History 82 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History 82 - Essay Example 1. The American Indians were passive to the European attack in the beginning as they did not expect the new comers to be rivals. They believed the new people came in search of friendship and were superior to them. 2. The American Indians had ideals much different from the Europeans. They believed in sharing since they had abundance of everything. They did not see any reason to fight. They wondered why the Europeans mercilessly slaughtered the natives when there was so much available for everybody to share. Columbus rightly judged they would fall without resistance if they were attacked initially as they were very unsuspecting. 3. Once the word regarding the Spanish massacres started to spread, the American Indians started to fight against the new comers. But, they were not able to withstand the mighty armies of the Europeans and soon succumbed to them. Protests continued over centuries making the Europeans hate the Indians to the core. 4. African Americans were bought into the pictur e to work in the abducted Indian lands. What was kept common for all was made a particular communities properties and a new community which neither owned the land nor belonged to the nation was forcibly migrated there to work as slaves making their situation very vulnerable. The situation lasted for many centuries. 5. The African Americans accepted their plight due their vulnerable situation for the first few years. They started to voice their concerns in the form of rebellions and strikes after a few decades. 6. Cultural genocide was unleashed on the African Indians with the sole aim of eliminating their pride. Their children and land were abducted, families split and forced to live a secondary life in the name of civilizing them. Forced religious transformations were done to exterminate the Indians and make them follow only the European culture. The African Americans had great persistence through which they safeguarded their culture and spirituality. â€Å"Arawak men and women, n aked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts.† (Howard Zinn, 1) â€Å"The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...." (Howard Zinn, 5) â€Å"When a Spanish armada appeared at Vera Cruz, and a bearded white man came ashore, with strange beasts (horses), clad in iron, it was thought that he was the legendary Aztec man-god who had died three hundred years before, with the promise to return-the mysterious Quetzalcoatl. And so they welcomed him, with munificent hospitality.† (Howard Zinn, 12) â€Å"They lack all manner of commerce, neither buying nor selling, and rely exclusively on their natural environment for maintenance. They are extremely generous with their possessions and by the same token covet the possessions of then; friends and expect the same degree of liberality. ...† (As told by Las Casas)( Howard Zinn, 7) â€Å" We are unarmed, and willing to give you what you ask, if you come in a friendly manner, and not so simple as not to know that it is much better

Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited Essay

Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited changes in phenotype in descendant - Essay Example Any ecosystem is composed of Abiotic and Biotic components. The Abiotic components include the atmosphere, where air acts as a medium, lithosphere and hydrosphere. The nature of the response of the organisms to these Abiotic factors depends on the essential factors and limiting factors. The response is best explained rather by ecological theories like Liebig-Blackman Law of Limiting factors and Shelford's Law of Tolerance. The Biotic components are composed of the biotic community each with an ecological niche influenced by community evolution, succession, growth, regulation and interactions. The ecological genetics is thus, a product of interactions of organisms with these Abiotic and biotic factors with the elements of adaptation, natural selection and speciation largely influenced by the ecological dynamics of energy flow and biogeochemical cycles. Thus, inherited changes in a phenotype depends on gravity of these interactions and the potential of these factors to cause a genomic change or a mutation. It is worthy to mention the role of Ecological pollution as a potential and vital factor in this process of genomic change today. Ecological pollution is one of the vital factors causing genomic changes or mutation, which is being carried through the generations. Thus, these pollutants act as potential mutagens. ... More than 65,000 chemicals are currently in use in U.K with which human beings come into constant contact. Many of these chemicals are harmful and pose a serious health hazard. Numerous chemicals have been designated as hazardous to biological system and these chemicals pose an occupational health hazard to workers who are constantly in contact with them. These chemicals are often toxic, mutagenic/carcinogenic, causing serious diseases like Cancer and disabilities of various kinds. Even children born to women working in nickel refinery have been found to have Genital malformations. Industrial units that release toxic gases like Sulphur di oxide, Nitrogenous compounds and Mercurial derivatives contribute to air pollution to a great extent. The automobile exhaust fumes rich in carbon monoxide harms the oxygen binding mechanism in human blood. Welding is another industrial important contributor in which metal or other thermoplastic materials are joined together by the application of heat or pressure. This process produces gases like acetylene, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, phosgene and tungsten. (Palmer .T, 2006) The gas and chemical pollutants primarily enter the human system by inhalation route namely Respiration. The deposition of these inhaled particles in the lungs is influenced by its physical and chemical properties and a variety of host factors. In the lungs, these particles produce a variety of reactions including Asthma and Cancer depending on the concentration, duration of the exposure of the particles, and degree of exposure. Even babies in the womb have been found to be susceptible than their mothers to DNA damage from air pollution, despite the added protection of the

Egon Schiele: Influences on and Impact in Art

Egon Schiele: Influences on and Impact in Art Was Egon Schiele ahead of his time or just in touch with it? A master of expressionism or practising pornographer and paedophile? What was the driving force behind his most memorable images; those being his nudes and self portraits? Looking at economic, social, personal influences, was he milking the times and environment for self gain or was he a hormone raging self absorbed youngster finding himself? Introduction Expressionism is described in typically polemic terms in the preface for the 1912 exhibition in Cologne, featuring new artists of this genre. In it, it says: â€Å"the exhibition is intended to offer a general view of the newest movement in painting, which has succeeded atmospheric naturalism and the impressionist rendering of motion, and which strives to offer a simplification and intensification in the mode of expression, after new rhythms and new uses of colour and a decorative or monumental configuration – a general view of that movement which has been described as expressionism.† Schiele certainly fulfilled the loose terminologies expressed above, as a great deal of the subject matter he explored, primarily his nudes and his self-portraits, were concerned with the constant need to redefine and explore different ways of expressing these themes; a simplification and intensification in the mode of expression. At times, Schiele reduces the broad sentiments of Impressionism to a single streak; he cuts out all that is unnecessary, reducing his backgrounds to a simple wash of colour, and thus focuses on his primary interest, that of the human subject. Schiele was also extremely concerned with the notion of self in his work; he is frequently cited in critical work as a narcissist and, with over 100 self portraits to his name, each of which appear to be concerned with showing himself in various, often contradictory ways, this would appear to be true. But, beyond simple glorification of the self, Schiele seems to be doing something else in his self-portraiture. By picturing himself in such a varied and at times contradictory way, Schiele in turn questions his own authenticity, and attempts to align himself with that great canon of artist in society, as a contemporary Promethean or Christ-like figure. â€Å"Allegory, unmasking, the presentation of a personable image, and close scrutiny of body language as influenced by the psyche, all met most palpably where Schieles eye looked most searchingly – in his self-portraits, his odyssey through the vast lands of the self. His reflections on and of himself filled a great hall of mirrors where he performed a pantomime of the self unparalleled in twentieth century art.† Indeed, the ambiguity of Schiele as regards himself is a dense and complex subject, which regards both â€Å"truth†, and a more subjective appraisal of art in Viennese society during the time in which Schiele was painting. Schiele was also concerned with breaking down and fundamentally opposing the traditions of Viennese culture and art which, at the time, were largely very conservative in opinion. In his art, Schiele would strike out at the culture that celebrated Biedermeier art and the slavish reproduction of classical works that he was taught at Viennas Academie der Bildunden Kunste (Viennas Academy of Fine Art), which he was admitted to on the grounds of his exceptional talent as a draughtsman. Most prominently, he would break these rules, and was thus ahead of his times with his extremely controversial oeuvre, which broke from these schools almost completely, both stylistically and in terms of the subject matter that they conveyed. But it is extremely difficult, if not impossible when considering any artist to extricate him / her from the times in which he / she was born. An artist is inevitably bound to the world around him / her, and thus, it is important to consider the economic, social and cultural trends that were prevalent at the time. Schiele was part of the expressionist movement – which immediately set itself up against the heralded principals of art in Vienna, by setting up its own artist-led business entities, using the work and the life of Klimt as an example. I will expand upon the layered history that led up to Viennese expressionism, and hope to extrapolate the extent to which Schiele was paving the way for a new generation of artists. Schieles art was especially controversial in its subject matter. In his early work especially, unflinching portraits were painted that not only showed Schiele in uncompromising positions, but also subjects such as proletariat children, who were invariably portrayed naked, and painted with a grotesque and sickly eroticism that draws you unerringly into these taboo areas. Whether Schiele was deliberately trying to shock and provoke the modesties of the Viennese public, or whether he was trying to uncover a more universal, spiritual or sexual truth is subject to debate. Overall, in this essay, I will discuss how the history of Vienna impacted upon the work of Schiele, looking at the cultural, social and economic impact of Schiele. I will also look at how Schiele uses the self-portrait, especially how he chooses to either promote, or at least define the prevalent role of expressionist artist in his work. Then I will look at how the abundance of these controversial self-portraits, along with innumerable photographs of Schiele posing, in turn makes Schieles identity in his work more ambiguous. Then I will look at the more pornographic side of Schiele, and question how Schiele, deeply embedded in the cultural and moral codes of the time, reacted entirely against them and established his own, art of â€Å"ugliness†. History Of Viennese Expressionism Fredrick Raphael, in his preface to Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler, suggests something about the Viennese psyche; he says that: â€Å"In 1866, Bismarcks Prussia destroyed Austro-Hungarys bravely incompetent army at Sadowa. The effect of that defeat on the Viennese psyche cannot be exactly assessed. Austria had already suffered preliminary humiliation by the French, under Louis-Napoleon, but Sadowa confirmed that she would never again be a major player in the worlds game. Yet conscious acceptance of Austrias vanished supremacy was repressed by the brilliance and brio of its social and artistic life. Who can be surprised that Adlers discovery of the inferiority complex, and of compensating assertiveness, was made in a society traumatized by dazzling decline? It was as if the city which spawned Arthur Schinitzler and Sigmund Freud feared to awake from its tuneful dreams to prosaic reality.† Indeed, the times in which Egon Schiele was making his mark on the Viennese establishment was a time where the Viennese art community were at their most conservative, or most susceptible to lapsing into these â€Å"tuneful dreams†. Schieles self-imposed mission, it seemed, was to violently shake these people into a state of consciousness. But that isnt to say that Schiele existed entirely in a vacuum, living entirely by his own rules. Comini stresses that: â€Å"The content of Schieles Expressionism then was a heightened sense of pathos and impending doom, and an acute awareness of the self. Schieles Expressionist form drew from the great European reservoir of Symbolist evocativeness.† So, from a veritable melange of varying influences, Schiele managed to get his form, which combined that of exceptional draughtsman, with an inescapable desire for portraying the artistry of â€Å"ugliness†, something of which Schiele was something of a pioneer. In 1897, Schiele joined the painting class of Christian Griepenkerl; who was a deeply conservative artist devoted to neoclassicism, or the slavish devotion and replication of classic works of art. This involved long hours copying the works of the Old Masters at Viennas Academy of Fine Art. Schiele was enrolled for his superior draughtsmanship, but he was eventually alienated from it because he didnt see the relevance or the importance in neoclassicism. Thus, he became something of a troublemaker to the establishment, and was eventually forced out. This was echoed 100 years hence by the Romantics; an art group who pursued a loose programme intended to reinvest art with emotional impact. The Romantics, however, proved too unpalatable to the Viennese citizenry, who instead preferred the work of Biedermeier artists. Kallir says: â€Å"On the whole, Germans proved more receptive to Romanticism than Austrians who shied away from such intense expressions of feeling and took refuge in the mundane cheer of the Biedermeier.† She goes on to say: â€Å"Biedermeier [†¦] was geared more to the applied than to the fine arts, though in all its myriad incarnations it promoted the personal comforts of the middle class Burger. Biedermeier painting revolved around idealized renditions of everyday life, scenes of domestic bliss, genre pictures portraying ruddy-cheeked peasants, and picturesque views of the native countryside.† Being born into this highly stringent, conservative environment must have shaped Schieles defiance somewhat, as Schiele not only seems to break with what was established in Vienna as profitable art, but he almost seems to occupy exactly the opposite role. Even in works by Klimt, who was deemed controversial at the time, there are still elements of decorative palatability that makes his work visually and aesthetically appealing. Schiele seems to be deliberately working against this formula; which was brave considering that art, at the time, depended on patronage and buyers to actually sustain a profit. Schiele didnt seem concerned in the slightest that his work wouldnt get a buyer. In fact, the market is abandoned almost completely. In Schieles early work, art becomes â€Å"ugly†; his figures are pallid and atrophied; the composition of the pieces are unconventional and thus attack the sensibilities of the audience. Upon his break from Viennas Academy, and much akin to Klimt, whom he admired and painted on a number of occasions, Schiele set up his own group, entitled simply, â€Å"The New Art Group.† This was similar to Klimts route, as he set up the Viennese Secession, of which Schiele would play a part, which came from and used the tried and tested formula of the Genossenschaft betdender Kunster Wiens (Vienna Society of Visual Artists), a project financed by Emperor Franz Josef as a means of promoting art in the city. However, this system was not without its drawbacks. â€Å"Its progressive potential was [†¦] undermined by a policy of majority rule, which generally granted victory to the conservative faction. Within this context, the societys role as dealer was particularly disturbing to the younger, more forward-thinking minority, from whom exclusion from major exhibitions could have adverse financial consequences.† Similarly, the capitalist nature of art, coupled with the conservatism of the market made for a very difficult time for the progressive artist, and perhaps was a reason behind why Schiele opposed the artistic community with such fervency and vitriol, and often resorted to shock tactics and self-publicity to get himself heard. Klimts Secession operated on similar principles to the Vienna society: â€Å"†¦the Secession [†¦] was principally a marketing agent for its members work.† Thus, again it proved difficult for the younger, more radical artists to break through, despite Klimts support. Later, funds from patronage dwindled, so it was necessary for artists to seek out new markets. â€Å"The withdrawal of official patronage pre-empted the Secessionists to seek new ways of generating the sales and commissions necessary to keep them in business.† Ultimately, this meant that socialist, and personal art became more prominent a theme. The monumental, allegorical themes that Klimt and Schiele tended to attack (although Schieles work was deeply personal, it was also very monumental and took a number of influences from Klimt and symbolist art), no longer had a substantial market. Klimts decorative style, coupled with his established name, could still sell work to his established clients. Schiele, however, had no such luck, and it was only in 1918, the last year of his life, that Schiele managed to break even with his work. Although Schiele did not seem overly concerned with the economic potential of his works; in fact, he even seemed to equate poverty and suffering to the role of an artist in general, and Schiele was probably one of the most uncompromising artists of the twentieth century in terms of pandering to a particular audience; it is nevertheless important to consider economics, social and cultural conditions because, Schiele, by setting himself and his role as an artist in direct opposition to the establishment, also put himself in the long-standing tradition of artist in opposition to mainstream society. Kallir points out that: â€Å"The Secession, the Galerie Muethke, and the Wiener Werkstatte [, the latter two being establishments set up in the wake of the gradual reduction of patronage funds and a need to find and establish new markets for art], in the formative first decade of this century were peculiar products of their times that shared common aspirations and limitations. It was important to all concerned that these entities, although ostensibly committed to marketing art, were artist-run.† So, although economics were a concern in art, they were not necessarily, as dictated previously with the majority run Vienna Society of Visual Artists, primarily about making money and transforming the Viennese art scene into a profitable industry. Economics was an incidental concern, only foisted upon the establishment by chronic necessity: â€Å"The artists evinced a tacitly accepted loathing for art-as-business (Schiele could be particularly eloquent on this point) and a determination to place aesthetic considerations above economic ones.† So, as is fairly obvious from the art that he made, Schiele was against the motive of making money from art. But this reveals an interesting contradiction that plagued expressionist and other, later artists seeking to make a living from art at the same time as challenging the social and economic processes that ultimately fund its creation: â€Å"[I]f the primary goal [of these entities] was to serve the artistic community, these organisations could not entirely ignore their secondary purpose: to sell art.† So, Schiele, like many other artists, was cut between a requirement for money (which was especially apparent now that the former staple of patronage monies had all but dried up), and a requirement to express uncompromisingly his artistic expression. Schiele would not settle for the former, and instead pursued the latter with a vigour and an intensity that, at the time, was quite extraordinary. Schiele and Self-Portraiture. Of all the artists in the 20th century, or indeed any century, Egon Schiele was probably one of the most self-conscious. But, in Schiele, the self is a very problematic subject. Schoeder suggests: â€Å"In his self-portraits, Schiele shows himself as wrathful, with a look of spiritual vacancy, or as if racked by a severe spasm of hysteria; or arrogantly looking down his nose, with head tossed back; or apprehensively or naively peering out of the picture. Which Schiele is the real Schiele?† Schiele seems to instinctively divide himself into differing components, but also, he uses art to singularly pursue his own political views of the role of artist, in many ways using self-portraiture to assert, rather than fragment his own personality. The ambiguity with which Schiele regards himself can be looked at in a number of ways. 1. The Artist-as-Martyr It could be argued that Schiele was simply posing, or playing the varying roles of artist to gratify his ego. This is interesting because Schiele was definitely working toward a specific identity as artist. In 1912, Schiele was arrested for three days for publishing obscene works where they could be displayed to children. An item of his work was subsequently burned in the courtroom. In prison, he creates a number of interesting works of art, that are especially interesting because their titles read like manifestoes. Titles such as Hindering the Artist is a Crime, It Is Murdering Life in the Bud! (1912), For Art and for My Loved Ones I Will Gladly Endure to the End! (1912), and Art Cannot Be Modern: Art Is Primordially Eternal (1912). Certainly, judging from these titles, Schiele definitely has a number of ideas regarding the artist, his specific role, and what separates a true artist from a charlatan. Schiele, in his highly polemical, hyperbolic painting titles, equates the artist with suffering and martyrdom, suggesting that he will â€Å"endure†, and immediately glorifying the artist as a giver of life and eternal well being to the masses. Schroeder goes on to say: â€Å"Behind these works lies the idealization of suffering in the Romantic cull of genius, as updated in the last years of the nineteenth century through the writing of Friedrich Nietzsche and through the posthumous response to Arthur Schopenhauer. [†¦] The turn of the century saw the apogee of the Artist-as-Martyr legend, in which the relationship between suffering and greatness draws so close that the pose of suffering may in itself constitute a claim to the higher grades of artistic initiation.† So, the implication here is that Schiele was indeed acting a specific role of artist, that he was assuming a specific â€Å"pose of suffering† that was in many ways an act of fulfilling his societal role as an artist. Certainly these roles of suffering were explicit in his work. In Self-Portrait Standing (1910), Schiele portrays himself as contorted and thin; his face is twisted into an ugly grimace, and the colours used are mottled, pale and rotten. His arms are deformed and his positioning is unnatural and forced. His eyes are hollow and there is no context to the portrait; the background is a simple cream colouring. To exaggerate his alienation yet further, Schiele highlights his body with a shock of white. This has the effect of drawing the subject even further out of his environmental world, and, along with the forced hand gestures, serves to make us see the subject as an exhibit, rather than as part of a natural world. As Schroeder points out: â€Å"On the white expanse of paper, they do not exist: they are exhibited.† In his principal work, Hermits (1912), he paints himself with Gustav Klimt, whose own break with neoclassicism and ornate style of expressionism was a major influence on Schieles early work. Klimt is seen as asleep, or else resting on the shoulders of Schiele, who stands in front of him in a large black cloak. Mitsch suggests that in Hermits, â€Å"[s]eldom has the human body been visualised so exclusively as a materialization of spiritual forces [†¦].† But the painting is called Hermits, which suggests something about the role of artist that Schiele observed, although the painting certainly displays elements of the spiritual; as Steiner suggests, â€Å"he presents the master and himself in a picture where two male figures in monklike garb and with aureoles about their heads are seen on a monumental plinth.† In Hermits, Schiele and Klimt both look glum; Schiele stares defiantly back through the painting. The vast black cloak serves to homogenize the body of Klimt and Schiele, and thus portrays the role of the artist in general as one of blackness, of a biblical darkness. But, the title is more secular: Steiner goes on to say that: â€Å"We see Hermits (as the painting is called) and not saints, and the tone is no longer mystical and remote but one of delicate equilibrium between the two men – the elder, Klimt, deathlike, and the younger, Schiele, looking grim, doubtless because the artist leads a solitary life, condemned by society to suffer.† So, Schiele, in a very modernist way, is simultaneously divorcing himself from the establishment of the religious school of Neoclassicism, but is also contemporising it. In similar ways that Freud brought scientific rigour, and secular practice into studies of the human psyche, Schiele was in turn taking religion out of mystical, allegorical artwork, and instead putting himself into it. This artistic position, as forerunner to Klimt, in a sense, emerging from the body of Klimt, but staring out defiantly and uniquely, epitomizes Schieles position. Steiner suggests that: â€Å"At the time that he painted Hermits, Schiele was already seeing himself as a kind of priest of art, more the visionary than the academician, seeing and revealing things that remain concealed from normal people.† 2. The Artist-As-Protean The ambiguity with which Schiele forges his own identity can also be seen in a different way. The variance between different forms of self-portrait merely represent different sides of the Schiele character. This would certainly fit into the Freudian notion of self – as a stigmatized, fragmentary and anarchic collection of different preconceived notions. For instance; Freuds basic notions of Id, Ego and Super-Ego serve to fragment the self – psychoanalysis in general serves to this effect, and, in a number of Schiele self-portraits, he uses the quite unusual system of the double portrait to encapsulate this fragmentation. Fischer makes the point that â€Å"[t]he familiar repertoire of Freudian psychology with its ego and super-ego, conscious and unconscious realms, might equally be applied to these dual self-portraits.† A great deal of photography of Egon Schiele (of which a great deal exists) utilizes the effect of double exposure, thus, a doubling of the self. In one untitled photograph of Egon Schiele , he is seen firstly staring into the distance, while another image of himself looks back, observing himself intently. Steiner says that: â€Å"Schiele countered the sensory fragmentation of the self by means of a multiple self which came little by little to form a visual concept which reconstituted his unity with the world in a visionary way.† Indeed, during the time when expressionism was most active, a serious redefinition was underway, on the secular, theoretical grounds of Nietzsche and Freud, and also due to the cataclysmic human and social catastrophe of the Great War. In Hermann Bahrs 1916 book, simply entitled Expressionism, he says: â€Å"Never was there a time so shaken with so much terror, such a fear of death. Never was the world so deathly silent. Never was man so small. Never had he been so alarmed. Never was joy so far away and liberty so dead.† But he rallies against this bleakness, which is encapsulated in other modernist and expressionist works; works such as Eliots Wasteland and the paintings of Munsch and the German school of expressionism: â€Å"Now necessity cries out. Man cries after his soul, and the whole age becomes a single cry of need. Art, too, cries with it, into the depths of darkness; it cries for help; it cries after the spiritual: that is expressionism.† So, by ploughing the ambiguities of the self, this reading would assume that Schiele was, in many respects, crying â€Å"after his soul†, so to speak; searching among the myriad of different identities available to him, a concrete or at least a compatible sense of self that had eluded him, along with an entire generation of artists dispossessed by the Viennese establishment. The various parts of Schieles meticulous, and almost surgical self-analysis falls into a number of distinct camps, but also seems to, in a more generalised sense, work against the pattern of self-portrait or nudity established by other artists. Up until that time, generally speaking, the nude was seen in a grandiose sense: the painted nude women, such as those in Degas, were painted as Goddesses, resplendently beautiful, radiant, often placed in scenarios that depicted frolicking jollity or natural equilibrium; and the men, who were much rarer in contemporary art, were generally seen as heroic, muscular and noble. Schiele breaks entirely with this long-established tradition. Firstly, the school of nude self-portraiture at the time only comprised of a single person; Richard Gerstl, whose painting Self-Portrait, Naked stood on its own at the time as the only painting to be done of the nude artist. Schroeder points out: â€Å"Just how uncommon is was to depict oneself naked is revealed by the fact that before 1910 only one precedent existed in the whole of Austrian art.† Thus, Schiele was already putting himself in the position of pioneer of a particularly exhibitionist genre. But, in unsheathing the artist of the attire that would previously assign to him his identity, Schiele places a whole new dynamic in the art: the dynamic of the self itself. One of Schieles most important works Seated Male Nude (1910), Schiele portrays himself covering up his own face. Indeed, in most of his self-portraits, especially his early ones, his posture is contorted and manufactured; he is posing and the background again is simply a plain, unembellished white. In Seated Male Nude, Schiele is grossly emaciated, his feet have been cut off, and his nipples and eyes glow red, suggesting that there is a deep demonism within him. He is seen as grotesquely, disturbingly ectomorphic; â€Å"the figure looks as though it has been taken down from a gothic crucifix: it is angular, and looks carved: Schiele was seeing himself as Christ without a loin-cloth. The red highlights of his eyes, nipples, navel and genitals make the body look as if it were glowing from within.† But, also, the red â€Å"glowing from within† also exposes another central tenet of Schieles work – namely, that it gives the appearance that he is hollow inside. Schiele preserved his more allegorical, symbolic works for the medium of oil; paintings such as Hermits discussed earlier, and thus, this hollowness cannot be overlooked as having greater metaphorical meaning, and would suggest the reasons behind why Schieles self-portraiture varied to such a large degree; namely, that the inner self which Schiele was desperate to uncover, was absent, or simply defined as a mad, glowing redness. â€Å"[S]pastic and hunch-backed, or with a rachitic deformation of the ribcage: this was the artist as an image of abject misery – a cripple [†¦] the dirty colouring, with its shrill accents, makes the flesh tones ugly and aberrant. In Seated Male Nude, a self-portrait, the artist mutates into an insect. The absence of feet [†¦] [is] an amputation. This is a mangled soul in a mangled body. We see through the body into the soul.† Indeed, the mangled soul is non-existent, the inside is hollow and empty. So, insomuch as this is similarly affected by social and cultural developments at the time, Schiele is moreover offering a more detailed and theoretically astute reading of the self and warring and dissolute factions. Schroeder says that: â€Å"If all of these self-dramatizations reveal the true nucleus of the painters psyche, then he must have been a fragmented personality, unlikely to escape the diagnostic attentions of the genius Sigmund Freud. The question is just how much of his psyche is conveyed by his self-portraits, either those with grimaces or those that express a frozen resignation? What and whom does Egon Schiele really see in his studio mirror? [†¦] It makes all the difference in the world whether he is observing his own body as an act of direct, emotional self-knowledge or whether in his imagination he is slipping into someone elses role and experiencing his own self as that of another person.† So, that Schiele depicts himself as a variety of different people doesnt necessarily mean that he is living up to a certain artistic function; in a sense, glamorizing the role of the artist as a suffering person. Art As Pornography Schiele has been regarded by many critics as a pornographer. Looking at his paintings, which often draw attention to the genitals, to eroticized regions of the human body, as well as the contorted and mechanistic quality to the nude portraits, which appear twisted and exploited. Schiele was eventually put in prison for his indecency, although this was due to his eccentric practice of showing his work to the friends of the children who were painted, often nude. Schroder suggests that â€Å"[i]n Schieles early pictures of children the objective embarrassment of the models lowly social origins is reinforced by the embarrassment of their obscene nakedness.† This would suggest that the portraits themselves are designed to be as exploitative and as pornographic as possible. The children portrayed are certainly seen in an especially lurid light; and their embarrassment is portrayed by their forced poses, the absence of environment, etc. However, it is often difficult, at the time and later, to extrapolate eroticism from pornography, and in Schiele, this is particularly difficult. Schiele himself denied accusations of pornography, and certainly, the nudes have greater substance and meaning in terms of formulating an Expressionist identity of the self. Mitsch suggests that Schiele â€Å"expresses [in his eroticism] human bondage and is to be understood as a burden that is painful to bear. Aimed, from the beginning, at outspokenness and truthfulness, it assumes almost inevitably a daring form.† So, here difficulty with regarding Schieles output is highlighted. The work is about expressing human bondage, but it is also exaggerated and mutilated and â€Å"outspoken†. So Schiele acts as both pornographer and eroticist, and also strikes out more clearly at exposing the truth behind the body. Schiele himself commented on accusations that his work is pornographic made by his Uncle, by replying in a letter, saying that â€Å"the erotic work of art is scared too.† The painting Reclining Girl In A Blue Dress (1910), establishes this difficulty. In it, a girl is portrayed, leaning back and revealing her genitals. Her genitals are high-lighted in white, and draw the eye to the girls genitals using both composition and colour. The brush-strokes are strikingly crude, almost sketchy. Fischer says that â€Å"[i]t is impossible to defend this picture against the charge of pornography. Even so, Schieles radicalism of form places him beyond too simplistic a categorisation.† He goes on to say: â€Å"He was not merely out to satisfy a shallow voyeuristic impulse. Pubescent lust and delight in discovery, the naà ¯ve symbolism of distinguishing sexual features, and boyish stratagems for looking up girls skirts are combined in the twenty-year-old artists way of viewing the world with the invention of ingenious new forms, which took the Schiele of 1910 a step forward, out of the world of teachers and uncles and into the radical world view of the Expressionist avant-garde. In the years ahead, Schiele pursued this distinctive combination obsessively.† So, according to Fischer, even though his work was pornographic, the forms in which this pornography took and the means by which Schiele painted these pornographic images, allowed us to question the nature of the images and thus elevate them to something beyond pornography. Schiele was certainly obsessed with portraying the self: his images, despite being, at times, shamelessly provocative and deliberately controversial to the conservative Viennese public (the pre-conceived role of an artist to challenge the perception of the ordinary people would stress this, and was a certain depiction of the artist that Schiele would live by), would also put stress on the techniques and the principles applied to the painting in order to elevate it beyond mere titillation or voyeurism. In his nudes, Schiele was definitely looking to get closer to his, and societies view of the human condition in the confusing wake of secularism, the transmogrification of belief toward the self (in Freud and Nietzsche, for instance), and the selfs role in society. Naturally his view is not a particularly optimistic one, and he is frequently out to establish the pain in the heart of the self – his cut-off, mutilated and distorted figures serve to expose the more desultory aspects of the self, and thus his images appear less as pornographic, and more as pieces that actually challenge and oppose the traditionally porno

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Learning School Essays

Teaching Philosophy Teaching is learning twice over. I believe that learning can be done in many different capacities; however, it takes a strong blend of certain personal characteristics and instructional techniques to become an effective teacher. In a perfect world, I could stand in front of a gathering of physical education students and teach them successfully how to dribble a basketball or throw a baseball, but it is much more difficult than that. Students are as different as snowflakes, each with many characteristics different than the next. To use the analogy of a key and lock, the key being the presentation of the material and the lock being the students, I feel that many teachers try to use the same key on 25 different locks. It is up to the teacher do away with the â€Å"here is the material†¦learn it† method of teaching and start considering the differences between one student’s ability to learn to the next. I believe in having a strong relationship with my students. I want them to be in a classroom where they know someone cares about them and that the teacher is not just earning a paycheck. By demonstrating a certain level of compassion for your students, they feel more comfortable with you as a teacher. By nurturing their open minds, a teacher can be successful. It is important to let the students ask questions and let them think for themselves. At a young age, children are full of imagination and ideas, and too often teachers take their intuitive instinct away from them by not letting them share their ideas or punishing them when they make a mistake out of the exploration of their imagination. I believe that setting goals has got me where I am today and that the concept of goal setting should be instructed and reinforced. Without goals students are apt to stray from little educational endeavors that end up being the little holes that sunk the big ship. In high school, I was a student who was at the top of the class in subjects that I enjoyed and mediocre in subjects that I did not find appealing.

Risks and opportunities of Wal-Mart

Sam Walton – a real ‘king’ of XXth-century retail – was able to turn a small store in the center of a provincial town to the world’s largest retailer – Wal-Mart. This man had stepped on a pedal of his business and never let it go; otherwise, he could be crushed by those behind him. The Wal-Mart’s success is grounded on the notion to save customers’ money, so they can live better.The economists’ unfavorable outlook at Wal-Mart Co in the beginning of FY 2007 seems to fade out by the latest data and reports, for this global retailer is focused on constant improving of sales and returns: an 8.1 percent increase in the first quarter to $2.86 billion or 70 cents per share up from $2.65 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the year ago period.Wal-Mart expects the on-going increase in net profit up to $0.99 – $1.03 per share in the fourth quarter and $3.13 – $3.17 in total. Sales of the company rose 8.8 percent to $90. 9 billion (according to the data from Floor Daily and Reuters).Risks of the last year, when the company tried to sell more goods to middle- and high-income shoppers had been reemphasized by executive leadership; therefore, this year brought more opportunities in low-price segment.At present, Wal-Mart Co made some steps forward in its American stores and attracted more consumers, who were pressed by growing prices on foodstuff and energy carriers, and by mortgage crisis. For the past few weeks, the retailer has lowered prices on the most popular toys and 15 thousand of other goods on the threshold of the holiday shopping.The falling of dollar and rising oil prices posed a real threat to weaken international earnings; however, the surprising share of Wal-Mart Stores Inc in the third quarter of FY 2007 has grown due to outlets overseas, tough expenses’ control and preliminary customer expectation model in American stores. While the American picture seems rather clear, forWal-Mar t originated from this country, the international situation was frightening. Europe and Asia are turning America down from the leading position in the world affairs, because of its ‘diplomatic’ operations in Iraq, the growing total debt and unstable economy.Therefore, the outlets in Germany were forced out by domestic stores, outlets in South Korea were closed because of high competition and low market share; â€Å"new social alternative† in India is fighting against Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart. Nevertheless, along with grasping market share in North and Latin America, Wal-Mart had fit the cultural diversity in Asian segment. For example, in China consumers are allowed to choose live fish and seafood by themselves.As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Co can afford the new technologies, take the role of sponsor in the latest researches and developments, protect the environment and implement the energy- and money-saving equipment in its stores.When Sam Walto n had faced regional discount competition and opened his first discount store, he laid the basis for further successful management strategy: the wide range of goods, the lowest possible prices, the latest technologies, convenient stores and parking, and, as the result, consumers’ satisfaction. Today, the executive leadership of the corporation is aiming its efforts at successful managing of all departments: sales, marketing, human resources, research and development and administration.Step by step, Wal-Mart has filled all market niches, including discount stores, warehouses, grocery and toys stores, optical and pharmaceutical supermarkets, portrait studios. The outlets overseas were depending on the progress and technologies. The spread of democracy in post-communist countries had unveiled the potential of their consumers; so, today, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is heading to take the largest market share possible in this area.Technological progress with its changes in industry had f orced Wal-Mart Co to implement such   â€Å"A preliminary research for the valuation of Wal-Mart Co† developments as internet access, latest technologies and electronics, online stores in its marketing strategy, in order to keep the leading positions in a highly competitive market.The core trends in business spending lie in progress of environment protection. The sustainable goals of zero waste and reduce of energy at Wal-Mart stores call for fundamental changes. The company has already â€Å"constructed experimental stores to test different ways to conserve water or electricity while also cutting waste† (Maestri, N. Reuters, para.3).The company will also examine the health care issues, the key question that is raised in media; make attempts to fit the highly diversified Asian market to include minorities and women; reduce carbon footprint and track waste. Another business spending is found in sustainable development in China, from which Wal-Mart, either directly or indirectly source goods.Wal-Mart strategy, competencies, and managementMike Duke, the Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in his â€Å"Driving Business Value through Sustainability† presentation has singled out five value drivers of business: brand and reputation, cost reduction, access to talent, associate engagement, innovation (p.8).These drives cover all spheres and level possible, such as worldwide market share and recognition, customers’ and employees’ satisfaction. All reports prove that the principle of each consumer’s satisfaction is the right and unchanging course in varying industry. Sam Walton, an expert, manager and retailer, is also a good teacher, for he could raise a successful team of leaders, who share the same priorities and want to reach the same goals.Recently, Wal-Mart Co had reemphasized the financial management systems and chose the solution SAP ERP Financials to keep up its growth and effective reaction at business changes. Th is teamwork had lead to top, among such competitors as Target, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Best Buy, etc. Ellis Mnyandu, a Reuter’s reporter, has noted that â€Å"Wal-Mart’s stock gained 6.1 percent to $45.97 after the world’s biggest retailer posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its outlook† (para.17). Facts say louder than words – Wal-Mart Co is worth to be called â€Å"the largest seller in the U.S.† and largest global retailer.References:Bianco, A. (2007). Wal-Mart’s Midlife Crisis. BusinessWeek. April 30. Online. November 28, 2007. Available: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032001.htmDuke, M., Hartzfeld, J. (2007). Driving Business Value Through Sustainability. October, 10.Online. The Wal-Mart Live Better Sustainability Summit. November, 28, 2007.Available: http://ceosustainabilitysummit.com/CEODocs/984797/InterfaceRAISEWal- MartSummitBreakout101007.pdfMaestri, N. (2007). Wal-Mart Outlines Environmental Efforts Progress. Reuters UK.November, 15. Online. November, 28, 2007. Available:http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews /idUKN1530614420071115?sp=trueMnyandu, E. (2007). Market soars on tech, banks, Wal-Mart and oil. Reuters. Online. November, 28, 2007. Available: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSL3057195020071113?sp=trueWal-Mart 1Q Earnings Up 8.1%. (2007). Floor Focus. May 15. Online. November, 28, 2007. Available: http://www.floorfocus.com/articlesearchitem.aspx?article=10372Wal-Mart Selects SAP. (2007). SAP Global. October, 18. Online. November, 28, 2007.Available: http://www.sap.com/solutions/business- suite/erp/newsevents/press.epx?pressid=8440   

Consumer Behaviour Audit

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AUDIT The Consumer Behavior Audit is divided into the following sections: MARKET SEGMENTATION A. External Influences B. Internal Influences C. Situational Influences D. Decision-Process Influences PRODUCT POSITION A. Internal Influences B. Decision-Process Influences PRICING A. External Influences B. Internal Influences C. Situational Influences D. Decision-Process Factors DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY A. External Influences B. Internal Influences C. Situational Influences D. Decision-Process Factors PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY A. External Factors B. Internal Factors C. Situational Influences D. Decision-Process Influences PRODUCT A. External Influences B. Internal Influences C. Situational Influences D. Decision-Process Influences CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT MARKET SEGMENTATION As mentioned by Silvia Rico, the market segment consists of single women with children, ages 25-44, who live in the same geographical area in Brownsville and shop at Lopez Supermarket. A. External influences Are there cultures or subcultures whose value system is particularly consistent (or inconsistent) with the consumption of our product? The value system for the subculture (Mexican-Americans) is for the most part consistent with the consumption of Lopez Supermarket since they all share the traditions and beliefs, Hispanic race, Spanish language, and nationality background. Average family size for this segment is of 3. 5, and spends 15 to 20 percent more of disposable income on groceries than the national average. They view their family and friends as an important part of their life, and value their opinions when making decisions such as where to shop for groceries. Customers of Lopez are generally those living close to the store. In general they are low-income Mexican/Hispanics with limited resources, strong values, high ties to family and tradition and the majority practice the Catholic religion. Is our product appropriate for male or female consumption? Will ongoing gender-role changes affect who consumes our product or how it is consumed? Lopez Supermarket is appropriate for both male and female consumption. Even though, according to the Census Bureau, 17. 4% of households are made up of female householder, and 45. 8% without husband presence and with children, products sold at Lopez can be bought by either male or female. The ongoing gender-role (assuming that is from the same culture and subculture) would not change as to who buys at Lopez, but it could affect how it is consumed. Meaning, men, just as women, shop at Lopez, but men would not shop as much or buy the same products as women. Do ethnic, social, regional, or religious subcultures have different consumption patterns relevant to our product? Ethnic and social subculture, for the most part, might have a different consumption patterns. Some might like to go to Lopez to make use of their rebate coupons they offer. Some might shop on a daily basis, while others might shop once a week. It all depends on the amount of income and time they have to make their shopping. For the most part, Lopez is directed to a Mexican-American region culture. If Lopez were to locate somewhere where Mexican-American population is very low, Lopez’ current environment might not be as appreciated due a difference in values and believes other segments might have. Do various demographic or social-strata groups (age, gender, urban/suburban/rural, occupation, income, education) differ in their consumption of our product? Mexican-American is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U. S. (in Brownsville, they totaled 103. 297). Geography is an advantage for Lopez, since stores are located on the border of U. S. and Mexico. Demographic and social-strata groups (age, gender, urban/suburban/rural, occupation, income, education) might have different motive for shopping at Lopez Supermarket. For example, in an age group, kids might go to buy candy or they could be sent by their mothers to buy immediate products (tortillas, milk, soda) that they might need at home. Meanwhile adults might go to buy groceries in high amounts and items such as beer and cigarettes. Other segments might not buy their groceries at Lopez, but they might go for the â€Å"fresh meat† or â€Å"barbacoa† they sell. Geographically, if Lopez is not close by, consumer might look for alternatives and buy groceries either at a gas station or at another grocery store. Is our product particularly appropriate for consumers with relatively high (or low) incomes compared to others in their occupational group (ROCI)? Based on Silvia Rico’s report, class structure for this segment is Lower-Middle who strives to become part of the Upper Class. This segment view food as an abundance of wealth, so they usually give food gifts. They have many status symbols, such as jewelry, new car, home decor, etc. In their leisure time the go to the beach, and spend time with family. High income might prefer an alternative. Can our product be particularly appropriate for specific roles, such as students or professional women? In general, anyone can shop at Lopez, but it is most appropriate for district level, low-middle income consumers whose role are of a household provider. If customers are playing the role of a professional businessperson, for example, they definitely will not find items they might need (suitcases, high quality pens, etc. , since Lopez is meant for groceries. A student, might find pen, paper, pencil, and notebooks, but in very small amounts, and a higher price than specialized stores. Would it be useful to focus on specific adopter categories? Not necessarily. Focusing on specific adopter categories (The ranking into which adopters of a new product fall according to their willingness and speed to embr ace a new product; adopter categories are normally listed as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards) will not help much, since Lopez sells products people are already familiar with. An alternative would be to subgroup the current marketing segment even further (such those women who work and those who don’t) in order to target them better, since this subgroups share similar purchasing behaviors. This group of single young women with children can be subdivided based on the people that live with them (alone with own children, and with extended family), their number of working hours (part-time, and full-time), and based on their children’s age (under 6 yrs. , and from 6 to 17 yrs. ). Targeting per segment Women living alone with their own children: This sub-segment is influenced greatly by their children, they may go to shop at Lopez because their children had great experiences from the store. Children are a strong influence that guides these women to shop there, but also they also have influence in the products they buy. This segment may spend great part of their income in shopping products their children like, depending on their age. Small children may influence them to buy candies, and products that contain attractive animations. Older children may influence their overall product selection based on their tastes and preferences. These children may also influence their mothers to buy high quality, and name branded products. Women living with extended family: These women are more likely to be influenced by their relatives living with them, specially the older ones that are thought to be the wisest ones. This segment tries to comply with society, and with their own family. They want to be approved by others, and make their purchases according to the way others expected them to act. They choose Lopez as their store for their food supplies, because it is the family tradition store. They are high self-monitoring, since these women tend to evaluate products consumed in public in terms of the impressions they make on others. They may also cash their checks, and pay some bills at Lopez, because that is the family tradition way to do this activity. Another reason for them to cash their checks is because they are low-Income and usually they do not have a bank account, because they tend to save the money that is left (if any) in their houses. They learned these activities from their parents or relatives living with them. Women living with extended family and not working: This segment relies on the extended family (or federal aid such as food stamps) for financial support. They might be the ones purchasing immediate items for their children (such as cereal, milk, cookies) but leave the large purchase decisions to a secondary person. This segment has more time to shop and look around, and does not go to Lopez alone. They usually go at least twice a week (if not more) with their kids, and the extended family member with the purchase decision in the household. They rely on their family and friends for their immediate purchase decision, and try to save as money as much as possible since they don’t have sufficient income. Women working full-time: This sub-segment is very busy, they value their time, and buy at Lopez because of the store location, the relative small store size (comparing it with HEB, and El Globo), and because they are very familiar with the store, and they cash their checks at Lopez when they go shopping in order to save time. These women know where are products located within the store, they know products prices, people working there, and people shopping there. Women within this segment, go to Lopez once a week, or once every two weeks, depending on the way they get paid. They will usually go to the store on weekends, especially on Friday because is when they may cash their wage checks. On weekends they can buy groceries for all the week, since buying food supplies is a priority for them, and whatever money is left, they will spend it in clothes or save it. This segment usually goes to shop alone, and make their purchases according their own opinion, and neither relatives nor children influence their consumer behavior. These women are very important for Lopez because these women buy high-volume when they go to Lopez. They buy huge quantities because they do not have time to go other day in the week. Their purchases may not be well planned, they may buy their necessary products, and other products with discounts. Products strategic point-of-display is very important to influence this segment to buy. Women working part-time: This women have more time to analyze and plan their shopping, they may look more detailed the products they will buy. They may go to Lopez at an average rate of three times per week. Since they earn less money than full-timers, they will buy products at discount, and are well informed of the products that are going to be on sale any specific day. These women are very familiar with the store, and usually they have great relationships with store employees, and seek for their advice when making their purchases. This segment go to shop with their children, or other relatives, so their purchases are influenced by the people that go with them. They shop at Lopez because it is the store for groceries they know best, and because their relatives advice them to. They are more likely to be influenced by advertising (specially coupons), than full-timers, since they have more time to read adds, look for coupons, cut and use them. Women with children under 6 years old: This group of women with children under 6 years old, represents 8. 6% of the female householder with no husband present, according to the U. S. Census Bureau (Census 2000) of Cameron County. This segment in heavily influenced by their children preferences. They will look for products that will be accepted and that will cause a positive attitude in their children. Children are a strong influence that guides their consumer behavior; thus influencing the type of products they buy. This segment may spend great part of their income in children-related products, such as candies, chocolates, cereals with cartoon animations, products that include small toys and others that are attractive to children. Mothers will usually go to Lopez accompanied by their children, because children make pressure to go with them. Children under 6 years old like to be with their mothers, and enjoy going to shop with them. These children influence mothers to buy seasonal products, especially adornments to their houses, and also food that include seasonal animation in its package. This segment may end up buying unexpected items, and spending more money than planned because of their children influence. Women with children from 6 to 17 years old: These children have strong influence in product brand selection. This group represents 35. 3% of the female householder with no husband present, according to the U. S. Census Bureau (Census 2000) of Cameron County. They may influence their mothers to buy the brands that are most common, and are preferred by their friends. These children may not go to shop with their mothers, since they are at an age where they like to be seen as independent individuals. They do not participate actively in the purchase itself; they just influence their mothers to buy what they said. Mothers seek the approval of their children, so their purchases may be strongly influenced by their children. This segment wants to create a positive attitude towards the products they buy. These women are willing to buy more expensive items to satisfy their children’s preferences. They are willing to buy more products at a higher price, and sacrifice other goods, as possible to comply with children’s desires. For this segment, their children are seen as young adults with valuable opinion about products. Since many of this children go to school, and are the most knowledgeable and educated in the family, their judgment about certain products are taken as valid, and may cause changes in the products bought. Do groups in different stages of the household life cycle have different consumption patterns for our product? Who in the household is involved in the purchase process? In this case, single women might just buy the basic items (milk, cereal, eggs). If they live with their parents, their parents might be the ones doing the groceries. Younger kids might also play a role, meaning they might be the ones asking what type of products to buy at Lopez (specific brand of cereal or soft drink). B. Internal influences Can our product satisfy different needs or motives in different people? What needs are involved? What characterizes individuals with differing motives? Yes. Customers might go to buy groceries, and at the same time take advantage of paying their bills, cashing a check, or sending mail. Those who go on a daily basis might also want to know what kinds of savings they might find. Kids might want to go to buy candy. Others might need to buy food for a birthday party, or to get ready for Friday’s barbeque. Is our product uniquely suited for particular personality types? Self-concepts? Lopez is focused more for the lower-middle income people. This means that people who have relatives and shop at Lopez might do so as well just to not feel left out, as mentioned by Silvia. High-income people might not shop there simply because they might want to be compared or identified with the low-middle income people (of course there are exceptions but this goes for the majority of the high-income class. ) For the most part, Lopez is directed toward a Mexican-American environment and to the other segments that accept this. What emotions, if any, are affected by the purchase and/or consumption of this product? Realizing that they are known and treated on a friendly matter influence them to go to Lopez. Also having family, neighbors, or friends who might work or go there, might affect this as well. Is our product appropriate for one or more distinct lifestyles? For the most part, is for those who prefer to go to Lopez for convenience and to save money. Young single Mexican-American mothers might go there because their concern is their family and their heritage traditions. Other with a different lifestyle (those who might like to spend a lot of money, for example) might not consider Lopez as an option. As Silvia Rico mentioned, self-monitoring is also affected here because their choices are influenced by their estimates of how Lopez is perceived by their family and friends. If a person was told that shopping at Lopez is only for the poor, then that person might be embarrassed to go or be seen there. A birth of a child or departure of an older one, may affect the lifestyle of the consumer and they way they buy. For the birth of a child, they might need to buy baby products, while for the departure of a child, they might consume less. Do different groups have different attitudes about an ideal version of our product? Yes. Some might prefer a â€Å"nice looking and cleaner† store. Others might compare Lopez to H. E. B. and might perceive Lopez as a small, local store compared to H. E. B. Others might not want to shop at Lopez because of the smell (meat) it emits. There are also those who believe that Lopez is fine the way it is. C. Situational influences Can our product be appropriate for specific types of situations instead of (or in addition to) specific types of people? Yes. In case of an emergency (a hurricane, for example), people might go to Lopez to buy items such as candles, flashlights, can food, batteries, or anything else they might need. A family birthday party or special celebration might require buying the meat and even decorations such as balloons. Barbeque on Friday, as Silvia pointed out, is another example. D. Decision-process influences Do different individuals use different evaluative criteria in selecting the product? Yes. Family could influence some individuals (worrying about what their family might think of them if they were to shop at another store). Others might select distance or convenience as a way to measure going to Lopez (how far it takes to go to Lopez compared to going to a gas station). Do potential customers differ in their loyalty to existing products/brands? Some of the products sold at Lopez might not be sold at other stores and vice-versa. (Hill Country products are only sold at H. E. B. ). Some products are well known to them since they are the products their parents and grandparents used. Others might not be as loyal to the brands as they are to the store itself.

3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesnt Help

3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesnt Help 3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesn’t Help 3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesn’t Help By Mark Nichol Writers are often confused by the complexity of hyphenation rules, mistakenly omitting them when their presence would help clarify meaning and inserting them when they’re superfluous. The decision about whether to use them can be further complicated in sentences in which it would be technically correct but aesthetically inadvisable to use them. Three examples, each followed by discussion and revision, demonstrate a few sentences in which recasting a sentence to avoid hyphens is preferable to using them. 1. They can lean toward easier-to-maintain, off-the-shelf server, network, and storage gear. Hyphenation of the phrasal adjectives â€Å"easier to maintain† and â€Å"off the shelf,† both of which modify the phrase â€Å"server, network, and storage gear† is correct, but the double dose of multiple hyphenation, complicated by the fact that the phrases modify a phrase rather than a single word, clutters the sentence. Relaxing the statement as shown here improves readability: â€Å"They can lean toward off-the-shelf server, network, and storage gear that is easier to maintain.† 2. The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a mergers and acquisitions (MA)-type dialogue. Identifying a term’s abbreviation within parentheses immediately after the first reference to the term when the abbreviation will be used in place of the term in subsequent references is standard procedure, but when the term is modified by a word attached to it with a hyphen, the intervening parenthesis is intrusive. Again, sentence relaxation is a simple solution: â€Å"The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a dialogue similar to that regarding mergers and acquisitions (MA).† (Also, technically, temporarily disregarding the parenthesis, an en dash should replace the hyphen in the original sentence to signal that type is being attached not just to acquisitions but to the entire phrase â€Å"mergers and acquisitions†: â€Å"The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a mergers and acquisitions–type dialogue.†) 3. The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in customer information collection strategies. Technically, the string of nouns turned adjectives that combine to modify strategies should be hyphenated to signal their teamwork (â€Å"The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in customer-information-collection strategies†), but that three-car train of adjectives can be avoided by relaxing the sentence: â€Å"The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in strategies for collecting customer information.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and Toes41 Words That Are Better Than GoodPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Labour Economics

Labour Economics Labour EconomicsThe current problems between Qantas and the ACTU over employment of casual labour highlight substantial changes in the composition of the Australian workforce over the past few decades and some of the resistance to it. Gone is the traditional ' cradle to grave' career. These changes have come about for a number of reasons. New technology, micro and macro economic reforms, eg. tariff reform, industrial relations reforms, standards and quality controls have all brought about significant change. Other factors influencing this process, has been the adoption of management strategies that emphasise flexibility, requiring more use of part time and casual labour.'Full time work is defined as employment that requires workers to work 35 hours or more per week. Part time workers are those that are employed less than 35 hours.' (Healey, 1999, p.6) Casual are those that are not entitled to either annual or sick leave entitlements which permanent employees enjoy, thanks to the effo rts of organised labour in the form of trade unions.The Labour Supply curveUse of more efficient mechanisation and technology has reduced the number of workers in traditional 'blue collar' areas such as low and semi skilled workers in manufacturing, and mining industries, leading to a reduction of 70,000 workers between 1988-1998. It is not only 'blue collar' workers who are affected by technology and automation. During this time, technology has led to the reduction in the finance sector of 16,200 jobs. The increasing unemployment, has led to a greater demand for fewer jobs, therefore less job security and in some cases replacement of full time with part time work. 'These shifts in employment opportunities resulted in an increase in service industry jobs to nearly 72 percent in 1997 of all employment. Hospitality and retail both have large numbers of casual and part time staff, hospitality...

Writing an Executive Summary that Emotes Confidence

Writing an Executive Summary that Emotes Confidence This article illustrates a simple rhetorical strategy, to apply at the sentence level, to increase your readers’ perception of your executive ability. This is a very useful strategy for all executive writing, but it is particularly important when writing an executive summary. Executive writing should embody both confidence and competence. If you write with a confident tone, it quietly affirms your leadership abilities to your readers. And, if you are smart and ambitious and aspire to executive level, you also want to present a confident voice in your writing tone because it will help you advance. During a recent training, a new executive shared with me that she had received feedback that she needs to â€Å"own† her decisions more strongly in all her communication, but especially in her executive summaries. The leadership team in her company felt her writing came across as tentative. When I reviewed her writing, I saw a common rhetorical error. Avoid Unnecessary Introductory Words This often stems from the very common â€Å"I am writing to tell you† approach. It is superfluous (and feels a bit like a grammar school essay) to remind your reader you are writing. I am writing to tell you that your order was shipped on Friday, January 26. You should receive it by Tuesday. Better: I am writing to tell you that Your order was shipped on Friday, January 26. You should receive it by Tuesday. Executives often fall into this same rhetorical trap by including weak introductory recommendation words: I believe closing our satellite office is the best decision. Enrollments declined 17% in 2012 and 9% in 2011. This accelerating decline reflects the program duplication with our satellite and main office programs. Better: I believe Closing our satellite office is the best decision. Enrollments declined 17% in 2012 and 9% in 2011. This accelerating decline reflects the program duplication with our satellite and main office programs. Avoid Using Qualifying, Opinion-Based Introductory Words Words like believe, think, or feelinfer a less confident voice. Instead of calmly owning your decision, this construct sounds less sure. A reader will likely think your statement is based on opinion more than clear business analysis and decision. Best: There is one verb, however, that works powerfully to convey confidence. Do use it when you want to make a strong, decisive executive impression. It connotes real ownership of your decision: I recommend closing our satellite office is the best decision. Enrollments declined 17% in 2012 and 9% in 2011. This accelerating decline reflects the program duplication with our satellite and main office programs. Notice that the verb recommend is so decisive it eliminates the need for the supporting statement â€Å"is the best decision.† I recommend clearly connotes your confidence and assessment of a business situation. It sounds confidently authoritative, but not at all brusque. Eliminate any tentative introductory clauses in your sentence structure when making executive assessments, and always eliminate them when writing an executive summary. This simple, yet very effective, rhetorical strategy will help you conveymore confidence and executive tone in your writing. Learn More in this Course: Writing anExecutive Summary.

Report Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Report Plan - Essay Example The basic objective is to formulate the thoughts of various segments of the society in consolidated report. In the last few months or so the right to keep a gun has confronted major debate at national level. The government, law enforcement agencies, civil society, human rights associations and the general public all have forwarded their arguments on the issue and now is the time to reach some conclusion. The report will target conclusions on the issue through in depth analysis of all the arguments surfaced during the Gun Control debate at national level. The report will strive to formulate a national thought and to avoid various controversial arguments surfaced recently on the issue . These controvertial argument can distract the focus of the authorities from the core issue and may cause damage to the national harmony. One such argument reads, â€Å"The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks† (Joe, 2012). There is a need to review all such assumptions as military veterans is common phenomenon all over the world. The report will discuss and highlight the various aspect of the issue in a comprehensive manner without targeting one or the other segment of the society. Various governmental and non governmental organizations will be contacted directly, general public arguments will be collected through open debates and polls. Statistical information will be saught from Police, Arm Control departments etc. Moreover the generl public also be accessed from online sources to make the report interesting and useful. The basic criteria for the report will be based upon the accuracy and correctness of

Autonomy of Financial Institutions Research Paper

Autonomy of Financial Institutions - Research Paper Example While politicians and regulators propose a regulated trade system that would mitigate risks of default of one party, maintaining transparency, and providing consistent prices, the bankers pull in the complete opposite direction. The banks want the market to remain as it is whereby over the counter derivatives (OTC) remain unregulated and with unpublished prices to the public. Banks warn that any ban on the unregulated OTC will upset the current markets and lead to possible lawsuits. However, the European Commission maintains that its proposal for a regulation is meant to protect consumers, and spur competition. Thus, on this issue, bankers and politicians hardly see eye to eye. The U.S, as an answer too to the Great Depression, also passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, geared towards more regulations for the financial institutions. However, it lacks the cutting-edge proposal of banning the over the counter derivatives. It should be remembered that these proposals are law in no shortage of critics. While some people, especially bankers, say that it encroached too deeply into the financial institutions’ regulations; others argue that it is hard enough to curtail the possibility of another financial meltdown.  If the banks continue in the direction where there are no published prices for the OTC, no specified quantity and quality on the deliverable, then there is an obvious lack of transparency. This grey region only benefits the  banks. It cushions them from taking the responsibility of the financial losses.  Bankers argue that the small companies which have not attained the exchange listing requirements will be l ocked out of the securities trade if the government bans the OTC. Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) proposal is clear cut- it wants to ban the over the counter derivatives.

Aviation Safety Management Program Research Paper

Aviation Safety Management Program - Research Paper Example Management is crucial in any establishment, especially in a bid to guarantee a workplace that is devoid of injury, illness, and death, hence ensuring optimal health and safety of all stakeholders. Blue Coral Copters is an exemplary organizational model in dire need of a comprehensive safety program. Analysis of the helicopter tour company reveals significant flaws in its safety management approach and non-conformity to various Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety management principles. Even though the company has an exceptional safety record compared to the general aviation sector, it has lax guidelines on the same (Hudson et al., 1994). Like most helicopter tour companies, Blue Coral Copters seems to advocate for the thrill of rides around the Hawaiian island at the expense of guaranteeing safety for the pilots and tourists. Safe, effective and profitable operation of the tour company should be the principal aggregate goal of Blue Coral Copters. Every stakeholder, from the o wner and proprietor to pilots and maintenance crews, should strictly adhere to the safety principles recommended and contribute toward hazard reporting, risk management, and other safety agenda. Information on these aspects will be shared through safety management meetings and notice boards. Pilots in this organization are known for their electric performance. Additionally, they are people with a lot of experience ranging from military aviators as well as police pilots. However, they are only evaluated by Nick regardless of the fact that they fly using dissimilar perspectives and styles.

Transport Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transport - Assignment Example I also realised that transport enables us to move from one point to another and this increased my interest in this particular subject such that I decided to watch a video and read an article about the importance of transport. 2 What was it about? The video is about the Minister of Transport in India explaining the big project about upgrading the transport system that is currently underway. The Minister also explains the importance of transport in the growth and development of the economy as well as human welfare. The chosen article is also about the importance of transport and describes different modes of transport that are available in India. 3 Did you read or listen first? Why? Do you think the order you chose helped you or not? How many times did you need to read & listen before you felt confident about understanding the topic and vocabulary? How do you feel about this topic, e.g. positive or negative feelings? Do you agree/disagree with the ideas?† I listened and watched th e video once then read the article. After reading the article, I then listened to the video clip again. I repeated this process because I wanted to grasp the meaning of the article and what it was about. I realised that the vocabulary used in the article and the video was simple to understand since I did not discover any new word. After my second listening to the video and second reading of the article, I felt very confident about understanding the topic and the vocabulary as well. I developed positive feelings about this particular topic given that transport affects our daily lives in one way or the other. We need to move from different places to another and our daily needs such as food are delivered to us by transport so it is very important in our lives. I totally agree with the ideas raised in the article and the video clip. 4 Did you learn anything new from this reading & listening? What? I learnt that pipeline can also be classified as transport from the reading and listening activity to the video. Pipelines are used to transport petroleum and gas to different places and this is a convenient way of moving products in the form of liquid or gas. 5 Was this topic connected in any way to your future studies and if so, how do you think you can find out more about it? I do not think that the topic is connected to my future studies though it is very important in our daily lives. 6 What was easy/ difficult about it? The topic was very easy to understand because the author of the article used short and simple words which were very clear. The video was also clearly presented and I could understand all the ideas that were discussed by the presenters of this clip. I imagined seeing a well connected network of transport making it possible to move to any part of the country you can think of using different modes of transport. Since we use transport every day, there was nothing new in this article as well as the video. 7 Which was the more challenging aspect, the readi ng, or the listening? Why? Nothing was so challenging in reading the article as well as watching the video. Both were presented in simple and clear terms that were easy to understand. The article gave more details as well as explanations of different modes of transport as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The articles also outlined all the factors that make transport important

PHI445 FInal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

PHI445 FInal - Assignment Example One thing each company or organization needs to be aware of is that as much as businesses evolve, so does ethical norms. It is therefore important for each company to have a constant update to its business ethics. Non Profit Company: The American Future Fund American Future Fund or AFF is an organization started back in 2008. Individuals working with Mitt Romney during the 2008 bid for the Republican US Presidency pioneered it as non-profit making organization. The fund â€Å"advocates conservative and free-market principles† (Jacobson, 2012). The organization was established under 501(c) (4) US tax code, it is therefore allowed by law to raise an unlimited amount of money, but restricted to use this money for campaigning as its primary purpose. Ethical Problems the organization is facing For non-profit making organizations, most of their ethical issues can be summarized into seven key problems. As outlined by Santicola, (2006) these issues include tainted money, compensation, privacy, stewardship, conflict of interest, impropriety, and honesty/full disclosure. Any organization that is directly involved in politics is likely to face many ethical problems in its line of operation. AFF is not an exception, and since its inception, it has faced a number of lawsuits relating to its ethics. The main problems include the use of tainted money, compensation, appearance of impropriety, and honesty and full disclosure. ... The Iowa Democratic Party was convinced that AFF was using tainted money in running the ads and filed for a complaint with Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure, to determine AFF’s donors. In February 2011, AFF faced another accusation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), for tax violation. CREW seeks an investigation into AFF, where it has substantial evidence to question the organization’s honesty and disclosure. This suit also factors in other ethical issues that make the organization’s ethical standards questionable. Such issues include spending the organization's money to ask voters to vote against democrats, yet the mission of the organization is to support republicans to office. This is an appearance of impropriety since their methods may be arguable in court, but they are ethically inappropriate. AFF being a 501(c) (4) organization under US tax code, it is â€Å"allowed by law to raise an unlimited amount of money, but restricted to using this money for campaigning as its primary purpose†. In a bid to counter a decision made by Citizens United Supreme Court, AFF used more than $300 million to elect the 112th congress (CREW, 2011). This is a clear indication of compensation where the fundraisers of the organization are using donor funds for their own self-gain. With such claims directed towards the organization’s ethical standards, the organization is likely to face three major problems. First, the organization can end up being dissolved by the court if proven guilty of violating the tax code in its functions. Second, the organization ends u using many of its funds because of the various lawsuits that question its ethical standards. Thirdly, AFF is

Haven't decided yet, need professional advice for it Dissertation

Haven't decided yet, need professional advice for it - Dissertation Example The researcher has used qualitative research methodology in order to address the key research problems. Theoretical arguments of various research scholars have been used in order to develop theoretical argument in the paper. Market research report on Chinese consumer behaviour towards Smartphone and previous research works on the topic have been used in order to conduct the qualitative data analysis. The researcher found that individual attributes such as cash back offer, EMI schemes, wide screen size, touch sensitivity, HD quality movie watching facility, gaming options, availability of applications, metallic body, practical usable functions in Smartphone can influence purchasing decision and brand loyalty among Chinese Smartphone users. Lack of use of primary data to analyze consumer behaviour regarding particular product attribute is major limitation for the study. Findings of this research paper can be used by future Smartphone marketers in order to enhance brand loyalty among Ch inese customers by influencing their purchasing decisions. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 1.1. Purpose of the Research 9 1.2 Research Questions 9 Chapter 2: Smartphone Industry in China 10 Chapter 3: Literature Review 11 3.1 Introduction 11 3.2 Price 12 3.3 Design 13 3.4: Applications 15 3.5: Flexibility 17 3.6 Motivation 19 3.7 Conclusion 21 Chapter 4: Research Methodology 22 4.1 Introduction 22 4.2 Research Approach 22 4.3 Research Strategy 22 4.3.1 Phenomenology 23 4.3.2 Ethnography 24 4.3.3 Grounded Theory 24 4.3.4 Case Study and Literature Review 24 4.4 Philosophical Underpinnings 25 4.5 Qualitative Data Analysis 27 4.6 Ethical Consideration 27 4.7 Conclusion 28 Chapter 5: Analysis and Interpretation 28 5.1 Introduction 28 5.3 Price Benefits 35 5.4 Superior Design 36 5.5 Application and Flexibility 37 5.6 Motivation 40 5.7 Conclusion 41 Chapter 6: Conclusion, Recommendation and Limitation 42 6.1 Managerial Implications 44 6.2 Future Recommendati ons for Researchers 45 6.3 Limitations 45 Appendices 54 Appendix 1: Gantt chart 54 List of Figures Figure No. Figure Name Page No. 1 2004-2010 Sales of Smartphone in China 30 2 Smartphone OS Market Share in China-2011 31 3 Business Performance of Chinese Carriers 32 4 Mobile Phone Market Share in China 33 5 Smartphone Market Share in China 33 6 Smartphone Price Decline in China 34 7 Flexible Smartphone Use by Chinese Customers 39 8 Location wise Smartphone Use by Chinese Customers 40 List of Tables Table No. Table Name Page No. 1 Star Tinji i9300 versus Samsung Galaxy S3 38 Chapter 1: Introduction In recent times, advent of latest technologies have completely revolutionized the mobile phone manufacturing industry, marketer’s perception regarding use of mobile phone as potential marketing tool and most importantly consumer’s perception about mobile phone applications (Wei and Lo, 2006). According to Wei and Lo (2006), mobile phones manufacturers have transformed the mob ile phone from being a device for communication to a device which is capable of virtual mobility, able to personalize social interaction and able to offer multiple applications which can help customers to perform their task in more responsive and customized manner. From the technological perspectives, transformed version of mobile phones which is basically a multimedia machine is known as Smartphone. Wei and

PHI445 FInal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

PHI445 FInal - Assignment Example One thing each company or organization needs to be aware of is that as much as businesses evolve, so does ethical norms. It is therefore important for each company to have a constant update to its business ethics. Non Profit Company: The American Future Fund American Future Fund or AFF is an organization started back in 2008. Individuals working with Mitt Romney during the 2008 bid for the Republican US Presidency pioneered it as non-profit making organization. The fund â€Å"advocates conservative and free-market principles† (Jacobson, 2012). The organization was established under 501(c) (4) US tax code, it is therefore allowed by law to raise an unlimited amount of money, but restricted to use this money for campaigning as its primary purpose. Ethical Problems the organization is facing For non-profit making organizations, most of their ethical issues can be summarized into seven key problems. As outlined by Santicola, (2006) these issues include tainted money, compensation, privacy, stewardship, conflict of interest, impropriety, and honesty/full disclosure. Any organization that is directly involved in politics is likely to face many ethical problems in its line of operation. AFF is not an exception, and since its inception, it has faced a number of lawsuits relating to its ethics. The main problems include the use of tainted money, compensation, appearance of impropriety, and honesty and full disclosure. ... The Iowa Democratic Party was convinced that AFF was using tainted money in running the ads and filed for a complaint with Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure, to determine AFF’s donors. In February 2011, AFF faced another accusation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), for tax violation. CREW seeks an investigation into AFF, where it has substantial evidence to question the organization’s honesty and disclosure. This suit also factors in other ethical issues that make the organization’s ethical standards questionable. Such issues include spending the organization's money to ask voters to vote against democrats, yet the mission of the organization is to support republicans to office. This is an appearance of impropriety since their methods may be arguable in court, but they are ethically inappropriate. AFF being a 501(c) (4) organization under US tax code, it is â€Å"allowed by law to raise an unlimited amount of money, but restricted to using this money for campaigning as its primary purpose†. In a bid to counter a decision made by Citizens United Supreme Court, AFF used more than $300 million to elect the 112th congress (CREW, 2011). This is a clear indication of compensation where the fundraisers of the organization are using donor funds for their own self-gain. With such claims directed towards the organization’s ethical standards, the organization is likely to face three major problems. First, the organization can end up being dissolved by the court if proven guilty of violating the tax code in its functions. Second, the organization ends u using many of its funds because of the various lawsuits that question its ethical standards. Thirdly, AFF is

Debate & MySpace Essay Example for Free

Debate MySpace Essay The motion here today is that Social networking sites can actually cause more harm than good. We do not however deny the fact that in today’s society, these social networking sites do bring benefits to our daily life and also in the ever growing business industry. For example, it helps us connect with our loved ones who are halfway round the globe, or even a marketing platform for business developers with its vast consumer reach. On the other hand, what we are affirming today is that despite it upsides, it can bring about MORE harm than good. It is an increasingly untenable fact, especially with the ease of access to the internet to virtually anyone, that these social media can have more negative effects than good. This is Veronica, she will be speaking about the negative effects that it will bring to our health and financial fraud. Secondly, Hema will elaborate further the effects on business risk and personal risk. Thirdly, Nazrul will touch on the topic of productivity and cyber-criminal activities. Last but not least, Joshua will briefly wrap up about this debate. This is a 5-round debate, and we look forward to challenging our opponent in this controversial topic. Social networking sites are websites that facilitate communication between 2 or more individuals. When we are communicating with 2 or more individuals, many fail to realise that we are essentially putting out information on ourselves out there on the World Wide Web. There are obviously a lot of privacy issues at hand when this happens. Im certain that the opposition will argue that we have control of what we share over the internet, and we can prevent these issues from happening. Even if we are very careful on what information we share, we still cannot prevent all forms of privacy violation  from happening. An article on The Guardian UK states that Facebook users are unwittingly revealing intimate secrets including their sexual orientation, drug use or political beliefs. A research shows that just by looking at a user’s Like activities, they can predict information about the user. Researchers are able to predict a users characteristics, race, religion, beliefs and political views with up to an accuracy rate of a shocking 88%. Even if we do put in controls, data on these sites are still accessible to anyone, especially those with expertise in the IT arena. A student from the University of Georgia is suing her university of $2 million dollar over the misuse of her Facebook picture. The University have pulled out a picture of her in a bikini from her social media account for a district-wide presentation campaign raising awareness on what not to do on social media. Incidentally, this student has set her privacy settings to only allow her friends to view her pictures. These examples here gives a fair indication of how our personal information can be accessed by almost anyone regardless of the measures that we took to protect our information. And if the opposition party would like to argue that it is the user’s decision NOT to put anything on the social sites, then I think that it would be considered as NOT USING these social media sites in any case, and as such, would be irrelevant to the topic of today. Another issue that I would like to address today is Cyber Bullying. Cyber bullying is a very serious problem because it’s very harmful to younger generation psychologically and also physically. Most bullies don’t think about what they say or do have an enormous effect on others. A very famous case sparked the attention of many people to realize that cyber bullying does have a very negative effect. The case of Amanda Todd shocked the world as she posted a video before committing suicide. In the black white video, Amanda tells the world her story of years of bullying. I now would like to pass on to my fellow colleague who will go on to the second point. Cyber Bullying Amanda Todd http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/Girl-Commits-Suicide-After-Being-Cyber-Bullied/qIO2h9LBhUaCEB_3oQlbzg.cspx Jessica Laney http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/social-media-blamed-teen-suicide-article-1.1218550 Eden Wormer http://abcnews.go.com/US/bullied-teen-commits-suicide-posting-loves-haterz/story?id=15887174 http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/mar/11/facebook-users-reveal-intimate-secrets http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/student-sues-school-district-for-using-her-facebook-bikini-picture-in-school-wide-presentation/ http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/selfies-damage-relationships-study-article-1.1424830 http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/internet-is-bad-for-kids-mental-health-237178.html In Wake Of Teen Suicides, Ask.fm Faces A Myspace Problem