Letter of Intent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Letter of Intent - Essay Example During this time, I have not only met numerous persons requiring my attention as a Practical Nurse but I have also worked closely with other well-informed Practical Nurses. This exposure in the field of healthcare has molded me into an approachable, sociable, dynamic, and a resourceful person in addition to equipping me with negotiation and interpersonal skills. Moreover, I have become an open minded and hard working person, an outstanding team player as well as a person who is open minded and excellent in networking. I believe that my working background as a CNA has equipped me with proper knowledge and experience that places me in an advantageous position to be eligible to pursue this course. My strong will to deliver relevant results, curiosity, attention to details, and willingness to learn are additional strengths that would be important assets as I study. I am also initiative, well-organized, have a genuine interest in people, have the ability to work independently with minimum supervision, and have good work habits. I have no misgivings that pursuing a course in Practical Nursing would give me the opportunity of sharpening these skills further as well as increasing my knowledge in the same, which would improve my performance greatly. One of my greatest weaknesses is that I have a tendency of getting too focused on whatever I am doing such that I find it hard to stop doing something until I see the desired results. This has oftentimes left me without any time for myself. However, I am working on these weaknesses by asking for help from colleagues in backbreaking issues, following a schedule, going for occasional breaks and coming up with after-hours hobbies. Upon completion of the nursing program, my goal is to continue working in nursing homes and provide and promote patient care to the best of my ability as well as being actively involved in helping patients regain their physical

Ideal Behavior Between Daoism And Judaism Essay Example for Free

Ideal Behavior Between Daoism And Judaism Essay Judaism and Daoism are two different religious each with its behaviors differentiating it from other. Both religions have complex philosophies and ways of conducting their worships. Daoism is based on Confucianism and it was founded in China in Han dynasty. It deals with learning of the past. Judaism is a religion that believes in one God who is omnipresent, almighty, omniscient, infinite and eternal. They have Old Testament and they believe in existence of heaven which is the eternal dwelling of the righteous and hell as the eternal dwelling of the wicked. Daoism and Judaism are two religions each with its beliefs and behaviors making them somehow similar and different. Judaism is different from Daoism because Daoism is a religion that started as a combination of simple philosophy and psychology but grew into a religious faith Daoism and Judaism are somehow similar for they originated from one and the same source who is God Almighty. They are closely interrelated and they have many common rituals, beliefs, worship, laws, rules, wisdom and morals. They are similar because God’s law is universal and the two religions are universal too. Daoism and Judaism have different ethical code. Daoism refers Laozi as their founders while Judaism believes that Hebrews were founders of the religion. The primary scripture of Daoism is Laozi’s Book of Dao and its virtue while for the Judaism it is the Holy Bible. Daoism has its Daoist philosophy with its main ideological source and took some concepts from Mohist, Yin-Yang and Confucianist. They follow Huang-Lao traditions. Daoism holds longevity and immortality as its highest object of faith. It advocates for Longevity and Immortality through Nourishing of life. They have practice of virtuous conducted to escape death and reach eternity. Judaism has temple sacrifices along with temple priesthood to function. Taoism has numerous deities under Tao while Judaism they believe in Reincarnation, Heaven or Garden of Eden or Hell. Judaism practice circumcision, they worship on Sabbath in the Synagogues and on the Holy Days like Bar Mitzvahs, marriages and funerals and during festivals like Passover. Their God is called Rabbi. During special feasts like marriages and funerals and during ancestral worships Taoism worships in the Temple. In Judaism, they believe that their leaders were Moses and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David with Rebbes being spiritual leaders of some Chassidic sects. Taoism believes that their leaders were Lao Tzu Some Taoist sects which have Pontiffs. Judaism believes that Israel is their God-given homeland thus having a strong belief in justice. For the Taoism, when society is compassionate, their government also tries to be generous. Judaism has a sacred writing known as Torah while that of Taoism is known as Tao Te Chig or The I Chig. Judaism believe that, the State of Israel is the Jewish homeland while Taoism belief that Chinese loves nature. Judaism is a religion based on Law while Taoism is a religion focused more on nature instead of society. Taoism has great concern on ethical thinking, speaking and doing. This is because when an individual behaves in an ethical manner the entire community benefits. Those who believe in Daoism have focused themselves on nature. Taoism has no commandment and they have no particular action or even thought. In conclusion, Daoism and Judaism are two different religions with some similarities. Judaism is based on religious way of life but Daoism focuses more on nature. Daoism was founded in China in Han dynasty and it is based on Confucianism dealing with learning of the past. Judaism is a religion that believes in one God who is omnipresent, almighty, omniscient, infinite and eternal.

Media Literacy after The Simpsons

Media Literacy after The Simpsons Homer Simpson Explains our Postmodern Identity crisis, Whether we Prize it or not: Media Literacy after The Simpsons ABSTRACT This article suggests that The Simpsons is a sophisticated media subject about media that forces educators who teach media literacy into an encounter with postmodern judgment. The sense of postmodern judgment for media education is explored through a focus on two now themes in The Simpsons: the changing judgment of personal identity and the consequences of a relentlessly ironic worldview. Icons of habitual culture can be used to teach about philosophical constructs. From its inception The Simpsons has posed a significant challenge to educators. The program, which ridiculed all forms of influence and turned Bart Simpson into a wildly habitual anti-hero, initially provoked an intense reaction from the education citizens, in some schools influential to the banning of paraphernalia bearing Barts images and habitual denunciations of the series. As the series grew in popularity- and eventually was joined by other cartoon series that were seen to be all the more more educationally offensive, such as Beavis and Butthead and South Park-the furor died down to a now on the other artisan passive hostility toward the program, at least in the classroom. It certainly didnt facilitate the educational communitys disagreement to have Interval magazine reputation the series the best television program of the 20th century, or to have the poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, praise the series, stating that it penetrates to the existence of television itself (Owen, 2000, p. 65). Nor did it facilitate that various teachers went hab itat, turned the program on, and laughed themselves silly. All the more another abbreviate has been created between the culture of children and the culture of education, a poser that has been perhaps all the more more painful for media educators, various of whom follow Hobbs (1998) target that the texts of everyday career, when constituted as objects of social participation, provide the possibility for combining textual, historical, and ideological examination in ways that relieve students and teachers move beyond the limits of traditional disciplines and controversy areas (p. 21). To be undeniable, there have been efforts by media educators to bring The Simpsons into the classroom. Our debate of the media literacy literature and media literacy sites revealed a number of examples of proposed lessons incorporating the series, from examining The Simpsons as a virgin variant of social satire to comparing The Simpsons family to other television families. On the other hand, in almost eve ry dispute, we sensed that the unique qualities of the series eluded these efforts. The basic tools of media education and literacy as typically agreed upon by numerous media literacy communities-tools which regulate our control to basic precepts such as the meaning that the media are constructed-appear not to be enough to turn The Simpsons from renegade habitual culture into a teachable moment (Aufderheide, 1993; Media Awareness Network, 2000). Perhaps the central poser with The Simpsons is that it seems to drag the media literacy examination onto the unfamiliar and all the more foreboding terrain of postmodernism, where issues of image and replica open to fall apart, a terrain where sporadic media educators are willing or able to follow. Of line, there has been an effort to define, critique, and bring postmodern impression to bear on educational judgment and application, expressly from advocates of critical pedagogy (e.g., Aronowitz Giroux, 1992). All the more this has been a the ory-driven effort that has not reached further far into educational scholarship, and has made almost no headway into the frontlines of educational manipulate. Various teachers Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 have never heard of the label postmodernism. The same mould is equally, if not more pronounced, in the media education citizens. Our examination of media literacy literature and key media literacy web sites in the United States and Canada revealed an almost comprehensive absence of controversy and examination on postmodernism. There have been, of pathway, notable exceptions (McLaren, Hammer, Scholle, Reilly, 1995; Steinberg Kincheloe, 1997). The outcome of this empty margin is another critical abbreviate, in this dispute not between students and educators, on the other artisan between media educators and media theorists. In examining this section, we are struck by two observations. First, the gap between media education manipulate and media judgment comes precisely at the moment when teachers and media educators are finding them selves overwhelmed by strange contemporary regular cultural texts for which the unfamiliar category of postmodernism may potentially be the most fruitful interpretive handle. Second, the positions of students and media theorists stand in the succeeding relationship. Students are living inside an increasingly postmodern regular cultural participation that media theorists are attempting to label, define, and scan. The puzzle is that students dont necessarily have the vocabulary to generate meaning of their participation, and the vocabulary that theorists have developed seems to cause meaning only in graduate seminars. The Simpsons offers a promising opportunity to strategically residence these issues, highlighting the limits of conventional media literacy tools, illustrating the aesthetic examine of postmodernism, and providing some vocabulary to label that examine. In effect, it serves as an dispute of how the solution of postmodernism can be used to develop a contemporary range of c ritical interpretive skills for constructively engaging this growing trend in habitual culture. Our article presents a mini introduction to postmodernism and a grounded process of the benefits and limits of applying this judgment. Our reason is not to provide an exhaustive or all the more spread out introduction to postmodern judgment. Rather, it is to position The Simpsons as a media subject that can be used as a starting stop for exploring postmodern judgment. Fear of Postmodernism If everyone loves The Simpsons, postmodernism has its correct participation of critics. Writing in U.S. Material and Field Report, Leo (1999) argues that postmodernism has created a language that no one can understand, a language that is used to intellectually bully readers into agreeing with outlandish propositions. The academic area, on the other artisan, has offered more equivocal assessments. Hebdige (1988) argues that we are in the presence of a buzzword, a expression which, while confusing, does appropriate an influential social or cultural transition. Kellner (1995) agrees, observing that . . . the label postmodern is often a placeholder, or semiotic marker, that indicates that there are virgin phenomena that demand mapping and theorizing (p. 46). In the infrequent instances where references to postmodernism do appear in media literacy literature, its ambiguous area is emphasized. For process, Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), in their effort to launch charting the challenges posed by multimedia education in an increasingly digitized media area, believe that postmodernism, although glib and sweeping, offers a beneficial pathway to characterize a number of broad social and cultural transformations. Some of the changes that control Buckingham and Sefton-Green embrace the area of consumption, the blurring distinctions between production and consumption, the poaching of texts and symbols, and the rejection of the elitist and sterile oppositions between high and habitual culture (pp. 289-292). Given the slipperiness of the sense, postmodernism on the other hand marks a cr itical modern moment in the scan of media and replica. Building on the business of Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), we open by asking what is postmodernism and what can we do with it? With its questioning of truthfulness and its subject of the politics of media representations, postmodernism, once it is understood properly, can be a rich source of pedagogical judgment and manipulate. The Postmodern Dispute: Definitions and Symptoms What true is the label postmodernism trying to receive? There is, first, the sense of opposition to modernism. In essence, modernism states that individuals and nations, guided by rational thinking and Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 2 scientific achievements, are moving toward a more humane, more just, and more economically prosperous ultimate. In other contents, modernism embraces progress, viewing it as a linear and inexorable phenomenon with acceptable outcomes. Accordingly, the publish in postmodernism stands for the meaning that there is no longer any guarantee of progress. In point, there is further petty consensus as to what progress all the more wealth. Postmodernity typically is distinguished by an undermining of force, the denigration of novel by turning it into a style or evocative nostalgia, the questioning of progress, and the head to impression the ultimate as empty. Other postmodern symptoms embrace the meaning of image overload, intertextuality (the seemingly random q uoting of one subject by another), a heightened meaning of media self-reflexivity calling control to replica as a hall of mirrors, and pastiche, defined as the sense to cause disjointed images and subject fragments. Finally, the postmodern process is marked by commodification overload (the head to turn everything into a product or marketing opportunity), irony overload (the elevation of irony as the dominant rhetorical posture), and the increased questioning of the sense of personal identity brought on by viewing the self as a social construction. In short, the meaning of postmodernism calls control to the ways in which a beneficial deal of everyday regular culture is at once fully informed by, if not driven by, the basic media literacy precept that media construct social naked truth. In act, all the more of regular culture relentlessly draws carefulness to the further arbitrariness of almost every aspect of our social participation, as well as the moral and epistemological foundati ons on which social participation depends. In other contents, the curriculum of regular culture has outstripped the curriculum of the classroom, all the more the media education classroom. The vocabulary of postmodernism allows us to launch to contemplate and term the various ways in which this is taking fix, on the other share it further leaves us at a loss about how to proceed. Recognizing this disagreement, memo and educational theorists have attempted to clarify what is to be gained by drawing on the social and theoretical insights generated by the deconstructive influence of postmodern criticism. At the same interval, they have tried to demonstrate how to tame this influence in the utility of modernist values such as human rights, equality, freedom, and democracy (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Best Kellner, 1991; Giroux, 1997; Kellner, 1995; Rorty, 1989; Wolin, 1990). A critical postmodernism encourages us to solicit contemporary questions about all claims to influence (scientific or otherwise), about how contemporary forms of replica and contemporary inflections in the style of replica made practicable through technology and commodification exchange the quality of sense, and about how cultural dominance is produced and maintained through the patterns of contrasts used to define social and linguistic categories (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Scholle Denski, 1995). Postmodernism offers contemporary tools for critical interpretation and modern responsibilities for connecting media and cultural interpretation to democracy as a form of native land that enables critical reflection and activism, making us understand the ways in which our seemingly private individual identities are formed, through language and symbols, in relationship to each other and the broader social and political citizens (McKinlay, 1998, p. 481). For The Simpsons audience, an ambivalen ce toward technology and progress is guideline fare. This judgment of the ultimate as empty and without guarantees has further been associated with the core identity of Hour X, whose slogan might glance at We have seen the forthcoming and it sucks. While any aspect of postmodernism discussed above can be found in and explored within The Simpsons, two concepts in particular-irony overload and the questioning of identity-will serve as reference points in our reconsideration of the series. The puzzle of identity is a central complication for all young citizens, on the other artisan it is a puzzle that is not duration satisfactorily addressed, given the growing levels of hopelessness, cynicism, despair, and suicide among teenagers. Of particular control to us is that The Simpsons repeatedly focuses on this further subject: the puzzle of selfhood in an increasingly absurd culture pulverized with images, symbols, values, irony, commercialization, and hucksterism. What lessons does The Sim psons teach? What lessons can be learned as the characters on the demonstrate are thrust into many battles for selfhood within the postmodern terrain? Enjoy all the more postmodern Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 3 culture, The Simpsons, is saturated with irony and obsessed with issues of absolute identity, expressly in relation to media culture. Our task is to articulate an interpretive frame of reference to facilitate media educators and viewers open to cause critical meaning of these symptoms. The Challenges of Postmodern Selfhood Gergen (1991) notes that postmodernists abbreviate version into three epochs, each of which corresponds to a particular judgment of personal identity or selfhood. These periods are labeled as the pre-modern (romantic hour), the contemporary era, and the postmodern. From the pre-modern or romantic tradition, we derive our meaning in a stable center of identity. In Gergens contents, powerful forces in the deep interior of ones duration are held to be the source of inspiration, creativity, genius, and moral courage, all the more madness (Gergen, 1992, p. 61). Modernism redefined the self, shifting the emphasis from deep, mysterious processes to human consciousness in the here and these days, always in control with such values as efficiency, stable functioning, and progress. The self in its virgin form-what Gergen calls the postmodern or relational self-is no longer viewed as a separate target, on the other artisan is increasingly understood as a rel ational construction, defined by and spread across the humanity and activity experiences each individual encounters throughout her or his field. In short, as McNamee and Gergen (1999) argue, there are no independent selves; we are each constituted by others (who are themselves similarly constituted). We are always already related by virtue of shared constitutions of the self (p. 15). Linked to this sense is the sense that a conscious understanding of ourselves as beings occurs through language, which is itself a fundamentally relational sense, and that our identity grows and develops in relationship to the endless dialogues that we have with others, with culture, and with ourselves. In this meaning, our interactions with the media become deeply significant. Moreover, this contemporary consciousness of the relational sense of the self comes at correct the moment when the relationships we enter into and which contribute to our definition of self are multiplying at an exponential rate and are duration increasingly spread over a in a superior way and in a superior way span of hour and amplitude. It is one baggage to see the sense of the relational self when we think of, claim, two friends engaged in a mutually sustaining and defining examination. In this setting, the sense of the relational self is promising, perhaps all the more reassuring. On the other hand, extending the meaning of relationship to subsume every symbolic encounter in which we willingly or unwilling participate-from intentional relationships to unintentional and forced relationship with 3,000 commercial messages per day-presents modern challenges. A critical postmodern perspective calls control to this crisis of identity, a crisis in which the media of memo and their commercial foundations are deeply implicated. Of line, thinking of the self as a relational construct not only gives insights into the crisis of the self, on the other share it further offers a means of thinking about how to residen ce that crisis. In this more hopeful and acceptable meaning, the relational self offers a glimpse of those selected aspects of human participation and identity that may be used as a moral foundation in the face of the deconstructive maelstrom of commercial postmodern culture. The relational self suggests a moral compass that is based less on the authentic truths of religion or science than in the manner by which we draw up ourselves and our community through ceaseless and inevitable physical, linguistic, and psychological dependence upon one another. Drawing on the duty of Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Jurgen Habermas, Richard Rorty, and Jerome Bruner, McNamee and Gergen (1999) deposit elsewhere a autonomous and thoughtful introduction to what a moral ethic organized on all sides of the relational self would see enjoy. They have called it relational responsibility, defining relationally responsible actions as those that sustain and enhance forms of exchange elsewhere of which influ ential process itself is made practicable. Isolation, they argue, represents the negation of citizens (p. 19). The guideline of relational responsibility is in stark contrast to the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism. As such, it can serve as a critical bridge linking the interpretive coercion of a critical postmodernism to the modernist values associated with progressive democracy. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 4 At the same hour, it is autonomous that the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism (as a fix of virgin conditions) have influential implications for personal identity construction. Giddens (1991), for process, warns of the looming threat of personal meaninglessness. It is this threat that directs us back to a carefulness of one of the central tropes of postmodern discourse: irony. As noted above, relentless irony is a hallmark of both The Simpsons and the postmodern era. As individuals struggle to confront postmodern challenges to identity, there is grounds to solicit whether there is any valuation in the postmodern strategy of irony. Thus, the implications of irony both for identity formation and relational responsibility must be considered. Irony, Identity, and the Disagreement of Responsibility The Simpsons is regularly celebrated for its incisive wit and social satire, for its force to manipulate irony to bell control to the absurdity of everyday social conventions and beliefs. Irony functions as a critical form that helps us to break through surface sense to examine and understand the correct area of things in a contemporary and deeper means. It is a vehicle for enhancing critical consciousness, and it represents a moral coercion of skilled in the function of eradicating conventional pathetic (Rorty, 1989). As Hutcheon (1992, 1994) notes, critical irony is intimately linked to politics. The compel of deconstructing can be a first development to political dispute, and ironys oppositional character can be a major critical compel. The subversive functioning of irony is related to its status as a self-critical and self-reflexive resources that challenges hierarchy, and this influence to undermine and overturn is said to have politically transformative coercion. On the other share this is not where the manipulate of irony ends in The Simpsons, nor does it appropriate the postmodern turn in the meaning of irony. Postmodern irony is ambiguous and its solution is contested. It can be interpreted by adherents as playful, reflexive, and liberating; opponents, on the other hand, contemplate it as frivolous, deviant, and perverse (Hutcheon, 1992, 1994; Kaufman, 1997; Thiele, 1997). In postmodern irony, clarity in moral delineation begins to disappear. For process, in virgin comedy, as in all social behavior, all actions are controversy to satire from some perspective. Besides, by reason of postmodern irony begins with the assumption that language produces all sense, a kind of emancipatory indulgence in irony is evoked-an invitation to reconceptualize language as a form of play. As Gergen (1991) writes, we neednt credit such linguistic activities with profundity, imbue them with deep significance, or fix elsewhere to interchange the nature on their novel. Rather, we might play with the truths of the hour, shake them about, try them on prize funny hats (p. 188). In other contents, postmodern irony invites us to avoid saying it straight, using linear logic, an d forming smooth, progressive narratives (p. 188). The Simpsons is saturated with this form of postmodern irony. On the other facilitate where does that leave media educators trying to duty with this enormously regular series? On the one artisan, media educators would prize to engage the series fully by practise of it raises various challenges to conventional ideas of mould and selfhood; on the other share, they are unwilling to lead students to examine media literacy as a form of deconstruction that leads only to meaninglessness or play. Some media scholars contemplate postmodern irony as a laborious challenge for teachers committed to linking media literacy with productive citizenship. Purdy, for dispute, laments that between Madonna and the fist-fight between Jesus and Santa Claus that opened the cartoon series South Park, there is less and less left in society whose flouting can elicit shock. Irony, he concludes, invites us to be self-absorbed, on the other facilitate in selves that we cannot believe to be particularly interesting or significant (p. 26). Conway and Seery (1992) are similarly concerned about the implications of postmodern irony for engaged citizenship. Although irony may equip the dispossessed with much-needed critical perspective and all the more underwrite a minimal political agenda, they draw up, it is generally regarded as irremediably parasitic and antisocial (p. 3). Hutcheon (1994) further shares this episode, noting that irony can be both political and apolitical, both conservative and radical, both repressive and democratizing in a pathway that other discursive strategies are not (p. 35). Gergen (1991) frames the challenge of postmodern irony in terms of its challenge to forming a coherent self. If all serious projects are reduced to satire, play, Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 5 or nonsense, all attempts at authenticity or earnest ends become empty-merely postures to be punctuated by sophisticated self-consciousness (p. 189). If this is the poser that The Simpsons raises in its manipulate of both critical and postmodern irony, to what room is it contributing to a social consciousness with a practicable for social process, as opposed to contributing to a cynical numbness founded on ironic detachment? What solutions does the series offer for resolving this disagreement? Are there any alternative solutions that acknowledge the postmodern challenge to identity? Exploration of Self in Homer to the Max With these concerns in meaning, we see an phase of The Simpsons that originally aired on February 7, 1998. The period focuses with particular vehemence on the quest for identity and asks the closest questions: †  How is the sense of the self understood in relationship to the blizzard of media images, symbols, and values? †  How does irony fit into the exploration and resolution of identity issues? †  How do we understand The Simpsons confrontations with the self and identity in terms of what has been called the postmodern process? The demonstrate begins with the principles sight gags on the couch and the Simpson familys lampooning of televisions midseason replacement series. The program that finally captures the familys carefulness is Police Cops, which becomes a present within the present. As the two Miami-Vice enjoy heroes of Police Cops subdue would-be bank thieves, one of the police detective heroes, a millionaire cop surrounded by admiring women, introduces himself as Simpson, Detective Homer Simpson. The Simpson family is shocked and Homer is exclusively overwhelmed, confusing himself with his television image. The plot then unfolds in essentially five kernels that hire up and explore Homers confusion over his own identity (Chatman, 1978). First, Homer identifies completely with the television detective hero: Wow. They captured my personality perfectly! Did you examine the means Daddy caught that bullet? In turn, the all-inclusive citizens of Springfield validates Homers contemporary pseudo-identity, treating him as if he were the television detective hero: Hey, Mr. Simpson, sir, can I purchase your autograph? Second, the Police Cops producers interchange their television detective character from glamorous hero to bumbling sidekick, launching a series of gags about Homers correct identity. The virgin characterization is truly a near perfect replication of the absolute Homer Simpson. This outrages Homer: Hey whats going on? That guys not Homer Simpson! Hes fat and stupid! The town continues to respond to Homer as the television character, only these days with ridicule rather than respect. No netheless, Homer gains some insight into the confusion between his authentic and fictional identity. As a assemblage of co-workers gathers in the hallway absent his business waiting for him to do something stupid, Homer retorts, Well, Im sorry to disappoint you gentleman, on the other artisan you seem to have me confused with a character in a fictional present. Factor of the pleasure for viewers derives from the irony of the cartoon character Homer making the state that he is the authentic Homer Simpson, as opposed to the fictional cartoon character within the cartoon. The writers of the period then continue to play with this seemingly endless hall of mirrors between absolute and fictional identity by scripting Homer to behave true in the transaction of the revised fictional detective character. Homer obliges by spilling a fondue pot on the nuclear reactor polity panel. Homers identity crisis eventually leads him to Hollywood, where he confronts the producers of the Police Cops-By the Numbers Productions-and demands that they recast the detective character: Im begging you! Im a human duration! Let me have my dignity back! The lines between Homers authentic identity and his media identity blur all the more besides when his efforts in the production business are used as grist for a contemporary gag in the later Police Cops period. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 6 In the third kernel, the plot shifts absent from Homers struggle over his identification with his media replica to his fixation on the sense that a contemporary label will give him a virgin identity. In this kernel, Homer goes to court to sue Police Cops for the improper application of his reputation. When his petition is nowadays rebuffed in the term of corporate proprietary interests, he rashly decides to transform his reputation to Max Coercion. Homers growth is nowadays transformed. His self-image improves, he becomes forceful and dynamic, and his co-workers and boss treat him with respect. Mr. Burns, remembering Homers reputation for the first interval, exclaims, Well, who could forget the reputation of a magnetic individual prize you? Keep up the acceptable profession, Max. While shopping at Costingtons for a contemporary faculty wardrobe, Homer meets a member of Springfields elite with a similarly powerful label, Trent Steele. Trent nowadays takes Homer/Max under his wing, inviting him to garden troop for Springfields young, hip force couples, an period that turns elsewhere to be the jumping off stop for an environmental reason. The critical moment in this kernel-which links the identity crisis of Police Cops with the identity theme in the Max Force parcel of the episode-occurs when Homer reveals to his contemporary best friend Trent Steele the origin of the term Max Compel. When Trent exclaims, Hey, beneficial term!, Homer replies, Yeah, isnt it? I got it off a hairdryer. Homers resolution to his identity crisis with his media self is to redefine himself in terms of the force setting of a mini household appliance. The self is these days equated with a product. At first, the results are stunningly successful. The fourth kernel leads to the denouement. In the third kernel, Homers appropriation of the identity of his hair dryer appears to have resolved his identity crisis in satisfactory transaction. On the other hand, this meaning soon falls apart. At the garden assemblage, Homer and Marge rub shoulders with celebrity environmental activists Woody Harrelson and Ed Begley, Jr., two of the various celebrities lampooned in the phase. The sense extreme these scenes is that Homer, as the buffoon celebrity Max Force, is on the same level as other equally shallow and ridiculous celebrities. Finally, Trent Steele announces that it is interval to board a bus to re ason the wanton destruction of our nations forests. This generate is relentlessly parodied: We have to protect [trees] by generate of trees cant protect themselves, except, of trail, the Mexican Fighting Trees. The partygoers travel to a stand of redwoods about to be bulldozed and are chained to the trees. The police (Chief Wiggum, Eddie, and Lou) confront Homer, attempt to swab his eyes with Hippie- Coercion mace, and stop up chasing him on all sides of his tree. His chain works prize a saw, cutting down the redwood, which in turn topples the comprehensive forest. Homer, freed at persist, throws his chain into the air, killing a bald eagle. Homer, as the phony Max Force, is rejected by the phony celebrity activists. In the fifth and final kernel, which serves as an epilogue to the phase, Marge and Homer are in bed. Marge tells Homer she is glad he changed his reputation back to Homer Simpson and Homer responds, Yes, I learned you gotta be yourself. The Phase Through a Postmodern Le ns The phase is intriguing by generate of of its insistent focus on the search for identity, and the methods by which that identity is constructed within the absurdities of the postmodern landscape. As Gergen (1992) notes, We are exposed to more opinions, values, personalities, and ways of activity than was any previous interval in novel; the number of our relationships soars, the variations are enormous: past relationships extreme (only a ring bell apart) and contemporary faces are only a channel absent (p. 58). There is, in short, an explosion in social connections. What does this explosion have to do with our meaning of selves and what we stand for, and how does it undermine beliefs in a romantic interior or in a rational center of the self ? This is precisely the controversy this period of The Simpsons takes up again and again. What is exclusively engaging in this phase is the focus on Homers identity crisis and its relationship to the media. This is not, of line, a theme unique to The Simpsons. As Caldwell (1995) observes, comedy-variety shows in the late 1940s and early 1950s were repeatedly using the conventions of intertextuality and

Bearing Arms at Nineteen Years Old Essay -- argumentative, persuasive,

The right to bear arms is embedded in our Nation’s constitution as the second amendment of the Bill of Rights. The amendment states, â€Å"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed (Bill of Rights).† Currently these laws should be extended to nineteen year olds because they are considered legal adults and citizens. Although the United States no longer has local militias, the idea of keeping a secure state still stands today. Since 1960, the general trend for crime in the United States is at a gradual increase (Uniform Crime Reports). With the growing concern for the safety of the community, young adults at the age of nineteen should be able to conceal and use a handgun. This idea of concealing a handgun has been present in state laws for a long time. In Alabama, the law of 1819 states, â€Å"every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of him (or her) self and the st ate (Volokh 191-217/ 27).† These rights however, should come with some qualifications in order to regulate gun control. Having organization would prevent chaos and irresponsibility. Lastly, there are many safe recreational uses for handguns such as formal competitions or usage at approved firing ranges. Nineteen year olds should be allowed to participate in these activities. Overall, the right for nineteen year olds to conceal a handgun is justifiable; however, this right should be regulated with the main purpose of safety. The idea that nineteen year olds being allowed to conceal handguns is clearly justifiable. First, nineteen year olds should be allowed to bear arms because of their constitutional right and legal status. Secondly, nineteen year olds are more immersed in a... ...ustice, . "Violent Crime." FBI. Uniform Crime Reports, 2010. Web. 1 Apr 2012. . Uniform Crime Reports. "United States Crime Rates 1960 - 2010." The disaster center. The Disaster Center, 2011. Web. 31 Mar 2012. . United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs., . Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2009. 0. . Volokh, Eugene. "State Constitutional Rights To Keep And Bear Arms." Texas Review of Law & Politics. 11.1 (2006): 191-217/ 27. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. .

How to Get Software Requirements Right

How to get Software Requirements right Abstract The importance of getting the software requirement right has made big difference to so many major projects in the IT industry. Many techniques and solutions have been developed for understanding and getting software requirements right first time in the software development life cycle, but fewer people are taking these techniques into account and this is the reason why most of the IT projects are failing. I define here how to get software requirements right and why it has become some important to get software requirements right.Introduction Requirements Analysis is known as the process which allows us to understand the customer needs and expectation from proposed software. It is the first and one of the main stages in the Software Development Life Cycle model. Software requirements are functional and non-functional requirements of the system, which includes a brief description of how a system should behave as well as brief descriptions o f a system’s functions. Software requirements can state what an application is expected to do.Outsource2India pointed out that â€Å"the software requirement analysis process includes the complex task of eliciting and documenting the requirements of all the users, modelling and analysing the requirements and documenting them as a basis for system design†. There are different level and types of software requirement, which should be defined to get software requirements right. As shown in Figure 1, Business level requirements are there to define the business problem, business opportunities as well as what business is requesting as a solution of the problem.A user level requirement looks at the functionality of the software from user’s view. Product level requirements are where we define functional and non-functional requirements of the system such as the functionalities of the software and the usability needs it should meet. The reason why Software Requirements is known to be very important and major role in developing a project is because it gives the developer a brief description of what he/she needs to develop. It gives them better understanding of a system, which results in better system.Eliciting, analysing and writing good requirements is the hardest and most difficult part of building a software system because if you don’t get the requirements right, it doesn’t matter how well you do anything else. It is said Outsource2India that â€Å"Software companies are now investing time and resources into effective and streamlined Software Requirements Analysis Processes as a prerequisite to successful projects that align with the client’s business goals and meet the project’s requirement specifications†.If the requirements of software are incomplete, software practitioners will end up building software that does not meet the needs of the customer and the user. State of the Art As mentioned earlier, requirement analysis is one of the most important phases in the entire software development life cycle. It is very important to identify and understand the software requirement before moving on to other phases of software development life cycle. It was said by Pooja. R. Gupta that â€Å"When project managers plan for the software development they need to plan for adequate time and resource allocation for this phase†.Experienced requirement analyst like Hooks and Ferry has said that result of getting requirement right, early in the project, can save one-third or more of the overall project budget, which again states how important it is to get software requirements right in order to save time, money as well as achieve goals of the software. Another experienced requirement analyst Leffingwell points out that if you get your software requirements right at the beginning then it can save you the cost of fixing requirements errors as the cost of fixing requirements account for 70% to 80% of yo ur rework costs.Getting requirements right is the most critical aspect of the software development cycle. Software Productivity Centre mentioned that most of the companies come up short; studies point to a failure rate of more than 60% for IT projects, with poor requirements as one of the top five reasons. Moreover, when requirements are specified early in the lifecycle, 80% of the functionality is relatively unwanted by the users and 45% of these features are never used. These problems mean costly rework, compromised product quality, delayed delivery on current projects and start of new ones, lost credibility and lowered revenue opportunities.Developing and managing requirements at the start of a software project can provide significant benefits to the whole outcome: – Quicker and easier to develop and deliver high value products. – Greater insights into development capacity and capabilities. – Better understanding of the organisation and customer needs. â€⠀œ Higher business and user satisfaction with the overall product. – Closer alignment with business goals and expectations. – Cost saving – Result of the product is what the company actually required so get a product that meets the requirements of the system. Reduces rework and conflicts which would have come from unclear and ambiguous requirements. How to get the requirements right? According to Pooja. R. Guptam, in order to get the software requirements right, it can be very beneficial to cover all the following aspects of requirement analysis: 1. Define the problem and High level description of the solution: It is very important to understand the problem and the need for solution. The requirement analyst needs to understand how the new solution going to help and what benefits it is going to provide to the company. 2.Cover needs of all stakeholders and users of the solution: At this point, you must identify and understand the needs of the stake holders as well the users who are ultimately going to use the new system because you need to produce the system, which meets user requirements. 3. Define what the solution should and should not do: It is very obvious that we might know what the solution should do but we always forget the we also need to understand and define what the solution will not do so that requirements can be stated in a manner that we won’t be left with any imagination or doubts. 4.Define the features required: This is one of the main tasks of a requirement analyst. It is very important to define the functional and non-functional requirements of the software solution before starting to design the solution. Defining the functional and non-functional requirement is not all that needs to be done; you must also make sure that they are the correct requirements. 5. Capture all supporting information: It’s a good idea to include and record details of any processes followed, workflow, information flow, etc. It is also beneficial to record any other information which might be relevant to the solution.Conclusion In my opinion, I believe software requirements play quite a big role in the whole software development life cycle. The experience of developing such software project has made it so clear how important software requirement can be. Defining software requirements earlier in the project can provide the best solution of a system at the end. In my personal experience of developing software projects has given me the idea of how to get software requirements right, which are to firstly create requirement definition because it is the foundation of effective software delivery.Secondly, define requirements among stakeholders to address their needs, business problems and the vision of the software so that stakeholder’s goals and objectives can be met because if stakeholders requirements are not met or unclear then the developer will have difficulty building the solution without rework, which res ults in longer development lifecycles and higher costs. By investing more time on software requirements early in the software development process can save time, effort as well as money in the short and long terms.By following these paths in developing software projects can lead to a successful system. As mentioned earlier about the types of requirements that should be identified before moving to other part of software life cycle. It is very important to define all the business level, user level and the product level requirements because a developer needs all of these requirements in order to develop the right software. It is a very idea to follow the software development life cycles, which defines that requirement analysis is the first process of developing a project.In my previous projects, I believe a software development model has helped in defining the right requirements so it is a good advice to take this into consideration when designing any kind of software projects. Requirem ent Definition process also helps in defining the right requirement. References James A. Ward http://www. stickyminds. com/sitewide. asp? Function=edetail&ObjectType=ART&ObjectId=9150&tth=DYN&tt=siteemail&iDyn=2 Software Productivity Centre http://www. spc. ca/dc_software_requirements. htm Pooja R. Gupta http://ezinearticles. com/? Five-Tips-For-Getting-the-Software-Requirement-Analysis-Right-the-First-Time&id=1714473IBM http://www. utdallas. edu/~chung/RE/Getting_requirements_right-avoiding_the_top_10_traps. pdf Brianna Smith, delivery engagement manager, Rational software, IBM Software Group Lisa Garrity, technical professional, Rational software, IBM Software Group Theresa Kratschmer, senior software engineer, Rational software, IBM Software Group http://www. modernanalyst. com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1084/Getting-Your-Requirements-Right-Collaborate-With-Stakeholders-To-Work-Smarter. aspx My project Management http://myprojectmanagement. com /category/requirement-analysis/

MUNRO Surname Meaning and Origin

MUNRO Surname Meaning and Origin The Munro surname is usually a Scottish variant of the surname Monroe, with  several possible origins: derived from the Gaelic name Rothach, meaning man from Ro, or someone who came from  the foot of the  River Roe  in County Derry.From bun ,meaning mouth of and roe, meaning a river. In Gaelic the b often becomes an m - hence the surname MUNRO.Possibly a derivation of  Maolruadh, from maol, meaning bald, and ruadh, meaning red or auburn. Surname Origin: Irish, Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings: MUNROE, MUNROW, MUNROSE, MONRO, MONROE Where in the World is the MUNRO Surname Found? Despite originating in Ireland, the Munro surname is most prevalent in England,  according to surname distribution data from Forebears, but ranks higher based on percentage of population in Scotland, where it ranks as the 61st most common surname in the country. Its also fairly common in New Zealand (133rd), Australia (257th), and Canada (437th). In 1881 Scotland, Munro was a very common surname, especially in both Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland, where it ranked 7th, followed by Moray (14th), Caithness (18th), Nairn (21st), and Inverness-shire (21st). WorldNames PublicProfiler  also has the Munro surname as being very popular in New Zealand, as well as throughout Northern Scotland, including the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, the Orkney Islands, Moray, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth and Kinross, South Ayrshire and East Lothian.   Famous People with the Last Name MUNRO H. H. Munro -  British short story author who wrote under the pen name SakiAlexander Munro of Bearcrofts - 17th century Scottish military leaderCharles H. Munro -  Canadian physician and politicianDonald Munro of Foulis - Irish mercenary settler in Scotland;  founder of Clan MunroJames Munro  - 15th  Premier of Victoria, AustraliaWilliam Munro - British botanist Genealogy Resources for the Surname MUNRO Munro DNA ProjectThis DNA project of over 350 members originated with Munro researchers whose ancestors settled in North Carolina. The group wants to become a resource for all Munro researchers worldwide interested in combining DNA testing with genealogical research to identify common Munro ancestors. Clan MunroLearn about the origins of Clan Munro and their family seat at Foulis Castle, plus view a family tree of the chiefs of Clan Munro, and learn  how to join the Clan Munro association. Munro Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Munro  family crest or coat of arms for the Munro surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. FamilySearch - MUNRO  GenealogyExplore over 1.3 million historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Munro surname and its variations on the free FamilySearch website, hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MUNRO  Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Munro surname. DistantCousin.com - MUNRO Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Munro. MUNRO Genealogy ForumSearch the archives for posts about Munro ancestors, or post your own Munro query. The Munro  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the popular last name Munro from the website of Genealogy Today. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back toGlossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Images of Women in Maintream essays

Images of Women in Maintream essays IMAGES OF WOMEN IN MAINSTREAM CULTURE The most successful box office hits in history are science-fiction films. This indicates that the audience - society - likes what they see in these movies. Science-fiction has long been viewed as a male dominated genre. Although there have been notable exceptions in such films as Alien (and its sequels) and the original Terminator, for the most part, science-fiction films have been laden with male heroes in powerful positions. Females, in most of these films, have been subjected to three roles: reasoner/comforter, sex object, and victim. While the male characters are allowed to make the difficult decisions and handle the demanding physical tasks, the female characters are often forced to stand behind them and console or reason with their man when things dont go according to plan. By employing a textual analysis of two recent science-fiction box office successes; Star Trek: First Contact (Jonathan Frakes, 1996) and Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996); one can clearly see the abo ve pattern of male/female power relationships in full effect. Both films present female characters as victims, reasoner/comforter, and sex objects. Furthermore, the pattern demonstrated in these two films can be further examined by observing its absorption into the dominant mainstream culture through the overwhelming audience responses to the two films. According to Douglas Kellner, Media images help shape our view of the world and our deepest values and these two films were major media images during their time of theatrical release. When the textual analysis and observation of audience response to the films are combined with the theories of some of todays cultural studies writers, one can develop a clear view of how societys view of women in relation to men becomes clearly defined in the products of the societys culture. In the articles ...

Colonization In The Theme Of Conrads Heart Of Dark Essays - Fiction

Colonization In The Theme Of Conrads Heart Of Dark Essays - Fiction Colonization In The Theme Of Conrads Heart Of Darkness And Swift's A Modest Proposal Joseph Riley McCormack Professor Alan Somerset English 020 Section 007 Submission Date: March 22, 2000 Colonization in the Theme of A Modest Proposal and Heart of Darkness Starting at the beginning of the seventeenth century, European countries began exploring and colonizing many different areas of the world. The last half of the nineteenth century saw the height of European colonial power around the globe. France, Belgium, Germany, and especially Great Britain, controlled over half the world. Along with this achievement came a notable sense of pride and confident belief that European civilization was the best on earth and that the natives of the lands Europeans controlled would only benefit from colonial influence. However, not everybody saw colonization as positive for all those involved. Some of the most notable writers of the time produced works criticizing the process of colonization. Two of the most significant works in this area are Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal. Although these pieces of literature both criticize colonization, they have different themes. The theme of A Modest Proposal could be described a s the negative effects of colonization on the colonized, while the central idea in Heart of Darkness is the negative effects of colonization on both the colonized and the colonizers. The differences in these themes are significant to the strategies used by the authors to explore the adverse effects of colonization. Swift makes great use of irony and imagery, to accentuate the plight of the Irish. Conrad comments on the frightening changes that people involved with colonization can go through by exploring character development and detailing a narrative of oppression. Swift uses irony in A Modest Proposal because it allows him to highlight the emotional detachment felt by the colonizing British towards the Irish. It is this emotional detached feeling that lead to the atrocities committed against the Irish citizens. The irony in A Modest Proposal is evident right in the title. There is certainly nothing modest about the proposal of eating the infants of impoverished Irish citizens. The irony accentuates how cruel and uncompassionate the powerful British Imperialists were, towards the destitute Irish population. The reader must realize that Swift is operating independently of the narrator in a covert manner (Phiddian 607). He develops the persona of the proposer to say exactly the opposite of what he feels. While the proposer suggests eating poor Irish children is particularly proper at merry meetings, particularly weddings and christenings, this could not be further from the opinion of Swift. Nor does Swift actually believe that this plan will incr ease the care and tenderness of mothers toward their children. (NA 1052) Moreover, the whole topic of cannibalism, is discussed with tongue in cheek and is meant to suggest that the British were devouring the Irish. Images of cruelty and evil put, forward by the narrator, weigh heavily in the theme of A Modest Proposal. Throughout the pamphlet, the reader is bombarded with disturbing imagery of Irish people and their children being treated like livestock raised for consumption. The narrator refers to the parents of the children as savages (NA 1050) and breeders (NA 1051) and dams (NA 1048). Then he compares the children to roasting pigs (NA 1050) and continues as if he were writing a cook book. He speaks of how delicious he thinks these infants would be whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled (NA 1049) or served in a fricassee or a ragout (NA 1049). He describes how the carcasses (NA 1050) of these babies could be nicely seasoned with a little pepper or salt (NA 1050) and will be in season throughout the year (NA 1050). Flaying the carcass and using the skin of these babies to make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen (NA 1050) is another suggestion he puts forward. He expands beyond just slaughtering the infants for food and leather products by suggesting the possibility of hunting the adolescents for sport. He dismisses this idea because he imagines the flesh of the adolescents would be too tough for eating and because hunting them would reduce the breeding stock. He also has concerns that some scrupulous people

Economic development of the countries after SAP Essay

Economic development of the countries after SAP - Essay Example The paper describes economic reform in some countries. Oman, which is also an oil based economy, opened itself to world trade during 1970. Economic reforms implemented in Oman focused on increasing public spending by spending on health, education and welfare provision. Reforms based on development and modernizations were also implemented. These included developing the economy’s infrastructure by building roads, providing low cost housing and building hospitals. Though Oman’s main economic strength has been oil production, it started focusing on other things like tourism and development of natural gas reserves after the oil price slump adversely affected its economy. The general trends of the economic reforms implemented in Oman has been geared towards making the country better off in terms of economic and financial stability, increasing the skill level of their labor force and diversifying its income sources by investing in avenues other than oil production to decrease singular dependency on oil production. The UAE has gained a substantial amount of economic progress due to the economic reforms implemented in the country as part of SAP. However, economic trends in the UAE have been erratic to a large extent with regard to its economic cycles of booms and recessions, wealth, resource reserves, international relations and its struggle to meet challenges that came up over the years. Some particular struggles that the UAE faced have been to do with issues of governance, relating particularly to the adequate management of resources, socioeconomic stability etc., implementation of democracy, domestic and foreign business and overall economic stability and security. The UAE has been particularly interested in working to overcome these challenges by implementing economic policies and taking on measures of economic development. The economy has allowed for immense expenditure on developing its infrastructure, its real estate market and its leisure and tourism sectors. Kuwait is an economy that al so has oil reserves that it manages on its own. Oil production in Kuwait is expected to increase and the economy is, therefore, spending big money on upgrading and expanding its oil refineries. Kuwait also has a sophisticated financial market and a well developed banking system to its added advantage; thus, areas of development in Kuwait apart from the money spent to manage oil resources are centered around the financial industry, most particularly concerning the financial system itself, securities traded, stability of the market and introducing innovative measures to maintain a competitive edge over other financial markets. South Korea has not done as well as the other countries mentioned as a result of the implementation of SAPs. It made huge investments

The Origins of Islamic Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Origins of Islamic Culture - Essay Example The current study revolves around one of the groups of people who pose their specific significance with respect to their religious affiliation. The human perceptions, understandings and acts are affected greatly by religious influence in great amounts. This eventually affects every level of the human being’s lives whether they may personal, financial or corporate in nature. Thus organizational decision making and the performance of individuals all come under the influence of the religion to which they belong. Islam is one of the most widely followed religions in the history of mankind. Being the second largest religion of the human society it has millions of followers. Thus the Islamic culture is quite prevalent in the world. Islam is the religion that believes upon the sovereignty of one God. The name that God is termed with in the religion Islam is Allah. The belief that the religion establishes is that Islam is the religion of Allah for the Entire Humanity. It is the religi on that preaches kindness and equality with mercy and tolerance. Evidence to this is the following teachings of Islam that are quoted in the Holy Book of Allah i.e. the Holy Quran as follows: â€Å"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned† . The religion preaches utmost simplicity and piety. It does not want any individual to bear any load that he may not think of himself to be capable of. Allah- The Lord, with respect to the teaching of Islam, has spared His followers of any hardships or difficulties. At another place the Almighty Lord says (interpretation of the meaning) : â€Å"He has chosen you (to convey His Message of Islamic Monotheism to mankind by inviting them to His religion of Islam), and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship†Ã‚   [al-Hajj 22:78 - Quran]   The above lines are directly addressed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) and then via him to the rest of the mankind. The Quran, the boom of Allah that contains all the codes of conduct and commandments is the final word for Mankind from the Almighty Lord. The Divine books that precede this last and final word are the Psalms, the Bible, and the Testament. THE HISTORY OF ISLAM Islam is a global religion. The birth of the foremost and final Prophet of Islam Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) in the year 570 A.D led to the beginning of an Era that was eventually to lead to the formal birth of the religion of Islam. He was born to an Arabian family named the family of â€Å"Quraishâ⠂¬  which was the then ruling tribe of the Holy city of Mecca. Mecca was the center of trade of the entire Arab and was later trademarked as the Holy Mecca that housed the house of the Lord, Allah swt. After the era of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) Islam spread out from Arab into various other regions. Fellows from the most trusted companions of the Prophet were appointed as caliphs. The kingdom of Islam was henceforth termed as Caliphate that revolved around nothing but the religion itself. Caliphs were the rulers of

Health care marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Health care marketing - Essay Example The approach is the third step in which, the salesperson’s focus is the customers’ benefits. This is achieved using the FAB technique in which the product’s features are used. Presentation of the sales is the fourth step in which the presentation of sales is delivered after the grasp of the prospects interest. The presentation involves a persuasive explanation of the proposition of the business both visually and verbally. The trial close is the fifth step of the personal selling process. This step is also called the temperature question and is essentially a method of establishing the prospect’s behavior toward the product as well as its presentation. The sixth step is about the handling objections. They indicate the prospect’s interest and the salespeople should not see it with misgiving. In this step, the prospect requests additional information as a guide in the buying decision. This step helps the salesperson establish what the prospects have in their mind. The seventh step in the personal selling process is closing the sale which is essentially an understanding’s confirmation. If the salesperson really believes that the product’s purchase would benefit the prospect, his/her fear of closing the sale diminishes. The follow-up is the eighth step. The follow-up activities are meant to establish business relationships between the prospects and the salesperson in the long-term. The personal sales process is a crucial component of marketing because it enables the companies to collect data from the consumers so that they can modify the design of their product according to their needs and develop long-term relationship with the consumers by satisfying them with their products. This is absolutely beyond doubt that marketers’ efforts should not cause any harm to the society and they must make all conscious efforts to avoid doing any harm. These days, unfortunately, marketers do cause a lot of harm to the society. This is evident from the ads in which

The smartest guys in the room(movie&book) essay

The smartest guys in the room(movie&book) - Essay Example Another form of malpractice that the company participated in is loaning money to itself in order to conceal debts. They also manipulated California’s’ energy supply using its electricity market. The movie elaborates how thousands of Enron employees lost their job in the scandal albeit their loyalty, while their bosses maintained their wealth. In reality, this movie is a criminal documentary that reveals how the executives of Enron, which was America’s seventh largest company, participated in a pansy scheme and got away. Their investors and employees succumbed to great losses while they walked away with billions of dollars (Sterling 22). An ethical consideration is the rights and duties of an entity to its employees, customers and their fiduciary responsibility towards their investors. These considerations assist in maintaining the integrity of a profession by setting out standards. Professionals found in violation of ethical responsibility are subject to sanctions, withdrawal of licenses and charges by law. It is unfortunate that the pioneers of the pansy scheme involving Enron walked away scot free with billions of dollars while their employees and investors made huge losses. The underlying principle in ethics is choosing the right irrespective of the foreseen or unforeseen consequence. Ultimately, unconditional responsibility that surpasses belief and interest is essential for harmony in human interactions. After watching this film, it important to recognize that community support does not determine ethical standing. A company may donate or fund other projects generously but the behaviors that take place behind t he scenes are the most crucial. Enron was the leading financier of George W. Bush 2000 election campaign but they had many hidden issues (Sterling 63). I believe that justice was served in the Enron scandal. The executives associated with the issue faced

Will Youtube be the new Academy of Arts Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Will Youtube be the new Academy of Arts - Article Example It gives billions of individuals a chance to â€Å"discover, watch and share originally created videos. It is a virtual forum where people can connect, inspire and connect with others from around the world and it also acts as a platform on which creators of original content can show their material (30). Alexa, a company that classifies websites according to popularity and usage, has continually ranked YouTube among the top five global websites. It lies on the same wavelength as websites such as Google and Facebook in terms of global popularity (Burgess and Green 12). The power of YouTube as a video sharing channel has elicited wide ranging opinions from scholars and social network experts. Uploading videos on the site is easy and free. It offers a wide range of video categories such as gaming, animation, news, entertainment and many others. Since the advent of YouTube many people who were little known outside their neighborhoods and schools became famous because they were able to upload and show the world what they had to offer (Cheng, Dale and Liu 144). Researchers believe that the potential of YouTube as a means of talent discovery is not going to fade any time soon. However, it is generally agreed that one does not have to become famous simply by adding his or her video on YouTu be, there has to be some level of creativity to go with it (Burgess and Green 43). Most of the people who have posted their videos on You Tube and ended up becoming famous for doing that include Jackie Evancho, Maria Aragon who is a 10 year old singer, Edwards Gould who is a world famous animator and there is of course the sensational Justine Bieber, the Canadian child superstar who has taken the music world by storm. Bieber was discovered on YouTube after his mother posted some videos of himself singing. Jackie Evancho is also a child superstar whose talent was discovered on YouTube. She finished second on the fifth season of the popular show ‘America’s

Neighbourhoods and Community Comparative Studies Essay

Neighbourhoods and Community Comparative Studies - Essay Example This article authored by DeFillipis and his colleagues handles a critical aspect of reconsidering the significance of the community in the contemporary setting. Evidently, this article serves to place emphasis on the attention the community has received from different scholars. This article undertakes an in-depth analysis of the relevance of the community in the contemporary setting where many nations in the globe have adopted the neoliberalism ideology. Neoliberalism has contributed immensely new roles of the state, and altered the hierarchy of public service provision (DeFillipis, Fischer, and Schrage 2006, p. 686). This has served to introduce a critical significance of the concerted efforts of communities and collaborations with the private sector. Evidently, the globe is moving towards a restructured market and economic policies as the authors explain, factors that have altered the functions of community efforts. The authors place focus on the romanticized view of communitariani sm, as well as two types of sceptical and critical views highlighted by different theorists and scholars. After such analysis of the views exhibited by different scholars, the article reveals certain progressive promoters. This article authored by DeFillipis and his colleagues handles a critical aspect of reconsidering the significance of the community in the contemporary setting. Evidently, this article serves to place emphasis on the attention the community has received from different scholars. This article undertakes an in-depth analysis of the relevance of the community in the contemporary setting where many nations in the globe have adopted the neoliberalism ideology. Neoliberalism has contributed immensely new roles of the state, and altered the hierarchy of public service provision. This has served to introduce a critical significance of the concerted efforts of communities

The smartest guys in the room(movie&book) essay

The smartest guys in the room(movie&book) - Essay Example Another form of malpractice that the company participated in is loaning money to itself in order to conceal debts. They also manipulated California’s’ energy supply using its electricity market. The movie elaborates how thousands of Enron employees lost their job in the scandal albeit their loyalty, while their bosses maintained their wealth. In reality, this movie is a criminal documentary that reveals how the executives of Enron, which was America’s seventh largest company, participated in a pansy scheme and got away. Their investors and employees succumbed to great losses while they walked away with billions of dollars (Sterling 22). An ethical consideration is the rights and duties of an entity to its employees, customers and their fiduciary responsibility towards their investors. These considerations assist in maintaining the integrity of a profession by setting out standards. Professionals found in violation of ethical responsibility are subject to sanctions, withdrawal of licenses and charges by law. It is unfortunate that the pioneers of the pansy scheme involving Enron walked away scot free with billions of dollars while their employees and investors made huge losses. The underlying principle in ethics is choosing the right irrespective of the foreseen or unforeseen consequence. Ultimately, unconditional responsibility that surpasses belief and interest is essential for harmony in human interactions. After watching this film, it important to recognize that community support does not determine ethical standing. A company may donate or fund other projects generously but the behaviors that take place behind t he scenes are the most crucial. Enron was the leading financier of George W. Bush 2000 election campaign but they had many hidden issues (Sterling 63). I believe that justice was served in the Enron scandal. The executives associated with the issue faced

Neighbourhoods and Community Comparative Studies Essay

Neighbourhoods and Community Comparative Studies - Essay Example This article authored by DeFillipis and his colleagues handles a critical aspect of reconsidering the significance of the community in the contemporary setting. Evidently, this article serves to place emphasis on the attention the community has received from different scholars. This article undertakes an in-depth analysis of the relevance of the community in the contemporary setting where many nations in the globe have adopted the neoliberalism ideology. Neoliberalism has contributed immensely new roles of the state, and altered the hierarchy of public service provision (DeFillipis, Fischer, and Schrage 2006, p. 686). This has served to introduce a critical significance of the concerted efforts of communities and collaborations with the private sector. Evidently, the globe is moving towards a restructured market and economic policies as the authors explain, factors that have altered the functions of community efforts. The authors place focus on the romanticized view of communitariani sm, as well as two types of sceptical and critical views highlighted by different theorists and scholars. After such analysis of the views exhibited by different scholars, the article reveals certain progressive promoters. This article authored by DeFillipis and his colleagues handles a critical aspect of reconsidering the significance of the community in the contemporary setting. Evidently, this article serves to place emphasis on the attention the community has received from different scholars. This article undertakes an in-depth analysis of the relevance of the community in the contemporary setting where many nations in the globe have adopted the neoliberalism ideology. Neoliberalism has contributed immensely new roles of the state, and altered the hierarchy of public service provision. This has served to introduce a critical significance of the concerted efforts of communities

Book Analysis on Undercover Essay Example for Free

Book Analysis on Undercover Essay As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father wont bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take centre stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theos friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisas ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. A. Book 1. Author Beth Kephart was nominated for the National Book Award for her book A SLANT OF SUN. In 2000, she received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and she also won Pew Fellowships in Arts grant in 2005. At the age of nine, Beth Kephart began to skate on a pond in Boston, where she taught herself the every moves Elisa teaches herself in this story. Beth won her first competitive freestyle competition at a Wilmington, Delaware, rink. Today she ballroom dances and is an avid gardener. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family. 2. Title The main character in the story fits the title under cover, the fact that the main character hides her skill of skiing to her friends and family. B. Characters Protagonist: Elisa Cantor- she is a father’s daughter and doesn’t really relate well with her mother and sister. Antagonist: Lisa- Theo’s girlfriend; known for her beauty and popularity. Supporting Characters: Tina Cantor- Elisa and Jilly’s Mother. Jilly- Elisa’s Sister, she is a very fashionable teenager like her mother. Mr. Cantor- Elisa’s Father, he understands Elisa. Theo- Elisa’s classmate in Honors English, a special friend and one of the boys who ask love notes from Elisa. Margie- Elisa’s past best friend in eighth grade and classmate in Honors English. Dr. Charmin- an Honors English teacher and believed and supports Elisa’s talent in writing. Mr. Marcoroon- a strict Math teacher. Mrs. Garland- a friend of Tina. Stuart little- a client of Mr. Cantor in San Francisco. Sarah- an Honour English student. II. Plot A. Exposition 1. Setting The story takes place in a pond in the woods where she always find herself at ease and thinking she could be herself there alone while skating. B. Complication When her father has to go away for work it makes their life complicated. To make it even more complicated, Elisa starts to fall on a boy who she is providing with poetry to woo another girl. C. Climax Lila tore the dress of Elisa before the start of the skating competition. D. Denouement Elisa never let herself be defeated by wearing the torn dress made by the antagonist, Lila, while skating gracefully. E. Resolution Yes it’s a happy ending because finally her family was once again reunited and everyone accepted the real her. III. Analysis 1. Did you admire the author for writing this book? Why? Yes. A teenager who reads this book would really understand the feelings and thinking’s of the main character of the story. Many teenagers can relate of how it feels to be a loner or to be bullied. 2. Tell something about the cover, did it spark your interest? Does it fit the story? It did spark my interest because it makes me wonder what story it will give me. Yes it does fit in the story because the covers do tell the story. 3. Who is your most favourite character? Why? My favourite character in the story is Elisa Cantor. For being brave enough to uncover her great skill to everybody even when she herself has no confidence that everyone would accept her and gain their respect. 4. Who is your least favourite character? Why? My least favourite character in the story is Lisa, because of her jealousy of Theo’s friendship with Elisa; her revenge nearly destroys Elisa’s ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. . What is your favourite part of the story? Why? My favourite part of the story is when Elisa got sick during the last days of Christmas season, which was the time that her sister and mother took care of her and after her sickness they finally become close to each other. 6. What is your least favourite part of the story? Why? My lea st favourite part of the story is when Lisa and her friends destroyed Elisa’s dress that was made by her mother and sister for the ice-skating competition. 7. Discuss your favourite quote from the story. â€Å"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain Are moving across the landscape, Over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, Are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, The world offers itself to your imagination, Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting Over and over announcing your place in the family of things. † It tells about a person who doesn’t have to be perfect just to meet their expectations. Being yourself is a lot more happy and easy than pretending or trying to be someone you are not. 8. What is your realization about life after reading the novel? After reading the story I realize in life that you shouldn’t hide yourself from others, don’t be scared of letting them know your true self and don’t give up on something that you haven’t tried yet.

The Contribution Of The Chicago School Of Criminology Criminology Essay

The Contribution Of The Chicago School Of Criminology Criminology Essay To understand the contribution of the Chicago School of criminology is to understand how the confluence of geography, urbanisation, economics, immigration and the exchange of social theory between Europe and America combined to create new ways of looking at society. This essay will critically evaluate the contribution of the Chicago School, touching on these contributing factors to its development, prestige and influence. This essay will also note the limitations of the Chicago School that arise from the specificity of its location and its reliance on certain ideologies and research methods. In conclusion, this essay will argue that the same combination of factors that created the schools dominance in the field of criminology makes it vulnerable to social change. The Chicago School had its basis in the University of Chicago sociology department, which is the oldest in the United States and was established in 1892 (Lilly et al, 2007, p. 36). DEramo Thomson (2003) note this was a period of rapid social transformation. Chicago was a major railroad hub and became a huge industrial centre in its own right, notably its meat-packing industry (DEramo Thomson, 2003, p. 7). Chicago was an excellent place to carry out sociological fieldwork because it exemplified the post-industrial concentration of population in urban areas. The city grew from one million to two million people between 1890 and 1910 (Lilly et al, 2007, p. 34) providing a perfect Petri dish for the Chicago Schools study of human behaviour. The concentration of industry and therefore economic opportunity prompted an influx of immigrants and led to rapid changes in living patterns. Urbanisation was a major characteristic of the Industrial Revolution, and many cities grew very rapidly, so criminologists in other cities could easily generalise from the work of the Chicago School (Fine, 1995, p. 300). The most significant contribution of the Chicago School is the idea of social ecology. It holds that crime is a response to unstable environment and abnormal living conditions (Treadwell, 2006, p. 47). This is no longer a particularly radical idea, which is an indicator of the continued prominence of the Chicago School. For centuries, crime was viewed as a moral failure (ibid.) in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Criminals were sinners. What the Chicago School recognised was that urban life was distinct from rural life and its hectic, anonymous nature influenced peoples behaviour (Carrabine, 2004, p. 51). Chicago School criminologists were quick to draw a link between juvenile delinquency and the economic and geographic patterns of urban development. Thanks to the population boom they were able to study in detail, over a short span of time, the shifts from inner city to suburbs, and the differences in crime rates between affluent suburbs and the inner city poor (Treadwell, 2006). It is still possible to read first-hand observations in the Chicago School monographs written by sociologists such as Beirne and Thomas, on topics including hobos, prostitutes, dance halls and organised crime (Carrabine, 2004, p. 50). These books are a permanent testimony to the influence of the Chicago School, as well as offering a contemporary historical account of the development of criminology. Theories developed by the Chicago School are still central tenets of criminology whether modern researchers agree or are trying to discredit them. One of their primary assertions was that disruption, e.g. immigration, economic shifts and family instability, tends to cause crime, which has been affirmed by modern studies showing that social disorder, weak friendship networks and low community involvement produce higher crime rates (Lanier Henry, 2004, p. 214). Underlying the focus on identifying where crime is located geographically and socially is the influence of Emile Durkheim, who believed crime is an inevitable and necessary party of society (Beirne Messerschmidt, 2000, p. 97). This ideology naturally tends towards identifying crime and its causes, rather than believing it can be eliminated. The ongoing influence of the Chicago School prompted further sociological studies with a similar ethos of identifying where crime would come from. In the 1930s and 1940s sociological soc ial psychology, a study of group behaviour that emphasises group dynamics and socialisation (Siegel, 2008, p. 9), developed based in part on the Schools social ecology principles. Treadwell (2006) remarks that one of the Chicago Schools main contributions to criminology are its qualitative research methods. Robert Ezra Park, chair of the Department of Sociology, had a passion for walking the streets of the worlds great cities, observing the full range of human turbulence and triumphà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ he led a group of dedicated sociologists in direct, systematic observation of urban life (Carrabine, 2004, p. 50). Park taught his methods of direct observation to generations of students in his thirty-year career the University, ensuring the future study of criminology would be grounded in first-person observation. This seems axiomatic, however, it marked a shift from morally-determined ideas about crime that made assumptions based on belief, rather than observation. Sociologists such as Thresher and Shaw took to the streets, bars and juvenile courts of Chicago to observe people going about their daily lives (Treadwell, 2006). This pattern of study offered marginali sed people to report their own lives (ibid.). Subsequently research has tended to gravitate around methods pioneered by the Chicago School, such as direct interviews with subjects. This has also been construed as a weakness of the school, though, with critics arguing that the qualitative nature of its studies can result in the undue influence of the researchers personal bias (Fine, 1995, p. 139). While this inspired other sociologists to devote more attention to research techniques the subjectivist Chicago school method (ibid, p. 139) is still widely used in criminology. The structure of research in criminology has been shaped by the Chicago School in other ways, as well. It was home to some of the most influential voices in early criminology including urban sociologists such as W.I. Thomas, Robert Ezra Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Louis Wirth (Siegel, 2008, p. 7) who pioneered social ecology. Significantly, Park, Burgess and Wirth were sociologists, teaching and conducting criminological research as part of the sociology department. As a result most criminologists have been trained in sociology, and many sociology departments are home to criminology courses (ibid. p. 162) This is more than an academic coincidence. To place criminology in the realm of sociology is to implicitly accept as a starting point the idea that criminal behaviour is rooted in society, not personal morality. This represents a radical shift from almost two thousand years of Judeo-Christian belief. In order to understand how important it is, imagine, for example, that criminology developed as an offshoot of economics. Not only would the style of research be vastly different, it seems likely the types of crime it studied would be different. White collar crime, such as fraud and embezzlement, might well be considered more serious and worthy of study than crimes against persons, such as assault or burglary. However, because criminology started with sociology the relationships between individuals, and between individuals and the larger culture, remain the primary subject of study. By focusing on relationships between people, and their environmental interactions, the Chicago School tended towards certain conclusions. Shaw McKay found that certain areas had consistently high delinquency rates despite rapid turnover of the population, this tended to support the idea that the environment itself was at least partly responsible for generating crime (Beirne Messerschmidt, 2000, p. 123). Furthermore, Shaw and McKay the first to identify what became known as white flight the phenomenon of well-off, well-educated (usually white) people moving out of urban centres to more affluent suburbs, leaving cities with concentrations of poor, less-educated citizens, often concentrated in ethnic or racial groups (ibid, p. 122). This pattern of movement and separation helps explain the observation that certain areas are more crime-prone. It is not the result of more criminals flocking to certain areas, but rather that the bad living conditions and poor infrastructure create barri ers community, and offer opportunities or even incentives for criminal behaviour. However, because of the sociological focus, what subsequent studies looked at were social concerns, rather than economic. Sutherland put forth the theory that criminal behaviour is learned, just like any other kind of behaviour (Hagan, 2007, p. 159). The learning takes place within groups, and includes learning how to commit criminal acts, and developing justifications for doing so (ibid.). This is based on the idea that if people are concentrated in areas with limited opportunity and/or close proximity to criminals, they are more likely to learn deviant behaviour. However, an equally valid line of reasoning would be all the people in a particular area are equally poor, so they turn to crime not as a learned behaviour but as an individual response to the economic conditions. Thanks to the Chicago School, though, the notion of learned criminal behaviour gained primacy. This can be seen in entertainment, like the film The Usual Suspects and TV drama Prison Break, whose plots involve groups of criminals brought together in prison who then plot and commit more crimes together. Despite making its main focus sociology the Chicago School does acknowledge that economics is the root of a great deal of criminal behaviour. Siegel (2008) argues the culture of poverty leads to apathy, cynicism and a sense of (p. 163) though again that is a sociological analysis of an economic situation. Nevertheless, the extensive Chicago School studies involving marginalised classes such as prostitutes and gangs (Carrabine, 2004, p. 52) offered rich data and established patterns for further study. The methodology, if not the ideological starting point, remains extremely relevant to thinking on the causes of crime. That is not to overstate the importance of the Chicago School. As previously noted, Chicago in the early twentieth century underwent rapid change thanks to a combination of geographic and economic factors that is unlikely to ever be repeated. The result is that some of the conclusions of the Chicago School, while interesting, are clearly limited in their usefulness. For example, the concentric rings theory of urban growth (Hagan, 2007, p. 154), which is based observations about Chicagos development with an industrial centre with layers of the poor, and then the increasingly affluent, around it. That development pattern applies to many American cities but, Beirne Messerschmidt note, is not equally valid in Europe (2000). Major European cities such as London, Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam have extremely rich, desirable neighbourhoods close to the heart of the city, with poorer neighbourhoods scattered randomly around the outskirts. The Chicago School, working from its specific historical vantage point, failed to take into account different urban growth patterns. Even more critical is the consideration of innovations in technology and communications, which has important implications for how environment is defined. The Chicago School offered a strong counterpoint to explanations that blamed individuals for their criminality (Lilly et al, 2007, p. 34) and focused on the influence of environment. However, they were studying an urban area before the age of mass communication. Contemporary application of Chicago School ideas has to take into account that the nature of technology and therefore the social ecology has changed. Urbanisation is still a powerful driving force and there is still extensive economic migration, but it does not occur at the same rate as in turn-of-the-century Chicago. Modern technology allows people to constantly network and communicate with people outside their physical environment which necessarily changes the definition of what constitutes their community. A migrant living in London might be isolated from their own cult ural group which the Chicago School would argue is a risk for increased criminal behaviour but they can go to an internet cafà © and video-chat with friends in the country of origin. So in an important way they are maintaining a community bond, and they are not disrupted in the same way a 1930s immigrant would have been. Where the influence of the Chicago School can still be felt is that it continues to define terms of study, such as environment, even if the nature of what is being studied has changed. Another area where the Chicago School is less useful is in terms of drawing up plans for preventing crime. Based on the belief that crime is a learned behaviour, caused by environment, it argued that it can in large part be prevented by social programmes (Carrabine, 2004, p. 52). However, Lanier and Henry (2004) note the Chicago School observed that one of the factors in social disorganisation, and therefore crime, was a lack of respect for authority and little faith in social organisations. This presents a catch-22. Social organisations cannot effectively combat crime if people them. The Chicago School does not offer any firm solutions for this problem. Informal social organisations such as churches, parent-teacher associations and sports programmes suggest one way of reaching communities, and these groups are seen to play a major role in reducing criminal behaviour (Lanier Henry, 2004, p. 218). Lanier Henry (2004) note, however, that formal social control in the form of policing is also essential to prevent crime, however this is observational rather than prescriptive. In conclusion, Chicago was a powerhouse of social and intellectual study throughout the twentieth century. Cassidy notes Chicago thinking greatly influenced policymaking in the U.S. and many other parts of the world (Cassidy, 2008, p. 28) however he is talking about the Chicago School of economics, rather than criminology. Cassidy writes about the upheaval within the economic school due to the global recession, and the discrediting of many of the Chicago School of Economics fundamental financial beliefs (ibid). This shows that even the most respected, established schools of academic thought can be critically undermined by social changes. By definition, it is only possible to study what already exists. Though the theories drawn up by the Chicago School regarding criminology make important observations and predictions those are subject to revision based on changes in society. The usefulness of theories and ideologies is ultimately rooted in the real-life. When a culture undergoes radic al changes there are inevitably challenges to accepted ways of thinking and to long-standing academic disciplines. For almost a century the Chicago School has held its place in criminology, but as society changes and its needs change this long tradition could also be displaced.