“In Flanders Fields” A symbolism analysis Essay

â€Å"In Flanders Fields† is about World War I victims in the cemetery. When we read it, we are meant to feel sympathy for the dead victims of the war who rest in that field because we see their wonderful lives before the war and how it was ended fighting for their country. We are supposed to think of them and remember the war and all other wars and live fully the life they made for us. We are supposed carry on what they did. The deceased in this poem are afraid that we won’t remember them and won’t carry on their efforts and patriotism, even though the poppies grow in the graveyard for remembrance. We have to carry on the torch for them and for ourselves. From this poem, we also feel the fear of dying because those in this poem who once lived and fought for their country are now nothing but crosses in a graveyard. This poem uses figurative language to get its very poignant message across. Mainly, it brings the dead back to life to narrate this poem. The first stanza of the poem provides visual imagery of the graveyard. The poppies blowing between the crosses are symbolic of remembrance. The larks, â€Å"still bravely singing,† are personified to express bravery, which is a human emotion. The â€Å"guns below† are the ceremonies held for these men who bravely fought. Basically we are shown the beauty of the graveyard and signs of people remembering the deceased. The second stanza introduces the leader to not only their death, but also their life. Suddenly we feel sympathy for the young people buried here, whose lives were ruined by terrible warfare. In the third stanza we are shown the anguish of their spirits. They are brought to life in this poem to send us their message. Their â€Å"failing hands† can not of course literally throw a torch, which is symbolic of the war effort and patriotism. This is simply meant to represent the legacy that they are leaving behind them. This stanza is a paradox of the first, saying that peace and remembrance does not come from mere ceremony, but from us living out their legacy. The message in this poem is for all to live and understand.

Est Task 2 – Ethics Program

Midwest Non Profit Consulting Group Ethics Program A. Develop an appropriate standards and procedures section, such as a code of ethics. PREAMBLE Midwest Non Profit Consulting Group (MNPCG) will  provide management consulting services to nonprofit organizations with a strong commitment to providing a public service. Our client base works hard to improve the quality of life for all people in communities across the state of Minnesota.As a nation leader in non-profit organization groups, Minnesota and it's people have high standards we must adhere to. We must serve these organizations with honesty, and maintain the integrity of each organization providing them with impartiality, fairness, and remain dedicated to their welfare as they are providing safety and welfare to the people they serve. Our service to each organization is a direct reflection of their values and goals and these are tied very closely with public perception of each group.As we help increase awareness for causes that we are associated with, we must acknowledge that each organization is under the direct support of the government in the form of grants, contracts and tax laws, foundations, corporations, small businesses, individual gifts and donations as well as the general public. This high level approach to servicing our clients will ensure solid integrity and accountability for the work we do. CODEAll MNPCG Leadership, Managers, Certified Professionals, Legal, Staff and Contract Personel (referred in the code as â€Å"member†) are required to adhere to this entire code for both the betterment of everyone in this organization as well as our clients and the people they serve. – Every MNPCG member will at all times follow these principles: integrity, objectivity, commitment – Regard for the safety and welfare of the general public is our number one goal, and all consulting must hold this in regard when revealing methods to client. Members will secure confidentiality of the cli ent by keeping all information acquired through credible data collection practices, on secured storage devices. – Professional skill level must be taken into account on each and every task you will perform. If your are given a task beyond the scope of your knowledge it is required that you consult with MNPCG management to delegate such task. – Members with work daily to better this organization and uphold it's integrity – Every member will display confidence in the work they do and hold high, the credibility of MNPCG without dispute. Will hold professional certification and display such certification – Shall carry themselves with dignity and good character, with high reputable standard – A member must acquire all documentation in a legal manner, as to be able to produce such documentation upon audit. – Under no circumstance will member provide false or incomplete documentation to requesting parties as to reduce the credibility of MNPCG †“ Honesty in reporting is a fundamental value to all members working for and associated with MNPCG.Under no circumstance shall members act in ways in which false information is transferred or implied by an associated party. – Any act that is illegal under any terms will never be justified as a way in which MNPCG should act. Passion over legal matters will not be acceptable behaviors. – All members are required to report any questionable circumstances which job capacity doesn't provide the appropriate action or response. MNPCG has staff legal experts for these situations, use them.All of the above mentioned principles or rules apply not only to MNPCG employees but also applies to any transactions, or actions through which a partner, director, staff, or any other acting stakeholder performs under direction of MNPCG. COMPLIANCE AND EDUCATION MNPCG management supports all efforts of members to apply the principles of the CODE through training and technical assistance pro vided by MNPCG. Support of members also applies to those who self-regulate and offer modification requests based on continuos improvement efforts which may amend previous statements of CODE.Adherance to CODE and training are both one in the same in relation to compliance and education, or training: – All new members of MNPCG will be given formal training on this CODE during their first week of employment. – Training will be given in the form of two total training sessions of 2 hours each. – Management will give the first training session of 2 hours, to go through the document and visit situations where non-compliance has happened in the past and how to work through such circumstances. The employee is encouraged to discuss and concerns with management as to allow for training where needed. After the 2 hour session with management within 2 days Human Resources will meet and train to the â€Å"big picure† of what the CODE means. This will include describing disciplinary actions due to non-compliance of the CODE as well as other human resource materials. – Upon completing both 2 hour sessions, the employee will be required to apply their signature to a copy of the MNPCG code of ethics, stating they will comply to all principles included above. This will get filed with all other employee documentation and become record. COMPLIANCE AND MONITORING MNPCG management is required to formally review this CODE of ethics annually. – MNPCG management will submit any request for changes to CODE no later than 10 days after one year annual review was last completed. This gives time for any inquires to be presented and responded to is conflict of interest or societal changes have occurred and need to be amended to the CODE. – All submissions of amendment requires must be sent to both MNPCG Leadership and Directors for review. No later than 10 days will the request be approved or denied. This organization is strengthened from conti nuous education and should annually revisit the codes in the form of auditing. This is to determine whether compliance is feasible and should be required. The changing climate which the world of non-profits resides in, may allow for additional codes or modifications based on societal changes. – During annual evaluation and audit of the MNPCG code of ethics Leadership will make sure that all members are given the required skills and experience for carrying out all duty that are required of them.By audit, each organization MNPCG serves will be stronger that all member comply. – Possible conflict of interest can surface and be resolved before damage is done with regards to client relationships. – Provides revised and updated policies on an annual basis from which Human Resource can pull information from during hiring, terminating and performance evaluation periods. – Provides a â€Å"source-of-truth† for all ethical standards of MNPCG. – After each audit, Leadership is required to provide any updates to Human Resources so that the CODE can be updated and posted to the company website for publication.COMPLIANCE AND REVIEW -MNPCG belongs to the National Institute of Non-Profit Consulting Firms which in accordance with government regulations, requires a formal review of ethics programs for all it's members on a rotating 3 year cycle based on member enrollment. – 3 year rotating cycle means that as membership allows, ethics programs reviews are done by sharing the responsibility of review with the members. NINPCF will review each member every 3 years and each member will in-turn review every year one member's ethic program. Non-profit organizations must comply with federal regulations on such a strict basis that this schedule reflects the integrity of the association. – Each member is bound to serving society by being committed to delivering 100% Honesty, Integrity and Compliance to the organizations they serve. This review process allows for strict monitoring of values set forth. – Upon completion of all reviews, NINPCF delivers a comprehensive report to all members as well as government non-profit oversight committees as a proactive approach to future requirements of these committees and the agencies they direct.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s Plan for Growth Essay

Bed Bath & Beyond (BB&B, www.bedbathandbeyond.com), the power retailer of domestics and home furnishings, has annual sales of $7 billion and a net income of $562 million. The firm’s profitability can be explained by its increasing gross profit margins at the same time it decreases selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percent of sales. BB&B is able to increase its gross profit margins due to its excellent atmosphere, wide assortments, and a deep variety within most merchandise lines. Its control over SG&A expenses is partly due to the outsourcing of its distribution centers to a third party. BB&B has opened hundreds of stores over the last few years, ranging in size from 30,000 to 80,000 square feet. Because it uses a flexible real-estate strategy, BB&B is able to situate in a variety of locations. BB&B is now also being allowed into large shopping centers. In the past, department store anchor tenants blocked BB&B. In 2004, BB&B had about 630 stores with a total of 20.5 million square feet of store space. By the end of 2008, these numbers had expanded to nearly 1,000 stores with 31 million square feet of store space. Its long-term goal is to operate 1,300 stores. In addition, BB&B plans to remodel and expand many existing stores. In 2003, BB&B purchased Christmas Tree Shops (www.christmastreeshops.com), a chain of stores specializing in giftware and household items. Although the Christmas Tree Shops’ name suggests that it concentrates on Christmas merchandise, the chain is positioned against Pier 1 (www.pier1.com). In March 2007, BB&B acquired buybuyBABY (www.buybuybaby.com), a retailer specializing in infant and toddler merchandise. In December 2007, BB&B opened its first foreign BB&B store in Ontario, Canada. In May 2008, BB&B purchased a 50 percent equity interest in Home & More, a Mexican home goods retailer that operated two stores in Mexico City. BB&B management (as well as many retail analysts) attributes the chain’s strong sales performance to its superior customer service. BB&B is obsessive about its consumers receiving a consistently high level of customer service. For example, one recent shopper at a suburban Long Island store reported that a sales clerk was highly attentive: When the shopper asked the clerk where she could find a set of dishes listed on a bridal registry, the clerk immediately dropped what she was doing. The clerk then located the dishes and stood by the shopper as she decided whether to purchase the set and even had the dishes brought to a nearby checkout so that the shopper could continue buying at the store. The sales clerk then met the shopper at the checkout to facilitate the transaction. In 2008, BB&B was tied for second place in an annual study of the top â€Å"20 Most Competitive Retailers† in the United States. The study, conducted by Capgemini (www.capgemini.com) and W Ratings Corporation (www.wratings.com), measured the ability of retailers to beat consumer expectations and deliver superior profitability. Each firm’s rankings were based on its profits over the prior five years and the responses from a sample of 6,000 consumers. Questions 1.Explain how Bed Bath & Beyond practices the retailing concept. 2.Evaluate Bed Bath & Beyond’s growth plans. 3.How can Bed Bath & Beyond further increase the overall quality of its customer service? 4.Explain the concept of value from the perspective of a Bed Bath & Beyond customer.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - Essay Example While not similar to what most would consider to be average stress, PTSD is a condition that is special in cause and also equally as special when it comes to the diagnosis, along with the treatment of it. In defining the condition, "Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), once called shell shock or battle fatigue syndrome, is a serious condition that can develop after a person has experienced or witnessed a traumatic or terrifying event in which serious physical harm occurred or was threatened. PTSD is a lasting consequence of traumatic ordeals that cause intense fear, helplessness, or horror, such as a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death of a loved one, an accident, war, or natural disaster. Families of victims can also develop posttraumatic stress disorder, as can emergency personnel and rescue workers," ("Mental Health", p.1). While feeling a sense of fear, or a general mental state that leaves the individual feeling as if they have no recourse that would be afforded to them, is something that many of those inflicted by stress are faced with, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is unique in to itself. Just as the sufferers of the condition are unique, so can the symptoms be of those inflicted with PTSD. ... Some may experience flashbacks, hallucinations, or other vivid feelings of the event happening again. Others experience great psychological or physiological distress when certain things (objects, situations, etc.) remind them of the event. Avoidance- Many with PTSD will persistently avoid things that remind them of the traumatic event. This can result in avoiding everything from thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the incident to activities, places, or people that cause them to recall the event. In others there may be a general lack of responsiveness signaled by an inability to recall aspects of the trauma, a decreased interest in formerly important activities, a feeling of detachment from others, a limited range of emotion, and/or feelings of hopelessness about the future. Increased arousal- Symptoms in this area may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, becoming very alert or watchful, and/or jumpiness or being easily startled. ("Post-Traumatic", p.1). Further causing harm to those suffering from PTSD, the patients endure a re-occurrence of the event(s) which had taken place, over in over in their minds, thus elevating the level of mental angst they are faced with. A trigger of negative feelings can come from something as minuscule as an item(s) that reminds them of what happened, further prolonging their recovery from whatever it was that upset them to severely. To avoid something that brings about negative feelings is something that most human beings could identify with throughout the course of their respective lifetimes. To mentally, as well as physically, separate from any people, or things,

Hiring for Success Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hiring for Success - Research Paper Example Such managers end up choosing the wrong individuals for the jobs. To avoid such problems, the managers should be aware of the consequences of being overconfident during the decision making process. Additionally, they should judge individuals based on their abilities and not their perceptions (Draft & Marcic, 2006). According to Draft & Marcic (2006), some managers also make wrong choices during the hiring process because they â€Å"see what they want to see† (Draft & Marcic, 2006). Such managers already know what is right according to them, and when interviewing people, they look for what support their instincts in the interviewees (Klayman, Larrick & Health, 2000). This form of bias affects evaluation of information because managers focus on what they know than what they do not know. To avoid this, managers have to be honest about their motives meaning that they should study the evidence equally (Draft & Marcic, 2006). The hiring procedure can also be affected by the past impression. This is because most people focus on the initial information they get when making decisions. The first impressions affect the managers’ subsequent judgments (Klayman, Larrick & Health, 2000). For instance, in most interviews, managers judge the interviewees by their first impression. If they mess during the initial process, this makes them fail the interviews even if they do perfectly in the remaining parts of the interviews. To avoid this, managers should cease relying on the past information to avoid wrong predictions and misguided decisions (Draft & Marcic,

Porters Views on Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Porters Views on Strategy - Essay Example Michael Porter is a University Professor at Harvard Business School and a very contributor to the fields of management and economics. In an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review in 1996, and also in one of his books, he argues that competitive strategy is "about being different". He adds, "It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value". It is important to note that Porter has focused on discussing competitive strategy and his views are based more on differentiating the company in the view of the customers. Porter has defined competitive strategy as "a combination of the ends for which the firm is striving and the means by which it is seeking to get there". Porter has provided for a very fresh and different view on the meaning of strategy. He highlights and emphasises on the facts that operational effectiveness is not strategy. Porter has in his article ‘What is Strategy?’, in the Harvard Business Review brought o ut some very important points. He argues that ‘Positioning’, which has been one of the major elements of strategy and has acted as the ‘heart of strategy’, is not being rejected by most managers. He discussed in this article that the current period believed that positioning is considered to be too static in the current dynamic world and the high use of technology. It is important to note that the information that has been provided here has been based on three major heads: 1. variety-based positioning 2. Needs-based positioning and 3 Access-based positioning

Climate change and global warming debate Case Study

Climate change and global warming debate - Case Study Example For the past decades, loggers and miners have not seriously introduced rehabilitation of damaged mountains, rivers and shores. Such have serious implication to disasters such as the floods in Philippines, Pakistan, Australia, India and other part of the world that have killed thousands of peoples and damaged properties. The wanton disregard of massive wastes due to consumerism and the use of non-biodegradable materials are also noted, albeit increasing campaign for recycling and waste management. The need to practice solid waste management as part of eco-governance worldwide remained to be inculcated as most countries deal with mountainous garbage everyday. Added to these is the disturbing deposit of toxic wastes in the oceans ridges that is affecting sea habitats. Moreover, global arctic regions rich with ice and glaciers are melting and have accordingly affected the tropical areas as sea level arises at 23 inches (SRREN, 2011). As weather pattern changed and became unpredictable, t he cycle of vegetation is are also affected--seriously impacting to agricultural produce and to world economy (Solomon, Manning, Chen, Marquis, Averyt, Tignor & Miller, 2007). The issue of climate change certainly relates to sustainability.

Contract Law Problem Question - Breach of Contract Essay

Contract Law Problem Question - Breach of Contract - Essay Example A breach of contract occurs when a party to it acts inconsistently with his obligations either by implications or express words without lawful excuse. The onus is on Peter to prove that there was, in fact, a breach committed by David. Generally, the act that is allegedly in breach must have â€Å"such an effect, that the party in question has put it out of his power to perform his obligations† (Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH vs Itex Hagrani Export SA (1993) 1 Lloyd’s Rep 360, 362). Moreover, Peter is not required to wait for David to perform, and the effect of the breach is immediate (Hochester v. De La Tour (1853). In order for the breach to be classified as a repudiatory breach, that is one allowing Peter to set aside the performance of the contract, the breach must be one of condition or a serious innominate term and not warranty. The current scenario entails a breach of time, which is generally of the essence. It is arguable that this breach is one of condition, and the immediate consequence of that for Peter is his right to elect one of two alternatives; terminate the performance of or affirm the contract, communication either of them in a reasonable amount of time (Stocznia Gdanska SA v. Latvian Shipping Company (2002)). Since Peter has opted to stay at the house and continue running it as a guest house, he has decided to opt for the affirmation of the contract, which will be affected just by merely continuing with his obligations of running the business while maintaining a healthy profit (Davenport v. R (1877)). Thus, Peter is advised to affirm the contract and apply for an order of specific performance by exercising his right of election and issue a claim in damages.

Case Problem Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Problem - Assignment Example Laws include the Federal Lanham Act, the State laws in the form of consumer protection laws, and the case laws acting as a precedent. C. It will be unconstitutional to ban the advertisement. The justification may be that though the present law grants the government power to regulate advertisement under certain conditions as per Central Hudson v. Public Service Commission and Board of Trustees of the State University of New York v. Fox, , the conditions remain unfulfilled. In the present case the question is whether the government will have the power to regulate liquor advertising in the state of Washington. The conditions which will allow the government to do so would be presence of substantial state interest, which is actually there in the present case in the form of a need to stop under aged drinking. The second condition is whether the regulation directly advances the interest, which it doesn’t as there’s no proof that banning advertisement will stop under aged drink ing particularly. The third condition is that the regulation is not unreasonably extensive than what is necessary, which it is, as there is no evidence that it will stop underage drinking in particular and will surely affect the liquor business. Case problem-2 The sales representative is not correct in her assertion, as it is material whether the commercial speech is true or false. The reason is that commercial speech is not protected under, any law, if it’s false and misleading, as in the present case. Certain statutes and Federal Trade Commission Rules prohibit it, in addition to the case laws which act as a precedent to support the cause. If the national company is taken as a competitor to my present online business, civil suit can be brought against the company for publishing false or misleading description of its goods. In addition to the Lanham Act, the state consumer protection laws also protect the consumers against false and misleading advertisements given by a busin ess. Finally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also prohibits it. The FTC can invoke its powers, with regard to false and misleading advertisement, if the communication is an advertisement, the advertisement affects interstate commerce and the advertisement is false or deceptive. In addition to the remedies offered by the courts under the Lanham and consumer protection laws in the form of injunction and fines, the FTC has its own set of remedies to take care of the issue. The FTC publishes specific guidelines for advertising in an entire industry. The FTC has voluntary compliance remedy, which will seek a voluntary agreement from the advertiser to terminate a campaign and to repeat the same, without any sort of determination. Moreover, the FTC can make consent agreements with the advertisers, issue a litigated order in case the advertiser refuses to sign the consent order, force the advertiser to prove the claims made in an advertisement by Substantiation and move to court for an order of injunction. Case Problem-3 The consumer organization is correct in its assertion, as the conditions laid down by FTC for an ad to be taken as false and deceptive are fulfilled. In the present case there is a representation which will mislead the consumer. The exercise club states that clients of the club lose 30 to 50 pounds in two months, yet, they didn’t make their claim based on substantial evidence. When they

RXD Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

RXD Marketing Plan - Assignment Example Within a span of two years, the products had spread across the world enabling RXD to set up fourty stores. With the increased demand in ballerina shoes, the company intends to put some of its stores in France. Ballerina shoes come in different forms depending on the purpose unto which it is to be put into. Some of ballerina shoes are; loafer, indoor accessories, snowfall and Tonka. This paper is going to cover the market exploration of ballerina shoes in France. The French people like luxurious lifestyle. They are in love with social places like eating and drinking joint. This culture is very common among the urban population. Material comfort goes hand in hand with this kind of living. RXD has to select a reference group which will help her do the sale of her products in this new market. The company needs to address some of the concerns in mind and more so those that pertains to the longevity of their product in the market of France. In a bid to realize this, RXD plans to engage the professionals, modern women and the fashion designers. The company also intends to take advantage of the France flexible business laws favouring sale of shoes and shoe manufacturers. The customer’s life cycle needs to be put into consideration. In this cycle the customer’s age and stage will be analysed. This will determine their reach, acquisition, conversion, retention and loyalty to the product. Since there are no stores for any of the RXD products, customers will be the first to be reached. The occupation and economic states the country’s population of the target customers’ will have to be considered. The company targets a fourteen million people aged between twenty and fourty years old. This population is believed to be stable enough to by the shoes. The customers’ way of living, opinions, attitudes and cognitions as well as their self concept will have to be considered. The lifestyle of professional ladies for instance

Spatial Imagery in Borges Essay Example for Free

Spatial Imagery in Borges Essay â€Å"Reality is not always probable, or likely† (Borges), this quote from Jorge Luis Borges, a perfect example of what makes Collected Fictions mysterious and entertaining to read. His readings are not superficial, and must be taken by critical thought and completely different modes of thinking. Borges’ stories use many techniques to express his messages. In select fictions, the idea of geometry, which is simple and exact, is used to convey themes of infinity and perceiving reality, which are hardly exact at all. Whether Borges uses hexagons to explain a concept of infinity and God, or rhombi and labyrinths to prove an order to chaos, these fictions let the reader explore his perplexing and ambiguous philosophy through ideas of spatial imagery. The story Death and the Compass deals with spatial imagery in two ways, one being with geometric rhombi, and the other is the reader’s idea of labyrinths. A rhombus is used in this story to specifically draw the main character strait to the criminal. Borges mentions the rhombus for the purpose of simplifying the story into something that makes sense; the crimes of the story fit into a perfect, known shape. â€Å"I knew you would add the missing point, the point that makes a perfect rhombus, the point that fixes the place where a precise death awaits you† (p. 156). The end of the story proves that the simple idea is not that simple at all, it all represents how this logical order of crimes brings the protagonist to a chaotic sense of himself because of the elaborate scheme that brings him to his own demise, which becomes part of the order. The other way Death and the Compass deals with spatial imagery is the way Borges lets the reader picture what a labyrinth should look like. Labyrinths are a recurring theme in a lot of Borges’ works, but in this particular story the villain sets up a labyrinth inside the main character’s head to set him up. â€Å"†The next time I kill you,† Scharlach replied, â€Å"I promise you the labyrinth that consists of a single straight line that is invisible and endless†Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 56). This I see as spatial imagery because the reader has to decide what kind of labyrinth the protagonist is caught in, the picture is unclear. This quote suggests that there are many realities, and Borges may mean that every individual is caught in a labyrinth of perception that they cannot escape from. What one may seem as a truth may not be even close to what is real. Borges does not just use this concept in Death and the Compass, but in many of his works. The Library of Babel is another piece of well-constructed art using visual metaphors bound with ideas of infinity, God, and unachievable realities. To describe the universe, Borges sets a picture of hexagons attached to more hexagons that make up a library and that continue forever. â€Å"I declare that the Library is endless. Idealists argue that the hexagonal rooms are the necessary shape of absolute space, or at least of our perception of space† (p. 112-113). This quote suggests that Borges believes the universe is infinite, but in a very concrete way. He uses a very unique technique in allowing an unimaginable theme of infinity is described in the very real idea or a hexagon, a finite thing. A hexagon is only a hexagon if it follows certain rules, but infinity has no rules. The hexagons are the order of the universe; it is not just open space, which means there must be a builder of the hexagons. So does this mean Borges believes in a creator, or God in his own philosophy? â€Å"Mystics claim that their ecstasies reveal to them a circular chamber containing an enormous circular book with a continuous spine that goes completely around the walls. But their testimony is suspect, their words obscure. That cyclical book is God. † (p. 113) In this quote, Borges reinforces the idea of a creator as God. It seems that this creator is the master book in the giant library of books that holds everything in. The books that are held in the hexagons of life also point to an interesting idea, â€Å"the Library is â€Å"total†-perfect, complete, and whole- and that its bookshelves contain all possible combinations of twenty-two orthographic symbols† (p. 15), Borges mentions these books because although every combination possible is presented, even if unconceivable to human thought, is still only a finite number. This is an absolute contradiction of the idea of infinite hexagons with books in them. Still another problem arisen by this quotation is that there seems to be no evidence of a creator if every single book in the library is of all possibilities, but these messages expressed in these books have to be endless. Man searching for his purpose in the universe, then is meaningless, and this argument is all because of spatial imagery Borges uses with hexagons. Borges is a mastermind at manipulating the reader’s thoughts into traveling in many directions on the roller coaster of imagination. In Death and the Compass the story leads the reader in a logical direction with spatial imagery and explains alternate reality through labyrinths, and hexagons represent the idea of an infinite universe with the ambiguous existence of a creator in Library of Babel. The technique of spatial imagery can be endless and the messages that are found can be argued and lead to more questions than answers, but the next time I write this essay, all the answers will be revealed to you.

Internet Makes Life Better Essay Example for Free

Internet Makes Life Better Essay Nowadays, with the development of the Internet, our life becomes more convenient than any time in the past. With the click of the mouse, you can find everything on the Internet including shopping, communication, entertainment, study, and so on. Do you know how many percent of people on the Earth have access into the Internet? 21% In the United States, 74% of American adults use the Internet. 94% of students in the US are using the Internet. 60% of American adults use broadband connections at home. 55% of American adults connect to the internet wirelessly, either through a WiFi or WiMax connection via their laptops or through a handheld device like a smart phone. Because of the Internet, we can do shopping without going to the store which is located far away. Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time, without an intermediary service, over the Internet. It is a form of electronic commerce. We can talk with a people who are away 10,000 miles with high quality of voice and images. Brought us closer to people those are in another part of the world: video calls with Skype, Online support calls so I don’t have to drive 2 hours to a client site. Telephone: Voice over IP or VOIP Besides, we can find tons of information by one click on Google.com, Yahoo.com, and so on. Other conveniences of the Internet: Online banking. Driving Directions .We can work or study from anywhere in the world. In conclusion, I believe the Internet makes life better. I cannot live one day happily without Internet.

English Language and Cultural Homogenization

English Language and Cultural Homogenization Abstract In this paper, I will look at the subject matter of English language and the relative importance it stages in the sphere of globalization and cultural homogenization. The usage of English language has intensified the ongoing process of the modern communicative world amidst the impact of socio-cultural globalization. Its competency in the global scenario is highly sought in communication as also in occupying better positions in the market economy as an inter-linkage of understanding between two or more countries that inhabit cultural attachment of ones own language. However English language is criticized on account of heterogeneity that exists in the world countries which often provoke conflicts, along with the varying cultural settings through different practices and physical characteristics, and for which language is one that define their cultural background. Despite the fact that English language being the most influential panorama in the global language field, especially on the so cio-cultural aspect, it has been argued that its impact has devalued certain cultural norms and practices which is meant to have a negative impact on the language and culture of certain countries, especially of those colonized countries and the non-English speaking cultures. Nevertheless English language has a great impact on how people view themselves and others in the diversity of cultural background and within ones own cultural milieu. Furthermore, English language and its mode of education have a greater impact on our culture and relevant understandings. Despite being critiqued in many aspects, it establishes a dominant feature in the process of globalization with the subsequent effect it has on the socio- cultural exchange and learning. Introduction Language is one of the most important tools that greatly distinguish the capacity of human beings, placing humans at the top of the evolutionary ladder (Neuliep 2006: 246). Anthropologist and linguist like Edward Sapir argued that the language of a culture has an impact on the people belonging to that particular area on how they think, how they perceive the world around them, how they view their natural and social environments; Similarly, Whorf also stress on the idea that the languages of the people determine different types of observations that helps perceive the world differently (Ibid.). This led to the Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis that rests on two principles- the principle of linguistic determinism which believes that what one thinks depends on what language one speaks and the principle of linguistic relativity which determines that the different views of the world as seen by the speakers are based on the different languages they belong to. While there are linguists who believe that the language of the people is determined by the vocabulary and the grammar structure that corresponds to the nonverbal culture depending on the geographic, climatic, kinesic, spatial, and proxemic aspects of culture that shows itself to the cultures language (Ibid.246-248). On one hand, the varied forms of vocabulary and the meanings attached to the language is a form of culture and as such language and culture are inextricably linked; while on the other hand, a groups language defines their cultural group and cultural identity that enable social bonds stronger  [1]  . Language make possible, people belonging to different cultures, to communicate effectively that are in a way enriching ones personal and professional connectivity. It is an important tool for a knowledge based skills attitudes which incorporate ideas, customs, habits, and values that enable oneself to participate in the local and international subjects, while enriching ones personal and professional life  [2]  that characterize its impact in the process of the socio-cultural globalization. Language determines the historical tradition of people and their respective culture that are rooted in their attitudes and behavior through varied form (Ibid) In the domain of socio-cultural perspectives, Waters (1995: 3) defines globalization as a social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and in which people become increasingly aware that they are receding (in Sengupta 2000: 3140). Certain terms that attributes to the global culture effects are Westernization, Mcdonalisation or Cocacolonization which are much talked about in the discourse of globalization, to which Westernization draws much of its critique on account of the relative effects that draws upon the rest of the world as much as cultural diffusion is concerned (Ibid.). In addition, those factors that influence the process of globalization are met through symbols of values, preferences and tastes, and not through economic materials and political power exchanges (Ibid. 3141). In the domain of establishing English language as a global practice, Britain and United States seem to have an upper hand because of its strong political and economic power for the past two centuries. The use of English Language in the fields varying from publishing, science, technology, commerce, diplomacy, air-traffic control and popular music, are drawn mostly by the aforesaid countries to forming a well known world language more popularly  [3]   English Language in the Globalization era . In the earlier times, there was an indication with regard to English as a world language, i.e., The International Herald Tribune, the former New York Herald Tribune described as The worlds daily newspaper (Phillipson 2001: 188-89). English language is perhaps the most well known language in the world spoken by native as well non-native speakers. Globalization is the buzzword the world is talking about and there are extensive literatures that relate to it but there is not much literature that specifically relates to globalization and the English language as much as the study on the global English is concerned (Ibid.). English competency is regarded as an essential tool for survival in the era of globalization, which is predominantly used in the computers when the world is largely interpreted through it  [4]  . The language of English is very popular worldwide that it has an immense role in specifying the dominance of communicators in the present globalization times that affects socio-cultural identities. The language of English is also a central part in the dominance of international politics and commerce  [5]  while also in the military links  [6]  and culture  [7]  (Phillipson 2001: 187). In the European Union too, there is much visibility on English being its dominant language, while in the central Europe the knowledge of English language is now a basic skill for a modern adaptability just like any other skills like driving a car or using a computer  [8]  . It is therefore acknowledgeable that English language is regarded as an international language that enable people to understand the ways of the world better and even communicate more smoothly  [9]  . It enables people belonging to different cultural background to come closer and to understand each other better through the communicative mode of interaction. English language is now regarded as the dominant language in the world, more popular than French because the latter is seen to be losing its ground of priority in its studies and in the everyday usage  [10]  . Further, Arnold (2006) stresses on issues as to how in the global world the English language implicates the non-English speaking culture or countries to construct itself to a form a global culture, while denoting that the globalization effect on socio cultural aspect is also caused by the colonization influences and power. Then there are instances where, about 6000-7000 spoken languages and many more sign languages and hundreds of languages across the national borders, in addition to the role of the monolingual speaking nation states that greatly affected the marketing systems and the consequent threatening affects caused by globalization (Phillipson 2001: 188-89). Critical aspects of English Language in the globalization era There are a lot of controversial issues as much as the conceptualization on English as the global language is concerned. Even though the language has marked its potency as an essentially standardized form in the speaking languages of the world, it has been critiqued for its limitations because it cannot be applied to every country or speaking communities in the world. Phillipson (2001) mentions that majority of the worlds citizens do not speak English, whether as a mother tongue or as a second or foreign language and as such, urges upon scholars to analyze things in this particular matter as to whether the English language really do serve the need of the citizens in the world or, if its use serve the better of everyone in the world if it is being considered as the world language. A lot of decisions that affect the worlds population are taken in English including the educational academics and including the scholars , and as such it is questionable as to whether it serves the interests of people in the world or whose interests does it actually serve? (Ibid.189). In addition, the colonial legacy in India is considered as capturing not only the regions economy and territory but in conquering minds that further states that the educational policy of the British was based to create A class of persons, Indians in blood and colour, English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect (Ibid. 189). Likewise, we can find the dominance of the English language at every educational institutions and universities, as also of the distance educational policies and purposes. On critiquing the diffusion and domination of the English language, it entails that the promotion of one language (English) and one culture (the USAs) at the expense of others through linguistic imperialism with a system of production and ideologies brings about an economically expansionist and exploitative world order, while Agnihotri and Khanna (1997) argue for a need to shift language planning paradigms so that English would sustain and not destroy the multi-lingual ethos of India (Ibid. 193). While there is a prominent diffusion especially on the part of English language spreading throughout the world, it is also important to preserve ones language that incorporates its cultural settings. On account of this, it well known that apart from ones mother tongue there are numerous people who speak English which has an enormous effect on ones identity. In this regard, it has been argued that the cultural attachments in a language dies once there is a prominent and constant use of English while the local one diminishes, and as such, there is a need to stress to preserve linguistic diversity so that ones culture be prevailed (Arnold 2006) In the process of globalization, the World Bank also retains the usage and role of English as the pioneer of educational policy along with other transnational corporations including the European Union (EU), while there are certain corporations that aid and provide funding projects  [11]  in order to upgrade their business for the purpose of English and likewise, making use of English education for business purpose (Phillipson 2001: 190-92). David Blunkett, the British Minister for Education and Employment alleged that they make use of English language as a tool for economic development and competency, while they also intends to expand their culture overseas from the viewpoint of cultural globalization (Ibid.). With the globalization as the spark of the various ongoing factors between the world countries, even the usage of the present Information Technology (IT) characterizes English as the e-language of the world. English language being supposedly the language of electronic globalization at the present world was also the language of geographic globalization in the earlier times which has an impact on the related cultural imperialism (Arnold 2006: 2). This effect that it has on the colonized countries and their relative cultures is understood to have a negative impact as far as preserving ones original identity and culture is concerned. In this connection, it has been critiqued that English language as global language destructs the non-English speaking communities  [12]  , which is understood to be affecting their local cultures lives. It is therefore assumed that considering English language as a global form of language will be like one world: one dictionary or questions if it could al so mean one world: one language?  [13]   The British culture is considered as the most dominant in the cultural imperialism effect, as also because of the fact that it has influenced the culture of the world education that lines through Africa, America, Asia, and Australia; it has enabled to form a sort of community different  [14]  from its own cultural background (Ibid. 3). Hence, the English language is criticized on the base that it has led to a devalued form of our own languages in the community practices that involves our customs and beliefs, laws and preferred form of lives, which in turn has made our culture strayed from its original belonging. Nevertheless, the English language is considered as the strongest of all global influences as far as the diffusion of languages are concerned (Ibid.). The imperialistic attitude of English language in the globalization process is also seen at the two theories namely Exploitation Theory which is the imperialistic form of approach and the Grassroots Theory that takes a neut ral role in the cross border communication process  [15]   Impact of English Language on globalization and cultural homogenization After the II world war, the globalization effect brought with it the free trade agreement  [16]  that further led to transfer of goods and services (economic as well cultural); the economic front were the production, trade and transportation while the cultural transfer in the form of music, art, fashion and lifestyles, communication through World Wide Web and Language  [17]  . This aspect of goods and service transfer in the globalization process places English language as one important aspect, that in turn has a huge impact on the level of communicators linkages, locally and internationally, and this criterion makes English as the dominant form of communication process in the globalized world. With the globalization effect and the role of information technology that has ushered in, the earlier definition of geographic colonization has terminated to formation of an electronic globalization that has now role to play in the socio-cultural aspects of peoples life, in a way that geography does not matter anymore, however that, local lives can be lived and stretched out through electronic ways of communication and sharing ideas and knowledge (Arnold 2006). English language is predominantly used as the global mode of communication that has a greater affect in the global culture characterized by a form of modernized e-language throughout the diffusion of culture sharing. Hence, English language is characterized by its impact on the homogeneity and heterogeneity of world cultures despite being critiqued that it is based on its colonized mission and strategies that furthers the problem of non-English speaking communities. Its enables one to identify the different cultures that exist s in the world and also to view ones own within the cultural background and the diverse set of practices in the world on account of it. Redman (2002) have argued that, communities that express their languages and cultures are learning to become homogenized and for which English spans the divide between people and cultures. It isnt owned by Britain and America: now it belongs to everyone, in addition, Burnett (2004) argues that English language could belong to everyone and all the practices and cultures of other languages vanish or of no usage any longer (in Arnold 2006: 3). The globalization and technological intervention has brought about a most popular form of a web-based language- English language that has initially led to a formation of a new form of culture and language authenticity (Ibid.). Hence the web-based English language is intensifying the process of communication and in sharing world wide cultures across various communities. The role of English language has a great impact on various aspects such as political, economic-business, education, socio-cultural and other factors that vary from local to international perspectives. Its usage is like opening windows to the wider world that is believed to bring about economic progress and a better means of communicating for any kind of international understandings  [18]  . English language is taking over the world communicative process and hence, the local culture too (Arnold 2006). Arguing on a topic as to whether English language is a killer language or not, it has been observed that it is not necessarily a killer language because it acts in accordance to situation or dominance, while another important aspect of it is that, it does not merely impose applications of vocabularies to other countries; it has also been adopting itself to the expressions of other languages and cultures  [19]   Eventually it has led to the formation of a borderless world, a techno-driven on the global real/virtual basis of online connectivity, a global culture, often described as the culture of global village (Arnold 2006). According to Krishnaswamy and Brude (1998), the English language and its spread in the global world of developmental aspect after the two world war was that It is almost as if God said, Let there be language, and there was English, while it is also seen as a necessity and a form of key to success in the process of globalization (Kak 2005: 39) Conclusion English Language has brought about an immense cultural interlink age through the communicative process along with the role of the educational system that it hinges upon in almost the entire world. As such, it stages a relative importance in the sphere of globalization and cultural homogenization process. The mode of communication has greatly intensified the sharing of ideas and knowledge of the world cultures. The Information Age has made the means of communication a lot easier and the cultural homogenization stronger. It has globalized countries that inhabit their own cultural attachment through the diffusion of languages and most importantly specifying the dominance of English language in the process. Even though it has been criticized on account of the conflicts that arise because of heterogeneity or being blamed for devaluing certain cultural norms and practices, it has a great impact on the cultural homogenization in the form of blending knowledge, ideas and cultures through the effects of information and communication process, be it virtual or real and vice versa. The globalization era has therefore greatly enhanced the role of English language and its impact on the cultural homogenization enabling people to come closer beyond boundaries in the diverse set of different cultural backgrounds into forming a cultural homogenization.

Demolition Derby :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Demolition Derby      Ã‚  Ã‚   Demolition derbies have made their way through history as races that only involve crashes. There is more to a demolition derby than just crashes. Demolition derbies are more complex than what is seen from the stands because of the long hard work it takes to get a car ready, and the actual competition of the derby.    There are three stories about where the first demolition derby was held. Islip Raceway (Long Island, NY), Hales Corner Raceway (Hales Corner, WI), and an unknown town in Ohio. The first and only story with creditable proof is that Larry Mendelson, a 28 year stock car racer noticed that the most cheering and excitement happened when cars crashed. He held the first demolition derby in 1958 at Islip Raceway. Another story is that Hales Corner Raceway had held a demo years previous to Islip. According to legend, 'Crazy Jim' Groh had a few too many cars on his dealership lot. So he got a few people to drive them as a promotion. The only other proof to back this story are the Happy Days episodes 64, 64, 66 'Fonzie loves Pinkie part1, 2, 3' shows demolition derbies. This show was based in Milwaukee during the 50's. These episodes featured Fonzie battling it out with the Mallachi brothers. The last account is that an un-named town in Ohio was a scene of road rage gone wild in th e mid- 50's. Two cars collided at a busy intersection and both continued to battle it out drawing a large crowd to the scene. This story fails to name a town or date, and only gets some credit ability because Ohio is a mecca for demolition derbies (geocities.com par. 2-5).       When credit needs to be given to the inventor of demolition derbies it goes to Larry Mendelson and Islip Raceway because they were the first to officially organize a derby.    There are many modifications that need to be done to a car before it is ready to go to the demolition derby.   A car cannot be bought demolition derby ready. There are many rules to take into consideration and many alterations that need to be done to car when getting the car ready for a demolition derby.

The Role of Queen Guinevere in King Arthur and His Knights Essay

She is the most perdurable female figure in King Arthur and his Knights. Without her the suspense and the plot flow could not have been achieved. Her influence has enabled her to penetrate into men’s world a trait that distinguishes her from the rest of the women. Knights are referred to as the queen’s knights. We could say the same of the ladies who accompany the queen and keep the knights in good company (pg.52) .Queen Guinevere, as the King’s wife, is acknowledged by males. But despite her access to the Round Table, she has no legitimate power. She is a woman figure who can be discarded as desired. Her presence in the male dominated arena is a source of discord among them. She is resented as a threat to the bonds of men, an eventuality which will lead to the end of the Round Table. She is represented as a danger to the misogynist circle. Malory gives Guinevere a maternal character, whose love is expected to be impartial to her children, and in this case to her knights. By being the king’s wife, Queen Guinevere acquires a political and a symbolic duty in the kingdom, but this status does not exempt her from male’s contempt towards the female gender. All her attempts to improve her status are watered down by male rivalry. Queen Guinevere does not find pleasure in the male company. Love, the only benefit she could reap from men is given no room. Guinevere’s preference for Sir Lancelot creates animosity amongst the Knights of the Round Table. Her illegitimate affair is resented by Sir Modred as betrayal. The latter’s concealed jealousy towards Sir Lancelot turns into an open demonstration of loyalty to the King Arthur and eventually to unprecedented war. Queen Guinevere is a source of trouble among the Knights of the Round Tab... ... the male gender, for it is the only language men decipher with ease. Love, a probable ground on which men and women can converge is divisive and destructive to all those who turn to it in their efforts to bridge the gender gap. The capacity to conceive and give birth adds value to the women in Malory. Lady Igraine’s significance is only mentioned in relation to King Arthur’s birth. Through Galahad, Elaine’s importance is underlined, but all the glory goes to Lancelot and Galahad himself. Queen Guinevere is childless and this could be the reason why she is not appealing to King Arthur. The latter focuses his attention on Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot as his possible heirs. Sir Thomas Malory’s female characters are centered on male ideals and traits. Women can only be considered in relation to heroic male actions, roles which they complement or defy.

Foreign Affairs :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the beginning of a seemingly endless war on terrorism, and a shaky United States economy, now hardly seems the time to examine our general policy towards all other nations, and developing nations in particular. The wreckage of the World Trade Center is still smoldering, and our troops are marching on Kabul as I write. Nationalism is at a height only previously experienced during the World Wars. Every other car you see on the highway has â€Å"Old Glory† proudly flying in their window or on their antenna, some right next to their Rebel Flag. On the surface it appears the United States has pulled together for one more righteous cause, and evil, or those that oppose the US as they are commonly called, will surely fall. We won’t stand for innocent attacks on civilians, and those damned Afghanis and Osama bin Laden had better hide. If you don’t believe this, not only are you un-American, but you must be a damn terrorist yourself. Quietly, howe ver, the argument is being made among scholars and free thinkers in the United States that perhaps we are not the innocent victims we portray ourselves to be in the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Some forward thinking minds even predicted a tragedy somewhat like this, albeit not on such a large scale. Unenlightened people ask why something like this could or would occur. What would make such a poor and unstable country like Afghanistan decides to stand up to the almighty United States? The answer is not an easy one, and requires a large adjustment in what we expect in foreign relations, and how we see and treat the rest of the world as a whole. The United States is one of the last remaining super powers of the world, and we have the obligation to maintain and support good relations with the smaller and weaker nations throughout the world. We should take full advantage of this relationship in several different ways, all without exploiting the original peopl es or our own power. First the U.S. must focus on investing and trading with those nations who have yet to become economic powers. Second, we must implement a consistent foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern nations, and all third world nations in general. Third, the United States needs to respect the attempts and results of the democratization and religious revivals in the Middle East and Latin America, while taking a passive role in letting the a Western type of democracy take its course.

Research on the Effects of Media Violence

Whether or not exposure to media violence causes increased levels of aggression and violence in young people is the perennial question of media effects research. Some experts, like University of Michigan professor L. Rowell Huesmann, argue that fifty years of evidence show â€Å"that exposure to media violence causes children to behave more aggressively and affects them as adults years later. Others, like Jonathan Freedman of the University of Toronto, maintain that â€Å"the scientific evidence simply does not show that watching violence either produces violence in people, or desensitizes them to it. † Many Studies, Many Conclusions Andrea Martinez at the University of Ottawa conducted a comprehensive review of the scientific literature for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1994. She concluded that the lack of consensus about media effects reflects three â€Å"grey areas† or constraints contained in the research itself.First, me dia violence is notoriously hard to define and measure. Some experts who track violence in television programming, such as George Gerbner of Temple University, define violence as the act (or threat) of injuring or killing someone, independent of the method used or the surrounding context. Accordingly, Gerber includes cartoon violence in his data-set. But others, such as University of Laval professors Guy Paquette and Jacques de Guise, specifically exclude cartoon violence from their research because of its comical and unrealistic presentation.Second, researchers disagree over the type of relationship the data supports. Some argue that exposure to media violence causes aggression. Others say that the two are associated, but that there is no causal connection. (That both, for instance, may be caused by some third factor. ) And others say the data supports the conclusion that there is no relationship between the two at all. Third, even those who agree that there is a connection between media violence and aggression disagree about how the one effects the other.Some say that the mechanism is a psychological one, rooted in the ways we learn. For example, Huesmann argues that children develop â€Å"cognitive scripts† that guide their own behaviour by imitating the actions of media heroes. As they watch violent shows, children learn to internalize scripts that use violence as an appropriate method of problem-solving. Other researchers argue that it is the physiological effects of media violence that cause aggressive behaviour. Exposure to violent imagery is linked to increased heart rate, faster respiration and higher blood pressure.Some think that this simulated â€Å"fight-or-flight† response predisposes people to act aggressively in the real world. Still others focus on the ways in which media violence primes or cues pre-existing aggressive thoughts and feelings. They argue that an individual’s desire to strike out is justified by media images in which both the hero and the villain use violence to seek revenge, often without consequences. In her final report to the CRTC, Martinez concluded that most studies support â€Å"a positive, though weak, relation between exposure to television violence and aggressive behaviour. Although that relationship cannot be â€Å"confirmed systematically,† she agrees with Dutch researcher Tom Van der Voot who argues that it would be illogical to conclude that â€Å"a phenomenon does not exist simply because it is found at times not to occur, or only to occur under certain circumstances. † What the Researchers Are Saying The lack of consensus about the relationship between media violence and real-world aggression has not impeded ongoing research.Here’s a sampling of conclusions drawn to date, from the various research strands: Research strand: Children who consume high levels of  media violence are more likely to be aggressive in the real world In 1956, researchers to ok to the laboratory to compare the behaviour of 24 children watching TV. Half watched a violent episode of the cartoon Woody Woodpecker, and the other 12 watched the non-violent cartoon The Little Red Hen. During play afterwards, the researchers observed that the children who watched the violent cartoon were much more likely to hit other children and break toys.Six years later, in 1963, professors A. Badura, D. Ross and S. A. Ross studied the effect of exposure to real-world violence, television violence, and cartoon violence. They divided 100 preschool children into four groups. The first group watched a real person shout insults at an inflatable doll while hitting it with a mallet. The second group watched the incident on television. The third watched a cartoon version of the same scene, and the fourth watched nothing. When all the children were later exposed to a frustrating ituation, the first three groups responded with more aggression than the control group. The children who watched the incident on television were just as aggressive as those who had watched the real person use the mallet; and both were more aggressive than those who had only watched the cartoon. Over the years, laboratory experiments such as these have consistently shown that exposure to violence is associated with increased heartbeat, blood pressure and respiration rate, and a greater willingness to administer electric shocks to inflict pain or punishment on others.However, this line of enquiry has been criticized because of its focus on short term results and the artificial nature of the viewing environment. Other scientists have sought to establish a connection between media violence and aggression outside the laboratory. For example, a number of surveys indicate that children and young people who report a preference for violent entertainment also score higher on aggression indexes than those who watch less violent shows. L. Rowell Huesmann reviewed studies conducted in Australia, Fi nland, Poland, Israel, Netherlands and the United States.He reports, â€Å"the child most likely to be aggressive would be the one who (a) watches violent television programs most of the time, (b) believes that these shows portray life just as it is, [and] (c) identifies strongly with the aggressive characters in the shows. † A study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2003 found that nearly half (47 per cent) of parents with children between the ages of 4 and 6 report that their children have imitated aggressive behaviours from TV.However, it is interesting to note that children are more likely to mimic positive behaviours — 87 per cent of kids do so. Recent research is exploring the effect of new media on children’s behaviour. Craig Anderson and Brad Bushman of Iowa State University reviewed dozens of studies of video gamers. In 2001, they reported that children and young people who play violent video games, even for short periods, are more likely to behave aggressively in the real world; and that both aggressive and non-aggressive children are negatively affected by playing.In 2003, Craig Anderson and Iowa State University colleague Nicholas Carnagey and Janie Eubanks of the Texas Department of Human Services reported that violent music lyrics increased aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings among 500 college students. They concluded, â€Å"There are now good theoretical and empirical reasons to expect effects of music lyrics on aggressive behavior to be similar to the well-studied effects of exposure to TV and movie violence and the more recent research efforts on violent video games. Research Strand: Children who watch high levels of media violence are at increased risk of aggressive behaviour as adults In 1960, University of Michigan Professor Leonard Eron studied 856 grade three students living in a semi-rural community in Columbia County, New York, and found that the children who watched violent television at home behav ed more aggressively in school. Eron wanted to track the effect of this exposure over the years, so he revisited Columbia County in 1971, when the children who participated in the 1960 study were 19 years of age.He found that boys who watched violent TV when they were eight were more likely to get in trouble with the law as teenagers. When Eron and Huesmann returned to Columbia County in 1982, the subjects were 30 years old. They reported that those participants who had watched more violent TV as eight-year-olds were more likely, as adults, to be convicted of serious crimes, to use violence to discipline their children, and to treat their spouses aggressively. Professor Monroe Lefkowitz published similar findings in 1971.Lefkowitz interviewed a group of eight-year-olds and found that the boys who watched more violent TV were more likely to act aggressively in the real world. When he interviewed the same boys ten years later, he found that the more violence a boy watched at eight, th e more aggressively he would act at age eighteen. Columbia University professor Jeffrey Johnson has found that the effect is not limited to violent shows. Johnson tracked 707 families in upstate New York for 17 years, starting in 1975.In 2002, Johnson reported that children who watched one to three hours of television each day when they were 14 to 16 years old were 60 per cent more likely to be involved in assaults and fights as adults than those who watched less TV. Kansas State University professor John Murray concludes, â€Å"The most plausible interpretation of this pattern of correlations is that early preference for violent television programming and other media is one factor in the production of aggressive and antisocial behavior when the young boy becomes a young man. However, this line of research has attracted a great deal of controversy. Pullitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes has attacked Eron’s work, arguing that his conclusions are based on an insignifica nt amount of data. Rhodes claims that Eron had information about the amount of TV viewed in 1960 for only 3 of the 24 men who committed violent crimes as adults years later. Rhodes concludes that Eron’s work is â€Å"poorly conceived, scientifically inadequate, biased and sloppy if not actually fraudulent research. Guy Cumberbatch, head of the Communications Research Group, a U. K. social policy think tank, has equally harsh words for Johnson’s study. Cumberbatch claims Johnson’s group of 88 under-one-hour TV watchers is â€Å"so small, it's aberrant. † And, as journalist Ben Shouse points out, other critics say that Johnson’s study â€Å"can’t rule out the possibility that television is just a marker for some unmeasured environmental or psychological influence on both aggression and TV habits. Research Strand: The introduction of television into a community leads to an increase in violent behaviour Researchers have also pursued the link b etween media violence and real life aggression by examining communities before and after the introduction of television. In the mid 1970s, University of British Columbia professor Tannis McBeth Williams studied a remote village in British Columbia both before and after television was introduced. She found that two years after TV arrived, violent incidents had increased by 160 per cent.Researchers Gary Granzberg and Jack Steinbring studied three Cree communities in northern Manitoba during the 1970s and early 1980s. They found that four years after television was introduced into one of the communities, the incidence of fist fights and black eyes among the children had increased significantly. Interestingly, several days after an episode of Happy Days aired, in which one character joined a gang called the Red Demons, children in the community created rival gangs, called the Red Demons and the Green Demons, and the conflict between the two seriously disrupted the local school.Universit y of Washington Professor Brandon Centerwall noted that the sharp increase in the murder rate in North America in 1955 occurred eight years after television sets began to enter North American homes. To test his hypothesis that the two were related, he examined the murder rate in South Africa where, prior to 1975, television was banned by the government. He found that twelve years after the ban was lifted, murder rates skyrocketed. University of Toronto Professor Jonathan Freedman has criticized this line of research.He points out that Japanese television has some of the most violent imagery in the world, and yet Japan has a much lower murder rate than other countries, including Canada and the United States, which have comparatively less violence on TV. Research Strand: Media violence stimulates fear in some children A number of studies have reported that watching media violence frightens young children, and that the effects of this may be long lasting. In 1998, Professors Singer, Sl ovak, Frierson and York surveyed 2,000 Ohio students in grades three through eight.They report that the incidences of psychological trauma (including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress) increased in proportion to the number of hours of television watched each day. A 1999 survey of 500 Rhode Island parents led by Brown University professor Judith Owens revealed that the presence of a television in a child’s bedroom makes it more likely that the child will suffer from sleep disturbances. Nine per cent of all the parents surveyed reported that their children have nightmares because of a television show at least once a week.Tom Van der Voort studied 314 children aged nine through twelve in 1986. He found that although children can easily distinguish cartoons, westerns and spy thrillers from reality, they often confuse realistic programmes with the real world. When they are unable to integrate the violence in these shows because they can’t follow the plot, they a re much more likely to become anxious. This is particularly problematic because the children reported that they prefer realistic programmes, which they equate with fun and excitement.And, as Jacques de Guise reported in 2002, the younger the child, the less likely he or she will be able to identify violent content as violence. In 1999, Professors Joanne Cantor and K. Harrison studied 138 university students, and found that memories of frightening media images continued to disturb a significant number of participants years later. Over 90 per cent reported they continued to experience fright effects from images they viewed as children, ranging from sleep disturbances to steadfast avoidance of certain situations.Research Strand: Media violence desensitizes people to real violence A number of studies in the 1970’s showed that people who are repeatedly exposed to media violence tend to be less disturbed when they witness real world violence, and have less sympathy for its victims. For example, Professors V. B. Cline, R. G. Croft, and S. Courrier studied young boys over a two-year period. In 1973, they reported that boys who watch more than 25 hours of television per week are significantly less likely to be aroused by real world violence than those boys who watch 4 hours or less per week.When researchers Fred Molitor and Ken Hirsch revisited this line of investigation in 1994, their work confirmed that children are more likely to tolerate aggressive behaviour in the real world if they first watch TV shows or films that contain violent content. Research Strand: People who watch a lot of media violence tend to believe that the world is more dangerous than it is in reality George Gerbner has conducted the longest running study of television violence. His seminal research suggests that heavy TV viewers tend to perceive the world in ways that are consistent with the images on TV.As viewers’ perceptions of the world come to conform with the depictions they s ee on TV, they become more passive, more anxious, and more fearful. Gerbner calls this the â€Å"Mean World Syndrome. † Gerbner’s research found that those who watch greater amounts of television are more likely to: * overestimate their risk of being victimized by crime * believe their neighbourhoods are unsafe * believe â€Å"fear of crime is a very serious personal problem† * assume the crime rate is increasing, even when it is not Andre Gosselin, Jacques de Guise and Guy Paquette decided to test Gerbner’s theory in the Canadian context in 1997.They surveyed 360 university students, and found that heavy television viewers are more likely to believe the world is a more dangerous place. However, they also found heavy viewers are not more likely to actually feel more fearful. Research Strand: Family attitudes to violent content are more important than the images themselves A number of studies suggest that media is only one of a number of variables that put children at risk of aggressive behaviour.For example, a Norwegian study that included 20 at-risk teenaged boys found that the lack of parental rules regulating what the boys watched was a more significant predictor of aggressive behaviour than the amount of media violence they watched. It also indicated that exposure to real world violence, together with exposure to media violence, created an â€Å"overload† of violent events. Boys who experienced this overload were more likely to use violent media images to create and consolidate their identities as members of an anti-social and marginalized group.On the other hand, researchers report that parental attitudes towards media violence can mitigate the impact it has on children. Huesmann and Bacharach conclude, â€Å"Family attitudes and social class are stronger determinants of attitudes toward aggression than is the amount of exposure to TV, which is nevertheless a significant but weaker predictor. † Undoubtedly that th e media has an effect on our lives. The debate that rages is whether or not the media has a negative and discernible effect on us as human beings. How much does the media effect out actions, our houghts, our decisions and, in general, our lives? We live in a society which praises individuality and freedom, and therefore to most people it is a scary thought that an outside source, such as the media, has such a large effect on our lives, and therefore it is no surprise that most people do not believe that the media has a strong effect on them. But when it comes to children, the debate becomes more personal. It is common knowledge that children are very impressionable, and that the people they meet, their parents, and teachers can have a huge impact in the lives of Children.I myself can attribute much of my current interests and behavior to the effect my parents had on my when I was a child. Today, though, many children are in poor families (the child poverty rate in America is now aro und 35%), and, as a result, many children often do not have parents that reside at home. Often both parents work long hours, and the children have nothing else to occupy their time except for the media, especially television media. How does what the child sees on TV effect his or her behavior?The real question that faces society is does the increasing amount of violence and sex on TV effect children? My personal opinion is that violence and sex in the media greatly effects a child's development. The amount of sex and violence on TV today dwarfs what was on when I was little. Does a day not pass when their is a story about a child killing another child, or an even younger girl becoming pregnant? When I go an elementary or middle school I am shocked at the types of clothing that the children wear, and the way that they talk and act.Even elementary school children know about things that I did not learn about till I was in High School, and in my opinion things they should not know ab Ki ndergarten teachers in many school across the country, often in poor immigrant neighborhoods, no longer get to deal with innocent, wide eyed six year olds, but instead have to become conflict resolvers between children who see violence and intimidation as the only way to solve any problems. Teachers and Parents cannot compete with television.A study by the Mediascope Institute found that many children have already, by age six, spent more time watching TV than time they will spend talking to their fathers in their entire lifetime. Dean Geoffrey Cowan spoke in class about how the media does not effect everyone uniformly. He said that the effects of violence in the media may be stronger on some individuals than others, but that this effect is still significant. I agree with Dean Cowan, and I want to add that this effect is stronger in younger children than in any other age group.Many students in the class did not seem to believe that the media had a very strong effect on their lives an d as a result seem to assume that this effect is uniformly weak, and unfortunately I believe that it is thinking like that is making it so difficult for us as a society to tackle this problem. Studies have shown that the effect of violence in the media on children can be small, leading to more violent behavior in maybe 15% of children. But other studies have shown that this effect can be greater when children are â€Å"raised by the media†.It is hard to say whether a certain child will become more violent or aggressive due to the media, and I believe that other factors contribute to violence in children, such as problems at home, the influence of peers, or lack of a positive source of morals. But as a society we need to make sure that there are options for children in the media so that they do not have to exposed to so much mature content, and I believe that currently the protections in place are terribly inadequate. The effects of our modern media on our children is somethin g that we will not truly know for many years, if ever.History might give us a clue – the parallels between the advent of todays new media and the advent of books show that we could be in for a paradigm societal change. But no other media absorbed ones life in such a passive, complacent way as television and the Internet do to thousands of children. More research needs to be done in this field, but I believe that it is self apparent to everyone that the media does have a large impact on our lives. We determine our identity in relation to the media – our favorite television show, favorite band, favorite book, all are determined by the media to some extent.Ideally, as adults we would learn the skills to discern the effect of media on our lives and learn to control and to resist its temptations. Unfortunately most children and too many adults have not learn these skills. Everyone agrees that in today’s society, television has a significant impact on us all. How it a ffects children is of primary concern, as it is in childhood that we are given the tools we need to become successful, respectful citizens as adults. How exactly does television impact childhood, and what should we do to ensure that that impact is a positive one?Television is one of the first ways in which children learn about gender roles and stereotypes. Although family and peer groups also teach these roles, it is through television that children are inundated with the sex roles and stereotypes that reflect the ideas of a handful of people in charge of creating and programming this medium. Although these portrayals have broadened in the last ten or so years to include more diversity in gender stereotyping, there are still many television icons that denote negative gender images, such as the Bratz.Bratz are a Saturday morning cartoon and a glut of heavily marketed toys and clothing products that represent tweens and early teens as overly sexualized independent young women with att itude. Although I admire the strength and empowerment they embody, I am also incredibly concerned with the revealing clothing, heavy makeup, and defensive postures the characters all seem to take. I can’t help but wonder what a ten-year-old watching these girls would take away as being the feminine traits that they represent.Will she want to identify with the strength and independence or with the heavy-handed sexuality that she sees? Add to that television’s fascination with glamorous girl icons such as Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton, and what are young girls supposed to believe about being a girl? Boys likewise have macho images to imitate—superheroes and wrestlers and sports heroes. What does that teach them about being male? How does the repetition of these images teach boys how to respect others, cooperate, and engage with those around them?These problems with television’s sex and gender stereotypes can only make it more difficult for these children to develop socially and emotionally. Being taught these gender stereotypes may make it almost impossible for some children to break out of those roles and become comfortable with all their traits and individualities. If a boy is taught by television that men are always strong, what does he do with his own characteristics that defy that stereotype—does he continue to build his nurturing qualities or quash them in an effort to fit in?Do children learn that relationships only work when both people are behaving according to television’s ideas of their gender stereotypes, or do children learn to accept and respect people along the entire continuum of gender traits? If children are lost in this quagmire of conflicting information about who they should be and how they should act, clearly they will not be able to develop the strong self-esteem they need to be successful, either at school or in relationships. There is a strong bond between all three of these developmental area s.There are lots of arguments made that television is a bane to the moral development of children. Violent television, especially, has been examined in over 1000 studies and reviews, and has been found guilty on the charges of increasing fear and aggression in children who watch too much violent. However, in many shows and in children’s programming especially, morality is key, with the entire story line being written around one character’s moral dilemma and the healthy resolution of that dilemma, offering children a way to see how morality works in action in ways that apply to their lives.Cognitively, there is some ambiguity of the impact of television. There is the argument that television is responsible for the â€Å"dumbing down† of America, that television is responsible for shutting down our brains and acting as a tranquilizer. But there are also a great many good educational and instructional shows that teach children interactively in ways that books simpl y cannot, and a perceptive look at television programs today verses those created twenty years ago reveals that shows have actually gotten more complex, with layers of storytelling and subtle nuances that audiences have to work harder to comprehend.Clearly, television is a powerful tool that can alter a child’s ideas about the world. How those ideas change and how the child changes in response demonstrate how the tool was used. Television can be detrimental to childhood; in fact, too much television watching is strongly correlated with childhood obesity. The time spent in front of the television could often be better spent in other ways—with friends, actively playing, or doing homework—and this often has negative consequences for the child, such as poor relationships or worse performance in school content. However, television watching can also be productive for children.Television can offer children the chance to see other parts of the world and other cultures w ithout having to leave home. Children’s educational programs and documentaries can teach them about animals, science, math, reading—just about any subject the child has an interest in. The key to making the time spent watching television rewarding is the manner in which it is done. If parents take the time to choose carefully the programs they want their children to watch, and then sit down and watch the show with them, asking questions to promote understanding, then that time is highly beneficial for the child.However, if parents don’t take the time to choose the child’s programs and just sit Junior down and let the television act as babysitter, then the time spent watching television will not only probably not teach that child new things, but he will also not be participating in the powerful social interaction he craves. In a 2001 article in The Nation, author Maggie Cutler makes the point that although television viewing is a rite of passage for Americ an kids today, parents need to remember â€Å"the rule of the real†: that real life is always more powerful. A real conversation is always better for children than watching one on television.Parents don’t need to go to the extreme of keeping their children from watching television completely; they just have to keep in mind moderation and attention is best. For parents, the question of whether or not to let a child watch television is like the question of whether or not to let a child eat at McDonald’s. There are potentially good and bad effects of each, and both decisions weigh on a child’s health. A cheeseburger and fries every once in awhile won’t do any lasting damage; nor will an hour of cartoons just for entertainment every now and then.However, a menu with little more than that will cause grave damage to a child’s development physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Negative Impact of Television on Children something with pl ay – dough. Since there is no scope for imaginative games in the lives of busy parents television seems to be the most inexpensive way of filling the gap and playing the role of an ideal baby sitter. Watching WWF fights, is on the other hand watching a show full of thumps, knocks, hurting an opponent, and jumping on senselessly. This program clearly sends out the message that ‘fighting is fun'.If children are constantly brought up in front of a television then reading habits are not instilled in them, and they are not encouraged to participate in outdoor activities. Only the world of television is their own private world. Of course when television replaces human companionship there is also a good chance of the child being influenced by it. Young children cannot process the information which they are imparted by the television, same way as adults. They think that whatever they are watching is true and this may lead to the corruption of their minds if too much violence is viewed by them.Parents should take strict action so they can limit the negative impact of television as much as possible. They should set rules as to what should be watched and what should be avoided. Alternative to television should be provided, for example if a parent starts spending more time with the child, reads books with him or her, indulge in creative games and indoor crafts, there is every possibility that the child will start shunning television for the better means of entertainment provided. To end it, I say that parents attitude towards the children acts as the building block of their futures.

Causes and Effects of Homelessness Essay

Homelessness is living without a home, be it on the streets or in shelters. There are many causes for people becoming homeless, and the combination of factors that lead to homelessness are different for every individual. Some of the factors that contribute to homelessness for youth, single adults, and families are poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness, limited assistance services, and personal choice. The effects are also varied and can pertain to communities, businesses, other people and the homeless themselves. Some of the effects of homelessness are health, personal, families, abuse, and the society. Although there are many reasons why people become homeless, this paper will only include the top five causes. Poverty is the number one leading cause of people becoming homeless, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Poverty is best known as that state of being poor. When people lack income to meet all of their needs, they are forced to choose between housing, utilities, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and food. Nationally, homeless who have been surveyed by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, high proportions of homeless individuals were found to be employed. However, wages are often not sufficient to ensure housing stability and many people do not have jobs that provide living wages, health insurance, or high job security. Roughly half of homeless adults have incomes of less than $300 per month, (National Coalition for the Homeless). A lack of educational opportunities limits access to living-wage jobs and contributes to poverty. Another issue related to poverty is high cost and shortage of housing. It is difficult, if not impossible, for low-income individuals and families to find affordable housing. It’s no wonder with the limited scale of housing assistance programs, and other services of aid. With growing poverty levels and more people becoming homeless, public assistance services are unable to  keep up with the demand. Public assistance can be described as government aid (publicly funded) or privately funded agencies (churches, and/or other charities) to needy, aged, or disabled persons and to dependent children. Assistance programs do exist, but many have regulations and requirements that many people don’t qualify for. There are also the issues of waiting lists that might be as long as six months or a year. Shelters are available, but may have limited space and are only temporary (usually measured by weeks, some only lasting two weeks). Even with the programs out there, most don’t have adequate funding for prevention of homeless. Whether people are abused, mentally ill, or have disabilities, assistance is becoming more scarce and strict including health care necessities. While homeless people consist of mentally ill people and addicts, this only makes up a small portion of the entire homeless population. Mentally illness is foreseen as various psychiatric conditions, usually characterized by impairment of an individual’s normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by physiological or psychosocial factors. Addicts consist of alcohol and drug users/abusers, which are considered of having habits of consuming either or both. According the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2005), about 16% of single adults are mentally ill homeless, and addicts make up less than this (addicts are more complex). It is difficult for either (mentally ill or addicts) to keep a job and often have trouble finding housing and treatment. Both, mentally ill and addicts, have a hard time finding services when living on the streets, thereby creating a cycle of homelessness and addiction from which it’s almost impossible to escape. Other homeless who need escape are the people of domestic violence. Domestic violence will consist of women and/or children whom are or have been physically, mentally, and/or emotionally abused (battered). Nationally, studies indicate that up to half of homeless women with children have experienced domestic violence, including children who are homeless. With specific shelters available for battered women, more women are fleeing their abusers, thus creating more homeless. Children, too, run away because of being battered and end up homeless. Children often encounter more abuse while on the streets to acquire food, shelter or clothing. Both, battered women and children are often forced with choosing between being abused or becoming homeless From interviews that I have conducted over the years,  there are still homeless people that just choose to become/stay homeless. I interviewed a homeless veteran back in 2009 whose name is Jim, and again in 2011. Jim informed me that he became homeless shortly after the Vietnam War because he chose to. He didn’t have family waiting for him, and had no desire of getting a job after serving his country. After being homeless for more than 15 years, he states that â€Å"it is easier†. He doesn’t have the hardships of paying bills such as rent, utilities, insurance, car fuel, and other bills. He also doesn’t have the responsibilities of caring for dependents, but living only for himself. Because of this advantage, he is able to survive on very little money. Jim says that â€Å"I focus on only the basics of food and hygiene†. With charities providing free food, soup kitchens, camping equipment, clothing and restroom facilities (including showers), Jim is able to survive without much begging. He claims that â€Å"being homeless gives me freedom† because he lives for the today and only planning for tomorrow. Though hard at times, simplicity can be blissful. Homelessness has a huge effect on an individual’s physical and emotional health. Homeless men and women suffer from colds that they cannot get rid of because they have no access to medicine. They suffer from vitamin deficiencies and often don’t get adequate sleep. Exposure to the elements and unsanitary living conditions can lead to frostbite, leg ulcers and upper respiratory infections. Serious illnesses like HIV/AIDS, diabetes and tuberculosis are more common in homeless people than amon g the general population. They also are more at risk for dependency on drugs and alcohol. Homeless individuals have no housing to protect them from physical violence and even rape. At the time when a homeless person realizes that he/she won’t have a roof to live under, it is hard for them to believe. It is this fact of not dealing with reality that makes homeless people less able to take actions, but they suffer psychologically as a result. Being without a home takes a terrible toll on children as well. Homeless children have higher rates of ear infections, stomach problems and asthma than other children their age. These children are also more likely to be depressed, anxious, or withdrawn, and have more difficulty in school than their peers. Homelessness tears families apart because some shelters won’t take boys and others won’t accept children. A mother may have to watch helplessly as her children are taken from her and placed with relatives or in foster care,  which highly affects the children. These can lead to emotional breakdowns that lead them to become institutionalized or they can begin to develop behavioral problems that land them in front of a judge. There is also the economic impact that homelessness has on society. Operating and maintaining homeless support services programs are costly ventures. The funding for these programs comes in the form of taxpayer dollars and private donations. Yet, most of these programs are generally unfunded, which means that only the most basic of services can be offered. This in turn means that many homeless are forced to seek alternate methods of getting their basic needs met. Subsequently, those homeless who cannot find employment will turn to recycling or panhandling as a means of putting money in their pockets. As the numbers of homeless who dig through garbage cans and dumpsters in search of recyclable items and as the number of homeless who panhandle increases there are the inevitable complaints to the community’s governm ent to do something about the homeless. This usually causes the city to adopt stricter laws concerning – and in some instances, prohibiting – these activities. Then, because of the need to enforce these ordinances, local law enforcement must be on the look-out for violators. For those homeless who are caught, the officer must then take the time to stop, check the person’s ID, and write the person a ticket. Which costs more money, because then it has to go through the local court system. Paperwork has to be filled out, court appearances must be set, and for those homeless who either don’t pay the fine or show up in court, additional paper work is created. If a warrant is issued, then the next time the person is caught, there is a possibility that they will be given a trip to the local jail – at taxpayer’s expense, of course – which means more paperwork. There is also an environmental impact that homelessness has on a society. Since most communities do not have anywhere near the amount of supportive resources needed for the numbers of homeless in their areas, the homeless will be forced to find alternate places to live and sleep. In more urbanized areas, this could be in the doorways of businesses after closing hours, behind buildings, public benches, bus shelters, building hallways and the like. In other, less urbanized communities, the homeless may seek shelter in â€Å"green belt† areas. Since every person has a need to heed the call of nature, and because many businesses deny the homeless the use of bathroom facilities,  the homeless are forced to use whatever convenient location they may find to tend to those needs. The cost of clean-up, once again comes out of taxpayer dollars. Since the 1940’s, the issue of homelessness has remained a growing concern within the U.S. Factors contributing to the problems are varied and deep-set within the make-up of our economy, and affect the economy as a whole. Not all homeless people chose to live in the streets or shelters. If a person believes this, then their perceptions are ignorant and unaware. Whatever the causes of an individual’s homeless, the consequences can be brutal. There is no one cause of homelessness and as a result there is no one solution. The solutions needed to eliminate homelessness are the same ones needed to prevent its occurrence. An understanding of the population and the causes of homelessness provides the background necessary to begin developing a strategy to end homelessness. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY About the Homeless: Snapshot of homelessness. National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2011. Web. 2011 October 3.  www.endhomelessness.org/section/about_homelessness/snapshot_of_homelessness On this web page, I accessed several inner links to gain additional information for more specifications. The National Alliance to End Homelessness gives lots of details pertaining to homelessness. There are statistics, characteristics and reasons of homelessness. This site focuses on educating people about homeless and offers homeless people resources. It gives common geographical areas of homeless, the types of people who are homeless, how often people become homeless and the reoccurrences. The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a non-profit organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness with updated and current information. This source helps emphasize the causes of my paper’s main topic, and reinforces the effects of homelessness based on facts. Jim. Personal interview. May 2009. Jim was a homeless veteran at the time of interview and has been homeless for more than 15 years. He was actually part of a â€Å"camp† community, consisting of seven other homeless people. I talked with several of them, but he is the one with the most to say. This interview is about some people choosing  to be homeless for no particular reason, other than it being easier. Jim talked about when he became homeless shortly after the Vietnam War. He hadn’t had family before the war, and didn’t have anyone/anywhere to turn to afterward. Society didn’t offer much support and government didn’t offer any help. So he became homeless. Now, it’s his way of life and he has no desire to change it. He has adapted to being homeless and finds that it’s easier (the others agreeing that it’s an easier way of life). Jim is still homeless as of August 2011, when I ran into him this summer. He mentioned that as a veteran and Obama’s help with veteran services, he now receives some assistance (food, cash, and METRO bus tickets for transportation). Even with new veteran’s laws passed to help homeless veterans, he remains homeless and claims to be too old to go back to work. This information supports my theory on some people choosing to be and stay homeless. USHUD 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS and STATISTICS. National Coalition for the Homeless, 2011 June 20. Web. 2011 October 1. www.nationalhomeless.org Why Are People Homeless? National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web.  2011 October 1. www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/why.html The National Coalition for the Homeless gives statistics and information about homeless people. Both web sites talk about what types of people become homeless and reasons why they become homeless. The main reasons described in detail pertain to poverty and housing statistics, but also give some examples of other factors. Information also includes characteristics of homeless persons. The information provided is factual and is as accurate as can be expected (homelessness cannot be known precisely). The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network that is working toward ending homelessness with current and updated information. The organization consists of many services that all fight for the rights’ of homeless people and report to congress. These sources give factual information about the causes and effects of homeless people, and support the topic of my paper.