Monday, September 30, 2019

Evaluation of Voluntourism Essay

A trend has started in the recent years, where people participate in organizations that commonly claim to be helping developing countries. This trend is fuelled by the gap year phenomenon, which is defined as â€Å"a period of time between 3 and 24 months taken out of education or a work career.† (Jones, 2004) With enthusiasm of â€Å"making a difference†, more and more people choose voluntourism, combination of tourism and volunteer projects, as their gap year holiday option. Despite the well-intended enthusiasm, opinions regarding the contribution of voluntourism on local community are divided. The primary issue of debate is whether voluntourism provide help to the local communities. While some researchers using surveys find local people satisfied with volunteer tourists, other research investigating quality, tasks, motivation and local need of voluntourism have found it doing more harm than good. Such a harmful trend has made the UK director of VSO, one of the baggie st and earliest international development charity, warn â€Å"Young people want to make difference through volunteering, but they would better off travelling†¦rather than wasting time on projects that have no impact†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ward, 2007) In this paper, we will evaluate both side of the debate and carefully assess the value of voluntourism for local community. In order to assess the benefit given by volunteer tourists, it is essential to look at the quality of the helpers. Unskilled volunteers may be a burden to local communities that have to take care of them. As Stephan peck, operations director at the Scout Association, puts it â€Å"[bad volunteers] are like a cancer† (Ainsworth, 2012). Therefore, the volunteer selection process is critical in recruiting needed and appropriate volunteers that benefit local communities. While supporters of voluntourism claims those volunteers as satisfying, looking into their selection experience shall make it clear that these tourists are hardly qualified as helpful volunteers. Research done by Richard Forsythe in Ghana vlountourism showed that only 36% of all studied volunteer applicants in various fields went through application process more complicated than filling appli cation forms, and â€Å"no individuals remarked upon the selection process as a particularly challenging experience, and indeed several of the organizations interviewed admitted to accepting ‘almost all volunteers’ having ‘very few requirements, and taking ‘anyone who is interested’†(Forsythe, 2011). Recruitment through application forms or basic information can only depend on the self-evaluation of applicants, who probably had no volunteering experience, as to whether they will be helpful to the local community. With such a lenient selection, the volunteers selected are much more likely to be burden than help to local volunteers and community who cry out: â€Å"A lot of people have very unrealistic expectations about overseas volunteering, and they want to be there for only a month or less and have no skills that are critically needed in the developing world† (Huang, 2012). People may expect those unqualified volunteers to receive some training before starting work, but research has also showed that volunteer tourists receive almost no training. When they do receive information, much of it is about the culture and language, safety and packing with little attention toward the skills and duties involved within the volunteer placements (Forsythe, 2011). Furthermore, no more than half the volunteers received supervision or guidance during the placement (Forsythe, 2011). The organization’s local presence is indispensible for placements’ appropriate, long-term effectiveness and safety of volunteers. With the growing number of teenagers participating in volunteer tours, supervision and protection by organization are vital. However, some volunteers set out with enthusiastic motivation ends up in a awkward situation as Hannah Saunders, a gap year volunteer: â€Å"When I arrived†¦they didn’t know I was coming or what to do with me.† (Ward, 2007) Although the volunteers’ intention maybe beneficial, they are unqualified, untrained and unguided. Such groups of volunteers can hardly provide any high-quality help that is needed by local communities. Supporters of voluntourism may cling onto the motivation behind voluntourism to justify the trend. Indeed, motivation is also a factor often discussed when talking about the benefits of voluntourism. Supporters of voluntourism argue actions that come from altruistic intension to help, although may not provide substantial help, are at least better than nothing. The supporters say that by just participating and showing concern, it is already helping the people in dispair. It is literally, â€Å"you are the difference!† With the belief in altruism, people advertise voluntourism, â€Å"in which enthusiasm and good intentions are allowed to prevail† (Simpson, 2004). However, it seems the good intension behind voluntourism is not enough to be allowed to â€Å"prevail†. While many people wish to believe that motivation behind volunteering abroad is purely altruistic, research using evolutionally, social psychological, organizational and game theoretic literature as fram ework, has found that, in general, people volunteered most often when personal benefits are high (Murnighan, Kim, & Metzger, 1993). Consistent with this result, almost all authors of articles about voluntourism, even the supporters, agree that voluntourism does not come from purely altruistic motivation. Despite the difference in motivational factors concluded by different authors, all of them agree that these motivations outweigh altruism (Forsythe, 2011;Corti, Marola, & Castro, 2010;Wearing 2001; Brown, 2005; Cohen, Reichel, Shwartz, & Uriely, 2002; Tosun, 2000; Unstead-Jones, 2008). It is commonly agreed that volunteer tourists plan to satisfy the needs of communities through meeting their own needs such as â€Å"experiencing cultures†. If actions from altruism intention are the ones that give hope and â€Å"prevail†, voluntourism with self-centered motivation is not one. Furthermore, less concern in local community than in self-gain may result in idealized, incorrect assumption about local needs. Reflecting this worry about incorrect assumption, Sacha Brown, Program Manager of World Youth Intern ational, a NGO taking volunteers overseas for their development projects says, â€Å" there is a lot of development that is useless and is based on erroneous assumptions around what is ‘best’ for the community or country† (Huang, 2012). Inexperienced volunteers’ erroneous expectations on local needs, together with their self-centered concerns, make them concentrate on their own enjoyment without examining what help is needed. Organizations that seek to profit from voluntourism may increase rather than reduce neglect of local need. The director of VSO is worried that competition between organizations may lead to more emphasis on volunteer enjoyment and â€Å"may not deliver the maximum benefits to the communities these people are working in†. (Huang, 2012) Indeed, one of the organizations interviewed by Forsythe implied that its placements were driven by preferences of volunteers rather than local needs. It is not only researchers who are concerned about whether volunteering tourists’ helps are actually needed. Some volunteers interviewed by Justine Tillon express their feeling of lack of acceptance by local government and citizens. Some of them felt that â€Å"the government and local citizens are forced to be helped by the participants†. When there is evidence that help is â€Å"forced† on local people, maybe we should really ask ourselves: â€Å"Does this kind of help make a peaceful word?† All has been said, some supporters may provide research that show local satisfaction toward volunteer tourists. One of such research about Moroccan students’ satisfaction toward foreign volunteer teachers of French and English showed 79% of appreciation (Corti et al., 2010). The rate is indeed high, but we should look closer into this study. The job of the volunteers studied is to give English and French classes during vacation of school year. Out of 253 students who enrolled, 32.41% left to travel with their parents in the middle of classes (Corti et al., 2010). Although the desistance rate already implies that local community regards the classes as unserious holiday childcare rather than structured learning experience, several other questions can be raised against results of this and similar other studies. First, does the rate actually reflect the work done by volunteer teachers? The improvement in student’s language skills is not measured in the study. Since it was students who answered those surveys, it is questionable whether they looked at bigger picture and thought the experience educating or they were just excited to see foreigners. Inferring from previous evaluation of quality, training and supervision of volunteers, these teachers are likely to be unqualified as teachers. Of course supporters may say that the satisfaction rate is indeed the proof that the volunteers are qualified. That raises a second question. Is it voluntourism per se that is benefiting? Do they have to be volunteer tourists or they can be anyone? Considering that English and French are both official language of Morocco, classes given by mixture of nonnative and native speakers of the languages may hardly made any difference from that by local Moroccans who speak both languages. It is not clear whether the 79% satisfaction was toward â€Å"volunteers from abroad† or â€Å"people who helped†. Questions about the tourists’ help per se have been studied in different contexts. Study in Gahanna showed that many volunteers are placed in daily tasks and traditional chores such as bathing, dressing, feeding and supervising of children, that can be done by anyone else (Fosythe, 2011). To justify voluntourism itself, studies about unique benefit of voluntourism need be carried out. Through this paper, we have evaluated the quality, motivation and local need of voluntourism. While there are some studies showing satisfactions toward voluntourism presented, several essential questions are raised. Through evaluation, it became clear that volunteer tourists are unskilled, authentically motivated, and to certain extent, unwelcomed. Although it may be a valuable experience for tourists, it seems that voluntourism carry few value, if not harm, to local community. Whether or not it is primary desire, the desire to volunteer is laudable. However, we need to tread more carefully, especially when dealing with people who are already suffering. Unless we have enough knowledge and transferrable skills, we might do better to travel and bring money into developing countries. Works Cited Ainsworth, D. (2012). Bad volunteers are like a cancer, says Scout Association director. Third Sector Online . Brown, S. (2005). Understanding the motives and benefits of voluntourists: What makes them tick? Retrieved from http://www.voluntourism.org/newsstudyandresearc h1005.htm Cohen, E., Reichel, A., Schwartz, Z., & Uriely, N. (2002). ). Rescuing hikers in Israel’s deserts: Community altruism or an extension of adventure tourism? . Journal of Leisure Research . Corti, I. N., Marola, P. N., & Castro, M. B. (2010). Social Inclusion and Local Development through European Voluntourism: A Case Study of the Project Realized in a Neighborhood of Morocco. merican Journal of Economics and Business Administration 2 . Forsythe, R. (2011). Helping or hindering? Volunteer tourism in Ghana and its critical role in development . Huang, A. (2008, 8 1). Voluntourism: Benifit or Harm? Retrieved from Yahoo! voices: http://voices.yahoo.com/voluntourism-benefit-harm-775403.html?cat=9 Jones, A. (2004). Review of Gap Year Provision. Murnighan, J. K., Kim, J. W., & Metzger, A. R. (1993). the Volunteer Dilemma. Administrative Science Quarterly . Simpson, K. (2004). ‘Doing Development’: The Gap Year, Volunteer Tourists and a Popular Practice of Development. Journal of International Development . Taillon, J. (2007). The Identification of Motivation in Voluntourists: Particularly Extrinsic Motivators in Vacation-Minded Volunteer Tourism Participants. Retrieved from http://justintaillon.com/FINAL% 20PAPER.doc Tosun, C. (2000). Limits to community participation in the tourism development process in developing countries. . Tourism Management . Unstead-Jones, R. (2008). An Analysis of Volunteer Motivation: Implications for International Development. The Journal of the Institute for Volunteering Research . Ward, L. (2007). You’re better off backpacking-VSO warns about perils of ‘voluntourism’. The Guardian . Wearing, S. (2001). Volunteer tourism: Experiences that Make a Difference. CABI Publishing.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Internal and External Factors

Internal and External factors of an organization are effected everyday in many ways that could either make or break a company. The four functions of management are also a critical part of a business especially when talking about a well known company known as Verizon Wireless. The four functions of management include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Like Verizon Wireless and any other organization in such measurable size of production, it is important for any company to analyze and implement it’s own management concept. Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals (Bateman & Snell, 2011). Verizon Wireless has managed to establish the four functions of management very well and includes them within their internal and external functions of everyday productivity. Considering that Verizon Wireless has effectively used the four functions of management to their advantage the company currently employs 85,000 employees, is the largest mobile operator in the United States, and has announced earnings of well over 30. billion in revenue over the end of Q4 in 2012 (â€Å"Vzw Finance†, 2013). The effective strategies the company has enhanced over its competitors continues to make them the number 1 carrier and largest retailer for consumers and businesses. Verizon Wireless has incorporated the use of internal and external factors that involve globalization, technology, innovation, and ethics. These key factors are what make the core of the company establi sh it’s rules and regulations to maintain productivity at an all time high while continuing to meet its policies and procedures. Globalization has affected Verizon Wireless since the branching of Air Touch cellular in 1999, which increasingly established their network and customer base up to 450,000 customers. With certain mergers taken place around that time with approvals pending with the FCC for the carrier to merge and grow in size much of the four functions of management were taken into consideration within every step of it’s purchase of networks to insure the company was able to maintain it’s financial stability to enhance it’s network and move it’s way up to being the largest carrier out there. Unlike its competitor AT&T, Verizon Wireless has not found the need presently to sell any of it’s markets to make up for the lack of economic depression within the company’s finances. Presently Verizon Wireless’s effective use of its Globalization within the four functions of management has made the company’s success stories a reality. I believe it’s effective use of planning and leading have insured the companies success in being the number 1 seeked carrier by consumers and business’s today. Technology has evolved around Verizon Wireless’s success to help not only the regular consumer, but to help business’s stay productive and effective with its products and services. â€Å"Machine to Machine† products, which have also become the company’s core value have helped companies become more effective with the use of tablets, Apple, Android, and mobile internet devices and introduce them to any business’s tools. These devices insure that companies have point of sale products and are able to stay in business while keeping them simple to use and productive. Much planning and leading has been required by Verizon Wireless to align with other companies to introduce these certain products. According to â€Å"Machine To Machine† (2012), † No matter the industry, an M2M solution can make a big impact in your business. † Verizon Wireless has proved to do so with its increasing amount of business productivity. Verizon Wireless currently plans to innovate new ideas to help consumer’s everyday to insure them the best and fastest data networks. The launch of its 4G products or 4th generation products insures that every customer in a major city has access to this type of network. Much innovation and planning has leaded the company to effectively continue to launch its new markets within 4G and insure that every major city has this available to them. This new market has been readily available in major cities such as Los Angeles and in New York. This has lead the company to increase it’s productivity in ensuring each and every customer has a 4G smartphone device and download songs in seconds and videos within minutes. Last, but not least ethic’s is an important aspect to Verizon Wireless’s core values. Careful planning to ensure employees do not leak information to keep from effectively ensuring its products and services is within the company credo. Without these ethical values the company cannot protect it’s assets. Internal and External Factors Internal and External Factors Paper XXXXXXXXXXXX MGT/230 xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Internal and External Factors Paper The purpose of this paper is to explain how internal and external factors affect the four functions of management in the Wal-Mart Corporation. For any organization to survive, irrespective of its size, it must develop and implement its own management concept. Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals (Bateman & Snell, 2011).The four traditional functions of management include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The Wal-Mart Corporation has managed to use the internal and external factors of these functions to their advantage. With their strategic goal of seriously and rapidly expanding, the company currently employs over 2. 2 million associates, owns 8,500 stores, and serves 200 million customers weekly(â€Å"www. corporate. walmart. com†, 2012). Their strategies have minimized competitors making thi s company the world’s largest retailer.The following paper will describe how the Wal-Mart Corporation has found a successful way to use the functions with internal and external factors influencing globalization, technology, innovation, ethics, and diversity in business. The globalization of Wal-Mart began in 1991 in Mexico. The economy was starting to affect Wal-Mart’s business and they had to figure out a way to bring the profit up before business was lost. They decided to branch out and open a store in Mexico and Wal-Mart currently has stores in eleven countries (Vijay Govindarajan and Anil K.Gupta 2002). By 1999, Wal-Mart had more than 130,000 employees working in 729 facilities outside the United States (Vijay Govindarajan and Anil K. Gupta 2002). There were many factors that played into Wal-Marts decision to globalize. The first being that it had already saturated most of the domestic markets, and the United States only accounts for just over four percent of the w orld’s population. Emerging markets with their lower levels of disposable income offered huge platforms for growth in discount retail (Vijay Govindarajan and Anil K.Gupta 2002). Since the globalization of this corporation, Wal-Mart currently ranks among the top five global retailers (Matthew Boyle 2009). Although there were bad results in some countries, there are now 3,805 stores operating under 53 distinct banners in 15 markets (Matthew Boyle 2009). Wal-Marts strategic decision to globalize has allowed a continual rise in sales and profits, and has allowed the corporation to remain successful. Wal-Mart has used the four functions of management to grow and maintain a successful company through innovation, as well.For example, as the largest retailer, Wal-Mart decided to go green and make the entire operation recyclable and reusable. In 2005, CEO Lee Scott announced the company would create zero waste and use renewable energy and products that sustain the environment. Wal-Mar t proposed that the stores and clubs would use greener light bulbs, alternative energy, and better store designs to reduce waste, and reusable bags to start what is called a supply chain.The company announced the sustainability initiative which was used to track the life cycle of every product it sells by measuring the water usage, greenhouse gas emissions and fair labor practices (â€Å"Www. todaro. posterous. com†, 2010). Wal-Mart is currently hosting industry by industry meetings to debate how this customer label appears. Wal-Mart can only continue to grow their company by coming up with a plan and using the management from the top to the frontline managers to make changes to their company and enforce new ideas and innovations.Similarly, technology is another factor that Wal-Mart seems to excel at and stay on top of concerning planning and implementing the four functions of management. The company continues to improve their electronic commerce site Walmart. com and has com e up with a search engine to help customers find the products they are looking for more quickly and with more ease. The new tool uses machine learning and text mining techniques that assist the customer. If they are searching for something in particular it can bring up products that are similar even if those particular words were not searched (Leber, 2012).This has caused eBay and Google to scramble to improve their e-commerce search results. The weakness for Wal-Mart is getting customers to start at their website as opposed to others like Amazon. The planning portion of Wal-Mart is particularly strong and is always coming up with new ways of competing and staying on top of what consumers want and need. Next, ethics is defined as the action of identifying the rules that should govern people’s behaviors and the â€Å"goods† that are worth seeking. With Business Ethics, corporations strive to uphold moral principles and standards that guide behavior in the business world (Bateman, 164).Many organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the complexity of ethical issues hitting businesses today. As a large importer/exporter of foreign goods, Wal-Mart found itself dealing with an increasing issue of bad supplier ethics. From foreign owned to the United States outsourced companies, they needed to create a plan for setting up a standard for products that were received for sale in their stores. In 1992, Wal-Mart started their Ethical Standards Program (originally called Standards for Suppliers Program).The Ethical Standards Program was established and exists to verify suppliers’ compliance with global standards, to strengthen the implementation of positive labor and environmental practices in factories producing merchandise for sale by Wal-Mart, and to bring opportunities for a better life in the countries where merchandise for Wal-Mart is sourced. The program’s vision was redefined in 2002 to meet public image issues, be coming the statement â€Å"sourcing ethically through a socially responsible program† (â€Å"Ethical Standards Program†, 2006).The program works to train perspective suppliers in environmental, health, safety, and labor requirements to meet audit standards. Factories and companies on Wal-Mart’s supplier list are subject to unannounced audits to ensure they are meeting the standards set by the Ethic Committee. Through these organization and control measures, Wal-Mart has made great strides in correcting some of the worst conditions in many of the Asian countries they use as their suppliers. According to the â€Å"Ethical Standards Program† (2006) website the company also began the Factory Five Program in 2006.The program serves as a forum in which factory management (from five factories per region in China) regularly meet with suppliers and the Ethical Standards team. Time is spent identifying and resolving complex issues of noncompliance identified by aud its. They hope to share knowledge and changes that come out of this forum with others in the industry. Wal-Mart is working hard to show leadership in the ethics market and to pass knowledge and training onto others to encourage ethical practices in all heir stakeholder’s corporations. The ultimate company goal is to fully integrate labor compliance and social responsibility into all purchasing decisions done by Wal-Mart buyers. Finally, diversity is an equally tricky concept that comes into play in businesses today. As corporations expand to cover more global territory it is becoming increasingly important to have a strong diverse workforce and management team to work in this environment.In 2002, Wal-Mart was struggling heavily under a bad public image as a corporation engaged in unsatisfactory and unfair work policies, resisting diversity practices, demonstrated social irresponsibility, and eroded economic opportunities for small local business. By 2004, management had hired a PR firm to manage the onslaught of bad press, and later restructured the company and made key management changes (Alleyne, 2012). Wal-Mart formed a number of internal affiliate groups for women, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community as part of its diversity practices.According to Alleyne (2012), in recent years, Wal-Mart has been named among the BLACK ENTERPRISE 40 Best Companies for Diversity. By integrating a plan that showed support for diverse groups within their workforce, The company is making great progress in gaining new customer support and increasing consumer confidence in its corporation, people, and products through managers like, Rosalind Brewer, â€Å"Black Enterprise† 2012 Corporate Executive of the Year and the first African American woman chief executive officer (CEO) at Wal-Mart.As Alleyene (2012) says, Brewer is holding one of the most powerful positions in corporate America and making big changes i n the leadership of the Wal-Mart Corporation. In conclusion, this corporation has effectively used the four functions of management and the effects of globalization, technology, innovation, ethics, and diversity on these functions. Through adversity the top-level management has shown their ability to plan strategically and overcome obstacles.Wal-Mart’s key strategy is to dominate the retail market and with the proper implementation of these functions this organization continues to be one of the largest retailers in the world. References Alleyne, S. (2012, September). Second Act. Black Enterprise, 43(2), 82-88. Bateman, T. S. & Snell, S. A. (2011). Management: Leading & Collaborating in a Competitive World (9th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw- Hill Irwin. Boyle,M. Bloomberg Business Week. 2009. www. businessweek. com/managing/content/ovt2009/ca20091 Ethical Standards Program. (2006). Retrieved from http://walmartfacts. om/reports/2006/ethical_standards/building. html Leber, J. (20 12, October). Wal-Mart dives into search technology. Retrieved from www. technologyreviews. com Salter, C. (2012, July). #9 Wal-Mart. www. fastcompany. com, (). Vijay Govindarajan and Anil K. Gupta. Strategy + Business. Global Perspective. 2002. Fourth Quarter 1999. Issue 17. www. strategy-business. com/article/13866? gko=e19cb www. corporate. walmart. com. (2012). Retrieved from http://corporate. walmart. com/our-story/our-stores www. todaro. posterous. com. (2010). Retrieved from http://http. //todaro. posterous. com

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Management and Organizational Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management and Organizational Ethics - Essay Example This is ethically right regardless of its costs and consequences. Actually, BBC, (2012) records that, â€Å"Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions.† However, this has not been easy for me subject to the temptations resulting from the convenience and money-saving aspect that comes with downloading music from the prohibited websites. Indeed, despite the knowledge of the adverse effects of such unethical behaviors am always under pressure to do it. However, am aware that if I adhere to my responsibility of obliging to the legal proclamation of music copyright owners and consequently buy CDs from legal stores and outlets, that way I would be adding more benefits to the music industry and securing my nation from terrorism (Dan, 2006). Nevertheless, more than often, I find myself collaborating with a crime to infringe on others efforts thus benefiting myself at their expense. Hence, after failing to establish an effective and consistent commitment to ethical behavior, I feel that I should re-evaluate my policy in order to overcome the challenges on my way. Indeed, Hardin (2006) reckons that â€Å"commitment requires action or series of action and will often lead to success.† As such, since my conscience convinces me that what I am doing is ethically wrong despite the inherent benefits that I derive from it, I must, therefore, redefine my policy to ensure that I strictly abide with the set rules governing the music industry. Most importantly, I know that peer pressure affects my pursuit in this endeavor since all my friends feel nothing about this unethical behavior (Dordrecht, 1992; Arrington, 2009). As such, for me to succeed I must change my friends or at least avoid them during leisure times and holidays. This will reduce the pressure to download such music as my friends usually do it as a hobby.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Econonics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econonics - Essay Example This phenomenon is called the income effect. Similarly, when the price of a particular product increases certain person opt to switch to any other low priced substitute goods. This is called the substitution effect. This clearly explains that there is a relation between income effect and substitution effect. That is, the substitution effect occurs as result of income effect. 2. Explain, using an income compensated demand curve, how a per unit tax on a good can reduce its consumption even if the government uses the tax revenue to make consumers as well off as they were before the tax was imposed. The tax impact should be met by the consumers themselves. If there are any changes in the price of a commodity, it will ultimately affect the demand of such a product, and finally the income of the buyer also. There is an inverse relation between the demand and supply, but the price factor is also playing a key role in this context. If there is an increase in the price of a commodity, the total income level of the consumer will be affected. "As shown in the Calculus of Hedonism, economists derive the individual demand curve from individual utility maps. Normally this results in the desired downward-sloping demand function, but there is a fly in the ointment to dispose of, since it is possible, though difficult, to draw a utility map which results in an upward sloping demand curve." Upward Sloping Demand Curve with Inferior goods. Separating the impact of a price change into the "income" and "substitution" effects Compensated demand curve slopes downwards (Keen 2000). Thus it becomes apparent that if any changes take place in the price pattern of a commodity, there should be a corresponding change in the income level of the consumer. 3. Explain, using consumer theory, why it might benefit companies (for example, mobile phone companies) to offer a menu of price and service options to consumers Every consumer has his or her own rights to select the goods according to his or her taste and preferences. Consumers should give emphasis for the quality of goods and the price affordability. The consumer theory gives more focus on the concept of effective utilization of purchased goods and thereby the attainment of satisfaction. Utility Function Optimization Model (Mylonakis 2004). The applicability of consumer theory is very beneficial in the case of cutthroat competition. Due to recent technological advancements, nowadays mobile phone companies are also functioning on the basis of modern economic principles. "Mobile commerce opportunities cover mobile initiatives that are designed to achieve strategic change in downstream activities through direct interaction with the customer. Customer knowledge must reach all the necessary parts of a mobile company to be useful, such as through an electronic knowledge repository. But mobile services involve more than just sending knowledge. They incorporate both technical and cultural challenges. To deliver superior service

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Internet Banking Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Internet Banking - Case Study Example The report also has certain recommendations before the concluding words. In the present era of globalisation and privatisation, the only word that is presumed to be constant is the word 'change' itself. With the effects of globalisation reaching all nook and corners of the world along with the remarkable development and innovation in the field of communication and technology, the tricks of the trade are changing very fast. The development of communication and technology has definitely make the world much smaller and brought it within the periphery of our living room. The satellite television and the electronic media have kept the world on its toes by their commendable coverage. But the most beneficial has been the evolution of internet. Internet and its allied services have really done wonders in almost every aspect of life. The commercial world has been one of the most beneficial sectors from the upsurge of internet. The internet covers almost all the aspects of life. The online aspects have really made the financial world much better place to be it. Mo st importantly it has brought in the transparency and promptness that was long due. Among the various financial sub-sectors, it is the commercial banks that are the most important. And the introduction of internet in the daily operation of such financial banks have made the transaction all the most beneficial for all the concerned parties be it the valued customers, be it the commercial bank, be it the government or the monetary authority be it the media. Online Banking In simple words, online banking is referred as the internet banking where the customer can operate and transact from any computer or terminal through internet and need not be present at the bank branch. The online banking is basically operated from a secured website (https) and the customer of the bank is provided with a specified 'login' and secret 'password', through which he can initiate almost all the operations that is done at the bank branch like that of account statement, fund transfers and bill payments, etc. With in the purview of the online banking also fall the debit and the credit cards. Debit card deals with withdrawing money from one's account from any counter of the banks' or other banks; anywhere in the world (the card has to be supported by the withdrawing bank). The credit card assists the holder to have a certain specified sum of money from the bank even if he does not have the money in his account, in lieu of a loan, again any where in the world (where the card is supported). The debit and the credit cards are also used to pay bills at the major brands like that for travelling, shopping and dinning. The cards, an important aspect of online banking have made life easier for billions as one does not have to carry cash while travelling any more. With the advent of mobile technology and increasing use of internet through the GPRS and WAP enabled mobile handsets, the facilities of banking is with in one's

Corporate Governance Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate Governance Models - Essay Example The essay "Corporate Governance Models" presents the comparison of the two models of corporate governance: Shareholder value and Stakeholder. The shareholder value is designed in such a way that the only the shareholders and executives will earn high returns on the stocks they have invested. As seen above, the shareholder value focuses wholly on the shareholders and ignores the other stakeholders of the company such as employees, suppliers, and customers. As the time passed and new developments came about in corporate governance, the theory underlying the shareholder value model changed to a certain extent but the theory is still followed as the new theory "The Stakeholder Model" are yet fully developed. But this model keeps in view all the stakeholders related to the company especially the employees. Under the shareholder model, it is believed that as the management is focused on one objective of maximizing shareholders’ wealth, the strategies are planned in that direction an d ultimately increases the total wealth of the firm. Thus, everyone in the firm can get a bigger share of the pie if the pie is large. Therefore this model does not believe in transferring the rights of voting and cash-flows to the employees. A principle of proportional ownership has being identified by the EC as an important factor that could reform the internal markets. It is ‘one share, one vote’ rule which seeks to strengthen the shareholder rights and thus weakening the protection of the employees.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Classic airline and marketing solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Classic airline and marketing solution - Essay Example Moreover the management is not able to come to a consensus to resolve the problems. In order to overcome the hazards, this company needs to figure out strategies and plans. Identifying challenges The first step in order to resolve issues is to identify the challenges. One of the main problems faced by this airline is reduction in airline stocks. There is lack of unity among the employees and this has lead to low morale. One of the main problems is that the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of this airline focuses less on marketing and at the same time wants more consumers to use this airlines. Around 20% of the members have stopped using the Classic Reward Frequent Flyer Program. This program is one such programme which recognises the efforts of frequent flyers by allowing them to redeem free tickets on miles. However one of the alarming statistics is that the average number of flights per member has declined to more than 20%. This translates to the fact that Classic Airlines is slowing losing its loyal customers. One of the major challenges which is being faced by all departments is that this company is 15% reduction in costs over the next 18 months. Perspectives of stakeholders and ethical dilemmas The major problems which Classic Airlines is facing are dissatisfied customers, low moral and unity among workers and competition from rival airlines. In order to get this organization back to track urgent strategic decisions need to be formulated with special attention to efficiency, innovation, efficacy and customer service. Classic Airlines expects to provide better quality services at the same airfare and this means that the marketing department needs to extensively and aggressively market the product to attract more customers. Framing the problem Classic airlines must focus on all aspects to ensure that they have better growth and profitability. To achieve this, the organization must be able to forecast market potential and future demand. This can be attained by focusing on long – term marketing goals which can help to reduce challenges. Classic airline must employ internal marketing strategies so that the internal customers are satisfied and work together as a team. Inte rnal marketing suggests that in order to be successful an organization must also emphasise on its internal customers or employees. Service organisations must ensure that the employees have the skill, attitude and commitment needed to meet up with growing customer demands and also sustain loyal customers. In internal marketing employee development is done through training, communication, recruitment, management, coaching and leadership. The company must understand the four elements of services; namely inconsistency, intangibility, inseparability and inventory. These are also known as the four I’s of the services. When discussing the marketing mix of the services the four P’s are important. In order to pursue major marketing goals in the target market, the marketing mix which consists of product, price, promotion and place must be used. The Classic Airlines should offer its customers, competitive prices, invest more on promoting products, improve the quality of the produ cts, enhance the CRM system, and implement new and innovating marketing plans and strategies. The above

Monday, September 23, 2019

A management report on preoperative fasting Essay

A management report on preoperative fasting - Essay Example is why it is essential to consider this process from the different viewpoints, through its limitations and weaknesses on the basis of the clinical practices and state policies. Ethical considerations are to be accounted also. In order to clarify all issues and to define the possible solutions for the existing problems in preoperative fasting, it is necessary to look through the principal notions of the preoperative fasting’ process, the guidelines of the royal college of nursing and other related researches, both supporting and denying the benefits of preoperative fasting. The need in preoperative fasting has become evident with understanding that the risk of pulmonary aspiration during the elective surgery may be significantly decreased or eliminated through the application of the preoperative fasting process. It has become a legal requirement for the clinical practices and medical specialists. On the basis of the official statistics the cases of the pulmonary aspiration are very rare (about 1 in 10,000 patients), while the statistics also shows that the majority of the cases in pulmonary aspiration take place in the emergency situation (traumas, for example) when the gastric emptying is delayed (Scarlett et al, 2002); the same statistics relates to the cases of emergency abdominal surgery, etc. This statistics may become supporting evidence that preoperative fasting is an essential process in making the statistical morbidity in elective surgery minimal. The purpose of the existing fasting guidelines is to minimize the gastric contents before electiv e surgery; however the question here arises: how to avoid the unnecessary thirst and dehydration. This is the principal issue in the present research of preoperative fasting, and this issue needs to be addressed on the state level through the development of the new policies in fasting. being expressed in plain words as ‘nothing by mouth after midnight’. However, the question here is – how it is possible to

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Researchweek2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Researchweek2 - Essay Example The highest level also leads to legal accountability on the part of doctors and nurses. This means that this level provides a plan which is stipulated step by step and which the patient agrees to after going through it with the health worker. In case of any legal questions, the health worker is able to extrapolate with evidence the plan and hence becoming legally accountable. Lawsuits will therefore be an issue of the past. There are several ways of determining the highest level of evidence the first being examining the credibility of the evidence in terms of the background and authority of the researchers and validity of the data. The other is examining whether the research results are transferrable or generalizable to others beyond the study subjects, if so, then it qualifies. Since the research on the intervention in question is not the first, a comparison with other research is advisable and a determination of the stage of development is also important. The one with the highest or is most advanced in the stage of development qualifies to be considered the highest level of intervention research (Majid 233). Majid, Shaheen, et al. â€Å"Adopting evidence-based practice in clinical decision making: nurses perceptions, knowledge, and barriers.† Journal of Medical Library Association, 99(3): 229-236, July

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Shakespeare and Angela Carter and their works Macbeth and Blood Chamber Essay Example for Free

Shakespeare and Angela Carter and their works Macbeth and Blood Chamber Essay Shakespeare and Angela Carter present through their work of ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Bloody Chamber’ the struggles of women rebelling against gender stereotypes and how they fall victim to the patriarchal society they are a part of. Firstly, Shakespeare shows the importance of gender boundaries in society and how women who do not conform to their gender stereotypes will be punished. In Macbeth Shakespeare uses the character of Lady Macbeth to show this. Lady Macbeth throughout the play influences and controls her husband Macbeth for personal gain, she does this by taunting her husband which is already the first sign that she doesn’t conform to the stereotypical 16th-century woman who would usually be submissive to their husband. â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man† here we see that the gender roles have switched because it’s the wife who has the power here, by saying you ‘were a man’ is telling of this, she is almost mocking him by inferring that if he doesn’t murder Duncan then he is a ‘woman’ in the sense that he was too weak to carry out the murder showing how society viewed women as almost ‘delicate’ however in this scene it’s the woman who has the power. Lady Macbeth teases Macbeth because she knows how if he murders Duncan that she will gain power, now as they’re in a highly patriarchal society Lady Macbeth would not have had any social hierarchy over men but if she becomes queen she will have that power and this would have been desirable for her, as Shakespeare has shown us through her not follow social stereotypes that she has more ‘masculine’ desires rather than women who conform to society by following their only purpose in having children which Lady Macbeth opposes through her description of infanticide she has no interest in having children. To a Jacobean audience, this would be absurd because women’s only purpose in society in the 16th century was to provide men with children. Shakespeare is showing us here how she is against the most feminine thing for a woman and is almost striving for her own personal gain of power which is more masculine in the sense that in most Jacobean plays/stories it is onl y men who strive for power and is a masculine trait traditionally. In The Bloody Chamber, we see a masculine trait again is given to a female character, Carter gives the role of the hero who saves the damsel in distress to the protagonist’s mother which again in traditional stories is a male stereotype where a man would come to save the female who has been captured. The mother is identified with power as she’s described as having â€Å"furious justice† which shows that Carter and Shakespeare have both given female characters that power or shown that like Lady Macbeth they are capable of wanting/having that power. However, a female craving this power is not punished in The Bloody Chamber like it is in Macbeth with her being haunted by her feeling of guilt with her having visions of blood on her hands â€Å"come out, damned spot! But I command you!† as we can see from the way Shakespeare wants this presented as she’s shouting it’s obviously driving her insane as she can see it but no one else can and thus Shak espeare shows how a woman is punished for rebelling against gender stereotypes by her seeking power and has gone insane due to a man’s actions and therefore takes the consequences. But The Bloody Chamber doesn’t punish women for trying to gain power like in Macbeth but through the use of fetishes and sexual desires, they are punished. In The Bloody Chamber, the main protagonist is seen as having sexual desires through the words â€Å"thrusting†, â€Å"ecstasy†, †burning cheek† and â€Å"tender† the main protagonist is usually described with sexual words like this throughout the story. This is a continuative theme throughout the story even by things such as the red necklace she is given by the count which can symbolize blood is a reference to sexual fetishes and desires. However, the same intrigue that allows her to explore sexuality also forces her to explore the secret room which allows her to discover the bodies of the counts old wives. Like Lady Macbeth who is punished for her husband’s actions, the main protagonist in this story would also have been punished for her husband’s actions that being that she discovered his murders and would have been killed by him for discovering them until she is saved by her empowered mother. Secondly, we also see the rebelling of gender stereotypes through the merging of the genders with female and masculine traits being given to opposite-sex characters in Macbeth and The Bloody Chamber. In Macbeth, we see the characters of the witches who cross the line between female and male gender stereotypes. â€Å"You should be a woman, yet your beards forbid me† showing that Shakespeare even blurred the lines of gender through their appearance and thus they rebel against the patriarchal society by not conforming to these stereotypes of looking like a woman and it shows through the confusion of Banquo who has been indoctrinated by the patriarchy and knows nothing else. However, even with the witches who have tried to rebel from gender stereotypes even through appearance they still fall victim to the patriarchy. They have received the punishment of being segregated from a society which is most likely due to the time being that in the 16th century England the fad for witch hun ting was at its peak. A critic states: ‘Of all Shakespeares female characters Lady Macbeth stands out far beyond the rest — remarkable for her ambition, strength of will, cruelty, and dissimulation.’ I agree with this statement that Lady Macbeth stands out and has traits such as ‘strength of will’ because of â€Å"That made you break your enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man† it would have been unheard of for someone like Lady Macbeth who is a representation of a woman in 16th century Elizabethan England to stand up and taunt their husband like she does which does show strength, it also shows her rebelling against gender stereotypes because it’s unfeminine for a woman to mock their husband for not being a man in considering if she wasn’t married she would have no power at all in society and therefore doing this could be seen as a risk to a woman and therefore making Lady Macbeth ‘strong’ and ‘ambitious’ As Lady Macbeth propels her husband toward committing Duncans murder, she indicates that she must take on masculine characteristics. Her most famous speech

Friday, September 20, 2019

History Of Reggae Music

History Of Reggae Music Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rock steady Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by accents on the off beat, known as the skank. Reggae is normally slower than ska but faster than rock steady. Reggae usually accents the second and fourth beat in each bar, with the rhythm guitar also either emphasizing the third beat or holding the chord on the second beat until the fourth is played. It is mainly this third beat, its speed and the use of complex bass lines that differentiated reggae from rock steady, although later styles incorporated these innovations separately. The unprecedented explosion of creativity in Jamaica after that time is yet unexplained. Of course the whole population still sings Gospel on Sunday, and in this poor country, all the music that one can hear on the dance floors and the sound systems stays the main form of culture. Singers, DJs and producers are leaders and teachers. Like in Brazil and Africa (of which reggae takes most of its inspiration), the whole country is vibrating with music 24hours. Nevertheless, this passion for sound and beat dont explain it all. More is to come. The frantic side of the first reggae tunes disappears and in the beginning of the 70s, the One Drop style (that is commonly called Roots Reggae) starts to settle. This irresistible style with its fundamental simplicity, originality and essentiality, goes back to the African roots. Albums are always more creative and hundreds of fantastic artists take on the stage: Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff Reggae is the heartbeat of Jamaica a brand of reggae music as strongly identified with the island as RB is with Detroit or jazz with new reggae Orleans. Its a major factor in the Jamaican economy, at no time better demonstrated than during Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae Sumfest (enormous annual reggae festivals), when almost one-quarter million visitors arrive from overseas to dance and sway in delirious union to the soulful, syncopated beat on the tiny island. In life outside music, ambiguity is not necessarily a positive attribute it is often a sign of indecision and, in politics, a lack of firm direction but in the world of sound, ambiguity becomes a virtue by offering many different possibility to proceed. Through music, in fact, even suffering can be pleasurable (Barenboim, 2009). According to Barenboim, music as just to escape of their problems, they use music like as a guide to do things and to do this things with pleasure and maybe better. The music, when you listen to it even if you are in bad mood and you do not feel good you can feel satisfied. Your favorite music can inspire you to do things on a good way. We connect reggae music to travel. Caribbean country, Jamaica is also very popular destination for many people. Thanks to combination of natural and cultural diversity, the country has turned into successful tourist destination. Jamaica is famous with its beaches, favorable climate and friendly local inhabitants. The people who like to travel to place like this are the reggae fans, fans of Bob Marley and all the Rastafarians. Bob Marley is one of the most popular musicians in the world, and number one in this kind of music. The reason all these people travel to Jamaica is maybe because they can find some kind of escape from their job, life and problems by getting high and listening music. Jamaicans just like Holland are with open mind about the Marijuana plants and smoking of weed. Thats and reggae music are the main reasons so many people to visit Jamaica. Connections between reggae and Jamaican culture are many. Jamaicans are deeply linked with reggae music and with the Rastafarians they all believe in one god called JAH. We can also relate reggae culture with Jamaicans because of the colors green, yellow and red. Jamaicans are Latinos and they like to have dread-locks which are so usual for them. Music semiology (semiotics), the semiology of music, is the study of signs as they pertain to music on a variety of levels. Following Roman Jakobson, V. Kofi Agawu adopts the idea of musical semiosis being introversive or extroversive-that is, musical signs within a text and without. Topics or various musical conventions such as horn calls, dance forms, and styles. This means the music itself has variety of levels or with another words different style. Every style is unique by itself and has something different and something not ordinary which makes him unique. The thing which makes the reggae music unique is the way of singing and how the performers are singing about good things with slow and calm sounds which makes you relax and chill. With that music the people can escape from their everyday life and to feel better. You can not feel any kind of aggression like from some another kind of music all what you can feel pleasure and happiness. That is why two of the most popular reggae songs like no woman no cry.. And ..everything gonna be all right.. Give us message which reggae fans like at most typically for that kind of music. This message refers to happiness, no worries, no stress. Reggae Aesthetics By definition the musical aesthetics is concentrated on the quality and study of the beauty and enjoyment of music. Aesthetics is a sub-discipline of philosophy. It is often thought that music has the ability to affect our emotions, intellect, and psychology; lyrics can assuage our loneliness or incite our passions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics_of_music ) Anyone seriously interested in understanding contemporary Jamaican live and literature must encounter reggae as a cultural phenomenon that has engaged the spiritual, political, social, erotic, and racial dynamic of Jamaican society. ÂÂ  Understanding reggaes role in the word today is to understanding the complexity and reality of the popular culture in the late twentieth century. Reggae is a good way to examine the cultural, political and social development of Caribbean society. It is important to show that reggae influences Caribbean literature and represents complex aesthetic force. Reggae artists are known as one of the most astute poets and polemicists always striving to unshackle themselves from the capitalist colonial powers of the day. Reggae Development The music industry is always changing due to the interests of the listeners and the influences of many kinds of music genres and creativities. The same with how music evolves into different style because of collaboration of different styles of music. It is repeating how ska and rocksteady developed into reggae; musicians are creating different style of reggae and spreading the beats and rhythm through the whole world. These are some highlights of the development of reggae music: Inner Circle: Pioneer of Jamaican reggae into US television Inner Circle is a Jamaican reggae group. The group was formed in 1968 by the brothers Ian and Roger Lewis in Jamaica. With Jacob Miller as their frontman and lead singer the band was one of the most popular in Jamaica during the 70s, and one of few reggae bands that performed live. They are responsible for the 1987 song Bad Boys, which serves as the theme song for Fox Networks long-running television program COPS. However, at first they covered soul and hits from the United States, and then also a few reggae songs, predominantly from Bob Marley. Come back hits such as Sweat A La La Long UB 40: British Pop Reggae Band in 1978 More than any other artists of their time, Britains UB40 have proven the power of pop-influenced reggae music. With worldwide sales topping 30 million albums during their career, the UB40 story demonstrates just how far people can go by staying true to their roots. UB40 grew up in the heart of Birmingham, one of Englands most ethnically diverse cities. The summer of 1978 saw the eight band members drawn together by their love of the Jamaican reggae vibes. UB40s breakthrough in America arrived in the form of 1983s Labor Of Love, and its single Red, Red Wine. The song topped the British singles charts in 1983 and five years later landed UB40 with their first #1 smash hit in the U.S.of Autumn 1984. They were touring America and Canada in the first half of 1985, the group celebrated another hit single in July 1985 with I Got You Babe. Peter Andre: One hit wonder from the down under Peter became the first Australian male artist to debut at No. 1 in the UK, with Flava. Peter scooped two awards at the year end Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. Soon followed a total of 3 Top Five hits, including two No.1 hits in the UK and a total of 11 top ten hits worldwide. Peters most successful release to date, came with the release of Mysterious Girl which sold over 2 million copies worldwide, making it the highest selling single of 1996. Flava and I feel You followed consecutively, both debuting at number 1. Big Mountain: American mainstream reggae in mid 90s Much like UB40, American reggae band Big Mountain brought a very commercialized version of Jamaican Music to the American mainstream when their cover of Peter Frampton Baby, I Love Your Way reached the Top Ten in early 1994. To the bands credit, though, their three albums contain reggae roots music combined with only several RB-ish covers, and the lineup includes two Jamaicans with excellent credentials: rhythm guitarist Tony Chin and drummer Santa Davis, both of whom played with the Peter Tosh band and the Soul Syndicate. Shaggy: The most commercial reggae genre in the 90s was dancehall reggae Emerging in the early 90s, Shaggy was the biggest crossover success in dancehall reggae. Not only did he become the genres most commercially potent artist in the international market, he was also more than just a typical flash in the pan, managing to sustain a career over the course of several highly popular albums. Perhaps in part because he wasnt based in he never really needed to have it both ways: virtually ignoring the hardcore dancehall crowd, his music was unabashedly geared toward good times, a friendly persona, and catchy party anthems. He wasnt shy about lifting hooks wholesale from pop hits of the past, a chart-ready blueprint similar to that of hip-hop stars like Puff Daddy, but he also had fairly eclectic tastes, giving his records a musical variety lacking from other dancehall stars. As a result, he became one of the scant few reggae artists to top the album and pop singles charts in America, not to mention numerous other countries where hes had even greater success. Sean Paul: The rise of Dance Hall into Rap Hip Hop Reggae Paul released his debut single, Baby Girl, with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like Nah Get No Bly (One More Try), Deport Them, Excite Me, Infiltrate, and Hackle Mi. In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled Here Comes the Boom, the song was included in director Hype Williams film Belly. Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with Hot Gal Today. Unfortunately, Paul had a very public falling out with Mr. Vegas over the packaging of the latters remix of Hot Gal Today; still, it didnt slow Pauls career momentum, as he played the Summer Jam 2000 in New York City, the center of his American popularity. That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records; the sprawling Stage One collected many of Pauls previous hit singles and compilation cuts, pl us a few brand-new tracks. 2002s Dutty Rock and 2005s The Trinity were extremely successful. Both albums peaked in the Top Ten of the album chart and featured a handful of mainstream smashes. Daddy Yankee: Reggae Ton Pioneer and Entrepreneur In the early 1990s, hip hop was overshadowed by Spanish reggae coming in from Panama and rather than make a decision for one type of music over another, Yankee and like-minded friends began to rap over the popular dancehall music, creating a new musical fusion that over time was named reggaeton. While hip hop and rap were still underground movements in Puerto Rico, there was one club where the new fusion was welcome called The Noise. Yankee started hanging out with the rappers and DJs at the club, and there he met the DJ/producer Playero, who gave him his start, featuring the budding artist on the 1992 album Playero 37, and who helped him with his full-length debut album, No Mercy, that was released in 1995. No Mercy did not receive much recognition, and Yankee continued recording as a guest artist on several other albums. Gasolina made it to the top of Billboards Hot 100 and even today may well be the single that non-Latinos associate with reggaeton, the albums phenomenal success within the Latino community was Lo Que Paso, Paso. Hermeneutics of Reggae Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation theory, and can be either the art of interpretation, or the theory and practice of interpretation. In sociology, hermeneutics means the interpretation and understanding of social events by analyzing their meanings to the human participants and their culture. It enjoyed prominence during the sixties and seventies, and differs from other interpretative schools of sociology in that it emphasizes the importance of the context as well as the form of any given social behavior. The central principle of hermeneutics is that it is only possible to grasp the meaning of an action or statement by relating it to the whole discourse or world-view from which it originates: for instance, why would people dance along to reggae music while he would probably not familiar with reggae. Roger Savage, author of Hermeneutics and Music said that peoples roles of judgment and imagination play both in our experiences of music and its critical interpretation, and reevaluates our current understandings of musics transformative power. There fore Reggae has been created and always related as music with beats of happiness. The message in the music itself is about leaving the worries behind and enjoys the life in a relaxing way. This beats and message has been delivered through the whole world in so many years before. It is not anymore related to Jamaica or Caribbean but it is now own by the world. Bob Marley, Marijuana leaf and the Jamaican flag colors are just becoming a symbol of the Reggae history and knowledge to where it came from. Reggae is interpreted as the music of happiness. The experiences of reggae music and the party scenes have been created, especially through the 90s when dancehall reggae was born and developed to it is today. People always like to feel happy. Reggae is infectiously inviting people to dance along the beat and become a guilty pleasure for some people. Reggae is not anymore about third world country and culture, not about marijuana smokers, not about Rastafarian anymore. Wherever the reggae beats are played, class, race and nationality are no longer exist.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Most Diverse Nation is the World :: Ethnic Backgrounds Ethnicity Cultural Essays

The Most Diverse Nation is the World When I lived in Japan and talked with my friends about Americans, I had a strong impression that my friends think the average American is white. Of course they realize that there are many other ethnic groups in the U.S. but they do not realize the true extent of racial diversity in America. In their minds, an average American has white skin, a tall nose, long legs, wide eyes, and a muscular body. So I wondered what could have led them to this image of the average American. Then I realized that the description sounds a lot like some cartoon hero. Maybe the American heroes in television and movies have had a strong impact on creating images of the average American for people in foreign countries. There seems to be a strong sentiment among people of different races that putting characters with a wide range of ethnic diversity in T.V. shows, cartoons, or movies just to be politically correct is meaningless. There seems currently to be a strong resentment against being politically correct, even among minorities. While I agree that putting characters of different races into T.V. shows or movies may sometimes be unnatural, I don't at all agree that it is meaningless. Think of all the American movie, cartoon or television heroes that you know. You would probably think of Superman, Batman, Indiana Jones, James Bond, G.I.Joe, Rocky, Rambo, X-men, Luke Skywalker, Shaft or Zorro. How many non-white heroes did you come up with? Probably fewer than the number you got for white heroes. This may seem natural considering that the majority of people in the U.S. are white, but there are clearly a larger proportion of white heroic characters in television and movies than in the real American population. In the 1990 census, there were 248,709,873 whites (80.2%) 29,986,060 blacks (12.1%) 22,354,059 Hispanics (9.0%) and 7,273,662 Asian/Pacific Islanders. (2.9%) This means that for every 6.6 white people there is a black person. Comparing this proportion of white to black American heroes in television or movies, there seems to be a large discrepancy between the world of reality and the world of imagination. There are many more white heroes than the simple d emographic proportion suggests. Then it becomes my suspicion that white people have much more influence on creating these heroes than people of any other race.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Macbeth and the Witches Essay example -- essays research papers

Macbeth: The Witches’ Responsibility for Macbeth’s Actions The three witches that are introduced at the beginning of the play are responsible for the introduction of the ideas that caused Duncan’s death and Macbeth’s destruction but not for Macbeth’s actions themselves. They recount to Macbeth three prophecies; that Macbeth will be: 1) Thane of Cawdor, 2) Thane of Glamis, and 3) King. Macbeth welcomes the ideas spawned from the witches’ prophecies, which is what triggered the spiral of events in this story. Macbeth eventually followed through with killing King Duncan. It was sometimes thought that the witches had the ability to reverse the natural order of things. This brings to the play the idea of fate and the role it has in the play. One can wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he heard the witches’ prophecies. However, it is more realistic to believe that Macbeth was responsible for his own actions throughout the play and in the end it was he that made the final decisions. T he witches could predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, but they cannot control his destiny. Macbeth creates his own misery when he is driven by the guilt of his actions. This causes him to become insecure about his actions, which causes him to commit more murders. The witches offer great enticement, but in the end, it is each individual’s decision to fall for the temptation, or to be strong enough to resist their appeal. The three witches are...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Psychology: Human Development :: Psychological Social Science Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The field of psychology may have grown to be respected as a science. Objectivity and the scientific method are both part of the psychologist's mode of operation. However, even the greatest of psychologists can only theorize about what makes human beings act the way they do. Absolutes are not part of psychology . Everything is relative and open to speculation. Theorists give us their views or ideas about life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the field of psychology, there have been many different areas of interest. Human development is one of the most popular areas of interest for those who study psychology. Freud, Erikson and Piaget are all great theorists with different ideas concerning human development. Each theorist developed ideas and stages for human development. Their theories on human development had human beings passing through different stages. Each theory differed on what these stages were. These theories also differed with their respect towards paradigmatic assumptions, learning and development, and relationship towards educational practice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud is known as the father of psychology. Although some of his work has been dismissed, most of it still holds weight in the world of psychology. Freud believed that human development was fueled by inner forces. He believed the most powerful of all inner forces was our sexual being. Freud linked everything with sex. This includes any bodily pleasure whatsoever. Thus, when Freud discusses the sexual needs of children, they are not the same kind of sexual needs that an adult would experience. Children experienced sexual gratification in different ways. Sucking their thumbs or retaining their excrement could be seen as sexual gratification for small children. Freud also specified certain areas of our body as erogenous zones. Those areas included the mouth and genitals. This all fit in to Freud's obsession with sex. An obsession that could be linked to the era that Freud lived in. It was a very conservative period in history. Sexual feelings were often repressed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud's theory on human development could be labeled the psychosexual stages of development. Freud believed human beings passed through different stages in their life based on which part of their body gave them sexual gratification. Freud's psychosexual stages of development are five in total.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Oral stage takes place from birth to about one year. During this stage, a child is orally oriented. The mouth is the child's erogenous zone. Everything a child touches is put in his mouth. Freud believes children do this because it gives them pleasure. When a child sucks his thumb, it does so because it gives it gives him gratification. According to Freud, the gratification is sexual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second stage in Freud's psychosexual development theory takes place

“Is College Worth the Money?” by Daniel S. Cheever, Jr. Essay

In this day and age, the cost of a college education is more than most middle-class families’ yearly salary. In today’s job market, a lack of having a college education makes it difficult to land an entry level position. The discussion of college cost comes and goes but is a major question in the minds of parents and potential college applicants around the nation. In Daniel S. Cheever, Jr’s article, â€Å"Is College Worth the Money†, Cheever urges people to look at other factors when judging the value of a college education rather than its cost. To begin with, Cheever brings home the point that college tuition is rising at an exponential rate. Over the last 20 years, undergrad tuition at Havard has risen over twenty thousand dollars, outpacing the consumer price index. Cheever makes a valid point, by only focusing on one institution, is this indicative of all colleges across the board? By attending Harvard University, one could argue that one is paying for the prestige of the school rather than the quality of the education. Cheever also points out; parents are willing to take out $100,000 to pay for a highly educated graduate that, by the end of a working, career will make one million dollars more than someone who didn’t get a higher education. Taking cost out of the equation, what does that investment yield for the student? The final statement that Cheever makes, â€Å"Parents and students will demand a proven and verifiable outcome that measures the outcome on their investment† is a bleak conclusion. It is no t indicative of the students that go for a good time and not the quality of their education. Cheever makes bold claims throughout his essay that he seems to fail to back up. Though Cheever lacks depth in his essay, he makes many agreeable statements as to what we should consider in valuing a college education.We should look deeper into what a college brings to the table, more than just the prestige it has acquired. Having a after-grad services would definitely play a factor in how we judge a schools value. During the schooling years though, being able to become an economically productive and community minded citizen will aide anyone who attends, even if they decide to leave town, or even the state, after graduation. Cheever brings great ideas to the table, even if  just briefly touching each subject, he still makes the question, â€Å"Is College worth the money?† a tough one to answer. With all these great tips, asking is college worth the money is still a difficult decision. Ultimately, it falls to the students and parents seeking higher education to make the decision. Everyone is different, different upbringings, different theologies and requirements about what a school should do for them. If answering a generic question, â€Å"Is College worth the money?† is as easy as Cheever makes it out to be, why hasn’t the discussion stopped? There may never be a direct answer, but it has some basic guidelines based on Cheever’s essay. If you need any more information though, you’re better off calling each school you’re interested in and asking the same questions and seeing which school is the best for you. Reference Cheever Jr., Cheever S. â€Å"Is College Worth the Money?.† The Blair Reader. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Pearson, Prentice-Hall, 2014. 113-115. Print.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Authorship of the book of Ruth Essay

The book of Ruth has been historically claimed to be written by the prophet Samuel. It dates back to the 1011 and 931 B. C. It was a message of the love of God directly to the Israelites. With the main theme of sacrifice, it was essential for them at that time to hear such words of love. In the heathen land of Moab, located North of the Dead Sea, Ruth is resides for a period of time and them moves further into the town of Bethlehem, during the era of the judges which occurred directly after the Pentateuch books which are the first five biblical books. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and Elimelech, who were an Israelite couple with two sons. Mahlon and Chilion were their names and both married Ruth and Orpah. Sadly, all three men in the family died, firstly Elimelech and then later on his two sons, leaving three widowed women. The actual period is not actually stated. However, most scholars have attributed its authorship to the pre-exilic era; the period after the enslaved Israelites were freed and permitted to return back to their homeland of Israel. As a historical book of the Bible and an excellent piece of literature, it has challenged the conception of the era and the norms of the periods as recording the attitudes and conducts between people. It demonstrated tremendous practicality and dealt with serious relational issues and we can learn a lot from it today. Its authorship is unknown. It clearly begins by alluding to the period of the judges and it is perceived by some to have been written around that time. The prophet Samuel has been given the credit for its authorship by many scholars. In recent times however, there have been speculations as to the real author of this book. It has been recognised as having been written by a female author. According to an ancient Beraithato the Talmudic treatise it stated that the prophet Samuel did write the book of Ruth. As it is does not provide strong evidence concerning the authorship, several authors in recent times have refuted the prophet Samuel as the actual author of this phenomenal book. Does it really matter whether it was written by a male or female author? This has been a question in the minds of many because in its entirety, the content of the book is very positive and has a lot of moral, social and legal coverage, which has provided a lot of insight into the way the Israelites interacted amongst themselves as well as among foreign nations, like the Moabites. In this essay, various perspectives of scholars will be addressed and references to the actual text will also be made to support and refute arguments which have been put forth by various intellectual minds. In a recent book entitled the Widow’s plea, a group of authors cited a number of key points about the book of Ruth. Central to their arguments were factors that provided an insight to the gender identity of the author. Firstly, they referred to a deliberate attempt by the author to strengthen the plight of widowed women in this book, by the avoidance of dealing with the Leveriate marriage, a popular custom that existed during that period. Lawson Younger in made inference to this point by referring to the book ‘Three Shekels’ by H Shanks: The inscription is puzzling. According to the law of levirate marriage, a man must marry his brother’s widow if his brother died childless (see Deuteronomy 25:5–6). Why wasn’t the husband’s brother, who had already received the wheat ? eld in Nacamah, required to do his duty by marrying his brother’s widow? Alas, the ostracon does not tell us(p 32) The laws relating to marriage and redemption were strongly intertwined and since it was not completely applicable in this case because Ruth did not marry her direct next of kin, these scholars have speculated that it might have been authored by a female. Furthermore, H Avolos backed this argument by purporting the deliberate exclusion in this case. (Avolos 616) In an attempt to further prove this point Young referred to various Hebrew texts and phrases used to give a better view point. For instance, the use of the words ‘Amah’ and ‘siphah were used at different times, suggestive of various points regarding the nocturnal influence of Ruth in Chapter 3:9. This is what he noted: Amah seems to be used to emphasize a slave’s feminine qualities (need for protect weakness, sexual attractiveness, etc. ), while siphah seems to be used when the female is viewed as a possession and a laborer. 41 Both terms can be used as self-designations. When it is used this way, amah appears to suggest a female petitioner’s weakness and need for help or protection when presenting a request before a more powerful male, never before another female. When siphah is used as a self-designation of obeisance, it seems to signify the woman’s subservience and readiness to serve or obey instructions. (p127) With the usage of the term amah, despite the fact that she was a labourer or indirectly in servitude, she was still able to realize her feminity even in hardship. It was suggestive of her need for protection and dependency on the one who is stronger than herself, especially when requesting a favour from an influential male figure. This point alludes to the kind of writing by a male author, realizing the need of the woman for protection and a bulwark. The usage of the term siphah suggested the readiness of the woman to adhere to instructions from the male and obey and to do is bidding. In both cases, there is a strong suggestion of a male authorship based on this viewpoint. Further Hebrew terms used indicate more usage of feminine forms of verbs. For instance, the word hyrja, meaning ‘them’ was used to refer to bodies of individuals. Its frequent usage indicated that the author made reference to a wide range of people who were female. Perhaps this could have been suggestive of a male author appreciating the role of the women or in actual fact, a woman who sought to enhance the role of the female in that era? The Feminist Companion of the Bible addressed several points that alluded to an obvious female authorship. (pg 34) It was argued that this book presented various points which gave credence to the importance of women in the Holy Bible. For instance, several women were identified who played excellent roles in biblical event, including Deborah, Dorcas, Esther and Miriam just to mention a few. It was also admitted that there were also major indications to the book of Ruth being authored by a male because of its superscription, just as the case was in other books like the book of Ecclesiastes. An interesting point to note was that there was a chance that although it may not have been written by a woman, the male author certainly had a profound respect for women and valued their contribution to the society. Interestingly, this book under the ‘Unconventional Life Partnership, Women Do Go Unconventional Ways’ heading also referred to the instruction by Naomi to Ruth, to use her natural female charm to win the heart of Boaz. (Athalya 29). This could very well have been a masculine viewpoint, in the sense that Naomi did recognize that Ruth needed a man in her life and hence was giving her advise on how to make Boaz notice her. During that period, it was generally expected that the women realized that they were being prepared for marriage at some stage and it would have been the role of an experienced woman like Naomi to share this with Ruth. This is a very feminine disposition which could have been expressed by the author. In the second chapter of the book of Ruth, she was portrayed as a hardworking lady who went to ‘glean with the reapers’. In Hebrew, the word ‘reapers’ refers to masculinity. Hence, irrespective of this fact, she was able to go and work with the men, gathering enough food supply for herself and for Naomi. As a matter of fact, it was emphasized that she worked through to the period of harvest. By so doing, she was able to gather more than sufficient rations to tend to the needs of a whole family. This was a progressive woman who knew that it was essential that she managed the home front successfully. In other words, she was a traditional homemaker – the major role of the woman. A female author would not have put this point any better. In his comparative study of the book of Ruth, Younger suggested that to a large extent, it seemed that a woman’s economic well-being was directly related to her link with some male. (p 129) From a feminine perspective it could be argued that this exhibited self-reliance and independence of the woman. On the contrary, there is also the aspect of the masculinity portrayed. The head of the reaper, when approached by Boaz who had not yet met Ruth at the time to ask about who she was, the reaper made excuses on her behalf, as she was a foreigner ( a Moabite girl) who did not the customs and modest requirements of the women of Israel. This impled that she was gleaning with the wrong set of people, in other words, the men. Hence, when Boaz eventually spoke to her, he advised her to glean with the girls or young ladies (Chapter 2:8). This was indicative of the male dominance and belief in the distinct and separate roles of the woman and the man. The geneological account in Chapter Four included women in it and this has made people suggest its female authorship. It was uncommon to have women included in the genelogical chronology. Especially in this instant, this geneology led all the way down to David, from whom the expected lineage of the Messiah was from. The character of Boaz was one of a generous and extremely loving individual. He saw the needs of Ruth and Naomi and took the necessary steps to ensure their happiness. By so doing, he tremendously brought a lot of benefits to himself. Eventually, he got married to Ruth. His numerous character traits are worthy of further study. Ruth was described as a virtuous woman. From the beginning of the book, she displayed loyalty and love, even to its end. When Naomi was bereaved of three members of her family including her husband and sons, Ruth did not seek out her own gain but decided to remain with Naomi, always. It took superhuman power to make such a profound statement in Chapter 1:16, entreating Naomi to let her (Ruth) remain with her. There was nothing that Naomi had to offer her. Both her sons were now dead, including the husband of Ruth. As was pointed out by Naomi, she had nothing to offer Ruth. Notwithstanding, Ruth made a selfless commitment to stand by Ruth, through times of sorrow and happiness. Naomi was a wise lady whose experience was of great benefit to Boaz and Ruth. In essence, she took the practical steps to facilitate their union. In all three characters, excellent themes of relational interactions have been displayed. Humility, sacrificial love, generousity and empathy just to mention a few, are required in everyday dealings with people. Regardless of the authorship, these character traits spread across boundaries and are pertinent in dealing with practical real-life matters. Especially today, these attitudes are still required and go along way in boosting human interactions. Works Cited Brenner, A. The feminist companion to the Bible (Second Series) Sheffield Academic Press Avalos, H. Legal and Social Institutions, 616 Malick, D. An Argument of the Book of Ruth from < http://www. bible. org/page. php? page_id=952> Shanks, H. (1997). Three Shekels pg 32. Younger, K. L. (1998). Two Comparative Notes on the Book of Ruth. Trinity International University

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Definition of Curriculum Paper Essay

In describing the definition of curriculum there are several definitions. It can be describe as a formal education, a planned interaction of pupils with structural content materials, the curriculum as resources and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives and outcomes. Some Educators definition of curriculum is based on individual philosophical beliefs and the emphasis placed on specific aspects of education. The processes and experiences to facilitate learning for traditional and adult learners, resources used and the extent of responsibility for learning assumed by the teacher and the learner (Billings & Halstead, 2009). There are various types of curriculum such as, official operational, illegitimate and hidden curriculum. An official curriculum includes the stated curriculum framework with philosophy and mission with lists of outcomes, competencies and objectives. The illegitimate curriculum is know and actively taught by faculty yet not evaluated because descriptors of the behaviors are lacking, such as caring. The hidden curriculum consists of values and beliefs taught through verbal and nonverbal communication by the faculty. Faculty may be unaware of what is taught through expressions, priorities, and interactions with students (Billings & Halstead, 2009). Curriculum Focus My curriculum focus would be technical education curriculum geared towards knowledge and skill building to prepare for employability. The vocational and technical areas are great beginnings for those students with limited financial resources and primary educational training. The technical curriculum empowers students and encourages to be successful contributors for their communities. The need for technical trained personnel is  increasing and technical trained personnel are employed sooner than those graduating from college. There is an increasing need for colleges and technical training institutes to update their curriculum so that it reflects the growth in technology (Howell, 2005, para. 1). References Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2009). Curriculum Development. In Teaching in Nursing: A Guide For Faculty (4th ed., pp. 75-83). Howell, R. (2005). Designing and Developing Technical Curriculum: Finding the Right Subject Matter Expert. Retrieved , from

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Different types of play Essay

The activity called playing is a form of enjoyment that provides pleasure, excitement and competition. A person playing more often than not is enjoying himself and having fun. Games are the factors of playing that creates the whole essence of the word. Studying two â€Å"types† of games can help provide more understanding regarding this subject matter. The Traditional Games that have been active from different nations during the course of time, and the technology-based Video games, particularly in China and Europe are the two main aspects of this paper. II. TRADITIONAL GAMES Traditional games are the games that nations have produced due to people’s love for enjoyment and leisure. These are the games that were inspired by the times and have been kept alive through the passing of the knowledge of the game from generation to generation. A. TRADITIONAL GAMES IN ASIAN COUNTRIES Traditional games very much vary due to the differences of cultures and nationalities. Taking a look at examples of two different Asian countries can help assist compare and contrast traditional games. Two nationalities that have interesting traditional games are China and the Philippines. 1. ) China Due to China’s rich history, it has produced so many different traditional games throughout the years of the civilization’s existence. Here are some of the games (The Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, 2007). â€Å"Chinese Yo-Yo or Pull-Bell† The bamboo â€Å"empty bell† is represented in Records of Scenes at the Capital from the Ming dynasty (1386-1644 A. D. ): The two ends are circular saucer shapes. In the center is a horizontal bit of wood. Mount it on a string and twirl with a vibrating motion. It emits a humming sound. This was a game played by girls and boys during the springtime, when the willow leaves turns green. It became specifically famous in the North. A poem was even made about it. â€Å"Kites† Different folk tales about the beginning of the kite do exist. A Sung Dynasty statement makes their initial appearance in the Warring States era. But Lin K’un of the Yuan dynasty perceived that the kite was created in the Han dynasty to faze the opponents by the eerie sounds of connected whistles. History displays that the kite was also utilized to call for help. In Taiwan, kite flying is incorporated with the season of autumn. Cut bamboo, which is strong and light, is the conventional material for creating the frame of the kite. â€Å"Jump Rope† The jump rope dates back 1,500 years to say the least in China. It was named â€Å"jumping one hundred threads† due to the rope’s appearance displaying like a hundred different ropes as it circled in the air. During the Spring Festival in the South, this was the time that â€Å"jump rope† was most famous. It can be created with the utilization of different materials such as cotton and grass, straw and cotton combinations with wax coating. Group and single jumping are both popular in China as well as in the Wes. â€Å"The Shuttlecock (Chien-tsu)† The Shuttlecock developed out of an ancient military exercise It was famous during the time of the Han and T’ang dynasties. Subsequent to the Sung dynasty, the game was named Chien-tsu, the Chinese term for â€Å"arrow† which sounds just exactly like the word for â€Å"shuttlecock†. Consisting of a small, weighted round base with tassels or feathers at a single end, the Shuttlecock is usually kicked with the heel, the toe, instep and outer side of the foot, and the same with the knee. This game was most appropriate for cold weather because this energetic exercise warmed the body. The Tawainese government during the year 1975 included this game in physical education programs of their elementary schools, and it somehow brought back the popularity of the game. 2. ) Philippines The Philippines, despite having a diverse history due to different colonial periods, has produced such enjoyable and challenging traditional games. Most of these games were usually played during town â€Å"fiestas† (feasts) while some are just the usual pastime of Filipino children. The following are samples of Filipino traditional games (Filipino Games, 2008). â€Å"Agawang sulok† Agawang sulok – catch and own a corner – The â€Å"it† or tagger stands in the center of the ground. The participants in the corners will try to exchange places by running from one base to another. The â€Å"it† must persevere to protect a base or corner by running to any of the corners when it’s left vacant. â€Å"Araw-lilim† Araw-lilim – sun and shade – The tagger or it attempts to touch or tag any of the participants who directly in contact with the sunlight. A player saves himself or herself from being tagged by simply staying within the shade. The tagged player will in turn become the next game’s tagger. If there are five or more players participating, two or three taggers can be allowed as the taggers at the same time. â€Å"Bulong-pari† Bulong-Pari – whisper it to the priest – It is composed of an it and two teams. Team A’s leader goes to the priest and whispers one of the names of Team B’s players. Then he goes back to his place and the priest shouts out, â€Å"Lapit! † (â€Å"Approach! †). One of team B’s players must approach the priest, and if it happens to be the one whom the leader of team A whispered, the priest will then say, â€Å"Boom† or â€Å"Bung! † The participant then falls out of line and stays somewhere close, serving as the priest’s prisoner. â€Å"Luksong-tinik† Luksong-tinik – jump over the thorns – Two players acts as the base of the tinik (thorn) by placing their left or right feet together (soles touching gradually building the tinik). Players shall set a starting point, providing a runway for the participants to attempt a higher jump, so as not to hit the tinik. The other players of the team starts jumping over the tinik, then the other team members follow. â€Å"Langit-lupa† Langit-lupa – heaven and earth – An â€Å"It† chases after participants who are permitted to run on level ground (lupa) and climb over objects (langit). The â€Å"tagger† may tag participants who stay on the ground, but not those who are standing in the â€Å"langit† (heaven). The player who gets tagged then becomes â€Å"It† and the game continues. â€Å"Patintero† Patintero or harangang taga – try to cross my line without letting me to touch or catch you – The group’s members who is it stands on the water lines. The middle perpendicular line allows the â€Å"it† appointed on that line to cross the lines occupied by the â€Å"it† that the parallel line intersects, thus adding up to the opportunities of the runners to be cornered. â€Å"Palosebo† Palo-sebo – greased bamboo pole climbing – The challenge of this game includes a bamboo pole that is greased that players must accomplish to reach the top by climbing. Usually played during town fiestas, more often in the provinces, the game’s objective is that for the participants to attempt to be the first person to reach the prize which is usually a little bag placed at the peak of the bamboo pole. The bag normally has money or toys inside. â€Å"Piko† Piko – hopscotch – The participants stand behind the edge of a box, and each must have to throw their cue ball. The first to play is dictated depending on the agreement of the players (e. g. nearest to the moon, wings or chest). The one who had success in throwing the cue ball closest to the point or place that they have agreed upon will be the first to play. The next closest is second, and so on and so forth. â€Å"Sipa† Sipa – game of kick – The thing being utilized to play the game is also named â€Å"sipa†. It is consisted of a washer with colorful threads, commonly plastic straw, connected to it. The sipa is then thrown above for the participant’s toss utilizing his/her foot. The participant should prevent the sipa to reach the ground by hitting it several times using his/her foot, and sometimes the portion just above the knee. The participant must count the number of times he/she was able to kick the sipa. The player with the most number of kicks shall win the game. â€Å"Sungka† Sungka – The game’s objective is to amass stones or cowrie shells in the participant’s home base (bahay) by ceaselessly distributing the shells around smaller holes until the participant have no more shells to use. The player who gathers the most number of shells in his or her bahay wins the game. â€Å"Ubusan lahi† Ubusan lahi – game of conquer – A player attempts to conquer the members of a group (as in claiming the members of another’s clan). The player tagged from the main group then transforms as an ally of the â€Å"it†. The more players, the better it is. The game shall begin with just a single it and then try to conquer and tag other participants. Just as soon as one player is tagged by the tagger, he or she then will assist the â€Å"it† to tag the other remaining members until no other player is left on the original group. B. TRADITIONAL GAMES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 1. ) England There are also many famous traditional games present in England, one example of it is the game â€Å"Skittles†. â€Å"Skittles† Skittles or Nine Pins has existed in the Inns of England for a long time. Generally, participants take turns to stroke balls of wood down a lane at the end of which are several skittles also made of wood, to try to knock them all over. Across England there are a number of skittle games. Undoubtedly, Skittles has been one of England’s most popular games. Different books have made mention of this game. Seemingly, for numerous centuries up until today, a bunch of the different games of Skittles are still being played. 2. ) Scotland Scottish people are considered as Highlanders, their traditional games are called the Highland games which they held throughout the year. This is their way of celebrating Celtic culture and Scottish heritage. The common facets of the games almost are epitomes of Scotland. They use the bagpipes, the kilt and the heavy events. Held in Dunoon, Scotland every August, the Cowal Highland Gathering, (better known as the Cowal Games), is the biggest Highland games in Scotland, appealing to around 3,500 competitors and somewhere in the region of 15-20,000 of international crowd (Grondin, 2006). III. VIDEOGAMES A video game is a game that regards interaction with a user interface to create visual feedback on a video device. The term video in video game usually referred to a raster display device. But with the famous use of the term â€Å"video game†, it now connotes any type of display device (Newman, 2004). The electronic systems utilized to play video games are named as platforms; sample of these are video game consoles and personal computers. These platforms range broadly, showing from big computers to little handheld devices. Video games that are specialized such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use as home video game consoles have grown to fame and notoriety (Garrat, 2004). Moreover, Video games have changed the landscape of playing games, or the more common term of today, gaming. Almost being a more comfortable way of playing, Video games provide a person with the chance of enjoying himself at home. The genre of Video games has evolved throughout the years. Starting off with the Atari System and evolving to the Nintendo Wii and XBOX 360s of today, Video games have changed and made an impact to the youth of today’s generation (Silberman, 2007). It can be said that Video games have transformed a lot on people, almost affecting their way of life and their perception of play. A. VIDEOGAMES IN ASIAN COUNTRIES A lot of countries in Asia have many addicted people with regards to Video games. The following two countries can be considered as one of the top countries in Asia who have a large following for Video games. 1. ) Korea In South Korea, most people are linked to Video games due to the influences of their history. A sense of integration and correlation with regards to what people need to accomplish in Video games somehow make Koreans feel more attached to the game. Online games are the most popular among Korean citizens and most of them seem to like playing as an organized group different from Americans who loves to play in a solo way. Coordination and cooperation among Korean players somehow makes them much different from other nations (Crego, 2003; Lachlan, 2003). They consider their country as a game nation who accepts different styles of games, especially online ones. The passion for Video games has made Koreans stand out as one of the most addicted nations in terms of Video games. 2. ) China Another interesting country to look at regarding video games would definitely be China. A country with a magnanimous population combined with the huge territory, China has been also expanding in terms of technology development and economic growth. The popularity of Video Games is really high, but it has not yet reached its full potential due to the low Internet penetration within the country. Improvement of this matter can help China be more acquainted with Video games. China has a large market and it draws attention of corporations that create games due to that reason. China is different from Korea in terms of Video Games due to their different favorites. It is predicted that if in the future, 10% of Chinese people would be playing online games, it would showcase that there will be more people playing games online in China than the whole population of any single country in Europe (Lachlan, 2003). B. VIDEOGAMES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Video games in Europe are not as popular compared to Asian countries. The drive for online games is just not as fierce unlike in China or Korea. In Europe, Video Games are not as big as compared to China or Korea. Video games in Europe does not become a sensation to the whole of the population. IV. COMPARISON & CONTRAST There is a huge difference with regards to the Traditional games compared to Video games. The Traditional Games somehow creates an image of a more cultural approach while Video games showcase a more technological approach (Smith, 2007). Another major difference regarding the two is that Video Games need power or energy and online games need Internet to provide full satisfaction. Without electricity, Video games won’t even exist. Traditional games tend to become more substantially formed for exercise as compared to the usual Video games, with exception to the Nintendo Wii (Hanson, 1999; Lachlan, 2003). There is a huge difference with regards to different nations’ perceptions about Video games, and it may be influenced by the country’s moral characteristics or traditional aspects. The difference with regards to Asian countries to European countries is that Asian countries freely accept the Video games and allows it to become a huge phenomenon in their respective countries, unlike in Europe. V. CONCLUSION All in all, it can be concluded that there are huge differences regarding Video games and Traditional games. For one, the physicality factor differs a lot. In traditional games, physical exercise is more utilized than in Video games. The latter promotes some sort of laziness while the former encourages fitness and health. It may not be disregarded that both are fun to play and that’s the reason why they both exist in the world today (Smith, 2007). But Video games have displayed both positive and negative sides. The positive side is that it helps educate people towards the advancement of technology. It promotes modernity and futuristic possibilities. These Video games even take the players to different sights and sounds. Only a Video game could provide varying places of fantasy, past, future and other surrealistic worlds or universe. Video games expand man’s creative thinking. But despite all of these positive factors that Video games can create, there are also the negative implications that go along with it. Violence has been a concern with regards to Video games. Due to the freedom of ideas and the creative side of gaming companies, there are huge risks of exposing the youth to violence with the use of these Video games. Many killings are attributed to Video game addictions. The effect of Video games to a person’s mind can be magnanimous. Today, there are so many different violent games that somehow scare many nations. This seems to be a wrong path for children who love to play Video games. The influence of Video games to children can be surmountable and be hard to analyze. The school killings in the United States somehow showcase the suspects as attributed to love for video games with violent content. Overall, Video games are not bad, they just need to be utilized and maximized for the good because they can even influence the youth for education. Video games used as academic tools are a big help for educators and students alike. Tradition and modernization must coincide for a better future. The traditional games should not be regarded as a threat to children’s development. Instead it should serve as the basis for people’s concept of play and parents must ensure proper guidance and child-rearing. The video games should be inspired by these traditional games that have lasted for centuries and has proven that they are fun that’s why they last. Hopefully this lasting impression could still be present in the next generations to come. Traditional games and Video games may sound different but they both posses the access to fun and enjoyment in terms of playing and they can help improve people’s socialization, fine motor and psychomotor, intellectual, leadership, time management, problem solving, decision making, and planning skills. REFERENCES Crego, R. (2003). Sports and Games of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press. Lachlan, K. (2003). Popular Video Games: Quantifying the Presentation of Violence and Its Context. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47, 58. Newman, J. (2004). Videogames. London: Routledge. Silberman, L. (2007). 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