A Classical Experience essays

A Classical Experience essays On September fourth of 2002, I attended a lecture by Agate Nesaule. Agate was the author of the freshman connectoins novel, A Woman In Amber. The lecture was about two hours long. During the lecture Agate spoke of her childhood during the war. The lecture was supposed to include discussion on her book and how she came to writing, but instead Agate spoke on her childhood in further detail. I found the lecture rather slow and tedious. Agate brought up many topics that were in A Woman In Amber, such as the harsh conditions of wartime and the effects that these conditions can have on a family such as hers. She stressed the importance of putting emotions into words to relieve anxieties. During the lecture Agate rarely changed her tone and seldomly looked up from her notes. As a public speaker, and as an English teacher (which she is), she should have been prepared to speak to the audience. Agate contradicted herself by saying she would "rather not speak about it", when talking on a difficult subject that troubled her when earlier in the lecture she wanted to stress the importance that writing and speaking are forms of therapy. Agate used many real life examples and told many stories of her childhood during the war in detail. She talked about how it took her almost fourty years to start writing because she was ashamed and afraid of being different. Agate said that writing takes a huge iniative. Throughout Agates speech, there were many good qualities of a good speaker. She spoke in great detail which could be easily understood by the audience. Agate also used many real life examples and held everyone's attention for almost two hours. She also had poor qualties in her speech. She did not seem confident while giving her presentation. Agate had very little, if any, eye contact with a monotone voice. Agate did not read the audience. She spoke on whatever she wanted reguardless audience reaction. ...

Free Essays on Kanzen Berhad

Introduction and Issues: The author of our text (Ball, et al, International Business, 111) explains, â€Å"The simple concept of comparative advantage is the basis for international trade.† Although this simple concept can be shown mathematically to be the most efficient action for sovereign countries to achieve the best quantitative measure of resources, other forces that are interjected that complicate the entire trade process between countries. Our global open market world initiative must contend with competitive sovereign governments that have an obligation to protect its citizens even economically and create a balance between protectionism and global growth. Governments have weaved a complicated web of regulatory controls including monetary penalties on foreign businesses that encroach upon their own countries ability to remain economically viable. Other laws have been passed to allow special interest groups that represent industries to petition the legal system for justice according to their eyes, in the global arena. As exhibit 14 shows, penalties include antidumping duties or AD’s, on a specific industries product if it can be proven that the product is being sold on the U.S. market at less than what it cost the foreign firm to manufacture it, (less than fair value) and is causing or threatens to cause material injury to a U.S. industry. Synopsis: Kanzen Berhad, known as KB, company in Malaysia and a subsidiary of Kanzen Tetsu Sdn. Bhd., (KTSB), was in fact facing this very dilemma of having AD duties imposed against heir stainless steel products that they manufacture and ship mainly (80%) to the United States. A U.S. lobby group for the steel industry, Specialty Tubing Group, STG, had petitioned the Bush Administration to impose Antidumping duties on Malaysia and Thailand claiming the U.S. steel pipe industry is in jeopardy from imports selling at â€Å"below cost†. Issues Defined: Mr. EuHong Chew, Sr. Manager and Dir... Free Essays on Kanzen Berhad Free Essays on Kanzen Berhad Introduction and Issues: The author of our text (Ball, et al, International Business, 111) explains, â€Å"The simple concept of comparative advantage is the basis for international trade.† Although this simple concept can be shown mathematically to be the most efficient action for sovereign countries to achieve the best quantitative measure of resources, other forces that are interjected that complicate the entire trade process between countries. Our global open market world initiative must contend with competitive sovereign governments that have an obligation to protect its citizens even economically and create a balance between protectionism and global growth. Governments have weaved a complicated web of regulatory controls including monetary penalties on foreign businesses that encroach upon their own countries ability to remain economically viable. Other laws have been passed to allow special interest groups that represent industries to petition the legal system for justice according to their eyes, in the global arena. As exhibit 14 shows, penalties include antidumping duties or AD’s, on a specific industries product if it can be proven that the product is being sold on the U.S. market at less than what it cost the foreign firm to manufacture it, (less than fair value) and is causing or threatens to cause material injury to a U.S. industry. Synopsis: Kanzen Berhad, known as KB, company in Malaysia and a subsidiary of Kanzen Tetsu Sdn. Bhd., (KTSB), was in fact facing this very dilemma of having AD duties imposed against heir stainless steel products that they manufacture and ship mainly (80%) to the United States. A U.S. lobby group for the steel industry, Specialty Tubing Group, STG, had petitioned the Bush Administration to impose Antidumping duties on Malaysia and Thailand claiming the U.S. steel pipe industry is in jeopardy from imports selling at â€Å"below cost†. Issues Defined: Mr. EuHong Chew, Sr. Manager and Dir...

Perfect competition and monopoly power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Perfect competition and monopoly power - Essay Example There is natural tendency of the high technology company to acquire this form to shun competition. 3. In perfect competition products available in the market are of homogeneous character manufactured by firms and that do not provide customers the buying preference. Buyers are free to buy from the market and firms are also free to enter or exit without restrictions In contrast to this in monopoly there is only one seller and plenty of buyers. The entry barriers exist that don't allow easy entry in the market for many reasons such as high technology products or legally protected products etc. Monopolists set market price of the product and services irrespective of the buyers' reaction. The buyers don't have power to influence price. Oligopoly is a situation that lies in between the two extreme models of perfect competition and monopoly. This is a market form in which the industry is dominated by a small numbers of sellers or firms and the decision of one firm influences that of others. This close proximity and influence of each firm on the other in the market or industry often causes collusion of interest. There is scope of competition in oligopoly too but firms often employ restrictive trade practices as formation of cartels to raise product prices. OPEC is the best example which form cartel to restrict production of crude oil to reduce supply and increase price in the world market. When the number of firms is larger there can be fierce competition with relatively high production but low prices that amounts to situation in perfect competition. But actually the firms operate under imperfect competition. In order to earn greater profit / revenue and market share firms in oligopoly utilize non-price competition a nd are supported by sticky -upward demand curve. Oligopsony is another form of market in which number of sellers is comparatively large than the number of buyers. This type of market is often seen in the input market where a small number of firms compete to obtain (buy) factors of production. This is just in contrast with the oligopoly market where firms compete to sell the final product. Market with a few sellers (oligopoly) and a few buyers (oligopsony) is called as a bilateral oligopoly. Perfect Competition is the most competitive market structure in which everybody is a price taker. This type of situation hardly exists. It is so competitive that any individual buyer or seller has a very little impact on the market price. When a company emerges with a high technology products that no one else manufactures they acquire a growing monopolistic position in the market as the Microsoft Corporation did with its application software products that have to be used in every product as desktop computer. Initially there was no substitute product in the market as in a monopoly market but gradually some firms dare enter in to the scene to snatch some market share of the near

Is health and physical education beneficial enough to students to keep Essay

Is health and physical education beneficial enough to students to keep in our school systems - Essay Example 7) However, school curriculum should not be confined to teaching academic subjects that hone the students’ intellectual skills. The personality and behavior of an individual is developed through absorbing diverse issues that shape their needs, preferences and actions. Individuals do not exist in a nutshell; they interact, relate, and behave in specific manners which eventually affect their health. According to Kolbe (1993 p. 12), â€Å"the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that most major health problems in the United States today are caused by six categories of behavior: behaviors that lead to intentional and unintentional injuries; smoking; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors leading to sexually transmitted diseases, HIV infection, and unintended pregnancy; poor nutrition; and lack of physical activity†. He further emphasized that â€Å"behaviors and attitudes about health that are initiated during childhood are responsible for most of the leading causes of death, illness, and disability in the United States today. Comprehensive school health education programs represent one effective way of providing students with the knowledge and skills to prevent health-impairing behaviors.† (Kolbe 1993 p. 13) The schools’ curriculum should include subjects which promote health and physical education to enforce correct behavioral patter ns at a young age and continue this positive reinforcement until adulthood. Therefore, health promotion and physical education in the schools is of critical importance. There has been the underlying belief that â€Å"if young people (5-18 years) receive basic knowledge about a health issue, they will adopt appropriate health enhancing behaviours. Most school health programs, projects and packages were designed based on this belief. However, research in the last 20 years suggests that the provision of information will lead to behavior change approach is

Product Life Cycle Theory By Vernon Economics Essay

Product Life Cycle Theory By Vernon Economics Essay Vernons international product life cycle theory (1996) is based on the experience of the U.S. market. At that time, Vernon observed and found that a large proportion of the worlds new products came from the U.S. for most of the 20th century. It was concluded that U.S. was the first to introduce technological driver products. Vernon theory was used to explain certain types of foreign direct investment made by the U.S. companies after the Second World War in the manufacturing industry. The U.S. has become a major importer of many of the goods that had once developed, produced and exported. Vernons international product life cycle is used to attempt to explain why this happened. According to Vernon, in the first stage the U.S. transnational companies create new innovative products for local consumption and export the surplus in order to serve also the foreign markets. According to the theory of production cycle, after the Second World War in Europe has increased demand for manufactured products like those proposed in USA. Thus, America firms began to export, having the advantage of technology on international competitors. In the first stage of production cycle, manufacturers have an advantage by possessing new technologies. However at these early stages of production, the products were not standardized as the nature of the goods has implications such as price elasticity, the communication throughout the industry and also the location of the product itself. As the product starts to mature, the conditions also start to change. A certain degree of standardization takes place and the demand of the products appeared elsewhere. As demand has increased, overseas markets were imitating those products at a cheaper labour and overall cost. The U.S. firms were forced to perform production facilities on the local markets to maintain their market shares in those areas. Consequently the U.S. exports were limited. As the markets in the U.S. and these other developed countries mature, the product became standardized. The developments of the life cycle were once again changed. There were more demand and cheaper labour costs from overseas countries, the pricing became the main competitive tool and cost became more of an issue than previously. The producers internationally based in advanced countries then had the opportunity to export back to U.S. This has led to the undeveloped countries offering competitive advantage for the location of production and finally they became exporters. This evidence suggests that the more a product is standardized; the location of production is more likely to change. At the same time there is also evidence that unstandardized products will maintain their location in more phosphorus location. This also explains; between 1950 to 1970 there were certain types of investments in Europe Western made by U.S. companies. There were areas where Americans have not possessed the technological advantage and foreign direct investments were made during that period. To resume, Raymond Vernon believes that there are four stages of production cycle: Introduction Growth Maturity Decline And the location of production depends on the stage of the cycle. Stage 1: Introduction New products are introduced to meet local needs, and new products are first exported to similar countries i.e. countries with similar needs, preferences and incomes. Stage 2: Growth A copy product is produced elsewhere and introduced in the home country to capture growth in the home market. This moves production to other countries, usually on the basis of cost of production. Stage 3: Maturity The industry contracts and concentrates and the lowest cost producer will win. Stage4: Decline Poor countries constitute the only markets for the product. Therefore almost all declining products are produced in LDCs. Vernons product life cycle model can explain both trade and FDI. By adding a time dimension to the theory of monopolistic advantage, the product life cycle model can explain a firms shift from exporting to FDI. Initially a firm when innovate a product, it produces at home enjoying its monopolistic advantage in the export market, thus specializes and exports. Once the product becomes standardized in its growth product phase, the firm may tend to invest abroad and export from there to retain its monopoly power. The rivals from the home country may also follow to invest in the same foreign countrys oligopolistic market. Vernons theory implies that overtime the main exporter may change from exporter to importer. This leads to the low cost producers becoming exporters. One weakness of this theory can be that Vernons view is ethnocentric. It can also be said that many new products are now produced in advanced economies such as Japan. Globalization means that there is more dispersed and simultaneous production of comparative advantage. The final weakness of this theory is that this study was carried out in the 60s. The worlds trading importing and exporting has changed immensely over the years.

Comparison and Contrast Sonny and Charlie Sonnys Blues and Babylon Revisited Essay

Struggling with an addiction is one of the most painful and dreadful experiences one could ever go through. It can start out small or simple, then all of a sudden it is a full on addiction. In James Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† addiction is a force that is to be reckoned with. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s â€Å"Babylon Revisited†, paints the perfect picture of what addiction can do at its greatest. These stories can truly substantiate how addiction can put many obstacles up that are very difficult to overcome. It is well established in our society that overcoming adversity can lead to success in many levels. In â€Å"Babylon Revisited† and â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† both addicts have major struggles in facing and defeating hardships in their lives, but when they are finally gone life is back to purpose again. Despite a few dissimilarities â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† and â€Å"Babylon Revisited† , have a lot in common, such as, addiction, imprisonment, and salvation. First, these stories are similar because of addiction. In â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† we find that Sonny is addicted to heroin early on. â€Å"He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown for peddling and using heroin. (434) Sonny had battled a long addiction to the harmful drug before finally getting in trouble and serving jail time. Sonny, unlike the other kids in Harlem, did not act hard or gangster. He had an older brother who tried to look after him as well. He had guidance and advice at a young age but the streets of Harlem took control. Sonny wanted to find an escape from Harlem; he turned to heroin as that choice. In â€Å"Babylon Revisited† Charlie is plagued by the addiction of alcohol. He used to frequent the bars every night. He spent many nights drunk under the influence of alcohol. He had a daughter who kept him on the straight and narrow. She was his motivation to beat the addiction. Charlie searched for meaning in the bottle. The recollection of the past paves the way toward the future. The hole that Charlie seemed to dig himself into with alcohol is something that he will never be able to forget. He has damaged more than just himself because of his addiction. These stories are similar because of addiction. Second, the stories are comparable because of imprisonment. The imprisonment is caused by the addictions. In â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† Sonny is a prisoner to Harlem, he realized early on that he was not going to break the stereotype of being a poor, black, inner-city kid from Harlem. He realized the obstacles and burdens that were ahead of him. His brother warned him several times how dangerous and corrupt life is in Harlem but Sonny never took it to heart. He then turned to heroin to find the escape he had been searching for all along, which led to his jail sentence. Now, Sonny was literally held captive to the very thing he was using for his escape. Yet, when he smiled, when we shook hands, the baby brother I’d never known looked out from the depths of his private life, like an animal waiting to be coaxed in the light. †(438) Sonny’s brother had viewed him as an animal who has been trapped in the misery of his life, and now that he is free, he wants to know if he is truly free from the addiction of the past. Sonny’s brother is trying to say that he felt like he never knew his brother before but now that he has suffered the life of prison, he can see the wounds that his dreadful past had caused. But he can still notice the heart of Sonny. He sees that deep down Sonny is the same he has always been regardless of his past. The narrator is finally confronted with the reality that Sonny is in fact his brother and he is now his brother’s keeper, a responsibility he had ran from the majority of his life. In â€Å"Babylon Revisited† Charlie is imprisoned by his past. He will never truly be able to forget his past. He is constantly reminded of it anywhere he goes in Paris. His alcoholism has led him to a life of drunken memories. He also cannot escape his failed marriage. The reminiscence of the past can forecast the future. Because Charlie lost his wife, he is prevented from living with his daughter, which is the thing that will help him bury his past. These stories are similar because of imprisonment. Finally, these stories are alike because they both feature salvation. In â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† Sonny gets his salvation through music. When he is released from prison he is looking to get away from the same life that got him there. He also knows that Harlem is a city full of despair and drugs, which he cannot avoid. But he finds his salvation through music. When he is urged to fall back into his old life he plays music to revive himself from it. â€Å"For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness. †(453) the narrator describes how music changes his brother into the man he wants him to be. In â€Å"Babylon Revisited† Charlie finds salvation in through his daughter. Even though his friends and family try to bring him down, the one thing he puts his faith into is his daughter. In order to be saved from something you must be consumed by something else. Charlie was consumed in his past and could not let go. But when he is with his daughter he finds relentless joy that he cannot seem to find anywhere else. These stories are similar because of salvation. Addiction consumed Sonny and Charlie. It was something that opened many doors that they did not want opened. It caused them both to lose their entire lives. Even though they lived they are forever haunted by the past of their previous addictions. These stories are similar because of addiction, imprisonment, and salvation.

European domination Essay

As the antebellum period began, America was approaching its golden anniversary as an independent political state, but it was not yet a nation. There was considerable disagreement among the residents of its many geographical sections concerning the exact limits of the relationship between the Federal government, the older states, and the individual citizen. In this regard, many factions invoked concepts of state sovereignty, centralized banking, nullification, popular sovereignty, secession, all-Americanism, or manifest destiny. However, the majority deemed republicanism, social pluralism, and constitutionalism the primary characteristics of antebellum America. Slavery, abolition, and the possibility of future disunion were considered secondary issues. Cultural and social changes were sweeping the cities of America during the period. Industry and urbanization had moved the North toward a more modern society with an unprecedented set of novel cultural values, while the South had essentially lagged behind in the traditions of the 18th century. The mixing of traditional folkways with a more modern vision of America had caused social influence, political authority, and traditional concepts of family to become uncertain, unstable, and somewhat ambiguous. (Volo & Volo, 2004) The history and sociopolitical influence of the African-American church documents an interminable struggle for liberation against the exploitative forces of European domination. Although Black religion is predominantly Judeo-Christian, its essence is not simply white religion with a cosmetic face lift. Rather the quintessence of African-American spiritual- mindedness is grounded in the social and political experience of Black people, and, although some over the years have acquiesced to the dominant order, many have voiced a passionate demand for â€Å"freedom now. † The history of the African-American church demonstrates that the institution has contributed four indispensable elements to the Black struggle for ideological emancipation, which include a self-sustaining culture, a structured community, a prophetic tradition, and a persuasive leadership. The church of slavery, which began in the mid-eighteenth century, started as an underground organization and developed to become a pulpit for radicals like Richard Allen and the platform for revolutionaries like David Walker. For over one hundred years, African slaves created their own unique and authentic religious culture that was parallel to, but not replicative of the slave-owner’s Christianity from which they borrowed. Meeting on the quiet as the â€Å"invisible church,† they created a self-preserving belief system by Africanizing European religion. Commenting on this experience, Alice Sewell, a former slave of Montgomery, Alabama, states, â€Å"We used to slip off in de woods in de old slave days on Sunday evening way down in de swamps to sing and pray to our own liking† (Yetman, 1970, p. 263). During the late 1700s, when slavery was being dismantled in the North, free Black Methodists courageously separated from the patronizing control of the white denomination and established their own independent assemblies. This marked the genesis of African-American resistance as a nationally structured, mass-based movement. In 1787, Richard Allen, after suffering racist humiliation at Philadelphia’s St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, separated from the white congregation and led other Blacks, who had been similarly disgraced, to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A. M. E. ) in 1816. The new group flowered. By 1820 it numbered 4,000 in Philadelphia alone, while another 2,000 claimed membership in Baltimore. The church immediately spread as far west as Pittsburgh and as far south as Charleston as African-Americans organized to resist domination. (3) Through community groups, they contributed political consciousness, economic direction, and moral discipline to the struggle for freedom in their local districts. Moreover, Black Methodists sponsored aid societies that provided loans, business advice, insurance, and a host of social services to their fellow-believers and the community at large. In sum the A. M. E. Churches functioned in concert to organize African-Americans throughout the country to protect themselves from exploitation and to ready themselves for political emancipation. During this same period, David Walker exemplified the prophetic tradition of the Black church with his â€Å"Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World,† published between 1829 and 1830. Walker employed biblical language and Christian morality in creating anti-ruling class ideology: slaveholders were â€Å"avaricious and unmerciful wretches† who were guilty of perpetrating â€Å"the most wretched, abject, and servile slavery† in the world against Africans. To conclude, the church of the slave era contributed substantially to African-American social and political resistance. The â€Å"invisible institution† provided physical and psychological relief from the horrific conditions of servitude: within the confines of â€Å"hush arbors,† bondspeople found unfamiliar dignity and a sense of self-esteem. Similarly, the A. M. E. congregations confronted white paternalism by organizing their people into units of resistance to fight collectively for social equality and political self-direction. And finally, the antebellum church did not only empower Blacks by structuring their communities; it also supplied them with individual political leaders. David Walker made two stellar contributions to the Black struggle for freedom- -he both created and popularized anti-ruling class philosophy. He intrepidly broadcasted the conditional necessity of violence in abolishing slavery demanding to be heard by his â€Å"suffering brethren† and the â€Å"American people and their children† in both the North and the South. As churches grew in size and importance, the Black pastor’s role as community leader became supremely influential and unquestionably essential in the fight against Jim Crow. For instance, in 1906, when the city officials of Nashville, Tennessee, segregated the streetcars, R. H. Boyd, a prominent leader in the National Baptist Convention, organized a Black boycott against the system. He even went so far as to operate his own streetcar line at the height of the conflict. To Boyd and his constituents no setback was ever final, and the grace of God was irrefutability infinite. Then, with the advent of World War I (1914-1918) and the availability of jobs in the North, Blacks migrated to urban centers such as New York, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis–and they took their church with them. Hundreds of thousands of African-Americans packed not only their dreams, but also their Bibles, and struck out for the â€Å"promise land. † In exploding metropolitan enclaves they built thriving congregations like the 14,000-member Abyssinian Baptist church of Harlem, which won international acclaim for serving and organizing its people: it found them jobs, it secured them housing, it fought for their rights, and it directed their ballots. This was consistent with the â€Å"Social Gospel† as advocated by Black ministers who preached that societal sin–such as the starvation of children–could only be destroyed through Christian love and benevolent programs. To them the primary responsibility of the church was to establish ministries of social service that would eliminate injustice and abolish poverty in the African-American community, and this became the objective of many large urban assemblies. However, these impersonal metropolitan congregations with their grand strategies of social improvement did not appeal to all migrants, especially newcomers from the rural South. Instead, this group founded small assemblies in abandoned stores that offered them personal acceptance, belonging, identity, friendship–and perhaps most of all–a shelter from white racism. Hence, â€Å"storefront churches† had their genesis as part of the self-preserving culture produced by African-American Christians to ensure the survival of their communities. (Simms, 2000) Citing church membership figures accounting for fewer than twenty percent of the antebellum slave population, a number of revisionist historians have recently challenged the widespread view that Christianity was embraced by millions of slaves hungering for its message of love, hope, and salvation. And although revisionist critics have responded that such statistics provide a far from accurate gauge of just how deeply Christianity permeated the slave population, the question remains as to whether or not the mass conversion of as many as four million slaves within a single generation ever occurred, given that the vast majority had little or no exposure to Christian teaching prior to the Jacksonian period. Despite such controversy, nearly all interpretations of slave religion maintain that after about 1830, Southern planters, motivated by a desire for social control as well as sincere concern for the salvation of bondsmen, successfully introduced Christianity to the spiritually starved slave community. And even though support for this conclusion rests heavily on supposition and interpolation, it has nonetheless been presented in a number of the modern era’s most influential studies of slave religion. Local preachers were encouraged to minister to nearby plantations and, in regions lacking sufficient clergy, slaveholders, themselves, were urged to hold prayer meetings among bondsmen. Also, many churches invited slaves to join their congregations, often partitioning off separate areas such as balconies to enable them to worship alongside whites. Taken as a whole, then, it is difficult to deny that Christianity played an important role in at least some quarters of the slave community after 1830.