Drug Abuse, Manslaughter and Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drug Abuse, Manslaughter and Law - Essay Example Cocaine is a dominant hard drug that attracts severe penalties for possession and eventual trafficking. The controlled substance act serves the whole nation in implementing all legislations for single convention on narcotics and drugs and helps in reducing the atrocities developed from the drug distribution. This was brought about by full discovery of the addictive properties of cocaine, including the perceived problems that are brought about by addictive use of cocaine (Gardner & Anderson 2011 p 430). A negative notion was further linked to cocaine as many people stressed that cocaine abusers were mainly gamblers, prostitutes, burglars, racketeers, and pimps among other law breakers. It further created a notion that cocaine increased people’s ability to commit more crime as it gave them heightened approach to life and the courage to commit crimes that have been restricted by law. In this case, Nino Schenquist and Bill Rallia are involved in the use of illegal drugs together. They are both liable for using drugs that are recognized by law as illegal and any person found guilty of such an offence faces a stringent arm of the law. They are guilty of using drugs that increase perseverance, alertness, energy, and motor activity. The drug use affects a person’s feelings of well being hence increased competence and sexuality to higher levels that could increase a person’s probability of involvement into unsocial and illegal practices unwillingly. In a state of law, Rallia and Schenquist will be first convicted of frequent use of drugs in the country. The only legal use of cocaine is stipulated under local aesthetics as it is used constructively in making patients persevere pain during a medical examination or procedure. According to the United States controlled substance act of 1970, cocaine is placed under schedule II drug, as it is a highly classified drug in terms of high potentiality for abuse leading to severe physical and psychological depe ndence (Gardner & Anderson 2011 p 432). The two culprits will face an established mandatory law that provides a specified minimum drug sentence as they can not get out scot free. However, there are different penalties for the different types of cocaine in the United States. For instance, the federal law accords a higher sentence to crack cocaine than for powder cocaine since there is a high indulgence in the crack cocaine a large number of African Americans. It also claims a harsher prison term for blacks in the United States since their indulgence is increasingly severe as they increase the trade in the illegal drugs due to their lucrative income. Possession of a five gram of crack cocaine attracts a hefty first-offence penalty of not less than five years imprisonment. The same imprisonment of not less than five years is accorded to a person who is found in possession of five hundred grams of powder cocaine in the same law. This shows the utter difference in the two types of the sa me drug According to the controlled substance act of the United States, Rallia and Schenquist will be convicted in relation to section 959 ((a) for manufacture or distribute a controlled substance. Since they have been thriving in the business of using controlled drugs, the law will have to file possible allegations in a court of law for the conviction. Rallia is solidly behind the death of his cousin Schenquist since he is responsible for allegedly stabbing him after they had a misunderstanding at Thomas’

Poker de Espanto en el Caribe

Poker de Espanto en el Caribe Pà ³ker de Espanto en el Caribe Introduccià ³n Algunas regiones en Amà ©rica Latina han sido escenario de una variedad y amplia de sangrientas dictaduras, y por periodos tan prolongados, como el Caribe. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo en Repà ºblica Dominicana; Anastasio Somoza, Tacho, en Nicaragua; Marcos Pà ©rez Jimà ©nez en Venezuela, y Fulgencio Batista en Cuba, constituyen las cuatro tiranà ­as que en la dà ©cada de los cincuenta del siglo XX armaron un Pà ³ker de espanto en el Caribe. Su autor, Juan Bosch, uno de los mà ¡s destacados là ­deres polà ­ticos, intelectuales y humanistas dominicanos, que pasà ³ veintitrà ©s aà ±os de su vida en el exilio, analiza las causas econà ³micas, sociales, polà ­ticas e incluso psicolà ³gicas que dieron origen y sostuvieron dichas dictaduras. La obra, escrita de salto en salto, de paà ­s en paà ­s, de exilio en exilio, en una Amà ©rica Latina convulsionada, con golpes de Estado, tiranicidios, guerras civiles y revoluciones armadas, refleja, como ninguna, los procesos del exilio a los que tantos se han visto obligados, en Amà ©rica Latina y el Caribe, và ­ctimas del despotismo. A mà ¡s de cincuenta aà ±os de haber sido escrito, Pà ³ker de espanto en el Caribe es un clà ¡sico en su gà ©nero. La Universidad Nacional Autà ³noma de Mà ©xico se honra en editar en Mà ©xico esta obra fundamental para la comprensià ³n de los procesos sociales y polà ­ticos en Amà ©rica Latina y el Caribe, a cien aà ±os del natalicio de su autor. Biografà ­a del autor Juan Bosch nacià ³ en La Vega, Repà ºblica Dominicana, el 30 de junio de 1909 y murià ³ en Santo Domingo el 1 de noviembre de 2001. El profesor Juan Bosch, narrador, ensayista, educador, historiador, bià ³grafo, polà ­tico, ex-presidente de la Repà ºblica Dominicana, inicià ³ su carrera literaria con un pequeà ±o libro de cuentos, Camino Real (1933), donde narraba en gran parte lo que habà ­a visto, escuchado y vivido en su pueblo, La Vega. De esa misma à ©poca, es su primera novela breve La Maà ±osa (1936), donde el personaje central es una mula y el narrador es un nià ±o enfermizo. Despuà ©s, antes de salir al exilio, donde vivirà ­a durante mà ¡s de veinte aà ±os, el precursor del cuento dominicano publicarà ­a sus cuentos en perià ³dicos y revistas dominicanas. De aquella à ©poca son  «La mujer » (cuento que ha sido seleccionado por casi la totalidad de las antologà ­as de cuentos de Hispanoamà ©rica),  «Dos pesos de agua » y  «El abuelo ». Pero cuando el profesor Bosch regresà ³ a la Repà ºblica Dominicana, apenas los mà ¡s viejos conocà ­an que era cuentista. A su llegada, se reunieron sus cuentos en dos volà ºmenes: Cuentos escritos en el exilio (1964), que incluà ­a  «Cuento de Navidad » y  «Manuel Sicurà ­Ã‚ », publicados en ediciones independientes en el extranjero, y Mà ¡s cuentos escritos en el exilio, (1964), donde se incluyeron, tambià ©n, cuentos publicados en ediciones independientes, como  «La muchacha de la Gà ¼aira », publicado en Chile, en 1955. Pero Bosch ya habà ­a publicado libros, en el extranjero, no precisamentede cuentos, que lo habà ­an dado a conocerer en otros paà ­ses como bià ³grafo y ensayista, antes que en su propio paà ­s, como Hostos, el sembrador (Cuba, 1939), Judas Iscariote, el calumniado (Chile, 1955). Aunque dejà ³ de escribir cuentos desde los aà ±os sesenta (el à ºltimo o escribià ³ para una antologia de cuentos para nià ±os, preparada por el pianista, poeta y dramaturgo Manuel Rueda), el profesor Bosch es reconocido como el precursor del cuento y, sobre todo, de la narrativa social dominicana.). Con una prosa imitada por pocos narradores dominicanos de hoy (por lo dà ­ficil, aunque se trate de decir lo contrario), en los cuentos de Bosch la problemà ¡tica social (la preocupacià ³n por el hombre y por la fuerza de los procesos sociales que ejercen sobre el individuo) es tratada desde diferentes à ¡ngulos, sin hacer, casi siempre, alusià ³n a sistemas o gobiernos determinados. Pero no sà ³lo los cuentos del profesor Bosch son guà ­as para el cuentista, si no que sus Apuntes sobre el arte de escribir cuentos es un texto para los estudiantes de otros paà ­ses como Cuba, llegando a llamar la atencià ³n del narrador colombiano Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez, quien ha declarado mà ¡s de una vez que Bosch es su profesor). La à ºltima creacià ³n narrativa del profesor Bosch, la novela El oro y la paz (Premio Novela Nacional de Literatura, 1975), aunque escrita en dos versiones, a primera en 1957, mientras el escritor se hallaba viviendo en Cuba, en su primer exilio, y la segunda versià ³n en Puerto Rico, 1964, donde estuvo pasando su otro exilio, es una obra maestra en a Literatura dominicana). Las obras de Bosch comprenden, tambià ©n, ensayos y biografà ­as de grandes figuras de la historia sagrada. Es dà ­ficil, por no decir imposible, resumir los temas en los cuentos de Juan Bosch. Hay, sin embargo, dos preocupaciones que aparecen en sus mejores cuent os: los problemas sociales, y la preocupacià ³n filosà ³fica (por no decir, existencial). Ahà ­ està ¡n  «La nochebuena de Encarnacià ³n Mendoza » (para nosotros, su cuento mà ¡s perfecto),  «Los amos »,  «Luis Pià ©Ã‚ »,  «La muchacha de la Gà ¼aira »,  «Dos pesos de agua » y  «La mujer » para probarlo. Produccià ³n literaria Obras: Narrativa: Camino Real (1933) Indios (1935) La maà ±osa (1936) Dos pesos de agua (1941) La muchacha de la Gà ¼aira (1955) Cuentos de Navidad (1956) Cuentos escritos en el exilio (1962) Mà ¡s cuentos escritos en el exilio (1962). El oro y la paz (1975 Ensayos: Mujeres en la vida de Hostos (1938) Hostos, el Sembrador (1939) Apuntes sobre el arte de escribir cuentos (1947) Judas Iscariote, el Calumniado (1955) Trujillo, causas de una tiranà ­a sin ejemplo (1961) David, biografà ­a de un rey (1963) Breve historia de la oligarquà ­a (1970) Composicià ³n social dominicana (1970) Tres conferencia sobre feudalismo (1971) Breve historia de la oligarquà ­a (1971) El Napoleà ³n de las guerrillas (1976) El Caribe, fronterra imperial: de Cristà ³bal Colon a Fidel Castro (1978) Viaje a las antà ­podas (1978) Conferencias y artà ­culos (1980) La revolucià ³n de abril (1980) La guerra de la Restauracià ³n (1980) Clases sociales en la Repà ºblica Dominicana (1983) Capitalismo, democracia y liberacià ³n nacional (1983) La fortuna de Trujillo (1985) La pequeà ±a burguesà ­a en la historia de la Repà ºblica Dominicana (1985) Capitalismo tardà ­o en la Repà ºblica Dominicana (1986) Mà ¡ximo Gà ³mez: de Monte Cristi a la gloria (1986) El Estado, sus orà ­genes y desarrollo (1987) Textos culturales y literarios (1988) Dictaduras dominicanas (1988) Pà ³ker de Espanto en El Caribe. Temas econà ³micos (1990) Breve historia de los pueblos à ¡rabes (1991). Aportes dado a la literatura Juan Bosch fue un hombre de pensamiento y accià ³n en todo lo que se propuso, marcando autà ©nticamente con sus aportes polà ­ticos y literarios a la sociedad dominicana. De sus contribuciones a la polà ­tica nacional queda poco de quà © hablar, mientras que de su pasado literario todavà ­a van surgiendo detalles que terminarà ¡n conformando definitivamente el perfil del que fue el mà ¡s destacado literato dominicano del siglo XX. En principio, en el campo de la poesà ­a Bosch se declarà ³ admirador del Movimiento Postumista, pero en el cuento y la novela quiso crear su propia escuela, a la que bautizà ³ â€Å"El Conchoprimismo Literario†, no sin que aparecieran, en el mundo literario dominicano, los que se burlaron y trataron de ridiculizarlo. La escuela â€Å"conchoprimista† que Bosch intentà ³ establecer en 1934, partà ­a del criterio de que en la Repà ºblica Dominicana y el arte â€Å"tenà ­an que hacerse sobre tradiciones criollas†, tomando como materia prima lo que habà ­a significado en nuestra historia el personaje de Concho Primo, caracterizado por el coraje, el instinto, la generosidad y el fuego que incendiaba su sangre y la carne: â€Å"Concho Primo fue cada hombre que dejà ³ el quicio de su casa, al brazo el machete, a la cintura el revà ³lver, bajo las piernas el espinazo del caballo, a quienes no empujaba el deseo de hacerse libres, ni ricos, ni de volver aureolados de glorias para ofrendarlas a una mujer†. Su novela La Maà ±osa fue la conclusià ³n de aquel esfuerzo. Aunque Juan Bosch ya habà ­a publicado numerosos cuentos, cuando comenzà ³ a promover su â€Å"escuela† era todavà ­a un desconocido en el mundo literario dominicano y hasta lo creà ­an inexistente pues habà ­a gente que creà ­a que nombre era el seudà ³nimo de algà ºn intelectual interesado en que no se conociera su verdadera identidad. El Conchoprimismo estaba influenciado por el Criollismo, de moda entonces en Latinoamà ©rica. Bosch define su escuela con las siguientes palalabras: â€Å"Aquà ­ en Santo Domingo, quizà ¡s si a consecuencia de pobreza en la flora y fauna y tambià ©n ausencia de una raza nuestra, nos hemos dedicado a los acontecimientos y con ellos a los hombres. Pero à ©stos, manejados como cosa: instintivos, impulsivos, bastos. Nada de pensamiento destilado. Y como no tenemos otra historia que la de la sangre, hemos tomado la bandera que yacà ­a en el suelo, pudrià ©ndose, desde la llegada de los yanquis. La hemos tremolado, asà ­ desgarrada, enfangada y hedionda. Ahà ­ ha nacido el â€Å"Conchoprimismo literario†, que lo serà ¡ artà ­stico antes de poco tiempo en todo el frente de las artes†. Juan Bosch fue desde el principio cuentista y se dio a conocer a partir de 1931 en la revista Bahoruco, dirigida por el venezolano Horacio Blanco Bombona: â€Å"Un buen cuentista dominicano†, titulaba Blanco Bombona, y decà ­a â€Å"Hemos publicado en los à ºltimos nà ºmeros de Bahoruco cuentos del escritor dominicano Juan E. Bosch. No nos gusta prodigar elogios a diestra y siniestra, porque creemos que ese sistema ha malogrado a mà ¡s de un joven escritor que con esfuerzo y estudio pudo hacer algo que valiera la pena. Pero no queremos dejar pasar inadvertida la capacidad de nuestro colaborador Bosch para el cuento. En breves pà ¡ginas capta un suceso, un ambiente y con una sobriedad, digna de encomio, escribe su relato. Nos parece que a la Repà ºblica Dominicana le ha aparecido un buen cuentista. Bosch es vegano de nacimiento y acaba de retornar al paà ­s de un viaje de dos aà ±os por la penà ­nsula y por algunos paà ­ses de Hispanoamà ©rica de los que rodean el m ar Caribe†. En los cuentos aparecidos en Bahoruco ya se iba definiendo el costumbrismo campesino dominicano en que desembocarà ­a el â€Å"Conchoprimismo†. En Carteles, revista cubana que se leà ­a en Santo Domingo, aparecià ³ en marzo de 1932 el siguiente comentario sobre uno de sus escritos: â€Å"La Mujer, un cuento de Juan Bosch, el primer cuentista dominicano del momento. Domina el gà ©nero y tiene la rara virtud de narrar con una sencillez que da relieve al tema. La Mujer es una tragedia rural dominicana†. Refirià ©ndose a ese comentario de la revista Carteles, se dijo en Bahoruco: â€Å"Hace un aà ±o comenzà ³ Bosch a publicar sus cuentos en este semanario. Desde el primer cuento advertimos que se trataba de un vigoroso talento de narrador, que pinta las costumbres campesinas en una sobria y precisa prosa. En una palabra, que habà ­a alcanzado maestrà ­a en el difà ­cil arte del cuento a una edad muy temprana, pues Bosch en la actualidad sà ³lo cuenta veinte y tres aà ±os. Nosotros repetimos varias veces que no conocemos sino dos grandes cuentistas dominicanos, entendiendo por tales a los que tratan temas criollos. Uno era Josà © Ramà ³n Là ³pez en sus buenos tiempos. El otro es Bosch†. A principio de 1933 Bosch leyà ³ cuentos junto a Fabio Fiallo y Tomà ¡s Hernà ¡ndez Franco en los salones del Club Nosotras. En la crà ³nica noticiosa aparecida sobre esta actividad, se lee lo siguiente: â€Å"Fue anunciada la lectura de cuentos de tres de nuestros cuentistas, Juan Bosch, Hernà ¡ndez Franco y Fabio Fiallo. Bosch, el menor y el primero, es cuentista de procedimientos modernà ­simos. Nada de autobiografà ­a, ni de propia psicologà ­a. Es la vena de agua pura y cristalina que lleva, sin saberlo, el alma de nuestra montaà ±a. En el aà ±o citado, publicà ³ Juan Bosch su primer libro de cuetos, Camino Real, terminando de situarse como el mejor narrador dominicano y rompiendo con la creencia generalizada de que à ©l â€Å"era un seudà ³nimo y era, sin embargo, nuestro mejor cuentista. Aun despuà ©s de haber publicado muchos cuentos en las columnas de este semanario, se nos decà ­a como dudando de su existencia:  ¿Y ese Bosch, a quien nunca hemos visto, donde vive? Y respondà ­amos invariablemente: Escribe, luego existe y mora en la Avenida Capotillo† Desde antes de 1934 Bosch se batà ­a en una descarnada polà ©mica pà ºblica con Hà ©ctor Inchà ¡ustegui Cabral y otros de sus compaà ±eros, quienes criticaban sus poemas y narraciones costumbristas. Refirià ©ndose a Bosch y a su â€Å"escuela†, Inchà ¡ustegui cuenta en el â€Å"Pozo muerto† (1960), detalles de ese debate: â€Å"Como creà ­a en los nacional le hicimos la guerra a cuantos pretendieron injertar en la literatura dominicana el Romanticismo Gitano de Garcà ­a Lorca. Pero no era contra el poeta, fue contra el programa, vamos a llamarlo asà ­, de los que consideraban que era necesario, para la tradicià ³n y para la historia, que se cantara en romance la vida, las hazaà ±as, de los grandes de las guerras civiles. Una persona, que no era poeta, lanzà ³ la idea, trazà ³ el ideario dirà ­amos mejor, desde las pà ¡ginas de Bahoruco (†¦). Entonces escribà ­a unos Marginales. Una seccià ³n un poco en broma (†¦). No recuerdo todo lo que di je, pero le debià ³ parecer muy fuerte. Hablaba, eso sà ­ lo recuerdo, de un â€Å"polizà ³n sentimental†que nos acababa de llegar de Espaà ±a, de un contrabando literario que estaban tratando de introducir en el paà ­s. Se molestà ³ muchà ­simo y me salià ³ al encuentro la semana siguiente. (†¦). Aquello era la indignacià ³n patrià ³tica en letras de molde. (†¦). Blanco Bombona me llamà ³. Debà ­a tener cuidado porque à ©se era un muchacho violento. Lo mejor era dejar las cosas en donde estaban y no replicar para evitar desagrados mà ¡s profundos. Yo sonreà ­. Él era amigo mà ­o y la disputa se limitaba al puro campo literario.† Bosch llegà ³ en aquellos meses a anunciar, cuando publicà ³ â€Å"El cobarde†, que se retirarà ­a del cuento costumbrista dominicano, lo que llevà ³ a Blanco Bombona a decir: â€Å"Ni debe, ni puede. No puede porque el alma de su pueblo le bulle en el sensorio de manera tal, que à ©l no tendrà ­a fuerza para evadir el imperioso reclamo a la hora de la creacià ³n literaria. No debe: porque seria restarle a su patria un aporte que la significa y la cataloga dentro de un gà ©nero literario. Esperamos, pues, que esta resolucià ³n de Bosch, sea transitoria†. Bosch, ademà ¡s de escribir cuentos escribà ­a y publicaba en Alma Dominicana poemas costumbristas, un poco influenciado por el Romancero espaà ±ol. En Alma Dominicana Juan Josà © Llovet y Juan Bosch eran los redactores, mientras que Emilio A. Morel era el director. La admiracià ³n de Bosch por los escritores que se ubicaban en el â€Å"Conchoprimismo†lo llevà ³ en agosto de 1935, a promoverlos, como hizo con Josà © Rijo, por tener à ©ste el â€Å"corazà ³n machacado en el pilà ³n del campo y rezumante de todas nuestras virtudes, me parece haber encontrado un verdadero cuentista. (†¦). Dos cosas admiro en Josà © Rijo, su personalidad, ya que no se parece a ningà ºn escritor dominicano, y el amor con que carga ‘su provincia al pecho. Eso lo salvarà ¡. Por à ³rgano suyo ruego a los jà ³venes maestros del cuento nacional (maestros, no por lo que hayan hecho, sino por lo que critican y por la arrogancia y aparente erudicià ³n que manejan), no ver en este primer cuento los defectos†. El aporte de Bosch fue universalizar lo dominicano en la literatura. Lo que dijo sobre Rijo, fue lo que al final lo inmortalizà ³ a à ©l en la polà ­tica y la literatura universal: el amor con que siempre cargà ³ la patria en su pecho; mientras que muchos de sus crà ­ticos son hoy pasto que devora la historia. Movimiento Literario al que Pertenece el Autor Formà ³ parte en la capital dominicana del grupo literario que se denomino â€Å"la cueria†. Los à ºltimos aà ±os de la dà ©cada del 20 comenzà ³ a acariciar la idea de escribir una novela y entregà ¡ndose a esta labor, logro poner fin a la misma, coronando sus esfuerzos mediante la publicacià ³n de â€Å"la maà ±osa†, aà ±os despuà ©s. En principio, en el campo de la poesà ­a Bosch se declarà ³ admirador del Movimiento Postumista. La escuela â€Å"conchoprimista† que Bosch intentà ³ establecer en 1934, partà ­a del criterio de que en la Repà ºblica Dominicana y el arte â€Å"tenà ­an que hacerse sobre tradiciones criollas†, Breve Resumen de la Obra Anastacio Somoza, la carta nicaragà ¼ense Ningà ºn pueblo de Amà ©rica nos ofrece una leccià ³n tan cabal como el de Nicaragua, en lo que se refiere a los frutos le la polà ­tica caudillista ejercida en las cercanà ­as de un poder en crecimiento listo a aprovechar la menor grieta para penetrar por ella y aumentar su expansià ³n Los sucesos ocurrieron a mediados del siglo XIX, y al darse por terminados volvià ³ el pueblo nicaragà ¼ense a dividirse en conservadores y liberales, los dos partidos que han seà ±oreado el campo polà ­tico nacional, separados al parecer por diferencias ideolà ³gicas pero unidos en un mismo procedimiento caudillista. En 1893 tomaron el poder los liberales, despuà ©s de treinta aà ±os de gobierno conservador. El presidente liberal, Josà © Santos Zelaya, establecià ³ una dictadura que iba a durar diecisiete aà ±os, hasta fines de 1909. Esa dictadura no pudo ser mà ¡s inoportuna, pues desde que en 1898 los Estados Unidos adoptaron la polà ­tica de franca intervencià ³n, con fuerzas militares, en la zona del Caribe, toda conducta polà ­tica tenà ­a que ser planeada tomando en cuenta el peligro de una posible intervencià ³n. Un rà ©gimen tan duro como el de Zelaya dividà ­a al pueblo nicaragà ¼ense mucho mà ¡s de lo que ya lo estaba; ponà ­a a su frente, de manera irreconciliable, no sà ³lo a los perseguidos conservadores, sino ademà ¡s a la juventud, que en todas partes es generosa y enamorada de la dignidad; y gran parte de esos jà ³venes pasaban a engrosar las filas conservadoras o, sin hacerlo, se mantenà ­an en lucha contra la dictadura. El paà ­s està ¡ situado en el mismo corazà ³n de Centroamà ©rica, con Costa Rica al sur, Honduras y El Salvador al norte, al este el mar Caribe y al oeste el Pacà ­fico. La mayor parte de la poblacià ³n ocupa mà ¡s o menos un tercio del territorio, el que està ¡ situado ente el sistema montaà ±oso que da al Pacà ­fico y ese mar; y aun esa tercera parte se concentra mà ¡s bien en un trià ¡ngulo formado entre Granada, al sur, Leà ³n al norte y la capital, Managua. Al sur, pegado a la frontera de Costa Rica en su orilla meridional, està ¡ el lago de Granada o lago de Nicaragua; en la orilla occidental, la ciudad que le da nombre. Ese lago se comunica con el Caribe por el rà ­o San Juan. Por allà ­ subà ­an los piratas y atacaban la ciudad de Granada. Por allà ­ se pensà ³ cavar el canal que despuà ©s se hizo en Panamà ¡. Durante largos aà ±os los nicaragà ¼enses soà ±aron con que su territorio seria usado en la gran và ­a transmarina; y de hecho fue puente del Caribe al Pacifico cuando el descubrimiento de oro en California lanzà ³ a miliares y millares de aventureros de la costa este norteamericana a las lejanas costas del Oeste. Hacia 1909 Washington descubrià ³ que el dictador Zelaya estaba negociando acuerdos con Alemania y con el Japà ³n para la construccià ³n de un canal por esa ruta. El canal de Panamà ¡ no estaba inaugurado todavà ­a; pero no tardarà ­a en estarlo. Y Panamà ¡ era una leccià ³n demasiado dramà ¡tica para no tomarla en cuenta. Ese recià ©n nacido paà ­s no existà ­a en 1902; era una provincia colombiana, y surgià ³ como nacià ³n independiente a voluntad de Teodoro Roosevelt (aunque desde luego Roosevelt estaba actuando como delegado de muy vastos y complicados intereses) cuando Colombia se negà ³ a aceptar las condiciones que imponà ­a Washington para abrir el canal por el istmo panameà ±o. El mismo Roosevelt lo dirà ­a en pà ºblico ocho aà ±os despuà ©s del establecimiento de la Repà ºblica de Panamà ¡. Los conservadores habà ­an producido numerosos levantamientos durante la administracià ³n de Zelaya; y a los conservadores volvieron sus ojos en Washington cuando se enteraron de las inoportunas negociaciones de Zelaya con alemanes y japoneses. El acuerdo entre conservadores y norteamericanos iba a durar aà ±os, y serà ­a funesto para la vida de Nicaragua. Pero como se verà ¡ a su tiempo, los liberales no pueden acusarlos porque ellos acabaron desplazando a sus adversarios en el favor de los gobernantes estadounidenses y llegarà ­an a extremos a que no llegaron aquà ©llos. Y es que bajo las etiquetas de partidos opuestos se guarecà ­an en realidad dos huestes caudillistas, a cuyos là ­deres les interesaba el poder para ellos mà ¡s que el destino de su pueblo. En octubre de 1909 el jefe de la guarnicià ³n de Bluefields, en la costa del Caribe, se levantà ³ contra el gobierno de Managua. Era un liberal, pero se alià ³ con los conservadores. Estos garantizaban la ayuda norteamericana al movimiento. La ayuda llegà ³ a tiempo, con un cable del Secretario de Estado de Washington conminando a Zelaya a abandonar el poder o exponerse a ser atacado por la Infanterà ­a de Marina norteamericana. El ministro de la Guerra se alzà ³ en armas; el presidente solicità ³ el desembarco de tropas norteamericanas, que lo hicieron por el puerto de Corinto. La Infanterà ­a de Marina yanqui sometià ³ a los rebeldes a caà ±onazos, y el jefe del alzamiento fue hecho preso y enviado, no a una cà ¡rcel nicaragà ¼ense, sino aun presidio de la zona norteamericana del Canal de Panamà ¡!. Despuà ©s de haber debelado ese alzamiento el grueso de los infantes de marina salià ³ de Nicaragua, pero quedà ³ en Managua, la capital del paà ­s, una guarnicià ³n de algunos centenares de hombres cuya funcià ³n aparente era proteger la Legacià ³n de los Estados Unidos; en realidad, su papel era advertir a los liberales que no se rebelaran. Para Washington, liberales en el poder significaba canal en Nicaragua manejado por potencias extranjeras. Desde 1912, despuà ©s de la intervencià ³n armada extranjera en su favor, gobernaron los conservadores en paz y se celebraron y se ratificaron los pactos necesarios para garantizar que sà ³lo los Estados Unidos podrà ­an hacer un canal por Nicaragua, si algà ºn dà ­a se construà ­a. No hubo dictaduras conservadoras parecidas a la de Zelaya, pero hubo dieciocho aà ±os de gobierno con ninguna participacià ³n de los liberales. Bajo el amparo si se prefiere, por mà ¡s justo, bajo el tutelaje de Washington proseguà ­a la divisià ³n de la gran familia nicaragà ¼ense; esa divisià ³n agravaba, en vez de resolver, los problemas nacionales. Pero los norteamericanos veà ­an los problemas desde el punto de vista de su interà ©s; no paraban mientes en el interà ©s de Nicaragua. Esa divisià ³n fue causa de que en 1926, con el apoyo del gobierno mexicano, encabezado entonces por Plutarco Elà ­as Calles, los liberales iniciaran una revolucià ³n, que comenzà ³ por Puerto Cabezas, tambià ©n en la costa del Caribe. De inmediato surgià ³ a la superficie la alianza de conservadores y norteamericanos. La revolucià ³n tomà ³ Puerto Cabezas y formà © gobierno bajo la presidencia de Juan Bautista Sacasa; sus tropas, al mando militar del general Josà © Marà ­a Moncada, avanzaron hacia el interior. El 23 de diciembre intervino Washington en los sucesos dando a Sacasa veinticuatro horas de plazo para que abandonara Puerto Cabezas porque el territorio de esa zona habà ­a sido declarado neutral por la Infanterà ­a de Marina norteamericana. Esta tomà ³ el lugar y echà ³ al fondo del mar las armas de la revolucià ³n. Las fuerzas de Moncada avanzaban, sin embargo, y se combatà ­a ya tierra adentro. En el aà ±o de 1927 comenzà ³ a sentirse en Nicaragua el peso de un nombre hasta poco antes desconocido, el de aquel jefe- cilio derrotado por fuerzas gobiernistas a principios de noviembre de 1926. Habiendo ido a Puerto Cabezas a solicitar del presidente revolucionario armas con que volver a combatir contra los conservadores, el joven Sandino fue despachado con las manos vacà ­as. Entre las mujeres pà ºblicas de Puerto Cabezas consiguià ³ unos treinta rifles que ellas habà ­an salvado de las aguas del mar, y unos seis mil tiros; remontà © con esa carga el rà ­o Coco, en el norte de la parte oriental del paà ­s, y organizà ³ un pequeà ±o ejà ©rcito en las montaà ±as de Las Segovias. se joven guerrillero se habà ­a dado cuenta de que no habà ­a diferencias fundamentales entre conservadores y liberales: En 1927, tambià ©n, comenzà ³ a sonar otro nombre en Ni- ragua, el de Anastasio Somoza, que en virtud del acuerdo los liberales y conservadores bajo la tutela norteamericana, sà © a ser jefe polà ­tico del departamento de Leà ³n. Se trataba un cargo importante, que tocaba a los liberales. Somoza habà ­a sido conservador, pero su matrimonio con una dama de distinguida familia liberal le habà ­a llevado a esas filas. Era hijo de un conocido conservador de igual nombre, que varias veces fe senador. Al parecer, Somoza heredà ³ de su padre un temperamento ansioso de poder. El hijo fue enviado a estudiar a Granada, primero, y despuà ©s a Filadelfia, donde cursà © ciencias comerciales. Allà ­ aprendià ³ el inglà ©s, que le sirvià ³ para ser intà ©rprete de las fuerzas de ocupacià ³n. Al volver a Nicaragua tratà ³ de establecerse y de hacer algunos negocios, con la ayuda del padre, sin tener buen à ©xito, y entrà ³ en la administracià ³n pà ºblica como funcionario de Rentas, tambià ©n sin alcanzar buen à ©xito. Sus nuevos amigos extranjeros, su parentesco polà ­tico con una familia distinguida y su presencia misma, que era agradable, le abrieron el camino para llegar a jefe polà ­tico del departamento de Leà ³n. Poco despuà ©s, cuando el general Moncada pasà ³ a ser presidente de la Repà ºblica, le designà © su secretario en actividades militares . El presidente tà ­tere Josà © Marà ­a Moncada designà ³ a Anastasio Somoza subsecretario de Relaciones Exteriores, y desde su nuevo cargo Somoza entablà ³ amistad con el anciano ministro de Norteamà ©rica, cuya esposa, una baronesa alemana, quedà ³ fascinada por la simpatà ­a del joven funcionario. Somoza tenà ­a un carà ¡cter festivo y agradable presencia fà ­sica. Su naturaleza psicolà ³qica no se parece a la de Trujillo, que es và ­ctima de numerosos complejos de los cuales surge esa presencia a menudo torva o de untuosa melosidad, siempre falsa y excesiva. Somoza era mà ¡s bien natural, sin tener miedo a la verdad ni a ninguna situacià ³n inesperada; dà ¼ ,, rà ¡pido para el chiste, oportuno, aunque desde luego dado a la vulgaridad tan pronto entraba en confianza. Esa manen e ser, y su tipo latino, le ganaron el favor de la seà ±ora baron Las Segovias, resolvià ³ dejar ese problema en manos nicaragà ¼enses; en vez de soldados suyos, que luchara la Guardia Nacional; si Sandino acababa triunfando que lo hiciera sobre sus compatriotas, no sobre la Infanterà ­a de Marina norteamericana. Asà ­ pues, los invasores se aprestaron a dejar el paà ­s tan pronto como se celebraran elecciones y resultara elegido un nuevo gobernante nicaragà ¼ense. Se convocà ³ a comicios y triunfà © la candidatura liberal de Juan Bautista Sacasa. El nuevo presidente, que debà ­a tomar posesià ³n de su cargo el lo. de enero de 1933, era tà ­o de la seà ±ora De Bayle de Somoza; esto es, tà ­o polà ­tico del favorito de la seà ±ora ministra de Norteamà ©rica. El dà ­a de Aà ±o Nuevo de 1933 tomà ³ posesià ³n de la presidencia Juan Bautista Sacasa. Un mes y un dà ­a despuà ©s, el 2 de febrero, el general Sandino firmaba los convenios de paz. Ya no habà ­a un soldado interventor en tierras de Nicaragua. Lo que quedaba allà ­ era una Guardia Nacional, con su segundo jefe ascendido a jefe director; un jefe nicaragà ¼ense, con menos responsabilidad y menos escrà ºpulos que un nativo de Norteamà ©rica. El hà ©roe de Las Segovias debà ­a sospecharlo, pero el curso de los acontecimientos le exigà ­a ignorarlo. Pues en la historia de Nicaragua à ©l era un parto prematuro, y estaba llamado a ser, por tanto, un mà ¡rtir y no un realizador Habà ­a transcurrido un aà ±o. Empeà ±ado en organizar empresas agrà ­colas y mineras en la zona nordeste de Nicaragua el general Sandino permanecà ­a alejado de las actividades pà ºblicas, rodeado por los veteranos de sus fuerzas y sus familia. res, a quienes querà ­a asociar a los negocios que planeaba. A mediados de febrero a 1934 hizo una visita a Managua. La Guardia Nacional hostilizaba a los sandinistas, exigiendo la entrega de armas que no existà ­an; la intranquilidad agitaba toda la regià ³n, y el hà ©roe querà ­a hallar una fà ³rmula para resolver esa situacià ³n; a la vez, iba en busca de ayuda para sus empresas. Mientras esto ocurrà ­a otro grupo de quince soldados de la Guardia Nacional, al mando del mayor Policarpo Gutià ©rrez y el teniente Federico D. Blanco, rodeaban la casa del ministro Salvatierra. Tanto el grupo que mandaba al mayor Delgadillo como este otro que habà ­a allanado la residencia del ministro Salvatierra, se mantuvieron en constante contacto por medio de enlaces que iban y venà ­an en automà ³vil de un lugar a otro. A esa misma hora Tacho Somoza escuchaba un recital que ofrecà ­a la poetisa peruana Zoila Rosa Cà ¡rdenas en el Campo de Marte, siendo à ©sta la primera vez que un acto de esa naturaleza se llevaba a cabo en aquel lugar. Sandino hizo un à ºltimo esfuerzo, convenciendo al mayor Delgadillo que fuese a ver a Tacho Somoza y -le ‘recordase su reciente amistad, confirmada con el intercambio de fotos en las que se consignaban dedicatorias expresivas y cordiales. El mayor Delgadillo llegà ³ al Campo de Marte y regresà ³ diciendo que no habà ­a podido ver al general Somoza y por ende que era del todo imposible hacerle llegar su mensaje Hasta aquà ­ la prolija exposicià ³n del ex teniente Abelardo Cuadra. Su declaracià ³n coincide con la del padre de Sandino y la del ministro Salvatierra en los detalles anteriores a la ejecjÓfl, pues ambos fueron presos conjuntamente con el general Sandino y sus compaà ±eros. Coincide tambià ©n, en là ­neas generales, con la del presidente de la Cà ¡mara de Diputados de Nicaragua, hecha una semana despuà ©s de los sucesos, và ­a telefà ³nica, al diario La Hora de San Josà © de Costa Rica. Por su posicià ³n, el presidente de la Cà ¡mara debà ­a estar enterado de los hechos; y à ©l comienza su breve pero dramà ¡tico relato dando cuenta de la reunià ³n de Somoza con los oficiales subalternos para levantar un acta en que à ©stos1 segà ºn las palabras de Sandoval, â€Å"se comprometà ­an a ser solidarios en el asesinato que se iba a cometer†. Don Gregorio Sandino, padre del mà ¡rtir, y el ministro Salvatierra, declararon que mientras ellos se hallaban detenidos oyeron los disparos y que el desdichado padre del hà ©roe comentà ³: â€Å"Ya està ¡n matando a Sà ³crates y a los otros†; y un poco mà ¡s tarde, al oir otros disparos mà ¡s lejanos: â€Å"Ya està ¡n matando a Augusto†. El ministro norteamericano debià ³ acudir inmediatamente a evitar el crimen, puesto que la vida de Sandino debà ­a ser preciosa para el prestigio de los Estados Unidos; y ocurre que no lo hizo, sino que se presentà ³ mà ¡s allà ¡ de media noche en el cuartel donde se hallaban presos don Gregorio Sandino y el ministro Salvatierra. Por otra parte,  ¿quià ©n le dijo que se encontraban allà ­, siendo que ni el propio presidente Sacasa lo sabia?. Sà ³lo una persona: Anastasio Somoza Un anà ¡lisis elemental nos conduce, por de pronto, a esta conclusià ³n: el ministro Bliss Lane supo, inmediatamente despuà ©s de consumados los hechos, por boca de Somoza, que Sandino y sus compaà ±eros habà ­an sido asesinados. Ahora bien,  ¿supo que iba a producirse ese escandaloso crimen antes de que ocurriera?;  ¿lo supo despuà ©s, porque à ©l indagà ³ o porque Somoza fue a informarle?. Cuando Somoza dijo a los oficiales reunidos en su residencia, a las siete y media de la noche, que llegaba de la Legacià ³n americana y que en una conf rencia con el ministro à ©ste le habà ­a asegurado que â€Å"el gobierno de Washington respalda y recomà ­enda la eliminacià ³n de Augusto Cà ©sar Sandino†,  ¿estaba diciendo la verdad o estaba sà ³lo presionando a sus subalternos con la noticia de que el asesinato era una orden de Washington?. Y si dijo la verdad, La Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua fue adiestrada para matar a Sandino y a sus hombres; se le adiestrà © material y là ³gicamente. Somoza, como Trujillo, a

The ‘Glutamate Theory’ of the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia Essay

Introduction: There is immense study on the role of glutamate in Schizophrenia. Even so to date the current antipsychotics do not control major glutamatergic action albeit a study at the NMDA receptor location such as the glycine transport inhibitors may give new novel evidence for the discovery of future antipsychotics (Olney et al., 1999) The Dopamine hypothesis of Schizophrenia The dopamine (DA) theory of schizophrenia has subjugated the effort to justify the behaviours Schizophrenia is a psychiatric bedlam relating to the messing up of routine thinking, sentiment and every day activities. Egan & Weinberger (1979) described schizophrenia as when a subject or an individual is unable to differentiate what is genuine and unreal. The clinical characteristics of the various disarray of schizophrenia commonly come into view in the late adolescence or the early adulthood. Schizophrenia can exhibit either positive or negative or both signs. Whereas the positive sign is characterised by paranoia, false principles or hallucination, the negative aspect is marked by depression, withdrawal from communal connections. But pleasing of social responses shortfall in attention and memory are ascribed to cognitive effect. Generally, schizophrenia is considered to be neurodevelopment unrest rather than neurogenerative disorder (Harrison et al., 2003). There are several divi sions in the brain that can be affected by schizophrenia. The atypical function of the basal ganglia is considered to play a role in paranoia and hallucination. The frontal lobe of the brain plays a role in problem solving and reasoning. Conversely a schizophrenic will have a deficiency in the lobe and as result, having difficulty in forecast and coordinating. Adjustment... ...ts. Neuroscience, 90(3), 823-32. Kim,J.S.,Kornhuber,H.H.,Schmid-Burgk,W.,Hlozmuller,B.(1980) Low cerebrospinal fluid glutamate in schizophrenic patients and a new hypothesis on schizophrenia. Neuorocience Letters 20:379-382 Kotter, H. (1994) Postsynaptic integration of gluamatergic and dopamine signals in the striatum. Progression in Neurobiology. 44:163-196 Olney, J. W., Newcomer, J. W., & Farber, B. B. (1999). NMDA receptor hypofunction model of schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 33: 523-533. Stanley, J. A., Williamson, P. C., Drost, D. J., Carr, T. J., Rylett, R. J., Malla, A., Thompson R. T. (1996). An in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of schizophrenia patiens. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 22(4), 597-609. Weinberger, D.A (1993) Connection approach to the prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuropsychiatry. 5:241-253

Educational Paradigms Essay

Paradigms are ways of thinking or getting things done. As time passes and new concepts evolve, the way things are being done or implemented begin to undergo significant changes. Paradigms are continually shifting and this is unavoidable. For example, prior to the beginning of the information age, education could only be achieved by physically seeking admission and going through manual registration processes before one could be considered a student. The situation has changed today. Most of these processes may now be achieved online, as is the case with American Intercontinental University (AIU). A new educational paradigm has been ushered in as a result of technological advancements (Riegle, n. d. ). Which paradigm best describes your current learning organizational environment? Why? Provide an example. The ideal paradigm is the one that favours the emergence of standard practices, improved methodologies, and a range of resources that help to establish benchmarks and develop instructional strategies that give students the opportunity to learn properly and reap the benefits of education optimally. American Intercontinental University (AIU) provides an online educational system that offers increased accessibility to students from the convenience of their homes. This is accomplished through the use of up-to-date technological devices, software programs, internet connection, and computers. Since technology has turned the world into a global village, the educational paradigm is gradually shifting from the use of traditional classrooms to an online learning system. This learning platform has necessitated the need for an interactive method of learning to supplement the lecture materials, sample essays and the numerous resources that are made available to students to facilitate their learning process. For example, Instructional strategies that involve the use of chat rooms, discussion groups, emails, forums or message boards are employed to achieve learning. How does your organizational paradigm affect your assessments and measurement of student learning? AIU strives to balance learning strategies by adopting principles of various learning theories and applying them to instructional design and students’ assessment. The University presents materials to students in formats that they can easily understand, usually in the form of video, audio, presentations, and other related methods. Measurement of student learning is achieved through the evaluation of students’ participation in group activities, discussion groups, learning teams, chat rooms, and ability to use concept maps, mnemonics or organizers to reflect their knowledge of concepts. This is in support of the Cognitivism theory which states that it is important to understand how the human mind works so that we can understand how students learn (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2008). Assessment of learning is also done by giving students home work, assignments or group projects so that they can learn through their own activities and personal experiences. This is a very important paradigm at AIU since most of the learning activities take place online. Students are encouraged to learn through simulation, exploration and active participation in message boards and various projects assigned to them. This method of assessment is in agreement with the constructivism theory which states that knowledge is imbibed through active participation and engagement of the learner. The theory asserts that for knowledge to be retained, it is important to link new concepts with familiar concepts (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2008). On a personal level, which paradigm do you feel most represents your own views of education and assessment? Even though technology has its numerous benefits and offers students various opportunities of convenience and ease of use, traditional learning methods should also be sustained because each style of learning has its own benefits. It’s important to maximize the advantages of each learning style so that optimal results may be achieved. In consonance with the theory of behaviorism, good performance should always be rewarded with praise, awards or any other form of recognition to encourage the students, while the undesired behavior (bad performance) may be rewarded by holding back such rewards (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2008). This ensures that individual performances in learning are immediately observed and weak points are focused on for possible improvement. By balancing the learning theories and employing the use of best practices in administering lectures to students, learning can indeed become an enhanced and exciting experience. References Learning Theories Knowledgebase. (2008). Index of Learning Theories and Models. Retrieved September 25, 2008 from http://www. learning-theories. com Riegle, R. P. (n. d. ). Educational Paradigms. Visionary Leadership for the Information Age. Retrieved September 26 from http://people. coe. ilstu. edu/rpriegle/wwwdocs/paradigm/welcome. htm

Navajo’s Resistance on Education

There are many ways to define the word â€Å"resistance. † One way that the Standard College Dictionary defines it as: To strive against; the act of resistance; act counter to for the purpose of stopping, preventing, defeating, etc. That†s how the dictionary defines it. Personally, my definition of â€Å"resistance† is the act of being against someone†s orders, rules, or demands. The reason why we resist some of these orders, rules, or demands is because our belief, morals, and religion come into play. The way that we were brought up plays a big role in our ability of making our own decisions. If we were brought up one way, and someone tries to force us to become someone else, or to mold us into something else, we would not feel right. Due to the fact that we grew attached to many ideas, beliefs and religion. The only natural thing to do is to refuse to give in to the idea of change. It†s a basic and a natural instinct. That†s exactly what the Navajos carried out. The Navajos rejected the idea of being force to become â€Å"civilized,† even after being put into the Bosque Redondo Camp. The only thing to do now was to survive and by all means refuse to accept the idea of becoming â€Å"civilized. There were several activities that the Navajos executed while they remained at the camps which showed there resistance against the ideas of General Carleton of forcing them to become â€Å"civilized. † One of the activities that the Navajos resisted against was the idea of sending their children to school and get educated. To the Navajos it seemed like a good idea, but they had other things in mind. Such as: worrying how are they going to gather the next meal to feed their families? They were living in the worst conditions imaginable. No food, shelter, or extra spare of clothes. They were very venerable to the conditions they were put in. For those reasons many of them got sick and eventually past away. But they did consider the advantages of the education program. Most of them took advantage of the opportunities given. Thinking about survival, they took such training in Carpentry, leatherworking, and blacksmithing (Osburn, The Navajos at The Bosque Redondo: Cooperation, Resistance, and Initiative,† 159). These programs are very useful only when the resources are available. When realizing that the resources were not available, they changed their priorities. Education was the very last thing on their list. Their primary priority was to find a way to get food and survive. As the Osburn states, â€Å"Yet the Indians claimed they were not opposed to education; they were simply more absorbed with the immediate concern of daily survival and considered the benefits of education to be peripheral to more urgent matters, such as obtaining enough food to fend off starvation. Their attempt to procure money and extra ration coupons for sending their children to school demonstrates the Indians† shrewd survival strategy†(159). The Navajos used simple and obvious strategies just to stay alive. It†s very much like if your stranded in an island, away from civilization. Your first instinct is not to worry about your make-up or your clothes. The first thing you have to worry about is how are you going to survive. Which eventually leads you to sub categories as: food, shelter, clothes, etc. It†s easy to say, but it is hard to do. The Navajos had to undergo many obstacles. When they realized that they were not getting enough coupons for food, and forging them wasn†t enough, they had to take drastic measures. Many of the Navajo women had to do things that were against their religion and their morals. The very last resort had to be taken, which eventually brought shame to the Navajo tribe and families. Many of the woman thought that the only way to attain extra food was prostitution. Osburn states, â€Å"Another method of obtaining extra food was prostitution, which was not a standard practice under less stressful conditions. Navajo women were generally considered to be modest and decent before and after the Bosque Redondo years†¦ While the Navajo recognized the degradation of prostitution at Fort Sumner, they also indicated that the women were compelled to set aside their moral prescription because of poverty and hunger†(159). Anybody would set aside his or her morals just to stay alive. Even if it means to kill someone just to gather food. It†s like Darwin†s theory: Survival of the Fittest. The weak people die and the strong survive. It takes valor to do something drastic like this. That is why I respect them so much. It makes people think of just the things we are capable of achieving if we just put our morals aside for awhile, and think about survival when put in a aquared situation and are forced to take extreme measures. Another activity that the Navajos resisted was the idea of â€Å"barrack housing. † Forcing them to start a new life as â€Å"civilized† people and living in a civilized community, the Navajos rejected the idea of living somewhere else that wasn†t their homeland. As the article states,† Carleton had originally planned to house the Navajo in neatly ordered barracks similar to the type of housing found in Pueblo villages. The Navajos, however, found this scheme unacceptable because their traditional housing was widely dispersed. Furthermore, they rejected the idea notion of permanent homes because of their beliefs about departed souls†(160). Lots of people wouldn†t mind starting off fresh and living in a house that was given to them. The reason being because he or she have had bad experiences in their past home and life. They are ready for a change. However, it wasn†t like that for the Navajos. They were already customed to the surrounding in which they were living before the â€Å"white people† took them out of their homeland. It†s like they stated, † The custom of our tribe†¦ is never to enter a house where a person has died, but abandon it. † Assuming that the past owners of the houses were probably killed, they rejected Carlton†s plan. Not only because they believed it was bad luck to enter someone else†s† house, but also because they were being put in an environment that they have never been exposed to. People find themselves very venerable if they have no control of the surroundings in which they are being put into. Very much like a parakeet in a cage. For years, a parakeet depends on its owner to give him food. What if the cage†s door was left open and the parakeet escapes or was left to be free. How would it live in the wild, without having the necessary skills to survive? Knowing that there is a harsh world just outside that cage, the parakeet takes his or her chances. Most of them end up finding a way to survive; yet, many of them just die of hunger because they couldn†t gather food. It†s exactly the way that the Navajos felt. The Navajos have already been customed to the surroundings of their homeland and were not prepared when they were being put into camps or the houses that were provided for them. They had no control over the resources that were provided, if they were any. They harvested many crops, but no luck. It wasn†t enough for everyone. Very much like the parakeets, they starved and died. If they did live through starvation, many of them were exposed to disease, which eventually killed them little by little. Knowing that the Navajos were sick, they never took advantage of the clinics or medicine that was provided for them. The last activity that the Navajos refuse to accept was the idea of getting medical attention. The refusal of â€Å"Anglo medical treatment. † â€Å"†¦ For similar reasons the Navajos refused medical treatment and the post hospitals. The Indians explained that they shunned the hospital because â€Å"all that have reported there have died†(160). When the Navajos noticed that many Indians were dying, the realized that the â€Å"white† people had to do something with it. Perhaps they believed that they were being slaughtered and killed. Not only that, but the Navajos didn†t want to be exposed the â€Å"white† medicine. They had their own ways of curing their sickness. Very much like people nowadays. Many of them do not believe in modern medicine and have their own way of curing themselves. For the Navajos, the only way to cure themselves and to purify their body without any modern medicine was to perform a traditional dance called â€Å"Squaw Dance. † They had their own views on how they believed they got sick. â€Å"According to this ceremony some sicknesses are the result of the ghosts of aliens, either those whom a Navajo warrior has killed or those who died from other causes and with whom the Navajo may have had contact, sexual or otherwise. Touching the corpse or stepping on the grave of an â€Å"outsider† may also cause alien ghosts to torment a Navajo with sickness† (160). Behind every culture, there are many reasons why they perform or do different things to get themselves better instead of using modern medicine. For example, â€Å"In the Navajos world view, illness is an example of disharmony in the cosmic order that the performance of a religious ceremony can correct. During the ceremony, the Navajo invoke their Holy People to rectify the disturbance or order. If the ritual is correctly carried out, the deities are obligated to grant the mortals requests, for a principle of reciprocity governs the exchange. In this regard, Navajo oral tradition emphasizes the importance of healing ritual at the Bosque (160). Nowadays, everyone grew up with an idea on how to get rid of an illness without the use of medicine. For instance, if someone has a nosebleed how do you stop it? Many people believe that lying down is one way, others to pour water over your head and pinch your nose with a wet towel and remain standing. There†s not an exact way. Probably all of them work. It†s just that most of us have been custom to one of these methods, and will not use any other one. It†s just the way we were brought up. Likewise, the Navajos didn†t want to try nothing new. Their beliefs and morals don†t allow it. The only thing left to do is to pursue your values and principles. The Navajo†s struggle for survival depended not only on resistance by their part but also the strategies that they used to attain it. Their primary objective was to survive. They accomplished this by many â€Å"patterns,† but one of those patterns stands out the most. The idea of â€Å"resistance. † They resisted â€Å"formal education,† â€Å"barrack housing,† and â€Å"Anglo medical treatment. † By refusing these ideas, many of them had to perform such tasks that would bring shame, not only to them but to their families too, just to survive. Many women became prostitutes, while others Navajos forged coupons, raided the camps but also fleeing from them, and performed ceremonies for spiritual cleansing. All of these activities played a big role in trying to change the way the Navajos lived their lives. Forcing someone to change, or to mold them in something they are not, will result in confrontation. That is why the experiment at Bosque Redondo failed to work. Gen. Carlton forced the Navajos to become â€Å"civilized† against their will, and in return was confronted and his ideas were retaliated. It was the only way that the Navajos could prevent the â€Å"white† people from forcing them to change their lifestyle, morals, beliefs, and tradition. So in conclusion, the Navajos† actions can be considered â€Å"resistance,† due to the evidence provided.

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine essays

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine essays Three years after the Allied victory of World War II and the tragic details of the Holocaust were revealed to the world, the United Nations recognized Israel as an independent state on May 15th, 1948. Ilan Pappe's The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is a revisionist work that aims to reveal, as Pappe believes, the true narrative of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. His main thesis is that David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, and other Jewish leaders planned and executed a detailed and brutal ethnic cleansing of the Arab population residing in Palestine. Pappe contends that the plan, entitled Plan D or Plan Dalet, was carefully crafted for the Hagana, the precursor to the Israeli army, to carry out even before the British Mandate was lifted and UN Partition went into effect. He contends that early Zionists are mainly to blame for violence towards the Arabs, and that in discussing the events of 1948, the "ethnic cleansing paradigm" should replace the "paradigm of war" when researching and discussing what is at the ideological core of such events.[1] Benny Morris, another revisionist historian wrote the precursor to Pappe's work in 1987, entitled The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. He states that Morris used the "war paradigm" to describe the events of 1948, and that evicting Arabs from their homeland was inevitable. It is evident in the Preface that Pappe's work is a move further away from the Zionist narrative, one closer to Morris', in comparison to that of his own work to He claims the previous revisionist works, particularly Morris's, are incomplete based on the fact that Morris relied mainly on Israeli documents and did not include Arab or oral sources. Based on his research, he contends that uprooting Palestinians began before Israel was an official state and new borders for Israel were drawn. He uses other historians' work as a reference when explaining...

buy custom Law of Purchasing and Supply essay

buy custom Law of Purchasing and Supply essay Question 1 Subject to sale of goods Act, there is no disguised condition as to the quality of any particular purpose of goods supplied. The rule of Caveat Emptor which in simple terms means buyers beware is greatly applied in sale of goods contracts. However, when the sale in question is made by description, the rule is departed in favor of the rule for goods sold by description. The latter rule states that goods sold by description should meet the description thereof or else, the buyer has the right to repudiate the contract. In this case, the car sold did not correspond to the description and the plaintiff (buyer) could therefore maintain an action against the defendant (seller). Case Law Grant v Australian knitting Mills Ltd (1936). The plaintiff went to the defendants shop and asked for a pair of long wooden underwear. The goods were displayed on the counter before him and a sales assistant selected a pair which he bought. The underwear contained an excess of sulphite and the plaintiff contracted dermatitis after wearing it. Held: the chemical should have been removed before the underwear was sold. The defendant was therefore liable. Sues Luxury Cars (SLC) will be held liable for the negligent advice that Tina gave to Richard as implied in the warranty of disclosing the dangerous nature of the goods to the ignorant buyer. Tina breached s13. As in the case, Oscar Chess v Williams, the descriptive statement which is part of s13 is incorporated into the contract. In case they knew that the car was not defective, and its sign was not the actual one and that Richard is ignorant of the condition of the car thus; they are held liable for not warning Richard of the probable danger. Question 2 One of the essentials of a valid contract is the existence of offer and acceptance. In this case, MHL offered cottage. This was a conditional offer as some conditions had to be fulfilled for the contract to become binding. Paul and Richard indeed complied with the conditions and the contract therefore became binding. It is imperative to know that though an offer made through post becomes effective when the letter is received by the offeree, acceptance by post becomes effective from the time the acceptance letter is posted and not when the letter is actually received by the offeror. In the case at hand therefore, Paul and Richard, having posted the acceptance letter before the offer could lapse, had bound MHL. They can therefore maintain a legal action against MHL for letting the room in question. The fact that MHL had not received the letter of acceptance and the money is no defense in law. Case Law The case in Byrnev. Van Tien Hoven: it was held that the acceptance was effective when the plaintiffs posted their letter on October 11th in New York although the defendants in Cardiff were not aware of the posting. Upon suing for damage, Paul and Richard are entitled to recover a reasonable amount for the expenses incurred. They are also entitled to the down payment they had made. Question 3 Petrolheads would be held liable for the damages caused to Sue. In this scenario, the rule of vicarious liability is applicable. The rule states that an employer is liable for the torts committed by his servant provided they are working in the course of their employmment. The employee who caused injury to Sue was acting in the course of his employment and this makes his employer liable thereof. Case Laws In Lloyd v Grace Smith CO 1912 A.C. 716, the plaintiff had sought advice from the defendants, a firm of solicitors whose managing clerk conducted conveyancing work without supervision. He advised the plaintiff to sell some property fraudulently persuading her to sign certain document that transferred the property to him. He disposed of it and kept the proceeds. Held: even though the fraud had not been committed for the benefit of the employers, nevertheless, they were liable for the clerk had been placed in a position to carry over such work and had acted throughout in the course of his employment. Furthermore, when they put their notice, they dont specify to their customers what may cause harm to them while within their premises so that necessary precautions may be laid down. When Trevor, an employee, knock Sue down, he should be held liable for his negligence. He should do what a reasonable persons needs to do while discharging his duty. Petrolheads cannot exclude or restrict liability for negligence even though Sue was aware of the notice. Being aware of the terms in it should not be taken as indicating his voluntary acceptance of any risk. A person cannot so exclude his liability for negligence except in so far as the notice made satisfies the requirement of reasonableness. In this case, Perolheads cannot protect Trevor for his negligence, hence, he should be held liable for the damages caused. Petrolheads should be held liable for the duty of care for the occupiers of their premises, so Sue is entitled for the damages caused to him by Trevor. Buy custom Law of Purchasing and Supply essay

Promote Your Content Marketing

Promote Your Content Marketing We all want more visitors, more audience, and more traffic to our blog, but how will they all  find us? These days everyone is creating content, which is only compounding the problem. Isnt it impossible to  stand out from the masses and become a high-traffic blog? Its not impossible–your blog can stand out–but you need to become a public relations (PR) wizard in order to do it. One of the big secrets to understanding how blogs grow is to know the difference between PR and promotion. Without understanding the difference between the two,  the result is wasted  efforts to promote and grow your blog that feel random and without a solid strategy.  For example,  while it may make sense to write a guest post, does it really make sense to write a guest post for that particular blog? And, if I write a guest post for that blog, what topic should I write about for the best  advantage? This is where a clarity between promotion PR comes in handy. Let’s take a look. A successful blog is one that knows the difference between PR and Promotion.The Difference Between Blog Promotion And PR Promotion is what we usually think about when we talk about building traffic for our blog. Promotion is: Getting people to read your content by stimulating demand for your content across a variety of channels. On the flip side, PR is: Getting people to respect what you  have to say, and ensuring that  the overall company has a  strong public image and an abundance of  good will. In some ways, blog promotion is about the short(er) term click-throughs and links, where as blog PR is about building a long-lasting reputation as the go-to blog for expert information. For example: The Moz Blog  as the go-to SEO blog Social Media Examiner as the go-to blog for social media Copyblogger  as the  go-to blog for  copywriting Inbound Hub  as the go-to blog for inbound marketing So, how do these blogs do it? Easy! All it takes is a relentless focus on both blog promotion and blog PR. Let’s take a look at how they are different. Blog promotion is something that we talk about often here at . We advocate several strategies like email marketing, a social media promotion schedule, and repurposing your content, but there is even more to think about. I tend to look at it as four  different layers of blog promotion. 1. Owned Channels The first layer is made of up of your own channels. These might be a huge  email marketing list, a great social media presence, and  a  thorough  social media promotion schedule. These are your own channels, and they are only  the tip of the iceberg for promoting your content. 2. Earned  Channels The earned channel is made up of the various social sharing done  by your audience. This includes social media shares, nomination style distribution outlets like Inbound.org or Buffer Daily, and link-backs from other bloggers. This is primarily driven by high quality content that is easy to share. 3. Paid  Channels While  often ignored, paid promotion channels can bring a good boost to any blog, and are a good means of promotion. Great examples of this include Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon and Reddit. 4. Syndication  Channels Reposting (or repurposing) your content on other sites is also a great promotion strategy. Examples of this include allowing your content to be reposted on another blog, or recreating content in a new form such as SlideShare are podcast topic. Blog PR is an entirely different process than promotion with a very different goal. Blog PR tends to focus on the long term strategy. I like to think of it like this: blog promotion aims for clicks, shares, and traffic, while PR   aims for expertise, trust, and good will. It may sound hard put into action, but it really isn’t. The layers of PR   can be broken down into different audience groups like the following: 1. Subscribing Audience The first layer in your PR   strategy is definitely your current audience. This should be easy, since they are already â€Å"true believers.† You will primarily reach this group with your owned channels, and you job is basically to just not screw things up. 2. Emergent Audience The second layer of PR   is made up of the â€Å"sometimes audience members that are familiar with you, but haven’t become a â€Å"true believer† yet. These members may have visited your site once or twice, but are not yet a subscriber. These are a  common audience type for content marketing, as explained here by Rand Fishkin. 3.  Influencers The influencers layer is made up of the  connectors that already know and are connected with the people you should be talking to. You need to  cross-pollinate with these groups. Influencers help you bridge the gap between yourself and new audiences. This can be accomplished through strategic partnerships, and even the â€Å"expert† posts that bring influencers together. 4. Permitter Audience I am going to dig into this strategy a bit more later on, but the permitter audience is composed of various audience segments that you ultimately want to reach. A lot of people talk about how to understand your audience  in blogging, but they don’t always discuss how to reach these people in a practical way. This is where a strong guest blogging strategy comes into play. How  Audience Building Really Works Looking at the layers of PR   above, it is pretty easy to see how a blog audience growth works. The big idea here is to turn permitter audience members into subscribing audience members by working them through the PR process. A great way to do this is with a strategic guest blogging strategyby guest blogging. Here’s how. First, group your audience into a set of audience segments. If you need to better understand your audience, there are many ways that you can learn about them using things like Google analytics and other methods. As example of this can been seen in a few audience segments that we have here at . These audience segments could be considered your ‘permitter audience. Once you have your audience segments identified, you need to find blogs that are already serving these groups. These are the influencers that I mentioned above. They will be able to connect you with the people that you really want to talk to. From there, begin reaching out the appropriate blogs, and provide them with awesome content that will both benefit their audience and help grow yours. It should begin to look like a wheel. Each guest post will connect you to these audiences, and help define your PR strategy. Since you are not being paid to blog, you will be building good will and recognition with the very audience that you are hoping to serve as subscribers. While this isn’t a ‘get tons-of-emails quick’ strategy, it is definitely a great way to grow your influence and your long term growth. As your permitter audience is exposed to you over and over again, you will build the trust and pull necessary for them to look into what you have to offer.

INTRO to SOCIOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

INTRO to SOCIOLOGY - Essay Example Such perspectives may be thought of as certain models of social reality. Indeed, each theoretical perspective offers general postulates about the way society works, and for this purpose tries to correspondingly interpret numerous facts of a societys functioning and development. As with other models which human beings employ for understanding the world, like in science, philosophy, and in our everyday goings-on, sociological perspectives construct models with the aim to uncover the meaning of what we regularly witness around us. However, particular models often tend to highlight some specific characteristics of the complex social network of interdependencies, and thus turn out to accentuate different elements of a societys structure and functioning. Some perspectives even proclaim the refusal to accept the indisputable universal validity of offered perspectives as such. In general, while such narrow focuses of sociological perspectives may be quite warranted if we consider that they h elp to concentrate the research on one problem or a set of closely-related problems for their proper clarification, there is a flip side of a coin as hardly any concrete theoretical sociological perspective may be righteously considered to be the best one. The reason for this is not only in the fact that conscious contraction of research space to one particular perspective makes the investigation inherently limited. After all, this limitation can be mitigated by addressing many alternative perspectives which in combination may produce a more coherent picture of social phenomena. The more subtle problem is rather in the limitations of sociological perspectives due to their mostly theoretical background which, if due to some reason it lags behind the actual social tendencies, may hinder productive efforts to build the most adequate model of social reality. Still, this problem seems to be inevitable in our dynamic social environment with its unprecedented level of change in many sphere s of our life. Nevertheless, this should not discourage us from attempts to achieve the proper level of understanding of the roots and hidden driving forces behind existing social problems with the help of sociological perspectives. Rather, with the above considerations in mind we should be able to properly see when different sociological perspectives can be effectively employed, and which strong and weak points each of them contains. For this purpose, let us overview the so-called conflict and symbolic interactionist sociological perspectives, and identify a social problem which can be analysed with the help of those perspectives. Theorists of the conflict perspective are interested in the macro level of society and see it not as a solidary formation but as a battle-field for power struggles. Under this view, people are not really co-operating for social benefits, but instead are advancing their particular interests at the expense of other people. The notion of power plays a major role here, and can be defined as the ability of a person, or a group of persons, to fulfil their own will regardless of the existing disagreement of other people who are involved in their actions. Marx is a famous conflict theorist who viewed the conflict between classes as

Military discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Military discourse - Essay Example It is inevitable rivalries will arise due to the intense competitive and fighting spirit of all military personnel that results from the very nature of their jobs. In this regard, this paper will examine some of the unique military discourses of the Ground Forces of the Army to which I belonged. The Ground Forces of any armed forces is usually the biggest and most well-funded unit of the military service of a country. This is because it forms the bulk of military personnel needed to fight a war which is usually fought on land. Because of their size, members of the Ground Forces feel a sense of entitlement and priority when it comes to military appropriation for their budget such as that used for the acquisition of weaponry. The nature of war makes it imperative for a military unit to be flexible which is why it happens there is an overlap of the functions of each service. When this happens, rivalries arise due to encroachment of functions and a threat to a service branchs primary responsibilities. The rivalry can intensify to a point of being destructive such as a lack of cooperation although it can improve the esprit de corps. Obedience – being a member of the Ground Forces, I was witness to many of its rules regarding military discipline to maintain unit cohesion. Discipline is the backbone by which the ranked hierarchy is being reinforced daily through total obedience. Discipline is instilled in all recruits right from the very beginning, at the start of their training. The most important rule to remember is the notion of â€Å"obey first before you complain† which is second nature to every military person.

Introductory Speech for Speech Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Introductory Speech for Speech Class - Essay Example 3. Today I am going to tell you about the three main chapters in my life. I will talk about kindergarten and junior school years, and the happy times I had over all that time. I guess you could call that part an adventure story. Then there is my high school, which I would describe as something of a horror story. Finally, there is the latest, unfinished chapter about my studies at college which I would call an uplifting story. Altogether, then, my life has had three very different chapters so far, and I will now tell you the story of my adventures in chapter one, my scary years in chapter two and the uplifting years of chapter three. [body: chapter 1] Once upon a time there was a little boy called Joshua Ono. He was born and raised in the most beautiful place in the world, Honolulu, Hawaii. He was very much loved by both his parents, and grew up with a deep respect for nature and a fondness for his Mom’s cooking. In kindergarten, he learned to dance and sing to the music of the islands. Joshua was a happy child, and he was known for his habit of singing all day long, even when he was supposed to be concentrating on his learning. At the age of five, Joshua thought that he could do anything he wanted in the world. He had confidence in himself and he enjoyed playing with a large numbers of friends. Life was good and everything started out with high hopes. As you see, chapter one of my life was like a long sunny day, with a beautiful blue sky and plenty of love and laughter. It was not long, however, before some dark clouds appeared on the horizon and things change for little Joshua. [body chapter two] When I was about ten years old we had a very strict teacher for math, and I really didn’t get along with her at all. From the very first day we met, I had the feeling that things were going to be difficult between us, that is exactly how it turned out. I became a restless student, spending more time with my guitar, meeting up with friends, than with my b ooks. My grades suffered, and of course my parents were disappointed with me. For a couple of years I lost my way, and in the end I opted for the G.E.D. and left the high school. I never was a traditional student, but I enjoyed non-traditional learning and expressing myself. I remember thinking at the time that some people looked down on me and thought I was a failure because I didn’t stay on to complete my qualifications there. These were dark days for me, and I prefer not to think about them, other than to remind myself that this horror is now over, and I have been able to make a fresh start. This brings me to my final chapter, the third episode in my life. The stormclouds cleared, and I walked into the whole new world of adult life. [body chapter 3] Two years ago I joined Kapiolani Community College and this has been exactly what I needed to get my life back on track. I met new friends and found that the more relaxed environment suited my thoughtful temperament. For some r eason there was no longer a conflict between schoolwork and leisure time, and finally I have learned to find a balance between the two. I work hard during the day, and then plan my new band in the evenings. I see that there are many different paths that a young person can choose in life, and I have chosen to aim for a career in nursing. This has lifted me up in so many ways, and I am so glad to be focused and ready to use my creative

China and tibet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

China and tibet - Essay Example Tibetans say that China has snatched their independence making their culture, language and religion sink. Moreover, they say that Chinese troops have killed thousands of Tibetans since 1950. â€Å"The groups also claim Tibetans have gradually become the minority population in their own homeland† (Armstrong). Tensions went high in 2008 when a protest led by Tibetans in Lhasa turned into violent riots. Tibetan mobs started burning shops, buses and assets of ethnic Chinese. The government of China ordered its security forces to handle the situation. A clash occurred between Tibetans and the security forces, which resulted in a number of deaths. Tibetan exiles claimed that Chinese forces killed nearly 200 Tibetans, whereas the government denied this by saying that only 22 people were killed in the incident and most of them were Chinese civilians. Since then, the tensions have been high in China. The present situation is that Tibetans have contacted the international community to put pressure on the government of China. However, the government of China does not seem to listen to the concerns of Tibetans at all. Armstrong, Paul. â€Å"Whats behind Chinas Tibetan unrest?.† CNN.com, 31 Jan. 2012 Web. 02 Apr. 2012.

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example In order to create a new business opportunity, entrepreneurs must be able to combine and align the small firm’s available resources, business opportunity that comes along the way, and the people who are working for the business organization towards a specific organizational goal (Wickham, 2004, Ch. 18 – Seeing the Window: Scanning for Opportunity). In other words, each entrepreneur must have their own way of developing a business strategy so as to increase the competitiveness of a small firm. As part of designing a business strategy, the future entrepreneurs are being challenged in terms of effectively distinguish whether or not a small firm’s network is more important than finance and vice versa. For the purpose of this study, the definition of network and finance will first be provided followed by discussing the significance of each factor over the success of a small firm. general, networking is actually referring to the process of developing and using a wide-range of business contacts and establishing a mutually beneficial business relationship with other businessmen as a way to enhance the operation and profitability of a small business organization (Ward, 2009). By improving the business network of a small firm, entrepreneurs can easily increase the profitability and competitiveness of the business organization. Kelley Robertson is the president of Robertson Training Group which aids businesses on how to increaset the company’s sales and profitsbility via busienss networking. According to Robertson (2009), â€Å"sales are frequently developed through the relationships we have created with other people†. For instance: A business networking related to marketing could open up new sales opportunities between two business people who has a common interest in doing business. By gathering a wide-range of business network, a small firm will be able to deliver its product and services using tie-ups with other related

Research Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment - Research Paper Example Therefore, arguments that Information technology has lost its strategic value are baseless. According to Carr, companies were investing too much of their resources on IT (Carr, 2003). He therefore argued that it’s the high time that they turn their focus on risks rather than competitive advantage. However, this is not the case. After the entry of information technology, there was a boom as each company wanted to align itself effectively in the market. At the same time, globalization intensified as a result of liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies. Consequently, companies were expanding their markets and operations in order to expand their sources of revenues. Therefore, they needed the necessary IT to enable them to monitor and manage various operations by the subsidiaries. This increased the demand. However, over the years, companies have reduced their spending on IT and have now focused on improving the existing infrastructure. Therefore, it is not right to argue that the value of information technology has diminish ed. On the contrary, new firms still invest heavily on IT. Nevertheless, with time they reduced this spending spree and focus on training and equipping their subordinates with the necessary skills to enable them maximize the returns through the use of IT. Carr argues that the greatest IT risk is overspending (Carr, 2003). He states that this puts the company at a cost disadvantage. However, this is not the case with the changes being experienced in the market. Initially, there were only few firms in the market. However, with the increasing levels of liberalization, multinational companies have entered different markets across the world in order to reduce the risks and uncertainties associated with concentrating on a single market. Research indicates that these companies

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example In order to create a new business opportunity, entrepreneurs must be able to combine and align the small firm’s available resources, business opportunity that comes along the way, and the people who are working for the business organization towards a specific organizational goal (Wickham, 2004, Ch. 18 – Seeing the Window: Scanning for Opportunity). In other words, each entrepreneur must have their own way of developing a business strategy so as to increase the competitiveness of a small firm. As part of designing a business strategy, the future entrepreneurs are being challenged in terms of effectively distinguish whether or not a small firm’s network is more important than finance and vice versa. For the purpose of this study, the definition of network and finance will first be provided followed by discussing the significance of each factor over the success of a small firm. general, networking is actually referring to the process of developing and using a wide-range of business contacts and establishing a mutually beneficial business relationship with other businessmen as a way to enhance the operation and profitability of a small business organization (Ward, 2009). By improving the business network of a small firm, entrepreneurs can easily increase the profitability and competitiveness of the business organization. Kelley Robertson is the president of Robertson Training Group which aids businesses on how to increaset the company’s sales and profitsbility via busienss networking. According to Robertson (2009), â€Å"sales are frequently developed through the relationships we have created with other people†. For instance: A business networking related to marketing could open up new sales opportunities between two business people who has a common interest in doing business. By gathering a wide-range of business network, a small firm will be able to deliver its product and services using tie-ups with other related

Financial management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Financial management - Essay Example Additionally, share of both companies Aguia and Pomba if traded in a perfect market, investors get significant choices to make preferred investment plans. Moreover, the capital structure of Aguia, which compose of both equity and debts and Pomba of all equity finance, will significantly affect the decisions of the investor prior to investing the share of any of these two companies. In the general context, stock investor’s takes there investment priority based on the strong fundamental aspects and strong balance sheet of the company. Moreover, the strength of the balance sheet will be evaluated not only based on the working capital adequacy or the positioning of asset but also the capital structure. Capital structure also plays a fundamental role. Additionally, the capital structure of the company will provide signal to the investors regarding the valuation of the company in the marketplace. For instance, company readily makes the decision to exchange part of debt in respect of the equity. This will likely increase the value of the firm and reduce the possibility of risk, as it will provide the signal in the market that the firm debt capacity have significantly increased. Furthermore, in the context it can be affirmed that the leveraged and unleveraged firm have different feature, characteristics, advantage, and disadvantages. For instance, having capital structure with debts involves obligations to payback interest. On the other hand, equity involves high cost and return to satisfy the shareholders. Moreover, in the case of perfect market investor’s will be in a position to analyze the market and the share prices with the available information. This can be done with the assistance of various technical analytical tools to identify the risk and return trade off in taking investment decision (Masulis, 1980). Correspondingly, if share of Aguia and Pomba is

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance Introduction Nowadays, it is very difficult to find dedicated employees who could be relied on when the going gets tough. It takes an encouraging supervisor to motivate an employee to stay on his job position and to do his job well. Likewise, it takes a committed worker to persist in his job no matter how difficult it may be, as long as he is properly motivated and satisfied with his job. Just what makes a worker motivated to do his job well? What makes him satisfied in his job? This paper attempts to investigate the aforementioned questions within a certain corporation, Reliance Industries, Ltd. It will take on a qualitative study. It will be employing the use of questionnaires and a focus group interview to probe into the issues of job motivation and job satisfaction and if this translates to performance and efficiency. Research Objectives: The objectives of the study will be: To examine the strategies that organisations use to motivate their employees To explore the relationship between employee motivation and job satisfaction. To examine organisational performance and efficiency. To examine organisational performance and efficiency entails. To examine the impact of employee job satisfaction and motivation on organisational performance and efficiency. Statement of the Problem: How does employee job satisfaction and motivation affect his performance and efficiency in the organization? The study will seek to answer the following questions: What are the strategies that organisations use to motivate their employees? What is the correlation between employee motivation and job satisfaction? What is organisational performance and efficiency? What does organisational performance and efficiency entail? What is the impact of employee job satisfaction and motivation on organisational performance and efficiency? Research Methodology Data collection will be carried out by use of questionnaires. A focus group interview shall be implemented so that a selected group of employees can give in-depth answers to issues pertaining to job satisfaction and motivation and how it affects their own performance and efficiency. It will also draw out much information from the thorough review of literature, so analysis of the results of the questionnaire and interview will be done in the backdrop of a rich tapestry of motivation models and principles. Descriptive research design will then be used where qualitative analysis will be made basing on the variables that aim at examining the impact of employee job satisfaction and motivation on organisational performance and efficiency. This is because descriptive methods are quite effective in identifying concrete socio-economic issues such as the impact of employee job satisfaction and motivation on  organisational performance and efficiency (Silverman 1993; Beverley 1998; Strauss and Corbin 1990). Significance of the Study The study aims to benefit organizational development purposes, specifically the human resources department. A thorough review of literature on motivation shall be done explaining theories, models and principles of how an individual is encouraged to do something for himself and for others. This research will enlighten employers on how to motivate their employees so they do better in their jobs and result in job satisfaction on the part of the latter. It becomes an win-win situation for everyone concerned if motivation is appropriate and effective and will elicit initiative on the part of the employee. Chapter Two Review of Literature Motivation comes from the enjoyment of work itself and from the desire to achieve goals set by the person (Dawson, 2009). Each individual has different goals. Some are financial, like working longer hours for extra income or exerting more effort just to push sales. Some set their sights on a promotion of rank believing that if they do well on their jobs and accept the challenge of more responsibilities that eventually, they level up to a position of more power and authority. This paper argues the need for employers to understand how their workers are motivated and how they can use such information to produce better results for the organization. Knowledge of employee motivation is an advantage for employers. When this knowledge is applied, it becomes a win-win situation for both parties since the employees are motivated to pursue shared organizational goals while the employer encourages the productivity in his organization. Handy (1999) reports that the initial goals of motivation research was to encourage individuals to provide better service to their employers by exerting more effort and maximizing their talents at work. Having a well-motivated workforce may be equivalent to better work productivity and success in product salability in the market. Additional advantages are lower level of absenteeism and staff turnovers because the employees are satisfied with their work. This also means that training and recruitment costs are lowered because work positions are always reliably staffed (Dawson, 2009). Douglas McGregors Theory X and Y gained much attention in the 1960s. He claimed that an individual falls under either of 2 categories, X or Y. The X individual needs a lot of controlling, directing, coercion and thereat just so he gets work done. On the other hand, individuals under Theory Y do not see work as tedious and instead, commits to the goals they have set. Meeting these goals becomes the reward in itself. The average individual stays in the middle ground. He prefers to be directed and avoids responsibility as much as he can. However, when left with no choice, he learns to accept it and carry it out. Further, even if imagination or creativity is widely distributed across the population, individual potentials of people are only partially used in work (Dawson, 2009). This now begs the question of how employers can find employees who fall under the Theory Y category, those who are motivated enough to give their best to the job. Other early motivation theories include the Satisfaction Theory, the Incentive Theory and the Intrinsic Theory. The Satisfaction theory posits that a satisfied worker works even harder and proves his loyalty to the organization he belongs to by staying longer there. Who would want to leave a work environment that provides satisfaction? If one is happy there, there would be little no motivation to leave, and utmost motivation to stay on. The Incentive theory claims that an individual will increase his efforts to obtain a reward, which are mostly compensation packages such as salary increases or access to more company benefits. The Intrinsic theory is culled from Maslows theory of Hierarchy of Needs. He categorized human needs as hierarchal from the basic physiological needs moving to safety, belongingness and love, esteem and finally self-actualization. Maslow contends that these needs serve as motivators (Handy, 1999). For example, a man is motivated to work to earn money for his fam ily to provide for their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. However, as the man becomes richer and is able to meet his and his familys physiological and safety needs, he ensures that his higher needs are likewise met. As one level of needs is met, the individuals needs move up to the next level until he has met most of his needs and just strives for self-actualization. As an application to work, an employee likewise moves up the organizational ladder and strives to reach the highest position he can achieve. At that point, he is earning enough money, has gained enough belongingness and recognition and as a reflection of his need for self-actualization, is motivated to leave a legacy behind. In relation to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory, a real-life example from the international company, IKEA, is illustrated. This Scandanavian-based company is known to be the largest supplier and manufacturer of furniture worldwide. In 2004, IKEA in Denmark took the initiative to give their entire checkout staff a 25% raise. IKEA has more of them than any other group and it meant a sizeable increase in total monthly overhead expenses. However, it was a business decision that delighted the checkout staff. It follows that happy employees are bound to create positive results for the company (Kjerulf, n.d.). One is lower employee turnover. This provides tremendous savings for the company of time and money recruiting new staff. It also means that the longer workers stay with a company, the more experienced they become and the more they identify with the company. Hence, the company develops a more experienced and loyal staff. Being so, they provide better service, gaining higher customer s atisfaction. The companys reputation of providing high quality of service to its customers is spreads rapidly by word of mouth, thereby incurring more sales and profit for the company. Although IKEA incurred a humongous expense with the implementation of the raise, it paid itself within six months. Analyzing why this worked for IKEA, Kjerulf gives three reasons. The first is that the raise obviously gave the staff a significant improvement in their standard of living. The recipients were the least paid in the company, so a 25% raise made a huge difference in terms of their quality of life. Secondly, the salary increase gave people recognition. IKEA acknowledged that they were the most important group of employees since they are the only employees customers are likely to talk to at the end of the sale because customers help themselves with the products anyway. This acknowledgement makes the checkout staff feel valued and trusted. Finally, IKEA promoted the value of fairness. The recipients of the raise were suddenly paid as well as other employees, and even higher than the market average of their counterparts. So it is not really the salary increase that motivated the employees. More than that, they gained much in terms of self-esteem and the feeling of being valued as a worker. Albert Martens, one of IKEAs HR heads posits that giving financial incentive to staff does not actually increase the motivation of a worker who values customer-focused attitude more than money. Because they feel important due to such great service given them, customers come back not only for the quality of IKEAs products but for the kind of service they get from the staff. The staff in turn, gets intrinsically rewarded by this (Whitehead, 2006). According to Judge et al. (2001) the happier people are in the workplace, the more satisfied they are. Weiss (2002) and Rain et al. (1991) concur with this argument that employee job satisfaction and employee motivation are clearly linked. Rain et al. (1991) and Fried and Ferris (1987, pp. 287-322) agree with Porter (1997) that human resources are the most important assets that any organisation can boast to own and to maintain because people utilise and turn the organisations resources into products that the organisation needs in order to perform and to efficiently and effectively meet the needs of its customers. Workers expect some sort of psychological contracts from their employers. Consciously or unconsciously, they anticipate more than the benefits and compensation that the job usually presents. Workers expect support from management, work that is challenging and interesting and communication that is open and honest. These non-monetary rewards have become very significant to the motivation of workers. Of course their economical needs have to be fulfilled (as in the basic physiological and security needs in Maslows Hierarchy of Needs), however, their socio-emotional needs have to be given attention as well (as in the sense of belonging and esteem needs referred to by Maslow). Lester, Clair Kickul (2001) contend that the implication of this is that from the beginning, employers do not only discuss the workers compensation package also emphasize the aspects of the company that will be intrinsically satisfying to the workers. Money and other status symbols like higher job positions and titles, more spacious and opulent offices, and the like do not really increase ones motivation (Kohn, 1999). This may seem unbelievable, but each time a person is extrinsically-rewarded for doing something, it reduces their intrinsic motivation. Employers need to remember that intrinsic motivation spurs an individual to perform well and to high standards because the person does something on his own volition and commits to doing his best in the task (Kjerulf, n.d.). It is essential that employers realize the importance of such psychological contracts! They should keep in mind that all employees desire work that is meaningful, recognition and credit for such work, creative freedom and opportunities for personal growth. As a start, open and honest communication must be established and maintained in the organization. This must include encouragement and boosting of self-esteem of workers. Lack of communication may suggest to employees that the employer is susceptible to breach their psychological contract. Porter (1997) asserts that job satisfaction is a key indicator of how employees feel about their jobs and a predictor of work behaviours such as organisational loyalty, absenteeism and employee turnover. Fried and Ferris (1987, pp. 287-322) concur with Porters view that job satisfaction can partially mediate the relationship of personality variables and deviant work behaviours. According to Weiss (2002, pp. 173-194) and Porter (1997), there exists a huge correlation between job satisfaction and productivity. Job satisfaction amongst employees of Reliance Industries as a result of effective motivation packages has increased growth due to the commitment that workers exercise. According to Reliance Industries Limited (2010), this has come as a result of various motivation packages such as competitive compensation packages and world-class exposures that offer employees opportunities to learn and experience the world. Porter (1997) states that one source of an organisations competitive advantage is job satisfaction. Reliance Industries Limited recognises this and that is the reason why the company walks an extra mile to ensure that employees are satisfied on the job and this has enabled it to attract and retain excellent talent that places the company at a more competitive position that has enabled it to invest in innovative and lucrative ventures in areas such as Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), bio-technology-led research, life sciences and many more (Forbes 2010; Reliance Ind ustries Limited 2010). Investment of more time and effort in the establishment and sustenance of healthy relationships with workers keeps employers updated of their workers progress in both personal and professional areas. Motivating workers can be a challenge for leaders. However, it is well worth the time and effort in the end, as the workers themselves will bear fruits for the organization. Introduction About Chosen Organisation (Reliance Industries) Reliance Industries Limited was founded in 1966 by Dhirubhai Ambani, the Indian industrialist and was the pioneer in the introduction of financial instruments such as fully convertible debentures into the Indian stock markets (Forbes 2010). It is alleged by critics that the success of Reliance Industries Limited at the top position in terms of market capitalisation is the ability of the founder to manipulate the levers of a controlled economy to its advantage. The major subsidiaries and associates of Reliance Industries Limited include Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL); Reliance Life Sciences; Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited (RIIL); Reliance Institute of Life Sciences (Rils); Relicord; Reliance Solar; Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS); Reliance Logistics (P) Limited (Cable News Network 2010). Reliance Industries Limited has 3 million shareholders and 1 out of every 4 investors in India is a Reliance shareholder (Cable News Network 2010). This makes it the company the organisation in which most stock is widely held in the whole world. According to Forbes (2010), the subsidiaries and associates of Reliance Industries Limited are the best performers in the Indian stock market. By market value, Reliance Industries Limited is the largest private sector company in India with an annual turnover of US$ 44 billion and profit of US$ 3.6 billion for the year ending in March 2010 and assets valued at US$ 43.61 (Forbes 2010). The company is ranked at 264th position in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2009 and at the 126th position in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2010 (Cable News Network 2010; Forbes 2010). Reliance Industries Limited is one of the main players in the oil and petrochemicals industry in India. Although the companys main focus is oil, it has diversified its operations in recent times as a result of severe differences between the founders sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani after the company was divided between them in 2006 (Cable News Network 2010). Chapter Three Methodology Strauss and Corbin (1990) stated that qualitative research is any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification. Glesne (1999) stated that qualitative researchers seek out a variety of perspectives; they do not reduce the multiple interpretations to a norm. Strauss and Corbin (1990) claimed that qualitative methods can be used to better understand any phenomenon about which little is yet known. They can also be used to gain new perspectives on things about which much is already known, or to gain more in-depth information that may be difficult to convey quantitatively, or where the researcher has determined that quantitative measures cannot adequately describe or interpret a situation. a. Questionnaires The use of questionnaires as a means of collecting data from the research participants, with an aim in obtaining their personal views on job satisfaction and motivation and how it affects their performance and efficiency has been selected for this particular research. (Campbell et al., 2004) describe questionnaires as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a very versatile data-gathering method; they are cheap, easy to administer, whether it be to three people or 300, and can be used to gather a great variety of data of both quantitative and qualitative nature. (Campbell et al., 2004, p. 146). Cohen et al. (2000) also praise the use of questionnaires for their efficiency. They allow an efficient use of the researchers time, as they can collect a significant amount of information in one attempt, rather than conducting interviews over a period of weeks. Gillham (2000) also highlights that questionnaires make efficient use of the respondents time, as they can complete the questionnaire at a time that is suita ble to them and does not require the researcher and respondent to match free periods of time to conduct the research. Cohen et al. (2000) and Gillham (2000) emphasize the usefulness of questionnaires for ensuring the participants anonymity, which in this study, may be requested due to its very sensitive and controversial nature. If the respondents cannot be identified, they may be more willing to write about issues and opinions more openly than they would in a face-to-face situation. It could be argued then that questionnaires are therefore most likely to generate more truthful answers as there is no personal contact with the interviewer. However, a disadvantage of using questionnaires is that the only data collected is a variety of tick boxes and brief responses, which means the data tends to have more breadth than depth. This results from the lack of an interviewer to prompt for further information or more detail in their answers, and they cannot interpret questions for the participant who is unclear about what is being asked. This may result in each participant having to decipher what they are being asked independently and may resort to their own subjective understanding of the questions. The following questions will be asked in the questionnaires and will be discussed in detail in a focus group interview conducted later: Are you satisfied with your job right now? Why or why not? What motivates you to do your job well? What are the strategies that your organisations use to motivate their employees? Do you think employee motivation leads to job satisfaction? Explain. How do you define organisational performance and efficiency? What does organisational performance and efficiency entail? How would you rate yourself in terms of job performance and efficiency? What do you think is the impact of employee job satisfaction and motivation on organisational performance and efficiency? b. Interviews To pursue the questions in depth, a selected group of participants who answered the questionnaires will be asked to join a focus group interview. The interview method involves questioning or a discussion of issues with one or more people.   It is useful to collect data which may not be accessible through observation or questionnaires (Blaxter et al, 2006). Robson (2002) points out how the interview is a flexible and adaptable research tool.   In face to face interviews, there is the possibility of following up interesting responses.   Frey and Mertens-Oishi (1995) comment how respondent participation can be enhanced by the interviewer sensitively guiding the questioning, and being able to answer any questions which the respondent may ask.   Oppenheim (1992) suggests that the response rate is higher in interviews than in questionnaires, due to the fact that participants become more involved. c. Qualitative Content Analysis of Literature The content analysis of findings from several studies in the review of literature is another great source of a wealth of information for this current study. Content analysis is a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use (Krippendorff, 2004, p. 18). Constructs researched on and analyzed may be derived from existing theories or practices, the experience or knowledge of experts and previous research (Krippendorff, 2004). Content analysis aims to provide knowledge, new insights, a representation of facts and a practical guide to action (Elo Kyngas, 2008). Qualitative content analysis flows from a humanistic tradition. Replacing hypotheses associated with quantitative research methods are open questions that guide the research and influence the data that are gathered (White and Marsh, 2006). The researcher reads through the data and analyzes them thoroughly to identify concepts and patterns. He or she may discover patterns and concepts that emerge but were not foreshadowed but are nevertheless important to consider and report. For this study, available literature already reports data which has been gathered and analyzed by competent researchers in the field. The researcher is in a position to compare existing literature and discern which information will best answer the questions pertaining to this current research study. Procedure Firstly, permission to conduct the research should be sought from the rightful authorities of Reliance Industries Limited by way of written correspondence. The letter includes the aims and objectives of the study and the methodology to be used. The company will also be assured that they will be furnished a copy of the final research paper. Questionnaires will be distributed to the employees of the company either by hand or by email. Demographic data of the participants shall be collected like their gender, age, civil status and length of time they have served with the company. A small group of 7 to 10 employees shall be randomly selected from the pool of participants to engage in a focus group interview. This small group interview will be to follow up on their responses in the questionnaire and to further probe into their insights regarding motivation and job satisfaction and how these affect their performance and efficiency in their jobs. The focus group interview will be audio-recorded and transcribed in verbatim. The interview questions already stated above will be asked of the participants to guide the flow of the interview and the participants will take turns answering them and responding to others answers as well. An interviewer will be hired to facilitate the interview and may ask follow up questions to clarify some answers. This interviewer will be briefed beforehand on the objectives of the research and how to conduct the focus group interview to elicit candid responses from the participants. The participants are ensured of the confidentiality of their responses as their real names will not be used in reporting the responses as data. This occasion is to give students the opportunity to elaborate and freely express their insights with regard to student-teacher relationships. The focus group discussions are believed to add pertinent information to the study. Data Analysis Responses from the questionnaires and focus group interview will be culled and sorted according to themes that may surface (ex. motivations, company strategies to motivate employees, etc.). Each theme will be analyzed with the backdrop of the information gathered from the literature review.