parliament and the Supplemental Constitutional Declaration would be a loss of face.† Tensions ran high for two weeks, when the SCAF assumed legislative responsibilities after shutting down the Islamist-controlled Parliament, announced a Supplemental Constitutional Declaration that drastically reduced presidential powers, and gave themselves the ability to veto articles of drafts of Egypt’s new constitution. They also reintroduced martial law, allowing soldiers to arrest civilians. Critics called their actions a soft coup. The Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful political player in Egypt, has on the surface refused to accept any of these decisions, staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square and issuing aggressive statements to the media, all the while vowing to pressure the military government to rescind their declarations. It was a rare move, as the pragmatic group is more generally known for cutting deals with the regime rather than going toe-to-toe. Last week, with the possibility of a victory by Ahmed Shafiq, the other candidate in the run-off election who is widely viewed as aligned with the military, the Brotherhood showed a willingness to work with the revolutionary groups it had mostly ignored since the uprising against Mubarak. Morsi pledged to form a national salvation government to include secular politicians, Christians, and women. â€Å"The big question is: Can they build a broader, more inclusive front that can effectively challenge SCAF’s grip on power?† asks Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. â€Å"Now that fear [of Shafiq’s victory] has passed, is there still enough that binds [the opposition groups] together? I do think the Brotherhood has at least implicitly acknowledged the mistakes of recent months and they have tried to strike a more conciliatory tone, and the recognition that they can’t do this alone because they are fighting a very challenging adversary: SCAF and the old regime.† To add to the challenges of running a country with a crumbling economy, President Morsi won with a narrow margin, garnering 51.7 percent of the vote. He had promised to be the president of all Egyptians during his first address to the nation Sunday night . â€Å"The game was being played almost like a game of poker on both sides,† says Hani Shukrallah, managing editor of the English-language online version of the Al Ahramnewspaper. â€Å"If we have reached a compromise, that’s a bit helpful for healing the deep schisms  [within] society. We have a society that’s been split down the middle, with enormous polarization. Most of the people who voted for Morsi did so out of dread [of] Shafiq.† On a side street leading to Tahrir Square on Sunday night, Ehab El Shawi led his three children to the epicenter of the celebration in the birthplace of Egypt’s uprising. Like many, he was caught between rejoicing at the idea of a new president and the reality of the office’s lack of power. â€Å"This is the first time all Egyptian people made a choice in 7,000 years to elect a normal Egyptian citizen. This is the first time we have freedom in more than 60 years,† El Shawi said happily of the first non-military president in Egypt’s history. â€Å"But we have to change all the decisions taken during the presidential elections and force the powers to ensure Dr.Morsi will have all the power to make Egypt a modern country,† he added. â€Å"We still need to take Egypt back from the old regime. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Timeline: Anti-Mubarak protests 2010 February – Former UN nuclear chief Mohammed ElBaradei returns to Egypt and, together with opposition figures and activists, forms a coalition for political change. ElBaradei says he might run in presidential election scheduled for 2011. 2010 March – President Mubarak undergoes gall-bladder surgery in Germany, returning to Egypt three weeks later. 2010 June – Muslim Brotherhood fails to win any seats in elections to the Shura consultative upper house of parliament; alleges vote was rigged. 2010 November – Coptic Christians clash with police in Giza over construction of church. Parliamentary polls, followed by protests against alleged vote rigging. Muslim Brotherhood fails to win a single seat, though it held a fifth of the places in the last parliament. 2011 January – 21 killed in bomb at church in Alexandria where Christians had gathered to mark the New Year. Anti-government demonstrations, apparently encouraged by Tunisian street protests whic h prompted sudden departure of President Ben Ali. President Mubarak reshuffles his cabinet but fails to placate demonstrators, whose calls for his resignation grow louder. Days later he promises to step down in September. 2011 February – President Mubarak steps down and hands power  to the army council. 2011 March – Egyptians approve package of constitutional reforms aimed at paving the way for new elections. 2011 April – Former President Mubarak and his sons, Ala and Gamal, are arrested on suspicion of corruption. 2011 April-August – Protests continue in Cairo’s Tahrir Square over slow pace of political change. Islamist groups come to the fore. Army finally disperses protestors in August. 2011 August – Former President Mubarak goes on trial in Cairo, charged with ordering the killing of demonstrators earlier in the year. 2011 October – Clashes between Coptic Christians and security forces kill 24 people. Egypt and Israel swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a US-Israeli citizen accused of spying. 2011 November – Violence in Cairo’s Tahrir square as security forces clash with protesters accusing the military of trying to keep their grip on power. Prime Minister EssamSharaf resigns in response to the unrest. Start of parliamentary elections. 2011 December – National unity government headed by new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri takes office. 2012 January – Islamist parties emerge as victors of drawn-out parliamentary elections. 2012 March – Pope Shenouda III, the veteran head of the Coptic Church, dies. 2012 April – Crisis in relations with Saudi Arabia over the Saudi detention of an Egyptian lawyer briefly threatens the substantial aid that the Saudis provide Egypt. First free presidential poll 2012 May – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi tops the first round of voting in first free presidential elections, narrowly ahead of Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. Official media put turnout at a low 43%. Military leaders announce the end of the state of emergency in place since Anwar al-Sadat’s assassination in 1981, as its last renewal expires. 2012 June – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi narrowly wins presidential election.Armyvs civilian rule Court sentences ex-President Mubarak to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. 2012 July – President Mursi submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid, after initially ordering parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it in June. 2012 August – New prime ministerHishamQandil appoints a cabinet dominated by figures from the outgoing government, technocrats and Islamists, to the exclusion of secular parties. Islamist fighters attack an  army outpost in Sinai, killing 16 soldiers, and mount a brief incursion into Israel, highlighting the tenuousness of government control over the largely-lawless area. President Mursi dismisses Defence Minister Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution. 2012 September – Egypt kills 32 militants and destroys 31 smuggling tunnels to Gaza in an offensive against militants who attacked troops in Sinai in August. 2012 November – Bishop Tawadros is chosen as the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians. President Mursi issues a decree giving himself extensive new powers. The decree sparks angry demonstrations and is condemned by Egypt’s top judges, who accuse him of undermining the independence of the judiciary. The Islamist-dominated constituent assembly tasked with writing a new constitution approves all 234 articles of the draft constitution, which boosts the role of Islam in Egypt’s system of government. The assembly session is boycotted by liberal, left-wing and Christian members. The vote is held earlier than originally scheduled, after Egypt’s constitutional court threatened to dissolve the constituent assembly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13315719 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2012/01/23-egypt-indyk Prospects for Democracy in Egypt: There’s a conventional wisdom in the United States that Arabs are incapable of sustaining a true Western-style, liberal democracy. It will take them hundreds of years to acquire a â€Å"democratic culture,† the argument goes. And in the meantime new authoritarian regimes — either Islamist or military — will replace the ones that have been overthrown in the past year and give us all a lesson in â€Å"Arab democracy.† Advocates of this view were the first to announce, with all-knowing smiles, that the Arab Spring had become an Arab Winter. When Islamist parties won free and mostly fair elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in recent months, the proponents of this view had an â€Å"I told you so† moment and they were quick to denounce anybody who said otherwise as hopelessly naive. After a prolonged hibernation, politics has broken out in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Awakenings. For the first time in six decades people are acquiring a taste for freedom and, yes, Western-style democratic politics. The issues they debate so vigorously are critical to the shape of Egypt’s democratic future: What will be the residual powers of the Egyptian military? What’s the best model for dividing powers between the Presidency and the Parliament? What revisions should be made to the Constitution to ensure democratic rule? At the same time, the newly-elected parties are busy engaging in the horse-trading necessary to coalition politics, since no one party gained a majority (the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won around 47 percent of the vote; the Salafi Al-Nour Party won 25 percent, and a variety of liberal parties won the rest.). We were treated to an amazing sight: Salafi religious purists attempting to negotiate an alliance with liberal secularists. How did they justify such a pragmatic deal? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, one of them explained to us. They can both agree on a short-term political agenda: countering the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and getting the army out of politics. And what about the imposition of Sharia law? The leader of the Salafi Al-Nour Party noted that his party is comfortable with the conservative nature of Egyptian society so a campaign to impose sharia law is unnecessary. They can be satisfied (at least for the time being) with the existing language of Article 2 of the Constitution which states that the â€Å"principles† of Islamic shariah will guide the state. This kind of pragmatic politics is deeply disturbing to the â€Å"Costa Salafis† — a young generation of Salafis whose makeshift headquarters is in a Costa cafe. They denounce their elders not so much for being willing to compromise, which they readily accept as part of the new politics, but of failing to articulate through â€Å"fatwas† the religious basis for those compromises. It’s as if the Salafi leadership, propelled onto the political stage for the first time, has become unplugged and feels able to do whatever is necessary in the political realm to protect its community of social  conservatives. They reminded me of the religious parties in Israel! Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is busy making its own compromises with the military and with other liberal parties that would enable its Freedom and Justice Party to build a governing and empowered coalition (at the moment, they can control the parliament but until its powers are defined in the constitution and the military hands over power, they cannot control the government). Whereas the Salafis are looking to constrain the Muslim Brotherhood, the MB is focused on how to ease fears of its intentions. After operating for eighty years in the political wilderness, the MB has learned just how fragile this moment could turn out to be. That’s why its leadership is more willing to compromise with the military than the other parties to its left and right. Consequently, the other parties fear that the MB will sell them out to the military in some sweetheart deal that compromises the revolution and their abilities to use democratic rules of the game to constrain the MB and hold the military accountable. This tension will likely manifest itself in the massive demonstrations that are expected on January 25 in Tahrir Square to commemorate the first anniversary of the Revolution. The military and the MB have called for a celebration, complete with party balloons and patriotic songs. Youth activists and some liberal parties, particularly exercised by the eighty some demonstrators who were killed by the police and the army in crackdowns in November and December last year, are calling for a demonstration against military rule. Some of the far-left revolutionary youth are calling for a campaign of violence. The way the January 25 demonstrations play out will be only one of the ways in which â€Å"square politics† and â€Å"party politics† interact in Egypt’s newly dynamic democracy. All the parties feel that they can claim legitimacy from the people’s mandates that they have received in the elections. This empowers them to stand up to the military in demanding that it leave the political arena promptly and allow Egyptian democracy to have its day. If the military focuses only on protecting its narrow interests (e.g., retaining its business interests, claiming immunity from prosecution for  past actions, demanding only responsibility for protecting the state’s borders), then a reasonable compromise can be fashioned. However, if the military insists on specifying reserve powers in the constitution and protecting its budget from civilian oversight, then the people know the way back to Tahrir Square. As one newly-elected parliamentarian put it: â€Å"We are legitimate now; the army is not.† And what about the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty? We didn’t raise the issue — they did. It came up in most conversations in the following way: â€Å"We have been elected by the people. We’re responsible to them. The people want stability, above all. They want the police back in the streets and calm and predictability restored to their daily lives. We don’t like the way Israel treats the Palestinians. We don’t like the price that Israel pays for Egyptian gas. But we’re not going to mess with the peace treaty.† That sentiment is so widely shared that one of the heads of the Muslim Brotherhood could declare to the New York Times last week that the peace treaty is a â€Å"commitment of the state,† and therefore will be respected. The sense of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of those who would govern 87 million people is palpable. They know the severe economic straits that they will have to confront. They know that neither tourists nor foreign investment will return to Egypt unless there is a clear commitment to stability. And they know the people will not forgive them if they fail to address their basic needs for order, jobs and housing. In short, newly-elected Egyptian politicians — the Muslim Brotherhood first and foremost — understand that they have to make a choice between feeding the people and fighting Israel, and for the time being they have made a conscious choice of bread over bombs. The fact that Palestine is not a priority for the Egyptian people has been manifest since the early days of the revolution. It was underscored for me during a lecture I gave at the American University in Cairo, just off Tahrir Square. A Palestinian student, draped in a Palestinian flag, stood with a makeshift banner in silent protest at the front of the hall. Despite this prominent reminder, during the ensuing ninety-minute Q&A session with  students and journalists no-one asked a question about Palestine. To be sure, there’s always the risk that populist politicians will outbid each other in their demagoguery on the Palestinian issue, especially if Israeli-Palestinian violence flares. But Israel is particularly sensitive to this possibility and the Muslim Brotherhood is apparently signaling its Hamas branch to keep things quiet too. (With 350 trucks a day passing from Israel into Gaza, and smuggling of weapons through the tunnels continuing apace, Hamas has its own reasons for maintaining the current de facto ceasefire with Israel.) What was perhaps most striking to me, however, was the attitude of the new political class to the United States. I had expected to encounter hostility — after all the United States had been Mubarak’s staunch ally through the three decades of his Pharaohnic rule. I had assumed that the Islamist politicians in particular would be antagonistic towards American influence in post-revolutionary Egypt, just as the Iranian clerics have manifested intense antagonism towards the United States since their revolution. Yet Egypt’s Islamists all seemed keen to engage with the United States government. The Muslim Brotherhood was trying to understand President Obama’s intentions in demanding that the military hand over power to civilian (i.e. Muslim Brotherhood) rule, â€Å"expeditiously.† They weren’t sure how to deal with the fact that Bill Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State, had just met with their leadership. But one thing they were very certain about — they need U.S. economic assistance and U.S. help in mobilizing international assistance. They were therefore quite anxious to know how Congress would treat them. Because of this new U.S. Government engagement with their arch-rivals, the Salafis too are seeking American recognition. Their leaders are keen to come to Washington to explain their intentions. They even appear willing to engage with Israel to establish their bona fides — one of their leaders recently gave an interview to Israeli Army Radio.