Death Camp

It all began when a group of old friends decided they wanted to go camping for the weekend. All they wanted was to have a laugh, get drunk and have good last memories of their time together before they went to university in different parts of the country. Camping seemed like a perfect way to say goodbye, or so they thought. Sitting around a warm campfire, toasting marshmellows and sharing memories, they would remember the good times and leave on a good note, the troubles of the past forgotten. Jack and Mike decided to organise a weekend in the New Forest and collected a i30 contribution from their friends to pay for food, drink, fuel and the hire of a minibus. So it was that, one crisp morning in late August, the group of friends met at The Three Compasses in Luton and set off, talking and laughing, for their perfect weekend away. The journey took a few hours due to the volume of traffic on the roads and by the time they reached base camp they were hot, tired and irritable. Determined not to let the weekend get off to a bad start, Jack suggested that they set up camp in the woods then go their separate ways before the barbeque later in the evening. Jack led the group from the carpark to a clearing about half a mile into the dense trees and they began to set up the large ten-man tents. After agreeing to meet back at seven, they split into twos and threes and went off to explore the forest. Everyone was back by half past and got a fire going, crackling merrily as they toasted marshmellows. As the drink was brought out the talking and laughing grew louder and more raucous until most were either asleep or dancing outrageously to Mike's CD collection. The fire flickered, its embers glowing and cinders scattering about the clearing. The deep shadows between the trees were broken by its golden light and different hues of yellow danced across the canvas tents. A wonderful aroma of sweet pinewood burning filled the clearing, mingling with the pungent perfume of wild grasses and flowers. The stars overhead were glittering like diamonds in the velvety night sky. Jack was dancing near to the fire but he was one of the last ones, everyone else had gone into the tents to sleep off the vodka and beer. As his friends decided that they too were ready for bed, Jack went to put out the fire with a bottle of water. In his disorientated state he accidentally picked up a half-drunk bottle of vodka and threw its contents onto the fire. There was a roar and the flames sprang up, licking the night air like a predator hungry for prey. Tongues of flame caught low-hanging branches and they were swallowed up, the pine resin spitting and jumping. Jerked out of his drunkeness, Jack ran to the tents and shouted for everyone to get out and follow him. The ones who listened ran outside, dragging their semi-conscious friends with them. Crashing through the dense undergrowth they headed in the direction of the minibus and clambered aboard. Mike, who had stayed sober enough to drive, sprang into the drivers seat and they sped off down the road. At a nearby laybay they stopped and called the fire brigade from a phonebox. It was only then that they realised several of their friends behind at the mercy of the raging flames. The forest was alight, the trees catching like dry tinder and pillars of orange flame rocketing into the night sky, the pines burning like torches. The people left behind ran drunkenly away from the flames but the fire was spreading at an incredible rate, springing from tree to tree like rampaging tigers. Smoke filled the forest and they choked as they ran, stumbling and falling. Overcome by tiredness and lack of oxygen, they sank down in a clearing by a road, hoping the fire could be stopped before it was too late†¦

Chinese Culture Essay

The climate and temperature of China varies throughout the area of the country. Most of the country lies in the temperate belt, but the southern most part lies in the subtropical belt while the northern part is in the sub arctic belt. There is usually a lot of rain in the summer, and very little in the winter. China has the largest agricultural output in the world, while only cultivating 15% of its total area. Rice is China’s most harvested crop, while wheat is second. China also produces potatoes, other vegetables, and some fruits. By the end of 2000, China had 633 different cities, while 13 of them had a population of two million or more. The three biggest Chinese cities are Shanghai, Beijing, and Chongqing, in that order. Hong Kong is inside China, but isn’t considered part of the country. Confucianism used to be the main religion in China and help shape its history. However, Buddhism has the most followers and biggest influence in China than any other religion, now. Some other major religions throughout China are Taoism, Islam, and Christianity. Most people in China, now, play sports just like us such as ping pong, soccer, and badminton. These types of sports are fairly new to China, while different types of martial arts have been around much longer than team sports. China is a communist state. This means that everything is ruled and owned by the government. There is no private ownership, and all goods are shared by the people, who are all equal. Chinese education is required and free for ages 6 – 15, and can be continued longer if the person wants to and can afford it. Most of the jobs throughout China are related to agricultural businesses, or they do cheap labor for companies all around the world. The employment rules in China are much more relaxed than the U. S. so big corporation usually have Chinese factories make their goods for much cheaper. Stir fry is the most common cooking technique throughout China. It requires a small amount of oil in a heated pan, and the ingredients of the mea, usually vegetables and meat, are put into the pan and cooked until ready. The most used cooking tool is the wok. It is pretty much like a pan with rounded edges for stir frying. Chopsticks are by far the most used eating tools of the Chinese people, just like our forks and spoons. Chinese meals almost always have rice or noodles. The is usually vegetables in the meals, which could be many different types, such as broccoli, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, cabbage or eggplants. The meat is usually chicken, pork, or fish. Chinese meals are eaten pretty much at the same time as out meals. Breakfast is in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and dinner is at night. There are much unusual eating etiquettes that must be followed in China. One is that your tea can never be empty. The host will always be refilling their guests’ cups, and the guests must tap their cup on the table as a showing of thankfulness. Another eating etiquette is that, when out with a group of people, you must order an even number or plates, even if there is an odd number of people, because odd numbers symbolize death. Bibliography Climate – http://www. chinatraveldepot. com/C149-China-Climate Major Cities – http://www. china. org. cn/english/feature/38093. htm Recreation – http://www. ajpanda. com/Articles. asp? ID=227 Types of Jobs – http://factsanddetails. com/china. php? itemid=366&catid Ingredients and equipment – http://www. china-family-adventure. com/chinese-food-ingredients. html Bourbon Chicken recipe – http://www. food.com/recipeprint. do? rid=45809 Chinese fried rice – http://www. grouprecipes. com/25313/chinese-fried-rice. html/print Chinese Almond Cookies – http://chinesefood. about. com/od/dessertcookies/r/almondcookies. htm Chinese Almond Cookies Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients: †¢ 2 cups flour †¢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder †¢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda †¢ 1/8 teaspoon salt †¢ 1/2 cup butter †¢ 1/2 cup shortening †¢ 3/4 cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tablespoons, if desired) †¢ 1 egg †¢ 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract †¢ 30 whole, blanched almonds (one for each cookie). †¢ 1 egg, lightly beaten Preparation: 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162. 5 degrees Celsius). 2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter or margarine, shortening, and sugar. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. Note: The dough will be crumbly at this point, but don’t worry – that is what it’s supposed to be like. 3. Use your fingers to form the mixture into a dough, and then form the dough into 2 rolls or logs that are 10 to 12 inches long. Wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours (this will make it easier to shape the dough into circles). 4. Take a log and lightly score the dough at 3/4 inch intervals so that you have 15 pieces and cut the dough. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 1/2 inches apart. Place an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough. 5. Brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg before baking. Bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

Looking for Richard Review

A freezing winter morning it was, the breeze beating against my chest makes me wonder†¦ Wait, how did I get here? I thought I was reading Pacino’s Looking for Richard Review? That’s exactly what you’re doing, and this pleasant surprise is about all the insight I can give you about the fantasy sto†¦ I mean ‘docudrama type thing’. Yes ‘Docudrama type thing’ as described personally by the narrator Al Pacino. The opening scene with the cold winter background, leave less grounds and the grey skies that was alluded to above, is a direct connection to the opening soliloquy exerted by Richard in Shakespeare’s Richard III, â€Å"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York†¦ â€Å". In the same scene Pacino also juxtaposes modern buildings with classic castles, and Shakespearean literature (The Tempest), with the wintery background, successfully achieving to render a connection between Shakespeare and Looking for Richard. Witt? Yes, Pacino? Yes, Fail? Maybe so, Success? I don’t know. The same confusion is attained by the seemingly unorthodox construction of the scenes. The postmodern structure, in exclusion of the chronological storyline, is brilliant in its construction, linking scenes from the Richard III film by association to video footage outside the story. Intertextualising makes the story of Richard III much more accessible to its audiences who are now in cinema’s and not in theatres. This juxtaposition is brilliantly achieved in one scene, where Al Pacino’s flat cap is transformed to a crown as the scene translates from Al Pacino in America to Richard in England making a direct correlation with Richard III play. Intertextualising, is also used as to propagate a message, such as at the occurrence of King Edwards death, where scenes of Edwards death dramatised by orchestral music, the weeping of Elizabeth and her deeply dispirited face, is juxtaposed with a group of people chatting over tea. This blot of humor is a means of revealing a message to the audience. In this case that is: ‘no one really cares about Edwards death’, this story is about RICHARD! In contrast within the Globe theatre in Shakespeare England, this lamenting is expressed in lexicon. This is the case, due to the fact that rear occupants of the Globe Theatre, wouldn’t be able to hear nor make much meaning of vocal outburst (crying), but if expressed in words, they can. Although somewhat confusing, the engaging effect that the swift transfer from practice, to costume, to street, to passionate discussions between actors and experts, where by the way, we are invited, just ask the camera angles†¦ is a complement to Pacino’s directorial abilities, this of coarse being his first go. Pacino’s main concern in this docudrama really is the correct representation of Shakespearean drama that would satisfy the ‘re-incarnated’ Shakespeare god. This aspect of the docudrama is embedded right at the beginning, as Pacino opens the curtains to the stage, only to be faced by an audience of one (Shakespeare), but the voice of this one man outweighs the voice of any audience of men. Pacino seems to be stating that it’s more about loyalty to Shakespeare more than entertainment for the audience, although both play a significant role. You think that you are communicating but the other person hasn't understood a word you said† â€Å"You think that you are communicating but the other person hasn't understood a word you said† On the other hand, there is also the underlining purposes of making Shakespeare accessible to the masses and prove that Americans can in fact preform Shakespeare. With wit, Pacino fuses these two purposes on the streets of New York. The audience swung from a statement of a man who claims to have been reading Shakespeare for 6 months yet having attained nothing! Arrives at a woman who questions Pacino saying, ‘Are you going to make a film about Shakespeare in that American accent? ’ In this clever way, Pacino wittingly captures and frames, and gift-wraps the underlining agenda’s of the documentary, and then hands it to you. But blinking could mean the difference of receiving the gift or not. But then again, the rewind button can repeat the process these days†¦. what a shame. In Shakespeare England of coarse this wasn’t a possibility. Shakespeare engulfed in his ‘world of words’, asserted the literal device of dramatic irony enabled by the use of soliloquies to instill certain meanings. With modern technological capabilities Pacino is not enforced into a corner of limited opportunities. This is witnessed by audiences in the portrayal of ‘the wooing of Anne’. Pacino, unwilling to dull the modern audience with constant soliloquies has himself out of character acting as a psychopath, informing the audience of his actual motifs of attaining Anne, while at the same time wooing her. Barbara Everette very fittingly to this scene defined irony as ‘hypocrisy with style’. In this scene also, close ups are extensively applied to reveal intimacy which is complemented by the whispering the takes place. Demonstrating the differences in English today and that of the 16th century, an actor comments,’ Today ‘people say, â€Å"Hey you, go over there, get that thing, and bring it back to me†, but Shakespeare would say, â€Å"Be mercury, set feathers to thy heels, and fly like thought from them to me again. † But Pacino by visiting The Globe Theatre, and interviewing specialist in English literature expresses his desire to pinpoint the meaning and understand the play in order to apply it wholesomely, to the satisfaction of Shakespeare and the comprehension of modern audiences, which he values more than the literature. It has always been a dream of mine to communicate how I feel about Shakespeare to others. † ‘It has always been a dream of mine to communicate how I feel about Shakespeare to others. † Burdened with the agenda’s that he carries, Pacino is obliged to make constant connections with the context and play of Richard III. Not onl y is this achieved in the opening scene, but throughout the play as Pacino and co, are progressing down the alley’s of New York in the dictatorial fashion perse, Elizabethan harmonies are softly echoed through the scenery. As some will acknowledge, Richards deformity in Richard III, contextually inferred a meaning on inner evil and defilement, allowing the audience to attain the image that Shakespeare paints about the character. In the modern era, this idea seems absurd, and the change in context means that Richard has overwhelmed in black clothing, in order to infer the message that his deformity would have had 5 centuries ago. To reflect, the perspective of Richard III, within the play, Pacino has constructed the film to be in the perspective of Richard. Not only that but Pacino has managed to maintain the sense of admiration and awe the audience attains as Richards schemes succeed within the play. A particular scene conveys this message in great depth. As Richard in his deformed nature walks to the two princes and co. who are on horses, he casts a sympathetic feeling upon the audience. Yet although he is the lower one within the scene contrastingly, he is the one who is manipulating the situation, he’s the one has dominion and power. This dominion of Richard, is reflected also as Richard refers to Clarence as ‘simple and plain’, while in the play he is the complicated, and diverse traitor. Although a short period of time seems, the time associated with making this film, from the Pacino’s constantly changing appearance (short hair combined with a beard in one scene, no facial hair with long, flowing locks in the next), it is worthy to note that, this film took years to piece together. For those, who haven’t read Richard the Third, and are looking to read it, I would advise a thorough analysis of this docudrama be done, as that would foster the knowledge of the context, and text, story line and motifs, of Richard III. Many aspects of Richard III such as’ Richards character and the allure of evil, have been maintained, though it is vital to note that the Christian motivated themes, such as; the value of earthly wealth and the battle within (conscience) have been annihilated in this play. This, I assume, is a result of context of the modern era, and Pacino’s personal persuasions. Among the actors who take part of the play are Alec Baldwin as Clarence, Kevin Spacey as Buckingham, Aidan Quinn as Richmond and Winona Ryder as Lady Anne. Expert Shakespearean actors also are sprinkled all over Looking for Richard, to, with great enthusiasm discuss the proceedings of each scene, and to cast judgment upon the best means of loyal representation. Kenneth Branagh, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, Kevin Kline, and James Earl Jones fill these shoes. Pacino, when developing this film, made it for ‘the dummies and extremists’, for the ignorant and for Shakespeare’s modern day students. From talking heads (experts in English history and literature), to homeless fella’s, from peasants to kings, you’re all invited, come and enjoy, Shakespeare is for all. Really is the statement Pacino puts forth in this film, emulating history in relation to the inclusive dimensions of Shakespeare’s plays, within The Globe Theatre.

The Relationship between MNEs & SMEs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Relationship between MNEs & SMEs - Essay Example Global dominance of the TRIAD and the MNE’s within it will be gone forever. 1. The relationship between MNE’s within the TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies and characterise how TRIAD MNE’s have sustained their dominance within international markets. The relationship between MNE’s within TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies has been particularly based on the intricate dynamics of global trade with the former dominating the business environment while the later simply working towards developing a niche in the vast international market (Royd et al, 2004, 94-96). Therefore, MNE’s have been significant in developing global supply chains and other complex networks in low cost economies which saw the rise of SME’s in those countries. As a result, the connection between MNE’s within TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies is diverse in the sense that the aspect of market competition and economic rivalry has prevailed link ing the two in which MNE’s have been perceived as dominating the market in low cost economies at the expense of local SME’s. ... sing the link between MNE’s and SME’s, it is necessary to focus on the business environment in low cost economies prior to the entry of TRIAD MNE’s and how their activity spurred growth among local SME’S. There is a symbiotic relationship linking TRIAD based MNE’s and SME’s in low cost economics whereby MNE’s are perceived as potential partners on economic growth and expansion of trade linkages and thus welcomed and supported by the local SME’s through supply networks and other business cooperation mechanism(United Nations, Transnational Corporations and Management Division, 1993, 65-71). As a matter of fact, the relationship involving SME’s and MNE’s has been bolstered by governments and other trade agencies in low cost economies who have realized the huge potential of trade linkages involving the two. Therefore, low cost economies have laid several incentives in place for MNE’s to cooperate with SMEâ€℠¢s creating a dynamic liaison that is beneficial to trade. Attracting MNE’s particularly those with manufacturing plants has become the focus of most local economic development agencies that endeavour to promote an enabling environment for the respective MNE’s due to the many benefits associated with MNE activities in local businesses. Apart from the creation of job opportunities in low cost economies, MNE’s have been identified and credible agents in the development of strategic clusters in low cost economies that could spur economic development. More particular has been the fact that MNE’s can augment the development of SME’s in low cost economies through purchasing inputs and material components thus creating niche for local businesses. The connection involving MNE’s of TRIAD and SME’s of low cost economies are primarily based on

Refer to assignment criteria Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Refer to assignment criteria - Case Study Example It was not until the 1940s that English law tolerated the possibility of corporations committing all types of offences. For these, a much more limited doctrine was developed. Known variously as 'direct', 'identification' or 'alter ego' liability, it sought to overcome the objection that an unnatural person such as a company was incapable of forming an intention or being reckless. It opened up the possibility of corporations being liable for the whole range of mainstream offences, including fraud and manslaughter. The notion of identification was brought into play under which the wrongdoing of certain senior officers - natural persons - in the corporation was identified with the corporation itself - the unnatural person. Their acts and accompanying guilty minds, on this version of liability, were those of the company - they acted as the company and sometimes on behalf of the company. Thus, as a juristic person, a corporation itself was capable of committing almost any criminal offence , so long as a director or equivalent had authorized it. It is not necessary actually to prosecute a director or officer in order to find the company itself liable. It should be sufficient that there is evidence against the director or officer. ... However, in practice such an action is rarely brought. Of more practical significance is the potential for growth in the use of what are known as directors' liability clauses, which are common in regulatory legislation and are increasingly demanded to satisfy European harmonization. Such legislation often has provided specifically that where the offence is committed by a corporate body with the consent, involvement of, or is attributable to the neglect of any director, secretary or similar officer, they as well as the corporation shall be guilty and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Prosecutions under these provisions were likely to increase and finally after suffering through an era of financial cutbacks in the early 1980's, many regulatory agencies learned lessons. As a matter of public policy, law does not allow insuring against Criminal penalties. The Companies Acts do, however, permit companies to cover the costs of civil claims and the costs of a successful defence of a criminal action. (Celia Wells) Changing Legal Attitudes The confusion of the English law resulted in changing legal attitudes to corporate criminal behaviour. As English law takes two different routes to find corporation guilty of an offence. For regulatory offences, the vicarious principle has always been used while for mainstream offences; the much more restrictive identification doctrine was invoked. Under this, only when directors of senior officers were, or should have been aware, of safety shortcuts will liability be possible. It was not until the House of Lords' decision in Tesco v Nattrass in 19711 that serious consideration was

Plagiarism Among the Students Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Plagiarism Among the Students - Term Paper Example The essay "Plagiarism Among the Students" talks about the ways to reduce the chances of the submission of the plagiarized works by so that the students would use their own understanding, observation, and creativity to complete the task. Most of the students, while submitting their assignment, deliberately use plagiarized materials, so that they do not have to work the entire semester on their own. Plagiarism is when students quote material without their references and claiming their borrowed ideas as original one. Writing an essay and claiming it yours, truly demands originality. Students mostly use online websites and electronic media tools for their project and research assignments. Apart from intentional plagiarism, when students try to submit their papers more profoundly, they often mix their ideas with that of other various sources unintentionally getting involved in plagiarism. Students should acknowledge the originators’ reference and should keep in mind the ethical concerns. Using other person’s thinking and creative piece of writing is a very crucial ethical concern, whether it is taken from the internet or any other source. Particularly in the case of the internet, this problem is greater because it is easy to download the material as needed, edit and submit it. Information on the internet can be updated and modified without prior notice or that particular site, used by the student, might cease to exist later in the period, so students should deploy those sources in their assignments carefully and wisely.

CIPD Course-Employee Relations - UK based system Essay

CIPD Course-Employee Relations - UK based system - Essay Example It is important that the organizational policies relating to aspects such as recruitment, selection, training, advancement, and disciplinary action, be in line with the relevant legislation such as the Equality Act 2010, the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Economic factors such as inflation, unemployment, economic growth and taxation affect employment relationship (Aswathappa, 2005). When the economy experiences growth, there are better prospects for business and employment. As a result, employers are eager to attract qualified and skilled employees by offering them attractive remuneration and benefits (Aswathappa, 2005). On the other hand, during a recession, organizations consider redundancies and layoffs more frequently in order to reduce their costs and remain competitive. This may also result in downward revision of employees’ pay packages. Social factors such as unemployment, immigration and changing societal trends also affect the employment relationship (CIPD, 2013). High levels of unemployment result in low wages offered and few benefits, if any, as the unemployed have no other alternative. Rising immigration levels result in low-skilled jobs being taken by foreign workers, who can be paid lower wages than British workers. Trends such as dual-income households and even single-parent households mean that employers have to accommodate concern for the personal obligations of employees in the workplace. Worker, employee, and self-employed are three different types of employment status in the UK. According to the legal definition, an employee is an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment. A worker is defined as â€Å"an individual who works under (a) a contract of employment or (b) any other contract whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform

International Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Business - Research Paper Example The first branch was opened at Miami. Burger King adopted a tradition of quick service which attracted many Burger King made a business strategy with clear goals and objectives that saw it expand rapidly and made more profits than initially following the reduction in the overall sales and profits of the business. They wanted to have a new look, and virtually changed how everything was being run. The plan included strategic analysis of the business environment, identification of the business threats and the opportunities available in the market, extensive advertisements, quality control checkup and good customer relations including introduction of arrange of new food products in the market with even better tastes (Penrose, 1995). Burger King has a number of fast food products that in cooperated different prices. This made more sales to be realized as the customers could find what they were willing to pay for. In addition to this, Burger King prepares its hamburgers with a different me thod from other competitors by introducing the method of flame broiling a part from the usual frying method. This availability of different ways of food preparation captures customers of both methods (Kor, 2003). This popularized Burger King among the lovers of hamburgers leading to a popular theme of you can get it the way you want it. Today, Burger King is one of the leading food restaurants in the whole world. It boasts of around 12,000 outlets in fifty states in the United States of America. A number of these restaurants are located in the USA and is reported to account for nearly two thirds of the restaurants. Its presence is also felt in over 74 countries in the world, bringing to a total of approximately 400,000 employees all over the world. In addition to this, Burger King has a strategy to expand its total operating branches all over the world by between 3-4 percent every year. More profit from the Burger King businesses’ are realized from Canada and US, indicating w here sales are done as compared to the other outlets. For instance, the total value of units sold in the year 2009 from Canada and US was USD 2.54 billion. This trend of Burger King concentrating most of the restaurant branches in the US should change in order to avoid unpredicted threats. For example, if the US laws on taxation change so that business entities are over tax or the purchasing power parity of the US may become low leading to low customer demand which may see prices of food products falling below the equilibrium. Currently there are property rights in the USA but the future is uncertain for any country in the world. Change in politics may also play another factor that may lead to losses when a business concentrates its branches in one country. In addition a strong competitor may emerge in the US backed by powerful sources that can see Burger King run out of their money in the US. Therefore it can be recommended for Burger Kings to look beyond the US market by opening m ore branches in other countries like China, India, Japan other fast coming economies that has seen their economy grow faster than for the US. Burger King continues being successful perhaps in relation to their long time existence in the market characterized by a number of experiences gained in the last fifty years being brought over board. Burger King is a well known brand by millions of consumers to be an entity that always provide exceptional services to its customers besides quality

Management high performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management high performance - Essay Example In autocratic leadership, the leaders possess total authority over their team (Rao, 2010). Other members of the team are incapacitated to air their views, even when such opinions may benefit the organizations. Most employees discredit this leadership form. As such, it leads to low work force turnover. However, it may be suitable in situations requiring quick decision-making processes. Autocratic leaders tend to be more formal than informal and more centralized. Democratic/participative leadership model incorporates other team members in their decision-making process; thought the final decision-making process is mandated to the leader (Rao, 2010). This capacitates the employees to make time-to-time suggestions to their leaders for various improvements. Such leaders tend to be more informal than formal and more decentralized. In the article, ‘Is Autocratic Leadership Relevant today?’ Rao critically examines Autocratic leadership over other leadership forms and its suitability in today’s environment (Rao, 2010). Rao argues that though this form of leadership is practical in fields such as the military, it may be impractical to incorporate it in today’s business environment, where employees call for incorporation in various decision-making processes and act as core partners, since they play a key role in the goal achievement of an organization. Additionally, Rao argues that in case a firm experiences challenges, the leader takes the sole responsibility. Rao also perceives Autocratic leadership to be marred with dissatisfied customers, and the recurrence of absenteeism within an organization (Walker, 2011). Autocratic leadership also creates a weak workforce, owing to the continued fear of the leader’s directives. Wrong decisions may lead to unprecedented losses, since employees only follow such directives without questioning (Daft, 2014). Choi’s article attempts to put forward the key differences of

Tragic or Comedy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tragic or Comedy - Essay Example It can be affected by factors such as attitudes, beliefs, religion, family tradition and custom as well as the environment. Comedy on the other hand also has the same factors, but the difference is, the story is told in a â€Å"lighter† sense. Even if there are sad scenes still, the â€Å"lightness† of the plot and its mood is stronger and apparent. The second one of looking at the novel is through the reader’s point of view. Overall reader’s perception of the story will somehow determine whether a novel is a tragedy or a comedy, without knowledge of technical writing styles. A reader’s perception is also dependent on his or her experiences, culture and beliefs. Personal views on novel cannot be entirely labeled as something that is incorrect because, to read is like taking a journey. However way you take the journey is up to you and wherever the story leads you is something that is personal in nature; except of course, if one is completely mislead because of lack of understanding of the terms used and confusion of the events in the story. Life stories all have its ups and downs, happiness and sadness and whether one believes it or not tragedies can also have its â€Å"comedic instances†. Such is brought about by people’s behavior, attitude, age, beliefs and the environment. As I lay Dying is a novel about death in the family and although there are funny scenes in the novel, it has brought me more into the â€Å"serious† side of it. When Vardaman said that his mother is a fish, this seems funny, especially when spoken by a child, but the words have deeper meaning. Yes, we could laugh at it for awhile but something slowly sinks into us - a sad feeling. We pity the child for saying it because it can be perceived as a denial on the child’s part. Losing a mother is indeed very difficult especially for young children, and this is how Vardaman coped up with the

Shell Oil Company and the Technology Management Issues That It Faces Research Proposal

Shell Oil Company and the Technology Management Issues That It Faces - Research Proposal Example This report stresses that Shell uses a wide variety of technologies to deliver hydrocarbon fuels that are essential for all types of transport systems on which humanity has come to depend upon so heavily. The unquenchable thirst for hydrocarbon fuels has today forced oil firms to produce in deep oceans, but it makes sense to try to develop radically new systems, especially for transport. After all, hydrocarbon fuels are responsible for climate change and environmental degradation that cannot be sustained. Thus, radical new ideas are needed for new transport systems. However, the array of technology on which Shell depends is so vast that it is impossible for this company to assist in developing everything. Immediate benefits are possible from technology improvements in areas that are of interest to Shell production and operation, but being an energy company with a transport focus Shell is likely to benefit from anything that can reshape energy systems for transport. This paper makes a conclusion that Shell can continue to identify and develop the best and most promising, but it should also try to invest in the long-term future of humankind. Energy, the environment and climate are the long-term future because with the best of the previously mentioned, it will be difficult to continue to have a secure future. Multinationals must now try to look beyond the immediate future and their short-term profits. Attempts have to be made to try to develop solutions for the long term and efforts cannot remain confined to government or the public sector only.

Foreign Exchange Service of Bank Asia Limited Essay Example for Free

Foreign Exchange Service of Bank Asia Limited Essay 1. Introduction The banking sector in Bangladesh comprises of four categories of scheduled banks. These are, nationalized commercial banks (NCBs), government owned development finance institutions (DFIs), private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs). Performance of these banking sectors under CAMEL framework, which involves analysis, and evaluation of the five crucial dimensions of banking operations, the five indicators used in the rating system are (I) Capital adequacy (ii) Asset quality (iii) Management soundness (iv) Earnings and (v) Liquidity. In addition, foreign Exchange Service is one of the major considering factors regarding these indicators. The bank acts as a media for the system of foreign exchange policy. The principles of foreign exchange service involve the entire system, the media used, and the monetary unit. According to Mr. H.E. EVITT Foreign Exchange is that section of economic science which deals with the means and methods by which right to wealth in one countrys currency is converted into rights to wealth in terms of another countrys currency. So bank should be aware about this section for the overall development of the economy. 2. Background of the study An internship program’s necessity is originated for implementing the theoretical knowledge in particle field. Therefore, internship program is included in BBA program. The goal of this report is to identify the contribution and the effect of foreign exchange service in Bank’s net profit. 1.3 Rational Of the Study The rational of the study is to know more about the course in practical life. This study also helped me to know the banking system. From this study I learned about the different functions in the bank like offering online banking, pay order, foreign remittance, foreign trade, investment etc. I also learned how the banks perform these functions, what problems they face, and their benefit in offering different services to their clients. Then I was assigned in foreign trade department, so I have learned about L/C Files, register and over all L/C mechanism. In this section, how they provide their services to the clients I have also learned about it. As a student of Finance, it is very important for me to acquire proper knowledge in this course to get better result in the future. 1.4 Objectives of the Study 1) The prime objective of the study is to understand various functions of Banks. I tried to evaluate the present condition of the banks. 2) To know about various products services of this bank, and to know about the banking terms as well as habituate with banking environment. 3) To know how they find out the risk of the foreign trade. 4) To know how they identify these types of risk and minimize them. 1.5 Methodology of the study For preparing the report, I followed the following steps: âž ¢ Primary Information: First, I collected data about the Foreign – Exchange Service in Bank Asia ltd. MCB Dikusha Branch by tenting to personnel working in the bank. âž ¢ Secondary Information: Then in the second stage, I analyzed the collected data, working in Foreign Trade Department. Again, †¢ Personal Observation †¢ File Finding †¢ Annual Reports of BAL †¢ Articles of BIOM helped to prepare this report. 1.6 Limitations of the Study Not all the information of a Bank can be disclosed. It is very much essential for a bank to provide security to the customer. So the perfect information might not be shown in all places. The Employees of the Bank are also very busy. Therefore, the employees of the bank do not have enough time to provide me help regarding preparing report. Therefore, it was very hard for me to collect the data and bring out the proper information in order to make report look good. I had to go through many obstacles in order to make it presentable. 1.7 Scope of the Report The scopes of the report are as follows: †¢ The report would help the top management to identify the key areas of weakness and strength in foreign exchange service. †¢ The scope of the study is based on brief description of BAL has been furnished. †¢ The study may help top management in planning and decision making regarding foreign exchange service. CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES OF â€Å"BANK ASIA LIMITED† 2.1 OVER VIEW OF BANK ASIA LIMITED: Bank Asia Limited (Ltd) has been launched by a group of successful entrepreneurs with recognized standing in the society. The paid up capital of the Bank is 1395 million. The management of the Bank consists of a team led by senior bankers with decades of experience in national and international markets. The senior management team is ably supported by a group of professionals many of whom have exposure in the international market. Bank Asia Limited is one of the third generation private commercial banks (PCBs), incorporated in Bangladesh on 28 September 1999 as a public limited company under the Companies Act 1994, and governed by the Banking Companies Act 1991. The Bank went for public issue of its shares on 23 September 2003 and its shares are listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd and Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd. Bank Asia Limited acquired the business of Bank of Nova Scotia (incorporated in Canada), Dhaka, in the year 2001 and at the beginning of the year 2002, the Bank also acquired the Bangladesh operations of Muslim Commercial Bank Limited (MCBL), a bank incorporated in Pakistan, having two branches at Dhaka and Chittagong and one booth at Dhaka. In taking over the Bangladesh operations, all assets and certain specific liabilities of MCBL were taken over by Bank Asia Limited at book values. Within a short span of time Bank Asia Ltd has established itself as one of the fast growing local private banks. It has at present a network of Thirty three branches serving many of the leading corporate houses and is gradually moving towards retail banking. Another significant delivery channel is its own as well as shared ATM Network. Bank Asia has a network of 25 ATMs out of which 6 it owns. The other 19 ATMs are shared through ETN with eleven other banks. Since its humble beginning in 1999, it set milestone by acquiring the business operations of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Dhaka, first in the banking history of Bangladesh. It again repeated the performance by acquiring the Bangladesh operations of Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd. (MCB), a Pakistani bank. In the year 2003 the Bank again came to the limelight with oversubscription of the Initial Public Offering of the shares of the Bank, which was a record (55 times) in our capital market’s history and its shares commands respectable premium. The asset and liability growth has been remarkable. By Dec 2007 the total asset of the Bank grew to Tk 38436 million, increase of almost 26% comparing to 2006. As of Dec 2007 deposits increased to Tk 30004 million, an increase of 19% over that of 2006, and Loans Advances reached Tk 28456 million, an increase of 28% over that of 2006. Bank Asia has been actively participating in the local money market as well as foreign currency market without exposing the Bank to vulnerable positions. The Bank’s investment in Treasury Bills and other securities went up noticeably opening up opportunities for enhancing income in the context of a regime of gradual interest rate decline. Bank Asia Ltd is maintaining its competitiveness by leveraging on its Online Banking Software and modern IT infrastructure. It is the pioneer amongst the local banks in introducing innovative products like SMS banking, and under the ATM Network the Stelar Online Banking software enables direct linking of a client’s account, without the requirement for a separate account. 2.2 VISION STATEMENT OF BANK ASIA LIMITED: Bank Asia’s vision is to have a poverty free Bangladesh in course of a generation in the new millennium, reflecting the national dream. Our vision is to build a society where human dignity and human rights receive the highest consideration along with reduction of poverty. 2.3 MISSION STATEMENT OF BANK ASIA LIMITED: To assist in bringing high quality service to our customers and to participate in the growth and expansion of our national economy. To set high standards of integrity and bring total satisfaction to our clients, shareholders and employees. To become the most sought after bank in the country, rendering technology driven innovative services by our dedicated team of professionals. 2.4 CAPITAL STRUCTURE: Banks generally do their business with other’s fund, so Bank Asia Ltd is not in exception. Bank Asia Ltd uses 24% equity and 75% Debt source of capital. The capital structure is following:

Leadership Behaviour and Tests for Personality Types

Leadership Behaviour and Tests for Personality Types INTRODUCTION Business was created by people for themselves to sell goods and services to which they need but they cannot produce. From the smallest of business arrangements to largest of them, they are meant to meet the goals and objective of human beings. Organizational behavior examines people’s values, beliefs and values and how they influence the manner in which the business is carried out. Leadership and Organizational Behavior Organizational behavior is the study and the application of the particulars about how people behave when in groups a case scenario of working in an organizations. And how their different values, beliefs and behavior influence the organization’s performance and success. Elements of Organizational Behavior All organizations are driven by its mission, vision and goals for its establishment. Organizations are also led using culture which dictates how things are done in the office premises, how the employees relate with each other and code of dressing are part of the stipulations of the culture of the organization. The vision, mission and goal of the organization should be motivational for the employees to improve the company’s performance and success both in the long and short run. Models of Organizational Behavior. Generally, there are four common models that illustrate how organizations are led and run. They are autocratic model, custodial model, supportive model and finally the collegial model. (Cunningham, Eberle, 1990; Davis 1967) Autocratic model, this is the kind of a model that is similar with the dictator method of leadership where the leader is the communicator and the people just follow the leaders instructions without questioning the leader’s authority. The manager in this case rules over the employees and little autonomy or none is allowed for the employees. Performance of the company’s led using this model is generally low since the employees are handled like robots without much say to the running of the organization. The second model is the custodial model; this is whereby the chief manager promises the employees of taking care of their financial needs and the benefits that follow if the take the company to a greater level in terms of performance and Excellency. The employees are remunerated according to the success of the company. The third model is the supportive model. It entails the employees receiving support from the management of the company so as to drive the company to where the vision of the company wants them to be both in terms of goals achievement and customer satisfaction. The fourth and final theory is the collegial theory, which involves a partnership between the employees and the employer with the aim of boosting the company’s performance, through the employee’s innovativeness and creativity by allowing them to do what they perceive is right for the company in their own views. Collegial theory — this is a partnership of the employees to boost performance through autonomous thinking and doing what they perceive is good for the company they are working for. BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TEST. The big five personality test is a set of simple and clear questions whose objectives are to understand individuals personalities and how they act and react when subjected to different situations of decision making and question answering. There are basically five major types of personalities possessed by individuals. They include; neuroticism this re the kind of people that are mainly worried and frighten by unimportant things. The second type of personality is extraversion, this refers to people that are basically social animals. They enjoy outdoors and spending time with other individuals to feel happy and satisfied in life. The third type of personality is agreeableness, this are the individuals that agree to ideas, concepts and suggestions easily, they are usually very gullible and easy to take advantage of. The last type of personality is people that are open to experience. This is optimists that always look at the bright side of every situation. They view life at a good view fo r development and success. For an individual to realize their type of personality, they should run a test that consists of around 30 questions about the self. On things you like, dislike, fear, wish for an the like with the aim of understanding yourself more to identify which kind of personality you possess and how it can be of help to your life’s purpose and goals. The questions are rated to determine the degree and level on the answer. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MYERS-BRIGGS TEST The Myer Briggs theory was devised by the mother and her daughter. Their major goal was to establish the different individual value, attitudes and beliefs. This is the breakthrough to understanding an individual’s strengths and weaknesses of the self for better understanding of the self. Strengths and weaknesses identification is key to unlocking one’s potential in life as one is able to specialize in the line of strengths and take it slow on the weakness side. Overview of the Myers-Briggs Test From the findings of the Myer Briggs theory, it has been established that people basically have 16 types of personality according to (Myer and Briggs, 1997). The test implies that an individual should subject themselves to the test for them to understand their natural strengths and weaknesses so as to concentrate on the areas of endowments in career choice and compatibility with other people. There is no right or wrong personality type or one that that shows superiority or abnormalities. There just show the diversities in the makeup of different individuals. It is basically a test to help people understand themselves better. Thequestionnaire itself is made up of four different scales: There are individuals that fall in the category of extremes of extroverts and introverts. Extroverts are those people that are loud in nature and are social animals. Their happiness and satisfaction lies within the interactions with others. Introverts are the silent people that enjoy their own company compared to that of social interactions. These kind of people find satisfaction in indoors and privacy. We all have that loud side the silent side. But what counts is the preference we choose. There is another group of individuals that are classified by the way they make decisions. The first group is classified according to how they sense things in a situation. The sensors concentrate more to what they can learn from their own thoughts, ideas and senses. The class of people makes decisions based merely on intuitions. They pay more attention to already established concepts, patterns and impressions. They hardly come up with new innovations. They are short on creativity. They enjoy thinking of the future and imagining the possibilities of life. The next classification is for the thinkers and the people whose decisions are based on their feelings. Thinkers tend to pay more attention to existing facts. They are down to earth and in touch with the reality on the ground. They look for sense in situations while their fellow counterpart’s arts that dwell on feelings are into feelings of the heart and emotions. They are mostly more emotionally attached in their decisions than the thinkers.

Analysis of Student Geometric Thinking and Age Differences

Analysis of Student Geometric Thinking and Age Differences Students Geometric Thinking 8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction In the last 20 years, the perception of learning as internalization of knowledge is criticized and problemized in mathematics education society (Lave Wenger, 1991; Sfard, 2000; Forman Ansell, 2001). Lave and Wenger (1991) describe learning as a process of â€Å"increasing participation in communities of practices† (p.49). Sfard (2000) also emphasized the new understanding of learning as â€Å"Today, rather than speaking about â€Å"acquisition of knowledge,† many people prefer to view learning as becoming a participant in a certain discourse† (p.160). This new perspective in the understanding of learning brings different views to mathematics teaching practice. While the structure of mathematics lessons is organized in the sequence of Initiation- Response-Evaluation (IRE) in the traditional mathematics classrooms, with the reform movement, participation of the students become the centre of the mathematics classrooms (O Connor, 1993; Steele, 2001). Initiating topic or problems, starting or enhancing discussions, providing explanations are the role of the teacher in the traditional classrooms but these roles become a part of students responsibilities in the reform mathematics classrooms (Forman, 1996). Turkey also tries to organize their mathematics curriculum according to these reform movements. With the new elementary mathematics curriculum, in addition to developing mathematical concepts, the goal of mathematics education is defined as enhancing students problem solving, communication and reasoning abilities. Doing mathematics is no more defined only as remembering basic mathematical facts and rules and following procedures, it also described as solving problems, discussing the ideas and solution strategies, explaining and defending own views, and relating mathematical concepts with other mathematical concepts and disciplines (MEB, 2006). Parallel to new understanding of learning, reform movements in mathematics education, and new Turkish elementary mathematics curriculum, students roles such as developing alternative solution strategies and sharing and discussing these strategies gain great importance in mathematics education. Mathematics teachers are advised to create classroom discourse in which students will be encouraged to use different approaches for solving problems and to justify their thinking. This means that some researches and new mathematics curriculum give so much importance to encourage students to develop alternative problem solving strategies and share them with others. (MEB, 2006; Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, Levi Empson, 1999; Reid, 1995). One of the aims of the new mathematics curriculum is that the students stated their mathematical thinking and their implications during the mathematical problem solving process (MEB, 2006). According to new curriculum, the students should have opportunity to solve the problems using different strategies and to explain their thinking related to problem solving to their friends and teacher. Moreover, the students should state their own mathematical thinking and implications during the problem solving process and they should develop problem solving strategies in mathematics classrooms (MEB, 2006). Fraivillig, Murphy and Fuson (1999) reported that creating this kind of classrooms requires that teacher has knowledge about students mathematical thinking. One of the most important studies related to childrens mathematical thinking is Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). The aim of this study is to help the teachers organize and expand their understanding of childrens thinking and to explore how to use this knowledge to make instructional decisions such as choice of problems, questions to ask children to acquire their understanding. The study was conducted from kindergarten through 3rd grade students. At the beginning of the study, researchers tried to explore students problem solving strategies related to content domains addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The findings from this investigation is that students solve the problems by using direct modeling strategies, counting strategies derived facts strategy and invented algorithms. In order to share their findings with teachers, they conducted workshops. With these workshops, the teachers realized that the students are able to solve the problems using a variety of stra tegies. After this realization, they started to listen to their students mathematical explanations, tried to elicit those strategies by asking questions, tried to understand childrens thinking and encouraged the use of multiple strategies to solve the problems in their classrooms (Franke, Kazemi, 2001, Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). At the end of the study, the students whose teachers encourage them to solve the questions with different strategies and spend more time for discussing these solutions showed higher performance (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, Levi, Jacobs, Empson, 1996). Similar finding is also observed the study of Hiebert and Wearne (1993). They concluded that when the students solve few problems, spend more time for each problem and explain their alternative solution strategies, they get higher performance. As indicated the new curriculum in Turkey (MEB,2006), the teacher should create a classroom in which students develop different problem solving strategies, share these with their classmates and their teacher and set a high value on different problem solving strategies during the problem solving process. Encouraging the students to solve the problems is important since while they are solving the problems, they have a chance to overview their own understanding and they take notice of their lack of understandings or misunderstandings (Chi Bassock, 1989, as cited in Webb, Nemer Ing, 2006). Moreover, Forman and Ansell (2001) stated that if the students develop their own problem solving strategies, their self confidence will be increase and they ca n build their mathematical informal knowledge. Not only mathematical thinking, but also geometrical thinking has very crucial role for developing mathematical thinking since National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in USA (2000) stated that â€Å"geometry offers an aspect of mathematical thinking that is different from, but connected to, the world of numbers† (p.97). While students are engaging in shapes, structures and transformations, they understand geometry and also mathematics since these concepts also help them improve their number skills. There are some studies which dealt with childrens thinking but a few of them examine childrens geometrical thinking especially two dimensional and three dimensional geometry. One of the most important studies related to geometrical thinking is van Hiele Theory. The theory categorizes childrens geometrical thinking in a hierarchical structure and there are five hierarchical levels (van Hiele, 1986). According to these levels, initially students recognize the shapes as a whole (Level 0), then they discover the properties of figures and recognize the relationship between the figures and their properties (level 1 and 2). Lastly the students differentiate axioms, definitions and theorems and they prove the theorems (level 3 and 4) (Fuys, Geddes, Tischler, 1988). Besides, there are some other studies which examined geometrical thinking in different point of view. For example, the study of Ng (1998) is related to students understanding in area and volume at grade 4 and 5. But, Battista and Clements (1996) and Ben-Chaim (1985) investigated students geometric thinking by describing students solution strategies and errors in 3-D cube arrays at grades 3, 4 and 5. On the other hand, Chang (1992) carried out a study to understand spatial and geometric reasoning abilities of college students. Besides of these studies, Seà §il (2000), Olkun (2001), Olkun, Toluk (2004), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003) and Okur (2006) have been conducted studies in Turkey. Generally, the studies are about students geometric problem solving strategies (Seà §il, 2000), the reason of failure in geometry and ways of solution (Okur, 2006), the misconceptions and missing understandings of the students related to the subject angles at grade 6 and 7 (Ãâ€"zbellek, 2003). In addition to t hese, studies has been done to investigate the difficulties of students related to calculating the volume of solids which are formed by the unit cubes (Olkun, 2001), number and geometry concepts and the effects of using materials on students geometric thinking (Olkun Toluk, 2004). When the studies are examined which has been done in Turkey, the number of studies related to spatial ability is limited. Spatial ability is described as â€Å"the ability to perceive the essential relationships among the elements of a given visual situation and the ability to mentally manipulate one or two elements and is logically related to learning geometry† (as cited in Moses, 1977, p.18). Some researchers claimed that it has an important role for mathematics education since spatial skills contribute an important way to the learning of mathematics (Fennema Sherman, 1978; Smith, 1964) and Anderson (2000) claimed that mathematical thinking or mathematical ability is strongly related with spatial ability. On the other hand, Moses (1977) and Battista (1990) found that geometric problem solving and achievement are positively correlated with spatial ability. So, developing students spatial ability will have benefit to improve students geometrical and also mathematical thinking and it may foster students interest in mathematics. Problem Statement Since spatial ability and geometric thinking are basis of mathematics achievement, then one of the problems for researchers may be to investigate students geometric thinking (NCTM, 2000; Anderson, 2000; Fennema Sherman, 1978; Smith, 1964). For this reason, generally this study will focus on students geometrical thinking. Particularly, it deals with how students think in three-dimensional and two-dimensional geometry, their solution strategies in order to solve three-dimensional and two-dimensional geometry problems, the difficulties which they confront with while they are solving them and the misconceptions related to geometry. Also, whether or not the students use their mathematics knowledge or daily life experiences while solving geometry questions are the main questions for this study. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study is to assess and describe students geometric thinking. Particularly, its purpose is to explain how the students approach to three-dimensional geometry, how they solve the questions related to three-dimensional geometry, what kind of solution strategies they develop, and what kind of difficulties they are confronted with when they are solving three-dimensional geometry problems. Also, the other purpose is to analyze how students associate their mathematics knowledge and daily life experience with geometry. The study attempt to answer the following questions: How do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade elementary students solve the questions related to three-dimensional geometry problems? What kind of solution strategies do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students develop in order to solve three-dimensional geometry problems? What kind of difficulties do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students face with while they are solving three-dimensional geometry problems? How do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students associate their mathematics knowledge and daily life experience with geometry problems? Rationale Most of the countries have changed their educational program in order to make learning be more meaningful (NCTM, 2000; MEB, 2006). The development of Turkish curriculum from 2003 to up till now can be assessed the part of the international educational reform. Particularly, the aim of the changes in elementary mathematics education is to make the students give meaning to learning by concretizing in their mind and to make the learning be more meaningful (MEB, 2006). In order to make learning more meaningful, knowing how the students think is critically important. For this reason, this study will investigate students mathematical thinking especially geometrical thinking since geometry provides opportunity to encourage students mathematical thinking (NCTM,2006). The result of the international exams such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and national exams Secondary School Entrance Exam â€Å"Ortaà ¶Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸retim KurumlarÄ ± Ãâ€"ÄÅ ¸renci Seà §me SÄ ±navÄ ± (OKS)† show that the success of Turkish students in mathematics and especially in geometry is too low. Ministry of National Education in Turkey stated that although international average is 487 at TIMSS-1999, Turkish students mathematics average is 429. Moreover, they are 31st country among 38 countries. When the sub topics are analyzed, geometry has least average (EARGED, 2003). The similar result can be seen the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). According to result of PISA-2003, Turkish students are 28th county among 40 countries and Turkish students mathematics average is 423 but the international average is 489. When geometry average is co nsidered, it is not different from the result of TIMSS-1999 since international geometry average is 486 but the average of Turkey is 417 ((EARGED, 2005). As it can be realized from result of both TIMSS-1999 and PISA-2003, Turkish students average is significantly lower than the international average. Since in order to get higher mathematical performance, being aware of childrens mathematical thinking has crucial role (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, Levi, Jacobs, Empson, 1996). For this reason, knowing students geometric thinking, their solution strategies and their difficulties related to geometry problems will help to explore some of the reasons of Turkish students low geometry performance in international assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and in national assessment, Secondary School Entrance Exam â€Å"Ortaà ¶Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸retim KurumlarÄ ± Ãâ€"ÄÅ ¸renci Seà §me SÄ ±navÄ ± (OKS).† As a result, when geometry and being aware of students problems solving strategies and their difficulties when they are solving geometry problems has important roles on mathematics achievement are taken into consideration, studies related to geometry and students geometric thinking are needed. Besides, Turkish students performance in international assessments is considered; it is not difficult to realize that there should be more studies related to geometry. For these reasons, the study will assist in Turkish education literature. Significance of the Study Teachers knowledge about childrens mathematical thinking effect their instructional method. They teach the subjects in the way of childrens thinking and they encourage students to think over the problems and to develop solution strategies. With such instructional method, classes are more successful (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). Geometry is one of the sub topic of mathematics (MEB,2006) and it has crucial role in representing and solving problems in other sub topics of mathematics. Besides, geometry has important contribution to develop childrens mathematical thinking. On the other hand, in order to understand geometry, spatial ability is useful tool (NCTM, 2000). Battista et al.(1998), Fennema and Tartre (1985) and Moses (1977) emphasized that there is a relationship between spatial ability and achievement in geometry. Moreover, mathematical thinking and mathematical ability is positively correlated with spatial thinking (Anderson 2000). Since geometry, spatial ability and mathematical thinking are positively correlated, being successful in geometry will get higher mathematics achievement. To increase geometry achievement, the teachers should know students geometric thinking. Particularly, how students solve problems, what kind of strategies they develop, and what kind of difficulties they face with while t hey are solving the problems are important concepts in order to get idea about students thinking (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). With this study, the teachers will be informed how children think while they are solving geometry problems especially three-dimensional geometry problems, what kind of strategies they develop to solve them, what kind of difficulties they face with related to geometry problems. Furthermore, university instructors will benefit from this study to have knowledge about childrens geometric thinking and this knowledge may be valuable for them. Since they may inform pre-service teachers about childrens thinking and the importance of knowing childrens thinking while making instructional decisions. As a result, knowing students geometric thinking will benefit to increase their geometry achievement and also mathematical achievement, and consequently, this will help to raise the Turkish students success of the international exams CHAPTER 2 Literature Review Geometry can be considered as the part of mathematics and it provides opportunities to encourage students mathematical thinking. Also, geometry offers students an aspect of mathematical thinking since when students engage in geometry, they become familiar with shape, location and transformation, and they also understand other mathematics topics (NCTM, 2000). Therefore, understanding of students geometrical thinking, their geometry problem solving strategies and their difficulties in geometry become the base for their mathematical thinking. Also, since geometry is â€Å"a science of space as well as logical structure†, to understand students geometrical thinking requires knowledge of spatial ability and cognitive ability (NCTM, 1989, p.48). This chapter deals with some of the literature in four areas related to the problem of this study. The first section of this chapter is related to the van Hiele theory since van Hiele theory explains the level of childrens geometrical thinking (van Hiele, 1986). The second section of this chapter deals with the research studies related to students mathematical and geometrical thinking. The third section is devoted to research studies related to spatial ability. And the last section of this chapter reviews the research related to relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement. Section 1: The van Hiele Theory The van Hiele theory is related to childrens thinking especially their geometrical thinking since the theory categorizes childrens geometrical thinking in a hierarchical structure (van Hiele, 1986). According to theory of Pierre and Diana van Hiele, students learn the geometry subjects through levels of thought and they stated that the van Hiele Theory provided instructional direction to the learning and teaching of geometry. The van Hiele model has five hierarchical sequences. Van Hiele stated that each level has its own language because in each level, the connection of the terms, definitions, logic and symbol are different. The first level is visual level (level 0) (van Hiele, 1986). In this level, children recognize the figures according to their appearance. They might distinguish one figure to another but they do not consider the geometric properties of the figures. For instance, they do not consider the rectangle as a type of a parallelogram. The second level is descriptive leve l (level 1). In this level, students recognize the shapes by their properties. For instance, a student might think of a square which has four equal sides, four equal angles and equal diagonals. But they can not make relationships between these properties. For example, they can not grasp that equal diagonal can be deduced from equal sides and equal angles. The third level is theoretical level (level 3). The students can recognize the relationship between the figures and the properties. They discover properties of various shapes. For instance, some of the properties of the square satisfy the definition of the rectangle and they conclude that every square is a rectangle. The fourth level is formal logic level (level 4). The students realize the differences between axioms, definitions and theorems. Also, they prove the theorems and make relationships between the theorems. The fifth level is rigor level (level 4). In this level, students establish the theorems in different postulation sy stems (Fuys, Geddes, Tischler, 1988). As a result, the levels give information about students geometric thinking to the researchers and mathematics teachers. Mathematics teachers may guess whether the geometry problem will be solved by students or not and at which grade they will solve them. Section 2: Children thinking The van Hiele theory explains the students thinking level in geometry. The levels are important but how students think is as important as their thinking level. To ascertain how students think related to mathematics and especially geometry, a number of studies have been conducted (Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, 1996; Chang, 1992; Battista, Clements, 1995; Ãâ€"zbellek, 2003; Olkun, 2005; Ng, 1998; Okur, 2006). Some of these studies are related to mathematical thinking and some of them geometrical thinking. Carpenter et al. (1999) and Olkun (2005) studied childrens mathematical thinking and Chang (1992), Battista and Clements (1995), Ben-Chaim (1985), Olkun (2001), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003), Okur (2006) and Ng, (1998) carried out research studies related to childrens geometrical thinking. An important study related to mathematical thinking has been conduct by Carpenter, Fennema and Franke initiated over 15 years ago in USA and the name of this study is Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) which is described as the teacher development program. Cognitively Guided Instruction sought to bring together research on the development of childrens mathematical thinking and research on teaching (Franke, Kazemi, 2001). Carpenter, Fennema and Franke (1996) stated that Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) focuses on childrens understanding of specific mathematical concepts which provide a basis for teachers to develop their knowledge more broadly. The Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) Professional Development Program engages teachers in learning about the development of childrens mathematical thinking within particular content domains. (Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, Levi, Empson, 1999). These content domains include investigation of childrens thinking at different problem situat ions that characterize addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). In order to understand how the children categorize the problems, Carpenter et al. (1992) conducted a study. According to this study, Fennema, Carpenter, and Franke (1996) portrayed how basic concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division develop in children and how they can construct concepts of place value and multidigit computational procedures based on their intuitive mathematical knowledge. At the end of this study, with the help of childrens actions and relations in the problem, for addition and subtraction, four basic classes of problems can be identified: Join Separate, Part-Part-Whole, and Compare and Carpenter et all. (1999) reported that according to these problem types, children develop different strategies to solve them. The similar study has been carried out by Olkun et al (2005) in Turkey. The purpose of these two studies is the same but the s ubjects and the grade level are different. Olkun et al (2005) studied with the students from kindergarten to 5th grade but the students who participated in Carpenters study is from kindergarten through 3rd grade (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). Furthermore, CGI is related to concepts addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but the content of the study done in Turkey is addition, multiplication, number and geometrical concepts (Olkun et al, 2005). Although the grade level and the subjects were different, for the same subjects, addition and multiplication, the solution strategies of the students in Olkuns study are almost the same as the students in CGI. But the students in the study of Carpenter used wider variety of strategies than the students in Turkey even if they are smaller than the students who participated in Olkuns study. This means that grade level or age is not important for developing problem solving strategies. On the other hand, there are some studies related to childrens geometrical thinking which are interested in different side of geometrical thinking. Ng (1998) had conducted a study related to students understanding in area and volume. There were seven participants at grade 4 and 5. For the study, she interviewed with all participants one by one and she presented her dialogues with students while they are solving the questions. She reported that students who participated in the study voluntarily have different understanding level for the concepts of area, and volume. She explained that when students pass from one level to another, 4th grade to 5th grade, their thinking becomes more integrated. With regard to its methodology and its geometry questions, it is valuable for my study. On the contrary to Ng, Chang (1992) chose his participants at different levels of thinking in three-dimensional geometry. These levels were determined by the Spatial Geometry test. According to this study, students at lower levels of thinking use more manipulative and less definitions and theorems to solve the problems than high level of thinking. On the other hand, the levels of two-dimensional geometry identified by the van Hiele theory. The results were the same as the three-dimensional geometry. In this case, Chang (1992) stated that the students at the lower levels of thinking request more apparatus and less definitions and theorems to solve the problems. Moreover, for both cases, the students at the higher levels of thinking want manipulative at the later times in the problem-solving process than the students at the lower level of students. The result of this study indicated that using manipulative require higher level of thinking. By providing necessary manipulative, I hope th e students use higher level of thinking and solve the problems with different strategy. Besides of these studies, Ben-Chaim et all. (1985) carried out the study to investigate errors in the three-dimensional geometry. They reported four types of errors on the problem related to determining the volume of the three-dimensional objects which are composed of the cubes. Particularly, they categorize these errors two major types which students made. These major types of errors defined as â€Å"dealing with two dimensional rather than three and not counting hidden cubes† (Ben-Chaim, 1985). The similar study was conducted by Olkun (2001). The aim of this study is to explain students difficulties which they faced with calculating the volume of the solids. He concluded that while students were finding the volume of the rectangular solids with the help of the unit cubes, most of the students were forced open to find the number of the unit cubes in the rectangular solids. Also, the students found the big prism complicated and they were forced open to give life to the organiz ation of the prism which was formed by the unit cubes based on the column, line and layers in their mind, i.e. they got stuck on to imagine the prism readily. (Olkun, 2001). The categorization of students difficulties will be base for me to analyze difficulties related to geometry problems of the students who are participant of my study. Besides of these studies, Battista and Clements (1996) conducted a study to understand students solution strategies and errors in the three-dimensional problems. The study of Battista and Clements (1996) was different from the study of Ben-Chaim (1985) and Olkun (2001) in some respect such as Battista and Clements categorized problem solving strategies but Ben-Chaim and Olkun defined students difficulties while reaching correct answer. Categorization of the students problem solving strategies in the study of Battista and Clements (1996) is like the following: â€Å"Category A: The students conceptualized the set of cubes as a 3-D rectangular array organized into layers. Category B: The students conceptualized the set of cubes as space filling, attempting to count all cubes in the interior and exterior. Category C: The students conceptualized the set of cubes in terms of its faces; he or she counted all or a subset of the visible faces of cubes. Category D: The students explicitly used the formula L x W x H, but with no indication that he or she understood the formula in terms of layers. Category E: Other. This category includes strategies such as multiplying the number of squares on one face times the number on other face.† (Battista Clements ,1996). At another study of Battista and Clements (1998), their categorization was nearly the same but their names were different than the study which has done in 1996. In this study, they categorized the strategies as seeing buildings as unstructured sets of cubes, seeing buildings as unstructured sets of cubes, seeing buildings as space filling, seeing buildings in terms of layer and use of formula. Battista and Clements (1996, 1998) concluded that spatial structuring is basic concept to understand students strategies for calculating the volume of the objects which are formed by the cubes. Students should establish the units, establish relationships between units and comprehend the relationship as a subset of the objects. Actually, these studies are important for my study since they gave some ideas about different solutions for solving these problems. Also, different categorization of students geometry problems strategies will help me about how I can categorize students strategies. Also, In addition to these studies, Seà §il (2000), Olkun (2001), Olkun, Toluk (2004), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003) and Okur (2006) have been conducted studies in Turkey. Seà §il (2000) has investigated students problem solving strategies in geometry and Okur (2006) have studied the reason of failure in geometry and ways of solution. In the study of Ãâ€"zbellek, the misconceptions and missing understandings of the students related to the subject angles at grade 6 and 7. Also, studies has been done to investigate the difficulties of students related to calculating the volume of solids which are formed by the unit cubes (Olkun, 2001) and the effects of using materials on students geometric thinking (Olkun Toluk, 2004). As a result, in order to understand children thinking, several studies has been conducted. Some of them were related to children mathematical thinking and some of them were interested in childrens geometrical thinking. These studies dealt with childrens thinking in different aspects and so their findings are not related to each other. But the common idea is that spatial ability and geometrical thinking are correlated positively. Since spatial reasoning is intellectual operation to construct an organization or form for objects and it has important role to for constructing students geometric knowledge (Battista, 1998). Section 3: Spatial Ability The USA National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000)explained that the spatial ability is useful tool to interpret, understand and appreciate our geometric world and it is logically related to mathematics (FennemaTartre, 1985). On the other hand, McGee (1979) describes spatial ability as â€Å"the ability to mentally manipulate, rotate, twist or invert a pictorially presented stimulus object†. Since spatial ability is important for childrens geometric thinking, the development of it has been investigated by several studies. First and foremost study has been carried by Pia

Impact of Isolation in Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays

Impact of Isolation in Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman is the story of a man, Willy Loman, gone deaf to the outside world. Though many try to help him, he shuts them out and creates his own reality in which he is successful and loved by everyone. In Death of a Salesman, Willy has many influences both good and bad attempting to direct his life; it is his refusal to choose the helpful advice that will ultimately lead to his downfall. One negative influence in Willy's life is the inability of his friends to confront him about his problems. It is Willy's wife that causes him the most harm. In her vain attempt to protect Willy, she actually allows his eventual death. The first sign of her negligence comes in one of Willy's flashbacks. Willy brags, "I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston"(35). But as Linda begins calculating his commission, the value rapidly diminishes to "roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip"(35). Linda sees what is going on but does not confront him. A very similar situation occurs later in their life when she finds out that Willy is no longer on salary, but borrows money every week from Charley. Again she will not confront him. By not confronting Willy in either of these instances, Linda allows him to sink further into his false reality. But Linda makes an even worse mistake that allows for Willy's suicide. She acknowledges his suicidal t endencies when she says, "He's been trying to kill himself"(58). She tells the boys that she has found the rubber hose in the basement, but she still will not confront Willy. Another character who is unable to be straight with Willy is Willy's boss Howard Wagner. Howard allows Willy to keep his job, but does not pay him. If he had just fired him right out it would of forced Willy to find a new job. By stringing him along, Howard allows Willy to maintain his fantasy world unchallenged. These are examples of the most negative influences in Willy's life simply because they have the ability to help but choose not to.

Nicholas Romanovs Role in the Russian Revolution :: Russian Russia History

Nicholas Romanov's Role in the Russian Revolution "Nicholas Romanov was an ignorant, incompetent and insensitive leader. His character was the decisive factor in bringing on the revolution" "The last Tsar of Russia was a tragic figure a classic case of being a leader in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing within his power could have prevented the forces of change from overtaking Tsarist Russia." To what extent do you agree with these explanations of the collapse of autocracy in Russia? Nicholas Romanov was an indecisive man who was easily influenced by others. Although it was not his character that was the decisive factor in bringing on the revolution. He may have been a leader at the wrong time but if he had related better for the time he was in power. Russia before 1917 was the largest country under one empire. In economic terms it was backward as it was late industrialising and late to emerge from feudalism. In political terms it was also backward as there was no legal political parties nor was there any centrally elected government Russia at this time was under tsarist rule by Nicholas II of the Romanov empire. Nicholas II was brought up by his father Alexander III who didn't believe that his son could take an intelligent interest in anything and therefore did not educate him in the business of state . The fact that his father who died at age 49 thought that he had many more years ahead of him may also be another factor behind Nicholas' poor leadership of Russia . Alexander who died in 1894 had left Russia with a society no longer controlled by tsarist rule and when Nicholas took the throne after his father's death Russian society was not prepared to turn on it's heels and return to how it use to be . Nicholas II was 26 when his father died and was soon to marry the German princess, Alix of Hess, Granddaughter of Queen Victoria . The relationship between Alexandra and Nicholas was a 'critical relationship at a turning point in history' . He was weak and indecisive but he wasn't an imbecile, Alexandra, if not an imbecile was politically and socially illiterate, dominating him and towards the end of their lives forced him to make chaotic decisions. Nicholas nor Alexander III were well trained for the job of ruling this vast country. Alexander was not so much superior to the son in character of abilities to justify admirers hopes that he lived longer, so the monarchy would have.

Political Science Writing Assignment Essay

The article and the cases cited therein deal with a very important legal concept and the issues surrounding it. Central to the argument in the article is the meaning, scope and limitation of one of the most important and commonly-invoked provision of the Bill of Rights—the Fourth Amendment.   The Fourth Amendment guarantees each person’s right to be secured n their persons, houses, papers, and effects from unreasonable searches and seizure. It is a limitation on the government’s very broad police power. What are being protected by the amendment are the people’s security and privacy. As the courts have ruled in many cases, â€Å"A man’s home is his castle (Minnesota v. Carter, Concurring Opinion by Justice Scalia).† Every man has a right to be secured in his own home. While the amendment uses the word home, the Courts have not been very strict in applying the provision. The concept of the home has been extended to that structure other than that which the person owns and in which that person habitually lives. To determine the limitation and scope by which the protection may be applied, the court developed the concept †legitimate expectation of privacy† as the test for determining the extent of entitlement for the invocation of the Fourth Amendment’s protections. By legitimate expectation, the court implies â€Å"the prerogative to exclude others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and the â€Å"right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion (Minnesota v. Carter, Dissenting Opinion by Gidsburg). Examples of the cases wherein this test has been applied are the 1990 case of Minnesota v. Olson and the 1978 ruling, Rakas v. Illinois. In the first case, the court ruled that â€Å"an overnight guest had such an expectation and thus could claim Fourth Amendment rights.† On the contrary, the 1978 ruling â€Å"held that automobile passengers were not entitled to raise a Fourth Amendment objection to the seizure of incriminating evidence if they owned neither the evidence nor the car, even if they had a right to be in the car at the time (Greenhouse).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The court, in the case of Minnesota v. Carter, is a divided court. The majority opinion overturned the 1997 ruling of the Minnesota Supreme Court, which â€Å"set aside the narcotics convictions of two men who had spent several hours in a third person’s apartment preparing cocaine for sale.† The majority used a strict construction of the Constitutional provision as it focused on the intent of the framers of the provision to limit the application of the protection of the Amendment to the home, where a person has the strongest expectation of privacy and security. Therefore, the court ruled that â€Å"the protection offered by the Fourth Amendment extends no further than a person’s own home (Greenhouse).† No offense or violation to such privacy or security will be experienced in a place where men only stayed to conclude a commercial transaction. At most, the security and privacy rights that will be violated are those of the owner, whether or not he is included in the transaction or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, as already mentioned, the court in this case is a divided court. Even those who voted against the application of the Fourth Amendment have divergent opinions. An example is Justice Kennedy who, in his concurring opinion, upheld the legitimate expectation of privacy of †almost all social guests.† However, in this case, he opined that the men’s connection to the home is too †fleeting and insubstantial† to pronounce that they have acquired even a limited expectation of privacy. While his opinion gave the same result as the others in the majority opinion, he used a loose construction of the Constitution wherein he extends the protection outside the premises of the home, as opposed to what was initially contemplated by the framers of the Constitutional Amendment. This is an acceptance of and adaptation to the reality that, at present, it is already a common practice for people to invite people into their homes and to stay in other people’s homes or in other places of abode for a length of time for different reasons. This ensures that the protection of the privacy and security of these persons will not be severed just because they are outside their own homes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The divergence of the opinion of the court does not end here. It may be said that Judge Kennedy took the middle ground because there is another group of people who took a more liberal view than him, as regards the scope of the protection of the Fourth Amendment. This view is expressed in the dissenting opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to which Justices John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter joined. They opined that the protection of the Fourth Amendment extends to short-term guests. According to the opinion, â€Å"through the host’s invitation, the guest gains a reasonable expectation of privacy in the home.† The same opinion was upheld by Justice Stephen G. Breyer in his separate opinion, but he reached a different conclusion because he believed that looking through the window blinds does not amount to a search. This interpretation is, again, a loose construction of the Constitutional Amendment. It adapts the provision to people’s recognized custom of staying overnight in another’s home, rather than use a strict construction of the word â€Å"home† as initially contemplated by the framers. The court has held that, â€Å"[f]rom the overnight guest’s perspective, he seeks shelter in another’s home precisely because it provides him with privacy, a place where he and his possessions will not be disturbed by anyone but his host and those his host allows inside† (See Minnesota v. Olson). This is similar to the concurring opinion discussed above by Justice Kennedy. This divergence of opinions arose from a very delicate line which the courts and law is trying to draw between the right of government to use its powers and the right of people to be protected from these same powers. When the facts are clearly within the initial contemplation of the framers of the law, the application is easy. However, there are cases such as this one, which treads on the line and makes interpretation and application of the law difficult. In this case, a police officer received a tip and acted on it. However, instead of going through the common process of obtaining a warrant, he observed the activity in the basement of the apartment in question through a gap in the closed Venetian blinds. The officer obtained a search warrant later, but the Minnesota Court ruled that the previous act of the officer in observing the activities through a closed Venetian blind without first obtaining a warrant was an illegal search. However, as already mentioned, this was overturned by the Supreme Court when it ruled that the people involved do not have a legitimate expectation of privacy as â€Å"one who is merely present with the consent of the householder† (Minnesota v. Carter). This application of the Amendment are viewed by at least five members of the court to be against many jurisprudential precedents which have defined the extent of the Fourth Amendment protection outside the limits of a person’s own home. Works Cited Greenhouse, Linda. â€Å"High Court Curbs Claim on Privacy in a Home.† The New York Times. 2 Dec. 1998. 30 Nov. 2007 . Minnesota v. Carter (97-1147), 569 N.  W. 2d 169 and 180, December 1, 1998.

Summary of “Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus”

In â€Å"Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus†, the author, Derek Bok shows how expressing yourself falls under the First Amendment, whether it is on a private college campus or public college campus. He further explains that just because it is protected by law does not mean that it is â€Å"right, proper, or civil. Bok goes on to show how censoring freedom of speech would cause people to â€Å"test the limits† to gain more attention than is needed and if dealt with in the proper manner, behaviors such as displaying a Confederate flag or a swastika in rebuttal of the flag can be avoided. Freedom of expression is a right and should not be used inappropriately. The First Amendment rights have caused much controversy because it allows people to say, act, or feel how they see fit; for example, hanging of a Confederate flag or displaying a swastika in public view. It is an insensitive act; although it is their right to do so. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the displaying of these symbols is protected under the First Amendment. Regretfully, people act and react because they are offended by things like this, but it is one of our many freedoms as Americans. Although it cannot be prohibited it should be responded to in such a way they do not feel put down or that they are wrong in expressing themselves, but rather suggest to them that it is hurtful and offensive to others. We have the right to be offended as others have the right to display or express their own interests. Diverse communities in the United States set certain laws to protect their properties from being vandalized with graffiti and protect them from loud noise; rules of this kind should be evenly upheld in order to not discriminate for or against anybody’s opinions or ideas. If the governing authorities see fit to change the laws to prohibit such expressions, they should be cautious, because censoring such a great freedom can potentially become â€Å"dangerous†. When one or more people feel that they are being pushed in the opposite direction than what they feel is right they tend to rebel in a sense. More often than not they will try to push the boundaries to prove that they are free to do as they see fit and the more attention that is given to their cause the more they will show that they will not be told no. If an offensive act is being displayed it can be dealt with in a discrete manner to prohibit future conflict. For example, the offenders actions are ignored, they may eventually stop. Those in authority need to take charge and try an approach that may be more effective than prohibiting it. Persuading one to see the errors of their ways would be more productive rather than criticizing or condemning them. It will help them become more aware of others around them and potentially create a more balanced for those around them. Therefore, members of faculty and officials should seek to educate the students and persuade them instead of using threatening tactics, as persuasion is more likely to produce beneficial results. People are more willing to change when they are approached respectfully with inquiry, instead of abruptly and demanding. As a result, we should be conscious to uphold the moral standards of schools and colleges; so we can positively coexist in these communities.