Criminal Justice/Corrections Essay

Imprisonment is one of the many forms of punishment for commission of crimes in the United States. The length of time of imprisonment depends on the seriousness of the crime committed. The most serious crime of murder and homicide is punishable by life imprisonment and the felon will be confined in federal prisons. Those convicted with less serious crimes like misdemeanor offenses will be sentenced to shorter time in local or county jail or with sanctions in community corrections or halfway house. Overcrowding in jails and prisons has been a common sight in most of the correctional institutions in the United States. The nicnic. org. (2001) through a report from the GRACE Project of Volunteers of America revealed that â€Å"while 500,000 persons are admitted and released from state and federal prisons annually, twenty times that amount – over eleven million are admitted and released from jails annually†. This goes to show that at any given time of the year, the United States is maintaining and or feeding 10. 5 million inmates. The organization further revealed that jail populations grew at a lower rate of 275% since 1980 while the federal prison population increased by 427% in the same period. This unprecedented growth in inmate population is not expected and causing big budget deficit from the state level up to the federal level of government. In as much as the inmate population continue rising and only a small number over the years has left federal prisons due to completion of their imprisonment as punishment for their crimes, a big number of aging offenders which require higher spending due to their geriatric- related ailments complicated the problem. This paper aims to document the extent of the aging offenders population across the U. S. the reasons for the increase and the roblems associated with it. Furthermore, this paper will also offer solutions to the problems based from the documented causes and experiences of the different states in dealing with the problems. A number of states in the U. S. expressed alarm over the inescapable fact that in their effort to rid society of undesirable and lawless elements, their jails and prisons became jam-packed. Feeding and housing these inmates especially the aging offenders cost them a lot more, sacrificing their budget for education. The affected states realize the generally accepted fact that education should be more financially supported than prisoners as this is the proven most effective way to raise a new generation of responsible and law abiding citizens. West Virginia reported that prison population in this state exceeded the national average owing to its 9. 3% incarceration which is the highest among the U. S. states. The non-profit organization further reported that between 1994 and 2004, the inmate population in West Virginia increased from 2,392 to 5,032 or 110% increase. Thegrassrootleadership. org (n. d. reported that the state projected that by 2012, the inmate population will increase by 35% over that of 2004 level or a total of 6,774 inmates to feed and maintain. Although the increasing population of aging inmates is not mentioned, common sense will tell that the population is included since most of the aging population is sentenced to anguish in prisons for life. The state government in order to cope up with the unprecedented increase, spent $100 million to build new prisons. The organization further reported that in the last 10 years, the Division of Corrections of West Virginia tripled its expenditure. To this effect, the state has increased spending for inmates five times the amount for higher education and other social services. In absolute figures, according to grassrootleadership. org, the state of West Virginia appropriated $6,435 per full time college student and $19, 377 per person incarcerated by DOC. Inflation adjusted, the amount per college student is 33% higher than in 1994 while the amount per inmate increased 169% or five times the amount per student The grassrootleadership. g reported that West Virginia government consider the very strict policy of the state regarding sentencing and parole as the cause of this urge in inmate population. To minimize this effect, the state consider â€Å"Implementing a cap on the number of people incarcerated [†¦.. ], along with re-examining sentencing and parole policies in the state that can lead to an end of the soaring number of incarcerations. A thorough re- examination of the recent parole policy of the state is in order† (grassrootleadership. rg, n. d. conclusion, 2nd par. ). In addition to this strategy, the Day Report Center alternative which set aside incarceration for misdemeanor crimes in favor of community service, home incarceration nd boards created for reparation is also put in place. A saving of about $ 42-63 million per year can be realized from seven centers based from the Lee Day Report Center cost experience of $14. 00 per day per inmate. The state of Florida recognized the increasing number of aging offenders in their prisons. The Florida Correction Commission (n. d. eported that in 2000, The Florida Legislature instructed and required the Department of Corrections to establish and operate a facility for elderly inmates at the River Junction Correctional Institution in Chattahoochee. The Florida Correction Commission (FCC) further reported that the Florida Legislature required the Correctional Medical Authority (MDA) and the FCC to submit an annual report on the medical health status of aging offenders in the state administered and private institutions together with an examination of geriatric policies being implemented in other states. The FCC revealed that the cost of maintaining an elderly prisoner is three times the cost for a younger inmate. The reason for this is the geriatric problems associated with aging specially in a confined environment where depression always linger. The FCC further revealed that age 50 should be the starting point for elderly inmate definition. The FCC reported further that per their observation, there were three basic groups of older inmates, the first time offenders, the habitual or career criminals and those that has grown old in prison waiting for the end of their sentenced imprisonment. According to FCC, inmates 55 years and older on the average were suffering from three chronic health problems that require specialized and expensive treatment as in the case of about 15 to 25% of heir elderly inmates having mental health problems. For this reason, the aging inmates contributed greatly to their huge medical expenses. In the year 2000, the FCC reported that there were 5,082 aging offenders which represent 54. 9% increase from 1995 level. In June 2000 out of a total of 71,233 inmates, the number of 50 year and above offenders increased to 5,605. It is projected that by 2010, the Florida elderly inmates will swell to 8. % of the total inmates. The FCC further revealed from their survey that 62. 8% of the elderly inmates were prisoned due to violent offenses and therefore require longer imprisonment. The state of Florida recognizes the significance of the third type of aging patients or those who grew old in prison in addition to national and state laws requiring longer prison sentences as the contributing factor to rise of their aging offender population. The FCC reported that at present, no geriatric facility except for River Junction Correctional Institution in Chattahoochee is devoted to the aging offender population. The state government plans to segregate the older population according to geriatric health needs and the security level needed so that the number of ail guards can be adjusted especially in minimum security segregated group for economic reasons. The FCC further reported that the Florida Department of Elder Affairs develop a course on elderly abuse, neglect and exploitation to produce certified individuals to carry out preventive medical intervention so that elderly diseases will not become acute and more costly to cure. Studies were also being undertaken to release elderly inmates who does not pose danger to society anymore due to their frail stature. Lastly, the Florida state is conducting survey as to the ost they will incur and the economic benefits if their preemptive programs will be implemented. The state of Georgia is also not exempt in aging offender problem. The Associated Press (2000) revealed that in 1979, there were about 570 convicts aged 50 and up, increased to 3,050 in June 1999 and 5,000 in 2004. The Georgia prison officials estimated that the elderly inmates could swell to 9,000 by 2010. The Associated Press further reported that like in other states, the cost of maintaining the elderly offenders is becoming more and more costly. The newspaper revealed that healthcare cost for average Georgia prisoner now amounts to $8. 25 a day. For an elderly offender 50 years old and above, the cost is $27. 00 a day or about $10,000 a year. The newspaper continue saying that the elderly offenders in Georgia prisons represents about 6% of the whole inmate population but the expense in maintaining them amounts to 12% of the annual health care budget for inmates. This so because the elderly inmates require costly and more specialized health care practices owing to their special geriatric problems. Georgia prison fficials revealed that longer prison sentences, tighter parole approvals and the inevitable aging of those prisoners waiting for the completion of their terms contributed to the swelling population of aging offenders. In addition, the â€Å"The two Strikes and You’re Out† law (Associated Press, Elderly Inmates Swell, 13th par. enacted by Georgia in 1994 which punishes a felon who commit crime of armed robbery, aggravated child molestation and sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, rape and kidnapping to a mandatory 10 year sentence without parole. The newspaper added that a second violation of any of the six felonies or murder, the felon gets a andatory life sentence without parole. All of these resulted to stacking effect of offenders in jails until the whole population get grayer and larger and more costly to handle. Associated Press further reported that John Kerbs, a researcher on criminal justice from University of Michigan suggested selective decarceration to ease the problem of swelling aging offenders’ population in Georgia prison system. This includes more often officials’ parole review of elderly inmates , electronic monitoring of graying offenders in release programs that is closely supervised and edical paroles for chronic and terminally ill inmates. Based from available studies, the states of Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas share the same problem on aging offenders as the states we have discussed. However, not all states in the U. S. look at aging offenders with compassion and understanding. One such state is California. Times staff writer, Warren, J (2002) reported that the California Department of Corrections is well aware of the aging prison population. The state according to the writer is well aware of the fact that the cost of maintaining aging offender is thrice the cost of that of the younger inmates. Longer sentences and substantial decline in paroles were considered as the cause of the rise in number of aging inmates. The Times staff writer further stated that the state in this times of economic belt tightening faces a $24 billion deficit mainly because of the health care expenses of the graying inmate population. Despite this, the state of California is hesitant to implement cost cutting strategies unlike the other U. S. states. The felons, young and old are mixed in cells. Although the idea of segregation based on age, health status and security needed is being considered, that never got off the ground due to the fact that the Correction and state officials are against it. A typical day in the life of an aging offender is a struggle against extortion, insult, bullying and disrespect from the stronger and younger inmates. The correction officials claim that segregation require additional upfront cost in terms of new buildings and prison facilities and this have no room in a state with huge budget deficit. The prison officials laim that offenders did crimes to society and so they have to suffer the consequences in prison. The staff writer said that nobody in the state legislature is bent to be soft in treating offenders. They even passed a law called â€Å"Three strike and you’re out† law to address the problem of the habitual offenders. This law sentences a felon to life imprisonment with no parole provision on the third crime conviction regardless of the nature of the wrong doing. The writer revealed that the population of inmate in California federal prison as of 2002 is about 4% of the total inmates f 5,800 men and women. According to the writer California reported an expenditure of $676 million on medical care of inmates but decline how much is for the elderly. The author further stated that California prison officials conceded the fact that the elderly require a 24 hour hospice care, high cost cardiac care, costly organ transplants, expensive cancer treatment and closely supervised treatment for dementia. On the national perspective, the U. S. Bureau of Prisons total inmate health care expenditures from 1990 to 1999 amounted to $2. 7 billion (U. S. General Accounting Office, 000). The GAO office also recognizes the fact that aging inmate population contributed greatly to this expenditure. The BOP also consider the changes in sentencing laws like mandatory minimum sentencing and the habitual criminality conviction as contributory to graying of the federal prisons. To economize on health care expenditures with emphasis to aging offenders’ health care, the GAO consider several options. The GAO encourage the states’ prison officials to obtain discounts through bulk purchases of states’ prison system needs and privatizing health care services in some states. This will involve appointing specialized private hospitals as alternative to government run health care services in cases of mounting geriatric health care problems patterned after the â€Å"Medicare- based cap on payments† ( GAO 2000, Summary, 3rd par). This according to GAO will save the government about $6 million annually. The GAO also proposed payment of $2. 00 per request visit over the usual round of doctors. This co-payment scheme is aimed to reduce unnecessary medical visit requests by the inmate disrupting the busy doctors. The co-payment scheme will generate revenue of about $1 million annually. It has been documented that the most compelling problem of aging offenders is the inability of some states to deliver the needed medical care for their ailment. The Bureau of Prisons admitted that a number of states is not ready to tackle the rising population of elderly offenders in their prison system resulting to huge budget deficits. This is due to the fact that it cost three times higher to maintain elderly offender than a younger one and five times higher than the expense of a college student. The geriatric ailments are more expensive to cure. To check the inevitable increase of aging offenders’ number in the prison system, a systematic approach should be done. The sentencing and parole system should be soft in dealing with the elderly inmates. The prison should start with the segregation of the elderly based from the state of their health and their physical ability and capacity to do crimes to society. The terminally ill, frail and weak should be given medical parole and let them join the main stream of society. They have suffered a lot of physical and mental punishment in jail in exchange for the crime they have committed. Those who are still strong but behaving well in prisons should be given parole but will be required to report to Day Report Centers to determine the progress of their assimilation to the mainstream of society. Those having mental problems should be confined to hospice care centers under minimum security. The sickly but still able bodied should be separated from the rest and should pay $2 per requested doctor visit over the normal doctors’ daily round. The able bodied and wild ones should be housed separately and placed under strict security until they mellow down and complete their imprisonment sentence. The â€Å"two and three strikes and you’re out† law will take care of habitual offenders. Other cost control strategies proposed by GAO can be considered seriously by the states now that the aging offender problems were given full attention to further realize cost savings.. The recommendations are based on the philosophy of win- win strategy in decision making. Considering them will rid federal prisons of unnecessary huge expenses, give freedom to deserving aged inmates and let the states use the savings for education of the youth to produce a new generation of able- bodied and law-abiding citizens.

Blue Nile Study Questions

Marking Scheme Mid Semester Exams Lecturers: Anthony Oboe Spool and Robert Amok-LIndsay Section A (40 Marks) Provide Short and concise answers 1 Explain the term sustainable competitive advantage and why it is so Important to a winning business strategy. (5 marks) Suggested Answer A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when an attractive number or buyers prefer its products/services over those of rivals and when the basis for this preference can be maintained over time.Competitive advantage could stem from offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent benefits or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price. (3 marks) Sustainable competitive advantage is necessary for a firm to win in the market place. It is required for a strategy to deliver on strategic and financial objectives (2 marks) 2. Using examples briefly explain and state the Importance of each of the following a) Strategic vision Strategic vision represents the destination that mana gement seeks to take a firm.Ford's vision â€Å"A car in every garage† Importance Give the organization a sense of direction Inform company personnel and other stakeholders what management wants Its business to look like Spur company personnel to action Provide managers with a reference point to (2. 5 marks for explanation and any 2 points mentioned as importance of strategic vision) b) Strategic mission Strategic mission of a firm focuses on its present business purpose. Strategic mission highlight the present products and services, types of customers served and how it intends to do that.Examples Beacon Books: â€Å"To inspire and equip business executives and entrepreneurs with essential information and knowledge they require for professional and personal growth† Google: â€Å"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful† Importance: It focuses the business by identifying the boundaries of the current business It distinguis hes a firm from others and gives it an identity of its own. (2. 5 marks) (5 marks) 3. Explain the meaning and significance of each of the following: a. Strategic group mapping A strategic group is a cluster of firms in an industry with similar competitive approaches and market positions. Strategic group mapping entails plotting firms in n industry on a two-variable map using pairs of these differentiating characteristics e. G. Product line breadth, distribution channel use, geographic coverage, price, quality etc. It helps firms to know their positions in the industry versus their rivals It helps firms to know which competitors to focus on in their quest to make strategic moves It helps them to know which positions in the market or industry are attractive to players in the market. 2. 5 marks for explanation of strategic group mapping and any of the above points mentioned) b. ) The bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers defines the extent to which suppliers of in puts to competing firms in an industry are able to dictate the price, quality, quantity and even timing of supplies to these firms. The bargaining power of suppliers has an impact on the cost, profitability and a firm's ability to satisfy its customers and for that matter its competitiveness. Powerful 4.Identify and briefly explain any two of the factors that influence the strength or intensity of competitive rivalry among an industry member firms. (5 marks) Factors Competitors are active in making fresh moves to improve market standing and easiness performance Slow market growth Number of rivals increases and rivals are of equal size and competitive capability Buyer costs to switch brands are low Industry conditions tempt rivals to use price cuts or other competitive weapons to boost volume e. . Perishable or seasonal A successful strategic move carries a big payoff Outsiders acquire weak firms in the industry and use their resources to transform new firms into major market contend ers (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) 5†¦ Identify and briefly explain any two factors that lead to strong bargaining power on the part of suppliers. (5 marks)Industry members incur high costs in switching their purchases to alternative suppliers Needed inputs are in short supply Supplier provides a differentiated input that enhances the quality of performance of sellers' products or is a valuable part of sellers' production process There are only a few suppliers of a specific input Some suppliers threaten to integrate forward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) strength and leverage of buyers. 5 marks) Buyer switching costs to competing brands or substitutes are low Buyers are large and can demand concessions Large-volume purchases by buyers are important to sellers Buyer demand is weak or declining Only a few buyers exists Identity of buyer adds prestige to seller's list of customers Quantity and quality of infor mation available to buyers improves Buyers have ability to postpone purchases until later Buyers threaten to integrate backward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and discussed) 7.Using examples explain the difference between a core competence, and a distinctive competence. A core competence is a well-performed internal activity central to a company's competitiveness and profitability. It tends to relate to a firm's ability to perform activities that are critical for success in an industry e. G. A better after-sale service capability A distinctive competence is a competitively valuable activity a company performs better than its rivals.For example Toast's low cost, high quality manufacturing of automobiles â€Å"Lean Production† is far superior to that of other automakers, (5 marks for explanation and establishing the difference between core competence and distinctive competence) 8. What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool? (5 marks) Benchmark focuses on cross-company comparisons of how certain activities are reformed and costs associated with these activities. It looks at things such as purchase of materials, management of inventories, getting new products to the market and so on. 2 marks) Identify best and most efficient means of performing various value chain activities Learn what is the best way to perform a particular activity from those companies who have demonstrated that they are â€Å"best-in-industry' or â€Å"best-in-world† at performing the activity Learn what other firms do to perform an activity at lower cost Figure out what actions to take to improve a company's own cost competitiveness (3 marks for NY 2 points identified and explained) Section B (80 marks 1 . Analyze the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jeweler's.Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. State the relative strength of each competitive force. Below is a representative five -forces model of competition for the online Jewelry business: Rivalry among online Jeweler's?a moderate to strong competitive force that is likely to intensify in the years ahead. Students should conclude that rivalry among Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's is normal to moderate, but it is likely to grow ore intense (owing to the success that Blue Nile is enjoying).Rivalry is centered on such factors as Price and value delivered to customers Selection and breadth/variety of product offerings Ability to customize and customization options The caliber and trustworthiness of the information/guidance provided to online shoppers (educational information, in-depth product information, access to professional grading reports, and so on) Image/reputation Customer service User friendliness of web site?search functionality, ease of browsing through all the selections, finding and understanding the information provided, etc.Refund and return policies Advertising and promotion?Much of the adv ertising/promotion is being done online, but the online Jewelry business is not one that is a heavy user of TV, radio, and newspaper advertising on a regular basis. Word-of-mouth is a fairly big factor Most online Jewelry competitors pursued either a differentiation strategy to try to set themselves apart or else tried to attract shoppers via the appeal of very low prices (which entailed employing a low-cost strategy).Some rivals focused their efforts narrowly on particular Jewelry items/product categories while others had broad reduce lines. Several factors were working to affect rivalry among industry participants: All rivals seem to be actively and busily trying to attract Jewelry shoppers to their websites, partly via online advertising and promotional initiatives (including search engine listings)?fresh strategic initiatives on the part of various rivals heightens rivalry. Low switching costs on the part of buyers?it is simple for people shopping for jewelry online to locate an d visit competitor web sites.Rivalry decreases when the rate of market growth rises?sales of Jewelry online seem o be growing briskly (with the sales increases coming at the expense of brick-and mortar Jewelry retailers). There is reason to suspect that the online Jewelry segment of the overall retail Jewelry industry is in its infancy (an emerging business or industry in its own right); hence, online sales of Jewelry are likely to grow faster than sales of Jewelry in general?a condition which will act to contain rivalry among online jeweler's.Rivalry increases when one or more rivals are dissatisfied with their market position and launch moves to bolster their standing at the expense of rivals. A case can be Dade that Blue Nile and most all of its online rivals are â€Å"dissatisfied† and thus are likely to make further moves to bolster their market standing, image, and sales. Rivalry increases as the product offerings of rivals become more standardized? many of the online J eweler's seems to be offering shopper many of the same things? wide selection, customization, educational information, access to grading reports, and so on.We see the differentiation among online Jewelry rivals as growing smaller/ weaker, not larger/stronger?with the possible exception of reputation/image, where Blue Nile seems to be the standout leader. Threat of entry?a moderate to strong competitive force Blue Niles success and growing reputation will almost certainly draw more competitors into online Jewelry sales. The barriers to entry into the online segment of the Jewelry industry are moderately The costs of developing a Web site.Developing supply chain relationships Developing order fulfillment capability and achieving short delivery times Expenditures for advertising and promotion needed to draw visitors to a web site and build a trustworthy reputation/image. In addition, students should see that the pool of entry candidates is probably fairly rage?especially for brick-and- mortar retailers already in the Jewelry business. Hence, the entry threat in upcoming years should be viewed as fairly strong. There would seem to be ample opportunity for new entrants to gain a market foothold and to achieve a level of sales high to be profitable.But the longer a company delays entry, the harder it will be to compete effectively against online Jeweler's like Blue Nile that have built a clientele and that have formidable images/reputations. Competition from substitute sellers of Jewelry?a very strong competitive force. Obviously, Jewelry shoppers have many other options for buying Jewelry than from online retailers. Traditional brick-and-mortar Jewelry retailers have the lion's share of the market and currently are the retailers of choice for the big majority of Jewelry shoppers. Hence, the competition that online Jeweler's face from other Jewelry retailers is quite formidable.In addition, there are hordes of possible substitutes for Jewelry altogether (but most peo ple are unlikely to see these alternatives as good substitutes). Consequently, students should conclude that substitutes for buying Jewelry online re a strong competitive force, given that Acceptable substitute sources for purchasing Jewelry are readily available and the prices charged by some of these substitute types of Jeweler's are reasonably competitive Buyer costs to switch to substitute types of Jewelry retailers are relatively low Many consumers are familiar with and comfortable with buying Jewelry from other than online Jewelry retailers.The bargaining power and leverage of suppliers to the online Jewelry retailers and jeweler-supplier collaboration?a moderately strong competitive force, especially as encores the suppliers of diamonds/gems and other Jewelry items. Students should recognize that the suppliers of gems/diamonds/]leery items have considerable bargaining power and leverage in determining the prices and terms at which they will supply their products.Yes, there ar e many alternative suppliers, and it would seem relatively easy for a it is doubtful that suppliers compete aggressively with one another on price?in other words, switching suppliers is unlikely to lead to acquiring a particular gem of particular quality at a lower price.There is no evidence in the case that suppliers of monads/gems compete with one another on the basis of price (indeed, with the exception of Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's, there is little evidence that price competition is active in the market for fine Jewelry?that is, rival Jeweler's are not aggressively trying to compete with one another by selling a diamond of given cut, clarity, grade, etc. At a lower price than their rivals). Blue Niles lower prices stem from its lower costs of doing business, not from the fact that it obtains diamonds/ gems at lower prices than do traditional retail Jeweler's.What is important for students to recognize here is that Blue Niles close elaboration with its diamond/gem suppl iers has resulted in giving it a lower cost value chain as compared to traditional Main Street Jeweler's. The distinctive feature of Blue Niles supply chain was its arrangements with leading diamond and gem suppliers that allowed it to display the suppliers' diamonds and gems on its web site; some of these arrangement entailed multi-year agreements whereby designated diamonds of the suppliers were offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites.Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Blue Nile did not actually purchase a diamond or gem from these suppliers until an order was placed by a customer; this enabled Blue Nile to minimize the costs associated with carrying large inventories and limited its risk of potential mark-downs. Other online Jeweler's seem to have similar collaborative arrangements with their diamond/gem suppliers.These collaborative arrangements offer a sizable cost advantage over Main Street Jeweler's?these cost- saving arrangements put added competitive pressure on traditional local Jeweler's because such collaboration (and the resulting lower cost business model) puts them t a cost disadvantage. The bargaining power and leverage of Jewelry shoppers?a weak competitive force Individuals have little power to bargain for a lower price on the Jewelry items they are looking to purchase (except perhaps in the case of very expensive items where some price haggling is often fairly normal).Individuals can, of course, choose to buy or not buy at the marked price but no one individual is usually in a position to enter into direct negotiations over the terms and conditions under which he or she will purchase a diamond ring or other Jewelry item from an online retailer. Any individual an certainly opt to buy from one retailer rather than another, but this does not equate to bargaining and exerting leverage.Conclusions concerning the overall strength of competitive forces: Competiti ve pressures in online Jewelry retailing are strong but not overwhelming so (the best evidence for this is Blue Niles record of attracting new customers and growing its sales at a rapid clip?a convincing sign that it is able to successfully contend with the prevailing competitive forces). Currently, we see competition from substitute types of forces.The entry of new competitors could also prove to be significant, if one or more f the new entrants have a well-recognized and trusted brand name and if such entrants opt to price their products competitively versus the prices charged by Blue Nile. Moreover, while competition is fairly strong, it is not so strong as to prevent companies like Blue Nile from being profitable. The online Jewelry retailing portion of the Jewelry industry is rather attractive from the standpoint of promising growth and attractive long-term profitability?Blue Nile is demonstrating that its business model and strategy are quite attractive.This is the big reason why new entry can be expected. But online sales of fine Jewelry is likely to remain a relatively small fraction of total sales of fine Jewelry for years to come?traditional brick-and-mortar local jeweler's are not going to be driven out of business by online Jeweler's in the foreseeable future. (5 Marks for each point well discussed with the appropriate verdict or conclusion on each competitive force) 2. Do a SOOT analysis of Blue Nile. What are key conclusions you can draw about the its situation?Blue Niles Resource Strengths and Competitive Assets the current market leader in the online retail Jewelry segment by a wide margin AAA teeter known brand name and reputation than rivals AAA first-rate strategy and business model AAA broad and attractive product line from customers to choose from AAA user-friendly web site with good search functionality and very good educational information A sizable and competitively potent cost advantage over traditional local Jewelry stores due to lean operating costs and a cost-effective supply chain Its collaborative partnership arrangements with important diamond/gem suppliers Good product customization and order fulfillment capabilities (core competencies) Blue Niles ability o grow sales with very little incremental capital investment Blue Niles Resource Weaknesses and Competitive Liabilities Limited brand name recognition?many shoppers for fine Jewelry have never heard of Blue Nile Limited financial resources relative to bigger and better-known retail Jewelry chains There is nothing proprietary about Blue Niles strategy and business model?both are subject to imitation by rivals Market Opportunities Geographic expansion?entry into the markets of foreign countries Lots of room to grow the business by attracting customers away from traditional local Jewelry stores in the U. S. ?Blue Nile still has such a relatively small market share of the total market for fine Jewelry in the U. S. That it can continue to employ its current st rategy for many years. The more that the word spreads about Blue Niles attractive prices and quality the more it stands to steal away customers from traditional local Jeweler's.Product line expansion External Threats to Blue Niles Future Well-Being The entry of more online Jewelry rivals that opt to employ much the same strategy and business model?especially if these new entrants should be retailers that have a brand name that is more widely recognized and trusted than Blue Niles. Diamond/ gem suppliers either become less willing for Blue Nile to display their inventories on Blue Niles web site or decide not to renew their multi-year agreements with Blue Nile whereby certain designated diamonds in their inventories are offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites. (Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Untold numbers of people shopping for fine Jewelry are very leery of buying fine Jewel online and thus a re not likely to ever be customers of Blue Nile Key Pointed and Conclusions Blue Niles strategy, business model, resource strengths, and competitive capabilities put it in a very strong market position to succeed in the online retail Jewelry business in the upcoming years?it is easy to understand why the company has been extremely successful in growing its sales over the past several years. Blue Nile would seem to have a sustainable cost advantage over traditional brick-and mortar retailers of fine Jewelry. Blue Nile has no resource weaknesses that make it highly vulnerable to competitive attack from local Jeweler's.

The Journey of Scientists and Practitioners Essay

The Journey of Scientists and Practitioners - Essay Example summarized to wit: (1) Socrates, Search for Definition; (2) Plato, for the State; (3) Aristotle, for Leisure; (4) Jesus,for the Common Man; (5) Marcus Fabius Quintilian, of the Orator; (6) Aurelius Augustine, for the Inner Life; (7) John Amos Cornelius, as a Human Right; (8) John Locke, for the English Gentleman; (9) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, of Nature; (10) Jean Heinrich Pestalozzi, of the People; (11) Friedrich Froebel, Garden of Education; (12) John Henry Newman, University Education; (13) John Dewey, for the Future; (14) Maria Montessori, for Personal Competence; (15) Martin Buber, for Relationship; (16) Alexander Sutherland Neil, for the Liberation of the Psyche; (17) Paulo Freire, for Freedom; and (18) Ivan Illich, Without Schooling (Flanagan, 2005). From among the noted resistance in the proposed comparative education, Brickman faced lackluster support in the mid-1960s due to the dominance of science and statistical tools (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 24). There were eminent rapid decline in the educator’s publications on comparative education during this decade. Likewise, the tediousness in searching for citations in Brickman’s reviews of literatures and bibliographies were noted to have been disorganized but apparently â€Å"produced an almost unthinkable breadth and depth of analysis† (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 27). On the other hand, Socrates, for instance, one of the greatest educators noted by Flanagan (2005) encountered resistance and challenges in terms of his unconventional beliefs and philosophies used for this decision-making. As disclosed, there were three explicitly mentioned singularities that marked him from the rest: (1) his claim that â€Å"he was the recipient of messages from an otherworldly, or inner, voice which frequently forbade him to do things he was thinking of doing† (Flanagan, 2005, p. 14); (2) his reported endorsement by the Oracle as the wisest of men; and (3) the observed habit of falling into long fits of abstraction (Flanagan,

Convincing Irans leadership to stop its nuclear program Assignment

Convincing Irans leadership to stop its nuclear program - Assignment Example The shahs, who you serve, are responsible for enforcing harsh laws which make Iranians comply with your government’s directives, since their fundamental human rights and freedoms have been ignored by your administration. Your media is a good example, where local journalists who voice their concerns are being silenced. As the international community, we have observed the following measures to deal with the situation which is slowly getting out of hand. As you well know, this is a way of thinking that is dangerous. The notion is that violence or the threat of it, must be responded to with violence, though in this modern day and age, seems outdated and uncivilized. As per your government’s behavior, you well know that vexing problems cannot be solved with force. This is not the correct method for America and the international community.1 Your country so far poses no existential threat. Your government is seen to be in internal disarray. We see that your political, economic and moral power is so inferior that resorting to terrorism and assassination to carry out international agenda seem to be your administration’s viable option. Your country threatens to develop nuclear capabilities, but you should know that the international community and your neighbors like Israel would not hesitate to resort to military action if and when the threat materializes, but as you know, military options against your country is not wise. This kind of retributive, vengeful action will lead us to even a trillion dollar expenditure.

Financial analysis of the Creative Chips case Study

Financial analysis of the Creative Chips - Case Study Example rom this, as can be observed in the balance sheet of the company for the year 2002, there are wages which are yet to be paid by the company, which amount to $ 7,350. In addition to this information, it is also worth noting that the total expenditure incurred by the company in relation to payroll amounted to $ 89,850. Among the expenditure incurred in relation to payroll, $ 42,000 ($ 3,500 x 12) refers to salary of Lesay, therefore it is found that the amount which is related to the payment of wages is $ 89,850 - $ 42,000 - $ 12,000, i.e. $ 35,850. However, keeping in mind that there is an amount of wages payable therefore after accounting for the total payment made towards the salaries and wages expenses, there is still an amount of $ 7,500 left to be paid, and it is, therefore, recorded as wages payable in the balance sheet (Drury, 2007; Nikolai, Bazley, & Jones, 2009). The company Creative Chips is involved in the business of manufacturing and selling chips. The overall financial information presented indicates that the company is performing satisfactorily in financial terms. The fact that company is utilizing its rented space in a way that it does not require additional space for manufacturing and storing its inventory stocks, is indicative of the efficient operations of the company. Apart from this, the gross profit amount as depicted in the income statement of the company is significant and can be regarded as highly favorable for the company. However, the operating expenses of the company are significantly high, which, as a result, have undermined the significance of the gross profit. The liquidity position of the company indicates that there are too much liquid assets held up by the company, which could have been invested for generating income from other sources (Webster, 2003; Nikolai, Bazley, & Jones, 2009). The company’s operational efficiency can be questioned on the basis of the fact that there is only one employee who runs the manufacturing

Case Study - Internaional Business report Essay

Case Study - Internaional Business report - Essay Example This is done, firstly, by utilizing the PESTEL framework of analysis. In addition to this, other lesser known factors that lie outside the PESTEL framework are also discussed. Political Climate: On the political front, Ireland has moved on from a troubled past, where terrorism and chaos were the dominant theme for the nation. With greater internal harmony and more placid religious and ethnic intolerance, the country is finally poised to fulfil its economic potential. The roots of the present Irish government’s policy framework lay in the radical changes brought about by the political leaders of the early 1980’s. Such public welfare programs such as the â€Å"National Wage Partnership Program fostered cooperative industrial relations, reduction in taxes, targeted government programs to attract FDI, and financial support from the EU† (Ireland in 2004). Programs such as this, acted as sound precedents for further policy initiatives, continuing to the present day. This succinctly explains how the political atmosphere in Ireland had contributed to its newfound prosperity. Economic Factors: To take the case of the fiscal year 2002, the FDI inflow to Ireland had risen to 25 billion dollars – a whopping 150 percent increase over the previous year. This came at a time when the rest of the developing world was struggling with economic sluggishness. To understand the success of the Irish economy we have to look at the source nations from which these investments are coming in. Unlike many other emerging markets, the primary investors in Ireland are the UK, the Netherlands and of course, the United States. This diversity helps reduce dependency on regional economic activity and helps mitigate the vicissitudes of global fiscal trends. Moreover, â€Å"this has grown rapidly over the past two decades, from $32 billion in 1980 to $157 billion in 2002. FDI plays a capital role in the Irish economy: the ratio of inflows to gross

Environmental Footprint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Environmental Footprint - Essay Example However, the presence of either infection threatened the existence of the other one, such that the presence of coliforms seemed to reduce high standard plate counts and vice versa. Findings showed major causes for this contamination to be the seepage of surface-water through weakened walls of private wells, aquifer pollution during cold weathers and the poor controls over microbial redevelopment through chlorination during summers. We recommend that there must be close surveillance and periodic or seasonal testing of water supplies, especially through private routes. Additionally, masses must be educated regarding potential risks of infections and precautionary measures that must be taken in order to mitigate possibilities of drinking water contamination. Introduction Drinking water is said to be contaminated if it exhibits concentration of 4 coliforms per 100 ml of water. Although, former researches have revealed that 90% of rural drinking water supplies are contaminated with colifo rms, much work needs to done in this area to resolve conclusions that are backed up by strong evidences (Stukel et al., pp. 571). Contamination of drinking water through coliform, Staphylococcus aureus and standard plate count bacteria has been a prime concern of regulatory authorities and public at large in recent years due to significant number of casualties in this regard. As a result, various studies have been conducted to address these concerns, including a popular experimentation study by Sandhu, whereby correlation of coliform bacteria with characteristics of supply source and pH strengths of water was tested (Sandhu et al., pp. 774). Another study was conducted by Whitsell and Hutchison, indicating most significant dangers linked with coliform-containing contaminated water supply to households (Whitsell & Hutchison, pp. 777). In a more recent research, the relationship between coliform contamination and rainfall was studied through experimentation, targeting drinking water s ystems of smaller communities (Stukel et al., pp. 571). Much experimentation has been done in this area in the past; however, most of them focused on municipal supplies of drinking water to address a greater risk since the majority of population use public water supply rather than private. Surprisingly, of the reported contamination cases and waterborne diseases to date, 69% of affected households were using private supplies (Lamka et al., pp. 734). This study is intended to highlight frequency and magnitude of contamination of drinking water raised from private wells and springs that reaches millions of households. It will also be aimed at verifying our initial thesis that drinking water contamination mainly stems from usage of untreated groundwater and poorly maintained private wells. The details of experimentation have been discussed in areas to follow. Materials and Methods Our experimentation was outdoors-based and the most difficult task was to locate an area that will be most favorable for our experimentation and capable of generating appropriate results on a timely basis. The land selected for our experiment contained rich and deep soils with weathered basalt bedrock lying beneath it. A sample of 78 households was selected neighboring around this study area. Majority of these

Interrupting Flooding Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interrupting Flooding - Assignment Example The rain garden should not be located straight over a septic system, it should also be built in sun and not under obstructions such as canopied trees among pother siting issues. The residential code regulates the construction of a rain garden by providing guidelines which must be followed. The cost of constructing rain garden is another inhibiting factor as the design should be deep enough to be costly. User profiles and needs: Surveys and interviews were conducted from different residents affected by the run-off during the rainy season to assess the extent of the problem. The users reported the following problems; Increase in pollution, Erosion of soil causes Sedimentation, Metal pollutants harm aquatic life, Stagnation of water increases the number of mosquitos, Contamination of water bodies with pesticides and Contribution of high temperatures among others. The problems are illustrated in the Pareto chart below. Design objectives: the design objects to solve the problem of the residents who experience high rates of surface run off during the rainy season. The design should be able to withstand percolation of water which reduces the amount of water running to the water bodies causing floods. The rain garden is designed to capture excess rainwater from hard surfaces which cannot percolate water such as driveways and cemented surfaces. The rain gardens are designed with beautiful flowers which can be attractive especially when in urban areas with poor drainage. The rain gardens are constructed with special features which enable them to capture the excess surface run-off. There are layers of sandy soil below the rain gardens which reduce the rate at which water enter the water bodies and the creeks. They are also effective in the removal of pollutants caused by fertilizers, nitrogen, dust and other wash off pollutants from the hard surfaces. Rain gardens are very effective as they can be mainta ined even in urban areas; they reduce runoff and protect the

Porters Five Forces. External Environment Analysis of Southwest Term Paper

Porters Five Forces. External Environment Analysis of Southwest Airlines - Term Paper Example Threat of Entry Since the phase of deregulation, many new entrants have entered into the airlines industry in USA. 22 new airlines had been formed and another 43 of them has entered till 1982. Experts suggested that the industry had inefficient scale economies which supported the entry of numerous new entrants in the industry. However, since 1993 and during the recent years many of these start-ups have been consolidated, established and incorporated as large and major airlines. The high threat of new entry in the airlines industry in US also gets reflected through the fact that 8 major airlines existing in the market have become bankrupt merged with other companies or has simply vanished from the radar screen (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Substitutes Trains, buses and cars account for major substitutes for air travel. However, the importance of trains and buses as substitute products has declined over the years. The Switching costs associated between air travel and its substitute services remain quite low; however, experts suggests that the importance of the substitutes are likely to change as per the customer type, route and reason for travel. For example, travelling through seas across US for long journeys would reduce ground transportation to a certain extent. Business travel could generate more flying demand while vocational travel could demand more driving. Due to the fact that leisure travellers are considered to be more price sensitive as compared to business travellers, they are more likely to use substitute services considering the opportunity costs incurred (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Bargaining Power of Suppliers Employee bargaining powers are expected to vary according to unionization of employees or the charac teristics of employees. Wage rates have accounted for major operating expense of airlines leading to many union strikes during the post liberalization era. The bargaining powers of pilots have remained low since there are numerous pilots available in the market. Moreover, airplane manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing, enjoy high powers of bargaining since they huge switching costs are associated with changing the airplanes (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Bargaining Power of Buyers The individual powers of buyers remain low because of the inability of the airline customers to coordinate and organize among themselves. The extent of price discrimination employed by airlines would also depend largely on routes and type of the customers. Routes which remain heavily flooded by different flights more likely to charge competitive prices because of the existence of substitute airlines. On the contrary the long distance flights which have less hubs and schedules are likely to be dominat ed by too many airlines and which consequently would charge exorbitant price from customers. Corporate discounting, i.e.,

The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s Essay Example for Free

The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s Essay The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s brought a close to a chapter in history that brought the world to the brink of global nuclear-armed conflict. However, at the dawn of the 21st century President George W. Bushs administration is poised to reopen that chapter by pursuing a unilateral defense posture that will only serve to modernize and expand current nuclear war fighting capabilities and break the taboo of nuclear non-use. This paper will argue that the failure of the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as well as the pursuit of a National Missile Defense (NMD) will lock the United States back into its Cold War security dilemma in which striving to increase security breeds more insecurity. CTBT Since the 1950s, opposition to nuclear testing has been spurred by concerns over its health and environmental effects and by testing being one of the more visible signs of the nuclear arms race. Most recently, in 1995-1996, massive worldwide criticism of French nuclear tests in the South Pacific, caused France to curtail its test program. Public opposition and the dangers of an arms race fueled by nuclear testing have lead governments to try to limit and stop nuclear testing for over 40 years. However, in 1999 the United States Senate refused to implement the CTBT, which would have put an end to nuclear weapons testing and development. The United States failure to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty guarantees a future end to the ten-year moratorium on testing. The events of September 11th and the subsequent war on terrorism have the Bush administration searching for new options on the battlefield. Recently the administration began studying options for the development and production of a small, low-yield nuclear weapon called a bunker-buster which would burrow into the ground to destroy buried hideaways of rogue leaders like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. This pursuit not only guarantees no chance of the CTBT ever coming into law in the US but it also guarantees the breakdown in the firewall between conventional warfare and nuclear warfare. Using nuclear weapons in conventional warfare guarantees the escalation of conflict that would spiral out of control and only serve to hurt future arms reductions negotiations. The development of low yield nuclear weapons is also likely to spur a new arms race between the US and Russia because of an increased reliance on tactical nuclear weapons, in which the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction is no longer employed as deterrence but as procedure. 1 Therefore the United States effort to increase its security by developing weapons to defeat terrorists would only serve to escalate its own insecurity and showcase US military paranoia. The failure of the US to ratify the CTBT also makes it less likely that other states will enter into the treaty. Pakistan and India, known nuclear states that are the most likely to start a nuclear confrontation have long been waiting to see what the US is going to do on CTBT before they take a stance. The effect of the US ratifying the CTBT would be the equivalent of saying Gentlemen, start your engines. 2 Every government in the world that is considering the treaty would race to get the treaty to enter into force. If those countries were to continue on their current course of nuclear development it is likely that the Bush administration would have to uphold its doctrine that it is using against Iraq in order to prevent the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction to terrorist organizations. Ratification of the CTBT would not only halt US weapons development at its current state but it would also help pave the way for eventual disarmament. The ratification of the CTBT would also help undermine the current security dilemma the United States is locked in to. NMD NMD first appeared under President Reagan in the early 1980s. It was popularly known as Star Wars because it was intended to be a space-based system for the reconnaissance and prompt in-flight destruction of long-range missiles fired at the US3. However, due to its complexity and cost, the Star Wars system was never built. However, anti-missile systems continue to be explored, as for example the Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle developed under President Clinton. 4 NMD represents an attempt to ensure that the US is forever safe from any kind of attack, especially from irrational rogue states armed with long-range missiles. It shows clearly that an interdependent world and globalisation bring with them a sense of insecurity. This sense of insecurity could be said to verge on paranoia, considering the disparity of forces between rogue states and the US. Indeed, as there is brought here, every threat is magnified under the lens of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and must be hedged against. Echoing President Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair argued that in an interdependent world, extensive multilateralism was the only choice that could lead to true security from multiple, global threats. 5 However, President Bush seems to have chosen the opposite path by seeking to protect the US unilaterally, resulting in the logic of the Cold War arms race. NMD in particular, as it is a space-based defense system, seems particularly vulnerable to the logic of the arms race. Indeed, today only one in eight active orbiting satellites belong to the US military. 6 This proportion is set to decrease, as launching satellites into space continues to become more and more affordable to companies and smaller countries. Therefore, in the unilateralist logic, space-based weapons will also become increasingly available to possible enemies, presenting a new threat to US security that must be overcome by ever more expensive technological fixes. Furthermore, since i la carte multilateralism undermines the ABM Treaty, the arms race perspective becomes even more likely, as it contains the most explicit protections of satellites on the books. 7 The ABM Treaty effectively blocked the development of anti-missile defense systems,8 thus ensuring that any country launching a missile attack would be unable to defend itself from a retaliatory strike. Were this treaty to disappear, aggressive acts towards satellites, most probably by present or future rogue states, would only become more likely a self-fulfilling prophecy. This logic serves only to reiterate the fact that The basis of security is that it never works for just one. You have to have security for everyone or it fails. 9. That entering the arms race logic is the result of paranoia rather than realism is shown by the fact that the widening access to satellites to both businesses and countries could equally be seen as reinforcing the USs dominant position. Indeed, because of the USs undoubted technological advantage, it has developed many of the technologies which have become commonplace. For example, the Australian army relies on the American GPS system,10 and it is further woven into the fabric of daily life by being used by navigators in the worlds airlines and ships and even in ordinary peoples boats and cars. 11 Thus it is possible to say that the GPS system is universal and is no longer being tied to any particular territory. A more liberal approach than that taken by the Bush administration would suggest that overall, this diminishes the likelihood of an attack upon the satellites. Indeed By sharing GPS, no one feels so threatened to compete with it, and because of its widespread use any country that damaged it would provoke a global fury. 12 US insecurity is further demonstrated by frequent inversions of its actual military posture. Hence, the US is often represented as a weak military nation, despite its crushing military superiority. For example, Condoleeza Rice, President Bushs national security advisor, claimed during President Clintons tenure that US soldiers had been turned into social workers, and that the armed forces as a whole were as weak as in 1940. 13 The current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke of the increasing vulnerability of the US, and evoked images of a space-based Pearl Harbor early on in President Bushs tenure. 14 This constant fear of vulnerability is mirrored in academic circles. Kagan states that the defense budget needs to be increased rapidly, by as much as $50-100 billion per year. 15 As a budgetary recommendation, this figure seems fanciful, considering the combination of a slowing US economy, the $1. 35 trillion tax cut promoted by President Bush and the difficulty of pushing a far more modest budget increase through Congress this past budgetary session. However unrealistic, it does serve to reflect the condition of institutionalised paranoia. Insecurity is clearly shown when the US, by far the worlds leading military power in terms of budget, technology, logistics and training, is portrayed as being highly vulnerable to people such as Osama Bin Laden,16 the alleged terrorist. Rather, the US is creating the conditions of its own insecurity. Indeed, the combination of i la carte multilateralism, dreams of Full Spectrum Dominance and the idiosyncratic branding of certain states as rogues can only serve to antagonize friends and foes alike. Rather than defusing possible threats at the source, President Bushs policies seem more likely to provoke attack. Of course, any attack would be taken as a justification of these policies, feeding into a vicious circle of insecurity resolved through the deification of technology and the abandonment of the human contact represented by treaty negotiation. In Der Derians words, President Bush symbolizes the leader who has given up on peace on earth and now [seeks] peace of mind through the worship of new techno-deities. 17 Rumsfelds drive to reform the military on the basis of NMD and other space-based technologies implies deep and risky reductions in conventional forces, such as cuts in the number of Army divisions, Navy aircraft carriers and Air Force fighter wings. 18 This further reinforces the fact that techno-strategy is supplanting humanity in security considerations. The search for unilateral absolute security, especially through technology and unilateralism, is a form of the necessarily doomed search for a single power or sovereign truth that can dispel or control the insecurities, indeterminacies, and ambiguities that make up international relations. 19 The negative consequences of smart warfare are one instance of the risks of President Bushs logic. It is clear that if the United States continues to pursue its misguided foreign policy the world will soon witness a new wave of arms races and decreased securitization. Only by pursuing confidence building, regime oriented measures can the United States help avert the next Cold War. Ratification of the CTBT and ending the pursuit of a National Missile Defense seem to be the first steps in the process toward paving the way into the 21st century. The United States can either sit back a not take on its role as a champion of the free world or it can take a proactive stance in stomping out the possibility of a renewed arms race and break out of its Cold War security dilemma. 1 Alexander, B. and Millar, A. (www. fourthfreedom. org/php/print. php? hinc=DefenseNewstnw. hinc) July 11, 2001 2 Kuchta, A. Dickinson Journal of International Law A Closer Look: The US Senates Failure to Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, 19 Dick. J. Intl L. 333. 3 http://www. nuclearfiles. org/chron/80/1980s. html 4 http://www. msnbc. com/news/845497. asp? 0cv=TB10 5 Blair, T. , Doctrine of the International Community, speech delivered in Chicago, 23 April, 1999, http://www. number-10.gov. uk.

Comparison of Islamic and State Schools

Comparison of Islamic and State Schools How Muslim parents make their decision of sending their children to Islamic schools or to State schools. The study of how Muslim parents decide to send their children to either Islamic Schools or public has now been studied for some time and it has provided different answers for different questions. This study has mainly been carried out because of the now increasing evidence if the cultural and political differences being seen as a result of the diverse cultures and religion in existence amongst people of different ethnicities in the world. For one to understand the strong differences that occur in peoples cultures and beliefs, it is critical to look at the origin of the process of acculturation in a particular community or society. Acculturation is the process whereby there is exchange of certain aspects of a culture between two different cultural societies. The acculturation process usually begins at childhood. This is because children are easily socialized in the norms that are involved in their culture and this affects their social outlook as they grow up. Education on the other hand is the transmission of information and knowledge from one generation to the next. Education is a basic of every person today to gain education. The Islamic culture encourages its members to seek knowledge. This is viewed to be one of the most precious things that one can acquire in life because it enhances intellectual growth. Education is an individual asset which no one can take away from another and which is necessary in going through life. In life and in Islam the greatest value of education is to enable one to provide good leadership mostly amongst the youth. The major objective of Islam is to enable the development of ones character and also ones Islamic personality and this is what is emphasized in many Islamic schools. Parents play a major role in educating their children. The initial education provided to children under the guidance of their parents is very important and shows the parents role. As children grow the society they grow around has a great impact in influencing the character of every individual child. However, the bad news is that Muslims have been evidenced to be the most illiterate in the world in a study conducted in all Muslim nations. This has led to many parents who value more unlimited education for their children to send them to schools abroad to the western countries. This has proved to be advantageous to their children but has also led to the introduction of unseen challenges to both the parents and the children. For example in Britain, the Muslims send their children to government schools and then they teach them at home or in the mosques. Consequently, like any other normal school in the world, in state schools children would often face problems like discriminating or bullying based upon their religious orientation. The damage whether it is psychological or physical can impact the behavior and can influence the Muslim students performance in the classroom. From the Muslim parents perspective, the knowledge that their children would receive is going to be through a secular perspective and this often will be open and unbiased towards any particular religion. As a result, there emerged two choices for Islamic parents to choose in educating their children. This is whether to send them to Islamic schools or to state schools. This problem started in the advent of the twentieth century and due to mainly Western influence and sometimes colonialism, Muslim parents sometimes preferred imparting only secular knowledge to their children. The weak students were mainly sent to religious schools known as Madrasas within their countries. However those who migrated to the west chose to take their children to both public and religious schools for a number of reasons. These reasons applied both to those in the west and those in the middle-east. One of the best and most popular reasons among Muslim parents for the reason as to why they send their children to Islamic schools is that it provides the perfect surrounding to learn the Muslim culture because of an Islamic surrounding and environment. For example, children in Muslim schools socialize with other children of the Islamic following and pray together in the Islamic way. They are more importantly exposed to modern vices that exist in urban and westernized schools such as fornication, alcohol and drugs. Moreover, Muslim schools are ideal centers to provide identity in the society for children. To prove this, some interviewed Muslim children attest that their parents would most likely send them to an Islamic school if there is the presence of one in their locality. This shows the preference of many Muslim parents. According to one Islamic based teacher in New York by the name of Yahiya Emerick states that Islamic Schools provide the children with the opportunity to be able to identify themselves with the Islamic community and its values and thus it provides a sense of belonging to the children and they feel that they belong to a certain community and proud to be identified with it. To support this view, the president of the Muslim Education Council in Virginia points out that these Islamic schools provide a sense of self-worth, pride and cultural identity that the children cannot acquire in a public or State school. His organization teaches mostly administrators and educators about Islam and the Middle Eastern culture. He also adds that the sense of identity comes from not only socializing with other Muslim children and praying together but also from memories of praying and reciting Islamic scriptures, listening to the Adhan and talking about the problems facing the Islamic society and this pr oved to be priceless for an Islamic individual in the future. However, there are many other reasons why parents sometimes prefer taking their children to Islamic school. For example is that for example if a parent realizes that his child is turning into being rude and unruly, the parent may result in looking for a quick solution to the situation at hand and decide to send his child to an Islamic school and this is estimated to be the case that has led about one third of the children in Islamic schools to be admitted there. This however has proved to be highly disadvantageous to Islamic schools because some of the children expelled from public schools because of gross misconduct are being dumped in Muslim schools. This is said to be the result of the attitude of most Muslim parents that the Muslim institutions are effective correction centers for their children instead of public schools which they see as having a higher probability of being a catalyst for their childrens bad behavior. This has sometimes led to some parents complaining sometimes that Islamic schools are being a bad influence on their childrens behavior at times but Islamic institutions have been quick to point out that the children didnt all come a being of good conduct in the society and some had come from public school. Another good reason why Muslim parent take their children to Muslim school is because they are more exposed to Islamic knowledge in Muslim schools. The former president of the young Muslims of Canada which is an organization based in Ontario, Taha Ghayyur says that a lot of Canadian born Muslim children have a lot of difficulty in studying Arabic writings and the Quran and because of their interaction with other cultures, they tend to have a little difference in their view to Islam in comparison to their Middle-Eastern brothers and sisters. However, there are a number of Islamic followers who also believe that the information mainly acquired in Islamic schools is much more limited as compared to that gained in Public schools. One of the people who support this view is Shabbir Mansuri who is the founding director if the institute of Fountain Valley which is a Council on Islamic Education based in California. Taking his example, he has three daughters of which only the youngest attends an Islamic school because Islamic schools were not available before when his two other daughters were growing up. He points out that in the case of his younger daughter, she has been able to recite the Surahs and scriptures from the Quran but he also sees that the Islamic schools have not made a difference in the understanding of the Quranic scriptures. This is considered to be one advantage of State schools because they help the children understand what they are studying, This and many other reasons give cause to the decision of enrolling their children in state schools. One reason for example is that in most public schools mostly in the west, state school education is usually provided free by the government. This is an economic consideration by most parents in the world. for example in the situation of Islamic parents living in the west, it is only when they grew in numbers and acquired more resources that they opened more Islamic schools starting from kindergarten to high school. As a result, it is estimated that in places like in Northern America alone, there are presently about three hundred Islamic schools which provide integrated education. In cases of where there were lower resources, the children were taken to state schools during the weekdays and to Islamic schools during the weekends. Another factor is that due to the high enrolment rates to public schools, there are a higher number of individuals from different social and economic backgrounds and this is not always a bad factor as and enables children to embrace people of different backgrounds. This is a point supported by many liberal Islamic families living in the West. Other factors which give an advantage to state schools over Islamic schools are that have sometimes better qualified and trained and certified teachers who provide standard teaching to the children. The teachers are mainly objective in impacting the required knowledge on the students and monitoring the students progress. This is the main reason that many Islamic parents sometimes send their children from the middle-east to the western schools. This can be evidenced by the children of the monarchs of Saudi Arabia and Dubai. In conclusion, it can be observed that the boundaries of knowledge are expanding on a daily basis and in the western world; Muslim parents are facing an ever-increasing challenge of deciding the right school for their children. It overall clear that the every parent would like to enroll his or her child in a school that provides academic excellence and spiritual growth but it is mostly the role of the parents to weigh the better option between Islamic schools and public schools. This is by putting their disadvantages and disadvantages together and considering what is best for their children. References Lawrence D., (2005). A Concise History of the Middle East . London; Westview Press Levy, Reuben (1969). The Social Structure of Islam. UK: Cambridge University Press. Ridgeon, L (2003). Major World Religions (1st ed.). London. Routledge Curzon publishers. Shahid A. (1998). Sex Education : An Islamic Perspective .London. Oxford University Press. Hamsa Y. (2002). Understanding Islamic Education and Elements of Success. Cairo: Alhambra Productions

Violence In America :: essays research papers

Violence in America Violence in America’s society is definitely a major problem. This problem can be traced back as far as fetal development. It seems that in most cases of bad treatment, the families come from poverty or bad neighborhood areas. The whole main purpose of this speaker was to develop a good understanding on why most of the violent crimes occur in today’s hurting society. It is not rocket science to realize that most angry violent acts are due to a disturbed child or individual that lacked attention, love or care. Violence is not a new problem, scientists are just finding out new facts about how it starts and how it can be prevented. The early developmental stages of babies is key to starting a good life long learning experience. This is the certain time in which their brains are really trying to make progress and grow. Babies need that love and sense of closeness to obtain a healthy start. Obviously mothers who smoke, drink or do drugs while pregnant can cause serious health problems to their fetus. Also when they are young most of the time these problems persist and do not get any better. This causes children to have the chance to obtain the same lifestyles as of the parents. Another instance that can hurt a child’s well being is when they are real little around the ages of two to about six. Kids at this age need to be taught and especially loved. When children are neglected or left they do not get the support that they truly need to keep the growing process up to date. This is definitely one reason that kids are committing crimes at younger ages. If people feel that they are responsible enough to have babies, they should at least take the time to help them have good lifestyles. We all know that kids for the most part are mean and form little cliques and this is a major reason that kids are committing crimes. They feel that if they can’t get attention the way that is right, they will get it almost any way they can. It also ties back the kids early childhood. A lack of love and understanding at young ages causes some children to not know how to interact with other kids. On the same token they can be made fun of daily causing them to resent the world and not have any cares. Violence In America :: essays research papers Violence in America Violence in America’s society is definitely a major problem. This problem can be traced back as far as fetal development. It seems that in most cases of bad treatment, the families come from poverty or bad neighborhood areas. The whole main purpose of this speaker was to develop a good understanding on why most of the violent crimes occur in today’s hurting society. It is not rocket science to realize that most angry violent acts are due to a disturbed child or individual that lacked attention, love or care. Violence is not a new problem, scientists are just finding out new facts about how it starts and how it can be prevented. The early developmental stages of babies is key to starting a good life long learning experience. This is the certain time in which their brains are really trying to make progress and grow. Babies need that love and sense of closeness to obtain a healthy start. Obviously mothers who smoke, drink or do drugs while pregnant can cause serious health problems to their fetus. Also when they are young most of the time these problems persist and do not get any better. This causes children to have the chance to obtain the same lifestyles as of the parents. Another instance that can hurt a child’s well being is when they are real little around the ages of two to about six. Kids at this age need to be taught and especially loved. When children are neglected or left they do not get the support that they truly need to keep the growing process up to date. This is definitely one reason that kids are committing crimes at younger ages. If people feel that they are responsible enough to have babies, they should at least take the time to help them have good lifestyles. We all know that kids for the most part are mean and form little cliques and this is a major reason that kids are committing crimes. They feel that if they can’t get attention the way that is right, they will get it almost any way they can. It also ties back the kids early childhood. A lack of love and understanding at young ages causes some children to not know how to interact with other kids. On the same token they can be made fun of daily causing them to resent the world and not have any cares.

What is the importance of family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry? Essay

What is the importance of family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry? The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is set in Mississippi, in the Deep South of America, in the 1930's and covers a year in the life of the Logan family. The Logans are a respectable black family closely bound in love, respect, and support for each other. The story is told through the young eyes of Cassie Logan and through her experiences we see the great importance of family throughout the novel. Family plays one of the most important themes of the story and it seems as though the author, Mildred Taylor created the Logan family to present them as a role model family for life. Throughout the novel, the guiding role of parents is clearly shown by Mama and Papa Logan. They teach their four children by example at several points in the story. One of these times is when Mama covers the offensive pages in the books at school. The other teachers regard mama as something of a maverick because of her liberal views. When told that her children have, "got to learn how things are", she replies that they will, but they don't necessarily, "have to accept them". She glues paper over the offensive pages, despite what others think, and therefore shows Cassie and Little Man the way to behave when an incident like this occurs. Mama and Papa use firm discipline with their children throughout the story. This is shown when Papa whips the children for going to the forbidden Wallace Store, and when Mama whips Stacey for cheating in the test. Mama and Papa use this punishment to discipline their children, and, as a result, they learn their lesson. After the children are punished for going to the store they never go there again, proving that their parents ... ...ence of his grandmother is made clear. Mr Jamison says that, "Harlan's always lived in the past", and goes on to say that, "his grandmother filled him with all kinds of tales about the glory of the south before the war." This explains why Harlan Granger has such cold southern values; he learned it from his grandmother. This is yet another example of the powerful influence parents and elders have on their children from one generation to the next. Mr Jamison and his wife are a rare positive image of a white family, discussing and agreeing on all important issues that affect them. They, as a family represent a hope for a more tolerant society in the future. Mr Jamison shares the same respect for his family that the Logan family shares. He tells Papa that he and his wife talked about backing the loan in Vicksburg and, "discussed it fully", with each other.

The Great Depression in America Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression was a time of total despair. Years of economic downturn not only affected the United States but may European countries as well. Americans endured lost of fortunes, homes, jobs and personal tragedies. Very few alive today remember what it was like, and to the rest of us, it is just a piece of history that we can only imagine. The Great Depression reeked havoc on the stock market, banking, industries, and agriculture that led to massive unemployment, breadlines and fear that lasted over a decade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the stock market collapse, the New York banks became frightened and called in their loans to Germany and Austria. However, without the American money, Germans had to stop paying reparations to France and Britain. This was a chain reaction and they could not repay their war loans to America, therefore, the depression had spread to Europe. The U.S. Government tried to protect domestic industries form foreign competition by imposing the Hanley-Smoot Tariff of 1930. In retaliation governments worldwide sought economic recovery by adopting restrictive autarkic policies and by experimenting with new plans for their internal economics. As a result, global industrial production declined by thirty-six percent between 1929 and 1932. Worldwide trade dropped by an all time high of sixty-two percent. (Annals) The question of the day was, How did this happen?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mass speculation went on throughout the late 1920’s. In 1939 alone, record volumes of one-billion-one hundred twenty-four million-eight hundred thousand-four hundred and ten (1,124,800,410) shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. (Drewry) From early 1928 to September 1929 the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from one hundred ninety one to three hundred eighty one. This sort of profit was irresistible to investors. Company earnings became of little interest; as long as stock prices continued to rise large profits could be made. Through the practice of buying stocks on margin , one could buy stocks without the money to purchase them. Investors went wild for this idea drove the market to unheard of high levels. By mid 1929 the total outstanding brokers’ loan was over seven billion dollars and eight and a half billion dollars over the next three months. Interest rates for broker loans were going for... ...d be a little more on the cautious side and take a good look at our own economy. We should take into account that it could happen again. The Great Depression was not the only depression or the longest, that title being held by the Long Depression of the late nineteenth century, nor was it the sharpest in contraction. The one after the first World War being a deeper drop, it represented the greatest fall from the general trend-line of growth. Are the signs there that we are headed for another downturn? Are we all a little to at ease with our economy? Maybe we should take a closer look. Bibliography Works Cited Boardman, F.W. The Thirties: America and the Great Depression. N.Y. Henry Z. Walcki Inc. 1967. Drewry, Robert and A.J. O’Connor. The Indigenous Role in Business Enterprise. New Guinea: New Guinea Reasearch Unit 1970 Schraff, Anne E. The Great Depression and The New Deal. NY Franklin Watts 1990 The Annals of America Vol.15. 1929-1939 The Great Depression. William Benton & Encyclopedia Britannica 1968 The Writers and Photographers of the Associated Press - 20th Century America – The Great Depression 1929-1939. Grolier Educational Corp. 1995.

In measure for measure,the characters of Angelo and Isabella are similar

In measure for measure there are two characters that at first glance seem to be from two different worlds but a closer analysis shows that they are actually very similar. This is the case with Angelo and Isabella. When we first meet Angelo we see a ruthless leader who enforces the law as severely as he can and Isabella is the complete opposite, she is a virtuous and chaste young woman who was ready to devote her life to God. Both Angelo and Isabella have strict moral views; they both exhibit pride and are guilty of self deception. In scene, when Isabella and Angelo first meet straight away we can distinguish the similarities between them. For example, Isabella uses the same language as Angelo and the two of them are able to finish each other's sentences indicating that they are on the same thinking level and that they are actually not that different as both knew what the other was intending on saying. Isabella like Angelo is denying her sexuality. Isabella uses religion as a repression of sexuality where as Angelo represses his sexuality by enforcing harsh rules in Vienna regarding fornification and does not allow himself to express any feelings openly. One could argue that both Angelo and Isabella are sexually frustrated. Isabella is a pure and chaste young woman who happens to be in a corrupted society and it could be argued that her decision to join the nunnery was a way of sexual control and that she does not trust herself in the society that she is in and needs restraint â€Å"but rather wishing a more strict restraint† (1:4,L3). Angelo is a puritan and as a puritan he has to be able to control his sexuality which is why he doesn't express he desires or emotions and this leads to characters describing him as â€Å"a man whose blood is very snow broth† and in his soliloquy Angelo can't describe what he is feeling towards Isabella because he was never able to speak out openly about sex, emotions, love etc. â€Å"What's this?† â€Å"What's this?† (2:2, L 164) .For both of these characters repressing their sexuality discourages the audience from identifying with them. Another similarity that Angelo and Isabella both share is that they are put in a sordid situation by the Duke. The Duke put Angelo in charge of power whilst he left knowing full well that Angelo is a man made out of steel and will enforce the strict laws and as a result Claudio was condemned for fornification by Angelo who led to Isabella pleading for his life. The Duke is the only character who could intervene but chose not to. Isabella and Angelo are both troubled characters struggling to come to terms with their own inner nature. Both characters share their feelings and thoughts with he audience in soliloquy. Angelo (2:2) and Isabella (2:4) this is the only time that the audience can begin to understand these characters more and are able to empathise with them. One could argue that another feature both of these characters share is hypocrisy Angelo is an authoritive figure but does not practice what he preaches. He is a hypocritical character because he is condemning Claudio for fornification whilst going against his own law by asking Isabella to sleep with him.Similarly, Isabella readiness to give away another person's chastity (Marianna) is quite hypocritical because she refused to give up her own chastity because it was not morally right but was quite eager for Marianna to give up hers. It could also be argued that both Angelo and Isabella are selfish characters. Angelo's selfishness is evident in the way he abandoned Marianna due a lack of dowry and Isabella's selfishness is evident in the way she was prepared to value her own virginity more than her brother's life and the fact that she wanted Marinna to give up her virginity could also be seen as a selfish act. Both Isabella and Angelo are proud characters. Angelo is a proud man because he will not back down from enforcing the severe laws in Vienna even when Isabella pleads with him to spare her brother's life. I think Angelo feels that if he backs down then people will begin to take advantage of him as they did with the Duke so I think he feels it's imperative to be proud and honourable because that is the only way people will know you mean business and will look up to you. Isabella is a proud character in the sense that she would rather her brother lost his life rather than her give up her virginity to save him. To Isabella honour and pride means more than saving her own flesh and blood. â€Å"Die, perish†¦.not words to save thee† In conclusion, many critics have noted the similarity between Isabella and Angelo D.L Stevenson in his book, The Achievements of Measure for Measure, Ithaca 1966 notes the similarities between Angelo and Isabella, He claims ‘She is kind of observe of Angelo†¦ the play is only allowed to come to an end only at the moment of exact equivalence between Isabella and Angelo. It only ends s when Isabella has really become the thing she has argued for in Act II, merciful' (against all sense† the duke points out). What D.L Stevenson is arguing here is that in a sense Isabella looked up to Angelo because he was this authorative male figure but Isabella is also a strong female who was able to withstand pressure from this authoritive male figure. I agree with D.L Stevenson, I think that Isabella does look up to Angelo because he is a proud, authoritive being and I think in a way Isabella actually see a bit of herself in Angelo in the sense that neither of them can express themselves sexually as freely as they would have liked to therefore they resort to extreme situations to avoid confronting their true inner selves. They are both proud yet hypocritical characters who don't see any wrong in their own actions but are quick to blame others, for Isabella a prime example is when Claudio asked her to give up her virginity and she was outraged by what he suggested â€Å"O you beast!, O faithless coward!, O, dishonest wretch!† but yet she expected Marianna to do the exact thing she refused to do.

Black Women Writers Essay

Early significant analyses of Maud Martha, Gwendolyn Brooks’s only novel moreover release it as an ineffective fiction and/or viewed it as a mere expansion of Brooks’s poetic poetry. Those untimely reviewers, often in evaluations of less than a solitary page, lauded the novel’s â€Å"quiet charm and sparkling delicacy of tone† (Winslow 16) but didn’t comment the irritation and nervousness below the description surface. Latest criticism has centered on the undercurrents of fury and revolution of the character, Maud Martha Brown. This fury boils underneath the exterior of the novel’s 34 vignettes of the apparently ordinary, daily life occurrences of a black woman living in the south side of Chicago in the 1940s. The shift in serious viewpoint of the novel, then, is noticeably dissimilar across cohorts. As Mary Helen Washington declares in â€Å"‘Taming All that Anger Down’: Rage and Silence in Gwendolyn Brooks’s Maud Martha†: â€Å"In 1953 no one seemed prepared to call Maud Martha a novel about bitterness, rage, self-hatred and the silence that results from suppressed anger. No one recognized it as a novel dealing with the very sexism and racism that these reviews enshrined. What the reviewers saw as exquisite lyricism was actually the truncated stuttering of a woman whose rage makes her literally unable to speak† (453). Washington’s divided commentary is one of the first to recognize the protagonist’s irritation and inner rebellion as Brooks interlace them into the tapestry of the novel; Washington distinguish a regular outline of concealed fury and anger during the work. Further grinding the center on one meticulous description conflict in Maud Martha, Harry B. Shaw discovers the title character’s â€Å"War with Beauty,† as he subtitles a milestone essay, depicting the dark-skinned black woman character brawl against Eurocentric paradigms of substantial appearance. Shaw’s article describes the property of this partial, color-conscious scheme on Maud’s mind, and accentuates its role in spawning internal encounter with self-hatred and self-doubt (255-56). While I concur with Washington’s and Shaw’s arguments regarding the psychological battles faced by Brooks’s protagonist, I also find that the conflict and confusion that recapitulate Maud Martha’s life unite into a whole imitation of conjugal epic warfare. This conjugal epic warfare expands past Shaw’s â€Å"war on beauty† and integrates all areas of domestic and ancestral ties. Familial conflict exactly describes Maud Martha’s resistance to acquire and preserve her home and relations with family members as she struggles to keep a sense of individuality within this detain structure. Maud Martha detains the conservative literary epic’s spirit of clash by summarizing the figurative symbol of conjugal conflict as female ambitious with Maud Martha as the hero of her homeland. Like with customary epic, Maud Martha emblematizes the cultural paradigms of a decisive moment in history, enlightening the struggles of post-World War II America to reunite the roles of women, in particular African American women, in the public and private area. Through the course of the novel, Maud Martha fights a war against sexism, classism, and racism to create her identity. Winning this war is of supreme significance and of heroic dimensions at bet for Maud Martha, as delegate woman, is home and family, as well as independence, originality, and self-expression. Mainly during the early 1950s, the time in which Maud Martha was printed and set, the familial realm was one of worry and fluctuation as women toil to balance their roles as wives, mothers, and artists. With World Wars I and II only lately past, and the Korean and Vietnam clash on the horizon, (white) women workers found their roles in culture changing. They had pierced the US workforce during the wartime era, providing the nation with a much-needed font of labor. Yet after the war, the arrival of their male complement forced working (white) women’s return to the residence and to family duties. To battle and frustrate these writing of domesticity, in Maud Martha Brooks sum up a clearly female pattern of symbolic warfare that undermine patriarchal and communal structures, and declare the dominance of new visions of female enlargement and original appearance. To build her epic of family warfare, Brooks utilize such description strategies as prearranged meanings within names, change in narrative voice, and conflations of birth and death descriptions; thus, she threaten and redefines customary description of domesticity, of matrimony, and of maternity. For Brooks these organization twist to sites of group and responsibility for women. She confuse the empire of the domestic beyond a sphere of binary and competing gender functions to critique the roles of men and women in producing and preserve the social arrangement that bound female expansion and to assess how race, class, and gender notify the relation viewpoint of the heroine. Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience Jill Nelson offered the most piercing critique yet on racism at The Washington Post. Nelson, an African-American journalist who was employed at the paper for four years, pleasures the reader with a memoir that’s raw, sharp and amusing; she gladly picks at the scabs of race and sex and class that most writers favor to leave unhurt. For Nelson, repayment is hell, and she pays back – with retaliation, settling some malicious scores with the firm organ that seduced her from freelance writing in New York and then deserted her in the back-stabbing nation’s capital. Nelson gets her defeat in good. Ben Bradlee turns out to be â€Å"a small, gray, crumpled gnome. † Bradlee sheers such inspirational lines as â€Å"I want the fashions [section] to be exciting, new, to portray women who dress with style, like my wife. † Publisher Don Graham is â€Å"a rich kid waiting for his mother to let go of the reins. † Other Posties are uncharitably described as â€Å"weasel-like† and â€Å"mottled, plump, sour-lipped. † But ultimately, is a touching tale of being a black woman in a white and male corporate world – â€Å"voluntary slavery,† she calls it. â€Å"I envy the egotism,† she writes of the Post, â€Å"their intrinsic belief in the value of whatever they’re doing, the complacency that comes from years of simply being Caucasian and, for the really lucky, having a penis. † A core sister who revels in the racy, Nelson explains utilize like having sex with a mortician on his preserve table and the joys of male. Nelson’s attitude about the opposite sex is a simple one: â€Å"One thing I love about men and pussy is that is makes them so predictable. â€Å" Still, it’s race, not sex, which fuels all through it all. Nelson is evermore in search of her own â€Å"authentic Negro experience,† forever at war between her own arrogance in being black and her self-criticism for not being black enough. She writes touchingly of her own exacting family pathos – a brother on crack, a sister eternally immobilized by a drug overdose – and resist with her own guilt at being a part of the black bourgeoisie. But Nelson’s dispute falls short when it comes to clearing up the steamy issue of race at the Washington Post. But Nelson’s spotlight on Barry-bashing at the Post pleads the question: If the paper was so bigoted, why did it go trouble-free on Barry for so long? Nelson doesn’t actually try to answer this question; in its place, much of what she writes is an explanation for the coke-tooting mayor. Nelson declares Barry was only â€Å"supposedly† smoking crack on the well-known FBI videotape; that a female who bear witnessed that Barry enforced her to have sex had it coming; that the Post was â€Å"part of a de facto plot on the part of the U. S. Attorney †¦ to get’ Marion Barry. † But she does reluctantly recognize this: â€Å"Overweight, greasy, usually dripping with sweat, Barry speaks English like it’s his second language. † Bambara’s feisty girls: resistance narratives in Gorilla, My Love – Toni Cade Bambara When Thunder buns, the â€Å"huge and awful matron,† charges the passageway of the movie theater in Toni Cade Bambara’s story â€Å"Gorilla, My Love,† the kids finally â€Å"shut up and watch the simple ass picture† (Gorilla 15). She is the â€Å"decorated† matron, the one the organization lets out â€Å"in case of emergency,† when potato chip bags start igniting and the kids are turning the place out. Thunder buns are the shape of co-opted black power. As such, she set as the dead reverse of Bambara’s spirited, aggressive, no-nonsense young female conversationalist/protagonist of the story, who is variously named, depending on the occasion, â€Å"Scout,† â€Å"Badbird,† â€Å"Miss Muffin,† â€Å"Hazel† (her â€Å"real name†), â€Å"Precious,† and â€Å"Peaches. â€Å" Thunder buns, as her friends call her, emerges in the inset story Hazel tells in â€Å"Gorilla, My Love† to exemplify how adults deceive children. Thunder buns are not truly the agent of disloyalty here, but rather the enforcer of ethnically charged commercial treachery. Hazel and her brothers, Big Brood and Baby Jason, have rewarded their money to see a film called Gorilla, My Love, only to be shown a tattered old brown print of a Jesus movie: â€Å"And I am ready to kill, not because I got anything against Jesus. Just that when you fixed to watch a gorilla picture you don’t want to get messed around with Sunday School stuff† Hazel is briefly silenced by the weight of Thunderbuns’s consequential power, But not for long. With warrior like power her brothers rejecting the call–she rushes into the manager’s office and ask for her money back. She sees his pasty-complexioned condescension. And, in comic foray, she informs us, her reader/intimates, that he is wrong about her authority and ability. She has the full determine of her families ethnically conversant, equally forced, disobedient self-possession behind her. Even as her mother will threaten the teachers at P. S. 186 who dare to â€Å"start playing the dozens behind colored folks†, Hazel will carry on her threats. When the money is not reimbursed, she starts a fire below the candy counter that close up the theater down for a week: â€Å"I mean even gangsters in the movies say my word is my bond. So don’t anybody get away with nothing far as I’m concerned†. The story â€Å"Gorilla, My Love† first emerged in Redbook Magazine in November, 1971, a year after the periodical of Bambara’s path breaking, cherished, and inflammable black feminist anthology The Black Woman. The story itself has a descent, however, dating back to 1959, when Bambara’s first child-narrated short story, â€Å"Sweet Home,† appeared in Vendome magazine. When Bambara was interviewed by Beverly Guy-Sheftall in the mid-seventies, (1) she comment on the prospects for her changeable and authorize girl narrators, whose stories had been emerging all through the sixties and were lastly gathered up on the wings of the success of The Black Woman and published in a collection entitled Gorilla, My Love in 1972: There are certain kinds of feelings that people are very thankful of, people who are tough, but very sympathetic. You put me in any neighborhood, in any city, and I will tend to descend toward that type. The kid in â€Å"Gorilla† (the story as well as that collection) is a kind of person who will stay alive, and she’s successful in her survival. (233) All but four of the fifteen stories in Gorilla, My Love are enclosed by the realization of a child or teenage character; of those, ten are voiced in the first person (2)–with the singular â€Å"I† drawing its energy and power from an implied â€Å"we† of community. When Hazel storms into the manager’s office, then, she is traveling on the strength of more than a decade of such acts of defiant resistance by Bambara’s feisty girls. Bambara calls her â€Å"the kid†Ã¢â‚¬â€œof the story and the whole collection. But in fact there is no particular narrative â€Å"kid† in any dull sense unites the whole collection. Some of the â€Å"I† voices are youngsters; others quite young children, including Hazel herself from the title-story–who is proud to be the guide of her grandfather’s car on the way back from a pecan-gathering journey. But, as she admits, she actually likes the front seat because the pecans variables in the back are scary: There might be a rat prowling somewhere. And she admits to us that she still sleeps with the lights on and blames it on Baby Jason. Still, she is one of the most tough-talking and self-possessed young female voices in American literature. And she shares individuality with the other girl-children in Bambara’s stories of that decade for the laser-like intensity of her ethical cleverness and her ability to distinguish the convolutions of adult hypocrisy. Bambara wrote in a personal narrative entitled â€Å"Salvation Is the Issue† in 1984: What informs my work as I read it–and this is the answer to the regularly lift question about how come my â€Å"children† stories administer to escape being unbearably shy, delightful and sentimental–are the basic givens†¦. One, we are at war. Two, the normal reply to domination, lack of knowledge, wickedness and bewilderment is wide-awake confrontation. Three, the natural reply to pressure and disaster is not collapse and surrender, but alteration and regeneration†¦. BIBLIOGRAPHY †¢ Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. Retrieved on December 25. From http://www. amazon. com/Maud-Martha-Gwendolyn-Brooks/dp/0883780615 †¢ Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience by Jill Nelson. Retrieved on December 25. From http://www. amazon. com/Volunteer-Slavery-Authentic-Negro-Experience/dp/014023716X †¢ Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. Retrieved on December 25. From http://www. amazon. com/Gorilla-My-Love-Vintage/dp/0679738983 †¢ African American Literature. Retrieved on December 25. From