Development of an information technology (IT) project Essay

Development of an information technology (IT) project - Essay Example The project seeks to coordinate and maintain the records of the professional development of its employees spread across Colorado, Illinois, Texas and Florida. The project is estimated to cost the organization three hundred thousand dollars. This project charter formally authorizes the existence of the project and the Project Name. It seeks to provide resources to run the activities to the manager of the project. If there is a change in the project scope, the charter will be updated and submitted for re-approval. The development of the project aims to integrate all the four branches of the company allowing the extensive number of 30000 employees to locate and schedule professional development activities that relate to their positions. Most important is to facilitate coordination and manage a record of its employees and their progress. The project aims to build a system that allows location and scheduling of tasks, has an extensive search capability, and enable employees to schedule events (Bolles & Hubbard, 2007). Further, it should allow integration of a social network platform and incorporate a notification module for both the managers and the employees. The project will cover gathering the requirements for the system, building of the system, developing a guide for the user and making a presentation on the system and its functionality in general. However training the individual persons will not be done at this stage. A project manager is required to be ethical since they need to handle people of various calibers, a lot of cash, and most of all lead the staff to deliver the product. In this endeavor, they need to admit to doing wrong, making hard but necessary choices and centralizing blame in case it

Religion, Wealth and Poverty Essay Example for Free

Religion, Wealth and Poverty Essay Outline the work of one religious agency working for world development and explain why it does this work. The religious agency, Christian Aid was set up in 1944, originally known as the British Churches Ecumenical Refugee Council. It was primarily created to help the thousands of homeless Europeans as a result of the Second World War. It became known as Christian Aid in 1945 and was filed as only a segregated department of all of the non-Roman Catholic churches the British Council of Churches and provided great help to the poorer people surviving in lesser economically developed areas. Christian Aid is now a worldwide organisation and has become an agency for the churches of the United Kingdom and in Ireland, working wherever their need is superlative, irrespective of the religion of this area. As well as doing this work, Christian Aid supports local organisations who are better at understanding the needs in their specified areas, whilst continually helping those in need with the sixteen offices they retain overseas. Christian Aid believes in helping people gain strength in finding their own solution to a particular problem rather than simply helping and leaving, Christian Aid provides withstanding support. In addition to this work, Christian Aid strives to transform a New World by ending poverty and continuously campaigns for the change of the morals and rules that allow the poor to get poorer. Christian Aid works and provides help in over sixty countries in the world today, supplying emergency aid and long term aid to organisations, which are working to create the end of poverty. Christian Aid prefers to work through local organisations in areas of lesser-developed economies, as they believe that these organisations understand the needs of their people best. A great plus of the agency of Christian Aid is that it works in all areas despite the religion or race of the place they are working in. In order to achieve the high aims set by Christian Aid, their work can be divided into four sections and they are as follows. Fund raising is a major issue and to be able to start any work in relieving the issue of poverty, Christian Aid has to tackle the problem of funds, which can be raised in several ways. In 1975, it was organised so that every year in May, Christian Aid week could be held as a nationwide even. This is where churches provide information about Christian Aid to almost every home in certain areas by posting letters through their letterboxes and asking for donations. In 1995, a record à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8.6 million was raised for Christian Aid via this process. In addition to this, certain parishes and individuals organise events to raise money for the agency and in the past have contributed more by this process than in Christian Aid week. Emergency aid is also taken into consideration as Christian Aid set up a fund known as the disaster fund so it could be immediately used if a natural disaster were to occur and has often overtaken long term aid due to its efficiency in helping people survive the effects of a natural disaster. The work done by Christian Aid involves providing and sending food, medicine and materials to build shelters for the victims of such natural disasters as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. An example of this aid was when blankets, tents and food were sent to refugees in Bosnia and Rwanda and when food was provided for drought-stricken Zimbabwe. This specified version of aid is so important that nearly 15% of Christian Aids funds are spent on it per annum. Long term aid is equally important and fortunately, Christian Aid is greatly advantaged in this area as it has contact with the organisations who receive the aid and the majority of Christian Aids emergency and long-term aid is diverted through Christian associations within the country concerned. If is often for these establishments to come up with fund-raising ideas to help relieve certain aspects of poverty in their area and then ask Christian Aid to finance these propositions. An example of this is when in Columbia, poor farmers were being threatened to be evicted from their homes. Fortunately, the farmers were able to establish an alternative environmentally friendly method which allowed them to develop their area that would provide an income for these farmers and their families. Christian Aid and the European Union are negotiating the finance of this scheme. Another example of Christian Aid helping lesser developed countries is in Bangladesh, where Christian Aid are funding a group of Christian workers to make basic drugs for medicine which are unavailable in Bangladesh. Consequently, as Christian Aid helps in all of these diverse and different areas, their main aim is to help people to help themselves. Education is a key factor to the success of Christian Aid. Nearly 5% of Christian Aids funds is consumed on education about the greater need of development and the way in which Christians are enabled to provide this help to those in need. The association of Christian Aid produces a newspaper, Christian Aid News, along with many other educational articles which not only provide information on the projects that Christian Aid is working on but how they are improving the rate of development in lesser economically developed areas. Christian Aid advocates campaigns for the improvement of living and health conditions in lesser-developed areas. Christian Aids motivation is built upon the Christian belief that all people are equal in the eyes of God and so therefore all deserve the same things. This organisation is driven by the beliefs that God cares about the poor and their lifestyle, wanting them to be treated accordingly. It is also believed that the worth and importance of a person is not measured on how much money they have or the material belongings that they may possess. It is written in the Bible that what counts is a persons desire to do good, their faith in God and actions towards other people. Due to these Christian beliefs, Christian Aid does everything within its power to help those who are less fortunate in both this country and abroad. The quotation, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all once in Christ taken from Galatians 3:25 is the basis of the Christian Aids work. It is believed that everyone has rights and so deserves to be treated the same, despite their circumstances, creed, nationality, religion or colour. In conclusion to the work of Christian Aid and its motivation, it is clear that their main aim is not only to assist the poor, but help them learn to help themselves and by doing this, Christian Aid are increasing the development of the developing world. The motivation of this agency is obvious due to the fact that they are Christian and it is Gods belief that you should use everything within your power to help those in need of your help. Christian Aid believes that From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole Earth, Acts 17: 26, so that everyone is equal in the eyes of God as they were all created from the same mould, therefore everyone should be treated respectfully. Thanks to these beliefs, Christian Aids work is helping to eradicate the growth of poverty and sustain a development in the lesser-developed areas.

The YMCA Essay -- essays research papers

The YMCA The YMCA has a very clear and concise mission statement. Their mission is "to put Christian principles into practice through programs thta build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all". The YMCA is the nation's largest not-for-profit community service organization in America. With more than 2,500 YMCAs, they are able to meet the health and social service needs of 18.9 million men, women and children in over 10,000 communities in the United States. No one is turned away from the Y. It is a place for people fo all faiths, races, abilities, ages and incomes. Inability to pay is never a reason for the YMCA to turn someone away. Their strength lies in fulfilling their goal of bringing people together. Not every community is the same. Therefore, each YMCA is different to accomadate these differing needs. The YMCA in your community may offer child care or teen leadership clubs. In the next town over, swimming lessons or drawing lessons may be of bigger concern. Every Y makes theri won decisions based on the needs of the community around them. They decide which programs to offer and how to operate. The YMCA was founded in London, England, in 1844 by George Williams and some friends who lived and worked as clerks in a drapery, a forerunner of drygoods and department stores. Their goal was to help young men like themselves find God. The first members were evangelical Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible as an alternative to vice. The first U.S. YMCA...

Eating Disorders - Womens Magazines and Cinderella Essay -- Argument

Women's Magazines and Cinderella      Ã‚   In the world today much of the literature aimed at the feminine audience keeps us trapped in the role of "Cinderella." We think of ourselves as the poor, helpless, and uncared for woman who needs to be saved. The covers, the advertisements, and most articles in women's magazines reinforce what it means to be an ideal woman in today's society.    Pick up most any feminine magazine in your grocery store today, and it will define for you what it to be feminine in the year 2000. It defines most women as being slim happy wives, with great careers and wonderful children. One example of this journalistic nonsense is the magazine Redbook. The covers read like a map to any woman's (or man's) fairytale life. Headlines like "Burn Fat Faster at 25, 35, 45" (169) and "Perfect Skin: 77 quick tricks"(cover November) encourage us to be the best we can be in his eyes. Another headline tells us why it Rosie O'Donnell may never be slim (cover November). Why should she be? She's perfect, but n... ...f Leslie Jane Seymour, publishers Hearst Communications, Inc.. Redbook advertisement by Virginia Slim volume #192 November 1999, Pg. 12 Virginia Slims advertisement, Editor-in-Chief Leslie Jane Seymour, publishers Hearst Communications, Inc. Sommers, Jeff and Lewiecki-Wilson, Cynthia, From Community to College, Reading and Writing Across Diverse Contexts, authors and published by St. Martin's Press 1996, quote found on pg. 114 in "Listening" an essay by Sey Chassler, published in 1984 in MS. Magazine

Planning and Budgeting Essay

â€Å"Planning and budgeting are the two key major roles in the financial functioning of a healthcare organization. Planning covers the entire process and procedures of preparing the organization for their future financial goals. Budgeting include all of the detailed plans, which are expressed in dollar terms and they tell how the organizations resources will be obtained and used during a specific time period† (Gapenski, p. 253 & 259). In this paper there will be a brief discussion of what Ben Massell Dental Clinic, should take into consideration, when making pricing and service decisions. As well this paper will also cover the overall planning process and the components of their financial plan. Also this paper will briefly discuss how time analysis may help Bill Massell Dentistry to make sound management decisions. And lastly there will be a recommended major investment and a likely determination of how Ben Massell should address any financial risk and required returns. â€Å"In 1912 a philanthropist by the name of Morris Hirsch established the Morris Hirsch clinic with a goal in mind, which was to provide an out-patient medical service to those within the community, who weren’t able to afford proper medical care. Years later in 1929 a dental clinic was soon added. Then, in 1956 Dr. Irving M. Goldstein a dentist and former chief of staff of the Morris Hirsch clinic, he and his brother Dr. Marvin Goldstein decided to relocate their establishment to Pryor St, located in downtown Atlanta. They sought after one of Atlanta’s most premier builders and developer who had his eyes on the exact same building that the Goldstein brothers had chosen† (Massell, 2012, para. 1). The clinic resided in its new location for the next three years, and then in 1959 urban renewal and eminent domain laws, made it possible for the clinic to relocate once again. Soon, Ben Massell with the help of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta was able to obtain a secure home on for his clinic located on 7th St in the Midtown area of Atlanta. And from that point on the clinic has remained there for the past 49 years. In honoring Ben Massell’s involvement, assistance and his financial generosity with the clinic it was then named, the Ben Massell Dental clinic (Massell, 2012, para. 2). When making pricing decisions, the managers of Ben Massell Dentistry Clinic, need to determine whether or not if their services are not only affordable, but are beneficial to the clients they serve. The managers of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, also need to determine whether or not if they’re offering a substantial amount of volume discounts to clients and payer groups, and they need to determine exactly how large of a discount should be given to all of their clients. When making service decisions since the managers are not the ones who set the prices for the services, they have to decide whether or not that the payment is sufficient to assume the risks associated with providing services to the covered or non-covered population. The Planning Process is where the financial plans and budgets are developed for an organization to reach its financial goal. The process includes, value statement which describes the things the company values the most, mission statement describes the overall purpose for the existence of the company, and vision statement defines the company’s goals. Since, The Ben Massell Dental Clinic is a non-profit organization, their overall planning process consist of providing clients with the most advanced dental care. They describe themselves as the only resource for comprehensive and quality dental care at no cost to those in need of dental care. They offer a variety of services with the help of 140 volunteer dentists to better serve individuals who do not have access to proper dental services. Also The Ben Massell Dental Clinic is in partnership with, St. Joseph’s Mercy Care Services. With this partnership it allows clients to receive a general health screening for various health conditions. Along with the help of The Georgia Lion’s Lighthouse, clients are also able to receive a free exam and eyewear if needed. In order for clients to qualify for dental service without payment, they must meet certain guidelines. These guidelines include the following: new clients must live in one of the 13 major counties, Butts, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale. Other qualifications include: showing proof of residence for the last six months, having no insurance or dental coverage and having a household income that falls below 125% of the current poverty level. The chart below gives us an exact example of a client’s eligibility. The components of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic financial plan arrive from the donations of major funding organizations in which some they have partnered with and other businesses that surrounds the Atlanta area. Also donations can be accepted directly from their website from those individuals of the community, who have a desire to take part in helping others to get the proper dental needed. These include, â€Å"The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, which provided 14 percent of the clinics budget for the fiscal year of 2009-2010, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta provided 6 percent through the support of United way employees, other organizations such as, the Google grants program assisted in the advertisement of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic website and the Grants to Greens Foundation contributed towards the materials in reconstructing, the building using recycled materials that are energy savers and cost efficient† (Jewish Family & Career Services [JF&CS], 2012, para. , 2, 3, 4). Time value analysis is the use of time value of money techniques to value future cash flows. â€Å"The reason why time analysis is so important in healthcare is because current amount of made being made is worth more than future dollars. By using this method this gives the dental clinic an opportunity to accept 25 new clients per week and 100 new clients within a months’ tim e. Using the time lines method allows the clinic to keep track of 5 new clients per day during a five day work week. It also helps managers to keep track of payments from other organizations and makes it easier to administer their services to everyone with ease of access, which will allow the operation to flow evenly without hassle. An example of this would be, when new clients are referred over to their clinic, they can easily keep track of what organization has sent the client and who’s responsible for assisting in making the payments for particular procedures administered to the clients. Adding an additional certified dentist could be a possible major investment for the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, even though they offer a large amount volunteer dentist, they only spend half a day’s time within the office. So by adding an additional certified dentist to the organization, this could not only lessen the wait time for clients, but it would also bring in additional revenues, grants and other sources of income to assist the clinic in progressing towards a better financial goal. The average salary of a dentist in Atlanta Georgia is $108, 00. 0 per year (â€Å"Dentist Salary,† 2012, para. 2). Which, can be considered as the net present value, the pertinent financial ratios consists of those organizations making payments for clients that, they refer to the clinic and the break even analysis would be the clinic meeting 25 patients per week on a weekly basis, 100 new clients a month and 1,200 new clients a year to cover the salary of the new dentist that may be add ed to the organization. Financial risk and required returns are two very important factors in healthcare financial management. Financial risk is defined as the risk an investor takes when investing in something and the expected return on that investment is much less than expected. Required returns are defined as the expected outcome on an investment made by an investor whether it is higher or lessor. In order for managers at The Ben Massell Dental Clinic to address financial risk and required returns, managers first need to look at their current financial status and the amount of new clients being referred over to them on a daily weekly to monthly basis. Depending upon the current numbers of incoming new client and their current financial status, managers can then make their decision on whether or not if hiring another dentist would be a great idea for the clinic. In conclusion planning and budgeting covers the entire process of preparing a business for the future. Since it is so important to the success of any organization, especially in healthcare many managers of an healthcare organization have a tendency to spend a great deal of time focusing on the overall planning process in order to keep the business in a successful financial state.

Film and psychoanalysis Essays - Freudian Psychology, Complex

Film and psychoanalysis Essays - Freudian Psychology, Complex Film and psychoanalysis Barbara Creed Psychoanalysis and the cinema were born at the end of the nineteenth century. They share a common historical, social, and cultural background shaped by the forces of modernity. Theorists commonly explore how psychoanalysis, with its emphasis on the importance of desire in the life of the individual, has influenced the cinema. Not only did Freud draw on cinematic terms to describe his theories, as in screen memories, but a number of his key ideas were developed in visual terms-particularly the theory of castration Further, as Freud (who loved Sherlock Holmes) was aware, his case histories unfold very much like popular mystery novels of the kind that were also adopted by the cinema from its inception. Surrealism- deeply influences by Freuds theory of dreams and his concept of the unconscious - Science fiction Oedipal Female characters present for the enjoyment of male protagonists (and viewers), the female form is also threatening (invokes mans unconscious anxieties about sexual difference and castration): Either the male protagonist could deal with this threat (as in the films of Hitckcock) by subjecting woman to his sadistic gaze and punishing her for being different or he could deny her difference (as in films of Joseph von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich) and fetishize her body by overvaluing a part of her body such as her legs or breasts.

Lil Hardin Armstrong, Early Jazz Instrumentalist

Lil Hardin Armstrong, Early Jazz Instrumentalist Lil Hardin Armstrong (February 3, 1898–August 27, 1971) was a jazz pianist, the first major female jazz instrumentalist, who played with the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band and Louis Armstrongs Hot Five and Hot Seven bands. She also wrote or co-wrote many jazz songs and fronted several of her own bands in the 1920s and 1930s. Fast Facts: Lil Hardin Armstrong Known For: First major woman jazz instrumentalist, pianist, and songwriter married to Louis ArmstrongBorn: February 3, 1898 in Memphis, TennesseeParents: Dempsey Martin Hardin and William HardinDied: August 27, 1971 in Chicago, IllinoisEducation: Fisk Preparatory School in Nashville (1917), Chicago College of Music (BA, 1928), New York School of Music (post-grad, 1930)Credited Songs: Im Gonna Gitcha, Hotter than That, Knee Drops  Spouse(s): Jimmy Johnson (m. 1920–1924), Louis Armstrong (m. 1924–1938)Children: None Early Life Lil Hardin Armstrong was born Lillian Beatrice Hardin, in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 3, 1898, to Dempsey Martin Hardin and William Hardin. Dempsey was one of 13 children of a woman born into slavery; but she only had two children, one who died at birth, and Lillian. Her parents separated when Hardin was quite young and she lived in a boarding house with her mother, who cooked for a white family. She studied piano and organ and played in church from a young age. Growing up, she lived near Beale Street and was early attracted to the blues, but her mother opposed such music. Her mother used her savings to send her daughter to Nashville to study at the preparatory school at  Fisk University for a year (1915–1916) for classical music training and a good environment. To keep her from the local music scene when she returned in 1917, her mother moved to Chicago and took Lil with her. Jazz and Jelly Roll In Chicago, Lil Hardin took a job on South State Street demonstrating music at Jones Music Store. There, she met and learned from Jelly Roll Morton, who played ragtime music on the piano. Hardin  began finding jobs playing with bands while continuing to work in the store, which afforded her the luxury of access to sheet music. She became known as Hot Miss Lil. Her mother decided to accept her new career, though she reportedly picked up her daughter promptly after performances to protect her from the evils of the music world. In 1918, she achieved some recognition as house pianist working with Lawrence Duhà © and  the New Orleans Creole Jazz Band, and in 1920, when King Oliver took it over and renamed it the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, Lil Hardin stayed around as it gained popularity. Sometime between 1918 and 1920, she married singer Jimmy Johnson. Traveling with King Olivers band strained the marriage, and so she left the band to return to Chicago and the marriage. When the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band also returned to its Chicago base, Lil Hardin was invited to rejoin the band. Also invited to join the band, in 1922: a young cornet player named Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong Though Louis Armstrong and Lil Hardin became friends, she was still married to Jimmy Johnson. Hardin was unimpressed with Armstrong at first, but when she divorced Johnson, she helped Louis Armstrong divorce his first wife Daisy and they began dating. After two years, they married in 1924. She helped him learn to dress more appropriately for big-city audiences and convinced him to change his hairstyle into one that would be more attractive. Because King Oliver played lead cornet in the band, Louis Armstrong played second and so Lil Hardin Armstrong began to advocate for her new husband to move on. In 1924, she persuaded him to move to New York and join Fletcher Henderson. Lil Hardin Armstrong didnt find work herself in New York, and so she returned to Chicago, where she put together a band at the Dreamland to feature Louis playing. He also returned to Chicago. In 1925, Louis Armstrong recorded with the Hot Fives orchestra, followed by another the next year. Lil Hardin Armstrong played piano for all the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens recordings. The piano at that time in jazz was primarily a percussion instrument, establishing beat and playing chords so that other instruments could play more creatively; Lil Hardin Armstrong excelled at this style. Louis Armstrong was often unfaithful and Lil Hardin Armstrong was often jealous, but they continued to record together even as their marriage was strained and they often spent time apart. She served as his manager as he continued to become more famous. Lil Hardin Armstrong returned to her study of music, obtaining a teaching diploma from the Chicago College of Music in 1928, and she bought a large home in Chicago and a lakeside cottage retreat- perhaps meant to entice Louis to spend some time with her instead of his other women. Lil Hardin Armstrongs Bands Lil Hardin Armstrong formed several bands- some all-female, some all-male- in Chicago and in Buffalo, New York. She went back to school again and earned a post-graduate degree at the New York College of Music, and then returned once more to Chicago and tried her luck as a singer and songwriter. In 1938 she divorced Louis Armstrong, winning a financial settlement and keeping her properties, as well as gaining rights to the songs that they had co-composed. How much of the composition of those songs was actually Lil Armstrongs and how much Louis Armstrong contributed remains a matter of dispute. Legacy and Death Lil Hardin Armstrong turned away from music and began working as a clothing designer (Louis was a customer), a restaurant owner, and then music and French teacher. In the 1950s and 1960s, she occasionally performed and recorded. On July 6, 1971, Louis Armstrong died. Seven weeks later on August 27, Lil Hardin Armstrong was playing at a memorial concert for her ex-husband when she suffered a massive coronary and died. While Lil Hardin Armstrongs career was nowhere near as successful as her husbands, she was the first major woman jazz instrumentalist whose career had any significant duration. Sources Dickerson, James L. Just for a Thrill: Lil Hardin Armstrong, First Lady of Jazz. New York; Cooper Square Press, 2002.Louis Armstrongs 2d Wife, Lil Hardin, Dies at a Tribute. The New York Times, August 27, 1971.  Sohmer, Jack. Lil Armstrong. Harlem Renaissance: Lives from the African American National Biography. Eds. Gates Jr., Henry Louis and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2009. 15–17.

AP Biology Essays

AP Biology Essays AP Biology Essays AP Biology Essays While AP biology essays writing is different from other academic assignments; there are several rules common for all essays.   For example, AP biology essays should follow the standard format including abstract, outline, introduction, background, analysis, discussion, and conclusion.   Read the following short sample of AP biology essay and pay attention to the structure of paragraphs. More samples can be read in our free writing guide. If you need help with writing your AP biology essays, do not hesitate to request our writing assistance. writers will write a perfect AP biology essay for you from scratch and in accordance to the instructions. AP Biology Essay Sample Any investigation relating to natural beings needs some way of distinguishing each one of them in such a manner as to avoid confusion with the countless others which Dame Nature brings to our notice. Natural History ought therefore to possess as a basic tool some "Natural System" or comprehensive list containing an agreed name for every single being, thus enabling it to be identified by reference to its distinctive features. As no living organism is entirely simple in its character, it is insufficient to try to distinguish it merely by one single feature of its make-up. We must therefore, nearly always, rely on a combination of several distinct features if we wish to differentiate any particular individual from its fellows, which latter may in part, if not entirely, through their very similarity show traits pertaining to the first specimen. In a like manner, such original sample may present characters common to itself as well as to all the others and will then be distinguishable only through those features not possessed by the remainder. Some beings are very closely related to one another in the biological sense and possess many characters in common, whilst others show far less a degree of similarity in detail. The larger the quantity of beings requiring identification, the greater the number of characters will it be necessary to take into consideration, even perhaps down to the point of making a complete and exhaustive specification of every single detail of the living form. This state of affairs necessitates the setting-up of divisions and subdivisions. As mentioned above, some individuals will show a large number of features in common, and may then be grouped together as a genus, wherein differences in detail are slight. The genera will then have to be classified and, repeating the operation, closely related genera will be combined to form an order. Similarly, orders related in rank will form a class. All this implies some framework and method, and nothing could be more suitable than the "Natural Method," that is to say, an arrangement showing us how individual members of one particular genus are more like each other than to members of other genera, and how the genera of a particular order are more alike to each other than to those of other orders, and so on. This is the system towards which Natural History must necessarily tend, since obviously if an exact system of classification can be attained, the complete portrayal of Nature will have been achieved. AP Biology Essay Writing Service Writing AP biology essays is not easy because you have to be able to put your thoughts on the paper and possess sufficient understanding of the topic. Biology is a science and, therefore, you should adapt scientific approach to writing AP biology essays.   If you do not want to spend hours researching and reading, you have a perfect opportunity to get a custom written AP biology essay.   Contact us and we will write your AP biology essay within any deadline of your choice! No plagiarism! Custom written essays and papers are free of plagiarism and meet your requirements.

International Human Right issues in Oil and Gas Law Essay

International Human Right issues in Oil and Gas Law - Essay Example This is majorly to hold vital meetings and pass crucial resolutions that affect the globe as a whole5. It is worth noting that the first meeting was held in January 1946, two months after its formation. Since the year 1947, the 24th of October has been tagged the â€Å"United Nations Day†. Formed after the failure of the League of Nations, UN’s main function is to maintain peace. Through this, it aids conflicting countries live in harmony hence improve living conditions of its citizens and the world as a whole. This results to the world becoming a better place to live in pegged with the maintenance o human rights and the protection of the environment6. Though its main building is located in the New York City, he UN has significant and vital offices situated in Nairobi, Kenya; Geneva, Switzerland; and Vienna, Australia. It is worth noting that UN sometimes aids some countries in fighting. This is clearly seen when it helps South Korea against North Korea in the 1950s. Moreover, in the early 1990s, UN laid a helping hand to Kuwait forcing Iraq soldiers out of its soil. The League of Nations did not participate in this significant issue. Through its peacekeeping forces, the UN has tried positively, sometimes failing, to maintain peace in countries that have had long term was7. These forces are currently keeping peace8 in Liberia, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Cyprus among other nations9. The UN has six divisions, termed as the principle organs. This aid in division of labour hence effectively providing services to the member countries. The principle organs exist as the Secretariat, the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council, the Economic Social Council (ESC), and finally the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The General Assembly is composed of all the member states. It has the mandate of yearly meetings, from September to December. Matters that arise enclosed in the UN chatter are discussed in

The Black Codes and Jim Crow's Laws Legislation Being the Reason for Essay

The Black Codes and Jim Crow's Laws Legislation Being the Reason for the Failure of Reconstruction in the US - Essay Example Racism and the direction of war to contain slavery in the early American society of 1800s saw two opposing sects of the society dragged into historical civil war.The civil war resulted due to the differences that existed between the Southern States and the Northern States concerning the fate and future of the slaves As at the time of this difference, the Northern States underwent rapid periods of industrialization and required labors to work in the industries. The Southern States on the other hand continued to practice plantation farming with the main crop being cotton. The process of working in the cotton farm required intensive labor that provided by the slaves. This explains the difficulty exhibited by the Southerners in releasing the slaves (Winslow 27). The Northerners held firmly and campaigned for the freedom of slaves to ensure their engagement in paying employment. This difference marked the actual start of the civil war with the Southerners seceding and organizing into Conf ederate Armies whiles the Northerners organizing into Union Armies. It was after the civil war of 1861 to 1865, that the Southern States that faced dire economic hardship combined to seek for reunion and reconstruction with the North. The journey to reconstruction particularly begun in 1865 after the end of the Civil war, and characterized with attempts of the Southerners to reconcile up with the North in order to solve political, economical and social problems faced by the individuals states. Reconstruction saw the previously seceded eleven Southern States applying for readmission into the Union (Franklin 64). Now, the North was under the dominance of the Republican legislators who unanimously supported the abolition process of the slaves. This stand invited proposal of firm and strict measures for the Southern States before regaining the admission in the Union. In so doing, the Northern and dominant legislatures approved the Reconstruction Act of 1867 as a basis of compliance for the Southern States before readmission. According to Franklin, the Reconstruction Act 1867 proposed for the establishment of military camps in the South (62). In the Act, Northerners demanded that Southerners accepts, comply and practice the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments before gaining readmission into the Union. The reconstruction process faced numerous impediments and hurdles mainly from the Black Codes and the Jim Crow’s laws. Franklin unravel that the Black Codes and the Jim Crow laws were all destined to disapprove the black race as well as express their inferiority in the societies (65). Black codes in specific were laws formed in 1865 in the Southern States to define the black race. The black codes mainly targeted at encouraging and promoting the supremacy of the white, while consolidating inferiority of the blacks. The black codes were integral strategies of the Southerners to ensure continued supply of cheap labor to work in the plantation firms. Determinat ion of race based on black codes concerned the amount of Negro blood exhibited by given individuals (Franklin 65). In addition, the black code laws protracted blacks as vagrant individuals when they lacked employment and permanent residence. The black code laws allowed for the arrests, fines and or bound for labor when unable to pay fines. Black coding in the Southern America also limited the volume and amount of wealth held by an individual black citizen. The aspects of black coding as introduced by the Southerners restrained blacks from engaging in businesses and some forms of technical trades. The black coding instituted by the Southerners, restricted the slaves and blacks from bearing any form of arm. The black codes also did not allow slaves to assemble without the inclusion of a white. As observed by Franklin, black coding also assisted the Southerners in extending

U.S. Congress Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

U.S. Congress - Research Paper Example istics, which would range from data on party affiliation, the average age of the members, occupation, education levels, length of congressional service. Other characteristics include; their religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births as well as military service (Brownworth). In the congress as at February 2013, the House of Representatives had a maximum of 232 republicans and 206 democrats plus 5 delegates and the resident commissioner. The senate on the other hand had 45 republicans against 53 democrats. There were also 2 independent who caucus with the democrats. At the beginning of the 113th tenure, the average age of the members of the congress was found to be 57.0 years while that of senators was 62.0 years. A majority of the members of the congress have attained at least a college education. The members dominantly possess professions ranging from public service/politics, business and law. The religion affiliation of most of the members is either Christians or Protestants with the largest single religious denomination being Catholics; 31% of the Members (136 in the House, 27 in the Senate) are Catholic. The length of service averagely of the representatives is averagely worked out to be 9.1 years, which is 4.6 terms; the senators’ term is 10 .2 years, which is 1.7 terms. The one hundred and thirteenth house has a record number of women that stands at one hundred; 18.5% of total membership. 80 of this number are found in the House a number that includes 3 delegates while 20 of these women are found in the senate (Brownworth). In terms of ethnicity, we have 43 African American members of the house while 2 are found in the senate. It is worth noting that this number includes two delegates. The same house has 38 Hispanic serving in the congress of which 34 are in the house including 1 delegate and the resident commissioner while 4 are there in the senate. 13 members of the house in the order of 10 who are the representatives, 2 delegates and 1

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance Dissertation

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance - Dissertation Example One of these is the distractions they get away from their work due to stress. In a recent study, Michelson (2004) noted that the commonest cases and instances of stress arise when the roles of employees demand that they have a lot of interaction with people as a means of serving the interest of these people. Employees whose work also put a lot of mental strain on them, as well as those who are engaged in the use of heavy and multiplex machinery have also been identified to be victims of some of the worse cases of stress (McIntosh, 2011). Sadly, even though it is generally appreciated that stress is a major hindrance to successful organisational running, not much has been done by way of managing stress among workers. Coldwater, Mohl, Denny and Mote (2012) blame this situation on the wrong identification and classification of the nature of stressors that employees are commonly faced with. In another instance, Michelson (2004) pointed to the fact that the best form of stress management can only come when there is the right identification of stress that employees are faced with. Purpose of the Study It will be noted that the Administrative Stress Index ASI ascribes five major areas of stressors namely administrative constraints, administrative responsibilities, interpersonal relations, intrapersonal conflicts, and role expectations. As part of the problem of wrong identification and management of stressors faced by employees within the labour force, this research is being conducted with the purpose of using the Administrative Stress Index (ASI) to identify the commonest forms of stressors that employees within three major labour forces namely the education, health and security sectors face in the delivery of their duties. Having used the ASI to identify the types of stress, a questionnaire that seeks to classify the stress management mechanisms used by workers will then be used. This purpose of the study can be noticed to be multi-variant in the sense that it will make it possible to collect sufficient data on all possible stressors that come with the delivery of administrative roles within the education, health and security sectors. The purpose of the study also encompasses stress management of specific stressor. This study is therefore being conducted as an opener to the issue of corporate management of stress by first focusing on the identification of stressors. Aim and Objectives The purpose of the study will be achieved with the aim of identifying different forms of stressors and how they are managed within the educational, health and security sectors. This can however be seen as a very broad and generalised goal, that cannot be achieved by performing only a single task or duty. The aim of the study has therefore been broken down into specific objectives, which signify the very specific tasks that will be undertaken to bring about the achievement of the research aim. The specific objectives of the study are thus given below. To achieve t he research aim therefore, the researcher has a responsibility of achieving all the specific objectives. 1. To identify various forms of stressors with different categories of jobs in the educational, health and security sectors. 2. To ascertain the different forms of stress management mechanisms that work best with each category of stressors identified. 3. To examine the impact and effectiveness of stress manage

Auditing process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Auditing process - Case Study Example This type of risk is known as engagement risk. The probabilities of different loss or damages that can be caused due to this type of risk can be a financial loss, loss of reputation, and ultimately leading to the downfall of the audit farm. Engagement risks can further be subdivided into three types of risks, namely 1) Client’s business risks, 2) Auditor’s business risk and 3) Audit risk. In the cited case of Aerospace Lighting Inc. (ALI) there are several audit issues related to engagement risks. All those audit issues involved with ALI and its impact on the financial statements and the audit process have been discussed here. ALI is a Chicago based company which is involved in the business of providing cabin lighting system to its clients in aerospace industry. There has been a change in ALI’s business strategy and its external auditors. This study entails about the different business risks associated with ALI and the corresponding audit issues. Client Business Risks Business risk can be defined as the probability that a given company will make less profit than what has been anticipated or there is a possibility that the company will make a loss instead of profit. Several factors influence business risks, like cost of inputs, volume of sales, price per unit, government policies and so on and so forth. The validity of items in financial statements of a company can be evaluated by an auditor based on certain factors. They are: knowledge of business risks associated with the business activities followed by the client, structure of the organization, internal and external environment of the business concern and the interactions between them (Bell et al. 1). Business risk methodology of audit process includes some of the following key points: 1) Developing an understanding about the process of risk management in the organization. 2) Developing an understanding about the risks involved in the business of the organization. 3) The risks which are i dentified give an idea about its expected impact on the financial statements. 4) Assessment of the control system about how much efficiently it manages risk (Rittenberg 121-123). In ALI’s case, various factors which have an impact on client’s business risks can be subdivided into three headings, namely management, entity and industry. A review of the previous auditor’s report and views of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) are available and can be used as good audit evidence. CAS 620 relates to the decision of an auditor to use the work of an auditor’s expert. CAS 500 provides the necessary requirements and guidance to auditors regarding audit evidence. Consultant advice is also a good option in this case which is explained in CAS 220 (Financial Reporting & Assurance Standards Canada 1-8). Hence, regarding client’s business risks, following evidences can be considered as being the business risks involved in ALI: 1) Management: Firstly, regarding man agement of ALI, its integrity is the key. Certain evidence that ALI is not loyal to its parent German company named BmG can be inferred from the case. ALI’s management is only concerned about the financial performance of the company. While achieving its financial target, ALI calls for a strategy involving rapid growth of the company. ALI is not concerned much about reporting BmG regarding the means adopted by them to achieve its target. Here lies the business risk in the part of ALI’s management. There is a high probability that ALI can restore to unfair

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance Dissertation

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance - Dissertation Example One of these is the distractions they get away from their work due to stress. In a recent study, Michelson (2004) noted that the commonest cases and instances of stress arise when the roles of employees demand that they have a lot of interaction with people as a means of serving the interest of these people. Employees whose work also put a lot of mental strain on them, as well as those who are engaged in the use of heavy and multiplex machinery have also been identified to be victims of some of the worse cases of stress (McIntosh, 2011). Sadly, even though it is generally appreciated that stress is a major hindrance to successful organisational running, not much has been done by way of managing stress among workers. Coldwater, Mohl, Denny and Mote (2012) blame this situation on the wrong identification and classification of the nature of stressors that employees are commonly faced with. In another instance, Michelson (2004) pointed to the fact that the best form of stress management can only come when there is the right identification of stress that employees are faced with. Purpose of the Study It will be noted that the Administrative Stress Index ASI ascribes five major areas of stressors namely administrative constraints, administrative responsibilities, interpersonal relations, intrapersonal conflicts, and role expectations. As part of the problem of wrong identification and management of stressors faced by employees within the labour force, this research is being conducted with the purpose of using the Administrative Stress Index (ASI) to identify the commonest forms of stressors that employees within three major labour forces namely the education, health and security sectors face in the delivery of their duties. Having used the ASI to identify the types of stress, a questionnaire that seeks to classify the stress management mechanisms used by workers will then be used. This purpose of the study can be noticed to be multi-variant in the sense that it will make it possible to collect sufficient data on all possible stressors that come with the delivery of administrative roles within the education, health and security sectors. The purpose of the study also encompasses stress management of specific stressor. This study is therefore being conducted as an opener to the issue of corporate management of stress by first focusing on the identification of stressors. Aim and Objectives The purpose of the study will be achieved with the aim of identifying different forms of stressors and how they are managed within the educational, health and security sectors. This can however be seen as a very broad and generalised goal, that cannot be achieved by performing only a single task or duty. The aim of the study has therefore been broken down into specific objectives, which signify the very specific tasks that will be undertaken to bring about the achievement of the research aim. The specific objectives of the study are thus given below. To achieve t he research aim therefore, the researcher has a responsibility of achieving all the specific objectives. 1. To identify various forms of stressors with different categories of jobs in the educational, health and security sectors. 2. To ascertain the different forms of stress management mechanisms that work best with each category of stressors identified. 3. To examine the impact and effectiveness of stress manage

Singapore's Macroeconomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Singapore's Macroeconomy - Essay Example Singapore as a country is devoid of natural resources. In its foreign policy, Singapore has incorporated polices to strengthen its relation with the members of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Singapore also maintains a strong association with the United Nations Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) to improve trade relations with Latin America and East Asia. So, from the very beginning, it had focused on the development of capital intensive methodologies for further growth (Australian Government, n.d.). The Nominal GDP of Singapore in the year 2012 was recorded as 276.52 billion dollars (International Monetary Fund, n.d.). This has even surpassed the prediction by IMF, which had forecasted the GDP to be around 270 billion dollars. Analysis of the country’s business cycle The GDP of the country is tabulated in the following table. Table 1: Real GDP of Singapore Year GDP current prices in US Dollars Growth Rate 2000 94.31 9.04 2001 87.70 -1.154 2002 90.64 4.202 2003 95.96 4.58 2004 112.70 9.159 2005 125.43 7.37 2006 145.75 8.764 2007 177.58 8.857 2008 189.96 1.701 2009 185.64 -0.98 2010 227.38 14.76 2011 259.85 4.889 Source: (Econ Stats, n.d.) The above table shows the GDP of Singapore at current prices in US Dollars. This paper has considered the GDP growth over the last ten years. The formula that has been used for the calculation of growth is: Rate of Growth of GDP in current year = (GDP value in current year – GDP value in base year)/ GDP value in year base year It can be clearly seen from the table that Singapore’s GDP has been following an upward trend throughout, except a little slump in 2009. The slump can be explained because of the adverse external environment in the World economy. Since then, the economy of Singapore has made a steady progress as can be seen from the rising trend in the GDP. Figure 1: Graphical presentation of GDP Source: (Authors creation) The graph above gives a visual representa tion of the GDP values. It can be seen from the figure that the economy of Singapore had faced a slump in the GDP growth in 2001. This is primarily because of the fact that the country went into recession in the middle of 2001. The chief reason behind this was the slower growth of the US economy, particularly in the electronic sector, which had slowed down the exports from Singapore to not only the US, but also the rest the European countries (Arnold, 2001). Since then, the economy of Singapore had shown a consistent performance. The main reason behind this exceptional growth was not the increase in total factor productivity, which had mainly driven the growth for other Asian countries. The root of growth and a stellar performance for the Singapore economy was the high level of capital accumulation. The growth can be mainly attributed to the mobilization of resources. The development strategies adopted by the government were strategic and vibrant which had mainly propelled the econo my to its growth. In a research conducted by Professor Vu he, it was found that the contribution of the capital-input in the growth process has been around 47%, while labor contributed to around 36% of

Global Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Global Terrorism Essay As mentioned in the module, countries such as Italy, France, Greece and the United States, at one time or another, gave in to terrorists in what was aptly termed as â€Å"political concessions†. It is, however, my personal opinion that it was the United States who suffered the most from the ramifications of such concessions, setting the climax that culminated in the attack at the World Trade Center. From the very words of an American president, the United States as a matter of policy, does not negotiate nor compromise with terrorists : â€Å"Americans will never make concessions to terrorists- to do so would only invite more terrorism- once we head down that path there would be no end to it, no end to the suffering of innocent people, no end to the bloody ransom all civilized people must pay† (Reagan, 1985). The US Senate (1999) also declared that â€Å"†¦making concessions to terrorists is deplorable†. As history would recount, however, it was the same president who covertly authorized weapons sales to Iran to free American hostages held by a terrorist organization in Lebanon, against the opposition of the then Secretaries of State and Defense (Burns, 2002). In fact, this was the first of a series of many clandestine dealings of the US government with terrorist groups of different countries, in defense of what we call democracy and innocent people. While the US is hailed as a super power by practically all governments in world, the terrorists gained tremendous emotional advantage by forcing a super power in numerous instances to concede to their demands. This, somehow, drove the impetus for the terrorists to forward their interests and devise even more horrible schemes like the 9/11, to further advance their cause and humiliate the most powerful nation in the world. The terrorists have been putting the pressure on the US since the early 1980s, and the US has been allowing them. The terrorists have somehow, mastered their craft in the long run and the 9/11 attack was just an icing on the cake. Staerk (2007) contends that the only response to terrorism that legislators thought of was â€Å"to give more power to the state, and once given, that power will be hard to take back†. Thus, the terrorists were not only successful at humiliating a world power. They were also successful at creating impediments for democracy. Answer to Question No. 2. Definitely, western nations should have acted differently in the face of the Arab oil embargo. Their actions signified their helplessness and their acknowledgment of the importance of Arab oil. This might have even helped in advancing the interests of terrorism further since incarcerated terrorists then were freed for fear of reprisal, in terms of the new weapon which emerged during the mid 70s oil. Western nations should have been more steadfast in their conviction to protect their respective areas from terrorism. They should have brought the terrorists before the law and convicted them based on the crimes they perpetrated and not in terms of how their respective governments put pressure on the prosecuting countries. Western nations should have realized by now that the vaunted oil of the Arab world during the 70s is not that valuable a commodity now in the light of noticeable changes in the map of world oil supply since then, with important new sources of supply coming on stream from the North Sea, Mexico, China, Alaska, and Russia (Perry, 2001). Western nations, particularly the United States should have foreseen that the Arab oil embargo then was a bluff. Shlaes (2001) shares the same opinion and calls the US stance during the mid 1970s as â€Å"old-fashioned oil diplomacy†. Shlaes considers it a greater danger for such â€Å"old-fashioned oil diplomacy† to hinder the U. S. and its allies from combating the threat posed by many Middle Eastern regimes against democracy and world peace. Zycher (in Shlaes, 2001) believes that the real threat, then and now, is that the U. S. national security policy is being designed based from an erroneous insight regarding oil. If the U. S. , either alone or with its allies, succeeds in breaking free with its anxiety over the phantom oil weapon, it will be in a better position to evaluate whether to go easy or take action in chasing and destroying the terrorists. Answer to Question No. 3. I am going to start my argument with a quote from British statesman William Gladstone that â€Å"Justice delayed is justice denied†. Hence, my personal position with respect to this query is : â€Å"under no circumstances should the rights of citizens be curtailed†, even in the name of so called â€Å"general welfare†. Since the rights of citizens, especially the civil liberties, are mandated by the constitution, reducing these rights even only for a specific period of time is unjust. The longer these rights are reduced, the longer justice is denied. Let me, however, support my position with similar positions from the authorities in the field. David Cole (in Soto, 2007), a law professor, believes that denying anyone his basic human rights is wrong and that it undermines the legitimacy of an otherwise legitimate effort. Davis and Silver (2002) disclosed that even though 84 percent of Americans are very concerned or somewhat concerned about a future terrorist attack on the United States, a majority of them are unwilling to relinquish civil liberties in exchange for enhanced security. Majority of the respondents were generally unwilling to bestow the government broader powers to combat terrorism if those powers meant limiting traditional constitutional protections. The American Civil Liberties Union (2003) stressed that anti-terrorism policies that infringe on basic rights whether ethnically-based roundups of innocent persons, or intrusive surveillance of peaceful political activists not only make America less free, but more vulnerable to terrorism. And finally, from two great US statesmen : â€Å"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety† (Franklin, n. d. ); likewise, â€Å"The enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and abiding practice of any western society† (Kennedy, n. d. ). References American Civil Liberties Union. (2003, March 20). How Patriot Act 2 Would Further Erode the Basic Checks on Government Power That Keep America Safe and Free . Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www. aclu. org/safefree/general/ 17346leg20030320. html. Burns, A. (2002). No Concessions to Terrorists = Arms for Hostages. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from The Truth is Stranger than Fiction: http://teaching. arts. usyd. edu. au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/IranContra/Design/Iran. htm. Davis, D. , Silver, B. (2002, April 23). MSU Study Shows Americans Unwilling to Trade Civil Liberties for Enhanced Security. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Michigan State University: http://newsroom. msu. edu/site/indexer/471/content. htm. Franklin, B. (2006). Civil Rights. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Culture of Peace Iniitiative: http://www. cultureofpeace. org/quotes/civilrights-quotes. htm Perry, G. L. (2001, October 24). The War on Terrorism, the World Oil Market and the U. S. Economy. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from Brookings: http://www. brookings. edu/papers/2001/1024terrorism_perry. aspx. Reagan, R. (1985, June 18). No Concessions to Terrorists = Arms for Hostages. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from The Truth is Stranger than Fiction: http://teaching. arts. usyd. edu. au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/IranContra/Design/Iran. htm Shlaes, A. (2001, December 6). Threat of an oil embargo on the U. S. is a bluff. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from Jewish World Review: http://www. jewishworldreview. com/ cols/shlaes120601. asp. Soto, A. (2007, December 6). Panel discusses state of civil liberties. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from The John Hopkins News-Letter: http://media. www. jhunewsletter. com/ media/storage/paper932/news/2004/04/16/News/Panel. Discusses. State. O

The Role Of Missionaries In Colonial African Education History Essay

The Role Of Missionaries In Colonial African Education History Essay The home page of Compassion Canada is that of a stereotypical Northern charity: showing pictures of suffering children alternating with those of post-intervention, happy children. Included on the website is information about the charitys programs, such as their Leadership Development Program in which participants earn a degree in their chosen field of study, and participate in Christian leadership training, enabling them to become a fully developed agent of change in their nation (Compassion Canada 2011). It is interesting to note that this project is not a new concept. As a member of the Church of England, it interests me to see echoes of Christian educational efforts by organizations such as Compassion Canada in the educational efforts of the missionary branch of the Anglican Church, the Church Missionary Society, or CMS. A member of the CMS, Henry Venn, boasted that the mission schools of Nigeria would produce an educated African elite that could form an intelligent and influentia l class of society and become the founders of a Kingdom which shall render incalculable benefits to Africa (Venn cited in Bassey 1991:37). That there are parallels between contemporary Christian organizations efforts and the missionary efforts of the mid-nineteenth to mid- twentieth centuries is a reason for concern, considering the similar impact of missionaries of all Christian denominations on the education of Africans in the British and Italian colonies in Africa. Although it can be said that Christian missionaries benefitted Africans by bringing in the more advanced Western education to the European colonies in Africa, it is believed that the mission schools in fact had a negative impact on the native peoples. Not only did mission education strengthen colonial rule, but it also weakened traditional societies and implemented poor standards of Western education. The missionary impact on education would have far-reaching consequences, as their creation of a weak basis of education would slow down the political and educational development of many former colonies in Africa. While missionaries could sometimes clash with colonial governments, for the most part missions were important tools for colonial governments. As Sir Henry Johnston, a key figure in the Scramble for Africa says, they [the mission stations] strengthen our hold over the country, they spread the use of the English language, they induct natives into the best kind of civilization, and in fact, each mission station is an essay in colonization (Johnston cited in Sheffield 1973:10). One of the missions most important contributions to the colonial regimes was their role in educating the native Africans. Mission schools provided a steady stream of educated Africans capable of filling the lower levels of the colonial administration and operated vocational and agricultural schools (Ayandele 1966: 295; Foster 1965: 90-91; Sheffield 1973: 10-11). The academic education purposely did not train Africans for the higher level positions of colonial administrations, which were mostly reserved for Europea ns (Ayandele 1966:295; Sheffield 1973:42), a practise which created dependency on the colonizers, as without them the colony did not have qualified administrators. In addition, while missionaries did run many academic primary schools, they provided little secondary education, a practice which prevented natives from becoming too educated (Ayandele 1966:286) and potentially subversive. Even if secondary education was provided, it was often reserved for the sons of local chiefs (Oliver 1952:212; Beck 1966: 120), an elite the colonial government could then call upon to help rule the colony, a common practice in colonial Africa. The latter, non-academic form of education provided by the missions has stimulated much interest among scholars, who are particularly interested in the failure of many of these schools and the hypocritical government support for the schools, seeing as the import of cheap goods from the mother countries caused many vocational school graduates, such as seamstresses, to be unemployed (Ayandele 1966:296; Foster 1965:134). However hypocritical, government support for the schools should not be surprising, considering the benefits the colonial governments stood to gain. Even when governments discouraged domestic industries, graduates of vocational schools contributed to the economy of the colonies -and therefore indirectly the mother countrys as well. Instead of needing to import skilled workers such as carpenters, the mission schools provided colonial governments with workers capable of building and maintaining the colonys infrastructure and basic technology, a contribution that kept the c olonies running smoothly. The agricultural schools the missions ran would have been even more advantageous to the colonial governments considering the discouragement of local industries that might have competed with the motherland. Agricultural school graduates did not compete with European industries or European farmers, as they mainly grew crops that could not be grown in European climates. Furthermore, they were skilled farmers that could grow cash crops to be consumed back in the mother country, such as cocoa from Ghana (Foster 1965: 153). Moreover, it was not in the colonial powers interest for the natives to become too educated, as they might become self-reliant and could conceivably demand independence from the colonial power, so encouraging the less intellectual agricultural schools was in the governments interest. The missions agricultural schools were especially beneficial for colonial governments considering that governments believed that manual labour was a means to prevent discontent and unrest i n the tribes (Hansen 1984:232). Thus by training Africans to fill only the lower levels of the colonial administration and providing skilled workers from the vocational and agricultural schools who contributed to the economy and were less likely to question colonial rule than more educated Africans, mission schools helped to strengthen colonial rule. Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies, which in many ways further served the colonial cause. The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. For this reason, missionaries believed they were doing their students a favour by discouraging traditional practices and promoting Western ones. One method of discouraging traditional practices was to give students a fully Western education. As a mission school graduate noted, local history was almost totally ignored. We were expected to accept the European language as the superior one, and this was reinforced throughout my school career (Abu cited in Berman 1974:536). Being ignorant of ones history causes one to lose part of ones identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks denouncing ones culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught the noble history of another culture. Furthermore, mission schools discouraged traditional ways of life outside of the classroom. One Liberian student recalls that we were taught to dress properly, to eat properly, to speak properly. Properly meant by Anglo-Saxon standards. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experienc e that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. It is interesting to note that while in many ways missionaries sought to isolate students from their cultures, missionaries often insisted in teaching in the native languages. Some earlier scholarship on mission education has taken this as a positive impact of the missionaries. For instance the scholar E.A. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s, says, By their [the missions] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. However, this practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take too long to teach a superior European language to the unintelligent natives when the natives souls were in such desperate need of saving. Indeed, once the souls had been saved and since the students must have been considered clever enough, European languages were almost universally the languages of instruct ion in the later primary years and in secondary schools (Beck 1966: 120; Foster 1965: 159; Miran 2002:127). Teaching in the vernacular had an additional use as it further strengthened colonial rule, of which missionaries were often agents, for as the Kikuyu people of Kenya were aware, [the] inability to communicate in English would be a crucial factor in the perpetuation of their subordinate status in the colony (Berman 1974:531). It is much easier to interact on an equal basis or even challenge the authority of another group when one is able to communicate in that groups language, instead of having to rely on an interpreter or non-verbal gestures, which undermine ones ability to show authority or express ones beliefs. In short, the impact of teaching in the vernacular was more negative than positive, as it reinforced colonial rule and no doubt did very little to preserve native cultural identities, seeing as missionaries promoted European languages as superior and only used the ver nacular because conversion and religious instruction were such high priorities. That missionaries used the vernacular illustrates the fact that missionaries were principally evangelists, and that they considered their other roles, including their role as educators, as less important. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. There were several reasons for this poor education, some intentional and some not. First, missions saw education foremost as a means of conversion (Ayandele 1966: 286; Bassey 1991: 36; Berman 1974:527; Foster 1965:85; Sheffield 1973:11). The missionaries believed that in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious instruction, translated by the missions. This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). Missionaries were no doubt also aware that Africans came to associate European technological a chievement with Western education (Bassey 1991:45) and therefore offered Western education as a means to attract Africans of this belief and then convert them. However, the motivation behind teaching Africans basic literacy and mathematics might not have been a cause for concern if not for the fact that the religious motivation curtailed education. As Ayandele points out (1966:285), the ideal of many of the missions was to make their converts live literally as the unlearned and ignorant apostles of old. This ideal, combined with the fact that many missionaries discovered that Africans with only basic education were best at spreading the Gospel, meant that missionaries were reluctant to provide higher primary or secondary education (Ayandele 1966:286). Seeing as missions in the British and Italian colonies had monopolies on education for the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, this reluctance meant that there were few secondary schools at all (Ayandele 1966:287; Beck 1966: 120). A s long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28). Third, rivalry between the various Christian denominations also contributed to the poor standards of education. Edward Berman notes that contemporary critics of the missionaries felt that missionaries were more interested in increasing enrolments in their respective churches than in pooling their resources for the benefit of African education (Berman 1974:533). Because of rivalry, instead of building one common, multi-denominational school in a village that really only needed the one school, missionaries each built a school for their particular denomination and competed for students (Berman 1974:533). Furthermore, each denomination had differing policies on education, so standards in education fluctuated across each colony, depending on what denomination had schools in each area. For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic Missions policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). In addition to contri buting to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. In regions where a denomination felt threatened by another denomination, the denominations were more likely to establish more schools in an attempt to gain more converts than their rival, while in regions such as northern Nigeria, where colonial policy prevented too much rivalry, schools were scarce (Bassey 1991:45). Thus, because of the motive of proselytization, unqualified teachers, and inter-denominational rivalry, missions frequently provided poor education. Indeed, the quality of the education could be so poor that the colonial governments complained, as in the case of the Nigerian government, which complained that the secondary school graduates provided by the missions were illiterate and ignorant and therefore poorly suited to fill the lower levels of the administration (Ayandele 1966:294-5). However, as Jonathan Miran (2002) argues in his work on the roles of missionaries and the Italian state in Eritrean education, missionaries should not be held solely accountable for the poor standards of education. As much as the governments liked to assign blame to the missions, they were also accountable for the poor education through their educational policies. As one Eritrean student remarks, Our sisters [the Italian Sisters] would have undoubtedly taught better and more, but the Italian government in the colony did not permit Eritreans to get good instruction (T.T. cited in Miran 2002:128). The colonial Eritrean government ensured that nativ e Eritreans received poor education by permitting them to only attend school up to the fourth grade (Miran 2002:127). Governments are also not free from blame even if they had a laissez-faire educational policy, as in Ghana, where until 1944 the registration of schools was not required and no attempt was made to exert detailed control even over the activities of grant-aided [by the government] institutions except for a series of minimal registrations (Foster 1965:114). If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. In conclusion, the educational enterprise of the Christian missionaries in the British and Italian colonies of Africa during the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries was primarily negative for the African pupils. Both the academic and vocational forms of education the missions provided served to strengthen the rule of the colonial powers, so that the native inhabitants were second-class citizens in their own land. Furthermore, missionaries, believing in the civilizing mission, attempted to disintegrate traditional society through education by choosing academic subjects, such as the histories of the Western colonial powers, that illustrated the superiority of the Western culture, as well as by teaching about the superiority of the West in non-academic matters such as hygiene. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. Last, missionaries provided a very poor education, causing their students to be ill-equipped for social or mater ial success, as they believed education to simply be a means for proselytization, were unqualified teachers, and allowed inter-denominational rivalries to interfere. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. The reservation of high-level positions in the colonial administrations for Europeans and the corresponding mission education that provided education fit only for lower positions meant that the withdrawal of European rule could cause serious political instability in the newly independent colonies. While colonial administration in colonies such as Kenya attempted to some degree to provide training for Kenyans to fill the high-level positions (Sheffield 1973:86), the attempts in many cases fell short, and when the European administration left, Kenya, for instance, had few sufficiently educated replacements (Sheffield 1973:88). Thus missionaries, by imparting education that promo ted dependence on colonial rule, arguably contributed to the political instability that continues in the present day in many former African colonies, such as Kenya and Eritrea. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. Given the fluctuating standards between schools and regions and the lack of qualified teachers in the mission schools which had monopolies in well into the mid-twentieth century, it should come as little surprise that the quality of education continues to be a concern in many former colonies. For instance, in Nigeria in 2006, approximately only 51.2% of primary school teachers of either gender were trained as teachers, and the enrolment rate in primary education for both genders in 2000 stood at about 62.7%, compared to 99.5% in Canada (UN Data 2010). Therefore, considering that the impact of mission education continues to have serious repercussions today, one must question whether the First World sh ould continue to interfere in African education. Volunteers and donors to organizations such as Compassion Canada believe that they are being humanitarian when they build schools in Africa, volunteer as teachers or help in other ways to improve the quality of education in African nations, yet missionaries and colonial governments were similarly lauded as performing a great work of humanity (Beck 1966:117) and likewise believed that they were helping their African pupils. However the superficial motivations and ideologies have changed, at the most basic level both contemporary Northern charities and nineteenth century missionaries share the belief that the North must come and save the suffering natives, which in the case of the missionaries, has been proven to have inflicted more harm than provided relief. Thus, despite what the images of suffering African children on websites such as that of Compassion Canada might lead one to believe, it is time for Africans to educate their own, w ithout any interference.

Letter to Soldier :: War Writing Papers

Letter to Soldier When faced with obstacles in life, people rely on their family and friends to give them support and encouragement. Sometimes, family members can seem harsh and unkind, but their intentions are sincerely good. Mothers will always disapprove of their son’s choice in girlfriends, but she will shed tears of joy at the wedding. Fathers will never like their sons-in-law, but they still tell their daughters that they will find the perfect man. Thirty-year old men will always be treated as if they were ten by their mothers. It has been this way for centuries in our society. A letter from a worried mother to her son, a soldier in the Confederate Army, proved this point. While this young man was, by that time’s standard, an adult, his mother still felt the need to keep her child safe. Aside from the content and ideas relayed in the letter, the document itself is a powerful item from American in history. Reading about a person or event in history is a good experience; a powerful experience, however, is to hold history in your hand and listen to people in their own words. Discovering the story and history behind this letter proved to be even more rewarding than holding and reading the letter itself. Expecting to find a few, uninteresting facts about this Civil War Era, I found that this letter brought to life five southern boys that were thrown off the farm and into battle. The letter also helps to illuminate the way a society lived while it told a story of a mother, her sons, and several friends On January 6, 1863, a mother sat down and wrote her son a letter. The author of the letter was a forty-five year old woman named Kerney A. Stocks. She was writing to her son, John, who was a soldier in the Civil War. From what she mentioned in the letter, she was a very passionate woman. She made some very blatant remarks concerning her feelings toward her son’s behavior. For example, Mrs. Stocks says, â€Å"I feel [sort of] mad this morning because I did not get no letter from you yesterday,† expressing her displeasure to her son. Kerney Stocks was more than likely a middle class woman, since she could read and write.

Broadway Brokers Essay -- Economy, Layoffs

The current economic downfall has forced many organizations to strategically restructure and downsize. Broadway Brokers is not immune to these economic challenges and has been faced with competition from discount brokers and Internet brokerage services. Broadway Brokers position of holding the largest market share has been jeopardized by their slow reaction to the shifting changes within the industry. Broadway Brokers staff possessed strong selling and interpersonal skills however lacked in their knowledge of the high tech skills that had been inundating the market. The organizations lack of adapting to new technology and their absorbent overhead was threatening their profitability. The organization was faced with the need to restructure, consolidate, and implement employee layoffs in order to remain competitive with the current financial climate. Rumors of impending office consolidations and staff layoffs had existed for some time. However, the CEO commentary in a Financi al Times article confirmed such gossip. In fact, decisions had already been made by top management to enact a structural plan that would severely curtail offices, close offices, and reduce the level of employees across the organization. Top management was firmly fixed upon downsizing and consolidation and was now relying on its management staff to come up with a plan to implement a transition. A dozen of the company’s most respected managers – everyone from assistant vice presidents to managing directors were join together to devise a plan for change (Jick & Peiperl 2003). In developing a transitional plan many concerns were presented to the management staff for consideration. First, Broadway Brokers has successfully grown and had not been ... ...ees – and a potentially more flexible organization. Broadway Broker’s management team is faced with the challenging task of downsizing and consolidating the organization. A thorough investigation as to how to execute proposed changes will need to occur before the organization can forge ahead. Change processes must be executed in a fashion that portrays compassion and consideration for all involved. For change to be successful the management team must have understanding and empathy for the psychological impact of imposed change and how employees will react. Most humans are fearful of change and do not embrace change in a positive manner. The road ahead will be difficult for the management team at Broadway Broker’s, however; with proper planning and understanding positive change can sustain the future of the organization.

Runic alphabet,

Interrogated and first grade, for example, many children write â€Å"b† instead of â€Å"d,† and may sometimes confuse â€Å"p,† â€Å"q,† and â€Å"g. Teachers see these errors all the time, and gradually work to help kids fix them. But as a caring parent, should you worry? The stakes are high. DO these letter problems signal something deeper, such sidesaddle? To sort out the hype, we turned to two pros: Linda Selves, Executive Director of the New York branch of the International Dyslexia Association, and Eileen Marjoram, PhD. A past Board President of that organization, a professor of special education, and a teacher and tutor in private practice with dyslexic children for more than thirty years. Here's what they have to say when it comes to three common fears about Wesleyan, and identifying it in kindergarten and first grade children: Myth You'll know its dyslexia when a kid flips letters or misspells a lot. Fact: While some dyslexic people may do this , it's not the main problem! Dyslexia, explains Selves, â€Å"is a neurologically based learning disability† in which â€Å"people have difficulty associating sounds with letters. Lots of kids who write â€Å"b† for â€Å"d,† or reverse other letters, are just making rookie mistakes; what's more serious is when they cannot hear the â€Å"b† in â€Å"bear,† and think, instead, that it may be a â€Å"d† or â€Å"p. † Backwards letters alone re not cause for worry, according to the experts. In kindergarten, explains Marjoram, dyslexic kids will have trouble in several related areas. Taken together, these Signs indicate that a child is not making the all-important connection between letters, sounds, and word meaning. Instead of worrying yourself sick about reversed letters, â€Å"l would look further,† says Marjoram.If by the end of a full year of good instruction in kindergarten, a child can't do all or most of the following, the n it's time to be concerned: easily name all the letters of the alphabet, with most sounds detect rhyming words ear initial sounds, like the â€Å"c† in cat. Identify basic sight words like â€Å"is† or ‘the† recognize â€Å"environmental print† like the word â€Å"stop† on a roadside sign Myth #2: You can't really diagnose dyslexia until a kid is seven or eight. Fact: Kindergarten is not too early to evaluate a child. In fact, says Selves, â€Å"Early intervention is key†¦.The longer you wait, the more the problem grows. † Children quickly realize when something is wrong. Its all too easy for them to conclude, â€Å"l can't read so I must be really dumb,† Selves says. If your kindergarten does display most of the signs above, both Selves and Marjoram emphasize that you should seek an evaluation with a qualified specialist, either through your school or through independent experts such as those certified by the International Dyslexia Association. Don't let your school convince you to wait. Early intervention makes a huge difference. Http:// c mm/ magazine nee/article/ Kinder Stories, Poems, and Literature from the Viking Age 13th century Icelandic manuscript Our knowledge of the Viking people comes from several sources. One valuable source is the literature from the period. Norse people loved stories, and some of the stories and poems they themselves wrote, and that their ascendants wrote still survive. Stories about the Norse were also written by their contemporaries, including both their trading partners (such as the Arabs) and the victims of their raids (such as the Christian clerics who kept the historical records in Europe).This section describes written records the Viking-age people left behind. Language The Norse spoke Old Norse, which they called downs tuna (the Danish tongue). With minor variations, this language was spoken throughout the Norse lands during the Viking period. Old Norse is one of ten branches that cake up the Indo-European family of languages which have been spoken throughout Europe and southern Asia for the last 3000 years. Old Norse is the root language from which the modern Scandinavian languages descended, and is a close relative of modern English, Dutch, and German.During the period from 550050 AD, rapid linguistic changes occurred, which separated the Norse from other Germanic people on the European continent to the south and west. During the Viking age, language was no barrier to communication across the Norse lands; from Greenland to the Baltic, nearly the same language was spoken throughout. However, there is evidence that, despite the common language, a man's homeland could be identified by his speech.Some scholars today would go further and say that by the start of the Norse era, significant differences already existed between East Norse (Sweden and Denmark) and West Norse (Norway and the Atlantic settlements such as Iceland) dialects. Writing and Runes The footwork runic â€Å"alphabet† (so called for the sounds of the first six letters in the runic row) was in wide use throughout northern Europe from roughly the 3rd to the 12th century. At first, 24 letters were used, but in the 9th century, he footwork alphabet was simplified to 16 letters, beginning in Denmark, then rapidly spreading throughout the region.Many variations of the footwork rune row were used; one of the Danish variants is shown above. In the same way that a modern reader of English would recognize all these glyphs as representing an upper case a Viking-age reader would recognize the many ways a rune might be represented. The runes consist of straight lines, typically in the form of a vertical (a stave) with diagonal branches (twigs). The lack of any curves makes the runes easy to carve into wood, bone, or stone, which were the normal writing materials mongo the Norse.Runes are found carved graffiti-like into historical buildings and statuary not j ust in northern Europe, but all across the continent, clearly showing the extent to which the Norse roamed over Europe. The marble lion shown in the sketch to the left is from outside Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, where some unknown Norse traveler carved runic graffiti into the shoulder of the beast. Judging from the number of inscriptions found on stones in Nordic lands that were clearly intended to be seen and read, and from the number of everyday objects inscribed with runes, it is possible that such of the Norse population could read runes.Many of the inscriptions are in the form of memorial stones, such as those illustrated below on this page. These stones are highly public memorials. There's scarcely any reason to erect them if most of the population could not read them. Many everyday objects are found inscribed with the owner's name, or the maker's name, or other messages. Runic inscriptions have been found ranging from trade and legal documents such as bills of sale, all the way to coarse lavatory scribbling. Some runic inscriptions are clearly just for fun; a comb was found inscribed â€Å"l am a comb†.Some inscriptions may have been the equivalent of â€Å"Post-It' notes; one wooden Ernestine from Bergen is inscribed: â€Å"Cathy says come home†. Additional evidence of widespread literacy comes from the old Icelandic literature. In an episode from Importations (chi 34), it was not considered the least bit remarkable that a poor, unnamed Icelandic from the northern quarter was able to read the inscription on a buried treasure chest. In chapter 18 of Vigilant saga, Striker ¶g's father HLempel left a rune stick on the path where Vigorous and Transit were sure to find it as they rode to the ship that loud take them away from Iceland.On the stick were Striker ¶g's words saying she wanted to marry no other man but Vigilantly. There was no question that V(giggling would be able to read the message. > ¶r ¶our challenged Klaus to a wres tling match via a message on a rune stick in chapter 12 of Savorsla saga. Interestingly, just two chapters later, Klaus and Gar(s found runes carved on a ship naming the skipper, which Klaus was unable to read. He demanded that Grim read them. Wooden writing tablets provide additional evidence of the widespread use of runic writing among ordinary people.The tablet shown in the photos is a odder reproduction. The historic tablets are about 20-CACM high (about 8-12 in) and were filled with blackened wax within their raised borders. A pointed iron stylus was used to write in the wax (top right). The reproduction stylus in the photos is set in an antler which allows a nice grip and which can be used to smooth the wax and erase unwanted writing (bottom right). The wooden surface of historical tablets from the Norse era bear marks where the stylus broke through the wax, and the marks show that the runic alphabet Was being used.These tablets are more commonly found in rural areas, ether th an in towns, suggesting that even remote farm dwellers could read and write runes. On the other hand, objects have been found inscribed with runes which appear to be utter nonsense, or filled with errors. Perhaps it made perfect sense to the craftsman who made the object. Or perhaps, realizing that the object he just made needed to decorated with runes, but not knowing the footwork, the artisan simply made up something rune-like. The medium of choice for runic inscriptions was probably a stick or scrap of wood, which explains why few runic inscriptions are found today.Extraordinary conditions re required for the preservation of these wood scraps over the centuries since the Norse era. The runic writing shown to the right is one of a number of wooden merchant's markers excavated in Bergen. It indicates the owner's name, and was meant to be stuck in or tied to a pile of merchandise. It can be difficult to transcribe and translate runic writings. One difficulty is that there are more s ounds in the language than there are runes to represent them. Thus a single character could represent one of several sounds.Another difficulty is the variations in the various footwork alphabets that were in use ring the period. Further, archaic or otherwise unknown words were used in runic inscriptions. Runes were frequently incorporated into the isomorphic designs (left) favored by the Norse. Additionally, every effort was made to reduce the space required to inscribe the message and the number of runes that needed to be carved. So, for example, if a rune repeated, only the first rune was carved and the second discarded. Generally, there were no breaks between words or between sentences. Runes could be written left to right or right to left.The â€Å"facing† of the runes makes it clear which way to read. For inscriptions longer than one line, alternating lines were frequently written in opposite directions, first leftwards, then rightwards. Sometimes, the lines bent around at the end, so that one line reads left to right and the next line right to left and upside down. The effect is shown with English text using Roman letters to the right. Some rune stones (such as the R ¶k stone shown to the left) have text crammed onto every surface of the stone, with lines reading upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards.Further, runes could be coded into other figures, called cryptic runes. The intent is not always clear. Perhaps it was meant to highlight a portion of the text, or to show off the skill of the person carving the runes. And perhaps it was meant to hide the meaning of the text to those who did not now how the runes were encoded. One example of cryptic runes are skips;near (ship runes), where the twigs adorn the stem and stern of the ship. The number of twigs in a figure indicated two numbers. The rune was coded by these two numbers.The first represented a particular TTT (grouping of runes within the footwork), and the second indicated which ru ne in the grouping was meant. Shown to he right are two figures from a series of cryptic runes in an Icelandic manuscript. Portion of rune stone with several same-stave runes Same-stave rune with missing portion restored Same-stave rune separated into individual runes Transcription into Roman letters Another example of cryptic runes is same-stave runes, in which all of the twigs branch from a single stave.The composite image to the left shows an example of this kind of runic inscription. The left image shows a small portion Of the SÃ'‘ender Kirby Stone in Denmark that uses same-stave runes for a portion of its message. The stave of interest in this example is the second room the left. The stone was damaged in this region, and a portion of this stave is missing. This part of the stone is shown in the second image, with a speculative reconstruction of the missing portion. The individual runes are shown in the next column, and the transcription into the Roman alphabet in the final co lumn.The complete message is >Orr vigil run, or â€Å"Door hallow the runes†. Another form of cryptic runes is visible at the top of the R ¶k stone, above left. With the coming of Christianity, and its educated clergy reading and writing Latin, runes were displaced by the Roman alphabet (modified to it the needs of the various northern European languages), written with pen and ink on vellum. However, runes continued to be used for many centuries, since the materials for runic writing were always readily at hand: everyone carried a knife, and a stick could be picked up from anywhere.The Viking-age people did not develop a written culture until the arrival of the church. In the Viking age, runes were used for short notes only. The Viking culture was oral, and long works were remembered using poetry. Runes certainly could have been used for longer messages in the same way as Roman characters, but hey were not. Perhaps the Norse people saw no need to preserve long works in writ ten form, even though everything was in place to do so. Only a single rune stone containing a complete poem survives, although many stones contain individual verses.In chapter 78 of Sells saga, >regular asked her father Gill to compose a memorial poem, telling him she would carve the verses into a rune stick (rises ; kefir). Whether that was common practice or not is conjectural. The R ¶k stone is an extraordinary rune stone over four meters high (13 feet) and is covered on all five sides with runic inscriptions. The front (and the beginning of the inscription) is shown to the left, and the reverse is shown in the photo above left. Many of the rune stones, particularly later ones, are memorial stones, which commemorated the dead and may have served as declarations of inheritance.The purpose of the Rook stone is subject to debate, but may well be a memorial Stone, as well. Poetry Surviving poems show a wide range of topics and tones: respectful and reverent; boastful and proud; wit ty and humorous; threatening and defiant; vile and obscene. However, scurrilous or satirical poems were banned cause of the injury they caused to the subject and to his reputation. Poems, being a divine gift from ? ¶in (the highest of the gods), were thought to have special power. Poems had the power to bestow honor on a worthy man and to remove honor from a wretch.A skillful poet could earn a valuable reward from a generous king, or save his head from an angry king, by creating a well composed poem. Poems praising a woman were banned, both because of the publicity and the possible effect it might have on her reputation, but also because of possible spell binding effects the poem might have. (Surviving love memos suggest the ban was regularly ignored. ) On hearing certain kinds of poetry (for instance, poetry implying that a man was womanish), a man was at liberty to kill the person reciting the poem. The proscribed types of poetry are described in the medieval Icelandic lowbrow G ar;g;s (K 238).Norse poetry does not have the regular rhythm and end-rhyme that one conventionally associates with poetry, but rather uses alliteration and irregular stress which falls on the most significant words in each line. Norse poetry can be divided into three classes, depending on form and content. Rune poems were usually inscribed on monuments and serve to praise an individual. They are brief and usually have a simple meter and style. Decide poems describe the Norse gods and ancient Norse heroes and their exploits. Decide poetry also has relatively simple meter and style.The stories are exciting, packed with action, and frequently contain valuable object lessons. Little can be said about the development of decide poetry, but it was probably in place and in use at the start of the Viking age. Classic poems typically praise the deeds of notable people, and they were usually written during the lifetime of the person being raised. While some of the surviving classic poetry date s from the medieval period, many of the poems are believed to date from the Viking age. The R ¶k ironstone shown above on this page records one stanza of classic poetry and dates from the middle of the 9th century.The Israeli ironstone shown to the right is the only classic verse in the elaborate dry;takeTTT meter known to have been written down in the Viking age. It dates from roughly the year 1 000 and is located in Land in Sweden. While the decide poetry is uniformly anonymous, much of the surviving classic poetry is credited to a particular tote at a particular place and time. The classic poems have complicated meters, strict patterns of alliteration, and ornate metaphoric language, with wordplay to delight the sophisticated listener. The poems usually celebrate the exploits of a particular king or leader.Since, in the Viking age, exaggeration was considered to be mockery, and since mockery' was considered a lethal insult, these poems are thought to be reliable testimony to th e events, even though (in some cases) they weren't committed to writing for centuries after their composition. Unfortunately, the factual information in such poetry tends to be limited. Classic poetry uses a variety of circumlocutions, such as kenning's. A kenning uses a phrase as a metaphor to represent an idea. The usual form is a noun, qualified by another noun in the genitive case. For instance sweat of the sword is used to mean blood, or horse of the sea to mean ship.Some of the kenning's can only be understood by someone with an extensive knowledge of the culture and of the great stories. For example, flame of the Rhine is used to mean gold but would probably be understood only by someone who is familiar with the V ¶lasagna saga in which the great gold treasure of the V ¶lulus NCAR ended up t the bottom of the river Rhine. Kenning can have multiple levels. For example, a poet might use a kenning for gold, and then use that phrase in place of the word â€Å"gold† in yet another kenning, such as flame of the sea- stead's path.Sea-stead's (ship) path is water, so flame of the water refers to gold. Some kenning's depend on hyperbole. Enemy of gold refers to a man who does not like gold and gives it away: a generous man. Some kenning's take the form of puns, such as using sky of the eel to represent ice in identifying someone as an Icelandic. The form of Norse poetry is complicated beyond the wordplay of the innings. The need to fit strict rules of alliteration and rhyming and rhythm result in verses in which multiple ideas are being formed simultaneously. (This concept is illustrated on the classic stanza page. Because Icelandic is a highly inflected language (word forms change depending on their usage in a sentence), it's possible to jumble the word order yet retain the meaning of a sentence. Norse visual arts share this property (left). Exceedingly complicated forms are used all over a figure to create a single unified image. It's been suggested that this similarity between poetry and visual arts derives from the name underlying sensibility, some innate appreciation of the baroque form in Norse culture. Because of its complexity and wordplay, wonder whether classic poetry could be understood by a listener hearing a verse for the first time.There are examples in the stories that support this belief, such as chapter 18 fog(slab saga. B ¶rids overheard a verse spoken by her brother, Gillis, in which he took credit for the killing of her husband, Programs. Not until she returned home did brd(s interpret the verse and understand its meaning. I may be overstating my case. At least one scholar of classic otter has told me that he believes the verses were easily understood by a listener in the saga age. Additionally, in an oral culture, it would be important to recall poetry without error.Because of the complexities of Norse verse, a defect in a recalled verse would be immediately apparent, since the rhyme, rhythm, or alliterati on would no longer work. Any erroneous substitution would stand out. Thus, the complexity of the verse acted as a mnemonic aid to help recall the verse and to identify errors. This built-in error detection was one of the reasons that information conveyed by poetry during the Viking age as thought to be more reliable than information in prose. The 12th century authors who first wrote the histories and stories of Iceland viewed the words of poets to be more authoritative than other oral sources.Some modern scholars disagree, and they suggest that in oral form, even poetry is unlikely to remain unchanged over long periods of time. Literature Many of the important poems were composed in the 9th through 12th century. These were part Of the oral tradition, and were kept alive by repetition as they were passed from one generation to another. Poetry was likely a major form of entertainment for the Norse. Poets were held in high regard, not only for their ability to improvise poetic entertai nment on the spot, but also because they were the repository of the shared cultural experience.They were the vessel through which the culture was passed from generation to generation. Once committed to poetry, a thought was expected to last â€Å"as long as the land is inhabited† or â€Å"as long as the Norse language is spoken†. Story-telling was a popular entertainment wherever people gathered. Faster ¶RA saga says in chapter 23 that >origami Narrations told a story while sitting on his chair in front of his booth at the Ping. People sat all around him, listening to his tale. When an unexpected downpour forced everyone to leave and seek shelter, Poor ¶Ã‚ ¶r took advantage of the opportunity and killed Door(Mr..Beginning in the 12th century, educated men in Iceland, where the oral tradition was strongest, began to write down the important stories. Iceland Was unique among European countries at this time in having a population comprised of a large number of relativ ely free, land- owning farmers. These men had the means to commission the creation of books in their own language, rather than in Latin as was the rule throughout he rest of Europe. The oral story-telling tradition of the Islanders also favored writings in the vernacular.A wide variety of material was written down in the Icelandic language. One of the first books to be written in the northern lands was the Icelandic law codes, begun in the year 11 17. Prior to this time, the law codes were remembered and recited orally by the law speaker (logs ¶Guam ¶our) at the Piping. A short time later, a history of Iceland was written known as [slandering;k (the Book of Islanders) by Air FRR ¶I (the learned) around the year 1 130. Scholars wrote books describing how to use Roman letters to represent the sounds of the Icelandic language.The First Grammatical Treatise was followed by three others. The genealogy and history of Icelandic settlers were written down in Land;MBA;k (the Book of Se ttlement)s. European literature was translated into Icelandic, including stories of the lives of saints, and learned books on topics including astronomy, natural history, and geography. Travel books were written by Icelandic visitors to Europe. New stories were written to commemorate the exploits of kings or other great leaders. Some of these books were in the form f histories, such as Homemaking's, a history of the kings of Norway.Others described contemporary events, such as the sagas of the lives of Icelandic bishops, untangling saga, a compilation of sagas describing the events in the turbulent times when the sons of Stuart b ¶r ¶arson were changing the political landscape Of the Iceland. Islanders also wrote down the stories of their ancestors. These [sledding ¶guru (Sagas of Islanders, also called family sagas) remain compelling and entertaining reading today. They are a unique and new form of story-telling unlike anything that preceded them. Most of these sagas are thou ght to have been composed between 1200 and 1400.These stories tell of the tales of farmers and chieftains living in Iceland from the 9th through the 12th century. Many of them follow families for generation after generation, from the settlement era to the commonwealth period in Iceland's history. They are distinctive in that they tell heroic tales not about heroes, but about just plain folks: the early Islanders. Although distorted by the time that separates the events depicted and the writing of the stories, the family sagas present one of the best pictures we have of Norse society. We know the names of only a very few of the writers of these works.It was not customary to put the author's name on the manuscript. However, one author who can be identified with some certainty is Snorer Sturgeon (1 179-1241). A 20th century sculpture of Snorer by Vigilant is shown to the left. Snorer feared that the tradition of composing poetry to commemorate great men and great events was dying. For this, and other reasons, he wrote the Sonora dead, a four part textbook on writing classic poetry. The book summarizes Norse mythology (necessary for the poet to understand the innings), teaches the language of poetry, and presents examples of the various verse forms.