Canada’s Recreational Parks

â€Å"The capacity to use leisure rightly is the basis of a man's whole life.† This observation by Aristotle clearly proves the significance that it holds in our time. Previously, when the struggle for food and shelter took most of a man's time, the ability to use leisure rightly had less significance. Over time there has been a vast change in thinking with regards to the usefulness of leisure, especially pertaining to issues concerned with land use and outdoor recreation resources. Hence, this essay will present a case study on Algonquin Provincial Park, which will draw on aspects of the workings of leisure and/or tourism and how various theories such as Distance Decay, the ‘Ellis Curve', the theories of Valene Smith and Doxey, give an insightful meaning to the planning and management of sustainable ecosystems. In Canada, the emergence of parks, especially national and provincial parks, plays an integral role in our consideration of outdoor recreation resources. Public awareness with regards to this importance has enabled the public to â€Å"recognize more clearly a collective responsibility for the management of our environment and preservation of its values.† Also, with the technology that has become increasingly available to use, our abilities to alter the landscape have left very little lands to preserve in their natural beauty. Therefore, the conservation or preservation of resource-based parks should be implemented before all opportunities disappear permanently. As well, providing leisure opportunities enables us to fulfill our objectives of the best possible standard of living for every individual. In relation to this point there is a growing acceptance the â€Å"nature sanctuaries of solitude and repose where people can find re-creation of body and spirit are essential to provide a change from the pace and demands of modern civilization.† Thus, the provision of suitable land for outdoor living should deserve consideration in competing land uses. It is already agreed upon the notion that we must provision land for outdoor recreation as a necessary public service; but the question now remains how to maintain the demand for such services when faced with a dwindling supply (available land) and an increasing demand (rising population, rising income/quality of life = increasing discretionary income = availability of more leisure time). This leads us to the objectives of the necessity and objectives of our (Ontario) provincial park system. The basic reasons for establishing provincial parks have remained essentially fluid over time. â€Å"Protection, recreation, heritage appreciation, and tourism are the objectives of the current provincial park system.† These were the same reasons evoked in the late 1800's for setting aside the first provincial parks in Ontario. As a general description, in Ontario, the parks tend to be fragmented and multilayered. This means that at the provincial level of parks and outdoor recreation there are â€Å"at least 15 provincial departments, agencies, or commissions are actively engaged in parks and open space programs.† The parks are essentially used by many groups and individuals to satisfy a great number of recreational needs. Therefore, a given park may be multi layered(administered at several governmental levels) and multi purpose in nature. Recently, with respect to the objectives of provincial parks, the policy has taken an economic outlook towards its managements. For instance, according to the official mandate of Ontario Parks is â€Å"to protect, plan, develop, and manage Ontario's system of provincial parks while improving their self reliance.† Thus, the objective of creating and managing these parks is to â€Å"improve services to increase revenues, and, inturn, to sustain other parks.† This shows a marked difference in the nature of recreation perceived by park developers. By this we mean that the nature of the park itself has changed from one that was once for conservation and recreation to that of financial stability. For example, from excerpts from the Ontario Parks Objectives, the business objectives include the objective of â€Å"operating more like a business and improving customer service and market our products and services†¦Ã¢â‚¬  as goals. Their business plan includes, among others, objectives to create â€Å"a special purpose account for retaining and managing park revenues (fees, licences, permits, rentals) to be developed. It will improve customer service, maximize revenues and make park operations more efficient and accountable.† As this shows, the very basic existence of Ontario Parks has changed from one that provided outdoor recreation opportunities to every man, woman and child, to that of a corporate enterprise, trying to maximize profit in a monopolized marketplace. This is how recreation has changed over the time frame of the development of the parks to the present day policies and initiatives undertaken by the province which manages these parks. Algonquin Park is Ontario's first Provincial Park and is located in the region of ‘Near North' in Ontario. The essence of Algonquin is its vast Interior of maple hills, rocky ridges, spruce bogs, and thousands of lakes, ponds and streams. More than 250 bird species have been recorded in the park. Many southern and overseas birders make special trips to Algonquin just to see northern specialties such as the Gray Jay and the Spruce Grouse, not to mention the rich variety of warblers or Algonquin's most famous bird of all – the Common Loon, found nesting on just about every lake. Hence, a practical casestudy to examine, is that of Algonquin Park. Algonquin Park was established in 1893 due to the growing concerns at the time. These issues revolved around the wood supply and climate that were being threatened by massive clearing of forests. The person responsible for the parks first lands reserves was Robert Phipps, who was strongly influenced by the public and senior civil servants of Ontario. Phipps believed that it was imperative to stop settlement and land clearing activities in this part of Ontario. He stated that â€Å"when covered with extensive woods the principal heights of land forms reservoirs which supply the sources of numerous rivers, give moisture to the numerous small lakes and watercourses†¦below them, and preserve throughout the whole country a fertility, invariably much impaired when the forests are removed.† Robert Phipps enlisted the help of Alexander Kirkwood, who advised a commission that the objectives of establishing the first provincial park should be to â€Å"1)preserve the headwaters of the park river systems, 2) to preserve the native forests, 3) to protect birds, fish, game and fur bearing animals, 4) to provide an area for forest experimentation, 5) to serve as a ‘health resort and pleasure ground for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the people of the province.† As well, the chairman of the Royal Commission on Game and Fish, that the provincial government had been forced to set up, by the public, was convinced that Ontario's fish and wildlife were in the process of being eliminated. Therefore it was recommended the â€Å"formation of a provincial game park as the best means of restocking the province† with wildlife should be created. These powerful influences ensured that the park would be created and maintained. Therefore, by establishing the park in 1893, it not only tended to stop logging but to establish a wildlife sanctuary, and by excluding agriculture, â€Å"to protect the headwaters of the five major rivers which flow from the park.† The original name was â€Å"Algonquin National Park†, but it was in fact always under Ontario's jurisdiction. The name was officially changed to Algonquin Provincial Park in 1913. It was named to honour the Algonquin-speaking first nation people and to date covers more than 7725 square kilometres of forest, lakes, and rivers. As the park has changed and evolved since its creation, so to have the policies concerning Algonquin. The construction of the railroad across Algonquin after the park was created, was used primarily for logging purposes. It was constructed between the years 1894 and 1896. However, the completion of the railway had a great effect on the recreational use of the new park, for it was now accessible for the first time to everyone. For the next 40 years, the people using the park for purposes like lodges, youth camp, could only be accessed by train. Some predicted that the multi purpose uses for the park (logging, recreation) would soon run into complications. After the construction of Highway 60 from 1933 to 1936, an alternative to the railroad provided even greater access to the park's facilities. More than 3600 automobiles entered the park's gate during the highway's first full year of operation, and soon campgrounds had been established at popular sites. At the same time, this more convenient means of access to Algonquin made the demise of the railroad just a question of time. The increasing conflict between logging and recreation finally came true – the late 1960s were a time of great public controversy and debate about the role of logging in Algonquin. Most believed that the logging was unacceptable with the wilderness park they wanted. This lead to the Algonquin Park Committee designed to present and implement official policy guidelines with regards to the management of Algonquin provincial park. The report created was called the Algonquin Master Plan. It addressed the contemporary issues/problems that were facing the park and the solutions recommended by park planners to rectify the situation. The Algonquin Park Master Plan was released by the Ontario government in 1974. It was also decided to review the effectiveness of this plan's policy every five years and to suggest better ways to improve the park during these times. These periodic public reviews and modifications would not take away the main focus of the plan. As stated earlier, the plan was prepared by the Ontario government in an attempt to resolve the many â€Å"conflicting demands being placed on the Park, and to set out rational guidelines for Algonquin's future use and development in the face of pressures that can only become stronger in the years to come.† The Master Plan's official goal for Algonquin is to â€Å"provided continuing opportunities for a diversity of low intensity recreational experiences, within the constraint of the contribution of the Park to the economic life of the region.† What this essentially implied is that logging would continue to operate within the park's boundaries, but that it would be managed in such a way that the â€Å"feel† of wilderness is not destroyed by either logging or recreational activities. The main features from the Master Plan remain unchanged. Some of the highlights from the Master Plan include that the park is divided into zones each with different allowed uses. Logging, for example, is permitted only in the recreation-utilization, or about 57% of the park's total area. Other zones include wilderness zones, development zones, nature reserve zones, and historical zones. Another feature of the Plan was the cancellation of the existing timber licences held by some twenty logging companies, and the creation of a Crown agency called the Algonquin Forestry Authority. It now carries out all logging and forest management in the park in accordance with comprehensive regulations administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Authority sells the wood to the mills which were formerly supplied by the private companies. In another attempt to control the logging practices of the forest, the provincial government has created a planning process called Lands for Life which states that â€Å"logging companies will manage our public land and will have rights to it for up to 100 years at a time. Logging companies have openly stated that they do not want any new protected areas to come out of Lands for Life and they want to log in existing parks like Algonquin.† The third area where the Plan introduced far-reaching changes was that of recreation in the park interior. In an effort to preserve those qualitites shown by studies and questionnaires to be sought after by the vast majority of interior users, the Plan called for regulations such as banned motor boats from most lakes, limiting the number of canoeists, limiting the size of interior camping parties, and banning disposable cans and bottles in the park interior. Another area under intense scrutiny was that of the park's perimeter. The committee recommended the provision of additional intensive recreation facilities outside the boundaries of Algonquin park. Basically, the committee had in mind the establishment of additional facilities in order to takes some of the pressure off Algonquin. The park, in their terms, had reached its carrying capacity due to overuse. The natural solution is to establish satellite parks. Another issue relates to that of concessions and the committee commented on this by stating that the â€Å"proposed expansion of the park facilities to meet the anticipated demand is going to be expensive from capital cost and from operating and research expenses. It is appropriate that the park users should pay a fair share of the costs through users' fees such as entrance and camping fees. The balance of the costs could properly be borne by the general revenues of the province.† Many of these provisions continue to be refined and modified particularly in response to periodic public reviews of the Master Plan. Thus new issues that deal with human interaction through outdoor recreation and the stability of the park are continuously brought up. The decisions by the park planners with respect to the issues facing the park could not have all been foreseen. They believe that the park, though growing and facing new changes with respect to its needs for outdoor recreation, serves â€Å"its original purpose as well as many of the interests currently are being expressed by the various elements within society today.† Taking into consideration the objectives and aims of the Ontario Provincial Government to ensure the protection and future developmental process of the Algonquin Park, one can apply certain theories. A theory which applies to the Algonquin Provincial Park is the issue of Distance Decay. Distance Decay states the further away a place is from a community, there will be a significantly lower the number of visitors. With reference to the Distance Function Graph, the percentage of users of the Algonquin Provincial Park before infrastructure improvements the slope of the curve had a steady outward decrease. However, with the improvements of the infrastructure such as the establishment of Highway 60, the slope of the curve has changed. The inferred increase in the slope of the curve means that the park has become more accessible and hence an increase in the number of visitors. In 1997, more than 8.5 million people enjoyed provincial parks and as many as 2,400 people attended public wolf howling sessions in Algonquin in a day. And with the further improvements of the park, these numbers are expected to increase. The expected increase of users is a concern of Ontario Parks hence a limitation of visitors was established. The Distance Decay function, however, is tied to the theory of Valene Smith, Hosts and Guests, 1977. Smith classifies the type of tourist and their adaptations to local norms. In the past the Algonquin Park has mainly attracted the ‘Explorer' type of tourist, limited in numbers but who accepts fully the environment. However, an argument can be put forward that the type of tourist to Algonquin has shifted to the ‘Incipient Mass' type tourist. Reasoning for this classification is because there is now a steady flow of tourist to the park, but mainly because the tourists now seek Western amenities. These amenities are the presence of newly established restaurants, lodging and designated walking trails. The Algonquin Park, in some sense, is moving towards a McDonalization of Tourism, in which vacations are controlled as to the number of people allowed into the park and predictable with respect to the areas visitors are allowed to visit. The natural concept of going to Algonquin to experience nature first hand, is therefore somewhat lost by the adding of museums and the creation of a tourism bubble. There is nothing real anymore. Like Disney theme parks, fakes ( ‘simulacra') are more real than ‘the real'. The tourism experience becomes one of ‘tourism consumerism', a concept of Post-Tourism. Therefore, there is no ‘authentic' tourist experience because the post-tourist realize that they are play a game. The experience of going to Algonquin to watch the birds or to see the wolves is in a controlled atmosphere – it is not the ‘real thing' – but rather an assimilation of what the tourists expect to see when visiting Algonquin. In conclusion, the ‘Ellis Curve' helps to visually summarize the concepts and effects of tourism on Algonquin Provincial Park. Before Algonquin Provincial Park was established in 1893, the placement of Algonquin along the ‘Ellis Curve' can be arguably placed in the ‘A' quadrant. The reasoning for this placement is because, the tourism effects were more favourable to the environment – more Explorer type tourist- and to the economy, wherein there was the presence of private logging companies. After 1893, the placement of Algonquin was now closer towards the â€Å"B† quadrant. The tourism effect became less favourable towards the environment and more favourable for the economy. The improved infrastructure created an increase in users, a shift in the type of tourist – Incipient Mass – and an increase presence of logging companies, all of which placed concerns about the carrying capacity of Algonquin Park. However, through the new objectives of the Provincial Government in levying user fees of campgrounds, the consolidation of logging under Crown supervision to deal with the issue of the carrying capacity, the placement of Algonquin could be placed back in Quadrant ‘A'. Striking a balance between the recreational aspect of the park and the economic functions of logging has been the primary focus of Ontario Parks. The step towards the concept of McDonaldization of Tourism can be seen as a form of alternative tourism in which monetary concerns to fund educational programs and the preservation of the ecosystem by limiting human impact, is seen as the better of the two evils. Finally, with drawn reference to the work of Doxey, The Irritation Index of Tourism, my personal opinion is that the present environmental policies in place have established a level of apathy, wherein the attitude of tourist (the public) and host (park operators) is a moderate acceptance and support of tourism and is a positive step towards fulfilling â€Å"the capacity to use leisure rightly as the basis of man's whole life.†

Saudi Arabian Airlines

MARMARKETING AND SALES STRATEGY There are very good prospects for Foreign companies who want to export their products to the Saudi Arabian market. However, there are certain marketing procedures and sales techniques which have to be observed in order to develop and sustain business relationships over a long period of time. †¢The Saudi market should be constantly reviewed for product adaptation and change. Exporters should ensure regular supplies as per specifications, at the specified time and place already agreed upon and at the stipulated prices. †¢Any subsequent and sudden price changes, even pertaining to after-sales services, should be avoided. †¢Exporters' contacts with importers in Saudi Arabia should be direct and regular. †¢Complete product lines, rather than single products, should be introduced into the Saudi market whenever possible in order to benefit from greater demand stimulation and cost reductions. Exporters are required to check with Saudi impor ters or directly with the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization, on the precise implementation of Saudi Arabian Standards pertaining to their exported products to the Kingdom. Saudi Standards can be purchased from SASO or the American National Standards Institute, ANSI (11 West 42nd Street, New York City, NY 10036, telephone number (212)642-4900 or fax number (212)302-1286). †¢Exporters to Saudi Arabia should display their products regularly in the major commercial urban centers of the Kingdom. Necessary permission is obtained by writing or contacting directly the Director, Exhibitions Department, Ministry of Commerce. †¢Efforts should be made to improve the appearance of exported commodities by means of attractive packaging. †¢Products to be exported should be properly branded and labeled both in English and Arabic. †¢In the case of machinery and equipment; after-sales service, including warranties, maintenance and the provision of spare parts, should be prompt and efficient.

Death of a Salesman Essay

Discuss the role and importance of the first â€Å"flashback† scene in Death of a Salesman. This scene is the first in the play which gives us any real insight into the past of Willy, the protagonist of the play. Its purpose is to show the audience of some of where Willy went wrong; we see some of his mistakes through his memories of his own past. We see the way that he treated his sons, and how this relates to what they are like now; we witness the difference between what the impression of himself he gives and the failure he really feels; we discover his affair with the woman, why he had it, and the terrible guilt that overhangs him because of it. This then explains some of the tension and unhappiness that we have seen so far in the play. This, though, only takes us so far; we do not learn the full story, of why he and his son do not now share the bond we see in the flashback scene, and of why he becomes so depressed. He does not want to see the truth – he is not ready to realise where he went wrong. The scene gets more and more dramatic as it gets on. At first, it shows us an idyllic, happy time; Willy is apparently a fantastic success, who is idolized by two loving sons. The eldest son, Biff, is popular with the others at school and with girls, a great sportsman, and generally â€Å"well liked†. They all live in a beautiful house, surrounded by fields. But we then find about Biff stealing and then his poor academic achievement, that Willy lies about how successful he really is, and finally the affair with the woman before the whole thing spirals out of control and turns into some kind of terrible nightmare. We move into Willy’s memories using a number of stage effects – the lights brighten, we hear soft music, possibly flute music, and the background turns from the harsh orange of the brick apartments to the cool green fields of the countryside. This has a calming, nostalgic sense on the audience, who are therefore encouraged to share Willy’s feelings at the start of the flashbacks; we feel that we are entering a happier, more pleasant past. When he talks about himself to his sons, he presents himself as a great success; he uses lots of boxing language, such as â€Å"knocked ’em cold† and â€Å"slaughtered them†. He knows that his sons praise athletic ability, and so likens himself as a boxer, and a winner. Phrases like â€Å"open sesame† suggest that success in his glamorous job comes easily to him; he is a person who takes coffee with the Mayor of Providence, who deals with â€Å"the finest people†. But Willy, although he does not realise it, does a lot of harm to his sons through the lessons that he teaches them. In congratulating his son on taking the ball from school, he teaches them that, so long as you are â€Å"well liked†, you do not need to obey the rules, that popularity is more important than honesty and integrity. He also teaches them that the key to success is not in schoolwork, but in being popular, and in turn, the key to being popular is through good looks and sporting skill. He tells them that Bernard will not go far, because, although he is good academically, he is not well liked, but Biff, being as popular as he is, will become a success. Bernard is â€Å"anaemic† and a â€Å"pest†, whilst he is clearly proud of his own son, Biff. This, of course, is unrealistic – Bernard’s hard working attitude is more likely to render him a success than Biff’s sport aptitude and looks, and we see this in the play. In the next episode, with Linda, what he tells her contrasts greatly with the story he told his two sons. This does not happen immediately though; firstly he tells her he â€Å"was sellin’ thousands and thousands†; then he says he sold â€Å"five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston†, before revealing that he actually sold â€Å"roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip†. When he is talking to his sons, he is trying to gain their love and respect, but he knows that he already has Linda’s, and so does not try to impress her. After claiming to his sons that he is â€Å"well liked†, he reveals to Linda that the other sellers laugh at him behind his back, and refer to him as â€Å"walrus†. He greatly exaggerates his successes; his earlier claims of easy access to wealth contrasts with his resignation that he has to be â€Å"at it, ten, twelve hours a day†. Linda is lovingly loyal and caring to Willy; she accepts and is used to his exaggerations. She patiently ignores the lies, and awaits the true answer to her question. She attempts to comfort him and make him feel good about himself, to display her love for him. When he tells her that he talks too much, she replies â€Å"you’re just lively†. She tells him that he is, to her, â€Å"the handsomest man in the world†. We are then presented with the Woman from Boston, whom Willy has the affair with. Firstly, we hear her laugh, progressively loudening, whilst the Willy continues his conversation with Linda. She appears on stage through the use of a scrim, a fabric sheet which, with the use of lighting, can make whatever is behind the scrim gradually fade onto the stage. The use of the scrim and the laughter is reminiscent of a haunting ghost. This makes the audience feel like this is not a welcome memory; it plagues Willy’s thoughts like a ghost, a memory Willy would like to be rid of, but cannot leave behind. The memory of Linda darning some old stockings after he buys this Woman shows the audience his guilt over what he is doing, and we feel some sympathy for him. He appears to be having an affair with this woman simply because it makes him feel respected. He wants someone to laugh at his jokes, to compliment him, and to make him feel that he is not worthless. He looks pleased when she tells him that she â€Å"picked† him. What he has forgotten, of course, that he has the respect he so greatly desires from his wife, Linda. The Woman and Linda both appear on stage simultaneously, which gives us the feeling that although he doesn’t want to between them, he needs both; he has a burning need for attention, which is provided by the Woman, and needs support from Linda. From when he tells Linda to throw away the stockings that she is repairing, the end of the scene becomes less strictly realistic, and more a nightmare, spiralling out of control. Both Linda and Bernard become very out of character, seemingly unceasingly listing problems with his son Biff, despite his cries of â€Å"Shut up! † and â€Å"Get outa here! â€Å". He is dramatically trying to shut out the memories, to prevent him from coming to the realization that Biff was not perfect, and a lot of it was his fault. Willy is in between Bernard and Linda with a verbal onslaught of complaints about Biff. This peaks with an explosion of anger, with Willy telling himself that Biff was not a failure, comparing his son with Bernard. He finally just denies it – â€Å"I never in my life told him anything but decent things†. This scene is not, by any means, simply a memory. Its purpose is to provide us with an insight into the workings of Willy’s mind. It helps us begin to understand how Willy got into the mental state that we have seen in the play. As we have seen, the use of staging, language and structure have all been important for us to begin our understanding. But Willy does not completely confront the whole truth about his son, but he shuns it, leaving us wondering when he will inevitably confront his past mistakes, and how he will react.

Corporate Security within Emerging Markets Essay

Corporate Security within Emerging Markets - Essay Example cular forms of behaviour can improve or damage an organisation's 'licence to operate', and in some cases this can create risks that would not otherwise present. Consequently, security has a higher framework in the corporate world in the present day than it did couple of years ago. Companies are seeking new ways to administer these threats and the portfolio of the security department has expanded to include common responsibility for things for example standing, corporate governance and parameter, corporate social responsibility and information assurance. As the undertaking matures, the corporate security community has been trying to recognize how to support security with the business, in order that doing business and doing security go together. On the other hand, the political economy of Africa is at the defining moment. The centrally controlled economies are yielding to global liberalism. Regionalism as a development strategy seems to be getting a new lease of life in the general development discourse in Africa while assuming varying forms. This report brings to light several practices which create a policy for twenty-first-century corporate security with particular emphasis on the countries of Africa. Corporate Security: An Introduction The companies recognize that the challenge for corporate security is no unlike that for any other function - they must correspond their company's varying business milieu and ensure that how they act, what they do and how they perform reveal these truths. The companies show six key characteristics: 1. They recognize that security is realized through the everyday actions of employees' right across the company. It is not something that the corporate security department can do to or for the company on its behalf and its operating... As the essay declares the corporate security department can do to or for the company on its behalf and its operating success is thus reliant on its capability to influence others to work in a different way. This puts weight on communication and needs security departments to assess the outlooks of non-security professionals just to the extent that those of the specialists. This paper stresses that behaviour is changed only by persuasion, influencing and explanation of as why a novel mode of working is in each person’s interest. This entails departments to work through reliable social networks, which puts greater weight on people, management and social skills than security knowledge. The power of the corporate security role is now directly proportionate to the value of its relationships, not the strength of its substance knowledge. The corporate security departments that are directing the way have discarded old notions about where their power and authority come from. Their position does not hinge on which makes them special – their content knowledge – however on business insight, people skills, management capability and communication skills. In other words, they have to vie on the same terms as every other function in the company. This is causing many organisations to put greater weight on these abilities than on a security conditio ns and some have people working on security who don’t have any security know-how.

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Organizational culture and values - Essay Example The organizations in discussion are medical institutions. When developing the organization values, a health center should ensure that it aligns with the values of the nurses. Nurses provide vital services to the patients and thus their values should be considered to ensure service delivery is at its level best. One of the core values of nurses is to be compassionate and most of them find themselves being concerned with the development, well-being, and comfortability of the patients (Wooten & Crane, 2003). The organization values should not restrict the nurse from being compassionate since this will cause moral distress to the nursing fraternity within the organization. According to Edmonson (2010), nurses are guided by the urge of learning new developments, therefore, the organizational values should always give the nurses the chances to advance their skills. The medical field is faced with new challenges day-after-day; thus it is beneficial for a nurse to be updated on the emerging issues. Another  nursing  value concerns empathy. Nurses try to relate with the emotions of the patients for them to deliver quality services. It is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that its values do not conflict with the values of the nurses. Patients on the other hand, expect the best services from the nurses as stated in the organization vision, mission, and objectives. Patients, being the customers, require their needs to be met. Nurses, being close to the patients need to be motivated and incorporated in the development of the organizational values, so as to dispense nursing services as is expected from them. It becomes barbaric when a nurse is forced to always consult the management even when dealing with the routine processes. Bureaucracy in the medical field is discouraged since it can result in loss of many lives. As nurses, we communicate with each other and no day passes without communication among nurses. The big question is how

Structural analysing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Structural analysing - Essay Example Today, an SEM has become an indispensible instrument for any R&D or production set up dealing with advanced materials science. In the subsequent sections interaction of electrons with matter, basic principles of electron microscopy, architecture and working of scanning electron microscope, different attachments to an SEM and applications of SEM in materials science will be discussed in brief with special emphasis on specifications of a modern SEM. Interaction of Electrons with Matter Electrons as a probe are extremely versatile as they generate a wide range of signals which can be detected and processed to get useful and meaningful insight about surface topography, microstructure, microchemistry and micro-texture of the material being probed. Different kinds of signal generated as a result of interaction of electron probe are shown in Fig. 1 [1]. Fig. 1: Schematic Drawing Showing Electron – Matter Interaction When thickness of the specimen is less than ~ 100 nm only then the i ncident electron beam is able be pass through it and generate different kind of transmitted signals. However, the transmitted signals are relevant for Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and not for Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM); therefore, we will not discuss about transmitted signals here. Among the reflected signals secondary electrons (SE) and Back Scattered Electrons (BSE) are relevant for SEM for imaging and characteristic X-rays are useful for chemical analysis in SEM. Besides, BSE is also useful in micro-texture analysis using Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) attachment. Therefore, we will limit our focus to these signals only. Secondary Electrons (SE) These are low energy electrons (less than 50 eV) generated after the incident beam hits the substrate. Back Scattered Electrons (BSE) These are high energy electrons (more than 50 eV up to beam energy) generated after the incident beam hits the substrate. Characteristic X-Rays When electron beam strikes the s pecimen, it knocks out the inner shell electrons and the vacancy thus created is immediately filled by an electron from higher shells. This electronic transition leads to generation of X-rays which are characteristics of the element. Thus these X-rays can be used for micro-chemical analysis using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and / or Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy (WDS). Basic Architecture of SEM Basic architecture of an SEM is presented in Fig. 2 [2]. It is a column always under vacuum consisting of different subcomponents. It consists of an electron gun or electron source. This can be different types, which will be discussed afterwards. This is followed by condenser lenses to focus the beam. There are apertures in the path to allow only and an aperture to allow only the useful (central) portion of the beam to the subsequent stages. The focused beam is double scanned and made to pass through an aperture to fall onto the specimen. The beam is scanned over the specimen in a raster and the generated signals – secondary or back scattered electrons are collected, amplified and again scanned in a raster onto a CRT screen in synchronized manner. Thus image is formed pixel by pixel. The magnification is ratio of

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Essay

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is that investors prefer to invest in the most efficient portfolios available - Essay Example To determine an efficient portfolio, an efficient frontier is drawn. The efficient frontier is a graph drawn to exhibit different portfolios with a different combination of returns and risks. To achieve such optimal portfolio, there must be a combination of the lowest risk with the highest expected return. The figure below shows the efficient frontier. The efficient frontier has a Y- axis that measures the anticipated rate of return (ER) and X- axis that measures the standard deviation (∞). The curve JKL drawn in the graph is the minimum variance frontier which combines the risk of a portfolio and anticipated return on portfolio to minimize the return deviation at distinct levels of return expected. On the efficient frontier, there are some points that are found either below or above it. Those portfolios that lie below the frontier provide an inadequate return for a given risk hence they are sub-optimal. In other words, they are attainable but insufficient. Conversely, those that lie to the right of the frontier have higher risks given a certain rate of return. In theinvestment of securities, the main objective is to earn returns from a respective investment. High-risk with high returns is always avoided because they require high capital for investment. An investor can anticipate earning a lot from a given security but because of the fluctuations of the market prices and inflation, such investor can incur a loss simply because the future movements of the portfolio cannot be predicted (Fama 2009, p.452). Given an axiom that all investors fear risk, none of them will be willing to invest in a portfolio that has a high possibility of a loss. However, investors prefer a portfolio that has low-risk because they can be certain of the expected returns from a certain portfolio. Though they will not be getting the maximum returns they wish, they are able to get the returns for unforeseen future because

Oligopoly in the Beer Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oligopoly in the Beer Industry - Essay Example The U.S. beer industry is dominated by three major brewers: Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Budweiser and Michelob, SAB Miller, and Morson Coors. These three account for over 80% of total beer production and are large breweries with annual shipments of over 15 million barrels (31 gallons per barrel) nationwide and abroad. Most of these breweries are located in Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, and New York State (Tremblay and Tremblay, 2005). Regional breweries produce between 15,000 and 15 million barrels a year, with brews distributed in specific regions. Most regional breweries are privately held such as Pabst and Latrobe. Regional breweries account for approximately 15% of total U.S. beer shipments. Most of these breweries are located in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wisconsin, and California (Goldammer, 2005). At the bottom of the industry pyramid are microbreweries and brewpubs, "craft brewers" that produce specialty niche products. They ship less than 15,000 barrels of beer each year and began growing in numbers in the late 1970s. Brewpubs are restaurant-breweries that sell its beer on-premise, a common practice of European producers, and rarely exceed 5,000 barrels in annual output (Goldammer, 2005). The industry is highly compet... These were developed after the "price wars" in the last three decades, giving consumers the impression of choice in price, taste, and image, and giving microbreweries and importers the opportunity to enter the market in the 1990s (Tremblay and Tremblay, 2005). Other factors, such as the growing size of the Hispanic market, an expanding economy, consumer interest in higher-priced beers, and the wave of market consolidation where the large breweries began buying regional and small breweries led to industry growth. However, sales in recent years have remained flat (Anheuser-Busch grew by only 0.7% in 2005) due to the health effects of beer and competition from beverages such as wine seen to be healthier. Characteristic of the competition is the recent decision by InBev (of Belgium) to sell regional brewer Rolling Rock to Anheuser-Busch (U.S.) and of SAB (South Africa) to buy Miller in 2002. InBev's decision was made after realizing that though it is the biggest brewer in the world - it bottles premium brands Beck's and Stella Artois - it prefers not to compete with Anheuser-Busch in the locally-brewed segment, limiting itself instead to selling its high margin, imported premium brands (Hannaford, 2006). The U.S. beer market is therefore full of breweries of all sizes, all with a domestic and some even with an international presence, and foreign brands making inroads into the higher margin specialty brands where the larger, more established brewers are competing with small regional and microbreweries and brewpubs. The nature of the competition, however, is such that larger breweries, which include InBev and SAB which established its presence through its purchase of Miller, can resort

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the author tells a short story of harsh irony and a wifes realization of a new life after her husbands death. Chopin introduces the main character, Louise Mallard, as a married woman with a weak heart and a marriage that is complicated and restrictive. In the beginning of the story Louise hears the news of her husbands death in a train accident. She is distraught and filled with grief, so she goes up to her room where she sits in her comfortable armchair and thinks about how her life will change now that her husband is gone. She realizes that his death is the birth of her new found freedom. She can look forward to tomorrow and not feel imposed by his will in her activities. Yet Mrs. Mallards freedom is quickly abandoned as Mr. Mallard comes through the door. At his sight Louise succumbs to her weak heart. When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease-of the joy that kills. However the reader knows that her death is due to shattered dreams of freedom. After the initial onslaught of grief Mrs. Mallard goes to her room. As Louise sits in the armchair staring blankly out of the open window, the narrator observes that, There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled above the other in the west facing her window. Already, the reader recognizes the blue sky as a sign of hope emerging from a heavy gloominess. Soon the readers suspicions are confirmed as Louise sits in her armchair chanting, Free, free, free. However there were several conflicts in her life that brought her to this point. Louise felt her marriage was restrictive and at times lacking love. She was reminiscing on how difficult it was to love her husband and how demanding their marriage was. As she stares out the window she sees the positive in the negative situation. She, along with nature, has experienced new life and has been rejuvenated by the spring season. Concerning symbols, Chopin uses several throughout the story to create a feeling of comfort within the readers mind. Firstly, the armchair in the story in which Mrs. Mallard sits after hearing about her husbands death is described as comfortable and roomy. The chairs location is also  important. It is facing an open window, and this symbolizes being open to change. The fact that it is open shows that it is somewhat warm outside, suggesting life rather than the cold of winter, symbolizing death. The adjectives comfortable, roomy and sank symbolize a feeling of being embraced by the chair, a feeling of love and warmth. Secondly, through the open window Louise sees many other symbols, furthering the feeling of goodness in the reader. She sees the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life symbolizing a new life to come. The setting of a delicious breath of rain in the air refers to the calmness after a storm when the sun comes back out. The author is using this to refer to the death of Louises husband and the joyous life she will lead now that she is free of him. The Story of an Hour is both a liberating story as well as a tragic one. The author cleverly uses symbols to describe her opinion about womens rights, as well as what sixty minuets can do to a persons life. Overall though, the author does an amazing job of bringing the reader into the mind of the protagonist.

Word Mapping and Language Development Essay Example for Free

Word Mapping and Language Development Essay This paper aims to discuss word mapping processes during the child development, explore the concepts of Fast and Slow mapping, discuss the application and acquisition of word associations and definitions in the context of word mapping, and conclude by demonstrating that the process of elaboration through which childrens meanings of words grow to include categorical semantic relations between words requires slow mapping. ? Fast Mapping For a child being inundated with new vocabulary from moment to moment, clues to any one particular words meaning may be few and far between, yet somehow a child manages to take these limited exposures to new words, derive meaning from them, and maintain representations of them for future use. Carey and Bartlett (1978) have termed this speedy process of inferring relatively correct and complete initial meanings of novel words given a limited number of exposures to the words fast mapping (Behrend, Scofield, Kleinknecht, 2001). It is widely assumed that children must possess an innate mechanism of specialized constraints specific to word learning to account for their precocious abilities to infer novel word meanings (Deak Wagner, 2003, p. 318), and fast mapping is the label applied to this system (Behrend et al. , 2001). Fast mapping was first demonstrated in an experiment done by Carey and Bartlett (1978), in which 14 children, ages three to four years old, were initially presented with a novel color word in a neutral context without first being explicitly taught its meaning, and later tested on their knowledge of the new term. All of the children had begun mapping color words to corresponding colors, and 13 of the 14 children were able to comprehend and generate six to eleven names for corresponding colors. The children were therefore familiar with the property and concept of color, which allowed the researchers to see how learning a new color would restructure the childs existing lexical and conceptual color domains (Carey, 1978, p. 271). Prior to the introduction of the children to the novel color word, each child received a production test in which he was asked to name the color of each of a number of different colored chips including an olive colored one. Most children called the olive color green, while others called it brown, but none of the children referred to the olive chip as olive. Carey and Bartlett (1978) chose to introduce the children to the novel color olive (a color the children were unfamiliar with), but instead of referring to it as olive (a word that some children might be familiar with) they chose to call the olive color chromium. The researchers painted one cup and one tray in the childrens nursery school classroom olive, while an identical cup remained red, and an identical tray remained blue. The researchers asked the childrens teacher to introduce the new color word individually to each child in a normal everyday context, such as preparing for snack time. The teacher avoided explicitly presenting the new color word either by asking the child to Bring me the chromium tray, not the blue one, the chromium one, or to Bring me the chromium cup, not the red one, the chromium one (Carey, 1978, p. 271). The phrase not the blue/red one provided enough information for the child to bring the correct tray or cup. As a result, the child was implicitly provided with lexical, syntactic, and contextual cues adequate to the full mapping (Carey, 1978, p. 272) of chromium, while not being forced to rely on the new color word to provide any additional information necessary for the completion of the task. All except one of the children chose the correct tray/cup upon first exposure to the new word. And even though they did not need to rely on the new word to make the correct choice, the majority of the children attended to the fact that they had just heard a new word, and either repeated it aloud or sought approval for the selection they had just made. One week later the children took part in a second teaching task in which a group of six different colors (including olive) was presented to each child, and the children were each asked to map these different colors to their specific corresponding color words (including chromium). This task had been designed to serve as a comprehension task in determining whether or not the children had learned to correctly map the color name chromium to the olive color. However, since olive was the only color for which the children had not previously demonstrated having a name, and since a control group (with no previous exposure to the olive/chromium mapping) performed the task at the same level as the experimental group, the researchers determined that the task was not truly a comprehension task, but rather another teaching task. The children therefore experienced two teaching tasks prior to being tested. Five weeks after the second teaching task, the children were given a second production test just like the one they received prior to the introducing event. However, unlike the first production test, in which the majority of the children called the olive colored chip either green or brown, eight of the fourteen children now either said that they did not know what color name to use to refer to the chip or began referring to the olive chip using one of the color names that they knew but had not mapped stably to any one particular color. Fast mapping is evident in that after only two brief exposures to the chromium color word/olive color pairing, the child had learned and retained for over a month that olive is not called green; in searching his lexicon for a name to call it, he found another color word with no stable referent which was more highly accessible than the new word chromium. Thus for these eight children at least, the process of restructuring the conceptual and lexical domains had already begun (Carey, 1978, p. 273). The children had demonstrated their ability to infer meaning (as to which color the word chromium referred to) by relying solely on the situation and the context in which they encountered the word. In the previous example the children’s retention would be limited- although not inhibited entirely- if exposed to a great variety of colors that had never been introduced to them before. This assertion illustrates the importance of scope to proper establishment of the context. Studies have found that as the factors increase in number or property, subjects of all ages are more likely to disorient and produce ambiguous definitions (Patson, 2010). Precise, mutually exclusive terms are the most conducive to a clear and complete understanding of a word. A study examined the potentiality of mutual exclusivity by first asking if the part pointed to was the trachea and then further challenging the student by requiring them to specify whether the whole area or one specific part was the trachea. When the subject area is previously known it is normal for children to favor an inclusive definition, i. e. accepting craniofacial instead of accepting cranial and facial as two, separate, specific, mutually-exclusive terminologies (Hansen, 2009). The correction of such errors is atypical to fast mapping, where the concept is simply understood. Fast mapping provides a seemingly quick and efficient way for children to initially acquire correct partial meanings that are specific to the contexts in which new words are heard. However, acquiring a complete definition for any one word generally requires the integration of a number of partial mappings derived from specific encounters with the word in everyday life. Fast mapping is merely the beginning of a longer more gradual elaboration and reorganization process called slow mapping that results in a more complete definition (Carey, 1978; Johnson Anglin, 1995; McGregor, Friedman, Reilly, Newman, 2002). Slow Mapping Slow mapping is a prolonged period during which the child must hold a fragile new representation in lexical memory, distinguish it from many other fragile representations, continue to hypothesize about the meaning of the word, and update the representation as a result of those hypotheses (McGregor et al, 2002, p. 332). The partial meanings of words acquired during fast mapping are retained in memory while meanings derived from new encounters with words provide additional information and allow connections both between and within new and existing knowledge to be created, eliminated, and reworked. Slow mapping is the term applied to this process in which information provided through both old and new encounters with words is slowly integrated and evolves into increasingly accurate and complete definitions. Whereas fast mapping has been experimentally captured (e. g. Carey Bartlett, 1978), and shown to be replicable (Deak Wagner, 2003, p. 318), the protracted timeline and more elusive nature of slow mapping have made it difficult to pinpoint, study, and understand the process. It appears that much speculation surrounds the true nature of slow mapping. Johnson and Anglin (1995) comment this elaboration process is not yet well understood, but it appears that children somehow develop additional meaning relations among the new word and others within the same semantic field and increasingly incorporate contextual restrictions, distributional properties, and syntactic privileges of occurrence (p. 614). Carey (1978) admits, I have gone much further than available data license (p. 292) in summarizing her hypothesis on the nature of slow mapping following a description of her fast mapping study. Deak and Wagner (2003) attempted to access the process of slow mapping in the learning of categorical semantic relations between words by introducing children aged four to seven years old to made-up words with invented meanings and semantic relationships to one another (introduced as an alien language) and later testing their comprehension and production of these new words. Children were taught basic categorical semantic relations of exclusion (no overlap between word referents), inclusion (referents of one label are a subset of the referents of another label), and overlap (the sets of referents of two labels intersect) during two separate play sessions in which each of four labels for newly contrived categories were presented (along with defining information) a minimum of twenty times. The semantic relations were either explicitly expressed or implicitly derived by the children during the play sessions. The older children of the group (six- and seven-year-olds) were able to learn more semantic relations and word definitions than the younger children (four- and five-year-olds), and exclusion was the categorical semantic relation most readily learned in both age groups. The principle finding of the study was that although all of the children were able to learn new categorical semantic relations between words equally well whether the relations were explicitly stated or implicitly derived, the children were not able to fast map these categorical semantic relations as they were able to do with basic word meanings. Whereas children were able to infer relatively correct meanings of the novel words almost immediately, for example, they could correctly point out exemplars, they were unable to fast map categorical semantic relations even when these relations were explicitly stated. Deak and Wagner (2003) conclude, when word learning is measured at a surface level, children show a grasp of new words, but this grasp is weak. It is unlikely to include knowledge of meaning relations, or incorporation into a differentiated semantic network, even after many unambiguous exposures to the new words (p. 323). Thus, it appears that fast mapping describes childrens ability to quickly associate words to referents, but does not capture the process of elaboration through which childrens meanings of words grow to include categorical semantic relations between words. Slow mapping is the route through which the incomplete initial word meanings obtained through fast mapping expand to include more information about the meanings of words including semantic relations between words. Penno, Wilkinson, and Moore (2002) have also attempted to access the process of slow mapping, albeit using a different procedure, by presenting children aged five to eight years old with new words through the context of storybook reading. Children were read a storybook once a week for three consecutive weeks in small groups, and were given a multiple-choice vocabulary test both prior to the first reading and after the last reading. The multiple-choice vocabulary test included 15 words present in the storybook that were assumed to be unknown to the children. In addition, following each reading of the storybook, the children were asked to complete a retelling task in which they retold the story they had just heard to the best of their ability to the researcher. After the entire process had been completed for the first storybook, children were read a second storybook following the same procedure. The children received an explanation for each of the fifteen new words (every time one of the words was encountered) during every reading of one of the two storybooks. For the remaining storybook, no explanation was supplied for unknown words. The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of repeated exposure to a story and the additive effects of explanation of the meaning of target words on students vocabulary (Penno et al. , 2002, p. 23). Both repeated exposure and explanation of meaning were indeed significant contributors to vocabulary growth. The process of slow mapping was displayed through the linear improvement in the accuracy of use of the target words across the three retellings of the stories (Penno et al. , 2002, p. 31). After being read a storybook for the first time, the children were able to retell the story in a manner that demonstrated their fast mapping ability in that they were able to provide some indication of a basic understanding of the new words meanings. However, the second and third readings and retellings of a storybook revealed the slow mapping process, as the children used the new words with ever increasing accuracy through each subsequent storybook retelling. Accuracy and depth of word knowledge was measured incrementally through a coding system containing six categories ranging from category zero (indicating no knowledge or use of the target word) to category five (indicating generalized knowledge of the target word) (Penno et al. , 2002, p. 26). For example, the coding system might determine a childs accuracy and depth of word knowledge as progressing from category two (Developing knowledge: the target word is used, but inappropriately) at the first storybook retelling, to category three (Synonym: a synonymous phrase or word is used for the target word) at the second storybook, up to category four (Accurate knowledge: the target word is used accurately and more frequently than a synonym) by the third storybook retelling (Penno et al. , 2002, p. 26). Children also benefited from receiving explanations for unknown words, displaying greater gains in vocabulary when provided with explanations than when not, suggesting that the explanation may have provided useful experience with the meaning of the unknown words. One of the challenges of word mapping research area is finding word knowledge assessment methods that go beyond measures of childrens ability to identify the correct referent of a word or to use a word in an appropriate context. In 2009 the effect of the cultural, linguistic differences between mainstream English and African American English was measured. An equal number of African American English speakers and mainstream (mostly Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American) respondents were given a series of syntactical questions. This result was that native speakers of English who were African American were predisposed to have more difficulty with the grammatical structure of formal English (Johnson, 2009). In addition to the methods described in the previous three studies, childrens word definitions may serve as a source of information on the process of mapping (Hughes, Woodcock, Funnell, 2005; Johnson Anglin, 1995; McGregor et al, 2002). Childrens word definitions have also been found to change with age. These changes may reflect, in part, increased understanding of the words meanings. Another source of information on word mapping may be childrens word associations. Word Definitions Word learning, commencing at around age of one year, progresses at the rate of approximately ten new words every day (Bloom, 2000), or about one per every waking hour (Carey, 1978). Werner and Kaplan (1950) describe the acquisition of the meanings of words as occurring in two ways. One way a child learns a word is by explicit reference either verbal or objective (p. 3), in which a word is verbally defined or an object is directly named for the child. The second way a child learns a word is through implicit or contextual reference (p. 3), in which a word is inferred from the context of a conversation. Up until around two years of age, a child may learn a great many words through explicit reference, as adults will often repeat common phrases and names of objects and provide definitions for unknown words in an effort to teach a child new vocabulary (Carey, 1978; Werner Kaplan, 1950). However, as children grow older, they receive this vocabulary coaching less and less and they must rely primarily on implicit or contextual reference to acquire the majority of vocabulary. Children learn the majority of their words from hearing how others use them in day-to-day life. In doing so, they must rely solely on the linguistic context in which the word occurs and the situation in which it is used (Carey, 1978, p. 265) to derive meaning for new words. Researchers recognize the ability to produce quality word definitions as a metalinguistic skill (Watson, 1985), as individuals must not only consider their knowledge of the to-be-defined word and determine what characteristics should be included in the definition but they should also know how to organize information into conventional definitional form (Skwarchuk Anglin, 1997, p. 298). An individuals mastery of the form and content of word definitions is imperative in producing quality definitions (Watson, 1985), and there are a number of well-established trends concerning the development of both. The definitions provided by young (roughly preschool) children tend to be comprised primarily of functional information, e. g. a knife is to cut with (Litowitz, 1977), but they also include (to a lesser degree) perceptual features, e. g. a kitten is furry (Hughes et al. , 2005). Young childrens definitions also tend to include information that is personally relevant, such as I have a friendly rabbit named Hoppy (Watson, 1985) and are often concrete, simple, and context bound (Skwarchuk Anglin, 1997). As a child grows older, a transition occurs in the content included in a definition, suggesting a conceptual shift from the individually experienced to the socially shared (Litowitz, 1977, p. 289), and definitions become more abstract, complex, and precise in nature (Skwarchuk Anglin, 1997). However, the accurate acquisition of a definition is dependent on the individual skills of the child and of the clarity of the context in which the new conceptual definition is presented (Nicoladis, 2010). Namely, the listener must recognize the probable intention of the statement through the interpretation of nonverbal cues. This is done through the rapid analysis of the word usage, the verbal tone, the context, and the previous experiences of the listener (de Ruiter, 2010). A child’s inferential attributions to a word are also built upon their personal skills. In the Sally Ann task, the children are asked to conceptualize the thoughts of others and are measured by their success at that task, their ability to concede that the other’s thoughts are not necessarily correct, and to form a hypothetical, mental frame of context through which to examine the probable thoughts and actions which inform that person’s decisions (Jary, 2010). The ability to successful integrate the representational theory of mind tested by the Sally Ann task has been proven to aid in the conceptualization of both grammatical structure and definition (Jary, 2010). Both form and content develop and change over time, but these changes do not necessarily occur simultaneously, and children are generally able to express semantic content more successfully than they are able to use correct Aristotelian definitional form (Johnson Anglin, 1995). Since form and content of childrens definitions change as their knowledge of and experience with words increases it seems logical that studying the elaboration and refinement of word definitions in children over time would allow us to better understand the process of slow mapping (McGregor, 2002). The interpretations of the ambiguities of language, such as the use of the finite â€Å"that† for an infinite pool of possible contexts, are key contributors to the accuracy of slow mapping in the inferred or abstract definition of words (Jary, 2010). In a study designed to capture the slow mapping process of word meaning development, McGregor et al. (2002) offer some evidence that childrens definitions may indeed provide an accurate representation of the semantic knowledge possessed by a child. McGregor et al. have shown that a childs abilities to provide a name for and draw a picture of each of a series of objects correspond reliably with one another and are also consistent with a childs ability to provide definitions for those objects. The study suggests that the three tasks (naming, drawing, and defining) access a common semantic representation and therefore validates the use of the defining task in providing a window into the slow mapping of word meaning. Word Associations Childrens word associations also change as word knowledge changes over time. Consequently, studying childrens word associations may provide an additional opportunity to capture the slow mapping process of word meaning development. Petrey (1977) draws attention to the development of word associations as shifting from episodic (or schematic) to semantic (or taxonomic) as childrens word knowledge grows. She comments, Whereas adults responses are grouped primarily by semantic memory of words internal content, childrens responses display mainly episodic memories of external context (p. 69). For example, if the stimulus word were rabbit, a child is likely to provide an episodic response like carrot, and an adult is more likely to provide a semantic response like squirrel. Petreys research suggested that the shift from episodic to semantic association responses occurs by around third grade. Researchers have also attempted to explain changing word associations as reflecting a syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift. Syntagmatic refers to words being syntactically related, that is, likely to occur together in the same sentence, like a verb response to a noun, whereas paradigmatic refers to words being in the same syntactic class, like a noun response to a noun (Nelson, 1977). This description has proven to be less well supported than the episodic-semantic (or schematic-taxonomic) shift. Another explanation refers to the cultural influences of the child’s caretaker(s). Because as the child ages there is less need and ability to define the abstract concepts, there is an increased reliance on word attribution (de Ruiter, 2010). Bilingual children favor the grammatical structure and the customary usage of their stronger language (Nicoladis, 2010). In Blewitt and Toppinos study, superordinate responses in the word association task became increasingly frequent with age (as is the case in word definition tasks), suggesting that the word association task may indeed be a useful tool to implement in future work aimed at capturing the slow-mapping process. The increasing use of superordinate terms provided both in the word definition task and the word association task suggest that the two tasks may be measuring the common underlying process of elaboration and completion of word meaning over time that is slow mapping. Summary Conventional estimates suggest that by age 17 the vocabulary of an average English-speaking individual comprises more than 60,000 words (Bloom, 2000). In order for this monumental task to be achieved, word learning, commencing at around age of one year, must progress at the rate of approximately ten new words every day (Bloom, 2000), or about one per every waking hour (Carey, 1978). Werner and Kaplan (1950) describe the acquisition of the meanings of words as occurring in two ways. One way a child learns a word is by explicit reference either verbal or objective (p. 3), in which a word is verbally defined or an object is directly named for the child. The second way a child learns a word is through implicit or contextual reference (p.3), in which a word is inferred from the context of a conversation. Up until around two years of age, a child may learn a great many words through explicit reference, as adults will often repeat common phrases and names of objects and provide definitions for unknown words in an effort to teach a child new vocabulary (Carey, 1978; Werner Kaplan, 1950). These two methods for accessing developmental change in childrens word knowledge have both been found to change with increasing age and understanding of words, and appear to provide access to slow mapping in children. In general, knowledge about familiar words is slowly acquired. Children both increase their understanding of the semantic relations among words, and learn about the details of the objects labeled by the words. Children are unable to fast map categorical semantic relations even when these relations were explicitly stated. Conclusively, the process of elaboration through which childrens meanings of words grow to include categorical semantic relations between words requires slow mapping. The ability children possess to infer initial meanings for novel words given a limited number of exposures to the words fast mapping. Fast mapping provides a seemingly quick and efficient way for children to acquire initial meanings of novel words, but the meanings children gain through fast mapping are often incomplete, especially requiring a longer more gradual elaboration and reorganization process called slow mapping in order to become complete definitions. Slow mapping allows the connections both between and within new and existing knowledge to be created, eliminated, and reworked, as increasingly complete and accurate definitions evolve. Slow mapping, a much slower and more elusive process than fast mapping, has not been experimentally captured, and much speculation continues to surround its true nature. Attempts to access slow mapping by researchers have provided some insight into the nature of that process. However, research studies have not accessed childrens word understanding beyond an initial, superficial level. References Behrend, D. A. , Scofield, J. , Kleinknecht, E. E. (2001). Beyond fast mapping: Young childrens extensions of novel words and novel facts. Developmental Psychology, 37, 698-705. Blewitt, P. , Toppino, T. C. (1991). The development of taxonomic structure in lexical memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 51, 296-319. Bloom, P. (2000). How children learn the meanings of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Carey, S. Bartlett, E. (1978). Acquiring a single new word. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, 15, 17-29. Carey, S. (1978). The child as word learner. In M. Halle, J. Bresnan, G. A. Miller (Eds. ), Linguistic theory and psychological reality (pp. 264-297). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. de Ruiter, J. , Noordzij, M. , Newman-Norlund, S., Newman-Norlund, R. , Hagoort, P. , Levinson, S. , et al. (2010). Exploring the cognitive infrastructure of communication. Interaction Studies, 11(1), 51-77. doi:10. 1075/is. 11. 1. 05rui. Deak, G. O. , Wagner, J. H. (2003). Slow mapping in childrens learning of semantic relations. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 25, 318-323. Hansen, M. , Markman, E. (2009). Childrens use of mutual exclusivity to learn labels for parts of objects. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 592-596. doi:10. 1037/a0014838. Hughes, D. , Woodcock, J., Funnell, E. (2005). Conceptions of objects across categories: Childhood patterns resemble those of adults. British Journal of Psychology, 96, 1-19. Jary, M. (2010). Assertion and false-belief attribution. Pragmatics Cognition, 18(1), 17-39. doi:10. 1075/pc. 18. 1. 02jar. Johnson, C. J. , Anglin, J. M. (1995). Qualitative developments in the content and form of childrens definitions. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 612-629. Johnson, V. , de Villiers, J. (2009). Syntactic Frames in Fast Mapping Verbs: Effect of Age, Dialect, and Clinical Status. Journal of Speech, Language Hearing Research, 52(3), 610-622. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Litowitz, B. (1977). Learning to make definitions. The Journal of Child Language, 4, 289-304. McGregor, K. K. , Friedman, R. M. , Reilly, R. M. , Newman, R. M. (2002). Semantic representation and naming in young children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 332-346. Nelson, K. (1977). The syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift revisited. A review of research and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 93-116. Nicoladis, E. , Rose, A. , Foursha-Stevenson, C. (2010). Thinking for speaking and cross-linguistic transfer in preschool bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingual Education Bilingualism, 13(3), 345-370. doi:10. 1080/13670050903243043. Patson, N. , Warren, T. (2010). Evidence for Distributivity Effects in Comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology / Learning, Memory Cognition, 36(3), 782-789. doi:10. 1037/a0018783. Penno, J. F. , Wilkinson, I. A. G. , Moore, D. W. (2002). Vocabulary acquisition from teacher explanation and repeated listening to stories: Do they overcome the matthew effect? Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 23-33. Petrey, S. (1977). Word associations and the development of lexical memory. Cognition, 5, 57-71. Skwarchuk, S. , Anglin, J. M. (1997). Expression of superordinates in childrens word definitions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 298-308. Watson, R. (1985). Towards a theory of definition. Journal of Child Language, 12, 181-197. Werner, H. , Kaplan, E. (1950). The acquisition of word meanings: A developmental study. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 15(1, Serial No. 51).

Globalisation: Homogenisation or Diversification?

Globalisation: Homogenisation or Diversification? Yannick Buitenhuis Introduction Globalisation has brought changes and has increased global interaction. This growing interconnectedness has led to the movement of ideas, values, ways of living and attitudes across the world. Despite that the interaction between culture and globalisation is not a new one, this process of cultural globalisation has brought forth a relatively recent debate about its outcomes for the world (Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 3 7). The debate revolves around two diverse trends that cultural globalisation can bring, namely if the globalisation is homogenising, or differentiating the world. In line with Nederveen Pietserse (1996, p. 137), these are not the only trends that can be distinguished, but are probably two of the main ones. This paper will therefore focus itself on this debate by discussing both sides and will keep the following question in mind: Is globalisation cultural homogenising or differentiating the world we live in? The discussion brings the arguments of both sides to the light and will be elaborated on the basis of some worldwide and local holidays. Subsequently, my own opinion about the matter of cultural globalisation is given in the conclusion to answer the above question. Discussion As earlier mentioned, the discussion will focus on two different views in the debate of cultural globalisation. The two views can be seen as each other opposites. The first that will be discussed will be the idea of homogenisation. Subsequently, the idea of differentiation will be discussed. Both views will be elaborated at the hand of holidays that are celebrated across the world. Homogenisation The first interpretation of the process of cultural globalization is the idea that as a cause of technological innovation, commercial and cultural synchronisation arising from the ‘West’, the world is becoming more the ‘same’, more standardised and more uniform (Nederveen Pieterse, 1993, p. 265). Homogenisation brings about a world that is becoming overwhelmed by forces making for sameness that is the global standardisation of culture and institutional structures (Robertson White, 2003, p. 15). This concepts argues that the connections between geographical places and cultural experience are being weakened by the dynamics of globalisation and that the feeling of spatial distance is wearing down (Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 9). A key assumption is that of cultural imperialism, the idea that a few Western societies or the society of the United States carry out their culture upon the world (Ritzer as cited by: Kuhn, 2009, p. 56). The transnational expansion of common codes and practices is the cultural element of this process and can be related to the concept of consumer culture. By adopting the Western/American example, cultures and consumption practices are becoming globally more the same (Kuhn, 2009, p. 56). This can also be related to the spread of some holidays. For example, people worldwide buy a rose for their love on Valentine’s Day in February. This (commercial) aspect of this holiday blown over from the Anglo-American world is now part of many cultures in the world. Another example is Halloween. People worldwide dress themselves in costumes and are decorating their houses with pumpkins and cobwebs. Special events are also organised revolving around Halloween, for instance the Halloween Fright Nights in amusement park Walibi in Biddinghuizen. So in this case, one could indeed argue that some aspects of (western) culture are being spread across the world and are carried out upon other cultures. The same holidays are being celebrated and their practice is the same worldwide. Differentiation The second interpretation is the opposite of homogenization. Differentiation assumes that the world is becoming diverse and focuses on the diversification between places. Individuals and groups have influence on globalisation and globalisation copes with and is characterised by a diversity of reactions. The idea rejects that this process establishes a homogenisation of cultures resulting from one way interaction from Western cultures (Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 7; Kuhn, 2009, p. 58). Also, Ritzer (as cited by: Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 7) argued that differentiation relates to barriers which prevent flows that contribute in making cultures look the same. Cultures will therefore stay different form each other and cultural differentiation will stay in a globalising world. Practices of other cultures are present in different cultures, but will stay within the margins of local and national cultures. Thus, different global and local cultures will coexist next to each other. Only the criteria t hat cultural groups use to define their identity and to differentiate from others can change (Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 8). The intensification of flows across cultures causes a more inwardly appearing world. Local cultures can indeed be affected by globalisation and its flows, and this can influence the transformation of cultures, but the core of the culture will remain intact (Ritzer, 2010. Cited by: Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 7). Even so, these multi-directional global flows and world processes do not wipe out local cultures, but they modify some of their characteristics and strengthen others (Hassi Storti, 2012, p. 8). The strengthening of some characteristics can come hand in hand with an attempt to differentiate from the global or a form of resistance against the forces of globalisation (Kuhn, 2009, p. 59). Link to this, the fact that Valentine’s Day is banned in the Middle-East since 2008, because it does not fit in the Islamic world (BBC News, 2008). Also, cultural groups will react differently to these forces and will develop differently, different environments ask for different efforts to a dapt. Just like that there are holidays that are global, there are also national and local holidays. For instance, only in the Netherlands and Belgium people celebrate ‘Sinterklaas’. Even with the debate revolving around ‘Zwarte Piet’ and reactions from other countries, a lot of people in the Netherlands embrace the holiday as part of their culture. Reactions were mixed, when it came to the public attention that the UN, a global institution, came to investigate this cultural heritage for racism in 2013, which even strengthened the will for some to celebrate Sinterklaas even more. Another holiday that connected to a culture is the celebration of New Year in the Asian world. Instead of the first of January, many Asians celebrate New Year according to the lunar calendar. Or another example, Thanksgivings Day in Northern America. These examples show that despite the flows of globalisation, some holidays do not cross over and are related to specific cultures, because o f the deep historical roots and context. So, globalisation cannot fully eradicate a culture and its core features which characterises it and does not always spread certain cultural aspects out across the world. Conclusion Two different views are present in the debate revolving around cultural globalization. At the one hand, the view that globalisation is homogenising, and at the other hand the view that it is differentiating. Therefore, in the introduction was asked if: globalisation is cultural homogenising or differentiating the world we live in? In my own opinion, cultures can be seen as dynamic and therefore undergo certain changes over time and are exposed to external forces. Globalisation, time-space compression and technological innovation have made global interaction easier and, thus, interaction between different cultures is taking place. Indeed different characteristic of cultures, mostly Western, are being copied al around the world and some facets in cultures are becoming the same, look at Valentine’s Day or Halloween. So, there are indeed some homogenising effects of globalisation. But my opinion is also in line with what Hassi Storti told, namely that the core of cultures will not let itself as easy influenced. A culture can be seen as concentric circles. The outer rings of a culture can be influenced easier, like some consumption patterns, but this is different for the core. Some aspects are not so easy changed or blown over to others, because they are historical rooted and/or do not fit in other cultures, like Sinterklaas, New Year in Asia or Thanksgiving. There are still cultural differentiations in the world. Thereby, I reason that just like cultures differ, their reactions on aspects of other cultures also differ. Aspects that are recognisable and stand close to their own culture will be embraced, but other aspects can be cast away. People can influence globalisation and there is, like Kuhn said, a diversity in reactions. In this way globalisation can be seen as ‘the wind’ in a Chinese proverb, and when it blows, some build walls, while othe rs build windmills (European Commision, 2013). References BBC News (2008), Saduis Clamp Down on Valentines. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7239005.stm. Last used on: 5 October 2014. European Commision (2013), The Commissioners (2010-2014): Connie Hedegaard’s articles. http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/hedegaard/headlines/articles/2013-07-05_01_en.htm. Last used on: 5 October 2014. Hassi, A. Storti, G. (2012), Globalization and Culture: The Three H Scenarios. In: H. Cuadra-Montiel (ed.), Globalization: Approaches to Diversity, pp. 3-20. Rijeka (HR): InTech. Kuhn, K. (2009), Consumerist Lifestyles in the Context of Globalization: Investigating Scenarios of Homogenization, Diversification and Hybridization. In: H. Lange L. Meier (eds.), The New Middle Classes, pp. 49-64. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media businesses Nederveen Pieterse, J. (1993), Globalization as Hybridization. Working Paper 152. The Hague: Institute of Social Studies. Nederveen Pieterse, J. (1996), Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms. In: Mansbach, R.W. E. Rhodes (eds.), Introducing Globalization: Analysis and Readings, pp. 135-144. London: Sage. Ritzer, G. (2004), The Globalization of Nothing. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. Robertson, R., White, K. E. (2003), Globalization: An overview. In: R. Robertson, K. E. White (eds.), Globalization: Critical concepts in sociology, pp. 1–45. London: Routledge. Tomlinson, J. (2003), Globalization and Cultural Identity. In: Held, McGrew, Goldblatt Perraton (eds.), The Global Transformation Reader, pp. 269-277. : Cambridge (UK): Polity Press. Xincus (2014), A National Study: Becoming the Chamber of the Future. http://www.xincus.com/Survey. Last used: 5 October 2014.

Cult Films and the 1950s :: essays research papers

1950’s Over past nine weeks we've embarked on a journey spanning seven decades of cult films and also received a brief education of our not so distant past. We've seen the outrageous, the good, the bad and the ugly, the weirdly dramatic, and the just plain weird of the last seven decades of cult films and how in the end somehow find away to incorporate a piece of American culture at the time. However, by far the most intriguing decade to me would have to be the nineteen fifties. There are many reasons why I could say the fifties ranging from great sports moments to political milestones, which gave way to our society now. The nineteen fifties were a time when segregation was ending, people were daring to explore their sexuality, the race to venture in to space, the Korean War, the birth of the New York Yankee Legacy, and Elvis. However, for my purposes in this paper and in relation to the cult film genre, there are three specific reasons why I chose the era of the fifties. The most important reason would be the taboos of the decade, namely the taboo and paranoia of communism and the Cold War with the then Soviet Union. Second, there were many excellent cult films to come out of the period addressing the taboos of the time, two of which I would like to share. Third, the fifties brought us possibly "the worst director of all time" and "the ultimate cult director" Ed Wood, Jr. It is for these reasons that the 1950's are, to quote Prof. Allan Havis, "the quintessential decade of films." Entering the nineteen fifties the United States was getting past the bitter memories of World War II only to a brand new threat, Communism. The fear or taboo of communism was every where. Television programs and newspapers ran features on the newest government official, entertainer, and even next door neighbors suspected of communism. Led by Senator John McCarthy citizens left and right stood trial for being a communist or aiding Russians in the "Cold War". Knowing that anyone who stood against McCarthy would be subject persecution themselves many Americans began to fall in to a mass hysteria accusing neighbors and friends of supporting the communist threat and being spies for Russia. Many innocent people were sent to prison based purely on speculation. Also showing the increasing fear of communism were the writers of movies and books, the two top forms of leisure during the decade.

The House On MAngo Street Essay example -- essays research papers

Everyone has specific characteristics and qualities that make them the way they present themselves. Young, middle-aged, and old people are constantly forming the essentials that affect their self-awareness through their daily activities. Forming one’s identity is an ongoing process, because every person in the world can change people one way or another. In The House on Mango Street, the experiences young Esperanza faced day to day develop her true individuality. Young people are easily persuaded and if someone so desired, they could mold them into the person they want. Commonly, young children develop their identity from going the school, playing with other children, and from their home life. When children go to school, if they are teased for being ethnic, colored, unkempt or anything else, this could cause them to be introverted, or ashamed of how they present themselves. On the other hand, the constant teasing from schoolmates may begin to brew strong feelings of anger. If they are rejected by society, when they are just starting to form an identity, this will probably have a negative effect upon them and their surrounding communities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The identity, also, comes largely from the family, neighborhood and a small crowd of friends. A supportive and functional home life will be positive to a little child’s identity. If children see their parents fighting, the neighborhood they live in is a slum, they are around drugs and addictions, and then most...

America Needs Prayer in the Public Schools :: essays papers

America Needs Prayer in the Public Schools Education is a very valuable thing. It gives us knowledge and understanding of the world we are to someday face on our own. Yet education is always a seriously debated issue. What should be taught? What shouldn't be taught? How should we teach it? For example the issue of whether or not God should be allowed to be taught in schools is a fiercely argued subject. In an article taken from the Waukesha freeman on December 5, 1999, a public school teacher had been fired and faces up to 6 months in prison all because a little child asked him how the world got here and he replied "God put it here". The written law forbids public school teachers to refer to God or creation in any manner. The theory of creation can not be taught in class rooms because of its direct relation to the Christian religion. Religion is not to be taught in public school because it is believed that it is pushing a faith onto the kids against the parents will. Was the teacher wrong for simply sharing his view with his student? In todays world, we are quickly learning that it doesn't matter how you say it, "Jesus is always bad". It baffles me that education is so limited and pointed in one direction; They refuse to teach Christ in the schools, but yet, they happily teach the theory of evolution, the big bang theory, and basically any other means of creation the school system can find. For a country that is so worried about what their children are learning, they still struggle with the fact that there are kids that attend public schools and still can't read by their junior year in high school. The funding is non-excitant and the teachers are few. What a mess. In the Arabian countries, they too have operated there schools according to beliefs and religion. In the past four years, they have declared that women are not allowed to hold a job of any kind. Their religion states that females are to stay at home and be good house wives. According to Time magazine of June 1995, 78% of the Arabian school teachers were women.

Intel

Intel's strategy in DRAMS was to focus on product design and to be the first to market with the newest devices and DRAM technology. This allowed them to be a leader and charge significant price premiums, and proved to be a successful strategy for the first four generations of DRAMS. However, over time this became less effective as product life cycles shrank, so the time for competitors to offer a competing product became faster and once the competition â€Å"caught up† then prices would fall dramatically. In this industry, patents were ineffective at blocking competition.In addition to product design, Intel established itself as a leader in process technology. Because cutting edge product design ultimately meant more complex semiconductor technology, Intel needed to invest large amounts of capital to keep its manufacturing capabilities at a level that could support new innovations and complex production. It also took time for Intel to become comfortable with new production tec hnologies, during which yields (a key driver to manufacturing costs) would fall as they worked out new problems and optimized the processes.There are several factors that led to Intel's dramatic decline In DRAM market share teen 1974 and 1984, the ultimate reason being that Japanese competitors were able to introduce new products more rapidly which reduced Intel's position as a leader in the market since competitive offerings would follow so quickly after introduction of a new Intel device. Because of the high capital investments needed to produce new DRAMS, it was necessary to be first to market to be able to take advantage of higher prices as a market leader before competitors introduced similar technologies.One reason Japanese firms could introduce products more quickly is that they strategically invested heavily in manufacturing capabilities. By comparison, Japanese firms invested 40% of their sales revenue into plant and manufacturing equipment while U. S. Firms invested 22% of their sales revenue. Additionally, several of the Japanese firms created relationships and collaborated closely with equipment manufacturers, such as Nixon, to create and access superior production equipment before it was available in the united States.As a result of getting superior equipment, Japanese competitors had much higher production yields for DRAMS than U. S. Companies (as high as 80% for Japanese companies compared to maximum 60% for U. S. Impasse). Finally, Japanese competitors were also more adept at both developing process technologies and ramping up production capacity for DRAMS – for instance, their production yields were as high as 70-80% vs.. 50-60% for US firms in the sass, and this was a factor in driving costs.Intel leadership did not Immediately recognize the potential opportunities for microprocessors and their use in personal computers, but once this was discovered, the Intel team set several strategies In place to become a market leader. Their bigges t competitor, Motorola, had been selected as AppleS standard. Therefore when IBM entered the PC market, Intel and Motorola were huge competitors to become the innovation, but also invested heavily in sales and marketing efforts.Intel's decision to launch the sales effort, â€Å"Project CRUSH†, to gain design wins was instrumental in paving the way for Intel's future success in the microprocessor market, particularly because this sales campaign led to Intel securing a contract with MOM. Intel's DRAM strategy seemed to be â€Å"If we build it, they will come†, whereas the new microprocessor strategy was more â€Å"If we build it, let's make sure they come†. Intel's strategic partnership with IBM was hugely instrumental in Intel's strategy to gain a competitive advantage in microprocessors.IBM led the market in the personal computer market in the early sass and Vim's strategy to expand rapidly and gain market share provided the perfect environment for Intel to grow in tandem. Whereas Intel did not invest in defensive efforts and technology to maintain its competitive advantage in DRAMS, despite winning a major contract with IBM for microprocessors, Intel continued to invest in aggressive marketing against its competitors?particularly Motorola?to maintain its competitive advantage.Another strategy that Intel employed to gain a competitive advantage in microprocessors was to create a network effect and develop a network of suppliers to help produce chips for Intel. Intel learned from its experience with DRAMS production that it was expensive to ramp up production capacity and made a decision for microprocessors to license with other companies to produce chips to meet demand. Although this strategy meant that Intel only received a fraction of the total revenues and profits, Intel was able to meet demand in the rapidly growing PC business and could continue to win contracts and grow overall market share.Leadership also continued to invest in Inte l's internal production capabilities so that Intel could produce a higher proportion of later models of microprocessors in-house to gain more profits. This strategy bought Intel time to really establish itself and the top supplier of microprocessors and also work on its manufacturing capabilities so that by the time Intel produced the 386, it was ready to produce the 386 without licensing. This required major investments and attention to improving internal sources and operation coordination, but Intel was able to make business decisions, such as higher price setting, that covered this investment.