School UniformsPro Essays - Uniforms, Childrens Clothing

School Uniforms:Pro SCHOOL UNIFORMS In recent years the face of public schools has changed drastically. Our schools were always intended to be a place where the students could go and learn in a safe and secure environment. Unfortunately for us, the times have changed; discipline, safety and security in our public schools have all fallen by the wayside. Today, our children are faced with the growing threat of violence and crime in their classrooms. In aspirations of bringing back the essential requirements for education in the classroom numerous parents, teachers, and school officials have come to conclusion that requiring school uniforms is a clear-cut step in reversing the downward trend of our schools. The majority feel that school uniforms will help expedite the effort to guide our schools back in the right direction. The implementation of school uniforms has the potential to help bring under control the disciplinary problems found in our schools, and it can do so in many ways. It could end the needless violence that occurs from the strong-arm robberies and thefts at our schools. These senseless acts largely occur due to the designer clothing, expensive jewelry, and high cost brand name footwear that are being worn to class. Uniforms can furthermore help deter the display of gang activity in the school. The simple logic behind this is, gangs would not be permitted to wear their gang colors during school because of the uniform regulations. School uniforms could also help deter the trend of cutting class or skipping school. Because if students were outfitted in mandatory school uniforms, they could be easily recognized outside the school grounds during the normal school day. Thereby eliminating the temptation to leave school grounds unless authorized to do so. The increasingly difficult task of school safety could be, without a doubt, greatly enhanced by the use of school uniforms. The increase in school security could be seen instantaneously since the school administration and teachers would be able to identify, by sight, who is and who is not supposed to be permitted on campus. Subsequently by implementing the mandatory wearing of school uniforms, the chances of having intruders wander into school would be significantly diminished. We also have to look at the possible ways school uniforms could improve the students learning environment and also allow students to concentrate on their need for academic success while in school. The requirement of school uniforms contribute to eliminating the apparent student fashion barriers that are present when some students cant meet the expense of keeping up with the Joneses. This could come about because uniforms contribute in eliminating the socioeconomic line found throughout the student population. By doing so, the students would be more fairly judged by their peers and teachers alike on their scholastic abilities and personalities instead of by the designer clothes they wear. They can also help bring an end to the conflict between parent and child as to what is appropriate to wear to school. The opponents of school uniforms will state that school uniforms will restrict an individuals choice of self-expression. They will furthermore imply that school uniforms dont take into account the religious, cultural, or physical differences of the individual. The issues brought up in the oppositions viewpoint may merit some consideration when debating what we need to do concerning the implementation of school uniforms. However, we must ensure their concerns are well founded. Its our duty to look at all the benefits that will be gained from school uniforms and weigh the good they can do so that we can make the choice that will most benefit our students and teachers. We have now been better informed about some of the good points and concerns on the issue of school uniforms. The information has been presented on how school uniforms can help restore the discipline, safety and security thats lacking today in our public schools. The information given has informed you as to how the implementation of school uniforms would help turn our schools back into the places where students go an learn in a safe and secure environment. Now that the facts have been presented it is up to us as decision makers and leaders in the community to do the

The Great Gatsby & Hollow Men essays

The Great Gatsby & Hollow Men essays The Great Gatsby has been one of the classic novels of the twentieth century. It creates a unique society that makes the story such a masterpiece. Another magnificent work that relates to The Great Gatsby is T.S. Eliots The Hollow Man. The lines in the poem portray the story so vividly that it should have been an epigraph for the novel. The poems references to hollow and stuffed men, can describe different characters in The Great Gatsby. The hollowness of men represents ruthless barbarians with no respect for humans and no understanding of love. However, the stuffed men seem to be educated, wealthy, and respectful. The differences in these types of men can be seen through the events of the novel. Another aspect of the poem that represents the novel is the idea of the paralyzed force. This force symbolizes freedom and uniqueness. It also is captivating and serves as authority. So, the similarities between The Great Gatsby and The Hollow Men remarkably show the hollow and stuffed chara cteristic of the people in Gatsbys secret society. The first similarity between the two pieces of work is the hollowness in mankind referred to by the poem. In the novel there are two main characters that depict such hollowness. The antagonistic character of Tom Buchanan represents the ruthless and careless American whose dream is to use women and acquire money. In addition he has no respect towards others, which creates pain for people around him. An example of this is when Myrtle repeatedly uttered his wifes name, which was Daisy. Tom took this as an insult and viciously punched her in the nose. He never took into consideration that hitting a woman is uncivilized. Another quality he has is to flaunt his wealth in other peoples faces. This can be seen when he takes Nick around his colossal house. Tom wants others to feel jealous of his riches, when he is actually jealous of the others around him. Th...

Psychological and Psychoanalytical Aspects of Individual and Group Essay

Psychological and Psychoanalytical Aspects of Individual and Group Behaviour - Essay Example My diary work will follow a conglomeration of the attributes namely that of apprehension, leadership, psychological agreement, psychological development as well as transference. The sole motive behind selecting these issues is due to my belief that these issues will be affecting me enormously in both the sporting environment as well as an employment environment I obtained realization of the fact that interaction with the people is of great importance in life whether it be the people whom I have known well as well as those with whom I had very little interactions. In this respect the ushering of the group behavior provides us the scope for the development of individual behavior and problems of the society to the greatest possible extents. These problems are solved to the greater possible extent with the help of effective solutions which are applied most efficiently by the society under consideration in accordance with the opinions of people of the society. For expanding the horizon of my knowledge on these topics I concentrated on to the specific Freudian techniques for a transparent understanding. The knowledge associated with the psychological agreement has immensely benefitted me and I have become much more conscious about the fact that as psychological indenture is unwritten it can put stress on the workers and turmoil their presentation. This bears significant importance for me in the study of such an agreement as I am currently studying it and it may need longer study hours as what I consider my agreement to be possibly will not be reciprocally decided within the psychological agreement and hence it permits me to support myself for some displeasures if ever created upon such a situation. An instance of the psychological agreement within my profession as an assistance of a makeup artist is that my work manager might anticipate a certain customary of performance as she disburses for me and others as well to work. Now if I fail to convene the demanding volume of physical task it might lead to greater level of stress for me as well as in return permit the manager to conclude my working environment. I will be truthful and reveal the fact that my view of devolution was to disregard such a notion as I realised that I have provided people an opportunity before I made my mind clear up regarding their kind of character. Along with this, the notion completely disregards this view. This was merely a week previous to the first coursework where I have decided to assess my personal preference map as well my perception about the distinction of the authoritative shapes throughout my years. I can clearly state that change is a prime parameter within the domain of psychoanalysis as well as psychological field. This gets reflected in my opinion as an instance where I recognize the manager of the makeup company as my guide with the help of the use of change. I depict the coach as my guide because of the fact that the resemblances between them are eerie o r because of the fact that I am guided to think. My manager might be argued to be considerate, kind as well as understanding. Analysis of my manager resulted in inferring an ideal conclusion that these are several forms of changes where I have distinguished my manager just like my guide under the purview of change. The whole thought of

Global Enterprise and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Global Enterprise and Innovation - Essay Example Sony Corporation restructured and realigned their U.S. business portfolio. The company also recorded gains related to the corporate restructuring improvements in operating results of their Devices and Financial services segments. Sony took measures to accelerate decision making and execution with management and across all departments, allowing Sony to be better equipped for the challenges of the industry. I think Sony has achieved a satisfactory outcome through their corporate restructuring efforts so far and creating new growth opportunities through acquisitions. In terms of future growth Sony will need to focus on their core electronics business (mobile, gaming, imaging) continued innovation, process improvement and providing cutting edge products that their customers need and want. Their operational focus will continue a key component in achieving continued profitability and financial growth for the company and their stakeholders. In general Sony can utilize the same operational philosophy can be used to improve operational results in all markets where it competes. It is imperative that the company achieve long-term results with their operational improvements and new business initiatives. Sony aims to achieve stable, repeatable, long-term improvements in their operations in order to determine the viability of any new business initiative, acquisition or process improvements. It is the goal of the company to achieve stable, repeatable and transferable operating results in order to achieve good operating results when entering new markets or operating

Theoretical Skirmish Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theoretical Skirmish - Essay Example 115), while Condit did not clearly define the term, but stated that hegemony resisted â€Å"the exclusive and narrow focus on the economic base that pervaded earlier Marxist theories† (Condit, 1994, p. 206). Condit stated that the earlier Marxist theories held that in capitalism, dominant classes imposed their capitalism ideology on the working class, and that, since capitalism flourished around the globe, while Marxism failed, the ideology had to have been spread by â€Å"coercive military force of the State proper and the leadership exerted in the civil society on behalf of the world view of the group in power† (Condit, 1994, p. 206). In other words, according to this theory, capitalism is maintained in these societies by coercion and by leadership. The leaders must have allies with whom they have active assent, while also maintaining passive assent from the governed. In this way, there is a distinction between power and leading – power is something that a person obtains, while leading is the quality the person exerts. It is this latter quality that stabilizes a society. Leading takes into account that there are a spectrum of interests in the populace, and that the leadi ng groups interest is not the only one. If a society does not take this into account, but, rather, that the leader merely dictates his own worldview on the populace, this is dominating, as opposed to leading, and this results in â€Å"dictatorship without hegemony† (Condit, 1994, p. 207). Thus, hegemony is defined as a way to stabilize society by generating some kind of consent by the populace to the ideological bent of the leader. Condit and Cloud take slightly different tacts in illustrating the concept of hegemony, however. Condit states that hegemony in the United States is accomplished by concordance. In pre-industrial societies, hegemony was accomplished in a different way. Because these societies were more

Literature Review On Social Networking Media Essay

Literature Review On Social Networking Media Essay The way people live these days is definitely different than the previous, people now tend to share their daily life events, news and even feelings and emotions with others. Social networks site (SNSs) has provided the facility of enabling them to do so. The Social Data Revolution (SDR) is the shift in human communication patterns towards increased personal information sharing and its related implications, made possible by the rise of social networks in early 2000s. While social networks were used in the early days to privately share photos and private messages, the subsequent trend towards people passively and actively sharing personal information more broadly has resulted in unprecedented amounts of public data. Janet Fouts in her book defines the social media as people engaged in conversation around a topic online. (Fouts, 2009). Her definition is a generalization to the whole topic, so there is another definition by (Boyed and Ellison, 2007) that is Social network sites are defined as wed-based services that allow individuals to three main points the first is to construct a public or semi-public profile within a system, the second is to formulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and the third is to view and cutoff their list of connections and those made by others within the system. This definition describes in specific the way people connect through the social network sites, and the nature and classification of these connections may vary from site to site. While we use the term social network site to describe this phenomenon, the term social networking sites also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ the term networking for two reasons: emphasis and scope. Networking emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). The term social network site is interchangeably used with the term social networking site, but they are not the same. The term networking somehow refers to the Or just remove the whole paragraph!! What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between latent ties (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily networking or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them social network sites. While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display a clear list of Friends who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can type oneself into being (Sundà ©n, 2003, p. 3). After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an about me section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profiles look and feel. Others, such as Facebook and twitter, allow users to add modules (Applications) that enhance their profile. The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer may see based on whether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or Friends only. Facebook takes a different approach-by default, users who are part of the same network can view each others profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other. After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site-popular terms include Friends, Contacts, and Fans. Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as Fans or Followers, but many sites call these Friends as well. The term Friends can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (boyd, 2006a). The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friends profile, enabling viewers to navigate the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions. For instance, some MySpace users have hacked their profiles to hide the Friends display, and LinkedIn allows users to opt out of displaying their network. Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends profiles. This feature typically involves leaving comments, although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available. Not all social network sites began as such. QQ started as a Chinese instant messaging service, LunarStorm as a community site, Cyworld as a Korean discussion forum tool, and Skyrock (formerly Skyblog) was a French blogging service before adding SNS features. Classmates.com, a directory of school affiliates launched in 1995, began supporting articulated lists of Friends after SNSs became popular. AsianAvenue, MiGente, and BlackPlanet were early popular ethnic community sites with limited Friends functionality before re-launching in 2005-2006 with SNS features and structure. Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobile-specific SNSs (e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited mobile interactions (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and Cyworld). Many SNSs target people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the sites community. Orkut, for example, was launched in the United States with an English-only interface, but Portuguese-speaking Brazilians quickly became the dominant user group (Kopytoff, 2004). Some sites are designed with specific ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, political, or other identity-driven categories in mind. There are even SNSs for dogs (Dogster) and cats (Catster), although their owners must manage their profiles. While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to separate themselves out by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society (Hargittai, 2008), even if that was not the intention of the designers. A History of Social Network Sites The Early Years The first recognizable social network site launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to connect with their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also joined, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. The first to combine these features was SixDegrees. SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to continue, the service closed in 2000. Looking back, its founder believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication, July 11, 2007). While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting strangers. From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente allowed users to create personal, professional, and dating profiles, users could identify Friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections (O. Wasow, personal communication, August 16, 2007). Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed one-directional connections on user pages. People mark others as Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001, independent of these other sites (see Kim Yun, this issue)*come back to this ref. Likewise, when the Swedish web community LunarStorm refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists, guestbooks, and diary pages (D. Skog, personal communication, September 24, 2007). Ryze.com was the beginning of the next wave of SNSs, it was launched in 2001 to help people control their business networks. Ryzes founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friends, primarily members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June 14, 2007)*revise this ref. In particular, the people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly interrelated personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and Friendster became the most significant, if only as one of the biggest disappointments in Internet history (Chafkin, 2007, p. 1). Figure 1. Distribution of work task interruption Figure 1. Timeline of the launch dates of many major SNSs and dates when community sites re-launched with SNS features That was a brief history of the general SNSs. The following section discusses Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook those are the three key SNSs that has shaped the business, cultural, and research background. The Rise (and Fall) of Friendster Friendster launched in 2002 as a social complement to Ryze. It was designed to compete with Match.com, a profitable online dating site (Cohen, 2003). While most dating sites focused on introducing people to strangers with similar interests, Friendster was designed to help friends-of-friends meet, based on the assumption that friends-of-friends would make better romantic partners than would strangers. Friendster gained trust among three groups of early adopters who shaped the site-bloggers, attendees of the Burning Man arts festival (Who are these?), and gay men (boyd, 2004)-and grew to 300,000 users through word of mouth before traditional press coverage began in May 2003 (OShea, 2003). *find this ref and try to make changes to the prev. paragraph As Friendsters popularity raised, the site encountered technical and social difficulties (boyd, 2006b). Friendsters databases and servers were not well equipped to handle its fast growth, and the site faded out regularly, that caused frustrating users who replaced email with Friendster. ** rephrase this paragraph à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Because organic growth had been critical to creating a coherent community, the onslaught of new users who learned about the site from media coverage upset the cultural balance. Furthermore, exponential growth meant a collapse in social contexts: Users had to face their bosses and former classmates alongside their close friends. To complicate matters, Friendster began restricting the activities of its most passionate users. The initial design of Friendster restricted users from viewing profiles of people who were more than four degrees away (friends-of-friends-of-friends-of-friends). In order to view additional profiles, users began adding acquaintances and interesting-looking strangers to expand their reach. Some began massively collecting Friends, an activity that was implicitly encouraged through a most popular feature. The ultimate collectors were fake profiles representing iconic fictional characters: celebrities, concepts, and other such entities. These Fakesters outraged the company, who banished fake profiles and eliminated the most popular feature (boyd, in press-b). While few people actually created Fakesters, many more enjoyed surfing Fakesters for entertainment or using functional Fakesters (e.g., Brown University) to find people they knew. The active deletion of Fakesters (and genuine users who chose non-realistic photos) signaled to some that the company did not share users interests. Many early adopters left because of the combination of technical difficulties, social collisions, and a rupture of trust between users and the site (boyd, 2006b). However, at the same time that it was fading in the U.S., its popularity skyrocketed in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia (Goldberg, 2007). SNSs Hit the Mainstream From 2003 onward, many new SNSs were launched, prompting social software analyst Clay Shirky (2003) to coin the term YASNS: Yet Another Social Networking Service. Most took the form of profile-centric sites, trying to replicate the early success of Friendster or target specific demographics. While socially-organized SNSs solicit broad audiences, professional sites such as LinkedIn, Visible Path, and Xing (formerly openBC) focus on business people. Passion-centric SNSs like Dogster (T. Rheingold, personal communication, August 2, 2007) help strangers connect based on shared interests. Care2 helps activists meet, Couchsurfing connects travelers to people with couches, and MyChurch joins Christian churches and their members. Furthermore, as the social media and user-generated content phenomena grew, websites focused on media sharing began implementing SNS features and becoming SNSs themselves. Examples include Flickr (photo sharing), Last.FM (music listening habits), and YouTube (video sharing). With the plethora of venture-backed startups launching in Silicon Valley, few people paid attention to SNSs that gained popularity elsewhere, even those built by major corporations. For example, Googles Orkut failed to build a sustainable U.S. user base, but a Brazilian invasion (Fragoso, 2006) made Orkut the national SNS of Brazil. Microsofts Windows Live Spaces (a.k.a. MSN Spaces) also launched to lukewarm U.S. reception but became extremely popular elsewhere. Few analysts or journalists noticed when MySpace launched in Santa Monica, California, hundreds of miles from Silicon Valley. MySpace was begun in 2003 to compete with sites like Friendster, Xanga, and AsianAvenue, according to co-founder Tom Anderson (personal communication, August 2, 2007); the founders wanted to attract estranged Friendster users (T. Anderson, personal communication, February 2, 2006). After rumors emerged that Friendster would adopt a fee-based system, users posted Friendster messages encouraging people to join alternate SNSs, including Tribe.net and MySpace (T. Anderson, personal communication, August 2, 2007). Because of this, MySpace was able to grow rapidly by capitalizing on Friendsters alienation of its early adopters. One particularly notable group that encouraged others to switch were indie-rock bands who were expelled from Friendster for failing to comply with profile regulations. While MySpace was not launched with bands in mind, they were welcomed. Indie-rock bands from the Los Angeles region began creating profiles, and local promoters used MySpace to advertise VIP passes for popular clubs. Intrigued, MySpace contacted local musicians to see how they could support them (T. Anderson, personal communication, September 28, 2006). Bands were not the sole source of MySpace growth, but the symbiotic relationship between bands and fans helped MySpace expand beyond former Friendster users. The bands-and-fans dynamic was mutually beneficial: Bands wanted to be able to contact fans, while fans desired attention from their favorite bands and used Friend connections to signal identity and affiliation. Futhermore, MySpace differentiated itself by regularly adding features based on user demand (boyd, 2006b) and by allowing users to personalize their pages. This feature emerged because MySpace did not restrict users from adding HTML into the forms that framed their profiles; a copy/paste code culture emerged on the web to support users in generating unique MySpace backgrounds and layouts (Perkel, in press). Teenagers began joining MySpace en masse in 2004. Unlike older users, most teens were never on Friendster-some joined because they wanted to connect with their favorite bands; others were introduced to the site through older family members. As teens began signing up, they encouraged their friends to join. Rather than rejecting underage users, MySpace changed its user policy to allow minors. As the site grew, three distinct populations began to form: musicians/artists, teenagers, and the post-college urban social crowd. By and large, the latter two groups did not interact with one another except through bands. Because of the lack of mainstream press coverage during 2004, few others noticed the sites growing popularity. Then, in July 2005, News Corporation purchased MySpace for $580 million (BBC, 2005), attracting massive media attention. Afterwards, safety issues plagued MySpace. The site was implicated in a series of sexual interactions between adults and minors, prompting legal action (Consumer Affairs, 2006). A moral panic concerning sexual predators quickly spread (Bahney, 2006), although research suggests that the concerns were exaggerated. A Global Phenomenon While MySpace attracted the majority of media attention in the U.S. and abroad, SNSs were proliferating and growing in popularity worldwide. Friendster gained traction in the Pacific Islands, Orkut became the premier SNS in Brazil before growing rapidly in India (Madhavan, 2007), Mixi attained widespread adoption in Japan, LunarStorm took off in Sweden, Dutch users embraced Hyves, Grono captured Poland, Hi5 was adopted in smaller countries in Latin America, South America, and Europe, and Bebo became very popular in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Additionally, previously popular communication and community services began implementing SNS features. The Chinese QQ instant messaging service instantly became the largest SNS worldwide when it added profiles and made friends visible (McLeod, 2006), while the forum tool Cyworld cornered the Korean market by introducing homepages and buddies (Ewers, 2006). Blogging services with complete SNS features also became popular. In the U.S., blogging tools with SNS features, such as Xanga, LiveJournal, and Vox, attracted broad audiences. Skyrock reigns in France, and Windows Live Spaces dominates numerous markets worldwide, including in Mexico, Italy, and Spain. Although SNSs like QQ, Orkut, and Live Spaces are just as large as, if not larger than, MySpace, they receive little coverage in U.S. and English-speaking media, making it difficult to track their trajectories. Expanding Niche Communities Alongside these open services, other SNSs launched to support niche demographics before expanding to a broader audience. Unlike previous SNSs, Facebook was designed to support distinct college networks only. Facebook began in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS (Cassidy, 2006). To join, a user had to have a harvard.edu email address. As Facebook began supporting other schools, those users were also required to have university email addresses associated with those institutions, a requirement that kept the site relatively closed and contributed to users perceptions of the site as an intimate, private community. Beginning in September 2005, Facebook expanded to include high school students, professionals inside corporate networks, and, eventually, everyone. The change to open signup did not mean that new users could easily access users in closed networks-gaining access to corporate networks still required the appropriate .com address, while gaining access to high school networks required administrator approval. (As of this writing, only membership in regional networks requires no permission.) Unlike other SNSs, Facebook users are unable to make their full profiles public to all users. Another feature that differentiates Facebook is the ability for outside developers to build Applications which allow users to personalize their profiles and perform other tasks, such as compare movie preferences and chart travel histories. While most SNSs focus on growing broadly and exponentially, others explicitly seek narrower audiences. Some, like aSmallWorld and BeautifulPeople, intentionally restrict access to appear selective and elite. Others-activity-centered sites like Couchsurfing, identity-driven sites like BlackPlanet, and affiliation-focused sites like MyChurch-are limited by their target demographic and thus tend to be smaller. Finally, anyone who wishes to create a niche social network site can do so on Ning, a platform and hosting service that encourages users to create their own SNSs. Currently, there are no reliable data regarding how many people use SNSs, although marketing research indicates that SNSs are growing in popularity worldwide (comScore, 2007). This growth has prompted many corporations to invest time and money in creating, purchasing, promoting, and advertising SNSs. At the same time, other companies are blocking their employees from accessing the sites. Additionally, the U.S. military banned soldiers from accessing MySpace (Frosch, 2007) and the Canadian government prohibited employees from Facebook (Benzie, 2007), while the U.S. Congress has proposed legislation to ban youth from accessing SNSs in schools and libraries (H.R. 5319, 2006; S. 49, 2007). The rise of SNSs indicates a shift in the organization of online communities. While websites dedicated to communities of interest still exist and prosper, SNSs are primarily organized around people, not interests. Early public online communities such as Usenet and public discussion forums were structured by topics or according to topical hierarchies, but social network sites are structured as personal (or egocentric) networks, with the individual at the center of their own community. This more accurately mirrors unmediated social structures, where the world is composed of networks, not groups (Wellman, 1988, p. 37). The introduction of SNS features has introduced a new organizational framework for online communities, and with it, a vibrant new research context. Previous Scholarship Scholarship concerning SNSs is emerging from diverse disciplinary and methodological traditions, addresses a range of topics, and builds on a large body of CMC research. The goal of this section is to survey research that is directly concerned with social network sites, and in so doing, to set the stage for the articles in this special issue. To date, the bulk of SNS research has focused on impression management and friendship performance, networks and network structure, online/offline connections, and privacy issues. Impression Management and Friendship Performance Like other online contexts in which individuals are consciously able to construct an online representation of self-such as online dating profiles and MUDS-SNSs constitute an important research context for scholars investigating processes of impression management, self-presentation, and friendship performance. In one of the earliest academic articles on SNSs, boyd (2004) examined Friendster as a locus of publicly articulated social networks that allowed users to negotiate presentations of self and connect with others. Donath and boyd (2004) extended this to suggest that public displays of connection serve as important identity signals that help people navigate the networked social world, in that an extended network may serve to validate identity information presented in profiles. While most sites encourage users to construct accurate representations of themselves, participants do this to varying degrees. Marwick (2005) found that users on three different SNSs had complex strategies for negotiating the rigidity of a prescribed authentic profile, while boyd (in press-b) examined the phenomenon of Fakesters and argued that profiles could never be real. The extent to which portraits are authentic or playful varies across sites; both social and technological forces shape user practices. Skog (2005) found that the status feature on LunarStorm strongly influenced how people behaved and what they choose to reveal-profiles there indicate ones status as measured by activity (e.g., sending messages) and indicators of authenticity (e.g., using a real photo instead of a drawing). Another aspect of self-presentation is the articulation of friendship links, which serve as identity markers for the profile owner. Impression management is one of the reasons given by Friendster users for choosing particular friends (Donath boyd, 2004). Recognizing this, Zinman and Donath (2007) noted that MySpace spammers leverage peoples willingness to connect to interesting people to find targets for their spam. In their examination of LiveJournal friendship, Fono and Raynes-Goldie (2006) described users understandings regarding public displays of connections and how the Friending function can operate as a catalyst for social drama. In listing user motivations for Friending, boyd (2006a) points out that Friends on SNSs are not the same as friends in the everyday sense; instead, Friends provide context by offering users an imagined audience to guide behavioral norms. Other work in this area has examined the use of Friendster Testimonials as self-presentational devices (boyd Heer, 2006) and the extent to which the attractiveness of ones Friends (as indicated by Facebooks Wall feature) impacts impression formation (Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman, in press). Networks and Network Structure Social network sites also provide rich sources of naturalistic behavioral data. Profile and linkage data from SNSs can be gathered either through the use of automated collection techniques or through datasets provided directly from the company, enabling network analysis researchers to explore large-scale patterns of friending, usage, and other visible indicators (Hogan, in press), and continuing an analysis trend that started with examinations of blogs and other websites. For instance, Golder, Wilkinson, and Huberman (2007) examined an anonymized dataset consisting of 362 million messages exchanged by over four million Facebook users for insight into Friending and messaging activities. Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2007) explored the relationship between profile elements and number of Facebook friends, finding that profile fields that reduce transaction costs and are harder to falsify are most likely to be associated with larger number of friendship links. These kinds of data also lend themselves well to analysis through network visualization (Adamic, Bà ¼yà ¼kkà ¶kten, Adar, 2003; Heer boyd, 2005; Paolillo Wright, 2005). SNS researchers have also studied the network structure of Friendship. Analyzing the roles people played in the growth of Flickr and Yahoo! 360s networks, Kumar, Novak, and Tomkins (2006) argued that there are passive members, inviters, and linkers who fully participate in the social evolution of the network (p. 1). Scholarship concerning LiveJournals network has included a Friendship classification scheme (Hsu, Lancaster, Paradesi, Weniger, 2007), an analysis of the role of language in the topology of Friendship (Herring et al., 2007), research into the importance of geography in Friending (Liben-Nowell, Novak, Kumar, Raghavan, Tomkins, 2005), and studies on what motivates people to join particular communities (Backstrom, Huttenlocher, Kleinberg, Lan, 2006). Based on Orkut data, Spertus, Sahami, and Bà ¼yà ¼kkà ¶kten (2005) identified a topology of users through their membership in certain communities; they suggest that sites can use this to recommend additional communities of interest to users. Finally, Liu, Maes, and Davenport (2006) argued that Friend connections are not the only network structure worth investigating. They examined the ways in which the performance of tastes (favorite music, books, film, etc.) constitutes an alternate network structure, which they call a taste fabric. Bridging Online and Offline Social Networks Although exceptions exist, the available research suggests that most SNSs primarily support pre-existing social relations. Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) suggest that Facebook is used to maintain existing offline relationships or solidify offline connections, as opposed to meeting new people. These relationships may be weak ties, but typically there is some common offline element among individuals who friend one another, such as a shared class at school. This is one of the chief dimensions that differentiate SNSs from earlier forms of public CMC such as newsgroups (Ellison et al., 2007). Research in this vein has investigated how online interactions interface with offline ones. For instance, Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2006) found that Facebook users engage in searching for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they browse for complete strangers to meet. Likewise, Pew research found that 91% of U.S. teens who use SNSs do so to connect with friends (Len hart Madden, 2007). Given that SNSs enable individuals to connect with one another, it is not surprising that they have become deeply embedded in users lives. In Korea, Cyworld has become an integral part of everyday life-Choi (2006) found that 85% of that studys respondents listed the maintenance and reinforcement of pre-existing social networks as their main motive for Cyworld use (p. 181). Likewise, boyd (2008) argues that MySpace and Facebook enable U.S. youth to socialize with their friends even when they are unable to gather in unmediated situations; she argues that SNSs are networked publics that support sociability, just as unmediated public spaces do. Privacy Popular press coverage of SNSs has emphasized potential privacy concerns, primarily concerning the safety of younger users (George, 2006; Kornblum Marklein, 2006). Researchers have investigated th

The Great Depression in America Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression was a time of total despair. Years of economic downturn not only affected the United States but may European countries as well. Americans endured lost of fortunes, homes, jobs and personal tragedies. Very few alive today remember what it was like, and to the rest of us, it is just a piece of history that we can only imagine. The Great Depression reeked havoc on the stock market, banking, industries, and agriculture that led to massive unemployment, breadlines and fear that lasted over a decade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the stock market collapse, the New York banks became frightened and called in their loans to Germany and Austria. However, without the American money, Germans had to stop paying reparations to France and Britain. This was a chain reaction and they could not repay their war loans to America, therefore, the depression had spread to Europe. The U.S. Government tried to protect domestic industries form foreign competition by imposing the Hanley-Smoot Tariff of 1930. In retaliation governments worldwide sought economic recovery by adopting restrictive autarkic policies and by experimenting with new plans for their internal economics. As a result, global industrial production declined by thirty-six percent between 1929 and 1932. Worldwide trade dropped by an all time high of sixty-two percent. (Annals) The question of the day was, How did this happen?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mass speculation went on throughout the late 1920’s. In 1939 alone, record volumes of one-billion-one hundred twenty-four million-eight hundred thousand-four hundred and ten (1,124,800,410) shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. (Drewry) From early 1928 to September 1929 the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from one hundred ninety one to three hundred eighty one. This sort of profit was irresistible to investors. Company earnings became of little interest; as long as stock prices continued to rise large profits could be made. Through the practice of buying stocks on margin , one could buy stocks without the money to purchase them. Investors went wild for this idea drove the market to unheard of high levels. By mid 1929 the total outstanding brokers’ loan was over seven billion dollars and eight and a half billion dollars over the next three months. Interest rates for broker loans were going for... ...d be a little more on the cautious side and take a good look at our own economy. We should take into account that it could happen again. The Great Depression was not the only depression or the longest, that title being held by the Long Depression of the late nineteenth century, nor was it the sharpest in contraction. The one after the first World War being a deeper drop, it represented the greatest fall from the general trend-line of growth. Are the signs there that we are headed for another downturn? Are we all a little to at ease with our economy? Maybe we should take a closer look. Bibliography Works Cited Boardman, F.W. The Thirties: America and the Great Depression. N.Y. Henry Z. Walcki Inc. 1967. Drewry, Robert and A.J. O’Connor. The Indigenous Role in Business Enterprise. New Guinea: New Guinea Reasearch Unit 1970 Schraff, Anne E. The Great Depression and The New Deal. NY Franklin Watts 1990 The Annals of America Vol.15. 1929-1939 The Great Depression. William Benton & Encyclopedia Britannica 1968 The Writers and Photographers of the Associated Press - 20th Century America – The Great Depression 1929-1939. Grolier Educational Corp. 1995.

Life with Brother Phil

One never realizes how easy life is when you are a child. Of course your â€Å"job† is to go to school and it seems as if life is hard; the responsibility of getting up and going to school, getting good grades, getting along with friends, parents, and siblings. However, as you get older, you realize how safe and protected you were.Summers actually meant free time and for me it meant true fun and games with my brother Phillip. Philip was the type of boy even the adults trusted. When something happened and adults needed to get to the â€Å"bottom† of the story, they turned to Philip knowing he’d tell them the truth despite any consequences.During this particular summer, Philip had invented a game similar to tag but which had us running through each other yards instead. The object of the game was to tag each other and then send them to the â€Å"nuthouse† set up in our yard. Ahhh, the memories of that summer and of the crazy games Philip dreamed up will give me pleasant dreams for life. Now, years later as we have grown up, some of that innocence has become lost. As I search Phillip’s eyes today, I no longer see the little boy of yesteryear with his eyes all aglow.Today Phillip is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a photographer. One would think that this creative little boy could use that imagination and creativity through the lens of the camera, but that is not the case where he lives. His pictures tell the story of the landscape; a landscape awash with dirt, broken coral and a quiet, discontent shoreline. And a story of a big brother who grew up from a bright starry eyed child into an adult who sees the real world as ugly as it truly is behind the eyes of a camera.

Chicana Feminist Writer Gloria Anzaldua

Chicana Feminist Writer Gloria Anzaldua Feminist Gloria Anzaldua was a guiding force in the  Chicano and Chicana movement  and  lesbian/queer theory.  She was a poet, activist, theorist, and teacher who lived from September 26, 1942, to May 15, 2004. Her writings blend styles, cultures, and languages, weaving together poetry, prose, theory, autobiography, and experimental narratives. Life in the Borderlands Gloria Anzaldua was born in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas in 1942. She described herself as a Chicana/Tejana/lesbian/dyke/feminist/writer/poet/cultural theorist, and these identities were just the beginning of the ideas she explored in her work. Gloria Anzaldua was the daughter of a Spanish American and an American Indian. Her parents were farm workers; during her youth, she lived on a ranch, worked in the fields and became intimately aware of the Southwest and South Texas landscapes. She also discovered that Spanish speakers existed on the margins in the United States. She began to experiment with writing and gain awareness of social justice issues. Gloria Anzaldua’s book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, published in 1987, is the story of existence in several cultures near the Mexico/Texas border. It is also the story of Mexican-Indian history, mythology, and cultural philosophy. The book examines physical and emotional borders, and its ideas range from Aztec religion to the role of women in Hispanic culture to how lesbians find a sense of belonging in a straight world. The hallmark of Gloria Anzaldua’s work is the interweaving of poetry with prose narrative. The essays interspersed with poetry in Borderlands/La Frontera reflect her years of feminist thought and her non-linear, experimental manner of expression. Feminist Chicana Consciousness Gloria Anzaldua received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas-Pan American in 1969 and a master’s in English and Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972. Later in the 1970s, she taught a course at UT-Austin called â€Å"La Mujer Chicana.† She said that teaching the class was a turning point for her, connecting her to the queer community, writing and feminism. Gloria Anzaldua moved to California in 1977, where she devoted herself to writing. She continued to participate in political activism, consciousness-raising, and groups such as the Feminist Writers Guild. She also looked for ways to build a multicultural, inclusive feminist movement. Much to her dissatisfaction, she discovered there were very few writings either by or about women of color.   Some readers have struggled with the multiple languages in her writings – English and Spanish, but also variations of those languages. According to Gloria Anzaldua, when the reader does the work of piecing together fragments of language and narrative, it mirrors the way feminists must struggle to have their ideas heard in a patriarchal society. The Prolific 1980s Gloria Anzaldua continued to write, teach, and travel to workshops and speaking engagements throughout the 1980s. She edited two anthologies that collected the voices of feminists of many races and cultures. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color was published in 1983 and won the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award. Making Face Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color was published in 1990. It included writings by famous feminists such as Audre Lorde and Joy Harjo, again in fragmented sections with titles such as â€Å"Still Trembles our Rage in the Face of Racism† and â€Å"(De)Colonized Selves. Other Life Work Gloria Anzaldua was an avid observer of art and spirituality and brought these influences to her writings as well. She taught throughout her life and worked on a doctoral dissertation, which she was unable to finish due to health complications and professional demands. UC Santa Cruz later awarded her a posthumous Ph.D. in literature. Gloria Anzaldua won many awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Award and the Lambda Lesbian Small Press Book Award. She died in 2004 from complications related to diabetes. Edited by Jone Johnson Lewis

Changes and Continuities in Commerce in the Indian Ocean Region from 650 to 1750 C.E. Essay Example

Changes and Continuities in Commerce in the Indian Ocean Region from 650 to 1750 C.E. Essay Example Changes and Continuities in Commerce in the Indian Ocean Region from 650 to 1750 C.E. Paper Changes and Continuities in Commerce in the Indian Ocean Region from 650 to 1750 C.E. Paper Changes and continuities in commerce in the Indian ocean region from 650 to 1750 C. E. In the period between 650 C. E. and 1750 C. E. , the Indian Ocean region endured both change and continuity. One continuity is simply trade, for this 1,100 years the Indian ocean was an important trading zone. One change in Indian ocean trade over those years was which country dominated trade their. Over those years the Indian ocean was controlled by the Indians, the Arabs, the Chinese, and last but not least the Europeans. Their was continuity and change in trade in the Indian ocean over the aforementioned years. In the Indian ocean from 650 C. E. and 1750 C. E. there have been many continuities in commerce. One such continuity was the goods traded. For instance, spices from India and Indonesia such as black pepper were traded constantly to other countries throughout this period. Luxury products such as ebony, silk and fine textiles were also commonly traded in the Indian ocean. / Another example of continuity would be that although no one country always dominated trade in the Indian ocean the Indians and Indonesians were involved with trade to varying degrees throughout this entire time period. Weather it be threw their products being traded, receiving goods from other countries, or doing the trading themselves, they were always involved in trade. / One more example of continuity was how Indian ocean trade stayed so important over the years. Almost all major world powers did trading in the Indian ocean, Europe for instance went to great lengths to find a better trade root between the Atlantic and Indian ocean. The desire to trade in the Indian ocean region is actually what caused Europeans to discover the Americas. The Europeans were looking for a sea rout to get to Asia without going all the way around Africa, so they tried to go around the world, not knowing yet of the Americas existence. Their desire to trade urged them to explore new frontiers. There are many examples of continuity in Indian ocean commerce between 650 and 1750 C. E. In the Indian ocean from 650 C. E. and 1750 C. E. there have been many changes in commerce. One change in commerce over the years was who dominated Trade in The Indian Ocean. Over the course of this time period the Indian ocean trade was dominated by the Indians, the Chinese the Arabs and even the istant European powers. Their were also changes in what goods were traded. Some trade goods like the exotic animals taken from Africa to China that weren’t traded for longer then a few decades. The reason Ming China had imported animals was because they were in an age of exploration at the time and wanted to have some animals for their exotic royal zoo. Also sen ding great explorers like Zheng He showed their ability to travel to distant lands and take what they please. Another change was how things were traded. Over the course of the 1,100 years described many changes occurred in the world of sailing. China had many of these inventions with in it’s walls before this time period. China was so Ethnocentric . that they did not spread their inventions till generations after they were made, and even then it was often by accident The compass were great improvements on how sailors navigated to their destinations. The ships them selves also changed throughout this period. The Chinese Junks were incredible ships, vastly larger then the ones Columbus used, They were equipped with cannons to defend them selves from pirates and were, in their time the most impressive ships on the water. There are changes in commerce in the Indian ocean between 650 and 1750 C. E. Many changes and continuities and in commerce in the Indian ocean occurred between 650 and 1750 C. E. Indian ocean trade can even be related to the discovery of America. Some examples of continuities are; who was involved in trade, what was traded, who dominated trade. Examples of change are; how things were traded, the importance of trade, and what was traded. There were many changes and continuities in commerce in the Indian ocean.

Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Outline Example Upon recruitment, players in the two industries must establish viable strategies for retaining the skilled employees. Players in the hospitality and tourism industry should develop career promotional campaigns as a method of attracting and retaining skilled employees (Australian Government, 2015, p.29). The companies, through the campaign programs, can enlighten prospective employees the career opportunities and growth programs the industry can offer. Players in the tourism sector should advocate the inclusion of tourism education in the curriculum of the system (Shakeela, Breakey, & Ruhanen, 2012, p.35). Education creates awareness and encourages youths to pursue further training in fields related to the industry. To bridge the gap of skilled labor shortage during the peak season, the hospitality, and tourism companies should incorporate outsourcing as an intervention measure (Davidson & Wang, 2011, p.239). Hiring of qualified employees during the peak season in hotels and tourism agencies lead to enhanced efficiency in handling the influx of tourism. Outsourcing is relatively cheap and convenient because the companies do not need to incur the high cost of labor during low season. Hotel and Tourism companies need to strategize on the method of recruiting new employees into the industry. The recruits must possess the necessary qualifications in terms of academia for the jobs, as this will influence directly on performance (Hui-O & Hsin-Wei, 2011, p.205). Companies must evaluate what skills they are in need of prior to recruitment. Besides the skills, attitude and capability of the newcomers need require thorough vetting to ascertain their suitability for the industry. Adjustment of remuneration packages for the skilled workforce in the hotel and tourism industry is instrumental in the retention of employees (Daft, 2010, p.310). Salaries and allowances

Coursework of Qualitative and Ouantitative Research Essay

Coursework of Qualitative and Ouantitative Research - Essay Example (selecting respondents to match certain criteria, e.g. socio- emographic) the more cost-effective, and still reliable. While it may seem most cost-effective to buy in a mailing list (which may be sold as a "sample"), it is highly likely that the poor quality of the list, and the resultant low response rate will produce highly misleading and unreliable results. A larger sample is better than a smaller one, but not in direct proportion; for example, for the analysis to be twice as good, a sample needs to be four times as large, and to be three times as good, nine times as large. A professional agency will be able to advise on the way to achieve the best balance between quality, quantity and cost in sampling to produce reliable findings. Quantitative Data Collection Different methods are used to go ahead with a quantitative research including telephone, postal , on-line and face-to-face methods . In addition, observation studies are growing in popularity. Each has its pros and cons, depending on the time and budget constraints and objectives of the research. For example, postal surveys or self completion surveys are likely to be recommended only in certain circumstances. Quantitative Question-Design Very distinct skills are required to undertake qualitative or quantitative research effectively. Researchers have to be able to design questions which are clear, consistently interpreted, widely understood, unambiguous, meaningful, relevant and tightly defined a more difficult task than it may appear to outsiders. In addition, the full questionnaire must be capable of extracting rich and relevant information which will help managers to make more effective...Therefore , the need is for smaller but focused samples rather than large random samples , which qualitative research categorizes data into patterns as the primary basis for organising and reporting results. 4."It certainly seems reasonable to suggest that one may have a better understanding of a community member's situation by reading a descriptive passage than just looking at demographic statistics"(Kruger,2003)