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United States History Essays - Monopoly, Market Structure

US History Essays - Monopoly, Market Structure US History From 1790 to the 1870?s, state and national governments interceded in the Am...

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

War in Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

War in Iraq - Essay Example Rather, it was pursued in economic reasons. Scott (2003) cites the internally stated goal of securing the flow of oil in the Middle East. Scott refers to a report from the James A. Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University (April, 1997) which stated the problem of "energy security" for the US and noted that US was increasingly exposed to oil shortages in the face of the inability of oil supplies to carry on with world demand. Particularly, particular the report addressed "The Threat of Iraq and Iran" to the free flow of oil out of the Middle East. It concluded that Saddam Hussein was still a threat to Middle Eastern security and still had the military capability to exercise force beyond Iraq's borders. Scott continues that as soon as the Bush administration took office in 2001, it followed the lead of a second report from the same institute, which was co-sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the report representing a consensus of thinking among energy experts of both political parties, and was s igned by Democrats as well as Republicans. Entitled Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, the report concluded: The United States remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma. ... Therefore the US should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq including military, energy, economic and political/ diplomatic assessments. Following this note is the looming phenomenon known as Global "Peak Oil", which is projected to occur around 2010, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia being the final two nations to reach peak oil production. US geophysicist M. King Hubbert, who in 1956 correctly predicted U.S. oil production would peak in 1971, first illustrated this crucial concept of Peak Oil in bell-shaped curves wherein each oil field in the world follows a more or less bell-shaped curve, and the composite view of the world's thousands of oil fields is one gigantic, ragged edged looking bell-shaped curve. According to Clark (2003), once Peak Oil is reached, the supply of oil/energy will begin an irreversible decline, along with a corresponding permanent increase in price despite the presence of increasing demand from industrialized and developing nations alike. Another reason pointed out on the cause of the war was to preserve the dominance of the dollar over the world oil economy. Clark (Revisited: The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War with Iraq, 2003) on the other hand believes that the US media and government failed to report that the war itself is in large part an oil currency war. In Clark's words, "a war intended to prevent oil from being priced in euros". He cites that a core reason for the ongoing war is this US administration's goal of preventing further Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) momentum towards the euro as an oil transaction currency standard. However, in order to forestall OPEC, they need to gain geo-strategic control of Iraq along with its 2nd

Monday, October 28, 2019

Music Concert Report Essay Example for Free

Music Concert Report Essay The highly respected jazz trio made up of pianist Bill Charlap, bassist Kenny Washington and drummer Peter Washington played for about an hour an a half. Their smooth melodies and precise playing worked perfectly together to give a great performance against the New York City skyline at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola. The trio opened up the show with a song called â€Å"Ill Remember April†. The song was originally written in 1941 by Gene de Paul (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). â€Å"Ill Remember April† first performance was in a very atypical setting. The song was not performed in a Broadway play or Jazz Club but rather the 1942 comedy Called Ride Em Cowboy. Actor Dick Foran sang the song in what a critic at the time called, â€Å"I’ll Remember April’ was an oasis of sanity in the madness† (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). Although an odd start the movie Ride Em Cowboy proved to be significant in the Jazz community for another reason as well. In the movie the famous jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald appeared in her first film role playing an employee at the dude ranch named Ruby (Ill Remember April (1941)). â€Å" She projected a light, frothy, easy-going humor† in her performance of â€Å"A-Tisket, A-Tasket† (Ill Remember April (1941)). This movie brought out just how significant jazz music was at the time because it made a mediocre film come to life. This was not Gene De Pauls first time creating a brilliant jazz song. The pianist, composer and arranger had written many songs before for Hollywood films and Broadway shows such as â€Å"You Dont Know What Love is† and â€Å"Star Eyes† (Ill Remember April (1941)). He had worked with many lyricists before but on this particular song Gene de Paul worked with his friend Don Raye and Patricia Johnston (Ill Remember April (1941)). The lyrics portrays two distant lovers remembering the past and have a close connection with Dorothy Fields â€Å"The Way You Look Tonight† (Ill Remember April (1941)). The song entered the pop charts in the spring of 1942 after being recorded by Woody Herman and his Orchestra. The song did not catch on quickly because it differed in many ways from the typical pop song of the time. The melody and form separated â€Å"Ill Remember April† the most from other music of the time. Songs of the time usually followed an A-A-B-A form, repeating a lot giving it a catchy tune. â€Å"Ill Remember April† however, used a 48-bar A-B-C-D-A-B form making it seem long and dragged out compared to other popular jazz songs. Wilson, McElrath, Tyle) â€Å" Beboppers Charlie Parker and Bud Powell were among the first to explore the song’s unconventional structure, followed by an influential 1950 recording by Red Norvos trio with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus† (Ill Remember April (1941)). The actually musicality of the song is quite complex with many chord changes and key changes. The song starts off in G but has a â€Å"false key change to Bb major during the first eight measures of the bridge† (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). The tone of the song is major it moves rather step wise throughout. The chord progression of the song is a twist and turn roller coaster taking you from a G to a E major back to the G then to a D7. This is important because it allows for many different substitutions of chords and improvisations. (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle) One of the most important and defining elements in Jazz is improvisation. It is expected that during any jazz performance one or more musicians will improvise. Improvisation is so common that most of the time a musician will not perform the same piece the same way twice. However the freedom given to jazz musicians does come with some boundaries. â€Å"Ill Remember April† gives much leeway to improvisation as long as they are â€Å"chosen carefully so as to at least imply a logical harmonic progression† (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). Typical jazz instruments are the saxophone, clarinet, flute, vibraphone, trumpet, piano, guitar, banjo, tuba, double bass, bass guitar, vocals, trombone and drum kit. The size of the band can vary greatly in jazz however from an ensembles which can have as little as two people to big bands that can have as many as 30 people. The Jazz show that I saw was a trio including a pianist, bassist and drummer. The setting in which I saw â€Å"ll Remember April† performed is much different then the setting I would have seen it in 1942. I saw the song be performed in a rather fancy evening setting at a Jazz Club where there was dinners and drinks being served. The club was modern and well designed. The backdrop behind the performers was a large window outlooking part of the New York City skyline. Around 75 people went to the club to watch a well respected trio play their rendition of â€Å"Ill Remember April†, as well as several other songs. In 1942 I would not have been able to go to a club one night and be served dinner as I listened to a band play the song. At first the only way to hear the song was in the movies it was featured in. The song was featured in the 1942 film Ride em Cowboy as I had mentioned earlier, it was also in the 1942 movie Strictly in the Groove and was again featured in the 1945 movie Eve Knew Her Apples. It is not until later that I would have been able to sit down at a jazz club or concert hall to see the piece be performed. Anita Boyer recording of â€Å"Ill Remember April† appeared on the album The nat King Cole Trio: The MacGregor Years 1941-1945 disc 4 (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). Since then â€Å"Ill Remember April† has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists throughout the years. â€Å"The song’s unconventional characteristics became assets, and it found favor as a bop vehicle† (Wilson, McElrath, Tyle). Each performance of â€Å"Ill Remember April† takes on its own identity according to the performer. Artists have put their own twists on the song sometimes even implying a â€Å"Latin-feel† or they have stuck close to the original. The aspect of flexibility while maintaining the same brilliant theme makes â€Å"Ill Remember April† so exciting making artists recreate the classic for years. Before going to the concert I listened to â€Å"Ill Remember April† performed by Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker was an extremely influential jazz saxophonist. He recorded â€Å"Ill Remember April† on July 5, 1950. While having the same melody Charlie Parkers version of â€Å"Ill Remember April† and the Bill Charlap Trios version differed greatly. The biggest difference was the use of instruments. The Bill Charlap Trio did not include a saxophone. I had expected to hear a saxophone so at first it took a second for my ears to adjust when the Bill Charlap Trio began to play the song. I personally preferred the saxophone. I thought it gave the song a very demanding tone catching the audiences attention while at the same time it gave the song a very magically, flowing feeling. The saxophone was also backed up by other instruments like the piano which gave it a full rich sound. The piano, bass, and drums of the Bill Charlap Trio also gave a good performance however I felt it lacked a clear â€Å"lead† instrument how the saxophone did for Parkers rendition. One aspect I did like more in the Bill Charlap Trios version was the elongated piano solo. Solos are very important in jazz music and they occur often. Solos give artists the opportunity to improvisation keeping the piece fresh and giving it an element of surprise. Throughout the Bill Charlap Trios performance there were many solos. In â€Å"Ill Remember April† it was the pianos time to shine. I enjoyed the solo because it showed off Bill Charlaps talent and kept the piece exciting. An interesting aspect of his solo was he included a verse from Dorothy Fieldss â€Å"The Way You Look Tonight† which as I mentioned earlier gave inspiration to the writing of â€Å"Ill Remember April†. Overall I enjoyed listening the piece live better than the recording because it allowed the music to â€Å"come alive† rather than just listening to a recording. Going to the concert opened my eyes to what seems to be a whole new world. I was very anxious and nerve about what to expect when I went to the Jazz Club but when I got there I was pleasantly surprised. The music was entertaining and I loved the experience. Looking up the history of the songs continued to spark my interest. It is very interesting to see how music written seventy years ago is still influential and played in modern settings such as a Jazz Club.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Sikh Pride :: essays research papers

"Cut your hair, already", some fifth graders said as they pushed me against the hard brick wall. I tried to argue with them, but then one of them punched me in the gut. I fell to the ground crying. I remember feeling so confused, trying to figure out what had I done to them. People started crowding around, to see what was happening. Almost all the kids laughed at me, the older kids laughed because they were mean and the smaller ones laughed to fit in. Luckily, the bell rang and recess was over. I was truly "saved by the bell." I had put it off for too long; I had to tell my teacher about these bullies.I went to my teacher’s desk and whined to her, "Some older kids were bullying me in the playground. They told me to cut my hair.""You should cut your hair. So much hair is disgusting" she told me most spitefully.I went to my seat crying with anger, not to those bullies or my teacher, yet to myself for being, so weird. I was now determined to cut my hair before the day was over. Finally the long awaited moment had arrived; the day was over and my Mom and Dad were waiting for me outside to go home. My dad asked me how my day was so, I told him about my horrible day. I told him about the fifth graders bullying me and the teacher’s malicious comment towards me. I told him that I wanted to cut my hair today, and that my mind was made up. Understanding my situation my parents headed towards the closest barbershop. On the way to the barbershop I started looking at my parents, with their uncut hair. And I asked them why we had to have uncut hair. My parents stopped the car and they told me everything about my religion and why we don’t cut our hair. My parents told me that a saint named Guru Gobind Singh Ji first formed the Sikh religion. God told him that he was to make a new religion, a religion, in which the members have uncut hair.Now as I look back at what my parents told me; I understand that the Khalsa was founded not only to have a religion where nothing that god gave to us was changed. People weren’t supposed to cut their hair because God gave them hair and what he gave shouldn’t be changed.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Planned Giving Article Critique Essay

Bernstein discusses the three elements that motivate planned giving: generosity, tax avoidance, and established relationship. The generosity affect happens when an uncultivated donor bequeaths a large sum from their estate. The primary benefit of these donations is not to the borrower but to their heirs in that estate taxes are significantly reduced by these donations. In some cases a person may plan a donation but their heirs may not immediately honor it. In that case if an organization is aware of the donor’s intent, board or staff can develop a relationship with the survivors. This may lead to a transfer of charitable intent where the surviving heir will eventually honor the charitable plans of the predecessor. The purpose of fundraising is to obtain alternate sources of funds apart from the regular budget cycle. Additionally, fundraising is successful when positive interpersonal relationships are developed between fundraisers and potential donors. These are key roles of sports program managers. (Stier & Schneider 1999) Title: You and Planned Giving Author: Robert J-P. Hauck In this article, Hauck outlines a planned giving program targeted for the American Political Science Association. He defines timing as the first decision to be made when developing a planned giving intent. This answers if the gift will be made during the donor’s lifetime or after their death. The benefits of giving during the donor’s life is reduction in income and capital gains taxes. The benefits of giving after the donor’s death is reduction in estate taxes. He suggests testamentary giving as a way to remember a deceased person. These gifts can be given as awards or scholarships in the name of an individual. Next, a bequest can be restricted or unrestricted. A restricted bequest is to fund a certain activity of an organization. He suggests these requests, however, be flexible enough to change with the needs of the organization. Finally, Hauck offers the option of making an organization the owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy. The benefit to the donor is that the cash surrender value is deductible if the policy is paid in full, or the premium payments will be deductible. Sports managers must be aware of the difference between immediate need fundraising and long-term development of additional funding sources. (Stier & Schneider 1999) This article demonstrates the development aspect involved in sports fundraising. However, it is important to be prepared to manage current receipts from long term development consistently with sources from current fundraising efforts. This article provides a perfect framework that sports managers can include in their marketing efforts and literature used for fundraising. The concepts here not only work with insurance policies, but can also be applied to more immediate gifts of stocks, bonds, and other marketable securities which can be sold and converted to cash over the short-term. Title: Youth Charities Work Together on Planned Giving. (The Children’s Village, Inwood House, Safe Space) Author(s): Nicole Wallace In this article a different approach to planned giving is taken. Three similar organizations joined to create a single organization which exists for the sole purpose of cultivating planned giving programs. The organization will manage and distribute the donations to the organizations according to the donors’ guidelines. In addition, the organization is dedicated to marketing to potential donors. This may be a more appropriate form of fundraising at the local high school level. Direct programs as outline in the previous articles may be more appropriate for colleges and universities. Conclusion The three articles taken together demonstrate the importance of understanding the personal goals and strategies that define and drive planned giving by individuals. Once that is understood the fundraising professional is prepared to communicate to potential donors the various options at their disposal for planned giving. Finally, when organizations operate on a smaller scale, collaboration can result in a higher rate of planned giving than individual efforts. References Bernstein, P. (June 2005). Financial advisers and planned giving: doing the right thing. The CPA Journal, 75, 6. p. 62(2). Retrieved April 16, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale. Hauck, R. J. P. (Sept 1999). You and Planned Giving. PS: Political Science & Politics, 32, 3. p. 642. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale. Stier, W F, & Schneider, R. (June-Sept 1999). Fundraising: an essential competency for the sport manager in the 21st century. Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business, 35, 2-3. p. 93(1). Retrieved April 16, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale. Wallace, N. (March 26, 2009). Youth Charities Work Together on Planned Giving. (The Children’s Village, Inwood House, Safe Space). Chronicle of Philanthropy, 21, 11. p. NA. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Comparing and contrasting the presentation Essay

  Comparing and contrasting power in Hawk Roosting and Human Interest The effects of power seem to be largely psychological in both poems. In Human interest the damage coursed by love and jealousy drives the man to kill his lover , to show power not only to himself but to his girlfriend. Later on in the poem we see the man in his prison cell questioning his motive behind his sudden outburst of rage; whereas in Hawk Roosting the hawk believes there’s no need for other predator’s existence as nature is ‘all’ his and ‘no arguments can assert’ his right to his power to kill. In Hawk Roosting the hawk has no restrictions in life and does as he pleases as he see’s himself as an all mighty being. But in Human Interest the man has a spur of the moment action that has a long-lasting effect, both on the dead girlfriend and on him in terms of a prison sentence. The effect of power on the hawk causes him to become arrogant and this making the pointlessness in other animals while the effect of power on man drives them insane and blind to those around us. The hawk wishes to ‘keep things like this’ and although we know this is about the hawk wanting to keep himself above all the rest he will eventually crumble and fall just as nature intended. The hawk abuses his power by killing those smaller then him to increase his status in the food chain. The effects of power leave contrasting images of a grief-stricken man left in a secluded room and the arrogance of roaming free, though both eventually are seen as murderers in life and will be nothing more.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Boston Globe

The Boston Globe was founded in 1872 by a group of six Boston businessmen led by Eden Jordan Marsh, founder of Jordan Marsh retail stores. Together, the six men invested $150,000 to buy the paper. On March 4, 1872, the first issue of the Boston Globe was published and sold for four cents per paper. In 1873, the Boston Globe found itself in some financial difficulties, and Jordan brought in Charles H. Taylor as a temporary business manger to improve the paper’s financial health and stability. At only 27 years of age, Taylor was a Civil War veteran, staff member and printer of the Boston Traveler, and stringer for The New York Tribune. As a reward for Taylor’s success and loyalty for improving the once struggling newspaper, Jordan, who was the only remaining investor, gave Taylor the title of partner. Soon after being named as a partner, Charles H. Taylor was named president of the Boston Globe. When Taylor passed away in 1921, his son William O. Taylor took over h is father’s role as president. The current president of the Boston Globe is Benjamin B. Taylor, who is a cousin of William O. and great-grandson of Charles H. Taylor. For the last 125 years, the president of the newspaper has been a member of the Taylor family. After being solely a daily, morning paper, in 1877 the Boston Globe started a Sunday publication. Only one year later in 1878, the Boston Globe started distributing an afternoon paper called The Boston Evening Globe, which lasted 100 years and ended its publication in 1979. The Globe’s main hub of operations is located in Dorchester, a section of Boston. Dorchester has been its home since 1958, when it moved from â€Å"Newspaper Row† on Washington Street, which at the time was the street address of many of Boston’s Newspapers. After being a private company for its entire existence, The Boston Globe became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications in 1973. On October 1, 1993, The Boston Globe and A... Free Essays on Boston Globe Free Essays on Boston Globe The Boston Globe was founded in 1872 by a group of six Boston businessmen led by Eden Jordan Marsh, founder of Jordan Marsh retail stores. Together, the six men invested $150,000 to buy the paper. On March 4, 1872, the first issue of the Boston Globe was published and sold for four cents per paper. In 1873, the Boston Globe found itself in some financial difficulties, and Jordan brought in Charles H. Taylor as a temporary business manger to improve the paper’s financial health and stability. At only 27 years of age, Taylor was a Civil War veteran, staff member and printer of the Boston Traveler, and stringer for The New York Tribune. As a reward for Taylor’s success and loyalty for improving the once struggling newspaper, Jordan, who was the only remaining investor, gave Taylor the title of partner. Soon after being named as a partner, Charles H. Taylor was named president of the Boston Globe. When Taylor passed away in 1921, his son William O. Taylor took over h is father’s role as president. The current president of the Boston Globe is Benjamin B. Taylor, who is a cousin of William O. and great-grandson of Charles H. Taylor. For the last 125 years, the president of the newspaper has been a member of the Taylor family. After being solely a daily, morning paper, in 1877 the Boston Globe started a Sunday publication. Only one year later in 1878, the Boston Globe started distributing an afternoon paper called The Boston Evening Globe, which lasted 100 years and ended its publication in 1979. The Globe’s main hub of operations is located in Dorchester, a section of Boston. Dorchester has been its home since 1958, when it moved from â€Å"Newspaper Row† on Washington Street, which at the time was the street address of many of Boston’s Newspapers. After being a private company for its entire existence, The Boston Globe became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications in 1973. On October 1, 1993, The Boston Globe and A...

Monday, October 21, 2019

French Views Of Slavery Essays - Slavery, Abuse, Free Essays

French Views Of Slavery Essays - Slavery, Abuse, Free Essays French Views of Slavery The issue of slavery has been touched upon often in the course of history. The institution of slavery was addressed by French intellectuals during the Enlightenment. Later, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which declared the equality of all men. Issues were raised concerning the application of this statement to the French colonies in the West Indies, which used slaves to work the land. As they had different interests in mind, the philosophes, slave owners, and political leaders took opposing views on the interpretation of universal equality. Many of the philosophes, the leaders of the Enlightenment, were against slavery. They held that all people had a natural dignity that should be recognized. Voltaire, an 18th century philosophe, pointed out that hundreds of thousands of slaves were sacrificing their lives just so the Europeans could quell their new taste for sugar, tea and cocoa. A similar view was taken by Rousseau, who stated that he could not bear to watch his fellow human beings be changed to beasts for the service of others. Religion entered into the equation when Diderot, author of the Encyclopedia, brought up the fact that the Christian religion was fundamentally opposed to Black slavery but employed it anyway in order to work the plantations that financed their countries. All in all, those influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment, equality, liberty, the right to dignity, tended to oppose the idea of slavery. Differing from the philosophes, the political leaders and property owners tended to see slavery as an element that supported the economy. These people believed that if slavery and the slave trade were to be abolished, the French would lose their colonies, commerce would collapse and as a result the merchant marine, agriculture and the arts would decline. Their worries were somewhat merited; by 1792 French ships were delivering up to 38,000 slaves and this trade brought in 200 million livres a year. These people had economic incentives to support slavery, however others were simply ignorant. One man, Raynal, said that white people were incapable of working in the hot sun and blacks were much better suited to toil and labor in the intense heat. Having a similar view to Raynal, one property owner stated that tearing the blacks from the only homes they knew was actually humane. Though they had to work without pay, this man said slave traders were doing the blacks a favor by placing them in the French colonies where they could live without fear for tomorrow. All of these people felt that the Declaration of the Rights of Man did not pertain to black people or their descendants. All people were not ignorant, however. There was even a group of people who held surprisingly modern views on slavery; views some people haven't even accepted today. In his Reflections on Black People, Olympe de Gouges wondered why blacks were enslaved. He said that the color of people's skin suggests only a slight difference. The beauty of nature lies in the fact that all is varied. Another man, Jacques Necker, told people that one day they would realize the error of their ways and notice that all people have the same capacity to think and suffer. The slavery issue was a topic of debate among the people of France. The views of the people, based on enlightenment, the welfare of the country or plain ignorance were tossed around for several more years until the issue was finally resolved. In the end the philosophes, with their liberated ideas, won out and slavery was abolished.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

South Koreas Capital City of Seoul

South Korea's Capital City of Seoul Seoul is the capital and largest city in  South Korea. Its considered a megacity because it has a population of over ten million people, with nearly half of its 10,208,302 people residing in the National Capital Area (which also includes Incheon and Gyeonggi). Seoul, South Korea The Seoul National Capital Area is the second-largest in the world at 233.7 square miles and an average elevation of just above sea level at 282 feet. Because of its very large population, Seoul is considered a global city and it is the center of South Koreas economy, culture, and politics. Throughout its history, Seoul was known by a number of different names, and the name Seoul itself is believed to have originated from the Korean word for the capital city, Seoraneol. The name Seoul is interesting, however, because it has no matching Chinese characters. Instead, a Chinese name for the city, which sounds similar, has recently been chosen. GoranQ/Getty Images History of Settlement and Independence Seoul has been continuously settled for over 2,000 years since it was first founded in 18 B.C. by the Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city also remained as the capital of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. During the Japanese colonization of Korea in the early 20th century, Seoul became known as Gyeongseong. In 1945, Korea gained its independence from Japan and the city was renamed Seoul. In 1949, the city separated from Gyeonggi Province and it became a special city, but in 1950, North Korean troops occupied the city during the Korean War and the entire city was nearly destroyed. On March 14, 1951, the  United Nations forces took control of Seoul. Since then, the city has rebuilt and grown considerably. Today, Seoul is still considered a special city, or a direct-controlled municipality, in that it as a city has a status equal to that of a province. This means that it has no provincial government controlling it. Rather, the federal government of South Korea controls it directly. Because of its very long history of settlement, Seoul is home to a number of historic sites and monuments. The Seoul National Capital Area has four  UNESCO  World Heritage Sites: the  Changdeokgung Palace Complex, the  Hwaseong Fortress, the  Jongmyo Shrine,  and the  Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Diego Mariottini/EyeEm/Getty Images Geographic Facts and Population Figures Seoul is located in the northwestern part of South Korea. The city of Seoul itself has an area of 233.7 square miles and is cut in half by the Han River, which was previously used as a trade route to China and helped the city grow throughout its history. The Han River is no longer used for navigation because its estuary is at the border between North and South Korea. Seoul is surrounded by several mountains but the city itself is relatively flat because it is on the Han River plain, and the average elevation of Seoul is 282 feet (86 m). Due to its very large population and relatively small area, Seoul is known for its  population density  which is about 44,776 people per square mile. As such, much of the city consists of dense  high-rise  apartment buildings. Mostly all of Seouls residents are of Korean descent, although there are some small groups of Chinese and Japanese. The  climate  of Seoul is considered both humid subtropical and humid continental (the city lies on the border of these). Summers are hot and humid and the East Asian monsoon has a strong impact on Seouls weather from June to July. Winters are usually cold and dry, although the city gets an average of 28 days of snow per year. The average January low temperature for Seoul is 21 degrees F (-6 degrees C) and the average August high temperature is 85 degrees F (29.5 degrees C). Politics and Economy As one of the largest cities in the world and a leading global city, Seoul has become the headquarters for many international companies. Currently, it is the headquarters of companies like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Kia. It also generates over 20% of South Koreas gross domestic product. In addition to its large multinational companies, Seouls economy is focused on tourism, building, and manufacturing. The city is also known for its shopping and the Dongdaemun Market, which is the largest market in South Korea. Seoul is divided into 25 administrative divisions called gu. Each gu has its own government and each is divided into several neighborhoods called a dong. Each gu in Seoul varies in both size and population. Songpa has the largest population, while Seocho is the gu with the largest area in Seoul.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate finance - Essay Example 1. The argument of the purchasing manger that there would be savings of $96000 over a period of eight years holds no grounds. First of all it is not clear whether manager is arguing the saving in absolute terms (net cash flow) or in terms of profits. The manger has calculated the savings of $96000 as under: The calculations of purchasing manager are absolutely wrong, as he is taking total cost of manufacturing of the present in- house activity and comparing it with only cost of purchasing the component from Amalgament Components. Manufacturing costs and purchasing price are altogether incomparable costs. He has altogether ignored the many expenses required to be added to the cost of purchases to make it comparable to manufacturing cost, like depreciation on Scanner of $8000, freight inward, assembling cost of the product, salaries of administrative and selling staff and many other assembling, administrative, selling expenses, and even the taxation outflows. 2. The suggestion of selling the machinery is absolutely illogical. The machinery was purchased only one year back for $45000 and selling only for $5000 is no good suggestion, considering the fact that the firm would suffer a loss to the tune of $35000 after taking into account capital allowance for two years. If at all machinery is to sold, it should be done at a time when the proposal of buying the component actually start bringing profits, as the machinery has got few alternative uses as per production manager. 3. The argument about only 60% use for current 4 years of warehouse holds grounds when $50000 is planned to be spent on extension of warehousing facilities after the fourth year, particularly when a capital allowance can be claimed @ 4%. The matter needs serious consideration while evaluating the buying option. 1. The argument of production manager that present machinery holds 8 years of useful life, and also machinery could be used for alternative purposes as well are valuable arguments from

Amre Inc Case (Ethics Case) - Principles of Auditing Essay - 1

Amre Inc Case (Ethics Case) - Principles of Auditing - Essay Example r her performance, based on credentials like average sales in dollars for every appointment the salesperson had with a customer and the number of schedules with clients. In the long run, this AMRE was involved in an accounting fraud and the top officials we also unethical in performing their duties. This is a critically analysed and summarised below. Following AMRE’s spectacular financial performance, especially in 1987, financial analysts tracking the companies were given, by the AMRE’s top officers, huge estimations of expected revenue and profit projections that would be achieved throughout the fiscal year. However, these projections, for the first quarter of the fiscal year, were not met and as a result, Robert Levin, an executive stakeholder instructed Dennie Brown, a chief accounting officer to inflate the net income for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Robert Levin in turn instructed the data processing vice president, Walter to alter the computerized records that stored records of sales. This was repeated for the second fiscal year and final culmination on the third and fourth year correspondingly (Hoffman, 2006). It can be clearly seen that firm violated the GAAP time period assumption accounting principle. According to this principal (Ken, 2006), the financial position of a given firm can be reported over a give short but defined interval period of time. It continues to advocate that, in case there is such an assessment, there should be a clear record of cash flow. This was not the case with AMRE’s auditing. In each of the quarter of the fiscal year, they would manipulated the financial records and no report of cash flow was seen (John, 2006). Secondly, they violated the full disclosure principle. The principle demands that any vital information that affects investor, stakeholders using financial statements, the information should be correctly relayed. The firm fulfilled a part of the principle of relaying the information however, it was not

Friday, October 18, 2019

Global Investment Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Global Investment - Article Example This is the reason behind the industrial success of the nation as well as the admirable economy. On the other hand, Indians would work tirelessly to ensure that, he benefits optimally, through both corruption and fund embezzlement activities. Peter Killing, an American professor, confirm the above philosophy, as he proves to us that, Americans are the best business managers around the world. He further illustrates that the above is evident, from different surveys and education workshops held around the country. The topic arises as a result of the spirit of the American in adopting different environment with the aim to invest. The inclusions to consider when investing in a foreign nation are cultural differences, climate, language, and cost, among others. This is because they are determiners of the success or failures of the business ventures. The above inclusion will facilitate bridging the gap between the two nations. In regard to thriving businesses, like Cisco and Wall Street busters, comes the debate of future IPOs and NASDAQ stocks. Business success in any country comes due to technology, internet revolution, productivity levels and the spirit of the entrepreneurial ship. Ignorance of affairs in the world trade and materialism are hindrances in business development. Understanding the history of business in the country of choice and learning the language of the people of the country, contributes to a business success and also understanding the geographical conditions. A culture of the people in the new country is also noteworthy so that they can remove the `we have a foreign boss’ mindset. This helps in creating openness and befriending the people of that country, thus the success of the business. Managers said that operating a business in a foreign country would succeed first by learning the language of the people and their culture to create friendliness.  

Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Plagiarism - Essay Example Most papers are said to lose credibility when they fail to cite the source of information (Roberts 9). No matter how good one has had the understanding of the concept he is putting down. The originality of the conclusion and the conceptualization issues, it all comes down useless if plagiarism is detected in his work. We should ensure appropriate citation for our work. We should ensure academic honesty in whatever we do. Plagiarism makes one not learn how to write his own thoughts in his own words. We also fail to acquire the individual needs and skills. So as to avoid this kind of dishonesty and/or misleading by misrepresenting the work of others as your own, we should paraphrase, and cite original work. When one copies exact words, we expect the use of quotation marks followed by citation of the source. Paraphrasing a sentence will also require one to cite the source. Paraphrasing entails representation of the writers meaning, information, and ideas in your own words (Watkins 19). We are also warned of using words that represent another as way of paraphrasing sentences. Everyone is supposed to use our own words and ideas. The practice that we put in this writing is essential to learning. Each time we choose a word, order our thoughts, and convey our ideas we are actually improving our writing. It is important to let the reader be aware of the source of information one is writing from so as to avoid the redundancy that is created by a number of sentences describing another’s ideas. We should be careful with what we are citing. It is also good to use an editor so as to realize common or technical mistakes that arise during our writings (Cvetkovic 13). The penalty of plagiarism has not been clearly quoted but it is clear that the act is dishonest and misleading (Lipson 21). Apart that it violates the code of academic conduct; this can lead to deduction of marks, suspension, or dismissal from institutions. When one presents another

Thursday, October 17, 2019

On Eating Roadkill, the Most Ethical Meat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On Eating Roadkill, the Most Ethical Meat - Essay Example Some researchers argue that factory-farmed meat has various effects on the environment. Therefore, road kill meat should be made permissible for as much as it is less harmful to the environment. Also, according to (Buhler 1) most roadkill meat goes to waste since people do not consume it. By making it acceptable to eat road kill meat, the waste would be reduced, and less harm would be done to other animals. Game meat is also the healthiest among other meat and eating it would save lots of cash in many families.If the road kill meat is not fresh and healthy, it can lead to various complications. One, it can lead to foodborne illnesses. For instance, a deer killed by the roadside might offer risks of infections like Toxoplasmosis gondii, chronic wasting disease, and other deer specific infections. Moreover, other roads kill meat like raccoon and squirrel might be carrying diseases related to their species. Another risk that might be experienced if people are allowed to eat road kill me at is bacterial contamination. Bacterial contamination occurs due to vehicular collision and considering that most ruminants have E. coli 0157, a chance for torn intestines and ruptured bladder leading to a gut spillage would be a concern.If eating road kills meat would be made obligatory and socially acceptable, the following guidelines should be taken into consideration. First, if a person happens to run over an animal, he or she should report to the game authorities before handling it.

FINAL EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FINAL EXAM - Essay Example According to the declaration of independence, all people are equal and created free. As such, they have the same natural rights. Thus, legitimate governments should be formed by the approval of the people who are being governed. Consequently, these legitimate governments should therefore secure and guard these rights. The declaration of independence brought to the fore a unanimous decision made by thirteen colonies to dis engage themselves from Britain. However, the most significant element of the declaration of independence since its inception was its declaration that political legitimacy was determined by people. As such, it appealed and advocated for equal rights for all people. Therefore, the meaning of the declaration of independence transcends both circumstances and time. The declaration of independence possesses three vital parts; the preamble, a list of accusations/charges brought against Britain’s king George II and the conclusion. Although the document justifies a re volutionary war, its bases its arguments on universal reason which are in line with laws of nature and of nature’s God. Additionally, the arguments respect opinions of people. The document is guided by its basic principles which include: self-evident truths; the document bases the American government on some self-evident truths like human equality and other unalienable rights. Self-evident truths transcend time, nations and circumstances. Secondly, rights of the people are acknowledged to produce legal governments. Thus, race, heredity, religion or wealth cannot justify government legitimacy. Equality is another third principle of the document. American government is basically about liberty and rights. However, these rights originate from all men being equal. Fourth, the purpose of happiness implies that a legitimate government should guard the unalienable rights such as liberty and life. Human happiness implies that the person or people live their lives to

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

On Eating Roadkill, the Most Ethical Meat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On Eating Roadkill, the Most Ethical Meat - Essay Example Some researchers argue that factory-farmed meat has various effects on the environment. Therefore, road kill meat should be made permissible for as much as it is less harmful to the environment. Also, according to (Buhler 1) most roadkill meat goes to waste since people do not consume it. By making it acceptable to eat road kill meat, the waste would be reduced, and less harm would be done to other animals. Game meat is also the healthiest among other meat and eating it would save lots of cash in many families.If the road kill meat is not fresh and healthy, it can lead to various complications. One, it can lead to foodborne illnesses. For instance, a deer killed by the roadside might offer risks of infections like Toxoplasmosis gondii, chronic wasting disease, and other deer specific infections. Moreover, other roads kill meat like raccoon and squirrel might be carrying diseases related to their species. Another risk that might be experienced if people are allowed to eat road kill me at is bacterial contamination. Bacterial contamination occurs due to vehicular collision and considering that most ruminants have E. coli 0157, a chance for torn intestines and ruptured bladder leading to a gut spillage would be a concern.If eating road kills meat would be made obligatory and socially acceptable, the following guidelines should be taken into consideration. First, if a person happens to run over an animal, he or she should report to the game authorities before handling it.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Management - Essay Example The constitution of Italy was adopted in 1947, following a referendum on 2 June 1946 that abolished the Italian monarchy and established Italy as a parliamentary republic. The constitution took effect January 1, 1948. The 1948 constitution created the position of President to fulfil the ceremonial roles of the Italian monarchy. The country is divided into regions, provinces and municipalities. The are 20 regions, which are divided into 95 provinces.   For quite a long time Australia and Italy has good relations with each other which are underpinned by strong community ties which has led to the development of strong trade and investment and cultural links amongst the two countries. Many bilateral agreements have been concluded between Australia and Italy covering many areas such as culture, double taxation, air services, economic and commercial cooperation, reciprocal social security and health care benefits, and film co-production. Many memorandums of understanding (MoUS) have been signed in areas such as science and technology cooperation, defense materiel, defense industry, motor vehicle safety certification, game meat exports and trade cooperation. The relations between the two countries can be proved by the number of high level visits made by the country representatives. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visited Rome for bilateral meetings with Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema, the Minister for European Policies and International Trade, Emma Bonino, and the Minister for the Interior Giuliano Amato.   An Australian Parliamentary Delegation headed by President of the Senate, Senator the Hon Paul Calvert, visited in 2005, and met with the Italian Presiding officers.  The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Neil Andrew, met his Italian counterpart Pierferdinando Casini in Rome during the summer of 2003. The Prime Minister, John Howard, visited Italy in July 2002, meeting then

Monday, October 14, 2019

In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck explores the idea of the American dream Essay Example for Free

In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck explores the idea of the American dream Essay The story Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Although Steinbeck writes the story in the late 1930s, he sets it in California, Soledad, while the Great Depression was being taking place in America, which followed the Stock Market collapse of 1929, and the Californian farmers had little money to spare to pay these itinerant workers. This caused millions of workers to lose their jobs, which lead to poverty and unemployment. A lot of men could not find work and there families suffered evection and starvation. Steinbeck witnessed the hardship around him and his great novels including The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row these novels describe life during the Great Depression. Of Mice and Men shows how there were a shortage of work and describe the lives of two itinerant workers, George and Lennie. George and lennie are the two main characters in the book, and showed the relationship between the two friends. George was small and restless; he had a dark face with restless eyes and sharp strong features. He was bright, quick and clever who looks after the mentally disabled strong Lennie. Lennie has a childs mind and is very childlike by wanting to feel soft things. His body is immensely strong and has never learnt how to control his body strength. He is described in terms of an animal because of his strength dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paw. George and Lennie are both workers, moving from ranch-to-ranch searching for jobs in Soledad, which is the Spanish for lonely. In spite of this each worker has a dream. George and lennie like all workers have had a dream too, to live off the fatta the lan, George and Lennies dream was to have a farm and then to do their own thing were no-one can allow to push them around or tell them what to do. All men had a dream similar to this, to own a piece of land of there own, this was something on all workers mind, which kept them going. However the novella ends in tragedy. Steinbeck introduces the main characters, George and Lennie early in the book. It is Friday evening and they are on their way to the ranch in Soledad. When the bus driver drops them off, he doesnt really care. They are shown as victims of society from the beginning of the book, where George and Lennie wanted to be dropped off at the ranch were the bus driver then made them walk ten miles when he said the bus doesnt go round that end, and while the were walking the saw the bus go by which made George very mad. Steinbeck writes that two men emerged from the path and came to the green pool this is the pool of the Salinas River where the novel starts and ends. The two men are described as complete opposites. Lennie was a big man, but had a mind of a child, which he was mentally disabled. George is like a father to him, George expresses Steinbecks attitude towards Lennie as a compassionate and sympathetic person. George and Lennies relationship is of friendship and dependence, although they both depend of each other; it seems at first as if Lennie totally depends on George, this is shown when Lennie panics because he thinks he has lost his work card and his bus tickets he says: George, I aint got mine, I musta lost it where as there relationship is like a parents child relationship. Through the first paragraph George starts telling Lennie about the future and what they want. He tells Lennie in a child like way of that they want to live off the fatta the lan, with a garden and were Lennie can tend the rabbits. Lennie likes hearing this; its like a favorite story where he knows all the words off by heart. In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck explores the idea of the American dream. This idea is still prevalent today where people still have a dream, to do something and it basically means that anybody can make it big in America. This is based on equality and independence and put forward the idea that everybody can get rich, is free and equal regardless of religion, race or country of origin, and also the American dream promises the freedom from persecution. In order to achieve the dream, you have to work hard. Each character had a dream: Curleys dream was to just be stronger than anyone. Which he shows his aggressive behavior towards those weaker than himself. Curleys wife wants to be a film star, which her dream cant happen as she is married to Curley where he doesnt allow her to do or speak to anyone apart from himself. It shows that the marriage has failed, maybe, as he cant satisfy her emotionally or physically. Due to her loneliness she trys to seek attention with other men and cant escape from the sexual image of what other men have of her. Because of the circumstances of her own isolation she therefore cultivates this image as a means of getting noticed, to talk to someone. Candy wants to work on his own land and no one to push him around. Crooks is the only black person on the ranch his dream was also to have his own ranch and no one to tell him what to do and to have no racist comments. So for the ranch workers to get this life they will have to work very hard. However for George and Lennie the dream could only ever be a dream. They want to believe in its reality but it is only ever wishful thinking. George and Lennies dream is all to do with having freedom, to not have to be canned to not work on days they didnt want to. They wanted to work in a place and live in a place that is cosy and have of food. And Lennies dream is to live off the fatta the lan and tend rabbits and other creatures and have a comfortable, rich life where they can have there own independence, but Lennie is volatile, violent, huge and strong. Lennie constantly gets them into trouble, for example: we are first introduced George and Lennie when they flee from weed. Where Lennie was accused of rape but really didnt do anything, as he only grabbed the ladies dress to feel the softness of it. There are number of things to suggest the dream is only ever fantasy. Another thing to support this is that they wanted to re-create happier times when they were younger and part of a family Lennie describes his childhood with aunt ClaraI remember a lady, she gave we mice. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows how the badly the workers were treated in the Great Depression they were at mercy of cruel bosses, which in this state in the book was Curley as he was the bosss son. One key aspect of their dream is that George and Lennie fantasize about better working condition of not getting canned. One thing Steinbeck explains is the basic needs of companionship, loyalty and having something to look forward to, as without any hope of doing something theres nothing to look forward to, and nothing to live for. The notion of all the characters in the novella being lonely victims is emphasized. They all have dreams one character in the book is Candy, he is a nice fella, he had lost his right hand in a farm accident and is reduced work of a ranchswamper. Candy has a dog that he is devoted to. The other ranch worker despite the dog, as he is old and smells very bad, so they confront Candy to let it out of his misery by shooting the dog, this illustrates the harshness of the relationships and the environment of which Steinbeck describes. It also predicts the end of the novel It is only because of Candys offer to join George and Lennie in their dream to buy a ranch that it becomes a possibility of fulfilling their dream. As he said spose I went in with you guys. They fell into a silence. They looked at on another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true. Steinbecks portrayal of Lennie is always compassionate but realistic. He is described in terms of an animal because of his strength. Lennie dabbled his paw He shows a victim of mental disabilities who cannot cope in harsh, unfriendly world. The society of the 1930s did not make allowance for the mentally ill. George cares for Lennie but is manipulated by him. Lennie has a huge amount of strength and cannot control himself. He has a tendency to panic, which creates a problem like when he broke Curleys arm as he was trying to struggle out Lennie held on tighter. Lennie never leaves a sight off George but when he is away he tend to get into trouble. Lennie is cunning and aware of this in another sense, and does not and cannot learn from his mistakes and is victim. Another time where he panics was the killing of Curleys wife he didnt mean it he just wanted to feel her hair, he is also selfish in ways as he ended up killing her as she was screaming, and all because that George may tell him off and not let him tend the rabbits. In conclusion the only person who achieves their dream is Lennie, as he dies thinking about their dream where George was reciting it to him at the Salinas River, before he dies knowing that the dream was in his mind. Steinbeck successfully shows the working life of that time and the dreams, of what everyone wanted to be to have a rich, and relaxed life, which people still have that dream today. Steinbecks sympathy and compassion for the characters, evident his storytelling is on their side. The title Of mice and Men links to the poem To a Mouse by Robert burns, he said the best laid schemes o mice and men, gang aft agley. And means no matter how well we may plan the future things often go wrong. And this is where Steinbeck chose this as a title. Steinbecks style is very good and adapts to his subject matter, imagery and dialogue. He tells this story in a convincing way without explaining in detail why everything happened and that it was nobodys fault in particular events and why they turned out as they did.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Influence of Twitter and Social Media in UK Elections

Influence of Twitter and Social Media in UK Elections Role and Influence of Twitter and other social media platforms during recent UK elections Introduction: Over the years, social media platforms have rapidly grown as a sphere for political activism due to its wide outreach. Sharing of information and news available across the social media networking sites in various ways is now turning into a vital strategy for the political leaders and parties to campaign (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). Political leaders across the world have begun using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites as a medium for political communication and marketing during election campaigns. The political parties try to increase the reach of their election campaign by channelling their message through the young audiences’ personal networks (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). The leaders are able to gain support either through direct interaction with the individuals or through messages that are shared within their connected social circle (Bright et al., 2017) This study talks about the extent to which Twitter and other social media networking sites played a decisive role in the recently held two elections in United Kingdom in relatively quick succession in 2015 and 2017. It will also assess how much did these platforms influence the political parties’ strategy during the campaigning.   Twitter and 2015 UK General Election The social media has been a part of the Britain’s electoral scenario for a while since the 2015 general elections. With Twitter being a well-established social media tool in UK, Segesten and Bossetta (2017) notes that the UK became the second largest country after United States following the British Twittersphere having an estimated 14.8 million accounts in 2015. The 2015 general elections which was influenced by the social media for the first time saw Twitter being dominated by left-wing Labour party with 58,000 uses of #votelabour as compared to centre-right Conservatives 25,000 uses of #voteconservative (Bartlett and Jones, 2015). Other parties including UK Independent Party had 15,000 mentions with #voteukip and 27,000 #votesnp for SNP (Bartlett and Jones, 2015) Margetts (2017) highlights that while the electoral success of the Conservatives was attributed to the giant expenditure of  £1.2 million on the negative Facebook advertising targeted at Labour candidate Ed Miliband, it was the Labour’s â€Å"bottom-up† campaign on Twitter which drew the attention of the users. The Twitter campaign accounts of all the 8 political parties and leaders had produced a total of 22,397 tweets throughout the elections (Jensen, 2016) but of those about 13% of tweets were informative while generating only 2 % of mobilizing content (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017). Even though the Labour and Conservatives tried to drive voter engagement, the mobilizing messages by them lacked as against the UK Independent Party (UKIP) and Scottish National Party (SNP), who tweeted number of times a day targeting specific constituencies (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017) As (Lewis, 2015) notes that most of the politicians and their party used the social media platform as a digital marketing tool without interacting with the voters personally. Even the content posted on Twitter and Facebook appeared to prove the loyalty of the party rather than drawing the attention of the new potential voters. 2017 UK General Election: The â€Å"first-social media† election The GE 2015 had the potential to be the first social media election (Reuters, 2015) but the 2017 UK general elections was dubbed as the first social media election in the country. The GE 2017 which was announced as a â€Å"snap election† by Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of the 2020 date in order to make Brexit a success (Boyle and Maidment, 2017) saw social media platforms specially Twitter turning into a political battleground for the political parties while attracting many first-time young voters (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). The number of Twitter users in 2017 rose to 16.4 million from 14.8 million in 2015 within the election period (Bright et al., 2017 cited Statista, 2017). The social media became the dominant source of political news and information (Gallacher and Kaminska, 2017) more than the traditional media which influenced both the political candidates and public’s opinions throughout the election. â€Å"Labour† was yet again the most active political party on social media to strategically plan and use their social media presence innovatively on a larger scale as compared to Conservatives. The party began its online campaigning even before the elections began to appeal and target the young voters while investing in a huge effort in using Twitter and Facebook to encourage them to register their vote (Booth and Hern, 2017). Polonski (2017) notes that even though the Labour lagged in the election polls throughout the campaigning, it won the battle for â€Å"votes† on â€Å"social media election† by gaining the highest number of votes as against the Conservatives (Booth and Hern, 2017). The impact of Crosbyn and Labour party’s active engagement with the voters led to 622,000 people (GetSet, 2017) supporting the party in the final 24 hours of the registration period alone. Jeremy Corbyn himself tweeted on his personal Twitter account on a regular basis as a result of which 26% of his posts urged the public to vote for the party (MarketMakers’, 2017). During the entire campaign as Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker (2017) note, Labour garnered over 1 million shares on Facebook, which was three times more than the Conservatives besides posting over three times as often. While the Conservatives spent over  £1 million on negative Facebook adverts attacking Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn (Kentish, 2017) and focusing on strengths of Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour focused more on gaining supporters by uplifting their campaign on both Twitter and Facebook (Kentish, 2017)   Even though Labour party did not win the election, the social media did increase candidate Jeremy Corbyn’s online popularity among the new age voters on Twitter (Polonski, 2017), which led to the Labour’s election result witnessing its share of vote rise by 9.6 points to 40 %, considered to be the highest increase in a single election since 1945 (GetSet cited The Guardian, 2017) Twitter as a news source and sharing of junk news: During the 2016 US presidential elections, the presence and sharing of fake news and targeted advertising on social media platforms were largely debated. Though there were distribution of strongly opiniated content with a political twist, but fake news was unable to make its way on Facebook and affect the outcome of elections (Littunen, 2017). Similarly, in a study by Oxford Internet Institute highlighted by (Littunen, 2017) it was found that only 11.4% of â€Å"junk news† stories were shared as compared to 33.8% during US election. Though social media users shared five links to professional news and information, they even shared one link to junk news during election campaign (Howard et al., 2017). However, in another study by Bournemouth, it was found that while 13 % tweets were regarding junk news, 54% tweets were linked to the professional news and information sources and about 16.5% of traffic was generated by highly automated accounts about UK politics (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) The BBC was the most popular news source being shared with 22.7% of the content coming from this source, followed by 17.7% links directing to the Guardian’s website (Howard et al., 2017).   A majority of various other political content shared was from public generated sources like blogs and civil society organisations, whose links were more as compared to the links to junk news. However, unlike the 2016 elections where it was claimed that the spreading of fake news propelled Donald Trump to office (Tait, 2017), the UK election results did not see any influence of fake news circulation. An analysis by Buzzfeed (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017) noted that among the 30 most frequently shared URLs, the Conservative supporters had shared almost 13 story links attacking Corbyn and Labour and only 2 stories were related to Conservative policy. On the other hand, Labour supporters shared 14 stories attacking conservatives while 7 focused on Labour’s policy (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017). Meanwhile, on Facebook there were more links to negative stories about Corbyn and absence of positive story links to May. Twitter Analysis: Hern (2017) highlighted a study by the Oxford Internet Institute which stated that the â€Å"Labour† party dominated the conversation on Twitter, with almost 40% of tweets on election-related hashtags and provided the digital strategists an analysis of Labour winning the ‘social media election’ (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). On the other hand, the Twitter saw only 26% tweets about Conservative party, with the SNP, UKIP and Liberal Democrats receiving 19 per cent, 9.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively (Hern, 2017). According to Twitter data (Gallacher and Kaminska, 2017), about 88% of the Labour candidates created account as compared to 73% of Conservative candidates.   With almost 63% of the online population (Polonski, 2017) using Facebook each week, of which 80% constitute the younger generation aged between 18 to 24, it makes Facebook the most widely used social networking site in the UK. During the 2017 election campaigning, Facebook was the most crucial social media channel on which content of articles or videos were shared 16 million times (Littunen, 2017) related to Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. Even though the most talked about politicians in the top 20 political subjects during the election on Facebook were Theresa May and the Tories, it was the Labour which gained popularity and whose posts were shared almost a million times (Shammas, 2017). This proved how the social media influenced and enhanced a serious political engagement while leading to young voters expressing their political opinion.   But (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) notes that Twitter had the most crucial role to play throughout the GE 2017 campaign as the retweets made were more than the number of tweets as compared to the original tweets being only about one-quarter of the total GE2017 discussion. The Twitter debate around GE 2017 which was dominated by the pro-Labour conversation hashtags (Cram et al., 2017) also witnessed the ongoing issue of â€Å"Brexit† as one of the top three most popular hashtag. Not only the external issues but also the hashtags introduced by various broadcast media outlets heavily influenced the GE 2017 Twitter debate (Cram et al., 2017) Brexit, which continues to be the hottest topic till date, saw an increase in the tweets and posts by the Conservatives from 20 per cent to almost a third while the Labour did not post any content related to it during the campaign (Express, 2017) With the Labour party focusing on social issues especially healthcare as a part of the online campaigning, the posts on the party’s Facebook and Twitter pages were being shared almost three times more in total by the users (Cecil, 2017).   Twitter was the most powerful tool used by the Labour for which the party (Booth and Hern, 2017) had spent a huge amount of money just to promote its single #forthemany  hashtag. Corcoran notes (2017) that Corbyn’s video message on the day of the election had over 88,000 engagements and 1.6 million views which prompted his followers to vote for him whereas May’s  lengthy status update attracted only 12,000 engagements (Corcoran, 2017) The Labour which was much more active in posting content more than the Conservatives and any other party successfully generated about 2.5 total interactions as compared to the latter which had only 1 million interactions. Although 90% of shares, likes and comments for Labour was a result of their video posts (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) Even though Labour was a way ahead of the conservatives, the Conservatives did saw a jump in its page for a brief period on May 27 following a video post encouraging its followers to share it if they didn’t want to elect Corbyn as their PM (Corcoran, 2017). The video had about 150,000 engagements and almost 9 million views. Despite being considered to be the highest number of views for any other political campaign video in the British history, the young voters were more inspired by the positive messages by Labour than the negative tone of the Conservatives (Reid and Ma, 2017) The GE 2017 online campaigning witnessed a tough war between the two major parties with the Labour page receiving more number of shares, likes and love reactions as against Conservatives page which saw more comments on less posts besides receiving angry reactions to majority of their posts (Corcoran, 2017) Out of every five posts on Twitter or Facebook by Conservatives, four posts had mentions of either Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn, an increase from 75% to 84% (Express, 2017) Due to the elections being called early only 63 per cent of the 2015 candidates used Twitter during GE 2017 as compared to 76% percent of the candidates in GE 2015.   But, the twitter activity increased, with candidates having a Twitter account posting 86 tweets in 2015 (Technology Review, 2017) to 123.5 tweets in 2017. Frequent Mentions and Postings: Twitter witnessed Jeremy Corbyn as the most mentioned account with 1,367,392 and Theresa May at only 654,417, much more than their respective parties where @uklabour was mentioned in 323.027 tweets and @conservatives was mentioned almost 307,550 times (Cram et al., 2017) While #BBCqt was the most used hashtags followed by #GE2017, #VoteLabour was the third most used Labour hashtags (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). Here, mainstream media also pla During the beginning of the election campaign, Corbyn had more than twice the number of followers on both Twitter and Facebook as that of May’s accounts (Cecil, 2017) and by the end of the election Corbyn also gained more supporters than May. With a 45 per cent increase in the number of followers on Twitter and Facebook pages of Corbyn over the campaign, the numbers reached from 850,000 each to more than 1.2 million (Cecil, 2017) More than the Labour’s account, Corbyn’s personal Twitter account had Labour supporting engagement which led to Twitter attracting more Labour supporters as compared to Conservative engagement driven by May’s account (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017) The generation of famous femes by @laboureoin ended up being an exceptionally effective strategy for encouraging retweets conveying a socialist message (Cram et al., 2017). While conservatives posted about 10 to 20 posts a single day, the Labour interacted more with its supporters through social media by posting over 30 posts (GetSet, 2017) each day across all the social media platforms. Though the savvy use of social media platforms effectively by Corbyn and Labour helped them drive reach out to young first-time voters (Cram et al., 2017), the microtargeting advertising strategy of Conservatives was effective (Wendling, 2017) but because it did not go down well with the public’s view led to their failure over social media (Wendling, 2017). It can be said that instead of shaping the public opinion, the social media was simply contemplating the opinion. According to the data by YouGov (Yaxley, 2017) the Brits believed that the broadcast media including 42% of television, print media including 32% of newspapers and magazines had more influence on them over social media, which only had 26 % influence, regarding how they decided to vote. But about 50 % young voters (Yaxley, 2017) believed that it was the social media which helped them choose whom to vote for as it was not only primary source of political information but also helped them communicate with the politicians directly. While television still remained the first influence for the votes, social media turned out to be the second most influence on votes by younger voters aged between 18-24 years old (Yaxley, 2017) With the social media campaign which encouraged young voters to register their votes, the Labour party was able to add a total of 33 parliamentary seats and outnumber the majority held by the Conservatives. The Labour party believed that the effective use of social media helped them win the seats they lost during the GE 2015 with their message videos being able to reach to 30% of the UK Facebook users (Crabtree, 2017). Conclusion: The result of the GE 2017 would have been quite different if social media did not play a major role and influenced the campaign, as Twitter and Facebook only helped the Labour party transform its fate and gain support through its powerful messages. The GE 2017 saw a massive use of Facebook and Twitter but the political leaders and parties did not make their presence felt on other popular social networking apps including â€Å"Instagram† and â€Å"Snapchat† much. Even though they lack the share feature, these apps are built around close ties which would have helped the parties and leaders make the content strongly effective among peer to peer (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). While Snapchat was hardly used during the election, Instagram too saw only 33,200 followers of Labour and 6,555 followers of Tories (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) The social media networks give the politicians and their parties an opportunity to engage in new forms of community building and allow the general public to enter their political arena through direct interaction (Gibson, 2015; Gibson et al. 2016). The parties are able to mobilise not only members but also non-members to raise their voice and put forward their opinions on their behalf during elections (Bright et al., 2017 cited Karpf et al). The new resources that such tools generate clearly offer a considerable boost to parties’ capacity to fight and win elections (Lilleker et al., 2017) In order to reach out to the users, the political parties made use of the social media as a powerful tool by sharing video messages only because the broadcasting of any political advertising outside of official party is banned from UK television (GetSet, 2017). The emergence of political attack ads (GetSet, 2017) which was prevalent in the 2016 Presidential campaign was also seen for the first time during the 2017 general elections. The success of the leftist Labour party in UK during the 2017 election on social media and the right Republican party by Donald Trump during 2016 US elections has been given to savvy use of Twitter and the immediate sharing facilities of social media by the leaders and followers (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017). Even the results of the election show how a well-planned social media campaign with a targeted audience can prove beneficial to any political party.   Witnessing the huge reach of social media in the US 2016 GE and UK GE 2017, it can be said that the social media platforms are now providing the politicians a new way of utilising their power. But, it is also to be noted that with social media becoming increasingly crowded and dripped with fake articles and clickbait articles (Polonski, 2017) it gets difficult for many political leaders and parties to build meaningful relationship with the public (Polonski, 2017) The social media especially Twitter brought the volatility and change within the political mobilisation and collective action in the GE 2017 (Margetts, 2017) Twitter is obviously not illustrative of the voters as a whole and along these lines it is not really a clear impression of the many, not the few. While Twitter cant be utilized to anticipate elections and (Cram et al., 2017) the mind-boggling support that GE 2017 saw for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn may not be completely reflected in the polling booths, it is a helpful tool in giving us the mind-set of the individuals who are spurred enough to remark on social media platforms. References: Bartlett, J. and Jones, A. K. (2015) ‘Who won the Twitter election campaign battle?’, The Telegraph, May. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11590772/Who-won-the-Twitter-campaign-battle.html. Bauchowitz, S. and Hà ¤nska, M. (2017) How the General Election 2017 Campaign is Shaping Up on Twitter, LSE. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2017/06/05/how-the-general-election-2017-campaign-is-shaping-up-on-twitter/ (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Booth, R. and Hern, A. (2017) Labour won social media election, digital strategists say, The Gaurdian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/digital-strategists-give-victory-to-labour-in-social-media-election-facebook-twitter (Accessed: 29 December 2017). Boyle, D. and Maidment, J. (2017) ‘Theresa May announces snap general election on June 8 to â€Å"make a success of Brexit†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, The Telegraph, April. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/18/breaking-theresa-may-make-statement-downing-street-1115am1/. Bright, J. et al. (2017) ‘Does Campaigning on Social Media Make a Difference? Evidence from candidate use of Twitter during the 2015 and 2017 UK Elections’, (June), pp. 1–33. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1710.07087. Cecil, N. (2017) How Jeremy Corbyn beat Theresa May in the social media election war, Evening Standard. Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/how-jeremy-corbyn-beat-theresa-may-in-the-social-media-election-war-a3564746.html (Accessed: 30 December 2017). Corcoran, L. (2017) Here’s how the UK election is playing out on social media, Newswhip. Available at: http://www.newswhip.com/2017/05/heres-how-the-uk-election-is-playing-out-on-social-media/ (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Crabtree, J. (2017) Facebook is playing a decisive role in UK politics and regulators are starting to take note, CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/facebook-social-media-influence-on-elections-and-democracy.html (Accessed: 4 January 2018). Cram, L. et al. (2017) ‘UK General Election 2017: a Twitter Analysis’, Neuropolitics Research Lab, 2017, pp. 1–11. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.02271. Express (2017) ‘General Election 2017: Labour races into lead over Conservatives’, Sunday Express. Available at: https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/806658/General-Election-Labour-Conservatives-social-media. Gallacher, J. and Kaminska, M. (2017) ‘Facebook needs to be more open about its effect on democracy’, The Guardian, June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/general-election-social-media-facebook-twitter. GetSet (2017) THE IMPACT OF GETTING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY RIGHT: UK ELECTION 2017, GetSet for Growth. Available at: The impact of getting your social media strategy right: UK Election 2017 (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Hern, A. (2017) Labour dominating election conversation on Twitter, study finds, The Gaurdian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/31/labour-dominating-election-conversation-on-twitter-study-finds (Accessed: 29 December 2017). Howard, P. N. et al. (2017) ‘Social Media and News Sources during the 2017 UK General Election’, (JUNE), pp. 1–7. Jensen, M. J. (2016) In the 2015 General Election campaign, politicians used social media to broadcast to voters rather than converse with them, Democratic Audit UK. Available at: http://www.democraticaudit.com/2016/02/02/social-media-and-political-campaigning-a-look-at-the-2015-uk-general-election-campaign/ (Accessed: 03 January 2018). Kentish, B. (2017) ‘Tories â€Å"spent more than  £1m† on negative Facebook adverts attacking Jeremy Corbyn’, Independent, June. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservative-social-media-strategy-attack-jeremy-corbyn-labouir-twitter-facebook-video-stormzy-akala-a7784406.html. Lilleker, D. G. et al. (2017) ‘Social media campaigning in Europe: mapping the terrain’, Journal of Information Technology & Politics. Routledge, 0(0), p. 19331681.2017.1397239. doi: 10.1080/19331681.2017.1397239. Littunen, M. (2017) An analysis of news and advertising in the UK general election, openDemocracyUK. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/analysis-of-news-and-advertising-in-uk-general-election (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Margetts, H. (2017) ‘Why Social Media May Have Won the 2017 General Election’, Political Quarterly, 88(3), pp. 386–390. doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.12408. MarketMakers’ (2017) The UK’s most social election yet?, MarketMakers’. Available at: http://www.marketmakers.co.uk/the-uks-most-social-election-yet/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Polonski, V. (2017) From voices to votes: how young people used social media to influence the General Election, Election Analysis. Available at: http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-5-the-digital-campaign/from-voices-to-votes-how-young-people-used-social-media-to-influence-the-general-election/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Reid, A. and Ma, A. (2017) ‘Conservatives did not once use social media to encourage voter registration, study finds’, Independent, May. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-voter-registration-social-media-not-use-encourage-facebook-twitter-election-2017-a7756736.html. Reuters (2015) Social media and the 2015 general election, Reuters Institute. Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/social-media-and-2015-general-election (Accessed: 03 January 2018). Segesten, A. D. and Bossetta, M. (2017) ‘A typology of political participation online: how citizens used Twitter to mobilize during the 2015 British general elections’, Information Communication and Society. Taylor & Francis, 20(11), pp. 1625–1643. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1252413. Shammas, J. (2017) ‘Facebook may have lost Theresa May her majority as young general election voters flooded social media with pro-Labour posts’, The Sun, June. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3767326/facebook-theresa-may-majority-general-election-voters-pro-labour-posts/. Technology Review (2017) How Tweets Translate into Votes, MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609229/how-tweets-translate-into-votes/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Thorsen, E., Jackson, D. and Lilleker, D. (2017) UK Election Analysis 2017: Media, Voters and the Campaign Early reflections from leading academics. Bournemouth: Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community. Wendling, M. (2017) Election 2017: Was it Facebook wot swung it?, BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40209711 (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Yaxley, D. (2017) Brits believe traditional media mattered more in the 2017 general election, YouGov UK. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/08/04/brits-believe-traditional-media-mattered-more-2017/ (Accessed: 01 January 2018).

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Essay --

The assessment framework for children in need and their families consists of gathering information that could potentially be important to look at. Social services would then evaluate the material which has been collected, and discuss whether or not it is valuable. Then decisions would need to be made on how the social services can support the family in need. The assessment needs to be centred on the child, and what is best for them. The assessment should also build on strengths and not focus purely on the negatives. It also needs to be holistic, taking everything into account (where the family lives, what benefits they are getting, what are their neighbours like etc.). It is also a continuing process; the assessment is not a ‘one off’. Social services don't have to help all families with children but they do have a duty to look into your situation to check what help you are entitled to. Social services can provide help for a family, like a placement in a playground or nursery for an infant; they can help with problems with schools or childcare. Social services can also help with a child’s behaviour, and help with any drug or alcohol problems. They can offer friendship and support, and if it is needed, counselling can be offered. A family could be entitled to housing and/or financial support from social services if someone in the family is under the age of 18 and is classed as a ‘child in need’. The child, or children, should be considered as a ‘child in need’ if he or she needs help to manage the things that affect health and development (the Children Act 1989). Examples of which could be lack of money or food, not having accommodation, problems that may affect health or education, or that the child is living with a violent person... ...lves. It is important for children that they are provided with an encouraging and secure environment in both the home and in school. Children need to feel that their parents and teachers value learning. If kids are shown that academic exploration is important, they are likely to develop similar attitudes. Furthermore, it is important to let kids know that failure is often part of the learning process. Kids who are not afraid to fail are more willing to accept scholastic challenges and are less likely to interrupt their own academic efforts. It is also important for kids to have plenty of support at home. The home environment shapes the initial attitudes that children have towards learning. However there are professionals that are available, such as counsellors and psychologists, both in and out of school, paediatricians, and state psychological associations.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Mathe N Science in English

TEACHING MATHES AND SCIENCE IN ENGLISH OR BAHASA MALAYSIA As I read through a lot of articles on teaching Mathematics and Science in English (The Star, New Straits Times and New Sunday Times), I found two major advantages of this education approach. The first advantage of teaching Mathematics and Science in English is to allow the students to play on global platform. English has now established itself as the most important language for trade as well as learning. That is why the exposure of English should be wider and more sufficient. LearningMathematics and Science is necessary as English is now spoken by 1. 8 million in all sectors especially accountancy and medical professions. Some reject the policy because of the poor performance of rural students, following an adherent stumbling block created. However, this has been discussed by Hashim Adnan, a president of National Union of Teaching Profession. He suggested that students should be taught subjects in English from a very early ag e, so nobody will be left behind. So, our government has done so by making learning English Grammar since students are in primary school.In fact, Science is introduced to fist year students of primary school to study in a very early age. Moreover, the subject is taught in English, as well as Mathematics. For example, in China, where people once had poor command of English, usage of the language was improving by leaps and bounce. It was not just happening in Vietnam where the schoolchildren were already conversation in English. This shows that learning English in especially universal subjects like Mathematics and Science would benefit the students as they will have to converse in English for at least several topics or labels in the subjects.Therefore, it is necessary to learn Mathematics and Science in English allows the students to stand on worldwide stage. What is amazing about being able to learn subjects in English is the students can cope with their further studies well especial ly in Science field. Hence, it is a significant advantage to learn Mathematics and Science in English. This strongly supported because a lot of feedback from previous students who were in era where Science and Mathematics were not taught in English. A numbers of interviews have been done involving many Malaysia students who are still now studying in several universities abroad.Most of them claimed that they feel regret because they did not have a chance to study Mathematics and Science in English. This is because most of them are now major studying in the field of Science; so, most of the reference books are written in English. Even though their English are good, they feel that it would be easier to cope the terms and labels of either Mathematics on Science during their first year if they have studied both subjects in English. Furthermore, it also helps them in their future career.If a local student is going to be a scientist, or at least work in medical professions, he cannot expla in the findings to the world as he does not know the knowledge of Scientific English. A businessman also needs to use the Mathematics terms in English, otherwise he possibly cannot expand to the outside world. Therefore, it is a very significant advantage to learn Mathematics and Science in English as the students can cope with their further studies well especially in medical sector. Therefore, Malaysians should accept this approach in order to face a lot more education barriers towards Vision 2020.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Sociology of Sport

Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are. Sociology of Sport Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are.