Thursday, September 19, 2019
New American Mindset :: essays research papers
     Long-term social, economic, and political policies fostered by Britain before 1750 thoroughly impacted the developing American mindset. These fundamentals, such as legislative assemblies, commerce laws, and religious events, provided the basis for what was to become an independent American nation. This sovereign and unique culture, which developed slowly inside the thirteen colonies, can be greatly attributed to the continuous policy, protection, and influence that Britain provided.      The lack of unity inside the thirteen colonies led to a little political basis for a national consciousness of any sort. But, the three thousand miles that separated England, also created a huge lapse of royal governmental influence. Therefore, for the most part, the colonies were independent from one another and loosely affiliated with their mother country. Although each colony had a governor (who was appointed by the king,) the legislative houses ran by the colonists possessed the most significant amounts of power. Not much could be done about this abundance of American freedom however. As John Garraty states, it was nearly impossible for British representatives to have any sort of influence because they were â€Å"prisoners of their own surroundings.†Even the Privy Council, (which was set up to advise the king about colonial matters,) could not formulate a policy for the colonists as a whole. Therefore, as the American society progressed and developed, these well-functioning representative institutions played an important role. Dating as far back as the Plymouth settlers, the colonies generally conducted themselves; without much outside interference. In this way, they developed individually, and established the right of self-government. These fundamentals, which were created due to the absence of a British governmental policy, changed the path of the American colonial society, and still lie at the center of the democratic framework that exists today.      The prerequisite to the formation of the American colonies was the recognition that their sole purpose was to satisfy the needs of their mother country: Britain. This idea of mercantilism had a profound effect on the economic growth of the thirteen colonies. The colonies were generally â€Å"dumping grounds†for surpluses, as well as a place to find raw materials, which would ultimately lead to an income of gold. In order to achieve these goals, Britain passed a series of Navigation Acts, beginning in 1650. They called for British ships to control all trade, and for goods going to the colonies to stop in London first.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
the old man and the sea Essay -- essays research papers
The Old Man and the Sea      In the timeless novel The Old Man and the Sea, the hero is undoubtedly the old man, Santiago, whom us as readers become very acquainted with. Santiago is a hard-worker and perseveres through every problem nature brings to him. He is in the midst of a horrendous fishing drought, during which the townspeople laugh and ridicule him. Santiago just lets the criticism pass him by because he is confident that the fish of his lifetime is coming soon. In a sense, Santiago represents the ideas of honor and pride. He is also a hero to a young boy named Manolin who conveys the image that the old man is whom he would rather live and spend time with rather than his biological father.      Santiago has many noteworthy character traits. He possesses a very strong sense of pride that will not allow him to give up on fishing even after eighty-four days without a single fish. He is also virtuous in that no matter what happens to him, he will not make up excuses or false accounts in an attempt to cover up his bad luck. He is also very unselfish for the reason that he never looks down on the boy or treats him unfairly. Everything they accomplish together, Manolin is given credit for, which I found unusual because more often than not, old men will try to hoard their achievements to try and hold on to their glory days. Instead, Santiago is trying to...
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
freeaw A Womans Fight for Independence in Kate Chopins The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays
A Woman's Fight for Independence in The Awakening Right from the beginning the plot is almost conveniently evident. You find a woman, Edna Pontellier, tired of living her life as a pampered and "owned" wife and mother. She is searching for much more in her life, some sort of meaning for her whole existence. She searches for a long time but in the end, the inevitability of her life's pattern and direction wraps around her, suffocating her. She is overcome with wonder, confusion, and guilt for what she believes and what she does to express her beliefs. She finally finds a way to beat the "proper" 1890's lifestyle by committing suicide. During this story Edna struggles with three main opposing powers. First, there is the society's opinion of what a woman's "roles" in life was and how they should act, look, and feel. Second, is her independent nature. The last opposing power she comes across is her undying love for the charming Robert Lebrun. It is the unwritten rule that a woman should marry, have children, and be happy and content with that as their life. Society portrays this to be a woman's rightful job and duty. A woman should act and look "proper" at all times. This is what Edna is fighting against in this novel. She feels that, though many women agree with this "known" rule, it isn't fair. For six years Edna conforms to these ideas by being a "proper" wife and mother, holding Tuesday socials and going to operas, following the same enduring schedule. It is only after her summer spent at Grand Isle that her "mechanical" lifestyle becomes apparent to her. She sees how much she is unhappy with the expectations, held by society, of her life and she wishes to erase them and live her life as she wants. Edna has an independent, almost self centered, nature about her. Her need for an uncontrolled lifestyle is what leaves her feeling "owned" and wanting to break that label; she fights to do as she wishes. Little by little she breaks free of society's' image, letting her independence shine through. She cancels her Tuesday socials and helps out around the house doing little chores. The biggest step she made was her decision to move away from her mansion and into the "pigeon house", a little cottage around corner.
Examining Exclusivity in Mass Marketing
Explain why Sears or Wal-Mart cannot effectively create a trendy counterculture image. High volume and mass appeal are at the core of one-stop-shop retailers like Sears and Wal-Mart. These stores are the culture others are trying to counter. Wal-Mart relies on mass production of the products they sell to keep manufacturing and shipping costs down. This allows them to maximize profitability. Profitability is not at the core of counterculture; unique style and individualism are. Counterculture is the alternate of culture, even a subculture. For an active member of the counterculture to shop at a store that sells toilet paper a few isles down from their jeans defies the very image they are set to create or maintain. This is the same reason Urban Outfitters cannot sell Craftsman power tools. This would counter the counterculture image Urban Outfitters is built upon. Could the big box stores sell merchandise identical to Urban Outfitters? Explain your answer. Big box stores can sell merchandise identical to niche stores like Urban Outfitters to keep up with trends. Stores like Costco can produce, ship and stock merchandise on a large scale in hopes of increasing profitability. Seemingly exclusive products appeal to the masses that do not normally shop at, or cannot afford to shop at more exclusive retailers like Urban Outfitters. This in itself is a trend because once the product is no longer exclusive, it will eventually no longer sell as it did previously. Also if the once exclusive product sells at all is a gamble in marketing and sales. Matching the appeal of the original product, timing of launch so as to miss out on the value while it exists and availability to the masses can impact how well a trendy product will sell at a big box store. If it does, what is the effect on the exclusivity once offered by Urban Outfitters? Identify at least three reasons why exclusivity is valuable.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Prewar Marxism in Japan Essay
Marxism was coined after its proponent, Karl Marx who believed that the abuses of capitalism would eventually lead to uprisings of the masses particularly of the working class. According to him, the aggrieved plight of the working class will become the key in unleashing the inevitable clashes between the classes. In his argument, Capitalism will be replaced by Communism, in which in his view, this set-up of free economy opens a gate to many inequalities in the society, making the weak and poor more vulnerable to the flaws of the system. As Uno Kozo observed in his work, The Essence of Capital, â€Å"The commodification of the labor force remains the crux of Capitalism†(SJT, pp.243). To Marx belief, Communism is the â€Å"common ownership of the means of production†. There would be public ownership of farms, factories, raw materials, and the like. To him, all means of production will be owned by the workers and all workers would eventually become workers.     In Japan, Marxism was first introduced in the late 1890’s but it was in the 1920’s that it started to catch attention and support from the people especially from the intellectuals (SJT, pp 239; Beckmann, pp. 139). The early Marxists belonged to two different groups, the reformers and the revolutionary. The reformers followed Tolstoian humanitarianism, advocated universal suffrage, and pursued reforms through parliamentary action. While the revolutionaries believed in the Materialist ideas from the German and French Marxist. They adhered to the idea of class struggle and direct revolutionary action by class-conscious workers. The revolutionaries were also attracted to the tactics of the anarcho-syndicalism (Beckmann pp. 140).            The various differences of principles of the Early Marxists in Japan had initially signaled that a strong unified group would be quite a challenge to create a remarkable impact. In fact, at its onset Marxism was already noted with three general flaws such as its systematic character that degenerates into dogmatism; putative universality that recalls its foreign origin; and its critical modus operandi that provokes infighting and organizational fragmentation (SJT, pp241 ). But all these are generalized observations sums up probable enlightenment on why it seemed to appear that prewar Marxism was never a political success. However, it is pertinent to note that these observations envelopes one or more historical accounts and empirical evidences of the progresses and demise of prewar Marxism in Japan.            The idea of Marxism had its strong appeal in the university circle composed mainly of the professors and students. In fact, one of its early and notable supporters was Kawakami Hajime of the Kyoto Imperial University. He wrote may treatises on Marxism and provided valuable assistance to other advocates in the persons of Sakai Toshihiko, Arahata Kanson among others (Beckmann pp. 145). At that time, the battleground was published material like newspaper wherein people can be informed and get influenced at the same time. At some point, it created impact and stirred the discontentment of the people resulting to the clamor for reforms in Japanese society. This clamor was highlighted more by the onset of the Japan Modernization process in which new demands for the fundamental changes in the society is created (Beckamm pp146). To quote Beckamm, â€Å"Marxism was attractive to them because it provided the fullest explanation of the idea of progress that they had yet encountered. They were easily seduced by the Marxist proposition that through the dialectic progress was inevitable. Dialectical materialism gave them (supporters) a scientific methodology for analyzing Japanese society, as well as general principles of strategy for effecting change†.            But no matter how ardent the campaign was and how dynamic the intellectual debates were, history underscores that prewar Marxism fell short in achieving its much desired political change. The variables affecting this result are attributed to both external and internal difficulties encountered by the group. It is believed that too much emphasis on theoretical conceptualization has left the advocates confused on what is real and what is not. And what is real during that time, is the dominance of the conservative elite who managed to uphold Japanese value system. All important institutions of Japanese society inculcated obedience, loyalty, and status over freedom, individual rights, and equality. All these summed up to hostilities of the society to individuals who think otherwise. Thus, it resulted to numerable defection from Communism and Socialism parties. It may also be relevant to note that conservative value system of Japanese society and the so called patterns of behavior during the modernization period contributed to the prevention of basic antagonism from being open clashes. Many intellectuals may be vocal in their convictions but a greater number of them seemed anxious to join the mass â€Å"hurly burly maybe because of the behavioral patterns pervading in the society and of the enveloping obligation not to disgrace the family through deviation from the generally accepted behavior. Another pitfall of the prewar Marxism is the very nature that the ideology was alien and much worse, dependent on the support of a foreign state which is labeled as enemy and competitor of their own country. It could not simply break the much preferred paradigm of Japanese Nationalism and Confucianism. Furthermore, the movement cannot fight equally with the raw power of the state especially of its police and military predisposition. This is for the obvious reason that communists had no civil liberties to protect them. As a matter of fact, party organizations were dismantled through various man-arrest in 1923, 1928, 1929, and much frequently in the 1930s. These arrests made it difficult for the advocates to maintain a substantial number that could function effectively for its cause (Beckamm, pp 148-150)            Much had been said by the writings and works of the early believers but less had been done. In the labor movement itself, the support and participation was only a small percent of the whole sector. Many who joined the cause were in the small and medium enterprises and almost none from the large industries. A few participation reflected that many have gone disillusioned or remained uninspired by the movement due to many failures of negotiations and strikes. The same also goes for the peasants, the Japanese agricultural communities and families were unreceptive and to some measure were hostile to Communism and Socialism. This maybe because the peasant movement lacks single central leadership that could have had become an effective channel of influence (Beckamm, pp150).            The Commintern Policy also posted a challenge to the thriving ideology of Marxism. It added certain degree of divisiveness among the people in the movement. Also, it provided a very good issue that kept the proponents busy in arguing as to which would be the good and effective direction to heed towards the desired impact on Japanese society. Is it the bourgeois-democratic or the proletarian revolution? Again, it brood disunity, conflict, and frustration among themselves.            The defection of Etsuzo, Sano, and Nabeyama also influenced fellow believers to defect and to condemn all together the principles and actions of the group they once pledge allegiance and commitment (Beckmann, pp160; 166).            In totality, prewar Marxism in Japan made numerous progresses and successes in bringing out brilliance among Japanese intellectuals. However, it was never translated into a political action that would have given life to the very essence of the teachings of Karl Marx. Though numerous reasons tried to explain this result, but maybe the only reason true enough to describe its failure is the one said by George Beckmann, â€Å"†¦the very nature of Japanese society made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a Communist movement to exist, let alone operate with any degree of effectiveness†¦to Marxist-Leninist terms, the objective conditions were not at all favorable. (Beckmann pp. 152)â€
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Story of Akbar and Birbal
Revenue: The amount of money that a company actually receives during a specific period, including discounts and deductions for returned merchandise. It is the â€Å"top line†or â€Å"gross income†figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Revenue is calculated by multiplying the price at which goods or services are sold by the number of units or amount sold. EBITDA is essentially net income with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization added back to it, and can be used to analyze and compare profitability between companies and industries because it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting decisions. *amortization basically means reducing the value of something to zero Debt –equity ratio: A measure of a company's financial leverage. Debt/equity ratio is equal to long-term debt divided by common shareholders' equity. Typically the data from the prior fiscal year is used in the calculation. Investing in a company with a higher debt/equity ratio may be riskier, especially in times of rising interest rates, due to the additional interest that has to be paid out for the debt. For example, if a company has long-term debt of $3,000 and shareholder's equity of $12,000, then the debt/equity ratio would be 3000 divided by 12000 = 0. 25. It is important to realize that if the ratio is greater than 1, the majority of assets are financed through debt. If it is smaller than 1, assets are primarily financed through equity. Return-on-assets: An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. Sometimes this is referred to as â€Å"return on investment†. The formula for return on assets is: Note: Some investors add interest expense back into net income when performing this calculation because they'd like to use operating returns before cost of borrowing.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Civil engineering design Construction and Maintance Essay
The work of civil engineers is visible across the environment we live in. The main purpose of this essay is to assist students have a better understanding of the civil engineering as a scientific field. In this essay I will make an analysis of civil engineering meaning and the specifics of civil engineering in all aspects. I will specifically examine civil engineering at Michigan State University and the courses required in this major. I will also make an analysis of how writing is important in the civil engineering field. The contribution of civil engineers to the society will also be included. The different career paths a student can pursue when majoring in civil engineering and the salary of civil engineers will be reviewed last. But before going into that, I am going to give you background information of what made me interested in majoring in civil engineering. Background Information, Why I Chose Civil Engineering as my Major? I believe that the best way every student should consider while choosing their major is making a choice of what they love. This is what I exactly did. When I was young, I marveled at how the buildings stood majestically. The thought of buildings designs and the dynamics involved in the construction really fascinated me. While I grew up I realized all this was a civil engineers’ work. Since middle school the idea of studying civil engineering in college stuck in my mind. The more literature I reviewed about civil engineering, the more I loved it. The thought of planning and designing on paper and then seeing the results is very rewarding to me. The History of Civil Engineering Engineering is one of life’s aspects that have existed since the origin of humans. Thousands of years ago, humans hunted and gathered for food. There was no urgency to build shelter as they were always on the move. Later on, people began to get acquainted new ways of getting food. They learned how to plant fruits and vegetables and how to domesticate animals. As a result, they did not need to move all the time and they needed homes. They started by building tents but gradually they learned how to use the available natural resources like stone, wood, and vegetable fiber to build stronger and more convenient homesCITATION Fon01 p 21 l 1033 (Font, Criswell and Grigg 21). They also began to build roads and bridges to make it easy to move from place to place. In modern day, houses, buildings, bridges and other structures construction occurs from the skills passed by our ancestors where they constructed stable buildings (Salvadori 11). Theses skills that are needed to build safe str uctures are the skills of civil engineers. What Does Civil Engineering Mean? The word Engineering by itself means the art of putting the scientific knowledge in practice and using it in practical life. The engineer thus uses his scientific knowledge to design, build, and maintain engines, machines or public works. While the word Civil is relates to ordinary citizens and their concerns. Civil engineering therefore refers to the science that applies scientific knowledge to serve the civic life in the daily functions through infrastructure. The Civil Engineering is the art and science of designing the infrastructure of the modern civil societies, the process of planning and design in addition to the establishment of various facilities and facilities that serve people is a civil engineering generally. These facilities include highways that connect cities to each other, and airports, and sewage treatment that protects our environmentCITATION Kos94 p 21 l 1033 ( Kostival and Mason 21). Civil Engineering Requirement at MSU There are 128 credits that a student needs to complete to receive a degree of Bachelor in Civil engineering at MSU. Students majoring in civil engineering must first complete the university requirement courses. After completing the university requirement there are six courses that a student must complete to apply to the college of engineering. These six core courses are EGR102, EGR100, MTH132, MTH133, CEM141, and PHY183. Completing these courses is not the only requirement to make application to the college of engineering; a student must also obtain a minimum required GPA of 3.2 and above. After that comes the major requirement, and there are 66 credits that will be obtained from these courses. After completing all of the major requirements, a student must complete 18 credits of the major tracks. There are seven tracks of civil engineering at MSU which are as follows; environmental track, geotechnical track, pavements track, structures track, transportation track, water resources track, and general track. For each track there are different required courses. Students must earn 18 credits from these tracks, 9 credits must be obtained from one track and the additional 9 credits must include courses from three different tracks (â€Å"Undergraduate degree – Civil Engineering†). The Importance of Writing in Civil Engineering I believe that writing is the basis for every course, and it’s important throughout college life. It helps in communicating our best knowledge in the respective fields we choose. Writing is quite a challenging task especially for international student; this is reason why it is important to enroll in prewriting classes as it improves writing skills. In the pursuit of our majors writing of research papers and case studies is mandatory. In addition to this, some exams sat in college entail questions that we must answer by writing short paragraphs. Writing classes is thus build the foundation of writing strategies that will help in the course of our majors. Why Civil Engineering is Important in our Lives? Civil engineering is an important part of our life, and the work of civil engineers is present in almost all aspects of our life. The electricity that we use everyday is provided by the constructions of the dams and power stations that require civil engineers. The clean water that we drink everyday is provided by the water and sewage treatment plants, which again require civil engineers. The roads that we drive everyday are also civil engineers’ work (â€Å"What is Civil Engineering†). The buildings that we live or work in are civil engineers’ work. Civil engineering helps improve the lives of millions of people everyday. Moreover, civil engineering gives shape and recognition to each society. For example, Many people when they hear of India, the picture that pops up in their heads is the picture of Taj Mahal, when they hear of Paris, they imagine the Eiffel Tower, and when they hear of London, they immediately think of Big Ben. The same happens when they hear of any other country or city; people tend to imagine the picture of the best-known landmarks or attractions in there. All these landmarks were built and designed by the help of civil engineers The importance of specialization of civil engineering can be realized through its definition. It’s a one the engineering disciplines that humans cannot live without it. The human need for homes to live in and be safe and protected from the summer heat and the winter cold. Humans need safety and the means of transportation to move between cities without noticing the long distance. Dams are a one of the examples that show us the importance of civil engineering of human beings. The importance of water resources and quality of human beings is the factor shows us how important is civil engineering for the community. Whenever the number of people in the community increases and there was a problem of limited spaces, this problem will not be solved without the presence of civil engineers. The civil engineer is the person who designs the foundations of safe buildings, builds the safe and economical towers; he is the one who ensures the presence of clean water and high quality of cities . The Different Career Paths of Civil Engineering There are a number of sub-disciplines of civil engineering. As I mentioned above there are six sub-disciplines of civil engineering at Michigan State University. There are many different branches from Engineering major. First, Environmental engineering, which interests on dealing with every aspect on the environment.  For example, environmental engineers work on constructing the water supplies that would protect the environment from water pollution and the consequences related to that such as where the waste of water would go as well as the solid waste and so on. Another branch is Geotechnical engineering. This deals with building the roads, tunnels, dams, and slopes using the rocks and the soil as the raw materials. Also, there is Structural Engineering, which is more in structuring buildings and bridges using other materials such as concrete and steel as the raw materials. Pavement Engineering is another one that is for the design and analysis of the asphalt and concrete pavemen ts. Also, Transportation Engineering, and this deals with the transit systems, designing highways, and constructing airports (â€Å"The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Degree†). When a student enters the workplace as civil engineer, he must go on to become certified as a professional Engineer (PE). â€Å"A civil engineer without this certification is limited in their authority. The PE license allows them the authority to sign off on all projects within their professional specialty†(â€Å"Becoming a Civil Engineer†). Salary of civil engineers The starting salary of civil engineering is relatively less than the other engineering disciplines such as computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and so on. However, the chances of getting a job is higher because civil engineers are always in demand as civil engineer’s job is important for the function of a society. Even with bad economy the society does not stop functioning, for example having bad economy does not mean that you drink poisoned water. Another reason that makes civil engineers always in demand is that the job of civil engineers cannot be outsourced, for example, you can’t build a bridge in china and ship it to the U.S. In comparison, other engineering disciplines’ job can be outsourced, for example, you can build a car or a computer in china and ship it to the U.S. (Buch). Conclusion Civil engineering is a worthwhile major and it places the individual on a career path that is definitely worth pursuing. It’s a major that give satisfaction to a person because he knows that he is helping the society and the people. Our modern life nowadays depends upon civil engineering. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Kostival, L M and John Michael Mason. Civil Engineering Careers: A User’s Guide for Awareness, Retention, and Curriculum Programs, Issue 347, Part 2. Transportation Research Board, 1994. Font, Darrell G, Marvin E Criswell and Neil S Grigg. Civil Engineering Practice in the Twenty-First Century: Knowledge and Skills for Design and Management. ASCE Publications, 2001. â€Å"Becoming a Civil Engineer.†Civil Engineering Careers. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . Buch, Neeraj. â€Å"Civil Engineering.†Personal interview. 3 Nov. 2014. â€Å"Civil Engineering.†Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"History of Engineering.†Civil Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . Salvadori, Mario. The Art of Construction Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers & Architects. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2000. Print. â€Å"The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Degree.†Michigan State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"Undergraduate Degree – Civil Engineering.†Michigan State University, Office of the Registrar. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"What is Civil Engineering.†Civil Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å" Source document
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