King Devanampiyatissa Essay

During the reign of king Asoka of india,Srilanka was ruled by king Tissa who was the second son of kung Muthaseeva. King Asoka and King Tissa were very close friends. Kung Tissa sent delegation to meet kingAsoka with several gifts. The leader of that group was Prince Maha Aritta who was the nephew of King Tissa. This delegation was ceremoniously received by Emperor Asoka. This delegation spent about 5 months in India. King Asoka sent back alarge collection of precious onaments required in a coronation as a gift. It consisted of swords and valuable ornaments. Also the following message was sent: â€Å"I have surrended myself to the triple gem. Oh my friend, you too submit yourself to the triple gem.† The King was very much pleased with the message the envoys brought back. He held a second coronation with ornaments King Asoka had sent. Also the King waz given an honorary title â€Å"Devanampiya† that was used by Mourya rulers ti which Emperor Asoka belonged. From that day king Tissa was called â€Å"Devanampiyatissa† The most important outcone of the friendship of the two kingswas the introduction of Buddism to Srilanka. King Asoka sent several missions to preach buddism to this country. Mihindu Thera who was the son of kung Asoka brought Buddism to Srilanka after 3rd Dharma Sangayana Along with Mihindu Thera came Arhat Thera named Ittiya, Uttiya, Sambala,Baddadala anf Sumana a young monk and Bhanduka on a pposon full moon day at Mihinthale. Mihindu Thera preached the † Chulla Hattipadopama Suthraya† to king and his group . Upon listening to the sermon the king and the people readily embraced Buddism and surrendered to the triple gem.

Education and obesity Essay

Although many have studied the association between educational attainment and obesity, studies to date have not fully examined prior common causes and possible interactions by race/ethnicity or gender. It is also not clear if the relationship between actual educational attainment and obesity is independent of the role of aspired educational attainment or expected educational attainment. The authors use generalized linear log link models to examine the association between educational attainment at age 25 and obesity (BMI ≠¥ 30) at age 40 in the USA’s National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, adjusting for demographics, confounders, and mediators. Race/ethnicity but not gender interacted with educational attainment. In a complete case analysis, after adjusting for socioeconomic covariates from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, among whites only, college graduates were less likely than high school graduates to be obese (RR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.57, 0.83). The risk ratio remained similar in two sensitivity analyses when the authors adjusted for educational aspirations and educational expectations and analyzed a multiply imputed dataset to address missingness. This more nuanced understanding of the role of education after controlling for a thorough set of confounders and mediators helps advance the study of social determinants of health and risk factors for obesity. Nutrition in pregnancy and early childhood and associations with obesity in developing countries. Concerns about the increasing rates of obesity in developing countries have led many policy makers to question the impacts of maternal and early child nutrition on risk of later obesity. The purposes of the review are to summarise the studies on the associations between nutrition during pregnancy and infant feeding practices with later obesity from childhood through adulthood and to identify potential ways for preventing obesity in developing countries. As few studies were ident ified in developing countries, key studies in developed countries were included in the review. Poor prenatal dietary intakes of energy, protein and micronutrients were shown to be associated with increased risk of adult obesity in offspring. Female offspring seem to be more vulnerable than male offspring when their mothers receive insufficient energy during pregnancy. By influencing birthweight, optimal prenatal nutrition might reduce the risk of obesity in adults. While normal birthweights (2500-3999 g) were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) as adults, they generally were associated with higher fat-free mass and lower fat mass compared with low birthweights (

A Critique of Frye’s, Jordan’s, and Miller’s Feminist Theories Essay

Marilyn Frye’s feminist theory is based on a mix of art and philosophy as well as a presentation of her own ideas in the context of the world. Frye’s theory stresses among other things, the fact that the power of feminism is embedded in the capability of making women’s lives and their experiences understood by a vast majority of the people (Frye, 1983). On the other hand, Jordan’s feminist theory lays emphasis on the woman’s self with reference to her relational well-being (Jordan, 1991). Closely related to this, Miller’s theory is based on the view that there is need to address women’s experiences and make the world understand them better. Thus, Miller suggests that in order to understand women, there is need to understand their lives and values (Miller, 1987; Davis, 1999). This paper will examine and appraise the aforementioned theories and draw a conclusion based on the flaws or incongruence depicted by the theories, and will thus suggest whether the theories can be used together or as separate entities. Frye’s Feminist Theory Frye affirms that in order to understand women fully, that is in terms of their feelings, motivations, ambitions and how they are likely to react to different situations, there is need to understand their driving forces, which are the determining factors in various responses (Frye, 1983). Frye’s feminist theory thus presents an attempt to explain the forces and how they apply to different women. While it may be true that there are deciding forces behind every woman’s response to different situations, it is also evident that the forces cannot be studied conclusively. This viewpoint is instigated by the fact that women live in different conditions, and these conditions are likely to affect how they react to different circumstances. Thus, a generalization cannot be used to describe women’s attitudes. In view of sex and sexuality, Frye notes that sex roles have inhibited men and women from being in charge of their choices since the activities involved in sex are already predetermined (Hoagland & Frye 2000). However, this supposition fails to address the sex drives involved among same-sex partners. Thus, even though Frye notes that women are sexually oppressed, it is difficult to concur with the argument since sexual freedom has increased tremendously in the world over the past few years. Frye’s likening of women to a birdcage in which if one observes one wire of the cage, she or he is likely not to see the other wires present in the cage (Davis, 1999) presents an interesting point of discussion. This is true given that in there are instances when women are ignored, for example in restaurants when waiters expect men in company of women to pay the bills. This implies that much attention is paid to men, who are perceived to be a superior sex. Jordan’s Feminist Theory This theory emphasizes the connections among different aspects of women’s lives, which are developed through relationships. It dwells on factors such as sexism and heterosexism, which separate women and alienate them from the rest of the society, thus subjecting them to a lot of suffering (Jordan, 1991). In view of this, while it is true that women are more affected by issues that concern sex it is also imperative to note that such issues are not just limited to women. Concisely, men also suffer from issues related to sex. Jordan’s theory also dwells on the self-condition of women in relation to their relational wellbeing. Jordan emphasizes that most Western psychological theories tend to point too much on the woman’s self rather than her relations with others (Jordan, 1997). Along this line, Jordan asserts that men have subordinated women and view them as their subjects, thereby undermining women’s relation capacity. This presumption has some substance with reference to how women were treated in the past. However, it may loose significance in the contemporary world where women have taken more leadership positions and have better control of their undertakings. Jordan addresses desire by relating it to adolescent sexuality, noting that it arises from people’s integration with others and creation of relationships (Jordan, 1997). This is true in the context of what people commonly refer to as â€Å"real love† that develops between men and women through their continued association. On the other hand, since relationships commonly break, there is an indication of a flaw in Jordan’s theory. Nevertheless, Jordan’s point of challenging the tendency by men to be dominant over women (Jordan, 1991) stresses the need for equality between men and women. Miller’s Feminist Theory Miller focuses on the concern of men’s domination over women and their tendency to subordinate them (Miller, 1987). She asserts that the propensity by men to be dominant over women causes conflict between the two sexes because men fail to understand women. Miller also notes that in dealing with conflict, women, who are usually the subordinates revert to overt conflict, a phenomenon that is prevalent in the present day (Miller, 1987). Miller therefore questions why men should be dominant over women yet women have equal capabilities do what men can do. Miller’s feminist theory is important in addressing gender disparity in the world. It also supports women in having voices to do what pleases them irrespective of what men think about them. However, its flaw lies in the fact that it fails to address why men have higher propensity to be dominant over women and why women usually revert to overt conflict when dealing with men. Conclusion The feminist theories by Frye, Jordan and Miller all address issues that though not congruent are closely related. Frye’s theory is centered on understanding women; Jordan’s theory recognizes the woman’s self worth and the importance of women’s participation in relations; whereas Miller’s theory in centered on understanding women and why men should not treat them as subordinates. All these issues are closely related since they address the status of women and their role in the society, which is paramount in eliminating injustices against them. Hence the theories should treated together to achieve the objective. References Davis, F. (1999). Moving the mountain: The women’s movement in America since 1960: Chicago: University of Illinois Press Frye, M. (1983). Politics of reality: Essays on feminist theory. New York: Ten Speed Press Frye, M. (1992). Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism, 1976-1992. New York: The Crossing Press, Inc. Hoagland, S. L. & Frye M. (2000). Feminist interpretations of Mary Daly. Pennsylvania: Penn State Press Jordan, J. (1991). Women’s growth in connection: New York: Guilford Publications, Inc Jordan, J. (1997). Women’s growth in diversity. New York: Guilford Press Miller, J. (1987). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston, MA: Beacon.

Greek Cosmobob Essay

Cosmo Panetta, a 74 year old immigrant from Greece, living in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada with his wife and two sons. After working odd jobs for ten years, Mr. Panetta used personal savings and a loan from a family member to purchase a variety store. He always dreamed of starting a family business. Panetta eventually sold the variety store and purchased, renovated, and renamed a drive-thru restaurant. A second location was added shortly thereafter. Both sons skipped college to help Panetta run the restaurants. Sales were good and customers returned for the good food and good price. Mr. Panetta’s brainchild food item, The Cosmobob, was praised by patrons of both locations, so he began preparing for mass-market introduction and development. Cosmo was faced with a number of decisions concerning producing The Cosmobob. There was an opportunity to open a third restaurant in the Niagara Falls business district, purchase or rent a new production facility for the Cosmobob, introduce the product on a provincial or national level, and whether to distribute through a food wholesaler or supermarket chains. All of these questions would have to be answered very thoroughly because Cosmo had only $25,000 available before having to turn to a bank. His age, shortage of menu diversification, and lack of higher education in the family would also have to be taken into consideration. In this analysis, we will analyze each situation and recommend the best options for Mr. Panetta, his family and their business. Cosmobob Product & Family Business Cosmo Panetta started his family business in 1975, when he opened his first restaurant in Niagara Falls, Canada. Mr. Panetta, his wife and older son immigrated to Canada from Greece. Mr. Panetta had a passion for starting his own family business. He knew that a variety store could be the way to fulfill this dream; therefore, in 1968, he used his personal savings along with a small family loan to purchase his first store. By 1975, he was presented with the opportunity to sell his variety store to a convenience store chain. Using this money and a loan from the bank, he bought an existing drive-in restaurant at Niagara Falls, which he renovated and named Cosmo’s Drive-in. In 1979, he opened his second location on Lundy Lane. Mr. Panetta always believed that a good location, excellent product, and a fair price were the key ingredients for a successful restaurant. Cosmo’s restaurants are famous for the Cosmobob. In 1998, the Cosmobob accounted for almost 35% of the Thorold location sales and 30% of the Lundy Lane location sales. With this tremendous success in one product, Panetta decided to produce and sell the Cosmobob to other restaurants in the area. An extra room in the back of the Thorold Stone location was used to prepare orders. The restaurant; however, had limited freezer space for storage so a local icehouse was used for $400 per month. Three people were initially hired on a part-time basis at $9.00 per hour to operate the production initiative. The Cosmobob sales went from 100 cases in September to 600 cases by December. Looking at this growth, production staff was increased to six people. Current locations Sales & Profit The Lundy’s lane location was also known as â€Å"the fast food strip† and the second restaurant was located on Thorold Stone Road, a main industrial street. Mr. Panetta managed the Thorold Stone restaurant while his older son Joe managed the Lundy’s lane restaurant. The average sale per customer for the restaurants was $6.88 and most of the customer traffic was recorded during lunch and dinner hours. Cosmo’s restaurant had grown to $480,000 in assets by 1998 with a gross profit of $136, 846 and almost $1,163,000 in sales. Decisions Affecting the Longevity of the Company Sales were promising in both locations and Mr. Panetta knew this could be a great time to inquire about expanding his company and product. He had three options to consider; opening a new store in the upcoming area mall, purchase or lease a facility for mass production, or do both. He also had to decide if he would market his product to the food service market or through supermarket chains. With only $25,000 to invest, he would need to consider a loan. Another question Mr. Panetta was faced with was; would the demand for the Cosmobob be high enough to see a profit within the first few years if he mass produced the product? Canadian Food Market The Canadian food market is a $37.8 billion dollar a year industry which consists of the food service market and retail grocery stores. The food service market includes all meals eaten away from home in schools, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, hotels, and restaurants. Canadians on average ate 38% of their meals away from home in 1996. Hotels and restaurants serve 960 million meals a year; however, this is a small portion, only 8% of the total food service market. On the other hand, fast food service accounted for 80% of the 960 million meals, totaling 768 million. Within the food market, there are four basic types of food service systems used for delivering entrà ©es: Conventional system, where all food is purchased raw and processed on premises. The Semi-conventional food system; which provided frozen pre-cut meats. The ready food system provided pre-cooked frozen entrà ©es on premises and finally the Total convenience system where 90-95% of all food items were purchased from outside commercial suppliers. 25% of all hotels and restaurants used the total convenience system by 1990. The use of convenience foods helped contribute to the efficiency service during the peak periods of the day, resulting in faster customer service and increased sales volume. Marketing Strategy Mr. Panetta is undecided between two marketing strategies to promote and sell the Cosmobob. Either he can enter into the food service market or distribute through supermarket chains. Distributing through a food wholesaler would require permanently adding pita bread and Cosmo sauce to his offering. Grocery store chains were a larger market than food service; however, the cost would also be substantially higher. Cosmo knew there were no existing â€Å"ready to serve† souvlaki available to the home user. Serca Foods Serca Foods, a national food wholesaler, was interested in carrying the Cosmobob. They would require a 20% margin on the products purchased. Meaning for every Cosmobob case sold at $60, Serca Foods would receive $12. With Serca being a national wholesaler a federal inspection would be necessary for products to be sold in multiple providences. Therefore, Panetta would have to invest an extra $30-40,000 in his production facility to pass the federal government inspection. The complimentary items to the Cosmobob; the pita bread and Cosmobob sauce, were not available in all Ontario markets, resulting in additional working capital needed to cover four weeks of inventory. If the Cosmobob was exclusive to Serca, their salesperson would have the upper hand with its buyers. Cosmo would not have to personally worry about the selling and promoting of his product to the food service market. Small restaurants and hotels liked the convenience of ordering from only one wholesaler, and if only Serca offered the Cosmobob that gave them the opportunity to gain new accounts. Supermarket Chains Federal inspection would be necessary if the Cosmobob was introduced nationally in a supermarket chain. Distributing to the home user would be beneficial to those with large families that could not afford to eat away from home often, and also appeal to people who liked to have comfort food at home. Supermarket chains would expect a 25% margin on the retail selling price, good promotional support, and guaranteed delivery. The delivery to national supermarkets would be an additional cost for Mr. Panetta to consider. Mr. Panetta and his son were the only two conducting sales and demonstration of the product. With the promotional expectations of the supermarket chain, he would need to hire another salesperson in order to meet the demands. There is a $20,000 placement fee per product, per supermarket chain; in addition to samples, free food allowances, advertising, and trade promotion. Consumer promotion for a new product would cost more than $800,000 a year. Table 1 shows the estimated cost and profit if he used Serca Foods and produced and sold 2,400 cases a month. New Opportunity in Victoria Mall Mr. Panetta had an opportunity to open a new store in the upcoming Victoria Avenue Mall area. Compared to his current locations, this restaurant would be closer to the Niagara Falls business district and tourist area, which could possibly generate a lot of exposure to new customers. The estimated inflow to the mall was expected to be 500 cars per day. His target market would include local customers and tourist who visited Niagara Falls. The list of tenants in the mall includes a convenience milk store, hair styling salon, flower shop and a dry cleaner. With this expansion, he projects the new store could generate at least 60% of the Thorold Stone location initially and potentially match it in two years. This would require an investment of about $60,000 towards leasehold improvements and equipment. Table 2 and 3 outlines his initial estimated sales of $322,503 and net income of $10,930. Production Facility Options The facility space being utilized for production has reached its capacity. If Mr. Panetta considers expanding his product on a larger scale and mass produce, he must occupy a facility that can meet the needs of production and service. There are two options available; the mushroom factory and the old dairy farm. The mushroom factory is located outside of Niagara Falls in Grimsby, Ontario. To lease this facility for 3 years it would cost $83,340. In addition, Mr. Panetta would have to provide an upfront cost of $160,000 to cover improvements and mandatory government inspection. Alternatively, the building can be purchased for $460,000 which includes rent, facility improvements and inspection. After conducting a differential analysis, the differential cost from the alternative to buy the mushroom factory compared to leasing would be $216,660. Table 4 outlines the details of this analysis. His second option is the old dairy plant factory. This facility would require a 3 year lease agreement for a total of $103,200 in rent. It would also take an additional $30,000 in leasehold improvements, in order to get the facility ready for operation and $40,000 for government inspection. Mr. Panetta has the option to purchase this location for $470,000. In Table 5, the differential analysis shows a $296,800 net difference in the cost to rent or buy the old dairy plant. Recommendations After conducting a full analysis of Mr. Panetta’s product and the market, we recommend that he pursue a new business opportunity and open a new location in the Victoria Mall. Although the requirement to lease the site is for a minimum of 20 years, with rent exceeding $384,000, there is potential to reach many customers on a daily basis. Sales projected on 60% average of the Thorold location is expected to produce a $10,000 net income within the first year and has the potential to reach Thorold location sales in two years. Opening this new site would require a larger facility in order to mass produce the Cosmobob. The old dairy plant location in Niagara Falls would be the best option. Not only would it allow him to use the same employees, but the capital required to have the plant operational is less expensive. $70,000 would be required upfront compared to $160,000 in improvements and inspections for the alternative location. There is a $296,800 difference in cost to lease the old dairy plant compared to purchase. The lease option is less and it provides the option to discontinue the lease agreement after 3 years if he determines that his net profit is not meeting the company’s expectations. To market the Cosmobob through Serca Foods would be beneficial. While hotels and restaurants only make up 8% of the food service market, they served 960 million meals a year, and 768 are at fast food restaurants. The Cosmobob is a versatile entrà ©e and can be sold at eateries of all price points. The sales force and promotion is guaranteed, and the requested margin on sales is lower than that of supermarkets.

Ccot Essay

CCOT Essay: China 100 CE-600 CE China’s culture and it’s values have stayed as mostly continuities and few or little changes. The teachings and values of Confucianism that were so strong that they have lasted throughout the centuries of Chinese history and is still well-known today. These values included guidelines on respect. Chinese civilization during the classical civilization was a patriarchy and with the Confucius teaching which created the outline of how a good family should work like. Patriarchy was continuity for Chinese civilization.Many of Confucius’ beliefs and values will survive and withstand many potential changes to come. One of these changes were Buddhism, which came into China through many different paths such as the Silk Road. The Han Dynasty fell, causing China to go into a three year period of chaos. China’s cultural unity was threatened by the spread of Buddhism, though it was tone of the one ideas that was imported into China before the 20th century. Fortunately for China’s streak of continuity, the three century period of chaos would end which would also revive Confucianism.The rising and falling of dynasties were continuity. Confucianism took China’s social pieces and put them together. Even though China had many changes that took place from 100 C. E. to 600 C. E. , they always evened out culturally. They also remained in their streak of cultural continuity thanks to Confucius and his teachings. One of these continuities was the dynamic cycles, like the Zhou dynasty, the Qin dynasty, and the Han dynasty, because it had lasted throughout the Classical Era. Many things were changing around the time period.The first of these things was that the bureaucratic system. It was becoming more and more corrupt. Peasants and the regular people of China became poor. After germs and disease came, people started to die as well. Then nomads came, and due to the unstable government of China at the time, the army was not able to push them. Therefore, the Han dynasty was overthrown completely. The same sort of overthrowing by nomadic invasions happened in Rome as well. The Germanic invaders came in and broke Rome apart. Rome was then divided into three areas and was never completely revived ever again.After the three century period of chaos, the T’ang dynasty came later, in 618 C. E. to revive Confucianism and the bureaucratic system. During the classical era, the Chinese civilization underwent major governmental change. In China still physically remained strong and united. The reason for this is because China had a very solid social and political system that was based off of Confucianism. The cause of these major radical changes in China’s government is because of the weakened government; the nomadic invasions did not help either.

Benjamin Franklin’s Satire

Benjamin Franklin, a prominent actor of the 18th century political scene and one of Founding Fathers of the United States. Owing to his diplomatic talents, Franklin represented the interests of the colony in the British Royal Court. His interests, however, were diverse and included literature as well as writing tracts and political articles.Being aware of the necessity of nurturing tolerance to and acceptance of individuals of different cultural backgrounds in the new independent state, Franklin created a number of satirical works, dedicated to multiculturalism. In order to support his general argument in favor of the diversity policy, the author uses numerous literary techniques, including comparison/contrast, characterization and tone, which the present paper is designed to analyze.â€Å"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America† (1784) contain a number of instances of comparison and contrast, intended as the tools o f demonstrating that the culture of Native Americans is valuable equally to the colonists’ mode of life, in spite of the distinctions: â€Å"Savages we call them, because their Manners differ from ours, which we think the Perfection of Civility, they think the same of theirs† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 1). As one can interpret, the author observes that the so-called savages also have their own national and cultural dignity, despite the dissimilarity of their lifestyle.In addition, the scholar implies that the cultural patterns, learned early in the childhood, are actually used as most appropriate and suitable, regardless of the existing cultural context the person enters (Wright, 1990). It needs to be noted that the author wisely approaches to the comparison of cultures and mentions such dimensions (or criteria) as the views on governance, social life, ethics and morality as well as gender roles. Thus, discussing the two perspectives on governance, the author first and foremost claims that the political power in the Native society doesn’t have the apparatus of compulsion and law enforcement.Neither has it any units of punishment. Due to the fact that the author also observes that all members of these communities are perfectly knowledgeable about their roles, freedoms and responsibilities, such units appear needless, so the author implies his positive surprise with such a microcosm, as the 19th century American society was greatly dependent upon countless regulations and thus complicated in nature, whereas the Native Americans, as one can interpret the argument, construct no weighty superstructures and simplify their political life, which is, however, described as â€Å"democratic† (Lemay, 1986, p.91). For instance, everyone, with no exceptions, is allowed to participate in councils: â€Å"Having frequent occasions to hold public Councils, they have acquired great Order and Decency in conducting them. The old Men sit in the foremost Ranks, the warriors in t he next, and the Women and children in the hindmost† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 3). This strict order is never violated, as opposed to the atmosphere in the British House of Commons, in which â€Å"havoc and confusion† (Wright, 1990, p.264) often act as the major components. Furthermore, the savages, as the author observes, always manage to allocate time for both job and leisure and their spiritual development is therefore never-ending, whereas it is recognized that the American institutions are â€Å"slavish and base† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 3) in terms of the frames of the personal freedom and spare time. Thus, the society, depicted in the tract, has the advantage of the constant self-improvement, in contrast to New England.In his sense, the writer allows his contemporaries to look at the Native community from a different angle: they are not lazy or poorly civilized, but rather treasure the value of freed om and thus avoid any institutionalizations and bureaucracies (Lemay, 1986). The final key point of comparison is ethos and social norms of politeness in the groups of the â€Å"savages†. In fact, all of them are strictly organized and extremely polite in interpersonal, social and international relations: for instance, it is unacceptable to interrupt the speaker during meetings, so everyone keeps silence.On the contrary, in the House of Commons, â€Å"scarce a Day passes without some Confusion, that makes the speaker hoarse in calling to order† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 4). Furthermore, the â€Å"savages† are very patient to the other religions, conversely to New English missionaries, who persistently impose Christian beliefs upon the aboriginal communities. Thus, the author implies that instead of judging the ethics of the other culture, it is necessary to correct the imperfections in the existing norms in the â€Å"civilized† society.Characterization is used in order to increase the attractiveness of the Native culture or promote it to the reasonable degree. Notably, the most important terms of characterization are capitalized, so that it is clear which qualities are emphasized (Wright, 1990): â€Å"By this means they indeed avoid Disputes, but then it becomes difficult to know their Minds, or what Impression you make upon them† (Franklin, 2005, par. 4). Therefore, one can underline the following qualities of the indigenous individuals: patience, self-control and interest in common peace.The most prominent point of characterization, used by the author, it the enthusiastic and inspiring description of their hospitality and generosity. It is clear from the writing that they provide their guests with the best facilities available, moreover, their principles ban them from attacking guests unless they behave violently. In this sense, the author implies that the visitors, in turn, not always appreciate warm welcomes, referring probably to the first encounter between colonists and the Natives, celebrated nowadays as the Thanksgiving Day.Finally, the humorous tone of particular episodes determines the absurdity of the English educational and religious programs, â€Å"kindly offered† (Wright, 1990, p. 266) to the indigenous society. One of the stories, for instance, describe the uselessness of the enlightenment (in the Western understanding) of the Natives: â€Å"Several of our Young People were formerly brought up at the college of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ( Franklin, 2005, par. 3).As one can understand, the efforts towards educating the Natives without teaching them the natural life skills appears ridiculous. Another interesting narrative depicts a Swedish Minister, who tries to address the Biblical legend about the Cre ation in his lecture, but the practical and level-headed Natives respond that Eve acted unreasonably when eating apples as she could have done cider of them. Thus, the Christian mission is also fallible, as the tribes have much older and more usable religious and spiritual doctrines, which have conditioned their survival in the wilderness and supported them in their daily routines.To sum up, the use of contrast and comparison, as one can conclude from the analysis, is determined by the author’s willingness to show that the conceptual paradigm of the Native society equally deserves its existence and recognition, instead of the â€Å"Savages† label. Characterization as a technique is employed in order to create a positive emotional impression of the indigenous community as a group of hospitable, tolerant and broad-minded people.Finally, episodes of particularly humorous tone are included so that the ineptitude of the government efforts towards â€Å"civilizing† th e tribes is emphasized. Works cited Franklin, B. â€Å"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America†. 28 June 2005, Lemay, J. The Canon of Benjamin Franklin, 1722-1776: New Attributions and Reconsiderations. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1986. Wright, E. Benjamin Franklin: His Life as He Wrote It. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.

The real Zhuge liang which different with Romance of the three Research Proposal

The real Zhuge liang which different with Romance of the three kingdoms - Research Proposal Example different Chinese leaders, both ancient and current, examining how the Chinese cultures are portrayed in the novel, and to find out how these cultures are being still being observed the current. Romance of the three Kingdoms is one of the highly regarded Chinese classics that are gathered into a semi-fictional mythical work of arts which highlights what took place during the era of Luo Guanzhong (Guanzhong, pg3). Despite the fact that the incidences portrayed in this novel took place 1700 years ago, this duration of history can be described as the golden age of chivalry and since then, characters such as Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao have become Chinese household names. This novel gives the story that is partly legend, partly historical and partially mythical. It chronicles the historic lives of feudal lords and their royals who labored to either restore the dying Han Dynasty or form another well established kingdom in its place. Even though the novel captures more than 100 characters, the major concern is the remnants of the Han Dynasty that finally formed the three nations Wei, Wu and Shu (Guanzhong, pg8). The novel deals with personal, army battles, conspiracies, plot s and how these states struggled to attain dominance. It also elaborates on how the Chinese view their past in a cyclical manner. Thesis statement: The life of Zhuge Liang has a positive significant to the lives and manner of ruling by the present Chinese leaders. On the other hand, the Chinese cultures during the time of Zhuge Liang were very dominant and their applications are still being practiced today. Drawing ideas mainly from the novel, the relationship aspect of Zhuge Liang legendary in the Romance three kingdoms is highly elaborated. Game play revolves around managing numerical data, each representing a character of a city or an individual (Guanzhong, pg12). For instance, a town would have data showing the amount of food kept within its wall, its susceptibility to disasters like

Facts that make a class productive and enjoyable Essay

Facts that make a class productive and enjoyable - Essay Example In the process, clear distinction will be brought forth between being productive and being occupied. The first step that needs to be observed by teachers is; teaching the right things. It is not accurate to assume that all the things teachers teach are usually relevant and of ‘good practice’. Most teachers have adopted the method of â€Å"mark to the objective†. This method may also be referred to as marking, quality or focused. Such method of teaching disregard objectives of learning. Most teaching methods have been preoccupied with predetermination of what would be called as core subjects to train children on. The focus is much laid on the national curriculum than the actual things from which the students will benefit. One way of dealing with this is to try to use practical things in class especially when illustrating some products. This should go hand in hand with the identification of the right objective and subsequently, teaching these objectives at the right time at appropriate level. Rather than judging the teachers on whether they met the objectives of t he teaching, focus should be on whether those teachers got the objectives right in the first place. Another significant step that the teacher should observe and is a great factor is; getting the students do the work by themselves. There should be a very clear balance between the time students are putting in the work and what the teachers put. Study conducted by Smith, et.al (pg 13) reveals that schools where teachers and student do the work at the ration of 20:80 per cent, performed better than otherwise. This also depended on the teaching of the right objectives at the right time. Introducing the students into actual practice enables them to be more productive and they tend to find learning interesting as well. Another very important stage of making learning productive and fun is; the organizing

Reducing the lifecycle cost of oil and gas facility by use of Essay

Reducing the lifecycle cost of oil and gas facility by use of simulation - Essay Example During operations, oil and gas industries incur lifecycle costs that affects their production capacity and cost of production. Lifecycle costs include recurring and other nonrecurring costs incurred by a company during a certain operational period. Oil and gas companies incur lifecycle cost through installation of new facilities, maintenance, and upgrading of the existing facilities. Facilities in the companies have definite life span and therefore the companies experience an additional when closing them down With these costs to consider, the companies are concerned with the possible alternatives to cut or reduce the effects of the lifespan cost. In order to eliminate or minimize lifecycle cost, oil companies rely on planning making simulations a useful tool. Simulations are models applied by the companies to determine the viability of a facility before its inception (Gorski, 2006). This paper therefore analyzes the benefits achieved from application of simulations in the reduction o f lifecycle cost in oil and gas companies. Some of the ways in which simulation is applied to reduce lifecycle cost Evaluation and comparison of different approaches for replacement Evaluation and comparison of alternative strategies for product use Evaluation and comparison of different designs Optimal allocation of available funds of activities in the process of product development During their lifespan, most companies are confronted with situations where they need to make important decisions on whether to close down a facility or to change a business strategy. In such situations, the companies experience lifecycle costs that affect their production. Such companies can apply simulation models to determine whether they need to close down the existing facility or they need to improve its efficiency. Using simulations the managers of the affected companies can determine whether they need to adopt a new business, strategy or to modify the existing strategy to fit their operations. Sec ondly oil and gas companies continuously retire old facilities as they install new facilities, these processes costs the company a lot of money and therefore the companies need to make appropriate decision. Simulations come in as the most appropriate tool that the companies need apply when making strategic management and operational decisions. Using simulation models strategic managers of a company are able to evaluate benefits from alternative decisions. With simulation models, managers can determine decisions and solutions that best fits their companies. Simulations therefore enable the companies to reduce uncertainty when making important decision that concerns their operation. Companies in the oil and gas industry always have new projects intended to improve their operations and facilities. The new facilities rely heavily on designs and therefore the companies are always on the lookout for the most appropriate design. The companies need to evaluate the suitability of these desig ns before choosing the most appropriate design (Petra, 2004). Using simulation models, companies can determine the most appropriate design from the possible choices. The companies also need to choose the most efficient design from the available possibilities; this requires data analysis and projections that cannot be achieved without the real facility. However, with simulations strategic managers of the companies are able to determine and evaluate the efficiency of such models through an analysis simulation models data (Lanner, 2008). Before launching a new product into the market or initiating a project, oil and gas companies need to evaluate their economic viability. In this process, simulation models stands out as the most appropriate tool for application. Using the models, companies are able to predict the market’s response towards a new product. Companies such as Shell Company use ADENT simulation techniques to evaluate the viability of its new products in potential mark ets. The tool is

Operation management exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation management exam - Essay Example The main objective of the concept is to optimize from the production processes while reducing on wastage. The concept aims to reduce lead time and batch size and increase the throughput time. The implementation in company results to efficient running of the processes perfectly aligned to the quantity demanded. The history of the concept dates back in Japan where it was recognised as a means of production. The concept was initially known as the Toyota production system since it was practised in order to compete with the automobile industry in America as explained by Coyle, Bardi and Langley (2009). It was observed that in America, production was based on the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) however, the method could not work in Japan as the domestic demand was lower and there was demand for different models in small quantities. This led to the introduction of the concept that was based on elimination of waste resulting from inventory costs, processing time , transportation, time spent waiting and excess production. The implementation of concept saw the rise of the industry and realised more profits however the system needs employee participation and good management for it to yield benefits to the company. The JIT manufacturing system benefits a company in several ways the most important are the reduction of inventories. Customer relations improves as the company reduces the throughput time resulting to greater output and fast response to the customers demands and also minimizes the rates of defects leading satisfaction. There is reduced setup time that allows the company to eliminate the stock for change over time. The system simplifies inventory management as there is improved flow of goods from the warehouse. Schedules of working hours, production and supply are synchronized with the demand and optimal inventory amounts.

Religion in the Work Place Annotated Bibliography

Religion in the Work Place - Annotated Bibliography Example Through involving God in the management process, an increased positive result is achieved. The article accords the comparison of the application of mature verses the immature religion. However, there is the need to articulate the essence of mature religion via the aspect known as Quest motivation. Trough the experimentation, the provision issued applies Quest in articulating the necessary religious inputs. The identity of the forms of religion needed to achieve positive results is included in measuring the necessary religious forms. Mature religion is the vital aspect in completing positive relations in any organization. Religion has been highlighted as a form of solace for individuals who shift from the rigid inclusion of business policies in the workplace. However, the laws that govern business regulations may influence the religious practices favorable within the office environment. Konrad (2006) explains that with the various barriers in the workplace, the solution to limit reduced performance may be in increasing employee morale and fulfillment. Religion serves as a means to offer satisfaction to employees and appreciate diversity in the workplaces. McGhee and Grant (2008) link religion and work through involving spirituality in deducing the implications of behavior in the workplace. They argue that spiritual individuals perform better in organizations as compared to a system without religion. The article is vital in predicting the results achieved when religion influences the behavior of individuals within the workplace through spiritual fulfillment. The result accords increased performance. The article presents that workers depict their spiritual fulfillment within the workplace and extends to management. With the provision, the service is influenced as spirituality is considered part of the humanity development. The article is vital in predicting the positive impacts of religion within the work places. Through the research,

Family Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family Values - Essay Example She was caught off guard and humiliated over something small. Although the teacher has rules, to humiliate a child in front of the entire class was not the best idea that was available. Because of the way that Emily handled this situation, she is clearly in Kohlberg's Preconventional Morality stage and within stage one (Gould, 2009, p. 2). In this stage, she is more afraid of punishment than she is about going back to the class. In this situation, she was following the rules and the teacher created a situation that made her leave the class rather than face the embarrassment of going back. She avoids punishment by not going back to class and not telling her parents what happened. The teacher could have called Emily to his desk or asked her to speak to him after class. If he had done so, this would have given Emily a chance to explain t him what had happened instead of being humiliated in front of the class. Emily could have talked to her parents about the situation immediately so that it did not move into more fear. Unfortunately, from the case study, it did not seem that she was able to talk to her parents about it perhaps because of fear of punishment. Her parents do not seem to be involved very much with Emily because they were not suspicious of her wanting to stay out of school, although this was out of the ordinary for her. In the classroom situation, Emily has been classically conditioned to do what she is told and follow the rules. She may also have to follow rules at home without question. Because of this, she seems to have a high level of anxiety when she has to confront a situation as she did in Mr. Robinson's class. According to Richards and Blanchette (2004), classical conditioning can be used to understand how to work with people who have challenges with emotions. In this situation, it would have been beneficial for Emily to talk to her friend or to her parents about the situation.

Business and Informtion Systems Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business and Informtion Systems - Case Study Example Thus new sources of competitive dvntge--coordinting nd integrtion skills--become strtegic wepon tht is not rooted in trditionl fctors. The requirements of globl sourcing, rel-time informtion shring, mss customiztion nd virtul clustering of ctivities redefine ntionl competitiveness--nd the links between firms nd their home territories--in wys significntly different from those envisioned erlier. Current pper presents n overview of orgniztionl business strtegy in terms of ITC inititive to support business nd build competitive dvntge. Prticulrly, the cse of Tesco grocery is provided to cover the issues of corporte informtion nd communiction strtegy. s well s operting in the UK, it hs stores in the rest of Europe nd si. It lso provides online services through its subsidiry, Tesco.com. The UK is the compny's lrgest mrket operting under four bnners: Extr, Superstore, Metro nd Express. Tesco sells pproximtely 40,000 food products in its superstores, s well s clothing nd other non-food lines. The compny's own-lbel products re t three levels, vlue, norml nd finest. Own brnd ccounts for pproximtely 50% of sles. s well s convenience produce, mny stores hve gs sttions. The compny hs become one of Britin's lrgest petrol independent retilers. Other retiling services offered in the UK include Tesco Personl Finnce nd Tesco.com. Tesco Personl Finnce is joint venture with the Royl Bnk of Scotlnd. It hs over 3.4 million customers, nd provides vrious finncil products nd services. The compny hs opertions in the rest of Europe, including the Republic of Irelnd, Hungry, Polnd, Czech Republic nd Slovki. (Finch 2005) Tesco's Republic of Irelnd business opertes in the region of 82 stores, nd round 60 stores in the Hungrin mrket. Tesco's Polish opertions include former HIT operted stores. It opertes round 66 hypermrkets nd supermrkets in this country. In the Czech Republic nd Slovkin mrkets, Tesco opertes 22 nd 23 hypermrkets respectively. (Flvin, 2005) Tesco lso opertes stores in si, including Thilnd, South Kore, Mlysi nd Tiwn. The compny opertes 64 stores in Thilnd nd 28 stores in the South Koren Mrket, while in the Tiwnese nd Mlysin mrkets it hs three stores in ech ntion. Business Strtegies of Tesco Tesco core competencies When speking of compny's core competencies it is mter of discussing compny's competitive dvntge tht differentite it from the list of competitors. The most importnt trget for Tesco is to set the competent position between businesses on the mrket nd sustin its mrket power through long period of opertions nd ctivities. There theory sttement s for the mtter of sustinble development nd core cmpetences of the business where Tesco opertes is the on tht dvises the compny to dpt in ccordnce to chnges in compny's enverinment; it should be flexible nd evolve over time. Therefore, Tesco needs to dpt to new rpidly chnging circumstnces nd opportunities, so its core competencies will hve to dpt nd chnge. The exmple of this ws when the compny hs lunched its loylty crd nd went into bnking. Core competences cn be shped within the frmework of following three fctors: Provision of potentil ccess to wide vriety of

How to save a failing law firm Speech or Presentation

How to save a failing law firm - Speech or Presentation Example To be specific, the administration develops the rules and regulations required to govern all aspects of the company. Therefore, the administration should exercise innovation, in order to provide the company with guidelines that would shape the destiny of the firm in the long term perspective. On the other hand, management takes the established rules and regulations and implements them using the available resources in the firm. The management goals are usually in the short term. The available resources in a firm refer to the factors of production such as capital, labour, and skills. These two responsibilities are very important in running any firm as they define the future position of a company. For this reason, leaders and managers require to possess vast knowledge and skills for any meaningful success in a company. Knight and Day Company is in the verge of collapsing. Hence, there is the need to integrate leadership and management skill so as to revive the economy of this firm, and save it from losing its credibility. A number of critical issues threaten Knight and Day Company in its leadership and management. There are several challenges that these two dockets need to address immediately in order to save the existing situation. One of the potential challenges in this firm is the labour resource. There is evidence of poor management and utilization of the labour force in this firm. To begin with, there is evidence of unskilled labour resource.In any given company, lack of skilled labour force is one of the major drawbacks in the labour resource. Unskilled labour brings out low productivity in the farm. Labour is one of the most significant and scarce resource in any company. Therefore, it is the duty of the management to oversee hiring of skilled labour to ensure that tapped labour resource can be harnessed effectively. This will provide optimum profits for the firm. In addition, there is evidence of loss of the already existing labour facility as the workers quit their jobs and take up alternatives out of this company.This is a major problem that can lead to failure of a company. This is because when the firm loses its laborer, it takes time to replace it through the recruitment process. This contributes to a large extent to the losses in a firm. The problem of labour resource management might require more allocation of resources such as time and money. In the process of reformation, there is the need to reform the labour resource through a recruitment process in order to have the required skilled labour. The recruitment process involves advertisement, interviews and even orientation of new employees. All these activities require financial support to implement. Moreover, skilled manpower requires that the salaries are moderated, and more specifically raised in order to avoid the massive departures of the employees from the firm. In addition, the whole process would require that the management sit in various sessions in order to provide a new set of development policies that would be used to regulate the labour force. This will require abundant time and also the use of money Another factor threatening the success of this firm is the poor co-ordination of the various departments and branches. For instance, the Los Angeles office operates autonomously from the rest of the offices in

Youth Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Youth Case study - Essay Example This paper provides a comparative study about the proliferation of youth gangs in East Timor and the United States of America. It introduces the characteristics of the gangs in both countries by pointing out the differences and similarities. East Timor obtained its independence from Indonesia after a prolonged freedom struggle, in which tens of thousands of East Timorese were killed, captured or tortured. The political turmoil of April 2006 led to the disintegration of the security forces into multiple factions and large organized street gangs. Research has found out that large numbers of young and marginalized males have joined these organizations, factions and street gangs (Scambary, 2006). Youth gangs are not a new phenomenon since they were used as instruments of repression during the Portuguese and Indonesian rule. After gaining independence, East Timor has witnessed sporadic clashes in the western highlands and Dili. A riot in March 2001 between rival gangs destroyed several houses in villages like Olobia and Boramatan (Scambary, 2006). The current conflict and nature of the violence has been focused in the market areas around Comoro and Taibesse. Sintu Kulao and Gaya Anak are two of the western gangs arrayed against two big eastern gangs, Lito Rambo and Lafaek in Becora and Comoro respectively (Scambary, 2006). Ethnicity has also played a large role in the formation of these youth gangs as a struggle between West and East Timor. Revenge has been the motive for the random violence, which has taken place. Another reason for the huge proliferation of gangs in East Timor is the land disputes, which have arisen in the aftermath of independence. A strong campaign of house burnings and intimidation against easterners has revolved around individual property disputes. Some gangs are being led by former resistance figures like Lito Rambo and Sintu Kulao (Scambary, 2006). Many gang members have infiltrated the political parties and security forces.

Cultural Intelligence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cultural Intelligence - Research Paper Example The paper analyzes cultural intelligence in relation to cultural experience. It focuses on cultural intelligence development pattern and growth. Cultural intelligence is made of different components that mark the development of an individual in its application (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). The components include behavioral, cognitive and motivation. The cognitive part of cultural intelligence entails the use of one’s brain to learn about different cultures. It is all about the experience and knowledge obtained from interacting with different people. Experience is crucial to the development of cultural intelligence because it provides firsthand information that is critical to the application and development of the acquired knowledge. Personally, I understood the importance of cultural intelligence when I had a chance to stay together with Afghanistan soldiers/translators to discuss national security matters. I faltered in some aspects, but the cognitive part of my cultural intelligence helped in facilitating successful interaction with the soldiers. The best way to develop the cognitive part in a given situation is the development of learning strategies. The learning strategies ensure one learns without jeopardizing the relationship with the group involved in the experience. In retrospect, my learning strategies entailed observation and adaptation. I focused on how the soldiers related with each other and the other foreigners. The observation yielded information that could help in comprehending the most important practices among the Afghan people. It was an opportunity to assess their attitudes toward different aspects (Boonghee, Donthu, & Lenartowicz, 2011). It became to retain the information because I could compare it to the practices in the Western culture. Self-awareness and knowledge played a cultural experience with the soldiers. Self-awareness made it possible for me to focus on how

The Continuum From Legitimacy To Fraud Research Paper

The Continuum From Legitimacy To Fraud - Research Paper Example The archival research employs the use of secondary data, making it difficult to determine proxies for managing of earnings. Several models developed for this proxy are unable to distinguish accurately amid opportunistic behavior of managers and true performance. Another archival research limitation is the inability to tap the managers’ incentives into earnings management. This research type has founded its argument on economic theory in an attempt to explain the occurrence of earnings management (Cozby, 2009). It is hard to confirm beyond doubt that firms with the motivating factors such bonuses, debts covenants and political reasons undertake earnings management because of these factors. Behavioral researchers have tried to handle these shortcomings by giving proof of the behavior of earnings management, which has greater construct validity (implying easily to measure and define) than archival perspective. Several methods can detect and measure earnings management empirically . The most discretional method is the discretional accrual, which assumes that managers can depend on their discretional ability concerning some accruals to use as the proxy testing of earnings management (J. W. Creswell & J. D. Creswell, 2009). Another method is single accrual where only one of accrual types, say depreciation estimates, exists. This method is ineffective because of difficulty in establishing the exceptional accrual required to manage earnings. In the distribution method of earnings management testing, loss reporting is avoided (McKee, 2005).... Earnings Management Stimuli Motivation of capital markets The accounting information is useful in the capital markets in influencing the stock price in the interim, and for this reason, managers alter the information to influence their firms’ performance in the stock market. The key incentive for earnings management is to promote investment in a firm through purchase of shares in the capital market. Many firms post unanticipated positive accruals, which enhance prior to initial public offer (IPO) and acquisition financed by stock. These situations increase the use of earnings management to boost incomes, making them more viable than those of other firms (McKee, 2005). Past studies of firms indirectly concur with this argument by stating that ownership of lower institutions represented by interim oriented investments with much stress on stock prices over lasting gains. In opposition, some studies illustrate the inducement of understating earnings before a management buyout. Ron en and Yaari in their study support a hypothesis showing that unanticipated negative accruals depict a decreasing income, making the buyout cheaper and easier. This permits the management of a firm to propose a price that emerges as reasonably beyond the market price but beneath the actual worth of the firm. This market price does not show the real firm’s economics (Ronen & Yaari, 2011). Another motivation reason for capital markets is to show that the earnings of the firm have met the requirements of financial management or analysts. There are firms that hardly meet or surpass the forecast of a financial analyst; hence, the management alters the earnings upwards in order to satisfy the forecast (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Besides, firms should avoid loss making and

Scarcity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scarcity - Assignment Example A need is something that is tremendously essential for a human being to survive. It is that thing that people cannot live without; they must have it in order to stay alive. In addition, it is that one thing that people cannot function without that one thing that people must have. If a requirement is not met, it would probably result to the beginning of a disease (Bomstein and Susan 135). Also, when the need is not met, it leads to a person’s inability to function effectively. The lack of needs also makes it hard for people to purpose professionally in a society. Therefore, when the need is not met it can likely lead to death. Normally, needs remain steady all the way through the lifetime of a person. Conversely, wants are something that an individual wishes to have in life. It can be that thing that a person longs for either right away or in prospect. They are not essential for a person’s survival people can live without wants. Wants normally vary from one individual to another. Every individual has her or his list of wants, all with unreliable level of significance. In addition, wants can vary over a point in time (Bomstein and Susan189). Some of the examples of needs are; food, the air, shelter, water and clothing. On the other hand, wants are a nice car, travelling abroad, ice cream, designer t-shirt, nice shoes. The idea of my choice is based on the necessity and the most desired things by majority of the

Thresholds Theory of Classical Psychophysics Essay Example for Free

Thresholds Theory of Classical Psychophysics Essay Discuss the thresholds theory of classical psychophysics and explain how characteristics of the perceiver are also important in determining the selection of stimuli. The theory that our human cognitive ability has thresholds from the conscious level to a non-conscious level which varies over time in strength. These thresholds are physical and are not defined, but generally are from those activities and thoughts that are the most active having a threshold that defines our active consciousness, down to those thoughts that are several thresholds away and not seemingly linked to our current awareness. The concepts behind the theory attempt to bring together areas of knowledge, including the commonly-held beliefs about short-term memory being limited to around 7 ideas. In an evolutionary sense, humans walk forward and have to plan their next steps. If humans are running, they may be planning, say, 7 steps ahead. This planning allows them to avoid having miss steps. They have to be able to analyze the results of possibly taking steps, and then keep changing their focus after taking a new step forward .In theory people are imperfectly able to keep focus on a small set of priorities. This imperfection may be the solution, though, for allowing new priorities to be considered. An example is if when shopping in a market holding a red scarf you like, someone yells from behind you â€Å"Stop that thief Help† You start to turn around. Your cognitive threshold will swap out your interest in scarves for an interest in this new distraction. You may: †¢Want to see the thief to avoid them †¢Want to see the person yelling to verify they are not joking †¢Want to see if you are near the thief, or possibly in danger In other words, our cognitive and analytical threshold allows us to act in our world and react for what could be labeled as basic evolutionary needs. The cognitive threshold changes over time, for reasons including: †¢mental capacity: fatigue, chemical or emotional impairment/enhancement †¢situational: the ability to think about running is higher when actually running, than when performing some other activity †¢training: learning enhances ability to manage and perform more in those areas being learned, such as language, music, sports, science, and other skills The Cognitive Threshold theory assumes that what is referred to as â€Å"unconscious† or â€Å"subconscious† thinking is essentially thoughts that take place at a different level of awareness. Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and action in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival. A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception these factors can reside: i) In the perceiver ii) In the Object or target being perceived or iii) In the context of the situation in which the perception is made. 1. Characteristics of the Perceiver: Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she stands for, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. The major characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are: †¢Attitudes †¢Motive †¢Moods †¢Self-concept †¢Interest †¢Cognitive structure †¢Expectation 2) Characteristics of the Target: Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived. Physical appearance pals a big role in our perception of others. Extremely attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group than ordinary looking individuals. Motions, sound, size and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it. Verbal Communication from targets also affects our perception of them. Nonverbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The perceiver deciphers eye contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all in a attempt to form an impression of the target. 3) Characteristics of the Situation: The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place has an influence on the perceivers impression of the target. The strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide strong cues as to appropriate behavior. In this situation, we assume that individuals behaviors can be accounted for by the situation, and that it may not reflect the individuals disposition Name and discuss briefly three (3) reasons why the memory of a healthy person may fail. Memory is one of the most important functions of the brain. Whether people realize it or not, their memories define who they are. There are many areas of the brain that help you create and retrieve memories. Damage or malfunction of any of these areas can lead to memory loss. Memory loss due to problems with specific brain areas may be different. It may involve only memory of recent or new events, past or remote events, or both. The amnesia may be only for specific events or for all events. The problem may involve learning new information or forming new memories. Mental or thinking abilities may still be present or may have been lost. Filling in the details with imagined events (confabulation), and disorientation to time and place may occur. Memory loss may be for words and thoughts only, or for the body can no longer perform specific actions calls motor action. Memory loss may also be partial, meaning failing to remember only a selected group of items. Self-esteem refers to how an individual feels about him or herself. Does someone view himself as a good person, worthy of good things? If he does, he probably has healthy self esteem. If an individual views himself as flawed and unworthy of praise or the respect of others, he probably has low self-esteem. Self-esteem motivates peoples actions as well as the decisions they make. Individuals with positive self-esteem are likely to believe that they measure up to others sufficiently. They are more likely to have the confidence to pursue different accomplishments, whether it is trying to do well on a test, trying out for a sports team, answering a question in class, or applying for a job. These individuals are not overly afraid of failure; they realize that failure is a natural part of life and whether they fail or succeed at something does not indicate their overall worth and ability as a person. There are several factors that influence self esteem. These include: Age: Self-esteem tends to grow steadily up until middle school, which may be due to the transition of moving from the familiar environment of elementary school to a new setting with new demands. Self-esteem will either continue to grow after this period or begin to plummet. Gender: Girls tend to be more susceptible to having low self-esteem than boys, perhaps because of increased social pressures that emphasize appearance rather than intelligence or athletic ability. When memories are stored in the brain, they cannot serve people unless they are retrieved. How do people retrieve memories? This usually happens when memories are challenged. For example, if someone asks a question, a person must attempt to retrieve information in order to answer the question. Sometimes the answer is easy; other times, a person takes time to answer it. The amount of time it takes to answer the question is connected to a persons awareness of what memories are stored. Sometimes a person is not aware at the time that he or she knows the answer, but later realizes that the information is there, ready to be retrieved. Sometimes, a smell or a sound can trigger a memory that a person did not know was there. Write short examples that are related to your daily activities using James-Lange theory, Cannon Bard theory and the cognitive theory James-Lange theory According to James-Lange theory theory, witnessing an external stimulus leads to a physiological reaction. Your emotional reaction depends upon how you interpret those physical reactions. For example, suppose you are walking in the woods and you see a grizzly bear. You begin to tremble and your heart begins to race. The James-Lange theory proposes that you will interpret your physical reactions and conclude that you are frightened. For an example, when I see a cockroach, feel like uncomfortable and move away from that place and my heart beet become fast by thinking of cockroach going to come near me. Cannon Bard theory Cannon-Bard theory states that we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling and muscle tension simultaneously. More specifically, it is suggested that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to the brain in response to a stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction. For example: I see a snake I’m afraid I begin to tremble. According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we react to a stimulus and experience the associated emotion at the same time .The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion differs from other theory of emotion such as the James-Lange theory of emotion, which argues that physiological responses occur first and result and are the cause of emotions. Cognitive theory Cognitive theory is a learning theory of psychology that attempts to explain human behavior by understanding the thought processes. The assumption is that humans are logical beings that make the choices that make the most sense to them. Information processing is a commonly used description of the mental process, comparing the human mind to a computer. Pure cognitive theory largely rejects behaviorism on the basis that behaviorism reduces complex human behavior to simple cause and effect. However, the trend in past decades has been towards merging the two into a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral theory. This allows therapists to use techniques from both schools of thought to help clients achieve their goals.

Music Appreciation Essay Example for Free

Music Appreciation Essay Sound any sensation that is perceived by the aural senses. Physically, sound is vibrational, mechanical energy that moves through matter (usually air) as a wave. The Hearing Process – Vibration, resonation, transmission, reception, interpretation, music appears. Pitch – relative highness or lowness of a sound, speed of vibration. Tone – a sound that has a definite pitch. Interval – the distance in pitch between any two tones, ex: half step. Accent – emphasis on a certain tone. Tone Color/Timbre – quality of sound that distinguishes on instrument or voice from another. timbre contrast, one instrument vs. another. Dynamics- Associated Terms – Degrees of loudness or soften in music: Pianissimo (pp) – very soft Piano (p) – soft Mezzopiano (mp) – moderately soft Mezzoforte (mf) – moderately loud Forte (f) – loud Fortissimo (ff) – very loud Crescendo – gradually get louder Decrescendo – gradually get softer Chordophones – make their sound when a stretched string vibrates. there is usually something they makes the sound reverberate such as the body of a guitar or violin. the strings are set into motion by either plucking, strumming or by rubbing with a bow. Membranophones – Any musical instrument that produces sound primarily by the way of a vibrating stretched membrane. Ex: timpani Roto toms non-pitched drums snare drum (S. Dr.) tenor drum (T. Dr.) field drum (F. Dr.) bass drum (B. Dr.) Tom-Toms Bongos Timbales (Timb.) Conga Drums Tambourine Idiophones – Ex: Marima Crotales Steel Drums Cymbals (cym.) Suspended Symbol Hi-Hat Finger Symbols Triangle (trgl.) Anvil (anv.) Cowbells Tam-Tam (t.t) and other Gongs Sleigh Bells (sl.b.) Bell Tree (bl.t.) Brake Drum (br. dr.) Thunder sheet (th. sh.) Rachet (rach) Wood Blocks (w.bl.) Temple Blocks (t.bl.) Claves (clav.) Castanets (cast.) Maracas (mrcs.) Guiro Whip (wh) Aerophones – any musical instrument that produce sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate. 1st class: where the vibrating is not contained in the instrument itself. Ex: Harmonica 2nd class: where vibrating air is contained by the instrument. Ex: Flute Identify Basic String Instruments – Violin Viola Cello Double Bass Renaissance Lute/Music Dulcimer The Koto-Koto Music The Sitar Identify Basic (Wood)Wind Instruments – Piccolo Flute Clarinet Bass clarinet Oboe English horn Bassoon Identify Basic Percussion Instruments – Timpani Xylophone Snare drum Bass drum Cymbais Identify Basic Keyboard Instruments – Piano Pipe organ Harpsichord Notation/Identify Basic Symbols Staff/Identify Lines and Spaces Time Signature Meter-7,6,5,4,3,2 Downbeat Tied vs dotted rhythms Syncopation Tempo Metronome Arpeggio Half-Step Whole-Step Texture Polyphony Monophonic Homophonic Heterophonic Counterpoint Key Major vs minor vs chromatic scales Key Signature Modulation/Key Change Chord/Progression Harmony Consonance Dissonance Dominant Chord Tonic Chord Sub Dominant Chord Musical Form/Ternary/Binary Phrase/Antecedent/Consequent Cadence Melody/Theme Must Be Prepared to Write Scales and A Chord Progression I –IV-V-I on the staff. Be prepared to insert the Minor chord. Four flats or sharps is the max. . Must be prepared to identify musical instruments and the families they belong to.

Emerging Market Firms vs Multinational Corporations

Emerging Market Firms vs Multinational Corporations A fresh breed of determined MNC is intensifying on the world, presenting both opportunities and challenges for conventional and well established multinationals. These new competitors hail from apparently unlikely places, emerging countries such as China, Russia, Brazil, India and even Indonesia and South Africa. They are vibrating the entire industries, from automobile and electronics to information technology and telecom services, and altering the systems of global competition. (Business Week, 2006, p. 42). 21st century has carried away with several new opportunities and challenges due to the events and improvements in the recent past. The impact of these developments is felt more on the developing countries as these rapidly progress in terms of financial and market growth therefore getting closer to the emerging markets. Developing countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Brazil play an important role in the world economy, entrepreneurs and corporate companies in these emerging markets are aiming to build a world class and internationalised firms. The main ambition of these Emerging Giants is to make the most of new opportunities and to be able to compete against international MNCs. So it is increasingly essential for the firms in emerging markets to get a clear understanding of these market opportunities and challenges to succeed in todays global economy. A clear picture of the current state affairs shows that though firms have been rigorously smacked by the economic crisis and t he drop in demand, the most of emerging firms have, so far, endured the test and prevented the collapse of their recently built international structures. However, there are a rising set of firms that appear to challenge these odds, and score stunning successes in their battles against MNCs. These firms, so called Emerging Giants, offer some imperative stuff in how emerging markets can craft endearing approaches. This report provides a general framework for developing world-class firms from emerging economies and the challenges and opportunities faced by these firms to become an Emerging Giants. Shock Opportunities faced by firms in emerging markets: Nowadays, many firms from emerging economies are making the world astonish and become very familiar. For the past two decades, waves of globalisation have removed protectionist hurdles in the emerging markets. A foreign competitive pressure started to flow through the world economy, from firms in emerging economies like India, China, Brazil and Russia. These firms are looking to become world class global players just as Tata Steel rose from India and Sony emerged from Japan in earlier stages of globalisation. Once these emerging economies entered themselves into the world economy, multinational enterprises from Europe, America, Korea, and Japan were assaulted. Many domestic firms lost the market share and forced to shed off their businesses. However, a few organisations battled hard and survived. They held their own businesses against the blitz, restructured their organisations, utilized new opportunities, and developed international companies that made their global rivals astonish and made them think. Challenges faced by emerging market firms: Whilst companies from the emerging economies continue with their expansion of international business, they are faced with an enduring issue are they capable to manage their accumulated assets economically on a global scale. Emerging firms are facing many challenges particularly due to inappropriate organizational structure, talent shortage, cultural differences, and lack experience in international business management. While facing specific challenges in various sectors and industries, emerging giants often come across common difficulties. One key issue about this dominance is that MNCs may use their supremacy and influence to interfere in the host governments finance, economic and political policies for their own growth (Harrison, Dalkiran, Elsey, 2000). The significant challenge for these emerging companies is to successfully compete with MNCs which have two fundamental advantages over emerging economy firms. First challenge is MNCs are well conventional, and hence have advantages of incumbency: Reputation, infrastructure, brand image, latest technology, organisational structure and access to vast resource funding, contacts, distribution network and supplier (Malchow Moller, N., Markusen, 2007). But firms from emerging markets do not have these advantages in order to compete against the multinationals. The worst part is that they come from economies that experience severe market breakdown. They lack the infrastructure and HRM that makes a multinational firm. With developed markets getting increasingly saturated, Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are trying to expand their business globally. Global businesses have enormously increasing due to fact that decreasing of barriers in the international trading. Because of this fact most of the multinational enterprises storming in to emerging economies in order take the advantage of the conditions and opportunities for future growth. Local consumers have a wider choice after the arrival of multinational corporations . As a result local firms from emerging markets are left with very fewer opportunities and the influx will restrict the emerging firms growth. When emerging economies open-up, local firms are forced to fight against MNCs with their poor economy and hence they cannot invest more in RD, advertising and marketing which are some of the essential aspects in order to compete with multinational enterprises. They are also in the back foot due to meagre infrastructure, supply and distribution network. Even while emerging companies are able to evade some of these obstacles and settle on a path of rapid development, they are hindered by the low domestic management talent group in their attempts t o develop a world class organisation. In theory, emerging firms can triumph over some of these barriers by accessing global markets for technology, finance and talent (Lipsey, 2002.). However, in prevailing conditions, different rigid and reputational obstacles often make this choice difficult to implement. Because of this reason, management in emerging economies are evidently worried about being thrown out in their domestic market by MNCs wh en their domestic markets provide space to global competition. Last 2 decades have seen a wave of countries opening up to the world economy; the challenge for potential emerging giants is more extreme than before. Competing against MNCs: Multinational firms from developed markets have an imperative advantage over emerging economies firms-access to the excellent organisational infrastructure. For example, U.K. MNCs have access to the British financial markets, which eases them to raise low-cost finance structures in great quantity. They have world-class talent available through a well-built white-collar labour market and also they could able to develop good quality products using Research development centres, marketing and advertising techniques. They are ahead of firms from developing countries with latest and advanced technologies developed by pioneering firms. Having all these advantages, wouldnt Firms from developed countries make use of business opportunities in emerging economies better than the emerging economy firms themselves? However, emerging market firms have a significant advantage over the firms from international companies. There are some reasons why firms from emerging economy can potentially turn the disadvantage of functioning in an emerging economy into an advantage, and may counteract the incumbency benefit of MNCs in terms of their technology, brand image and access to capital. First, sophisticated market MNCs looking to take advantage of business opportunities in developing markets are faced with some challenges that emerging market firms have to contend with. For example, firms from developed countries look to exploit professional talent in emerging market. However, the firm has to deal with the excellence uncertainty in the labour market, and learn ways to find skilled professional to serve global market needs. It also has to study to operate with poorly built infrastructure. Emerging economy manufacturers have a distinct advantage over foreign MNEs in dealing with local institutional voids for example-they have significant experience and cultural knowledge in dealing with these issues. In fact, MNCs managers, spent their years of experience with a well-built infrastructure, are often are unable to deal with institutional issues that make it difficult to access consistent market information, and/or configure business partnerships based on trustworthy con tracts. Emerging economies businesses, in contrast, have extensive knowledge of these institutional voids, and are able to manage them around through relaxed collective mechanisms and a deep knowledge with their environment. Second, MNCs are often hesitant to tailor their commodities and distribute them to each country that they function in. This is especially true for western MNCs with a very successful business in large sophisticated markets in Northern and Western Europe. For these firms, it is too expensive and big headache to alter their goods and services to suit distinctive behaviour just to make use of what they see as risky and small business prospects in emerging economies. Their cost structure is also an important factor because it will be difficult for them to manufacture goods at price which is optimal for emerging markets. Firms in emerging markets, in contrast, have advantage over these constraints.

The Criticism Of The Modigliani And Miller Hypothesis Finance Essay

The Criticism Of The Modigliani And Miller Hypothesis Finance Essay Capital structure has a major implication to the ability of firms to meet the various needs of stakeholders. There were various studies carried out on capital structure and major development on new theories for optimal debt to equity ratio. The first milestone on the issue was set by Modigliani and Miller(1958) through which they presented in their seminal work two important propositions that shaped the economic theory behind capital structure and its effect on firm value. The Modigliani and Miller hypothesis is identical with the net operating income approach. At its heart, the theorem is an irrelevance proposition, but the Modigliani-Miller Theorem provides conditions under which a firms financial decisions do not affect its value. They argue that in the absence of taxes, a firms market value and the cost of capital remain invariant to the capital structure changes. In their 1958 articles, they provide analytically and logically consistent behavioural justification in favour of their hypothesis and reject any other capital structure theory as incorrect. The Modigliani-Miller theorem states that, in the absence of taxes, bankruptcy costs, and asymmetric information, and in an efficient market, a companys value is unaffected by how it is financed, regardless of whether the companys capital consists of equities or debt, or a combination of these, or what the dividend policy is. Miller (1991) explains the intuition for the Theorem with a simple analogy. Think of the firm as a gigantic tub of whole milk. The farmer can sell the whole milk as it is. Or he can separate out the cream, and sell it at a considerably higher price than the whole milk would bring. He continues, The Modigliani-Miller proposition says that if there were no costs of separation, (and, of course, no government dairy support program), the cream plus the skim milk would bring the same price as the whole milk. The main content of the argument is that increasing the amount of debt (cream) lowers the value of outstanding equity (skim milk) and selling off safe cash flows to debt-holders leaves the firm with more lower valued equity,thus keeping the total value of the firm unchanged. Furthermore, any gain from using more of what might seem to be cheaper debt is offset by the higher cost of now riskier equity. Assumptions: The Modigliani-Miller theorem can be best explained in terms of their proposition 1 and proposition 2. However their proposition are base on certain assumption and particularly relate to the behaviour of investors, capital market, the actions of the firm and the tax environment. According to I.M Pandey(1999) the assumptions of the Modigliani Miller theorem is based on: Perfect capital markets These are securities (shares and debt instruments)which are traded in the perfect capital market situation and complete information is available to all investors with no cost to be paid. This also means that an investor is free to buy or sell securities, he can borrow without restriction at the same terms as the firm do and he behave rationally. It also implies that the transaction cost(cost of buying and selling securities) do not exist. Homogeneous risk classes Firms can be group into homogeneous risk classes. Firms would be considered to belong to a homogeneous risk class if their expected earnings have identical risk characteristics. It is generally implied under the M-M hypothesis that firms within same industry constitute a homogeneous class. Risk The risk of the investors is defined in terms of the variability of the net operating income(NOI). The risk of investors depends on both the random fluctuations of the expected NOI and the possibility that the actual value of the variable may turn out to be different than their best estimate. No taxes In the original formulation of their hypothesis, M-M assume that no corporate income taxes and personal tax exist. That is, they are both perfect substitute. Full payout Firms distribute all net earnings to the shareholders, which means a 100% payout. Proposition 1: the market value of any firms is independent of its capital structure. M-M(Modigliani and miller) argue that for firms in the same risk class the total market value is independent of the debt-equity mix and is given by capitalizing the expected net operating income by the rate appropriate to that risk class. This is their proposition 1 and can be expressed as follows: Value of firm= Market value of equity + Market value of debt = V= (S + D) = = Where V = the market value of the firm S = the market value of the firms ordinary equity D = the market value of debt = the expected net operating income on the assets of the firm = the capitalization rate appropriate to the risk class of the firm. Also, M-M extended proposition 1 by arguing that there is a linear relationship between cost the cost of equity and the financial leverage. Financial leverage is measured by the Debt to Equity ratio(D/E).The cost of equity capital can be denoted by the following relationship: = + ( ) DE Where denotes cost of equity capital; denotes overall cost of capital and denotes cost of debts of the firm L . Based on the assumption that there is no corporate tax then is equal to the rate of interest on financial leverage employed by the firm. The diagram below shows the cost of capital under the Modigliani and Miller proposition 1.http://htmlimg3.scribdassets.com/2vohdy2ptsw5n23/images/12-7ef603c995.jpg Example: Example 1 Example 2 DE 2/3 1 0.18 1.18 0.10 0.10 23.3% 26% It can be seen that due to an increase in financial leverage the risk premium of equity shareholders have increased from (23-18) = 5% to (26-18) = 8 %. We can also verify for the , which is given below: When debt equity ratio is 2:3 + = 18% The similar result is obtained when DE is 1. + = 18% It can be concluded that the overall cost of capital, which is the weighted average cost of debt and cost of equity, is unaffected even if the degree of financial leverage is increased. As per the M-M model, however , any benefits arising by substituting cheaper leverage for more expensive equity are offset by an increase in both the costs as reflected on the following graph. Arbitrage process: Arbitrage process is base on the principle that Proposition 1 is based on the assumption that 2 firms are identical except for their capital structure which cannot command different market value and have different cost of capital. Modigliani and Miller do not accept the net income approach on the fact that two identical firms except for the degree of leverage, have different market values. Arbitrage process will take place to enable investors to engage in personal leverage to offset the corporate leverage and thus restoring equilibrium in the market. Criticism of the Modigliani and Miller hypothesis: On the basis of the arbitrage process, M-M conclude that the market value of firms are not affected by leverage but due to the existence of imperfections in the capital market, arbitrage may fail to work and may give rise to differences between the market values of levered and unlevered firms. The arbitrage process may fail to bring equilibrium in the capital market for the following reasons: Lending and borrowing rates differences: Based on the assumption that firms and individuals can borrow and lend at the same rate of interest does not hold good in practice. This is so because firms which hold a substantial amount of fixed assets will have a higher credit standing, thus they will be able to borrow at a lower rate of interest than individuals. Non-substitutability of personal and corporate leverages: It is incorrect to say that personal leverage and corporate leverage are perfect substitute because of the existence of limited liability a firms hold compare to the unlimited liability of individuals hold. For examples, if a levered firm goes bankrupt, all investors will lose the amount of the purchase price of the shares. But if an investor creates personal leverage, in the event of a unlevered firms insolvency, he would lose not only his principal in the shares but also be liable to return the amount of his personal loan. Transaction costs: Transaction cost interfere with the working of the arbitrage. Due to the cost involved in the buying and selling of securities, it is necessary to invest a larger amount in order to earn the same return. As a result , the levered firm will have a higher market value. Institutional restrictions: Personal leverage are not feasible as a number of investors would not be able to substitute personal leverage for corporate leverage and thus affecting the work of arbitrage process. Corporate taxation and personal taxation: M-M theory is also criticize for the reason that it ignores the corporate taxation and personal taxation. Retained earnings: It also ignores personal aspect of financing through retained earnings. In real world , corporate will not pay out the entire earnings in the form of dividends. Investors willingness: Investors will not show much interest in purchasing low rated issued by highly geared firms.

Christian Anthropology

Christian Anthropology Introduction This essay will explore, from the perspective of Catholic anthropology, the Churchs views on resurrection. The paper begins by looking at Platos dualist theory of the soul and its impact on the development of thinking. The views of Aristotle and his influence on the writings of St Thomas Aquinas on the nature of the human soul. It will also explore the notion of the whole person and then relate this to different anthropological approaches. The essay will conclude with the teaching of the Catholic Church Magisterium. Plato Dualism In the tradition of philosophy there are two main views of human beings; Dualism where immaterial soul and material body meet and Materialism where we are one being. (Selman 2000, pg13). The Father of Dualism may be said to be Plato who lived in Athens from around 428-347 BC and who was, as far we are aware, the first to write on the subject of the soul at any length. Plato presents at least two theories. The best known, because of its enduring influence, was the one he developed in the Phaedo, which describes a dialogue his friend Socrates has with some friends shortly before his death on what happens at death. Selman (2000, pg 12) states that there are two main theories about the human body and its relationship with the soul. One of these is the dualist view, which suggests that there is a total division between the immaterial soul and the material body. The other is the idea that the body and soul of a human being are completely unified. In his theory, through the words of Socrates, Plato holds that the soul is separate from the body, is immortal, immaterial and pre exists the body and therefore does not depend on the body for its existence or survival. This concept -that the body and soul are two different entities, which happen to uncomfortably occupy the same space during life -is termed dualism. Platos theory goes further by elevating the role of the soul. The pre existent, immortal soul spends time in the body -a period of punishment -and death releases the soul from its exile in the body. Not surprisingly, Platos concept of dualism produced difficulties for early Christian philosophers and theologians, although his views were not unpopular and his view of the soul remained the dominant one in Christian thinking for the first thousand years (Selman 2000, pg15). Aristotle Aristotle was another philosopher who tried to explain the idea of the body and mind. Even though Aristotle was a pupil of Plato, his thoughts on dualism were very different from that of Plato. He still believed that the soul was the part of the body that gives it life and that the soul turned all physical form into a living organism of its particular type. However Aristotle believed that the body and soul were inseparable, the soul still develops peoples skills, character and temper, but it cannot survive death. Once the body dies then the soul dies with it. The soul is the form of the body, because it is what makes the body be a living body (Selman 2000, pg17). Aristotle developed the concept that the soul was the principle of life and life is manifest in activity. From these activities, he distinguished three types of soul: vegetative, sensitive and rational. Plants have the basic or vegetative soul allowing them to grow and reproduce. Animals have a sensitive soul enabling them to grow, reproduce, and experience sensation and movement. Humans have a rational soul, which enables them to grow, reproduce, and experience sensation and movement and to think, reason and understand. In all it is the type of soul, which defines the form of the body and thus body and soul are untied as one being. (Selman 2000, pg 19). For Aristotle then a body without a soul is dead matter. Dead matter no longer acts. It is only acted upon. While Aristotle could see that the body and soul were united he could not make the leap to speak about an immortal soul. This would be left to later philosophers such as Aquinas who would consider this point from a Christian perspective. Aquinas agreed with Aristotle in the sense that he thought that the soul animated the body and gave it life and he called the soul the anima. Aquinas believed that that the soul operated independently of the body and that things that are divisible into parts, are destined to decay. As the soul is not divisible, it is able to survive death. However, because of the link with a particular human body, each soul becomes individual so even when the body does die, the soul once departed still retains the individual identity of the body it once occupied. Descartes believed the soul retains its nature in the absence of the body but Aquinas argued that the disembodied soul is in an unnatural state. The human soul is naturally the form of the living body. Now that the soul is what makes our body live; so the soul is the primary source of all these activities that differentiate levels of life: growth, sensation, movement, understanding mind or soul, it is the form of our body (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theological). St Augustine, like most of the Church fathers, was influenced by the teaching of Plato who considered that the body and soul were two substances. (Selman 2000, pg 18), St Augustine held that the soul, like the body, is derived from the parents in the act of creation. According to Augustine, original sin is transmitted from Adam down through the ages in this way. This is the way in which he explains how original sin could exist in a soul created by God because God could only create that which was good. He later renounced his view that the soul is traduced. This heresy was condemned by the Council of Braga in 561 which stated that the soul is not traduced but is directly created by God (Neuner and Dupuis, pg 167). The title phrase introduces the idea of the whole person as opposed to parts of a person, which requires us to discuss how a person could be understood to be in parts. The most common way to talk about the relationship of the body to soul is Cartesian dualism, of the separateness of the two. Cartesian dualism comes from Descartes, who in fact first argued that the body and mind,soul were separate and distinct so that he would be able to continue making medical advances without the interference of the Church. In saying that the body and soul were separate he made the soul the domain of the Church, leaving secular scientists to look at the body, whereas before secular scientists had been looked at with suspicion or even imprisoned for trying to make discoveries However, dualism has a longer history than this even in the West, with Plato and other classical philosophers discussing ideas about the material world as a shadow world of a pure world of ideas. This could be seen as another wa y of describing the sinfulness of the material world body and the perfection of heaven, which will be the eventual home of the soul, freed from its imperfect trappings (The way of perfection by St Teresa of Avila CH 1 17). The Resurrection of the Flesh The quote in the title comes from the The Reality of Life after Death, written by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1979 and published amongst the Vatican II writings in 1982. It refers to the teaching of the Catholic Church of the resurrection of the flesh, in which it is not just the soul, which survives after death, but the body as well. This can be related to other Catholic teachings, such as its tradition about Mary, who ascended bodily into heaven (LG 58), and teachings about the role of the flesh and denial of the flesh in salvation. Tertullian, talks extensively about the role of the body in salvation, making a claim for the potential purity of the flesh by pointing out that man was made of flesh before the fall: the clay, therefore, was obliterated and absorbed into flesh. When did this happen? At the time that man became a living soul by the inbreathing of God (Tertullian 2004, pg 49). He also shows the link between the actions of the flesh and the state of salvation of the soul: the flesh, indeed is washed, in order that the soul may be cleansed, the flesh is signed with the cross, that the soul too may be fortified the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may fatten on its God. (Tertullian 2004, pg 63) His intention is to show the relationship between body and soul, to assert that resurrection at the end of days will be bodily, and to extol the mortification of the flesh in the name of Christ, but in talking so extensively of the differences between the two. Selman (2000, pg 60) states that the human body can be raised up on the last day because it will be joined once again to its soul which has remained in existence since they were separated at death. Furthermore, if the soul is not immortal then there can be no Resurrection (Selman 2000, pg 60). For Aquinas, when God raises the dead on the last day, souls will be reunited with what is materially continuous with what came from the mothers womb Selman (2000, pg 59) states that the same person can be raised up because the body will be restored to the same form as it originally had in this life. The above views contrast very differently to, for example, the attitude of the Mormon church, as studied by Fanella Cannell (2005, pg 335- 51 ) . In her article The Christianity of Anthropology, she looks at the assumptions in anthropology, which are descended from its Christian background a particular sort of Christian background though. The Mormon Church show how the same teachings can be interpreted in different ways and that dualism is not necessarily, what Christianity has to result in. Not only do Mormons believe in full, literal resurrection, but also they believe that heaven is going to be exactly like earth, but perfected. In particular, they believe that people will continue to have children and families into eternity, and it is legitimate to ask questions like will there be chocolate in heaven? a question that most other denominations of Christianity would view to be frivolous or inappropriate Church Teaching Magisterium The Catechism (365) declares that the unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the form of the body. The Council of Vienne (1312) refuted all other doctrines, which were not consistent with this declaration (CCCC 365). The Lateran Council (1513) also condemned any philosophies, which denied that the soul is essentially the form of the human body (CCC 366). The The Second Vatican Council (GS 14) declared that man made of body and soul is a unity. Furthermore, the human body is not to be despised as it is part of Gods Creation (Gen 2:7) and will be raised up on the last day. St Paul said that the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16). As a result it should never be undermined, or seen as something that separates humanity from God. Vatican II teaching of the soul as a very separate entity to the soul: we believe that the souls of all those who die in the grace of Christ, whether they must still make expiation in the fire of Purgatory, or whether from the moment they leave their bodies they are received by Jesus into Paradise like the good thief, go to form that People of God. (Austin Flannery 1982, 394). By using the phrase leave their bodies, Vatican II demonstrates that they see the soul and body as detachable. Even if the body is to be resurrected eventually, it is still the soul that gets to heaven first, after leaving the body behind (Teaching notes Perth). Conclusion In considering the question, I have looked at the nature of the soul from main philosophies of the soul as put forward by Plato and Aristotle. I have shown how Augustine, Tertullian, and Thomas Aquinas to present a Christian anthropology. I have contrasted this view with the Mormon Church and their belief of the resurrection. I have found that the Magisterium, in seeking to hold true to revelation and Biblical tradition, has preferred to use the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas, which holds that the soul is the form of the body. The soul is with the body now and will be again after the resurrection from the dead Bibliography Wansbrough, Henry. 1994.(gen ed) The New Jerusalem Bible. London: Darton, Longman Todd Flannery Austin, O. P. 1982. Vatican Council II Vol 2. New York: Costello Publishing Co. Neuner J. and Dupuis J. 2001. The Christian Faith. New York: St. Pauls/Alba House The Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1994 London: G. Chapman Aquinas, St Thomas. Summa Theologica Part Ia q.75 articles 2 and 6; and q.76 art1. Tertullian, 2004. On the Resurrection of the Flesh. Kessinger Publishers. Cannell, F. 2005. The Christianity of Anthropology Anthropology Today 43: 335-51 Selman, Francis. et al.2002. Christian Anthropology. Birmingham: Maryvale Inst Internet International Theological Commission. (2002) Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God. (online) Available from: Vatican web (April 2008) Saint Teresa of Avila. The way of perfection. (1995) (online) Available from: http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/saints/wayperf.htm. (April 2008)