Saturday, August 31, 2019

Psychology and Pure Entertainment Purposes Essay

It is a known fact that there is a great diversity of entertainment options. There are many forms of entertainment targeted towards population for different purposes such as educational, informative, or pure entertainment purposes. To begin to talk we would say that as everything, entertainment may be looked whether as a positive or negative thing. Of course, opinions about this topic can be many, depending on the angle we might be looking at it. On the one hand, entertainment is seen as a good thing for society. Referring to television for example and taking the subject from an educational point of view, there are several channels which are mainly about nature and even can provide information about physical phenomena affecting our Earth, things which can be found interesting mostly for children. Nevertheless, television has become a bad influence in the opinion of many people, as there is a lot of perversion and violent things they would prefer not to see. On the other hand, we could take the psychological field. Referring to this topic, entertainment seems to be very positive and relaxing, for example watching television when we get home after a long period of working. It certainly can help to open up our minds and stay calm for a while. However, when it comes to adolescents this can become a bad habit and abusing of its benefits can keep them apart from their obligations and their study. To sum up, I would say that we all enjoy the occasional escape from reality; but more and more entertainment is shoving its way into our world. It’s everywhere we look, we are forced to deviate from the path it leads us down. Entertainment could be a good aspect in our society if we learn how to take control of its advantages and disadvantages.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Proc 5850 Logistics Essay

1. KLF Electronics is an American manufacturer of electronic equipment. The company has a single manufacturing facility in San Jose California. (20 points) KLF Electronics distributes its products through five regional warehouses located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. In the current distribution system, the United States is partitioned into five major markets, each of which is served by a single regional warehouse. Customers, typically retail outlets, receive items directly from the regional warehouses in their market area. That is, in the current distribution system, each customer is assigned to a single market and receives deliveries from one regional warehouse. The warehouses receive items from the manufacturing facility; typically, it takes about two weeks to satisfy an order placed by any of the regional warehouses. In recent years, KLF has seen a significant increase in competition and huge pressure from their customers to improve service levels and reduce costs. To improve service level and reduce costs, KLF would like to consider an alternative distribution strategy in which the five regional warehouses are replaced with a single, central warehouse that will be in charge of all customer orders. Part A: Describe how you would design a new logistics network consisting of only a single warehouse. Due to increasing competition in the world, the company has to advance its logistics system. To meet the ever increasing demands of the customers, the company is planning to form a single regional warehouse that will be in charge of the customer orders. Logistics is responsible for the movement of people and materials in the organization. Logistics department of the company decides as to how and when, the raw materials or other finished or semi-finished products should be moved and stored. If the company plans for a single warehousing system, then it is basically focusing on the centralized warehousing which is responsible for serving the whole market. The network will be designed with the help of complete analysis of the company’s operations. This will help to design an efficient strategy for the company. The location and size of the warehouse will be decided. The transportation and facility costs will also be calculated. The cost set up will be properly estimated. The network will consist of various facilities like manufacturing center, vendor, distribution center and customers. There will also be a variety of raw materials and finished products that flow among these facilities. Part B: Provide an outline of such an analysis; what are the main steps? There are various steps that will be involved for designing a new logistics activity. In the first step, the currently operating network in the organization should be analyzed. In the second step, the network optimization database should be designed and populated. After this in the third step, the alternatives for network design should be created. In the fourth step, the network optimization model should be adopted. In the fifth step, the tool for network optimization should be selected. In the sixth step, the network optimization should be implemented. In the seventh step, the alternative network designs will be evaluated. In the last and the final step, the reconfiguration costs for the network will be analyzed. Part C: Specifically, what data would you need? The data that will be required for this design network is as follows: 1Â · A list of all the products of the company. 2Â · The location of the customers. 3Â · Warehousing cost and transportation cost. 4Â · Demands of the customer for each product. 5Â · Size of shipment by product. 6Â · Cost of processing the order. 7Â · Patterns of the orders by size, content and frequency. Part D: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the newly suggested distribution strategy relative to the existing distribution strategy? The newly suggested strategy will help the company in a number of ways. It will help in speeding up the production activities of the company. It will reduce the facility cost of the company. The safety stock required in centralized system is also less. It will also reduce the inbound transportation costs. The disadvantages of such a system are that the lead time will increase and it will become difficult for all the customers to easily approach a single warehouse. The activities will become complex and the outbound transportation cost will increase. 2. As the Purchasing Manager in a manufacturing firm, you would be expected to identify and know various aspects related to transportation/traffic in order to effectively perform your job. Today, during the staff meeting, your boss asked you for advice on two aspects of transportations: (20 points) a. What are the major considerations when handling materials? i. Discuss the following: 1. Load Unitization, 2. Space Layout, 3. Storage Equipment Choices, and 4. Movement Equipment Choices. There are various considerations while handling the materials and care should be taken, while working over this activity. The following things need to be considered: Load Unitization: This is an important factor of consideration for material handling. Load unitization is the packaging and arranging of the item or items in a particular manner that can be handled as a unit. It should be considered that the items are banded in a securable manner. In this, the physical packaging of the product needs to be considered for its protective packaging. Overhang pallets for packaging should not be used as they can damage the product (Lock, 1998). Space Layout: It is also an important point of consideration in material handling. The space layout should be such so that the materials can be handled in an easy and comfortable manner. The space layout should be according to the products and for the ease of the workers. Storage Equipment Choices: It is to be considered as it is the greatest factor that contributes to the storage cost. The storage equipment choices include automated storage and retrieval systems, carousel storage and retrieval system, automated guided vehicle system and power & free conveyors. These equipment choices need to be considered to check the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the logistics network. Movement Equipment Choices: it is also an important consideration in the material handling and it will help in allocating the movement of the materials for transport. The equipment choices help in managing the movement of the equipment for storage and transport. b. What legal forms of transportation are available to the company? ii. Identify the legal forms of transportation. iii. Discuss the legal forms of transportation. iv. Provide one example for each legal form of transportation. There are various forms of legal transportation which involves regulation of the operating rights. The forms of legal transportation are common carriers, contract carriers, exempt carriers and private carriers. Common carriers provide services under closed regulation, as per the published tariff. They operate in a particular geographical area and for a specific commodity. Example of common carrier can be ‘highway transportation’. Contract carriers provide services at individually negotiated rates and operate under a regulatory authority. They have pricing freedom and have no service compulsion. They operate on the guidelines that there should be no rate discrimination between the customers. Example of contract carrier is ‘rail transportation’. Exempt carriers are those which are not liable for taxation and free from obligations. These are used for agricultural commodities in the United States. Example of exempt carriers is water transportation. Private carriers look after their own goods transportation. They are not governed by cost and service regulations. They cannot carry the goods of others, although many regulations have now permitted to do so. Example of private carrier is air transport. 3. Consider the supply chain for breakfast cereal. Discuss the competing objectives of the farmers who make the raw materials, the manufacturing division of the company that makes the cereal, the logistics division of the company that makes the cereal, the marketing division of the company that make the cereal, the distribution arm of the grocery chain that sells the cereal, and the manager of the individual grocery store that sells the cereal. (20 points) In the supply chain for breakfast cereals, everyone has its own competing objectives which inspire them to produce the product by giving his best possible effort. In the supply chain, the objectives of the farmers are to produce the best quality raw materials and earn maximum profit for him and his family. He wants to sell it at the best possible price and puts all his efforts to produce the cereals. The competing objectives of the manufacturing division of the company are that they should produce the quality and type of product that is demanded by the customer. Its main aim is to acquire efficiency in production and to produce better than its competitors. The logistics division of the company also has certain competing objectives. It works with the objective of managing all the materials and manpower related activities. It handles the storage of materials in an efficient manner. The management of transportation, purchasing of raw materials, storage and supply of finished products are the main aim of the logistics division. The objectives of the marketing division of the company will be to market the product in an attractive and effective manner. The packaging should be attractive and should display the special qualities of the products. It also has the objective of deciding the pricing and promotional activities of the product. The objective of the distribution arm of the grocery chain is to distribute maximum quantity of the product to the retailers and cover more targets as compared to their competitors. The objective of the grocery store that sells the cereal will be to sell the best quality products to the customers. They also serve the customers and fulfill their requirements. 4. You have been called in as a consultant to a large drugstore chain which has 24,000 inventory line items. Explain how inventory classification could help this company to better control its inventory. (20 points) Inventory classification is very helpful for controlling the inventory when a company has such a wide variety of inventory line items. There are basically five different types of inventories that are fluctuating inventories, anticipation inventories, cycle inventories, transportation inventories and decoupling inventories. Fluctuating inventory will help in managing the irregular demand of the products. Anticipated inventory helps in managing the unpredictable demand of the product. Cycle inventory helps in equating the consumption and production of the products. Transportation inventories are managed, where the time taken to transport a product is more and so meet the demands, it is maintained. Decoupling inventory is maintained to cover up the increasing demand of the product or the increasing purchases of the product. Inventory classification will help the company in inventory control, as, it will help in proper planning of the production system as materials will be available wherever and whenever required. It will also help in satisfying the orders of the customers as per the commuted date. It can also help in solving the problem of rush order inventory. It will also help in timely management of the inventory. 5. Discuss how each of the following helps to alleviate the bullwhip effect: (20 points) c. E-Commerce and the Internet d. Express Delivery e. Collaborative forecasts f. Everyday low pricing g. Vendor-managed inventory Bullwhip effect is the enlargement of the demand fluctuations i.e. increases and decreases in demand. This is often caused by price fluctuations, rationing, misperceptions of feedbacks, ordering panics, forecasting errors etc. It can be alleviated with the help of various tools like internet, express delivery, collaborative forecasts etc. Internet and e-commerce helps in giving more accurate information to the suppliers about the demand of a product. It helps in prevention of deformation and wrong communication of the demand related information. It also assists in reducing the lead time, as; it eases the order processing activity. Express delivery helps in reducing the demand variance and also reduces the lead time. It refers to timely and very fast delivery of the products to the wholesalers and to the ultimate customers. In collaborative forecasts procurement, product management and sales participate. Collaborative forecasts help the stakeholders in arriving at a particular demand forecast and alleviate the bullwhip effect. Everyday pricing also alleviates the bullwhip effect. There are certain demand hikes, which are created by periodic promotions and this leads to increase in demand fluctuations. Everyday pricing helps in preventing the increasing demand fluctuations and alleviates the bullwhip effect. Vendor managed inventory is helpful for the supplier as, it assists in monitoring the downstream demand. With this, the supplier can make a good and effective decision related to various activities like what quantity should be shipped for the customers and what quantity should be kept on hand. So, with the help of vendor managed inventory, the supplier does not have to depend upon the order data. Thus, the supplier does not have to rely on order data for demand estimation and alleviates the bullwhip effect.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Computer Aided Instruction Essay

1.0 Introduction 1.1Background of the Study Bagbag National High School is one of those schools that include computer subject in their curriculum. The School wants to equip their students to become knowledgeable in computer. Bagbag National High School was established in the year1967 when President Ferdinand E Marcos approved the Presidential degree that arms on the urgent needs of the high school in every baranggay and that reaches out poor children in rural areas who cannot afford to study in private school due to financial difficulty. It began operatively from a single room made of sawali with fire teachers composed of four female and a male built through the joint efforts of the PTA Officers pioneered by Luis Pasco Sr. and Ligtong Elementary School Principal, Ms. Lilia Santos in 1968 within the locate of Ligtong Elementary School, Ligtong Rosario Cavite, initially known as Ligtong Community High School. (LCHS) In the same year elementary and high school were separated as ordered. The teachers of ligtong baranggay High Scho ol sought assistance from the former Mayor Atty. Ernesto Andico and Governor Johnny Remulla to find a new site for the high school. Fortunately the Philippines National on Company (PNOC) donated a parcel of land measuring 14,933.5 Square meters in 1991 considering that the site was a farm land and it was indeed four years of former Congressman Jun Nazareno fencing of the vicinity of the school was made possible. The construction of the first school building was through the assistance of Japan International Cooperating Agency amounting 1.5m pesos. This school was spearheaded by Mrs. Emilina L. Barlao the school principal. Currently Bagbag National High School has 64 faculties and staff. The school also has 2,143 students. This school offers Elementary and highschool education. They have 30 computers in their Computer Laboratory. The school currently offers computer subjects to 3rd year and 4rth year high school students. The teachers of the 4rth yr student’s who we interviewed revealed that other students in 4rth yr cannot easily understand the Mathematics subject because there are so many student on every room and that causes some of them to not understand well what the teacher is talking about.. So this is the reason why we planned to make the system CAI. To help the students who can’t understand math easily also to help the instructor in Math to teach the Math subject. 1.2 Statement of the Problem. 1.2.1 General Problem How to design, develop and implement a Computer Aided Instruction in Mathematics for 4rth year student in Bagbag National High School. 1.2.2 Specific Problem 1. How to create a module that can increase student’s interest in mathematics subject? The other student who can’t get understand math easily, think that math is so hard subject for them. Because it all about number and difficult problems. So we need to create a module that can give them interest to study the math subject. 2. How to design a module that will monitor the student’s progress in Mathematics. The teacher of the students needs to manually check the written exercises and examination of each student to monitor if the students understand the lessons taken in math subject. 3. How to create a module that can test the learning comprehension of each student in mathematics subject? The teachers need to provide written examination. The teacher needs to give a sample to be solved by the students. 1.3Objective of the Study 1.3.1 General Objective The main objective of the study is to design, develop and implement a Computer Aided Instruction in Mathematics for Bag Bag National High School. 1.2.3 Specific Objective 1. To create a module that can increase student’s interest in Mathematics subject 2. Design a module that will monitor the student’s progress in mathematics subject. The system generates individual history report and summary report this help to the teacher in monitoring students progress on math subject. 3. To create a module that can test the learning comprehension of each student in Mathematics subject. Quizzes and seatwork were provided to enhance their knowledge and test their comprehension from lessons they have taken. 1.4 Significance of the Study 1.4.1 4th Year Students The 4rth year student as the users will be benefited by the system. Aside from being additional tool in learning Mathematics subjects, the system also introduce the user into world of computer based-learning. The system will capture the student’s attention because the system is interactive and will engage the student’s competitiveness to improve their skills by improving their score in quizzes and chapter examination. 1.4.2. Teacher Through the progress report of the system, the teacher can monitor the students who are fast and slow learners. The teacher can make sure that the pupils have enough understanding of the lesson before proceeding to the next lessons. 1.4.3Bag Bag National High School Computer Aided Instruction in Mathematics can help BagBag National High School to provide additional tool for students in learning math subject. 1.4.4Proponents Through the system, the proponents can enhanced their skills and knowledge through brainstorming and group work. 1.4.5Future Researchers The system can serve as a basis or guides for future researchers who will be having similar studies. 1.5Scope and Limitation Scope * The contents of the system are the basic lessons regarding Mathematics subject of the student. * Quizzes and examination were provided to know the outcome of the lessons by the 4th yr students. * It generates individual progress report that provides the history of the quizzes and chapter examination taken by the specific user and summary report to monitor the progress of the entire user. * English was used as the medium of instruction. Limitation * The system will not use 3D animation in discussing the lesson. * The study does not cater to changes of the curriculum as well as literacy of the student in computer fundamentals. * It will not be utilized to completely replace the teachers, but it will provide additional tool for a student to cope up with his/her studies. 2.0Methodology Prototype A prototype is the sample implementation of the system that shows limited and main functional capabilities of the proposed system. After a prototype is built, it is delivered to the customer for the evaluation. The prototype helps the customer determine how the feature will function in the final software. The customer provides suggestion and improvements on the prototype. The development team implements the suggestion in the new prototype, which is again evaluated by the customer. The process continues until the customer and the development team understands the exact requirement of the proposed system. Requirements Gathering Analysis Design Test Implementation REQUIREMENTS GATHERING Requirements gathering are an essential part of any project and project management. Understanding fully what a project will deliver is critical to its success. This may sound like common sense, but surprisingly it’s an area that is often given far too little attention. Many projects start with the barest headline list of requirements, only to find later the customers’ needs have not been properly understood. ANALYSIS Systems analysis is a process of collecting factual data, understand the processes involved, identifying problems and recommending feasible suggestions for improving the system functioning. This involves studying the business processes, gathering operational data, understand the information flow, finding out bottlenecks and evolving solutions for overcoming the weaknesses of the system so as to achieve the organizational goals. System Analysis also includes subdividing of complex process involving the entire system, identification of data store and manual processes. DESIGN Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is the most crucial phase in the development of a system. The logical system design arrived at as a result of system analysis and is converted into physical system design. In the design phase the SDLC process continues to move from the questions of the analysis phase to the how. The logical design produced during the analysis is turned into a physical design – a detailed description of what is needed to solve original problem. Input, output, databases, forms, codification schemes and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the programming language and the hardware and software platform in which the new system will run are also decided. Data structure, control process, equipment source, workload and limitation of the system, Interface, documentation, training, procedures of using the system, taking ba ckups and staffing requirement are decided at this stage. IMPLEMENTATION After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the implementation phase begins. Implementation is the stage of a project during which theory is turned into practice. The major steps involved in this phase are: * Acquisition and Installation of Hardware and Software * Conversion * User Training * Documentation The hardware and the relevant software required for running the system must be made fully operational before implementation. The conversion is also one of the most critical and expensive activities in the system development life cycle. The data from the old system needs to be converted to operate in the new format of the new system. The database needs to be setup with security and recovery procedures fully defined. TEST Before actually implementing the new system into operations, a test run of the system is done removing all the bugs, if any. It is an important phase of a successful system. After codifying the whole programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on a given set of test data. The output of the test run should match the expected results. Sometimes, system testing is considered as a part of implementation process. STI COLLEGE ROSARIO Computer Aided Instruction in Mathematics for 4th year Students of BagBag National High School Proposal Presented to System Technology Institute STI College Rosario In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology By: Alberto, KrisJoie G. Caà ±ete, Lenie Ann J. Guevarra, Rema Shiela O. Poblete, Cristina C. Ms. Mary Rose Musa September 5, 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Hypervisor Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hypervisor - Term Paper Example The server virtualization also allows the organizations to run different software applications on diverse operating system to fully utilize system resources of a single physical machine. The operating system can run in isolation and / or side by side on the same physical machine. Each virtual machine (operating system) has its own allocated virtual hardware (e.g. Random Access Memory, Central Processing Unit, NIC, etc.) to load one operating system along with software applications. It is vital to state that the operating system uses the allocated virtual hardware resources, consistently and usually regardless of the actual physical hardware components (Bento, 2012). Advantages of Hypervisor Several advantages can be availed by an organization utilizing the technology of server virtualization. The server virtualization facilitates the organizations to combine the workloads of the underutilized server machines onto a smaller number of fully utilized machines. Keeping in view the fact o f utilizing comparatively less number of servers for the multiple operating systems and software applications to manage the workload, it can be stated that the server virtualization can be cost effective for the organizations. ... The utilization of hypervisor in the hardware infrastructure of an enterprise provides features of securely splitting each virtual machine / operating system and supports the legacy software systems as well as new software applications on the same server (Shavit, 2008). Disadvantages of Hypervisor for an Organization For every advantage there exist one or several disadvantages, therefore, the hypervisor has disadvantages as well. Comparatively, one of the main disadvantages of utilizing the native hypervisor is that the hypervisor reduces the performance of the operating system as well as the installed applications run slowly. While using the host hypervisor limits the enterprise to install the operating systems as per the limitations of the host operating system. The disadvantages of utilizing hypervisor in the enterprises include but are not limited to the requirements of servers with high specifications (i-e Randon Acess Memory, Central Processing Unit etc.), it requires additiona l hardware components and difficult to use console interface. The type two (2) or host hypervisors lead to the loss of centralized management, it has lower density and therefore, it becomes difficult to install many virtual machines of the first type. The organizations have to suffer with less security while utilizing the host hypervisors. It is pertinent to mention here that there are few operating systems cannot be installed simultaneously utilizing the hypervisors. The hypervisor technology only supports the Intel operating systems, whereas, the type 1 or native hypervisor does not support Solaris SPARC, AIX, HPUX, and the high-End UNIX systems. Introduction to

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Eviews exercise Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Eviews exercise - Assignment Example The p-value for the F-statistic is 0.000 (a value less than 5% significance level), we therefore reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the model is fit at 5% significance level. The value of R-squared is 0.5738; this implies that 57.38% of variation in the dependent variable (children) is explained by the six explanatory variables in the model. It is important also to note that the coefficients for the six explanatory variables are all significant at 5% significance level. The coefficient for electric () is -0.2401; this implies that for any unit increase in electric we expect the dependent variable (children) to decrease by 0.2401. Similarly, the coefficient for TV () is -0.1837; this implies that for any unit increase in TV values we expect the dependent variable (children) to decrease by 0.1837. The p-values for the coefficients () are 0.0019 and 0.045 respectively. This shows that the two variables are significant at 5% significance level. The mean for the number of children among the urban residents is 1.988 while that of non-urban residents is 2.567. To check for significant difference we look at the t-test; the p-value is 0.000 (a value less than 5% significance level) we therefore reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is significant difference in the fertility among the urban and ono-urban residents. Fertility rate is high among the non-urban residents as compared to the urban residents. The table below represents the regression results dropping the variable, urban. By dropping the urban, we observe some significant changes in the coefficients. However, all the coefficients remain to be significant at 5% significance

Facebook Growth, Challenges And Milestones Essay

Facebook Growth, Challenges And Milestones - Essay Example More users are signed each day. Despite of the great achievement, the company is facing stiff challenges such as competition by the micro blogging service â€Å"Twitter†, managing the needs and expectations of young, tech savvy adopters who need more open social interactions, maintaining the old users who require limited and selective social realms and the radical changes on the user’s home pages. The face book quest to become the leading social interaction website and an essential business and personal networking tool for all who are connected is being hampered by massive challenges such as competition from rival firms, privacy issues, lawsuits as well as need to provide better interaction services while still maintaining its credibility. This paper discuses the contradicting opinions aired by the users and members against those of the face book management and executive arm. The main emphasis of the paper are the recent radical changes in face book home page that has d rawn contradicting views from its 200 million users. After a detailed review of the article the reader generates conclusive decisions that can be adopted by the company. Rhetorical analysis The main purpose of the article is to expose the many challenges faced by Facebook in spite of there success. The author stipulates that, even though Facebook registrations have grown massively, there is no time for celebration due to the challenges faced by the firm and the milestone achievement expected by the executive arm of the corporation. The author illustrates how the recent changes in Face book home pages have seriously devastated customers especially those who prefer limiting their friends and privacy. By collecting materials and information from the company's executives and the general public as well as reviewing published work concerning the new WebPages, the author seeks to enlighten the general public about the shortfalls of Face book as well as exposing the management inconsiderate view to customer's complaints. To analyze the current quagmire facing the company, the author relies on speeches made by the management, photos, messages from Facebook company to show its importance as a socializing ecosystem site as well as critic its current unconcern and inconsiderate nature towards it customers who aren't comfortable with new interaction methods. The author also evaluates speeches, articles and messages written and posted by the members with a view of gaining imperative information about the problem. The author also provides statistical evidence to prove that the company expansion theorem without considering the needs and complains of the people is un-justified and un-achievable. According to the writer's perspectives, there are two main views expressed by the author. The executive's views, who feel that they have the dream of the company at hand and will do anything to propel the company forward and the Facebook users who feel that they have a right to democracy and they can propose what they like. On the management side, their main aim is to promote more socialism on the Webpage's and enhance interactions. According to the executives, strategizing to get more customers, attracting the young tech-savvy members, enhancing interaction and socialization, enforcing rules and regulation, allowing web pages to update immediately without refreshing the page, getting more clients, promoting advertisement on their site to earn more profits are their main aim. As Zuckerberg states, it is possible for a prime minister to get in touch with school teachers. This is right in some way as the company has to look

Monday, August 26, 2019

Impact National Culture on Leadership Traits and Behaviors Essay

Impact National Culture on Leadership Traits and Behaviors - Essay Example The following are the leadership traits and behaviors that may negatively impact organizational effectiveness in multinational companies: dictatorial, non-cooperative, non-explicit, irritable, egocentric, cruel/ruthless and loner. A dictatorial leader imposes strict commands and orders without leaving any space for dialogue or understanding (Hofstede, 2011). A non-cooperative leader is one who does not show elements of teamwork or support in the company activities. A non-explicit leader is not open but prefers carrying out his or her roles confidentially (Hofstede, 2011). He or she prefers when everything is kept back from the rest of the members, especially subordinates. Irritable leaders are short-tempered and are associated with recurrent instances of disputes and unreasonable ways of thinking. According to Hofstede (2011), egocentric leaders are careless of the feelings of others and are associated with self-centered and insensitive decisions, which leave other people socially hu rt and distressed. Cruel/ruthless leaders are unpleasant and unkind management groups who lead others mercilessly and at times brutally. A loner is a leader who prefers being secluded from the rest of the members. Additionally, loners mostly fail to associate with others (Hofstede, 2011). Yes, I believe that multinational managers must understand the subordinate expectations in order to lead effectively. Subordinate expectations are â€Å"expectations regarding what leaders â€Å"should† do and what they may or may not do† (Cullen & Parboteeah (2014, p. 663). Therefore, understanding subordinate expectations help in delivering exactly what is required in a multinational company. For a country with high power distance, I would recommend an autocratic leadership. High power distance countries are associated with dominant individualism and human rights.  Ã‚  

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Richard Wright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Richard Wright - Essay Example Wright brought into picture the sufferings he himself passed through as a black. In the book, Wright expresses racial prejudice in Jim Crow’s South, how the blacks were affected and how they coped with the racial prejudice. When the Jim Crow era started during the 1880s, the whites who lived in the southern area of the United States did anything it would take to oppose any form of education for the black children. They felt that education would spoil the good field hands. They felt that the education would destroy their labor force for the future and discouraged it at all costs. For the whites education would make blacks too pretentious. By the end of the nineteenth century, two thirds of all black children could not go to school because the whites had restricted them not to attend school. The black children had no teachers and did not have any building that they could use as classes. The whites burned down schools attended by blacks and killed or chased away people who worked as teachers for black children. Despite these discouragements, the blacks did not give up. The black community build and supported their own schools. The local churches were also of help because they provided education via Sabbath schools. Over seventy percent of all black children went to private schools. ... loped by Jim Crow were segregative in nature in the sense that they segregated trains, schools, parks, streetcars, bathrooms, hotels, restaurants, cemeteries and other things. Black people were restricted to seek medical care from many hospitals. In addition to this, the facilities meant for African Americans were inferior in terms of staffing and resources as compared to the facilities build for the whites. In employment, black earned much less compared to whites. In addition, in many instances, the blacks were denied employment. The issues of segregation were so intense to the extent that the blacks even usd a different type of bible when they took oaths in a court of law. Discrimination had become a part of their daily lives. For instance, during the 1890s, there was about 187 lynchings of blacks every year. Out of the 187, 80 percent happened in the southern part. Lynchings were done because the victims were purported to have committed crimes or had violated the station or positi on of a white person. The main purpose that the lynchings served was to show that the whites were in control of the black Americans. Therefore, they ruled with terror and intimidation in order to scare blacks and make them do whatever the whites wanted them to do. The terror and intimidation were meant to contain any rebellious activity that could have been planned by the blacks. Therefore, the black suffered a great deal from the way the whites treated them (Wright, 1937). In the 1920s, the Africans responded to the segregation, mistreatment and intimidation from the whites through a social and Cultural Revolution understood as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance occurred particularly in New York City. Later this was described as the action of a new generation of black

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Analysis on an Operation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis on an Operation - Research Paper Example The activities of the operation management mainly range from the strategic, tactical to operational levels. Tactical issues involve the layout of the plant and structure, the selection of equipment and replacement, and the methods of the project management. On the other hand, the operational issues involves the handling of traffic and materials, the equipment maintenance, the quality inspection and control, the inventory management and production scheduling and control. Operation management therefore focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes. The nature in which it is carried out in an organization depends on the nature of the products or services in the company such as wholesale, retail or manufacture. Shipper manufacturing company has various operational processes that enable efficient production of its products. The operation process entails the type of product or product design, the product process flow, management of quality, supply chain management, project m anagement or operation scheduling, forecasting and the inventory management. Good management of the operation processes contributes to the well performance of the company. It also helps the company to maintain its production supply and increases The Company’s development as a whole. ... The divisions include the material division (MD), Electrical Products Division (EPD), and the Advanced Product Division (APD). These divisions are located in Faribault. Minnesota. The company holds a good position in sales because of the high efficiency levels. In addition, the company has improved growth and is in a good position on productivity. Analysis of the product and product design Shipper manufacturing company manufactures various products. Some of the products manufactured include electrical products, laminated materials and specialty products. Advanced product division (APD), is a division in the company that manufactures the specialty products. Initially, APD manufactured custom products in very low volumes for the consumers. The consumers got very little products that could not satisfy their desires. However, the division plans to increase the volume of production for the multiple customers. Â  The company therefore would require increasing its operational management in order to maintain its competition in the new environment. APD produces specialty products mainly for the custom orders such as helicopter blade liners, and mine stoppers. In addition, shipper manufacturing company produces many aerostats per year which are sold to different communication companies. Furthermore, they are also sold to some foreign countries and the U.S. government mainly for communication purposes. The operation process flow analysis The production flow involves the movement of various items through the production process. Â  The flow structure or the process flow used in production purposes has various impacts on the operation layout, technological decisions, recourses and the methods used in doing the work. The process flow is a very important aspect in Shipper

Friday, August 23, 2019

Murder Trial and Murder Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Murder Trial and Murder - Case Study Example The Circumstantial evidence that could be deduced was that of Massachusetts State Police chemist Deanna Dygan who in her testimony in the superior court held up the floral underpants of the Rachel stated that blood samples and sperm cells were found in the crotch area. However seminal fluid could not be tested positive. Further, the shirt of Rachel which was covered with blood was found to have sperm cells and three holes out of which two had tested positive to lead which is present due to a gunshot. Finally, it was found that the death of the infant had been caused due to a contact shot. The circumstantial evidence which had been put forward by Dylan was said to be inconclusive and thus was of not much help. The objectivity of the investigation was put into question by the lawyer of Elliot Weinstein who put in the relevant evidence that is if prior to or during the investigation Dylan had put in Entwistle’s name in the suspect box on crime scene sheet. Dylan stated in the affirmative on which Elliot stated that this had affected the investigation procedure. Further, he argued that the bullet wound had not been found at the crime scene and had been found during the autopsy, a vital element not noticed during the investigation of the crime scene. Finally when Weinstein asked if the bullet trajectory had been carried out which was answered in the negative by Dylan. The relevant evidence which had been established in the specific case led to the establishment of the fact that Dylan had been led to believe that Neil Entwistle the possible suspect was the culprit. and so a biased opinion had been possibly established by the chemist. The direct evidence that was provided was that by Drugan, the senior chemist in the state police crime lab's arson and explosives unit who stated that the residue of gun primer was found only on the hands of Rachel. He went on to say that quite a few items of the BMW had been tested at the airport and it was deduced that neither the steering wheel, keys and a shirt had all been found to be negative when the tests for the gun primer had been carried out. Further eleven knives had been tested for the knife block but all came negative. The direct evidence that had been provided for by Drugan was in itself a bit inconclusive which led to a stronger case being established for the possible suspect. Further the items that had been tested had strengthened the case of the husband of Rachel. The testimonial evidence was provided by Trooper Stephen Walsh who is a member of the fire arms identification unit. He provided that he had tested a bullet which had been removed from the body of the victim Rachel's chest and had further removed two fragments of bullets.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Classroom - Toelf Essay Essay Example for Free

Classroom Toelf Essay Essay In general, most people tend to view things differently, even whether if classrooms environment should be interactive or not. To some people, they may think that classrooms are places where teachers lecture and the students listen. However, in my opinion, I believe that classrooms should be interactive. The following cases and examples will help support my point of view. People have different backgrounds. Students, especially in international schools, have varying backgrounds, which may result in different views. A classroom is a place for learning experiences, therefore, it is crucial that varying opinions are brought to the table. Take the example of a business class. In discussing whether or not coffee stands should be locate within the campus or outside, the teacher may Do you think that students will always understand every single thing the teacher lecture about if they weren’t allow to ask questions? In complicated classes such as math or science there are many things that usually confuse the students. It is nigh impossible for the teacher to be able to make sure that everyone understands, let alone knowing whom doesn’t what. Courage. When your kids grow up, they do not work alone. Courage is an important aspect in working with others, whether it is to lead or just to follow. In the case of Pearson Hardman, an international law firm, they seek not only people with knowledge but also people who have individuality, people who could think for themselves and are not afraid to express their opinion. Where is a better place to develop those traits than in classrooms. Classrooms where students are allowed, and encouraged, to speak out their mind. In conclusion, it is hard to make all people view things in the same way, even in the case of whether or not classrooms should be interactive. Some people may agree that it should not be because discussions may lead to the teacher not being able to teaches everything he intended to. However, to me, I strongly agree that classrooms should be interactive. The examples and cases mentioned above have supported my point of view to the best.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Influence of Technology in Business Essay Example for Free

The Influence of Technology in Business Essay Technology has changed the way the world operates and conducts business. I remember walking into an office and being impressed at how cool the receptionist was by instant messaging the person I was there to see to let them know I had arrived instead of picking up the phone and ringing their office. She received an immediate reply to have me seated and said the he would be right with me. What was really happening is that he was on a phone call but was able to multitask more efficiently due to the instant messaging software, filling the need for instant gratification. That was well over ten years ago. Today, managers can hold global staff meetings and significantly cut costs with regard to travel and expense accounts while fulfilling the new trend of being â€Å"green†. Much of corporate America now has people in telecommuting programs, and the number of people involved is continually growing. Information sharing is faster and more convenient than ever before. You never have to leave your home or book a flight out to acquire information or survey a property or even meet clients thanks to teleconferencing where you can see the other person virtually face-to-face. While there are many advantages to the new virtual office up rise there are challenges as well. Many businesses find one of the biggest hurdles in setting up the virtual office is the responsibility of providing technical support. Whereas, technically proficient employees usually improve their skills while learning on their own, those that don’t understand computers can end up costing much more because of support costs. Interestingly, IT departments are behind the virtual workplace curve: As employees overall are increasingly distributed geographically (more than 90% work someplace other than headquarters), IT departments are increasingly centralized. Telecommuting is actually considerably rarer in IT departments than in the workforce at large, (Johnson, J. , 2009). This may be causing them to miss out on a revolution that the rest of the company may be experiencing. Another hurdle that companies must face is that they must evaluate virtual workers without directly supervising them. To do this successfully, the employee must be evaluated on the quality, quantity, and timeliness of the work as opposed to the hours involved, so it is imperative that the work be specific and measurable (Roman H. Kepczyk, 1999). The demand for the virtual office is on the rise and will continue to develop and progress as companies realize the significant savings impact it can have on their budget and the increase in productivity it has been shown to have. From the employee’s perspective it also saves them money by not having to commute and buy lunch, therefore, increasing their retained income. They are more engaged due to the lack of interruptions by colleagues such as those present in a brick and mortar office setting and typically, employees use less sick leave when working from home. Reduced stress levels and a more productive and balanced lifestyle contribute the employees level of job satisfaction. An employer can save around $5,000 on cubicle and office equipment for just one employee. Telecommuting is the same thing as operating a virtual office. An employee can work from home but still communicate effectively with managers and colleagues. Employees may create a sort of â€Å"social working network† to compensate for the â€Å"water cooler† action they may miss from having human contact at the office. Judy Duplisea, a regional vice president for the company CheckFree, lives in Canton while other members of her sales and client relationship staff live in Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, and New York. They work out of their houses, connected by computers, fax machines, and conference calls in a virtual office. My group is probably tighter now than any of the groups that I was working with in regular offices, Duplisea said. We go out of our way to stay in contact with each other. You can get real lonely if you dont (Cindy Krischer Goodman, 2010). The advances in technology and business will increase the rate of global expansion of companies in general. Not having to budget money for international travel or physically exhaust employees with the act of actually traveling but being able to conduc t business effectively in over seas markets is a huge benefit to any company’s the bottom line. While business relationships should still incorporate some kind of human one-on-one contact with their clients and colleagues, businesses can communicate more effectively and more often, globally and domestically, with the increasing technological advances available to them. Clients, colleagues, suppliers and the like, are more than just a telephone call away, they are a teleconference, an email, and quite recently as demonstrated in the last presidential campaign on CNN, a hologram away.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Comparative Analysis of English and Bade Proverbs

Comparative Analysis of English and Bade Proverbs COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH AND BADE PROVERBS: EXPLORING FORM AND CONTENT It is believed that there is no language without proverbs. Vulic and Zergollern in Valiulyte (2010), corroborate this notion that ‘each nation or country has its own proverbs†. Therefore, every language has its own proverbs which are used by its own speakers through many media as in literature like poetry, prose and drama and other forms of daily communication. Nevertheless, some advanced languages like English have a rich tradition of proverbs, because its proverbs have been collected and analyzed academically. This is probably due to the early civilization of the English people, and their awareness of literature and publication. Consequently, English proverbs have become richer and more widespread, unlike the ones of Bade (a local language in Yobe State, Nigeria) whose proverbs have not received any study worthy of academic recognition. The term proverb has been defined by different scholars in different perspectives. Norrick (1985) defines proverbs as self-sufficient, brief, traditional expression with advisory content and secured poetic form. Meider (1985) sees it as a short, generally known sentence which contains wisdom, truth, with memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation. According to Tatar (1998), proverbs are concise common expressions with literal and figurative meaning. It can be understood from the above definitions that the term proverb is a terse saying that represents matters of universal truth, with a literal, figurative, or poetic structure, preserved through discourse, and passed on from one generation to another in human society. According to Meider (2004), in Dabaghi, Pishbin and Niknasab (2010), it is hard to identify the origin and history of proverbs. Nevertheless, he adds that proverbs ‘†¦ do not fall from the sky’. Therefore, he observes that there is a similar trend of emergence of proverbs in Europe, Asia, Africa and other linguistic and cultural groups. He traces the origin of European proverbs ‘back to the classical times of Greek and Roman antiquity; the Biblical era; the Medieval Latin, and the mass media’. In tracing the origin of proverbs in Persian languages, religion and literature have been recognized as two sources (Moosavi, 2000, in Dabaghi, Pishbin and Niknasab, 2010). In a rather more specific manner, Ridout and Witting (1969) link the source of modern English proverbs to popular sayings of the common man; borrowing from the Bible and other languages; wise saying of famous literary scholars; turning highly idiomatic expressions into proverbs; and, modern edu cation. Over the years, scholars have agreed that geographical location has some effects on the nature of proverbs. Brown (1983) observes that proverbs emerging from the same zone tend to have common features. The same idea may be noticed in Schuh (2005), stating that indigenous languages in Yobe State share ‘a large number of idioms, lexicon-related expressions’, just like how West African languages share ‘proverbs and riddles, songs and folktales’. Nevertheless, this does not mean that those languages may not have distinct properties that can separate them from one another as different language. Because Bade is one of the focus languages in this research, some characteristics of proverbs that are peculiar to African languages will provide the researcher with some rich data to work on. One very inconvenient aspect of this research is that while available resources on English proverbs are not hard to come by, Bade, being the other target language is badly lacking in literary resources particularly on proverbs on the one hand. On the other hand, it looks interesting that this research will set a precedent in such an area with a serious academic intent. Recently, studies on Verbal Arts posted on Yobe Language Research Project have presented a few collections of proverbs of indigenous languages, with Bole (257 proverbs),Ngizim(230 proverbs), Karekare(32 proverbs),and Ngamo(14 proverbs). In the case of Bade, its collection deals with songs and folktales, with no single proverb attached (Schuh, 2004). Other non-indigenous languages like Kanuri, Fulfulde and Hausa which Schuh sees as widely spoken in the state, are the most widely studied, with the last one topping the list with several pieces of researches about proverbs including a dictionary titled Dictionary of Hausa Proverbs. Hence, these few collections of proverbs on the indigenous languages of the study area will benefit the researcher greatly, by providing him with a platform upon which to study the Bade proverbs easily. The basic aim of this research is to analyze the form and content of English and Bade proverbs. To achieve this, the research aims to address four main questions. Firstly, it tries to determine whether English and Bade proverbs have different form. Secondly, it will address the question of whether there are similarities between the content of English and Bade proverbs. Thirdly, it seeks to establish how English and Bade proverbs are preserved .Fourthly, it will ascertain whether there are differences in terms of cultural materials involved in the construction of English and Bade proverbs. Such questions are directly linked to the main aim of this research. By looking at these differences and similarities, it will be possible to justify this analysis correctly. In order to answer these research questions correctly, theoretical framework is proposed. Initially, there is the need to clarify the variables of this research. This research has two dependent variables-form and content, which depend on the independent variable- English and Bade proverbs. It is often possible that in a piece of research like this, two theories may present better analytical ground. Therefore, I have chosen to be eclectic in method, by using more than one theory in a single research. I will use two Semantic theories: Classical Metaphor will be used to analyze form; and, Topic-Comment Structure Theory to analyze content of all the proverbs in my corpus. These analyses, upon which the remaining questions and objectives will be answered and achieved, will be used to explain the form and content of both English and Bade proverbs. The decision to propose Metaphor is very much connected to its history as having positive effects on literary studies. Norrick (1985) confirms that the essence of metaphor in studies of proverbs can be traced back to Aristotle. Saeed (2004) classifies two approaches of traditional metaphor as Classical and Romantic. He ascribes classical metaphor to Aristotle, as it describes metaphor from figurative and rhetorical perspectives. Romantic metaphor is linked to ‘eighteenth and nineteenth century Romantic’ periods, which define metaphor as possibly common material in language use (Saeed, 2004). To set a focus for the research, the researcher has chosen to position it on classical perspective which directly relates to proverbs studies. Based on classical view, it seems likely that metaphor is a universal feature of proverbs. And since proverbs are characterized by ‘rigid form’, (Norick, 1985), metaphor will be of great advantage in analyzing all the proverbs tha t have figurative form in the corpus of this research. The second theory is called Topic-Comment Structure as stated above. According to Norrick (1985), this theory is attributed to Dundes(1975).He adds that the theorist proposed it due to the disagreement of paremiologists about a unified formula to analyze the content of proverbs. Using some English proverbs such as ‘Like father like son, No rose without a thorn, and Better late than never’, Dundes suggests substitutable variables such as ‘like X like Y, no X without Y, and better x than Y’ respectively. Norrick observes that these variables can be used to substitute any expression in a proverb. Therefore, this researcher will use this theory to interpret the real content of all proverbs in the corpus. This kind of research is not rare in literary studies. Different kinds of proverb research have been conducted by many literary experts in English and other languages in the world. Shariati and Teyabi (2012), in their study A Comparative Study of Proverbs Characteristics of Mesopotamian Language, and Local Dialect of Persian indicate that research in proverbs has been carried out since ‘about 2500 BC’. However, this may not discredit this research as a mere repetition of previous works of experts. Certainly, it will make it even more interesting since so far, I have not found any serious research into Bade proverbs. With this fast growing interest in literature and publication in the age of globalization, the importance of proverbs is realized not only in literary contexts but also in media, politics, religion and several other social transactions. Meider, in Dabaghi, Pishbin and Niknasab, (2010), notes that ‘proverbs obviously contain a lot of common sense, experience, wisdom, and truth, and as such they represent ready- made traditional strategies in oral speech and writing from high literature to the mass media’. Thus, it seems reasonable that for literature to be meaningful, studies of proverbs ought to be taken as important as any other aspect of literary studies. Therefore, through this analysis, this research is set to achieve certain objectives which include the following: to define the formal pattern of English and Bade proverbs; to determine the content of English and Bade proverbs; to unveil the ways of preserving the proverbs of English and Bade; to explain the different cultural material involved in the construction of English and Bade proverbs.

Grain of Hope in Breakfast of Champions :: Breakfast of Champions Essays

Grain of Hope in Breakfast of Champions â€Å"I think I am trying to clear my head of all the junk in there...the flags...I’m throwing out characters from my other books too. I’m not going to put on any more puppet shows.† This proud exclamation is made in the introduction of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. It caught my attention and drew me to continue reading. The book continues to take the reader on a bizarre journey through the human mind. Our mental trip is made easier through Vonnegut’s childlike â€Å"artwork,† which mostly consists of underwear, guns, cows, and other odds and ends. Finishing the introduction I was instantly fed a synapse of the plot. The story follows the mental decline of a rich Pontiac dealer, Dwayne Hoover, and the rise of an unknown science fiction writer, Kilgore Trout, who is to become one of the most beloved and respected human beings in history. All this is revealed on the first page. In my closed mind, I figured that I already knew the plot, so there was no point in continuing. On a whim, I flipped through the book and saw the picture of a gravestone. On the gravestone was written, â€Å"Not even the Creator of the universe knew what the man was going to say next-perhaps the man was a better universe in its infancy.† For some reason this rather simple line hooked me and so I went back to page one and decided to read a bit more. To be honest, I’m glad I did. As soon as I finished the first chapter, I was really hooked. It was one of the few novels I had ever read straight through from beginning to end in one all-night sitting. I’ll admit-so far this essay has been more of a narrative telling of my exploits with this novel, but I felt it necessary to explain a little about my initial feelings. This book is pregnant with symbols. Many of the mechanics of the book (including the chapters) became symbols in Vonnegut’s hands. The first chapter goes into American culture in depth. It explains that in our country color means everything.   â€Å"The sea pirates were white. The people who were already on the continent, who were already living full and imaginative lives, were copper-colored. When slavery was introduced, the slaves were black.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Use of Private Military Companies (PMCs) in Africa Essay -- Providing

PMCs emerge in a history course as an inevitable result of the changing in world structure and technology development. This critical review examines Anna Leander’s article on the paradox of implementing private military companies (PMCs) in Africa. The central issue is how security can be influenced by the using of PMCs. Building on Leander’s argument, this review argues that PMC is a double-edged sword that can be used to provide security as well as to stir insecurity. The blurred public and private lines and ambiguous regulations of PMCs cannot be neglect thus the use of PMC forces need stronger regulation and a better system of cooperation with other national or international actors. The review will first analyze the reasons for using PMCs as a way to support security in Africa mainly based on Leander’s views and partly on Singer’s points. Then the review will analyze factors contributing to the negative side of PMCs, especially in Darfur’s case a nd in Iraq’s case. Leander recognizes the paradoxical situation faces by employing private military companies’ forces to solve the security problems in Africa. As a matter of fact, the line between public and private security orders in weak African states has already been blurred (Leander, 2005, p.606). Private forces are inevitable actors in those African states, thus on the one hand, it is argued that encouraging PMCs in Africa is able to restore the order. In the special case of weak African states, the poor conditions and frequent conflicts call for such a â€Å"force multiplier† as the PMCs. Leader concludes four reasons that PMCs should be considered to organize the chaos in Africa. First, PMCs are external forces to break the cycles of violence in Africa (Leander, 2005, p.607). T... ...ch PMCs played important role in many major combat, while PMCs fill the gap between U.S army and locals and maintain the reconstruction projects after war, democracy issues also need to be considered. The hiring of PMCs is mostly directly through government and military forces, which means citizens can be easily excluded from the decision process when their money are spent on buying military services, possibly, to invade another country. Therefore, to conclude, the emergence of PMCs as crucial roles in Africa is an inevitable course. The wars do not find PMCs, but PMCs find wars and sell themselves. They will be frequent actors in the combat which can maintain and improve the local security. While on the contrary, to build a mature and secure system for PMCs, a lot more unstable factors need to be taken into consideration by international and national actors.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Butterfly Sisters Essay -- essays research papers

The main themes of this book is not to far from the reality of every persons life. Not everyone has to live in a tyranny and fight for freedom to live but the fact is you still need to fight for something. Life is filled with struggles and that goes to different extents for different people. For the sisters in, In The Time of The Butterflies they had to go through an extreme part of their lives together and ended up not coming out the same. They were dependent on each other yet they were independent at the same time. The main theme I picked up from this book was the faith they had. The faith they had with each other, the faith they had to survive but most importantly the faith they had for themselves. They had faith as independent woman that they will survive no matter what the cost was and if they did not then they would die trying. The other theme I picked up was independency of these woman. They did not need anything from anyone else just each other. This faith and independence I look at with the growth of my favorite character, Minerva. In the beginning of the novel, Alvarez introduces Minerva to the reader with Minerva's excitement that her Pap plans to send her away to school. School becomes Minerva's first victory and step towards her life as a revolutionary fighter. The faith she has in herself to go out into the world as an independent woman will shape her future greatly. Minerva says referring to going to school, â€Å"is how I got free† (13). Alvarez uses Minerva's de... The Butterfly Sisters Essay -- essays research papers The main themes of this book is not to far from the reality of every persons life. Not everyone has to live in a tyranny and fight for freedom to live but the fact is you still need to fight for something. Life is filled with struggles and that goes to different extents for different people. For the sisters in, In The Time of The Butterflies they had to go through an extreme part of their lives together and ended up not coming out the same. They were dependent on each other yet they were independent at the same time. The main theme I picked up from this book was the faith they had. The faith they had with each other, the faith they had to survive but most importantly the faith they had for themselves. They had faith as independent woman that they will survive no matter what the cost was and if they did not then they would die trying. The other theme I picked up was independency of these woman. They did not need anything from anyone else just each other. This faith and independence I look at with the growth of my favorite character, Minerva. In the beginning of the novel, Alvarez introduces Minerva to the reader with Minerva's excitement that her Pap plans to send her away to school. School becomes Minerva's first victory and step towards her life as a revolutionary fighter. The faith she has in herself to go out into the world as an independent woman will shape her future greatly. Minerva says referring to going to school, â€Å"is how I got free† (13). Alvarez uses Minerva's de...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Causes of International Conflict

Competing territory Is an Important cause of Internal conflict. An example Is the conflict over border between China and India In 1947. When India gained Independence from Brilliant, It Inherited the frontier drawn by the British; while China protested that It had not agreed to the frontier. It was difficult to have a clear border between the two countries because much of their frontier lies in the inaccessible Himalayas.In 1958, China announced that it had built a road on the Assai Chin plateau, which was one of the disputed territories, and the Indian government retested. Tensions worsened when fighting broke out in the disputed territories, which eventually led to a war. War ended quickly but issues are not resolved. Also, numerous border incidents have broken out. They then signed an agreement to address the border issue reasonably. The conflicts occur because the territories are claimed by the two countries.Control over certain tracts of land can be important to a country especi ally If It concerns its defended and national pride. As such, some countries may attempt to extend territorial control by taking over territories which do to belong to them, which may result In conflicts due to territorial disputes. Both countries will not be able to accept the action taken by the other country and they will need to take a harder stance against the other country. This often ends up in using military means and disputes to fight for the territories.Therefore, competing territory causes internal conflict. The two other factors that will lead to internal conflict is the competition over scarce resources and ideological differences. The competition over scarce resources Is a factor that leads to Internal conflict. For example, Iceland and Britain were In conflict over fishing grounds in the sass. Iceland has few natural resources and depended on the fishing Industry for Its survival. Fishes are very important to Iceland because the country depend a lot on fish for surviv al. 70% of Iceland's export is fresh fish and fish products.Therefore, it is important to maintain sufficient fish stocks in the seas around Iceland. Fishermen from European countries like Britain were overfeeding around Iceland, leading to the decrease in fish stocks and making Iceland felt that its nation interest were threatened. Iceland sought help from the United Nations which extended Iceland's fishing ground boundary, such that no country can fish within Iceland's boundary without permission. However, British refused to comply because they think that it was not their problem or fault.When Britain refused to acknowledge the new boundary, Iceland cut Its diplomatic ties with Britain, until an agreement was signed later on. The world's natural resources such as land, water, OLL and fish are unequally distributed. As such, some countries have more of these resources while others have less. Countries with fewer resources may use force to gain more, especially if these inflicts may arise. In this case, Iceland had to react as their livelihood was affected and they had to ensure their own survival. This concerns its country's survival, economic growth and national pride.Both countries will not be able to accept the action taken by the other country and they will need to take a harder stance against the other country. This often ends up in using military means and disputes to fight for the resources. Therefore, competition of scarce resources causes internal conflict. Ideological differences are different values and beliefs among countries that may cause conflicts. Countries pursuing different ideologies can come into conflict if they see that their ideological beliefs are threatened.For example, North Korea and South Korea fought a war in 1950 because they believed in different ideologies. North Korea, which believed in Communism, invaded South Korea which believed in democracy. The United Nations defended South Korea in fear that communist ideologies would be spread to South Korea. The war only ended when an agreement was signed and a demoralized zone was created. Ideological differences has causes both countries to not be able to accept the action as well as the values and beliefs oaken by the other country and they will need to take a harder stance against the other country.This often ends up in using military means and disputes to fight for the beliefs and values of their own country. Therefore, ideological beliefs causes internal conflict. Competing of scarce resources is a more important factor than ideological differences in causing internal conflicts. Scarce resources has a bigger impact than ideological differences for a country. This is because the scarce resources may be vital for the survival of a country. In the case of Iceland-Britain conflict, Iceland's was pendent on the fishing industry for its economic needs.As the livelihood of the Islanders would be threatened if fish stocks decrease, they were willing to risk clashes with Britain in order to protect their national interests and ensure their survival. Conflicts over ideology are less important because it does not affect the survival of a country directly. On the other hand, the natural resources that a country has would promote economic growth and allow a country to develop. Therefore, competing of scarce resources is more important than ideological differences.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Dystopian Essay (Essay of Definition) Essay

Dystopian Essay (Essay of Definition) Ultimate Goal: 1. Define, in your eyes, what makes a dystopian society 2. Use our 3 novels, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, and at least 2 scholarly articles to influence your concept of dystopia According to the New World Encyclopedia, â€Å"dystopia† is defined as follows: A dystopia (from the Greek ÃŽ ´Ãâ€¦ÃÆ'- and Ï„ÏÅ'πΠ¿Ãâ€š, alternatively, cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia. A dystopian society is one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution. While there have been actual societies which have experienced most if not all of these characteristics, the term dystopia is largely a literary term, referring to a class of literary works that serve as cautionary tales against some form of totalitarianism of the left or right. Some academic circles distinguish between anti-utopia and dystopia. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopia because its leaders do not aspire to or use the rhetoric of utopia to justify their power. Orwell’s Animal Farm is a classic anti-utopia, in which the pigs come to justify their leadership in the name of creating a utopian society. The literature of dystopia draws on the human experience of the failure of states and ideologies to create the utopias, or even the more modest aims of good governance, often abridging human freedom in the name of some ideal that leads to authoritarian, even totalitarian consequences. Yet, what other elements are included in a dystopian society? Based upon our readings of â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, Fahrenheit 451, Anthem, and Animal Farm, you need to come up with a working definition of a dystopian society. You will need to consult 2 other academic, informational, scholarly articles/sources to better inform your knowledge of dystopias. Based upon class discussions, we can determine that the following elements are/can be part of a dystopian society: Chose one of the above (or come up with your own). This will be your working definition of a dystopia (it might help if your definition has more than one requirement to meet). Using the 3 novels, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† and the 2 articles as sources, prove that your definition is an accurate description of dystopia. Requirements: Sources: Must use a total of 6 sources (3 novels, â€Å"HB†, 2 articles) Citations: Must cite from each novel at least twice (that’s 6 citations).6 Must cite from the other sources at least once (that’s 3 citations). +3 An additional citation (any of the 6 sources) (that’s 1 citation). +1 TOTAL =10 I. Introduction: The Definition A. You will use this paragraph to explore the history and different takes on what makes a dystopian society/novel. This is where your 2 academic, informational citations will be mentioned. Throughout this paragraph, you will whittle down the information until you’ve narrowed the concept down to your working definition. B. Thesis: This is where you tell us that the books are dystopias because they meet requirements A, B, & C. II. Requirement A How do the novels meet this first requirement? (Not every novel need demonstrate this requirement, but it would make a stronger argument if they did.) III. Requirement B (see above) IV. Requirement C (see above) V. Conclusion How does your definition of a dystopia offer something new, something different? Please do not just restate your thesis and topic sentences. Brief Outline #2 Organized according to each novel/story I. Introduction: The Definition a. You will use this paragraph to explore the history and different takes on what makes a dystopian society/novel. This is where your 2 academic, informational citations will be mentioned. Throughout this paragraph, you will whittle down the information until you’ve narrowed the concept down to your working definition. b. Thesis: This is where you tell us that the books are dystopias because they meet requirements A, B, & C. II. Book #1 (Animal Farm) a. How does this book meet all of your requirements for a dystopia? You are only required to use 2 quotes from the book, but make sure you address all of the necessary requirements mentioned in your thesis. III. Book #2 (Anthem) (See Above) IV. Book #3 (Fahrenheit 451) (See Above) V. Short Story (â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†) *Since you are only required to cite from this story once, you may want to incorporate this paragraph / information with one of the above* VI. Conclusion How does your definition of a dystopia offer something new, something different? Please do not just restate your thesis and topic sentences.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Health Care Finance Essay

Complete the following table by writing responses to the questions. Cite the sources in the text and list them at the bottom of the table. What criterion must be met for true comparability? Consistency, verification and unit measurement must all be met in order for true criteria. (Chp.14, pg.151) What elements of consistency should be considered? Provide an example. The elements of consistency that should be considered is time periods, consistent methodology, and inflation factors. An example of a time period would be that you could not compare a ten month time period to a twelve month period instead you would annualize the ten month period. An example of consistent methodology would be to use the same method throughout the entire time period. An example of inflation factors would be if expenses are expended then it is expected for expenses to increase. (Chp.14, pg.151-152) What is the manager’s responsibility in comparing data? The manager’s responsibility in comparing data is to recall and apply the elements of consistency. This is critical because the consistency of data will be used to make decisions. (Chp.14, pg.152) What are the four common uses of comparative data? The four common uses of comparative data are compare current expenses to current budget, compare current actual expenses to prior periods in own organization, compare to other organizations, and compare to industry standards. (Chp.14, pg.153-157) What is meant by standardized data? Standardized data is data that aids in comparability. (Chp.14, pg.161)

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Religion in History

Hebrew religious beliefs differed from the beliefs of other people in the ancient Middle East. â€Å"Of all the ancient civilizations, it was the Hebrews who exerted perhaps the greatest influence on western society as well as the western intellectual tradition† (â€Å"Hebrew'). The Hebrews first appeared in Mesopotamia and then migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan and then into Egypt and back to Canaan. The Hebrew people were different. For them, there was only one god, Yahweh. This was a fundamental difference between the Hebrews and their neighbors in the ancient Middle East.The Egyptians, Babylonians, and others did not worship Yahweh. Not Reason but Revelation was the cornerstone of the Hebrew faith† (â€Å"Religion†). Yahweh was the focus of Hebrew life; therefore, the Hebrews would give no praise to royalty. Moses received the Ten Commandments as guidelines for the Hebrews. The poor, children, and sick were all protected and rich and poor were to be treated under the same laws. Personal property was not most important and did not define a person for the first time.Hebrews' felt that Yahweh was fair; however their neighbors felt different about their Gods. â€Å"The ancient lands of Canaan, Israel, and Judah were overrun at various times. The peoples who ruled them brought with hem their own gods and religious practices. Wherever they went, the Hebrews kept their customs and their belief† (â€Å"Hebrew†). The Persians were settled in the area long before the Hebrews. â€Å"The Persians had two gods, Ahura Mazda, who created all the good things in the world, and Ahriman, who created all the bad things in the world.These two gods were at war all the time. Their struggle kept the world in a delicate balance. If one god gained the upper hand, then more of his influence would be felt† (â€Å"Middle†). The Phoenicians also believed in gods that were responsible for parts of nature, such as rain and wind. Baal, the storm god, was the second most important Phoenician god, behind El, the chief god† (â€Å"Middle†). The Phoenicians also believed in a life after death, as did their neighbors the Egyptians.Both embalmed their dead and wrapped them in linen; the Phoenicians placed the bodies in stone coffins in hillside cemeteries It was believed that people could decide which god they wanted to follow. â€Å"Those who followed Ahura Mazda, the god of good, did good deeds like keeping their word, giving to the poor, treating other people well, and obeying the king. Those who followed Ahriman did bad things, like lying, cheating, being lazy, and being reedy' (â€Å"Middle†). In the end, Ahura Mazda would triumph and good would win. People who supported this god would enjoy happiness after death.Those who supported Ahriman would be punished for that support. â€Å"This religion, later called Zoroastrianism, was the religion practiced throughout the Persian Empire when Alexander the Great conquered it in 330† (â€Å"Middle†). With his influence, Alexander brought the religion of the Greeks. Sumerians and Hebrews had many similarities and differences in their beliefs. They both give high regard to the Gods. Gods have the most power and can bring ood fortune, good harvest, good health, and good life. On the other hand, the Gods can take all these goods back and cause death, sickness, and plague.Sumerians and religious beliefs of the Hebrews from the belief systems of Egypt or Mesopotamia was clearly their monotheism. This monotheism made possible for a new awareness of the individual. Man had the capacity to choose between good and evil. Sumerians practice polytheism; in fact, they think of the Gods as human. Eastern polytheism used images to represent their gods and goddesses. The Sumerians believed that the forces of nature were alive. The people couldn't control these forces of nature, so they worshipped them as gods.The people also believed t hat they were living on Earth only to please the gods. â€Å"The Sumerian gods included Anu, the ruler of the gods; Enki, the god of earth; and Enlil, the god of the air, who separated heaven and earth. Enlil it was also who gave the Sumerians their knowledge of farming† (Hebrew'). Each Sumerian city also had its own god. The focus of the city was the ziggurat, a large temple, which was the home of that city's god. The priests who worked in the ziggurats were the only ones who knew the will of the gods, so hey were very powerful.

Book report on The Hobbit

Book report on The Hobbit This book revolves around Bilbo Baggins, who makes goes on an adventure. He is a hobbit and therefore this book’s title is The Hobbit. Themes 1. Bilbo’s development in a hero by doing a quest. 2. The greed of the dwarves who make such a long journey for their treasure and Smaug who doesn’t share anything. 3. Power, used by Gandalf and other creatures in this story. Bilbo’s inner power that develops during the story. Description of characters Bilbo He’s the hero of the story. But at first he has this quiet non-adventurous life at The Hill. He likes to stay at home. Then Gandalf comes up and convinces him to go on an adventure. Because of this adventure he sees how much strength he’s got inside of him. When he comes back to his home he turns into a more eccentric person, though he still likes comfort. Thorin He’s the leader of the dwarves. He’s very brave and intelligent. He’s proud too and he wants his family’s tre asure back and he’s willing to do everything for it. He has a great desire for it. Sometimes he’s a bit stubborn. Gandalf He’s a wise and old wizard. Gandalf is on the good side. He knows a lot and especially about magic, he has great powers that no other person has. When people need him, he shows up immediately. He’s that person that knows more than any other people, he knows how things will be, how people will react. Smaug The evil dragon that took the treasure of Thorin’s family and now guards it in the Lonely Mountain, this is his only purpose. He can speak, and he tends to do this in a very bitter tone. With his flaming breath he can destroy cities. He’s got a hide which is impenetrable. There’s nothing good about him, therefore no-one cares about him. Summary Once there lived a hobbit, called Bilbo Baggins. Hobbits are small creatures, half the size of a man. He likes comfort and he’s not very into adventures. But then Ga ndalf the wizard shows up at his house and he wants him to go on an adventure, Bilbo doesn’t want to go. Though he asks him for tea the next day. But the next day, one after another, thirteen dwarves – their leader is Thorin – come to his house. Bilbo provides food and drinks for them and then Gandalf shows up with a map with a secret door on it. Bilbo is convinced and so this party goes on an adventure. They want to capture Thorin’s treasure, taken away by Smaug the dragon. They leave and then suddenly three trolls capture Bilbo and the dwarves, Gandalf stays out their hands. He makes them stay outside so they turn into stone. They find weapons which they take. After that they rest at the place of lord Elrond in Rivendell where they get some advice on the map. They go to the Misty Mountains and then a snow storm makes hem go into the caves where they get prisoned by some goblins. Gandalf saves the dwarves but he forgets to take Bilbo out of there. Bilbo finds a golden ring, which he takes with him. Suddenly he meets Gollum, a creature that lives there. Gollum wants to eat Bilbo and makes him solve some riddles. If he wins he can go, if he loses Gollum can eat him. Bilbo wins but Gollum still wants to eat him and searches for the ring, Bilbo has got it though and uses it to get away from the cave. He gets back to the group and then they are being pursued by the goblins and Wargs, creatures that look like wolves. Luckily Beorn and some eagles bring them to a safer place, Beorn’s house. Then the group enters Mirkwood’s forest. Gandalf has something more important to do at this moment and leaves them. In the wood spiders capture the dwarves in their webs. Bilbo saves them by killing some spiders with his sword and magical ring. Then they are captured by wood elves. Bilbo again saves the dwarves, he hides them in wine barrels using his ring. The barrels go to Lake Town, a town near the Lonely Mountain where Smaug protects Thorin’s treasure. With help of people in Lake Town they go to the Mountain. By looking on the map with the hidden door they manage to go into the Mountain carefully and Bilbo talks to the dragon. Smaug reveals by accidence that he’s got a weak spot near his heart. Bilbo steals a golden cup and Smaug gets very angry. The dragon wants to destroy Lake Town, but the archer Bard kills him by shooting an arrow in his heart. However, the town was burned to the ground. Its residents go to the Lonely Mountain to get their hands on a piece of the treasure. Thorin doesn’t want to share his treasure so the humans and elves trap Bilbo and the dwarves inside. Bilbo gets out of the mountain, because he wants to find solution for bringing peace. Thorin wants revenge on Bilbo, but Gandalf manages to save him just in time. Then an army of Goblins and Wargs comes to the Mountain. The elves, humans and dwarves have to make an alliance to fight the enemy. It seems like the goblins are winning but then Beorn and the eagles come to help the good army. After this battle Bilbo and Gandalf go back to The Hill, where Bilbo lives. Bilbo gets a fraction of the treasure. Many hobbits don’t accept him anymore, since hobbits were respectable and unadventurous creatures. Though he gets lots of respect of elves, dwarves and men now. Bilbo changed, he likes talking to elves and wizards now, though he still likes his home, because he likes the comfort of it.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

American Diplomacy in Vietnam Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Diplomacy in Vietnam - Term Paper Example The diplomatic interests in Vietnam dates back to after the Second World War, when the Americans quickly moved to block the spread of communism in the South East Asia region. Japan was strategically located not only for trade interests, but its deviation from the larger Asian political and trade dynamics meant the country was not prone to the communism ideologies that were spreading fast in the Asian region. Japan was thus used as a strategic location to help in curbing the spread of communism from Russia and China, towards the South East Asia region. 2 This implies foreign diplomatic approaches in the Indochina region by the Americans were mainly designed to curb the spread of communism in the region, rather than to promote trade; the Asian countries were a bit poor, and with little trade links with the outer world as Schaller argues. The American interests were therefore based on blocking communism in Indochina region, rather than policies to help in developing Vietnam and other So uth East Asia region. ... oes not elaborate on how the ethical and moral concepts were being evaluated in this case, the actions of supporting a Junta in a country deep in civil crises raised doubts over the national interests of the American government in Vietnam. Kissinger critically elaborates American interests and their conflict with moral authority, which led to involvement of the American armies in the Vietnamese war, and critically tries to investigate the policies under President Nixon after inheriting the war in 1969. The conflict with moral principles is observed in serious critics that resulted after the war to challenge this mission.3 However, Kissinger notes that the Americans were fighting a vague war, and no ultimate answers concerning American interests have been clearly outlined.4 All the same, the article does not provide elaborate response by other nations involved in this crisis in the Indochina region. The article critically takes the Vietnam War on a moral approach in describing reasons behind American involvement in the war, and its affects. In addition to the interests that the American government had in Vietnam, the war presented a case of a badly prepared army in a foreign land to fight for unknown causes. After the collapse of the South Vietnam in April 30 1975, although having achieved a resounding victory over the battle field, the Vietnamese were holding Unites States over promised reconstruction aid amounting to over $ 4 billion.5 Though the Vietnamese people had worn the war, there was still a bargain to make in pressing the United States government to inject funds for reconstruction. The aim of this aid by the United States government could be read suspiciously. Either the government had some interests to promote in Vietnam, to which they had promised massive

Monday, August 12, 2019

Black Criticism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Black Criticism - Assignment Example As a critical theory, Black criticism single out condemnation and critique knowledge which is marked by more specific characteristic. The knowledge about racial discrimination presents itself as definite, final, and past human motivations and interests. As such, critical theory seek to destabilize such knowledge. Black criticism acknowledges that racialism is engrained within the system and fabric of American society. An individual racist does not need to so as to note institutional racism is universal in the leading culture. The theory recognizes that white supremacy and white privilege dominates the power structures, which propagates the marginalization of Blacks. Black criticism also discards the traditions of meritocracy and liberalism. Legal discourse reveals that the existing law is impartial and colorblind, nonetheless, the theory challenges this lawful â€Å"act† by scrutinizing meritocracy and liberalism as a means of self-interest, privilege and power.   Black criticism recognizes that meritocracy and liberalism are habitually stories told by those with power, wealth, and privilege. Such stories creates a wrong picture of meritocracy; every person who works hard enough can attain power, wealth, and privilege but disregarding the systemic inequalities which institutional ra cism offer. Intersectionality (examination of sexual orientation, race, class, gender, national origin, and how they interplay in various settings) in Black criticism leads to a multiple oppressions and identifies that race, in itself, cannot suggest disempowerment (Camara, 2011, pg. 63). This is a significant tenet in emphasizing that Black criticism is crucial for most oppressions facing folks of color. The theory does not commit to racism as one–dimensional approach to oppression due to the complexities of the world. An interpretation of white writing especially in racist nations illumines the level of Blacks` oppression –

Sunday, August 11, 2019

U03a1 Project Current Environment Analysis Essay

U03a1 Project Current Environment Analysis - Essay Example Various tools are used in strategic management planning process including SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Scenario Planning, Competitive Analysis, and Chain Analysis. Firstly, it would be better to deploy SWOT analysis method to analyze the health care organization’s current environment. The organization has long years’ working experience and it seems to be the most potential competitive advantage of the BAMC (Murgo, Westerhof, Giolma, and Altobelli). This health care organization started its operations in 1879 as a small medical dispensary. Presently, it is the only Level I trauma center in the MEDCOM. Under BRAC 2005, the BAMC has decided to expand its inpatient services with intent to improve the health care quality. In addition, the organization offers nuclear medicine service, PET/CT, SPECT/CT, and molecular imaging and other therapy services; these distinctive services add to the BAMC’s potential strengths. In the opinion of Treasure, Rainer, and Sadler, medi cal readiness and training weaknesses are the most obvious limitations of the Brooke Army Medical Center. Since the medical readiness and training are the crucial elements in determining the degree of efficacy of a health care organization, those issues may adversely affect the growth of BAMC. The BAMC began the construction of its Consolidated Tower (CoTo) in 2009; this facility would meet the infrastructure requirements of administrative department, outpatient pediatric clinic, SICU, CCU, expanded Emergency and Trauma department, psychiatric nursing units, and USAISR Burn Unit (â€Å"US Army†). Hence, this addition would be a potential opportunity for the BAMC to get closer to its expansional objectives. However, it seems that staffing shortage especially; nurse shortage has been challenging the long term sustainability of the organization. Currently, the US president Barack Obama is planning

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Fainel exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fainel exam - Essay Example It is a house built of wood and it stands out as a brow house ext to a wall made of stones. Textures and window is a painting in a natural setting. It is a window which is next to a garden something common in most homes. It is presented in a very natural way using ordinary colors to make the painting familiar to the viewer. Antiquities angel is a painting reflecting the face of an antiquity shop. The different forms of antiquities one can find in such shops such as drum gives the painting its identity. Conclusively, Elizabeth Ann has stated that her work shows fragmented reality. She is inspired by music, sound, pieces and bits of manmade and natural forms of nature. With the use of light, color, and shadow she forms her paintings to represent nature around her. Use of logic in a dream world makes her paintings unique and exceptional. Gathering images from the real world, and putting them together in creative ways has ensured that her work is relevant in the modern contemporary