Monday, September 30, 2019

Reflective Practicee Essay

It is important to receive feedback on my practice as much as possible to ensure I am improving and developing within the role. I feel it is important to get feedback from the following people: Teacher: I try my up most to talk to the teacher after the lesson to discuss the progress of pupils whom I’ve been working with. There are times when I have expressed a concern on the seating arrangement within the classroom and other behavioural matters that I have felt need to be addressed, the teacher has often given further direction in where they want me to support in the room. I’m always really keen to receive feedback from the teacher about how they felt I worked with the pupils, how I could improve my role within the lesson, sometimes I have been encouraged to work with groups of pupils, therefore I have gone away and looked into different ways of delivering certain tasks and how certain pupils work better together. I’m not always given the learning objective ahead, which I feel is really important to receive so I am prepared and feeling confident to discuss the topic amongst the pupils, therefore I often try to discuss the next lesson with the teacher in advance to ensure I have an overview. Line Manager: I have been lucky to have been observed within lessons by my line manager to receive direct feedback on how I can improve my practice within my role. I have received some constructive feedback and some very encouraging positive praise. I have asked about several training courses to develop my understanding in certain areas and started some of my own independent reading in behaviour. My line manager is always very open and approachable; she has given me ideas for specific year groups which have really helped within lessons. I am always asking to be involved in any extracurricular clubs and keen to learn from others whilst at work. What is meant be reflective practice? Reflective practice means when we think about what we are doing, how we are doing it and whether we could change or improve it. A time to reflect on our own development, evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and look into opportunities, ideas to encourage further development and gain confidence in our profession. What is meant by National Occupational standards? These are National standards that are based on the roles and responsibilities of support staff in schools. Together with the guidance, they enable staff to manage the different stages of support staff recruitment, development and progression more effectively. Functions and requirements of your role Give one example for each of the following areas of the job role, of how personal reflection has impacted on your own practice. Supporting learning: I have worked with a small group within year 8, the lesson has a mixed of abilities, I aim to get round each pupil to ensure there is an understanding on the task set. On reflection I felt their wasn’t enough time given to each child throughout the lesson, it was with this feeling I spoke to the teacher and suggested groups of four at a table, so they would be able to discuss the exercise as a group and then work independently. This would allow both the teacher and I to talk to the groups at one time and encourage involvement from all throughout the lesson rather than going round individually. This has worked really well, each table works really well together and in reflection to the previous set up it has also developed the pupils social and communication skills. Promoting positive behaviour In a year 9 lesson I have been supporting a student with his numeracy; the student is often distracted by other things going on in the classroom and struggles to focus. I felt I was continuously calling him to sit down or to stop talking. In reflection to this reoccurring I decided to challenge him in completing the task under a time limit, I bought in a stop watch and also did the task beside him to see who could complete it first. His reaction was incredible; he completed all the work and expressed a really positive reaction to these small challenges. In response to this I asked the teacher if I could make a note in his planner to record how well he had done, in addition to this note I made sure I gave the pupil lots of positive praise, he responded to these comments really well and have since continued the small timed challenges. Developing Positive relationships Recently a year 7 pupil had left their previous school due to bullying; this was one of the first things she said to me on working with her in a lesson. I noticed she had a lack of confidence in talking to people, firstly being new to the school and secondly probably anxious from her previous school experience. In reflection to this at the end of the lesson I ensured the teacher was aware and suggested pairing her up with another pupil. In response to this each week we did ‘turning tables’ so the person sat on the right would move one space back each week, so the pupils would always be sat with someone different. I also encouraged this pupil alongside others to attend a new after school sports club I have started running. The new student showed up for the club and has been attending since, she has made some great new friends and familiar with other year groups which has in turn increased her confidence and enjoyment at school. Contribute to planning assessment and feedback Every morning I spend 15mins with a year 9 pupil who has cerebral palsy. I have worked with his phyiso and parents to assess his needs and put together an exercise plan that I assist him with each day. I have a record sheet of what we do each day and how he did with each exercise, I regularly liaise with the physio on how he is getting on, sometimes the physio will give me additional exercises to include. There have been occasions where the pupil hasn’t felt like doing it. In response to it I sometimes give him the opportunity to challenge himself to walking to different areas within the school, he reacts really well to praise and involvements which is something I include in the feedback I give to his family and physio. I also keep my line manager up to date with the pupils development to ensure other assistants are aware of his level of independence in movement so it can be encouraged within lesson too. Communication Communication is a major asset in my role at school, I am continuously talking to teachers, IT support, external companies and parents. I have recently been reflecting a lot on my communication around the children out of lesson. I have a lunchtime duty on our playing fields. I have often found myself standing there with another member of staff, listening to one another’s ideas on what works with certain year groups, however in reflection this should be happening in a dedicated time not whilst I have a responsibility as lunchtime. Therefore I have started to make a bigger effort in communicating with the children, encouraging positive behaviour and social skills. Key skills There are various key skills that I feel I could improve in, sometimes in a lesson I am lacking equipment due to handing it out regularly. Therefor I feel I need to encourage organisation for the pupils to ensure they bring their own equipment. I often reflect on my time keeping, I feel there is a big rush between and end of a lesson and getting to my lunchtime duty before the students. Therefore this may be something I discuss with my line manager about leaving a couple of minutes earlier before lunchtime. I am always reflecting on my job role description to ensure I am fulfing all my responsibilities. 4. Identify possible development opportunities available to you. Remember to consider formal and informal opportunities. Give evidence from your own practice. I am often reflecting on my own development and always keen to progress in my own learning. I made the decision to take this course (Level 2 Supporting teaching and learning in Schools) to increase my knowledge in the position of a Teaching Assistant. I feel I have really benefited from this and it has inspired me to continue on to level 3. I have a strong interest in working with families therefore I may look into a course more directed to this. I have hired out books from our local library to read into behaviour and social skills, this is an area which I have been allocated to at school, which I am really pleased about but I would like to get a bigger understanding so I can plan activities and feel confident in delivering. I have recently been assisting a music intervention group with specific SEND students. This has been a great 6 week project; I have taken the time to write up a report each week of the activities set and the reactions of each pupil. I received some outstanding feedback from the company and have recently been asked to represent the project in an open evening for them. I would like to look into these small projects more to help the development of children’s learning through creative subjects In school, I feel that it is a great opportunity to be able to talk to other members of staff about techniques/ styles of delivery for specific year groups. Sometimes there are groups of students that I feel unfamiliar with, but since speaking to other members of staff, I feel prepared to enter the lesson with their experience in my mind. 5. Why is CPD important? It is important to keep up to date with professional development to ensure to u are confident and familiar with the constant changes within education. There are often developments within schools and it is our role to be ready to adapt to these changes and encourage pupils with these variations. Some courses that are available to assist our role open up areas of discussion that you may not get the time for within school. There are areas of my job description that I have strengths and weaknesses in, therefore CPD is important to develop my own skills, knowledge and experience in all fields. Starting a self-review 6. What aspects of your job/role satisfy you the most? The biggest satisfaction for me is the rewarding feeling you get from assisting the development of a student’s progress within a subject or to help improve their behaviour etc. I find my role very satisfying by promoting a positive amount of encouragement for the pupils to believe in themselves as individuals, to prepare them with life skills and gradually develop their self-esteem. I feel this is a huge stepping stone to building a successful future. I enjoy having a variety of responsibility within my role; I like working with different year groups and understanding the range of learning styles. I like to learn from others, I feel within the classroom environment there is so much to observe and learn. I love being part of a team but also to work independently and put forward my own ideas to develop the children’s learning. 7. What aspects of your job/role have not been successful as you anticipated? I sometimes feel there isn’t enough time to discuss things with teachers before or after a lesson. I feel this is an important link to feedback on the pupils learning. I would like to focus on this area and seeing if I can build a stronger relationship with the teachers to ensure I get the chance to evaluate after the lesson I am supporting in and to gain a stronger understanding beforehand to ensure I am ready to assist pupils with confidence in the subject. I’ve also been a little disappointed that I haven’t received an official appraisal since I started my role. I have had opportunities to talk to my line manager about various things, but there has never been an allocated time to give me the change to discuss my development which is equally as important to me. 8. Are there any areas of you work you would like to improve? (2.3b) In reflection of my work so far I am really pleased with my development but always feel I could improve. Firstly I feel that I would benefit from a deeper knowledge in some subjects. For example I am frequently in a Spanish lesson, however I never had the option at school to study this language therefore my Spanish skills are minimal! I would like to look into learning Spanish to help my involvement within lessons. I am keen to re take my core subjects or study at a basic level to refresh my understanding of these subjects; it’s been surprising how much I’ve forgotten. I would also like to dedicate more time into talking to the subject teacher before the lesson to feel confident with the learning objective. At the end of the lesson I would also like to feedback on the pupils participation and understanding of the lesson and discuss how to go forward with any areas of concern. Sometimes I feel it is difficult to keep up with each lesson as my timetable frequently changes and therefore I have limited time to gather information of lessons that I am going to last minute. As a result of the above I would like to improve in planning and organisation to help me progress with other staff and add to the success of the school at every angle. 9. Describe the main aspects of appraisal (2.5/2.6) – An appraisal includes a self-assessment before the meeting with your line manager, this is normally a questionnaire that you rate it on a scale of 1- 10 to analyse how strong you think you are in each section, then as a result these point are discussed in a face to face setting with the line manager. It is allocated time to discuss the progress of you work within the school and personal strengths and weaknesses. This is also an opportunity to discuss the prospect of professional development, short and long term goals. An appraisal is professional organised meeting to agree on actions for going forward in areas that could be improved. 10. What should a school consider when agreeing development plans? In agreeing a development plan, a school needs to consider the amount of funding available for their staff development. The school need to consider the cost of equipment, training and resources, which will support staff to develop and carry out their role to their full potential. As a result of development plans moving forward with staff, there may need to be an agreement in that the staff will need to have their job role updated to reflect their responsibilities. If it was agreed that I was going to attend an external training programme during school hours, this would need to be considered in how the school can cover this absence. In turn the agreement would be looking at how my development could benefit the school in helping in other areas and using the skills learnt within school going forward. 11. When setting and agreeing targets, what is meant by SMART? S – Specific – Making sure that your target states exactly what is needed. M- Measurable – To make sure that you can measure whether the target has been reached A – Achievable – The target needs to be accessible and not too hard to achieve. R- Realistic – It is important to make sure the relevant resources and equipment are available to reach the target set T- Time Bound – There should always be a time set for reaching the target. This is to prevent putting it off to a later date 12. Identify ways in which your own knowledge, understanding and skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT impact on practice. There are times within a lesson where students will ask me to read out a question or to explain a question they don’t understand, it is important that I have the confidence to read it out and deliver an answer accurately. A lot of lessons involve using computers to write up work on or to use specific programmes linked to the subject. I am often asked by the pupils for help in saving their work, spellings and understanding of certain programmes. Fortunately I have worked with computers in previous work therefore I am at a level where I can encourage their ICT knowledge which will be helpful for them in the future. During maths lessons, students are not always allowed to use a calculator and therefore they need to practice other methods. I have learnt several teaching methods from being in these maths lessons to pass on to other year groups, but I am still refreshing my own mind with numeracy. Sometimes it’s a positive that I don’t know the answer as I get the teacher to go through it with me and the pupil to highlight that they are not alone in not knowing it and it makes the teacher aware that pupils require further information on certain tasks. What opportunities are available to you to improve own knowledge, understanding and skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT (unit 210-6.2) Sometimes during inset days our department runs workshops that cover the core subjects to update us with the syllabus of work that the children will be aiming for. The levels are constantly changing and each student is aiming for specific target grades. Therefore we receive a copy of the levels to understand what level the students are at. I have recently asked for a username to the maths programme the pupils use within school and for set homework – this cover all areas of numeracy and is a great resource to keep on top of the work. 14. – Table = To be completed? Understand the work of the team 15. Why is team work important in schools? It is important to support others within school because as a result of developing good working relationships it makes our role more effective. Team work allows us to share and discuss your own ideas and listen to others. It’s an opportunity to develop in all areas listening to others strengths and suggestions that could strengthen the team as a whole not just individually. Team work is also important in that within school it is important that the staffs are using the same guidelines and rules to ensure that the children are receiving the same response from all staff. Offering advice to the pupils should be the same as the next member of staff asked. Team work in schools is so important to keep the pupils feeling safe and confident in their learning environment. Positive working relationships will be witnessed by the pupils and therefore encourage them to mirror this within their lessons. What is the purpose and objective of the team in which you work? Our objective is to identify the needs of students and works to the best of our ability to support them. Our team is in place to support individual students, groups of pupils and general support within class groups. Our team is in place to offer social, emotional, intellectual, physical support to every pupil. Some pupils have individual programmes and difficulties that require one to one support, however everyone is treated equally. Our purpose is to encourage the development of each pupil throughout this stage of their life within secondary school and to motivate them for a positive future. What is your role and responsibilities and those of others in the team? My role and for others in my team includes a variety of duties and responsibilities within the school. On a daily basis we are to ensure we are aware of the needs of the children we are directly supporting and other pupils within a lesson, break and lunchtimes within school. During a lesson we need to be confident in supporting the teacher with each task set and encourage good behaviour and positive learning within the room. It is my responsibility to keep the students on track with their work and not to complete it for them. It is important at the beginning of the lesson to ensure the children have their equipment, books and planners out on the desk and bags under the table to be ready for the teacher to deliver the lesson. It our responsibility as a team to support the teacher in each exercise set for the pupils, liaising throughout the lesson with the progress or concernswithin the class. I also ensure I speak with the teacher about rewarding the students if they have responded well in completing the task or improved a skill that they have been struggling with. During break and lunch times each person within our team has an allocated area to supervise. We are responsible for ensuring that the pupils are behaving and engaging positively with others. If there is a problem within a break time we are linked up to the rest of our team and a support team to have immediate support in a situation. I am responsible for supporting individual programmes of physical stretching exercises which are in place by the statutory statement of Educational Need and consultation with parents and the physiotherapy team. I have a responsibility to complete an evaluation form each day which is a written up overview to record the support given in each lesson. I continuously liaise with the team and my management to ensure I am moving forward and progressing with the school in the right directio n. Why is it important to respect the skills and expertise of other practitioners? It is important to respect the skills and expertise of other staff as different staff bring different skills to the team. I would always seek advice from others when needed in order that the students are getting the best that the school can offer them. This can also help me develop in my role. Other people may have different skills, training and experience thatmay be able to help me on matters I am unsure about

Sunday, September 29, 2019

“Death Stars” by Paz Marquez Essay

The short story centers on the character of Alfredo Salazar who is the main protagonist of this tale. The protagonist of the story is very vulnerable in realms of love. This is a short story that revolves around the love affair of Alfredo, Julia and Esperanza. Alfredo who is the son of the old man Don Julian, a more than 30 year man and a bachelor, he is in a 4 year long engagement with his fiancà ©e Esperanza but his feelings has been shipped to Julia Salas when he thinks he was instantly fell in love with her when he first met her who is a relative of the judge and started to have deep conversation with her. He experiences an immediate attraction to her, but alas, he is soon to be married with his fiancà ©e. He conservatively flirts with Julia through secret meetings and subtle declarations, but in the end, he lets her go, with her gaining the late knowledge of his impending marriage. He was trap in his own complication in choosing what he wants to do and what he wants to have. B ut society strict rules required him to restrain such unwelcome emotions and so he proceeded to marry Esperanza. But in the very end, he found himself merely infatuated with Julia after he deliberately made a decision by choosing Esperanza. But it is really ashamed that it has taken him far too long, too many years wasted, to realize his feelings for the other woman was just like a death star, a star that sparkles and light radiate from it which he seeks love Julia but only to found out that light of the star no longer exist in the world. If he realize this earlier on by his own error but clouded by lusting for love blinded him to do so, he can be truly happy all those years with Esperanza in their marriage long ago instead of just being not unhappy in his marriage and instead of Esperanza behavior being an out of reach for him which I think that Esperanza know who is the woman that he tries to go after which is tragic that I do feel sorry for her in her situation, obviously taking her for granted in my opinion and her behavior is understandable after what this man have done even though there i s no physical cheating involve but still classifies him in the level of cheating where his emotional detachment to her and a sudden attachment to Julia unfaithfulness which is cheating. Alfredo himself wants what he really wanted and what he really felt. He wanted to live. He wanted to find love. He is clung to that dream of his  through Julia which in reality in the end of the story does not really exist in the first place. He long yearns for his long lost love for Julia is what he been thinking all these years when he visited her at her hometown on his business trip who is still unmarried to which is only to come realize the woman he felt in love with is only a mere fragment of his imagination that wasn’t there in the beginning. Dead stars are celestial bodies in the solar system that have long been extinguished, but can still be seen. What he felt for Julia was long gone that it never exist in the first place just like a pattern of his imagination gone wild. So all these years he had been seeing the light of dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed. In the story, dead stars symbolize a dream for something that is nonexistent, a thing that is only a distant memory even though the person he vastly desired love from before which the person is right next to him standing suddenly feel like it never occur at all but only the mere illusions of the fabric of the dark shadows of reality. I feel sympathy for Alfredo in the story, he was describe physically an ordinary man who probably makes a living as a lawyer or something, engage with his fiancà ©s for years who is very patience in waiting because that this time era, woman have to wait on the man.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Adventure Travel In India Market Study Tourism Essay

Adventure Travel In India Market Study Tourism Essay Adventure sports have seen a tremendous growth is the last six to seven years and the future looks very bright. The government is also doing its bit in order to promote adventure tourism in India. The Indian tourism industry has a lot of myriad players who want to latch on the opportunities that beckon in this field of the industry. But the industry and its players continue to be a house of disorder. This paper looks into the clear and present opportunity that lies ahead of the Indian Tourism Industry in the form of Adventure Travel, and analysis the various aspects that need to be kept in mind as the investors go out in search for the suitable customers to cash in on this multimillion dollar cheque. INTRODUCTION â€Å"A man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore†, were the words of the famous French noble laureate Andre Gide and the increasing demand for the adventure sports indicates that people have entered the 21st century with ren ewed courage to find enjoyment in the thrills of the adventure filled outdoor activities. Thus, it can be seen like leisure tourism, adventure sports is becoming an integral determinant behind the tourism dynamics. As a subject for academic analysis, tourism can be said has reached a stage of relative maturity. A casual review of journals serving the subject area reveals a number that have been in existence for over 25 years (e.g., Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research), with the Journal of Travel Research publishing its 45th annual volume in 2007. Similarly, the range of journals reveals the diversity of issues considered (e.g., Tourism Geographies, Tourism Economics, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing). With the evident relative lack of research in the area of Adventure Sports Tourism, it would be sensible to turn to research in the area of promoting the various disciplines of adventure sports by integrating it with operations of t ourism management. This research will look into the increasing demand for the adventure sports, breaking with the cultural and geographical conformism of conventional holidays and trips, and will analyse the potential for it to tap effectively. OBJECTIVE Research in the field of sports tourism has burgeoned over the last decade. In a study conducted by a renowned publication, unsurprisingly, the most studied activity was major event sports tourism like Olympics, World Cups, etc.(40% of articles), with outdoor and adventure sports tourism (29%) and skiing and winter sports (15%) being the other two significant areas.1 This being a clear indication of the increasing demand for the adventure sports, the objective of this paper will be to study the feasibility of marketing, conducting and benefitting from such events specifically in India. This market study will broadly consist of two parts which will help the readers decide the readiness and the viability of the adventure sports market . Part-1 discusses the concepts and approaches that might inform an analysis of adventure sports in Indian market. And part-2 will conduct a critical evaluation and the determining factors of investing in this area of business.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Analysis of Communication Models Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Analysis of Communication Models - Assignment Example In a basic linear model of communication, â€Å"sender --- message --- receiver† diagram is sufficient, and the feedback process can be taken as a representation of the linear model. Below is a table presenting the different elements in a standard communication model and how they are referred to in other proposed models. Relationships, in general, and romantic relationships, in particular, are perhaps one of the most perplexing among the systems involving human social interactions. It is not surprising that 50 percent of conversations in this lifetime circulate around the most mysterious system among human social interactions. The 90's sawed an advent of increased interest in the scientific study of relationships. â€Å"It is clear that all matters concerning relationships between women and men are of paramount interest to scholars and are clearly in the center stage of the public’s focus† (Kalbfleisch & Cody, 1995, p. 4). Nurturing heterosexual relationships at various levels, therefore, is increasingly becoming a concern among sociologists and psychologists. This is born out of the advocacy to create equality between men and women, and to improve the quality of female/male relationships and human relationships in general (Kalbfleisch & Cody, 1995). Research has shown that males and females differ in their approaches to relationships. One of the differences highlighted in most books is in the manner of communication. Communication scholars have a lot to say about relationship maintenance. â€Å"The end of relationships occurs when people stop communicating† (Dindia, 2003, p. 1). Experts agree that the stages of communication determine the progression of relationships from a superficial to a deeper level. Dindia (2003) further emphasizes that â€Å"the quality of a relationship is primarily determined by the quality of the communication in the relationship† (p. 1).   

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Windows OS Upgrade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Windows OS Upgrade - Essay Example In this process they have been continuously creating & releasing new versions of their products and managing obsolescence of their old products via seamless migration procedures. However, every migration comes at a huge cost to an organization and hence an in-depth analysis of business benefits, risks and return on investments should be carried out by the IT managers before a technology migration project should be proposed to the management. This paper presents a detailed comparison of windows XP with Windows Vista & Windows 2000 with Windows 2003 and the corresponding business benefits such that the management of Riordan Manufacturing can take a decision regarding the migration of their existing desktop and server operating systems to the most suitable next versions of Windows Desktop and Server OS. Riordan Manufacturing has windows 2000 workstations and Windows 2000 servers in their network. Because of implied obsolescence of these two operating systems in the industry, the management of Riordan Manufacturing wants to upgrade their existing windows operating systems to the new versions of Windows that are most feasible for the business and can justify tangible return on investments. In this context, this paper presents an objective analysis of the new operating systems that can be the potential choice for deployment at Riordan Manufacturing. Microsoft has been proactively releasing new pr... as been proactively releasing new products with the features that are not yet recognized by the business as potential enablers to enhance employee productivity and customer satisfaction. In this context, upgradation to the latest available version may be an over-kill. Also, upgradation of operating system invites a number of other parallel investments in terms of hardware capacity, application compatibility, user training, administration training, related software upgradation, peripheral upgradation, etc. Hence, the new version of OS should have as much backward compatibility as possible to ensure that the related upgrades are minimized to as minimum as possible. The existing Windows operating systems and the future choices available for Riordan Manufacturing: The existing operating systems in Riordan manufacturing are Windows 2000 workstation and Windows 2000 server that have been very successful in the industry in meeting the business objectives of a variety of business domains. Given that Windows 2000 is an Active Directory Server based system, upgradation to Windows 2003 is seamless and an easy process. Many organizations have been able to carry out such project within a weekend without the users knowing about the migrations. However, upgrading from Windows 2000 to Windows XP or Windows Vista is not that easy because the change will be highly visible to the users and hence risk of reduction of user comfort levels & the corresponding reduction of user productivity is very high. Windows 2003 possesses enhancements of the features that are already built in Windows 2000 along with new technologies and features. Hence, it makes lot of business sense to upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003. However, transitioning directly to Windows 2008 may be quite a large

Homework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Homework - Assignment Example For example a person who is in a bad financial situation will not be interested with the energy drink. Psychological factors include things like attitude and perception. For example, some people view energy drinks as unhealthy and un natural hence such people will not be interested in the drink. As a marketer, it is my duty to take advantage of these influences to make sure the energy drink gets a lot of consumers. I will do this by packaging the product in such a way it appeals to all social classes. This will ensure that all people from all social classes buy the drink. Considering the current economic times, I would also set the price of the energy drink to be as low as possible. This is to allow for people to afford it as it is certain that many people are facing economic hardships at this time. Hence the energy drink will attract a lot of consumers While advertising the product I will also make sure that all details of the drink are included in the advertisement. This includes sugar levels if any and advantages of the drink. This is to make sure that people understand the drink fully. This will help deal with psychological perception people have about energy

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Taliban Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Taliban - Research Paper Example Social scientists and organizations are conducting studies in order to develop â€Å"more concrete data†¦that lead some people to terrorism –and use those insights to develop ways to thwart it† (Tori DeAngelis, 2009). The Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu aptly puts it: â€Å"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every vic ­tory gained you will also suffer a defeat (The Art of War, 6 BC).† The Taliban The Taliban emerged in the 1990s as a predominantly Pashtun movement in northern Pakistan. The group became prominent in 1994 in Afghanistan and was then recognized by the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It gained notoriety after the 9/11 attacks in the United States of America in 2001 and was soon removed from power in Afghanistan by a US-led coalition. The group advocated a hard line enforcement of Islamic Law (BBC News Asia, 3 January 2012). Taliban ideology is based on Salafism which follows the egalitarian model, and Pashtunwali, which â€Å"arose from the madrassas during the Afghan-Soviet war.† The group â€Å"represented nobody but themselves and recognized no Islam except their own. (Afsar, Major Shahid, Samples, Major Chris and Wood, Major Thomas, 2008). Their religious ideology firmly enforces zealous compliance to their rule including banning all forms of entertainment, and banning of women’s education, including their seclusion. Harsh punishment for offenses like chopping of hands and public executions are their common methods of dispensing justice for perceived crime (EASO, 2012). The group has a hierarchical and layered structure with autonomous units under the control of the central leadership. It is headed by the Mullah Mohammad Omar who also controls the Shura (Leadership Council) with several organizing directors controlling provincial level activities under him. The next level of hierarchy is th e Provincial Chief with their respective Provincial Commision members, followed by the District level chief with District Deputies. On the fighter level, are the squad leaders with their respective Mujahiddens (EASO, 2012). Decision making is left to the top leaders who utilize authoritarian decision-making. The lower levels of the hierarchy on the other hand rely on consensus decision-making to maintain support from the populace (Afsar et. al, 2012). According to Jeffrey Dressler and Carl Forsberg, in their article Backgrounder The Quetta Shura Taliban in Southern Afghanistan: Organization, Operation and Shadow Governance (December 31, 2009) Large fighting units range in size from groups of twelve to thirty-plus fighters. They typically carry out†¦coordinated, multi-directional ambushes or raids in Taliban-controlled territory. Suicide bombers are†¦foreign†¦(as) their deaths will not be mourned by local families, potentially eroding public support for†¦Suicide a ttackers are trained in Pakistan and sent into the south, to report to a specific commander to receive instructions. At the district level and below are resourced by local indigenous fighters. Low-level commanders and small-unit leaders (no less than five personnel) operate with a higher degree of autonomy. Smaller units are typically comprised of between eight and twelve men, responsible for planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), conducting small-scale ambushes of coalition and Afghan patrols and checkpoints and

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Pestle for contemporary issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pestle for contemporary issues - Essay Example But if the political equations are like the ones’ prevailing amongst some of the nations in the Middle East or the gulf region, it adversely affects the hospitality sector. Similarly we must not forget the deep cut in hospitality industry in the aftermath of 9/11. Economic: Today we are in an era when the power of a nation is being assessed not by its military arsenal but by its economic strength instead. Economic factors have forced many traditional rival nations to adopt friendly policies in order to have better economic exchanges. Such understanding leads to firming of business partnerships, furthering market friendly policies and encouraging visits of business tycoons. Business summits, seminars, expositions, meetings too augur well for the hospitality industry. Socio-cultural: If two nations have similar socio-cultural patterns, mutual understanding and cultural exchanges amongst the citizens, the hospitality industry will be happy to host a number of visitors from across the borders. Similarly, if there are lots of cultural activities within the country, even then the hospitality industry benefits a lot. But if the society adopts some kind of preventive measures or the cultural heritage is not allowed to bloom, the hospitality industry is bound to suffer. Technological: Technology is indeed redefining the way we interact, we travel, we offer our services etc. Considering the good old days when there were no aeroplanes, ships used to take months to complete intercontinental journeys. But today, supersonic jumbo-jets have reduced this travel to some hours. Similarly, the facilities that have been offered by the information technology have brought the world closer. Now one can plan of his visit to Beijing for the Olympic games, by sitting in his home in London. The hospitality industry of China will be happy to him during the game by making all arrangements well in time. Legal: The law of

Monday, September 23, 2019

Film Studies (C) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Film Studies (C) - Essay Example It is not difficult to discover that hidden evils inside of humans are exposed during these ideological issues. People are born with personality traits such as selfishness, jealousy, and brutality. In spite of themselves or instinctively, people express these characteristics in self defense. The films Machuca and Malena describe these human evils in severe situations like war and political conflicts. In addition, these films have a common theme in that they show them through the child’s point of view. The following essay focuses on how people act in an unstable society such as in war or coups and how the children feel and regard such situations. This is shown by the directors as they reveal the story through these two movies. Both of the films, Machuca and Malena, have the common background of war. Andres Wood, the director of Machuca, and Giuseppe Tornatore, the director of Malena, chose the historical background of war to express the evil side of humankind. In the films, human evil is expressed instinctively in difficulties or severe situations and portrayed through the backdrop of Chile in 1973 and World Warâ… ¡. In 1973, Allende’s government in Chile won the general election, but was soon collapsed by the coup d’Ã ©tat of Pinochet and capitalism. (Encyclopedia) Capitalism and socialism were head to head against each other. The conflict between people who had vested rights and those who did not was accelerating; the gap between the rich and poor was growing larger. Therefore, the conflict between these two classes was naturally increasing. Wood shows the reality of Chile through Gonzalo and Machuca. Gonzalo represents the wealth of capitalism, while Machuca from the shanty town repre sents the failure of the realization of socialism. On the other hand, Tornatore depicts Italy in World War â… ¡. The town is extremely unsettled because of the German military

Sunday, September 22, 2019

I.T. Project - Converting a Card Index System to a Database Essay Example for Free

I.T. Project Converting a Card Index System to a Database Essay The present system is based on the manual card index system so most of the work is done by hand, however due to the ever increasing growth of technology, and the internet, a wide range of resources are now being made easily accessible. British Airways has recently introduced booking online, where customers can book a flight and accommodation all over the Internet. Being such a big company as British Airways, most of their bookings are made through travel agents who book the flights and pass the information on to them. Question 1 Could you describe the current system being used by Question 2 How are these cards stored? Question3 What problems do you encounter at the moment? Software Available MICROSOFT OFFICE 2000 WORD PROCESSOR MICROSOFT WORD 2000 A word processing package is a program or set of programs used to edit, format, store and print documents. Word processors have many important unique features: * Spelling and Grammar Checker Misspelt words, or grammatical errors can be identified and corrected by the words in the computers dictionary. Correct words, identified by the spell check as wrong can be added to the dictionary. * Automatic creation of index and table of contents Any word in the text can be marked for inclusion in an index. Headings and subheadings in a given style can be included automatically in a table of contents, which can be updated at any time. * Import Files Tables, photographs, graphics, video and sound files can be imported from other sources and inserted in a document. * Mail merge A document and a list of names and addresses can be merged to produce personalised letters. * Creation of templates with preset text styles. Margins, formatting, letterheading etc. * WYSIWYG This stands for What You See Is What you Get, and refers to the ability to display on the screen. And enables the user to see their work on the screen exactly as it will be printed. SPREADSHEET MICROSOFT EXCEL 2000 Spreadsheet packages allow a user to create worksheets (spreadsheets) representing data in column and row form. Spreadsheets are used for any application that uses numerical data, such as budgets, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements, student marks or results of experiment. Spreadsheet features: * Format cells, rows and columns, specifying for example, the alignment of text, number of decimal points, height and width of cells. * Copy cell contents to other locations, with automatic adjustment of formulae from an area to another location. * Determine the effect of several different hypothetical changes of data; this facility is called what-if calculation. * Insert, move or delete rows and columns. * Use functions such as sum, average, max, min in formulae * Create a simple database and sort or query the data to produce a report of, say for example, all males gaining over a C grade, for a list of students. * Write macros to automate common procedures * Create templates Spreadsheets with formats and formulae already entered, into which new figures may be inserted. * Create multi dimensional spreadsheets using several sheets, and copy data from one sheet to another * Create many different types of chart and graphs DATABASE MICROSOFT ACCESS 2000 A database is a collection of data. It may be something as simple as a list of names and addresses or details of the CDs in your personal collection, or it may contain details of all the customers, products, orders and payments in a large organisation. When made reference to, the word database is assumed to be data held on a computer, but manual databases also exist. Some smaller business (a garage) may hold a card index file with details about a customer and their car. The main difference between a manual and computerised databases is the speed at which data can be accessed. PRESENTATION GRAPHICS MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 2000 Presentation graphics software such as PowerPoint is useful for putting together a presentation which can be delivered using a computer attached to a projection device, using transparencies and an ordinary overhead projector or as a self-running presentation in, say a shopping centre or cinema. The software allows the user to quickly create slides combining text, graphics and pictures and to create animation or sound effects and transition effects between slides. OPERATING SYSTEM MICROSOFT WINDOWS 98 Hardware Available These are the specifications of the PC I am using at Home: OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS(r) 98 PLUS! CPU INTEL(r) CELERONTM / 333MHZ RAM 64MB FOR WINDOWS(r) 98 SCREEN DISPLAY 800 BY 600 PIXELS TRUE COLOUR (32 BIT) CD-ROM SPEED 32-SPEED AVAILABLE SPACE ON HARD DRIVE 2.4GB AUDIO 16-BIT SOUND CARD OTHER LOUDSPEAKERS These are the system specifications for the systems at school: OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS(r) 98 CPU 433MHZ RAM 32MB FOR WINDOWS(r) 98 SCREEN DISPLAY 640 BY 480 PIXELS 256 COLOURS CD-ROM SPEED 24 SPEED AVAILABLE SPACE ON HARD DRIVE 10MB AUDIO 8-BIT SOUND CARD PRINTER HP LASERJET All systems should have Microsoft Office 97/2000. All systems must have Microsoft Excel 97/2000. End Users IT Literacy The end user of my system will already have basic IT skills and will have already had experience with the Microsoft Office Package. As they are working for a big trans-national company, they would have already undergone training in the secretarial sector, of which IT skills are a key part. To even have the job, they would have to be able to type quickly, answer calls and transmit data efficiently. Therefore, training costs will be kept to a minimum. Final Choice Having looked at the current system and the software and hardware available, I have decided to use Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet program to design my booking system. Spreadsheet packages allow a user to create worksheets (spreadsheets) representing data in column and row form. Spreadsheets are used for any application that uses numerical data, such as budgets, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements, student marks or results of experiments. Spreadsheets offer a wide range of facilities making the task easier to perform. SKILLS: Current/To be acquired I have a good understanding of the Microsoft Excel package. I have done quite a few calculations and performed basic macros. Having looked through the coursework of former students, and reading through the coursework guide, I realise that I need to improve my knowledge of Excel. Excel is a powerful package and can carry out many tasks easily if instructed correctly. I have already started to go through sample projects showing me how to go about certain tasks with a book titled Successful I.T. Projects in Excel, written by P.M Heathcote. End User Requirements Provide detailed reports showing customer booking for every working day. Produce summary reports for flight bookings in order of popularity. Allow data entry for new customers. Provide easy access for amendments to customer details and flight details. Automatic backup for all centralised records daily and weekly. Provide an exception report for outstanding customer debts or extreme bank credit limits. The system should record financial details concerning money in/outstanding. Allow queries on the current flight availability. Quantitative Criteria Printed tickets are to be generated within 15 minutes. Accessing and amending customer/Fight/Airport details should be instantaneous. Queries are processed promptly on customer request. Backup should occur automatically every 24 hours. Flight details processed every Friday (1 hour max) Exception reports are produced quickly on demand within a minute. Qualitative Criteria The system should provide a workable Human Computer Interface system according to different users, i.e. simple menu selections or buttons The company logo is consistent on all forms and reports. Amount of available screen data is kept to a minimum (increase usability) Help systems are easily accessible.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Sexuality In North By Northwest

Sexuality In North By Northwest While the Cold War conjured diverse anxieties, I will center my presentation on the idea of Domestic Containment, specifically the containment of homosexuality in America (Cohan). I came across this concept in Elaine Tyler Mays Homeward Bound. It deals with the political and ideological reasons 1950s America insisted on promoting rigid heterosexuality and capitalist drives, ridding itself of backward men and Communist traitors, something completely in line with Hitchcocks mission in the film Moreover, by invoking the homophobic categories of Cold War political discourse, in particular the construction of the homosexual as a national security risk, N by NW virtually guaranteed that gender and nationality functioned as mutually reinforcing categories of identity. In this presentation, I will discuss sexuality as related to ideas of nation-hood and argue that there is a mini cold war being waged in North by Northwest, one that deals specifically with advancing the American heterosexual couple over the Soviet homosexual one coded throughout the film. With the American, heterosexual couples triumph on screen comes an ideological victory for America in 1959. SLIDE Before I analyze clips and stills from North By Northwest that deal with currents of sexuality and nationality, I wanted to show this clip from the latter half of the film to show that Hitchcock makes it abundantly clear that we are supposed to read North by Northwest as a Cold War film concerned with sexuality. CLICK!!! I want you to take away from this clip the obvious language of the cold war as well as how sexuality or bedding down is wrapped up in this international struggle. In this way, North by Northwest presents in biting form America immersed in Cold War ambiguity in which people on both sides were served up as sacrificial lambs. N by NW was made and released during the latter phase of the second term of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a time when the Cold War was in full force, with the US and rival Soviet Union utilizing the most sophisticated spy techniques. This new kind of war required constant vigilance and readiness to fight on a moments notice. The Cold War lasted longer than any other war in our countrys history, starting when the United States introduced nuclear terror to the world by dropping its first atomic bomb on Japan on August 6, 1945, and lasting into our lifetime with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although the Cold War shaped and distorted virtually every aspect of American life, perhaps more than anything else, nuclear weapons changed the world. With them, an element of vulnerability existed unlike anything in history. Nuclear threat escalated during the 1950s, the decade were concerned with today. In August 1949 the Soviets had their first successful nuclear bomb test. Both the US and the Soviet Union held hydrogen bomb tests in 1952 and 53 and in October 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik. Americas nuclear buildup, global mobilization, and interventionism during the Cold War were justified in the name of stopping Soviet communism, a foe policymakers deemed so diabolical that its defeat warranted the risk of destroying civilization itself. The fact that the Soviet Union was not just a military, economic, and geopolitical but an ideological foe, posed a unique kind of challenge to a resolutely capitalistic nation. This ideological antagonism between socialism and capitalism polarized the world along new lines. And it is against this backdrop that Hitchcock gave birth to his suspense thriller North by Northwest. SLIDE Certain historical trends and demographics are crucial to understand before analyzing the films comments on sexuality. During the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, an amazing rise in the birth rate, a declining age of marriage, a growth in the marriage rate, and low divorce rate all converged in the midst of the most intense years of nuclear fear and ideological and surrogate warfare. Since family formation and fertility respond to both positive and negative economic and cultural stimuli, it is not surprising that this era of comparatively good times brought increased marriage and fertility. At the same time, however, increased sexual activity at younger and younger ages, especially for women in the late 1950s and beyond, problematically, included increasing instances of pre-marital sex Thus the history of sexuality in postwar America is the story of increasing liberalization Men, too, participated. The rebellion of men against marriage and the increasingly permissive fantasy life associated with the playboy lifestyle of the late 1950s, appears to be the kind of life our protagonist and hero, Cary Grants character Roger Thornhill, ascribes to. And, in terms of female rebellion, perhaps even more dismantling is the sexual promiscuity of Eve Kendall, played by Eva Marie Saint. Thornhill is typed as a womanizer, with two failed marriages to boast of, and Eve, as if completely aware of the expectations of her 1950s culture, introduces herself to Thornhill curtly stating that shes 26 and unmarried, and thats all he needs to know. SLIDE Examining domestic containment in relation to national identity has multiple advantages. It allows us to see that what we have heretofore regarded as a unique Cold War phenomenon was in fact part of the larger, ongoing process of defining America. The very meaning of America had become greatly problematized in the 1950s. Perhaps this instability of American identity is why Hitchcock constantly reasserted distinctly American values and American locations throughout North by Northwest, on screen are just a few of the most memorable sites Hitchcock takes us. AD-LIB I will present many facets of North by Northwest that deal specifically with America and American life in order to further ground the containment of homosexuality as a Cold War strategy in the film. I first want to discuss the opening credits of the film. Understanding Hitchcocks brilliant beginning gives us-the viewers and our class today-a lens through which to understand Hitchcocks understanding of Cold War America, homophobia, heterosexuality and communism. SLIDE Designed by American graphic designer and Academy award winning filmmaker Saul Bass, the credits provide a kind of map meant to locate or orient the spectator. A series of intersecting lines, clearly intended to invoke a map or graph, traverse a blank screen placed at an angle to the camera. They eventually dissolve into a shot of an office building whose glass and steel faà §ade reflects the moving traffic on the busy street below. The mirror like surface of the faà §ade that emerges from the intersecting lines functions as a screen on which the images of the busy street below are not so much reflected as projected. Consequently, according to Robert Corber in his book In the Name of National Security: Hitchcock, Homophobia, and the Political Construction of Gender the opening titles seem to suggest that, as a semiotic practice, the film has the ability to organize and define reality, to construct a map of it that fixes its meaning for the spectator. In this way, they call attention to the artificiality or constructed-ness of the films representation of reality. It provides the spectator with coordinates that enable him/her to locate and define his/her position in the world and thereby make sense of it-a concept integral to audience reception that we have discussed at length this semester, and that I will touch on in greater depth shortly. By beginning in this way, according to Corber, the film demonstrates its ability to conjure reality, to construct a representation of the world that the spectator does not question but assumes accurately reflects contemporary society b/c of its perceptual intensity or so-called impression of reality à   thus, from the beginning, we are meant to assume that Hitchcock s representation of America in 1959 is how it really was. Another important element of the films beginning is that our protagonist Roger Thornhill appears as if plucked from the crowd at random, as he is initially shown emerging from an elevator jammed with office workers. He is completely typical of New Yorks crowded people, lacking direction. Indeed, purely by accident, he is kidnapped shortly after he arrives at the hotel by two of Vandamms men, who mistake him for the fictitious American agent George Kaplan. Thus, Hitchcock makes us think that anyone of us, too, could have been sucked into this crazy plot. One other interesting thing to glean from the title sequence is that it alludes to the traps in which the protagonists find themselves throughout the film as well as frames the films trajectory This grid recurs throughout the film, in railway cars, deserted prairie crossroads, and national monuments. From the very beginning, moreover, I want you to note that the film is an exploration of Cold War AMERICA, as seen in the vertical top shots of the Madison Avenue skyscraper, UN headquarters and Mount Rushmore and the horizontal shots of the railway car and of the empty Midwestern plane I will now show a hilarious trailer for North by Northwest from 1959, which gives a brief but comprehensive geographical tour of Hitchcocks locations, which I wont have time to flesh out on my own in this presentation, but are extremely important. SHOW TRAILER HERE! SLIDE Having recently discussed how the opening credits situate and control the spectators view of the film, and, by extension, portray the Cold War climate according to Hitchcocks construction, I want to specifically link this form of control with the viewers sexual identification. Hitchcocks films contributed indirectly to the pathologizing of same-sex eroticism by suggesting that in order for the individual to achieve a relatively stable heterosexual identity she/he had to successfully negotiate the Oedipus complex Because Hitchcocks films occupied the subject position, the spectator became complicit with her/his own Oedipalization, which, in the 1950s, was tantamount to accepting the terms of the postwar settlement. By examining N by NW in the context of the postwar settlement, I want show to that Hitchcocks films participated in a regime of pleasure that helped to consolidate the emergence of the national security state. His representational practices were complicit with the dominant construction of social reality during the Cold War era. Hitchcocks tendency to subjectivize the individual spectators experience constitutes one of the principal links b/w his films and the anti-Stalinist project of American Cold War officials. Thus, in N by NW, Hitchcock demonstrated how the discourses of national security produced fantasies that brought the individual spectators desire into alignment with the nations security interests. SLIDE Now I will move into the meat of my presentation: the politicization of sexuality. The Cold War persuaded millions of Americans to interpret their world in terms of insidious enemies who threatened them with nuclear and other forms of annihilation. McCarthyism contributed heavily to viewing the world through this dark, distorting lens and setting global and domestic policies to counter these threats. According to the Federal Government, if homosexuals felt alienated from mainstream American society, that was b/c they were maladjusted, their problems were not political but personal and were best remedied in a doctors office. On the other hand, however, the dominant discourse of same sex eroticism tried to show that homosexuality promoted communism and therefore politicized gay identities. The gay community, which had emerged with new cohesion and visibility in the wake of World War II, found itself a prime target for anticommunist crusaders. It was believed that they were especially vulnerable to blackmail by Soviet agents eager to recruit intelligence sources As a result, the early 1950s witnessed widespread purging of homosexuals from the State Department, the military, and other federal agencies. However, more than just a greater risk of blackmail was involved. Homosexuals were seen as deficient in character, moral integrity, and real masculinity. Unfit as Cold Warriors, they were thus undesirable citizens. This stigmatization, as historian John DEmilio points out in his study of Cold War sexual politics, was carried still further by conservative politicians who linked homosexuality directly to communism, re-conceptualizing homosexuality as a contagious disease spread by communists to weaken the nation from within. A single homosexual, officials maintained, could easily contaminate an entire government office. The oppression of homosexuals at all levels became yet another act of containment in the fight against communism. Homosexuals, further, were seen as especially dangerous to the extent that a gay male character was virtually indistinguishable from straight male ones, thereby demonstrating that homosexuals, like communists, could dangerously escape detection. During its highly publicized hearings in the 1940s and early 1950s, the House UnAmerican Activities Committee did not limit its investigation to the Communists who had supposedly infiltrated the federal Government, but extended it to include homosexuals who passed as heterosexual. On the basis of testimony from psychiatrists and other medical experts who testified that they were susceptible to blackmail by Soviet agents b/c they were emotionally unstable, thus officially pinning homosexuals as national-security risks. The publication of the Kinsey reports on male and female sexual behavior, in 1948 and 53 respectively, only reinforced the politicization of homosexuality. The reports provided scientific evidence suggesting that sexual identities were fluid and unstable rather than exclusively and permanently heterosexual or homosexual. In recognizing the fluidity of sexuality, hindering the attempts of gays to define themselves as members of an oppressed minority The pervasive allusions to homosexuality in North by Northwest enables me to stress the centrality of the politicization of same-sex eroticism to post-war American culture and to show that containment of homosexuality was necessary to conditions of the Cold War. Thus, North by Northwest epitomizes this tight bond between sexuality and national security in the Cold War era. SLIDE Now I will begin my analysis of sexuality in the film with what I call a montage of references to homosexuality. When looking at these stills from the movie, keep in mind how Cary Grant, our dashing American protagonist, too, can be wrapped up with homosexuality, speaking to the pervasiveness and dangers of homosexuality infiltrating American lives. SLIDE The films drama basically begins with Roger Thornhill going to an all-mens bar in the Plaza Hotel. Although he has a date for that evening, it is with his mother no less, a problem I will discuss shortly! SLIDE The theme of the kidnapping of the hero, Thornhill, by two sinister men, with the hero often seated in a car, tightly between them, recurs throughout the film in myriad forms. Pictured above are just a few examples that represent this theme of Thornhills encounters with homosexuality. CLICK FOUR TIMES. SLIDE Now we arrive at the Villain Phillip Vandamms home who is played by George Mason. I want you to keep this seemingly benign image on screen in mind throughout the remainder of my presentation. While no scholar has mentioned the significance of the cars pulling into Vandamms gate, I think this action is importantly mirrored in the iconic ending of the film that I will show later. For now, however, just keep in mind that a car driven by a man and with our protagonist squished tightly b/w two other men in the backseat, penetrates the gate to a Soviet home. SLIDE Vandamm, the lead villain, unsurprisingly is connected with homosexuality. His masculinity should be suspect because of his relationship with his sadistic, overtly homosexual associate, Leonard, played by Martin Landau, who Hitchcock notes in the screenplay should be read as gay. The slide above features Leonard, with the help of two male henchmen, forcing the neck of a liquor bottle between Thornhills lips, making him drink its full contents-an obviously phallic reference of homosexual rape SLIDE As I noted a few minutes ago, a central facet of the politicization of sexuality in the 1950s, came with associating homosexuality with communism. While Hitchcock doesnt specifically mention the country of origin of the foreigners in the film, he locates Vandamms home importantly in Glen Cove, New York. This location directly implies that Vandamm and his associates are from the Soviet Union, who at the time had a mission in that town on northern Long Island. This fact sheds particular light on the stills of homosexuality I am showing, as they are directly linked with communism. Further, later in the film, the Professor describes Vandamm as an importer exporter of government secrets, thereby coding him as a Soviet agent involved in the Cold War. SLIDE Before I move on to show and discuss the famous crop-dusting scene-the scene I regard as the most compelling, and famous, visual representation of the threat of homosexuality to our protagonist-I must first discuss another aspect of Thornhills unsuitable sexuality: his unhealthy relationship with his mother. In order to Contain Thornhill and set him on the proper sexual path, his relationship with his mother needs to severely change. The basic mother-son story line goes as follows: the film opens with an ageless male, Thornhill, identifying himself first of all as a son. He speaks of his efforts to keep the smell of liquor on his breath from the watchful nose of his mother, and he comes to the attention of his enemies because of an unresolved anxiety about getting a message to his mother, whereupon he is taken captive. (Cavell) Hitchcock suggests that Thornhills involvement in the Communist underworld, an underworld marked by sexual as well as political deviance, is not purely coincidental but is indirectly related to his devotion to his mother. The film tries to show that b/c he has failed to internalize the Law of the Father and remains emotionally dependent on his mother, there is a sense in which his irresponsible behavior is complicit with the Communist infiltration of the American government. The discourses that linked communism and homosexuality actually warned against the potentially pernicious effects of motherhood specifically and point to a reaction against the emergence of the feminine mystique of the 1950s. On the one hand, as we have seen throughout seminar, post-war American culture experienced a proliferation of glorified representations of motherhood designed to lure women back into the home following the war. On the other hand, many Americans resented the glorification of motherhood b/c it gave women supposedly too much power in the domestic sphere. With the outbreak of the Cold War, Mom-ism too became linked to the spread of communism and led to the creation of a demonology of motherhood. Suddenly, mothers risked making their sons susceptible to Communist propaganda. The discourses of mom-ism limited womens empowerment in the domestic sphere and ensured that their child-rearing practices conformed to the nations security interests. For, if women disregarded the expert advice of psychiatrists and other trained professionals, they risked producing children who were Communists as well as homosexuals. In N by NW this aspect of the demonization of motherhood is obvious in Thornhills relationship with his mother. Thornhills sexual immaturity thus is incompatible with the nations security interest. In the postwar period, the nations political stability and economic prosperity were thought to depend upon the production of subjects who had internalized the rules and regulations governing Oedipal desire. Thus Thornhill was not so different from the films Communists and homosexuals. ADLIB-mom younger than Grant, problematic. SLIDE To close this section on homosexuality, I want to look at the famous scene where Thornhill is attacked by a crop-dusting plane. This iconic sequence of events is both the central image of Thornhills victimization and surprisingly, or unsurprisingly as my presentation is attempting to prove, a powerful instance of homosexual attack. The night before this scene takes place Thornhill and Eve violate a taboo. We know that Thornhill spent the night with Eve, boldly and obviously suggesting pre-marital intercourse. I understand the attack Im about to show, which once again occurs the very next day, to be a powerful visualization of punishment for intercourse CLICK SHOW CLIP!!! CLICK AFTER! The linkage of this scene with sexuality is evident in Hitchcocks filming. The association of the prairie with the sexual landscape of the train compartment where Thornhill and Eve had sex the night before is signaled by his camera shots. Right before the clip I just showed, a close-up of Eves face at the train station dissolved into an aerial shot of the road and fields of the plane attack, explicitly linking these scenes. This shot transition begs for an allegorical identification of the woman and this stretch of land, the very land where Thornhill undergoes his attack. To discuss this scene I will rely on the analysis of Theodore Price from his book Hitchcock and Homosexuality. He notes that firstly, we must note the phallic symbolism associated with birds and of flying objects in general. According to Price, aside from the birds shape, and its darting, pecking beak, a bird is, to everyones unconscious, a phallic symbol because it flies. Flying also is a symbol for getting an erection, for potency, and for sexual intercourse in general according to Ernest Jones. Thus, in a way, the crop-dusting plane scene can conjure undertones of homosexual rape from above. There are several meanings that arise when looking at this scene from this angle. 1) This scene could represent a fear on the part of Thornhill of homosexual rape-and/or fear in his strange attraction to homosexual rape. This connection is clear especially when considering the homosexual rape still I showed earlier of Leonard forcing liquor down Thornhills mouth. The phallic bird-plane then may be interpreted as Grants fear of his former attraction to homosexuality as he starts out on still another new love affair with a woman. 2) The plane could also stand for the avenging phallus of the father figure in the film, here Vandamm, who is understandably angry at the son figure, Thornhill, for making time with the mother figure, Eve. 3) Additionally, the sequence could mean that the plane represents the Castrator, Eve, who set him up in the cornfield to begin with. For, from the psychoanalytic view, birds can be woman or vagina symbols too. SLIDE Regardless of which way we read this scene, a powerful avenging phallus, sent by Communists, launches its bullets-take this fact as an allusion to ejaculation-at our male hero. Luckily for Thornhill, he finds safety in the cornfields of America-which, in my opinion, represents finding protection from this Communist phallus in the heartland of America. SLIDE Having catalogued countless instances of the presence and associated dangers of homosexuality in the film, I now need to show how these dangers were contained by the insistence on heterosexual couple. To do so, I will use Mays analysis of 1950s Domesticity in Homeward bound. In this work, May linked the exaggerated domesticity that characterized the long fifties-from 1945-1965-that weve discussed at length in seminar to homosexuality and anticommunist imperatives. May readily acknowledged the extraordinary stresses placed upon the American family by the Great Depression and World War II. Postwar Americans, finding additional threats to traditional family life in rising rates of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and sexual promiscuity, as I discussed before, juvenile delinquency, as Willi discussed two weeks ago, and the ultimate threat of nuclear war, Americans understandably sought normalcy in marital sex, pro-natalism, and suburban domesticity during this time. Further, just as anticommunism required the containment of Sino-Soviet expansion abroad, so, too, May argued, gender revolution and deviant expression of sexual desire had to be effectively contained at home, hence domestic containment. Promotion of family values, policymakers believed, would ensure not only a place for men to return to the workforce, but also the stable family life necessary for personal and national security, a kind of Cold War victory on the domestic front. Hitchcock too received the memo, as he promoted the heterosexual couple throughout the film. Hitchcock, by associating homosexuality with the soviets coded as communists, both comments on its pervasiveness of both groups in America at that time and establishes it as the inferior sexual bond that must be checked and contained by the heterosexual couple. Thus, no mere exercise in nostalgia, domestic containment was part of a new Cold War consensus about the meaning of America and deeply embedded in the plot of North by Northwest. Now Im going to show you a series of slides that blatantly show the heterosexual couple of Thornhill and Eve. CLICK AND ADLIB SLIDE When contextualized within the domestic politics of marriage during the cold war, heterosexuality and Re-Marriage take on great importance. We come to see that Thornhill and Eves adventures throughout the film serve as trials for their suitability to get married. Eve is sexually immature before she becomes an agent for the American government, according to the terms of the postwar settlement. Although she is partially redeemed by acting as an American agent-showing her willingness to perform her patriotic duty-she nevertheless continues to occupy a position outside the law. This is so because to perform her patriotic duty she must violate the rules that govern female sexuality in the 1950s, making her only partly rehabilitated. She is a treacherous little tramp and uses sex like a fly swatter according to the movie so she remains a marked woman throughout. However, when Thornhill rescues her from Vandamm, he enables her to do something genuinely worthwhile for the nation: become a proper wife and mother The relationship b/w gender and nationality suggests that Thornhills activities as an American agent also need to be reconstructed according to the post-war settlement. His activities as an American agent create a scenario that puts an end to his womanizing. Thornhills mix-up within the CIAs efforts to combat communism actually increases his desire for marriage and domesticity. To Thornhill, the domestic sphere not only provides a refuge from the government which has recklessly endangered his and eves lives, but also constantly restages his pre-Oedipal attachment to his mother. In this way, his espionage activities ensure that the organization of sexuality and his identity as a citizen are mutually reinforcing. Thus, Hitchcock stresses the ability of the American government to regulate and control the construction of the individuals subjectivity-as it is only once he is involved in its activities that he is redeemed. According to the discourses of national security then, Thornhills resistance to his role as a husband is un-American, and his activities as an American reorganize him as a proper citizen. This scene shows how the series of events that have unfolded have transformed both protagonists views of marriage, and suggest that re-marriage in the name of national security is on the horizon. CLICK SHOW CLIP As you just saw Thornhill uses the loaded word proposal that explicitly suggests marriage. Also, they discuss his former failed marriages, alerting the viewer that we are dealing with re-marriage here. Also, Cary Grants sly wit about leading too dull a life suggests that as a result of his involvement in matters of state, he has achieved a level of excitement suitable for marriage and can now enter into a proper relationship. SLIDE I want to show you a series of images and a clip from the end of the film that pit homosexuality explicitly against heterosexuality. With their placement at the end of the film they attain great significance, suggesting that the winner of this sexual battle is the victor in a mini cold war. In addition, I show images with men and women, homosexuals and heterosexuals, in these clips, to show both strains of sexuality at odds within a single frame. SLIDE Before I show these stills and clips, I need to discuss the importance of the Vandamm house itself, where the majority of these clips take place. Situated in a fictitious forested plateau atop the Mount Rushmore, Vandamms house dominates a devotional shrine of American democracy-its positioning alone reveals how even Americas most iconic monuments are endangered by Soviet penetration. Further, the houses Midwestern location-in the Black Hills region, near Keystone, South Dakota, is also important. The move toward the west, evoked by the films title, brings the protagonists to the American heartland, the spine of the continent. Additionally, the houses placement atop a mountain has wider implications. It expresses visual domination and panoptic control. The fact that blatant homosexuality pervades a site that serves simultaneously as a great threat to an iconic American monument and exerts intense control, suggests how dangerous the threats of homosexuality and communism have at once become at the end of the film. CLICK THROUGH CLIPS and ad-lib CLICK, SHOW CLIP! In this clip, we see Leonard using phrases like his womans intuition aligning himself with homosexuality, or femininity at the least and Vandamm noting that hes touched by jealousy. SLIDE Now I would like to move into the final phase of my discussion: a comprehensive discussion of Mount Rushmore, and the battle between the US and Soviet Union that occurs atop its democratic faces. First and foremost, we must understand Mount Rushmore to be a place so definitely and undeniably American. Using a carved rock containing the gigantic granite portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln as a backdrop, Hitchcock suggests that what happens there is of NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. After a few savvy moves, Thornhill and Eve leave Vandamms house and find themselves atop monument being chased by Vandamm, Leonard and their henchmen.

Friday, September 20, 2019

iPad: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? Essay -- Environmental Issues

Technology has always fascinated me due to its fast evolution of electronic devices, especially the revolution of computers. In this very case, the iPad, a truly global product, particularly caught my attention. Digging deeper, it is the components of the iPad that accomplish this high quality of product, making it a popular demand. However, the Apple company itself did not produce the components. The other reputable companies and their factories overseas did. The iPad contains so many components that it is unbelievable. It is quite a fascinating journey walking through most of the components that are accessible to the location of productions, not to mention overall impact the product has on the environment, such as carbon emissions. It is expected that every product has its downside, and the iPad is no exception. Unfortunately, Apple products are known as the the most environmentally-unfriendly brand amongst all other brands of electronics. The fast production of the iPad due to th e popular demand is not helping much on this aspect of the product either. Not to mention the fact that a new edition of iPad comes out every year. Hence, it is time to reveal the negative side of the popular global product, the iPad. The components in the iPad are various and complicated. There are so many that it is quite easy to get lost from all the introduction of the intricate parts. Opening up the iPad, the components revealed. Not surprisingly, the components are from all around the world with different reputable companies that are known for their technological advancement and promising high quality. The iPad has unbelievably amount of parts inside of it; imagine the potential hazard it can bring to the environment, not just how the constitue... ...to stop the terrible consequences that the human beings would have to face sooner or later. Works Cited "Apple - The Story Behind Apple's Environmental Footprint." Apple. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. . Miller, Michael J.. " iPad 2: Designed in California, Manufactured Everywhere ." Forward Thinking . N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. . Sherr, Ian. " Breaking Down the iPadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Components - Digits - WSJ." WSJ Blogs - WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. . "iPad Environmental Report." iPad Environmental Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. .

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Death Penalty and Deterrence Essay examples -- Capital Punishment Crim

Death Penalty and Deterrence Ever since the beginning of time man has committed crimes. Crimes were described as acts which go against the social and moral norms of society and people. People have learned to deal with these crimes in many different ways. One of the most used forms of dealing with crime is punishing those who commit crimes. There are numerous ways in which people have punished those who commit crimes throughout history from making the criminal pay fines to banishing them from the community. However, in modern times, there are fewer acceptable forms of punishment that are used. For very unserious crimes, governments may simply make a criminal pay a small fine or do service for the community in some way. Offenders who commit more serious crimes may be forced to spend months or years in jail or prison. However, for the most serious crime of premeditated murder there is an even greater punishment; the punishment of death. According to Jacquelyn C. Black, since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstat ed, over 821 men and women have been executed in the United States. Capital punishment is one of the most hotly debated issues in politics and criminal justice today. The ability of the government and the judicial system to punish a criminal in the most severe way, the taking of their ability to live, is an issue that is discussed and evaluated nearly every day. Capital punishment has its roots in history though. Ever since man has formed societies he has used capital punishment as a form of punishment for criminals. The United States has also been using capital punishment for a long time. Many people think that capital punishment is a very barbaric form of punishment that should be gotten rid of. They think that no civilized nation should allow such sanctioned brutality. P61According to Ron Fridell, ?capital punishment has been abolished in all of Europe and most of Latin America, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The United States remains the only Western nation in which capital punishment is still practiced.? Other people think that t he death penalty is an effective and just way of punishing offenders for the most heinous of crimes. This paper will try to describe the death penalty, where it came from, and its role in the judicial system today. The purpose of capital punishment is also a debated issue in the subject. Most ... ... and decrease murder rates. Constan p102 says that ?other factors that influence murder rates are unemployment, probability of arrest and conviction, percent of the population between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, per capita financial expenditures on the police force, and other factors.? He also states that none of these factors seem to affect the crime rate though none is major enough to completely cause major changes. End Notes Davis, Michael. Justice in the Shadow of Death: Rethinking Capital and Lesser Punishments. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 1996 Kronenwetter, Michael. Capital Punishment. Santa Barbara: ABC- CLIO, Inc, 1993. Bedau, Hugo Adam., and Pierce, Chester M. Capital Punishment in the United States. New York: AMS Press, Inc, 1975.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Megivern, James J. The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York: Paulist Press, 1997.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fridell, Ron. Capital Punishment. New York: Benchmark Books, 2004. Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin?s Press, 1997. Goldberg, Steven. ?So What if the Death Penalty Deters World Wide Web.1989.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

This paper takes a case analysis approach to considering the ethical and legal implications of the â€Å"right† to health care in contemporary America. The case scenario assumes that the government has enacted a new national health care policy. All citizens are guaranteed an annual income of $20,000 and the right to purchase (at an annual cost of $1,500) a comprehensive health insurance policy covering all routine medical and hospital costs. People who fail to purchase this insurance plan must pay cash for all health services. If non-insured individuals do not have the money to pay for services, the hospital and/or physician will deny treatment. This â€Å"comprehensive† insurance package is not without certain important limitations and exclusions. Notably, no coverage is provided for illness or disability arising directly from the individual’s own unhealthy behaviors (e.g., smoking, overeating, drinking, etc.). This paper examines the legal and ethical implications of this health care system (for individual patients, hospital administrators, health care providers, and the society at large) by looking at the situation facing two hypothetical patients. The first patient, â€Å"Mr. Puffer† purchased the $1,500 plan but finds that costs related to the treatment of his lung cancer are not covered (because Mr. Puffer is a long-time smoker). The second patient, â€Å"Mr. Spender† has failed to purchase the insurance plan and is now being denied admission and treatment for his acute appendicitis since he has neither insurance coverage nor the cash to pay for the treatment. Both Mr. Puffer and Mr. Spender contend that the hospital has violated their right to health care. Health Care as a â€Å"Moral Duty† versus a â€Å"Moral Right† The two patients’ claim... ...only solution to the dilemmas posed in this case is to completely re-design the health care system. It must have as its starting point a system of distributing health care benefits based on moral values, not marketplace values. A good beginning would be adherence to the moral principle that health care is (as both Mr. Puffer and Mr. Spender asserted) a basic right not a privilege based on income level or â€Å"good behavior.† If health care is indeed a right and not a privilege, an ethical system should provide for universal access to health care. Having established these basic guiding principles, the system designers would then have to grapple with the logistics of rationing existing health care resources (as necessarily limited by technology, funding, etc.) in a manner which takes into account principles of distributive justice and the underlying values of the society.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Gift of Life

The Gift of Life by Deborah Greenspan One of the greatest miracles of modern medicine is the ability to successfully transplant human organs, such as kidneys, corneas and hearts, into human beings who would die otherwise. At this very moment, 48,000 people are waiting hopefully for organ transplants (Tenery 20). Seven of these unfortunates will die each day because there are no organs to be had (Hans 84). For them the wait is over. Today, I'm going to tell you why you should become an organ donor and perhaps save the life of one or more of these people. People whose organs don't function properly live half lives hat affect not just themselves but everyone they love as well– their children, their spouses, their mothers, fathers, family and friends. An individual whose kidneys don't function can't develop and cultivate a career. A child whose heart is weak can't get out and run with her friends. A man with a bad liver may not be able to keep his job. Thus candidates for organ do nation feel guilty. They become invalids, unable to spend quality time with those they love, and fearful of the burden they are placing on their families. Let me make this real for you. Her name was Claire. She was the mother of two small children.When her kidneys stopped functioning, she felt that her life was over. Three times a week she spent half a day in dialysis and the rest of the day recovering from the procedure. She never had any energy and was always exhausted. Her illness added 20 years to her appearance and the constant battle with the side effects of the drugs took its toll. When she became a candidate for a kidney, she was happier than she'd ever been in her life. Unfortunately, she died before an organ became available. It's too late to save Claire, or to repair her children's lives, but there is something each of us an do to help others like her. We can carry a donor card. A donor card can be carried around in your wallet. It tells doctors that if you die your organ s can be used to benefit those like Claire who need them. According to Shanteau and Harris, editors of Organ Donation and Transplantation, one donor can provide more than 12 different organs and tissues, yet other studies have found that while most people have a positive attitude toward organ donation, few actually carry donor cards. For instance, a study by the Transportation Council of Southern California found that 77 % of the respondents had a ositive attitude toward organ donation, but 1% of those same people carried donor cards. According to Mary Ellen Anton, R. N. , â€Å"Misinformation, or the lack of information, can be one of the greatest barriers to organ donation. † A common myth regarding organ donation is that organs will be taken before death has occurred. People also fear excessive costs to their families, and some also believe their religion does not support organ donation. These myths actually have little substance. Death in the form of an absence of brain a ctivity has to be established before organs are taken. There s no cost to the family of the donor, and most religions do support organ donation. It's easy enough to check with your minister, priest, or rabbi. Organ donation is an incredible gift. It can save the life of the one who receives it, but strangely, it also helps the family of the one who died. According to Ellen Heck, director of transplant services at the University of Texas, â€Å"Families have told us that donation was the one thing that helped them through the loss. † Think about this carefully. It could be your child or your best friend who needs a kidney. If more people carried donor ards Claire might be alive today, and her daughter, who is only four, might be sitting on her lap right now laughing. In closing let me recap what I've told you. People whose organs don't function properly–and they could be anyone–need you to be an organ donor. Imagine a child opens her eyes and witnesses a brillian t sunrise for the first time. Her organ donor made that possible. By donating your organs you will give the gift of life and make your own death a meaningful one. Take the literature, read it, sign it, and carry a donor card. It's the right thing to do. Thank you.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Sports Essay

Kevin Walters Go Team! Sports have become a huge part of this country’s culture, and the sports fans make up a good portion of the population. Every other conversation you hear, whether it be at the water cooler or in a bar, has something to do with some big play or blown call that happened the night before. The popularity of sports has grown magnificently in just the last 24 years that I have been a sports fan. What used to be all the men yelling and cussing at the TV, has become almost as popular to women.Whether it is football, basketball, or baseball, these fans come in all different shapes and sizes. If you are a follower of a team, a bandwagon fan, a fair weather fan, or a die-hard fan, we are all part of a great family of sports fans that make for a good time and some awesome conversation. The followers, as I like to call them, are just your basic fan of a specific sports team. They are with that team and will stick by them through thick and thin, but they wouldnâ€℠¢t mind being able to not watch a game if it got in the way of previous plans.These fans may have a few shirts or maybe a hat or two of their favorite team but unless it’s game day, they don’t go out of their way to show that pride. A follower will usually not care to spend the money on tickets to actually go watch a game, but if they are given tickets or invited to go see a game with some friends, they will not hesitate to say yes. Being a follower is not a bad thing. It’s a safe position as far as being a fan of a certain team, because if your team wins you can cheer and brag to all your friends, but when they lose you don’t have that â€Å"heartbreak† that comes with the other types of fans.The bandwagon fan is one of the most hated categories of fans that you could possibly be. A bandwagon fan is the type of fan that likes to cheer for the team that is most likely to win. These fans are usually fairly knowledgeable in the sport they are cheerin g for and will usually do their homework on whichever team they are cheering for that week. Bandwagoners will do what they can to make sure they are able to watch every game, this way they can see who plays good and bad and decide who they want to cheer for.When it comes to clothes, a bandwagon fan’s closet will look like a rainbow of sorts of different sports teams. They have a jersey from 4 or 5 different teams that they like to switch between just to be ready in case one team is their favorite that week. Bandwagon fans enjoy going to watch a live game, and will cheer for whichever team is picked to win. Being a bandwagon is, like a follower, a very safe type of fan to be. Besides the fact that you will be hated by any true fans, you have the luxury of switching teams the next week if your team performs poorly.Fair weather fans are the types of fans that hurt a team the most of all. These fans absolutely love their team at the season’s start, but if the team begins t o struggle and shows no hope of doing well that year, these fans will disappear like ghosts. If the team is doing good and satisfying their expectations, a fair weather fan will do whatever they need to do to be able to watch the games on TV so they can be there to cheer them on. These fans make themselves very noticeable towards the middle of the season.Fair weather fans will dress up in all the team colors and wave the team flag as if they were the truest fans ever but as soon as the team starts losing, the clothes get hung in the back of closet and the flags get taken town and put up in storage until the start of the next season. They will be the first ones in line to buy tickets to the opening home game, but a fair weather fan will never be a season ticket holder. A fair weather fan is a safe fan to be, but it is also a sad fan. These fans are the reason that games get blacked out on TV because the team can’t sell tickets to the game.The last category of fans is the die-h ard fan. These fans are absolutely crazy about their team, win or lose. They will fight with you and argue with you until the end and tell you why their team is the best, no matter what the record might say. Die-hard fans will request days off work and make plans around their team if that’s what it takes to be able to watch the big game. This fan will wear at least one article of clothing of his favorite team at least 6 days out of the week, even if they get blown out the week prior.These kinds of fans will be your season ticket holders. They will make every game and be one of the first ones to the stadium. Die-hard fans are the best sports fans in my opinion. They are so passionate and so dedicated to their team, that it can easily be the most dangerous type of fan to be. If a die-hard fan’s favorite team loses, it can ruin his whole week, but as soon as they play again, he is right there cheering them on as if it was the Super Bowl or the World Series. Fans are what keep sports alive all around the world.If these sports or teams didn’t have these kinds of fans, they wouldn’t be able to exist. Sports have become a lifestyle in this country and the fans have become a strong community. I couldn’t imagine what America or the world would be like without sports. Being the die-hard fan that I am of my favorite sports team, I just don’t know how I would function with my Florida Gators. So whether you are a follower, fair weather, bandwagon, or die-hard fan, keep cheering and keep passing down the tradition of being a sports fan in America.