I am not sure the topic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

I am not sure the topic - Research Paper Example Access of women in military is still an unpopular phenomenon due to their physique and psychological effectiveness. Since the inception, women in military were assigned only clerical, nursing, driving jobs and many at times in the production of ammunition. Hence, women worked in military, but their roles were just to support soldiers passively. However, with immense human loss in World War I, the need to grow troops demanded replacement of gender. Thus, First World War brought with it dramatic alteration in the role of women, instead of protesting and grieving over their loved ones they provided their support by being recruited on their military posts. When men were assigned overseas job, women replaced their vacant spaces in all walks of life from industry to armed forces. Hence, the trend of Victorian and Edwardian era of women was discarded completely. United Kingdom: In current decade, United Kingdom has allowed seventy percent of their female gender to opt for military positions . In 2002, Ministry of defense pronounced these positions for women and they could actively participate in naval crafts and air force. However, frontline fighters post is not open for them due to their physical and psychological structure (Noakes, 10). This dynamic change did not happen rapidly, but in 1998 it was increased to forty percent and later on to a maximum limit of seventy percent till twenty first century (ibid). The reason to ban them from frontline combatant position was their capability to endure, pressure, danger, strength, suitability and numerous psychological factors. However, few exceptional females did fit under the established criteria for such posts, but their quantity was small and unusual. Nevertheless, contribution of women in other European countries like Germany, Finland, Romania, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Netherland and few others has significantly increased and these countries also have assigned women to the front line combat positions as well. Th e current statistics of recent decade shows that there is an incline in women for the front line combatant position with an approximate of thirteen to seventeen percent. Hence, except United Kingdom, most of the other European countries have increased the number of women admittance in military. In 1996, women on prominent positions of military forces were denounced by the authorities and were transferred to female platoons. Their transference was referred as training and adjustment according to their physique. Hence, they were not allowed to join Royal Armoured corps and Marines, RAF Regiment. Moreover, they could not drive tanks or become mine clearance divers (Sherrow, 44). The question is how UK has proved its Victorian and Edwardian theory of docile women. A research and observation on mixed gender troops and single gender troops was conducted to assess the efficiency and influence of Women in military services along with men. The hypothesis was that women in front line troops e ntail risk with less or zero efficiency in terms of combat effectiveness. Hence, their presence stimulates a sense of weakness, delicacy, liability towards them and male combatants also lose their efficiency. Therefore, to maintain the level of efficiency in a troop, single gender troop either of male or female works toward the desired target more efficiently (Noakes, 10-11). Moreover, theory of mixed troops entails

Take home exam for the class (economics of race and gender ) Essay

Take home exam for the class (economics of race and gender ) - Essay Example Let us take the case of the United States: Azimzadeh says â€Å"most Americans believe in a three-class model - the rich, the middle class, and the poor. America is a diverse society considering its culture, economy, politics and ideology which make different levels of wealth, income, education, occupation and social behavior. It is not easy sometimes to classify certain groups or people in a certain class. One approach which is more common is based on cultural and economic diversity of the people and defines more of them in middle class† (2008). In terms of economics, those belonging to the upper classes have very high living standards and occupy top positions in government or corporate organizations, the upper middle classes composed of highly-educated and well-paid professionals also maintain good living conditions while the lower middle classes made up of semi-professionals or ordinary workers have to cope up with meager resources. In a political scene marked by free enterprise, the upper classes have more privileges and benefits that those who belong to the lower middle classes. They are accorded more rights and are considered more influential and have easier access to opportunities, income and other rewards. There is the so-called economic model of time use wherein households rationally and efficiently allocate time, typically through specialization of one partner in paid work and the other in unpaid work. The first condition is human capital which explains that men have more experience and education than women and biological differences, since women are those that bear children and care for them. The second is, the person with more power will do lesser unpaid work because household labor is less likable than paid tasks. The third is that although the experience and education of women have gone up during the past thirty years, they are still less paid compared to men. The fourth condition is that

Transactional Vs Transformational Leadership

Transactional Vs Transformational Leadership This essay is required to conduct a better understanding of leadership styles transactional and transformational leadership styles from researching on Richard Branson and Steve Jobs success, and discuss about different types of changes (incremental and radical changes) may occur in an organisation in order to learn change management methods can be applied to a real case (Virgin Group). Although both of the excellent leaders exhibit characteristics of both transactional and transformational leadership styles, this essay will identify Steve Jobs as a transactional leader and Richard Branson as a transformational leader with three reasons for each statement. This essay will identify and describe six examples of changes (incremental and radical) for each leader (three examples each type). At last, this essay will discuss about the concepts of change management and explain Kotters 8-Step Change Model by applying to a real case (Virgin Group). Transactional Leadership VS Transformational Leadership Good leadership is the key to the success of an organization. Transactional leadership is performance-oriented and transformational leadership is people-oriented. To be more specific, transactional leadership involves reinforcement to monitor and justify followers performances by using reward and punishment, while transformational leadership tends to inspire and motivate the followers loyalty and concentration by leaders charisma. Steve Jobs as Transactional Leader Transactional leaders characteristic behaviours are: (Barbuto, 2005) Contingent Reward Contingent reward is actually a usual way that most of the managers use to motivate teams, create positive competition and improve effectiveness. Steve Jobs had the impressive ability to notice talent and active employees and allocate them to the right place in the company. Each year, Jobs took his top 100 people on a retreat. It is not only a reward as a vacation, but also an acknowledgement from STEVE JOBS! In my opinion, acknowledgements from successful genius would be the best reward for my hard working. Management by exception Transactional leaders take actions based on the exceptions (performance) of the employees. Steve Jobs categorised his followers as either geniuses or bozos, and quickly firing those who fall in the latter camp (Greene-Blose, 2012). Another characteristic of transactional leadership would be the desire for control which is typical Steve Jobs style. His favourite presentation tools were a whiteboard and a Magic Marker, which gives him fully control in the conference. After his reinventing Apple, Jobs had several weeks of product review sessions. Finally he run out of patience and shouted the team to stop, grabbed a Magic Marker to the white board and wrote down four words: Consumer, Pro., Desktop and Portable. Then he said:Here is what we need! (Isaacson, 2012) This is Steve Jobs, full of power and passion, who gave clear incentives and strategies to his followers with his wisdom and visions. Richard Branson as Transformational Leader Transformational leaders characteristic behaviours are: (Barbuto, 2005) Idealized influence Richard Branson has become a role model for his followers inside or outside of his Virgin Empire by his own passionate and fearless life style. With his own words, You want to create something you are proud ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ That has always been my philosophy of business (Branson), Richard Branson broke many world records such as the fastest recorded Atlantic crossing by boat, the first Atlantic crossing by hot-air balloon, etc. He proved that anything is possible to his followers and the rest of the world with real examples. (Ocker, 2008) Inspiration motivation Richard Branson is a visionary leader with dreams and relentless work attitude which make those dreams come true. At the early stage of Virgin Group business, he once said:I want Virgin to be as well-known around the world as Coca-Cola. (Branson) After decades of time, the brand of Virgin have become world well-known, and covers many different areas of business which Coca-Cola wound not dare to try. Those kinds of ambitions and courage ties his group together and close, and leads him to keep on improving Virgin Group services and productions. Individualized consideration Richard Branson business maxim is staff first, customers second and shareholders third (Locke, 2009). One of his most famous and interesting story would be the lawsuit against British Airways for its protracted libel actions and ended with a settlement of about  £600,000 total. After Richard Branson got the money, he divided it to all his employees for their hard working. It was not only a reward, but more like sharing a triumph. On the other hand, the major reason of Richard Bransons business success is that he takes care of customers needs with innovations and consideration, such as placing a rubber ducky in each bathroom of Virgin-owned hotels in order to make guests feel ate home, putting Listening Posts in their record stores and allowing customers to listen to entire CDs before purchasing. (Richard Branson Virgin) In general, transformational leadership style is considered more as a friendly and flexible way to organize a company, while transactional leadership is considered more tough and efficient. It is hard to say which one is better. All the good leaders all over the world (include the two above) have the characteristics of the both leadership styles., such as Steve Jobs charismatic characteristics and spiritual motivating speech skills (Transformational), and Richard Branson strict management ways on the lower level positions in the organisation (Transactional). Transformational leadership does not replace transactional leadership but improves the effectiveness of transactional leadership from a different angle. (Bernard, Bass, Riggio, 2005) Incremental Changes VS Radical Changes Changes are inevitable in human lives as well as in business operations. Incremental change takes place over a long time period for development purposes, while radical change is more often triggered by a crisis or a business opportunity. There are several differences listed in the following table. Incremental Changes Radical Changes Reasons Business development Expansion Dealing with crisis Seizing a significant business opportunity Period Long period of time Short period of time Examples Improvement Such as TQM, new system implementation Revolutionary changes Such as restructuring, merger, take-over Approaches types May be small, slow, on-going May be onetime events, quick Respond and effect Hardly noticed by the management level Immediately adapt May cause resistance to changes Steve Jobs Incremental Changes Example1: Pixar In 1986, Steve Jobs bought The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm for $10 millions, changed the name to Pixar and started his career in animation manufacturing. With his visionary plans and technology support from his computer company NeXT, Pixar developed a software package called RenderMan (which has been widely accepted and used in filmmaking industry). RenderMan was implemented into the existing Pixar production line slowly in order to improve quality of the products. After ten years time, Pixar finally achieved an amazing success in the animation filming industry. It kept producing a series of animation films, beginning with Toy Story (1995), which led Pixars worth to over $1.5 billion. It took 10 years to implementing and perfecting the new software into production and transferring Steve Jobs leadership style into Pixars existing operation, and achieves a remarkable improvement at the end. This is an incremental change made by Steve Jobs. Example2: Digital hub strategy After Steve Jobs returning to Apple in 1997 as an interim CEO, he successfully brought Apple back to profitability with a amazing consumer desktop computer iMac. By facing negative predictions about proclaiming PCS would disappear within a couple of years, Steve Jobs continuously led Apple to keep on perfecting i products with the meaning of internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire as the same way Apple always do. (Steve Jobs introductory 1998 iMac slide show) In 2001, Steve Jobs unveiled the Digital Hub Strategy to the public and in the next 10 years time he kept on launching a series of new products which extremely changed and led the trade of the whole world. (Kurian, 2012) There was an interesting event that Steve Jobs called himself as the iCEO of Apple instead of interim CEO humorously which entertained the public very much (Macworld San Francisco 2000). It was also a smart way to promoting i products while teasing with the board of Apple for rehiring him as a temporary executive officer. This huge successful change took 10 years to be accomplished followed by Steve Jobs leadership piece by piece. It maintained the old producing direction and improved production qualities. It was a long period on-going process of implementing Jobs wisdom into Apple Company. Example3: Retirement from Apple Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, but he kept on denying any serious problem. That is why everyone was surprised when Apple announced that Steve Jobs would not go on stage for the Macworld keynote in 2009, and he took six months off at the same year. Jobs finally resigned as CEO of Apple in 2011 but remained as the Chairman of the companys board, and he passed away after 6 weeks. (Kurian, 2012) There may be some radical changes involved for damage control purpose, but in general, Steve Jobs took care of his retirement carefully and smoothly to avoid negative impact within 3 years time. For instance, he distributed his responsibilities to other executives step by step, and before his final resign, he strongly recommended Tim Cook in written, that letter was released to the public later in order to retain faith. The whole process was carefully planned and implemented in a long time step by step. In my opinion, it can be an incremental change. Steve Jobs Radical Changes Example1: Macintosh VS Lisa In the early 80s, Apple was creating a business-oriented computer named Lisa under Steve Jobs supervising, but later after that, Steve Jobs thrown out of the Lisa project because of his bad temper. He was so angry and decided to take revenge by developing a small project called Macintosh in order to destroy the sales of Lisa. (Kurian, 2012) It was a radical strategy. Macintosh had user-friendly interface (point-and -click) which inspired other computer manufactories and changed the direction of computer industry since then, but it was not as welcome to the market as Jobs expected though. At that time, IBMs PC was more compatible with its cheaper price. Because this action was taken rapidly without well planning and careful market researching, Macintosh project failed. Example2: Staging a Coup There was another revenge taken by Steve Jobs after his removal from Lisa project, he tried to stage a coup. As we all know, he failed again. (Kurian, 2012) It was a restructuring plan, and he took actions rapidly. But without endorsement from Apple board of directors and support from other colleagues, he got fired from his own company. Example3: Reinventing Apple By 1996, Apple rehired Steve Jobs as an informal adviser to the CEO. At that time, Apple was keeping on losing money and Steve Jobs staged another coup. He successes this time and became an interim CEO in 1997.The first thing he had done after his promotion is cutting off the production lines and focused on four products. This effective decision brought the lost confidence back to the Apple community (Kurian, 2012). In the meantime, Jobs took other actions such as announcing a new slogan Think Different and launched an amazing project which brought Apples resurgence lately, the iMac. (Edwards, 2008) Those actions and decisions above are radical changes (restructuring and redesigning the production processes). They were new strategies to the company for solving a financial crisis in a short time period. Richard Branson Incremental Changes Example1: Virgin Atlantic There are some unique features Virgin Atlantic has while other airways may not have can be considered as incremental changes. Such as, serving a cup of ice cream while passengers watching movies during travelling in order to provide a better service. Virgin Atlantic does not provide meals for short distance flight in order to reduce ticket price. This kind of services is provided for improving quality of service. Example2: Virgin Group Because Richard Branson received a lot of support from his family and friends during hi early period of business stage (borrowed money from his auntie and supported by John Lennon), the whole Virgin Group services can be considered as a long term process for implementing Richard Bransons plan of giving back to the society and helping those people who has ambitious but doesnt have opportunities. Such as, Virgin Money provides a set of formalised documentations help people who need loans. Although Virgin Money U.S. did not work well in USA, Richard Branson helped millions of people with his good heart in UK. Those actions can be considered as Incremental Changes. Example3: Eco-friendly efforts In 2007, Richard Branson launched Virgin Earth Challenge dedicating in to environmental issues. He made several decisions that supervised the whole world, such as a $25 millions prize for inventors who comes up with a viable solution for scrubbing carbon gases from atmosphere. He also pledged to reinvest all profits from Virgin transportation business over the decade into developing ecologically benign fuels. This kind of actions may not affect other Virgin companies, but they will improve Virgin Groups reputation, it is also a long time period project. Richard Branson Radical Changes Example1: Virgin Records Shop At the beginning, Richard Branson started his records business as mail ordering company in London, and it went well. After a postal strike, the mail order business was crippled. Richard Branson was forced to seek new outlets and he opened his first retail store in Oxford Street in 1971. This was a strategy for dealing with a crisis situation, and operated immediately. It changed Virgin Records business process and structure. Example2: Selling Virgin Music Group Selling Virgin Music probably would be the hardest decision Richard Branson has ever made in his whole lifetime. This decision was made in order to get money to take Virgin Atlantic back into private ownership (Vinnedge, 2009). This change was forced by a financial crisis and included restructuring process. Example3: Closing Virgin Money U.S. Richard Branson launched a loan servicing company called Virgin Money U.S. in America in 2007, and began its withdrawal after 2 years (Lepro, 2010). Its social loans were transferred to Graystone Solutions. This time, Richard Branson misjudged the market and had to make the decision in order to limit the damage. Other reasons of this collapse might be the bad economy and different culture in America. This change included restructuring and take-over in a short time. To sum up the above examples and explanations, incremental changes are normally well planned and taken over by pieces, there is less possibilities of failure. Radical changes are immediate responses for a crisis or significant opportunity, there are chances of failure. Change Management in Virgin Group Story of Virgin Mobile In 2007, Virgin Group announced the completion of its biggest challenge which brought over 10 million customers and 13,000 employees merger of NTL, Telewest and Virgin Mobile under the Virgin Media brand. It is known as the largest Virgin Company in the world. This operation took more than two years to complete the whole the merger, and Virgin Group handled it carefully, especially on employees resistance. Reasons of employees resistance to this change and strategies It is necessary for leaders to understand that resistances to changes are normal. In order to deal with those obstacles, leaders have to identify reasons of employees resistances firstly and develop different strategies for different situations. Some common reasons are following: Fear Mostly, employees fear comes from uncertainty about their career. In this situation, employees were worried about if there would be a layoff or if they were qualified for the new company. Strategies: Virgin Group kept employees involved during managing changes. The high level of the management went done to the front line staff and listened to the staffs ideas and problems, and shared their own experiences. Richard Branson took care of individual needs carefully. Meanwhile, he also announced that if the employees no longer have the enthusiasm, they would be better to find a new job. As long as the employees performed with full responsibilities, they would always be considered as a part of the company. This kind of instructions increased the sense of the urgency, and motivated employees to move on positively. No faith in new process Former NTL and Telewest employees might have uncertainties about the new process of Virgin Group. Because NTL and Telewest Company had several years of struggling with the bad economy environment, they could not be sure whether the new company would lead them to improve the organisational performance. Strategies: Richard Branson gave responsibilities to his employees, and went to the front line personally to inform clear instructions. Establishing clear instructions and explanations, and demonstrating a picture of a better future would increase employees faith and certainty of the new process. Comfort personal preference Former NTL and Telewest employees had their own ways of daily operations, and the new company brought its new ways of doing business, so they might have the difficulties to adopt the new culture. Such as, those staff had their old way of dealing with customers calls by following the instructions and scripts strictly, while Richard Branson believes that each customer would have his/her unique problem, staff should help different customers differently. Strategies: Richard Branson threw away all the scripts and told call-center employees to help customers within one call if possible. In order to support their work, he allocated necessary resources to the font line. Lack of knowledge Although some former NTL and Telewest employees were expert in their old company, they might need to start from the beginning since the new company had its unique ways of doing business. Strategies: For this kind of anxiety, Richard Branson responded with three words only: Live and Learn! He provided resources and training programs for employees in order to create a positive learning environment, and he also encouraged communication among different levels of the management to understand individual difficulties. Lack of trust Virgin Group has different diversity of businesses and it used to prefer small piece of business, whether Richard Branson has the ability to lead the large company to make profit and keep growing would be unpredictable. This is the reason that some employees might have difficulties to adapt the changes. Strategies: Richard Branson kept developing new products and services, and led the company to profitability, such as more packages of Virgin Broadband, more channels and TV programs for Virgin Media Television, and etc. Those successes brought back the trust in several years, not immediately. Application of Kotters Change Model Create Urgency At this stage, it is necessary to deliver a message that the whole company really needs this change. The company has to provide solid reasons and convincing dialogues support this decision. To Kotters belief, this stage is the most important stage; lack of preparation would easily lead to a project failure. In Virgin Medias case, leader should show people NTL and Telewests poor performance reports and most importantly, the potentials, because no one will have faith in a failed business. With a brief introduction of development scenarios, leader should emphasise the opportunities and benefit from this merger. Form a Powerful Coalition In order to influence people to accept the change, leader needs a group of key people from different department to support the change management process. They dont necessary have to be who has legitimate power, but also can be expert, and other influential people. In Virgin Medias case, leader should select powerful and influential people from ex-NTL and ex-Telewest Company, and select good communicators from Virgin Mobile, in order to organise a supportive team. Once organised, the team needs to work together and continuing to create urgency in their own working areas. Create a Vision for Change The next step would be generating an overall vision about the change, including values and reasons of the change, short summaries, and strategies to execute that vision. In Virgin Medias case, leader should have a clear idea about what to do with ex-NTL and ex-Telewest, and why Virgin Mobile needs to conduct a merger with them. As the matter of the fact, Richard Branson was trying to build the first quadruple play  [1]   media company in UK, and after couple of years hard working, he did it. Communicate the Vision After creating the vision, leader should deliver the message to the team members, and with their help, the message can be distributed to all aspects of the company. The message should not be sent through meetings only, most importantly through daily communications among the whole company. In Virgin Medias Case, Richard Branson tried to communicate with employees as much as possible and motivate them to maintain in a positive working attitude. Those ideas and visions were implanted into employees mind during those communications. Remove Obstacles In order to ease employees resistance to changes, leader should avoid having resistance to employees resistance. Leader should be willing to listen and understand employees difficulties and find a way to help them walk through it. In Virgin Media case, Richard Branson provided clear instructions to all employees, and went to the front-line in person to listen to employees. He allocated necessary resources to them and tried to create a learning environment, in order to improve performance. Create Short-term Wins Celebrations for short-term wins would be the easiest and most efficient way to prove that we are doing the right things and we are doing things right. It is not only for motivating employees passion of working, but also for gaining trust. In Virgin Medias case, leader should recognize and reward people for their excellent performance and making changes happen, and encourage them to keep on working positively. Build on the Change Kotter believes that it is very important for leaders to avoid celebrating too early and being complacent about current short-term success. There would be always rooms for improvement. In Virgin Medias Case, Richard Branson kept on producing and developing new products and services, and tracking on employees performances all the time. He went through daily operations in details in person to seek for ways of improvements. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture Formalising the changes and including them as part of organisations culture would be the last step of change management process. This step can be considered as a closure and promotion. In Virgin Medias case, Richard Branson announced Virgin Groups success to the public all the time through different kind of channels, such as TV, radio, Virgin websites, blogs, magazines and etc. Conclusion After researching on Steve Jobs and Richard Branson life stories as a leader, this essay is conducted in order to gain a better understanding about the concepts of being an excellent leader. Leadership Style Steve Jobs was considered as a tough and strict (even dictatorial) leader, but he was also a respectful leader who could inspire and motivate followers by using his wisdom and charismas. Richard Branson is considered as gentle and flexible leaders, but he is very strict on day-to-day operations. As a leader, being transactional can improve employees performance while being transformational can improve effectiveness. Therefore, there is no one simple leadership style for one organisation. Both of the leadership styles are crucial to a business success. Types of changes Incremental change may takes place over a long time period for development and improvement purpose, while radical change may be triggered by a crisis or a business opportunity and generated in a short time period. Because incremental changes are normally well planned and taken over by pieces, there is less possibilities of failure. Radical changes are initiated immediately after realising a crisis or significant opportunity, so without a careful plan and on-going monitoring there are chances of failure. Change Management It is important to understand that employees resistance to changes are natural, but how to manage those negative feelings are critical. In general, leader should keep employees involved in the decision making, address their problems and seek for solutions, create a positive learning environment and make the change happen by working with employees as an example. Change management processes should be carefully planned and operated, especially the preparing stage (Create Urgency). A powerful coalitions positive support would make the operations accomplished smoothly, that is why selecting the right team member is very important. Leader and coalition should lead by examples, communicate with employees and deliver visions as much as possible. Do remember celebrating on short-term wins and establish big victory formally as companys culture.

Garbage, Recycling, and Waste Management Essay -- essays research pape

Garbage, Recycling, and Waste Management There are already ways of getting rid of garbage so people won’t have to see it or smell it. For example there is incineration, in which trash that can’t be recycled is burned. Although this meets the requirements mentioned above it has a downside. The burning itself causes waste and eventually it will have a bad effect on the environment. Recycling is a good process that reuses materials so they won’t be wasted and cause waste. But many products are not recyclable, like plastics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are a number of ways to solve the dilemma of collection and transportation of municipal solid waste. An underground system of conveyor belts to the dump is a possibility. It would cost a lot of money to build, but then only additional costs would be keeping the conveyor belt running. Each house could be connected to one long conveyor belt dug under the road. Every time people needed to take their garbage out they could bring it through their basement through a path onto the conveyor belt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The goal of trash compactors and sink-garbage disposals is to reduce garbage. In the end, I think it is apparent that this garbage is still there, whether or not it is compacted into a smaller space. These two methods of disposal do not rid the person of the act of actually removing the garbage, and it eventually gets into everyday life instead of being taken away. If it were up to me, instead of just co...

Cost Accounting – Acct 3334 Chapter 9 Solutions

Chapter 9 solutions (P9-28, -29, -40)   9-28 (10 min. ) CDenominator-level problem 1. Budgeted fixed manufacturing overhead costs rates: Budgeted Fixed Budgeted Fixed Denominator Manufacturing Budgeted Manufacturing Level Capacity Overhead per Capacity Overhead CostConceptPeriodLevelRate Theoretical$4, 560, 0003, 600 $ 1, 266. 67Practical4,560,0002,4001,900. 00 Normal4,560,0001,2003,800. 00 Master-budget4,560,0001,4403,166. 67 The rates are different because of varying denominator-level concepts. Theoretical and practical capacity levels are driven by supply-side concepts, i. e. , â€Å"how much can produce? † Normal and master-budget capacity levels are driven by demand-side concepts, i. e. , â€Å"how much can we sell? † (or â€Å"how much should we produce? †) 2. In order to incorporate fixed manufacturing costs into unit product costs, fixed manufacturing costs have to be unitized for inventory costing.Absorption costing is the method used for tax reporting and for financial reporting using generally accepted accounting principles. The choice of a denominator level becomes relevant under absorption costing because fixed costs are accounted for along with variable costs at the individual product level. Variable and throughput costing account for fixed costs as a lump sum, expensed in the period incurred. 3. The variances that arise from use of the theoretical or practical level concepts will signal that there is a divergence between the supply of capacity and the demand for capacity.This is useful input to managers. As a general rule, however, it is important not to place undue reliance on the production volume variance as a measure of the economic costs of unused capacity. 4. Under a cost-based pricing system, the choice of a master-budget level denominator will lead to high prices when demand is low (more fixed costs allocated to the individual product level), further eroding demand; conversely it will lead to low prices when demand is high, forgoing profits.This has been referred to as the downward demand spiral—the continuing reduction in demand that occurs when the prices of competitors are not met and demand drops, resulting in even higher unit costs and even more reluctance to meet the prices of competitors. The positive aspect of the master-budget denominator level is that it indicates the price at which all costs per unit would be recovered to enable the company to make a profit. Master-budget denominator level is also a good benchmark against which to evaluate performance. -40(20 min. )Cost allocation, downward demand spiral. 1. = = Budgeted denominator level=2,920,000 meals WHM is using budgeted usage as its denominator level for calculating the budgeted fixed costs per meal in 2007. 2. Alternative denominator levels include: a. Capacity available. The data in the problem note that the facility can serve 3,650,000 meals a year. With this denominator level, there will be budgeted unused capacity, which could be recorded as a separate line in the cost report for the Santa Monica facility. . Budgeted usage of capacity. With the 2007 budgeted usage of 2,920,000 meals, the fixed costs charge is $1. 80 per meal. The marketplace is signalling that WHM’s own central food-catering facility is not providing value for the costs charged. If Cheung decides to raise prices to recover fixed costs from a declining demand base, he will likely encounter the downward demand spiral: Budgeted Denominator(1)| Variable Cost per Meal(2)| Fixed Cost per Meal$5,256,000 ? 1)(3)| Total Cost per Meal(4)| 3,650,000| $4. 56| $1. 44| $6. 00| 2,920,000| 4. 56| 1. 80| 6. 36| 2,550,000| 4. 56| 2. 06| 6. 62| 2,000,000| 4. 56| 2. 63| 7. 19| Cheung might adopt a contribution margin approach, which means viewing the $4. 56 variable cost as the only per-unit cost and the $5,256,000 as a fixed cost. Alternatively, Cheung could use practical capacity to cost the meals and work to reduce costs of unused capa city. 3. Three factors managers should consider in pricing decisions: a. Customers.Cheung is facing customers who are dissatisfied with both the cost and the quality of the meal service. Three of the 10 hospitals have already elected to use an outside canteen service. b. Competitors. For the three hospitals terminating use of the Santa Monica facility, at least one competitor is more cost-effective. The seven remaining hospitals likely will be very interested in how this competitor performs at the three hospitals. c. Costs. Jenkins should consider ways to reduce both the variable costs per meal and the fixed costs.

My favorite place Essay

Let’s walk through a 5-step process for building a paragraph. For each step there is an explanation and example. Our example paragraph will be about slave spirituals, the original songs that African Americans created during slavery. The model paragraph uses illustration (giving examples) to prove its point. Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence Paragraph development begins with the formulation of the controlling idea. This idea directs the paragraph’s development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic sentence. In some cases, you may need more than one sentence to express a paragraph’s controlling idea. Here is the controlling idea for our â€Å"model paragraph,† expressed in a topic sentence: Model controlling idea and topic sentence— Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. Step 2. Explain the controlling idea Paragraph development continues with an expression of the rationale or the explanation that the writer gives for how the reader should interpret the information presented in the idea statement or topic sentence of the paragraph. The writer explains his/her thinking about the main topic, idea, or focus of the paragraph. Here’s the sentence that would follow the controlling idea about slave spirituals: Model explanation—On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul; but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. Step 3. Give an example (or multiple examples) Paragraph development progresses with the expression of some type of support or evidence for the idea and the explanation that came before it. The example serves as a sign or representation of the relationship established in the idea and explanation portions of the paragraph. Here are two examples that we could use to illustrate the double meanings in slave spirituals Model example A—For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song â€Å"O Canaan, Sweet Canaan† spoke of slaves’ longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this  second meaning in the following lyrics: â€Å"I don’t expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don’t expect to stay.† Model example B—Slaves even used songs like â€Å"Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)† to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. Step 4. Explain the example(s) The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence and rationale that were stated at the beginning of the paragraph. This explanation shows readers why you chose to use this/or these particular examples as evidence to support the major claim, or focus, in your paragraph. Continue the pattern of giving examples and explaining them until all points/examples that the writer deems necessary have been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left unexplained. You might be able to explain the relationship between the example and the topic sentence in the same sentence which introduced the example. More often, however, you will need to explain that relationship in a separate sentence. Look at these explanations for the two examples in the slave spirituals paragraph: Model explanation for example A—When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Model explanation for example B—[The relationship between example B and the main idea of the paragraph’s controlling idea is clear enough without adding another sentence to explain it.] Step 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea or transition into the next paragraph The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph and reminding the reader of the relevance of the information in this paragraph to the main or controlling idea of the paper. At this point, you can remind your reader about the relevance of the information that you just discussed in the paragraph. You might feel more comfortable, however, simply transitioning your reader to the next developm ent in the next paragraph. Here’s an example of a sentence that completes the slave spirituals paragraph: Model sentence for completing a paragraph—What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say. Notice that the example and explanation steps of this 5-step process (steps 3 and 4) can be repeated as needed. The idea is that you continue to use this pattern until you have completely developed the main idea of the paragraph. Here is a look at the completed â€Å"model† paragraph: Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul, but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song â€Å"O Canaan, Sweet Canaan† spoke of slaves’ longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: â€Å"I don’t expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don’t expect to stay.† When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Slaves even used songs like â€Å"Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)† to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. What whites heard as merely spiri tual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say.

A Letter to Felice essays

A Letter to Felice essays Examples of amae can also be found in Kafka's letters. Especially relevant in this context is a passage in a letter to his fiance Felice Bauer (The Basic Kafka, pp. 286f) which he regarded as so important that he also noted it in his diary and quoted it in a letter to his friend Max Brod, where he even proposes it as his epitaph. The fact that Kafka copied this text twice shows how important it was to him. This is also indicated by the expression "ultimate aim." It seems that Kafka here reveals an essential element of his view of life. Since he takes the passage out of the context in two cases we may assume that he regards it as self-contained. Thus one may interpret it without reference to the context. In the first sentence, Kafka denies any highest moral authority ("a supreme tribunal") and any idea of absolute moral values ("strive to be good"). Rather, and this he sees as "very much the opposite," he wants to be "pleasing to everyone." What matters to him are not universal and absolute values but human relationships. This is clearly opposed to the mainstream of the European tradition as it is for instance expressed in Kant's categorical imperative ( "Act only on that maxim that you can at the same time will to be a universal law.") It closely resembles, however, many elements of Japanese society and culture, especially in the context of amae which is expressed in Kafka's wish to please everyone. In Japanese one could use here the term toriiru which Takeo Doi lists among the vocabulary of amae. Kafka seems to allow the others to amaeru by responding to their wishes but what he really wants is to be allowed to amaeru himself. The psychology of amae is even more obvious in the following "to become so pleasing that in the end I might openly act out my inherent baseness before the eyes of the world without forfeiting its love." Presuming upon everyone's indulgence he wishes to behave ki- ...

Talking About Young People

Talking About Young People Talking About Young People Talking About Young People By Maeve Maddox Many terms exist to describe children of various ages, all of them having different connotations. The messages of journalists, politicians, merchants, professional educators, and social commentators are often slanted by the terms they choose to describe children. For example, politicians who may usually refer to children as kids are careful to use the words child and children in their important speeches. Apparently, child evokes a more tender response in the listener than kid. Professional educators, who once distinguished between the words pupil and student, now refer to all school children as students. Any word that describes a child is going to carry some emotional charge, but some are more heavily weighted than others. Here are some fairly neutral words to describe young people under the age of 21: baby infant toddler child boy girl youngster juvenile adolescent minor The following words convey more specific images and appeal to different emotions: tot tyke little one preschooler teenager teen preteen student young man young lady young adult waif urchin brat rug rat guttersnipe In the past, the word youth was a useful term often seen in news stories with the meaning of â€Å"a young man between boyhood and mature age.† For example, â€Å"Youth Robs Liquor Store.† Recently, I’ve seen the word used to describe a three-year-old who drowned. Finally, there’s the word kid. As a word for the young of a goat, kid has been in the language at least since 1562; possibly since 1200. The OED documents kid, â€Å"a child, especially a young child,† from the 17th century, noting that it originated as â€Å"low slang,† but by the 19th century had become common in familiar speech. Nowadays, kid is used in the most formal contexts, from the speech and writing of professional educators to the naming of children’s clinics. The word’s elevation to the status of an acceptable synonym for child may have something to do with its similarity to German Kind (child); after all, English is a Germanic language. However, despite its ubiquity as a generic term for child, the word kid can carry negative connotations that prevent it from being acceptable in every context. Related post: â€Å"I Hate ‘Kids† 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?Anyone vs. EveryoneHow Long Should a Synopsis Be?

Mathematical Properties of Waves

Mathematical Properties of Waves Physical waves, or mechanical waves, form through the vibration of a medium, be it a string, the Earths crust, or particles of gases and fluids. Waves have mathematical properties that can be analyzed to understand the motion of the wave. This article introduces these general wave properties, rather than how to apply them in specific situations in physics. Transverse Longitudinal Waves There are two types of mechanical waves. A is such that the displacements of the medium are perpendicular (transverse) to the direction of travel of the wave along the medium. Vibrating a string in periodic motion, so the waves move along it, is a transverse wave, as are waves in the ocean. A longitudinal wave is such that the displacements of the medium are back and forth along the same direction as the wave itself. Sound waves, where the air particles are pushed along in the direction of travel, is an example of a longitudinal wave. Even though the waves discussed in this article will refer to travel in a medium, the mathematics introduced here can be used to analyze properties of non-mechanical waves. Electromagnetic radiation, for example, is able to travel through empty space, but still, has the same mathematical properties as other waves. For example, the Doppler effect for sound waves is well known, but there exists a similar Doppler effect for light waves, and they are based around the same mathematical principles. What Causes Waves? Waves can be viewed as a disturbance in the medium around an equilibrium state, which is generally at rest. The energy of this disturbance is what causes the wave motion. A pool of water is at equilibrium when there are no waves, but as soon as a stone is thrown in it, the equilibrium of the particles is disturbed and the wave motion begins.The disturbance of the wave travels, or propogates, with a definite speed, called the wave speed (v).Waves transport energy, but not matter. The medium itself doesnt travel; the individual particles undergo back-and-forth or up-and-down motion around the equilibrium position. The Wave Function To mathematically describe wave motion, we refer to the concept of a wave function, which describes the position of a particle in the medium at any time. The most basic of wave functions is the sine wave, or sinusoidal wave, which is a periodic wave (i.e. a wave with repetitive motion). It is important to note that the wave function doesnt depict the physical wave, but rather its a graph of the displacement about the equilibrium position. This can be a confusing concept, but the useful thing is that we can use a sinusoidal wave to depict most periodic motions, such as moving in a circle or swinging a pendulum, which dont necessarily look wave-like when you view the actual motion. Properties of the Wave Function wave speed (v) - the speed of the waves propagationamplitude (A) - the maximum magnitude of the displacement from equilibrium, in SI units of meters. In general, it is the distance from the equilibrium midpoint of the wave to its maximum displacement, or it is half the total displacement of the wave.period (T) - is the time for one wave cycle (two pulses, or from crest to crest or trough to trough), in SI units of seconds (though it may be referred to as seconds per cycle).frequency (f) - the number of cycles in a unit of time. The SI unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz) and1 Hz 1 cycle/s 1 s-1angular frequency (ω) - is 2Ï€ times the frequency, in SI units of radians per second.wavelength (ÃŽ ») - the distance between any two points at corresponding positions on successive repetitions in the wave, so (for example) from one crest or trough to the next, in SI units  of meters.  wave number (k) - also called the propagation constant, this useful quantity is defined as 2 Ï₠¬ divided by the wavelength, so the SI units are radians per meter. pulse - one half-wavelength, from equilibrium back Some useful equations in defining the above quantities are: v ÃŽ » / T ÃŽ » fω 2 Ï€ f 2 Ï€/TT 1 / f 2 Ï€/ωk 2Ï€/ωω vk The vertical position of a point on the wave, y, can be found as a function of the horizontal position, x, and the time, t, when we look at it. We thank the kind mathematicians for doing this work for us, and obtain the following useful equations to describe the wave motion: y(x, t) A sin ω(t - x/v) A sin 2Ï€ f(t - x/v)y(x, t) A sin 2Ï€(t/T - x/v)y(x, t) A sin (ω t - kx) The Wave Equation One final feature of the wave function is that applying calculus to take the second derivative yields the wave equation, which is an intriguing and sometimes useful product (which, once again, we will thank the mathematicians for and accept without proving it): d2y / dx2 (1 / v2) d2y / dt2 The second derivative of y with respect to x is equivalent to the second derivative of y with respect to t divided by the wave speed squared. The key usefulness of this equation is that whenever it occurs, we know that the function y acts as a wave with wave speed v and, therefore, the situation can be described using the wave function.

I need you to add two more papers to my essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I need you to add two more papers to my - Essay Example g a better understanding on how certain issues such as the enlightenment of religion can enhance structural integrity that can help individuals fully grasp the essence and the reality of religion and science. With this study, we aim to deliver high quality insights that would prevent constructive stereotypes on the topic that affects our community in general (Harrison, n.p.). Religion is a belief in a higher being that results to a certain person or community practices in line with a certain divine or moral law in order to improve oneself and be further brought closer to a relationship to an all-powerful and all-knowing spiritual being. The practice of this belief most people call â€Å"religion† entails a series of ethical principles that highly motivates and influences human practices and behavior towards reaching a noble goal, the good of the whole community. This being said, religion before and today is considered as an important guiding instrument & an important source for human beings to lean towards the good and constantly repel our inner nature of being evil, which through constant practice develops good manners and right conduct. Religion is also one of the strongest forces that enable one to develop positive vibes within oneself and prevent unruly behaviors easily caused by imperfect circumstances and challenges being faced from day to d ay. Because most people revere a certain kind of religion, each one is awarded with a sensitive conscience that reminds one of what is right and wrong, allowing one to have control over one’s attitude towards unwanted issues that could encourage actions that potentially harm other individuals, groups, and communities. Islam is considerably one of the largest religions in the world who call their god â€Å"Allah†. Today, there are at least more than a billion members that practice this particular religion that originated for more than millennium years ago. However, with all the many religious groups having their own

Anti-Descrimination Laws Related to Employment Research Paper

Anti-Descrimination Laws Related to Employment - Research Paper Example In order to control these tendencies by employees who use company electronic media, especially the internet, for activities, which are not work related, many companies and organizations have chosen to adopt electronic usage policies whose purpose is to ensure that there is responsible use of this resource. In addition, these policies have been put in place to ensure that electronic resources are not used by employees for purposes, which are not compatible with the objectives of the organizations in which they are used. Recent surveys by human resource managers on employees in a diverse number of companies have found that approximately two thirds of employees spend at least some of their work time on non- work related internet activity. Among the employees who use social networks sites, it has been found that approximately half of them check their social network profiles during their normal workdays and that fifteen percent of this group spends at least one hour a day browsing the int ernet on non-work related sites. It was further found that over half of employees sent personal emails, with nineteen percent sending more than five personal emails per day. The response of many institutions and organizations to non-work related internet activity has been to establish tougher  policies  regarding internet  usage  and  electronic  means to ensure that their employees are monitored. It has been found that the most dominant method of controlling the internet behavior of employees, is through the blocking of those sites that are most commonly used, the monitoring of internet usage  and email, as well as the firing employees for  violating the electronic usage policies of their companies. The developments in employee potential misuse of electronic technology, and the reactions of employers to this changing environment, has further come to be evidenced by surveys that were conducted between 2001 and 2007. These surveys show that there was a dramatic increa se in the  use  of  electronic monitoring by employers, and this was mainly used as a tool to avoid potential lawsuits. According to a survey conducted in 2001, over half of the companies that responded monitored their employees' internet activities, with forty six percent monitoring e-mail, and thirty six percent monitoring storage and the retrieval of company files (Cappel, 1993). By the time another survey was conducted some six years later, the figures had risen to sixty six percent of companies monitoring Internet connections. There is a high possibility that this trend in  electronic  monitoring by companies as well as other employers will continue as the technological development of both hardware and software continues to improve and becomes less resource intensive to install and  use. Ethical Concerns Ethics have come to play an immense role in influencing the process of regulation of the internet within a diverse number of businesses and their success will depen d on how strict the said businesses are in implementing its electronic usage policy. The regulations of the content displayed on the internet are done ethically because they mostly deal with material that is of no use to the business, illegal or both and this is done to ensure that employees get to use this resource responsibly. A responsible business should ensure that the internet content that has been proven to have been wrongfully

What caused the Great Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-8 Essay - 1

What caused the Great Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-8 - Essay Example The role of the Indian sepoys was a central one as without their initial rising, other classes would not have been able to initiate such a high level of revolt. The hatred of sepoys attracted all other classes as well and this in turn resulted in the great sepoy rebellion and one of the major rebellions in the history of India. It is often referred to as the first Indian nationalist uprising. Although people from all over India were involved, the major areas of rebellion included the Northern areas of India and Bengal. The Indian sepoys tried to popularize the event by asking the last Mughal emperor to re-establish the Mughal Empire. Through this, they did gain wider support; however, the emperor did not have much power left. Therefore, the revolt was not successful to be turned into a widespread national revolt as the British were able to control it to some extent. Although the rebellion started as a military cause, it took on hold as majority of Indians joined this to show their resentment against the British. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British took hold of Bengal and took advantage by introducing reforms and policies against the peasants and traders. Along with this, other major causes including religious, political, social resulted in the great rebellion of 1857. The most important cause of this great rebellion included the growing resentment of the Indian sepoys towards their British masters. These sepoys were basically peasants and therefore, supported the farmer community of India at that time. Therefore, the adverse policies of the British government for the agricultural sector greatly affected the feelings of the sepoys as well as they could relate to the actual feelings of the farmer community. Secondly, these sepoys were greatly dissatisfied with the discriminatory promotion and payment policies. The European soldiers were paid more salary although the majority chunk of the work was done by the

Trobriander Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Trobriander Culture - Essay Example The yam is the very object that can give a man political and economic power, however it is the one thing he can not grow for himself. This fact is the basis for the way the Trobriander culture functions. To understand the importance f the yam in the Trobriander culture, one must understand who grows and distributes the yams. It all starts with the preparation f the land. Due to the poor soil in the area, the Trobrianders use 'slash and burn' or 'swidden' cultivation to enrich the soil with minerals. Although married couples work together to prepare the yam fields, growing yams is primarily the man's job. The man uses young people to help him in his yam garden. He will later pay them with yams he receives. They may use this to buy things from the trading store or to buy secrets about the land and how it came into possession by the owners. Although it is the man that labors rigorously to grow the yams, they are never really his to use. The yams are grown for a single woman, usually his sister; therefore the garden is named after her. Although the yams are grown for a mans sister, it is her husband that will use the yams for political maneuvering. The yams, after staying on display at the gardens for about a month, are taken directly to the woman's husband's yam house. The only one that can use the yams while they are still at the garden is the gardens namesake, and this is only under a dire emergency such as a death in the family. The amount f yams a man gives to his sister is a direct, and publicly viewed, reflection f the relationship between the woman's husband and the grower. An abundance f yams can be given if the grower sees his brother-in-law as a hard worker, or good provider for his sister. This exchange is beneficial to the man giving the yams to a hard working man because he has repayment f woman's wealth coming back to him. The grower may also give an abundance f yams to a woman whose husband is seen as a political force to be allied with. It is the obligation f the receiver f the yams to return the generosity for the gift f yams by giving him cooked yams, taro, and pieces f pork if available. The distribution f the yams is designed to encourage good social relationships between neighbors and family. It is also highly dependent on hard work. No one will wish to give yams to a man that has nothing to give back in return because he is lazy. Having a yam house is a good indication f someone with political prowess. A man can not build his own yam house. The yam house can only be built by a man's in-laws, and this will only happen after the man proves his worthiness through years f hard work. A yam house is like a summer house in that it is possessed only by well established men. A man is bound to his wife's family because he depends on them to give him yams and also to build his yam house when he is ready for it. Weinder writes, 'A man can develop political power only if he has strong support from his wife's relatives, and this support is primarily demonstrated through yam production' (92). The woman's family is also reliant on her husband for yams in the event f death in the family. Therefore, there is a working relationship that requires an equal effort on both sides to be productive. Yams should be viewed more as a currency with symbolic value that can be used as a food. The main purpose f the yam is

Benefits of Biomedical Research Using Animals Essay

Benefits of Biomedical Research Using Animals - Essay Example Breast cancer is the most common in American women (American Cancer Society). On the other hand, I went through the signs and symptoms to understand what my aunt was experiencing. The website listed symptoms like swelling in parts of the breast, irritation of the skin, pain in the breast or nipple, and sometimes discharge from the nipple (American Cancer Society). Moreover, I also learned of how cells of cancer grow in an uncontrollable manner and pose the risk of spreading to other parts of the body in what is known as metastasis. After a visit to the oncologist, my aunt level of cancer was said to be a stage that could not be controlled through surgical means. Therefore, the only option viable at the time was the use of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy helps in reducing the growth of cancer cells in the body (American Cancer Society). My aunt was placed on a combination of chemotherapy tamoxifen and Herceptin. However, chemotherapy has been associated with the side effects in human thanks to the recent development that has enabled development of drugs that mitigates side effects. One of such drugs that my aunt had to rely on was Herceptin. The drug acts by focusing on specific genetic alteration and hence has enabled in the reduction of side effects such as hair loss and nausea that is typical in another form of therapies (UCLA). The efficacies of these drugs that have been helpful to my aunt have been proved through animal research. The development of these drugs has been possible through intensive research that has been done on animals (rats) (Animal Research Info). It is the identification of estrogen receptor (ER) in the laboratory that has made it possible to describe the target site specificity of estrogen action in breast cancer (Jensen and Jordan 1). In the 1970s, there was consideration of the use of ER as a target for therapeutics.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA - Essay Example Globalization, which â€Å"denotes the expanding scale, growing magnitude, speeding up and deepening impact of transcontinental flows and patterns of social interaction,†2 implies the intermingling of people from different culture and race, which makes it necessary that there is a mutual respect for each other’s cultural or racial differences, for peaceful coexistence. The term cultural diversity is exemplified by UNESCO (under Article I of Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity) as, Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations.3 Cultural diversity, which in simple terms, means respecting existing cultural differences amongst various society members, can be expressed through different channels, the most potent route in this era of information and technology, being the public news media (like Internet, newspaper, radio, or TV).4 Through the news media, diverse cultural groups are able to air their opinions, and able to relate to other members with same cultural values, or even reach out to people who are not a part of their culture. However, cultural diversity in media is much dependent on the way a country’s government frames its democratic and cultural polices, and the manner in which media groups handle the issue of freedom of expression. In this context, the article first studies the importance of culture and cultural diversity within a state democracy, then examines the two cultural diversity models that exist in terms of news media,5 and lastly the model implemented in US news media

Benefits of Biomedical Research Using Animals Essay

Benefits of Biomedical Research Using Animals - Essay Example Breast cancer is the most common in American women (American Cancer Society). On the other hand, I went through the signs and symptoms to understand what my aunt was experiencing. The website listed symptoms like swelling in parts of the breast, irritation of the skin, pain in the breast or nipple, and sometimes discharge from the nipple (American Cancer Society). Moreover, I also learned of how cells of cancer grow in an uncontrollable manner and pose the risk of spreading to other parts of the body in what is known as metastasis. After a visit to the oncologist, my aunt level of cancer was said to be a stage that could not be controlled through surgical means. Therefore, the only option viable at the time was the use of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy helps in reducing the growth of cancer cells in the body (American Cancer Society). My aunt was placed on a combination of chemotherapy tamoxifen and Herceptin. However, chemotherapy has been associated with the side effects in human thanks to the recent development that has enabled development of drugs that mitigates side effects. One of such drugs that my aunt had to rely on was Herceptin. The drug acts by focusing on specific genetic alteration and hence has enabled in the reduction of side effects such as hair loss and nausea that is typical in another form of therapies (UCLA). The efficacies of these drugs that have been helpful to my aunt have been proved through animal research. The development of these drugs has been possible through intensive research that has been done on animals (rats) (Animal Research Info). It is the identification of estrogen receptor (ER) in the laboratory that has made it possible to describe the target site specificity of estrogen action in breast cancer (Jensen and Jordan 1). In the 1970s, there was consideration of the use of ER as a target for therapeutics.

Why Our Troops Battle Essay Example for Free

Why Our Troops Battle Essay Along the span of time and history, there are several reasons why certain countries would commence a war against another. Scholars would often state it as an alter ego principle, which is possessed naturally by any form of government, given of course the real disposition of any individual. Even until today, there exists a raging war between the United States of America and Iraq (Price, 2003). Thus, unlike before where power and supremacy has been the explicit reason, the contemporary society caters mysterious facts on why one country would want to conquer another. 9/11, global warming, Kyoto Protocol, biological weapons—these are just a few examples of the events that shook the world, and apparently started the 21st century warm. However, a blunt question sprouts in the schema of such activity, when will the war end? What are they fighting for? Every individual is astonished. Dredged in a coat of defining the events during the nineteenth century, Michael Perman, world-renowned political historian who has made numerous books establishing the twists and the turns which took place during the time when the North and the South had a clash in ideas and on perspective during the period after the Civil War, creating a new world of prose historical writing in several renditions of his books. The whole package of the scholarly monographic masterpiece on the events and the instances that endured during that certain time had been wrapped into one book – Emancipation and Reconstruction. Perceivably one of the most accurate and precise elaboration of the realistic events when both poles of the North and the South, it catered what happened to those citizens as well as with the political situation of the country upon reaching the edge of struggles. It was mainly defined as to be â€Å"winning the war, but on the other hand, losing the peace† (Perman, 2003). Historians’ quest for defining historical icons Amongst those who have had huge enthusiasm on historical events, Perman’s indulgence on the role of the civilians anchoring the federal governments’ constant involvement in Reconstruction often created a conflict with regards to the concerns on the state relations. During that era, added disputes of such, Southerners depended on the support taken from the blacks and the whites on the participation of those who had been freed. On the level of distinguishing the form and the effectiveness of democracy, the book rendered the precise illustration onto the limits adhered by the Northerners, as well as with the Southerners (Pickering Kisangani, 2006). The North enjoyed more on their rights on democracy, which as a matter of fact was only inhabited by 5 percent of black individuals. But the main gist of the event for the South’s downfall laid on the matter that they were cohesively divided into two, making them formidable to be in unison (Miller, 2006). The British invasion on the United Arab Emirates began consequently after the ntervention of Europe in the budding years of the 16th century with Portugal. A century and a half later, Dutch and British conquests began to outdo one another in terms of dominating the UAE. In the closing years of the 18th century, Britain eventually became the major dominating force in the Arab territory (Schofield Zenko, 2004). Both the contemporary ruling clans of Ra’s al Khaymah as well as Ash Shariqah, known as the Qawasim back in the days, grew to a significant level of marine power in the lower gulf eventually raiding maritime vessels from the British colony of India. After routing the naval force of the Qawasim, the British forces mandated in 1820 a number of treaties that brought forth and maintained a maritime truce. This later paved the way for the creation of the United Arab of Emirates after being labeled with the name as Trucial States. Two years after, the external security issues as well as the foreign relationship of the state with other countries became absorbed by British responsibility. The British continued its protective control over the area of the UAE until 1971. Over the course of these years, the inner affairs of the UAE were devoid of British intervention as the latter was more after the protection of the maritime commerce in the area of the Persian Gulf (Price, 2003). Moreover, it has been observed that part of the British control of the UAE established overall peace as well as the Western notion of territorial states was also introduced. Far more importantly, the cooperative characteristic among the seven emirates was further amplified after the formulation of the Trucial States Council in 1952. The foundation of the UAE’s Supreme Federal Council is traceable in such council (Goodman, 2006). The dilemma may evidently the main reason of the wars, which transcribed in Iran and in Vietnam (Lovett, 1987). Given the fact that history relevantly established which countries are the culprits and which are not—it is under the conviction and understanding of those who live in the present era as to which story they believe is credible. These perspectives may not be considered in other culture, but then the rule of moral standards is what prevails in this story. For every country suspected to be making grave activities which will shatter the advent of peace and prosperity worldwide, then the United Nations—controlled and supervised of course by the general masses—will make a move to eradicate the unlawful deed an eventually take all means in doing so. Diversity and cultural beliefs are no longer considerable when it is the lives of many which will be compromised. Conclusions and further remarks Perhaps there is no definite answer to the question on â€Å"truth† and acceptability—since each race, class or culture have different views and perceptions in life or on any other form of belief. Some may regard these moves as unjust, but it is the society who needs to speak and it is the responsibility of the government to answer their call and act upon it. It is the main reason why the United Nations has been created, so that the power is not only vested on one country alone, or on the wealthiest, or the most popular. Without allies and without the help of the full force amongst all nations, one country will not be able to succeed. And so the blame on why these countries have been â€Å"controlled† is because they would not agree. References Goodman, R. (2006). Humanitarian Intervention and Pretexts for War. The American Journal of International Law, 100(1), 107-141. Lovett, C. C. (1987). We Held the Day in the Palm of Our Hand: A Review of Recent Sources on the War in Vietnam. Military Affairs, 51(2), 67-72. Miller, R. A. (2006). Democratic Accountability and the Use of Force in International Law by Charlotte Ku and Harold Jacobson. The American Journal of International Law, 100(4), 980-986. Perman, M. (2003). Emancipation and Reconstruction (American History Series (Arlington Heights, Ill. ) (Second ed. ). Wheeling IL: Harlan Davidson. Pickering, J. , Kisangani, E. F. (2006). Political, Economic, and Social Consequences of Foreign Military Intervention. Political Research Quarterly, 59(3), 363-376. Price, M. T. (2003). The Concept Culture Conflict: in What Sense Valid? Social Forces, 9(2), 164-167. Schofield, J. , Zenko, M. (2004). Designing a Secure Iraq: A US Policy Prescription. Third World Quarterly, 25(4), 677-687.

An Analysis Of Agatha Christie

An Analysis Of Agatha Christie Britishs literature is one of the biggest treasures of literary, poetry, play that famous around the world. The place that all the name like William Shakespeare, William Golding , and Philip Larkinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ come from. Love story, romantic story, fantasy and fairytales are some topics that many author/writer want to write about, usually based on their personal life. Therefore, when people talk about literature, its only a small amount of people interested in mystery and murder stories and one of the reason is because mystery and crime stories as we know them today did not emerge until the mid-nineteenth century when Edgar Allan Poe introduced mystery fictions first fictional detective, Auguste C. Dupin, in his 1841 story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The acknowledged father of the mystery story, Poe continued Dupins exploits in novels such as The Mystery of Marie Roget (1842) and The Purloined Letter (1845). (Mystery Time Line Group). Even though appeared really late in litera tures history but it coming popular quickly. And many authors became famous by writing this type of stories like Edgar Allan Poe, Dorothy L. Sayers, and according to Hack, a woman spent her entire life writing about mystery and murder Stories Agatha Christie. It truly began in 1841 when Edgar Allan Poe introduced Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin in the short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Two women were brutally murdered in a baffling an grotesque manner, the police appear baffled, Dupin leads his own investigation and succeeds were regular authorities have failed, so getting in stone the basic of countless detective fiction novels to come (R.D Collin). After that, many other stories, novels appeared as mystery fiction and became very famous. According to Mystery Time Line Group, Dickens Charles became popular by Bleak House (1853). The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870), a prolific writer, Collins wrote The Woman in White (1860). The Moonstone(1868),and a brilliant Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who we know as Sherlock Holmes. Many people wonder that why crime fiction became popular so quickly. Most writer novel usually write their story, they based on real story and it difference from all other category of writing, it include many difference small stories in one big story in order to find the final answer. While reading, reader feels like they are the main character and wants to find the puzzled as soon as possible, its mysterious mixing with reality because it based on things that surround us. By the 1920s British mysteries had become extremely popular, particularly the cozy, a style of mystery usually featuring a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay.(Murder Ink) From a regular novel of finding puzzle, it spread out in to other category, involved more violation and sex one of them are I, The Jury which became one of the best selling mystery books back in those days, sold over 6 million copied and most of them are mal reader. Heavy gut and bloody mystery are interested many people too parallel with love mystery. It became more and more successful and that why mystery fiction became so famous in a short period of them. Not stopping there, crime fiction step in television and theater. TV has provided mystery lovers with a seemingly endless stream of colorful characters over the years and into the present. Characters such as Perry Mason and Simon Templar (The Saint) were extremely popular during the early years of TV, followed more recently by the likes of Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo), Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files), and Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote), among many others. (Mystery Time Line Group). Consequently, mystery keeping it own pos ition of strength and dot not losing any sign of abating. Many new novels had published and it not only convinces British but fan all over the world. And speaking of famous, Christie Agatha is woman that famous by her writing and nonpareil skill. Agatha Christie, full name was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. According to Janet Morgan, Agatha came from a middle class family in Torquay. In April 1878, Frederick Miller married to Clara Miller, they had three beautiful daughter together, into this well equipped house hold, Agatha was born on September 15, 1890, she was much-loved after through ; her mother was thirty-six and her father was forty-four and there was a gap of eleven years between Agatha and Madge and ten years between Agatha and Madge( Morgan, 8)which mean Agatha had two older sister and she was the youngest of all. By Morgan, we know that Agatha was educated when she was young and only educated at home (19). Agatha proved that she really intelligent, interesting in book, good at cooking and singer and in her early life, Agatha dreaming of becoming nurse, Agatha said, during her school day that she wanted to be a nurse but Mr. Miller had other ideas. She would deadly have loved her daughter become a concert pianist or a professional singer, perhaps in grand opera.(Hack 24). When Agatha was young, she wrote short stories and composed a collection of poems which were later publishes by Geoffrey Bles in 1925 and called The Road of Dream (Robyns 27). Confo rm to Richard Hack; Agatha worked at a hospital as a nurse in the First World War. This is the point when Agatha came up with an idea to write crime fiction novel while nursing for her patients. August 1914 she met an an aviator name Archibald Christie, its happen to be her future husband, surprised everyone when they got married in a Christmas Eve 1914 in a local church without any preparing , Agatha remembering the memory, wrote no bride could have taken less trouble about her appearance. No white dress, no veil, not even a smart frock. I was an ordinary coat and skirt with a small purple velvet hat.'(Hack 59). A baby girl was born in August 5, 1919 is a result of this married, Agatha gave birth to a baby girl in her own bed room and name it Rosalind (69). According to Richard hack, Archibald Christie only came home to see the baby and Agatha for a couple hours a day and left after that. Agatha felt depressed and sad when her body changed after pregnant and the loneliness while M r. Miller usually away from home, looking at the sad corner in her house, Agatha decided to continue her novel that she started when she was a nurse in World War 1 (70). The book names The mysterious Affair at Styles, it was a bid success, and The New York Times was really impressed with this book: The only fault this story has is that it is almost too ingenious, they wrote: Though this may be the first published book of Miss Agatha Christie, she betrays the cunning of an old hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ You must wait for the last-but-one chapter in the book for the last link in the chain of evidence that enabled Mr. Poirot to unravel the whole complicated plot and lay the guilt where it really belonged. And you may safely make a wager with yourself that until you have heard M. Poirots final word on the mysterious affair at Styles; you will be kept guessing at its solution and will most certainly never lay down this most entertaining book. (New York Times) Agatha keeping up with her writing career and thinking that this is what she love to do, she published: The Secret Adversary which appeared in 1922, Murder on the link(1923) the man in the brown suit ( 1924) (Robyns 48). Richard hack informed that Archie asked for a divorce in late 1926, he claims that he was falling in love with another woman and asking Agatha for a quit. Disappointing and painfully, while she still in a pain of the lost of her mother not too long ago (95). In December 1926, Agatha disappeared, the Monday morning paper wrote an article for Agathas manhunt: Missing from home, the Styles, sunning dale, Berkshire, Mrs. Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, age 35; height 5 feet 7inches; hair, red, hinged part grey; complexion, fair, built slight, dressed in grey stockinet skirt, green, jumper, grey and dark cardigan and small velour hat; wearing a platinum ring with on pearl; no wedding ring; black handbag with purse containing perhaps L5 or L 10. Left home by car at 9:45 P.M. Friday leaving note saying that she was going for a drive ( Robyns 66) Fifteen thousand fans join police from four counties looking for Agatha ( Robyns 67), she appeared three week later in Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, she claimed that she has loss her memories and do not remember anything happen before. According to Gwen, the doctor had diagnosed her as suffering from amnesia, typical case of mental reprisal, a person got hurt from someone or some impact event that affected them. In this case, it might be the depressing of losing her mother and the betrayed of her husband that made Agatha decided to disappear for a short period of time. Its difficult for Agatha Christy to recovery after all things happen so she decided to take a long holiday and choose the West Indies( Robyns 91) to distress and find a new source of inspiration for her next book. On this trip, she met Max Mallowan, an archaeologist, who Agatha spent the rest 45 year of her life with. On September 11, 1930, Mrs. Agatha Christie and Professor Max Mallowan were married quietly in Edinburgh to avoid the sensation that it would have caused in London press. The ceremony took place at St. Cuthberts church in the district of St. Giles with her daughter and two secretaries, Charlotte and Mary Fisher, as witness. ( Robyns 94). After married Agatha Christie returned to write book and success after success. Agatha got ideas from things she saw and turned to novels, masterpieces. Christie wrote the first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles , got an idea when she was a nurse in a hospital in World War I, and the plot of the story was base on World War I. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was finish during the death of her mother and a divorce with her ex husband. She translate her sadness in to the story and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd became one of the most selling book in Agatha Christie career, it place Agatha Christie at the top of her professionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the un disputed Queen of crime(Robyns 53). Agatha love it and know this is what she love and something that she will keep doing till the rest of her life. 12 January 1976 In St. MARYS CHURCHYARD, Cholsey, Berkshire, forty seven miles west of London, lies Lady Mallowan- Dame Agatha Christie- who was known to millions of people throughout the world as the Queen of Crime, as she prefer, the Duchess of Death.(Robyns 3) According to Gwen Robyns, Agatha Christie has the most unique style of writing story, she doesnt base on and literature rule and still turn it into many wonderful novels. A lot of professor study about Agatha Christies writing. Like Professor Behr proved that the way her character say maybe misleading or false but on the other hand, it real and true, really inevitable (189). People wonder if she used that character from real life. Agatha replied: No, I dont. I invent them. They are mine. Theyve got to be my character- doing what I want them to do, being what I want them to be- coming alive for me, having their own ides sometimes, but only because Ive made them become real. (Robyn 190) Like she said she Agatha Christie had no ambition to create a literary style, she uses her own world as her own strength. Her stories use easy language, easy to understand, that helps reader have a way to connect to the character and make it real. She put so much effort in to whats she doing. In order to write a book, she has to work through all winter, and spring to be able to publish in September. Agatha said: you must decide what kind of style you want to work in and then read book that have a same style. (Robyns 197) People think that writing is much easy for me. It isnt. Its murder. (197). Even though Agatha think she cant write but the fans still cannot find a small mistake in her ingenious writing. Mr. Max Mallowan shard with reader about his wifes writing style: My wife always wrote the last chapter first. In this way she was able to gather up all the clues and nearly tie parcel. It was only after she had done this that she went back to the beginning and worked her way through.(Robyns 195) Agatha unique writing style is incredible, she thought of some ideas that people would never thought of. Like Murder on the Orient Express, the victim got murder while walking to the gas station and the last seem reader knew before he death that he was looking at a back of the woman wearing kimono ( Christie 38). In Murder with Mirror by Christie, she created many character in order to trick viewer by thinking there would be a multiple choice of murderer. Most of the time the answer will review in the very end of the story and it always surprise fans. Creative, ingenious, incredible still not a word that we can describe Agatha Christies works. People got blow away while reading to her books, follow every step that Mr. Hercule Poirot make who is an imagine character made by Mrs. Christie. According to Janet Morgan, he appeared in 33 of Christies novels and 54 short stories (108) became the most famous character made by the Crime Queen. She named her detective Hercule Poirot for no particular reason. (Hack 64). Even though Agatha Christie is a very famous writer, but she still read and discovered about crime fiction by looking up other famous author. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the them, Agatha read and learn that if she want her book to be famous and unique, she need to created some one that creative and as smart as the most famous detective of the day, Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John H. Watson, and that is how Hercule Poirot was born (64) go along with his friend Captain Hasting. Poirot was Agatha biggest child, followed her through her life. According to Hack, in 1975, Agatha released the held Poirot manuscri pt titled Curtain( 229) to make an end for Poirot, it sold more than one hundred twenty thousand copies. Fans of Hercule Poirot were visibly moved by the book which found him now crippled with pain ,and, on the last page of the novel, he said farewell to his friend Captain Hasting.( Hack 229) Another famous character that created by Christie is a woman name Jane Marple. According to Hack she Miss Marple was introduced in the short stories, The Tuesday Night Club establishes 1928; Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, she name Miss Marple after the Maple Hall during visited her sister and this character was dedicated to her only daughter Rosalind (131). Agatha never forgot the graceful decay she saw at this once fine house and name Jane Marple in its honor.The Tuesday Night Club, Murder at the Vicarage gave Agatha a critical success goes along with some book like: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Murder on the Orient Express (1934), and Death on the Nile (1937). ( Mystery Time Line group). In Miss Marple, Agatha found a spirit whose observations she enjoy creating. The character herself was a spin-off from Caroline Sheppard, a spinster in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Agatha Christie had fun and interested with this character, Miss Marple gave Agatha many success in short stories category. Like Poirot, Agatha gave Miss Marple an end in the book Sleeping Murder and it was a gift for her love Max, while Rosalind was given Curtain, the final case for Hercule Poirot. (Hack 163) Agatha Christie wrote ninety-four books all told and was translated into 103 languages, 14 more than Shake Speare. She wrote eighty-three detective stories, six straight novels (under the pseudonym of Mary Wesrmacott), one book of reminiscences, two of poems, and her autobiography. Four hundred million copies of her book have already been sold and there is no sign of a decline in sale. (Robyns 3)Agatha is truly a legend of crime fiction, the queen of crime like people use to call her. Murder/crime fiction come a long way and still developing itself. Agatha Christie, a name that well never forget she gave her all and never want much for herself. She left behind so many great novel and wonderful art work and she will always be the most popular mystery writer of all time. Because like she said: I did not have to be polite when saying that I could see no limit to the popularity of my story ( Robyns 200)

Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman :: Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman

Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman In Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, the major theme as well as the main source of conflict is Willy's inability to distinguish between reality and illusion. Willy has created a fantasy world for himself and his family, a world in which he and his sons are great men who "have what it takes" to make it in the context of business and free enterprise. In reality, none of them can achieve greatness until they confront and deal with this illusion. Willy's most prominent illusion is that success is dependant upon popularity and personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life around this idea and teaches it to his children.   When Willy was young, he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well-liked that he was able to make a living simply by staying in his hotel room and telephoning buyers. When Dave Singleman died, buyers and salesmen from all over the country came to his funeral. This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become inten sely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams." In many ways Biff is similar to his father. In the beginning of the play we see that Biff shares many of the same ideas as Willy. He values being well-liked above everything else and sees little value in being smart or honest. One of Biff's main flaws is his tendency to steal. Early in the play we learn that he has stolen a football from the school locker. When Willy finds out about this, instead of disciplining Biff, he says that the coach will probably congratulate him on his initiative.

Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action in Higher Education In its tumultuous forty year history, affirmative action has been both praised and attacked as an answer to racial inequality. The policy was introduced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 as a method of redressing discrimination that persisted despite civil right efforts and constitutional guarantees. After the passage of Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin, President Johnson shaped affirmative action through the passage of Executive Order 11246 in 1965. The executive order requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. On college campuses nation wide, the debate over affirmative action policies started with the implementation of Title VII. Many viewed affirmative action programs as a tool that would not only expand the opportunities of minorities but also play a significant role in diversifying America’s colleges and universities. However, in the late 1970’s, despite its good intentions, flaws in the policy began to show up. Reverse discrimination became an issue, exemplified by the Regents of California vs. Bake case in 1978. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, had been denied admission twice to the University of California Medical School at Davis, while less qualified minority students were being accepted. The medical school had separate admission policies for minority students and reserved and certain amount of spaces specifically for minorities. Bakke had felt that he had been discriminated against and maintained that his rejection violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, so he took the University of California Regents to the Supreme Court of California. The Supreme Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of quotas as the medical school had set aside was not. The most important affirmative action decisions since the Bakke decision were in the landmark 2003 cases involving University of Michigan’s affirmative action programs. Two cases, first tried in 2000 and 2001, were involved: Gratz v. Bollinger, which challenged the University of Michigan's undergraduate admission’s policy and Grutter v. Bollinger which challenged its law school admission’s policy. As Bakke had done before, both Gratz and Grutter challenged the constitutionality of the University’s admission policy, which they argued, was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan Law School's policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers "a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.