Servant Leadership Essay Example

Servant Leadership Essay Outline the key features of one theory/model of leadership servant-leadership vision Sergiovanni (2005) viewed vision as such a crucial element for change because it greatly influences the process of transformation in the servant-leader and in teachers, parents, and students and the school community as a whole. A good vision is meaningful if it is credible and can propel constituents to embrace it. Sergiovanni (1993) prescribed servant-leadership as the leadership style which could effectively meet the needs of the changing landscape in contemporary schools, Stewardship Sergiovanni (1992) explains that stewardship ? involves the leader‘s personal responsibility to manage her or his life and affairs with proper regard for the rights of other people and for the common welfare? (p. 139). Effective schools provide an environment for the common good of all students, regardless of their particular needs. Caring Sergiovanni(1994) claims that â€Å"caring as an integral part of shared community† (p. 146). Commitment to the growth of people The servant-leader is committed to the individual growth of human beings and will do everything they can to nurture others. Sergiovanni (2001) puts this in a school perspective: The leader serves as head follower by leading the discussion about what is worth following, and by modeling, teaching, and helping others to become better followers. When this happens, the emphasis changes from direct leadership based on rules and personality, to a different kind of leadership based on stewardship and service (p. 34). Moral community leader â€Å"Moral community provides for moral connections among teachers, students, and it advocates helping all of them to become self-managing. We will write a custom essay sample on Servant Leadership specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Servant Leadership specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Servant Leadership specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer These connections satisfy the needs for coordination and commitment that any enterprise must meet to be successful. † â€Å"Moral connections are stronger than the connections that come from extrinsic or intrinsic rewards. Moral connections are grounded in cultural norms rather than in psychological needs. † â€Å"The leader serves as head follower by leading the discussion about what is worth following and by modeling, teaching, and helping others to become better followers. â€Å"When this happens, the emphasis changes from direct leadership based on rules and personality, to a different kind of leadership based on stewardship and service. † The secret: To replace communication with conversation Conversation may not be able to move mountains, but it can get teachers, citizens, state officials, and other stakeholders to think differently, to join together in a union of mutual responsibility, and to make good decisions together for children. Since conversation is relational reciprocal, it requires commitment to mutuality . Mutuality implies the sharing of power with, by, and among people regardless of their level or role in a way that recognizes the dignity of each, and to sustain this sharing. And the more that heads practice mutuality by engaging in conversation with others, the more they count. Conversation is the way to bring people together, to build up needed capacity, and to win the commitment needed from everyone to make the school well. (Sergiovanni, 2001) Sees school as community Why is community building important in schools? Community is the tie that binds students and teachers together in special ways, to something more significant than themselves: shared values and ideals. It lifted both teachers ans students to higher levels of self-understanding, commitment, and performance-beyond the reaches of the shortcomings and difficulties they face in their everyday lives†. â€Å"Community can help teachers and students be transformed from a collection of â€Å"Is† to a collective â€Å"we†, thus providing them with a unique and enduring sense of identity, belonging, and place†. Sergiovanni, 1994) Schools can become communities in may different forms: 1. Caring communities 2. Learning communities 3. Professional communities 4. Collegial communities 5. Inclusive communities 6. Inquiring communities (Sergiovanni, 1994, P. 71) Sergiovanni sees a critical link between what happens to teachers and what happens to students. If schools and teachers are going to be successful in getting children to be more curious and more actively involved in their learning, then the adults who teach them likewise will have to be actively engaged, he says. Inquiring classrooms are not likely to flourish in schools where inquiry among teachers is discouraged. A commitment to problem solving is difficult to instill in students who are taught by teachers for whom problem solving is not allowed. Where there is little discourse among teachers, discourse among students will be harder to promote and maintain. And the idea of making classrooms into learning communities for students will remain more rhetoric than real unless schools become learning communities for teachers too, he writes. Teacher development must move center stage in school improvement, Sergiovanni argues. That means, he says, management systems, organizational patterns , and teacher growth strategies must recognize: †¢ Recognize individual differences among teachers; †¢ Encourage teachers to reflect on their own practices; †¢ Give a high priority to conversation and dialogue among teachers; †¢ Provide for collaborative learning among teachers; †¢ Emphasize caring communities; †¢ Call upon teachers to respond morally to their work. Because Sergiovanni believes that theories influence what we see and do, he argues that they also affect the change strategies that schools select. To illustrate, he challenges the notion that schools can be tightly managed into reform, pointing out that . . . teachers are less influenced by management strategies and more influenced by what they believe, by what peers believe and do, and by other more elusive cultural matters. Sergiovanni stresses the need for a school community to come together around shared values and ideas because real schools are managerially loose and culturally tight. That means, he believes, that the change process must be norms based rather than rules based. Such approaches emphasize professional socialization, shared values and purposes, collegiality, and natural interdependence. a. Role is to articulate values and work with community to solve its problems b. Rise above the personal â€Å"†¦. are willing to sacrifice for one another as fellows or sharers of a common fate† Book Review Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement By Thomas J. Sergiovanni: Sergiovanni discusses living school in leadership rather than just being concerned with the facts and figures involved in playing school. The viewpoint of the author is being concerned about the leadership processes in schools that are presently accepted as the norm. Sergiovanni would like to see school leadership shift to one that is self-motivated by teachers who want to do a great job, not one where the teachers feel they have to as a result of dependency on extrinsic rewards. A school, he says, is a community with a shared sense of values and purpose. He d escribes a virtuous school as one founded on the beliefs that a school must be a community, that this school community includes parents, teachers, students and other community members. He believes that every student can learn, that caring for the whole child is the key to academic success, and that mutual respect and positive expectations are the operating dynamics. Throughout this book, Sergiovanni is attempting to reframe the role of leadership in a school from an old paradigm focused on management and control and the view that a school is a formal organization, to a new paradigm of empowerment through caring, acknowledging the expertise of teachers and students, and facilitating their active participation in the school. Analysis, Impact, and Evaluation ) Critically consider its contribution to thinking on leadership Sergiovanni (1999) encourages consideration of a servant-leadership approach for our present day schools and for our raison d’etre, Such ideas as servant leadership bring with them a different kind of strength- one based on moral authority. †¦. What matters are issues of substance. What are we about? Why? Are students being served? Is the school as learning community being served? What are our obligations to this community? With these questions in mind, how can we best get the job done? (p. 1) Challenges and Tensions of Servant-Leadership Servant-leadership is not an easy choice for success in leadership, nor is it a panacea for all the difficulties of leadership. Besides, the servant-leadership option is fraught with frustrations, hostility, and periods of passivity (Lad Luechauer, 1998; Autry, 2001; Fryer, 2001). For Lad and Luechauer, â€Å"The journey toward becoming a leader who seeks to serve rather that be served is worthy, commendable, and, unfortunately filled with many personal, organizational, and environmental barriers, paradoxes, and downsides† (p. 1). The barriers, paradoxes, and downsides could lead to abandonment of the servant-leadership ideal when the leader lacking faith fails to see beyond the immediate challenges (Wheatley, 2004). B arriers to the Practice of Servant-Leadership According to Lad and Luechauer (1998) barriers that may offer resistance to the practice of servant-leadership are: 1. Followers might initially consider servant-leadership to be another management fad. Such skepticism arises from the inherent mistrust generated by the times when leaders have not remained faithful to the psychological contracts made with employees who seriously yearn for real change (Reeves, 2002). 2. Leaders and followers may not see servant-leadership as a pressing need, so that leaders remain trapped in a whirlwind of other events and needs that demand urgent attention. 3. Leaders and organizations spend much time and energy on recommending servant-leadership and its many advantages but excuse themselves from practicing it because they see it as not being practicable in their particular organization. Besides, followers may be caught in system relationships that have developed and seem impossible to break (Reeves). Servant-leadership presents two paradoxes: The first emanates from the fact that servant-leadership may take varying and ever changing forms. The leader must be comfortable with such variation in the process and realize the commandment that ‘thou is not the only servant in the organization’ (Lad Luechauer, 1998). Such a realization helps the leader to appreciate the contribution of others to the organization. Without the acknowledgement of other servant-leaders in the organization, servant-leadership can be self defeating. The second flows from the mistaken notion by some followers that servant-leadership implies the absence of rules, hierarchy, or structure, rather than understanding the changes required in the role that rules, hierarchy, and structure perform (Blanchard, 1998). Inhibitors of the Practice of Servant-Leadership Apart from barriers and paradoxes, servant-leadership has its downsides that the leader must be prepared to experience (Lad Luechauer, 1998). Some of the downsides include: 1. The reluctance of some colleagues and followers to collaborate and be empowered. 2. The difficulty of sharing control, of being humble, and capable of uplifting others, and of knowing very well that colleagues may surpass the servant-leader within the organization. 3. The challenges of dealing with anger, frustration, vulnerability, and despondence as the servant-leader strives to be a role model. These, Lad and Luechauer noted, may delay or prevent the process of becoming a servant-leader. But the leader must recognize that these barriers, paradoxes, and downsides are not only perceived but also justifiable. The leader can enhance the possibility of a safe and successful journey into servant-leadership by preparing for such anticipated difficulties early during the leadership mandate. Facing such challenges, the servant-leader should remember that actions speak louder than words and that it is not talking about servant-leadership that does the trick, but practicing servant-leadership style (Lad Luechauer). Strategies for Practicing Servant-Leadership Lad and Luechauer (1998) indicated four ways towards enhancing the practice of servant-leadership: 1. Engagement in dialogue, discussion, education and training, since many of the barriers issue from misconceptions and unrealistic tales about its meaning and practice. 2. Joining or creating the appropriate study groups so as to receive new ideas and encouragement from other servant-leaders. 3. Attendance at Servant-Leadership Conference in order to learn from other participants’ experiences. 4. Engaging in activities such as decorating one’s office with reminders of servant-leadership such as posters, calendars, pictures, daily prayer/meditation/reflection, and maintaining a servant-leadership journal. ) Illustrate how the theory/model illuminates or suggests ideas for practice in one school Schools can become communities in may different forms. They can become: 1. Caring communities: members are motivated by altruistic love and make a total commitment to each other. 2. Learning communities: members are committed to thinking, growing, and inquiring and where learning is for everyone an attitude as well as an activity, a way of life as well as a process. 3. Professional communities: 4. Collegial communities 5. Inclusive communities 6. Inquiring communities Sergiovanni, 1994, P. 71) c) Suggest ways the theory/model might be developed. b. Reflects core educational and moral values of community (exclusivity an issue? ) Core educational values versus moral values of community Moral connections grounded in cultural norms are central to Sergiovannis theory of school leadership. Moral connections come from the duties teachers, parents, and students accept, and the obligations they feel toward others, and toward their work. Obligations result from common commitments to shared values and beliefs, he writes. These moral connections, Sergiovanni believes, must be at the core of building community in schools. Schools that are struggling to become communities should address questions such as: †¢ What can be done to increase the sense of family, neighborliness, and collegiality among the faculty? †¢ How can the faculty become more of a professional community where everyone cares about each other and helps each other to learn and to lead together? †¢ What kinds of school-parent relationships need to be cultivated to include parents in this emerging community?

Alcoholism Essays (1948 words) - Alcohol Abuse, Free Essays

Alcoholism Essays (1948 words) - Alcohol Abuse, Free Essays Alcoholism CUNNING, BAFFLING, POWERFUL, PATIENT AND DEADLY Alcoholism: Today's substance abuse, whether alcohol or drugs, continues to be a major social problem. Common patterns occur in all forms of substance abuse. While some types of substance abuse problems are slightly different in terms of causes and cures, experts agree that there are some do's and don'ts which relate to kicking the abuse habit. If you or a loved one have a substance abuse problem, this article can give you sound advice on understanding what substance abuse is, and what to do about it. In this article, we will refer to alcohol, although the word drug may be used synonymously in place of alcohol. What is Alcoholism? Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. The rational for continued use of alcohol is centered on, Common addiction distortions. MENTAL FILTER:Magnify the negative details and eliminate the positive.E.g. - using alcohol is so incredible. It is the most pleasurable thing I know. (filter out the negative effects) POLARIZED THINKING: Things are black and white, good or bad. You are perfect or a complete failure.E.g. - My life would be void of pleasure with out alcohol. OVERGENERAL- ZATIONTo come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence.E.g. - Alcohol has made for some great times with friends. I must have alcohol in order to capitalize on the potential for fun. MIND READINGYou think you are able to define how people are thinking about you.E.g. - People will not like me if I give up alcohol. There is a side that come out that is very attractive. CATASTROPHIC EXAGGERATIONYou expect disaster, and disaster means the end of the world. E.g. - I won't be able to tolerate the discomfort of sobriety I AM CONTROLLEDYou feel externally controlled, you see yourself as helpless and a victim of fate. E.g. - The alcohol makes my days tolerable, without it, I'll not be able to function. I MUST CONTROLYou feel that control is an all or nothing thing. Any ease on the reins will result in a fall so disastrous you will never regain control.E.g. - Without alcohol I may get depressed, and I will never be able to come out of it. BLAMINGYou hold other people responsible for your pain.E.g. - If I give up my drinking, I will be a bare wire, forced to face my abuse riddled past. These are common patterns of substance addiction, keeping in mind that most alcoholics are unwilling to admit they are real alcoholics and fit into one or more of these categories. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from other people. Therefore, it is not surprising that their drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove they could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday they will control and enjoy their drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death. The John Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore uses the following questions as a test for alcoholism. #YesNo 1Do you loose time from work due to drinking? 2Is drinking making your home life unhappy? 3Do you drink because you are shy with other people? 4Is drinking affecting you reputation? 5Have you ever felt remorse after drinking? 6Have you gotten into financial difficulties as a result of drinking? 7Do you turn to lower companions and an inferior environment when drinking? 8Does your drinking make you careless of your family's welfare? 9Has your ambition decreased since drinking? 10Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily? 11Do you want a drink the next morning? 12Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping? 13Has your efficiency decreased since drinking? 14Is drinking jeopardizing your job or business? 15Do you drink to escape from worries or troubles? 16Do you drink alone? 17Have you ever had a complete loss of memory because of drinking? 18Has your physician ever treated you for drinking? 19Do you drink to build your self-confidence? 20Have you ever been to a hospital or institution on account of

Society in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Society in the USA - Essay Example But in as much as I don't want to make a drastic change, I have to awaken them in the reality that I have to move. We have to move forward. The kids are growing. They will not be forever children. College is so expensive. Betty Friedan's "Feminine Mystique" has reawakened me and my feminine will for power, but also to save my family from poverty and deprivation. The woman has equal rights and responsibilities as the man. She is there to help, not to be a slave to her husband. Her diploma and the years she spent to earn it must not be a mere decoration, to be forgotten by the passing of time. She must leave a mark for herself and her family who equally needs her support and guidance. I can not forever stay idle at home and see this growing family go hungry, or depend entirely on a salesman's income. There are times I have to find ways to make ends meet, when my husband is not able to meet his quota. We have to work together, hand in hand we can fight poverty. If there are opportunities of a job for a housewife like me, I can start. I can start a small business, even if I stay at home. I have wonderful ideas inside me that can turn little things into income. My husband must not be forever a slave to his chauvinistic mind that he is superior, above every woman, or that his decision and ideas will prevail. This is America, forever free for everyone, including a woman. To mTo my daughter: be strong, finish college, and don't be just a subordinate to your husband. Being a woman does not mean staying at home after college. Responsibility at home must be shared between a husband and wife. And this must be talked about. An open dialogue, an open communication between the couple is a good beginning. Shared responsibility leads to progress in the family. Mutual understanding and goal setting are co-equal, just as the wife is co-equal with her husband. The man is the head of the family but the woman must not be left behind. His decision is also a shared decision, co-equal with hers. To my son: be a good example. Follow your father's footsteps, if you want to. But set your goals, and don't leave the woman behind. She is as human as you are. Respect her just as you respect me. Build a home, secure your family - with a woman who will not be a slave at home, but who will go with you to be strong builders of a home and nation. A nation's economy is also the responsibility of people and families. 2. Dr. Laura Schlessinger and her "New Traditionalism" Dr. Laura Schlessinger's books, ideas and philosophies simply tell us something: go back to the basics. This is what she has been telling the world in her "new traditionalism" concept of inter-personal relationships, in the home and family, caring for children and husbands. In fact, she says, "women have the power to control the quality of their lives with their men" and that is taking good care of them, and not just nag and nag them, and be "workhorses" that they are now, forgetting their role inside the home. The traditional way of caring is the husband goes to his job, while the wife stays at home, taking care of the kitchen and the children. Dr. Laura teaches a new approach by not really going back to the old times of the wife staying at home and the

Consent for medical treatment of a minor in the state of Nevada Case Study

Consent for medical treatment of a minor in the state of Nevada - Case Study Example NRS 432B.220 Persons required to make report. Any person who â€Å"knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child has been abused or neglected† must make a report â€Å"to an agency which provides child welfare services or to a law enforcement agency† within 24 hours. Persons who are qualified to make reports include â€Å"a physician, †¦ resident, intern, professional or practical nurse† or any other of the several medical professions named. NRS 432B.260 Action upon receipt of report. â€Å"An agency which provides child welfare services or a law enforcement agency shall promptly notify the appropriate licensing authority; †¦ a law enforcement agency shall promptly notify an agency which provides child welfare services of any report it receives.† NRS 432B.270 Interview of child and sibling of child concerning possible abuse or neglect; photographs, X rays and medical tests. â€Å"A designee of an agency investigating a report of abuse or neglect of a child may, without the consent of the person responsible for a child’s welfare: (a) Take or cause to be taken photographs of the child’s body, including the areas of trauma; and (b) if indicated after consultation with a physician, cause X rays or medical tests to be performed on a child.† The rule further states that the person responsible for the child must be notified unless the agency designee deems such notification would endanger the child or the child’s siblings. In addition, NRS 432B.290 Authorized release of data or information states that â€Å"data or information concerning reports or investigations† of abuse or neglect may be made available to â€Å"a physician, if the physician has before him a child who he has reasonable cause to believe has been abused or

Paper on Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper on Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong - Essay Example War breaks out because of questions regarding the legitimacy of succession. As a consequence China subdivides into three major branches with Cao Cao reigning in the north, Sun Quan ruling in the south, and Liu Bei controlling the west sector of China. The Romance of Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong is a classic historical novel dealing with the power struggles within the Han dynasty which inevitably precipitate its collapse. An intricately woven book integrating historical accurate events merged with creative fiction, this book centers on themes such as brotherhood, art of war and religion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel also weaves in elements of Confucianism whose doctrines are based principally on The Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven marks the transition from the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BCE) to the Zhou dynasty (1122-256 BCE) violation of the macrocosmic concepts: through corruption, immortality, and misrule led to Shang's deposition from power by the Zhou Dynasty, Hea ven reserved the right to interpose in the microcosm especially when discord threatens. Political corruption made the emperor, also called the son of heaven unfit to rule therefore, the Mandate of Heaven can be legally transferred to another who was better and morally qualified. The Mandate of Heaven encapsulates the main principles of principles of Confucianism : ren (benevolence), xiao (filial piety), and li(propriety and convention), which secured harmony and equilibrium with the macrocosms (nature and heaven) and the microcosm (man's affairs). It is through application of the principle of the Mandate of Heaven that the Han dynasty is overthrown. Zhang Jiao was the catalyst in the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 A.D. Jiao began the revolution to undermine and collapse the Han Dynasty due to social injustices experienced by citizens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Daoism constitutes a large part of the novel since its ideals and teachings are practiced by the characters of The Romance of Three Kingdoms. Daoism is a pacific religion which stands for order and harmony with nature and with man. This concept is mirrored in the affirmation that that state of being "in accord with nature is (being) in accord with Dao." There exist compatibility, coexistence and harmony with opposite natures and this relation is called harmonious dualism. Zhuge Liang is an educated Taoist scholar who personifies some of the principles of Daoism. Dao which is "divine and everlasting" means "the way of nature and the cosmos" thus one sees the bond between the universe and man. Zhuge acts as an emissary, diplomat and successful martial strategist to Sun Quan.   Zhuge Liang, as a Daoist peacekeeper, pacifies several warlords in the South, at the same time, he spearheads the Shu Han forces on expeditions to strengthen the Han empire. He never dies on the battle field but succumbs to tubercolosis. Zhuge Liang's strategies always triumphs as he continually foils the plans of his adversaries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romance of Three Kingdoms incorporates tenets from another Chinese classical text, The Art of War written by Sun Tzu, a notable Chinese general who explains the importance of the war to the state and gives pithy advice on martial techniques on how to maneuver one's army to secure victory. The Battle of Xiaoting, the Battle of Red Cliffs and the Battle of Wuzhang Plains are noteworthy collisions in the novel in which various arts of war are implemented. Lu Bu observes that "Cao Cao knows something of the art of war" (Guanzhong 90). In the Art of War, moral

An overview of marketing

An overview of marketing Marketing according to Kotler and Keller (2006) is everywhere. We as human beings tend to portray a sense of belief that we make decisions out of our own will. However, in reality we receive hundreds of inputs consciously and unconsciously from brands and businesses marketing themselves, that tends to form the very basis of everyday decisions. It is done formally or informally in a number of ways by people and organisations, and businesses need to implement good marketing strategies in order to have beneficial success. Hence as Armstrong and Kotler (2009) state that marketing has a twofold goal of trying to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow present customers by delivering satisfaction. We are surrounded by companies marketing on every possible platform that they can possibly market on. But this is no accident that marketing takes place this way. Kotler and Keller (2006) state that it is done after careful planning and efficient execution. Excellence in marketing and its strategies are continually refined and reformed to meet the way consumers react to brands. But marketing to a wide range of people either locally or globally is tricky and has to be the Achilles Heel of many prosperous companies (Kotler and Keller, 2006). It needs to include what products need to meet customer demands, the product category, what price ranges they need to fall in, brand image of the business and brand loyalty of the customer. The brands and businesses that fail to carefully understand and monitor their customers and competition but try to keep a step ahead are at the greatest risk of failing to increase their value to the end customers. 1.1 Marketing! What is it? What really is marketing? How does it benefit to implement a marketing strategy? Does marketing really work? This is explained simply by Kotler and Keller (2006) as the identification and meeting of human wants and social needs, profitably. And to this the American Marketing Association introduced a formal definition help understand marketing which states that Marketing is an organisational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to the customers; and for managing customer relationships in ways that are beneficial to the organisation as well as the stakeholders (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Armstrong and Kotler (2009), state that marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. Marketing has enabled exchanges of goods, services, events, experiences, information and ideas easily through various modes of communication from businesses to customers. Exchange according to Kotler and Keller (2006) is a core concept of marketing and to make any successful exchanges, marketers seek to elicit a behavioural response from the other party of consumer through analysis. But companies, businesses and brands have to understand that marketing needs to be radical and that the advantages of direct marketing are far greater. Using surgical strike advertising which as explained by Kotler and Keller (2006) are short, targeted ad campaigns helps create a emergent sense of belonging and part of a community, while making the brand or the brand image as the unifier of that community. This enables bringing about increased competition by introducing fresh, different marketing ideas and est ablishing loyalty and commitment among customers. 1.2 Do Brands really exist? Guzman cites Kapferer (1997) who states that before the 1980s the approach towards brands was different. Companies wished to buy a producer of chocolate or pasta: after 1980, they wanted to buy KitKat or Buitoni. This distinction is very important; in the first case firms wish to buy production capacity and in the second they want to buy a place in the mind of the consumer (p. 23). Guzman states that the shift in focus towards brands began when it was understood that there was something more than just mere identifiers. Also Kapferer (1997) stated that brands help perform an economic function in the minds of consumers, the value of the brand comes from its ability to gain an exclusive, positive and prominent meaning in the minds of a large number of consumers (p. 25). Thus Guzman assertens that business need to build a brand and focus on developing brand value (Guzman, A Brand Building Literature). A brand as explained by Simoes and Dibb (2001), is the combination of features (what the product or service is), the benefits for the customer (what wants and needs the product meets) and the values (which the customer associates with the product or service). If marketing adds value to a product while differentiating it from the other products in the market which may have similar features and benefits, then we are able to create a brand that customers can relate to.Brands are thus intangible assets that are residing in the minds of customers. Though they are impetus to brand creation by marketing, Kotler and Keller (2006) state that brands end up as a perceptual entity that are deep rooted in reality but reflects the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of customers. As explained by Armstrong and Kotler (2009), many business owners and brands tend to make the mistake of paying more attention to the product rather than to the benefits and experiences produced by the product s and coined this as marketing myopia. Therefore companies and organisations have long tried to differentiate themselves from their competitors in many ways to be able to be top of mind for customers. These differences maybe functional, rational or tangible, i.e. related to the performance of the brand; however they could also be symbolic, emotional or intangible, which helps potential customers and repeat customers relate to what the brand intends to represent (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Perceptions from customers according to Chevalier and Mazzalovo (2004) are embodied in a name. However, the American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors (Kotler and Keller, 2006). It is thus an important visible part of a more complex reality and provides the mediation of the core values of the organisation and how consumers perceive its brand image. But what needs to be understood more importantly is that consumers are looking at a particular brand because they believe it has a guarantee of a specific quality, usually superior and this tends to help form a long-term strategy assurance for any relationship between the brand and customer (Chevalier and Mazzalovo, 2004). Brands thereby focus on keeping to their core-values and delivering the benefits consumers truly want. As seen from the HBR (2003), the Brand Report Card shows us that strong brands attributes such as staying relevant or pricing strategies are based on value that the consumer perceives, positioning the brand to make it desirable and deliverable, while constantly ensuring brand consistency and monitoring brand equity  [1]  . Any value that a brand carries along with it adds or minuses its overall brand awareness which Kotler and Keller (2006) state as the power of that brand which lies in the minds of existing or potential customers on what they have seen, read, heard and experience directly or indirectly about the brand. As stated by Coulson-Thomas (1983), the appeal of a brand may remain relatively constant even as product physical attributes may change, hence companies and organisations need to constantly resonate their core values and position themselves correctly in their tar get audiences minds, in order to increase brand awareness and higher brand recall. 1.3 Gaining an Identity for the Business through Branding Urde M. (1999), Brand Orientation: A Mindset for Building Brands into Strategic Resources, Joumal of Marketing Management, 15. 117-133 There has been research from previous case studies carried out on companies such as Nestle, DuPont, Tetra Pak, Volvo, and Phamiacia Upiohn Nicorette, to see how an organisations approach is affected when its operations and marketing and strategies revolve around the companies brand or particular products of the company (Urde, 1999). The organisation acquires an identity and increased awareness when it expresses its overall goals, values and positions through its brand and brand statement. But Urde questions whether we need to rethink the market and marketing concept while challenging the ever known assumption of whether the customer is always right? He also goes on to ask whether development of the organisation or brand should be based on satisfying the customers need and wants, even if the price is not right? (Urde, 1999). But through the case studies researched by him on the companies stated above, it shows that integrity and brand competence are required to create, develop and pro tect the brands while sending out the right message through the right channels to be able to establish a trust brand identity while customers can relate to and not just an image. Also Ewing and Napoli (2005) state that while doing this organisations need to monitor consumers brand perceptions, identify whether their attitudes confer with their own brand vision and thereby instigate strategies to reinforce positive brand beliefs or change any negative perceptions because as Haynes et. al (1999) state, from a brand management perspective, brands are likely to be more successful when an audiences perception of a brand mirrors the firms view of the brand concept and both are identical to the consumers original specifications since the products or services produced by a business need to meet the customers desires and not just their demands. 1.4 Brand Orientation: Brand-orientation has been a term that has been coined by Frans Mellin and Urde and through Urdes dissertation carried out in 1997 he states that it is an process where brands and companies revolve around the development, protection and creation of the brand through an ongoing interaction with targeted customers with an aim of achieving long lasting relationships which in turn ensures competitive advantage for the brand. Brands have always been seen as only resources and expressions of the company identity to establish themselves in the minds of customers. And they have thus been treated in a very superficial or general fashion. Urde cites Macrae who states that certain companies go the extra distance to not only satisfy customers wants and needs but to lend a strategic significance to brands, which enables them to acquire an emotional and symbolic value for the brand and organisation, thereby helping them ensure that they are living the brand through their marketing strategies (Urde , 1999). Urde states that though being industry and customer centric for the last half century, there are always questions arising with regard to product related questions. Is the product good enough? Is it what the customer really wants? These questions tend to dominate when we deal with brands and this is mainly because the functional advantages of any product can be easily imitated by competitors at a lower cost hence removing the competitive advantage entirely (Urde, 1999). Thus as stated by Kotler and Levy (1969) that The marketing concept holds that the problem of all business in an age of abundance is to develop customer loyalties and satisfaction, and the key to this problem is to focus on the customers needs (Urde, 1999). Thus when Drucker (1954) first articulated this idea being called the marketing concept, he made note that marketing was never a separate function of the management but on the contrary, the whole business needs to be seen from the customers point of view (Deshpande and Webster, 1989). The marketing concept often called the market concept which is considered a corner stone by Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Drucker (1954) who were among the first people to argue that the marketing concept needs to be adopted as a fundamental basis for any brand or company to ensure a competitive advantage. Armstrong and Kotler (2009) also state that customer focus and value are the paths to higher sales and profits for any business. Thus it goes to say that by placing the customer in focus by the firm and revolving the companys strategies to satisfy customer wants and needs is key in any marketing concept. Many authors such as; McKittrick 1957; Felton 1959: Kotler 1977; Day. Shocker, and Srivastava 1979; Webster 1992; Day 1994; Hunt and Morgan 1995, have previously in their literature contrasted this concept of marketing with market orientation and hence customer orientation. And Urde describes market orientation as the organization wide generation of market intelligence pertaining t o current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence across departments, and organization wide responsiveness to it (Urde, 1999). Businesses need to be able to maintain a healthy competitive advantage by differentiating their product or service through constant sensing of their market through regular interactions with customers and potential customers helping them cater to the end customers needs and wants, and thus as Melin (1997) points out enables them to form a barrier to entry. Thus brands are forced to become the unconditional response of the firm because following the strategy to tend to the wants and needs of customers can be ensured only through the right brand communication channels and thereby right segmentation and positioning. And this is possible as seen by Urde citing Day (1994) who argues that market sensing (the ability to continually sense, interpret foresee, and react to changes in the market) and customer linking (the ability to develop relationships with customers) are two particularly important aspects of the development of a market-oriented organization (Urde, 1999). Satisfaction of customers needs and wants Æ’Â   The brand as an unconditional response to customer needs and wants But Urde (1999) also goes on to state that if brand awareness and brand loyalty of customers is intended to increase the competitive advantage, then market orientation tends to come into conflict with any long-term brand development. If marketing the business as a brand is the true question then we need to see whether the customers and their changeable preferences provide sufficiently stable grounds for the brand as a resource. If brands tend to change just because of opinions and comments of consumers based on whatever position they think is popular at the time, then the business and its brand image loses credibility. This on the contrary shows that the business has not got a strong sense of identity and forms and opportunism for signs of weak integrity to the business and the organisations core values and goals (Urde, 1999). Establishing a brand as explained by Urde (1999) should be a starting point for businesses as an expression of a mindset. If all businesses relate to their products or services as brands and work on strategies to create, develop and protect these brands as strategic resources, it will help them achieve a competitive advantage which in turn increases brand identity for customers to relate to. Research done earlier has shown that identity of a brand for a customer is enhanced through value creation and meaning creation which enables customers to experience products or services as attributes that are valuable and unique, and this makes it difficult for competitors to imitate. Urde (1999) states that companies need to consciously and actively strive to give their brand a competitive advantage through an expression of intent by constantly managing the process through which they give the brand value and meaning. This helps the brand become a symbol of an ongoing interaction between the com pany and its customers. Hence Urde points out that by doing this, it has positive consequences on the company which helps it position, prioritizes, organizes, develops, and protects its brand resource base while increasing the companys knowledge of market intelligence for its product or service (Urde, 1999). 1.5 Businesses establishing themselves as Brands A conceptual framework Former head at Nestle, Camillo Pagano, was questioned by Urde on whether it was possible to create brand passion within an organisation. To this Camillo answers, As you get new consumers all the time, by changing consumer groups, habits, and trends, you have to keep the brands continuously refreshed. Thats a job that takes a tremendous amount of attention and passion! (Urde, 1999). A passion for a brand whether it is a business, organisation or even a product or service, it needs to come from within, and this can be seen not only from the way the employees of the brand work in the organisation but also by the way customers perceive the brand through their loyalty. Businesses thus need to be brand oriented in order to generate any sort of customer loyalty towards their brand, increase brand awareness and thus be able to communicate the right message to their potential end users. This ability to be able to transform a product or service by an organisation into a brand needs to constitute as a fundamental process for organisations. As stated by Urde (1999), a product fulfils a function, while a brand symbolizes values and a meaning in a social context. A brand with emotional and symbolic values is experienced and interpreted while carrying a personality and identity of its own provides a basis for a unique relationship. It symbolizes values and a meaning in a social context and brings about experience through its reality. The understanding of a company being brand-oriented can be summarised through a number of concepts and relationships. However, Urde (1999) integrated a companys reasoning about its strategy and direction with brand equity, brand awareness and brand identity, to obtain a conceptual framework called the Brand Hexagon. Any company that needs to portray its business or its brand out into the market need to answer basic fundamental questions such as: Why does the business or brand exist? What does the brand stand for? Who is the brand? How is the goal of the brand to be achieved? As stated by Urde (1999), if these questions are answered then it helps relate to the reasons for the existence of the business or brand as well as enabling identification of the core values, identity, personality, and strategy of the brand. Also if the vision of the brand is to be projected out to the end customer on a long term basis then the business needs to be able to communicate the right information of what they want to achieve for the brand and how they will go about realising this vision. 1.6 Communicating the Brand Functional and Emotional Values As stated by Urde (1999), brand awareness for any business is concerned both with its position in the market as well as the specific products or services that is made available for the consumer. From the Brand Hexagon model, the right side reflects the reference function (product or service category and product), while the emotional function that reflects the brand name or the business name is on the left side. Urde goes on to explain that distinguishing between intellectually explaining as well as emotionally communicating are the principle ways brands need to communicate to their target audience. We as individuals use our brain (i.e. reference function) and our heart (i.e. emotional function) to interpret a brand thus enabling us to experience the brand in its entirety. The task of communication is necessary to explain the product or service that a brand or business represent, however it is not to explain brands in terms of objective relationships. We need to emotionally and symbol ically experience a brand and hence the identity of the brand cannot be explained. And Urde firmly states that insight into the limitations of the intellect in understanding, and into the limitations of the emotions in explaining, is fundamental when a company communicates about its brands (Urde, 1999). The mission and vision are at lower part of the model and relates to the brand or businesses intentions, while the upper part shows the interpretation of the brand by the target audience. Through symbolic interaction a continual reinterpretation is created by the dynamics of brand development. Thus this has lead to the process of meaning creation which puts the core values and positioning at the centre of the model, thereby forming the complete brand hexagon showing how all the elements are linked and interlinked for the development of a brand. 1.7 Awareness. Associations and Loyalty Reflections of Brand Strength As we look at Urdes Brand Hexagon, we can see that the relationships between a brand, product or service and the target audience can only be established when there is awareness, right associations and brand loyalty. 1.7.1 Awareness: As cited by Macdonald and Sharp, Baker et.al (1986) state that if a brand is not recalled due to lack of awareness then it would obviously not be chose during the decision making stage. Awareness of a product or service, produced by a business, thus needs to be conveyed to the target audience and this helps to increase the brand building process. Farquhar (1989) states awareness is a important dimension of brand equity and Aaker (Emerald Backfiles 2007) strengthens this point to say that brand awareness is pivotal since it underlies the strength of successful brands. As Aaker (1991) states, the brand should be conceptualised as a node in memory which thereby allows other information about the brand to be anchored to it and this can only be done by creating awareness of the brand (Macdonald and Sharp, 1996). 1.7.2 Associations: The brand is able to differentiate their product or service, create favourability, attitudes and bring about congruity in the brand through unique associations (Keller, 1993). Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000, p.17) describe associations as anything that makes the consumer connect with the brand, including user imagery, product attributes, organizational associations, brand personality, and symbols. But as stated by Cochran (2002), associations will only result if all of the components of the brand make sense and are perceived by the target as an entity with which they would want to interact. Hence these associations will only be possible if there is a good communication channel between the brands and the end customer, since good associations would lead to better relationships and this would result in higher brand recall. 1.7.3 Loyalty: Loyalty as stated by Shocker (1994), marketers for brands need to understand and be able to leverage consumer-bonds which has become especially necessary in every marketplace since it is characterised by increasing unpredictability, diminishing product differentiation, and heightened competitive pressures and as cited by Fournier and Lao (1997), brand building activities have been placed back into the heart of business plans to develop consumer brand loyalties, partnerships and friendships. In addition, Aaker (Emerald Backfiles 2007) also states that by focussing on brand loyalty, this often is an effective way to manage brand equity since repeat buying patters of consumers as well as customer satisfaction are the indicators of a healthy brand and thus programs to enhance this will build brand strength. 1.8 The Core Values Centre of Gravity At the centre of the Brand Hexagon are placed the core values which enable to position a branded product and a branded company because Urde (1999) states that it is via positioning that the company expresses and interprets the core values. Positioning of the brand however but take place in relation to its competitors and always assert on attributes and benefits that complement the brand. This is usually achieved as Urde (1999) explains through using of metaphors that explicitly communicate the core values. As cited by Urde (1999), Phannacia Upjohn used the linguistic picture of Nicorette a helping hand to communicate its products for quitting smoking. Hence in principle, positioning ensures three dimensions of quality, personality and communication of the brand. 1.8.1 Quality: Quality as stated by Urde (1999) relates mainly to the product or service offered and as cited by Phillips et. al (1983), Porter (1980) cites that using quality as a differentiator helps insulate a business from competitive rivalry by reducing customer sensitivity to price, increasing customer loyalty and thus protect the business and brand. Personality: The personality of a brand are simply the human traits that consumers associate with the brand. As stated by Aaker (1997), research has been done to focus on how consumers express his or her own self, an ideal self or specific dimensions of ones self through the use of a brand. These personality traits thus are able to provide the brand with an emotional side and enables to position it in relation to other brands for the customer (Urde, 1999). Thereby Biel (1993) goes on to say that personality can be used as a central driver for consumer preference and usage. Communication: Communication is the basic human activity that helps link people and businesses together to create relationships. As stated by Duncan and Moriarty (1998), communication is at the centre of meaning-making activities which corresponds not only to marketing but also in political, social and economic areas to serve as a way to develop, organise and disseminate knowledge. Mohr and Nevin (1990) state it should be like the glue that holds the brands communication together in order to transmit information, receive feedback from the customer, and thereby help participative decision making. Thus through communication, businesses are able to chose the media channels through which they want to target their audience, use particular tones and styles in their marketing, and be able to reflect customers aspirations (cf. Kapferers (1997) reflections) (Cochran, 2002). Through this combination of quality of product or service, its brand personality and the right channels of communication, it makes it possible to position the brand clearly (Urde, 1999). There are certain values such as brand essence and brand soul that helps sum up a brand. As Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000, p.45) states that brand essence helps become a part of brand identity as it is viewed as the glue holding the core identity of the brand together and as explained by Urde (2003), is to define and describe the innermost core of a brand. Randazzo (1993) also states that the brands soul is in its spiritual centre, the core values that defines the business and brand and permeates through all other aspects of the brand (Randazzo 1993, p.17). But as stated by Urde (2003), if core values are to fulfil their function and role they need to be built into the product, expressed in behaviour and reflects the feel of communication; thereby giving the end customer an added value which the consumer associates as an advantage to be able to differentiate a brand from a commodity. Hence McCracken (1993) states that: Brands have value, it turns out, because they add value and Urde (2003) justifies by saying that the added value maybe either functional, emotional or symbolic but they need to be closely related to the core and organisational values. Through this act of interpreting and reinterpreting the core values of the brand to the customer, helps affect the image and identity of the brand (Christiansen and Askegaard, 2001). Thereby brands and business need to be very careful while communicating the right message to their customers because the most important task of core values according to Urde (2003) is to be the guiding light of the brand building process. Thus from the Brand Hexagon we see that consumer awareness of the product needs to be established through brand associations which will help bring out conditions that help relationships exist between the target customers and the brand. But as Urde (1999) states, the main significance of the brand is reflected by the positioning of brand and reflecting the core values of the business and brand. However, he goes on to say that the loyalty of a customer towards a brand or the relationship shared is established only through brand identity and recall. Any business or brand needs to see itself as a brand-oriented company by being an associative network that communicates to the target audience (Urde, 1999). As stated by Fiske (1990, p.42) Decoding is as active as coding, therefore the brand and end consumers need to be the co-creators of this whole process. Hence communication should not take place as a one-way network but rather as an interaction with the target audience (Urde, 1999). 1.9 Communication: Communication is thus a very vital aspect of the whole concept of marketing and brands. Whether to communication is not the question anymore but asking what needs to be said, how it needs to be said, through what channels, where is your target audience located, how easy is it to access your target audience and how often can this be done financially and logically are the more pertinent questions. Over the years, there has been an increase in products available locally and globally, the competitors have increased and the overall prices of products have reduced considerably. These factors have affected the ways brands communicate to the customer in order to gain higher market share as well as undivided attention (Kotler and Keller, 2006). This has however been overcome to a large extent due to the efforts of holistic marketers  [2]  who are creatively employing multiple different types of communication. 1.9.1 Traditional vs New media: According to Lutze, companies spend millions every year on marketing their companies as brands in order to gain more market share and reach more prospects. But how often are these same companies realising the brand that is already created by their loyal, current customers? (Lutze, Reinvent Relationships With your Customers Online). As stated by Duncan and Moriarty (1998), this increasing importance of communication in marketing is easily demonstrated by the ability to use new marketing approaches as compared to traditional media (television, radio, and print media). Also marketing through traditional media could not be directly tracked unless large organisations paid huge amounts of money to market research companies to learn what their end customer feels about their product but with the introduction of the internet and social networking media platforms, all this has been changed drastically (Lutze H., Reinvent Relationships With Your Customers Online). The new approach emphasises tw o-way communication between brands and businesses and their target audience which has enabled listening to customers and interactivity with the end users. This kind of engaged marketing involving both sides of the chain can build or destroy important brand relationships and brand loyalty. 1.9.2 The Internet: With the evolution of the internet, this has sparked a whole new digital revolution in the way communication exists and the way we use communication among each other. It has impacted lives of people as well as business to a large extent and according to Harris and Rae (2010), everything around us seems

Crime and Punishment - Raskolnikovs Extraordinary Man Theory :: Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment -   Raskolnikov's Extraordinary Man Theory  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, Crime and Punishment, the principle character, Raskolnikov, has unknowingly published a collection of his thoughts on crime and punishment via an article entitled "On Crime." Porfiry, who is trying to link Raskolnikov to a murder, has uncovered this article, read it, and tells Raskolnikov that he is very interested in learning about his ideas. Porfiry brings Raskolnikov into this conversation primarily to find out more about Raskolnikov's possible involvement in the crime. Raskolnikov decides to take him up on the challenge of discussing his theory, and embarks into a large discussion of his philosophy of man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Raskolnikov holds that by a law of nature men have been "somewhat arbitrarily" divided into two groups--ordinary and extraordinary. Raskolnikov believe that the duty and vocation of the first group is to be servile, the material out of which the world and society is to be formed. The first group are the people of the present, the now. The second group, those who are extraordinary, are a step above the normal, ordinary curs. They have the ability to overstep normal bounds and transgress the rights of those who are simply ordinary. They are the prime movers--they have a right to transcend normal societal strictures to accomplish those things they have determined are valid in their conscience. Extraordinary men are the prime movers. He cites such extraordinary men as Newton, Mahomet, and Napoleon. He tells us that Newton had the right to kill hundreds of men if need be in order to bring to the world knowledge of his findings. Napoleon and oth er leaders created a new word. They overturned ancient laws and created new ones. They had the right to uphold their new ideal, even if it meant killing innocent men defending the ancient law. "The first class of people preserve and people the world, the second move the world and lead it to its goal." Despite these tremendous differences in his theory, and the obvious superiority that the extraordinary people are afforded, Raskolnikov maintains that both classes have an equal right to exist. This is interesting, and anyone who sees tremendous problems with this theory must realize this very important point--both classes of men and women are necessary to understand the true meaning of Raskolnikov's theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Without the extraordinary branch of men, without their ability and moral obligation to overstep the bounds of society at certain times, the history of the world would never have progressed to the state that we find ourselves now. Crime and Punishment - Raskolnikov's Extraordinary Man Theory :: Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment Crime and Punishment -   Raskolnikov's Extraordinary Man Theory  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, Crime and Punishment, the principle character, Raskolnikov, has unknowingly published a collection of his thoughts on crime and punishment via an article entitled "On Crime." Porfiry, who is trying to link Raskolnikov to a murder, has uncovered this article, read it, and tells Raskolnikov that he is very interested in learning about his ideas. Porfiry brings Raskolnikov into this conversation primarily to find out more about Raskolnikov's possible involvement in the crime. Raskolnikov decides to take him up on the challenge of discussing his theory, and embarks into a large discussion of his philosophy of man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Raskolnikov holds that by a law of nature men have been "somewhat arbitrarily" divided into two groups--ordinary and extraordinary. Raskolnikov believe that the duty and vocation of the first group is to be servile, the material out of which the world and society is to be formed. The first group are the people of the present, the now. The second group, those who are extraordinary, are a step above the normal, ordinary curs. They have the ability to overstep normal bounds and transgress the rights of those who are simply ordinary. They are the prime movers--they have a right to transcend normal societal strictures to accomplish those things they have determined are valid in their conscience. Extraordinary men are the prime movers. He cites such extraordinary men as Newton, Mahomet, and Napoleon. He tells us that Newton had the right to kill hundreds of men if need be in order to bring to the world knowledge of his findings. Napoleon and oth er leaders created a new word. They overturned ancient laws and created new ones. They had the right to uphold their new ideal, even if it meant killing innocent men defending the ancient law. "The first class of people preserve and people the world, the second move the world and lead it to its goal." Despite these tremendous differences in his theory, and the obvious superiority that the extraordinary people are afforded, Raskolnikov maintains that both classes have an equal right to exist. This is interesting, and anyone who sees tremendous problems with this theory must realize this very important point--both classes of men and women are necessary to understand the true meaning of Raskolnikov's theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Without the extraordinary branch of men, without their ability and moral obligation to overstep the bounds of society at certain times, the history of the world would never have progressed to the state that we find ourselves now.

Big Stick Abroad John Milton Cooper

Big Stick Abroad John Milton Cooper To get involved or not to get involved in global politics? That was not a question that Theodre Roosevelt ever had. Global politics were at the forefront of his mission as President. Within a year of Roosevelt becoming President he had interceded with Latin American affairs. I believe this was because Roosevelt felt that the problem threatened his visions for the United States. Roosevelt put the United States in the middle of Germany and Venezuela to help collect a debt that Venezuela owed Germany.He did the same thing to Heidi for Europe. By 1904 Roosevelt had made America the financial protector over the Dominican Republic. Roosevelt was impartial to English speaking Countries. In 1902 Roosevelt yet again conspired to gain Alaska land from Canada, but in 1903 he agreed to have an international tribunal settle the dispute. Canada was permitted three judges and so was America. Roosevelt conspired with Senator Lodge and Justice Holmes to side with A merica’s claim. Which in turn won America the rights to the land.One might think of Roosevelt as a bully when it came to foreign affairs because he did not always play fair and would always seem to get his way. As President sometimes you have to do what you think is best for your Country and look further down the line to decide if what you are doing will help or harm your Country. I believe the Roosevelt did what he had to do to make America a bigger and fiercer Country to mess with. I believe that his proudest moment was when he was able to strike a deal for America to have territory that would run through the of the new country.This would not only cut down on the time our men were out to sea but it would also protect them from the disease if they chose to take the path through the mountains. With Roosevelts help we were able to take Panama from Colombia and this was not the biggest victory. The biggest victory would come after Roosevelt had left office and the waterway that we called the Canal Zone was open. This ended up showing the world the maturity of America’s engineering and was thought to be the biggest triumph of technology. I believe that this could have only been done with the help of Europe.When Roosevelt left office he had remorse and guilt for the way that we took the Panama canal. While in office Roosevelt wrote several letters and had a section in his autobiography book on the way that we took Panama and what he did was morally right. Roosevelt was the bully to all of the weaker countries and would be cautious in his approach with countries of equal or greater power than he United States. I believe that the writer of the article Mr. Copper was trying to explain to us that Roosevelt did what he thought was best for America and that he pushed the envelope when it came to foreign affairs.Roosevelt prided himself on his accomplishments with how far he was able to take America with foreign affairs. Mr. Copper writing never seemed to b e one sided and told the story based on facts. I believe that this article was well written and places the facts out there for the reader to take it in and doesn’t distract the readers' views on Roosevelt. This is done by not having a one sided article this helps with not clouding the reader's judgement. After reading the article I have a different perspective on Roosevelt. I feel that he was a bully when he needed to be, but in all honesty isn’t that what America is and always will be?Roosevelt had a goal and a vision and he was able to accomplish them, and for that I applaud him for doing so. The way that he went about gain land and bullying the smaller countries that did not have as much power as we do, to me is not setting a good impression on us as a country. That if you do not give us what we feel is ours or that we want we will take it by force. I also do not agree with interfering in other countries business. Roosevelt felt the need to be the mediator in the Ge rmany and Venezuela situation and the Heidi and Europe transactions.I feel if other countries owe other countries that is for them to deal with not for anyone else to get involved. America has too many other things that should be a higher priority to deal with them to play in other countries affairs. With that being said I do feel that overall that Roosevelt was an amazing president. I am not sure if Roosevelts actions were always justified or made much sense to the citizens at the time. Without Roosevelt we would not have the Panama Canal and that was a major milestone for everyone.

Chernobyl1 essays

Chernobyl1 essays La era nuclear empieza a partir de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a 50 arico, dos ciudades nuevas se han levantado de las cenizas atmicas de esta catastrfica guerra. En una de estas ciudades, Chernobyl, a diez an nuclear, poblaciones enteras han sido abandonadas alrededor del reactor destruido, para escapar del agua y del alimento contaminados producidos en el suelo que una vez fuera rico. En el mismo perà ­odo desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la mayorà ­a de los bosques tropicales fueron destruidos. Se encontro una declinacin dramtica en las especies de plantas y de animales. Los antroplogos registraron una catstrofe global tan enorme que probablemente no sea superada a lo largo de la historia . Todavà ­a hay una pregunta en cuanto a la supervivencia humana ms all de la extensin global del plutonio vaporizado Chernobyl. Esto se relaciona no solamente con una etiqueta de plstico elemental, sino tambin con los efectos genticos, los cuales son mucho ms difà ­ciles de comprobar. Los defectos genticos, el cncer, la leucemia y los problemas de la fertilidad sern consecuencias probables. La variedad de impactos sobre el sistema inmune son tambin difà ­ciles de predecir. Sin embargo, la industria nuclear asume con seguridad que el pà ºblico no asociar la enfermedad con la contaminacin. Muchos continà ºan diciendo que las 31 personas que murieron luchando contra el fuego en Chernobyl fueron las à ºnicas và ­ctimas de la radiacin. Hace catorce atica, comenzaban a vivir lo imaginable: explotaba un reactor de la planta nuclear de Chernobyl. El desastre, fruto del error humano, sucedi tan r&aacut...

Timeline of Rockets - Leaving Earth Behind

Timeline of Rockets - Leaving Earth Behind 3000 BCE Babylonian astrologer-astronomers begin making methodical observations of the skies. 2000 BCE Babylonians develop a zodiac. 1300 BCE Chinese use of firework rockets becomes widespread. 1000 BCE Babylonians record sun/moon/planetary movements - Egyptians use sun clock. 600-400 BCE Pythagoras of Samos sets up a school. Parmenides of Elea, a student, proposes a spherical Earth made from condensed air and divided into five zones. He also sets forth ideas for stars being made of compressed fire and a finite, motionless, and spherical universe with illusory motion. 585 BCE Thales of Miletus, a Greek astronomer of the Ionian school, predicts the angular diameter of the sun. He also effectively predicts a solar eclipse, frightening Media and Lydia into negotiating for peace with the Greeks. 388-315 BCE Heraclides of Pontus explains the daily rotation of the stars by assuming that the Earth spins on its axis. He also discovers that Mercury and Venus revolve around the Sun instead of the Earth. 360 BCE Flying Pigeon (device that uses thrust) of Archytas made. 310-230 BCE Aristarchus of Samos proposes that the Earth revolves around the Sun. 276-196 BCE Eratosthenes, a Greek astronomer, measures the circumference of the Earth. He also finds the differences between planets and stars and prepares a star catalog. 250 BCE Herons aeolipile, which used steam power, was made. 150 BCE Hipparchus of Nicaea tries to measure the size of the sun and the moon. He also works on a theory to explain planetary motion and composes a star catalog with 850 entries. 46-120 AD - Plutarch sets forth in his De facie in orbe lunae (On the Face of the Moons Disk) 70 AD, that the moon is a small Earth inhabited by intelligent beings. He also puts forth theories that lunar markings are due to defects in our eyes, reflections from the Earth, or deep ravines filled with water or dark air. 127-141 AD Ptolomy publishes Almagest (aka Megiste Syntaxis-Great Collection), which states that the Earth is a central globe, with the universe revolving around it. 150 AD Lucian of Samosatas True History is published, the first science fiction story about Moon voyages. He also later does Icaromenippus, another moon-voyage story. 800 AD Baghdad becomes the astronomical study center of the world. 1010 AD The Persian poet Firdaus publishes a 60,000-verse epic poem, Sh_h-N_ma, about cosmic travel. 1232 AD Rockets ( arrows of flying fire) used at the siege of Kai-fung-fu. 1271 AD Robert Anglicus attempts to document surface and weather conditions on planets. 1380 AD T. Przypkowski studies rocketry. 1395-1405 AD Konrad Kyeser von Eichstdt produces Bellifortis, describing many military rockets. 1405 AD - Von Eichstdt writes about sky-rockets. 1420 AD - Fontana designs various rockets. 1543 AD - Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs), reviving Aristarchus heliocentric theory. 1546-1601 AD - Tycho Brahe measures positions of stars and planets. Supports heliocentric theory. 1564-1642 AD - Galileo Galilei first uses the telescope to observe the skies. Discovers sunspots, four major satellites on Jupiter (1610), and Venus phases. Defends Copernican theory in Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue of the Two Chief Systems of the World), 1632. 1571-1630 AD - Johannes Kepler derives the three great laws of planetary motion: planetary orbits are ellipses with the sun as one focus of the directly related to its distance from the Sun. Findings were published in Astronomia nova (New Astronomy), 1609, and De harmonice mundi (On the Harmony of the World), 1619. 1591 AD - Von Schmidlap writes a book about non-military rockets. Proposes rockets stabilized by sticks and rockets mounted on rockets for extra power. 1608 AD - Telescopes invented. 1628 AD - Mao Yuan-I makes the Wu Pei Chih, describing gunpowder and rocket manufacture and use. 1634 AD - Posthumous publication of Keplers Somnium (Dream), a science fiction entry defending heliocentrism. 1638 AD - Posthumous publication of Francis Goodwins The Man in the Moon: or a Discourse of Voyage Thither. It puts forth the theory that the attraction from the Earth is greater than that from the moon Publication of John Wilkins Discovery of a New World a discourse about life on other planets. 1642-1727 AD - Isaac Newton  synthesizes recent astronomical discoveries through universal gravitation in his famed, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), 1687. 1649, 1652 AD - Cyranos reference to fire-crackers in his novels, Voyage dans la Lune (Voyage to the Moon) and Histoire des États etc Empires du Soleil (History of the States and Empires of the Sun). Both refer to the newest scientific theories. 1668 AD - Rocket experiments near Berlin by the German colonel, Christoph von Geissler. 1672 AD - Cassini, an Italian astronomer, predicts the distance between Earth and Sun to be 86,000,000 miles. 1686 AD - Bernard de Fontenelles popular astronomy book, Entretiens sur la Pluralità © des Mondes (Discourses on the Plurality of Worlds) published. Contained speculations about the habitability of the planets. 1690 AD - Gabriel Daniels Voiage du Monde de Descartes (Voyage to the World of Descartes) discusses the souls separation from the body in order to go to the Globe of the Moon. 1698 AD - Christian Huygens, renowned scientist, writes Cosmotheoros, or Conjectures Concerning the Planetary Worlds, a non-fictional premise on life on other planets. 1703 AD - David Russens Iter Lunare: or Voyage to the Moon uses the idea of catapulting to the moon. 1705 AD - Daniel Defoes The Consolidator tells of an ancient races mastery of Lunar flight and describes various spaceships and legends of lunar flights. 1752 AD - Voltaires Micromà ©gas describes a race of people on the star Sirius. 1758 AD - Emanuel Swedenborg writes Earths in our Solar System, which takes Christian Huygens non-fictional approach to discussing life on other planets. 1775 AD - Louis Folie writes Le Philosophe Sans Prà ©tention, about a Mercurian who observes Earthlings. 1781 AD - March 13:  William Herschel  makes his own  telescope  and discovers Uranus. He also puts forth theories of a habitable sun and life on other planetary bodies. Hyder Ali of India uses rockets against the British (were composed of heavy metal tubes guided by bamboo and had a range of a mile). 1783 AD - First  manned balloon  flight made. 1792-1799 AD - Further use of military rockets against the British in India. 1799-1825 AD - Pierre Simon, Marquis de Laplace, produces a five-volume work to describe the Newtonian system of the world, entitled Celestial Mechanics. 1800 - British Admiral  Sir William Congreve  began working with rockets for military purposes in England. He had originally adapted the idea from Indian rockets. 1801 AD - Rocket experiments carried out by the scientist,  Congreve. Astronomers discover that the large gap between Mars and Jupiter contains a large asteroid belt. The largest, Ceres, was found to have a diameter of 480 miles. 1806 - Claude Ruggiere launched small animals in rockets equipped with parachutes, in France. 1806 AD - First major rocket bombardment done (on Boulogne, using Congreve rockets). 1807 AD - William Congreve  used his rockets in the  Napoleonic Wars, as the British attacked Copenhagen and Denmark. 1812 AD - British rocket fire on Blasdenburg. Results in the taking of Washington D.C. and the White House. 1813 AD - British Rocket Corps formed. Begin by taking action in Leipzig. 1814 AD - August 9: British rocket fire on Fort McHenry prompts Francis Scott Key to write the rockets red glare line in his famous poem. During the War of Independence, the British used the  Congreve rockets  to attack  Fort McHenry  in Baltimore. 1817 - In St. Petersburg, Russian Zasyadko rockets were fired. 1825 AD - Dutch forces bomb the Celebes tribe in the East Indies  William Hale  develops the stickless rocket. 1826 AD - Congreve performs further rocket experiments using stage rockets (rockets mounted on rockets) as set out by Von Schmidlap. 1827 AD - George Tucker, under the pseudonym Joseph Atterlay, represents a new wave in science fiction, through describing a spaceship in A Voyage to the Moon with some Account of the Manners and Customs, Science and Philosophy of the People of Morosofia and other Lunarians. 1828 - Russian Zasyadko rockets were put to use in the Russo Turkish War. 1835 AD - Edgar Allen Poe describes a lunar voyage in a balloon in Lunar Discoveries, Extraordinary Aerial Voyage by Baron Hans Pfaall. August 25: Richard Adams Locke publishes his Moon Hoax. He publishes a week-long serial in the New York Sun, as if written by Sir John Herschel, discoverer of Uranus, about moon creatures. This was under the title, Great Astronomical Discoveries Lately Made By Sir John Herschel. 1837 AD - Wilhelm Beer and Johann von Mdler publish a map of the moon using the telescope at Beers observatory. 1841 - C. Golightly was granted the first  patent  in England for a rocket-airplane. 1846 AD - Urbain Leverrier discovers Neptune. 1865 Jules Verne published his novel, entitled From the Earth to the Moon. 1883 Tsiolkovskys Free Space was published by Tsiolkovsky who describes a rocket that functioned in a vacuum under Newtons Action-Reaction laws of motion. 1895 Tsiolkovsky published a book on space exploration which was entitled Dreams of the Earth and the Sky. 1901 H.G. Wells published his book, The First Man in the Moon, in which a substance with anti-gravity properties launched men to the moon. 1903 Tsiolkovsky produced a work entitled Exploring Space with Devices. Within, he discussed the applications of liquid propellants. 1909 Robert Goddard, in his study of fuels, determined that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen would serve as an efficient source of propulsion, when properly combusted. 1911 Russian Gorochof published plans for a reaction airplane which operated on crude oil and compressed air for fuel. 1914 Robert Goddard  was granted two U.S. patents for rockets using solid fuel, liquid fuel, multiple propellant charges, and multi-stage designs. 1918 November 6-7, Goddard fired several rocket devices for representatives of the U.S. Signal Corps, Air Corps, Army ordinance and other assorted guests, at the Aberdeen proving grounds. 1919 Robert Goddard  wrote, and then submitted A Method of Attaining Extreme Altitudes, to the Smithsonian Institution for publication. 1923 Herman Oberth published The Rocket into Interplanetary Space in Germany creating discussion on the technology of rocket propulsion. 1924 Tsiolkovsky conceived the idea of multi-stage rockets, and discussed them for the first time in Cosmic Rocket Trains. A Central Committee for the Study of Rocket Propulsion was established in the Soviet Union, in April. 1925 The Attainability of Celestial Bodies, by Walter Hohmann, described the principles involved in interplanetary flight. 1926 March 16:  Robert Goddard  tested the worlds first successful  liquid-fueled rocket, in Auburn, Massachusetts. It attained a height of 41 feet in 2.5 seconds, and it came to rest 184 feet from the launch pad. 1927 Enthusiasts in Germany formed the Society for Space Travel. Hermann Oberth was among the first several members to join. Die Rakete, a rocket publication, began in Germany. 1928 The first of nine volumes of an encyclopedia on interplanetary travel was published by Russian Professor Nikolai Rynin. In April, the first manned, rocket-powered, automobile was tested by Fritz von Opel, Max Valier and others, in Berlin, Germany. In June, the first manned flight in a rocket-powered glider was achieved. Friedrich Stamer was the pilot, and flew about one mile. Launch was achieved by an elastic launch rope and a 44 pound thrust rocket, then a second rocket fired while airborne. Hermann Oberth began acting as consultant to Film Director Fritz Langs Girl in the Moon and built a rocket for premiere publicity. The rocket exploded on the launch pad. 1929 Hermann Oberth published his second book about space travel, and one chapter included the idea of an electric space ship. On July 17, Robert Goddard launched a small 11 ft. rocket which carried a small camera, barometer and thermometer which were recovered after the flight. In August, many small  solid-propellant  rockets were attached to Junkers-33 seaplane, and were used to achieve the first recorded jet-assisted airplane take-off. 1930 In April, The American Rocket Society was founded in New York City by David Lasser, G. Edward Pendray, and ten others for the purpose of promoting interest in space travel. December 17th marked the establishment of a rocket program Kummersdorf. It was also decided that the Kummersdorf proving grounds would be equipped to develop military missiles. On December 30th,  Robert Goddard  fired an 11 foot  liquid fueled rocket, to a height of 2000 feet at a speed of 500 miles per hour. The launch took place near Roswell New Mexico. 1931 In Austria, Friedrich Schmiedl fired the worlds first mail carrying  rocket. David Lassers book, The Conquest of Space, was published in the United States. May 14: VfR successfully launched a  liquid-fueled rocket  to a height of 60 meters. 1932 Von Braun  and his colleagues demonstrated a  liquid fueled  rocket to the German Army. It crashed before the parachute opened, but  Von Braun  was soon employed to develop liquid fueled rockets for the Army. On April 19th, the first  Goddard  rocket with gyroscopically controlled vanes was fired. The vanes gave it automatically stabilized flight. In November, at Stockton N.J., the American Interplanetary Society tested a rocket design that they had adapted from the German Society for Space Travels designs. 1933 The Soviets launched a new rocket fueled by  solid  and  liquid  fuels, which reached a height of 400 meters. The launch took place near Moscow. At Stanten Island, New York, the American Interplanetary Society launched its No. 2 rocket, and watched it attain 250 feet in altitude in 2 seconds. 1934 In December,  Von Braun  and his associates launched 2 A-2 rockets, both to heights of 1.5 miles. 1935 The Russians fired a  liquid, powered rocket that achieved a height of over eight miles. In March, a rocket of Robert Goddards exceeded the speed of sound. In May,  Goddard  launched one of his gyro-controlled rockets to a height of 7500 feet, in New Mexico. 1936 Scientists from the California Institute of Technology began rocket testing near Pasadena, CA. This marked the beginning of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Smithsonian Institution printed  Robert Goddards  famous report,   Liquid  Propellant Rocket Development, in March. 1937 Von Braun  and his team relocated to a special, purpose-built rocket testing facility at Peenemunde on the Baltic Coast of Germany. Russia established rocket test centers in Leningrad, Moscow and Kazan. Goddard watched one of his rockets fly to higher than 9,000 feet, on March 27. This was the highest altitude attained by any of the  Goddard Rockets. 1938 Goddard  began to develop high speed fuel pumps, in order to better outfit  liquid fueled  rockets. 1939 German scientists fired, and recovered, A-5 rockets with gyroscopic controls that attained seven miles altitude and eleven miles range. 1940 The Royal Air Force used rockets against the Luftwaffe planes in the Battle of Britain. 1941 In July, the first U.S. based launch of a rocket assisted airplane took place. Lt. Homer A. Boushey piloted the craft. The U.S. Navy began developing Mousetrap, which was a ship-based 7.2 inch mortar-fired bomb. 1942 The U.S. Air Force launched its first air-to-air and air-to-surface rockets. After a failed attempt in June, Germans managed to successfully launch an  A-4  (V2) rocket, in October. It traveled 120 miles downrange from the launch pad. 1944 January 1st marked the beginning of long-range rocket development, by the California Institute of Technology. This testing resulted in the Private-A and Corporal rockets. In September, the first fully operational  V2 rocket  was launched against London, from Germany. Over a thousand V2s followed. Between the 1st and 16th of December, twenty four Private-A rockets were test fired at Camp Irwin, CA. 1945 Germany successfully launched the A-9, a winged prototype of the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which was designed to reach North America. It reached almost 50 miles in altitude, and achieved a speed of 2,700 mph. The launch was executed on January 24th. In February, the Secretary of War approved the Armys plans to establish the White Sands Proving Grounds, for testing new rockets. On April 1st through 13th, seventeen rounds of Private-F rockets were fired at Hueco Ranch, Texas. On May 5th, Peenemunde was captured by the Red army, but the facilities there were mostly destroyed by the personnel. Von Braun  was captured by the U.S. and relocated to the White Sands proving ground in New Mexico. He was made part of Operation Paperclip. May 8th marked the end of the war in Europe. At the time of the German collapse, more than 20,000 V-1s and V-2s had been fired. Components of approximately 100 V-2 rockets arrived at the White Sands Testing Grounds, in August. On August 10,  Robert Goddard  died due to cancer. He died at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore. In October, the U.S. Army established its first Guided Missile Battalion, with the Army Guard Forces. The Secretary Of War approved plans to bring top German rocket engineers to the U.S., in order to further knowledge and technology. Fifty five German scientists arrived at Fort Bliss and White Sands Proving Grounds, in December. 1946 In January, the U.S. outer space research program was started with captured  V-2 rockets. A V-2 panel of representatives of interested agencies was formed, and more than 60 rockets were fired before the supply was finally exhausted. On March 15, the first American built V-2 rocket was static-fired at the White Sands Proving Grounds. The first American-built rocket to leave the earths atmosphere (the WAC) was launched on March 22nd. It was launched from White Sands, and attained 50 miles of altitude. The U.S. Army began a program to develop two stage rockets. This resulted in the WAC Corporal as the 2nd stage of a  V-2. On October 24th, a V-2 with a motion picture camera was launched. It recorded images from 65 miles above the earth, covering 40,000 square miles. On December 17th, the first night-flight of a V-2 occurred. It achieved a record making 116 miles of altitude, and velocity of 3600 mph. German rocket engineers arrived in Russia to begin work with Soviet rocket research groups. Sergei Korolev built rockets using technology from the  V-2. 1947 The Russians began launch tests of their  V-2 rockets, at Kapustin Yar. Telemetry was successfully used for the first time in a V-2, launched from White Sands. On February 20th, the first of a series of rockets was launched for the purpose of testing ejection canister effectivity. On May 29, a modified V-2 landed 1.5 miles south of Juarez, Mexico, narrowly missing a large ammunition dump. The first V-2 to be launched from a ship was launched from the deck of the U.S.S. Midway, on September 6th. 1948 On May 13th, the first two-stage rocket launched in the Western Hemisphere was launched from the White Sands facility. It was a  V-2  which had been converted to include a WAC-Corporal upper stage. It reached a total altitude of 79 miles. White Sands launched the first in a series of rockets that contained live animals, on June 11. The launches were named Albert, after the monkey that rode in the first rocket. Albert died of suffocation in the rocket. Several monkeys and mice were killed in the experiments. On June 26, two rockets, a  V-2  and an Aerobee were launched from White Sands. The V-2 attained 60.3 miles, while the Aerobee attained 70 miles altitude. 1949 A number 5 two-stage rocket was launched to 244 miles of altitude, and 5,510 mph velocity over White Sands. It set a new record for the time-being, on February 24. On May 11,  President Truman  signed a bill for a 5,000 mile test range to extend from Cape Kennedy Florida. The Secretary of the Army approved the relocation of the White Sands scientists and their equipment to Huntsville, Alabama. 1950 On July 24th, the first rocket launch from Cape Kennedy was a number 8 of the two-stage rockets. It climbed to a total of 25 miles in altitude. A number 7 two-stage rocket was launched from Cape Kennedy. It set the record for the fastest moving man-made object, by traveling Mach 9. 1951 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California launched the first of a series of 3,544 Loki rockets, on June 22. The program ended 4 years later, after having fired the most rounds in ten years at White Sands. On August 7, a Navy Viking 7 rocket set the new altitude record for single stage rockets by reaching 136 miles and a speed of 4,100 mph. The launch of the 26th V-2, on October 29, concluded the use of the German rockets in upper atmosphere testing. 1952 On July 22, the first production-line Nike rocket made a successful flight. 1953 A missile was fired from an underground launch facility in White Sands on June 5. The facility was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The first launch of the Armys Redstone missile, on August 20th, was conducted at Cape Kennedy by Redstone Arsenal Personnel. 1954 On August 17th, the first firing of a Lacrosse Group A  missile  was conducted at the White Sands facility. 1955 The White House announced, on July 29th, that President Eisenhower approved plans to launch unmanned satellites to circle the earth, as participation in the  International Geophysical Year. The Russians soon made similar announcements. On November 1st, the first guided missile equipped cruiser was placed in commission at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. On November 8th, the Secretary of Defense approved the  Jupiter  and Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) programs. President Eisenhower placed highest priority on Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and the Thor and Jupiter IRBM programs on December 1st.

European Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

European Financial Crisis - Essay Example Over and above individual member perpetration to the crisis, the European region as a whole triggered the crisis. Exacerbated credit growth, low risk premia prevalence, liquidity abundance, and real estate bubbles are some of the major causes of the European financial crisis (European Commission 4). Other causes relate to the primary currency of the region; the Euro. Deteriorated euro value resulted in economic poor performance in key sectors of the European economy. As a result, recession scenario was looming, characterized by fluctuating business cycle. On the same note, the rush by financial institutions to safeguard their interests amid the economic downturn exacerbated the occurrence of the European financial crisis. Parties responsible for the crisis spread across different sectors of the economy. These sectors and their relevant parties perpetrated the crisis in different ways. In the financial sector, financial institutions were primarily responsible. Commercial banks rushed to make windfall profits at a time when the euro was performing poorly in the money market. On the same note, these institutions sought to safeguard their business portfolio by being slow to adjust their operations in such a way that would ease pressure in the economy. The bid to secure business interests at the time when the economy was starting to decline in terms of performance plunged the region into a financial crisis. In the government sector, central banks are primarily responsible. Central banks’ monetary and government spending decisions influenced interest rates negatively. Surging interest rates were realized even before the crisis exploded. Another aspect of responsibility in the government sector emanates from the fact that some European governments have defaulted debts (European Commission 9). Doing so has subsequently affected investments in the region to a point where financial crisis has been realized. The implication is that investors have to share in

Aviation Law Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Aviation Law Assignment - Essay Example In the Warsaw Convention chapter, three expounds three types of assertions to which liability confers: The claims based on individual injuries (Article 17), those based on damaged or lost luggage (Article 18) and those based on costs due to delays in the course of transportation (Article 19). Article 17 clearly states conditions that an international air transporter can have liability for damages to passengers. It provides that the transporter is only liable for injury sustained by a bodily harm to a passenger, their hurting, or the incident of death. Another way is if the mishap that caused the harm took place in the airplane or in the sequence of any operations of boarding and disembarking. Under the same Article, an air carrier is solitarily liable for passenger harm when the three circumstances are met: The occurrence of a mishap, in which the traveler succumbs to death, physical harm, or physical expression of the injury and the misfortune must have taken place inside the plane in the occurrence of operation of boarding and landing. Article 18 clearly explains that a transporter will have responsibility for injury sustained from obliteration or damage to any checked properties, if the incidence took place in the course of the transportation by flight. In relation to Article 19, a carrier will have accountability in the event of injury caused by delay in carriage of passengers by flight, and their goods, or baggage. In relation to Article 25, a carrier need not be obliged to avail themselves of the requirements of the Warsaw Convention. That exclude or limit their accountability when it is presented that the carrier has caused the loss suffered by the applicant was triggered by the carrier’s misconduct, as defined in the Law of forum.4 The Warsaw Convention impedes passengers from upholding an action for costs for personal harm under local law once the claim does not gratify the Convention’s conditions for carrier’s obligation for inter national air carriage. In article 29, Warsaw convention it outlines a two-year decree of restrictions. In this article, the right to compensations will be dismissed if no action is done accordingly within the first two years from the arrival date at the destination, or when the aircraft should have arrived, or when the transportation stopped.5 â€Å"The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air drafted in Montreal known as Montreal Convention amended the Warsaw Convention†.6 In relation to the Montreal Convention, a carrier holds liability for any damage incurred in the occurrence of bereavement or body injury of a passenger with the condition that the accident that caused the harm or demise occurred on the plane or in the course of operations of boarding or debarking. This convention only applies to worldwide carriage of individuals, luggage, or cargo that originates in one of the state’s gathering to the Convention and dismisse s in that of an alternative. The Montreal convention has been labelled as an agreement that is beneficial mainly to passengers than airlines in contrast to the Warsaw Convention. The Montreal Convention offers four conditions that may be used by a court to base its authority. A complainant may take an action in the U.S for compensations in relation to the