The Use Of Cooperative Games And Activities - 2365 Words

Use of Cooperative Games and Activities to Build Social Skills in a Classroom Setting Competitive vs Cooperative Games It is easy to say that games are a vital part of building and maintaining relationships between students within a classroom. And while this is true we, as future teachers, must be careful to choose cooperative games that build students up instead of competitive games that can tear students down. Competitive games tend to focus on the outcome of winning or loosing. These types of games can lead students down a path towards low self-esteem, especially when they are on the losing end of a game or activity. Some students simply do not have the competitive edge needed to pull ahead of peers and ‘win’ the game, even if they posses the skills necessary to be successful in a specific game. Sometimes, players are so focused on winning all other parts of the game such as teamwork and problem solving are pushed to the side, allowing the need and/or want to win to take control. In contrast to competitive games, cooperative games focus on the success of all players. Instead of the end goal being a clear winner and loser, these types of games encourage students to build each other up while reaching a common end or goal. These games also support inclusion of all students. Cooperative games encourage problem solving, motivation, team collaboration, higher-level thinking, and putting a plan into action. Because there is no defined winner or loser, all studentsShow MoreRelatedEssay about Cooperative Learning871 Words   |  4 PagesCooperative Learning During the weekend I spent learning about the theories and structures of cooperative learning, I was captivated by five components of cooperative learning. I intend to use these five in my own classroom. They begin with the introduction games Pleased to Meet You and Knotting Acquaintance followed by the creation of base groups and finally STAD and TGT. These are five basic, yet exciting ways to use cooperative groups in the classroom. I will use the first twoRead MoreThe Model Philosophy And Objectives876 Words   |  4 Pagesproblem-solving skills. Thus, the model emphasizes the use of a hands-on and cooperative learning experience in the process of addition, subtraction, and interpreting data to improve decision-making skills. For instance, students encouraged to use real objects to practice addition and subtraction by adding to, taking from, putting together, and taking apart. Then, they will be asked to compare the answers and write them on the chart. The model implements activities that involve critical thinking such as lookingRead MoreTechnical and Tactical Classification of Games and Physical Activity1324 Words   |  5 PagesTechnical and Tactical Classification of Games and Physical Activity Objective The objective of this study is to analyze the technical and tactical principles of play for the major sport classification together with the different methods and instructional approaches. Introduction The work of Dyson, Griffin and Hastie (2004) entitled Sport Education, Tactical Games and Cooperative Learning: Theoretical and Pedagogical Considerations states that many educators hold the belief that studentsRead MoreThe Effect Of Team Assisted Individualization ( Tai ) And Snowball Throwing Cooperative Learning Model On Fourth Semester Biology Students 1051 Words   |  5 PagesSnowball Throwing Cooperative Learning Model on Fourth Semester Biology Students’ Entomology Learning Outcomes at FKIP Mulawarman University Sonja V. T. Lumowa *, Masitah Biology Education Department, FKIP Mulawarman. Samarinda. Indonesia * Corresponding Author: sonja.lumowa@yahoo.com Abstract .- The learning process can occur because of the interaction between the individuals and the learning environment autonomously or intentionally designed. T. A. I. is essentially a cooperative learning modelRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Education Essay1665 Words   |  7 PagesBooth College Prep English 22 November 2016 Video Games In Education Current education systems are failing to give learning material to students in a way that they understand. Most students don’t care about their education because they think it’s boring and unnecessary. Students feel if the homework or lesson is too hard they won’t give it their best work. We should use video games as a new source of teaching. Students can benefit from video games because it’s a fun interactive way of learning, improvesRead MoreMy Coaching Philosophy : Becoming A Coach1691 Words   |  7 Pagessomething I enjoy. Some of the sports I’m interested in coaching are soccer and basketball. I’ve played soccer for most of my life and continue to compete in intramural leagues, so I’m very familiar with the game. In addition, I’m also a huge basketball fan and try to watch and learn about the game as much as possible. My ideal work environment would be coaching youth teams or for a high school, preferably in my hometown. I’m also not interested in using coaching to earn a living, instead I want to developRead MorePlay: An Essential Aspect in Child Development702 Words   |  3 Pagesincluding dialogue with adults and peers, as well as self-talk. When adults play with children, they can provide context and meaning. For example, in a housekeeping area, the adult can name, or ask the child to name, various items and tell about their uses. Research has shown that the later development of abstract processing first requires the development of language skills (Diamant, Prendergast, Estrovitz, Banks, and Van Der Veen, 2012, p. 5). Cognitive development is enhanced by play. Children imitateRead MoreTeaching Strategies Used to Promote Active Learning Essay1159 Words   |  5 Pagescritical thinking skills, writing, communicating, and creative thinking. Games are great tools in practicing active learning. Students can use a variety of items such as board games, card games, and dice games incorporating material that students are required to learn. Dice can be used for math concepts, where students can throw many dice and use arithmetic for two or more of the dice. Teachers are responsible to prepare the games in order to allow students to learn a lesson plan. They need to makeRead MoreThe Importance of Childrens Play1653 Words   |  7 Pageschild’s life especially between the ages of 5 to 7. What does â€Å"play† mean? There are many different types of definitions because everyone â€Å"plays† differently. Play â€Å"engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose† (Oxford Dictionary). The focus on what types of specific toys and games that will help not only with socialization, but with cognitive and social learning skills. These types of skills are what children need to excel and improve in multiple areasRead MoreLesson Reflection802 Words   |  4 Pageseach word i.e: make. These letters were distributed between the students, I would call out a word and the students were to utilise cooperative learning to create the answer. The students with the corresponding letters stood up, they said each letter and then the word, from here the entire class would day and spell the word. Students worked well during the cooperative learning task, sharing and discussing which letters and students needed to be used. This continued with the words; little, made, look

Walt Disney Made A Massive Connection With Those Of All Ages

Known as one the most influential people in the world, Walter (Walt) Disney made a massive connection with those of all ages. Mr. Disney began his career at a young age, and from there, it soared. Being an artist, he was able to draw characters and let them come to life. Walter influenced many people throughout his life leaving a mark on the world. He accomplished so much within his life. With the cartoons he made, awards he won, and the creation of the theme parks, Disney changed the minds of several to live younger and with a smile. The Disney name is constantly remembered as the cartoon Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney created and brought more than just one cartoon to life though. According to http://www.britannica.com/ his first cartoon was†¦show more content†¦With his victories, he continually began growing and developing with his animations and crew. His first honorary award was for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which he also received an Oscar. His second was for Shirley Temple. In total he earned four honorary awards. He also was awarded for the first ever nature documentary Academy Award, stated on http://www.waltdisney.org/blog/walt-disneys-oscars%C2%AE. His awards lead him to greatness and showed himself and others the importance of his cartoon animations, which lead to even bigger events for Mr. Disney. Business was large for Walt Disney, and that was only the beginning. After the Disney name began booming so did the creation of a theme park. The first theme park built was in California, where Walt’s dreams came true. With the success, his pocket expanded and he was able to begin the process, by building the park in 1955. From this up-and-coming experience, Disney expanded to Florida throughout the 1960s. A new theme park brought in even move people than already, and to this day is continually packed from open to close. The theme park is not limited to just kids, but those of all ages. The parks keep all happy by giving them the perfect experience. First it all starts by your location, being able to see the park, or maybe staying in the Disney castle. Then walking down the main road and seeing all your Disney characters and reliving your favorite memories. Then exploring

Starbucks Coffee Shop

Question: Write an essay on Starbucks. Answer: Starbucks is a renowned coffee shop in United State, which has been developed in 1982. Initially, this organization had developed 1500 coffee stores in Italy and later it had expanded to as retail coffee bar. Rapid growth of this organization has been found globally with opening of 20000 stores in almost 63 countries (Starbucks Coffee Company 2016). The record of this organization had shown that it had opened almost three stores per day with earnings of $13 billion in each year. Through the success of the business, Starbuck has become the third largest restaurant within US in the year of 2013 (Starbucks Coffee Company 2016). Starbucks is able enough to operate their business both through tactically as well as ethically. Starbucks is highly concentrated on maintaining corporate social responsibility, which is the prime focus of this study. The study will discuss the concern for the organization towards the social responsibilities. The organization is extremely popular for their employee centric behavior. The study will be focused on describing the factors of providing unique benefits to their employees. Apart from that, the competitive advantage of this organization will also be described in this study through the concept of corporate social responsibility and providing unique products to the customers. Social Responsibility in Overall Corporate Strategy Social responsibility is extremely important for the organization, as it demonstrate to the media channels and customer group that the organization has been taken part in the social issues, which is nowhere related to its profitability (Schneider and Schmidpeter 2012). Social responsibilities are chosen by the organizations for supporting and recognizing the communities, environment and natural resources. Prominent evidence of social responsibilities can be found in Starbucks as it has great contribution towards the well-being of environment as well as community. Starbucks is a renowned coffee company in United State. Though the origin of this organization is in USA, it has now expanded its business in worldwide markets and recently operating over 23763 locations in all over the world. The speech of the CEO Mr. Howard Schultz of this organization given at Notre Dame demonstrates that the organization is highly concentrated on people rather than its profits. Starbucks has been ranked as Worlds Most Ethical Company in 2013 that was conducted by Ethisphere. With an intention to fulfill ethical consideration, the organization has launched Shared Planet Website, which has provided the scope of ethical sourcing, high level commitment towards the community and environmental protection. Through this website, the organization provides all the nutrition and other related information to the customers. According to Preuss (2013), Starbuck has successfully conjoint with non-profit organizations towards the wellbeing of the society. The organization is the highest buyer of Fair Trade Certified Coffeewith buying this coffee at 34.3 million pounds. On the other hand, Korschun, D., Bhattacharya and Swain (2014) opined that the organization has become the major buyer of organic coff ee with purchasing in at 9.6 million pounds. Through this kind of coffee, the organization is keeping its concern about environmental sustainability and the health of the customers, as it is made up without any non-natural ingredients. The intention of this organization can be reflected in making reusable food packaging. Starbucks has made partnership with paper recovery alliance and Food Service packaging to make this kind of packaging, which minimizes wastage. According to Aguinis and Glavas (2012), in order to develop the life of farmers they live Starbucks has helps them in several ways as possible. It is noted that the organization has given loans of amount $14.5 million to the poor farmers of overseas world. The organization has also promised to increase this amount up to $20 million by 2015. The social responsibility of this organization has not finished here only. It can be found that Starbucks has been taken participation in preventing deforestation due coffee agriculture for keeping the environmental balance. Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim (2014) pointed out that in the year 1998; Conservational International has made partnership with Starbucks with an intention to make environmentally sustainable agriculture. Through this partnership, a new type of agriculture has been originated that is shade grown coffee. In this type of agriculture, no needs of cutting down trees are arisen due to plantation of coffee. In this way, the rate of def orestation has been minimized through confirming sustainability of the environment. Apart from that, the organization also offers premium price to the farmers for cultivating this kind of coffee for providing them a well-established life. A donation policy has been introduced by Starbucks towards helping the AIDS affected persons in the world. Starbucks donates $1 in the international fund raised by RED in every check at Foursquare. It is the institution that fights for the rights of AIDS affected persons. The Green Teams of the organization are focused with purchasing environmental guidelines to reduce waste and initiate recycling, reusing and save of energy. The winding energy systemoriginated by the organization has actually minimized the footprint of the organization and saved the energy. According to Mousavi et al. (2013), the organization has hosted cup summitin which different types of new thinkers has been summoned with apurpose to make traditional way of making cup that will be disposable. The proposal of plastic cup at $1 for different size is good to use 30 times. Through this, the organization has minimized billions of cups to be deposited towards global environment. Servaes and Tamayo (2013) pointed out that Starbucks always purchase C.A.F.E verifiedcoffee for ensuring premium price to the farmer for their better life as well as support them towards farming. In the other hand, Takkar (2015) opined that Starbuck has also initiated social development program by investing in the progress of schools and clinical organizations. Some development programs have also been developed by this organization for the expansion of coffee growing community. According to Dhaliwal et al. (2012) Starbucks has Farmer Supporter Centre that offers technical supports and training to the farmers towards growing premium quality coffee. On the other hand, Kim, Park and Wier (2012) opined that the foods of Starbucks always ensure food standards and the also ensure less than 500 calories foods. Two sodium reduction programs has been initiated by the organization for premium quality foods. According to Brammer, Jackson and Matten (2012), this organization has shown high level of social responsibility through helping the unprivileged students in developing their life. One of the Seattle store of this organization contributed $ 500000 for Zion Preparatory Academy, which is a school of inner city youth in African America (Takkar 2015). It is the belief of the CEO of Starbucks that the life of unprivileged children can be improved only through providing literacy. Thus, the organization has taken part in providing huge amount of contribution to sponsor n on-profit literacy groups and young writer program. Social responsibility of this organization can also be evidenced though the program of Opportunity Finance Network in which the has created jobs for the youth by reducing the percentage of unemployment in USA. Uniqueness of Starbucks towards offering benefit to employees Employees are the most important assets of the organization and thus, they are the key for the success of the organization. Employers of the organization should be concerned about the fact a motivated and content employees can better contribute towards the success of the organization. Organizations that invest more for the personal and professional development of their employees gain competitive advantage over their rival organizations and become more committed towards their workforce development (Kitzmueller and Shimshack 2012). Therefore, the employees should be well treated by their employers so that they become engaged in the success of the organization. The employees should be provided with unique value in an intension of bringing high quality in the business process of the organization. The employers should keep in mind that the overall activities of the organization are actually done by the employees and therefore, they should be motivated so that they remain engaged in organi zational work process. Keeping in mind all this things, Starbucks provides unique worth to the employees. The CEO of Starbucks believes that they should first concern for their employees then their profit. Therefore, it is evident that Starbucks is highly concerned about the wellbeing of their employees. The concept of this organization suggests that developing employee engagement would lead to long-term sustainability of the organization. According to Flammer (2013), the workplace culture of Starbucks shows that it holds a shared view environment, where the opinion of each of the members are valued and if justified it is applied in the success of the organization. The employees can easily share their own opinion towards the organizational operation. No such discrimination can be found in the workplace culture of the organization for which the employees can be de-motivated. Low-level employees can easily interact with the high-level employees regarding their issues faced in the workplace so that those issues can be resolved immediately. On the other hand, Homburg, Stierl and Bornemann (2013) opined that Starbucks provides appropriate performance appraisal system for the low-level employees in accordance with the performance level of the employees. High performer employees get high recognitions and rewards from the organization so that they can intact to their high performance level. The CEO of this organization is a ki nd of modern thinker and thus, he believes that the employees should get appropriate benefits from the organization for keeping them highly engaged in the organizational success. According to Deng, Kang and Low (2013), high concerned for the employees of this organization can be evidently found during the recession period. It has been found that even during recession period the health care cost of the employees had not been cut off by the organization and thereby, motivates the employees towards greater productivity. After this incident, the fairness of the organization has been prominently seen that shows that the organization provides unique value to their employees. On the other hand, Di Giuli and Kostovetsky (2014) opined that unique value provided to the employees has made this organization to gain competitive advantage over their rival organizations. The organization has been praised for providing rewards to their employees and encouraging them for their efficient performance. Malik (2014) pointed out that Starbucks offers comprehensive reward package to their employees, whos working hours are more than 20 hours per week. This is also a clear evidence of unique employee benefits. The benefit packages that the organization offers to their employees are like medical dentals, stock opinions and vision benefits. Apart from that, low-level employees of this organization can make direct interaction with high-level employees and thus, there is no scope of employee confliction. On the other hand, Jain and Jamali (2015) opined that for securing the health of the employees as well as their family, Starbucks provides health insurances. It has been found that Starbucks stopped 10% of their total stores for the continuation of giving health insurance to the employees. Starbucks has initiated a program namely Thrive Wellness towards the welfare of the employees through integrating entire wellness of their life (Bondy, Moon and Matten 2012). This program has provided the activities like smoke cessation, weight loss and exercise. Rapid Growth of Starbucks According to Morgeson et al. (2013), Starbucks has become the most successful player in the global fast food retail chain. This has become respectful just because of its product diversification strategy and corporate expansion. On the other hand, Asif et al. (2013) pointed out that Starbucks is one such fast food retail chain that has able to develop its business by ethical considerations such as keeping cordial relationships with investors and suppliers. It has been found that Starbucks has kept the most trustable and recognizable relationship with the suppliers. Crane, Matten and Spence (2013) pointed out that if an organization is able to keep the most cordial relationship according to timely manner with the suppliers, then more amount of discounts are achieved throughout the year. This has been the same condition for Starbucks. This has been found that Starbucks has able to retain more than 78 percent of its suppliers from the past, and therefore, it has achieved the best turnove r each year. According to Hilson (2012), Starbucks has managed to ensure the most trustable relationship with its existing employees. On the other hand, Anitha (2014) pointed out that Starbucks is one such organization, which has the best turnover each year, which aids in ensuring more fringe benefits for its employees. Therefore, it can be said that the organization has able to maintain the most trustable and long lasting relationship with its employees. Thus, it can be said that the organization has able to manage ethical considerations in considering the macro environmental factors. According to Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim (2014), Starbucks in the past has created many negative reputations in the market such as not maintaining Fair Trade, dominant market player and unfair pricing to occupy the market. Preuss (2013) added that Starbucks has ruled out the market in the year 2002 by placing the most minimal pricing for its products, which resulted in closing many fast food restaurants in Ireland and the UK. Therefore, it can be said that the organization did not follow Fair Trade initially. This has been argued by Aguinis and Glavas (2012) as it has been found that Starbucks has revised its trade policy by maintaining Fair Trade from the year 2005 where the Starbucks Espresso was sold with 100 percent certified Fair Trade. Still, this percentage is not true for the whole of UK. According to Schneider and Schmidpeter (2012), Howard Shultz has been found to be linked with alleged financial activities in the past, which has created the worst negative reputation of Starbucks in the past. On the other hand, Aguinis and Glavas (2012) pointed out that in the year 2008, Howard Shultz has able to recover himself and prove his position in the market. This has raised the brand image of the organization in the past. Therefore, it can be said that the organization has faced a lot of discrepancies in the past, but still it has always tried to rectify itself. According to Servaes and Tamayo (2013), during the time of global recession from the year 2008, the price of products considerably increased. Most of the consumers were trying to save more but the amount of supply in the market was very less. The demand being quite higher, the manufacturers tried to raise the price of products to maintain the same amount of revenue. Brammer, Jackson and Matten (2012) pointed out that Starbucks stood as the exceptional organization to keep minimal price of its products by not expanding its market globally. The organization was found to be constantly engaged with earning buyers trust, customer loyalty and sustainable image in the society. The organization tried to save more by reducing the amount of global expansion, which aided in gaining more consumer trust. Therefore, it can be said that Starbucks has always tried to gain the consumer loyalty, which can be termed as ethical business. According to Takkar (2015), Starbucks is trying to expand its business in China recently and for that, it has opened more than 200 stores. On the other hand, Hilson (2012) pointed out that Starbucks has able to retain its employees at the time of global recession by paying them properly and allow minimal fringe benefits. This has resulted in keeping great relationship with its stakeholders. Finally, the organization is trying to gain consumer trust by hiring local salesperson from China, so that local flavor and culture is maintained. From here it can be said that the organization is able to keep socially responsible business by keeping a balance between its stakeholders and revenue. According to Anitha (2014), Starbucks is trying to become more socially responsible organization by thinking of environmental sustainability. It has been found that more than 3 billion disposable cups are thrown in the landfills each year, which pollutes the environment. Bondy, Moon and Matten (2012) pointed out that Starbucks is trying to reduce the pollutant as it has produced recycling eco friendly cups. Starbucks has switched its polyethylene No. 1 to more ecofriendly polyethylene No. 5 cups. On the other hand, Malik (2014) pointed out that though the organization has already thought of such ecofriendly cups, still only 5 percent of the total retail outlets in the UK has maintained this. Therefore, it can be said that the organization has tried to maintain environmentally sustainable business from the past but still it has not yet reached to the global perspective level. Finally, from the critical analysis it can be said that the organization is expanding more because of its environmental sustainable business and ethical consideration. This is because the vital points that can be jotted down are cordial relationship with employees, suppliers and consumers, Fair Trade Practice, customer loyalty, ethical business and environmentally sustainable business. All such points will help the organization in developing better business in future. Conclusion While concluding, it can be said that Starbucks has able to develop its business by corporate sustainability and ethical considerations. The critical analysis provided certain factors for the organization such as ethical business, relationship with consumers, sustained relationship with suppliers and great employee benefits. Apart from that, stabilization of the business of Starbucks is maintained through diversification of products and corporate social responsibilities. It can be said that Starbucks has high prospectus in retail sectors though providing high quality coffee and that too providing it at competitive price. The customers of this organization are highly attracted to the standard and low calorie foods. Starbucks has been also found to provide high employee benefits in the past at the time of global recession as it had reduced its expansion strategy. This indicates that the organization is extremely consumer and employee centric, which proved to achieve such a great height . At last, it can be said that the organization has kept its competitive advantage through ethical consideration that includes ethical sourcing, leadership and code of conducts. Reference List Aguinis, H. and Glavas, A., 2012. What we know and dont know about corporate social responsibility a review and research agenda.Journal of management,38(4), pp.932-968. Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. Asif, M., Searcy, C., Zutshi, A. and Fisscher, O.A., 2013. An integrated management systems approach to corporate social responsibility.Journal of cleaner production,56, pp.7-17. Bondy, K., Moon, J. and Matten, D., 2012. An institution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in multi-national corporations (MNCs): Form and implications.Journal of Business Ethics,111(2), pp.281-299. Brammer, S., Jackson, G. and Matten, D., 2012. Corporate social responsibility and institutional theory: New perspectives on private governance.Socio-Economic Review,10(1), pp.3-28. Cheng, B., Ioannou, I. and Serafeim, G., 2014. Corporate social responsibility and access to finance.Strategic Management Journal,35(1), pp.1-23. Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in a global context.Chapter in: Crane, A., Matten, D., and Spence, LJ,'Corporate Social Responsibility: Readings and Cases in a Global Context,2, pp.3-26. Deng, X., Kang, J.K. and Low, B.S., 2013. Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers.Journal of Financial Economics,110(1), pp.87-109. Dhaliwal, D.S., Radhakrishnan, S., Tsang, A. and Yang, Y.G., 2012. Nonfinancial disclosure and analyst forecast accuracy: International evidence on corporate social responsibility disclosure.The Accounting Review,87(3), pp.723-759. Di Giuli, A. and Kostovetsky, L., 2014. Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility.Journal of Financial Economics,111(1), pp.158-180. Flammer, C., 2013. Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The environmental awareness of investors.Academy of Management Journal,56(3), pp.758-781. Hilson, G., 2012. Corporate Social Responsibility in the extractive industries: Experiences from developing countries.Resources Policy,37(2), pp.131-137. Homburg, C., Stierl, M. and Bornemann, T., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in business-to-business markets: how organizational customers account for supplier corporate social responsibility engagement.Journal of Marketing,77(6), pp.54-72. Jain, T. and Jamali, D., 2015. Strategic approaches to corporate social responsibility.Development-Oriented Corporate Social Responsibility: Volume 2: Locally Led Initiatives in Developing Economies, p.71. Kim, Y., Park, M.S. and Wier, B., 2012. Is earnings quality associated with corporate social responsibility?.The Accounting Review,87(3), pp.761-796. Kitzmueller, M. and Shimshack, J., 2012. Economic perspectives on corporate social responsibility.Journal of Economic Literature, pp.51-84. Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Swain, S.D., 2014. Corporate social responsibility, customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees.Journal of Marketing,78(3), pp.20-37. Malik, K., 2014. Corporate governance and corporate social responsibilityits evolution and importance in present scenario.ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research,4(12), pp.296-313. Morgeson, F.P., Aguinis, H., Waldman, D.A. and Siegel, D.S., 2013. Extending corporate social responsibility research to the human resource management and organizational behavior domains: A look to the future.Personnel Psychology,66(4), pp.805-824. Mousavi, Z., Beiranvand, F., Moeinfar, Z. and Amouzesh, N., 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility.Life Sci J,10(6s), pp.8-10. Preuss, L., 2013. Corporate social responsibility. InEncyclopedia of corporate social responsibility(pp. 579-587). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Schneider, A. and Schmidpeter, R., 2012. Corporate social responsibility.Verantwortliche Unternehmensfhrung in der Praxis, Berlin ua. Servaes, H. and Tamayo, A., 2013. The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness.Management Science,59(5), pp.1045-1061. Starbucks Coffee Company 2016. Starbucks The Best Coffee and Espresso Drinks. [online] Available at: https://www.starbucks.com/ [Accessed 22 May 2016]. Takkar, K., 2015. Corporate social responsibility.International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences,5(8), pp.297-302.

Satan Essays - Fallen Angels, Hell, Abrahamic Mythology, Satan

Satan And Heroism Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines hero as the principal male personage, usually of noble character in a poem, story, drama, or the like regarded as a model. Milton's Paradise Lost presents the reader with characters that could be considered models as heroes. Satan, or Lucifer, qualifies for this distinction. In Paradise Lost, Satan, God's favorite, is cast out of heaven. Lucifer had to be outstanding at one point in time in order to share in God's grace. Only Lucifer's choice, in line 39 "To set himself in glory above his peers," committed him to a fall from grace. Satan must have possessed character attributes fit for a king to be held in such high esteem by God. Only through pride and self-conceit did Lucifer earn God's wrath. For example, in line 84, Beelzebub says, "If thou beest he... but O how fallen! how changed From him, who in the happy realms of light Clothed with transcendent brightness didst outshine Myriads though bright--." The key here is "how changed," denotes both "good" and "bad" traits with emphasis on "good" at one time. Satan displays how easy it is to be "good" and receive God's grace, thus denoting Satan's choice in trying to capture God. It is difficult to look upon Satan as "good" but by Satan's choosing to defy God and his kingdom, it implies that Satan does indeed have a "good" side to his character and the aspect of choice, whether good or bad, is irrelevant to the differing sides of Satan's character. Only the absence of choice would make someone inherently good or bad. As a result of Satan being revered by God, and his ability to make his own decisions, these characteristics asist to portray aspects of heroism in Lucifer's character.

Hercules and Theseus in the Greek Mythology Essay Example

Hercules and Theseus in the Greek Mythology Essay Example Hercules and Theseus in the Greek Mythology Paper Hercules and Theseus in the Greek Mythology Paper Essay Topic: History Hercules and Theseus, the two great heros of the Greek Mythology In the Greek Mythology two characters played a main role in defeating the monsters and all evil enemies. The two great heroes of Greece were Hercules and Theseus. It is true that they were uncles, but they were preferred by different part of Greece. Athens liked Theseus while Sparta or the rest of Greece preferred Hercules. Both heroes had some characteristics in common, like both of them had supernatural powers and when they realized their abilities, they wanted to help mankind and to save the world. In the same time they were totally different from each other in mental way. Their intelligence level and the life experience that they had through their journey, made them two separate characters. Theseus was a good thinker, which is the reason why Athens liked him best, while Hercules used his enormous power; he was preferred by Sparta. If somebody asks the question what is the ability that is in common in Hercules and Theseus, the answer is: strength. With this ability, they decided to help innocent people and to become heroes of Greece. Hercules was the strongest man on earth and he had the supreme self-confidence magnificent physical strength gives. He excelled from the others at a very young age, when he killed two snakes with his own, bare hands. Hera, Zeuss jealous wife, sent the snakes to kill Hercules while he was sleeping. He proved that he is strong and he can defeat anybody and anything. Theseus was a strong child, too. His father placed in a hallow a sword and a pair of shoes and he covered them with a great stone. The reason why he did that, was that he wanted to see, if his son Theseus can move that stone. If yes, then he is able to take over the kingdom. The child was a boy and he grew up strong far beyond others, so that when his mother finally took him to the stone he lifted it with no trouble at all. At a very young age both characters became heroes by killing monsters and doing good to mankind. Theseuss idea was to become a great hero as quickly as possible On his way to Athens he killed many bandits and he also killed the Minotaur. It can be imagined how Greece rang with the praises of the young man who cleared the land of these banes to travelers. Hercules was renamed after his strength and he was called a hero when he defeated the Minyans. Of course they had some different characteristics as every people do. But these differences were important. Their intelligence level was like sky and ground, and their life experience differed, too. Herculess Intelligence did not figure largely i n anything he did and was often conspicuously absent. Theseus was at a higher level of his mental capabilities, because he wanted a peoples government where all would be equal. About Hercules we get a clear picture from the story, that what kind a man was he: His intellect was not strong. His emotions were. Even if his feelings were strong, he always blamed himself for the way he acted. He usually acted first and then thought about the consequences. This characteristic is proven by the scene from the funeral, where Hercules gets drunk and then he realized his fault and to make a recompense he bring back Admetuss wife from the underworld. During their long journey, both heroes, Hercules as well as Theseus, had different life experiences. The strongest man on earth engaged three times (in order: Megara, Deinanira and Hebe), while Theseus married only two women (in order: Hippolyta and Phedra). Theseus decided to dedicate his life for saving innocents and helping mankind. He knew how to treat people and how to understand himself with the peoples that supported him. Another difference between them was that Hercules always had to make up his fault. He gets twelfth labors (bringing back the lion for Nemea, to kill the nine headed creature, Hydra, to bring back alive a stag with hums of gold, to capture a great boar, to clean the Augean stables in a single day, to drive away the Stymphalian birds, to go to Crete and fetch from there the savage bull, to get the man-eating mares of King Diomedes, to bring back a the girdle of Hippolyta, to bring back the cattle of Geryon, to bring back the Golden Apples of the Hespiredes, and to bring up Cerberus from the Underworld) for killing his family, but he also killed innocent people by accident. The water-boy, and the musician were the victims of his angriness. Even if they were uncles why were they supported by different part of Greece? Athens supported Theseus while Hercules was the Spartans favorite. Athens was the home of the thinkers, doctors and scientists. As Theseus acted after his mind, he was considered as one of them. Another reason why Athenians like him best, because he never had to make labors like Hercules did many-many times. Athenians didnt liked Hercules, because he was wild. The rest of Greece preferred wildness and the strength. But Hercules embodied what the rest of Greece most valued. His qualities were those the Greeks in general honored and admired. In Greek tradition, the boys are taken at very young age for military practices and they are educated to kill. As Hercules was strong and able to kill, Spartans considered him as one of them. In my opinion Theseus was a better hero than Hercules. I admire Hercules for his enormous powers, but sometimes he was out of control of his strength and killed people that he shouldnt have killed. I think that if we didnt think ahead before we act something always going to end with a disaster. Thats why I like Theseus. He is a carefully thought out person, he never had to make up labors, and he also treated people equally and cared about their feelings.

Plea Bargaining essays

Plea Bargaining essays Plea Bargaining a Vastly Used Concept It all starts with backed up courtrooms. A man is charged with killing another man. There is no evidence to convict this man of these charges. This leads the prosecutors to work out a plea-bargain. The pressure of other cases and the need for a guilty charge is what leads plea-bargaining to happen more every year. As a result many criminals get off easy and in return prosecutors look good for winning the case. The practice of plea-bargaining is a controversial issue that both benefit the court and the criminal. Plea-bargaining was not always wide spread throughout the court system. Today it is a main practice for prosecutors to put away criminals, even if it is for lesser charges. Plea-bargains happen for many reasons and are beneficiary and negative to everyone involved the process. The reasons why plea-bargaining is used so much range from the accused to the prosecutors. This practice is usually used because courts these days are over run with cases and cannot provide trials. More the 90% of convictions come from negotiated pleas, which means less then 10% of criminal cases result in a trial,(Plea Bargain 1). This happens frequently because prosecutors want to get the guilty verdict. Most criminals want to plea-bargain knowing they will receive an easier sentence even though they might be guilty and deserve more. Plea bargains provide both prosecutor and defense with some control over the result,(Maynard 145). This quote is exactly why so many cases are being decided by the plea-bargaining strategy. Another reason why this is so commonly used is that there are not enough courts in any state to provide everyone a fair and speedy trial. Something must be worked out and guilty pleas can be worked out in hours, compared to trials, which can sometimes last weeks. Even though many are opposed to the plea-bargaining that goes on in todays courts, there ...

First assignment to analyze energy problems Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

First to analyze energy problems - Assignment Example But compared to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion process is extremely complicated and dangerous. Nuclear fusion requires extreme amounts of heat energy in order to fuse two small nuclei combine to form a single large nucleus. For example, in sun, two hydrogen nuclei combined to form a helium nucleus at a high temperature which resulted in the liberation of enormous amount of energy mainly in the form of hat and light. Sun’s interiors have high pressure and temperature so that fusion can take place easily in the sun. But â€Å"earthbound reactors cannot achieve such high pressures and temperatures of the sun’s interior†, which is the major challenge in conducting nuclear fusion on earth’s surface (National Academy of Engineering) Nuclear fusion can be placed only at the last place in the technology concept map considering the complexities and dangers associated with the process of nuclear fusion. The current nuclear reactors which are operating in some of the counties are handling temperatures of smaller amount when we compare it with the temperatures needed to operate a nuclear fusion reactor. The uncontrollable nature of nuclear energy seems to be the major villain in exploiting nuclear energy with the help of the fusion process. The major social issue associated with the exploitation of nuclear fusion energy is the possibility of huge disasters which can wipe off the entire living things from the earth. Till the technology developed to such a level that the possibility of a disaster becomes zero, it is not advisable to conduct even an experiment on the exploitation of energy from nuclear fusion. We have already witnessed the striking power of nuclear energy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which is negligible when we compare it with the dimensions of a possible disaster that could be happened due to nuclear fusion process. It is a fact that we facing lot of social issues like terrorism, violence,

Law Enforcement Liability Issues Research Paper

Law Enforcement Liability Issues - Research Paper Example Officer’s not only protect and serve the public; at times they themselves need protection from liability law suits and claims. Individuals not happy with the outcomes of an action may file suit just to ease frustrations and to gain a sense of control over a situation. Officers are provided some protection with the Police Manual of Arrest, Seizure, and Interrogation, designed to assist an officer in making a correct decision in most circumstances and protect from liability claims. Further protection is provided to officers individually, holding departments financially responsible, by the Crown Liability Act. Finally the BC offense act states what specific offenses can be legally used in a court of law against an officer. Body Being a law enforcement officer takes more than just training. Common sense and compassion for the public are also incredibly important. In order to succeed in dealing with the people and the numerous challenges that they face every day, a law enforcement officer needs a specific type of personality. This particular personality is a combination of the above things, common sense being right there at the top of the list. Liability issues and concerns are faced not only by law enforcement officers, but by everyone, all the time. Even though there are a variety of different types of law enforcement in this day and age, their risk of liability issues remain the same. That is where training, government law, and personality come in handy for all individuals involved. The first thing people need to learn about liability is this: What is it? According to Oxford, liability is ‘being liable; troublesome person or thing; handicap; debts for which one is liable.’ (Oxford University Press,1995). Liable, according to Oxford is ‘legally bound; subject to; under an obligation; exposed or open to; answerable for.’(Oxford University Press,1995). In translation, liability means that one needs to answer for what they have done. Every action or reaction has a consequence, and the individual who made the action needs to own up to the consequence that goes with it. For example, if Officer A punched Drunk Driver 1 in the face because Drunk Driver 1 refused to get out of the car, Officer A would be liable for that action. In other words, Officer A would have to own up to and pay the consequence of his/her action, likely in a court of law. The opposite of this scenario would be if Drunk Driver 1 punched Officer A in the face, then proceeded to state that he had been punched in the face by Officer A. Drunk Driver 1 would then be responsible for what he/she had done in a court of law. Whether an officer is on duty or off, they must reflect their actions with reason. There has to be a good, liable reason for them to do what they do. The Use of Force Continuum is an important tool for law enforcement officers around the world. It is an important guide that has the ability to dictate what an appropriate action for th e officer is under any given circumstances. This continuum is often used in a court of law by lawyers, and even by the officers themselves. It is a direct, easy to follow guideline. The Use of Force Continuum is built in a circular pattern. At the start there is ‘Officer Presence’, and at the end there is ‘Lethal Force’. ‘It promotes a continuous assessment and evaluation of each situation, and helps officers understand and make use of a variety of force options to respond to potentially violent situations.’

Income Tax and Deductions Essay Example for Free

Income Tax and Deductions Essay Tax avoidance is legal in most states and every tax payer will present his returns in a way which reduces tax burden the most. Thus a taxpayer will opt for either standard deduction or itemized deduction whichever will enable him shoulder less tax burden. For standard deduction the deduction from taxable amount is a standard amount. For example for a single citizen the standard amount is $5,350. For married couples filling jointly the standard deduction will be double for the single ($10,700) but for a married couples filing separately each will be allowed a standard amount like for a single person it is ,350. A qualifying widow(er) with dependant child will be treated the same way a married couple filing jointly. For the head of household whether a woman or a man the deduction will be $7,850. Itemized deduction is enjoyed by adjusting your spending behavior to spend more on the items which enjoy tax privileges. Similarly one can claim dependant from a qualifying child or relative which has tax benefits such as the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependant Care Credit as well as the Earned Income Credit. These all work to the advantage of the tax payer. The standard deduction for a dependant is the higher of $850 and the dependants earned income plus $300 provided it does not exceed the standard deduction of the filing taxpayer. However in some instances the treatment gives some taxpayers unfair advantage over others. For instance a parent can claim a qualifying child but don’t claim the child as his/hers. Thus another parent can claim dependant deduction from the same child provided the AGI of the person higher than the highest AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) of the two parents. This can be misused by the taxpayers who have higher AGI than other parent thus enjoying unfair tax advantage.

Vertical integration in studio system Essay -- Economics

Vertical integration in studio system The term "vertical integration" refers to the structure of a marketplace, which is integrated (rather than segregated) at a variety of crucial levels. In the case of the motion picture industry, the studio system established a market in which the studios owned production facilities, distribution outlets, and theaters. In other words, the studios controlled every level of the marketplace from the top down, from production to exhibition. "Vertical integration" began in the 1910s and inspired the postwar consolidation of the studio system as national distribution companies, such as Paramount merged with production companies, such as Famous Players and Lasky and subsequently began purchasing theater chains. All of the major studios in Hollywood (Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., etc) owned theater chains; the minors, Universal, Columbia, and United artists, did not. The minors, distributed their pictures, by special arrangement, to theaters owned by the majors. The majors booked one another's films in their theaters. Vertical int...

How ICT has helped people with special needs Essay

Introduction In this essay I will be analysing how the usage of ICT helps people with special needs. There are 3 types of special needs. What is a physical disability? The term â€Å"disability†, as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. National governments and global humanitarian agencies have narrowed this definition for their own purposes, only pledging aid to those with specific disabilities of a certain severity What is a sensory disability? Is when someone is you are Deaf, visually impaired, hearing impaired or have a significant combination of hearing and sight loss. What is a learning difficulty? A disorder in basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or use mathematical calculations. The term includes conditions such as perceptual disability, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. How ICT is used to help those with Learning Difficulties Multimedia software Helps people who find it hard to concentrate. It uses different forms of media, pictures, sound clips and video to keep the user interested. Specialised educational software There’s a huge range of software available to help people struggling with different subjects and useful tips e. g. help with reading and basic maths. Touch screens These are useful for people who finding using a mouse or any other sort of input device difficult. Spell checkers Can help people with dyslexia who finds it difficult to spell; you can set it up so check your words as you type. How ICT is used to help those with visual difficulties. People with hearing difficulties can still use most computer functions normally. One thing you can do though is set up the computer to display visual icons rather than using sound. DVDs are much better than videotapes as you can use the subtitle facilities. Many recent communication technologies like e-mail and texting work really well for people with hearing. Being able to set mobile phones to vibrate or flash is also very useful. Text phones are an older system that replaces a standard telephone with a keyboard and a screen. What you type on both screens- a bit like a chat-room. Both sender and receiver need a text phone machine. If a person has problem seeing or is completely blind they would be categorized as having a Visual disabilities. If a person cannot read small type then there are a lot of magnification devices out on the market, which fit almost anything from phones to monitors. For example a person with low vision would use a keyboard with extra large print. If a person is completely blind then they would use a speech recognition device. Changing the screen settings can help. You can also change the colour scheme, screen resolution and fonts to make it clearer. For the blind, special hardware is available- Braille keyboards make it easy to type, and describe what’s on the screen. Screen readers are pieces of software that use speech synthesis technology to read out and describe what’s on the screen. Text-To-Speech. A text-to-speech is designed for individuals with reading difficulties. It works by simultaneously highlights and reading aloud of text. There are other devices for people with reading disabilities such as spellcheckers How ICT is used to help those with hearing difficulties. Speech Recognition There are two uses for speech recognition these are Dictation and Computer control. Speech recognition is one of the desired assistive technology systems. People believe speech recognition is a natural and easy method of accessing the computer A dyslexic person who has problems with writing English would use the speech recognition to make sure their English is correct. A person planning to use speech recognition must be aware he is required to go through a training session. This is a one-time reading when the user must read aloud an excerpt of text that is displayed during the training feature of the speech recognition application. Depending upon the speech recognition software, there is several enrolment training excerpts to select from. A person planning to use speech recognition must be aware he is required to go through an enrolment (training) session. This is a one-time reading when the user must read aloud an excerpt of text that is displayed during the training feature of the speech recognition application. (For an example of enrolment text, please see What Is Speech Recognition) Depending upon the speech recognition software, there is several enrolment training excerpts to select from. Personal Communicator tool for Learning and Communicating Sign Language. The Personal Communicator creates a common ground for communicating in Sign Language. Using hypermedia technology, the Personal Communicator is a user-friendly program that brings sign language communication capabilities to the desktop and notebook computer. With more than 2500 digital video signs and 4500 English words. The Personal Communicator can be a useful tool in communication, education, and other environments. If someone is not able to use a mouse because they haven’t got full control in there hands then there are mouse alternatives to help people with the disabilities. How ICT can help those with Physical Difficulties Many people find mice difficult to use- there are many alternatives such as tracker balls, Joy Sticks and tough pads. People with limited hand movement can get specially designed keyboards to suit there needs. Voice Recognition software can be used by people with little or no hand movement. It lets you speak to the computer to navigate menus and do what you want it to do. If you are severely limited, you can use a computer with switches carefully arranged- Stephen Hawking is a famous example of someone who uses ICT in this way. For people with limited mobility, environmental control systems can be set up to atomically open, close curtains, turn lights on and off, operate heaters and so on. How ICT can help those with Language difficulties Dictionary software can help you to quickly translate individual words. Learning software can help you practise an unfamiliar language with exercises where you can hear phrases spoken. It can also record your voice and play it back to see how well you have done. Most word processing packages can check your spelling in different languages and check that your sentences make sense. In conclusion it is fair to say that people with disabilities might need variations on the standard equipment to use computers, but once they have these mentioned above I am sure it can change the way they live.

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences, with reference to 50 cent's Amusement Park, attempting to account for its popularity despite its sexist representations of women In this essay I shall be investigating the ways in which hip hop songs appeal to both male and female audiences, with specific reference to Amusement Park (released May 8, 2007) by 50 cent (real name Curtis Jackson), and its music video. I will attempt to account for the huge popularity of this artist, and others of the genre, despite the apparent sexism displayed in his songs. Firstly I shall look at how hip hop has gone from primarily an underground phenomenon to having mainstream status, as recounted by Bakari Kitwana (2005). From when hip hop originated, it was always an alternate culture for black youngsters to turn to. During the late 1980s economic recession, many Americans were still living in poverty: unskilled workers faced poorer wages than before, resulting in a sense of alienation from mainstream America. Although they had achieved equality in legal status, there were still plenty of economic and social problems facing black youth. Not only was hip hop an artistic way of expressing and making public these issues, but also provided a sense of culture those less privileged. Concerns could be voiced through the medium of music and radio stations, which, although primarily were by and for black people, still very much of the white working class population, who were also facing similar problems and suffering from the same detachment from the mainstream. In the late 80s powerful black icons began emerging, such as Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and major bands like Public Enemy who produced ‘politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community'1. It soon became hard for white audiences to ignore hip hop culture. The East-West coast feud between artists from either side of America, leading to the eventual murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG also brought both urban issues and its music in to public light. Gangster rap was a predominant subgenre which was responsible for expressing shocking views (notably rap group N. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper W. A. ‘s F*** tha police) and portraying the more violent and misogynistic side of hip hop culture. While it still receives a lot of backlash, hip hop has become increasingly mainstream and popular. One way to account for the popularity of â€Å"Amusement Park† is to look at the representations of women in the video on its own, and to draw conclusions from those alone. The girls are shown against a very minimalistic background, only with the â€Å"ride† which they are on. This puts the focus on to their bodies and faces, increasing our sense of their sexuality. Both the shots of the girls and their poses are explicitly constructed, as their poses are unnatural and staged. They often look directly in to the camera, suggesting an awareness of the audience's voyeuristic perspective. A shot which specifically give a sense of degradation is one in which a girl is shot almost directly from above, her body twisted unnaturally on the ground, looking on command as the camera focuses on her. This appeals to the male audience by making them feel that the girl is putting out her sexuality for the benefit of the viewers i. e. he individual watcher. It might seem that this video is primarily aimed at males however; the huge success of 50 cent in the mainstream implies that his apparent misogyny is not only accepted but embraced by a large audience. One explanation would be to accept the belief of female sexuality being masochistic, and that the gratification a female gets from the video is that of relating herself to the girls in the video who are enjoying being a sexual object. However, French feminist Luce Irigaray questions the idea the traditional view of female sexuality: †¦ omen in the sexual imaginary of Western culture have always been a male fantasy; hence maschocism is something forced on women by culture, not a quality inherent within them. Thus, women don't define their own sexuality, desire, or pleasure2. If we bear in mind the amount of competition that is around now in the hip hop industry and the selection of media now readily available, through the wide range of music channel, and the relatively recent development of the ability to watch music on sites such as youtube and yahoo, audience could be said to become more active in the way they choose and thus perceive their media. Taking Irigaray's perspective, female audiences do not necessarily need to read the text in masochistic way, and this broadening of choice in their media allows them to take an alternate stance on such texts: that of a more active one. If this is the case however, it does not necessarily mean that female audiences reject Amusement Park, only that there is room to interpret the representations in a more ironic way and as I shall discuss later on, the text itself encourages this type of reading. The next issue I shall look at is the extent to which 50 cent is taken as a serious role model by his audiences. His background would imply that he is the stereotype of gangster: his mother gave birth to him at 15, was involved in cocaine dealing, and was murdered at the age of 23. 50 cent himself began dealing in crack/cocaine and taking guns to school. Before the release of his first album with Columbia Records, he survived being shot 9 times, including once in the mouth, which led to him being dropped by the record company. This would seem highly ironic, given that to a large extent the idea of an authentic gangster was what selling rap records in the first place (artists such as Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B. I. G and Tupac Shakur had a history of crime and drugs; and the murders of the latter two helped to bring hip hop in to mainstream media). It is interesting to ask whether it was the songs that consumers were buying and continue to do so, (his debut album, get rich or die tryin' selling 12 million albums worldwide) or the now glamorised image of celebrity gangster which is currently present, despite the fact that he currently lives in an $18,500,000 Mansion. He himself admits to the fact that his image portrayed in his music is separate from him as a person: †¦ all the things I say are good, if you watch what I do. What I say on record is entertainment; but what I'm actually doing with my life and the things I've had the opportunity to do is what makes me inspiring3 Although evidently he has achieved a great deal for himself, in the media he rarely expresses himself personal side, and even has made attempts to reinforce his gangster image, and example being: I've been in situations where either it was me or somebody else, and I handled my business. 4 (2003) However, in the later interview he does deny any assumptions: †¦ people associate me with gun violence, when I was the one who got shot5 This suggest that Curtis himself does have an expectation that audiences will be able to distinguish between his image portrayed in the media, and the reality of his life, but does little to counteract the negative images. Is he also being naive in thinking that the audience will automatically realise this, and not model his violent and sexist lyrics? There is clearly some sort of awareness in public audiences, both black and white, as shown by findings by the Black Youth Project: Over half of youngsters between the ages of 15 – 25 strongly agree with the statement that â€Å"Rap music videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways. 6 The huge success of 50 cent however, seems to contradict this, which would seem to imply that audiences are in fact able to separate this misogyny from the rapper himself. However, it could also be argued that this is merely a way of excusing such portrayals. Considering the artist's earlier works, such as Get in my car containing the lyri cs â€Å"I got no pickup lines / I stay on the grind / I tell the hoes all the time / Bitch get in my car† and the highly pornographic music video for Disco Inferno, it is harder to take such things lightly. A widely quoted statistic is that 70% of hip hop consumers are in fact white. Although it is interesting to note that no accurate source has been cited for this statistic, hip hop is undeniably a prominent part of mainstream white music culture. Before, when the genre was a political move as much as it was a music genre, a chance for black underprivileged youth to voice their concerns for the culture, it was something that both black and white people could understand in relation to their own lives. The current state of hip hop is that we ‘look through the keyhole into a violent, sexy world of â€Å"money, ho's and clothes†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ as described by Justin Ross (2007). This may be an accurate description of the way that audiences perceive such videos, given that 50 cent's music refers to neither the real problems, past or present, of black culture, nor to the life which Curtis leads. It would also account for the general acceptance of these representations, if the audience is distanced from what is shown in the videos: issues of sexism and violence are far less relevant outside black urban society and it is therefore easier for a white consumer to take the videos solely as entertainment. It is also important to remember that while the majority of hip hop artists are black, it is predominantly marketed and controlled by a white industry, as Bakari describes (p46) in which the importance of an authentic representation of black culture is of little importance compared with supplying the public with texts which they will buy in to, as evidently the sex appeal of the videos is an important aspect. The next thing I shall look at is the level of awareness of the sexism in both the video itself, and the audience it is aimed at. There are many shots which suggest that the images in it, and the lyrics, are not entirely sincere. This is evident in the shots of the girl sitting on a bench next to 50 cent. Unlike the rest of the images, she is not highly glamorised, and her actions appear to be a lot more naturalistic than the others. She directly reacts to his lyrics, often looking away smiling, as though amused by what he is saying. The title of the song could also be referring to 50 cent himself as a celebrity figure: that both his image and his songs are merely an â€Å"amusement;† not to be taken as serious. This creates a sense of bathos juxtapositioned against the more professional looking shots, so that the female audience can relate more to the women shown. Although taking up a lot less time in the video than the glamorised ones, it creates a distance between the hyperreality of the rest of the video, and the ordinary more down to earth shots, so audiences see the video more objectively. The shots of the girl lying provocatively on the car bear even less relation to the lyrics than earlier in the video, being more reminiscent of a car commercial than a music video. The car itself is briefly but distinctly focused on, which makes reference to the importance of money and material values which are present in not only video, but the whole hip hop industry. This hints at the suggestion that both the girls and their representations are merely a product of this, and therefore are not in fact serious degradations of the women. In this shot we see a girl, while impressed; rolling her eyes at the artist at the lyrics â€Å"You know it's no fun without the magic stick†. In this sense the girls are in fact the more active ones in the video, whilst 50 Cent mostly maintains his position as an entertainer. Instead of them covering the whole screen, two similar shots of the same girl are often slid in from either side against a plain black background, sometimes overlapping each other. Whilst in one sense emphasising the importance of the girls' bodies, it also is highly self aware as product, as by seeing two separate views of one scene, it reminds us that it is a construction. Instead of taking itself too seriously, it makes explicit its intention of providing a sex appeal. A less prominent but important character in the video is the girl dancing acrobatically, and the only girl who is represented by her skill rather her sexuality – the camera barely focuses on her face. On the surface, she seems to represent an entertainer at a fair (the bright flashing lights help to anchor this meaning), but it is possible to decipher alternate readings of her: certain comparisons can be drawn between the actions of 50 Cent and herself. She and he are the first people we see in the video, and she appears immediately after the artist announces himself: â€Å"50† and â€Å"Ferrari F-50†. The setting she is in is almost identical to that of 50 Cent's. At times her dance moves mirror the lyrics of his, for example at â€Å"You fear heights when I'm high hell yeah I go low†, she can be seen to do exactly this. In another shot she briefly does a boxing punch, followed by a similar view of 50 Cent looking macho. At the lyrics â€Å"yeah it's like that† she mimes as though saying the words herself. In this sense she is the female counterpart to 50 Cent, and could be said to hold the power, in that she has little direct engagement with the audience, while Curtis has to explicitly put on an act to keep is position as an entertainer. This could allow women to from the perspective of her instead of the rapper, and thus 50 Cent himself becomes the object of the video instead of the subject. As previously discussed, the initial purpose of this media text is to sell 50 Cent's music, and this is done by providing the audience with representations they are familiar with: a stereotypical ‘gangster', highly sexed girls, and also to be considered is the artist's own sex appeal. Firstly, the subject of the song itself is 50 cent inviting girls (the audience) to attend his â€Å"amusement park†, and the lyrics describe the activities available to those who go, thus partially placing him as the object of desire. He is shown later in the song without a shirt on, with lighting focused in such a way that highlights his muscular physique. An important issue is that of whether hip hop should be censored, else voluntarily toned down. In April 2007, a controversial incident occurred, involving Don Imus, the presenter of his radio show, which already had a reputation for its crude humour. In discussing a black female basketball team, he referred to the players as ‘nappy headed hos'. After floods of outraged complaints, his show was permanently removed from air, prompting wide discussion over the standards in the media, often with reference to hip hop. 0 Cent himself was involved in the subsequent discussion, but refused to agree to clean up his lyrics, using a politician involved in adult dating websites to make comparisons between standards in hip hop and that in supposedly higher society. While this may be true to some extent, it firstly does not provide a justification in itself; but also it is debatable as to how much of what he said was his own opinion and how many were prearranged arguments by his managers (in the video he can be seen grinning in long pauses after phrases such as â€Å"I personally believe†). On the subject of Master P, who made the decision to stop using sexist and violent lyrics, he replies â€Å"Well Master P doesn't sell CDs anymore†7. From this, and other interviews where he has put the focus on that of entertainment, one could draw the conclusion that the artist in fact, as Amusement Park suggests, concerned with little other than the money involved in the business. In defence to his own lyrics, 50 Cent has also expressed his irritation of apparent double standards in the media, in reference to Britney Spears' single ‘Gimme more'8 beginning with the lyrics ‘it's Britney, bitch'. While it may appear to be merely a sore complaint, it is certainly valid to discuss the treatment of women in other areas of the media, and by women themselves. The music video of the song in question consists of Britney Spears, wearing little more than underwear, dancing round a poll in a seedy setting. Similarly, in ‘Dip it Low' by Christina Milian, the artist is seen allowing herself to have black paint poured over her semi-clothed body, whilst a group of men stand at the side watching and jeering: the presentation of women apparent in male hip hop videos is not a unique one. In all aspects of the media girls are presented, more than anything, by their sexuality and appearance, which can be found in adverts in women's magazines, stereotypes in film and television (a notable example being Desperate Housewives), car adverts, drink adverts. Although elevated within the genre, this representation could be described as a reflection of attitudes prevalent in both the media and in society and therefore not so shocking to audiences. Another issue described by an internet blogger9 is that by shutting sexism and violence portrayed in hip hop music, it is shutting off a fundamental way of keeping these issues in the eye of the public. He quotes that the leading killer of African Americans is homicide; and that males are five times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts. These issues will still exist even in the absence of offensive hip hop. While this certainly an interesting point, hip hop paradoxically glorifies the very things which it makes an issue of. While artists like 50 Cent may primarily be driven by selling as many records as possible, he still in one sense continues to represent issues which would otherwise be forgotten, if only in a postmodern way. Therefore, in order for hip hop to serve this purpose, it is essential that audiences neither directly embrace the values shown in the videos, nor take it as purely entertainment, as Amusement Park evidently does allow us to do. However, audiences could be said to be becoming increasingly desensitised to these things, with violent films and video games and the huge availability of pornography through the internet, which would make this reading more difficult to achieve. Whether or not the sexism and violence in hip hop is justified or not, if audiences were to take a more active role in their media, it would simultaneously prevent potential influence from such songs, and also make thorny issues in black society more accessible to deal with.

Social class and homelessness Essays

Social class and homelessness Essays Social class and homelessness Essay Social class and homelessness Essay Essay Topic: Sociology Social class is a large category of people who are similar in income level, educational attainment, and occupational prestige. There are six different social classes, the first class, capitalist class includes the wealthiest one percent of Americans second class, and the upper middle class is composed of managers or professionals and is about fifteen percent of the United States population. Third class, the lower middle class is made up of lower level managers and semi professionals, fourth class the working class is composed of clerical and sales workers and make up thirty-two percent of the population. The fifth class, the working poor includes laborers and service workers which make up ten percent and the sixth class the underclass is composed of the unemployed and underemployed which is nine to ten percent of the population. Your position in society tends to be determined by that of your ancestors. What class youre born into usually means what you will achieve. You learn your values, ambitions, drive, and determination to succeed, and set your goals from what you learn from your family members. A third of the homeless men that Mitchell Duneier spoke to ended on the streets after not being able to find work, which then led to their use of drugs and alcohol (sidewalk 52). Because they were situated in the fifth social class, the working poor, they found no other choice but to become homeless, living on the streets. Many after faced with unemployment end up with the Fuck it mentality, which enables a person to give up an apartment and sleep on the street, cutting all ties with friends and families (61). The homeless, it seems have little to no chance of becoming housed. The police take advantage of the uneducated homeless individuals, at times ignoring the law (277). Also, the homeless are not allowed use of public bathrooms. If the homeless are not allowed to use a bathroom, the only other option is to relieve oneself on the street, a concept which many refuse to accept or acknowledge. Any society with high levels of economic inequality, racism, illiteracy, and drug dependency, and with inadequate transitions from mental hospitals and prisons to work and home, will have vast numbers of people who cannot conform to the requirements of its formal institutions (317). The men that lose employment and end up turning to drugs and alcohol eventually end up spending a period in prison and then being released to the streets (52). Without any other option they turn to living on the streets, panhandling to make a living. Family, a group which is united by ties of marriage, ancestry, or adoption and who comprise a single household and raise children, plays an important aspect in the lives of those that choose to become homeless. In Rons case, both his parents were alcoholics and when he lost his job he also turned to alcohol (47-48). Without solid family support the unemployed become drug addicts living on the streets. In Rons case his elderly aunt became that support and excuse to work towards getting off the streets. For Mudrick the birth of his granddaughter gave him a reason to work hard and survive (75). In Sidewalk the aspects of what the homeless and the working poor go through is brought to light. The street vendors try to make an honest living by selling books and magazines, which is allowed by New York City ordinances. The problems they encounter make it hard for them to succeed in any form. Their presence on the sidewalks has been a source of controversy; many store vendors protest their right to sell books on the same street as their business, many times not allowing the vendors the right to use their public bathrooms. The vendors are public characters, an institution for the village with many regular customers and residents that donate reading material. Several times throughout the book the vendors give directions to lost tourists, watch over deliveries, and help to discourage crime in the village. Even though the vendors have become apart of New York, the local government is still working to discourage street vending by passing new ordinances, which cuts down on vending space. The vendors, even though trying to make an honest living are met with un-satisfaction and rudeness from all they encounter, with the police, at times, taking advantage of their power.

Tracing Your Family Medical History

Tracing Your Family Medical History You know you got your curly red hair from your grandmother, and your prominent nose from your dad. These arent the only things you may have inherited from your family, however. Many medical conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, alcoholism and Alzheimers disease have also been shown to be passed down through families. What Is A Family Medical History? A family medical history or medical family tree is a record of important medical information about your relatives, including illnesses and diseases, along with the relationships among the members of your family. A family health or medical history is begun by talking with your immediate family members parents, grandparents and siblings as they provide the most important links to genetic risk. Why is a Family Medical History Important? Some studies say that over 40 percent of the population is at increased genetic risk for a common disease such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Understanding your risk for developing such diseases is an important reason to learn more about your family history. By knowing your risk, you can make informed decisions about prevention and screening, and even participate in genetic-based research aimed at understanding, preventing and curing disease. For example, if your father had colon cancer at age 45, you should probably be screened at an earlier age for colon cancer than age 50, the average age for first-time colon cancer screening. How is a Family Medical History Used? How is a family medical history used? A family medical history helps document familial patterns which may impact your health, such as trends towards specific types of cancer, early heart disease, or even something simple such as skin problems. Compiling a family medical history can help you and your doctor spot these family patterns and use the information to assist with the following: Diagnosing a medical conditionDetermining whether you may benefit from preventive measures to lower your risk of a specific diseaseDeciding what medical tests to runIdentifying other members of your family who are at risk of developing certain diseasesCalculating your risk of certain diseasesCalculating your risk of passing certain conditions to your children What Should Be Included in a Family Medical History? Going back about three generations (to your grandparents or great-grandparents), try to collect details on every direct family member who has died and the cause of death. Also, document the medical conditions of all family members, including the age at which they were first diagnosed, their treatment, and if they ever had surgery. Important medical conditions to document include: CancerHeart diseaseDiabetesAsthmaMental illnessHigh blood pressureStrokeKidney diseaseAlcoholismBirth defectsLearning disabilitiesVision or hearing loss For family members with known medical problems, make notes on their overall health, including if they smoked, were overweight, and their exercise habits. If a family member had cancer, be sure to learn the primary type and not just where it metastasized. If your family members came from a different country, make note of that as well, as some medical conditions have possible ethnic roots. How Should I Document My Family Medical History? Family medical history can be recorded in a similar manner to the traditional family tree, just using standard medical symbols in a pedigree format - squares for men and circles for women. You can either use a standard key, or create your own which specifies what your symbols mean. See Tools for Recording Your Family Medical History for more information, examples, forms and questionnaires. If you find the forms too complicated, just collect the information. Your doctor will still be able to use what you find. Remove any personal names from your work before giving it to your doctor or anyone outside the family. They dont need to know the names, only the relationships among individuals, and you never know where your medical tree might end up! My Family Cant Help Me, Now What? If your parents are deceased or relatives are uncooperative, it may take some real detective work to learn more about your familys medical past. If you cant get access to medical records, try death certificates, obituaries and old family letters. Even old family photos can provide visual clues to diseases such as obesity, skin conditions and osteoporosis. If youre adopted or otherwise cant learn more about your familys health history, be sure to follow standard screening recommendations and see your doctor for a physical on a regular basis. Keep in mind that the format and questions dont have to be perfect. The more information you gather, in whatever format is easiest for you, the more informed youll be about your medical heritage. What you learn could literally save your life!

Identy theft Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Identy theft - Essay Example A high percentage of credit card companies send out checks for the purpose of paying off other cards, or to use like cash. The checks often arrive with your statements, and are sometimes sent separately. As the consumer, you do not know when they are sent. Unfortunately, some of the credit card companies do not know when they send them. The criminals can get their hands on your checks in many ways. They can be stolen right out of your mailbox. They can be misappropriated by a postal employee. They can be shanghaied with other mail from a mail truck. There are probably a hundred other methods, but you get the picture, it is easy for the criminal to get his or her grubby hands on your financial documents. The most successful approach is a proactive one. The most effective solution is to ensure the checks are not sent at all, and to this end I recommend you cancel your credit cards. If you have no credit cards, you will receive no credit card checks. At a minimum, call all of your credit card companies and ask them to stop sending the checks, they will be happy to oblige. Another approach is to have them sent only upon your request. This way you can still have the use of the checks, and you can track roughly when, and how many, are sent. You might ignore this advice, as I would have at an... The check clearing companies do not care about consumers, they do not even use the driver's license information that most proprietors verify when a check is written! If you are unlucky enough to have this happen to you, you will undoubtedly be shocked, as I was, to hear the police tell you that you are not the victim! The victims are the stores that cashed the check, or the check clearing companies, because they will eventually be the ones with actual monetary losses. These steps are just the first of many if you truly want to protect yourself. They will potentially save you; a lot of grief, time spent trying to get agencies to help, a considerable amount of money, frustration, and stress in general. For more information, check out . This site is an excellent entry point for you to educate yourself about the many aspects of identity theft. Protect yourself, be proactive, and tell everyone you know the same. Brochure Front cover: IDENTITY THEFT AN INVISIBLE CRIME Victims of identity theft usually do not even know that they have been targeted until it is to late. Identity theft can take years and a lot of money to clear up, and until it is credit is ruined and lives are destroyed. As with other crimes we cannot completely control if we are victims, but we can be aware how criminals obtain our private information, how to reduce the risk of being a victim and some helpful information on what to do after the crime is committed. Inside How Does Our Private Information Fall Into The Wrong Hands Stealing records from their employer, Bribing an employee who has access to these records, or Hacking into the organization's computers. Rummage through your trash Obtain

Legal policy and organisational framework Essay

Legal policy and organisational framework - Essay Example The range of existing legal responses that may be utilized in cases of elder abuse in the UK is evaluated, and recent proposals to reform the law are analyzed. Because no single piece of applicable protective legislation exists, three possible levels of intervention have been identified: preventive measures, private law initiatives and state intervention. ABSTRACT. This article evaluates the range of existing legal responses that may be utilized in cases of elder abuse in the UK. Because no single piece of applicable protective legislation exists, three possible levels of intervention have been identified: preventive measures, private law initiatives, and state intervention. In answer to the criticism of existing law, the Law Commission has published proposals for legal reform drawing on the child protection model. Questions are raised regarding the suitability of the approach given the intrinsic social and legal differences between children and adults. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com) Elder abuse is a term that is not recognized by English law. There is currently no single piece of applicable protective legislation in contrast with the United States. In England, the one existing law that may be applicable to cases of elder abuse in England is fragmented and lacks coherence. It is less accessible than, for example, the child protection law, which is contained in The Children Act 1989, and is not particularly "user friendly." The challenge of elder abuse, therefore, calls on lawyers to be creative and use their imagination and skills in drawing on existing remedies from statute and common law and adapting these to respond to individual complaints of elder abuse. Existing remedies may not be fully utilized for a number of reasons. For one thing, certain procedures, such as criminal prosecutions, may be perceived as

Conduct of Monetary Policy in Kuwait Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conduct of Monetary Policy in Kuwait - Essay Example The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted: "The fastest pace of economic expansion since the 1990 Gulf war, combined with the oil-related terms of trade gains, has boosted per capita income by 34.5% during 2003-04 and helped build up assets for future generations at a record pace." It added: "With oil prices likely to remain firm over the medium-term, Kuwait's medium-term outlook has improved and is likely to remain favourable, supported by large fiscal and current-account surpluses, and low inflation. The Kuwait economy is characterized by sound creditworthiness which in turn reflects sustained macroeconomic stability, good governance, twin surpluses (the government budget and current-account), manageable domestic debt (17% of GDP in 2005), the sophisticated banking sector and huge net (official) external assets. Overall GDP growth has been increasing at a steady rate from 2001 to 2005 due to the stability of the money supply. Through a judicious application of effective open market operations, the central bank was able to mop up excess liquidity in the system resulting in a stable economic growth. The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has imposed a ceiling on the credit to deposit ratio. It was implemented in order to address prudential concerns over rapid expansion of credit to the private sector in recent years without a parallel increase in bank deposits. Kuwaiti banks are, however, heavily capitalised and liquid. The capital adequacy ratio remained comfortable (17.3% as of end-September 2004), well above its minimum regulatory level (12%). In 2004-05, asset quality improved further and net profits and returns on equity/total assets also rose significantly. The Kuwait central bank had reined in liquidity growth in order to attain macroeconomic stability. This policy resulted in a minimal incr ease in M2 supply from 9646.3 million Kuwait dinar (KD) in 2001 to 10401.2 million KD in 2002. This strict monetary policy resulted in a high increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 11584 .5 million KD in 2002 to 14253.5 million KD in 2003. At the same time, inflation remained at respectable levels from 0.89 percent to 0.98 percent during the same period. The GDP climbed steadily from 14253.5 million KD in 2003 to 17466 million KD in 2004. The M2 supply increased only slightly from 10401.2 million KD in 2003 to 11655.2 million KD in 2004. The GDP scored a big leap from 17466 million KD in 2004 to 23588 million KD in 2005. Steady monetary policies kept the M2 supply level from 11655.2 million KD in 2004 to 13088.2 million KD in 2005.On the macroeconomic front, the authorities have pursued prudent monetary/fiscal policies, thus underpinning price stability and the exchange rate peg. Consumer price rises have averaged just 1.4% annually over 2000-05, thanks to a str onger currency and subdued import prices. The Kuwait central bank has maintained very stable exchange rate levels to maintain stable inflation rates. This effective policy has resulted in minimal inflation rates. The Kuwait dinar has been appreciating vis-a-vis the US dollar from 2001 to 2005. The exchange rate was 307.36 dinar to 1 US$ dollar in 2001 compared to 299.7 dinar to 1 US$ in 2002. Inflation rate at 2002 was only .89 percent. The local currency further appreciated from 299.7 dinar to 1

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Essay Example for Free

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Essay Superstition, for the Ibo people provides explanations to unexplained phenomena. For example, their idea of the obanje explains a woman who has the misfortune of many children repeatedly dying as infants. The Oracle gives the Ibo people a way to feel connected with the gods. For the Ibo, the Oracle functions as a way to explain events, as well as a way to predict the future. The Ibo people go to the Oracle for advice. In some other cultures, people pray to their deity to be guided in the right direction or to understand why things happen the way that they do. When the Ibo people want to know what they must do, in an unclear situation (such as how to handle Ikemefuna), they consult the oracle. Most superstitions in the Ibo society are based on lack of knowledge about something. Superstition, in most societies, functions as an explanation for that which we cannot explain with science or logic. It also functions, sometimes, as a form of entertainment and as a way of promoting cultural unity. For example, the ritual involving ancestral spirits coming out to scare the women serves to promote togetherness in the community, to entertain, and to maintain religious and spiritual worship. Another superstition that the Ibo hold is that if you answer, yes? to a call from outside, it could be an evil spirit tricking you. It seems to be that this superstition serves a main purpose of making the people wary. Superstitions evolve from unanswered questions. In Ibo culture, things happened that the people did not understand. A woman would bear two children who looked alike. Perhaps the Ibo people were afraid of this occurrence and gradually began to believe that twins were evil. There is also the Ibo concept of the obanje, a wicked child who dies as an infant, only to reenter the mothers womb repeatedly, causing the parents pain and strife. Without modern medical technology, how would people explain a particular womans children always dying as infants? The Ibo people turned to superstition and folklore. It is not clear from where belief in the Oracle evolved. It seems, however, that this has been a tradition that has been passed on from many generations. A possible explanation would be that long ago one priest or  priestess was receiving many questions from villagers. Unsure of what to do, this priest may have gone into a dark cave to be alone and to try to find the answers from the gods. Perhaps the priest felt a special spiritual energy while inside of the cave, and determined that this must have been a place where he could communicate with the gods. Although the actual origin may be different, many superstitions evolve from this similar type of curiosity and searching for truth.

History of the Independance Movement :: Essays Papers

History of the Independance Movement One of the most important forces that governed the course of Cuba’s colonial history was the concept of racism. From the moment that Christopher Columbus ignored the presence of indigenous peoples, and claimed the island for Spain on his first voyage in 1492, to the day Carlos Manuel de Cà ©spedes began the first revolution to independence, there was a strong tradition of separation and objectification (Franklin 1,4). Diego Velà ¡zquez was appointed governor of Cuba in 1511 (Franklin, 1). He founded the first European settlement, Nuestra Senora de la Asuncià ³n de Baracoa, on the Northeastern coast of the island. The European settlement of the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncià ³n was established in the middle of a pre-existing indigenous settlement, from which it got the name Baracoa (La Rosa Corzo, 35). Similar situations occurred in many of the other original settlements, such as the town of San Salvador de Bayamo. Christian prefixes were added to the indigenous names of towns. Europeans settled the center of these villages and natives were moved to the outskirts (La Rosa Corzo). During the fist one hundred years of colonization, the Native American population was greatly reduced, and gradually replaced by African workers (36). However, the pattern of settlement remained a constant. In a 1605 census two per cent of the total population was considered Indian, and thirty-six percent were African slaves. Most of these Indians lived outside of major cities under the jurisdiction of their own tribal leaders (36). As the French, Dutch and British began their exploration of the Caribbean, Spain was encouraged expedite its settlement of its existing colonies. Rapid settlement, coupled with Charles III’s 1789 policy of free trade in African slavery, led to the development of plantations, and a slave society (Howard, 2). By the beginning of the nineteenth century the stage was set for Cuba to become the biggest sugar producer in the world. The previous leading producer, San Domingue had almost lost its hold on the sugar trade altogether, due to the revolution. The United States was newly independent form European rules and looking for new trade partners; there was an opening in the market.