Literature and Aspects of the Human Experience Essay

Literature offers a unique view into the human experience. Writers share their ideas about life through language, literary devices, and imagery. The human experience of love is one that every person can relate to. Three examples of literature that share this theme of love are: â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, â€Å"Love Song†, and â€Å"A Doll’s House†. Although some of the stories deal with family and parental love, this paper will focus on the aspect of romantic love. In the story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner romantic love was between Emily and the doomed Homer Barron; the poem â€Å"Love Song† by Joseph Brodsky gives the declarations of a man in love; and finally in the drama â€Å"A Doll’s House† Nora is fighting for the romantic love of her husband Torvald Helmer. Love is a shared theme in these stories, and the literature portrays this human experience in ways that allow the reader to better understand the mystery of romantic love. Romantic Love The story of â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner tells the sad tale of Emily Grierson. The story opens with Emily’s death. Her mortality sets the mood for this story of loss and sorrow. Although Emily has issues with parental and family love in this story the theme of romantic love is one that is truly tragic. Emily is the protagonist of the story. Her desire for love leads her to Homer Barron. Mr. Barron has come to Emily’s southern town to help in paving sidewalks. The ladies of town who still perceive Emily as part of a high society southern family do not believe that Emily could consider Homer Barron, â€Å"of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 241, para. 2). Emily does fall in love with Homer. Unfortunately the story leads us to believe that Homer was not seriously interested in Emily. â€Å"Homer himself had remarked – he liked men, and †¦he was not a marrying man† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 42, para. 1). Emily is found buying poison around this time. Homer Barron disappears. With the close of the story Emily dies. The house is opened and it is revealed that the dead body of Homer Barron is laid out in an upstairs bedroom â€Å"this room decked†¦as for a bridal†¦the man’s toilet things back with tarnished silver†¦the man himself lay in the bed†¦we noticed†¦the second pillow was the indentation of a head†¦a long strand of iron-gray hair† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, pps. 243 & 244, paras. 8, 1, & 3). Emily had been in love with Homer, but he did not return this love. Emily did not want to lose her love so she killed Homer and kept him with her. â€Å"Love Song† is a poem by Joseph Brodsky that is one man’s declaration of romantic love to a woman. The poem uses multiple metaphors of how much the man loves the woman. The wording reveals that the author has very conflicting views of romantic love which are often conflicting (Shippon, 2006). He offers to save her from drowning, yet then states he would arrest her and keep her imprisoned. Brodsky declares that he would try to make the woman happy when he says â€Å"if you were a bird, I’d cut a record and listen all night long to your high-pitched trill†¦if you were Chinese, I’d learn the language, burn a lot of incense, wear funny clothes, if you were a mirror, I’d storm the Ladies, give you my red lipstick and puff your nose† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 734). These declarations appear to show how the man would do things to impress the woman. Then Brodsky goes on to refer to love as a duty, obligation, and trap when he writes â€Å"if you were a sheriff, I’d arrest you†¦if I were a sergeant, you’d be my recruit†¦if you were my wife, I’d be your lover because the church is firmly against divorce† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 734). Brodsky’s ideas of romantic love give readers a picture of how complex love can be. â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen gives another sad account of the complexities of romantic love. â€Å"A Doll’s House† is a drama play that centers on the character of Nora Helmer. Nora goes through tremendous change in the course of the play as her ideas about love transform. Nora starts Act 1 as a childish girl trying to please her husband, Torvald; in Act 2 Nora acts out of desperation to save her marriage; then in Act 3 Nora comes to the realization that her husband never truly loved her at all (Bradford, 2012). Nora’s ideas of love are clouded by her relationship with her father. She carries on this relationship with her husband living as a source of entertainment and possession rather than a loving partner. Nora explains this when she says â€Å"I have existed to perform tricks for you, Torvald†¦I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child†¦I thought it great fun when you played with me†¦that is what our marriage has been† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 838). Ibsen portrays the romantic love between Nora and Torvald as being childish and confused. When the character of Nora realizes that she does not really love Torvald she leaves to find someone who loves her for who she is. The connection between these three examples of literature is the hopes and ideals of romantic love. Romantic love is a human experience that all people desire. Different authors may portray the complexities of love in different ways, but the truth remains that people will do almost anything for love, such as kill the love who threatens to leave them as in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†; fight for love, try to impress someone for love, and do things they do not want to for love as in the poem â€Å"Love Song†; and try to be something that they are not to make the person they love happy as in â€Å"A Doll’s House†. The use of specific literary devices A literary technique or device is any element or the entirety of elements a writer intentionally uses in the structure of their work. An author will use a literary device in short stories, plays, poems, and novels. There are several types of literary devices that can be used such as imagery, symbolism, and descriptive words to build the theme of a story. We will discuss the different literary devices that are used in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulker, â€Å"Love Song† by Joseph Brodsky and â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrick Isben. In William Faulker’s short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily, a series of literary devices were used to create the theme of the story, which was about Emily searching for love and acceptance. Faulker used foreshadowing throughout the story. He stated in the first line of the story â€Å"when Emily died, our whole town went to her funeral; he explains that the men go out of respect and the women go out of curiosity† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 241). Symbolism was also used throughout the story and was a main factor in getting the reader to understand the theme of the short story. The title â€Å"A Rose for Emily’ is an example of the symbolism used. The rose represents the absence of love that Emily feels. Also, one of the most effective elements that the author used in his development of the theme is the use of imagery. He portrays Homer Barron and Emily’s father as sort of villains who are preventing love. A reader can also see the symbolism used in â€Å"Love Song† by Joseph Brodsky. Brodsky describes multiple metaphors within the poem declaring that he would do anything for his love. He uses descriptive words, such as â€Å"If you were Chinese, I’d learn the languages, burn a lot of incense, wear funny clothes† and â€Å"If you loved volcanoes, I’d be lava relentlessly erupting from my hidden source† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 734). These descriptive words were used to express to the reader the way that Brodsky felt about this girl who he was in love with. In â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrick Isben the use of animal imagery are used mainly over the other literary devices. The animal imagery was used in the description of the main character in the play, Nora. This allows the reader to form a development of the character Nora. Isben uses words in the conversations between Nora and her Torvald. Torvald states in the beginning of the play â€Å"Is it my little lark tweeting out here? †(Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2011, p. 838). This tells the reader that Torvald considers Nora a possession, instead of an equal. Torvald also refers to Nora as a squirrel on different occasions, to indicate that Nora is sneaky or negative. The use of the animal imagery helps to build the characters of Nora and Torvald and the relationship of husband and wife. Symbolism was also used in this play. The symbol of the Christmas tree was used in the play in order to help set up the theme that everything may seem perfect, but as the play comes to an end, Nora breaks away from her marriage to go find herself.

Who Is the Real Monster in Mary Shelley’s Novel, Frankenstein?

Essay: â€Å"Who is the real monster in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein? † Mary Shelley’s objective was to write a novel about how important, or not appearances are. The saying â€Å"You can never judge a book by its cover†, is what Mary Shelley is trying to explain to the reader. The tree main characters have different ways of seeing life, but loneliness bonds them together. They’ve had unique and painful life experiences, but nothing can stop them from pursuing their goal. This book it starts of with Walton's journey, then Frankenstein’s story, then the monster's view and finally back to Walton's narrative.The purpose of this essay is to show who the real monster is. The first character is Robert Walton he is presented as a fearless captain of a crew. He is obsessed with the idea of finding another way to reach the North Pole. The following line can give you an idea about how determined and selfish he is, â€Å"I ordered us to wait one night longer, and took the chance to get some sleep†. He can also be bossy and companionate in the same time, for example in the next line â€Å"I told the man to wrap him in blankets and warm him by the ship’s stove†.Robert Walton wants to know more about Victor Frankenstein, he states: â€Å"When I asked if his studies had brought him to the frozen north, he looked at me with a deep sadness†. This shows that he can be compassionate too. Victor Frankenstein is the main character; he comes from Geneva, Switzerland. Since he was small he enjoyed discovering the unknown â€Å"I was more interested in nature than I was in people†. He was the biggest child in his family; he had 2 brothers and a half-sister.His passion of knowing was increasing every day â€Å"From that moment I was determined to find the answers to these questions, to discover the secrets of life†. Right before Frankenstein went to university his mother died â€Å"I was keen to go, but, just before I was to set out, my mother fell ill with a fever and died†. By going to university, after his mother’s death, show’s how selfish he is â€Å"In the end, of course, I had to leave†. Frankenstein had always been interested in science, but his interests developed more, once his mother died.Before going to university he promised Elizabeth, his half sister, that he will write to her â€Å"My dear Elizabeth clasped my hands and begged me to write, to write often, and I promised that I would†. But when he got to university he forgot his promise to Elizabeth. His arrogance leaded him to be such a good scientist â€Å"I smiled to hear this because I knew my understanding of science was not just the equal of theirs but far superior†. Now he wanted to learn more about dead bodies â€Å"I had to understand death and decay†. He regrets the fact that he continued with his research â€Å"Oh, Walton, if I had only stopped thereà ¢â‚¬ .His desire was to create life â€Å"I wanted to create a living being, a creature like myself but perfect and original†, he considered himself a God. Frankenstein also shows us how irresponsible he is, because he didn’t think about what will happen, or what will he do once he will create the monster. So he started working on the idea of creating life. The memory from his childhood â€Å"When the light was gone, the tree was left a blasted stump, smoking in the rain† affected him, now he was thinking about using electricity to create life â€Å"A flash of electricity like the one I’d seen destroy the tree†.When the creature gained life, Frankenstein gets scarred and ashamed of his creation â€Å"I felt a surge of triumph, but it lasted no more than an instant†. Frankenstein's description of the monster makes us think that he is horrific. ‘Black lips' and ‘watery eyes' are horrific Frankenstein's view. This description also portrays the monster in a bad way, although the monster has not done anything to be ‘evil' or ‘monstrous'. The only way he is monstrous is through Frankenstein's physical description. Frankenstein also uses rhetorical questions throughout the chapter.This gets the reader involved, but also reminds us that he is still telling his story to Walton. â€Å"But was I free? Could I ever be free while that dreadful thing was waiting for me in my work room? †. After his friend, Henry Clerval’s visit he realized that he was ill, when he went to check if the creature was still there he found out that â€Å"The monster had gone†. Frankenstein seems to have abandoned his creation, so this seems quite monstrous. On the other hand, the monster is certainly monstrous in appearance, though he has not done anything wrong at this point in the book.While Henry and Victor were having breakfast the terrible news of William’s death occurred and they left immediately . When he arrives at his home, and he realizes that the monster must have killed his brother, although he has no evidence â€Å"I had given life to the dreadful being that had killed my own brother†. However, Frankenstein says nothing in court, and lets his good family friend Justine hang. This adds to his monstrous behavior due to his cowardice. Frankenstein goes away to the Alps, and seeks comfort in nature, and to get away from the trouble at home, â€Å"From he first time in weeks I felt something like happiness in my heart†. Frankenstein is perhaps showing selfishness by leaving his family alone in these troubled times. This again, can make us question who the real monster is. But Frankenstein’s joy didn’t least. ‘Rage' and ‘horror' is how Frankenstein describes his emotions, and this shows how unexpected and scared he is. During this scene, Frankenstein also describes the monster in an ugly way, ‘vile demon’ and ‘devil '. Next, Frankenstein exaggerates by saying â€Å"You dare come to me after what you have done? †.The creature is just trying to talk to Frankenstein â€Å"Stay still and listen to me†. They blame each other for what happened and they both have strong arguments against each other. This starts to show who the real monster is, and how it could possibly be Frankenstein. At this point, Shelley has made us reconsider who is more monstrous and the person acting more monstrously is Frankenstein, due to his attitude towards the monster, and rejecting the monster's story, at first. At this point in the book, we are made to feel sorry for the monster, because he has been rejected.Also, the only description of the monster has come from Frankenstein. Since this is the case the creature may not look as bad as suggested. The monster then tells his story to Frankenstein. It begins with both Frankenstein and society rejecting the monster and he ends up running away, and living in a fo rest. Here he learns to read, because he continues listening to the poor family next door. The feeling of sadness gets worse after finding and reading Frankenstein’s diary. After analyzing ‘the happy family’‘s life he was hoping that he could ‘speak with them one day’.However, when he tries to talk the blind man, his family walk in, and ‘saves’ the old man from the ‘monster’. The monster was ‘born’ good, but the abandonment of his creator and of society has made him be who he is. This perhaps makes us feel sorrier for the monster, and also really makes us question who the real monster is. Because of his loneliness the creature begs Frankenstein to ‘make’ another creature, so he won’t be alone anymore. Firstly Frankenstein refused the creatures deal, but in the end he accepted. Frankenstein collected all the equipment he needed and retired on an island, where no one could find him.The mo nster watched every step of Frankenstein’s work, but in the end Frankenstein ‘began to destroy his new creation’ because ‘he refused to bring more misery into the world’. The monster was devastated and threatened Frankenstein, â€Å"I shall be with you on your wedding night! †. Frankenstein thought that the creature was going to ‘kill’ him, but sadly the ‘monster’ was referring to Elizabeth, the person Frankenstein cared the most. While he was going back to Geneva to ‘meet with Henry’, he found out that the creature killed someone again†¦ This time it was Henry, his best friend.On his wedding night Victor was shocked to find Elizabeth dead, â€Å"He was pointing at the lifeless form of Elizabeth, a grin twisted on his vile face†. But ‘the news of Elizabeth’s death was more than his poor father could bear. It broke his heart and he died’. Because of hatred towards his creato r, and society, he gets ‘corrupted' and kills many of Frankenstein's family. The creature regretted that â€Å"he had destroyed his greatest enemy, and his greatest friend, and all the hater I have left is for myself’.Frankenstein dies. Captain Walton learned a lesson. Within Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, all three characters show monstrous behavior. I believe that a monster is not recognized and defined only by its physical appearance. I believe that Frankenstein's creation is not the true monster in this novel. But neither are Frankenstein or Walton. In my opinion society is the real monster, because they â€Å"Judge a book by its cover†, in other words society cares just about someone’s looks and not about how they really are.

Family values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Family values - Essay Example This paper helps to thus discuss the kind of disparity that has ranged over the years between boys and girls as well as the kind of discipline that reigned between mothers and fathers with respect to bringing up their children. In the nineteenth century, America faced a great amount of debate with respect to the role of men and women within society. In most countries and customs around the world, women were always believed to be the ‘lesser mortals’ and were given lesser preference over men. Women were seldom allowed to work or leave the house in order to carry on with their own lives because their lives were supposed to revolve around their male counterparts, families and households. Women did not receive much education either, because their parents believed that they were to be married by the time they were nineteen or twenty, and thus there was not much scope to study or work after getting married. As time proceeded, women were given more and more importance in society as they began to prove themselves at par with the men. They came up in business, corporate sectors as well as education and extracurricular activities like sports and other cultural related aspects of life. Women began to read and write and the literacy rates went higher up. In the household, in earlier times, fathers had more say over what their children were to do or be when they grew up. In older America, most fathers ruled over the lives of their children, mostly the boys, and they were brought up to believe that their only purpose was to carry on the family name and legacy as well as the business if there was one. Mothers did not have much say in the lives of their children and only cared about the girls with respect to understanding the pain and trauma that the children went through. In recent times however, such a thought process has undergone a vast amount of change as women have truly come up and shined in all aspects. Sports are no longer seen as a man’s domain as women have

School Uniforms Gang Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

School Uniforms Gang Effect - Essay Example Both of these words are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)". Block quote  is another punctuation mark which is also called  long quotation  or  extracts quotation. It is a  quotation  in a written document that is set off from the main text as a paragraph or block of text, and typically distinguished visually using  indentation  and a different  typeface or smaller size quotation. This is in contrast to setting it off with quotation marks in a  run-in quote.   Apart from quotation marks not being used to enclose block quotations, there are no hard-and-fast rules for the exact formatting of block quotations. (Susan, pg. 360) In conclusion style for using a block quotation is preferred when extracting text that has 100 words or more, or approximately six to eight lines in a typical manuscript than using quotes. To a large extent the specific format may be dictated by the method of publication such handwritten  text,  typewritten  pages, or  electronic publishing as well as the  typeface  being

International dimensions of Intergrated Marketing Communication used Essay

International dimensions of Intergrated Marketing Communication used by ABSOLUT VODKA - Essay Example Ð °lliÐ °nce to offer customers globÐ °l reÐ °ch Ð °nd Ð ° smooth trÐ °vel experience; it is the company that managed to build strong relationships with its customers during short periods of time and reach big world recognition. Due to its huge success in beoming the leÐ °ding Ð °irline Ð °lliÐ °nce in the globÐ °l Ð °viÐ °tion business, the compÐ °ny hÐ °s been voted Best Ð irline Ð lliÐ °nce by SkytrÐ °x in 2003 Ð °nd 2005. From its eÐ °rly beginnings in 1997 with five founding Ð °irlines, 14 member Ð °irlines now come under the StÐ °r Ð lliÐ °nce fold: Ð ir CÐ °nÐ °dÐ °, Ð ir New ZeÐ °lÐ °nd, Ð NÐ , Ð ustriÐ °n Ð irlines, bmi british midlÐ °nd, LÐ °udÐ ° Ð ir, LufthÐ °nsÐ °, MexicÐ °nÐ °, SÐ S ScÐ °ndinÐ °viÐ °n Ð irlines, SingÐ °pore Ð irlines, ThÐ °i Ð irwÐ °ys InternÐ °tionÐ °l, TyroleÐ °n Ð irwÐ °ys, United Ð irlines Ð °nd VÐ RIG. TodÐ °y Ð ° StÐ °r Ð lliÐ °nce Ð °ircrÐ °ft tÐ °kes off or lÐ °nds every four seconds to one of 729 Ð °irports in 124 countries, providing customers with Ð ° truly globÐ °l reÐ °ch. Focusing on customer priorities, StÐ °r Ð lliÐ °nce Ð °irlines hÐ °ve concentrÐ °ted on hÐ °rmonising timetÐ °bles to reduce trÐ °nsfer times Ð °t Ð °irports Ð °nd offer seÐ °mless worldwide trÐ °vel. In addition to reducing customer turnover, important reason supporting the importance of customer satisfaction is the belief that a satisfied customer base is likely to be a firms single greatest source of sustainable competitive advantage (Sriram et al., 1992). This implies that a loyal customer base is an asset composed of the discounted present value of the future stream of profits from a continuing relationship. StÐ °r Ð lliÐ °nce hÐ °s Ð °lso responded to the customer’s need for recognition by linking Ð °ll Ð °irline frequent flyer progrÐ °mmes thus Ð °llowing pÐ °ssengers to Ð °ccrue Ð °nd redeem mileÐ °ge Ð °cross the network. To celebrÐ °te the 5th Ð °nniversÐ °ry StÐ °r Ð lliÐ °nce hÐ °s lÐ °unched Ð ° promotion Ð °llowing members of the Ð °irline loyÐ °lty progrÐ °mme to eÐ °rn up to 55,555 bonus miles by flying five different StÐ °r

Patterns of Employee Motivation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Patterns of Employee Motivation - Research Paper Example The motivated taskforce not only helps in achieving the organizational tasks accurately but also assure the long-term success of the firm. Pinder (1998) asserts that motivation is an energizing force. It gives energy to the workforce in moving ahead with the same pace. Different organizations have different patterns of employee motivation. The process of employee motivation is difficult for distinct patterns of human behaviour. This paper aims to analyze the motivating factors of employees in organizations, including a discussion on practical and realistic ways of motivating a diverse workforce in an organization. In order to successfully implement a motivational plan for employees, it is important to understand and know the behavioural patterns of the employees. It is not an easy task to individually assess and analyze the behavioural pattern of each employee. However, researchers have helped in making decisions about the behavioural patterns by providing three broad categories. The first category involves the ‘self-actualized’ employees who are never de-motivated and have high spirits and passion to achieve the goals. It involves an estimated 10 per cent of the total workforce. The second category involves ‘fence sitters’, who can be motivated using the motivational techniques and skills. The largest group of the workforce belongs to this category (i.e. around 80%). The third category involves the remaining 10 per cent of employees who are difficult to be managed and motivated. These employees do not intend to achieve anything over and above their current performanc e. In other words, they do not have any intention to get motivated and improve their performance. The importance of categorizing the employees is the fact that the middle category (i.e. 80-90%) of the employees get motivated to improve their performance by the way self-actualized employees are treated and rewarded (Subburaj. 2005). The most important factor to consider before implementing any technique of employee motivation is to understand the nature of the workforce, categorize employees into groups and apply appropriate motivational techniques for each group.     

The education system compare and contrast 2 countries(USA&UK) Essay

The education system compare and contrast 2 countries(USA&UK) - Essay Example According to the national curriculum, there are four key stages in the education system. The first and second stages combined, form the primary level of education, comprising of learners between the ages of five to eleven year. Stages three and four make up the secondary level and comprise of learners between the ages of eleven and fourteen year. Throughout the above stages, standard assessment tests are regularly administered to learners. The last key stage is the GCSE in which, students learn English, maths, citizenship, Information Technology, science and physical education. At the end, learners take the GCSE examinations in each subject. At the higher education stage, learners may opt to further their education by enrolling in vocational colleges or pursue secondary education for another year. Entry into universities in the United Kingdom, however, requires students to study for two more years then sit the Advanced Level examinations. Undergraduate degrees take three years to complete, one year for a master’s degree or two years for a research master’s degree. A doctorate takes three years to complete while professional courses such as teaching, medicine and law take five years. In the United Kingdom students are not ranked within their study year, rather, the GCSE, SCE, AS and A-level exams are used to assess their performance. The education system of the United Kingdom is advantageous in that; it provides in-depth learning of a particular discipline. This is especially useful for a student wishing to specialise in a particular field especially at the university. Another advantage is that education is relatively cheap since it is state funded. A disadvantage, though, is the number of subjects taught to children at the primary stage, which is seen to be too much for such young brains to handle. In the United States, the structure of the education system incorporates; primary, secondary and higher successively.

Strategic and Transport Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic and Transport Planning - Essay Example Question one (A). The chief advantages/disadvantages of shifting more freight from road to rail. Modes of transportation are many in the United Kingdom. The movement of these goods include pipelines, truck, rail, water, and air. The progress of goods moved by way of a truck, per recent statistics; show very small increases. However, in contrast this same amount of freight moved by rail is comparable when one considers mathematically that when the amount multiplied the distance of this measurement is in ton-miles. Advantages Any thriving growing economy has to depend upon freight transportation. Freight lines are is a critical component of any economy. In the United Kingdom, it necessitates that the improved punctuality and reliability, tracked in rail services delivery was at least 85% in 2006. By 2010, that number increased substantially. The use of public transport (bus and light rail), has increased by more than 12% in England. When readers compared this with 2000, it maintains steady growth in every region (stalban.gov). Very impressive when readers can look at the reduction of the amount people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain on all road accidents. In a literal context, the numbers decreased by 40% and the number of children's death toll went down by 50%. These government statistics shows the UK has made large improvement to the death percentages and overall death tolls have decreased. This further shows a dramatic difference especially, in several of disadvantaged communities that, statistically by 2010 compared with the average deaths that reported in the past of 1994-98. The UK quietly has dropped many targets fixed in the 10-Year Transport Plan published in 2000: Found in (Future of Transport, 2030). †¢Source: the Future of Transport: a network for 2030 Disadvantageous Going by rail has several disadvantageous. However, when looking at the advantageous is seems almost insignificant. Rail has limited routes at times, is just does not stop everywhere. The routes and the timetable s seem to be a bit inflexible. It can be more expensive if the corporation has a large amount of freight to haul, and it can sometimes be unreliable. Question two (B). Using an example of a major rail freight facility describes the opportunities that may take up by industry. The UK shows this to be a monumental success story in rail freight in the transport sector over the last 15 years. An estimated ?one point five billion of investment is in rolling stock, terminals, and support facilities show growth of over 60% that the industry achieved. The industry’s reliability and punctuality in all business segments meets its customers’ requirements. A very high and improving percentage of inter-modal services in past arrivals were at their destinations on time (stalbans.gov). The company runs more than 5,000 freight trains a day throughout Europe and is the parent business of DB Schenker rail (UK) Ltd (DBSR). DBAG’s purchase of EWS was a strategic move to offer a netw ork of integrated rail services throughout Europe. DBSR announced the establishment of a new service for the temperature-controlled product collected from suppliers called Tesco goes through Spain, then transported by rail across France and through the Channel Tunnel to London. One train per day initially covers this service. This gives Tesco and other major UK retails significant potential for

Medical Ethics in Palliative Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Medical Ethics in Palliative Care - Essay Example This begs the question, just how precious or sanctified is human, life? That is probably the most subjective moral question one can posit , and the answers will vary widely based on the respondent religious humanist beliefs or lack of thereof. Many people hold that life is indeed priceless and/or sacred, however their view of how it should be treated in different circumstances tend to be radically different, under the phase sanctity of life, the idea of life’s sacredness is widely applied by pro-life activist to argue against issue such as abortion, euthanasia and abortion (Doerflinge and Gomez, 2010). Central to the debate on life sanctity is the subject of euthanasia which is one of the most controversial moral, religious and medical issues of all times (Baranzke 2012, p.295). The setting in which it most frequently arises is in palliative care where many patients spend the last days of their lives under medical care without any hope of recovery only awaiting what is assumed to be a certain death. In some cases, patients in this situations or their family may request that treatment is stopped or that the patient is given a lethal dosage or drugs such as morphine to â€Å"save† them from pain. While it is allowed in some states and countries but the legality has not significantly served to reduce the amount of controversy surrounding the issue. This paper will discuss the importance of sanctity of life through several arguments against euthanasia for patients undergoing palliative care and then examining and disproving some of the opposing views that have been used to trivialize sanctity by pointing out their underlying weakness with a view to prove that; irrespective of the intentions, euthanasia is morally and medically unjustifiable. The concept of euthanasia has been in existence for almost as long as the

Gun Control Essay Example for Free

Gun Control Essay The debate on gun control has raised certain issues that need to be addressed in order to lower the deaths of American citizens from gun shots. This term paper discusses the issue of the gun control policy. The topic has raised many questions, because there are people who oppose any action taken by the government to abolish possession of the fire arms, while others support the gun control policy. However, thinking of the issue carefully, you will agree with me, that there is need for the government to control the possession of guns. Last year in June, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans had a right to keep guns at their homes, but only for self defense. It also ruled in favor of the possession of hand guns, saying that they are easier to handle, and that the party defending himself could point it towards the burglar, while he uses the other hand to dial up the police. Am not saying that the possession of the guns is a bad idea, but looking at the negative side of it, the crime rates will probably increase as the years move on. Why? Because if the government does not do anything to control the guns situation, dangerous criminals will have easy access to guns, which will obviously translate to an increase in the crimes committed. It is also surprising to note that even the gun control activists no longer put much effort in the campaign as they are expected to by the Americans. A good example s the school shooting incidences that occurred in 2001, on the month of March, where there were shooting incidences at two schools in Pennsylvania and California. People expected the then New York senator Charles E Schumer, who was a supporter of the gun control policy, to take serious actions on this incidence. But to the shock of many supporters of the policy, he simply suggested that the gun owners should set a code of ethics on a voluntary basis on the use of guns. This was a very cold response from a supporter of the gun control movement, which in 2000 almost had the government change the law on guns. Sarah Brandy, a member of the Hand Gun control had once addressed millions of people at a march. She told the Americans that if they had to make the future better, then they had to force the government to change the law on gun use. She also suggested to the people that if the government didnt consider changing the laws, then in the coming, election, (the 2001 November election), Americans would elect in a government that would see the gun control policy changed into a law. However, this dream never came true. The former president Bush was elected in, and he was a supporter of the anti gun control policy. The election of Mr. Bush, who had been an ally with the N. R. A, brought down all the hope and the possibilities of ever changing the gun policies that were in use then. The former president, as the Texas senator went ahead to sign laws that made it hard for the Americans to sue the manufacturers of weapons like guns, and those that made it legal for people to walk around with guns. (Dao James, 2001) It is not until the election of a new president, President Obama, that Americans have had the hope of seeing a change in the gun policies. The new president supports the gun control policy. Te issue on the gun control was a big debate, as his running mate Mc Cain supported Mr. Bush’s gun policies. He said that he did not see ant problem with the Americans keeping guns. President Obama said that he saw a number of American homes with guns, but he did not see the need for the Americans to keep the guns in their homes. There is some hope that he won’t destroy the hopes of his many fans and supporters. The gun control history has been dated from as early as the 1700s. The 1700 amendment on gun policies did not ever change the practice that was there in the past of keeping guns away from the wrong people. Moreover, it did not keep the militia from owning the guns. Americans who could buy the custom made guns for their personal uses continued to do so with much ease as the gun control regulations had been lessened and favored them. Te need to keep the fire arms for militia use was not the priority of the American men. The second amendment on the gun control saw the total number of the people that owned the guns increase rapidly. Even then, the constitutional analysts disagreed with the laws that allowed the citizens to own fire arms, especially if they were not in the military. Coming to the 1900s, guns control was still an issue, not only in America, but also in other countries like England and France. There is a need to make strict or to take serious, the two Acts; the 1934 National Forearms Act and the 1968 Gun Control Act, which were big steps towards establishing policies on gun Act. These two would provide good guidelines to making policies that can be effective. The 1934 Act made a strict law that anyone with a gun had to register with the authorities. There was also a tax charge on the ownership of short barreled guns and machine guns. On the other hand, the 1968 Act put an end to the sale of guns through the mail order services. There were also changes that the interstate selling of guns and fire arms be illegal. It was also illegal for minors to own or handle any sort of fire arms in any way. There was a limited access to the then newly manufactured weapons. The manufacturers, weapon dealers and those who carried out any activities on the sale of the weapons had to obtain a license from the responsible authorities. Other efforts that have been made on the gun control policy implementation were by the 106th congress. The congress suggested that there be a background check at the gun shows to ensure that no selling activities are done during the shows. It also enforced the use of fire arm locks, in order to prevent any gun shot accidents. There was also a proposal to increase the controls on the use and ownership of guns and other assault weapons. These were good proposals that would have changed the guns situation in America. Despite the mention of these proposals by the congress, none of them were enacted. Using the media to gain American’s support on the gun control policy The use of the media to promote the gun control campaign would be effective. All the Americans have access to the media, be it trough the news paper, the televisions, the radio, the websites or by use of the bill boards. In my efforts to support the gun control campaign, I would set advertisements in the television media, all to be aired at the same time and regularly, especially at prime time when most people are watching. It is also important to post the advertisement at the most watched television channels like CNN or BBC. This would be expensive, so funds are needed to support the campaign. Inviting donors to support the media advertisements is a good way to fund the petition. Featuring the crimes and the deaths that have occurred as a result of the gun exposure to people is also an important step towards the gun control petition. Another way to influence the media is to talk to the media owners and any other persons who might have an influence on what the media airs. Further more, advertising such a petition on the news papers would attract peoples attention on the issue. Creating websites and making cites where people can sign to show their support for the gun control petition is another way that might not only show the number of people that support the petition, but also to know the intensity at which the Americans support the petition. The main aim of using the media would be to make those who are not aware of the campaign more informed, and to convince, persuade or to change the minds of anti gun control Americans. The media will also give people the reason as to why they should support the gun control policies. Influencing the law makers. These are the government officials and politicians who have an influence on the laws that govern the country. It is true that you cant force the politicians to do what you want them to do, but you can either gain or buy their influence on the issues that are of your interest and that will make you achieve your goals. To do this, you have to earn the trust of the politicians, and this can be possible through the things that you say or do to them. Building good relationships with those that have influence in the government decisions and policies, including those that are not in support of the petition. You may also want to look for a way to favor the decision makers, so that in a way, you are also favoring them while as well reaching your goals. For example, helping them achieve their political goals may be a motivation to them to support the gun control petition. Respecting them and their decisions is also a way of acknowledging their superiority, which might lead them to listening to what you have to tell them, hence gaining their attention. Changes that I would like to see on the gun act The government should amend the current law on guns. It has made it very easy to gain accessibility to guns, just as it is easy to buy bread at the local store. That is why there should be implementations that will make it hard for criminals to get guns. The police should prioritize the cracking down of illegal gun owners so that the number of youths with guns reduces, and this will also lead to a drop in the number of crimes carried out using guns. This exercise should also make it hard for the criminals to obtain guns and other fire arms. A recent study that was conducted through administration of interviews with gang members and illegal gun dealers said that if guns were harder to obtain, then definitely the number of crimes committed using the guns would decrease. The death rates of victims from violent and brutal attacks would also decrease. Statistics have shown that out of the approximated 18000 annual homicides, only a third lacks a gun involvement. Research has also shown that gun violence costs the American society about 100 billion dollars per year. (Cook P. etal, 2000) If the government made amendments on the gun laws, then they would save America a lot of lives and money. Some States like Chicago have strict rules about gun controls. The law makers should ensure that such strict regulations are imposed and made in to law. The gun control policy should also consider allowing the hunters to keep their guns. Most hunters do not keep their guns for purposes of committing crimes, but as sport equipment. One of the reasons why hunters should be allowed to have guns is because they help keep the deer population in control. If they are denied the right to own and keep guns, then the deer population is gong to increase. Banning the hunters from keeping the guns would be dangerous for the deer as the population increase would mean that the food would decrease. The second amendment law therefore needs to be kept. Also, if hunters are not allowed to keep guns, there will be a shortage of the funds used to maintain and conserve the wildlife habitats. The licensing fee and taxes paid by the hunters for their guns is used to maintain the national parks. Statistics show that most of the funds come from the payments made on the guns. Should the hunters be restricted from hunting with guns, they will use other ways to hunt, like practicing drive hunts. This is hunting done by hitting the animals with the cars. It is a very dangerous way of hunting and could lead to huge accidents or worse, deaths. It should also be noted that hunting is also a good sport that is supported by most Americans. The law makers should regulate the gun policies, but allow the hunters to keep the guns so as not to take away what some people enjoy doing. I would also like to see the new laws on guns allow the honest people keep their guns for the sake of protecting themselves. It is said that for every 13 seconds, an American uses a gun to defend himself against a criminal. New policies should see to it that ownership of guns for the purpose of protecting and defending oneself should not be confused with the intentions of the criminals and other bandits. A good reason why the support for the guns for defense purposes should be is because Americans can not entirely be dependent on the police for their safety. It should be known that the police do not actually prevent the crime from occurring, but they only intervene after the crime has already been committed. It is in very rare occasions that the police have arrived at a crime scene before the crime is done. Another reason for the keeping of the guns for self defense is that a world where homes are not allowed to defend them selves with guns is more prone to death through shootings by criminals. Restricting the use of guns for self defense in a society that is full of crimes involving guns is not doing the society any good. Instead, regulations should be set on restricting the criminals from accessing the guns. (Kleck G, 1997) Gun registration and court sentences There should be a national wide program to ensure that any person that purchases a gun is registered in the system. For example, a person who lives in New York, which has strict gun laws, is in need of a gun; he can go to a State with less strict laws on the guns, ask a friend who lives there to buy a gun for him and then smuggles the gun back to New York. Even though that is an illegal practice, people still do it and the bottom line will be that the person will be in possession of a gun. There should be severe punishments for those who buy the guns for others incase they are caught. That would be enough to scare them. Also, if there were strict laws on gun purchases, then no person would purchase a gun for the other. I would also suggest that the waiting period during the purchase of the guns be extended instead of being one day as some people want it to. A thorough background check on the gun purchasers is also important. Individuals involved in juvenile cases, any misdemeanors and any fishy backgrounds should not be allowed town or carry guns around. The sentences imposed on criminals who use guns should be increased to scare any criminals intending to commit a crime. Emphasis on measures to control crime, (education. ) Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between crime offenders and lack of education. This occurs when the youth and teenagers are idle because they have no jobs or do not attend school. They tend to involve themselves in illegal activities, among them the possession of illegal fire arms and using them to commit crimes. Parents have been advised to invest in educating their children because this will prevent them from becoming criminals and would also make the rate of the crimes to drop. A lot of money is spent in catering for the cost of the crimes committed with guns, including the hospital bills and buying the fire arms. Gun education should also be an important part of the gun act, where it can be a requirement for gun purchasers to undergo a special education to ensure that they are able to handle guns. Arguments against my position Although guns are an advantage, they too have serious disadvantages. The obvious problem is that they make injuring or killing people very easy. There are different types of murders; the premeditated first degree murder, in which the killer could kill, whether there is the presence of the gun or not, or given more time to think of how to kill the person. Then, theres murder during the process of committing a crime, murder among friends, lovers, or the careless murder committed by criminals just any how. There are also the injuries as a result of gun crimes, but are not sufficient enough to cause death. Deaths because of gun wounds are decreasing, not because people are not killing anymore, but because the doctors are getting more equipped on treating gun wounds. The presence of a gun when committing the crime makes the crime more lethal. If the murder is that of an acquaintance or between any close people, then the presence of the gun makes it easier to kill, because it is fast. The person does not think of what he is doing, until after he has already killed the other. This is especially common with people who get angry easily and have an easy access to guns. Although it is reasonable to keep guns for self defense, they may also be a reason to cause us harm. Guns are also an aid for people who want to commit suicide. Research shows that residents of homes that have a gun are likely to commit suicide five times more than of the homes where there is no access to guns. There are controversies on whether suicide is illegal or immoral, but that doesnt change the fact that guns make the suicide much easier, especially when the victim is depressed, or is under drug influence. Arguments against my proposal The imposition of more strict rules on the gun control act will not prevent the criminals from committing crimes. Why, because there are other available weapons which can be used to kill or injure other people. These are weapons such as knives, machetes, clubs or any other object that can kill. More recent studies have also shown that when murder is committed using a gun, the probability that it would still have occurred if a knife was used is twice that of the gun.

What Do The Media Do To People Media Essay

What Do The Media Do To People Media Essay In 1959, E.Katz, a psychologist by profession was trying to grapple with the question what do the media do to people? which other researchers were attempting to answer. According to Katz, what people did with the media was more important and worthy of research. He assumed that mass media audiences are active participants in the interaction and therefore it was important for the research to focus on motivations for selecting a medium and the expected gratification from it. This led to the development of uses and gratifications theory. Uses and gratifications theory attempts to explain the uses and functions of the media for individuals, groups, and society in general. There are three objectives in developing uses and gratifications theory: 1) to explain how individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs. What do people do with the media. 2) to discover underlying motives for individuals media use. 3) to identify the positive and the negative consequences of individual media use. At the core of uses and gratifications theory lies the assumption that audience members actively seek out the mass media to satisfy individual needs. It is an audience-centred approach. When an audience actively seeks out media, they are typically seeking it in order to gratify a need. For example, in social situations, people may feel more confident and knowledgeable when they have specific facts and stories from media to add to conversation. By seeking out media, a person fulfils a need to be informed. Social situations and ps ychological characteristics motivate the need for media, which motivates certain expectations of that media. This expectation leads one to be exposed to media that would seemingly fit expectations, leading to an ultimate gratification. There are three main paradigms in media effects: hypodermic needle (i.e., direct, or strong effects), limited effects, and the powerful to limited effects. Uses and Gratifications falls under the second paradigm. The hypodermic needle model claims that consumers are strongly affected by media and have no say in how the media influences them. The main idea of the Uses and Gratifications model is that people are not helpless victims of all-powerful media, but use media to fulfil their various needs. These needs serve as motivations for using media. The media dependency theory has also been explored as an extension to the uses and gratifications approach to media, though there is a subtle difference between the two theories. Dependency on media assumes audience goals to be the origin of the dependency while the uses and gratifications approach focuses more on audience needs, however both theories agree that media use can lead to media dependency. The media dependency theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media to fulfill needs, the more significant the media becomes to that person. DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1976) illustrate dependency as the relationship between media content, the nature of society, and the behaviour of audiences. Littlejohn (2002) also explained that people will become more dependent on media that meet a number of their needs than on media that touch only a few needs. Dependency on a certain medium is influenced by the number of sources open to an individual. Individuals are usually more dependent on available media if their access to media alternatives is limited. The more alternatives there are for an individual, the less is the dependency on, and influence of, a specific medium. Kazt supported the idea of studies which sought to find out what people do with the media. He cited a 1949 Berelson study conducted by interviewing people during a newspaper strike about what they missed in the newspaper. Many read because they felt it was the socially acceptable thing to do, and some felt that the newspaper was indispensable in finding out about world affairs. Many however, sought escape, relaxation, entertainment, and social prestige. These people recognized that awareness of public affairs was value in conversations. Some wanted help in their daily lives by reading material about fashion, recipes, weather forecasts and other useful information Severin and Tankard Jr. (1992:270). Davidson in Severin and Tankard Jr. (1992:269) argues that the communicators audience is not a passive recipient; it cannot be regarded as a lump of clay to be moulded by the master propagandist. Rather the audience is made up of individuals who demand something from communications to whic h they are exposed, and who select those that are likely to be useful to them. In other words, they must get something from the manipulator if he is to get something from them. A bargain is involved. The uses and gratifications approach involves a shift of focus from the purposes of the communicator to the purposes of the receiver. To a large extent, the user of the mass communication medium is in control. Uses and gratifications approach reminds us that people use the media for various purposes. Studies have shown that bored audiences use the media for exiting content while stressed subjects would use relaxing content, supporting the idea that audiences choose media content to provide gratifications they are seeking. Elliot and Rosenberg concluded that much of mass media use might be merely a matter of habit. They carried a study in which people indicated that they watched some soap operators out of habit which they enjoyed doing. Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz devised their uses and gratifications model in 1974 to highlight five areas of gratification in media texts for audiences. These include: Escape some media texts allow the user to escape from reality. For example, video games. Social interaction People create personal relationships with the characters in a media text. Potentially this could become dangerous if people do not question the reality of such texts. It also creates a common ground for conversation in peoples everyday lives. Identify People often identify a part of themselves in a media text, either through character or circumstance. For example, hair style trends stemming from a magazine feature. This can go a long way in peoples ideologies. Inform and educate the audience gain an understanding of the world around them by consuming a media text, for example print and broadcast news. Entertain consumed purely for entertainment purposes, meaning that text need not have any other gratifications. The Uses and Gratifications Model of the Media The mass media is a huge phenomenon. Through the various different platforms, print or broadcast, the media is able to reach millions of people like no other force. Without the media, powerful speeches by politicians would affect no one, local events would remain local, and performances by great actors would be seen only by the people in the immediate audience. The media overcomes distances, and builds a direct relationship with the audience. Many sociologists have attempted to explore what effects this has on society, and how the media fits in to our social network. Through many programmes of research, including focus groups, surveys, questionnaires, clinical studies and plain hypothesising, a number of models describing the medias relationship with audiences have been drawn up. Initially, researchers approached the subject from the angle of how the media is able to manipulate audiences, injecting messages into their minds. This hypodermic model, as discussed in the earlier part was rejected after closer examination. The Uses and Gratifications model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point of view of audiences. The model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch the television programmes that we do, why we bother to read newspapers, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap. The underlying idea behind the model is that people are motivated by a desire to fulfil, or gratify certain needs. So rather that asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media. The model is broken down into four different needs. Surveillance: The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on in the world around them. One of the genres this is often applied to is news. By watching or reading about news we learn about what is happening in the world, and as the news is usually bad news, this knowledge leaves us feeling more secure about the safety of our own lives. This idea might seem a bit strange, that the more we know about tragedies the safer we feel, but sociologists argue that ignorance is seen as a source of danger, and so the more knowledge we have the safer we feel. When looking at the news its easy to spot news items that give us this reaction. For example if it wasnt for watching the news we might be unknowingly become vulnerable to the latest computer virus or end up in a hospital with an epidemic like swine flu. Its not just news that fulfils the surveillance model however; the theory can also be seen in many consumer and crim e-appeal programmes. These appeal directly through the idea that they are imparting information that people need to know. The programmes talk far more directly to the viewer, and even try to get the viewer involved in the programme. Because these programmes deal purely with national and local concerns, without such vagaries as world news, the issues apparently have the potential to affect the viewer directly. This explains why certain channels like Aaj Tak and IndiaTV show programmes which have wide viewership in rural areas. Some of the contents of these channels would never be appreciated by the urban audience. The surveillance model then is all about awareness. We use the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security. Personal Identity: The personal identity need explains how being a subject of the media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society. This can most be seen in soaps, which try to act as a microcosm of society as a whole. The characters in soaps are usually designed to have wildly different characteristics, so that everyone can find someone to represent themselves, someone to aspire to, and someone to despise. For example someone might feel close to a character who is always falling victim to other people, and this connection might help him/her to understand and express his/her feelings. Someone may also really like a character who seems cool and leads a aspirational lifestyle everyone would desire to lead. This relationship could act as a way to channel your ones life, helping to set goals to work to. Finally there may be a character one really cant stand. By picking out their bad characteristics and decisions, it helps audiences to define their own personal identity by differentiation. The use of the media for forming personal identity can also be seen outside soaps. Sports personalities and pop stars can often become big role models, inspiring young children everywhere (which is why theres such an outcry when one of them does something wrong). Even the seriousness of news can lend itself to gratifying personal identity, by treating news anchors as personalities, rather than simply figureheads relaying information. Personal Relationships: Audiences can form a relationship with the media, and also use the media to form a relationship with others. Relationships with the Media : Many people use the television as a form of companionship. The television is often quite an intimate experience, and by watching the same people on a regular basis we can often feel very close to them, as if we even know them. When presenters or characters in a soap die, those who have watched that person a lot often grieve for the character, as if they have lost a friend. Some events can even cause media outcries, such as the recent reality shows where the events within the show became main stories on the TV/News channels. The more we watch the same personalities, the more we feel we get to know them. Reality TV shows such as Big Brother and its adapted versions in India give us such a feeling of intimacy with the participants that they can become part of our lives. Even though the relationship is completely one-sided, its easy to see how we can fall in love with TV personalities. Using the Media within Relationships: Another aspect to the personal relationships model is how we can sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build upon relationships with real people. Having a favourite TV programme in common can often be the start of a conversation, and can even make talking to strangers that much easier. Some families use sitting around watching the television as a stimulus for conversation, talking to each other about the programme or related anecdotes while it is on. Diversion: The diversion need describes whats commonly termed as escapism watching the television so we can forget about our own lives and problems for a while and think about something else. This can work with positive programmes, such as holiday shows or the constant happy endings which help to cheer us up and forget our own problems, and with negative programmes, such as a tragic film, which help to put our own problems into perspective. The diversion model also accounts for using the media for entertainment purposes, such as a good spy film, and for relaxation. The media can give us emotional release and also sexual arousal, which includes a sexy scene in a film as well as pornography. Altogether, the Uses and Gratifications model outlines the many reasons we have for using the mass media, and the kind of functions that the media can play within our lives. New media and current scenario The shift of media and media industry over the past few years into new forms, such as DVD/ Blue ray and the internet based social networking sites, changes the modalities available for audiences to consume and receive media. The change has caused some media theorists to call into question the influence that the media has over attitudes and beliefs. Urbanization, industrialization and modernization create social conditions in which the mass media is developing and reshaping. Mass media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion: media connects the world to individuals and reproduce the self-image of society. Contemporary global media scenario presents a more complex interaction between the media and society, with the media generating information from a network of relations and influences. The individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided sometimes lead to consequences and ramifications of the mass media which may relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon its ability to reach a wide audience which often sends a strong and influential message. It is through the persuasiveness of media such as television, radio and print media that reach the target audience. These have been influential media as they have been largely responsible in structuring the daily lives and routines of millions across the globe. Television broadcasting has a large amount of control in influencing the content that society watches and the times in which they are viewed. This is a distinguishing feature of traditional media and although they are by no means redundant, the development of the internet has challenged the traditional participation habits involved in media such as television. The internet has lifted some of the restrictions placed on society by allowing for diversification of political opinions, social and cultural differences and heightened level of consumer participa tion. There have been suggestions that allowing consumers to produce information through the internet will lead to a bombardment of too much information. It can however allow society a medium for expressing opinions and moving away from the political restrictions placed on society. The uses and gratifications theory of Blumler and Katz (1974) and other group studies in social psychology provide such major motivations for individuals to join virtual communities on social networking sites like facebook, orkut, twitter etc, as the need for social integration (belong and be affiliated), the need for help in achieving goals (e.g. by obtaining information), the need for realizing economic exchanges, the need for status enhancement (by impressing and manipulating others), and the need for entertainment. Some of the other ways in which uses and gratification becomes relevant in the Indian/Global media scenario are:- Media can also influence the way people converse due to embedding their minds with particular thoughts and feelings via their various media outlets. Certain movies have quotes that can be engrained into the minds of the audience. However, these quotes can be either appropriate or inappropriate. When someone hears something in the media and it is reinforced through the various media channels i.e. TV, radio, newspapers etc, general members of the public become more susceptible as taking the news as the whole truth, and this can then be accepted as the norm within society. Many famous trials about celebrities have ended in such bad publicity and negative depictions of the people involved that their reputation gets damaged forever, irrespective of the outcome of the trial. The general public already forms their opinion even before the trials are conducted. In the United States the election of many politicians has been enormously influenced by media. Most notably John F. Kennedys victory in the presidential race of 1960 against Richard Nixon has been described by many as the result of his more handsome and good looking appearance on television, especially when compared with Nixon. Also Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger whose fame as actors helped them to gain more media attention and eventually the victory in their elections as president or governor. Similarly Barrack Obama used all the forms of media to build a public opinion in his favour and exploited the latest available social networking platforms to maximize the multiplier effect. The results of the last general elections in India and the victory of Congress party can be linked to a similar media strategy. Criticisms of uses and gratification theory Many people have criticized this theory as they believe the public has no control over the media and what it produces. It can also be said to be too kind to the media, as they are being let off the hook and do not need to take responsibility for what they produce. It is not always safe to assume that people choose the media based on their needs. There are other factors which restrict choices of the audiences, virtually leaving them with a very few or no alternatives. Some of the other criticisms of the theory as found in the literature have been quoted below:- The nature of the theory underlying Uses and Gratifications research is not totally clear, (Blumler, 1979) Practitioners of Uses and Gratifications research have been criticized for a formidable array of shortcomings in their outlook they are taxed for being crassly atheoretical, perversely eclectic, ensnared in the pitfalls of functionalism and for flirting with the positions at odds with their functionalist origins, (Blumler, 1979). The biggest issue for the Uses and Gratifications Theory is its being non-theoretical, being vague in key concepts, and being nothing more than a data-collecting strategy (Littlejohn, 2002; Severin and Tankard, 1997; McQuail 1994). It seems that using this theory has little to no link to the benefit of psychology due to its weakness in operational definitions and weak analytical mode. Also, it is focused too narrowly on the individual and neglects the social structure and place of the media in that structure (Severin and Tankard, 1997). Due to the individualistic nature of Uses and Gratification theory, it is difficult to take the information that is collected in studies. Most research relies on pure recollection of memory rather than data (Katz, 1987). This makes self-reports complicated and immeasurable. uses and gratifications research portrays media consumption as primarily rational and individualistic, whereby individuals control consumption according to conscious goals. This assumes (contrary to Attribution Theory) that respondents are aware of every factor entering into their media choices and do not misjudge the causes of their behaviour. Little attention is therefore accorded to the ways in which media may be consumed mindlessly or ritualistically (Littlejohn, 1989, p. 276). Critics argue that needs for attending to certain media are formed and informed by culture as well as by certain psychological predispositions particular to individual consumers of media products. According to Littlejohn (1989), critici sm of this approach may be divided into three major strands: (a) lack of coherence and theory in the tradition; (b) social and political objections; and (c) the instrumental (versus ritualistic) philosophical bias of uses and gratifications (p. 276). This theory has also been blasted by media hegemony advocates who say it goes too far in claiming that people are free to choose the media fare and the interpretations they want (Severin and Tankard, 1997). Other motives that may drive people to consume media may involve low level attention, a habit or a mildly pleasant stimulation. Uniform effects are not the kind of factor the Uses and Gratifications approach would predict (Severin and Tankard, 1997).

Delta Airlines :: Essays Papers

Delta Airlines Who would have thought that a major airline of today could contribute it's success to Boll Weevil insects that decimated the cotton fields of the south. Some say there would not have been a Delta Airlines at all if it were not for the Boll Weevil infestation of the early 1920's. Even the name came from the Mississippi Delta where the Boll Weevil's plagued many cotton fields. According to the book Delta Airlines by Jones, C.E. Woolman was the assistant district agent working for the U.S. Department of agriculture's bureau of Entomology laboratory in Tullulah, Louisiana. Woolman was an agricultural engineering graduate from the University of Illinois and could be categorized as an aviation enthusiast. Along with Dr. B.R. Coad, Woolman developed a promising weapon against the insect but needed a more efficient means to spread it across a vast area. Congress gave the researchers a small grant that allowed them to acquire two ex-US Army Curtiss Jenny Aircraft. However, it was not until 19 23 that things started to happen for the two researchers. A man by the name of George Post, a New York Businessman from Huff-Daland Airplanes, Inc. was flying south when he was forced to land because of mechanical problems with his airplane. He landed in Tullulah and discovered Coad and Woolman's experimental dusting operation. He considered this to be a commercial opportunity he could not pass up. After convincing management, the Huff-Daland Dusters started at Macon, Georgia, in 1924. However, there was not much success so the operation moved to Monroe Louisiana. From Monroe, the business quickly grew but it was only seasonal so Wollman decided to diversify and set up operations in Peru. It was while in Peru that Woolman and his company secured South American airmail rights to fly between Peru and Ecuador. This was when Woolman first appreciated the possible value of a passenger service in 1927. When back in Monroe, Woolman secured some private financing from private businessmen a nd started his own Aviation Company. Delta's first aircraft were three five passenger Travel Air 4000s. On March 15, 1940, Delta added it's third crewmember, the Stewardess, to its air service on the DC-2 Aircraft. In 1941, Delta moved its general offices and overhaul base from Monroe to Atlanta. Through the years Delta merged with Northwestern and Western Airlines to become one of the largest airlines in the world.

Personal Narrative: How Society Shaped Me Essay -- Social Group Neighb

Personal Narrative: How Society Shaped Me What is society and how did it help shape me into the person I am today? First, society is the state of living in organized groups of people. These organized groups of people are the ones that made me who I am today and will continue to shape me, as I grow older. My version of society is white middle class people who grow up going to catholic schools. These white middle class people are only associated with other white middle class people, and very seldom venture out of this little society. As stupid as that sounds to not associate with other people it is true. The reason this is true is because of where I live, where I go to school, and who my friends are. I guess it is just like Emerson said, â€Å"the virtue in most request is conformity.† So, the three social forces that have played the biggest impact on my life are my community, my friends (family) and my education. I have lived in the same neighborhood my entire life, a neighborhood full of white middle class families, with the exception of one middle class African American fam...

Describe yourself to your MBA classmates :: MBA College Admissions Essays

Describe yourself to your MBA classmates    I grew up in a small fishing village in Maine, surrounded by family. Expectations and aspirations are limited in such an environment. I could have made a living exploiting the sea, but chose to do similar work as a corporate executive. Although I have no siblings, my hometown contains over fifty family members, and our agenda of family activities is always packed. Most of my family is employed in the commercial fishing industry, which instilled in me at a very young age, the concept of work. At age eleven, I started babysitting and mowing lawns, and at the age of fifteen I applied for my lobster license. The first summer with my license, I took a job as a sternperson with a fellow female. We were the only two females out there, which was definitely an experience. When the lobstering season ended that year, I took a job at a grocery store bagging groceries. I saved enough money to build a boat and to buy fifty lobster traps; I was on my way. The following summer I continued to work as a sternperson, and I also fished my own traps. I continued lobstering throughout the rest of high school and college, and it helped me finance my college education.    In addition to being ambitious and motivated enough to put my heart into even mundane, low-level tasks, I am also extremely organized. This is one characteristic that has always received praise. I pay particular attention to detail, which I believe has contributed to my success thus far. I take pride in my work, and I look at it as a representation of myself. In my position at Sanford Bernstein as a Consultant Liaison, I market my firm to the financial consulting community. Maintaining the integrity of the firm is vital and errors are disastrous. When training new group members, I stress this point most thoroughly.    I work in a group that currently has six members. The group serves as a central source of information for the firm, and its success relies on an extraordinary amount of cooperation from each of us. As a senior member, I am able to contribute to the group in several ways including: training group members, controlling the quality of the group's output, managing and accurately completing multiple requests with short turnaround

BPR and Enterprise Systems

Some of the factors that a process engineer should take into consideration when designing a BPR project includes the following; first of all the project engineer should consider developing a decision making framework, which should be relevant at the very initial stages of the project in relation to the project requirements and objectives as well as goals. The framework is the most important tool, which will be used through the whole life of the project.This factor is unique to the BPR projects as it is not taken into consideration in establishing the ERP projects (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150). The second factor is the recruitment of recognized individuals, who should be recognized persons from the various departments that they represent. These leaders will be required to participate in the various aspects of the project, especially the selection and implementation phases of the project.This is important as it will encourage free flow of information in carrying out the projects. Th e third factor is that, the engineer should take into consideration to the project management as well as planning measures, to ensure that innovation advances are encouraged in carrying out the project as well as avoid unnecessary project expenses (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67).The fourth factor the engineer should consider should be the use of consultants as, well as the decisions of the peers where a given proportion of the project is assigned to the outsiders to encourage the application of new knowledge skills which will improve the project. Finally, among other considerations the project engineer should consider developing a kind of special office environment which will be deciced to the project team.So as to improve on the performance of the project, the engineer should consider the training programs which will enable the project team members to improve on their performance skills. Some of the factors that are considered to be unique in relation to the BPR projects, when considered with the other projects are that the process is carried out as a continuous process, whereby evaluations are carried out on a regular basis to improve on the areas with display some forms of difficulties (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150).Some of the problems encountered while undertaking the BPR projects include the organizations failing to offer the necessary support in carrying out the projects; many of the projects fail to take off well in cases where the organizational resources are not dedicated in carrying out the projects. In such situations, the management of the project does not carry out strategic planning activities, which will seek to establish the market focus for their project.In relation to that, the project may have been initiated by the wrong people or in the wrong department in the organization, which does not initiate the management of the organization to dedicate its resources as they feel they may lose in the process (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67) . The other difficulty experienced in carrying such kind of projects is that the work groups, which are involved in carrying out the project activities lack inspiration, as well as innovation tactics in carrying out the projects, and this are the most important requirements for the success of the projects.This can be caused by the management of the organization as well as that of the project injecting too much pressure on the project members, and also the participants would lack the needed knowledge and skills to carry out the project activities. On the other hand, there are problems in cases where underestimations are made in relation to carrying out the project activities. In any BPR project, there is usually social career as well as the procedural dimension which need to be carried out to ensure that the project is successful.The problem in this area arises as to the management of the human aspects, which involve change that is usually comprehensive to manage as compared to other environmental changes (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150). To address the issue of support from the organization when carrying out the BPR projects, there is need for the management of the organization to come up with ways in which they allocate the resources of the company towards the projects by developing budgets before the projects are implemented.So as to ensure the project members will carry out their project activities well, the training programs should be used to initiate competency in the project members. To improve their morale to work, they should be compensated according by initiating a number of remuneration packages that will be of benefit to the project members. Considering that the management of change is an issue in carrying out the BPR projects, it is important for the management of the organization to initiate flexible management structures, which would initiate a culture of change within an organization before the projects are undertaken.In doing so, the project me mbers will find it more ease to adapt to changes in the project activities, as they will have been used to a culture of change (Langer, p268-230). Given that most of the projects fail as a result of inefficiencies in the management functions, the is need for the management of the organization and that of the project to carry out strategic management activities before and as they carry out the project activities. This is to ensure that the uncertainties in the future of the project are dealt with in a more efficient way.The advantages of carrying strategic planning activities is that they enable an organization to handle its strengths and weaknesses as well as the emerging business opportunities at the market place and in that way could be able to come up with effective strategies. This will enable the project management team and the organization to utilize their potential in achieving project success with the limited resources (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67). In carrying out BPR projects they are usually a number of tools that can be used in carrying out the requirements of the project.One of these tools includes the use of the IT architecture. In using this instrument a number of packages have been developed which could enable the user to carry out the different aspects of the project, which include process analysis to redesigning as well as project modelling. The tool enables the organization to determine the difference between the level of work required to be carried out in a given project, and the ways in which the difference can be narrowed so as to achieve the objectives of the project.Despite the tool being useful to the organization, it seems to a complex technique in carrying out the project activities and sometimes could act as a hindrance to the various project activities, which could affect the general results off the projects. The challenge which comes from the use of this tool is that it demands that the decisions of the project needs to be m ade early enough, so as to make the necessary adjustments as the project progresses and within a limited time period (Langer, p268-230).So as to deal with this major challenge in the use of the IT architecture, there is need to simplify the technique so as to enable the project members to implement its use with ease. In addition to that, early planning measures need to adopt. Some of the common goals that are aimed at in carrying out the BPR and enterprise systems involve; analyzing as well as suggesting ways in which the organization can be able to improve on it most critical business activities, which form part of the organizational structure.This is all intended at increasing the general performance of the organization, so as to create value for the various stakeholders of the organization (Langer, p268-230). The second most important goal relates to the successfully coordinating the various resources of the organization such as its hardware, software and many others so as to mak e them be in line to the organizational culture thus achieve an optimally functioning organization system.Some of the similarities between the BPR and the enterprise system are that, they both are focused towards initiating change in the organization, which will eventually improve on the performance level of the organization. The main difference between the two approaches is that the process orientation in the two is totally different. In BPR, the manner in which change is initiated is through innovations and also encompassing of knowledge which has been used in the past, whereas for the enterprise approach such measures are not taken into consideration (Langer, p268-230).BPR is considered to be more suitable especially if it is done in appropriate manner in carrying out organizational change, which is one of the ingredients needed to create value for the customers. On the other hand, the BPR projects can involve the customers in initiating the creation of value thus end up engaging the organizational members in activities that will seek ;to establish a competitive advantage for the organization (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67).The enterprise system is more suitable in situations where trade offs need to be made between the various project techniques that need to bring about change in the organization under various situations (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67). References Portougal, V, Sundaram, D. Business processes: operational solutions for SAP implementation. Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2005. Harmon, P, Rosen, M and Guttman, M. Developing E-business systems & architectures: a manager's guide. Morgan Kaufmann, 2001. Langer, A. Analysis and Design of Information Systems. Springer, 2007.

Urban Planning in Developing Countries

Urban Planning in Developing States Introduction In recent old ages, there has been an increasing involvement in 3rd universe urban planning. Over past three decennaries at that place has been a big migration of China`s population from rural to urban parts. As Grubler says: â€Å"Fast urbanisation and consequent land usage alteration had altered ecosystems, destroyed wildlife home grounds, changed regional climes and released big sums of C into the atmosphere† ( Grubler, 1998 ) . At the same clip, the metropoliss are developing really fast but ignored the quality of planning. As a effect, the citizens` life quality has dropped quickly. There is grounds, nevertheless, that citizens who live in a well-planned metropolis happen it easy to hold a high felicity degree. For illustration, Barcelona`s metropolis program remains one of the best theoretical accounts in the universe even Spain may be confronting important economic and political challenges these old ages. Compared with other metropoliss in the development states, Barcelona has paid more attending on the metropolis users` perceptual experience and experience, the metropolis contrivers ever put the users` feeling foremost and so comes the regulations, that is why Barcelona`s citizens can easy bask their life at that place. On the other manus, citizens of the developing countries` metropoliss will be harder to advance happiness index. A inquiry originating from these considerations concerns the best manner to plan metropoliss or re-plan metropoliss of developing states. The undertaking will analyze the urban design in developing states. It will look at how to do the most suited determination for every 3rd universe states ‘ planning. It will explicate why we should pay more attending to this country. First, the undertaking will do a comparing between the urban design in developed states and that in developing states. Second, the undertaking will speak about how to do a good program in developing states. Third, the undertaking will analysis the feasibleness of doing a good program in developing states. Section 1 Urban planning in the universeUrban planning in developed statesPlaning used to be a physical infinite theory, but for now, the developed countries` planning is a theory of public policy and public direction. As the basic urban building is completed, what they should make now is merely to maintain upgrading each country of a metropolis and increase public engagement. As Potter says: â€Å"By now, many states in both the developed and developing universe parts espouse the demand for greater public engagement in planning, although in pattern, many may merely pay it lip service.† ( Potter, 2012, p.149 ) In developed states, the contrivers play an of import function in the society. The contrivers ever spend batch of clip to understand the metropoliss and forecast the development of the metropoliss. City is like a system and the system is a complicated entireness, which contains a batch of objects and subdivisions. The contrivers in developed states will make their best to unite them and do them related to each other. On the other manus, the contrivers are ever glad to listen to the citizens and roll up their sentiments ; they will unite assortment of particular demands and programs to go a comprehensive rational pick. For these grounds, the citizens in developed states are much easier to obtain felicity.Urban planning in developing statesThe planning procedure in alleged developing states, like China, is radically different from western states. In recent old ages, big Numberss of instructors came back from abroad conveying back the thoughts of aliens, so base on balls on to their pup ils. However, the urbanisation procedure in China is rather different with foreign states and we do non hold a ain theory which is suited for this state of affairs, the manner we are be aftering is copying western theoretical accounts, that is why we have so much jobs in today`s metropoliss. Developing states ever have economically backward, the easiest manner to turn economic system is to increase the population. With the growing of population, many jobs will be much harder to work out than earlier, such as the relationships between persons, lodging, transit and environment. The contrivers in most of the developing states ever put net incomes in the first topographic point and disregard the metropolis user`s experience, they will believe small about the city`s hereafter. Developing states besides used to pursuit the develop velocity and disregard the quality of a metropolis. Any city`s development is a long historical procedure, there must hold a big figure of civilization relics in this procedure. But as this phase of urban planning in China, most of the historical and cultural sights were badly damaged by our alleged development. When speaking about the environment in China, it is besides a immense job. A good environment is a critical status of metropolis developing. With the unsuitable method of program a metropolis, the air quality, H2O quality and other environmental quality decreased aggressively in these few decennaries. Compared with the urban planning in developed states, there is a deficiency of future chances in developing states ‘ urban planning. Section 2 How to do a suited program in developing states 2.1 What should authorities and contrivers do? The authorities should pay more attending on metropolis planning than earlier. They used to pay excessively much attending on the economic system increasing and about ignored the metropolis planning, so they should alter their head to maintain the balance between them. The authorities should beef up the earnestness of urban be aftering which including strengthen jurisprudence enforcement, promote the enforcement procedure, better enforcement steps and other related steps. During the planning procedure, the contrivers should set citizens to the first topographic point but non net incomes. Environmental quality is really of import in presents, the contrivers should non disregard it because urban planning is a theory of functioning the persons, and they should develop the metropolis without harm the environment of citizens. Urban be aftering should reflect the net incomes of the populace such as the country of transit, amusement, medical attention, instruction and so on, contrivers must do certain people-oriented. As Silva says: â€Å"Urban contrivers face major challenges in the aggregation of informations towards analyzing the invariably altering societal, economic and environmental conditions in cities.† ( Silva, 2010, p.388 ) 2.2 What should citizens make? Urban planning is non an matter of authorities and contrivers, the populace should besides take participate in it. The citizens of a metropolis should better their quality and have an international position to convey aid to urban development. In developed states, the correct theory said that urban planning is a collaborative procedure. When necessary, public should give nonsubjective advices and helpful suggestions to assist the contrivers, guarantee the procedure is come oning. On the other manus, everyone should make their best to protect the environment and cut down the waste of resources in the procedure of urban development, in order to cut down the force per unit area of authorities and contrivers. The connexion between cities` users and contrivers should be a co-operation relationship. Section 3 The feasibleness of urban planning in developing states. 3.1 A instance analysis of Shanghai This paragraph presents a instance analysis of Shanghai, China ‘s largest and most of import industrial centre. Rapid industrial and economic development in China over the past three decennaries has resulted in a big migration from rural countries to metropoliss, the population of Shanghai was more than twofold and building country increased quickly every bit same as the figure of vehicles. For this ground, it is a truly tough work to re-plan a metropolis like Shanghai. Since we can non cut down the figure of population, the lone manner to re-plan the metropolis is to accommodate the current state of affairs and happen out the suited solutions. During the past decennaries, Shanghai had spent a immense figure of money on the urban substructure investing ( see Appendix 1 ) . Even the authorities used this portion of fillip to upgrade a batch of countries of substructure investing, but it is still difficult to equilibrate the relationships between persons, lodging, transit and env ironment. 3.2 Problems and troubles The migration and urbanisation is still keep increasing in the metropoliss like Shanghai and we can non calculate the hereafter. If we can construct little and moderate-sized metropoliss, which have perfect map, surround the large metropoliss, they may pull people to travel in from the large metropoliss. This method will alter the migration and urbanization tendency, it besides can better the growing and development of both large metropoliss and other metropoliss. As Pacione says: National industrial-development policy, including the determination to construct little and moderate-sized metropoliss for investing allotment intents, has straight affected the growing and development of Shanghai†¦ They conclude that the Chinese achievement in large-scale urban transmutation and their success in incorporating the spacial growing of big industrial centres is a singular accomplishment in urban and regional planning, which should be studied closely by contrivers in both the developed and the underdeveloped states. ( Pacione, 1981, p.26 ) On the other manus, this method may be useless to China because of the population. There has more chances in large metropoliss such as Shanghai, it is truly a tough work to alter people`s head to migrate to smaller metropoliss. With a immense figure of population and deficiency of public engagement in big metropoliss, the work of program and re-plan tend to be harder. Compared with developed states, there will be much less jobs in urban design or metropolis re-planning. Decision Taking the suggested solutions could work out the jobs in developing states but it will take a long clip for developing states to maintain gait with the developed states. The developing states should larn the manner of developed states, but still necessitate to happen out a much more suited manner to be after the metropoliss or re-plan them. A good metropolis planning contains a batch of elements and it is non merely a procedure to incorporate assorted of resources, it should convey urban occupants a more comfy and harmonious life environment. Although many of the developing countries` metropoliss are upgrading, but in most of their program there still exist unscientific, irrational and follow blindly. The cities` contrivers made their determination to do the metropoliss become a new Manhattan or a new Hong Kong irrespective of the specific fortunes, the figure of these metropoliss now is at least 40 harmonizing to relevant statistics. We can non merely concentrate on economic development and bury the significance of urban be aftering itself. Developing states has a batch of jobs in the urban planning procedure, it is due to miss of research establishments for urban planning. At this point, the developed states ever have their ain urban be aftering research establishments, which will happen the most suited solutions to upgrade the metropoliss. The developing states should construct research centres like the developed states and understand the metropoliss so that the contrivers can do the right determinations. Mentions Grubler, A. ( 1998 )Technology and Global Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Potter, R. ( 2012 )Urbanization and Planning in the Third World.Routledge Ltd. Silva, C. ( 2010 )Handbook of Research on E-planning. Information Science Reference ( Isr ) Pacione, M. ( ed. ) ( 1981 )Problems and be aftering in Third World metropoliss. Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. Shanghai Bureau of Statistic ( 2011 ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm? d1=2011tjnje/E1001.htmYearEntirePower CoevalsTransportation systemPost and TelecommunicationsPublic UtilitiesCivil Constructions2000449.964.6148.8368.69104.4163.342001510.7872.2260.72107.792.25177.892002583.4962.1463.01108.23148.42201.692003604.6266273.7776.5836.91151.362004672.5889.52316.9654.3926.92184.82005885.74124.22385.5858.3241.33276.2820061125.54116.23589.52113.7256.23249.8420071466.33163.3840.46101.5760.9300.1120081733.18129.53838.91108.59112.81543.3420092113.45253.39978.24122.66135.95623.2120101497.46148.5754.66111.5486.58396.18100 million kwai Appendix 1: Urban Infrastructure Investment of Shanghai ( 2000-2010 )