Expressing your Opinion through Investigation Essay

Expressing your Opinion through Investigation - Essay Example I can personally attest, as many of my other fellow students at the University of Akron, that being in an undergraduate program is difficult financially. If parents are not helping and a student does not have scholarships, tuition, books and money for boarding near campus makes it a financial struggle for many students. This means that many students have to work their way through college on their own while being a student or having to deal with the detrimental finances that student loans can put on an individual after earning a degree. According to a recent update about the College Credit Plus program, the University of Akron is partnering up with at least 50 school districts in the area so that students can earn college credits while enrolled in grades 7 through 12 (2015). That is six years of opportunity that many students have not had before and is a great way to accelerate obtaining an undergraduate degree. While working with teachers at the various school districts, it might give some students more one on one experience with courses which they might otherwise struggle with. Some college courses have often been offered occasionally as a form of dual enrollment in the past but typically it is just open to high school students who are in their junior or senior year and this helps to get them started. According to information from the University of Akron website, the state will provide funding to the university so the students can take these college credit courses. This is a win-win situation because not only are the students getting a jump start on their college courses and getting some of their basic general education classes out of the way so they can focus more on their major when they actually attend college, but the university also receives money from the state just for offering the program. Students who qualify for the program will have access to college courses at a much lower cost per credit hour than a traditional undergraduate

Carnival Corporation Case Study Essay Example for Free

Carnival Corporation Case Study Essay Carnival Corporation as the largest cruise line in the world is being a leader and innovator in the cruise line industry. Many of the onboard activities and services were introduced to strengthen the competencies between competitors. The challenges of the Carnival were being overcome by the management with creative and innovative strategies. As a corporate entity, Carnival did not refuse to withdraw money to settle the ocean pollution charged by public. The expansions of cruise line market via acquisition of a few subsidiaries dominate the cruise line in the world. 1. Strengths (internal factors) First, the largest cruise line in the world, as the leader and innovator in the cruise industry (growth from two converted ocean liners into an organization with multiples cruise lines). Second, the belief of management and Board of Directors that the company will grows better. It motivates the employees to work hard. Third, internal grow in term of vessels that approximately ten vessels are under construction. Fourth, employees loyalty (the longest period employees remain in this organization is around eight years) because Carnival management treating well to their employees in terms of wages). Fifth, creative and innovative corporate officers that is ready to face challenges. Sixth, Carnival has operational experience and economic of scales that causing them to have lowest break even point in the same industry. Weaknesses First, in 1972, the speed of ship was slow. Second, the long-term debt within 1999 and 2001 is increased (the payback of debt may lower the revenue and thus decreasing the dividend payment for shareholders). Third, the expand market (business) of Carnival causing the difficulty in managing the business. Fourth, reducing on net income in 2001 is because of higher costs and expenses. 2. Opportunities (external factors) First, the expansion through acquisition can reduce the competitors in same industry and has the ability to compete with other competitors (lower advertising costs). Second, collaboration with travel agents can promote cruises. Third, the industry is expected to have bright future in passengers, consolidation through mergers, buyout, and smaller cruise operator failure, and the expansion of the industry worldwide. Fourth, expand of target customers from older people to younger people. Fifth, expand of onboard activities (casino, disco, and nightclub). Threats First, terrorist events that were happen in 11 September 2001. Second, negative publicity in 2002 where Carnival subjected by the ocean pollution charges and â€Å"Norwalk-like† virus that affect the cruise industry. Third, the increased of fuel costs and airline costs that affect the industry. Fourth, the failure of Carnival discontinued operations of Fiesta marina Lines that affect the company image. Fifth, Persian Gulf War that was increased competitors in the cruise industry especially in Caribbean area. Sixth, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines had institute a major shipbuilding program that challenges Carnival. The emergence of Walt Disney Company in the cruise market; and the prospect of new ships on the horizon give impact to the â€Å"family† cruise vacation segment. 3. Core competencies Yes, Carnival has core competencies because it is the competency crosses divisional boundaries, Carnival can do exceedingly well, and must continuously reinvest in it: i) Adding diversion onboard – such as disco, nightclubs, casino, and others. Carnival also tries to attract younger cruisers by providing vacation package that included airfare to the port of embarkation and home after the cruise. ii) Product positioning – Carnival believes that cruise market comprised to three segments (contemporary, premium, luxury) with different passenger demographics, characteristics, and growth requirements. iii) Travel agents – collaborate with travel agents to promote cruises. Carnival also training travel agents from nonaffiliated travel firm to sell cruises. 4. Distinctive competencies Yes, Carnival has distinctive competencies because distinctive competency is the superior to those of the competitions and difficult for competitors to compete with Carnival: i) Investment in new ships – Carnival is expanding its internal growth by investing in new ships. The ships under constructions are around 10 vessels. It is difficult for other competitors to invest in these large numbers of ships in same period but Carnival can do. ii) External expansion through acquisitions – Carnival has five subsidiaries that control the major cruise lines in different countries. This causing Carnival becomes as the largest cruise line in the world. 5. What trends are emerging in cruise industry?  i) The adding diversion onboard such as planned activities, disco, nightclubs, casino, and other forms of entertainment activities (different kinds of activities that suitable for different ages of target customers). ii) Moderate priced vacation for younger cruisers that included airfare to the port of embarkation and home after the cruise. iii) All inclusive packages that began with bags were tagged for the ship at the airport, air-conditioned bus, meals, onboard activities, house keeping service, until passengers were transported back to airport. iv) Love story movie such as â€Å"Titanic† and â€Å"Love boat† that promote the romance onboard encouraging couples to join cruise. 6. Marketing strategy i) Price – moderate price (vacation packages) that middle-class clients afford to pay. Prices for different levels of rooms are charged according to the customers needs. ii) Product – vacation package that suitable for the clients aged. Other onboard activities such as casino and disco. The service from picking up the clients at airport to board and dropping clients again at airport. iii) Place – Caribbean ports and other destination such as Walt Disney World, Holland, and Costa, as long as the clients want to go. iv) Promotion – some of the promotions are done by travel agents. The â€Å"Fun Ship† cruise that with designated shipboard party and everyone is welcomed by Carnival is another success promotion. 7. The importance of travel agents The travel agents will help Carnival to promote the cruises as an alternative to Disney or European vacation. For people who never take a cruise in their life, or afraid of taking a flight to the destinations will be attracted. Thus, it shows that the important role of travel agents to Carnival. Besides that, not only attracting clients to take a cruise as the core business, selling cruise is also part of the Carnival business. Thus, Carnival is training travel agents from nonaffiliated travel firms to sell cruise. Because of the attractive benefit in term of money provided by Carnival, in year 2000, Carnival took reservations from about 29000 travel agencies to promote the business. And, it proves that this strategy in promoting cruises either to attract clients boarding the cruise or selling the cruise is succeed. 8. Flight or cruise? We will choose cruise because we have not travel yet to some where by cruise before. i) In our opinion, although the price for a cruise might be higher a bit than to take a flight to Caribbean island that we can afford to pay. By choosing a package for the cruising is worth because there will be variety of services that suitable for us as active younger cruisers rather than just to sit in the flight and we have nothing to do. ii) Even though cruise may take a longer time to reach Caribbean island, the final destination that we will reach is Caribbean island no matter we take a cruise or flight. Thus, we can enjoy the onboard facilities that we have paid for. Disco, nightclubs, gym room, cinema, and casino are the places that we seldom go for but we can enjoy if we take a cruise for this vacation. iii) Cruise is a place that we can relax ourselves since the purpose of travel is to relax our mind. The sea view from a ship can make us happy and reduce our stress. On the other hand, we c an also meet some new friends through this trip. iv) Besides, we can experience some exotic destinations when the cruise will sail in the ports. The cruisers can come down from the vessel and visit some famous spots. Adversely, if we take flight, we can’t visit anywhere except just transit in airport. 9. Evaluation of Carnival’s targeting to specific target market i) Contemporary segment – served by Carnival ships, featured a casual ambiance. ii) Premium segment served by Holland America, for longer market and appealed to more affluent consumers iii) Luxury segment – served by Seabourn and Cunard, catered to experience cruisers. The above are the target market for Carnival. Each segment has different types of costs to be charged to consumers. For the contemporary segment, it is more suitable for family and people who need relaxing during a short period of holidays. The price is cheaper than premium or luxury segment. For the premium segment, it is more suitable for affluent consumers, who need a longer period to relax. It normally targets an older people to board because the facilities in the ship are more suitable for their ages. This segment of cruise will have more cabin or public space per person. In term of price, it is the most expensive and little people can afford to pay. The price for this segment is higher than contemporary segment. Not everyone will prefer this segment of cruise because they need to consider the available time for taking the cruise. The luxury segment targets for extremely rich consumers where they were served as â€Å"king† and â€Å"queen† in the ship. The consumers who taking this segment of cruise can show that they have a higher social status and prestige is the main consider by consumers. 10. Strategic management in Carnival Carnival has a very unique and successful strategic management in cruise industry. During terrorist events in 2001, the world cruise industry was negatively impact by it. However, to overcome this problem, Carnival offered a deep discount to lure back the passengers. In year 2002, Carnival was subjected to the ocean pollution charges. The company was withdrawing $18 million to overcome this issue. This strategy is not only to overcome the issue ethically but also to maintain the company image. Carnival is doing well in pricing strategy where they offer different kinds of packages with moderate price for different kinds of customers. To improve the core competency of the company, Carnival tried to increase the services onboard and adding diversions onboard. Even though other cruise company can imitate this strategy but Carnival is the first to invent the same strategy that succeeds to gain revenue from it. Carnival tried to introduce new strategy to make more convenience to consumers such as the â€Å"all-inclusive package†. The main purpose of this strategy is to maximize the satisfaction of consumers on Carnival services. Finally, to reduce the competition in cruise industry and to compete with other competitors in the same industry, Carnival did acquisition on many cruise lines as subsidiaries. The expansion of Carnival in cruise line market through acquisition can tighten the status of Carnival in cruise industry. 11. The advantage of being a CFC The individuals (foreigners or locals) who held the stocks of Carnival under the CFC status are incorporation exempt shipping operations of United States persons from income tax. Carnival with all of its income (except of United State source of income from transportation, hotel and tour business of Holland America) would be exempt from United State federal income taxes at the corporate level. This exemption not only can increase the revenue of Carnival, it also allows the company to have more funds (liquidation assets) to run more projects or activities for the company. The reason of government to give exemption to Carnival is because to encourage this industry to growth and attract more passengers boarding on ship, especially the ship with casino. It will increase the government sources of money. 12. How to maintain low costs, high level of service? i) Vertical integration or outsourcing – Carnival can try to produce in-house or outsource the products or services in related industries such as shipbuilding, meal preparation industry, and transportation (bus). This is because either vertical integration or outsourcing, which contributes the lowest cost, will be the choice of Carnival to either produce in-house or to outsource the needs. The good relation with suppliers can guarantee the best quality of the products or services. The in-house produce (vertical integration) can guarantee for the high level of products and services quality. ii) Maintain employees – Experienced employees can be the senior for the new comers. They can train and guide the new workers while doing a task rather than the company to send them for training course. Thus, maintaining experienced employees can save the labor cost and maintain the service quality to passengers. iii) Maintain crui se standard (such as sanitary standard) by periodically checking to avoid break down during cruising and it may need higher cost to repair and bring inconvenience to passengers. Conclusion The success of Carnival is depends on the innovative Board of Directors and management. The growth of cruise market becomes more significant because of the low fares high quality of service. Carnival is dominating the cruise line market but they still do investment in improving the services so that to avoid the core competencies become the weaknesses of the company. Even though the net profit of year 2001 is decreased but it did not mean that they have weak internal control. External factors such as increased in fuel cost also are considered the factor in the declining profit. Finally, Carnival has the potential to grow in cruise line market because they already gained the experience in cruise line and they have strong financial to support many cruise activities.

Crisis Management Plan Guidelines

Crisis Management Plan Guidelines Frances Roulet Introduction The ability of dealing with unexpected and sudden events that disturbs communities and changes in organization culture is known as crisis management. In recent years we have been able to palpate transboundary crisis, that have affected stakeholders in multiple forms. For example, the 2011 tsunami of Japan, which interrupted supply chain all over the world, especially in the automotive industry (Crandall, Parnell Spillan, 2010). This art of dealing with crisis requires skills and knowledge to organize stakeholders’ recovery. Crisis management prepares the person to develop skills in an unexpected and adverse circumstances within the organization of an emergency response with courage and determination. The coordination of the emergency responses to a broader incident that threatens to harm and destroy structures, ability to operate effectively and efficiently. The continuum evaluation of the planning and automatic incident response becomes a major part of the process in a crisis management plan. Organizational resources available in a crisis in Dominican Republic. According to Crandall, Parnell Spillan (2014) there are countries and cultures that are known as â€Å"crises-prepared†, because they have been able to train and support any crisis planning to overcome their weakness. The Dominican Republic is not the exception, when a crisis arises the community and Dominican Civil Defense are the first to respond to the emergency, as first responders. Nevertheless, not everyone is prepared to assist another person or assume a role of leadership in the process of an emergency crisis. The national emergency and communication system, known as the Center for Emergencies Operation, [COE], in its role of the leading agency nationwide in a crisis, and responding organization has been able to develop competence and abilities to assist potential crises and manage the ones that eventually occur. The Center for Emergencies Operation, [COE], is entitled to develop, review, implement and train personnel, volunteers and the community in reference to the national plan and management for emergencies nationwide. The Dominican Civil Defense, are the first responder to the scene of a natural disaster or crisis. This is one of the emergency groups, at least, most known in the country as trained first responders to any type of emergency. The Dominican Civil Defense began their community services as a group of volunteers to the community by providing communication services as radio amateur by 1963. Their first official support to the community was with Hurricane Flora, where they proved how they were effective in providing communication nationwide under an emergency disaster as a hurricane. The Dominican Red Cross allowed them to station their central communication within their center. By, 1966, the Dominican government enacted the Law 257, which created the Dominican Civil Defense as an official organism to assist emergencies. Therefore, becoming an official state institution under the umbrella of the Center of Emergencies Operation, COE. In September 22, 2002, the government enacted the Law 147-02 by which the risk management, became the official emergency governmental Agency in charge of developing the national emergency and communication plan along with its regulations. As general principles they abide by to protect, coordinate, participate, teach prevention and decentralize services. Their primary goal is to prevent or reduce loss of lives and minimize property damages of civilians and government from natural disasters or manmade disasters. The Dominican Civil Defense, is one the organisms under the umbrella of COE, as well as the Dominican Red Cross, Energy Conservation Department, Fire Department, Police Department, Dominican Port Authority, Health Department, Environment and Natural Resources Department, Dominican Seismological Institute, National Housing Department, among others, have been recognized as an emergency crisis team of technicians and professionals local, national and internationally for its work team on behalf of those in need and the community. In the case of the Dominican Civil Defense, their manpower is composed of 95% of constant trained volunteers, an executive director, an officer corps, and departmental managers who, according to their academic preparation begin working for the community and the benefit of the country. According to Treurniet, Van Buul-Besseling Wolbers (2012) the community may be defined as a group of people living in the same area and having a particular characteristics in common of being a human being. And as such, they will belong to different groups and communities, sharing their understanding of a true active community work, towards each other. By 2014, the Dominican Republic implemented for the first time in its history the services of 911. As one of the new emergency resource services center, its authorities in charge felt the need to educate massively the population about the use and benefits of 911. The communication strategy was massively used (television and radio) during the following two months prior to the activation of the 911 system nationwide. Pearson Mitroff (1993) expressed that there is a need of collaborating with the community, because it provides a sense of being part active within the community. Furthermore, they explained that the community can share their expectations, assessing their needs and goals of those who are needing assistance. In times of crisis, the knowledge of collaborating formally or informally with organizations in reaching one goal of helping out another person becomes a resilient behavior (James Gilliland, 2013). In the Dominican Republic, Center for Emergency and Communication Operations, [COE] would be similar in its function to what FEMA is in the United States. The Dominican Civil Defense is allocated under the umbrella of the COE. This Center would be part integral of the Crisis Management Team, CMT and the Crisis Management Plan, CMP. COE coordinates constant trainings with national and international agencies who are also dealing with emergencies and crisis in order to exchange experiences and train with new techniques. Today, the Dominican Civil Defense has become one of the institutions of the Government that has one of the best communication networks in the country after the Armed Forces. They have a communication system in the UHF band or ultra-high frequency recently installed, and a fleet system is national in scope, in addition to conventional phones. Currently, the Dominican Civil Defense has a radio station, which is the soul of the institution in crisis and emergencies that operate 24 hours a day and the 365 days of the year (Dominican Civil Defense, 2014). Crisis Theories. Theories make several assumptions in order to provide an explanation of a given situation. Several authors, such as James Gilliland (2013) explains that the Eclectic Crisis Intervention Theory entails an intentional and systematic selectively integrated valid concepts and strategies to help the victims from different approaches. This particular theory begins working as a task-oriented theory, instead of using concepts. Several major tasks identified in this theory are: Identify elements in all systems and to integrate them into an internally consistent whole providing a more accurate behavioral data to be explained. Consider all existent theories, methods, and standards for evaluating and manipulating clinical data according to the advanced knowledge of time and place. The need to identify with no specific theory, with an open mind and continuously experiment with those formulations and strategies that produce successful results. This particular theory integrates two pervasive themes. The first of those theme is that people and all crises are unique and distinctive, therefore can apply to anyone and any type of culture. Secondly, all people and all crises are similar. Hence, James Gilliland (2013) understands that these assumptions are seen as mutually exclusive. The eclectic approach, according to James Gilliland (2013) provide an opportunity to a number of approaches and theories, subsequently, it allows the opportunity of being able to assess the victim’s needs in order to apply and plan the appropriate techniques tailored to the person. The therapist, on the other hand, will be taking risks and will have the willingness to switch an approach to another technique even if the first had function. However, the Interpersonal theory in essence explains that people can not sustain a personal state of a crisis for very long, if they really believe in themselves and in others. Having confidence, the person will become self-actualized and overcome the crisis (James Gilliland, 2013). Crandall, Parnell Spillan (2014) explained that the fundamental goal of the crisis management team, CMT is to plan ahead for potential crises and manage those crises that eventually occur. Therefore, it will be looked upon in three aspects, crisis-response organizations and review their relationship between organizations. Ethical and legal challenges. Crandall, Parnell Spillan (2014) provided an understanding of the importance of ethical and legal responsibilities and challenges when dealing with organizations and their cultural barriers. The ethical culture of the organizations most of time is being blemished because of the unethical behavior performed by its employees, and regardless of their written code of ethics. For example, unrealistic goals of organizations, may lead employees to unrealistic decision making. Therefore, employees may feel, that they should incur in unethical behavior to obtain the goal by undermining organizational procedures (Crandall, Parnell Spillan, 2014). On the other hand, ethical standards are not considered to have legal weight only, according to James Gilliland (2013); even though these standards issues are focused more on guiding codes of conducts to the profession. Violation of these codes can and will lead any professional to be censure or may lose their license mandated by the profession’s ethics board. According to Reyes Jacobs (2006) explained that the process helps to ease and overcome multicultural barriers and challenges, such as, language, beliefs, logistics, and sustainability. Furthermore, it may reduce accusations of cultural insensitivity. An example of this may be consider when an organization does not belief in significant religious holidays, and their employees must present themselves to work, against their beliefs and the organization. Organizations must develop standard ethical conduct guidelines, which must implement ethics trainings in order to highlight ethical issues and how they may react to the crisis (Crandall, Parnell Spillan, 2014). Moral principles may have a vast and varied perception, organizations as well as first responders must be set aside their beliefs in order to reach and assist the crisis. Thus, encouraging coping behaviors consistent with the persons beliefs, and customs help ethics minorities understand the management and healing process (Reyes Jacobs, 2006). Throughout the process of crisis management and the first responders, becomes imperative to comprehend what their role is in this process in order to provide the appropriate social support to the organization and its personnel in need. In practice, according to Crandall, Parnell Spillan (2014) there are several suggestions or principles that may better ethical culture codes that can improve drastically the counselor performance when there are multicultural challenges or barriers when managing and responding to crises. One of these suggestions may avoid, when an unethical behavior is discovered. In this case, the organization must respond immediately to correct the situation and discipline the person responsible for the behavior incur against the ethical guidelines codes. Another suggestion to overcome behaviors that violate ethical, legal and multicultural challenges or barriers, is hiring a chief, officer or director of ethics. This person responsibilities as an officer, chief or director which would serve in top management or board of directors, who also will report to the maximum level of the organization whether this is a public or private one. This position will promote the ethical standards of the organization as well as its culture; ensuring the employees behavior along addressing their concerns and needs. In a similar situation, Crandall, Parnell Spillan (2014) suggested that managers, director or presidents should require to have realistic goals. These goals are well conceived, otherwise, unrealistic goals encourages unethical decision and therefore behavior among employees. Along this suggestion, top management or executive directors, may provide a hotline number and/or email in which employees have a person or department within their organization that they can trust and to whom they can report unethical behaviors or ethical violations maintain its confidentiality. This specific suggestion may help employees to report any type of unethical conduct that they or another employee may be facing. Finally, ethical issues arisen within organizations because of weak ethical norms or non-existent codes. The landscape survey of organizations and industries must identify and uncover ethical weaknesses which are feebleness points within the system. As a result, the organizations and industries need to promote ideas within to build an improved ethical atmosphere. Ultimately, the organizations and industries in their learning stages may promote improving the ethical performance throughout the experiences of specific crisis events. Description of a model to train counselors for a crisis. In November, 2014, Dominican Republic, felt for the first time a terrorist bomb attack in the capital city trolley. As it was expected reactions of confusion among the civilians was observed, but, security and police were also confused and terrified. This event could not be happening in this paradise island. There were two victims one female that her burns were moderate and was send home, and the other male victim, was sprayed with some type accelerant and he was severely burned, and did not make it. Police Department took over a day to determine what type of attack was it, until they established without no doubts that it was a terrorist bomb. The Police Department only communicated to the responsible person to give up himself because he was caught in the security camera; or else to abstain himself of what would happened if they go out in his search. Two days after the person responsible for the death of the civilian decided to give himself up and was immediately legally processed an d sentenced. He never gave a really reason of why he did the act. He received a sentence of 30 years in jail, without the possibility of parole. According to White, Mazerolle, Porter Chalk (2014) explained that comprehending the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts requires a conceptual framework for its intervention. The Australian National Counter-Terrorism Plan (NCTP) indicated that the framework establishes four categories of interventions: Legislative and Administrative, Prevention and Preparedness, Response and Recovery. All of these four categories use a theoretical different mechanism to have a reaction in pattern of terrorist activity. Today, definitively, the Dominican Republic need to train their first responders and therapist in case of another terrorist attack before the second leaves a worst outcome. Prevention and preparedness is a key in saving more lives, including those who arrive first to respond the attack. The crisis management plan should be evaluate at least twice a year adjusting to the possible changes in the environment and the level of knowledge of those directly involved in assisting the victims and the civilians that also need to be trained as they train anyone in case there is a fire. Who should they called? What should they do? Should they run, remain calm, or hide? Training becomes a major issue in the process of preparedness to survive. Authorities should be able to prepare civilians. Reference American Red Cross (2014). Retrieved on December 24, 2014, from http://www.redcross.org/find-your-local-chapter. Bà ¡ez, A. Valverde-Podestà ¡, A. (2001). Overview of the Dominican Red Cross Emergency and Relief Operations: Following Hurricane Georges. The Internet Journal of Rescue and Disaster Medicine, 3(1). Crandall, W., Parnell, J. A. Spillan, J. E. (2010). Crisis management: Leading in the new strategy landscape. (Second Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, [CDC]. (2014). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC 24/7 Savings Lives, Protecting People. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/ Dominican Civil Defense. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.defensacivil.gov.do/ Dominican Red Cross (2014). Retrieved on December 24, 2014, from http://www.caribbeanredcross.org/index.php/national-societies/dominican-republic Emergency Operation Center, (COE). (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.coe.gob.do/index.php?option=com_contentview=sectionlayout=blogid=2Itemid=42 James, R. K. Gilliland, B. E. (2013). Crisis intervention strategies (7th Edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cenegage Learning. Kozlowski, C. (2010). Crisis Management. 110(1): 1-2. London, UK. http://www.catlin.com Pearson, C. M. Mitroff, I.I. (1993). From crisis prone to crisis prepared: A framework for crisis management. Academy Manage Perspective, 7(1): 48-59. doi: 10.5465/AME.1993.9409142058 Reyes, G. Jacobs, G. (2006). Handbook of international disaster psychology. Volume 2. Connecticut, USA: Praeger Publishers. Treurniet, W., Van Buul-Besseling, K. Wolbers, J. (2012). Collaboration awareness a necessity in crisis response coordination. Proceedings of the 9th International ISCRAM Conference. Vancouver, Canada. http://www.iscramlive.org/ISCRAM2012/proceedings/248.pdf White, G., Mazerolle, L., Porter, M. D. Chalk, P. (2014). Modelling the effectiveness of counter-terrorism interventions. Australian Institute of Criminology. Trends issues in crime and criminal justice. 475.

Biology and Philosophy of Love :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Biology and Philosophy of Love What does it mean to love another person? This question is one that virtually every person has asked himself at some point; virtually every school of thought that exists has attempted to provide an answer of some sort. In this paper I will explain my own attempt at answering that question, from the perspective of an amateur philosopher; then I shall delineate the answers that some biologists have given. We shall see that, while at first these two sets of answers might appear to be quite different, there are in fact some interesting and notable similarities. I have heard many different accounts of what it is to love someone - to care truly for that person's best interest, to be willing to sacrifice one's own life for that person's well-being, and so on, the list is infinite. To be sure, these accounts all have a measure of validity; there are many different forms of love. However, there is one aspect that all of them have in common, which is the same point at which I think they fail to capture what it really is to love someone: they are too altruistic. Humans, it seems to me, are essentially self-centered creatures; and I do not intend that statement to have the extreme negative connotations that usually accompany the term "self-centered". I mean it in the most literal sense: humans are centered around the self. Much as we may try, the self is un-transcend-able. At this point in scientific and spiritual progress, we cannot ever truly experience anything through another person's frame of reference - all that we can know for certain is tha t which we think and feel. Thus, it makes no sense to speak of love as a sort of "leaving the self". How, then, are we to think about it? I offer this alternative: so as to avoid the mistake of treating love as a form of altruism, we should think of loving another person as the act of loving oneself through another person - in other words, we love the people that make us feel best about ourselves, that bring out the best in ourselves. It is important to note that by no means does this definition entail that we do not genuinely care about the people we supposedly love. We can see this as follows: by this definition, it is essential that

Overview of the Annual Report and Form 10k and the Balance Sheet Essay

I should be able to understand your answer and see what the numerical support is without looking at your tables. For all problem sets, please show tables and calculations with each answer (unsupported answers will be marked wrong), not in separate tables. I should be able to look at your tables or calculations and see what the answer should be without actually reading it. And I should be able to read and understand your interpretation of a table without having to look at it. Clearly show and label any and all calculations. Your output should look professional. 1. Corporate Message: What does Coca Cola’s 2012 Annual Review tell you about the message the company wants to convey to its readers? Point out examples to support your discussion. 2. Describe the three types of Coca Cola’s bottling relationships. Name the significant companies that are accounted for by the equity method. Does Coca Cola have a controlling interest in these companies? Explain and demonstrate why or why not? What would the company’s balance sheet look like if Coke were to account for its publicly traded equity method investments at fair value rather than using the equity method? . Except for Property, plant, and equipment, what was Coca Cola’s largest single asset (not asset category) at 12/31/2012? How does it compare to 2011? Why do you think it increased? What was its relative impact on the change in total assets? Which component of Coca Cola’s balance sheet is the primary factor causing the company’s change in total assets fro m December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012? How much did this factor change by relative to (i. e. , as a percentage of) the change in total assets? 4. Income Tax: Is Coca Cola’s effective (i. e. , average) tax rate more or less than the U. S. federal (â€Å"statutory†) rate? What is the primary reason(s) that it was more/less in 2012? 5. Look at Coke’s 10K. For 2012, is the amount of dividends declared equal to the amount of dividends paid? What are these amounts? Where did you find them? Did dividends declared increase, decrease, or remain the same – per share and in total, compared to 2011? 6. Prepare a 2011 and 2012 common size balance sheet for Coke. Comment on differences between the two. A common size balance sheet is one for which each item in the balance sheet is divided by total assets. Download Pepsi’s 2012 10-K from Pepsico. com 7. Using the information in Pepsi’s 2012 10-K, calculate the company’s a. Total market value for 2012 and 2011. b. Book value to common shareholders for 2012 and 2011 (Hint: Pepsi does not have dividends in arrears on their preferred shares. Use Pepsi’s call price located in the footnotes for the preferred stock claim. Just subtract the total preferred stock call price amount from total stockholders’ equity. c. Market to book value ratios for 2012 and 2011. d. How do the above ratios for Pepsi compare to those of Coca Cola for the same two years? How do you interpret any differences? 8. Make a common size balance sheet for Pepsi for 2012 (round your percentages to 1 decimal place – i. e. , the same as 0. xxx ) Examine the two companies’ common size balance sheets. What do you notice about a. Cash and cash equivalents b. Net receivables c. Current liabilities d. Long term debt What do you think any significant differences between these ratios might mean? Do you notice any other significant differences between Coke and Pepsi? 9. Working capital: Working capital equals total current assets minus total current liabilities. How much working capital does Pepsi have at 12/31/2012 and 12/31/2011? How much working capital does Coca Cola have at 12/31/2012 and 12/31/2011? Can you directly compare the two companies’ working capital? Why or why not? If not, how could you make them comparable? Are the two companies experiencing similar changes in working capital?

Chapters 4-6 of The Great Gatsby

Chapters 4-6 of The Great Gatsby revealed a lot about Jay Gatsby to the readers. The first thing to jump out at me was that Jay Gatsby’s real name is actually James Gatz. Also, Gatsby revealed that his parents were originally from the mid-western city of San Francisco. It became clear that Gatsby was living a life of uncertainty and that he was a mystery who chased wealth and greatness. The relationship between Gatsby and Nick changed a lot over these chapters. It is apparent that Nick lost some respect for Gatsby, once he began finding out some key details about his life and where he actually came from. When attending college, Gatsby dropped out after two weeks because he couldn’t handle the hard-working career as a janitor to support himself and make it through college. When Gatsby asks Nick to go to Coney Island, Nick declines his offer. Immediately after, Nick is asked by Gatsby to go swimming, he says that he just needs to go to bed. Now that Nick is finding out about Jay, he doesn’t really want all that much to do with him. Another developing relationship is the one between Gatsby and Daisy, who previously had a thing for each other. Despite being married, Daisy falls in love with Gatsby after Nick sets up for them to see each other in secrecy, without Tom finding out. Gatsby tells Daisy about how he always dreamt about having her love, and being together. Unfortunately for Gatsby, who wants Daisy to leave Tom, Daisy doesn’t have a good time at his next party. Tom, who doesn’t like or trust Gatsby, joined Daisy for the next party to keep an eye out. Obviously, Daisy and Gatsby were unable to connect in the way that they wanted to, and things became awkward and bad. As each chapter unfolds, we are learning more and more about Jay Gatsby, or James Gatz, and who he really is.

Biography of Lee Krasner, Abstract Expressionist Artist

Biography of Lee Krasner, Abstract Expressionist Artist Lee Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908–June 19, 1984), an American painter of Russian-Jewish descent, was a pioneering Abstract Expressionist of the New York School. For decades, her reputation was overshadowed by that of her late husband, painter Jackson Pollock, whose superstardom and tragic death distracted from her own career. Years after Pollocks death, however, Krasner received recognition for her own artistic accomplishments. Fast Facts: Lee Krasner Occupation: Artist (Abstract Expressionist) Also Known As: Lena Krassner (given name); Lenore Krasner Born: October 27, 1908 in Brooklyn, New YorkDied: June 19, 1984 in New York City, New YorkEducation: The Cooper Union, National Academy of Design Spouse: Jackson PollockKey Accomplishment: Krasner remains one of the few women artists to have her work exhibited in a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Early Life Lee Krasner was born in 1908 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. Krasner was the first in her family to be born in the United States, just nine months after her parents and older siblings emigrated due to growing anti-Semitic sentiment in Russia. At home in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the family spoke a mix of Yiddish, Russian, and English, though Krasner favored English. Krasners parents ran a grocery and fishmonger in East New York and often struggled to make ends meet. Her older brother Irving, to whom she was very close, read to her from classic Russian novels like Gogol and Dostoevsky. Though she was a naturalized citizen, Krasner felt connected to her parents’ homeland. Later in life, she often bristled at the suggestion that she was a fully American artist. Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984). Untitled, 1948. Oil on canvas. 18 x 38 in. (45.7 x 96.5 cm). Promised gift of Craig and Caryn Effron, P.1.2008. The Jewish Museum, New York.  © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Education Krasner always showed a sense of initiative. At an early age, she decided that the arts-focused, all-girls Washington Irving High School in Manhattan was the only school she wanted to attend, as its arts focus was a rarity at the time. Krasner was initially denied entry to the school due to her Brooklyn residence, but she eventually managed to gain admission. Perhaps ironically, Krasner excelled in all classes except for art, but she passed because of her otherwise exceptional record. During high school, Krasner abandoned her given name Lena and took on the name Lenore, inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe character. After graduation, Krasner attended the Cooper Union. She was very popular (though not necessarily academically successful) and was elected to various school offices. At Cooper Union, she changed her name once again, this time to Lee: an Americanized (and, notably, androgynous) version of her given Russian name. Having attended two art-centric girls schools, the idea of being a woman artist was not remarkable to the young Krasner. It was not until she went to the National Academy of Design that she encountered resistance to her chosen career path. She was riled by the idea that women were sometimes kept from doing what the male artists were permitted to do at the traditionally-minded institution. Ernst Haas / Getty Images Life as a Professional Artist 1929 was a notable year for Krasner. That year marked the opening of the Museum of Modern Art, which exposed her to the Modernist style and the enormous possibility it represented. 1929 also marked the beginning of the Great Depression, which spelled disaster for many aspiring artists. Krasner joined the Works Projects Administration (WPA), which employed artists for various public art projects, including the many murals on which Krasner worked. It was on the WPA that she met critic Harold Rosenberg, who would later go on to write a seminal essay on the Abstract Expressionists, as well as many other artists. Krasner lived with Igor Pantuhoff, a fellow painter of Russian origin and an alumni of the National Design Academy, for most of their ten-year relationship. However, Pantuhoffs parents held anti-Semitic views of Krasner, and the two never married. (Pantuhoff realized his mistake after he left the relationship, and he eventually went to New York to win Krasner back. By that time, Krasner had already taken up with Jackson Pollock, who, in his typically bellicose fashion, physically chased Pantuhoff from the premises.) Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollack in east Hampton, ca. 1946. Photo 10x7 cm. Photograph by Ronald Stein. Jackson Pollack and Lee Krasner papers, ca. 1905-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Relationship With Jackson Pollock In the late 1930s, Krasner took classes led by the expressionist painter and famed pedagogue Hans Hofmann. She also joined the Artist Union. In 1936, at an Artist Union dance, Krasner met Jackson Pollock, whom she would meet again several years later when they both exhibited their work in the same group exhibition. In 1942, the couple moved in together. Pollock’s rise to fame, stewarded by his wife, was meteoric. In 1949 (the year he and Krasner married), Pollock was featured in Life Magazine under the title, â€Å"Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?† Some accounts suggest that Krasner spent so much time promoting her husband’s career that she did not have time to dedicate herself to her own work. However, this version of history is misleading. In Springs, Long Island, where the couple bought a house soon after they married, Krasner used an upstairs bedroom as her studio while Pollock worked in the barn. Both were known to work furiously, and would (when invited) visit each others studios for advice and critique. However, Pollocks alcoholism and infidelity damaged the relationship, and the marriage ended tragically in 1956. Krasner was away in Europe, and Pollock was driving under the influence of alcohol with his mistress and another passenger. Pollock crashed his car, killing himself and the other passenger (though sparing the life of his mistress). Krasner was bereft at losing her husband, and ultimately channeled this emotion into her work. Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984). Gaea, 1966. Oil on canvas. 69 x 125 1/2 in. (175.3 x 318.8 cm). Kay Sage Tanguy Fund. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.  © 2010 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Artistic Legacy It was not until after Pollock’s death that Krasner began to receive the recognition she deserved. In 1965, she received her first retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. She experienced a surge of interest in her work in the 1970s, as the feminist movement was eager to reclaim art history’s lost women. The appeal of the sidelined wife of a storied American painter made Krasner a cause to champion. Krasners first retrospective in the United States opened in 1984 at the Museum of Modern Art, just months after her death at the age of 75. Her legacy lives on at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center at Stony Brook University. Her estate is represented by Kasmin. Sources and Further Reading Hobbs, R. (1993). Lee Krasner.  New York: Abbeville Modern Masters.Landau,  E. (1995). Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Raisonnà ©.  New York: Abrams.Levin, G. (2011). Lee Krasner: A Biography. New York: Harper Collins.Munro, E. (1979). Originals: American Women Artists. New York: Simon and Schuster, 100-119.

The Free Will Controversy Essays - Desiderius Erasmus, Free Essays

The Free Will Controversy Essays - Desiderius Erasmus, Free Essays The Free Will Controversy The Free Will Controversy Between the years of 1524 and 1527, Erasmus Desiderius and Martin Luther were tangled up in an interesting controversy (Bainton 187). This controversy surprisingly did not involve the authority of the pope, the nature of the church, indulgences, or any of the other practices that each man equally detested. It involved the philosophical topic regarding the question of free or enslaved will (Faulkner 171). Preserved Smith defines free will as the power to apply ones self to the things that make for salvation (348). This controversy was bound to happen for a number of reasons. First of all, Luther was becoming violent in his words and actions in general. Secondly, Luther made himself a target by his assertion in the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518. Luther's exact words were, Free will, after the fall, even when doing the best it can, commits a mortal sin. These two factors led Erasmus to speak out against Luther in De Libero Artitrio (On Free Will). Luther eventually answered back furiously in De Servo Arbitrio (On Enslaved Will) (Bainton 186-7). This was a superior work which explains to historians why Luther prevails in the end (Zweig 139). Erasmus was one of the most intelligent people of his century. Today however, he remains in the minds of most people as nothing more than another name (Zweig 3). In his time, he was the leader of all scholars in Europe from Germany to Italy and Spain and from England to Hungary as well. He stands above the other humanists and forerunners of the reformation (Schaff 402). His great mission was to bring back the spirit of classical and Christian Antiquity (Smith 33-4). Preserved Smith describes the first part of his life, specifically until 1524, as being progressive and reformatory; the second, until his death in 1536, he says was, conservative and reactionary (402). He is described as being somewhat of a nomad, never staying in the same place for more than eight years (48). Compared to his contemporaries, Erasmus did more than his share in preparing the church for the reformation (Schaff 402). Historians refer to Erasmus as the, illegitimate son of a Dutch priest named Gerard, and Margaret (Schaff 404). He was born in Rotterdam on October 27, in the 1466 or 1467 (Faulkner 30). He received his early education at Utrecht and then at Deventer where he began to impress people with his talents. Within him was a love was a passion for books and at the age of just 12, he knew Horace and Terence by memory (Schaff 404). When his father died, he was taken care of by three guardians. Their goal was to have him become a priest which gave them the power to rob him of his inheritance. They placed him in the house of the Brethren of the Common Life at Hertogenbusch. While there, Erasmus calls their houses as, seminaries of monasticism, and refers to their teachers as a, destruction to good intellect. They did not come close to destroying Erasmus's intellect. A few years later, his guardians convinced him to enter a monastery. He entered the Augustinian monastery against his will where he would spend five extremely unhappy years (Faulkner 323). After this, Erasmus went on to achieve his fame in doing the things he always wanted to do (Schaff 407-9). Despite the fact that Erasmus and Luther had many difference, there were ways in which they were similar. Both of them advocated a return to antiquity and an excitement for the golden age of Christianity and pagan Rome. They both had an interest in revolts against the mediaeval scholasticism. Another similarity lies in their child-hoods. They were both born into an era of individualism. Also, they grew up in cities that had recently developed in the same bourgeois class (Smith 321). Many differences between these two men led to their quarrel. Some of these differences were physical. Luther was the son of a minor. This along with his inborn energies made him the rougher of the two. Luther is quoted as saying, I gorge like a Bohemian and gulp down my liquor like a German (Zweig 132). Luther also spoke in a powerful German voice that was

Richard Nixon and the WaterGate Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Richard Nixon and the WaterGate Scandal - Essay Example The edifice of the Watergate scandal has been based on corruption, espionage and antidemocratic activities, ostensibly based on ensuring President Nixon, a second term in the Oval Room. However, certain facts like the Vietnam war, the release of Pentagon papers, and growing public resentment for his policies were serious impediments to this objective and had to be dealt with a firm, and if necessary, strong arm methods. This was ensured by use of the CIA and other governmental agents to discredit the President's political opponents, and seek to ensure his victory in the Presidential elections. He was able to achieve re-elections but he was constrained to pay the final price in terms of loss of his office and personal humiliation amidst a political scandal that rocked the entire country and shocked the world into mute speechlessness. At the time of instigating the Watergate scandal, President Nixon was not aware, or did not make himself to visualize that his political career would leave him a bitter and disillusioned man, devoid of moral principles and ethics that are the hallmarks of a strong and committed leader.This entire episode started when, while conducting security checking at the Watergate hotel, a security guard noticed a door prevented from closed by the use of tape. He removed the tape and continued with his check However, he was dismayed to find, that on his return, the door was reaped. He informed the police about the burglary. The police arrested five persons from the office of the Democratic National Congress, who had been illegally repairing wiretapping equipment and taking photographs of documents. Likewise, before the burglary in the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1972, when a group of five burglars, who were members of a group of anti-Castro Cuban refugees called 'Plumbers', broke into the Democ ratic Party's National Committee offices, the term "Watergate" had no greater implication to the Americans and the entire world, rather than an office and a sumptuous apartment complex in Washington, D. C. As a result of the 'third-rate burglary', "it came to be associated with the greatest political scandal of that century and would change the lives of the many people involved" - principally the then President Richard M. Nixon and as for the present day political system, it imparts great meaning. (U.S. History.com, 2008). In the current American Background, the term Watergate has become a common phrase which denotes and expresses the fall of Richard Nixon, one of the most outstanding political figures of the 20th century America and the world. He had refused to hand over incriminating tapes illegally recording the conversation he had when he served in the White House. He refused to hand over the tapes even during the Supreme Court Proceedings. The Court had no other option but to impeach the President, but he preferred to resign rather than face impeachment. The former President of the USA was the only conspirator in the Watergate scandal who did not go to jail. "The lessons learned by these events are enormous. The story of Watergate is a complex and deep one full

Evolution and Extraterrestrial life Research Paper

Evolution and Extraterrestrial life - Research Paper Example The same has been explored and advocated by the supporting theorists of extraterrestrial notion. Evolution has always been a subject of great curiosity for naturalists, astronomers, physicists and social scientists since the known history of the world. The biologists, sociologists, psychologists, theologians, archaeologists and historians have presented dissimilar conceptions, theoretical frameworks and notions, controversial to one another, regarding the beginning of life and evolutionary process, on the basis of their religious and cultural beliefs on the one hand, and in the light of their observations, studies and researches on the other. Thus, hundreds of theories have been articulated and researches have been conducted in order to discover the origin of life in the universe. Theologians belonging to the Abrahamic faiths maintain similarity in respect of determining the origin of life, and narrate almost the same account i.e. ... from their Holy Scriptures in order to define the creation of the universe, they refute all theoretical frameworks contradictory to their belief system(s). Surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of the scientists, presenting contradictory evolution theories, belongs to these three faiths including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The same is applied to the extraterrestrial life and evolution. The theorists rightly claim the certain possibility of the existence of life beyond this tiny planet of earth; the justification of their hypothesis is based upon the vastness of the infinite universe, where it is not possible that only one small planet consists of life out of such a vast and mighty universe. Hence, extraterrestrial life, according to the scientists, would also have experienced the similar evolutionary process as countless earthly species have observed. Renowned philosopher of ancient Greece Anaxagoras (488?--428 B.C.) articulated the Panspermia Theory in 5th century B.C., which suggests that there are certain signs of life in every part of the universe, and hence different creatures live in all celestial bodies in the form of similar spores. These spores or life seeds originate in space and then that life is seeded onto various planets. Scientists search for these spores in other heavenly bodies by examining meteors landing on Earth and by outer space missions. (alienabductionsexposed.com) Similarly, the ancient Greek materialist philosopher Democritus (460-370 B.C.) maintained that the world was composed of an infinite number of uncaused and eternal atoms moving randomly in a void. The spontaneous generation of life from water and slime was held to occur as a result of an accidental meeting of atoms of moist earth with atoms of fire. (Hoyle & Wickramasinghe,

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 24

Case study - Essay Example The third success is linked to how Mattel as a corporation has managed to devise 150 different dolls, which come along with the doll’s 120 new outfits. The fourth success is as a result of Barbie’s reinvention and trendiness. She changes according to the current fashion taking into consideration the hairstyles and outfits. Her reinvention comes in terms of taking up different roles in life, and the roles are further exemplified by different accessories, which go along with Barbie. The last success originates from the fact that Mattel Corporation has embedded technology in Barbie. Technology embraced in Barbie is through a play set, a computer animated video, Barbie movies, dancing princesses and a Barbie with motion-sensor bracelet and shoe clip (Goldenberg & Mazursky, 2002). Mattel as a Corporation has been innovative; Barbie is a product whose life cycle has been extended greatly ever since its creation in the year 1959. Barbie’s first introduction to the market was unique in that this doll took the form of an adult; this was different from many other existing dolls, which were babies. Over the years, innovation has taken centre stage, which has ensured that Barbie becomes a wanted product in the market. The product’s life cycle has been extended since Mattel considers Barbie as being more than a toy or a doll, actually according to Mattel; Barbie is a lifestyle and a fashion statement. The innovation has continued in terms of making Barbie take up the current fashion and different roles in life. Through the above, Barbie’s life cycle has been extended since it has been relevant to the current times. For instance, Mattel has innovated to the extent of making Barbie trendy with different hairstyles and outfits, which makes it admire d and desired. Furthermore, Mattel has innovated by making Barbie a role model through giving her different looks, which represent different professions in life, this has ultimately extended the life cycle of

Elections - Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elections - Public Law - Essay Example Encyclpoedia Britannica defines an election as a formal process of making decision in which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Since the 17th century, elections have been widely exploited in modern representative democracy. Elections are used in filing various offices ranging from legislative offices, executive offices and even in private and business organizations. As such, election integrity has been formulated to ensure free and fair elections. Election integrity is basically a set of standards that are built on democratic principals and a legal system that spearheads and protects free, fair and equitable elections. This paper will analyze these principles and policies that would ensure the elections meet these standards, within the typology reviewed by Kornblith and Jawahar (124-137). Respect for Principles of Electoral Democracy This principle gives all citizens equal opportunities to not only participate in an election as voters but also as candidates. Eq ual voting powers must be given to all citizens during an election. Besides, the voters must be assured their right of privacy during the voting process. The political information must be accessible to the voters as well. The elections must also be held regularly during which the free casted votes of the majority remains the sole deciding factor The principles of electoral democracy highly value the free and fair elections. An election is free when it depends on freedom from fear, freedom of assembly, speech, movement and association. An election is fair when all participants are given equal opportunities, when it is transparent, when it is free from intimidation, when there is equitable electoral legislation and system, when it is conducted by an independent and impartial commission, when a proper procedure is followed, and when there is the acceptance of the electoral results. Election integrity is based on the commitment to stick to the democratic system of government as well as the rule of law. It also depends on the channels for participation and complaints and the willingness to accept change if and when there is need. Acceptance of the official results is also very important for election integrity. The system should put in place both institutional and legal framework that ensures the free and fair election. Ethical Conduct This principle requires administrators, the officers conducting the election; the candidates in the election, the parties and anybody participate in the electoral process to conduct them selves with a high degree of ethics. This is to say that all participants must carry out themselves in a way that works towards a free and fair election, and that ensures that the integrity of the process is upheld. It is necessary for all the participants to play their parts in a transparent professional and impartial manner. It would be wrong for public officials to use their offices for their personal gains. At the same time, lobbyists should not use any incentives to inappropriately influence the electoral or public officials; in fact, the law requires that they reveal all their funding and spending. Respect for other people’s political rights and their activity is an important part of the principle of ethical conduct. Both the electoral administrators and the voters must accept the fact that everyone has the right to debate political matters and hold different political views. They must also understand that nobody reserves the right to interfere with the efforts of polit ical parties to spread their message or even the political activities of the other citizens. Accuracy Accuracy is another very vital principle in election. In as much as dishonesty and fraudulent practices are the major drawbacks to integrity in elections, honest mistakes or human error may also take place during the process. Professionalism and accuracy on the part of the election administration is therefore very necessary. The integrity and

State, Democracy and Human Rights Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

State, Democracy and Human Rights - Term Paper Example The citizens can engage themselves in politics, by virtue of the democratic rights bestowed upon them, via a variety of ways. The first condition for democracy, also being the most significant role any individual citizen can play being an actor in a democratic state, is to comply by all standards of ‘citizenship’, which characterizes a full membership as the member of the state, and also as a member of the community. More often than not, theorists also constitute citizenship as the role of individuals in advocacy and institutionalization of human rights. Since democracy directly implies the will of the people being governed, thus ‘Elections’ can turn out to be the most reliable junction through which the citizens can play their part. This implies that the citizens, directly or indirectly, choose their representatives who would then be a legitimate source to follow the mandate of the citizens (Newton and Jan 2010). Civil society can also dominate the democrat ic spectrum by channelizing public opinion, nationally as well as on a transnational level, by mobilizing and advocating for causes which would then pressurize the governments and thus, empowering themselves to be a part of the decision making process (Goodhart 2008). Moreover, citizens can also be empowered and get involved in the decision making process in the democratic age by setting up transparent institutions to their advantage. The nature of these institutions may differ, depending on the needs and situations the citizens may find themselves in. The institutions are characterized by the vision and the mission statement, along with the actors involved in decision making process which then determines the relationship of the citizen`s involvement and the extent of their influence of decision making (Beeson and Bisley 2012).

Various Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Various - Essay Example However, IBM card sorting and punch cards, which are considered precursor to computer, were invented. IBM through the German’s subsidiary followed the Jewish destruction. More than 2000 machines were dispatched through Europe and Germany. Figure 1: A Dehomag Hollerith machine (Source: Black, 2001) An American engineer named Vannevar Bush developed the large analogue computer as an accurate device than the previous one in 1930. It was an important achievement in the computing world as earlier devices were not reliable in computing. Claude Shannon who was an American electronic engineer, mathematician and cryptographer worked on the â€Å"Communication in Presence of Noise† and published this report after 1949 due to World War II. Claude E. Shannon proved the sampling theorem based on the Nyquist’s results. This work was done in 1940 but published after the 1949 (Normsn 2013). The Horward Aiken who found it sufficient for the satisfaction of computers’ needs initially estimated six electronic digital computing. IBM worked on the Aiken’s prediction and resulted into a development of IBM Stretch computers of 1959. This development became necessary for the storing of million numbers in the RAM as shown in the figure. Figure 2: Length of Console (Source: Kopplin, 2002) Transformation in the computer equipment was seen during 1960s. Early computers were in size of mainframe and then shrink into the minicomputers. Important development was seen when files were stored on the taps and accessed without involvement of any third party. Additional features like small computers, interfaces based on keyboards, and interfaces were included in 1972. Personal computers for the individual use were importantly developed. Computer Interface facilitated the shifts in the new patterns (Turner 2006). In 1981, IBM introduced a more affordable personal computer with a user-friendly design, and operating system having a movable screen. The use of PCs has become on a widespread in the offices, homes, and schools. Introduction of microprocessors in the early 1980s made it possible for several manufactures to make the chips based on the DSP. The data signal processing is a device with a native code. The DSP chips are capable to carry the millions of operations per a second (Poornachandra and Sasikala 2010). In early 1990s, the digital world shifted towards the models of the image processing hardware by the development of single boards. These boards were compatible for the buses of market standards. The image processing hardware contains the digitizer and hardware for primary operations known as the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). The digitizer averages the images as quickly as possible. This development made possible for noise reduction. The image processing also resulted into the storage space with megabytes (Gonzalez and Woods, 2009). Developing of the long instruction word architecture enabled the numeric and intensive algorithms. Dig ital filtering used in the processing of different video signals reduces the noise effects or corruption pixels in video or images (Parker and Dhanani 2013). These events were selected because progress in digital computing did pass through a history. Historian of computing presented the contribution of the main players in strengthening of the communication and in the context of industrial

Elections - Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elections - Public Law - Essay Example Encyclpoedia Britannica defines an election as a formal process of making decision in which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Since the 17th century, elections have been widely exploited in modern representative democracy. Elections are used in filing various offices ranging from legislative offices, executive offices and even in private and business organizations. As such, election integrity has been formulated to ensure free and fair elections. Election integrity is basically a set of standards that are built on democratic principals and a legal system that spearheads and protects free, fair and equitable elections. This paper will analyze these principles and policies that would ensure the elections meet these standards, within the typology reviewed by Kornblith and Jawahar (124-137). Respect for Principles of Electoral Democracy This principle gives all citizens equal opportunities to not only participate in an election as voters but also as candidates. Eq ual voting powers must be given to all citizens during an election. Besides, the voters must be assured their right of privacy during the voting process. The political information must be accessible to the voters as well. The elections must also be held regularly during which the free casted votes of the majority remains the sole deciding factor The principles of electoral democracy highly value the free and fair elections. An election is free when it depends on freedom from fear, freedom of assembly, speech, movement and association. An election is fair when all participants are given equal opportunities, when it is transparent, when it is free from intimidation, when there is equitable electoral legislation and system, when it is conducted by an independent and impartial commission, when a proper procedure is followed, and when there is the acceptance of the electoral results. Election integrity is based on the commitment to stick to the democratic system of government as well as the rule of law. It also depends on the channels for participation and complaints and the willingness to accept change if and when there is need. Acceptance of the official results is also very important for election integrity. The system should put in place both institutional and legal framework that ensures the free and fair election. Ethical Conduct This principle requires administrators, the officers conducting the election; the candidates in the election, the parties and anybody participate in the electoral process to conduct them selves with a high degree of ethics. This is to say that all participants must carry out themselves in a way that works towards a free and fair election, and that ensures that the integrity of the process is upheld. It is necessary for all the participants to play their parts in a transparent professional and impartial manner. It would be wrong for public officials to use their offices for their personal gains. At the same time, lobbyists should not use any incentives to inappropriately influence the electoral or public officials; in fact, the law requires that they reveal all their funding and spending. Respect for other people’s political rights and their activity is an important part of the principle of ethical conduct. Both the electoral administrators and the voters must accept the fact that everyone has the right to debate political matters and hold different political views. They must also understand that nobody reserves the right to interfere with the efforts of polit ical parties to spread their message or even the political activities of the other citizens. Accuracy Accuracy is another very vital principle in election. In as much as dishonesty and fraudulent practices are the major drawbacks to integrity in elections, honest mistakes or human error may also take place during the process. Professionalism and accuracy on the part of the election administration is therefore very necessary. The integrity and

Various Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Various - Essay Example However, IBM card sorting and punch cards, which are considered precursor to computer, were invented. IBM through the German’s subsidiary followed the Jewish destruction. More than 2000 machines were dispatched through Europe and Germany. Figure 1: A Dehomag Hollerith machine (Source: Black, 2001) An American engineer named Vannevar Bush developed the large analogue computer as an accurate device than the previous one in 1930. It was an important achievement in the computing world as earlier devices were not reliable in computing. Claude Shannon who was an American electronic engineer, mathematician and cryptographer worked on the â€Å"Communication in Presence of Noise† and published this report after 1949 due to World War II. Claude E. Shannon proved the sampling theorem based on the Nyquist’s results. This work was done in 1940 but published after the 1949 (Normsn 2013). The Horward Aiken who found it sufficient for the satisfaction of computers’ needs initially estimated six electronic digital computing. IBM worked on the Aiken’s prediction and resulted into a development of IBM Stretch computers of 1959. This development became necessary for the storing of million numbers in the RAM as shown in the figure. Figure 2: Length of Console (Source: Kopplin, 2002) Transformation in the computer equipment was seen during 1960s. Early computers were in size of mainframe and then shrink into the minicomputers. Important development was seen when files were stored on the taps and accessed without involvement of any third party. Additional features like small computers, interfaces based on keyboards, and interfaces were included in 1972. Personal computers for the individual use were importantly developed. Computer Interface facilitated the shifts in the new patterns (Turner 2006). In 1981, IBM introduced a more affordable personal computer with a user-friendly design, and operating system having a movable screen. The use of PCs has become on a widespread in the offices, homes, and schools. Introduction of microprocessors in the early 1980s made it possible for several manufactures to make the chips based on the DSP. The data signal processing is a device with a native code. The DSP chips are capable to carry the millions of operations per a second (Poornachandra and Sasikala 2010). In early 1990s, the digital world shifted towards the models of the image processing hardware by the development of single boards. These boards were compatible for the buses of market standards. The image processing hardware contains the digitizer and hardware for primary operations known as the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). The digitizer averages the images as quickly as possible. This development made possible for noise reduction. The image processing also resulted into the storage space with megabytes (Gonzalez and Woods, 2009). Developing of the long instruction word architecture enabled the numeric and intensive algorithms. Dig ital filtering used in the processing of different video signals reduces the noise effects or corruption pixels in video or images (Parker and Dhanani 2013). These events were selected because progress in digital computing did pass through a history. Historian of computing presented the contribution of the main players in strengthening of the communication and in the context of industrial

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett Essay Example for Free

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett Essay Introduction Simplicity is the best word to describe the life of philanthropist and mega-billionaire Warren Buffett. The same single word also depicts his multi-billion worth of investment principles and strategies (Cunningham, 2008, p. 18). For more than fifty years Buffett was able to build a multi-billion investment empire with his simple investment philosophy. Like his more than 60 billion dollar fortune under his name, Buffett, who is by far the greatest philanthropist of all time for donating almost all of his wealth to the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, is also one of the most observed and most admired personalities in business with countless of articles, books and blogs written about him. If most common people look at him as the most generous man in the world today, people in the corporate world regard him as the greatest guru— or even ‘God’— in the realm of investment. With his great fortune, he is considered ‘God’ in investment because of his ability to spot real value when everybody focuses their attention on market movements and because of his unparalleled skills and knowledge to transform simplicity into greatness. If most billionaires like Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal built their business empires through managing profitable technology corporations and industrial firms, Buffett made billions by simply knowing how and when to invest his money. How He Started To know more about the investing secrets of Warren Buffett, it is necessary to look at how he managed his most precious property— his life, and how he lives it (Schroeder, 2008, p.1). He learned how and when to earn money at an early age, and he filed his first income tax return when he was only 13 (Sosik, 2006, p.149). Buffett’s value investment career started when he put his money in Berkshire Hathaway, a little known and ignored holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska in the 60’s. Now everybody is startled to know that if you invested $10,000 in the company in 1965, the value of that money today would be more than $30 million (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If his close billionaire friend Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University to focus on Microsoft Corporation, Buffett, who is known in the business world as ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ was rejected by Harvard Business School. This experience somehow taught him a great deal not only about business but also about life. To most people Harvard is one of the best, if not the best, schools in the world, but Buffett thought otherwise— his basis of choosing school was not the institution, but the people who would impart the requisite knowledge and values. So when asked about his mentors, Buffett only had three people on top of his mind— his father, Benjamin Graham, and Phil Fisher. His father— Howard Buffett— taught him the positive values he needed to live, while Graham and Fisher taught him the basic principles in investment and how to make money in this profession. His investment style is consisted in the following rubric— think outside the box. When he graduated from college, he wanted to make money in Wall Street, but his father and Graham discouraged him (Miles, 2004, p. 30). The two believed that there were great opportunities waiting for him outside Wall Street. That was the time when everybody wanted to work on Wall Street and when everybody focused their attention on the stock market. Buffett believes that stocks are more than just an asset or capital; it is business. His Philosophy It would be futile to know the secrets of his billion dollar secrets without knowing how he thinks and what he believes in. Unfortunately, most of his biographers failed miserably to look into what is in the mind of the world’s greatest investor. In fact, a review of some literatures and articles would reveal that they just focus on the extrinsic side of Warren Buffett; they failed to look at the intrinsic aspect of his life. Many believe that his philosophy is consisted in these two major Buffet rules— first, never lose capital; and second, don’t ever forget the first rule (Miles, 2004, p. 70). It would be best to say that this does not embody Buffett’s philosophy but rather his tactical investment approach. A business philosophy is something that one holds as his primary direction in life— the fountainhead of his concepts and beliefs, the beacon of his goal, and the reason for living. Buffertt’s business philosophy can be expressed by his following simple quote— â€Å"Be feaful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful† (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 52). Essentially this buffett-line expresses the inherent nature of free-market system, which he and his friend Bill Gates have in common. Under a free-market system, it is rational and ethical to be greedy, since the primary goal of a capitalist is not just to earn profit but to expand it and ensure that it creates limitless profits and opportunities. For some this statement may sound ironic or paradoxical since it contradicts the popular or media-fed persona of Warren Buffett. With this belief— that greed is good, Buffett was able to transform his meager investment into a multi-billion dollar empire that even exceeded that of Gates and Mittal. His investment experience proves that by creatively and greedily investing one’s money— one can make a good or even great fortune out of creative value investment. So what does it take to be like Warren Buffett? Definitely it takes a rational and moral philosophy, proper knowledge, and non-conventional investment point of view to follow the billion dollar investment footsteps of Buffett. But what is the role of philosophy in Warren Buffett’s billion dollar investment strategy? The problem with most people is that they tend to mainly focus on tips, secrets, or strategies. Most successful people did not achieve their status by keeping ‘success secrets’ or ‘strategies’ but by putting into action a rational philosophy that motivates and creates values. A simple look at the life and investment career of Buffett would reveal that it is his rational philosophy that continues to motivate him— that keeps on pushing him to do what he does best. As what Fridson said, budding investors must focus on â€Å"uncompromisingly rational investment philosophy† of Warren Buffett. This is because investment secrets or strategies can be absorbed or learned in a very short span of time or even overnight, but it takes an indefinite period of time to absorb and embody a rational philosophy to translate these secrets or strategies to reality. Of course, this billionaire will not exactly say what people would like to know. Contrary to the many written articles about his investment secrets or strategies, Buffett’s secret is in fact consisted only of three simple words that should be practiced everyday— â€Å"read, research, and think† (Miles, 2004, p. 70). Vague and ambiguous as it may seem but this three-pronged strategy is what Buffet practiced and embodied throughout his more than fifty years in the world of investment. That is why it is stressed in this paper that simplicity best describes the life and investment principles of Buffett. For example, this read-research-think approach of Buffett is the essential element of his cigar-butt investment method. Buffett in fact creatively applied this three-pronged approach in his early years as a value investor. Unlike most investors, Buffett put much premium on his rational judgment than on what most people see in the market. His investment style can be likened to that of a diamond prospector. He knows how to assess which diamond is real or not in just a single glance. He reads, he researches, and he thinks. His Investment Strategy Buffett’s investment strategy is governed by two rules and a number of principles. These dual rules have been mentioned above. This sets the difference between his investment philosophy and his investment strategy. Thus in this paper, Buffett’s investment strategy is composed of rules and principles. Under his primary rule, it is not sensible or moral for an investor to invest and then later on lose his money. Thus this can be avoided by paying attention to his three-pronged investment approach— read, research, and think. By following the aforementioned approach, a young investor may be able to discover several things that are essential in investment’s decision-making process. Buffett considered Graham as his investing mentor. According to Miles (2004, p. 72), it was the Graham school from which Buffett learned not just the basics but also the quantitative principles in investment. On the other hand, he learned a great deal about Fisher’s qualitative side of investment, such as brand, management skills, soft skills, and competition. Thus he said: â€Å"I am an active reader of everything Phil Fisher has to say† (Miles, 2004, p. 72). Now every promising and even established investor is eager to hear what he has to say. Despite his unparalleled success as an investor, he still gives credit to his two mentors, as he likes to say that he is 85 percent Graham and 15 percent Fisher (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 27). The reason why it is important to read, research and think is because in investment, it is highly indispensable to consider the following aspects: a) study the business; b) know well who runs it; c) put money in profits; and the most important of all d) have self-esteem. On the other hand, Buffett’s basic steps when investing are the following (Miles, 2004, p. 70): Determine how much you own Conduct research before buying Focus on business ownership not on stock ownership Simplify investments to manageable proportions Keep a single decision to hold a stock and be a continuing holder For example, before investing his money, Buffett researched first the nature and potentials of Gillette, which is still the world’s top producer of razor blade. Warren’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway invested $600 million in Gillette in 1989; four years ago it already owned 11 percent of said company. This means that from the original $600 million investment, Warren’s holding company’s investment grew up to over $3 billion. When he decided to purchase Gillette, he did not mind its value in the market but the potential profits it could muster in the long run. As a value investor, Buffett put money in securities with low prices according to their intrinsic value. In determining the value of a stock, there is no commonly acknowledged method to get the right figure. Basically, the focus of value investors is not on what the market says but on what the company’s potentials and fundamentals offer. This is because there are some companies that are undervalued by the market yet with good potentials to grow and rake in long-term profits. This is the attitude that Buffett showed to modern investors. Markets only reflect the short-term value of a company, and it takes proper knowledge, better understanding, and courage to discover which company is undervalued and has the capacity to establish a long-term profit-making success. His investment methodology Buffett’s methodology is composed of quantitative aspects in value investment. Under this process, he considers the relation between a stock’s quality and its value. Based on his method, the return on equity is equivalent to net income over shareholder’s equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). One thing that Buffett considers is debt/equity. Before investing, he conducts research whether a company kept away from excess obligation. This is actually a basic principle in investment— do not invest in a company with huge debt. To Buffett, a debt-ridden company has a low capacity to guarantee return on equity. Debt/equity can be measured by dividing the total amount of obligations by shareholders’ equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If a company has more debt than equity, it is not advisable to put money in such company since it uses debt to finance its assets and operations. For instance, a company that has a higher ratio of debt vis-à  -vis equity has an unpredictable earning capacity and is prone to high interest expenses (Vick, 2000, p. 169). When one is investing in a particular company, it is advisable to look at the long-term obligation rather than the total amount of debt. Another aspect that is considered by Buffett is the profit margin. However it is not only important to know if a company’s profit margin is high, what is more important is to know whether it is growing. The capacity of a company to earn long-term profits relies not merely on having a positive profit margin but on constantly expanding this profit scope as well. The attitude of Buffett towards investment can be explained by how he managed Berkshire Hathaway. He purchases stocks to keep the same and he does not look at stocks as a commodity that can be bought and sold but as a business entity. His investment style is simple— he buys stocks and treats them as his own business, and this business makes profits not just for a short span of time but for as long as it stays profitable. He also considers the age of the company— the longer the better. Those that stay in the business for at least ten years are good investment opportunities. Since Buffett admits that he only has a limited knowledge in technology corporations he only puts money in a business which he absolutely understands. He puts much premium on longevity, and this principle brought him where he is right now. When he invested in Berkshire Hathaway, he envisioned of a long-term business that could earn a limitless amount of profit. This is what he learned from Graham, which most researchers consider as the proponent of old school in investment. Perhaps the new school in investment is the buy-and-sell style of most investors wherein profits are short-term and limited. Interestingly, Buffett also looks at the nature of business of a particular company. If most investors usually look at numerical figures, Buffett focuses on the qualitative sides of a company. For example, if a company depends on a commodity like gas and oil, he thinks that such company only offers limited returns on equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If the product of a company is identical from those of its market rivals, he thinks that competition would hamper the profit-making ability of such company. To understand the importance of this approach in investment, it is necessary to look at the biggest stock holdings of Berkshire Hathaway. The holding company owns 9.5 percent of Gillette, which is the leader in razor blade industry (Jubak, 2004). It also owns 9.2 percent or $10.1 billion of Coca-Cola, which is one of the biggest companies in the beverage industry. The other companies which Berkshire has shareholdings are the following: American Express, American Standard, Ameriprise Financial, Anheuser Busch, Burlington Northern, Comcast, Comdisco, Conoco Phillips, Diageo, First Data Corp., Gannett Inc., GAP, HR Block, Home Depot Inc., Ingersoll-Rd Co., Iron Mountain, Johnson Johnson, among many others (Losch Management Co., 2006). Conclusion Billionaire Warren Buffett is indeed an unconventional value investor who thinks outside the box. At a time when most people paid attention to what the stock market says, Buffett relied only on his competent judgment, on his rational philosophy, and on his self-styled investment principles and strategies. That investment philosophy— be greedy when others are fearful put him to where he is right now, with billions of dollars in his. Despite his unmatched success, he remains humble and still retains the ethical values he learned from his father (Boroson, 2002, p. 18). In business, greed is moral and good. In contrast, fear is something that must be overcome to earn limitless profits from investment. Indeed, Buffett attained his unparalleled success by being ‘greedy’ while others cowered in fear of losing their money.   Taken as a whole, his investment tactic can be summarized into three essential principles— a) make your strategy simple and understandable; b) be consistent with your operations and approaches; c) focus on positive long-standing prospects. One interesting point to take into account is that Buffett’s philosophy and investment strategies never contradict each other. When he advises new investors to be ‘greedy,’ he means profits and business. And when he tells people who would like to follow his footsteps to read, research, and think, he would like them to rely on their own judgment and not be affected by other people’s opinion and market trends. With his more than fifty years in business, Buffett introduced the importance of self-esteem in investment. That it is important to rely on one’s moral judgment. By relying on his own judgment, Buffett maximized his profit-making capacity through Berkshire Hathaway. This means that there is no difference between the work ethics and potentials of a value investor and an industrialist. If Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal both create technology through their colossal industrial empires, Buffett creates limitless potentials through his creative and self-inspired investment principles. REFERENCES Boroson, W. (2002). J.K. Lasser’s Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: Wiley Cunningham, L.A. (2002). How to Think Lke Benjamin Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional. Losch Management Co. (2006). Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.loschmanagement.com/Berkshire%20Hathaway/Berkshire%20Holdings/2006.pdf Hagstrom, R.G. (1997). The Warren Buffett Way: The Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor. New York: Wiley. Investopedia Staff (2007, September 21). Warren Buffett: How He Does It. International Business Times. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20070921/how-he-does-it.htm Miles, R.P. (2004). Warren Buffett Wealth. Principles and Tactical Methods Used by the World’s Greatest Investor. London: Wiley Sosik, J.J. (2006). Leading With Character.   North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. Vick, T.P. (2000). How to Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional.

Giotto Di Bondones Style and Technique

Giotto Di Bondones Style and Technique Briefly outline the characteristics of Giotto’s style and analyse the impact of his works on fourteenth-century Italian Art Giotto was a Florentine painter and architect who was recognized as an artistic genius and protagonist during the Italian Renaissance. For artist Giorgio Vasari the great biographer of Italian Renaissance artists the new art had its birth with Giotto[1]. Giotto lived and worked at a time when society was exploring and testing the boundaries of medieval traditions and institutions. This is reflected in his religious subjects where the earthly, full-blooded energy for which he was so famous was to spark the beginnings of artistic naturalism and humanism. For Vasari, Giotto’s work represents a period when painting woke from its long subjection to the Greeks. As Hale says: the stiffness of the Byzantine style gave way to something like grace, figures began to cast shadows and to be foreshortened, their drapery revealed movement and their faces reflected feeling, fear, hope, anger or love. [2] These characteristics are reflected in one of Giotto’s earliest works, Madonna and Child, where the child, although now lost, is affectionately clasping the Madonna’s hand, with its other hand outstretched to her face. The Madonna’s eyes meet those of the viewer with an elongated stare. Both of these qualities reflect Giotto’s desire to express human sentiment and his interest in the communication of feeling. Giotto also experiments with form so that the straight alignment of the Madonna’s features are juxtaposed against the shape of her gown which flows down and away from her face. Giotto is famous for his frescoes at Assisi where he perpetuated a new use of space and colour. For example, The Doctors of the Church sets portraits within areas framed by extravagantly decorative geometric, figurative, and floral motifs.[3] In The Scenes from the Life of St. Francis the strong portrayal of animals, plants, flowers, pottery and rocks are integrated into the human scenarios so that the two become integral to one another. In St. Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Knight the red of the knight’s robe is seen on the back of the mule and in the buildings and landscapes of the background. This is suggestive of Giotto’s desire to unify different elements of his paintings a theme which was to continue into the trends of the fourteenth century. Indeed in his frescoes at Padua (1302-5) where he painted the lives of Christ and the Virgin in the private chapel of Enrico Scrovegni, Padua’s richest citizen, his fusion between figures and space and his concep tion of them as a ‘single coherent unit’[4] is taken to a new extreme. A section of The Last Judgement shows Enrico Scrovegni offering a model of the chapel to Mary, who stands beside a saint and an angel. The gift symbolises Enrico seeking penitence for his father’s sin of usury.[5] This arrangement reflects man’s communication with God, and in turn the unification of the material and the spiritual. In The Last Judgement, where Christ sits surrounded by an aura, Giotto places figures at the centre of their world representing mankind’s place at the centre of history and his unique individuality, which was to become a fundamental of the humanist vision during the fourteenth century. Fourteenth century Italian art was intrinsically linked to the political developments occurring during the time. Giotto was certainly one of the first to assert a style based on observations of nature rather than the upholding of medieval traditions, and during a time when city states were becoming more independent, and democracies were governed by guilds associations of merchants, bankers, artisans, and other professionals[6] this form of artistic freedom was welcomed by those who had democratic or political influence. Giotto’s decorating of the family chapels of the wealthiest citizens of Florence and Padua suggests that art was seen as an ultimate aesthetic representation of virtue and power. In S. Croce Giotto painted the life of St. Francis in the Bardi chapel and those of the two St. Johns in the Peruzzi chapel. The Bardi and Peruzzi were the two greatest banker families of Florence and court bankers of the kings of England and Naples, to the latter of whom Giotto was court painter between 1328-32.[7] These were important developments for fourteenth century art as at Peruzzi Giotto incorporates portrait heads, presumably of the Peruzzi family. As Antal phrases it: ‘it was the wealthiest citizens of Florence who were the first to be represented, outside a fresco or religious painting, in almost wholly independent portraits, though still for the time being inside the same frame.’[8] Later artwork was to completely separate portraits from religious paintings so that the individual could be represented as independent of, but still connected to, the spiritual realm. Fourteenth-century frescoes reveal that individualism was greatly esteemed in the Italian city-republics, and a developing trend for freedom of expression can be seen in Giotto’s pupils and successors such as Taddeo Gaddi. The lives of Christ, the Virgin and the Saints were the subjects of many important paintings and sculptures commissioned at the time. However, although these subjects continue those used by Giotto, his style began to be adapted by his pupils. His idea of a painting as a single unified whole was taken further by incorporating a greater diversity of individual elements within that whole. As Antal explains it: The painters abandoned Giottos centripetal emphasis in order to obtain a fuller narrative; the number of figures is greater, they are individualised and more vehement in their movements, more passionate or more charming; sometimes landscape predominates, and the architecture is richer and more Gothic.[9] However, Giotto’s work was still to prove pivotal to the changes occurring during the fourteenth century. By mid-century, Italy saw a surge of artistic output which integrated new ideals into earlier modes of representation. Over time, figures became more naturalistic, and the linear and angular quality of clothing on figures became softened. As mentioned above, Giotto’s volumetric figures of Madonna and of Christ express these qualities nearly a century earlier. These works were to influence major fourteenth century artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. As seen in Madonna and Child Giotto experimented with the form of the figure and created a shadow effect, adding three dimensionality to the painting. This solution to creating the illusion of solidity to his figures was developed by the later artists who are famous for their exquisite eye for detail. With Giotto, the two dimensional world of thirteenth-century Italian painting was transformed into an analogue for the real world.[10] It was the simplicity of his style and his mastery of illusion which captivated the audiences of his time. As Bernard Berenson puts it: With the simplest means, with almost rudimentary light and shade, and functional line, he contrives to render, out of all the possible outlines, out of all the possible variations of light and shade that a given figure may have, only those that we must isolate for special attention when we are actually realizing it.[11] Giotto was to lay the foundations of a radical artistic movement in fourteenth century Italy. Later artists developed the simplicity of his use of line, form and three-dimensionality. His bold use of colour and composition was to precipitate a wealth of changes in the styles and tastes of fourteenth century Italian art, and his contributions to the history of aesthetics are perhaps some of the most comprehensive in history. Bibliography Antal, F., 1947, Florentine Painting and Its Social Background; the Bourgeois Republic before Cosimo De Medicis Advent to Power: XIV and Early XV Centuries. London: K. Paul Bennett, A., 1999, Giotto. London: Dorling Kindersley Berenson, B., 1953, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance. Phaidon: New York Hale, J.R., 1954, England and the Italian Renaissance: The Growth of Interest in Its History and Art. London: Faber and Faber Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hd_iptg.htm. Further Reading Henderson, J., and Verdon, T., (eds), 1990, Christianity and the Renaissance: Image and Religious Imagination in the Quattrocento. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press Martindale, A., 1969, The Complete Paintings of Giotto. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. Murray, L., and Murray, P., 1963, The Art of the Renaissance. New York: Praeger Footnotes [1] Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13. p.1. [2] Hale, J.R., 1954, England and the Italian Renaissance: The Growth of Interest in Its History and Art. London: Faber and Faber, p.60. [3] Bennett, A., 1999, Giotto. London: Dorling Kindersley, p.25. [4] Ibid, p.66. [5] Ibid, p.71. [6] Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13. [7] Antal, F., 1947, Florentine Painting and Its Social Background; the Bourgeois Republic before Cosimo De Medicis Advent to Power: XIV and Early XV Centuries. London: K. Paul, p.159. [8] Ibid, p.159. [9] Ibid, p.174. [10] http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hd_iptg.htm. [11] Berenson, B., 1953, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance. Phaidon: New York, p.44.