Dreams in of mice and men Essay

Of Mice and Men Dreams Of Mice and Men is set in Salinas, California in the 1930s Great Depression. Life was hard and men could be cruel. Hope might be the only escape from hard reality. This links to the American Dream – represented in George and Lennie’s dream of working hard and getting their own land and farm, and control over their own lives. But it was harder than ever to achieve due to the tough economic conditions of the Depression. After Lennie’s death, it might be possible for George to realise his dream, but the emptiness at the end of the novel shows that financial success is nothing when you are lonely. So the dream is not just something to own, or possess, but also something to share. ‘Compassion and love’, to Steinbeck – as outlined in his Nobel Prize speech are the most important things, as is ‘hope’ – having a dream. Lennie and George have a fairly simple dream: to own a small farm, and be their own bosses, which contrasts with the large factory type farm they are on, where men are treated like machines, which are frequently broken (Crooks and Candy), and isolated from each other. George repeats his and Lennie’s dream like a mantra: ‘we got a future’, suggesting that they are different to the others. ‘Future’ here is a metaphor for something bright, and greater than what they have now – like the American Dream to ‘live off the fatta the land’. The phrase ‘fat of the land’ almost suggests a biblical promised land after the hard, ‘wilderness’ years. The function of the dream therefore is to help them to endure hardship and not give in to despair. They want control of their own lives: ‘we’ll just say the hell with goin to work’. This can make them seem naive however, as farmers have to work whether they want to or not – especially smallholders. When George sets out the dream, he then says that he and Lennie are ‘not like those other guys’. The dream sets George and Lennie apart from the others; they make themselves special: in the inclusive ‘we’ against the exclusive ‘those other guys’. The juxtaposition of ‘us’ and ‘them’ verbally bonds the protagonists together in contrast to the other men – even though they are all, George, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, in the same situation. Still, George and Lennie separate themselves from the others by using the third person to describe farm hands as, ‘the loneliest guys in the world.’ The superlative ‘loneliest’ and hyperbole ‘in the world’ exaggerates the harshness of the world of the Depression as shown in the novel. Sometimes it seems that George ‘owns’ the dream – as he is the one who tells it to Lennie, like a child’s bedtime story, prayer or mantra, in keeping with his role as ‘parent/protector’ to his child-like companion. This is emphasised by the simple, mantra-like structure, where Lennie keeps filling in the gaps if George hesitates, and repeating short phrases after him as if he knows it by heart, even though – as George says frustratedly, Lennie always ‘forgets’ everything else. It is not always certain if George believes the dream is possible or if he is saying it to keep Lennie quiet. Sometimes, George seems sceptical, saying they will have ‘every colour rabbits’ including ‘red and blue’. He is patronising to Lennie, saying ‘good boy’, keeping him safe from his own stupidity. In these scenes the dream seems more of a spell or placebo to keep the main characters safe than something that is really possible. Other characters are very cynical about the dream. The reader is made to question how realistic these dreams are. Curley’s wife dreams of when she threw away the chance to become famous, but we can see that her dream is a sham. Of George and Lennie’s dream, Crooks says: ‘every damn one of them’s got a little piece of land in his head’. Crooks’ final judgement is that ‘never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it.’ The repetition of the absolute ‘never’ and ‘ever’, as well as the strong slang ‘God damn’ emphasises how desperate life is. However, it is not certain whether Steinbeck shares Crooks’ negative view. Crooks is an extreme character. His language is hyperbole – very extreme and relentlessly negative. Crooks’ phrase ‘God damn’ suggests that God has abandoned these men, in contrast to the biblical image of hope in George and Lennie’s dream of living ‘off the fatta the land’. The biblical imagery continues negatively when Crooks compares the dream of land to being ‘like Heaven’ – the Christian idea of perfect bliss, not considered a physical reality – and which Crooks says is just as impossible to get as a piece of land. It’s hard for George to keep Lennie out of trouble and keep them on track for their dream. But when they tell Candy, it starts to seem as if it might be possible. [needs evidence/ quotation/ language analysis] In an instant, Candy’s faith (and money) take them close to the ideal/dream becoming real. As the dream is shared, or heard by more people, the more it seems that together they might make it come true. Even the ultra negative Crooks starts to believe.[needs evidence/ quotation/ language analysis] But all the time, Steinbeck has built up a foreboding feeling, that this world is hard and horrible and nothing good can live in it. We feel that the gentleness of Lennie and George’s friendship, and their shared dream, will be crushed by the cruel world – even by Lennie’s desire for gentle, soft things. ‘I like soft things’ Every time he kills an animal – mouse or puppy, Lennie’s biggest, darkest fear is that he won’t be allowed ‘to tend the rabbits’. The dream is so precious to him that he wants it at any cost. Curley’s wife is lonely and wants someone to listen to her dream. [needs evidence/ quotation/ language analysis] When she finds Lennie in the barn, she lets him stroke her hair. When she starts screaming, Lennie screams at her to stop or ‘George won’t let me tend the rabbits’. She’s so frightened that she can’t stop and Lennie accidentally kills her. In a way, Lennie’s desire to keep the dream (by keeping Curley’s wife quiet – and smothering her) is the thing that has destroyed it. The irony of this makes it even more poignant. When Candy discovers what has happened all he wants to know is that he and George can still get the farm. [needs evidence/ quotation/ language analysis] He loses sight of human decency – the woman is dead and Lennie will soon die too. Steinbeck makes us ask whether any dream of financial prosperity should be more important than human life? Should we try to get it at any cost? At the end, George tells Lennie the ‘fairy story’ of the dream again – to make him happy at the moment he has to kill the dream of togetherness by shooting him in the head. He almost can’t speak because he is so upset. [needs evidence/ quotation/ language analysis] Even though George could still have the farm with Candy, he is deeply sad that he couldn’t keep Lennie alive. Because the dream isn’t worth much when he doesn’t have his old friend to share it with. Lennie loved the dream more than anyone and he never gets it.

One piece of technology I can’t live without Essay

In today’s modern day and age, we are accompanied daily by little electronic gadgets. They provide us with entertainment, or as a means of communication with the rest of the world. I own a Samsung Galaxy S4, and I know that if I were to lose or not have it one day, I would go ballistic! My phone keeps me in touch with everyone around me, not only that but, it stores a lot of my personal events and pictures, and not to mention the amount of money I paid for this expensive trinket was ridiculous! To begin I am a very busy woman with a very busy schedule. I am a full time mother and student throughout the whole week, and I work at a salon on the weekends. My job consists of scheduling appointments, confirming appointments, and providing my clients with phone consultations. If I were to be phoneless, my appointments would be a disaster. Also, I receive a lot of phone calls all day from my family regarding my son. In addition, I could receive an important phone call from my doctor or health services center regarding my checkups or lab work. Not to mention, I couldn’t imagine going through an emergency and not being able to reach anyone! Next my phone has internet service, so I use it to navigate with various applications like GPS, look up phone numbers and businesses most of all I use it to check my email. I would literally be lost without it. For example, communication today is mostly done thru emails, conversation between teachers and students, important information you need to know about your major. You also can get great deals on coupons in your email which I love. There are many things you can receive in your inbox this is why I cannot live without my phone checking my email every day is very important to me. Finally phones nowadays have video cameras/cameras installed in them along with additional storage devices, planners and calendars. For instance, my phone is loaded with personal and professional pictures and videos from many years ago; they have a lot of sentimental value for me. If I were to lose them I would be devastated, I would have no way of recovering them. Also, my calendars and planners are packed with important personal dates and professional appointments, those planners are the success to my structured working days filled with appointments. The contents inside the phone are very personal and private. It consists of diary entries and personal journals about my life. In summary these are reason I cannot live without my cell phone.

Using Roof Shingle for Asphalt Pavement Research Paper

Using Roof Shingle for Asphalt Pavement - Research Paper Example In addition it contains between 32% and 42% of a coating filler such as limestone followed by some 28% to 42% of granules. The remaining portion of asphalt shingles is composed of fiberglass, cotton rags, paper and adhesives (Carter, 2008). The use of asphalt is pervasive throughout shingle manufacturing and asphalt constitutes a major part of shingles. The large amount of asphalt present in roofing shingles make these shingles suitable for recycling applications such as for constructing roads. It is estimated that the United States alone manufactures around 12.5 billion square feet of asphalt shingles in a single year (Asphalt Roofing Manufacturer's Association, 2012). In recent years there has been a renewed emphasis to recycle asphalt shingles for road based applications since the shingles contain a large amount of asphalt that can be reused. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that around 11 million tons of waste is created each year from asphalt shingles in the United States. This waste is comprised of around one million tons of scrap generated by various asphalt shingle manufacturers while around ten million tons of waste is generated from construction sites (Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). This indicates that asphalt shingle supply can be considered as a reliable source for use in road construction given its continuous supply. Another notable aspect is that asphalt shingles and their related waste comprises around 8% of building related waste. Also, asphalt shingles represent around 10% of the waste created from demolition debris. Recycling one ton of asphalt shingles is estimated to conserve one barrel of crude oil (Owens Corning, 2011). Asphalt shingles can be recycled for use in a number of different road based applications including aggregate for road construction, creating pavements, to control dust content on gravel roads etc. It is typical to use asphalt shingles to form the hot aggregate mixture used for manufacturing and paving roads. The amount of asphalt shingles is kept constant at 5% in the aggregate mixture for desirable properties. It has been researched that increasing the amount of asphalt shingles to 7.5% in the aggregate mixtures renders the mixture soft and compromises pavement performance. In addition, using asphalt shingles from construction projects may also result in brittle pavements that might crack especially at low temperatures. For this reason asphalt shingles are typically used where stone mastic asphalt mixtures are required (Newcomb, Stroup-Gardiner, Weikle, & Drescher, 1993). Waste asphalt shingles are recycled by shredding them to half an inch size for batch plants and shredding them to a quarter inch size for continuous feed plants. These materials are added to the overall aggregate mixture before the virgin asphalt is added for binding. The waste shingles that are typically used for creating HMA contain hard asphalt. The combination of this hard asphalt and the soft virgin aspha lt tend to provide highly desirable properties to the overall aggregate mixture. Generally the resulting mixture of waste hard asphalt and soft virgin asphalt provides better stability as well as better resistance to rutting which make it desirable for use in pavements. The departments of transport of a number of states have approved the use of asphalt shingles for constructing roads and pavements. Asphalt shingles have mostly been approved for use in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements. While the use of asphal

Interview a Manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview a Manager - Essay Example Q 8 My plans are to increase productivity and efficiency in my department. I intend to make the process of acquiring a loan much easier and efficient in order to make sure that businesses can access loans for expansion as easily as possible. Q 9 It was about my ability to work with other people. Some of the other manages told me that I needed to learn how to collaborate with other managers as a team. It was not easy for me to take this criticism extremely well especially because the manager who talked to me used the word selfish to describe my behavior. Q 10 About my failing to be a team player, at first, I did not agree with the criticism and I failed to understand why I was being told so. However, with time, I realized that everyone cannot be wrong and so I chose to review myself. I have since been able to solve that problem. Q11 One thing that I know that am good at is motivating people to be more productive and to like their work. My experience has taught me that motivation is ex tremely essential if people are to learn to be efficient and productive. I inspire people to produce quality and increase productivity. I have been able to improve the human resource in my department in a exceedingly powerful way. Q12 Some of the challenges that I face include inadequate staff and inadequate resources. Q13 I believe that the internet is going to be the way people do business in the future and I believe that any organisation should be able to from the in the internet to improve their business. Q 14 I believe that managers should be able to use innovation in all areas to improve the way the business operates. Information technology and especially the internet offer a hugely fundamental way to do this. Q15 Managers should be able to have analytical skills to help them in undertaking their work. They should also be able to motivate those below them to be diligent and hardworking. This means that they should lead by example. Part II: What I learnt about the manager The m anager is an extremely diligent person and does not look at management from a traditional point of view. He seems to be the kind of person that wants to excel above the rest of the crowd and also seems to be an extremely hard working person. His approach in management, especially human resource management is quite different and unorthodox. He believes that people should be motivated in order for them to be productive and to deliver quality. What is striking about the manager is his obsession with productivity and efficiency. In his definition of efficiency, he talked about the delivery of products with the least overhead costs. He believes that everything should be streamlined and easy to use. This means that the manager is able to deliver in a way that is most efficient and productive. His deep desire to be efficient and productive is what secludes him from the rest of the managers and this could be the reason he was initially finding it harder to work with the other managers. My i dea of him is that he has an introverted personality and that he sees dealing with other people more tedious than having to do the work on his own. As a result of this, many people are likely to misunderstand his intentions and see him as a selfish person (Jonathan, 2009, p. 27-32). My interview with him showed me that he is far from selfish; he talked about those who are under his management with passion and compassion. His dream for all those working under him

My Government Expectations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

My Government Expectations - Essay Example Chinese communist government’s functions that I seek to introspect on what I expect from my government on a day-to-day basis as well as in posterity. Essentially, one of the most basic services is health care and insurance, in China there is a government health insurance system that is similar to America’s Medicare . As a citizen, I expect to access government funded health insurance, in China there are two systems the labor insurance schemes (LIS) and government employee insurance scheme1. Depending on where I am working, I can be assured of cover and access to public medical facilities at a highly subsidized cost. However, I must concede that it is not as straightforward on the ground as it is on paper. There is a huge disparity between the level of care provided in public and private hospitals. In some cases, I am well aware that people shun government hospitals because the care is more efficient in the private clinics. Nevertheless, that is to be expected and is oft en the case in many countries but at the very least, I can be assured that I will have access to effective even if not the best medical care should I need it. As far as education is concerned, every Chinese child is guaranteed nine years of compulsory education that is sponsored by the government. In the 80’s, due to the high population pressure, the government abolished the tax-funded higher education2, today for anyone to get these scholarships they have to compete for them on the basis of merit.

Journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 18

Journal - Assignment Example Harry Truman had warned earlier. It became prevalent because of the â€Å"guilt by association† principle without any solid proof of disloyalty (Faragher et al. 694). Anybody is a suspect and it was relatively easy for anyone to accuse someone of being a communist such as members of labor unions. . The extensiveness of the red scare at home can perhaps be partly explained by mass hysteria. People were not sure who is whom, or who were the card-carrying members of the Communist Party in America. At any rate, the rise of McCarthyism, as it came to be called, was basically an unacceptable form of ideological and political extremism. In the words of the observers, it was essentially demagoguery combined with witch-hunting. It was extensive since anyone could accuse anybody and â€Å" . . . it was an irresponsible and dangerous tactic . . . the reckless persecution of innocent or relatively harmless dissidents . . . â€Å" (Jenkins 2). When people are not sure who is the enemy, then anybody can become a suspect. Fears can become exaggerated when people lacked information and so imagination and irrationality took over. In those dangerous times, communism was on the march and it seemed unstoppable. People were attracted to its ideology of equality for all of whatever race or class (Fitzgerald 24). Joseph â€Å"Joe† R. McCarthy (1908-1957) was a Republican senator from the state of Wisconsin. He was a rarity among American politicians because he was a devout Catholic and a part of his religious beliefs was strong opposition to communism because it was atheistic that is opposed to any kind of organized religion. Communists like to call religion as an opiate (or opium) that deprives normal people the faculty to think clearly and rationally so they do not believe in a god or any supreme being who determines human affairs. Rather, the main logic of communists is that the people themselves can chart their own destiny. McCarthy was

International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Relations - Essay Example He was known to be an Athenian; his generation came immediately after that of the Socrates. Although he was not the conversation leader, his dialogue features the Socrates. Plato has the political doctrine attributed to him, it was mainly obtained from the statesman, the laws and even from the republic Taylor, (121-122). He focused mainly on the following; that living a good life is considered to be our actions final end, which is individuals pursuing happiness in life. Plato also highlights that an individual having a good life depend on utilizing personal skills and abilities and that of other different external goods. He further adds that all these require individuals to have virtues. Virtues on the other hand forces individuals to have the knowledge of the good. Plato concludes that the search of happiness required an individual to possess the knowledge of good. Thus through his various contributions Plato is perceived to play a key role in the establishment of the ancient d the medieval political theory. In bringing about the philosophy, polis also resulted in what Aristotle referred to as being two lives. This included the life of politics and that of philosophy. There were several issues that needed clarification and it included; whether philosophers could conduct themselves politically, whether they could be involved in the normal politics in the current regimes or come up with their own, and also if they were suppose remain purely philosophical without getting involved in politics. Considering the above questions, the philosophical life of Socrates was considered as having been involved in politics before experiencing death philosophically. However for both Plato and Aristotle they perceived politics as being less divined and considered it to be less attractive as compared to studying the world truth which to them was extensive. Even though philosophy may handle issues on politics its major task is more as compared to that of politics. It is important to understand that those who established the earlier political philosophy were focused in differentiating and making philosophy independent from the ordinary actions of politics. This does not necessarily imply that they did not possess ordinary intentions of politics, but rather to clearly state that the establishment of political philosophy was meant to problematized the ordinary political life value. Considering the conception of the modern state it greatly varies with the polis philosophy. There is no clear difference between the state and the political life. It is even difficult to determine which one is above the other, which in reality the state should be superior. According to Plato a political community which is just is structured in a manner where every citizen gets an appropriate opportunity to make contribution for the sake of the communities to benefit. Hence, individuals should have virtues which include social virtues, and an individual can attain this through the the oretical teaching and through education provided. The knowledge of the good according to Plato has different ways; it includes the different modes where an individual’s character is trained and the theoretical knowledge obtained. This consists of a particular type of knowledge considered to be of second-order which mostly concerns the appropriate logical patterns and the given criteria used particularly in the epistemic quality of beliefs evaluation. True reality is not always obvious to majority of us mainly because of how we conduct our

An Ethical Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Ethical Dilemma - Essay Example It was a new company in the field of product manufacturing. Therefore, in order to draw more customers towards the newly manufactured products, the company used to deliver gifts and discounts to the customers. Such strategies used to work well for the company, as they were able to attract a large number of customers. The reason was not only the discounts and gifts that the company offered to the customers but also the quality of the products manufactured by the company was very high. The ethical dilemma, which I am going to relate, occurred when the operation manager of the company left the job due to some personal reasons and the company hired a new manager, James Ferrel. The new manager had a different and less professional approach towards the business. An ethical dilemma occurred when he used the strategy of buy one get one free for a newly manufactured product of the company. The scheme was that if a customer buys a LCD TV from the company, the company would provide the customer with a free DVD player of the same quality. The scheme proved successful in the start as a large number of customers opted to buy the company’s products. ... He told me about the situation. He told me that the new manager gives importance to profits more than quality and for that, he planned to attract customers by providing them with a free product. However, the strategy resulted in losing the customers’ confidence in the company’s products. The ethical issue involved in this example was that the company should have provided the customers with excellent quality not only in the product that intended to buy but also in the product that the company used to provide them as a gift. The company went against business ethics, which not only resulted in loss of customers’ confidence but also affected the image of the company in the minds of the customers. The company faced huge criticism, which ultimately led to dismissal of my friend and his manager. According to Ferrell and Gresham, ethical decision making in business is a key towards a business success. Had I been at the post of my friend, I would have informed the top man agement about the manager’s approach towards business. I would have also asked the manager to use some other way to increase the company’s sales instead of cheating the customers by providing them with a low quality product. â€Å"Ethics are standards of conduct† (Smith). I would have used an ethical decision making model to tackle the situation. I would have proved my words of delivering the free item of the same quality. I believe that the Trevino and Nelson's eight-step model to ethical decision making would have helped me in taking suitable decisions. Being in the situation of my friend, I would have gathered the facts at first in order to know the exact position of company in the market. Next, I would have defined the

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 26

Business Law - Essay Example Prior to commencement of the job, Peter receives a better paying job, and does not show up for work. John can go to court and claim the $500 initial payment on grounds that Peter has breached the contract. Such a claim would be referred to as contractual liability claim. It is common occurrence for businesses, individuals or organizations to get into agreement, often in writing, for the purpose of taking on the liability or a duty of some other entity. Usually the liability is something they would otherwise not have. Such an arrangement where one entity assumes or takes on the liability of another by contract is referred to as an indemnity agreement. Each state has diverse laws on indemnity laws though they usually override common law. Indemnity agreements often form the basis of a contractual liability claim. Contractual liability may come into play in several other scenarios. Examples of such scenarios include assumption of duty, assuming of liability, contractual liability insurance, breach of contract claims, and coverage by insurance. In the UK, contractual liability fall under the Unfair Contract Term Act of 1977, which is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, charged with regulating contracts by restriction of operation and legality of contract terms. In this case study, we are going to use ILAC method to better advice Simon on the best way forward in regards to his situation. ILAC stands for Issue, Law, Application, and conclusion. This technique provide a more logical way of addressing case studies. The facts of this case study are that Fernado and Arthur have sent Simon cheques of varying amount and expect, to receive the book. Also, Simon has since sold the book to a Gollum Book Ltd. According to misrepresentation2 concepts of contract law of England, it is possible to make a misrepresentation either by conduct or words although not all things done or said constitute

Art Renaissance Essay Example for Free

Art Renaissance Essay How is Corbet’s Burial at Ornans an assault on bourgeois values? -He painted a scene that would normally be reserved for something religious and was highly controversial during the time. He took a step that went against the bourgeois values by not caring about the class definitions that were socially acceptable. He painted something that he â€Å"shouldn’t† have, but it brought him instant fame. 2. How do Japanese prints influence the works of Degas? Degas was influenced by Japanese prints in composition and line. He did not paint women in kimonos in his art. Rather than painting Japanese subjects like his fellow artists he took on Japanese techniques and qualities. 3. What are the impressionists concerned with depicting? Include an example to support this. Impressionists are concerned with capturing a sense of immediacy in their artwork. Their works are assymetrically balanced. The subject matter is often casual and more everyday life pictures and scenes. William Chadwick shows the play of light and shade on the Griswold side porch On the Piazza. The impressionists unlike other types of artists do not mix their paint colors. They generally use the pure colors to capture their work. Their use of color is also seen in how they depict shadows. Unlike previous artists who used neutral or darker shades like black to paint a shadow, Impressionists used color to show shadows. 4. Who are the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood? The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a reform movement founded in 1849 by several men to revitalize the arts. They wanted to bring back more classical poses as opposed to the art of their time that was by the Mannerists. They believed Raphael was a corruption to art and the way it was taught. Thus their name of Pre-Raphaelite. 5. What are the aspects used by Cezanne to create Mont Sainte-Victoire? How is this work similar to Impressionism? -He used bright colors and broken brushwork in his painting, not using much definition either. His painting was of modern every day objects, which greatly affects impressionism. It is a little different though than impressionism. Instead of capturing one specific piece of nature and movement, he tries to encompass it as a whole. It is very impressionistic while at the same time different. 6. How does the Tassel House Stairwell show the Art Nouveau organic style? Art Nouveau is often free flowing and organic. The decoration and architecture takes a new look at classic historical styles. The stairwell is softer in appearance and curves more free flowing than classical straight stairwells. Some say it seems to float as it ascends through the middle of the house. The Tassel House was the first architectural structure done in the Art Nouveau style. 7. What is the pictorialist aesthetic? A group of photographers in the late 19th century and early 20th century who wanted to make their works different from other less experienced photographers. They would manipulate the picture they took and therefore created an image rather than just capturing a moment. They made their photographs their own and gave rise to more aesthetic photos. They wanted photography to be more than just taking pictures of subjects they wanted to show it was a real form of art. Sometimes they would scratch negatives or brush them with a soft brush to blur part of the photo making it more interesting.

8 Step Process For Leading Change

8 Step Process For Leading Change Kotter notes that many companies often overlook this process when they are in their rush in making plans or take action for the organization to takes place. He stated that close to 50% of the companies that fail to make needed change make their mistakes at the start. Leaders frequently undermine the importance of driving people out from their comfort zone or being complacent with their current success or even being careless in developing an appropriate urgency. According to Kotter (2012), if this step is successfully executed, leaders will obtain an accurate status benchmark that would determine whether the state of the organization is: Complacency- occurs whether the organization is at the top of their market or facing bankruptcy, usually when everyone thinks Everything is fine. False urgency- People are busy with their work but all their efforts produce nothing, in fact may cause burnout instead. True urgency- People are aware of the potential hazards and make use of all the opportunities to be productive and make progress. Guaranteed to fail- It started by the poorly thought out in the initial step. Leaders failed to appeals the peoples heart, only their head. Guaranteed to succeed- Leaders successfully aim for the heart of people and able to connect the deepest values and inspire them to greatness. This leads to the success of the organizational change. 2. Creating the Guiding Coalition This step involves the ability of leaders to assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort and encourage them to work as a team. Placing people together in the right coalition to lead a change initiative is crucial to its success. It is necessary that the coalition to have the correct structure, substantial level of trust, and a shared objective. Complex organizations are forced to make decisions more quickly even though concrete information is not available due to the rapid changing world. It is evident that it is up to leaders and teams to orchestrate the relevant decision that will help the organization to stay sustainable. The development of the level of trust will stick the team together that helps them to be well functioned. Due to the rapid change, team building has to happen quickly. Developing the right team and combining them with the right level of trust with a shared goal in which the team believes can result in a compelling guiding coalition that will take the organization to the right organizational change. Kotter (2012) states that the right team as a whole should reflect the following four qualities: Position Power- the presence of key players will drive the change progress without any obstruction. Expertise- All relevant points of view should be collected to produce informed intelligent decisions. Credibility- People should be aware of the group presence and respect them so that the groups declarations will be taken seriously. Leadership- Qualified leaders must present to be able to drive the change process. 3. Developing a Change Vision This step pushes the leaders to create a vision to set the direction of the change effort and develop strategies for achieving the vision. A vision must be able to offer genuine guidance, flexible yet focused and easy to comprehend. It insires action and guide that action. According to Kotter (2012), effective visions must have these six key characteristics: Imaginable: Able to portray the future state of the organisation Desirable: attract to the long term interest of the organizational stakeholders. Feasible: comprise of realistic and achievable goals. Focused: clear enough to set the direction in decision making. Flexible: permit entities to take initiative and implement alternative responses in changing environment. Communicable: easy to communicate and can be explained quickly. 4. Communicating the Vision for Buy-in This step involves ensuring that everyone in the team understands and accept the vision strategy. Kotter (2012) emphasizes that in communicating the vision for the change, the vision should be: Simple: easy to understand Vivid: able to illustrate to future state Repeatable: easy to be spread by anyone to anyone Invitational: Has the ability to offer two way communication 5. Empowering Broad-based Action In this step, leaders are required to remove obstacles to change, change systems or structures that detrimental to the vision and promote risk taking and non-traditional ideas, actions and activities. The two main barriers are: Structural Barriers In many cases, the internal structures of organisations contradicts the change vision. For example, a customer focused organisations usually lacks of resources and responsibilities for products and services and a low cost organization that claims to aim for high productivity often have large number of staff that is costly to maintain. Therefore, Kotter (2012) states that it is necessary to realigning incentives and performance appraisals to reflect the change vision to obtain the profound effect on the ability to accomplish the change vision. The implementation of Management Information system can help to suppress the problems by keeping the internal stakeholders informed with the competitive information and market analysis in a quick and effective manner. Troublesome Supervisors In many companies, managers will have several interrelated habits that shape the company culture which often limits the ability for the change to takes place. Kotter (2012) explains that this issue can be quite challenging and often in the attempt of removing this barrier, the results can be demeaning. 6. Generating Short- term wins In this step, leaders need plan for achievements that can easily be made visible, follow-through with those achievements and recognize and reward employees who were involved. To obtain desirable results, short term wins must be both visible and not vague. The end achievement must be linked to the change effort. However, short term wins tends to undermine the credibility of cynics and self-serving resistors (Kotter, 2012) 7. Never Letting Up This step includes the use of increased credibility to change systems, structures and policies that do not fit the vision, also comprises hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision, and finally strengthen the process with new projects, themes, and change agents. The main challenge for change is resistance and it always present even if the change process runs smoothly from the early stages. People may even celebrate the short term success and suggest taking a break to enjoy the victory before the process finishes. Kotter (2012) mentions several changes must occur by this step: Presence of additional projects. Extra people being brought to assist the change. Leaders focused on giving clarity to an aligned vision and shared purpose. Managers successfully motivated employees at all levels to lead projects. A reduction in interdependencies between sectors. Maintain a high level of urgency Consistently showing the progress of change. 8. Incorporating Change into the Culture The last step requires leaders to articulate the connections between the new behaviors and organizational success and develop the means to ensure leadership development and succession. Leaders must successfully planted the new practice in the culture and ensure that every individuals in the company is indoctrinated into the culture. IKEA Leadership Profile and Kotter 8 Step According to a study done by Ingholt Rasidovilc (2008) Kotters 8 step processes has revealed several errors that occurs in the organization. They conducted a survey that involves the total management team and several most experienced co-workers. They were given the same questionnaires to see how the solidarity between them in regards to the change process. The result of the survey shows the evident of good sign of leadership in one of the departments, as characterized by Kotter (1996). Many respondents asserted that good leaders must be the source of encouragement and engage their co-workers (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). This has shown that this model is a reasonably good model for IKEA due to the 67 points earned from the survey, for one of the departments, in being good at communicating change initiatives in a vivid manner (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). The score for the decisiveness of their leaders however is pretty low, only 49 points. This signifies their inability to handle conflicts, which is one of the key weaknesses that stop changes in management from occurring. Furthermore, they also discovered that the lowest values in the survey are in the main five areas namely: co-worker trust development, implementation of decisions, communication about the future, co workers involvement in planning and the ability to handle conflicts. Th e scores obtained in these areas range from 34 to 46, which are relatively low based on the maximum score. To conclude, this department is proven to have strength in being supportive but weak when it comes to decision making. The presence of indecisiveness explains the origin inability to handle conflict and the character of being supportive leads to the development of trustful relationship between workers (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). The other department however, showed their key strength in their decisiveness and weakness in communication about the future. Another set of criteria showed the key strength in the ability to handle conflicts but weak in the co-workers involvement in planning. In comparison to the general grading result in IKEA, these results are fairly good. Thus the association in this department is that managers in this department are decisive enough to overcome the conflicts but weak in communication about the future which explains the poor involvement of the co workers in the process. In addition, the two departments gave an overall average score of 84.7 in regards to their leadership performance. Ingholt Rasidovilc (2008) states the difference for each department in accordance to Kotters implementation model. The workers in Department 1 felt that the necessity of change was not well communicated which leads to resistance. This is confirmed by Kotters most common error in the first step High level of complacency which undermines urgency, which is often caused by lack of communication. The worker also did not feel the presence of a leader which explains the error in the second step: lack of a powerful, guiding coalition. Furthermore, lack of vision communication has led to error in step three. In Department 2 on the other hand, the co-workers perceived the vision and strategy being communicated to individuals. It is possible that the strong communication among the workers has reduced the presence of resistance. Recommendation Communication is very crucial in conducting change management. Leaders are ought to be able to keep the workers well informed and create an understanding while also create opportunities to get them involved in the process. Leaders must also be able to identify the needs throughout the process. By doing this, the right leader can be identified and will create the best possible opportunity for the department to develop. Lastly, it is also important to make decisions based on what was informed and needed besides ensuring that they are being implemented. Reference Ingholt, L. T. Rasidovic, M., 2008, Change Management-A research at IKEA of Sweden- Power Resistance, Vaxio University. Kotter, J., 1996. Leading change, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kotter (2012), J., 2012, The 8-Step Process for Leading Change, Kotter (2012) International, accessed on 9 January 2013: http://www.Kotter (2012)international.com/our-principles/changesteps

The Problem Of Domestic Violence :: Violence Against Women Essays

A problem has become known and to many, they feel that it's about time that the general public has taken notice. This problem has been a taboo for centuries and in the mid nineties it has chosen to let itself be known, the problem that I am talking about is domestic violence, it has ruined families, and demoralized the victims for years and now because of the "trial of the century" we finally are allowed to discuss it in detail, without fear of reprisal, now we get to familiarize ourselves with it and eventually after we get to know all about it we can, through treatment, get rid of it. In this paper, I will discuss problems with the so called epidemic of domestic violence. This entire paper will be about domestic violence, and because of that I feel it is important to note that "in most families men and women do not engage in physically abusive behavior" (The Brown U.), but because the media feels that it is their public duty to deceive us into believing that this problem is an "epidemic" (Domestic V.) we feel that, that is the case. Webster's dictionary defines epidemic as "a rapid spreading of a disease; to many people at the same time", this is not the case with domestic violence, one it didn't just happen overnight, it has just been popularized overnight, domestic violence has been going on from as far back as anyone can remember and probably farther than that, and two, this is not affecting many people at the same timem, because, as I've stated before, "in most families men and women do not engage in physically abusive behavior". If you as the reader gets anything out of this paper, it is important to me as the writer, that you find that, while domestic violence is a major problem for some families, it is by no means an epidemic. The major reason domestic violence has become so widespread over the last couple of years is because of the O. J. Simpson trial, as one person put it "the O. J. Simpson case would do for domestic violence what Anita Hill did for sexual harassment" (Domestic V.). The trial of the century brought a much needed attention to a issue that for too long was pushed to the back burner; domestic violence was a major issue in the case and it became evident, through the mass publicity of the case, that women weren't crying wolf all these years, because of "the murder of Nicole Brown ... the media would focus squarely on and

What Are Blogs? :: Definiton Internet Blogs Paperes

What Are Blogs? When I decided to write about blogs I thought I would use a traditional and simple method of arrangement: what is a blog, where did they come from, what are people doing with them as far as writing instruction goes and then say a bit about what I’ve done with them and why I think they are a promising form of writing pedagogy. But I quickly discovered that people have yet to fully agree on a single definition of a blog. I also discovered an intense amount of hype and gripe. There are those who think the blog will take over the world, and others who think that will be a bad thing. You’ve no doubt heard these arguments before regarding other online phenomenon—that because blogging requires no technical skill and is free, anyone can instantly publish anything and therefore either A) it will democratize information flow, liberate the repressed, illuminate the shady, discredit the liars, and save the world from SARS and terrorists or B) it will fill people’ s minds with the sort of un-edited, un-checked, un-educated crap that your average person thinks about stuff he doesn’t really understand going on in places he can’t locate on a map. Like you, I’m guessing, I want neither to leap on this bandwagon nor to snap at its wheels. I just want to figure out what a blog is and how I can use it to help my students learn more about writing. To that end I would like to share my current working definition of a blog, and talk a bit about what I’ve done with them so far and why I think blogging is a good way to teach and talk about writing. I’m actually more interested in hearing your take on blogs than I am in my own, so I won’t ramble on. For my purposes, a blog is a single authored, regularly updated, minimally edited, publicly viewable website consisting of links and commentary presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs function as content filters. Blogs also encourage and facilitate comments from readers and thus offer the opportunity for interactive communication. When defined in this way, blogs are different from similar forms of online writing. An online diary, for example, would have the same chronology and single author but would tend to focus on the life of the writer rather than on websites of interest to the author and her intended audience. What Are Blogs? :: Definiton Internet Blogs Paperes What Are Blogs? When I decided to write about blogs I thought I would use a traditional and simple method of arrangement: what is a blog, where did they come from, what are people doing with them as far as writing instruction goes and then say a bit about what I’ve done with them and why I think they are a promising form of writing pedagogy. But I quickly discovered that people have yet to fully agree on a single definition of a blog. I also discovered an intense amount of hype and gripe. There are those who think the blog will take over the world, and others who think that will be a bad thing. You’ve no doubt heard these arguments before regarding other online phenomenon—that because blogging requires no technical skill and is free, anyone can instantly publish anything and therefore either A) it will democratize information flow, liberate the repressed, illuminate the shady, discredit the liars, and save the world from SARS and terrorists or B) it will fill people’ s minds with the sort of un-edited, un-checked, un-educated crap that your average person thinks about stuff he doesn’t really understand going on in places he can’t locate on a map. Like you, I’m guessing, I want neither to leap on this bandwagon nor to snap at its wheels. I just want to figure out what a blog is and how I can use it to help my students learn more about writing. To that end I would like to share my current working definition of a blog, and talk a bit about what I’ve done with them so far and why I think blogging is a good way to teach and talk about writing. I’m actually more interested in hearing your take on blogs than I am in my own, so I won’t ramble on. For my purposes, a blog is a single authored, regularly updated, minimally edited, publicly viewable website consisting of links and commentary presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs function as content filters. Blogs also encourage and facilitate comments from readers and thus offer the opportunity for interactive communication. When defined in this way, blogs are different from similar forms of online writing. An online diary, for example, would have the same chronology and single author but would tend to focus on the life of the writer rather than on websites of interest to the author and her intended audience.

The Continuing Importance of Affirmative Action Essay -- Argumentative

The Continuing Importance of Affirmative Action    Affirmative action is about to take quite a beating. Prominent Republicans from Phil Gramm to Pete Wilson to Bob Dole all plan on making the attack on affirmative action a central plank of their campaign rhetoric. The Clinton administration, perhaps trying to stem the attack before it begins, recently announced that it would reevaluate the merit of all affirmative action programs. And many of those to the left of Clinton oppose affirmative action--albeit probably for different reasons than those to his right. Considering the overwhelming opposition to affirmative action, it seems improbable that affirmative action would have much to recommend it. Yet this contention deserves examination. There are a large number of factors contributing to a given policy's favorability; it seems unlikely that all aspects of affirmative action, from morality to reality to the gray in between, count as strikes against it. Concerns over fairness to white males seem to be at the root of most opposition to affirmative action. This argument is difficult to counter; it seems clear that affirmative action does amount, strictly speaking, to reverse discrimination. For some, this fact alone is enough reason to ring the policy death knell. Yet this conclusion seems to me hasty. If affirmative action hurts white males only a little, yet helps minorities and women significantly, then we might well decide to keep affirmative action around, despite its unfairness. Private universities commonly employ policies of preference which are sometimes euphemistically termed "development policies." Development means that there is a concerted effort on the part of admissions officers to admit students who come fro... ...(If you are unconvinced of this point, do a bit more reading and thinking.) More than lowering the hiring and admissions standard by which minorities and women are measured, affirmative action works to counteract pervasive racism. If an employer harbors racist, heterocentrist, or sexist views, then being forced to take a second look at minorities and women may counteract that prejudice. Affirmative action, then, may have less to do with lowering the standard by which minorities and women are measured, and more to do with equalizing opportunities given. That sounds to me like sound policy even Newt would find difficult to oppose--policies designed to ensure equality of opportunity. For as long as it has been policy, affirmative action has been implemented with an eye towards equalizing opportunity. A more admirable, mainstream ideal is difficult for me to envision.

Medgar Evers

Medgar Evers Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist whose life was cut short due to the racism and discriminations towards blacks in his time. Medgar Wiley Evers was born on July 2, 1925, near Decatur, Mississippi. He grew up on a small farm that his father owned along with 5 other siblings. Evers strived to get his diploma by walking 12 miles to and from school every day, until 1943, when Evers was inducted into the army along with his brother Charles Evers. He fought during WWII he was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1946.He returned home and two years later he started to attend Alcorn College majoring in business administration. He was very active people in college a member of the debate team, the school choir, football team, track team, and was also the president of his junior class. He was listed in the â€Å"Who’s Who in American Colleges. † He received his BA degree a year after he married Myrlie Beasley and they would later have 3 children. They moved af ter Evers found a job as an insurance salesman in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.He and his brother Charles Evers were apart on the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) where he helped organize a boycott of public restrooms that blacks couldn’t use. Medgar tried to enroll into the University of Mississippi Law School in which he was rejected. He filed a law suit against the University as an attempt to defy segregation in the school. The NAACP later chose Evers to be their first field secretary to represent them. Evers attempted to desegregate the University of Mississippi by trying to enroll James Meredith an African American.Meredith was later accepted in the University of Mississippi which lead to a riot on campus leaving two white men dead. Evers also investigated the murder of Emmett Till and supported Clyde Kennard, all of these event lead to more hatred towards him from the whites. He was becoming a target to many white supremacists he came across many problem and alte rcations and still remained non-violent. On May 28, 1963, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into his house and he was almost run over by a car after he was leaving from the NAACP office.But a day after president JFK’s speech to support civil rights Evers was shot in the back. He was shot by a member of the KKK and also white supremacists named Byron De La Beckwith. Beckwith was tried for Evers murder two times and both trials ended with no verdict so he wasn’t sentenced. But, the third times he was tried he was found guilty and sentenced life in prison in 1994. It took 31 year for Evers murderer to be convicted of a murder due to racism and discrimination. In addition, Evers was later honor when they named a college after him in Brooklyn, New York in 1969.

Policy of Neutrality and the United States of America

In 1792, the European struggle began which started when the French Revolution concluded with the Napoleonic Wars. During the same year, the American government first noticed that a state of war subsisted when Thomas Jefferson, then the American Secretary of State, received a message from the French Minister at Philadelphia. In reply to the notification, Jefferson assured that the United States will remain forthcoming to France â€Å"and render all those good offices which shall be consistent with the duties of a neutral nation.†(Hyneman) During that time, President Washington was art Mount Vernon, this statement from the Secretary of State seemed to be the only direct acknowledgement by the government; thus, the United States was placed in an arrangement of a neutral state. Alongside the implementation of the policy, there were various acts and bills that were made and ratified to effectively compromise with the current state of the nation. Amongst the bill, acts, treaties that were made during that time were the Non-Intercourse Act, Macon’s Bill No.2, Pickney’s Treaty, Treaty of 1778 and the Convention of 1800 (Brodeur). For most of the treaties and acts that were made, it became ineffective and unimportant for most of its existence. The Neutrality Policy fulfilled the idealistic objectives of the nation but it did not fulfill the realistic objectives of the country. The United States did not want to partake in the European War and they were successful in doing so by agreeing with France; however, the acts and bills that were signed to further protect themselves from war caused them futile or even more losses. Works Cited: Brodeur, Paul. â€Å"Restitution: The Land Claims of the Mashpee, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Indians of New England.† American ndian Quarterly 12.4 (1988): 337-39 pp. MArch 2, 2008 . Hyneman, Charles S. â€Å"Neutrality During the European Wars of 1792-1815: America's Understanding of Her Obligations † The American Journal of Internationla Law 24.2 (1930): 279-309 pp. March 2, 2008 .      

Lord of the Flies- Leadership Analysis on Ralph

A leader is someone who directs or guides a group. However, good leadership is the ability to set priorities and accomplish what needs to be done with the feelings of the group in mind. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph demonstrates many traits that would be considered good leadership. At times he also lacks them, and if he had demonstrated them he could have helped the situation greatly. Ralph understands how people feel and has the ability to respect that and make decisions based off of people’s feelings. He also has the ability to be very serious, which is a good leadership trait if you want to accomplish something.Ralph was also very wise and always made the decisions that he thought were best for the group. In addition, Ralph is very hard working, once he knows what needs to be done he will work very hard to accomplish that task. Throughout the book Ralph demonstrates he is empathetic towards other people’s feelings, he is serious towards his goal, he makes wise decision s, and he is hardworking towards the task at hand. In the book, Ralph was empathetic and showed understanding towards the boys’ feelings. â€Å"‘Trouble is, we haven’t got enough people for a fire. You got to treat Samneric as one turn.They do everything together-’† (138) This shows that, even in a time of crisis, Ralph will consider everyone’s feelings before he acts. This trait also hinders Ralph because he does not realize how unproductive it would be to treat the twins as one boy until Piggy explains it to Ralph. This is an example of how he may understand the boy’s feelings, but he must use his wisdom to make the best decision for the whole group. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, â€Å"You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that's assault, not leadership. † This is a perfect example of the difference between Ralph and Jack.Jack lacks the quality of empathy, which is what divides Ralph from Jack and leads Ja ck’s group to chaos while Ralph’s still holds onto some civilization. Ralph also cared about Jack’s feelings in the beginning because he felt bad that he had all the power so he told the boys, â€Å"‘Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be- what do you want them to be? ’† (23) This shows that he is willing to share his power, while Jack will later want it all for himself. In the book Ralph is also very serious most of the time. Ralph is serious because he knows what must be done and how to accomplish it.Ralph’s main goal is to keep the fire going and to get rescued. Ralph often sticks to this idea and prioritizes what they must do, while the other boys just focus on having fun. â€Å"‘You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see? ’ He spread his arms wide and turned to the whole triangle. ‘We’ve got to make smoke up th ere – or die. ’† (69) This shows that Ralph can be serious, while the other boys do not try to be. In being serious, Ralph is able to focus on the main task at hand and make practical decisions, which in turn makes him a good leader.However, at first Ralph had fun with Jack and Simon when they all went to see if the island they were on was truly an island. This shows that he may have developed leadership qualities once he needed to. Being serious did not always help Ralph, the other boys joined Jack’s group because they thought it would be more fun. Had Ralph been able to have fun while trying to accomplish his important tasks (like keeping the fire going), he may have been able to have more boys stay with him. At the beginning of the book Ralph says, â€Å"‘This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grown-ups come to fetch us we’ll have fun. † (33) While Ralph was more open to fun, the group of boys held together tighter; the more and more Ralph tries to keep the fire going the more and more nobody listens. Ralph is also very wise for his age. He knows what needs to be a priority for the group, he says, â€Å"‘The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going? ’† (80) and he continues on to say that they should die before they let the fire go out because Ralph knows that if the fire goes out they are as good as dead, and have no hopes for ever being rescued.He was always wise to try to keep order because he knew if it was lost there would be no way to regain it, he always insisted on sticking to the rules and everyone doing an equal part. Also, once order was almost lost Ralph knew not to call the boys back to the meeting, when they went with Jack, because he knew if he blew the conch then and it failed the power of it would be lost forever to the boys on the island. In the beginning of the book Ralph also knew that building huts should have been the priority over hunting. Ralph says, â€Å"‘If it rains like when we dropped in we’ll need shelters all right.And then another thing. We need shelters because of the-’† (52) At the end of the quote Ralph is referring to the beast all of the children are afraid of. This shows he is wise because he knows what needs to be the group’s priorities. Throughout the book, Ralph was also hardworking. He always knew what had to be done and was willing to put in the work to do it. He knew that it was more necessary to build the huts rather than to hunt and he worked hard, with only Simon’s help, to complete the shelters. Ralph says in an argument with Jack, â€Å"‘People don’t help much†¦ Simon. He helps. He pointed at the shelters. ‘All the rest rushed off. He’s done as much as I have. ’† (54) This shows that even with very little help from the rest Ralph will work hard to accomplish his goal, even if it makes him angry to do so. Ralph also works hard on trying to get the boys to make sure the fire keeps going. He insists on multiple occasions that it is the priority and tries very hard to get that idea ingrained into the boys’ heads. However, towards the beginning and the end of the book Ralph is not as hard working because he doesn’t have the goal of keeping the fire going.Towards the end of the book he gets confused and slightly confused by the savagery, which causes him to forget about the fire at times. Ralph says to the group of children, â€Å"‘The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued. I’d like to put on war-paint and be a savage, But we must keep the fire burning. The fire’s the most important thing on the island, because, because-’† (142) Towards the end of Ralph’s speech he starts to forget the main importance of the fire. He doesnâ €™t recall until Piggy reminds him.Towards the beginning of the book Ralph says, â€Å"This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grown-ups come to fetch us we’ll have fun. † (33) This shows that Ralph is not as hardworking at first towards the goal of being rescued and takes the idea of being rescued for granted. He does not realize how hard he actually has to work to be rescued until he stayed on the island for longer and realized they must keep the fire going and cannot just rely on luck. Ralph demonstrated many leadership qualities throughout the course of the book.However, in some cases he lacks some of the same traits that would be necessary towards the situation. Throughout the course of the book his leadership skills develop because, at first, the only reason he was leader was because he found the conch. He had to develop some of his leadership traits afterwards to rise to the occasion. He was also not hungry for power; he developed the idea t o remain leader once he was elected. Jack wanted the power to begin with and came with most of the traits he displayed throughout the book, while Ralph develops a lot throughout the course of it.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away Essay

The idiom â€Å"to kill two birds with one stone† is used to describe achieving two objectives at the same time. The term references a common hunting tool, the slingshot; slingshots continue to be used to hunt small birds, and at one point, they were very common. As you might imagine, killing one bird with a stone requires an excellent aim and control over the slingshot; to kill two could be considered even more difficult, a task for only the most skilled of hunters. This idiom dates from the 1600s, and it was initially used in a somewhat pejorative way, to describe a philosopher’s attempt to prove two arguments with a single solution. The implication was that killing two birds at one time is extremely challenging and unlikely, and that the philosopher’s attempt should be viewed with extreme suspicion. The philosopher had obviously failed to satisfy his critics, who suggested that his attempt was about as successful as a try to knock out two birds with a single s tone. Over time, â€Å"to kill two birds with one stone† has come to be used more generally to accomplishing two goals at once, and the negative connotations have largely vanished. In fact, people are encouraged to think of ways to accomplish it, thereby living much more efficient lives. This is especially true in the business world, where employers are constantly on the hunt for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency, so something that kills two birds with one stone could be quite useful. For example, someone could be flying to a city on business, and decide to visit a family member while he or she is in the city, or a company might have an employee pick up a shipment somewhere while he or she is already there. From the point of view of both the employee and the company, this can be convenient, because the employee will be reimbursed for mileage and other expenses, while the company can save a trip. Some people feel that this term is a bit negative, given the association with hunting and death, and they prefer more positive twists on the saying. Several organizations have even sponsored contests to come up with a new and more animal-friendly version of â€Å"to kill two birds with one stone.† However, the idea has become so entrenched in many societies that it is unlikely to fade from usage anytime soon, negative or not.

Why abortion should not be legal in the U.S Research Paper - 1

Why abortion should not be legal in the U.S - Research Paper Example Secondly, the basic fundamentals of how the law is interpreted in favor of abortion and how this is incorrect will be briefly discussed. Firstly, one must understand that the process of an abortion is a rather violent act. For purposes of this author’s response, the violence that is associated with this procedure will not focus upon the particular manner in which the embryo is deconstructed and removed; rather, the focus will be upon the long-term effects that such a procedure portends for the mother (Emery 1). Whereas many women have abortions for different reasons, the fact of the matter is that healthcare decisions and procedures are usually implemented only at times in which no other alternative is readily available. As such, risking the current and future fertile health of the mother in such an unnecessary process is both foolish and shortsighted. Due to the fact that alternatives exist, one is left to answer a rhetorical question revolving around why someone would willfully put their body through such a process (Rothsgrove 1). Although many other factors play into the choice of whether or not to receive an abortion, the one that is concentric upon the health, well-being, and future fertility of the mother is of primal importance to this author. Due to the fact that the damages sustained during an abortion are oftentimes non-reversible and life-altering, such a course of action may well need to be outlawed until a method that is not nearly so harmful to a woman’s health is able to be produced. Rothsgrove, Carl. "9 Reasons Why Abortions Should Be Illegal." 9 Reasons Why Abortions Should Be Illegal. N.p., 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

Lecture summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Lecture summary - Essay Example A complete shutdown of such activity is not recommended but there sure is space to carry out such activities in line with conservation of the forests and ecosystems. Luckily, small sized forests that are not considered for major cultivation, hence, are conserved. A way to address this issue is to cultivate coffee on shade-grown farms. There are many added advantages for such cultivation. Firstly, it delivers a long list of forest products. These products include fruits. Medicines and lumber apart from coffee. Shade grown coffee farms not only address social and economic need, but also meet a large list of ecological essentials. Forest covers are maintained with the use of shade grown coffee and it minimizes erosion when compared to other coffee cultivating methods and agricultural systems. The leading examples being pasture for cattle grazing and sun coffee. Agro forestry provides a natural habitat to many birds. It is believed that birds not only reduce pest but also enhances its quality by bringing the damage to a minimum level. The retention of nutrients and the chemistry of the soil also has a great impact of the quality of coffee produced. Around 5- 10% of the retail price of coffee goes to the farmers while the most coffee growing areas are 50 developing nations of the world. The corporate sector sector controls most of the coffee cultivation and around two fifth of the coffee market is controlled by big corporates giants such as Nestle, Sara Lee, Kraft and P & G. Theses corporate giants are also responsible for controlling more than three quarters of the US coffee market. Farmers in areas like Gautemala are paid extremely low for picking coffee berries. On a average $2.50 is paid for picking 100 pounds of coffee berries. Hence, fair trade policies are essential and should be

Outline of Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Outline of Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example It explains how nature tries to balance the differences of men and women so they will be able to mate. An example is the equalization of testosterone levels between the sexes. Studies by Dr. Marazziti, a professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pisa revealed that other levels of hormones, like serotonin and oxytocin gets altered in the early phases of a romance, but eventually goes back to normal after some time. Related to the article of Kahn, this article, a magazine article whimsically written as a narrative discusses the physiological effects of romance. It reports anthropologist Helen Fisher’s studies on the biochemical pathways of love in all its manifestations: romance, lust, attachment, etc. Fisher has done experiments on people â€Å"in love† by putting them in MRI machines and studying how their brain works when shown a photograph of their beloved ones. It was found out that the effect is stimulating the part of the brain associated with reward and pleasure and stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for creating intense energy, exhilaration, focused attention, and motivation to win rewards. The article also discussed studies by Donatella Marazitti, (previously mentioned in the annotation before this current one) who studied the similarities of low serotonin hormone levels of people in love and people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It also shares other biological effects of passion and romance, the way dopamine levels of passionate lovers are high when a romance is new but when it gets comfortable enough, couples thrive on oxytocin, the hormone responsible for attachment to one another. This article reports the advantages of sex and gets into a discussion of non-verbal signals women give out during the courtship period of a romantic relationship. Some signals that women give out when they are interested in a man is flashing eyebrows, eye contact, smiling, primping, showing of palms, running fingers

Court Case related to the topic Sexual Harrasment at Workplace Essay

Court Case related to the topic Sexual Harrasment at Workplace - Essay Example She had worked as a part-time lifeguard for the Marine Safety Section (Buchanan & Wiswall, 2009). During her tenure, her immediate supervisors were Bill Terry, David Silverman, and Robert Gordon. After her resignation in 1990, she took an action against Terry, Silverman, and the City. Faragher complained that both Terry and Silverman had repeatedly created a sexually unfriendly environment while at the beach. Also, she alleged that the duo had subjected fellow female lifeguards to offensive and uninvited touch by the use of prurient remarks and by speaking of women in decadent ways. The complainant said that at some point, Terry had vowed never to give a promotion to any woman. On the other hand, Faragher specified that at one point, Silverman asked her to date him and failure to which he would make her clean the lavatories for a whole year. Pointing out that both Terry and Silverman were agents of the City and that their conduct resulted in discrimination in their conditions, privil eges, and terms given by the employment, the complainant sought judgment against the City. Initially, Faragher had not complained to the higher management about both Terry and Silverman. At first, she reported the matter to Gordon, who was the training captain and was working with Silverman. However, Gordon reported the matter to his supervisor, Terry and afterward took no action since he felt that the City could not be concerned about such issues. Faragher’s bench trial realized that two months before her resignation, a former lifeguard had written to the City’s Personnel Director, with complaints of harassment she had faced from Terry and Silverman. After the complaints, the City concluded that the duo had misbehaved and were therefore reprimanded. They were required to choose between facing a suspension without pay and forfeiting their annual leave. From these findings, the District Court that was

Summary + analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary + analysis - Article Example The unique technical features to look out for when identifying a film noir, according to the authors, include the unusual lighting where light and shadow keep opposing, tilted camera angles, and the scene oppositions that are off-center. Film noirs are also characterized by the inversion of customary values and moral ambivalence. The article further notes that, neo-noir, on the other hand, refers to films that followed the noir classic period. Neo-noir also contains noir sensibility and noir themes. They also have similar characteristics to noir such as disorientation, moral ambivalence, pessimism and alienation. Great examples of neo-noir have also been given by the author. These include movies such as Bonnie and Clyde, China Town, Taxi Driver and Body Heat. The author has also described space, time and subjectivity in neo-noir cinema. Different forms of neo-noir time have been described, including past, present and future neo-noir. The author concludes the article by describing the irreconcilable differences of neo-noir. In my personal analysis of the article, the author’s main aim of giving the examples of movies is to demystify the real meaning of film noir and neo-noir. Hollywood film noir is said to have been generated in the early 1940s and the late 1950s. This leaves a lot to be answered because the author has given many examples of movies that were produced as late as 1995 and 1997. Some of these movies should be referred to as neo-noir because they come after the classic noir period. Also, saying that neo-noir films are better at embodying the noir outlook is confusing because noir films had their own unique characteristics and identifying themes. I believe that there should be a clear distinction between noir films and neo-noir films. The investigation of philosophical underpinnings and themes of neo-noir films should also be applied to noir films so as to allow the use of movies to explore and explain traditional philosophical ideas of

David by Donatello, Michelangelo, Bemini Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

David by Donatello, Michelangelo, Bemini - Essay Example As the increasing pursuit for artistic excellence vividly reflects in the exquisite creations of Donatello and Michelangelo, their contemporaries were equivalently inspired to develop art forms according to the Greek and Roman concepts and this trend of innovative craftsmanship has carried on to influence even the works of Baroque sculptors like Bernini and those of the current modern artists alike. Religious themes had been immensely prevalent in the Renaissance art and David, a prominent biblical figure, became one of the famous subjects which distinguished the style and professional insights of one artist from the other as depicted in the masterpieces of Donatello, Michelangelo, and Bernini. Based on the momentous event marked by God’s will, the subject pertains to an Israelite shepherd boy who accepts the challenge and obtains triumph over the once was invincible Goliath of the Philistines. In each artist, there emerged a response of imagining how the image of David and th e projection of his heroic character may be brought to a three-dimensional interpretation that highly captures a substantial depth of detailing his major act of faith. The marble statue of David which served Donatello his first commission of the subject is apparently one that radiates naturalism in part as David’s curious look in the face seems to scrutinize the enemy at the onset of the fight. After defeat of the enemy, however, such facial expression liberates a new meaning quite transcendental, which is of Gothic effect that dissolves the initial attitude into a degree of general unaware countenance. A view of David that occurs detached from struggling emotion of having fought the gigantic adversary entails perpetual sense of conquest. Certain scholars have assumed this to be a subtle if not a humble fashion of exposing the pride and any premeditated confidence of vanquishing the enemy. When Donatello proceeded to come up with the bronze case of David in ca. 1440s, the scu lpture took on a significantly different approach from the marble pattern. Being the first freestanding nude male sculpture portraying an uncircumcised David bearing Goliath’s sword, the bronze statue wears an enigmatic smile besides the controversial effeminate positure. Commissioned by the Medici family for their palace in Florence, Donatello chose to sculpt David with a slight bend in his waist and one of his hands placed on his hip. The contrapposto pose was thought to be feminine; especially for a young man that just decapitated a giant like Goliath. David also had a look on his face that symbolized his youthful joy of his great accomplishment (Sayre 556). Both the laurelled top hat and boots add to the frail or fetish look that partly deprives it of the expected manly appearance which is rather plain to see in the crafts of Bernini and Michelangelo. Though it does not depart from the Greek idea of nakedness under contrapposto, the biblical essence is only slightly manif est in the bronze structure whereby the characteristic theme of the subject is less inclined to be prophetic than political. With the redundant appearance of a stone in David's sling and Goliath's forehead, Olszewski proposes that Donatello's use of the same stone twice indicates that David holds the loaded sling in the present tense while envisioning the stone's future placement in Goliath's head below. He further notes that this is in accordance to the scriptural account in which David responds to the Philistine giant in the future tense as he foretells what he is about to do to him (Olszewski, 1997). It was not until the 15th century, according to a review by L. Morelli, that idealized human figures

Discussant assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussant - Assignment Example In order to increase its revenue and attract more customers, the cruise line has to offer longer duration of their cruises. The cruises should have options of one to three months in order to cub competitors who are also in the game. The stock prices of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are too high, hence limiting shareholders (Baldwin 8). The shares should be affordable in order to attract more customers. The company should also improve its services in order to attract better investors and to make them buy the stock without considering share prices (Baldwin 20). According to customer review carried out on the cruise ships, the Carnival Corporation PLC had the most reviews. However, these reviews indicated that they are not the best when it comes to customer satisfaction (Baldwin 12). Comparing the cruises Royal, Carnival and Norwegian, the customer review was 78%, 73% and 70% respectively (Baldwin 12). This shows that Carnival does not offer the best customer service in the cruise ship industry. The customers’ reviews of NCLH are the poorest compared to their rivals. This means the cruise line should offer better customer service and be more polite in order to maintain the loyal customers and attract new customers (Baldwin 4). The cabin crew members should be polite and can listen to the customers. Also, meals offered on cruises should be improved to enable customers notice it immediately. Entertainment on board is important and should be a variety for the people to choose (Baldwin 10). Employee satisfaction could improve their services to the customers a great deal. At all times, employees deserve to be treated with respect and paid their dues well to enable them deliver the organizational goals (Griffin 300). A happy employee means a happy customer and a happy customer equals loyalty and thus the growth of the company. Moreover, NCLH

As You Like It Essay (Advanced English) Essay Example for Free

As You Like It Essay (Advanced English) Essay A sense of belonging can be founded through an individual’s personal aspiration to inherently connect with other people. The interaction and interconnectedness of relationships can be viewed as the most significant factor influencing an individual’s sense of acceptance within their surrounding environment and ultimately will determine the level of affiliation they can acquire personally. The comedic play â€Å"As You Like It† composed by William Shakespeare (16th Century), examines the idea of belonging to people and its significant influence over an individual. Similarly, Ang Lee’s film â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† (1997), correspondingly explores the perception of belonging through the interaction and contact with people and the relationships that are innately developed. Through the use of characterisation within both texts, the notion is thoroughly explored to exert a deepened understanding of belonging to people and how it can significantly influence an individual in most cases favorably. However, there are some instances where an individual cannot find a personal sense of acceptance within the relationships they withhold and therefore do not achieve a sense of affiliation within their social surroundings. The idea that people and the relationships they develop are the most influential facet in deciphering ones’ sense of belonging, is thoroughly examined within Shakespeare’s â€Å"As You Like It†. This is evident through the characterisation of Rosalind and the loving familial relationship she has with her cousin Celia. As they both were â€Å"bred together† and grew up within the court , â€Å"from their cradles† to adulthood, both Celia and Rosalind have developed an inherent familial bond for one another becoming â€Å"inseparable†. Shakespeare’ emphasised on the loving and devout nature of their relationship to the audience by demonstrating Celia’s absolute adoration for Rosalind over her own Father. This can be observed when Rosalind was banished from her home, the court, by Duke Fredrick (Celia’s father). Celia’s sense of belonging to her father was weakened as he betrayed her familial trust and so asked him, à ¢â‚¬Å"Pronounce the sentence on me my liege, I cannot live without her company†. The formality of the blank verse illustrates her detachment from her father and demonstrates the breakdown in their filial relationship. However, Shakespeare has used this to illuminate Celia’s loyalty and familial belonging to Rosalind, thus conveying their â€Å"inseparable† nature and the strong sense of affiliation between one another. (337) Similarly, in â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† the widowed mother Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters are exiled from their home due to social expectations. However, even with the removal of their place of belonging it is their strong familial bonds and connections that allow them to find a sense of individual affiliation. This is evident towards the beginning of the film when they are introduced to their new home a small cottage in the country side which has just been juxtaposed with the Mansion seen in the previously. As they walk up towards the cottage their is a long shot that portrays the family walking towards the cottage together in a huddled group. Ang lee, has used this positioning of the camera and the actors to display the idea that it is within family they find belonging not place. This again supports the notion that belonging is most significantly founded within the people and relationships an individual withholds. (537) Furthermore, Shakespeare’s portrayal of the loving romantic relationship between Orlando and Rosalind additionally acts as a representation of how influential the contact between people can affect an individual’s sense of belonging. With Rosalind and Orlando finding themselves in the Forest of Arden due to the external influences of powerful men exerting their hate, such as Duke Fredrick and Oliver, both characters find themselves in similar circumstances. However, it is Orlando’s love that demonstrates his sense of affiliation to Rosalind through metaphorical language by comparing her to precious objects. He passionately declares, â€Å"No jewel is like Rosalind; Her worth, being mounted on the wind† which clearly exemplifies to the audience of his complete love for her. The use of extensive amount of romantic poetry and adoring tone is used to demonstrate their love towards one another. And that they find their sense of belonging with one another no matt er where they are and what place they are set, again emphasising the significance of contact between people becoming a poignant source of belonging for an individual. As each individual is intrinsically different, where relationships and interacting with other’s may offer satisfaction to some, others find greater fulfillment in self. Shakespeare clearly demonstrates this choice of belonging to self rather through the contact of other people, through the characterisation of Jaques. Being described as â€Å"melancholy† Jaques chooses not to affiliate with the people around him, and finds satisfaction in being alone. Jaques believes that â€Å"the worst fault you have is to be in love†. His cynical tone and attitude towards love and relationships demonstrate his choice not to associate himself with others. In effect, Shakespeare uses prose to enhance one’s insight into people who chose not to conform to belonging. This is a singular instance where an individual does not find a sense of belonging through the contact between people and the relationships developed, however, represents a lonely and melancholy life. Contrary to this, majority of the character’s within â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† finds a sense of belonging through the people they associate with. In ‘Sense and Sensibility’, Marian falls in love to a young suitor named Willoughby. However, Willoughby chooses not to belong to Marian due to social expectations, which essentially, caused personal consequences for his sense of affiliation. These consequences become evident within the last scene, â€Å"The marriage†, when Marian has been happily married to Brendan and the whole town is celebrating. There is a close medium shot of the both of them happily departing from the church, when the camera suddenly cuts to Willoughby up on a hill. Out from the town he is looking down on the celebrations with a saddened expression. Through the use of camera techniques and expression it becomes evident to the audience that he feels a sense of exclusion and detachment from the people he once was closely affiliated with. This further emphasises the consequences that can come to an individual when they chose expectations and society over the people and relationships they withh old. Nevertheless, the consequences of being lonely is welcoming to him and therefore, does not negatively affect him like Willoughby. Moreover, the interconnectedness and affiliation with people is the most significant factor influencing an individual’s sense of belonging or not belonging. Throughout the text â€Å"As you like it† and the film â€Å"Sense and sensibility†, this idea is thoroughly explored through the character’s represented by the composer’s and the relationship’s they developed, either familial or romantic. However, although one can find significant belonging through another person, some can chose not to belong, such as Jaques or Willoughby and by choosing not to belong it can create consequences resulting in a sense of loneliness. However, there are singular instances, like Jaques, where choosing not to belong to people can create self fulfillment in one’s self and a sense of belonging.

Racial Profiling within America’s Criminal Justice System Essay Example for Free

Racial Profiling within America’s Criminal Justice System Essay The criminal justice system of America is deeply scarred with racial bias. Crimes are being committed and, in turn, are resulting with innocent people doing hard-time. Thankfully, newfound methods of appealing court rulings are finding justice for these minorities; however, the results are as shocking as the crimes being committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority community is being critically judged for things they’re not doing. Throughout the last decade lawmakers have be aiding the racial profiling scene. Arizona legislature passed a law allowing for an officer to demand papers of any person that proved their legal citizenship. The law, intending to lower the illegal immigrants in Arizona, became a symbol for racial profiling within our government. President Obama strongly opposed the passing of the law saying that it threatened â€Å"to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe† (Archibold). It is a very rare occasion where the President speaks out about state legislature, proving the enormity of the law and its regards to human rights in America. The law, dubbed the â€Å"Show Me Your Papers† law, has Arizona residents furious. Faulting someone of being illegal, purely based on their appearance is a very subjective issue. Someone with a last name of Garcia or Rodriquez is much more likely to be suspected of being in the country illegally rather than someone with the last name of Smith. Because Smith has a very typically â€Å"American† last name, he, most likely, wouldn’t be asked to prove citizenship. This is a perfect example of the kind of profiling that Arizonians are concerned about. Not only have lawmakers been creating laws supporting racial profiling, but laws such as the â€Å"Stand your Ground† law in Florida are allowing for racial profiling to occur under a pseudonym. The â€Å"Stand your Ground† law allows for someone to use deadly force, if needed, in order to protect themselves from harm’s way. The recent slayings of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two African American teenagers, have so far been defended under the law, bringing uproar to the stateespecially among the black community. Even worse, it’s considered legal. Families and friends of these children defend them as being upstanding citizens killed due to their race. Although Martin and Davis have not been the only people murdered under the law, they are the ones bring publicity to it. Due to the media attention, the policy’s effect on different racial groups is finally being questioned. John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, conducted a study intending to measure the racial bias within the policy. Roman focused his study on killings that were considered justified within the eyes of the court: the murder of people that just committed a felony. â€Å"Roman found that the killings of black people by whites were more likely to be considered justified than the killings of white people by blacks†¦. In non-Stand Your Ground states, whites are 250 percent more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills another white person; in Stand Your Ground states, that number jumps to 354 percent.† (Childress). Roman’s findings show that even laws that weren’t aimed to become a racial issue are. The issue, however, is that it’s not being stopped despite the blatantly obvious ramifications. Some might argue that people of color are being convicted for more crimes than other races because they’re the ones committing more crimes. A valid point, however, with the recent advancement of these races throughout society, it would be thought that these numbers would be heading in opposite directions. In reality, minorities are being served harsher consequences than their white counterparts despite their equal standing in society. Michigan State University (MSU) conducted a study revealing that there was often racial bias when selecting a jury—especially those involving minority parties. The study conducted by MSU examined jury selection as well as the decisions made by said juries. â€Å"The MSU study of capital charging and sentencing found that those who kill whites are more likely to get the death penalty than those who kill blacks. The MSU study found that a defendant is 2.6 times more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white.† (ACLU). Following the study, North Carolina passed a law entitled the â€Å"Racial Justice Act†. This piece of legislature made it possible for inmates to appeal their sentences due to supposed racial profiling. Since the passing of the law last year, there have been 4 successful appeals. The law doesn’t guarantee that the whole sentence will be reversed; however, it puts in place a system that allows for flaws in the length/severity of the sentence to be readdressed. The passing of the law as well as the MSU study prove that although there are more minorities being charged for crimes, the charges are of ill-willed intentions. In addition to undeserved charges, DNA testing has exonerated hundreds of people for crimes in which they were convicted over the past few years. When DNA testing became readily available to the criminal justice system, crucial flaws began to surface. It was realized that people were serving hard-time for felony crimes they didn’t commit. University of Virginia Law professor, Brandon Garrett, studied the first 200 people exonerated through said DNA testing. He compared the demographics of the exonerees concluding that â€Å"[Of] the innocent group, all male save one†¦71 percent were minorities. The vast majority of exonerated rape convicts (73 percent) were black or Hispanic, while studies show only about 37 percent of rape convicts are minorities.† (Wood). These hundreds of people are provide valid evidence supporting that, although people of color are being convicted of more crimes, they are also being cleared of said crimes. Racial ethnicity plays a large factor when it comes to being convicted of a crime. Oftentimes, a person of color is automatically assumed to be more likely of committing a crime than a Caucasian person. People of minority races are being targeted as criminals purely based on their looks rather than their guilt. Laws have been passed both for and against said issue, providing for a government that is facilitating racism. Racial profiling isn’t an act that would be thought of as happening in the 21st century, following the Civil Rights movement of the mid 1900’s. Despite the advancements in society, America’s criminal justice system hasn’t quite advanced so far. Works Cited Archibold, Randal. â€Å"Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration† NYtimes.com April 23, 2012. Web. New York Times January 30, 2013. Childress, Sarah. â€Å"Is There Racial Bias in ‘Stand your Ground’ Law?† PBS.org, July 31, 2012. Web. UNC-TV January 30, 2013 ACLU. â€Å"North Carolina Racial Justice Act† ACLU.org, December 17, 2012. Web. American Civil Liberties Union January 30, 2013 Wood, Mary. â€Å"Study of First 200 DNA Exonerations Shows Flawed Criminal System† law.virginia.edu, July 23, 2007. Web. University of Virginia February 2, 2013