Stretegic Analysis of Pepsi

Strategic Analysis of PepsiCo | | Introduction Pepsi co is a carbonated beverage that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. It is sold in stores restaurants and from vending machines. The drink was first made in the 1890s by a pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina. The brand was trademarked on June 16 1903. The has been many Pepsi variants over the years since 1903 to name a few they have Diet Pepsi, Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi blue, Pepsi raw, Pepsi one etc. PepsiCo is situated in a soft drink industry that is dominated by Coca Cola. By the time it got into the market Coca cola had already made its mark among the public and the newcomer Pepsi found it hard to find a consumer base. Their first effective marketing strategy, they put their sodas in beer bottles and sold them cheaper than Coke. There was more drink for less money. They started selling, and Pepsi was seen as the poor man’s cola. Although this strategy worked, Pepsi recognized that if their image remained as that of the Poor Man’s Soda, their customer base would never widen. In order to improve its image, Pepsi devised a new marketing strategy by employing celebrities for its advertisements. One of their first celebrity endorser was Barney Oldfield, the pioneer for automobile racing. Afterwards, PepsiCo dipped its marketing hands into acquiring even more business. They bought Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and exerted effort into developing overseas restaurant ventures. One of the most successful advertising and promotion campaigns in history. SWOT Analysis Strength †¢ Pepsi has a broader product line and outstanding reputation. †¢ Merger of Quaker Oats produced synergy across the board. †¢ Record revenues and increasing market share. †¢ Lack of capital constraints (availability of large free cash flow). †¢ Great brands, strong distribution, innovative capabilities †¢ Number one maker of snacks, such as corn chips and potato chips Weakness †¢ Pepsi hard to inspire vision and direction for large global company. Not all PepsiCo products bear the company name †¢ PepsiCo is far away from leader Coca-cola in the international market – demand is highly elastic. Opportunity †¢ Pepsi should expand into markets that they are not currently in. †¢ Food division should expand internationally †¢ Noncarbonated drinks are the fastest-growing part of the industry †¢ Pepsi should position itself on t he cutting edge of the healthy food trend in the market place by increasing trend toward †¢ Changing customer tastes e. g. variants of drinks †¢ Focus on most important customer trend – â€Å"Convenience†. Threats †¢ Pepsi is blamed for pesticide residues in their products in one of their most promising emerging market e. g. in India †¢ Over 50 percent of the company's sales come from Frito-Lay; this is a threat if the market takes a downturn †¢ PepsiCo now competes with Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, and Kraft foods (because of broader product line) which are well-run and financially sound competitors. †¢ Size of company will demand a varied marketing program; Social, cultural, economic, political and governmental constrains. External Analysis PEST Analysis: Political influences: – The production distribution and use of many of PepsiCo product are subject to various federal laws, such as the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act. – The businesses are also subject to state, local and foreign laws. – The international businesses are subject to the Government stability in the countries where PepsiCo is trying get into (underdeveloped markets). Businesses are also subject to de taxation policy in each country they are operating. They also have to comply with federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations. Economic influences: – Pepsi is subject to the harvest of the raw material that they use in their snack foods, soft drink and juice, like corn, oranges, grapefruit, vegetables, potatoes, etc. Because of they rely on trucks to move and distribute many of their products, fuel is also an important subject, so they are subject to the fuel price fluctuation, and to possible fuel crisis. Operating in International Markets involves exposure to volatile movements in foreign exchange rates. The economic impact of foreign exchange rates movements on them is complex because such changes are often linked to variability in real growth, inflation, interest rates, governmental actions and other factors. PepsiCo is also subject to other economical factors like money supply, energy availability and cost, business cycles, etc. Social influences: – Pepsi is subject to the lifestyle changes, because of it bases its advertising campaigns in a concrete kind of people with a special lifestyle, it is for that PepsiCo has to pay a special attention on the lifestyle changes. Around the world Pepsi drinkers are defined, there is a kind of people who drinks Pepsi another kind who drinks Coca-Cola; it is for that they have to pay attention to the social mobility for not losing a possible market. – Taking into account that PepsiCo is trying to introduce itself in underdeveloped markets, they have to be careful with the possible problems with the governments of this countries, and with the problems could rise from PepsiCo act with the people of this countries. Technological influences: – PepsiCo is subject to new techniques of manufacturing, for their three business sectors, snack food, juices and soft drinks. It has to pay attention to the new distribution techniques. – And they have to fix their attention in the competence developed, to know about the new products. Porter’s Diamond: The Porter’s Diamond Analysis tries to explain the Competitive Advantage of Nations. There are four attributes of a nation comprise Porterâ₠¬â„¢s Diamond of national advantage, they are: Factor Conditions: The basic factor conditions are natural resources, climate, location, the more advanced factor conditions are skilled labour, infrastructure and technology. There are some of these factors that can be obtained by any company (like unskilled labour and raw materials) and, hence, do not generate sustained competitive advantage. Below is a market share structure, Pepsi has around the world as of 2007. Pepsi has a long standing commitment to protecting consumer whose trust and confidence in its products. In order to ensure that consumers stay inform about the quality of all Pepsi products sold in the world. Summary of the Pepsi Strategy Conclusion Assessing Pepsi’s marketing strategies; shows that Pepsi has made several right choices. With the existence of Coke, Pepsi can never lay claim to true originality. It is not that unique. So, before it entered the international market, it first familiarized its customers with its product thoroughly in its home base and lowering their prices. By the time Pepsi was ready to enter the international market, it had a good grasp of what its target audience really is. In conclusion, Pepsi’s marketing strategies, from past to present includes: enhancing their distribution system, knowing the environment of the foreign market and finding the things their target buyers had in common, adding new innovations and products while improving the old products, imaginative advertising, use of advanced technology, assertive promotions, trendy, socially-aware campaigns, alliances with major corporations and expansion into other industries such as restaurants. Al in a one Pepsi-Cola  concentrates on markets where it could prosper alongside  Coca-Cola,  rather than trying to defeat it and its still progressing well. The King III Report and its implications in IT Introduction King III states that – In contrast to the King I and II codes, King III applies to all entities regardless of the manner and form of incorporation or establishment applies to all entities regardless of the manner and form of incorporation or establishment. Unlike previous reports, King III deals with IT governance in detail. According to the introduction of the Report: information systems were used as an enabler to business, but have now become pervasive in the sense that they are built into the strategy of the business and the risks involved in information technology (IT) governance have become significant. The King Report III provides a list of best practice principles which have become an indispensable guide on Corporate Governance to directors, executives and regulators alike. King III provides guidance to all corporate entities on various governance related aspects, including: Ethical leadership and corporate citizenship, Boards and directors, Audit committees, The governance of risk , The governance of information technology (IT), Compliance with laws, rules, codes and standards, Internal audit, Governing stakeholder relationships, Integrated reporting and disclosure. IT governance Unlike previous reports, King III deals with IT governance in detail for the first time. In exercising their duty of care, directors should ensure that prudent and reasonable steps have been taken in regard to IT Governance. IT governance should focus on four key areas: †¢ Strategic alignment with the business and collaborative solutions, including the focus on sustainability and the implementation of ‘green IT’ principles; †¢ Value delivery: concentrating on optimizing expenditure and proving the value of IT; †¢ Risk management: addressing the safeguarding of IT assets, disaster recovery and continuity of operations; †¢ Resource management: optimizing knowledge and IT infrastructure. KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE KING III REPORT The Report places great emphasis on: †¢ Leadership; †¢ Sustainability; and †¢ Corporate Citizenship. The importance of the concepts of integrated sustainability and social Transformation is highlighted. This leads to a lasting concentration on the effects of business on society and the environment. The concept of sustainability is linked with the evaluation of ethics and the improvement of ethical standards in business and in the community. The Minister of Environmental Affairs has pointed out that, unless measures are adopted, greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa will quadruple by 2050. This would result in South Africa becoming a pariah nation. Sustainability reporting is also emphasized in the need to utilize suppliers from amongst previously disadvantaged people. The success of companies in the 21st century is likely to involve: †¢ The natural environment; †¢ The social environment; †¢ The political system; and †¢ The global economy. The King III Report has placed great emphasis on an integrated report, which will evaluate the company’s impact on the economic life of the community in which it operates, as well as many other matters. Conclusion The release of King III is welcomed and represents a significant advance in good corporate governance that looks to the future. Companies will also find King III more user-friendly, in particular the new format of the Code which briefly sets out the recommended best practices against the applicable principles, should constitute a handy quick reference guide. In addition, the Practice Notes, when released, will greatly assist with implementation and going forward, the Institute of Directors will also be developing tools to assist different types of entities identify how to apply relevant principles and recommendations. All in one I would say the release of King III is welcomed and represents a significant advance in good corporate governance that looks to the future. Companies will also find King III more user-friendly, in particular the new format of the Code which briefly sets out the recommended best practices against the applicable principles, should constitute a handy quick reference guide. In addition, the Practice Notes, when released, will greatly assist with implementation and going forward, the Institute of Directors will also be developing tools to assist different types of entities identify how to apply relevant principles and recommendations. Reference http://www. sirpepsi. com/pepsi11. htm â€Å"compiled by 2002† http://www. radessays. com http://www. bookrags. com http://www. allbusiness. com. http://www. peerpapers. com http://www. michalsons. com/king-3-published-for-comment/1463 http://www. pwc. com/en_ZA/za/assets/pdf/pwc-draft-kingiii-presentation-09. pdf

Free Will in Scientific Psychology Essay

Actions are freer than others, and the difference is palpably important in terms of inner process, subjective perception, and social consequences. Psychology can study the difference between freer and less free actions without making dubious metaphysical commitments. Human evolution seems to have created a relatively new, more complex form of action control that corresponds to popular notions of free will. It is marked by self-control and rational choice, both of which are highly adaptive, especially for functioning within culture. The processes that create these forms of free will may be biologically costly and therefore are only used occasionally, so that people are likely to remain only incompletely self-disciplined, virtuous, and rational. BACKGROUND What shall I do? Why did you do that? Are people captains of their fate, or are they mere products of their times and victims of circumstances? Should they be held responsible for their actions? These and similar questions pertain to the psychological problem of free will, also known as freedom of action. At the core of the question of free will is a debate about the psychological causes of action. That is, is the person an autonomous entity who genuinely chooses how to act from among multiple possible options? Or is the person essentially just one link in a causal chain, so that the person’s actions are merely the inevitable product of lawful causes stemming from prior events, and no one ever could have acted differently than how he or she actually did? My thesis is that free will can be understood in terms of the different processes that control human action and that, indeed, these differences correspond to what laypersons generally mean when they distinguish free from unfree action. To discuss free will in the terms of scienti? c psychology is therefore to invoke notions of self-regulation, controlled processes, behavioral plasticity, and conscious decisionmaking. Address correspondence to Roy F. Baumeister, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306; e-mail: baumeister@psy. fsu. edu. The extreme positions on free will have been staked out through centuries of philosophical debate. On the negative side, the deterministic position can be traced from Democritus through Spinoza, Comte, and Freud. It leaves no room for free human choice. Everything that happens is the unavoidable product of prior causes. The universe resembles a giant machine, grinding along exactly as it must. There is no difference between the categories of possible and actual in this view: Everything that happened was inevitable, and nothing else was ever possible. The subjective impression that when you make a choice you really can choose any of several options is an illusion, because forces outside your consciousness are in motion to determine what you will choose, even if you do not know until the last minute what that choice will be. On the other side, Jean-Paul Sartre (1943/1974) argued passionately in favor of human freedom. He contended that people are always, inevitably free—‘‘condemned to freedom,’’ in his famous phrase. Life is a series of choice points, and at each choice point, you could have chosen differently than you did. (Thus, the category of the possible is far, far more vast than the category of the actual, in this view. ) When people say they could not help acting as they did, they are engaging in self-deception (bad faith, in Sartre’s term), because they could actually have acted otherwise—could have held their tongue, walked another step, resisted the temptation, and so forth. Other outcomes really were possible. In between those extremes, many thinkers have proposed limited or partial freedom. Kant (1797/1967) proposed that people have a capacity for free action but only use it sometimes. For him, freedom meant acting in a morally virtuous manner based on enlightened reasoning. His argument thus aptly sets up the emphasis on self-control and rational choice as two widely adaptive forms of free will. If free will is only occasional, whereas behavior is constantly occurring, then it is necessary to posit two systems for guiding behavior: a default one that mostly runs the show and an occasional one that sometimes intervenes to make changes. Free will should be understood not as the starter or motor of action but rather as a passenger who occasionally grabs the steering wheel or even as just a navigator who says to turn left up ahead. 14 Copyright r 2008 Association for Psychological Science Volume 3—Number 1 Roy F. Baumeister OBJECTIONS TO THE VERY IDEA Many psychologists disdain the idea of free will, for several reasons. First, some think that in order to be a scientist it is necessary to believe in determinism, because a scientist studies causality and cannot tolerate or accept exceptions. Second, and related to the ? rst, free choice (especially the full, extreme case of total freedom) cannot seem to be explained in scienti? c terms. Causality is how the human mind generally (and the scienti? c mind particularly) understands events, and there is no way to explain a free action causally. In other words, even if free will exists, there is no use in scientists talking about it, because there would be no replicable patterns of behavior. (On this I disagree most emphatically—see below. Third, and perhaps more formidably, plenty of research has by now shown that people are sometimes mistaken when they believe their actions to be free, insofar as factors outside their awareness do exert a causal in? uence on them (e. g. , Bargh, 1994; Wegner, 2002; Wilson, 2002). The fact that automatic, nonconscious processes are the direct causes of action (e. g. , Libet, 1985, 1999) seems now well established and has dealt a severe blow to some theories of conscious free will. But new theories of action have separated the deciding from the initiating (Gollwitzer, 1999), and free conscious choosing may have its main role in the deciding (deliberative) stage. To illustrate, free will would have more to do with deciding (now) to walk to the store when the rain stops (later) than with directing each footstep during the actual trip. Modern research methods and technology have emphasized slicing behavior into milliseconds, but these advances may paradoxically conceal the important role of conscious choice, which is mainly seen at the macro level (Donald, 2002). Meanwhile, there are several objections to the determinists too. To require scientists to believe in determinism seems unwarranted. After all, the deterministic hypothesis—that every event is fully and inevitably caused by prior events and nothing else than what happened was ever possible—is itself unproven and even unprovable, so it requires a big leap of faith. Determinism is also contrary to everyday experience (in which people do make choices, and they believe subjectively that more than one outcome is possible). Moreover, to say that scienti?c data and especially psychological data point to determinism is itself severely overstated. Most psychological experiments demonstrate probabilistic rather than deterministic causation: A given cause changes the odds of a particular response but almost never operates with the complete inevitability that deterministic causality would entail. These objections do not disprove determinism, but they certainly raise questions. It seems unreasonable to require that every scientist must believe something that is unproven, unproveable, contrary to daily experience, and incongruent with our data. A further objection to determinism is the observation that freedom and choice are woven deeply into the fabric of human relations and activities. If freedom and choice are completely illusions—if the outcome of every choice was inevitable all along—why must people agonize so over decisions? Why do they argue and strive so much for the right to decide (that is, for power and liberty)? Why has so much political, economic, and social struggle been aimed at increasing freedom if freedom is just an illusion? The presence versus absence of choice, control, autonomy, and freedom has been shown to be a signi?cant causal factor in many aspects of human life, including dissonance and consistency (Linder, Cooper, & Jones, 1967), reactance (Brehm, 1966), stress and coping (Glass, Singer, & Friedman, 1969), and motivated performance (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Moreover, with few circumscribed exceptions, people almost always prefer freedom and are better off with it—and seemingly not just because the lack of freedom prevents them from securing tangible rewards. It is not as if people would be ? ne with slavery or prison if only the food were better. Countless people have risked and sacri?ced their lives in ? ghting to achieve and defend freedom, and it is very dif? cult to ? nd historical instances of uprisings or wars based on a demand for less freedom. Laypersons may not understand the concept of free will in the same way as philosophers and scientists, but they use ‘‘freedom’’ to denote some psychological phenomena that are powerful and important. PSYCHOLOGY’S TASK In my opinion, it would be a mistake for psychologists to argue about whether free will exists and to debate the conceptual details. Philosophers and others have already spent centuries re? ning the concepts through such argument, and repeating their work would not be a good use of time and effort. In comparison with philosophers, psychologists are amateurs at conceptual re? nement and debate but are specialists at conducting experimental tests of causal hypotheses. Our expertise is thus not well suited for ascertaining the existence or nonexistence of free will, which is probably impossible to prove. Researchers such as Wegner (2002) and Bargh and Morsella (2008, this issue) may show that people are sometimes unaware of the causes of particular behaviors, but such ?ndings are incapable of establishing that all behaviors are the result of ? rm causal processes of which people are unaware. Conversely, it seems equally impossible to prove that a given person could have acted differently than he or she did under exactly the same circumstances. Psychology’s contribution lies elsewhere. Psychologists should focus on what we do best: collecting evidence about measurable variance in behaviors and inner processes and identifying consistent patterns in them. With free will, it seems most productive for psychologists to start with the well-documented observation that some acts are freer than others. As already noted, dissonance, reactance, coping with stress, and other behaviors have been shown in the laboratory to depend on variations in freedom and choice. Hence, it is only necessary to assume that there are genuine phenomena behind those subjective and objective Volume 3—Number 1 15 Free Will in Scienti? c Psychology differences in freedom. In a nutshell, we should explain what happens differently between free and unfree actions. Thus, the optimal agenda for psychology would be to ? nd out what people mean when they use concepts of freedom, choice, and responsibility in their daily lives and then to illuminate the inner processes that produce those phenomena. WHAT MAKES ACTION FREE? A starting point for psychology is to identify what aspects of an action make people regard it as free versus unfree. To be sure, some factors can contribute to a mistaken sense of freedom in one’s own action. Wegner (2002) showed that when the thought of an event immediately precedes its actual occurrence, people believe they have caused it, even if in reality they have not. For example, when participants who were moving a cursor around a computer screen along with someone else (akin to having four hands on the pointer on a Ouija board) heard the name of some image mentioned and then the cursor stopped there 2 s later, they believed that they had intentionally caused the cursor to stop, even though the stopping was actually programmed by the apparatus (Wegner & Wheatley, 1999). There are several ways to interpret these ? ndings. One is to suggest that all conscious will and volition are illusions: From the observation that people are sometimes mistaken about conscious will, one could extrapolate that they are always mistaken. Another is to suggest that people do not have a direct, introspective way of knowing when they initiate action, and so they rely on salient cues to give them the feel and subjective impression of having acted or chosen, and this system of cues can be fooled. Shifts in the social distribution of causality and agency are important to people, and these correspond to social phenomena that people have encountered for millennia. Power, for example, confers on one person the right to make decisions that may affect others (e. g. , Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003), and the long history of power struggles can be viewed as being about who gets to choose. Studies by Brehm (1966) and his colleagues have also shown that people are very sensitive to having their freedom of choice restricted by others. When an option is taken away from them, they respond by desiring that option more, by trying actively to reassert that freedom and take that option, and even by aggressing against whomever restricted their freedom. Such patterns seem hard to reconcile with the view that all free will and choice (in every sense) are illusions: Why would people care so much about something that is entirely inconsequential? Another approach to understanding what people mean by free will is to have participants rate how free a stimulus person’s actions are. Stillman, Sparks, Baumeister, and Tice (2006) had participants rate scenarios that varied systematically along several dimensions. Participants rated people’s actions as freest when their choices were made after conscious deliberation, when their actions went against external pressure rather than going along with it, and when people acted against their shortterm self-interest. Thus conscious, rational choice and selfcontrol seem to be integral parts of what people perceive as free. When people wrote autobiographical accounts of their own acts that felt free or unfree, pursuing long-term personal goals was central to the feeling of freedom. The difference suggests that people see free will in others as useful for restraining their socially undesirable impulses, but in themselves they see free will in the sustained pursuit of (enlightened) self-interest. As Dennett (1984, 2003) has argued, free will is hardly worth having unless it helps you get something you want. THE EVOLUTION OF FREEDOM Several recent authors have argued that human freedom of action is a product of evolutionary processes (e. g. , Dennett, 2003). I proposed that the de? ning thrust of human psychological evolution was selection in favor of cultural capability (Baumeister, 2005). That process might well have included a new, different way of controlling behavior, whose purpose was enabling the beast to function in a complex, information-based society. The hallmarks of this new form of behavioral control include personal responsibility, conscious deliberation, invoking abstract rules and principles to guide actions, autonomous initiative, and a capacity to resist urges that have earlier evolutionary roots but that may be incompatible with civilized life (e. g. , eating any food you ? nd when hungry, including what is on the plates of other restaurant patrons). Whether this pattern will satisfy the various theological and philosophical de? nitions of free will is hard to say, but it could well correspond to what ordinary people mean when they speak of free action. The previous section noted that free will has to be useful for bene? ting the person. Evolution has favored animals with psychological processes insofar as those processes help them pursue their goals. A more intelligent animal, for example, may be better able to ? nd food and reproduce than a less intelligent one. In human cultural life, however, there is sometimes a tradeoff between short-term and long-term goals, and much of the success of the human species is based on our ability to sacri? ce short-term goals for the long-term ones, as in delay of grati? cation (Mischel & Ayduk, 2004). For example, taking someone else’s food may bring short-term bene? ts, but if it leads the other group members to imprison or expel the person, it could be self-defeating in the long run. Hence free will may be most useful in fostering the pursuit of enlightened self-interest. Were evolution working instead to enable the human animal to pursue what it wants right now to maximum effect, it might have promoted physical strength, speed, and ferocity rather than brainpower and social skills. But to succeed and live harmoniously in a cultural group, the animal is best served by being able to inhibit its impulses and desires. Perhaps ironically, free will is necessary to enable people to follow rules. 16 Volume 3—Number 1 Roy F. Baumeister Let me focus brie? y on two of the most important phenomena that are associated with the concept of free will: self-control and rational intelligent choice. The cultural-animal argument has the following assumptions. First, self-control and smart choice are much more highly developed in humans than in other animals and thus are among the most distinctively human traits. Second, these traits are highly conducive for living in a cultural society. Third, these traits are probably interrelated in the sense of sharing some inner processes and mechanisms, which suggests that one evolved ? rst and the other piggy-backed on the ? rst one’s system. My speculative evolutionary scenario is that self-control evolved ? rst, because it is useful already in merely social (as opposed to cultural) groups. For example, it would be natural for hungry animals to eat food that they see and want, but in many social groups the alpha male would beat up any other who tries to take his food or usurp his other prerogatives. Therefore, in order to live in social groups, animals must develop the capacity to restrain their impulses and bring their behavior into line with externally imposed constraints. Moving from social to cultural groups substantially increases the importance of following rules, including moral principles, laws, commands, religious prescriptions, norms, and customs. Rational intelligent choice, then, evolved later than selfcontrol and was even more distinctively associated with culture. Culture is based on information, and the large amount of information in a culture creates great opportunities for reasoning powers to sort through it and draw action-relevant conclusions. Human decision making is far more complex and varied than that in other species. As Searle (2001) pointed out, rationality is widely regarded as a central human trait, but not all have noticed that rationality entails at least some limited concept of free will—at least to the extent that one can alter one’s behavior on the basis of that reasoning. Put another way, self-control gives the capacity to alter your behavior to conform to the group’s rules, and rationality enables you to work out your own rules and then behave accordingly. This line of thought ? ts the view of free will as a sometime thing. People are incompletely rational and self-controlled. They have the capacity for acting for acting rationally and exerting self-control, but they only use it sometimes. This suggests the capacity is limited. WHY FREE WILL IS LIMITED Our research on ego depletion provides one way to understand why free will is at best an occasional phenomenon. In testing several competing theories about self-regulation, we consistently found that people performed relatively poorly at almost any self-control task if they had recently performed a different self-control task (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). The implication is that some resource is used up by the ? rst act of self-control, leaving less available for the second. Choice may also deplete the same resource. Vohs et al.(2006) found that making a series of choices led to poorer self-control on subsequent, unrelated tasks, as compared with just thinking about items or answering questions about them without making choices among them. The fact that effortful choice uses the same resource as self-control links the two main forms of free will and supports the idea that they share a common underlying mechanism. Thus, the traditional concept of ‘‘willpower’’ does appear to be a useful metaphor, insofar as both self-control and rational choice rely on some kind of power. To move beyond metaphor, Gailliot et al.(2007) began studying blood-glucose dynamics. Glucose is a chemical in the bloodstream that is the fuel for brain (and other) activities. Although all brain processes use glucose, some use much more than others, and self-control is a likely candidate to be one of these more expensive processes. Gailliot et al. (2007) found that acts of self-control caused reductions in the levels of glucose in the bloodstream, and that low levels of blood glucose after initial acts of self-control were strongly correlated with poor self-control on subsequent tasks. Moreover, experimental administrations of glucose counteracted some of the ego-depletion effects. That is, drinking a glass of lemonade with sugar enabled people to perform well at self-control even if they had recently gone through a depleting exercise of self-control. Lemonade made with a sugar substitute (thus not furnishing glucose) had no effect. These ? ndings suggest that human evolution developed a second, new, and expensive way of controlling action. It involved using relatively large quantities of the body’s caloric energy to fuel complex psychological processes. If the cultural-animal argument is correct, then these processes should have improved biological success by enabling people to behave in more advantageous ways. Ample evidence con? rms that this second executive mode of action control has adaptive bene? ts and that when its resources are depleted or inadequate, behavior is less successful. Nondepleted persons outperform ego-depleted ones at making effective and unbiased decisions (Amir, Dhar, Pocheptsaya, & Baumeister, 2007), at logical reasoning and intelligent thought (Schmeichel, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2003), and at active coping with unexpected setbacks (Vohs & Baumeister, 2006). Self-control has multiple bene? ts, and people who are high on the trait end up more successful in work and school, are more popular and better liked, have healthier and more stable relationships, commit fewer crimes, and have less psychopathology (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Mischel, Shoda, & Peake, 1988; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). And as for following rules generally, there is some cross-cultural evidence that countries with higher rule of law report signi? cantly higher subjective well-being (Veenhoven, 2004). Volume 3—Number 1 17 Free Will in Scienti? c Psychology BELIEVING IN FREEDOM This brief article has argued that psychology’s task is to ? nd out what people perceive as free will and what genuine psychological phenomena underlie those perceptions. Such investigations will not establish whether free will exists according to some philosophical or theological de? nitions, and it remains possible that many laypersons’ beliefs about free will are partly or wholly mistaken. If free will is entirely an illusion, however, then it becomes especially perplexing that people devote so much time and effort to sustaining those illusions. Belief in free will is highly relevant to many social, legal, and moral judgments. For example, if all actions are fully caused and therefore inevitable, why does the legal system spend so much time trying to establish whether a perpetrator was acting freely? ‘‘Heat of passion’’ crimes are just as fully caused as any other crimes, in that view, so it makes little sense for judges to award lighter sentences. Yet they do. One possible explanation for the widespread social belief in free will is that it helps produce socially desirable and harmonious actions. To return to the cultural-animal framework, I am assuming that people evolved so as to be able to live and work in culture (Baumeister, 2005). Anything that makes people better able to do that, including improvements in cooperation and prosocial actions or reductions in antisocial actions, would therefore be bene? cial. To speculate, cultures that believed in free will might have outreproduced and supplanted cultures that did not. Belief in free will does support socially desirable actions, according to Vohs and Schooler (2008). They found that participants who had been induced to disbelieve in free will were subsequently more likely than a control group to cheat on a test. Further studies by Baumeister, Masicampo, and DeWall (2006) using the Vohs–Schooler methods found that inducing participants to disbelieve in free will made them more aggressive and less helpful toward others. If we combine the cheating, aggression, and helping ? ndings, it seems reasonable to suggest that belief in free will is conducive to better, more harmonious social behavior. CONCLUSION A scienti?c approach to free will should perhaps start with the view that freedom of action evolved as a new, more sophisticated form of controlling behavior. Its two components, self-control and rational intelligent choice, conferred important advantages by enabling the human animal to function within a cultural society. Recent evidence about ego depletion and glucose dynamics suggests that this new, freer form of action control is biologically expensive, which may help explain why free will is only used occasionally. Nonetheless, even its occasional use may contribute greatly to increasing the ? Exibility and adaptive diversity of human behavior. Acknowledgments—Work on this article was facilitated by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, and it builds on research supported by Grant MH57039 from the National Institute of Mental Health. REFERENCES Amir, O. , Dhar, R. , Pocheptsaya, A. , & Baumeister, R. F. (2007). The fatigued decision maker: Ego depletion changes decision process and outcome. Manuscript submitted for publication. Bargh, J. A. (1994). The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, ef? ciency, intention, and control in social cognition. In R. S. Wyer Jr. , & T. K. Srull (Eds. ), Handbook of social cognition (2nd ed. , pp. 1–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Bargh, J. A. , & Morsella, E. (2008). The primacy of the unconscious. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 73–79. Baumeister, R. F. (2005). The cultural animal: Human nature, meaning, and social life. New York: Oxford University Press. Baumeister, R. F. , Bratslavsky, E. , Muraven, M. , & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265. Baumeister, R. F. , Masicampo, E. J. , & DeWall, C. N. (2006). Prosocial bene? ts of feeling free: Inducing disbelief in free will increases aggression and reduces helpfulness. Manuscript submitted for publication. Brehm, J. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. New York: Academic Press. Dennett, D. C. (1984). Elbow room: The varieties of free will worth wanting. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dennett, D. C. (2003). Freedom evolves. New York: Viking/Penguin. Donald, M. (2002). A mind so rare: The evolution of human consciousness. New York: Norton. Duckworth, A. L. , & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944. Gailliot, M. T. , Baumeister, R. F. , DeWall, C. N. , Maner, J. K. , Plant, E. A. , Tice, D. M. , et al. (2007). Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 325–336. Glass, D. C. , Singer, J. E. , & Friedman, L. N. (1969). Psychic cost of adaptation to an environmental stressor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 12, 200–210. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503. Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. The distinction between free choice and unfree action has enormous and widespread signi? cance individually, socially, historically, and politically. That distinction also seems so thoroughly woven into the fabric of human social life that it seems quixotic to try to imagine a society that had abandoned the concept so as to operate ‘‘beyond freedom and dignity,’’ in Skinner’s (1971) titular phrase. Psychology can explore and elucidate that difference between free and unfree action without having to resolve metaphysical questions. Conscious, controlled, and self-regulating processes seem likely to be important aspects of what people understand as free will. 18 Volume 3—Number 1 Roy F. Baumeister Kant, I. (1967). Kritik der praktischen Vernunft [Critique of practical reason]. Hamburg, Germany: Felix Meiner Verlag. (Original work published 1797) Keltner, D. , Gruenfeld, D. H. , & Anderson, C. (2003). Power, approach, and inhibition. Psychological Review, 110, 265–284. Libet, B. (1985). Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behavior and Brain Sciences, 8, 529–566. Libet, B. (1999). Do we have free will? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, 47–57. Linder, D. E. , Cooper, J. , & Jones, E. E. (1967). Decision freedom as a determinant of the role of incentive magnitude in attitude change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 245–254. Mischel, W. , & Ayduk, O. (2004). Willpower in a cognitive-affective processing system: The dynamics of delay of grati? cation. In R. Baumeister & K. Vohs (Eds. ), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 99–129). New York: Guilford. Mischel, W. , Shoda, Y. , & Peake, P. K. (1988). The nature of adolescent competencies predicted by preschool delay of grati? cation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 687–696. Muraven, M. R. , & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle? Psychological Bulletin, 126, 247–259. Ryan, R. M. , & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78. Sartre, J. -P. (1974). Being and nothingness. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel. (Original work published 1943) Schmeichel, B. J. , Vohs, K. D. , & Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Intellectual performance and ego depletion: Role of the self in logical reasoning and other information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 33–46. Searle, J. R. (2001). Rationality in action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Knopf. Stillman, T. D. , Sparks, E. , Baumeister, R. F. , & Tice, D. M. (2006). What makes freedom? Situational factors that in? uence ratings of free will. Manuscript in preparation. Tangney, J. P. , Baumeister, R. F. , & Boone, A. L. (2004). High selfcontrol predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–322. Veenhoven, R. (2004). World database of happiness: Continuous register of scienti? c research on subjective appreciation of life. Retrieved September 26, 2004, from http://www. eur. nl/fsw/research/happiness Vohs, K. D. , & Baumeister, R. F. (2006). Does depletion promote passivity? Self-regulatory resources and active coping. Manuscript in preparation. Vohs, K. D. , Baumeister, R. F. , Nelson, N. M. , Rawn, C. D. , Twenge, J. M. , Schmeichel, B. J. , & Tice, D. M. (2006). Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: A limited resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative. Manuscript submitted for publication. Vohs, K. D. , & Schooler, J. W. (2008). The value of believing in free will: Encouraging a belief in determinism increases cheating. Psychological Science, 19, 49–54. Wegner, D. M. (2002). The illusion of conscious will. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Wegner, D. M. , & Wheatley, T. (1999). Apparent mental causation: Sources of the experience of will. American Psychologist, 54, 480–491. Wilson, T. D. (2002). Strangers to ourselves: Discovering the adaptive unconscious. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Volume 3—Number 1 19.

Computerized Student Billing System

| HOW TO PAY SCHOOL FEES THROUGH BILLING| 1. 1 . If your sending agency (e. g. Bank of Tokyo, Sumitomo Corporation, GSIS, etc. ) is to be billed through the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS), go to Room 302, Vinzon's Hall : 1. a. Have your Form 5 approved by OSSS. Please check the name of the Scholarship and the privilege (e. g. Tution Only, All School fees) if it is indicated on the form. 2. b. Submit your Form5 to ARS-Billing. If your Scholarship privilege covers all school fees, your Form 5 will be stamped REGISTERED. If you are paying part of the assesed fee (e. g. student fund, fine), follow item 3 below 2. 2 . If your sending agency is to be billed through the OUR 3. a. Submit the certificate of Authority to Bill from your sending agency everytime you enroll 4. b. Submit your Form 5 to ARS-Billing for stamping of REGISTERED 3. 3 . If you are paying part of the assessed fee (e. g. student fund, fine), proceed to the payment area and pay the necessary fees| International Student Billing System The student receivables system brings University charges and credits into one account. The Billing and Receivables Office will compile the latest information from University offices (i. e. Financial Aid, Registrar's and University Housing and Dining) and prepare the monthly billing statement. A finance charge of 1% per month on the unpaid balance from prior month's billing will be assessed. A student with a past due (encumbered) account balance will be denied registration. The University bills by semester, not by academic year. Actively enrolled students will receive their billing statement via STARS. Notification will be sent to the student at their WIU e-mail address when each bill is ready to view on STARS. Students may establish one additional e-mail address to which the notification may also be sent by notifying us at  [email  protected] edu. The e-mail will include the account balance and the due date. Students who need more than one additional billing email can contact the Student Assistance and Parent Service Center. Account detail may be viewed on STARS by selecting B/R Account Detail. Failure to  view a bill will not excuse finance charge assessment or payment of the account. It is the student's responsibility to notify the appropriate office of address or e-mail corrections. Payments Billing System The Billing and Receivables Office compiles the latest information from University offices (i. e. Financial Aid, Registrar’s, and University Housing and Dining) and prepares the monthly billing statement. Billing statements are sent electronically to the student’s wiu. edu e-mail address as well as any parent/guest e-mail on file when the bill is ready to view on STARS. The e-mail will include the account balance and the due date. Payment Due Dates Payment is due on the 28th  of each month. Tuition and fees  for the fall term are billed in August, charges for the spring term are billed in January, and charges for the summer term  are billed in June. Open Payment Policy: Students are responsible for paying their account balances within the semester incurred. These charges, in accordance with Western Illinois University Policy, apply to all students billed through the Billing and Receivables office, and are subject to a finance charge of 1% on the unpaid account balance after the 28th of each month. Failure to view a bill will not excuse finance charge assessment or payment of the account. It is the student’s responsibility to update their STARS account of address or e-mail corrections. A financial hold will be place on any delinquent student account that will prevent registration, release of transcripts, and release of diploma. Payment Methods ACH: Make payments directly from your bank account via  STARS  Payment Online. Automated Payment Plan: An automated payment plan is available to divide your cost of attendance into several monthly payments. Payments are deducted monthly on the 5th of the month from the designated bank account. There is not a finance charge assessed on the contracted amount; however, there is a $2. 00 per month transaction fee to cover processing. Additional charges incurred above the contracted amount will be billed and subject to a 1% finance charge if not paid by the 28th  of each month. A contract must be completed on STARS by a student or individuals with parent and guest access. Any changes to a completed agreement must be done by the student or guest that originated the contract. Only one contract per semester may be completed for each student. By Mail: Mail your payment (personal check, cashiers check or money order) to the Billing and Receivables Office, 1 University Circle, Macomb IL 61455-1390. Include your student ID number on all payments. Credit Card: Credit card payments may only be processed through the Illinois Treasurer's Electronic Payment website,  www. illinoisepay. com  or by calling 1-877-455-3729. They accept MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. There is a convenience fee associated with this service. In Person: Take your payment (cash, personal check, cashiers check or money order) to the University Union Service Center outside of the WIU Bookstore. Return Payments Personal checks and ACH payments that are accepted by any unit of the University and are returned by the student’s bank unpaid are subject to a penalty of $25. 00 per each returned payment. The University suspends the check cashing privilege for a minimum of one full year if an individual has more than two payments returned by the bank for any reason. Sanctions Against Delinquent Accounts * Transcript and Diploma Hold: If an account becomes past due, transcripts of the student’s records will not be released and graduating students who are past due will also have a hold placed upon their diplomas until their account is brought to current status. * Finance Charge Assessment: Delinquent accounts are subject to a monthly 1% finance charge assessment. This amount is calculated as a part of the monthly billing process on any unpaid amount due. Internal Collections: Following the end of each semester, students not registered for the following semester should contact the Billing and Receivables Office to make payment arrangements. If your balance is not paid in full or a payment agreement is not made within 90 days of the end of the semester, a claim will be submitted to the State Comptroller’s Office in accordance with the Illinois Collection Act which authorizes the deduction of the amount you owe WIU from an amount normal ly due to you (i. e. payroll, tax refunds, etc. ). Attorney/Collection Agency Placement: If payment arrangements are not made on a timely basis, the account may be referred to an attorney and/or collection agency. The account may also be reported to TransUnion credit bureau. * Registration: Students will not be allowed to register for the current or future term if they have a past-due balance and may be required to prepay for the upcoming term. A student will remain a prepay student for a minimum period of two years. If you have questions regarding certain items on your bill, please contact the following departments: Finance Charge/Billing Address  | Billing and Receivables| 309. 98. 1831| Financial Aid| Financial Aid Office| 309. 298. 2446| Library Fines| Library| 309. 298. 2705  | Tuition/Fees| Billing  and Receivables  | 309. 298. 1831| Telephone Charges| Telecommunications| 309. 298. 2713| Health Center Charges| Beu Health Center| 309. 298. 1888| Insurance Fee| Student H ealth Insurance  | 309. 298. 1882| Parking Fines| Parking Services| 309. 298. 1921| Housing Charges| UHDS| 309. 298. 2461| Student ID Card Charges| UHDS| 309. 298. 2461| Orientation Fee| Registrar| 309. 298. 1891| Athletic Waivers| Athletics| 309. 298. 1964|

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Personal Statement Example And once I settled down with the campus life, I was more than eager to begin my education. However things did not turn out as I had expected as all my hopes that were built during the first few weeks did not last for long and I was left to think whether I really intended to continue my education in that place. After a lot of thinking, I then decided to transfer to a different college, though I was initially apprehensive about my parent’s response to my decision. After much debate and consultation, I have now finally decided to take the chance and apply for the university; one, which I believe, would provide me with good education and at the same time also aid in my personality growth and development into a better individual. College education changed my perception of education in many ways and also my objectives in life. The experience that I gained during my first semester at college was vastly different from that of school and it made me become more independent and pushed me to work harder with my studies. The confidence that I gained during this period helped me choose my major subjects and other courses, according to my liking and strength and also learnt the most important requirement of effective time management. I realized that there was more to education than what I had previously imagined.

Network Topology Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Network Topology Design - Assignment Example Major emphasis has been laid on the use of a three-layer hierarchical model. The company’s initial network configuration revolved around ten (10) users. This lays the foundation for the first network topology. By the end of the first twelve months, the number of users or employees rose to one hundred. Consequently, this rise in the number of employees acts as the building for the second network topology design. Lastly, it is projected that in the second year, the number of employees will again rise by one hundred. As indicated in the network topology diagram below, the initial computer network configuration at the company is composed of ten user computers. This is to offer services to the company’s ten employees. For efficiency and smooth connectivity, a three-layer hierarchical network model has been applied. This is to promote successful execution of the day-to-day company operations. In essence, the model provided a quality platform for flexibility, which is a key requirement for the aggressive expansion in the company’s networking operations. The assumption for this initial model is that, virtual private network connectivity is the main security mechanism. This is because, as indicated in the diagram, all operations are within a network that has been well integrated into one coherent unit (Karris, 2009). It is essential to clarify that the second diagram below provides an extended version of the initial company network. This is because the number of employees has increased to one hundred. The main assumption for this network configuration is that it is divided into two virtual local area networks (VLANS). That is, each router is composed of its own local area network. This is to promote efficient management of each segment of the company network where one of them connects to the company warehouse. It has also been assumed that, each of the switches has a minimum

Clinical immunology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Clinical immunology - Essay Example The allergen specific test is conducted using IgE antibodies which are found in mucous membranes, lungs and even the skin. The skin prick test on the other hand is external and more of an observation of the skin’s reaction to the allergens therefore house dust termites allergen cannot be detected through it (Sicherer,2012). Question 3 The major allergens in milk are casein and whey which are the components of milk that trigger reaction with the IgE. In peanut, there is the Ara h1 which is contained in the cotyledon and looks like vicilin (Tan , Lebeck & Nehlsen-Cannarella , 2012). Peanut and tree nuts may both test positive to a test but this does not necessarily mean that the said person is allergic to both since there are false positives. This means the child can test positive but still eat the food without having any problem. It is a kind of seed storage that triggers the reaction with IgE. In eggs, there are the ovamucoid and ovalbumin which have been identified as the maj or allergens, there are lesser ones. These two are found in the egg white (Bellanti, 2011). Question 4 Th-2 cells triggers the activation of mast cells, B cells and eosinophils that produce IgE antibodies. Th-2 produces IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13 and it also regulates eosinophil and B cell mediated responses. IL-17 is a group of cytokines that support inflammation that are produced by activated memory cells. This cytokine takes part in the creation of an immunological response that is dependent on Th-2 cells. This happens through the introduction of cytokines derived by Th-2 (Tan, Lebeck & Nehlsen-Cannarella, 2012).This is supported by the inflammation of the eosiniphil. The characteristics of response induced by different IL-17 all comes down to their structure. These differences therefore determine their functions biologically. Question 5 Histamine is organic and also a nitrogen compound that is normally involved in immune responses and it also regulates the physiological functions o f the gut. It activates inflammatory response when it acts as a neurotransmitter. Basophils produce histamine and by studying their release assay, the physician is able to determine the main allergy/asthma.PGD2 binds to receptor PTGDR and CRTH2; it is produced by mast cells and is very critical when it comes to the development of asthma and other allergic diseases. This makes it an important aspect when treatment of an allergy victim is done. The release assay can show the intensity of the allergy hence helping the physician determine the best medication or therapy. Eosinophil Cationic Protein can also be called ribonuclease 3 and is related to allergies because when an allergic reaction occurs, there number of ECP in the body rises significantly especially in areas with inflammations. Question 6 Hygiene hypothesis states that when one is not exposed to infectious agents at an early childhood stage, their chances of being susceptible to allergic diseases since the development of the ir immune system is suppressed hence making them have an immune system that can barely defend the body (Tan , Lebeck & Nehlsen-Cannarella , 2012).The polarized response by Th1 is not introduced to the system early enough

Challenges Facing Destination Managers at Sydney for thr Essay

Challenges Facing Destination Managers at Sydney for thr Infrastructure of the Place - Essay Example The marketability of any particular tourist destination largely depends on the perceptions of different market areas. Such perceptions may be varied in nature. Huge investments are made on a regular basis by several countries to make a destination successfully available to the tourists (Beirman, 2003, pp.3-4). A country, trying to provide its tourists with different facilities, also has to encounter several challenges associated with the facilities and services. With the growing competition in the industry, the complexities have increased to great extents leading to greater problems with tourist destinations (Bramwell & Lane, 2004, p.78). The present study has considered Sydney as the tourism destination for study and discusses about the challenges encountered by the destination managers in the city. Sydney is the oldest, largest and the most popular city in the country of Australia. Both business and arts of the country are mostly delivered by this city. It is one of the most attrac tive places in the world delivering scenic beauty, geographical locations of waters as well as leisure activities. There are mountains as well as seas, along with several inland waterways and national parks (Sydney- General Information, n.d.). Sydney as a Tourist Destination: Sydney presents several places to visit for the tourists thus attracting visitors from across the world. Australia’s diverse wildlife, the galleries representing art, Sydney Opera House delivering beautiful performances and convict heritage site are all listed in the World Heritage list. Visitors can spend several hours at these places. The places also offer meals and leisure activities for the visitors. There are thrilling experiences for the kids as well delivered by places like the Taronga Zoo or Featherdale Widlife Park. Other tourist attractions that are of significant attractions include Luna Park, a fun-packed, harbourside amusement park and Sydney Tower Eye. The Sydney Tower is the uppermost spot above Sydney consisting several views of the harbour, beaches as well as the Blue Mountains (Sydney Attraction, n.d.). The Blue Mountains Region in Sydney has in the recent years attracted the most numbers of visitors. It has proved to be a place for immense recreation and relaxation. In the 1990s, the area had lacked its image particularly owing to the iconic natural and built assets. Later there have been several initiatives to improve the region and in the present times, the region drags â€Å"a large share of the tourism market† (Blue Mountains Regional Tourism Plan 2004-2007, n.d.). A tourism plan is also involved in this regard that has been consulted with several stakeholders. The target markets have also been segmented accordingly and these include the luxury travelers, the adventure travelers, the touring travelers, the peer group travelers as well as the family travelers. Both domestic and international visitors are targeted in this regard with the international co untries including UK, Germany and USA. The experiences of the nature, the heritage, the arts and culture, and the indulgence and rejuvenation have been the major appeals of this region (Blue Mountains Regional Tourism Plan 2004-2007, n.d.). Competitors of Sydney in the tourism market include other Australian cities like Melbourne, as well as other regional competitors like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur. This competition has led to a need for Sydney to market and promote their tourism in the industry

September 11th Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

September 11th - Essay Example This paper aims to examine the historic yet much-disputed event in a perspective that delves into the purported causes, outcomes, interpretations and analyses by various authorities leading to solve its mystery and to substantiate that it is, in fact, a purposeful act of terrorism. A Day of Terror It was just a typical busy day for Manhattan’s financial district until loud explosions roared and alarms reverberated all at once. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were burning, initial reports said. Succeeding news items revealed that it was a series of airplane crashes that hit the two building buildings due to hijacking operations. Few minutes passed when live broadcasts broke another story that another passenger airline crashed into The Pentagon, and a fourth one plunged into a field in Pennsylvania (a failed attempt to hit the White House of the Capitol); conclusions were drawn that the progression of incidents was actually a terrorist attack by suicide bombers. Author ities reported that there were no survivors from any of the flights and that almost 3, 000 people died due to the incident, including the 19 hijackers. The number accounted for 836 firefighters and police officers who showed up for rescue that doubled after a week. Additionally, it was noted that most of the casualties were American civilians and nationals from almost 100 countries (â€Å"In-depth: September,† 2007). Horrible and piteous scenes documented by videos and photographs of the incident could hardly describe the total magnitude of the catastrophic event during ‘nine eleven.’ The whole scope of damage did not only encompass the targeted structures which were deemed as symbols of American supremacy, it also included several buildings on the site that were destroyed or severely weakened such as related financial and business complexes, media outlets, government offices, a hotel, a church and pedestrian bridges. Furthermore, the attacks generated widespread disorder among news agencies, airline companies and airport facilities, security personnel, law enforcers and political leaders around the globe. For three days, all international civilian flights were prohibited to land on the U.S soil. Aircrafts already in flight were either turned down or rerouted to other airports in nearby countries. Such was the paranoia of the American government and the people during the time. Subsequently, the suspected attackers, of various nationalities, were identified. The Federal Bureau of Investigation determined the personal information of the passengers that boarded the planes and reckoned their identities and capabilities to carry out the despicable assault. It was found out that they formally attended American aviation schools, which qualified them to deliver the attack. On board American Airlines Flight 11 were Mohamed Atta, Satam al-Suqami, Waleed Alshehri, Wail Alshahri and Abdulaziz Alomari. Marwan Al-Shehhi, Ahmed Alghamdi, Hamza Alghamdi, M ohald Alshehri and Fayez Rashid were in United Airlines Flight 175. In American Airline Flight 77 were Khalid Almihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf Alhamzi, Salem Alhamzi and Ani Hanjour. While, Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmed Alnami, Ziad Samir al-Jarrah and Ahmed al-Naznawi were able to pass airport scrutiny by behaving like ordinary passengers and boarded United Airlines F

Mexican Gulf Oil Spill Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mexican Gulf Oil Spill - Research Paper Example The company’s reputation was also tarnished severely, as the oil spill was a public relations disaster. British Petroleum had to face criticism not only from environmental groups but also from the general populace. The case study of Gulf of Mexico oil spill will aid the understanding of the audience as to how the company dealt with the situation. The focus will be on the way company handled its communication in the media. Also, the role of culture and politics and its impact on the way the company dealt with the crisis will be discussed. The reaction of the public and how British Petroleum handled it will also be significant part of this case study. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill The Gulf of Mexico oil spill started on 20th April 2010 with an explosion of the deep water horizon in which 11 men lost their lives and another 17 were left wounded (Welch & Joyner, 2010). The explosion resulted in the worst oil spill in the history of oil and gas industry, and millions of barrels of crude oil polluted the sea. The oil spill lasted for about 3 months, during which British Petroleum tried many attempts to block the oil well. Government agencies also took action, and the company was fined. The company also had to deal with many lawsuits from businesses and individuals. The underwater oil spills are difficult to stop, because the source of oil is underwater. This is why it took the company 3 months to stop the oil spill. The company tried very hard to stop the oil spill earlier but was not successful. British Petroleum also had to face severe criticism and public outrage when many of its attempts to stop the oil spills went unsuccessful. People couldn’t find answers as to how it is not possible for a company as big as British Petroleum to stop the oil spill. The underwater oil spill is also more damaging than other types of drilling disasters, because it is very difficult to clean the rivers and seas that are affected by the oil spill. British Petroleum had to ha ndle this situation, as it was no less than a public relations disaster. The company had to take tough decisions to protect its reputation, as it was getting a bashing from media, environmental groups, and public. The company first tried to dial down the situation and took a position that the oil spill is not as big as people think it is. The potential damage of the oil spill was dialed down by the company. The company also took steps to curb the damage from the oil spill. The policy of damage control was put in place as the company was trying to stop the oil spill. Initially, people believed the company’s stance that everything would work out. But when days went by and the oil spill didn’t stop, the media and the public started to panic. This is when the company publicly admitted that there was something seriously wrong and steps had to be taken. Initially, however, the policy of dialing down the issue was followed by the company. Given the size of the company, it was necessary for it to dial down the danger. Any bad news would result in lowering stock prices, which is not acceptable by the shareholders; therefore, the company initially tried to tell people that the problem was not bad enough and the company would soon solve it. From the standpoint of the company, it was a good step, as it stopped the share prices from falling immediately. But when the news broke out that the company is finding it difficult to fix the oil spill, company stocks decreased and, eventually,

Dream Essay Essay Example for Free

Dream Essay Essay Imagine yourself 10 years from now. After spending most of your young life cramped inside of an overpopulated school, you are anxious to begin your dream job, the job that you have been waiting for since grade school. Now, it’s finally yours and no one can take it away from you, no matter how hard they try. Everyone has a dream that they would like to have come true later in life, whether it’s to have their dream job, or to meet their favorite celebrity. My dream in life is to finish school and become a doctor. I want this dream to come true because ever since the doctors at Saint Barnabas hospital saved my mother from dying from birth, my brother from dying from multiple asthma attacks, and my grandma from breast cancer, I knew I wanted to be like them someday, helping to save the lives of young(and old)people. There are multiple steps that I would have to take for me to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor. The first step to accomplishing my goal is attending an Ivy League School. The best way to be able to attend an Ivy League School is getting admirable grades early. Ivy League Schools most likely won’t admit you to their school if you start doing well in school late in high school. You should also challenge yourself academically. This means taking advanced courses, especially ones that offer college credits. Ivy League Schools prefer students who do well in a challenging course than one that does exceptional in an average one. Although this may be a tedious task, I believe that it’s worth the wait. To accomplish my goal to become a doctor, I will have to be very studious and diligent for me to be able to finish school. When I close my eyes, I can imagine myself 15, 20 years from now, accomplishing my dream of becoming a doctor. After a long day of working as a doctor in my office in California, I finally get to come home to my wonderful husband, 2 kids, 2 dogs, a turtle, a hamster, and a guinea pig. The scene when I get home is different everyday. Sometimes, I come home to the find everything serene and the kids doing homework or the kids watching television with the dogs at their feet. But other times, I come home to total chaos. The kids are fighting for no apparent reason and the house is flipped completely upside down. But, even with the chaos, I love my family and wouldn’t change anything, even if I could. I can already imagine myself taking care of a patient. I’m working in my office when the doctors rush him in, telling me that he’s been in a horrible car accident and is unresponsive. They also tell me that a piece of the metal highway barrier has entered his body and when I look down, I can see it jutting out of the lower section of his thigh. We rush him into an operating room, give him the anesthesia, and start the procedure to remove the jutting highway barrier from the man’s body. After 6 hours, 3 cups of coffee, and a lot of skin and blood lost, we finally removed the piece of metal out of the man’s thigh. After the procedure, I got many accolades from my fellow doctors. Being a doctor demonstrates all of the capricious things that happen in life, but everyday, I revel the fact that I get to live out my dreams. Now that my dream is a reality, I can say that after many years of working hard in school, have accomplished my goal of becoming a doctor. Now, I can probably better understand how tired my mom actually was taking care of two kids and working full time. Working full time and becoming a mother to two kids makes me appreciate my mother even more than I already do. I know how hard she works to take care of me and my little brother and also to be able to pay all bills. Becoming a doctor changed my family’s life because now, instead of them taking care of me, I am old enough to take care of myself, and my family members. I hope that instead of fantasizing about it, I will actually get to live out my dream 15, 20 years from now.

Schindlers List And Saving Private Ryan

Schindlers List And Saving Private Ryan Both films demonstratively take on a time in history and rework it in the name of memory. The power of both movies lies in their label of authenticity. Schindlers List is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler and Saving Private Ryan is in part based on the true story of Friz Niland. The factual historical figures are not the only interplay between fact and fiction. Scenes in classical Hollywood film standards stand in contrast with the integration of various devices originally belonging to a documentary. An example for a scene in Schindlers List that can be easily identified as fiction or as a classical Hollywood scene is when the women and children are taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau due to a mix-up of lists. They are told to take a shower. Spielberg spends a good deal over this scene showing the womens frightened faces with the violins playing in the background and the womens cumulative screams. At the end, water flows from the shower heads and the frantic screams get replaced by laughter. Supporting the idea stated in the review, this scene was there to make the event more dramatic. It created an element of fiction. In Saving Private Ryan one noticeable classical Hollywood mode is the movement of the camera. It breezily moves alongside the characters, which helps the viewer through the narrative dialogues. The real story of Friz Niland becomes a narration and with this a mixture between fiction and fact. Both movies are considered classical Hollywood films, however, Spielberg also integrates various devices originally belonging to documentaries. In Schindlers List almost the entire movie is shot in black-and-white. Leon Wieseltier addresses Schindlers Lists use of black-and-white in Close Encounters of the Nazi Kind: Its renunciation of color is adduced as a sign of its stringency; but the black and white of this film is riper than most color.(p. 42) The rejection of color is riper than most color because of the way it increases the historical feeling. Since all of the pictures we have from that time are not in color, we have only seen the Holocaust in black and white. This puts the film closer to reality. Shooting in black and white is a device normally used in documentaries. With using something originally used by documentaries, Spielberg creates the image of portraying fact and a slice of reality. In order to achieve a more historical texture in Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg mani pulates the film stock. The images of the past are presented in reduced brightness and a flatter contrast. Besides the reduced brightness he also uses a camera movement typical for documentaries. As an example, I want to look at the scene of the invasion of Normandy. The camera, unable to keep up with the speed of death, dashes from man to man. At times the images even lose their corresponding sound to simulate the effect of being shell-shocked. Additionally, the battle scenes are captured with a hand-held camera. This camera style resembles a documentary film and claims to portray the truth or to have direct access to the reality of what happened during the invasion of Normandy. Furthermore, Steven Spielberg breaks away from the Hollywood convention of a neatly divided diegesis between good and evil. Oskar Schindler is a war profiter. He wished to profit from evil, but as the plot develops he uses his financial profits to save the people who helped him win them. It is just when his jews are to be sent to Ausschwitz that he becomes the good character and uses his money to buy them back. In Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg breaks away from the typical Hollywood convention of introducing us to a protagonist (whom we can follow through the diegesis) in the first few minutes. Instead, he leaves the audience confused. In the first thirty minutes of the movie, we cannot identify with any character. Instead, Spielberg gives us the impression of being alongside the characters. The use of various different devices lets the line between fact and fiction become less and less recognizable. It creates an illusion of portraying the past as it really was. This illusion makes us believe that the picture of World War II is captured authentically in both movies. My last argument is on the ground that both films employ their themes in similar ways. First of all Im going to look at the use of color. Schindlers List uses color or the absences of color to create a moral reawakening in the main character. With the film almost entirely in black and white one image strikes out- the girl in the red coat. She is one of the few color images in the entire film. Our attention is drawn to her even if she is but one of a hundred people in a long shot. She is the pure innocence, walking unnoticed through the Nazi Regime. Schindler follows the small figure as she walks aimless and alone amid the madness and horror in the street. At the end he sees her lying on a small wagon besides other murdered prisoners. She touches his soul in a way the shear amounts of numbers couldnt. Her image stands for all of the mass murder of millions of people. She is a symbol for all the 6.000.000 victims, who died, who had families, who had lives and who had dreams. It is at t hat moment that Oskar Schindler begins to change. He changes his dedication from his capitalistic fantasies to the saving of as many Jews as possible. He becomes the good german, an individual that is able to save lives. In Saving Private Ryan no character is presented as the only colorful image in a black and white sequence. However, color is used in an artistic way since most of the movies color is saturated. The opening and final scene, when present-day Private Ryan and his family visit the American Cemetery and Memorial, is shot in unreduced color. This scene shot against the bright light of Colleville-sur-mer in France stands out sharply. It seems to convey the image of a slice of todays reality. The foregoing footage in bleach bypass stands in contrast to it. The color makes a clear difference between what happened in 1944 and what is happening today. While the greater part of the movie captures the brutality of war, the final scene focusses on the survival. The bright color, which conveys a slice of reality, emphasizes the survival of soldiers, while the saturated color supports the senseless and gory picture of war. A second way in which Spielberg employs themes is through the use of long shots and close-ups. We learned that technique is never just technique. It retains a responsibility towards the presented picture. Spielberg uses the difference between long shots and close-ups in both movies- a technique that lets us understand and identify the different themes. I want to take a look at one scene in particular. Spielberg uses parallel editing to interwove Izaak Sterns waking up and Amon Goeths speech with each other. The sequence is presented as a point-of-view sequence, in which Stern is taken as the witness of the preparations for the transportations going on in the Ghetto. Emphasized by a close-up, Stern puts on his glasses and turns towards the window. The following shot is an extreme high angle shot from his vantage point. It takes the window and curtain as the frame. After a shot of rows of chairs and tables being stet up, the camera comes back to a medium shot of Stern, who turns away f rom the window. Throughout the sequence Goeths speech was used as the tone. The scene ends with reconnecting Goeths voice to his body. Quoted in the book Critical Perspectives on Schindlers List Goeffrey H. Hartmann says that: To see things that sharply, and from a privileged position, is to see them with the eyes of those who had the power of life and death.(p 98) Later in the movie, Amon Goeths position and view is represented in a similar way of long shots and close-ups. It presents us with the power he has over life and death. This technique makes the viewer feel uncomfortable, who is able to see how Goeth randomly shoots at people. In Saving Private Ryan I want to look at the use of long shots and close-ups in the shell chock scene at the invasion of Normandy. The camera lies in a mid shot on Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks. It then changes to a mid shot of two soldiers, whose face cannot be seen. It is a subjective point of view shot as it is through Tom Hanks eyes. Going over to a long shot, we can now see the characters whole body as they try to run away from an explosion. After we see Tom Hanks in a mid shot again, the shot transfers to a long shot showing a soldier who has lost his arm and other soldiers hiding behind dead bodies. At the end the scene ends in a close up of Tom Hanks face. His facial expression is serious and has a look that says lets do it. The camera carries us through the mind of an soldier. We can see the things he sees, switching from one event to another. With the close up of the face, the decision to stop looking but fight for the survival is made. Through the difference in long shots and close-ups, Spielberg is able to emphasize the decision of life and death. It helps to employ themes and an unforgettable experience. Last but not least, I want to look at the opening and closing scenes of both movies. The opening scene in Schindlers list is a close-up of a hand lighting a pair of Jewish Sabath candles. Then a man recites the prayer over the wine in the presence of his family. The family vanishes from view and in another close-up shot we see the candles burn lower and lower until they burn out, sending a hint of smoke into the air. The obliteration of the candles is a symbol for the obliteration of the Jewish people. (, which employs the theme of death). The final scene is set in present- day Jerusalem. One of the last shots is one of Schindlers grave, which stands in a christian cemetery. The camera encompasses the large cross attached to the cemetery, which looms against the blue sky. Just prior to the credits, a hand places a rose on Schindlers grave. In a long shot we see the Christian cemetery filled with crosses and we are able to read on the screen: In memory of the more than six million Jew s murdered. The targeting of the crosses seems to say that if Christians would have followed their christians beliefs, not so many Jews would have died. However, the last scene also honors one Christian, who risked his life and helped Jews to survive. Through the opening and closing scene, Spielberg employs the theme of death and survival. The candle turns out at the beginning of the flim, which stand for the death of Jewish people. The bright sky of Jerusalem picks up the light from the first scene and stands for the survival of Jews. Saving Private Ryan both ends and begins with the American Flag. The opening and closing scenes are both set in the American Cemetery in Normandy. An elderly veteran and his family are walking through the cemetery. The tombstones represent the amount of loss experienced during World War II, while the veteran, Private Ryan, stands for the people who survived. The movie is framed by the glorification of the American flag. Within this frame, however, the film acknowledges that the attempt to save private Ryan comes at the expense of soldiers. So while the American flag is there at the beginning and the end it is not clear what it means. One can portray the controversy in the film to America. On the one hand, it has a Declaration of Independence, that people have a free will, and on the other hand it has Federalist 10, which orders people to go to war. Spielberg ultimately ends and opens his film on a note that people survived.

Fall Dance Concert Review Art Essay

Fall Dance Concert Review Art Essay The performance that was observed was not lively as evidenced by the various features. The performance did not make most of the people in the audience to scream. Even the crowd was not cheerful as the performance went on and it showed that the crowd was not moved by the performance. However the dancers looked organized from the way they were entering the stage. I expected a more lively performance that could ignite the audience from the beginning to the end. Push /pull This piece had both men and women with different costumes that also differentiated them. The dance had a total of five dancers and they were dancing to some sort of soul music beats. The music lacked vocals. The stage was brightly lit such that the movement of each dancer could be noticed easily. The color of the costumes could easily be differentiated. The dancers had good costumes with the men having blue trousers and black tops. This made a common costume for the two gentlemen. The ladies costumes were not similar as in the case of the men. They wore shorts of different colors one with white and the other two with black .The ladies top costumes were sleeveless and off different colors for instance yellow light blue and violet. The theme that ran throughout the dance was acrobatic in outlook or some dance competition. From the type of song that was chosen to the costumes and the movements, the dancers express some sort of acrobatic presentation that can entertain the audience. This is a typical dance for music and drama festival events where the dancers are competing against other participants. This has been articulated by the nature of their costumes and the coordinated moves that were being made by the male and female dancers. Such a dance can be compared to the TV show dances that bring out talents in dancing. Movement such as the downward spin has become very common amongst the young dancers. The costume is also typical of the mode of dressing that has characterized TV competition dances. The movements of the dances were unique and uniformed. Both the men and women were making similar movements with their bodies. The up movements with legs apart was very common followed by the downward spins that were well executed by both men and women dancers. From my evaluation, the dance was well executed and the dancers had mastered their movements. They were all going with the same rhythm during the dance. The costumes of the ladies however could have been matched in a better way. As evidenced in the dance, their movements are an illustration of common choreographic movements that have become common in competitions today. Incline The dance had a total of ten dancers who participated in pairs of two. The stage was not lit well and it was difficult to see the faces of the dancers but their movements could be seen. The costumes of the dance were characterized with official wear consisting of shirts and long trousers for the male dancers. The color was dominated by black and white. There was no uniform color in the costumes of the dancers. This was of a formal dance with invited guest. There were different shades of color both in the male and female costume. The lady dancers were dressed in red and white dresses with a wide conical base. The dancers were responding to the classical music that was being enjoyed by most of them. The dance was rather slow and smooth with the male dances holding the female dancers and turning them round. The theme that dominates the entire dance is that of partying or some sort of celebration. This has been depicted by the nature of their costumes. The dancers seemed to be in a party ing mood. For instance this is typical of marriage celebration dances with partners holding each other and turning around to the slow and smooth music from the background. The movements that were being made by the dancers were not coordinated as in the case of competition dancers. Particularly, the male dancers seemed to be relaxed and did not make much movement without the lady dancers. At some instances the male dancer was observed holding the female ones suspended in the air. This is a very common style of dancing for party dances and has featured in the dance. Such a style has been observed quite often in the TV and in movies. Mostly in the soap operas, the dancing style is common during party and celebration scenes. In my evaluation I can point out that the dance was well executed. The movements of the dancers seemed to be right although the male dancers were almost appearing stationary. Most of the movements are done by the lady dancers. The costume was ok considering that the dance might not be for competition but rather for religious or other celebration. Even though the dancers were not consistently in the rhythm of the classical music, they have depicted good movements such as the rotations that make the dance livelier. The dance was simple and can even be perfumed by the older people. However what can be looked into in the costumes in the color choice that seemed not to be reflecting consistency especially with one dancer in red and others in white and black costumes. Overall I did not enjoy the dance to the fullest, though it was a bit entertaining with some of the unique movements depicted. The music played was not my favorite hence it determined my attitude towards the dance. This is definitely not what I expected in the concert because I did not witness the dancers swing to my favorite tunes. To make it worse, in the first dance, there were just beats only and no vocals. The concert is a reflection of what has been covered in the lectures specifically on the part of costumes, music and the theme. From the lectures it has been possible to make an interpretation about the themes that are portrayed by the two dances in the concert.

A Summary of West Side Story :: West Side Story

West Side Story   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The drama/musical, which parodies the story of Romeo & Juliet, takes place in a city of New York, probably in the early 50’s late 40’s. It is a tale of two rival gangs, which despises the other in a vicious circle of hate. Riff leader of the Jets; a group mainly of Polish origin and the Sharks of Spanish origin with their leader Bernardo. It seems as though the two rivals have been at their quarrels since before the story took place. Through mysterious fate the neutral one’s from either side meet. From the Jets: loyal friend to Riff, Tony, and from the Sharks the beautiful Maria sister of Bernardo. Eyes met and soon enough love was in the air, the thought of each other cursed through both of their veins. From that day of the dance, a meeting was to take place involving both gangs in which they will once and for all settle the rivalry in a rumble. Alas, tragedy strikes and strikes hard at that. The leaders of both gangs fall to the ground. Riff by the hands of Bernardo, then Bernardo by the hands of Tony. Angry and confused Maria still retains her love for Tony even after her only brother was slain, but little did they know the jealous Chino had caught on to the lovers. In order to escape the justice of the law Tony had to make his escape but first found aid among his friends. A message was sent through Anita, girlfriend to Bernardo, for Maria was detained by the police at the time for questioning. Anita angry at how cruel and stubborn the Jets could be gave a message that was totally unorthodox to the one originally said. The message was of Chino who had killed of Maria after finding out the truth of the two, hearing this Tony had completely lost his will to live and called through the streets of the city for Chino to come and kill him.

Grandma and Grandpa - My Grandmother :: Personal Narrative Profile

My Grandmother Children! The sound of her strident voice reverberates down the narrow stairwell. I remember that musty, dark, winding stairwell that led to her second floor apartment in Glendale as vividly as I did the day I established a meaningful relationship with my grandmother. Through this relationship, I have come to know her as a friend, a confidante, and lastly, a woman I admire. I was only seven at the time, and the only thing I cared about was the fact that my grandmother spoke in a very loud and grating voice, and that she kept on patting my hand (which annoyed me to no end). My grandparents are separated- my grandfather lives with us, while she lives in a separate apartment by herself in Glendale. My family and I used to eat lunch at her house every week. I remember trudging up the dank, squeaky stairs with my siblings, yelling "An-yang!!"(grandmother) all the way. She would yell in a similar fashion "Ah! Shua- nging!" (ah, children!) Smells of old- fashioned Shanghainese cooking would assail my senses, as my mouth watered in anticipation of the savories to come. One particular afternoon, after we had finished eating, we draped ourselves around her living room. I was sitting on a dilapidated couch, whose colors were made indiscernible by time, and was looking around her room. My gaze swept from the thin, worn carpet, bare in some places, to the scarred wooden dresser, to a dirty doll with an eye missing. (My grandmother could never bear to throw anything away). She came and sat down next to me, taking my hand in hers. The tight braid at the nape of her neck was coming undone. Wisps of thick black hair framed her square face. I looked down at the contrast between our hands- my hand was unblemished, pale and smooth, while her hand was mottled with age spots, tanned, and leathery. She started to pat my hand in the most annoying fashion, while telling me how large my feet were. I was somewhat surprised, because I had always been told that my feet were rather small for my size. Then I saw her feet. Her feet were deformed and incredibly stunted. Her toes grew in a peculiar

Problems and Solutions Internet Addiction.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS INTERNET ADDICTION. A long with the development of society is the development of scientific and technical, including the development and popularity of the internet. Beside the undeniable benefit is the tremendous impact that the internet bring. With most teens and adolescents, there is a thin line between casual Internet use and addiction. The first cause make person is addicted to the Internet is the family’s management. From that, they have much time to spend to do something on the Internet.Initially, you only use Internet when you have spare time. Gradually, you spend more and more time on it. And you are addicted. Internet addiction brings a lot of bad effects. When you use too much time to use the Internet, you lost your valuable time to do other things. We can see that the first harm is waste of time. Every time when someone require you shut down or out internet you will say â€Å"just for minutes†, right? Second, it is bad influence on your health. If you use it for along time, day to day you will fatigue, your brain will be damaged.And your studying? Of course it will decline, too. It leads to damage your eyes, west your money, neglected education†¦ It terrible! And then, it is internet addiction that the risk of your health or education and more other thing being negatively impacted by internet addiction need to stop immediately. For those reasons, we have to have a using internet timetable reasonablely. Especially, we should go outside and do more something useful. When we attend outside activities, you will not enough time to online.

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Fahrenheit 451 is a book that was published by Ray Bradbury in 1953. This book tells the story in which intellectual thought and books are illegal. According to the book, the futuristic firemen have the responsibility of setting fire to the books and any place that they reside. Numerous significant symbols occur in this book. In my opinion, fire, the Hearth and the Salamander, and the Phoenix are three of the most important symbols. The title of the book is an important symbol in and of itself. Ray Bradbury titled the book Fahrenheit 451 because 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns. Fire is a symbol of destruction. It’s significant because the main character, Guy Montag, and the rest of the firemen burn books because they are illegal. When seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan asks if Montag ever reads any of the books he burns, he laughs and replies â€Å"That’s against the law!† When Clarisse and Montag begin to talk more, Montag is taken aback by the different knowledge that Clarisse expresses to him. She tells him that firemen used to be sent out to stop fires, not start them. Montag couldn’t fight the sudden burning curiosity that over took all of his past beliefs. He began to collect books from each book burning and read them. The Hearth and the Salamander is the title of the first section of the book. Hearths are fireplaces that are traditionally placed in the center of the home and are a source of warmth. They represent the constructive use of fire, which Clarisse unintentionally shows Montag. After walking and talking with Clarisse, he realizes that he is not happy. The book states, â€Å"He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle burning too long and now collapsing and now blown out. Darkness. He was not happy.† The salamander on the other hand was once believed to be able to live in fire without being consumed by it. This represents the destructive side of fire. Salamanders are the names given to the fire trucks and are the official symbols of the firemen. When Clarisse meets Montag for the first time the book describes her as being, â€Å"hypnotized by the salamander on his arm.† The Phoenix is a huge symbol that is mentioned in the novel. Toward the end of the story, the city is completely destroyed. The Phoenix was a mystical bird that would burn itself up and then rise again. Granger explains the legend of the Phoenix to Montag when they are watching the fire. It’s used to symbolize the renewal of mankind. Like the Phoenix, they have the ability to rise from the ashes, and rebuild their society. These extremely significant symbols are what make the novel a fantastic story. Fire, the Hearth and the Salamander, and the Phoenix are three symbols that I chose to go into detail about. They each express a different meaning of the book. The thought of firemen starting fires is something that could possibly change when rebuilding the city. At the end of the book they have one thing in mind and that is to change people’s minds about books.