Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Example of informative speech outline Essay
I. Introduction A. Attention Getter:Today, just about everyone depends on information and communication to keep their lives moving through daily activities like work, education, health care, leisure activities, entertainment, travelling, personal relationships, and the other stuff with which we are involved. So what? We need to be aware that the values we hold, the beliefs we harbour and the decisions we make are based on our assumptions, our experiences, our education and what we know for a fact. We rely on mass media for the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of. B. Reason to Listen:Media Effects and Society provides an in-depth look at media effects and is one of the most unresolved issues in our society, and it is necessary to be knowledgeable to its effect. C. Thesis Statement:Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. D. Credibility Statement:1. I have been seen the related issues of mass media in the news. 2. I have read and studied about the effects of mass media in a related book news paper and, and have done research on the Internet. E. Preview of Main Points:1. First, I will discuss the influence of social media in the society. 2. Finally, I will discuss the effects of social media and the impact to the society and to the individual. II. Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. A. Social Media is one of the most influential issues in the society. 1. There are three basic functions of mass media. a. Providing news and information b. Entertainment c. Education 2. How media influence us a. According to Victoria Sherrow, in her book Violence the question of cause and effect and the Media: There are positive and negative influences of mass media, which we must understand as a responsible person of a society. b. New and influential media-distribution channels have appeared in the 21st century. Delivered via the World Wide Web across the Internet, we are influenced daily by blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds and myriad forms of content sharing. c. Radio and then television were very influential. As the 20th century closed, TV exposed us to untold numbers of images of advertising and marketing, suffering and relief, sexuality and violence, celebrity, and much more. Transition: Now that I have discussed the influence of social media, I will now discuss the effects of social media and the impact to the society and to the individual. B. The impact of Media on the society 1. Social impact a. Couldry states that â€Å"Mass media generally are considered a prime candidate given the on-line profusion of information and entertainment services. This article compares the daily mass media habits of heavy, light, and nonusers of personal computers and on-line services based on 1994 and 1995 national surveys conducted by the Times-Mirror Center for the People and the Press.†b. On a social level, media has its greatest impact. Viewpoints have been shaped due to the representation of different cultures, races, genders, religions, and sexual orientations. c. Graham noted that social media usage by teens and younger kids sparks a greater fear for some in society. d. Social media has made it possible for like minded individuals to discuss important topics, widen their personal knowledge and discover things they never knew before. 2. Political impact a. The rise of a â€Å"networked information economy†(Benkler, 2006) has revolutionized the media political economy. b. As the Internet plays a larger role in governance, campaigns and activism, the debate continues about how social and digital media are changing politics. c. Social media therefore introduce new informational capabilities for producing, recording and spreading information through networks (Norris, 2002). III. Conclusion A. Review Main Points: 1. Today I discussed the influence of social media in the society. 2. Finally, I discussed the effects of social media and the impact to the society and to the individual. B. Research thesis:Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. C. Closure:In conclusion, social media has politically and socially made an impact to our society. Each individual have there negative and positive effects; thus we must knowledgeably know the basic elements and it’s fundamentals to avoid violence. References Sherr, V. (2005).Violence the question of cause and effect anAlcoholics Anonymous Meeting Experiencd the Media. Article Kohut, A. (2007). Social Impact Research Personal Computer, Man Made, Use of Time Journal, 243-248 Couldry, N. (2000).Media, Society World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice. uPublish.com Graham, R. (2014). Social Media Causing a Distancing Phenomena To Take Place. New York, New York: Reader’s Digest. http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/citizen-action/research-internet-effects-politics-key-studies#sthash.nuKv68tq.dpuf
Consequences of Successful Business Essay
Consequences of successful business vs unsuccessful business: Linking business success to management The success of a business is based on the quality, the education and the experience of management. Experience is necessary in order to make the right decisions and education leads to higher quality of performance. Quality decisions and performances contribute to the achievement of the business objectives and goals. All these success factors enhance the strengths of the business, which makes it more competitive in the marketplace. Let’s have a look at two similar businesses, a successful one, KFC, and an unsuccessful one, Mochachos’ Chicken Villages and we can see how applying quality relates to some business functions. 1. Business Image or Public Relations Function The main objective of the PR function is to present a good impression of the business because customers associate the business image with the product. So the KFC chicken with the secret recipe is what the customers see as the company. If they are happy with the chicken they are happy with the company, KFC as a whole. KFC is a large business with lots of money to spend on the appearance of the stores, advertising, presentation of meals like the boxes etc and even dressing their staff is nice eye catching uniforms. Another good PR method is direct contact where staff members come into contact with orphanages, hospitals and schools. KFC makes sure that the media are informed so that they receive publicity about their good deeds. Mochachos’ Chicken Villages on the other hand didn’t have a lot of money at their disposal for image which put them at a disadvantage. Because Mochachos Chicken Villages didn’t have the look of a well established company with large corporate offices, big expensive advertising, and the customers associated that with their ability to provide good food. They did nothing in the community and got bad publicity when things started to go wrong at the stores. 2. Product Quality and Operations Function Improvement in quality is achieved with the advancing in manufacturing technology. The company has to keep up with the times and do constant reassess of future production requirements KFC are always bringing out new kinds of chicken for us to eat. There are strips, pops, burgers and even boneless chicken. They are improving their technology all the time. An example is the grilled KFC chicken you get today. They have realized that customers are also trying to eat a little healthier and they have developed new technology to grill the chicken instead of frying it but always keeping the quality high. Mochachos’ Chicken Villages have stuck to one or a few products. Not bringing in anything new or keeping up with the latest on the market. And this could lead to a lack of interest from the public and eventually bad quality of the food. 3. Quality Human Resources Function Appoint employees that have the abilities and experience to obtain results. KFC have the resources to spend time and money on training the staff as well as training the managers. They have the money to pay the employees what they are worth. Happy workers equal more productive workers. They hire the correct people for the job and outsource certain required services such as IT specialists to keep their till systems working properly. Organisation and leadership are also a successful part of the KFC staff. Mochachos’ Chicken Villages have perhaps cut costs and employed inexperienced staff that don’t have the abilities to provide a good service to the customers therefore making it more difficult to get the results they wanted. The management haven’t been trained properly and that reflects on the company as a whole. 4. Quality Administration Function Administration is spread throughout the entire company and this need s to be of the highest quality for all systems to work and eventually for the management to make the correct decisions. KFC have the correct systems in place from their production lines to the delivery of good to the systems in the stores. All documentation is done correctly and all systems are in place and check. Policies and procedures are followed to the last detail such as the cleaners noting down the time they have cleaned. Stock control is an ongoing process. All the information collected is used for research and development, planning, projecting and budgeting ahead and also steps are taken to make sure the right decisions are made for the goals of KFC to be achieved. Mochachos’ Chicken Villages didn’t have all the policies and procedures in place. They made incorrect decisions regarding renting new space to operate in. They didn’t analyse their customer’s needs, they didn’t project future sales or work out the financial position of the business. The most important thing is that Mochachos’ Chicken Villages didn’t remain sustainable in today’s competitive business world. 5. Quality and Healthy Financial Function This function is concern with raising enough capital to finance the business’s assets, resources and services to operate properly. The financial manager must make sure that the business can make enough money to cover the cost of raising the capital. KFC have done budgeting which is the most important mechanism for financial control. KFC have many stores and many investors, properties and equipment which all forms part of making the business financially stable. Mochachos’ Chicken Villages didn’t have enough investors buying into the franchising concept and then the expenses eventually became more than the income, this showing a lack of financial planning, budgeting and control. They had no investors and that meant no security that the business would remain sustainable or too much of the owners capital was required. In conclusion: Good managers will ensure successful business results because it will ensure that customer needs are satisfied. As the saying goes â€Å"Good managers are trained, not born.†Hardly anyone is born a good manager. Almost all of them have learnt it. And the good thing is that it can be learnt. Plenty have done it. And so can you. Learning to be an excellent manager requires education, training and experience. You can’t skimp on any one of them†¦..it takes all three.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Chinese Wedding Tradition Essay
Introduction            A wedding day is considered as the most important and memorable event in one’s life because it is their way of affirming their love and intimacy in public. At that very moment, the couple makes sure that everything is perfectly planned, from proposal to reception. This is because the groom usually wants to offer the best to his bride. A wedding is also considered among many nations as a very sensitive event because all aspects of the wedding shall conform to their beliefs and traditions. The date and place of the wedding are also given considerable significance. Moreover, the wedding rites are meticulously carried out because everything used symbolizes something especially among Chinese.            In Chinese tradition, the wedding is purposely to continue their clan and to strengthen the relationship of the two families. It is in the best interest of the parents and so they exert a great deal effort of finding good match for their son. The matching is made very carefully through rituals to ensure the absence of bad omens. Furthermore, a traditional Chinese wedding is interestingly coupled with complicated beliefs to ensure luck, joy, and happiness for the couple. Before the Wedding            The proposal in Chinese wedding is not made by the boy, instead, his parents find a girl that matches him. When the match has been found, the proposal and expression of the match is done through a â€Å"go- between†who would present a gift to the girl’s parents. If the proposal is received, the go- between will get the girl’s birth date and birth hour to be recorded in a formal document which will be placed in the altar of the boy’s family for three days (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). If within three days, no inauspicious omen occurred like trouble between the two families, the information is given to an astrological expert for confirmation of the match (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). When a favorable horoscope is found, the girl’s family will also do the same ritual.            The next process is the bethrodal where both parents exchange presents as a form of their intentions. During the bethodal, the parents would extensively bargain for the amount of money and goods as a gift to the girl’s family. Usually, the bethodal gifts includes, tea, dragon and phoenix bridal cakes, pairs of male and female poultry, wine, tobacco, and others (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). The cake received by the bride is shared to family friends and relatives as a sign of the wedding announcement and invitation. In exchange, the girl’s family would offer foods and clothing.            On the same day, the wedding date is set. It is important among Chinese that the wedding date is a lucky day. The date is chosen according to the lunar calendar when the moon and the stars are properly aligned with the guidance of an astrologist (983Weddings.com). Moreover, it has been a practice that the couple marry when the hands of the clocks are moving up instead of down because it is their belief that their married life would begin in an upswing manner (983Weddings.com).            Before the wedding day, the bride is required to stay in seclusion together with her closest friends where she would be rendered a lamentation for her separation from her parents (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). Another preparation made is the installation of the new bridal bed by married men or women having many children. The night before the wedding day, the groom is required to sleep on the bed with an innocent young child to invite fertility. Wedding Day            On the very day of wedding, the bride takes a bath in water filled with pomelo and other varieties of grape fruit to cleanse her of evil influences (Chinese Weddings by the Knot). Her hair is combed by a married woman four times and each stroke symbolizes good luck, fertility, longevity, and happiness, respectively (Helium). Her hair is styled in a bun at the top of her head like that of a married woman. Moreover, her hair dress, made of either red silk veil or curtain of tassle or beads, is hanged from her Phoenix crown so that her face will be covered (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). The brides wear a simple yet elegant red wedding dress and red shoes (Helium). The presence of a â€Å"good- luck woman†is also required during the bride’s preparation (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). After all the preparations, the bride bows to her parents and to the ancestral table then waits for the bridal procession (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project).            On the other hand, the groom wears a long gown, a red silk sash with a silk ball on his shoulder together with red shoes, (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). As he kneels before the altar, his father places the cap, which is garnished with cypress leaves, on his head (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). Before the groom goes on a bridal procession, he is required to kneel before the tablets of Heaven and Earth and his ancestors then to his parents and relatives (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project).            Noticeably, the color used for wedding dress, invitations, and envelopes is red. For the Chinese, red stands for luck, joy, happiness, and courage. On the red wedding invitations and decorations, the symbol of double happiness is placed on them to represent a wish of happiness to the newly wed (Fong & Chuang, 2003, p.138).            After the preparation, the groom leads the bridal procession to pick up his bride. The procession is accompanied by the noise of firecrackers, loud gongs and drums (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). The groom is also accompanied by a child to symbolize his future sons (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project).            The wedding ceremony itself is simpler than the preparation. The couple is led to the altar to pray to the Heaven and Earth, to family ancestors, and to the Kitchen god, Tsao- Chun (Hudson Valley Weddings). Afterwards, a tea with lotus seeds is offered by the couple to the grooms parents (Chinese Historical and Cultural Project). The marriage ceremony is completed when the couple bows at each other.            The wedding feast is prepared by the bride’s family separate from that of the groom’s family. On each feasts, the men sits separately from women. Then bride and the groom are presented with the two goblets of honey and wine tied together with red ribbon (Kingma, 2003, p. 166). They partake in these two drinks to represent that they have come together in marriage in love and in courage. After the Wedding            On the day after the wedding, the bride is required to wake up at dawn to honor their ancestors and bow before the groom’s relatives as she receives gifts from them. That is the only day when the bride is formally introduced to the grooms family and relatives. Conclusion            It can be considered that the trditional Chinese wedding is the most complicated and meticulous yet most elegant wedding there is. It can also be said that since the wedding has the longest preparation, the parents of both partners may plan for it while the future couple are still young. Moreover, the wedding ceremony itself is given utmost importance as it is enriched by beliefs to ensure good things for the couple and for their family. Works Cited â€Å"Chinese Wedding Traditions.†2008. Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. 4 June 2008            . â€Å"A Guide to Chinese Wedding Customs.†2008. Helium. 4 June 2008            . â€Å"Chinese Wedding Traditions.†2008. Hudson Valley Weddings. 4 June 2008            . â€Å"Chinese Wedding Traditions- Marriage Customs.†983 Weddings.com. 4 June 2008            . Fong, Mary & Chuang, Rueyling. Communicating Ethnic and Cultural Identity. Rowman &     Littlefield, 2003. Kingma, Daphne R. Weddings from the Heart: Contemporary & Traditional Ceremonies           for an Unforgettable Wedding. Red Wheel, 2003. â€Å"Wedding Style: How to Make Your Wedding Unique.†2008. Chinese Weddings by the Knot. 4 June 2008 .
Monday, July 29, 2019
Coring preparation, preservation, and handling Research Paper
Coring preparation, preservation, and handling - Research Paper Example When seeking to form a description of a core, it is essential that one place the lay out of the core on a table. This will be essential in checking the amount of the core and compare it to the coring report so as to ensure no core material was lost during the transportation process (Fjar, Holt, Raaen, Risnes, and Horsrud 125). In case of any alterations or damage, it is important to note such details. The numbering placed on the containers should be noted against the cumulative depth reported. This then creates a better understanding of the core, and offers a chance to check on the orientation and continuity with respect to the top of the core. If the records show the downhole gamma-ray logs, then it would be advisable to verify the same by comparing the to the core gamma-ray logs. This verifies the consistency of the cored interval depths with the log depths. The core features such as composition, texture, color, and porosity types should also be noted. After getting this information, the cutting of stabilized or unstabilized cores will depend on the plug sample methods or the plunge cut technique. This will prepare it for preservation (Fjar, Holt, Raaen, Risnes, and Horsrud 127). The purpose of preservation is to maintain the chemical and physical properties inherent in the cores as close as possible to the reservoir data. The impact noted should be in relation to the intended utility of the core afterwards. The failure to create an impermeable barrier around the sample could lead to wettability alterations, loss of interstitial water, precipitation of the salts, and damage to the mineral fabric (Morton-Thompson and Woods 105). The methods of preservation differ depending on the intended achievements. Six methods have been developed which include sealing the core in airtight metal-cans, dry ice freezing, plastic bag seals, using plastic, steel, or aluminum tubes to seal, wrapping in plastic tape or metal foil, as well as using plastic coatings. Notably,
Sunday, July 28, 2019
How can leaders lead when they don't know what to expect Essay
How can leaders lead when they don't know what to expect - Essay Example Similarly setting a firm goal for the organization is one of the few essentials that must be adhered in practicing successful leadership. It is in this context that leaders, to be effective in implementing successful strategies, must obtain a succinct understanding of what to expect from their followers and benefactors of their leadership practices (Kerr & Jermier, 1978). Focusing on this argumentive statement, the aim of the essay is to evaluate the significance leader’s ability to make accurate expectations when defining goals and implementing strategies likewise. In order to accomplish this particular aim, the essay emphasizes conducting a literature review to gain an in-depth knowledge about the factors that determine leadership success in the 21st century context, followed by a case example analysis in respect to the Affordable Care Act policy enforced by the US President Mr. Barack Obama. Based on the information obtained through these sections, a critical discussion has been conducted in this essay to derive a brief conclusion directly implying on the argument statement; i.e. â€Å"How can leaders lead when they don’t know what to expect?†The Concept and Role of Leadership in the 21st Century According to Kaiser & Hogan (2005), although leadership has remained a topic of interest for many years, and many researchers have contributed in the study of leadership, it still lacks a firm definition that can replicate its multidimensional features in an all-inclusive manner. According to Judge & et. al., (2002), it is because of the fact that leadership practices depend on situational contexts, where the qualities of the followers and the availability of resources play a vital role in determining overall leadership effectiveness also involving value-based philosophical attributes as major influences, defining the concept in a scientific way as similar to other societal concepts, becomes a major challenge. Nevertheless, almost all the expla nations derived in the current phenomenon focus on one common feature of successful leadership that the effectiveness of these practices depend on the leader’s ability to understand or decode the change needs and define their expectations accordingly (Judge & et. al., 2002). It is in this context that Fry (2003) argued leaders to be attending both the task oriented and social or emotional issues through the directive and supportive behaviors, which further raises complexities in understanding the ability of the resources available and decide upon their expectations thereon. According to the House (1996), the contingency theory emphasizes that an effective leadership approach must have a link between the leader’s behavior and the situational conditions that further determines their accuracy of expectations. Expanding the contingency theory, House (1996) further argued that the path-goal theory of leadership joins the participative and achievement oriented leader’ s behaviors with their directive and supportive behavioral needs to focus on the association amid performance-reward and explain the follower about the importance of such associations in order to perform
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Just War Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
Just War Theory - Essay Example However, two problems arise when trying to justify the use of JWT in shaping the United States and allies’ strategies in Afghanistan, where it is fighting an untraditional enemy that does not share the same kind of ethical ideals. The first problem arises from the thought of each of two sides in the nontraditional war as moral agents, when one has clearly rejected the moral code the other follows. Since a moral code sets the ethical guidelines governing a community, when one party does not accept the moral code, the one that does accept the code is not obligated to follow that code. For instance, it is generally accepted that killing an animal that is known to be dangerous is ethical, insofar as doing so protects other members of the moral community from being harmed. Similarly, if a nontraditional army does not accept these rules of conduct, like the animal, it is well within the moral right of the traditional one to ensure its enemy does not harm another member of the moral community. From this assumption that militaries are moral agents, and the fact that moral codes provide the ethical guidelines for the community, an entity that does not accept the moral code is not obligated to ethical treatment accordi ng to this code. A war is nothing more than murder of other human beings; but instead of being punishable murder, it is sanctioned by states. JTW theory proposes the means by which one can create a more ethical war, but it does not address the issue of whether war itself is ethical. This relatively conservative answer to whether JTW applies to a nontraditional war is supplemented by a second problem, which is tangentially addressed in â€Å"The Call to Arms†1. This issue has to deal with the source of JTW moral prescriptions, and whether a nontraditional fighting force like that seen in Afghanistan is to be dealt with ethical principles based on notions like â€Å"Christian love†or within the tradition
Friday, July 26, 2019
Virgin Group Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2
Virgin Group Case Study - Assignment Example Some of the aspects of transformational leadership of Branson include inspirational motivation. For instance, he believes in collective responsibility of teams and motivated employees. Another aspect of the transformational leadership of Branson intellectual stimulation since he challenges the existing assumptions and promotes creative ideas. He invented space travel since he believes that the earth is tiny, unlike space, and he is also committed to developing a submarine that can reach ocean floors. He has idealized influence and acts as a role model for his employees. He instills trust and high ethical behavior in his business since he is committed to environmental conservation and charity work. Branson also makes individualized consideration through listening to all employees and showing support for the teams. He understands the needs of customers and employees and this is mainly why he dressed up in and boots a cowboy hat during the opening of regular flights to Dallas to symboli ze the needs of American customers (Daft 425). If Virgin Group was to go public tomorrow, I would be willing to purchase the stock. Richard Branson would be committed to ensuring profitability and high return on the shareholder's investments. I would be assured of positive returns since his diversification and acquisition strategies would ensure positive returns even during harsh business environment. Branson has high-performance expectations thus would pursue aggressive investment strategies in order to meet the expectations of the shareholders.
MGT302 - Org. Behavior and Teamwork CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1
MGT302 - Org. Behavior and Teamwork CA - Essay Example Unfortunately, it takes a certain mix of educated thought processes and considerations to be able to make the best decision that would apply to a given situation. The article entitled, â€Å"Herb’s Concoction (and Martha’s Dilemma): The Case of the Deadly Fertilizer,†Customer Affairs Department personnel Martha Wang needs to decide on how to handle information from a customer complaint claiming that the best-selling product of their company, Herb’s Garden, allegedly caused the death of the customer’s animal. Thus, Martha needs to make what is called a non-programmed decision. Non-programmed decisions are so unique and important that they require conscious thinking, information gathering, and careful consideration of alternatives. This is in contrast with programmed decisions which occur frequently enough that one already develops an automated response to them. . Martha faces quite a dilemma in this case. First, she herself has had a previous experience that is similar to the issue being raised by the customer. However, when she addressed this issue to upper management, it was simply dismissed as being a case of an overreacting customer. Furthermore, the company’s owner personally requested Martha to take care of the situation. in such a crucial situation, individuals may be overwhelmed by the pressure that they face. Therefore, Martha must carefully analyze the situation and weigh all alternatives to come up with the best option. Furthermore, in turning decision making into a more manageable affair, Bauer and Erdogan (2005) suggest that one asks the following questions: For Martha, the necessary first step would be to do some background research. She could try to look into the company’s history in terms of customer feedback, especially concerning the particular product which is Herb’s Special Fertilizer Mix. If she feels that there is indeed sufficient customer complaints similar to the one brought up by the client that
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Alzheimers Disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Alzheimers Disease - Research Paper Example The person who inherits genetic mutations is most likely to develop Alzheimers disease before age 65 and in worst case the person may develop Alzheimers disease as early as age 30. Genetics and advancing age contribute significantly to developing Alzheimers disease in an individual. Medications can reduce the symptoms but cannot alter the disease. Progressive loss of brain cells is known as Alzheimers disease (AD). Though the precise cause of Alzheimers disease is not known but a family history, severe head injuries, life style and increasing age could be one of the causes of getting this disease. Being a progressive disease it may get worse with age. The paper attempts to explore several aspects that surround Alzheimers disease that include its progression, symptoms, treatment regime. As such, the history of Alzheimers disease or its identification goes back to as far as over hundred years but the larger understanding about it such as its causes, symptoms, risk factors and treatment process has been developed in the last 30 years. Though the medical science has revealed much about Alzheimers disease in last few decades, it cannot describe precisely the real causes about its happening; however, it is certain that when neurons in brains die, the person is said to have the onset of Alzheimers disease (Alzheimers & Dementia, 2013). Almost 5.2 million people in the US are estimated to having Alzheimers disease in 2013. Out of this, almost 5 million persons are of age above 65. In other words, 4% of Alzheimers disease population belongs to age less than 65 and 82% are of age 75 and above. The population with Alzheimers disease will increase each coming year due to increase in ageing population of the US above age 65 (Thies & Bleiler, 2012). Alzheimers disease is a neurodegenerative disease – due to progressive brain cells death over a period of time
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Provide adequate background to the Retail Supervisor job at Warwick Essay
Provide adequate background to the Retail Supervisor job at Warwick Castle - Essay Example rmance standards to be achieved, Working conditions and possible hazards, Number of employees performing the job and to whom they report to, the machines and equipment used on the job. As far as the job description contains sufficient information it should not give too much detailed information of how the work is going to be performed so that it can remain useful when that type of job acquires minor changes. This includes the job title, the department, the reporting relationship, a job number or code. A good tittle should closely approximate the nature of the work content and will distinguish that job from others. The job analysis date is placed on the job description to help in identifying job changes that would make the description obsolete. It is recommended that to place an expiry date on the document because this practice ensures periodic review of job content and minimizes the number of obsolete job description. This part helps to locate the job in the organization by indicating the job immediately below or above it in the job hierarchy. It also gives an idea of the vertical relationships of work flows and procedures. Person specification is a written record of the requirements sought in an individual worker for a given job. It refers to a summary of the personal characteristics required for a job. It is a statement of the minimum acceptable human qualities necessary for the proper performance of a job. Items included in the job specification are factors that can be shown to be job related such as educational requirements, experience, personality traits and physical abilities. It is important as it keeps interviewers attention on list of necessary qualification and assists to determine whether candidates are essential qualified. The description below entails a person specification for a retail supervisor job at Warwick Castle. The supervisor should also be a true role model, able to coach his team effectively to achieve success-this should be done by
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Marketing information system (MIS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Marketing information system (MIS) - Essay Example Putting into consideration factors such as market trends, changes and needs occurring in a market, and how the rival businesses conduct their activities is what a good marketer needs to do before venturing into a business (Michael, 2012 p. 67). The components of a Marketing Information System such as marketing research, internal records and marketing intelligence are most crucial when trying to obtain information on marketing (Esad, 2013 p. 35). However, to understand the role information systems play, what managers do must be examined as well as what kind of information they require to make decisions. How decisions are made as well as the decision problems that be solved by information systems must also be understood. This paper stands to examine the role Marketing Information Systems play in assisting managers with their marketing endeavors. Marketing managers have roles such as organizing, planning, deciding, controlling and coordinating. Any information has to be built with the role of a marketing manager in mind if it is to serve him/her well. Recently, there has been stressing on the aspects of behavior in management decision making (Jules, 2013 p. 35). On this, marketing managers are supposed to be highly voluminous in their jobs, work at high speeds, they should be diverse, or able to offer variety, they should also be specific, highly interactive and able to use verbal communication. Researchers suggest that a manager’s day has many tasks, but very little time assigned to each. Marketing managers prefer being speculative and gossiping in brief. This helps them keep up to date with up-to-date information. Routine and historical information, usually receives less attention. Even from researchers, marketing managers are found to prefer verbal communication in comparison to written information. Verbal communication has been found to offer more
Monday, July 22, 2019
Analytical Examination Essay Example for Free
Analytical Examination Essay This paper will analyze about the RA 10354 also called Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. This essay will present a short history of the law here in the Philippines until it become enacted and implemented. This will discuss the major provisions of the law together with its important contents ranging from health care to contraception. This will also discuss the issues that are connected to this law while it was a bill such as maternal death, early pregnancy, premarital sex, poverty and population and reproductive health education. Issues concerned with legislation of the bill such as the necessity and morality of the bill and its contents like contraception and reproductive health education will be especially presented. Other news which may have affected the support for the bill will be also presented and analyzed. This will also present the major groups that approve or oppose the said law together with their reasons why they want or are against the said law. This will also talk about the actions those groups have taken for or against the law which may have affected the support for the bill’s implementation. This is also concerned with the voices of certain world organizations such as UNESCO and WHO on reproductive health education and the stand of the Church on the matter about contraception, self-continence and marriage. This will be concerned about their statement about the matter and the doctrines and values they adhere with. Summary Since its first proposition on 1988, the Reproductive Health Bill experienced many debates if it was really needed here in the Philippines. The proposition was changed and improved by a number of proponents many times but was mostly neglected. Then, a similar bill was also introduced in the first regular session of the 14th Congress by Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, Jannette L. Garin, Narciso D. Santiago III, Mark Llandro Mendoza, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel and Elandro Jesus F. Madrona that was known as House Bill 5043. Like that of the former bills, it was also disposed but its proponents never stop to improve, change and remove some parts of the former bill to create a new one. Many times Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and its principal authors would edit the bill until the Reproductive Bill of 2012 was formed. Senator Pia Cayetano was also a principal sponsor of such bill. Upon December 19, 2012, the Senate enacted the bill and on December 21, 2012, four days before Christmas His Presidency, Benigno Aquino III signed the bill and was to be implemented fifteen days after its official publication. The law was known as RA 10354 or Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. Its major provisions are to promote and have access to reproductive health care and methods that are legal and safe, to promote family planning methods and responsible parenthood, to counsel women who committed abortion in a humane way, to mandate reproductive health education in age appropriateness to students, to supply and maintain reproductive health services to all, to protect reproductive health rights and to penalize those who restricts or prohibits the access to reproductive health care and methods stated in this law. The law mandates the hire of skilled health professionals for maternal health care and birth attendance, seen in Sec. 5. It also promotes the upgrade of health care facilities for obstetric and newborn care as stated in Sec. 6 and to access for family planning methods especially to the poor and marginalized couple and to sexually active minors as said in Sec. 7. The law also states that â€Å"hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables and other safe, legal, non-abortifacient and effective family planning products and supplies†(RA 10354, Sec. 9) should be treated in the Essential Drugs List after subjection to reputable medical associations. It also mandates the procurement and distributions of family-planning supplies and age appropriate reproductive health education, stated in Sec. 10 and 14 respectively. And lastly, to condemn any who shall prohibit the access to health care and family-planning supplies. Since its first introduction by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, this law had reaped many opposition and approval before being enacted. The pro-woman groups fought for saving the lives of woman from maternal death on the other hand the Church and other pro-life groups fought for dignity of the unborn and the sanctity of marriage. The senate itself was divided for selecting to if they will oppose or approve the bill. The Former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was known to opposed the bill and be backed upon by the Church meanwhile President Benigno Aquino III shown agreement towards the bill and expected its implementation. The pronouncement of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to condoms also became news if the Church was open to contraception. This gave new hope for Edcel Lagman from acceptance of the Church but Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez explained that the Pope talks about health, that preventing HIV from spreading is showing compassion but the Pope doesn’t said to use condoms to prevent pregnancy. Issues also attract the said bill. First, is about the legislation of the bill, if it was really relevant here in the country with regards to overpopulation, Availability/Provisions for RH information and healthcare for mothers and children. Another issue is if the RH Bill is moral, if the Church must interfere with the State and if the government is willing to give funds to the bill. Third, is about the consequence of a widespread of contraceptives with regards to health and sexual behavior. The last is concerned in the need of sex education in the country. The CBCP together with the national Church felt that it was time to educate again its faithful and made efforts on counteracting the bill. The Church turned offering masses, praying for the enlightenment of congressmen and women and explained that principles of the bill undermine the sanctity of life and marriage. They stated that overpopulation was not the problem but corruption and the unequal distribution of people. They seek to get online, and used CBCP for Life for addressing the matter and let the Simbang Gabi 2012 be used for educating the faithful. They also made catechisms with themes regarding the RH. Meanwhile, pro-woman and pro-RH group also organize plans for the bill. They have tied violet ribbons on their arm signifying their fight against HIV-AIDS. Informed people about gender inequality, maternal deaths, teenage pregnancy and HIV-AIDS and that the bill would help minimize or eliminate such problems. UNESCO and WHO also promotes the education of youths regarding reproductive health. They state that benefits such as a delay in sexual initiation; reduction of unwanted pregnancies, child abuse and abortion; and a slower spread of HIV could be obtained. It can also induce progress to gender equity, social participation and partnership. It prepares the youths for responsibility as adults, emphasizes health promotion and can improve relevance in education systems. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church holds its deposit of faith centered on Divine Love and Unity in Marriage. Its Catechism says that Marriage is by which a man and a woman establish intimate communion for life which is ordered for the good of the spouse and the procreation and education of children,(1660, Catechism of the Catholic Church). It also states that the total reciprocal self-giving is overlaid through contraception for it is a refusal for the total giving of self through taking away openness to life,( 2370,Catechism of the Catholic Church). It states that even intercourse with a legitimate wife but taking away the power to generate life is contrary to God’s will and leaves guilt of a grave sin,(55-56, Casti Connubii). The Church also teaches the virtue of chastity, that the couple must exercise conjugal love and fidelity and that of safeguarding life form the moment of conception, (51, Gaudium et Spes). She teaches that Marriage can never justify sexual intercourse which is contraceptive which oppose to its true meaning and that artificial methods could lead to marital infidelity and lowering moral standards, reduction of woman as mere object of satisfaction and intervening of public authorities to the most personal and intimate responsibilities of couples, (14,17; Humanae Vitae). It also addresses the value of self-discipline to repel inordinate self-interests and to control the passions of the body,(21, Humanae Vitae). References Software Ecumenical Council of Vatican II. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Retrieved from CATECH01. exe Websites and Webpages Anonymous. (2012, December 21). Republic Act 10354. Retrieved from http://pcw. gov. ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/republic_act_10354. pdf Burgonio, T. (2010, November 21). Pope’s pronouncement on condoms strengthens RH Bill – Lagman. Retrieved from http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/breakingnews/nation/view/20101121-304495/Popes-pronouncement-on-condoms-strengthens-RH-billLagman Dionisio, E. R. (2012, August 8). A Guide to Arguments for and against the Reproductive Health Bill. Retrieved from http://www. adnu. edu. ph/images/A%20Guide%20to%20Arguments %20For%20and%20Against%20the%20Reproductive%20Health%20Bill. pdf Ecumenical Council of Vatican II. Gaudium et Spes. Retrieved from http://www. vatican. va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en. html Paul VI. Humanae Vitae. Retrieved from http://www. vatican. va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en. html Pius XI. Casti Connubii. Retrieved from http://www. vatican. va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_31121930_casti-connubii_en. html Sun. star. Church RH Bill. Retrieved from http://www. sunstar. com. ph/davao/weekend/church-rh-bill Saclag, D. E. D. Group asks SC to lift suspension of RH Law. Retrieved from http://www. bworldonline. com/content. php? section=Nationtitle=Group-asks-SC-to-lift-suspension-of-RH-Lawid=71130 Unknown. (2012, August 14). Reproductive Health Bill, Good or Bad. Retrieved from http://behealthconsciousblog. wordpress. com/2012/08/14/reproductive-health-bill-good-or-bad/ Unknown. (2012, December 29). Republic Act 10354, Reproductive Health Act of 2012. Retrieved from http://filipinoscribe. com/2012/12/29/republic-act-10354-reproductive-health-act-of-2012/ Unknown. House Bill no. 5043, Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008. Retrieved from http://jlp-law. com/blog/full-text-of-house-bill-no-5043-reproductive-health-and-population-development-act-of-2008/ Villegas, B. M. et al. (2012, September 12) Handbook of Truths on RH Bill. Retrieved from http://cbcpforlife. com/? p=8859 Villegas, S. B. (2012, December 15). Contraception is Corruption, A Pastoral Letter on the Latest decision on the Rh Bill. Retrieved from http://cbcponline. net/v2/? p=6241 World Health Organization. Family Life, Reproductive Health and Population Education: Key Elements of a Health-Promoting School. Retrieved from http://hivaidsclearinghouse. unesco. org/search/resources/HIV%20AIDS%20231. pdf
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Web2py Layout Features
Web2py Layout Features CHAPTER 5. DEVELOPMENT In the Web2py framework there are two objects that contribute in designing both static and dynamic web pages. The SQLFORM.factory object is used for developing static web pages and SQLFORM object for developing dynamic pages. The framework consists of three files, namely db.py which is created in the model, default.py created in the controller and default/index.html file for designing the web page in the view layer. When the function in the controller gets executed, the default/index.html file in the view is called which passes the variables into HTML. Since the view file is written in HTML, the python code is placed within {{ }}. The â€Å"layout.html†file represents the fundamental layout of all the applications designed in web2py. Screenshot of the files mentioned above in web2py interface: Screenshot 5.1. Files of Web2py To understand how the objects work I developed a static web page which takes name and chemical type of a chemical compound as user inputs and accepts the form if no errors are found. However, if the user does not enter any name the form sends a response to the user displaying â€Å"Form contains error†Each time a new user submits the form message â€Å"Form displayed for the first time†is displayed. Screenshot of the web page implemented: Screenshot 5.1. New page Code to implement static web page in the logical layer: def index(): form=SQLFORM.factory(Field(Name,requires=IS_NOT_EMPTY()), Field(Chemical_Type,requires=IS_NOT_EMPTY())).process() if form.accepted: session.flash=Form accepted redirect(URL(other,vars={Name:form.vars.Name})) elif form.errors: response.flash=Form contains errors else: response.flash=Form displayed for the first time return locals() Code to view the web page in the view layer: {{extend layout.html}} {{=form}} 5.2. Designing dynamic Cheminformatics Application To start with designing the web application in web2py framework, there are some built-in files that can be modified for designing purpose. These built-in files of web2py have facilitated easy designing of the web application. One of the main files is the ‘menu.py’ model file which can be customized based on the requirement of the user. By making some few changes in the above file, the following tags such as ‘Cheminformatics’, ‘Home’ and ‘Drug Database’ on the left-hand side of the page have been established. The table includes Compound_ID and row.id details of the chemical compound table created in the db.py file of model. Logic is implemented in the controller and connecting the web page to the server is implemented in the view. The web page retrieves results from the server based on the query of the user. Model Code – db.define_table (Compound_Details,Field(Compound_ID,string),Field(row.id,int)) Controller code- def index(): return dict() #search through search bar def search(): result= error=no result found x=request.body.read() result=Query_results(str(x)) if result!=: return result else: return error def Query_results(y): a= result= count1=0 my_query=(db.Compound_Details.Compound_ID.contains(y)) myset=db(my_query) rows = myset.select() for row in rows: result=str(row.Compound_ID) +t+ str(row.id) +n+ result count1=myset.count() if count1==0: return str(a) else: return result View code- {{extend layout.html}} placeholder=Search here autocomplete=off /> Search Function search_element() { //clear(); var text; text=document.getElementById("search_text").value; if(text=='') { alert("Enter some text to be searched!"); return; } â€Å"var xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.open("POST","{{=URL('search')}}",true); xmlhttp.setRequestHeader("Content- type","http://127.0.0.1:8000/search1/default/index?search_text="); xmlhttp.setRequestHeader("Content-length", text.length); xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 || xmlhttp.status==200) { var result=xmlhttp.responseText; if(result=='') { alert("no result found"); } else { var row=result.split("n");//row is the individual row for (i=0;i createDiv(row[i]); } } } } document.getElementById("search_text").value=''; xmlhttp.send(text); }†[14] Explanation of the code: The web2py framework provides the ability to the developer to view the creation of table in the sql.log file and input records into the database through the database administration file. Below is a snapshot of the implementation of the search page: Screenshot 5.2. Cheminformatics App page Three functions are declared in the controller section which includes the logic required to search for text based on user input. In the search function, when user enters text in the search box, the input is converted into string using the request.body.read object. The string is then directed to the database server through the Query_results function which retrieves ‘Name and row.id of the chemical compound each time count1==0. The index function in the controller is used for the purpose of returning the dictionary. The view section handles the display of the web page. In order to connect the HTML page to the database server of web2py, an AJAX script is initiated for the purpose of making the page dynamic. It automatically updates the web page without re-loading it. It uses XmlHttpRequest object to interact with the server. Browsers such as IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari are supported by the new XmlHttpRequest object. The older versions of IE such as IE5 and IE6 are supported by the new ActiveXObject. Methods open() and send(), are used for the purpose of sending request to the server. The open() method has the following syntax: open(method,url,async): The method defines the type of Http request to be sent across- either GET or POST. The url is the position of the file and async determines the asynchronous or synchronous nature of request. An asynchronous request is one that does not block the javascript which interacts with the server. A synchronous request is one that hinders the interaction of the javascript with the server until the action is complete. The code in view applies the asynchronous request that facilitates the http request to interact with the server to retrieve the results. send(string): The argument string is used for http POST request. This method is used for sending the request to the server. The POST request will then use the setRequestHeader(header,value) method for sending request to the server. ‘Header’ argument is for the header name and the ‘value’ argument is the header value. The following screenshot illustrates the value of the records after the user clicks on the search button. Screenshot 5.2. Result This initial prototype will serve as a foundation in the preparation of the cheminformatics resource that will facilitate search based on user input.
Scorsese And His Use Of Red
Scorsese And His Use Of Red The eminent and much revered director Martin Scorsese first achieved critical acclaim with his 1973 picture, Mean Streets. The film was an independent production which also began his long standing collaboration with the actor Robert DeNiro. Without major studio backing, Scorsese operated with a very small budget, yet he overcame this setback with exceptionally strong acting creative and performances, powerful and striking visuals. Mean Streets is a brutal, moody and sharply detailed story about life in New York Citys Little Italy, as seen through the experiences of a group of small time hoodlums. Scorsese brings his own obsessions into all his movies, and Mean Streets is no exception. His ambivalence towards group and family loyalties, macho values, and the notion of success and the price it demands are all evident, helping to set up the unstable, confused and destructive world of the film, and in particular the main protagonist Charlie. Vital to the creation of this world is the rec urrent incorporation of the colour red into the mise en scene. Different colours has been used as a filmic code by numerous directors however this was not possible until colour film was technologically feasible, As a code, colour takes its cue from social codes: red is associated with passion and violence; blue with coolness and melancholy (Lacey: 38). One of the ways in which colour is used is to focus the audiences awareness within the mise en scene. It is done with bright colours, which draw the eye more than pastel shades. Colour is obviously linked with lighting. Film directors may suffuse their film with a particular coloured light: red in Taxi Driver [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] and blue in Blue Steel (1989, Kathryn Bigelow). The effect of this is to link various themes in the film. (38 Lacey) The colour red has a instinctive impact when we first see it, not just in the form of blood, but also on fire trucks, stop signs, police lights and stoplights. Red lights constantly indicate warning and or danger unless they are in a red light district, where they imply a different kind of prohibited activity as seen in Taxi Driver. Scorsese frequently encoded the colour red into his films for many reasons. On the New York, New York special edition DVD introduction, he said that his codification was influenced by the films of the Classical Hollywood period which had the stamp of Hollywood of the 1940s and 1950s. Some of things he mentions are: the artifice of the film, the sets themselves, the obvious sets, sometimes the sets were painted, you could see it wasnt real. The street kerbs that were supposed to be in New York were too high. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] But we understood it to be a different kind of reality, a parallel universe in a way, to the reality I knew [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] in the streets or at home. That didnt mean that the films are any less true, you see. And that doesnt necessarily mean that, because theyre coded in a sense [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] a code that occurs. The happy endings werent quite realistic or true. There was something else going on emotionally in those films that were very true to the human condition. I tried to bring that out, but place it against and upon the old template. I decided the way to handle New York, New York would be to deal with the artifice right up front. As you can see from his interview is that he was implying that his films were heavily coded just like the films from the Classical Hollywood period. In this paper I will attempt to decode his films with principal emphasis on his use of the colour red. Scorseses profound stylised use of the colour red was inspired by The Red Shoes (1948, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger) which is included his Top Ten English Language Film List which exemplifies the use of light and color.[1] In an interview Scorsese remarked that the use of color in the movie isnt realistic. But it really reflects the heightened world of the ballet, the heightened world of theater. Color is always something that is going to be an aesthetic comment, no matter how you do it.[2] It is very clear, as the use of red in the film is very dominant in The Red Shoes. Such as the theatre curtains are red and so are Vicki Pages hair. The color exhibits a sexual power and an artistic passion. (LoBrutto: 29) The use of red in the film therefore does not represent sin or violence like in some of Scorseses films. The colour red connotes numerous diverse meanings, one of most well-known being alarm or danger, perhaps it is because it is the colour of blood. During the first few scenes in Mean Streets, Scorsese introducers us to the four main characters by colour coding their clothing. Firstly, Tony, who we see walking into the toilets of his own bar, where much of the action takes place, we notice on him, moments before he uses force to remove a heroin user from the toilets, and attacking a drug pusher a prominent red shirt. This subtly demonstrates his harsh, violent nature, and unites him with the bright red Hell that is his bar and his world. In other words his red shirt coordinates with the infernal red glow of his bar, denoting his sinful, damaging existence within its realm. After all, only a man of perilous intent with a taste for danger would fulfil his dream of caging a pet lion and a panther in his basement, illegally or not. Furthermore, the distinctive red shirt worn by Johnny Boy introduces him in a similar light to Tony, as a dangerous, unyielding individual. His mindless prank of exploding a red mail box immediately after he appears on screen only reinforces his reckless character suggested by the shirt, and unites him with the malevolent life of Tonys bar. Additionally in Mean Streets, Michaels superior involvement within the group of friends is signified by his striking red tie. The garment itself connotes his strong business aspirations and his destination for higher things, probably as a third rank mafia hood, whereas the colour connotes his brutal, dangerous nature, the result of which being the eventual bloodbath that marks the films ending. Indeed, one could not examine the colour red in Mean Streets and ignore the extensive use of blood in the films final sequence. In contrast to the other three characters, when we first see Charlie, he is wearing a white vest which subliminally separates him from everyone else. The first shot of the film is of Charlie waking up; as he stands up and walks across to his mirror we see two crosses. Firstly the one he is wearing around his neck and the second on his wall. This Christian symbolism, together with his white vest symbolises his purity. Through out the film Charlie comes across people who are wearing red and tempt him into sin. This is best exemplified by the black dancer in Tonys bar who is wearing nothing apart from red underwear. The close up shot of the red underwear worn by the dancer on stage reinforces the moral dilemma Charlie faces between his religion and his social aspirations. The existence of this red underwear present, in Scorseses terms, the notion of her being a whore as opposed to the virginal white dress worn by Vickie in Raging Bull, or Betsy in Taxi Driver, who appeared like an angel, or even Charlies white vest at the beginning of the film. The red underwear implies that the girl is immediately connected to the immoral world of Mean Streets, and therefore brands her a whore. However, the red also connotes Charlies obvious desire for the girl, an emotion strong enough for him to dance with her. Nevertheless, the dance is immediately followed by Charlies own penance of burning his finger on naked flame, a ritual of his we are first introduced to in the opening scene in the church, which again reminds us of how his religion has helped confuse his moral state of mind. Indeed, Charlies Catholic upbringing contributes greatly to his rejection of the black dancer from Tonys bar, even though he desires her. Comparably, J.D.s Catholic persuasion leads to his rejection of The Girl from Whos That Knocking At My Door, which is due to his need for a virginal bride. This example is particularly harsh, as his refusal is a consequence of her previous rape, which in his eyes means she is a whore. Whos That Knocking at My Door and Raging Bull play like diagnostics of the Madonna/Whore complex. The black and white cinematography only heightens the sexual stereotyping. As I have mentioned above that Vickie in Raging Bull, or Betsy in Taxi Driver wear white, Scorsese makes all his blondes wear white when we first see them in his films, such as Sharon Stone in Casino. The white clothing adds t o their virtuousness and virginal aesthetics before they are corrupted by the main male protagonists- very often played by DeNiro himself. The blonde in a white clothing could also be a reference to Alfred Hitchcock, as he also used to present his blonde female characters in white when we first see them. In Raging Bull, Jake Le Motta even buys his wife a white dress and white sunglasses as he wants her to be the virginal and virtuous type, as throughout the film he believes that she is cheating on him. In Mean Streets, the colour red serves as a metaphor for the hostile nature of the protagonist Charlie, his world and the destiny of him and those surrounding him within the film. Moreover, the brining red of Max Cadys sports car is perfect example of how the colour red has been incorporated as a subtext in Scorseses remake of Cape Fear. The gruesome, violent acts performed by Cady throughout the film, together with his brutal nature, are suggested by his extreme choice of vehicle. This frightening aspect of the colour red could be reference to The Counterfeit Traitor (1962, George Seaton). As Scorsese said of the film once- for kids brought up on the black-and-white battlegrounds of newsreels, the use of color here especially the color red, which is very important gave the film a presence and an immediacy that frightened us.[3] As this quote shows that the colour red was sometimes used by Scorsese to scare his audience. This heavy use of red clothing is not only present in Mean Streets but almost all of Scorseses protagonists wear red such as DeNiro, Pesci and Stone in Casino wear it at various moments in the film. Scorsese in an interview said that on the streets of Little Italy that- The one thing you couldnt wear was the colour red. I remember wanting a red jacket, and my father said, Only pimps wear red, youre not having one and thats that. Wearing red was also a sure way to attract police attention.[4] As this quote shows Scorsese is very aware of the various associations with wearing red clothing, such as you might be associated with pimps and that you might attract police attention. This adds credence to the moral dilemma that Charlie faces in the film. The introduction of Michael considering the religious themes in the film his character could be a reference to Lucifer as he hunts them down and shoots them during the films climax at the end is important when considering Scorseses use of the colour red with relation to the rest of Mean Streets. Firstly, he delivers a large red box of Marlboro cigarettes to Charlie, which he places on the table between the two characters. The cigarettes are positioned centrally on the screen, automatically capturing the audiences attention. Initially, Charlie complains about the brand of cigarettes, but accepts them after Michael explains that for these prices Charlie, you shouldnt complain. Therefore, we assume Scorsese focuses on the cigarettes, by means of their red colour and positioning in the mise-en-scene, in order to present the ineffectual nature of Charlie within the realm of his world. Surely, forsaking his preferred choice of cigarettes is a minor, yet noticeable sacrifice; one he must make to be a part of the gangster life. As I have mentioned, Michael Powells influence is all over Scorseses work. His distinct usage of the colour red is a direct homage to Powell. It is interesting that Powell twice counselled Scorsese against the colour red. The first time was When Powell saw 8mm test footage of DeNiro sparring, he remarked that The red boxing gloves are too red. And Scorsese agreed and that was one of the reasons why [he] decided to make the film [in] black-and-white.[5] Another reason why Scorsese did not shoot the film in colour was because A number of boxing films were in production such as Rocky II, The Main Event, a remake of The Champ, and Matilda and so Scorsese wanted to go another way (LoBrutto: 223) and be original. Another scene that inspired Scorseses use of red, in The Red Shoes, was the main protagonists use of bright red lipstick which he used for Francine in New York, New York. As LoBrutto wrote that Francines deep red lipstick is accurate for the period but another opportunity to dominate many of the images with the color of his obsessions of hot tempers more than sexual temperature. (LoBrutto: 210) As the quote shows that this time Scorsese used the colour red not to symbolise violence or sin but as a sexual code. The colour red was no doubt a major colour not only in Mean Streets but also in Taxi Driver, particularly the scene set in the brothel. Red can imply danger, but in the case of the ambience of the brothel, the colour red could also imply wilful or morally wrong behaviour. The night time setting and the low key lighting has been significantly used in Taxi Driver and the constructed space closely echoes the look of film noirs. The red low key lighting produces a sombre and mysterious mood and emphasising deep shadows to create tension in the scene. During the final climax in Taxi Driver, the face of Travis and Sport have been clearly highlighted by the strong light effects from indoors and with red light emanating from the neon lights of the street even though there are not that many street lights when we saw an exterior shot of the building. At one moment during that sequence of the film we see a halo of white light dimly reflected over Travis shaved Mohican head which neutralises hi s violence and gives him the appearance of an (avenging) angel. As since white by tradition represents purity and innocence. Since red light draws the audiences attention, the function of flashing red lights increases the power of the colour such as the rotating red and blue light from the police car at the end of Taxi Driver. The colour red is not only used at night but also in the daytime. In these cases, Scorsese fills the mise en scene with bright red objects. For example when Henry crosses the street, to teach Karens neighbour a lesson for touching her, by beating his face with the end of his gun: the car, the flowers, the toolbox and even the house itself are all bright red. This scene shows that even the peaceful leafy suburbs are not safe during the day time when there are hoodlums present and that no one is safe from them. Also when Henry first explains how Jimmy hijacks trucks without using any force, we see Jimmy completely covered in red lighting. Or when Henry spends a paranoid day driving around his neighbourhood, prepping a batch of cocaine for delivery, and he keeps calling home to ensure his brother is properly stirring the bright red source (a symbolic reference to blood). In Taxi Driver, this technique is apparent throughout the film, with the streets of New York presented as an inferno of evil and treachery or as Bickle calls it: an open sewer full of filth and scum. Scorseses use of expressionistic colour shows us how Bickle observes the nocturnal world around him. Contrasting to the darkness, neon lights appear extra bright, and many shots are taken of blurry colours seen through water on the windshield. This palette of colour once again takes the audience inside Bickles mind. During the scene were Travis shoots the pimp, Scorsese employs the use of surrealistic colour. Everything inside the building seems grungy and dirty, and the extra bright red colour of the blood stands out over everything else. This theme was again used by Scorsese in After Hours, which again happened predominantly at night with various neon lights incorporated into the mise-en-scene. Both Minnelli and DeNiro in New York, New York wear red clothing which again connects their characters with the red symbolism of the city. By making the city red, Scorsese represents the city as malevolent. In Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas the city is colour coded in bright red. This is especially true in New York, New York, the city, no matter if it is interior space or exterior is predominantly red, and yet the opposite can be seen in the film. As DeNiro and Minnelli meet outside of the city in the woods, their clothing and setting is white or pale. This sudden change in colour instils in the audience the contrast between the peaceful and pure rural space with the sinful inner-city space. Not only is red an important colour in Christianity but also brown. In Scorseses Last Temptation of Christ (1988), he uses a very monochromatic brown colour to emphasise Jesus humanity and to contrast Jesus the poor peasant with the power and riches of Rome which are decorated in red and gold. However like his other films, red is another major colour symbolising the final spilling of Jesus blood. Of course in this respect, red is a prominent colour in many Jesus films, none more than Mel Gibsons The Passion of the Christ. Whilst the film opens under a blue filter, the rest of the film is subject to the bright red blood of Jesus. Religion is also at the heart of Scorseses remake of Cape Fear. Max in the film is sent to the family by God to test them. Each member of the family displays a tendency toward immoral behaviour or what they perceive to be immoral behaviour. Such as when Sam is asleep, Leigh is seen grooming herself in the bedroom mirror and day dreaming of other men, at which point Max appears outside the house, backed by a dazzling display of fireworks which is a sexually charged image as the night sky is associated with the feminine and fireworks can represent the male orgasm. The colour red is again important in the film as when she and Sam go out to investigate she guiltily wipes the red lipstick from her lips. It almost seems that her sinful thoughts provoked Maxs presence. Maxs superhuman ability to withstand pain is yet another religious clue. He is superhuman because he is what he claims to be, a messenger from God sent to test the family, he even says: Youre a VIP on Earth. Im a VIP in heave n. This is why he is able to fight back against the three thugs despite a beating that would render any human demobilised. Another religious use of the colour red can be found in the scene in which Sam hallucinates crucifixion wounds in his hands which can represent that his soul has been saved. This can not be said about many of Scorseses characters in his other films as most have committed too many sins to be saved or die before they can be saved such as the final climax in the lift in The Departed. As LoBrutto noted, Red is also identified with blood, the Passion of Christ, the Crucifixion, and the suffering Jesus endured on earth for the salvation of mankind. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] The stigmata are wounds that bleed openly, corresponding to the feet, hands, side and brow of the crucified Christ. A substitute for a baptism of holy water is blood. (LoBrutto: 64-65) So therefore a character can be born again via blood baptism, for example, Travis during the climax of the film is covered in blood and therefore born again as he saves the girl. As LoBrutto also wrote: Scorsese was revealing his obsessions with Old Testament values: revenge, redemption, and the ancient rite of purification by blood. (LoBrutto: 64-65) These themes Scorsese has obsessed about for his entire career as they appear repeatedly in his films. As a young man, Scorsese wanted to become a priest, but he decided to become a filmmaker after his many visits to the movie theatre. He proposed that films are a new secular religion and that they can offer the viewer and the director redemption and salvation.[6] That is why in Mean Streets, it is not surprising that Charlies confessional speech in church at the beginning of the film focuses on the forgiveness of sin, an important theme that runs throughout the film, often in his narration. His tormented dialogue begins with the narration of Scorsese himself: Lord, Im not worthy to eat your flesh, to drink your blood. This profound image demonstrates immediately the importance of religion to the character of Charlie, and indeed Scorsese, as he himself explains: My voice is inter-cut with Harvey [Kietel]s throughout the film, and for me that was a way of trying to come to terms with myself, trying to redeem myself. In this sense we realise exactly how personal the film is to Scorsese, as a creative form of art, and as a source of redemption, and are able to make a comparison between Charlie and himself. Furthermore, Charlies narrative reference to blood relates to the blood red imagery apparent throughout the film, in this case utilising it to realise Charlies discomfort with his religion. As Charlie stands to move to another part of the church, we are presented with an aerial long shot of the chapel, whereby the dark red of the chairs seem almost like a tide of blood from the countless confessions typical to that of Charlies, in which the blood of Christ has been spilt in vain. Indeed Charlie explains before this scene his perception that: you dont make up for your sins in church, you do it in the streets and at home; the rest is bullshit. Consequently, we are aware that religion is not so much a belief of Charlies, but merely a formality, and as in Boxcar Bertha religion is an insidious, pervasive, destructive idea, inescapability allied to the forces of greed and manipulation. Moreover, the overt use of red candles surrounding Charlie in the church, which is similar to that in Iriss confessional scene in Taxi Driver, is symbolic of the burning hell he experiences, much of which is due to his overpowering dilemma with his religion. He explains that pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand the kind you can feel in your heart, and the spiritual side. And you know the worse of the two is the spiritual. Whilst he is uttering these words, the action on screen reverts from the church to the burning red of Tonys bar. Immediately we realise a connection between the hell Charlie describes in church, and the hell we perceive of his social climate, the colour red being a vital link in presenting this hell. Colour can affect us subliminally, and this is best exemplified in the modern day by restaurants fast food restaurants like Burger King have a lot of bright colours including red -which makes you want to buy the food quickly and leave whilst expensive restaurants use mainly neutral colours which make you more relaxed and stay for longer. Therefore the effect of the use of red in Tonys bar, in Mean Streets, could also then represent their fast pasted lifestyles in New York. The emphasised red glare evident within Tonys bar metaphorically can also instils a sense of hell being an unbearable inferno; suggesting an atmosphere full of sin and corruption, the occupants of which are doomed. Even when Scorsese showed Mean Streets to Michael Powell, Powell advised him the second time (the first being the red mitts in Raging Bull) told him that he overused the colour red in Mean Streets and that he should remove some of the red lighting, which Scorsese refused. [7] This expressionistic use o f red lighting can be examined in films as far back as 1927, when Fritz Lang emphasised the hellish qualities of the underground slave factory in Metropolis by bathing the entire mise-en-scene in ominous red tint. Whereas Langs use of red reinforces his overtly expressionistic style, Scorseses appears simply as a flash of expression, which combined with the strong, documentary style realism of Mean Streets, seems all the more significant. Furthermore, the long motion tracking shot on entering Tonys bar works well with the glaring red effect, establishing a tense, almost nauseating atmosphere, which emulates perfectly with the hell described by Charlie; a feeling that is further intensified by the use of soundtrack, in particular Jumping Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones. The sequence is similar in style to that of Goodfellas, whereby the camera slowly closes in on Jimmy, and using just only 30 frames of film per second. Although his character has no verbal narrative in this scene, the expressive combination of slow camera movement and contemporary music highlight Jimmys tension and anger, enabling the audience to share his hatred, and assume his intention to get rid off Mauri. This slowing-down of the film has become a trade mark for Scorsese as he uses it in almost every single film he has made, even in his earliest short films like The Big Shave. In Mean Streets, the red walls of the restaurant Charlie visits later in this extract is also an important device of Scorsese, used to subtextually progress the narrative through the elaborate mise-en-scene. On one level we could understand this use to be symbolic of Charlies frustration due to his long awaited possession of the restaurant. However, with relation to the red of Tonys bar it suggests, contrary to Charlies belief, the venture may not be a way of escaping his hell. In other words his moving from one red inferno, that of Tonys bar, to another, the restaurant, neither improving nor solving his problems. As Roger Ebert wrote in his Great Movies essay on the film, The real world is shot in ordinary colors, but then Charlie descends into the bar run by his friend Tony, and it is always bathed in red, the color of sex, blood and guilt.[8] This quote can also applies to the bar in Goodfellas, The Bamboo Lounge, which is also lit with a similar red glow with the red lighting of the bar lounge making the characters face completely red. Or on Henrys first date with Karen, when his influence and generous tipping allows them to skip the line at the Copacabana, the entire club is awash in red lighting. A similar technique is employed in Taxi Driver, where the red walls of the Palentine building suggest Betsy will not be the answer to Traviss problems, and she will not relieve him from the Hell in which he suffers. Scorsese has continually used red lighting to create an insidious inferno for his immoral protagonist to dwell. In the book Gangster Priest: The Italian American Cinema of Martin Scorsese, Robert Casillo writes that the red in Goodfellas is associated with blood, violence, suffering, and passion. It can even be read as more simple than that. Nearly every shocking deed of all shapes and sizes is emphasised onscreen by a splash of bright vibrant red. When the mafia men do something as gruesome as beat a man to death for insulting Pesci, they do it in a bar room filled with red lighting. And when he comes alive in their trunk as they try to dispose of the body, the cars brake lights casts an unbelievably strong red glare on DeNiro and Pesci. They are literally a washed in a bright red smoke filled mise en scene when burying their victim Billy. The malevolent extent of their crime highlighted by this expressive use of lighting, and the immoral world they share is inflamed upon us. The se quence even ends with a highly unusual fade to red. When they have to go back six months later and dig up the same body, things get even more abstract. Its as if their collective sins have stained the film stock permanently. There is no other colour apart from red in that scene. All of these scenes gave the impression to the audience of the images of Hell, which increased the insinuation of violence. As LoBrutto noted that as much as Scorsese enjoyed musicals and comedies it was the morality and street justice of the gangster film [that was] most reflective of the life he lived in Little Italy. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] He was raised in a coded culture that fenced out all others. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] He was tortured by conflicts presented by his two masters the church and the cinema. (LoBrutto: 63) As Charlie struggles with finding the right path in Mean Streets, the film begins with a shot of a projector showing us the film we are about to see. It is as though the characters now that they ar e in a movie and so Scorsese ties in the church and the cinema at the same time. Scorseses overtly violent style often involves an overwhelming amount of blood on screen, from his early short film The Big Shave, to Cape Fear, and here it helps to present a horrific image of the pain and penance experienced by Johnny Boy and Charlie for their sins, and highlight the extremely harsh consequence for Teresa who is oblivious to the extent of her brothers trouble. The Big Shave was widely read as a metaphor for the Vietnam War. On screen a young man enters a pristine white bathroom and walks up to a mirror just like Charlie does in the opening scene of Mean Streets in which he walks up to a mirror and scratches his face. The man in the bathroom begins to apply the puffy white shaving cream on his face which again connects to the notion of innocence and purity. Whilst shaving, one of the razor strokes pierces the skin and he begins to bleed. Confused, he continues his morning shave but now each lash of the blade tears into his tender flesh deeper and deeper. Soon his plain features are totally cut open. A daring ear to ear swipe of the razor literally slashes his throat open. Blood covers him and falls around him, the bright red contrasting the perfect spotlessness of the bathroom. The same way Scorseses blondes contrast at the beginning of his films as they wear white and the setting is filled with red. At the end of The Big Shave, there is ev en a fade to red just like the ending of the scene in which DeNiro, Pesci and Layoota bury Baits. As if the blood of the self torture soaks into the celluloid and fills the entire frame. So therefore The Big Shave is representative of USAs irresponsible participation in the Vietnam War, especially their self destructiveness. As LoBrutto noted that The Big Shave shifted the emphasis from personal to political (LoBrutto: 62) and so the red of the blood now represents the spilled blood of Vietnamese and American soldiers. In Mean Streets, we finally realise the true hell that constitutes Little Italy, and understand the violent outcome when anyone tries to subvert the statue quo. In addition, Scorseses powerful, gut-wrenching sequence in Taxi Driver, where Travis savagely takes out an entire brothel has been acknowledged for its abundant overflow of blood. Indeed, the MPAA was ready to give it an X rating for violence. They suggested he tone it down the red blood, in order to get an R rating. So, Scorsese put the scene through a special chemical treatment that made the blood darker. The darker version of the red blood turned out almost more powerful than the splattered ketchup style colour of the original. In Scorseses view, it made the scene more sickening and disturbing, but he got his R rating. And yet it is still the colour red as Jean-Luc Godard put it: Its not blood, its red.[9] Scorsese also uses the colour red for his opening titles as he himself has recognised that the burning credits and foreboding red glare of the opening of King Vidors classic western Duel in the Sun (also in his top ten English Language film list which exemplifies the use of light and color[10]), has affected his use of red at the beginning of his films and he also said how as a child he was amazed how the use of colour could produce such a powerful effect. Possibly one of the most blatant incorporations of the colour red in Scorseses work is the credit sequence in Raging Bull, whereby the prominent red letters of the films title and DeNiros name is set against the gloomy black and white image of the boxing ring. The boxing rings ropes split the screen into four distinct parts representing four different parts of his lif
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Mother and Daughter Relationship Exposed in Joyce Carol Oates Short Sto
Mother and Daughter Relationship Exposed in Joyce Carol Oates' Short Story, Shopping The relationship between a mother and a daughter is one of complications, heartaches, and sweet rewards. This is no exception between Nola and Mrs. Dietrich, characters in "Shopping" by Joyce Carol Oates. The tribulations of their relationship are shown during their annual shopping trip. In the time spent together, Nola is obviously trying to break free from her mother and become her own woman. This coming-of-age path is expressed by her "private thoughts" and "answers in monosyllables" (Oates 834). As Nola desperately tries to acquire her own self, her Mrs. Dietrich desperately tries to hang onto the child in Nola. She tries to stay in her daughter's life by wanting to know "why are you so quiet" and "what are you thinking?" (Oates 834). In Oates short story, she develops Mrs. Dietrich's and Nola's relationship by showing the conflicting needs of mothers and daughters.    The shopping trip allows Mrs. Dietrich to try to penetrate her daughter's new adult life and surface the child. She is also simple trying to be a part of her daughter's life. As a divorced woman, Mrs. Dietrich finds Nola as her only source of love-her outlet to give and to receive love. Mrs. Dietrich even finds herself thinking "she is in love with her daughter" (Oates 834).  These strong emotions are most likely why Mrs. Dietrich needs Nola to such an extent. Mrs. Dietrich wants to feel needed; she wants to be a mother. The betrayal of Mr. Dietrich causes Mrs. Dietrich to cling even more. However, she finds that Nola no longer needs her.  Nola is becoming an adult. Mrs. Dietrich's memories of Nola as a child are now replaced with the images of her dau... ...ong in her actions and her words. At the end Nola loses strength and becomes weak.    Joyce Carol Oates short story "Shopping" gives an excellent example of the trials a mother and daughter experiences. She shows that each a mother and daughter can have wants and needs in the relationship. These things can only be understood if the two communicate to each other. The story also presents the problem of how a mother wants her little girl, while the daughter wants to be a young woman. Most importantly Oates shows the human tendency to be independent at times and at others dependent. Each character won and lost a battle, expressing the human complexity of sometimes being able to be strong but then at other times weak. This shows that in a mother and daughter relationship each is needed for the other person because each person needs someone to be strong.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Prohibition of Flag Desecration is Unconstitutional :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays
Prohibition of Flag Desecration is Unconstitutional When people fix their eyes upon the fifty white stars and thirteen red and white stripes, they perceive not only a nation’s flag, but a symbol that represents freedom and unity. America, the country of opportunity and liberty, is built on a democracy regulated by the Bill of Rights. If this flag represents the land of the free, then why does Congress continue to disregard the First Amendment and attempt to pry a right out of American citizens’ hands? After Texas v. Johnson in 1989, when the Supreme Court opposed the new flag burning amendment, the state statutes banning flag desecration also were struck down. Since then, Congress has tried to pass The Flag Desecration Amendment in 1990, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003. The Flag Desecration Amendment states that â€Å"The Congress and the states shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.†This amendment is considered unconstitutional because it limits how citizens express themselves and their ideas. According to Professor Robert Justin Goldstein, only forty-five incidents of desecration have been recorded over 200 years since our flag was adopted. Our flag is in no immediate danger, and many people support it by displaying it on cars, buildings, and homes. In fact, the majority of the burnings represent issues or policies of the government, and not hatred towards the country. For example, in 1970, protestors burned flags to rage against imperialistic foreign policies and the Vietnam War. Although the desecration of our nation’s symbol is disheartening, protecting our Bill of Rights should be Congress’s top priority. Since the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791, none of the original articles have been altered. The First Amendment clearly states that Congress cannot establish a law that interferes with the freedom of speech, the freedom of press, or the freedom to assemble a protest.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is a person to be admired. His caring attitudes and blunt honesty prove that he is a great person. Although Huck can be seen lying, cheating and stealing, he does these things out of necessity and as a result of his poor upbringing. These negative attributes don’t affect his overall high character. Huck Finn has many great aspects, but he is fallible and capable of doing wrong. He often lies, cheats, and steals simply to survive and get out of trouble. Huck also displays this bad behavior as a result of his poor upbringing. Much of this behavior was learned from his father, as evidenced in the following passage. â€Å"Pap always said it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time; but the widow said it warn’t anything but a soft name for stealing, and no decent body would do it†(65). It is this learned behavior, his desire to survive and â€Å"get out of jams,†and society’s negative influences, such as its view that slavery is right, that motivates him in doing wrong. Although Huck can sometimes be labeled as a miscreant, he is actually a very honest person. In a literal sense, Huck doesn’t always exhibit honest behavior. However, it is Huck’s realistic and slightly naive view of society that is honest--he sees things for what they truly are. One example of this honesty occurs when Huck helps Jim to freedom. While he doesn’t view his own actions as honorable, the reader can infer that they are. Huck feels guilty for his role in Jim’s escape, knowing that he was doing something society would have scorned. He says, "I couldn’t get it out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn’t rest; I couldn’t stay still in one place. It hadn’t ever come home to me before, what this thing was that I was doing. But now it did; and it stayed with me, and scorched me more and more...I got to feeling so mean and miserable I most wished I was dead" (88). Huck is honest with himself and his feelings.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
A Look at Megan’s Law
Issues of crime and punishment are often at the center of controversy. In part, this is certainly because often, the issues raised in matters of crime and punishment do not have easy answers and sometimes, there may not be any solution at all. Certainly, each time a legal matter arises, even with similar circumstances, the resolution to such matters can be complex and can differ with each and every case. We can gain some understanding as to the difficulty in deciding how to view and treat such matters by considering the case of Megan's Law.On July 29, 1994 Jesse Timmendequas, already a convicted sex offender at the time, is believed to have used a puppy to lure Megan Kanka, the 7-year-old daughter of his neighbors, into his home in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, NJ and brutally raped and murdered her (Flanagan, 2004; Vachss, 1994).  Once inside, Timmendequas is said to have slammed Megan’s head into a dresser and suffocated her with a plastic bag before s trangling her to death with a belt. Subsequently, he moved and raped Megan's dead body again before dumping the body in a nearby park in West Windsor, NJ.Timmendequas was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for his crime. After his conviction, New Jersey passed a law that has come to be known as Megan's law. The law was designed to protect a community when dangerous sex offenders move into the community. Some states require notification only for certain types of sexual assaults while other states extended the requirement to individuals convicted of sodomy or consensual sodomy, an act that was illegal in some states even between consenting adults before the U.S. Supreme Court declared such laws unconstitutional in June 2003.Timmendequas’ actions and the subsequent legal proceedings raise questions as to just how such a situation, or any similar serious legal situation should be handled. Was he treated fairly? Did the Kanka family receive proper l egal restitution for the crime? How should such cases be handled? We want to use the Megan Kanka/Jesse Timmendequas case to ask four basic questions and seek the answers to similar questions. First, what are the goals of punishment?Is it actually the â€Å"punishment†of the individual who committed the crime, protection of the community, both, neither or more? Second, in situations of serious crimes of this nature, should offenders be subjected to a lifetime of repayment for their crimes after serving their allotted term of imprisonment? Third, when considering punishment, are the rights of the victim, the community or the offender more important; are all the rights equally important? Finally, what goal(s) was(were) the Criminal Justice System attempting to achieve by instituting Megan's law.Megan's Law has been the focus of considerable controversy and heated debate. After Megan’s rape and murder, there was considerable controversy regardi ng the question of whether the Kanka family may indeed have known that a sex offender (not necessarily Timmendequas, however) lived in the house across the street. Although the Kanka family denied having any knowledge of Timmendequas' criminal past as a sex offender, there was evidence to suggest that it was common knowledge that at least one of the residents of the house where Timmendequas lived had a criminal past that included sexual assault, rape and gang shootings. (Vachss 1994)Even before Megan's rape and murder, law enforcement officials knew that three convicted sex offenders lived in the house where Timmendequas lived. Although Megan's parents' claimed not to have been aware of this fact, some of their neighbors did know of the three men's past. Even so, Maureen Kanka, Megan's mother, felt that people should not need to rely on gossip and rumors in order to learn about the presence of convicted sex offenders in their neighborhood.Perhaps first and foremost in an y legal situation is the question as to the goal(s) of punishment. What exactly are the goals of punishment? Punishment for crimes is supposed to be to deter crime. Punishment penalties and law are based on utilitarianism, the idea that there should be no unnecessary punishment (UBSBA). This idea says that we should evaluate laws on the basis of future consequences and suggests that punishment is always bad because it causes pain.Thus, â€Å"The reason to punish is to prevent future crime and the limit is to punish only if the pain is outweighed by the happiness it creates.† Crime and Punishment theory proposes the four questions should be asked when analyzing legal theories of punishment. They are, 1) Is the punishment to prevent future crimes or to punish past misconduct, 2) Does the theory of punishment assume that the crime was caused by the individual or social problems, 3) Does the theory express blame for the proscribed act and actor and4) What is the relationship between the criminal and the rest of society? That is, is the criminal part of society or excluded from society? The threat of punishment is believed to stop rational people from doing something that ultimately will not be to their benefit, but the deterrent value of punishment is only thought to be effective if people are aware of the punishment prior to committing crimes.Megan's law was not meant to be a form of punishment. Rather, it was designed to be an act that would provide information to prevent potential crime in situations where the potential may be real. Some have argued that the law may lead to vigilantes formed against convicted sex offenders and the harassment of those offenders, but that was not the intension of the law. Its purpose was to enhance public safety. Although former sex offenders may be harmed by the law, supporters of the law claim that whatever incidental inconvenience or harm the former sex-offender may suffer as a result of the law is an unavoidable consequence of their own past illegal behavior. It does not outweigh the community's right to know the possible danger of their presence.This case raises the question, â€Å"Should offenders be subjected to a lifetime of repayment for their crimes after serving a term of imprisonment?†   This is not an easy question to answer. Theoretically, a person should not need to continue to pay for past crimes a second time, or continue paying for them once they have paid, but that idea is fraught with problems and more or less impossible to enforce. In fact, it is also impossible to determine what actually constitutes â€Å"payment for crime.†In life, individuals may pay for things they have done long after they have done whatever it was even if their legal payment has been completed. We may pay in terms of paranoia, feelings of guilt and other mental and psychological payments long after any legal payment or e ven without legal payment. So, psychological repayment for crimes may continue for a lifetime even if social and legal repayment do not. A person's own mental and psychological retribution for their acts may continue indefinitely.Many psychological situations are viewed as diseases even though we don't really have a definition for (or officially believe in the existence of) the soul. Psychology, for example, is, by definition, the study of the soul, but if asked, most people, including psychologists and psychiatrists would state that psychology is the study of the mind. Ironically, psychologists do not officially believe in the existence of the mind either!Furthermore, sex offenses are often treated as if such crimes were caused by a disease or were a disease themselves. However, even with real or other diseases (if we allow, just for the sake of argument, that some such offenses are the results of disease), there is no hard and firm definition of a disease even in situations where virtually everyone would agree that the situation (such as with cancer of cardiovascular disease) is a disease.The â€Å"retribution†theory of punishment holds that individuals should only be punished if they have done something wrong and their punishment should be in proportion to the wrong they have done. This theory proposes that it is right to inflict pain, but recognizes that the innocent can get punished for things they did not do. This is certainly a very serious consideration in any case of capital punishment.In other situations, an alleged criminal may eventually get a reprieve and be exonerated for a crime he or she did not commit even though their exoneration might come until after they have lost a few or even many valuable years in prison serving a term for a crime they did not commit. However, in capital cases, exoneration is of little value after the alleged individual has been executed, and certainly, the criminal justice system must have executed many innocent individuals over the years.In such cases, both the known victim(s) of the crime and the individual accused of the crime become victims while the guilty party may permanently escape justice. No one is punished for the crime because the individual who is punished is innocent. So, the actual criminal has more or less committed an additional crime and gotten away with it.Whose rights are most important? This question cannot be answered as asked. The answer is not merely a matter of rights, but more a matter of safety. The intent is to err on the side of safety, so the initial question has more to do with, â€Å"What will render the individuals of a community safe†than â€Å"Whose rights are most important†, certainly an important issue as well. Some feel that Megan's law gives a false sense of security. Statistics from the Bureau of Justice indicate that the overwhelming majority of sexually assaulted minors we re victimized by family members or acquaintances rather than by strangers.In fact, these statistics suggest that those who appear on a sex offenders registry would not really significantly resolve the problem of sex offenses against minors. Thus, laws directed against the occasional stranger who might sexually assault minors would be like the tip of an iceberg in dealing with the actual problem. Most victims will still be victimized and most of those guilty of the offense will never serve justice. With the guilty party still free, laws similar to Megan's law would not really make most people any safer even if made people feel that way.However, statistics from the Bureau of Justice also indicate that sex offenders discharged from prison or sentenced to probation generally have a lower rate of re-arrest than other violent offenders but are substantially more likely than other violent offenders to be rearrested for a new violent sex offense (U.S. Department of Justice Press Release). In cases of rape alone, execution is not an option. Some have proposed that rapists be castrated (Vachss, 1993). Castration is thought to emanate the male sex drive, but castration won't prevent murder as was the case in Megan Kanka's situation and some individuals get a vicarious thrill from the act of murder itself.Ultimately, the questions raised here are neither easy or straightforward. Society may find those individuals who have committed violent sex offenses, try them, convict and sentence them and the accused individual, whether or not actually guilty, may pay for the crime. However, it is certain that some guilty individuals will never be found, some innocent individuals will pay for sex (and other) crimes they have not committed and the laws designed to make society safer will work successfully at times and not at others.Perhaps we must live with the realization that answering the difficult questions raised here will not resolve our dilemma no matter what decisions we are ultimately to make. All that we can actually do is to put laws in place that we believe will achieve a goal and then deal with every situation that arises on a case by case basis. If we are honest and fair with our assessment, we will not trample the rights of victims nor victimize criminals any more than is necessary, if at all. Our goal must be to try to be fair while protecting the safety of communities and those who live in them. While we will never get the balance completely right, fairness is the key.ReferencesFlanagan, Russ. â€Å"Megan's legacy, A child's death serves as a call to action†. The Express Times, February 26, 2004.Vachss, Andrew. â€Å"How Many Dead Children Are Needed to End the Rhetoric?† New York Daily News, August 12, 1994Vachss, Andrew. â€Å"Sex Predators Can’t Be Saved.† New York Times, January 5, 1993Wikipedia, February, 7, 2007. ;https://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Murder_of_Megan_Kanka#Jesse_Timmendequas; 4 January 2007.
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