Review of related literature Essay

CHAPTER II As mentioned earlier, it is indeed a certainty that the journals and books used by the author of this study is much related to the issue being discussed. The said journals are to be introduced herein. One of the basic factors of success in any organizational progress is the art of motivation. However, motivational procedures are not that easy to apply especially if the crowd to be dealt with is not that inclined or cooperative in the progress being implied in a specific organization. According to Martinez, in his book entitled â€Å"Management Theory and Practice†, motivation consists of three basic phases of development: †¢ Examination of the situation Before anything could be started, it is very important to first examine the real situation and how the situation is supposed to be dealt with. This may include an evaluation of the present circumstances and how it could be related to what future results are expected from the program or motivational procedure to be implemented. (Martinez, 121) †¢ Consideration of the Participants. Who are the participants to the program or the procedural approach? This question should be considered upon the formulation of the motivational processes that would be chosen by the administration to be implemented. (Martinez, 15) †¢ Application of Procedures After evaluating the situation and determining the people who would be involved in the programs, the application of the formulated procedures could already be commenced in a planned way. In this manner considerably fine results could be expected upon completion of the procedures. (Martinez, 16) Through the constant observation of the completion of the said phases, program procedures could be expected to become successful. The presence of the processes mentioned in here could determine the success of any applied motivational procedures by any business administration or even educational institutions at that. Meanwhile, Don Dinkmeyer in his book entitled â€Å"Leadership by Encouragement† stresses about the importance of encouragement in becoming a good leader. He says that: â€Å"the main aim of leaders is to help their colleagues progress for themselves and the organization they work as well† (Dinkmeyer, 41). Hence, this means that among the important factors that each person within an organization should consider is the fact that they need to be leaders in their own ways and encourage their co-workers to progress in a way by which the organization and they themselves could benefit much. Dinkmeyer further adds, â€Å"there are necessary factors to consider in being a fine leader of encouragement† (44). Here are some of the suggested factors of concern in Dinkmeyer’s book: †¢ As a leader, a considerable act of control is needed; however, concern for colleagues is also a character necessary for leaders to have. (18) †¢ Motivating people for further self progress and organizational benefit is one of the leader’s most important functions in a team. Hence, this skill should be enhanced and considered a major work for leaders. (19,20) †¢ Empathy for other colleagues concern in the motivational program should be applied. Yes, being able to understand how others feel about the progress procedures should be considered by the leaders. This way they are able to take the challenge of dealing with people’s reactions towards the program and be able to motivate them to take the progressive procedures as well. (25) Yes, by being able to become an ideal leader, a person could be able to encourage other people around him to be able become mote progressive in their own ways. One of the basic reasons why this study has been commenced is the fact that the motivational processes are highly concerned with language classrooms, specifically ESL classes. In this regard, Zoltan Dornyei talks about specific factors of concern especially on the part of the educators when they are dealing with their students. Here are some of the suggestions he mentions: †¢ Be leaders and become role models in class. As the educators show their enthusiasm in teaching, the students too are able to have encouragement to learn the language with enthusiasm as well. †¢ Make the Classroom Environment Lively This could include the ability of the educators to encourage their students to speak out their ideas and their thoughts regarding the issues being discussed which should be of interest to the students depending on their age and their races. This would allow the students understand the language they are trying to learn while enjoying sharing their thoughts at the same time. †¢ Be Open to Suggestions from Students The fact that the students also want to have exposure to the language at a certain level, the educators should consider hearing what they want form the class to be able to help them participate more during discussions. This way, they could become more progressive with their studies as the classes continue. With regards to the direct worker motivation processes, Abraham Maslow has something to say about the theories of motivation that could be utilized in encouraging the people to work hard not only for their own good but for the good of their organization as well. According to him, there are necessary physiological needs of the workers that must be provided by the organizations to be able to get the best out of their employees. Among the breakdown of his hierarchy of needs of employees are three major points of consideration: †¢ Needs of self-actualization As an intrinsic motivation, this factor of concern is directed to an employee’s ability understand that he is of some worth to the organization he is working for. †¢ Preconditions for the basic satisfaction. Also considered as an intrinsic motivation, this concept of encouraging the employees involves the satisfactory aspects of the employees within themselves due to the work they are doing. †¢ Desires to know and understand One of the important factors of self satisfaction is one’s ability to learn more as an additional knowledge to for themselves from their jobs. True, this factor of consideration in motivating the employees helps a lot in making them realize that they have certain benefit form the work they are engaged with. Thus they are motivated to work even better to be able to gain their benefit from their company. On the other hand, Frederick Herzberg talks about external motivation that has to be implied to be able to encourage employees to work at their best. Among the said extrinsic aspects of motivation are : †¢ Achievements †¢ Recognition †¢ Growth and Advancement †¢ Interest in the Job These four factors of consideration helps the employee realize that their abilities are appreciated by their organization and are used as a reason for other’s to follow their work ethics and attitudes. With the use of these suggestions, it could be expected that the classroom procedures would become more productive and more progressive for the capability of the students to use the English Language more effectively. Hence, the programs of learning would be more effective and practical for more and more students who are interested to take the ESL courses that the learning institutions offer. With the utilization of the literatures mentioned herein, the discussion of the issue being tackled in this paper shall be continued towards its completion. CHAPTER III Discussions An ample amount of motivation in the Toronto ESL program offerings have resulted in considerable successful final products. However, the question here is, how much motivation did it take before the educators were convinced to take on the challenges of teaching other races with the ESL programs that has been formulated for the different institutions to include in their learning programs? Certainly, motivating people to take on the challenges of change is not an easy task. According to Andrew Duffy’s report on Canadian learning institutions, Canada’s failing of a number of students who are studying in the said country has been due to the fact that the seriousness upon the program that the students are ought to learn has not been realized much by the students themselves. As a result, educators handling this type of situation also loose their enthusiasm upon the application of the program, which they ought to offer to their students. This situation then called for much motivational processes on the part of the administrators of the learning institutions. The Motivational Procedures Specifically focusing on the institutions in Toronto, Canada, it has been reported that the staffing of ESL teachers has been increased in a matter of time to be able to support the existing teaching force with the other educators that are needed to attend the needs of the students in Toronto. Notifying the educators on how to specifically help the students realize what they have to learn about their chosen courses have made so much difference for the reports which were once reported about Toronto. The Toronto Star reports that in a nationwide survey of some 9,000 high school dropouts in Canada, â€Å"three out of every 10 dropouts leave school because of boredom. † Good grades are no indicator that students will stay in school, as over 30 percent of those surveyed had high marks. Jim Livermore, vice president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation was not surprised. He stated: â€Å"Boredom is more of a factor today than it was 20 years ago because of television. To interest kids everything today has to be glitzy, high tech and showy. † Mr. Livermore feels that some of the brightest minds are not being challenged in school. He added that the â€Å"old way of teaching doesn’t work any more. Rather than lecture-style teaching, we have to get students more involved in learning. † Hence, it has been added in the motivational procedures the educators need to be educate themselves. This education includes teaching strategy enhancement as well as informing the teachers on the real need of the country of having English Speaking citizens. It has been stressed out that the production of students who are able to speak professional business English gives the country a greater chance of being globally competitive, as their employees become world class. Hence, the educators were able to realize the need for the said program. As a result, the educators were motivated to continuously assist their students to becoming highly competent when it comes to using the English language in a professional level. Results of Motivation After the motivational procedures have been implemented, fine results have been received by several Toronto learning institutions. Yes, the application of the learned strategies through the motivational programs, which were commenced, proved to be productive and successful for the students who were able to realize the need for them to progress on their own way. Certainly, it has been observed that much of the motivational tactics that the administrations used for these programs were indeed effective. The motivation that the teachers were able to gain during the training programs has directly affected the way the students view their need to learn their subjects. The fact that the teachers realized the need for the program in their place, the programs became much productive, able to give the students the ample training they need to be able to become competent enough in the usage of the English language. This then helps the Canadian employers to be more at ease as they hire students who were produced by the Toronto learning institutes. STUDENT COMPETENCY RESULTS The existence of fine educator skills, excellent learning environment, and constant encouragement form educators have been able to result to several considerable results on the part of the English speaking skills of the students. The competency of the educators has driven the students to learn more and apply the subjects they have learned to their own everyday lives. It has been more often than not the students were motivated to learn more everyday as they see the enthusiasm from their teachers to help them learn the language and apply the language in their daily activities. The confidence among individual students has also been developed through the educating programs. The process of learning for the students became more accommodating and progressive as it gave attention to their needs and gave importance to their development not only as English speakers but as individuals living in Canada as well. CHAPTER 4 Overall Situational Assessment. With the details of ESL development programs in Canada, specifically in Toronto, listed in this paper, it shows how much motivational procedures aimed towards the educators could contribute so much on the way the students progress in their studies. The effectiveness of the curriculum of English learning offered in institutions of education is highly based upon the enthusiasm of the educators to handle their classes while being able to meet the needs of each of their students. Indeed, teaching students with so much diversity among them is a great challenge to any educator in the learning industry. The consequences though of ample training and motivation with regards to the teaching strategies used by the educators is indeed fruitful and beneficial on the part of the students and the economic growth of the country basing from the competency of the employees produced by the institutions, regardless of the fact that they are native English speakers or not. In this manner, the certainties of the employers on the new graduates of learning institutions become stronger and the results of the job done by these students are much globally competitive as they re able to use the English language in professional applications. Chapter 5 Conclusion From the study that has been presented herein, it is obvious that the situation of organizations is constantly changeable. Most likely, the focus is to continuously make possibilities for changes. TO be effective in facing company challenges in facing grievances and demands of the employees within a certain organization, it is indeed advisable for the human resource management to take necessary steps in creating strategic structure of Human Resources Department Organization. This means that as the HR faces so much turmoil in managing people, the whole body of the HRD should be subdivided into several parts who would be in charged in facing only specific details on the organization’s internal affairs. In this way, the responsibilities would be distributed and the issues would be more focused upon by personnels who are more experienced on the matter at concern. As for example, a certain group within the HRD would be in charged in salary and payment grievances, another on benefits, then another on finances and so on and so forth. Having this structural design of organization would ease the troubles of the Human Resources Department in facing company issues, all at the same time. Surely, the decisions that would be made in this manner would be more thought about and in turn, would become more effective and practical as well. As years continue to progress, employees of organizations become more and more demanding. Because of this, the Human Resource Department is faced with more and more problems, which they are expected to fix. True, the challenges for the HRD continuously grows and as an answer to this, the HR. should also consider continuous development in terms of effective practices in facing issues. Indeed, the Human Resources Management has the most complex and complicated work in an organization. Yet, by the use of strategic approach in facing issues, the Human Resources Management would be able to survive the struggles and emerge victorious in bringing the organizations to prosperous status. BIBLIOGRAPHY Internet Journal Sources: The Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. (2005). Community Voices, Perspectives and Priorities. http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:LHaAxJemZSoJ:www. inclusivecities. ca/publication/reports/Toronto-ICC-Report. pdf+ESL+in+Toronto+Canada+reports&hl=tl&gl=ph&ct=clnk&cd=6. (November 7, 2007). The 2003 Atkinson Fellowship In Public Policy. (2003). Class Struggles: Public Education and the New Canadian. http://www. atkinsonfoundation. ca/files/Duffyrev. pdf. (November 7, 2007). A. H. Maslow. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. http://www. advancedhiring. com/docs/theory_of_human_motivation. pdf. (November 7, 2007). Frederick Herzberg. (2006). Human Relations Contributors. http://www. accel-team. com/human_relations/hrels_05_herzberg. html. (November 7, 2007). Books: Don Dinkmeyer. (1995). Leadership By Encouragement. CRC Publishing Company. Zoltan Dornyei. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge University Press. Lewis E. Losoncy.(2003). The Motivating Team Leader. DC Press. Barbara Burnaby. (1992). Socio-Political Aspects of ESL in Canada. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. JoAnn Phillion. (2002). Narrative Inquiry in a Multicultural Landscape: Multicultural Teaching and Learning (Issues in Curriculum Theory, Policy, and Research). Ablex Publishing. Devon Woods. (1996). Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching: Beliefs, Decision-Making and Classroom Practice (Cambridge Applied Linguistics). Cambridge University Press. Craig Chaudron. (1998). Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning (Cambridge Applied Linguistics). Cambridge University Press. HYBELS. (2003). Communicating Effectively. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Jere Brophy. (2004). Motivating Students to Learn (2nd Edition). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2nd edition. Irene M. A. Henley. (2004). Aviation Education and Training: Adult Learning Principles and Teaching Strategies. Ashgate Publishing Company. Ken Hultman. (2001). Balancing Individual and Organizational Values: Walking the Tightrope to Success. Pfeiffer; 1st edition. Ezdras Martinez. (1990). Management Theory and Practice. Rex Book Publishing Manila.

My Personal Story

My Personal Story Chapter 1: Elementary School Years (K-6) All of my elementary school years were spent in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I remember going to school everyday at Somerville Elementary. This is only significant because there were a bunch of different schools, all obviously having to do with where you lived. I think there were like 5. But also, all of my friends went there. It was me, Peter English, Dougie Burek, Ryan Monroe, Cooper Shreve, Matt Myatt, Ned Winner, Frank Melli, Brian Wennersten and Michael Springer. Somehow every year, at least 2 or 3 of us were always in the same class. I guess I was well liked back then, by both my peers and teachers, as I was always chosen to be the lead in plays, and to represent the class at things. In fact I gave an Oscar winning performance Santa in my 2nd grade play, Santa and his magical computer. I was chosen to play the role of â€Å"Old Man† in a play about China or something, don't really remember to be honest. But I did everything with those guys. We were always playing football, basketball, wiffle ball or something in someone's backyard. In terms of learning during this time, it was all at a moderate pace, and I don't really remember having any problem keeping up. My Mom used to take me Hackensack Hospital, a learning center for people who had trouble learning at a normal pace. I never understood why I went there, until my parents told me I had a learning disability, which to me just meant I needed to work harder. My ADHD didn't really affect me in my daily life, I just remember getting really hyper from time to time, and that was remedied by being given But when it came to grades, I did pretty well, earning all Es (excellents) and Gs (Goods), with like one S (satisfactory) in handwriting. I actually was made a teacher's helper in both 4th and 5th grade, which meant I got to help grade papers, and help kids with their math, spelling, etc. Also, I was picked for Critical thinking, which was a big deal because only the â€Å"smartest† kids got picked for that, and there you got to talk about advanced things like, geometry and books that you had read. Otherwise, I remember my elementary school years for the sports I played. I played Little League Baseball, Soccer, and Biddy Basketball. My mom wouldn't let me play because she thought, despite me being one of the bigger kids in school, that I would get hurt. I was on travelling all-star teams for all of the sports, and was thinking about sports 24-7 then. I played in 3 basketball leagues at a time, Biddy, YMCA, and my All-star team. In 4th grade my dad coached both my Biddy team, and my all-star team. I still like to give him a hard time about taking me out of a tournament game against Neptune, NJ where I scored the first 8 points of the game, in fact our only 8 points in the quarter to keep us in the game! Then he left me out until the 4th quarter. We ended up losing by 22 points. 22! I was feeling it, should've left me in. Also, the great thing about playing sports was that there were stats involved. After every game we played, my brothers and I would talk about what kind of numbers we were putting up. It was a big deal to outscore the others. At one point, I held the record for most points scored in an organized basketball game with 26 in 4th grade, which stood until my younger brother broke it with 28 points when he was a senior in high school. The first thing he did after that game? Called both me and my older brother at college to let us know the mark had fallen. We were a very competitive bunch. To this day, we talk about these things at Thanksgiving. 5th and 6th grade were very big for me in terms of change in my life. In 5th grade, within a span of 6 months I lost all of my grandparents, including my great Uncle Johnny. There are 3 days in my life that I remember everything I did the entire day, and my Grandma dying is one of them. The other two will come later. I came home from school, was sitting in our den with my 2 brothers, and watching TV. The phone rang, and my mom answered it, then she came in the room, and said, â€Å"I just want to let you all know, Grandma just died. We all started crying immediately. I remember my mom screaming â€Å"I want my mommy! † repeatedly and feeling helpless. I had never really experienced personal loss before, as I had never met my dad's mother because she died when he was 16. His father re-married 3 months later, and my dad never got along with his stepmother, and they kicked him out of their house. I've never met my dad's fa ther. So, losing my Grandma was a big deal. I always remember coming home from school, seeing her, and her always making me smile. I remember everything about her to be honest. Her perfume smell, the fact she always kept bouillon cubes in her pantry, and the fact that she always loved everything my brothers and I were interested in. Her and my Grandpa became baseball fans because of us, after not really caring one way or another before we were born (I'm told). My Grandma was always around, and she loved her grandchildren very much. She was a great lady, always singing, always happy. In the middle of 6th grade, My dad came home from work one day, sat me and my brothers down, and told us we were moving to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He said we were going in 1 month, in the middle of the school year. I wasn't excited, as all I ever knew was New Jersey, but obviously had to do it. It was really hard leaving all of my friends. Chapter 2: Middle School (Grades 6 to 8) After finally getting acclimated with middle school life in New Jersey, and getting used to how things worked there, I was ripped out of there, and plunked into a small town in Ohio. Coming into the middle of a school year is hard for everyone, but especially for a middle schooler. I remember my first day, and being sat at the â€Å"nerd† table because the guy showing me around thought that would be best. I didn't let that happen though. I immediately got up and sat at the â€Å"cool† table, and actually ended up becoming friends with those people. It was still pretty hard to make friends though, as in a small town everyone knows everyone else's business, and have their own clicks. In homeroom, when I sat down, two girls waked me around the room, ad told me whom I needed to bother with getting to know, and who not to care about. It kind of prepared me for what Chagrin was all about. A lot of people who base their worth off of what other people think about them. I ended up making a lot of friends, but kind of felt like an outsider for my middle school years, even though I was pretty much accepted. Everyone loved to talk about things they did together when they were younger, and how long they'd been friends. SO I just tried to blend in, and try and not get noticed. I'd always sit my older brother on the bus, and not really talk to anybody, until one day my friends Cade Otstot and Trevor Gile told me to sit with them and their friends. From that day on I felt like I belonged. Class-wise, being in small classrooms with less people made me feel like I was always getting put on the spot. I hated answering questions in class, and really hated doing my homework. I always felt like there was so much else to do other then that. SO I put school on the back burner and got caught up in trying to be popular, and playing sports. Although I always did enough to get by. I never really got Fs or Ds or anything like that, but also didn't try and overachieve for fear people would look at me like I was a nerd or something. Looking back, that was probably a mistake. I played basketball and football in middle school, but really wasn't that good. I loved the sports, but this time is when I started gaining weight. I wasn't obese or anything, but I wasn't in shape either. I was on the B teams in both sports, but excelled in baseball. I always thought I was playing well, but the coaches never seemed to notice. So I was relegated to the bench for the most part. Otherwise my middle school years were pretty uneventful, although I did make a few really good friends, but also I fell out of touch with my New Jersey friends. Chapter 3: High School (Grades 9-12) Freshmen Year of high school was pretty typical. My older bother Mark was a senior, and looked out for me for the most part, but I still got flak for being his younger brother. Nothing too crazy though, because I knew eventually I'd be as big if not bigger than those guys, and if they really did something to me, I'd get them back ten fold. Football practice that year was big wakeup call. Everyone was bigger faster than us Frosh, and everything seemed to move a lot quicker. Especially in school. There were no classes where I could just drift through, I had to stay up on my studies, which I think I did a good job of, but still my mind drifted a lot to sports, and girls. I didn't really have much interaction with girl's, except them being nice to me to get to my brother. All the freshmen girls wanted my older brother, so people whom I had never talked to decided it was a good idea to talk to me. I didn't go to many parties then, as my fiends and I were more into just going to the movies and hanging out at my parents’ house. Or we'd play football in my backyard. But I did get asked to the winter formal (a Sadie Hawkins dance). I had a good time on my first actual date where I had to dress up in a jacket and tie. Also, that year I got my first detention, and had to stay after school, and was grounded, although it was my brother's fault that we were late so many times. Only detention of my career actually. So that's pretty much my Freshmen Year. Sophomore year was just a blah year. Nothing really happens in your sophomore year. Just same old same old. Football wise, I lettered, and I made the JV basketball team. That year our football team broke our 28 game losing streak, the longest in Northeast Ohio, We won our last 2 games, to go 2-8. I went to my first Homecoming dance, and also my second winter formal. School wise, I got bored. The classes were so boring to me. I just wanted school to end every day. Also, the girls who had talked to me the year before because my brother, just plain stopped. Shocking I know. Junior year was actually a lot more fun. I finally mounted the courage to talk to girls regularly. I made some great friends in the process as these girls are the people who I still keep in touch with the most to this day. I was voted to be head coach of the Powder Puff football team, and that was a great way to get to know everybody. I had a blast doing it, and it helped me get invited to parties and what not. My friends and I had a blast that year. We'd go out every weekend, and party. It was great! I had two dates to the winter formal, my friends Meghan, and Melissa. Everything was going really well socially, as I really came out of my shell. Academically, I did just enough to get by, posting GPAs anywhere from 2. 7-3. 0 during this year. Can you sense a pattern here? Went to my first prom with my friend Katie. It was at Jacobs Field where the Tribe plays so it was an awesome night! Senior Year was a blast too. The football team did really well, winning our first 7 games, and having 2 games that were voted games of the decade in Cleveland. Big deal for a little school like ours. Also, I actually got to contribute, and set the family record for kick return average; at 3. yds a return (I caught 2 onside kicks, and ran one 3 yards). This was the first year I actually got in shape for football, and took it seriously. It's the first time in my life I learned that whatever you put into something, you get out of it. I took the SATs untimed, a â€Å"perk† as my parents put it of having a learning disability, which to be honest put more pressure on me then anything. I over thought pretty much every question, and was in an isolated room by myself. It was kind of miserable. I didn't score as high as I would've liked but did enough to get accepted into 5 colleges. These were all small schools where the environment was geared towards learning at your own pace, and where they had good LD programs, as my parents made this a high priority. Funny, I had never been in LD classes in high school, but my parents thought I should do it in college. Anyway, I graduated, went away that summer to the Jersey Shore, as we had been doing since I was 11, where my summers consisted of being a dishwasher/bus boy at Uncle Bill's Pancake House during the day, and a Summer Place at night, and came back and said goodbye to all of my friends, before initially heading off to Muskingum College. Chapter 4: College (1998-2006) Muskingum College (1998-2000) The college odyssey that was the Scott Iantosca Experience started in New Concord, OH. Now I thought I wanted a small college in a small town, but I quickly found out that this wasn't the place for me. All there was to do was drink in your dorms, and go to one of the 3 fraternity houses on the campus. If you weren’t in a fraternity, you pretty much had nothing to do. Thankfully I was getting recruited pretty hard by all of the fraternities, so I had some fun. I was accepted into the plus program, which is the LD program there. I didn’t realize the commitment. We had to meet with tutors for every subject. And it had to be in between your classes, not when you had free time. It kind of was like an added class. Midway through I stopped going. I didn't want to hear the exact same lecture twice, which was basically what it was. I just used them as needed, and that wasn't taken to kindly too by the administrators. Also, I thought I could get by skipping class all the time, and teaching myself the material. I probably only showed up to my classes about half of the time. Somehow I was stunned when I got a 1. 7 GPA, and couldn't rush that year, while all of my friends were allowed to. Then I got kicked out of school at the end of the year for my grades. This was a wake up call, or so I thought. I had to go to Muskingum and plead my way back in, in front of the board of trustees with the leader of the Plus program. It was really embarrassing. Being as I had soured on the Muskingum experience, I was fighting t o get back into a school I didn't want to go to. I got back in on a probationary period, but then was so unhappy there, I did the same thing. Then I told my parents I didn’t want o go back, and instead of working hard and getting good enough grades so that I could transfer out of there, I just stopped going to class, and only turning in papers. I thought I could just get kicked out and go wherever I wanted to. At the end of the semester, I went home for good. I got a job waiting tables for Max & Erma's, and Blockbuster video while my friends were at school. It was pretty miserable. I gained a lot of weight, getting up into the 270s. And was feeling like my life was passing me by and I would be living with my parents forever. My only form of entertainment was going to my brother's basketball games, but I'd always feel awkward because I'd see people I know there and have to answer questions about why I was home from school. Landmark College–Putney, VT (2000-2001) The second part of my college odyssey was at Landmark College. My mom found out about it through someone she worked with and being as I had no other options, I decided to take a look at it. It is a school solely for people who have learning disabilities, mostly severe, and who have gotten kicked out of school. Basically a second chance for people who have messed up in their first try at college. I went into it optimistically, but even during my first visit, I knew it was going to be a challenge. Putney, Vermont is a very small town, where there is absolutely nothing to do. The campus was so small it didn’t help much either. There was a zero tolerance drinking policy, and if you were caught once, you were immediately brought in front of this disciplinary board where you were given a hearing. Pretty strict. Also, the only way to get off campus was on a van that one day a month would take you to Wal-Mart, and then every Friday take students to the movie theater. That was it. We all referred to it as a prison. People were trying to get thrown out of there on a nightly basis, and going to great lengths to do it. Kids would intentionally trash their rooms, even throwing their TVs out the window in hopes of getting kicked out. And everyone would try and overdose on their prescription meds, in hopes of their parents taking them out of school. There was an ambulance or campus security van at one of the 2 dorms every night. Many of the students had some serious learning problems, for example, many didn't know what a verb was until they went to Landmark. Or in one instance, this guy couldn’t form a complete sentence logistically until he went there. Not really a big deal to me, but just not something I had been around before. They also told stories at orientation about how Landmark changed their lives, and how before Landmark they would get so frustrated they would cry by themselves in the shower. Pretty heavy stuff, but also made you think and re-evaluate your position in life, and inspired me to get my stuff together. A lot of the things they talked about were about accepting your disability, and learning to overcome it. Having not really had my learning disability really be a big deal for me, I hadn't realized that a lot of the reasons I had trouble focusing, and talking in class was because of my ADHD. It was kind of eye-opening. Socially, I kept to myself, and just concentrated on my grades and school work. They were pretty laid back there, and although we were assigned a tutor and an advisor who we had weekly meetings with, they only lasted as long as you wanted them to, and being as I was getting a 4. 0, mine were really short. The classes were really easy to me for some reason, so I did really well. I pretty much cut off my social life because I knew why I was there: To get the hell out of there! My days went like this: Wake up, go to class, eat lunch, go to the library, go to class, do homework, watch TV and sleep. This is what happened 24-7. I never deviated. I talked to my advisor every day about what I needed to do to transfer, and he kept telling me to take my entire 2 years there. No way was this happening. I finally sat down with my dad and outlined what I had accomplished, the fact that I was 21 at the time, and that I had proven to everyone, including myself that I was ready for a â€Å"regular† college again. I even was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the junior college National Honor society. It was the first academic award I had gotten since elementary school, and my parents came to the ceremony. I was really proud of myself, to be honest. So, I then started to look for schools to apply to. After being in social jail for a year, I decided campus life was a big deal, as well as my major, which was going to be sports management. Ohio University met both of these criteria, and accepted me, so there you had it. Ohio University (2002-2006) Ohio University was the most fun I had ever had in my life. I did so many things academically, and socially it was amazing. My parents moved to Switzerland, and my older brother moved to Warsaw, Poland, so I got travel around Europe on my 6 week Christmas break while other people had to go home and get part time jobs or sit around. I experienced and saw so many beautiful things, and expanded my horizons greatly. Of all the places that I travelled, I would definitely say Germany and Italy were my two favorite places to visit. In Germany, we travelled along the Christmas trail, which had Weinachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) all up down the states. It was amazing. Although I already had a few high school friends who went to OU, and had established a good group of non-fraternity friends or GDIs (you can pretty much figure out what that means), I decided to rush and join a fraternity, much to their chagrin. They thought â€Å"Frats† were full of meatheads, and shunned them pretty much. I, on the other hand, am all about new experiences and branching out, so I saw this as a gateway for doing so, and expanding my social circle, and creating lifelong networking contacts. I ended up joining the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, after receiving bids from all of the fraternities I visited. Being a 22 year old pledge was hard, as I was being â€Å"hazed† by people younger than me, but it allowed me to bond with my pledge brothers, and build some lifelong bonds with them. I still keep in touch with many of them, and have been in 2 of their weddings, and 4 of them (Rick Heyeck, Mike McMasters, Aaron Gray, and Will Hardy) will probably stand in my wedding, if I ever get married. I'll always cherish my times with them. Ohio University is known for being a party school, and while it certainly did live up to its reputation as such, I still managed to always make it to class, and get moderately good grades. I was in the learning disabled program there, but only used it to take untimed tests. Which, again, were nerve racking as someone just sat in the room and stared at you while you were taking the test. Since, many of my credits didn't transfer over; I had to pretty much start over from scratch academically, but was fine with it because OU was so much fun. The Sport Industry program had everything I was interested in, a lot of sports classes, and a good amount of business classes, and was very laid back as to the amount of work we had. It was very term paper based, and being as I love to write, I was all about it. The only negative from this experience was that my weight became a real problem. I was pushing 300 lbs by the end of my tenure as a Bobcat. Ohio University was a study in excess. Excessive drinking/partying, eating junk food, and excessive sleeping. Not a lot of workout time in there. My main concern was how this would affect me in getting a job after school, but it really didn’t as my advisor knew someone with Columbus Blue Jackets, and spoke to them, and I got a job there after interviewing. Post College (2006-Present) Right after I graduated, I took a job as an Inside Sales Rep for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. I figured this was the best way for me to get my foot in the door within the Sports Industry, so to speak. What I didn’t realize was that ticket sales was not what I wanted to do. I thought that I would eventually make a lateral move to doing something more in the front office, but about a month into my tenure, I saw that I was pretty much pigeonholed into being a â€Å"ticketing guy†. This was fine, I guess, because I won the monthly sales contests consistently. Also, I enjoyed working with a close knit sales â€Å"team† of people at the same stages of their careers as I was. This also created a great environment of competition, and I gained a mentor in my boss, Joseph Cote, who is now the head of ticketing for the Portland Timbers, of Major League Soccer, and the Portland Beavers, a minor league baseball team. He basically taught me how to be a professional, and how to balance fun in the office with being serious and buckling down. The perks of the job were unreal. We worked at the arena, so we had free reign to all of the events, and also had to â€Å"work† the hockey games. Basically it consisted of us standing at a table during the intermissions, and then visiting our clients we had sold for the game. Then we just watched the game the rest of the time. It was a good job. But, towards the end of my tenure there, my mother contracted a benign cyst on her back the size of a basketball, and was rendered basically an immovable object. She had to have surgery, and with my dad being CEO of a major corporation, and my brothers living in San Antonio, TX, and Manhattan at the time, I decided I needed to come home and take care of my mother while she was incapacitated. She would definitely do it for us. Family always comes first. This did not go over well with my employers, and they gave me an ultimatum of accepting a promotion, or going home and helping my mother. Which do you think I chose? I told them thanks for the opportunity, and gave my two weeks notice that day, and moved from Columbus, OH back to my parents’ house in Chagrin Falls, OH. After about 6 months of taking care of my mom, she was ready to live normally again. During my time with her though, I did do some good things to get my life in order, and re-focus on what’s important. I joined LA weight loss (which doesn’t exist anymore), and by the end of my tenure there I had lost 108 lbs. it’s easily my biggest accomplishment, aside from sticking with college and getting a degree. So after that, I revved up my job search again, and looked anywhere and everywhere for a job. But many of the interviews I was going to were for jobs selling copiers, or Ink for copiers, or things of that nature. I think what I enjoyed most about sales is the passion that was brought to the job everyday when I was selling something that I knew a lot about and had great interest in. Selling copiers, or ink, or technical equipment while living in Cleveland wasn’t really doing it for me. So begrudgingly after trying to find a job on my own for about 3 months, I asked my father for help. He had dinner one night with Jay Bauer, the president of Nation Pizza Products in Schaumburg, IL, and had mentioned his son who was coming to pick him up that night was looking for a job after a hiatus from employment (a really nice way to say I was unemployed by the way). As I picked him up, Jay came to the car, and told me to call him the next day and he would see what he had for me at Nation. I was pretty excited. After living with my parents for a while I would have moved anywhere, but Chicago was a dream. I’ve always loved Chicago. It has everything, great nightlife, So many sports teams, and the best restaurants in the world. I called Jay the next day, and the rest was history. After flying me out for an interview and dinner with my two future bosses, a tour of the plant, and then another interview with HR, They called me a week later and hired me for a position they were creating especially for me. This should have been my first sign that Nation wasn’t right for me. See, everyone at Nation Pizza Products has been there for decades, there are only a handful of new hires every year. And they only had one salesmen, albeit the VP of sales, but he had done everything himself for 15 years. They had no idea what to do with me, built hired me basically to keep up the relationship with their biggest customer, Nestle. Thus, being the President and CEO’s son really is what got me hired. Nothing having to do with my sales acumen at all. I was too elated by the fact I was living in downtown Chicago to care at this point, but this was sign #2. I tried to soak up everything I could my first year there, doing a lot of grunt work, trying extra hard to pay my dues, and when given the chance to work with customers I shined. But when I asked for more responsibility, I was told I wasn’t ready. Also, the handled me with â€Å"kid gloves† the entire time I was there. Not talking about customers other than Nestle with me because they thought I would tell my dad, despite the fact that they were PAYING me to be a Nation employee! I even signed a confidentiality agreement when I started there. I thought this would eventually get better over the years, as I progressed in the business. It did not. As time went on, I was given reluctant independence there, but when able to work alone with customers, they would send me thank you notes, and call the President of the company directly and let them know how much they enjoyed working with me. Instead of giving my boss confidence in me, he took it as a threat to his job, and I was gunning for him. Which I wasn’t. I thought the two of us could and should work as a team, thus with double the effort, we could bring in double the business. He didn’t see it that way, and took credit for many of my sales when talking with the executive board. I’m not one to be boastful about my achievements, but how does one gain respect at an organization when people are constantly thinking he is just a minion, and hasn’t made a sale in 4 years? Also, I worked with a lot of fake people. It was really bad. Maybe it’s a food industry thing, but everyone I worked with, from the chefs to the food scientist, was extremely fake towards me. They loved to tell me I was doing a good job, and then behind my back talk to my bosses, and make negative comments about me, and disregard the way I was working. Also, the commute was obnoxious. It was an hour and half each way, and wouldn’t put me back in the city until around 8, after sitting in traffic. I didn’t mind it when I thought there was a place for me at the company, and a progression plan in place. There was neither. Then, My dad â€Å"retired† from Nestle, as much as basically taking 3 months off and hanging in Miami with my mom can be called that before taking the opportunity to run another company here in Chicago, everyone started treating me differently. They treated me as if they had no need for me anymore, and I wasn’t a valuable member of the team. In my fourth and final year there, they kept making take the boss’ car to get washed, or carry boxes for women who worked in the office to their cars, or clean up the presentation room, basically treating me like a secretary. Finally I had enough, and walked into the presidents’ office, who was my major confidant at the company (another source of angst for the VP of sales because he thought I was bad mouthing him to him, which I wasn’t, so much insecurity there), and told him it wasn’t working out. I said I was no longer happy here, and didn’t really see myself going any further than my current position. He tried to get me to stay, and I actually considered it, until the VP of sales walked in. Thankfully, for him, I’m a classy person, and I thanked them both for the opportunity, and gave my two weeks notice. They said they would pay me for my two weeks regardless, and asked what I wanted to do, and I said I would just leave then. I’ve never been happier or more content with a decision I’ve made in my entire life. Also, the president of the company said he would help me out in anyway he could, and write me a recommendation if I needed it. I still keep in touch with him as we speak. So that brings us to present day. I am unemployed, but extremely happy. I’m glad I’m taking a step back and actually analyzing what my strengths and weaknesses are, ad what my interests are. Taking my time choosing my next move is definitely the right step to take. The next chapter of my life is yet to be written I feel. Do I have a plan? I’m getting there. There are things I envision myself accomplishing professionally and personally over the next 5-10 years. I won’t bore you with them here. But the great thing is I have an unbelievable support system behind me of family and friends. Also, I feel like I have the right attitude towards it, and am determined to do thing the right way this time. And whatever I choose I know I’ll work hard at it, and take steps to become a success. Just taking it one day at a time.

Slavery through Kara Walker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Slavery through Kara Walker - Research Paper Example She is well known for her graphic use of silhouette figures to depict mirages American African slaves. A close look at her work reveals vividly the impact of slavery especially through eliminating depth in all visual perspectives of the art work. She further emphasizes the depth of the images through use of the overlapping techniques on the silhouettes hence creating scenes on the several aspects through which slaves were exploited. For instance, the images portray the slaves used as sexual objects. This essay uses the three of her works that is â€Å"Slavery! Slavery,† â€Å"Gone† and â€Å"The End of Uncle Tom† to explore slavery in the United States with emphasis on South America. In the 1830’s, slavery was concentrated in the south of the United States of America concentrated in small farms and large organizations, cities and towns and any other place extra man power was necessary. The slaves were property to their owner and all blacks were slaves as primarily, the slaves in the south of America performed tasks mostly in the plantations and homesteads of their masters. They took part in clearing new lands, digging ditches and other household chores for their masters; the black women cared for the young ones and prepared meals and other functions like spinning, sewing and weaving. As outlined in Blassingame (25), slavery in the antebellum period in the South America was focused on the plantation farms, and the homestead within the firms; this was primarily the period before the First World War. Carson (164) notes that the labor market was divided between blacks and whites in the community. The probability of both skilled and unskilled laborers was evident and comparable by race. The whites had higher chances in white color jobs compared to the blacks whose major area of work was in the unskilled domains. Other than plantations labor, slavery also involved debauchery activities. This primarily comprised of the slaves being forced into immoral

Modern System Of Policing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modern System Of Policing - Essay Example Scholars looked as if they were busy discussing the politics of police reform. Researching of the causes of modern policing was considered in a superficial manner, more often presumed than proved. Cities switched unavoidably to modern policing as a result of increasing degree s of crime and disorder in a period of phenomenal growth as well as intense social change (Schneider 1980 p 54). During the above mentioned period London was plagued via crime as well as the safety of a lot of citizens was doubtful. Pick pocketing, gambling and robbery were ordinary amongst the crimes that took place. An essential factor in Sir Robert Peel's plan was the division of policing as well as the judiciary. Peel believed that police should be accountable for one side of the law, it was called the examination phase (Hurd 2007). Even till today, this idea remains almost unchanged. Until 1829, law enforcement had been dramatically lacking in organization. As London expanded during the 18th and 19th centuries, maintaining law and order had become a priority and also a matter of public concern. The policing system was seen as ineffective and failing dismally to restore and maintain peace and order. Previous systems were i... Overall it was counterproductive and inefficient. Victims of crime became reluctant to prosecute, as did the jury with regards to conviction. In spite of its early plausibility, the concept that the police were formed in the reaction to a crime wave is dull and wrong. Moreover, it is not a very valid o explanation. It presumes that "when crime increases to a particular level it is only a 'natural' social response to make a modern police force. This obliviously is not a clarification but a statement of a natural law apart from this it yields very little proof. We cannot leave out the possibility that the revolts of slave, rebellion, and other such examples of collective violence resulted in the creation of modern police, however we must keep in mind that neither crime nor disorder were not uncommon in the cities of the nineteenth-century, and thus cannot in any way be responsible for a change similar to the development of such a institution. Violent mobs were in power of a lot of parts of London throughout the summer of 1780; however the modern Police did not emerge till 1829. Getting drunk in Public was a severe problem in the early 1775, however a modern police force did not emerge till 1838.3 therefore the crime-and-disorder theory is unsuccessful in providing reasons as to why earlier waves of crime didn't create modern police.Bowling (1999) researched the decrease in the rate of homicide in New York and believes that belligerent policing is only one factor which contributes to the decline of homicide. He states that the most persuasiv e argument for the increase and decrease of murder in New York is the increase and decrease of the crack cocaine sale which, as he believes to be reciprocal. Another reason

Event Study for Efficient Market Hypothesis- Ex dividend Data Dissertation

Event Study for Efficient Market Hypothesis- Ex dividend Data - Dissertation Example Anomalies in the expression of the standard, tax centric theory of stock performances have been noted and described. While a tax centric hypothesis has explanatory power, this study examines evidence that there are additional forces of corporate governance, ownership concentration, and market capitalization that can adjust the performance of dividends independent of taxation. This study is a meta-analysis describing the Western standard for market forces pertaining to dividend taxation, on the assumption that stock prices must be adjusted to less than the amount of the dividend in order to compensate for taxation. Yet comparison with Asian markets introduces exceptions to that premise. Ultimately, more data is needed in order to falsify the tax centric hypothesis, however this principle is a subject to modification and interference by other market forces that influence the behaviors of investors and the performance of stocks. EVENT STUDY FOR EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS – EX DI VIDEND DATA Table of Contents Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p. 2 Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p. 4 Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p. 7 Chapter 1: Literature Review †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p. 8 Chapter 2: Korean Markets †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p. ... 31 Introduction Since the advent of tradable stocks on the national and international markets there has been a great deal of calculation and speculation in regards to the relationship between stock returns and dividend yields, both in the informal imagination of financial advisors, as well as in the formalized literature therein. Decades ago, popularize models of tax effects created the presumption that higher risk investments were necessary to compensate for returns that incurred greater taxes. Returns on investments should be risk adjusted with respect to stocks. This would compensate the investor for higher rates of taxation through higher dividend yields. This is necessary due to higher levels of taxation of dividend income as compared with capital gains income. (Brennan, 1970 p.417-427) To be specific, dividend income refers to profits yielded by a publicly traded corporation. In which case of course, the profits can be turned back into the business, to invest in facility enhanc ements, or possibly salaries – in which case they qualify as retained earnings. Or they can be distributed to shareholders who provided initial investments that contributed to the company's initial success. All in respect to the initial contribution based upon the value and number of shares purchased by a particular investor. (Sullivan and Sheffrin, 2003) these may take a variety of forms, such as currency cash dividends, Stock/scrip dividends that constitute additional shares of the Corporation, or property dividends, which can take a variety of forms including shares of another corporation or other assets or services. (Sullivan and Sheffrin, 2003) In many cases, taxation rates are higher for dividend income compared with capital gains. To be specific, we are referring to capital

The factors that attract the tourists to visit Orlando,FL Research Proposal

The factors that attract the tourists to visit Orlando,FL - Research Proposal Example ?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..7 SECTION 2 Literature review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9 SECTION 3 Methodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 Research Design and Approach†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 Study Population and Sample†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 Sampling Criteria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.15 Data Collection Instrument†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦16 Data Collection Procedure†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.17 Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦17 Limitations of the Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.17 SECTION 4 Discussion and Findings†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦18 SECTION 5 Document Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.18 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.20 SECTION 1 Abstract When tourists are thinking about visiting a destination, they consider numerous elements such as price, climate, the available attractions and infrastructure. This has on the other hand led to increased competition among tourist destinations. Each destination has a distinct image, with some having a stronger image than others. In this regard, an apprehension of what makes up the destination image can result to increased tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Notably, these dimensions of the destination image affec t what attracts tourists to a destination. The primary objective of this research is to identify the factors that attract tourist to Orlando, Florida. This research will do so by collecting and analyzing data on 150 respondents in Orlando, consisting of tourists from different market segments and travel agencies in the area. Introduction Tourism is one of the primary economic activities in Orlando, Florida. During the early days, Orlando city and the whole Florida were only visited by the well-heeled and well-known people who could have enough money for the lifestyle. Some of the tourists and visitors loved the place and resolved to stay and start trading. The progress and development of Orlando and Florida is attributed to one man, Henry Flagler, who was among the individuals who loved the weather and climate and resolved to capitalize in the city in the late 19th century. He capitalized and constructed the hotels and transportation lines making it easier for more people within the world to access the city and the state. This was still in the late 19th century, where Florida state and the cities within it, including Orlando, were connected to New York. In the early 20th century, thousands of tourists started streaming into the state. Since then, Orlando has centered on tourism (Visit Orlando, 2013). Orlando is at present a principal travel target with myriad attraction destinations such as game parks, lodgings, world-class airports and one among the largest convention facilities within the country. In 2011, Orlando claimed a United States tourism record by attaining 55.1

Assignment worksheet Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Worksheet - Assignment Example They are drawn to express beauty and the message of solemnity and calmness in the surroundings. The art work has primary colors of red, blue, green. There is definitely harmony in using these colors are red which is the dress worn by the Madonna gave focus to the theme of the art work and blue is used as her drape which provides subdued hues to the red. The touch of green as a backdrop for the landscape is also harmonious as it gives balance to the color complimented by the light blue sky and white cloud. The cream color of the angels with touch of brown was very appropriate as a complementing color highlighting the harmonious relationship of the figures. The sense of space is depicted though fine lines and smaller figures which create the impression of a far location. The more prominent and bigger figures at the center clearly depict nearness and closer perspectives to the viewers of the art work. The actual texture of the art work appears basically smooth. The visual texture shows balance in lines, color, and spaces to give the perfect illustration of the Madonna in the meadow, with angels tending and giving her company. The visual weight and emphasis is carried by the Madonna as manifested in the color (red and blue) and size (biggest among the illustrations in the painting) with darker lines to create the space illusion that it is closer to the viewer than the rest of the landscapes, except for the angels which appear to be closest to the viewer of the painting. The artist expressed a symmetrically balanced work through the illustration of mountains on both the left and right side of the painting; the clouds also on the left and right side of the painting, the angels being two to provide symmetry, trees and shrubs on the left and rights side, and the focal point, which is the Madonna is strategically located at the center with her right

Marketing - Critical Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing - Critical Marketing - Essay Example Several monographs and edited volumes on critical marketing have been published†. The first use of the term ‘critical marketing’ in relation to the critical cultural as well as social theories is in the work of Hansen (1981). (Moufahim and Mitussis 2009). Critical marketing in general sense implies that any marketing idea has to be discussed threadbare focusing on its positive attributes as well as its faults, thereby coming up with necessary modifications and corrections. This point was put by forward by Friat and Tadajewski (2009, p.127) who stated that critical marketing involves â€Å"any position that judgmentally evaluates a body of discourse (including marketing) with the intention to find any faults or problems to be challenged and modified or corrected.† However, the key fact that has to be considered when viewing ideas critically is the time-bound factor. That is, what is/was viewed critically could change with time and context. Certain critical pe rspectives about an idea that gets formed during earlier periods of history could change now with contribution by other experts and thinkers. Thus, the crucial point is, critical perspectives will be mostly dynamic with the change of time, situation, contexts, etc. This is particularly relevant to the critical marketing idea of cultural stereotyping. As Hackley (2008, p. 154) with the aid of Tadajewski and Brownlie (2008) point out Marketing is a field of social and cultural studies as well as a set of social practices. That is, while launching marketing campaigns targeting a particular customer base, organizations will focus on that customer base’s various attributes including cultural attributes. The most common cultural attributes will be congregated and viewed stereotypically by the marketing team, to come up with effective and at the same time relevant marketing campaigns. However, at the same time, these stereotypes may not be accurate all the time, and as Hackley (2009 , p.155) states there are micro-level criticisms regarding the â€Å"promotion of stereotypes of race, gender and body type† through advertising campaigns. Cultural stereotype is the term given to a commonly held view about people belonging to a culture by the public, particularly the ‘outsiders’, which can include the other cultures as well as business organizations. Basically, different cultures and other entities will have different stereotypes of their own cultures and importantly about other cultures. For example, â€Å"The Germans think the French are resourceful; the British think they are humorless and short-tempered. The Dutch think the French are not very serious; the Spanish think they are cold and distant. The Americans think they are pleasant and intelligent, yet pretentious.† (de Mooij 2005, p.41). Thus, cultural stereotyping includes certain abstract familiarities as well as key commonalities that could be seen among the individuals belongin g to a particular cultural group. In a way, cultural stereotyping is a standardized and at the same time a kind of simplified view about particular sections of the people, based on commonly visible attributes or assumptions. However, those assumptions could be mainly generalizations in sizable cases, and so could be inaccurate at certain times. Bennett (1990, p.17) defines cultural stereotype as a social or mental grouping among individuals based on common, exaggerated and even inaccurate

Evolution of Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evolution of Jazz - Essay Example Many of the Jazz musicians relieved themselves from racial, social and cultural tensions in their hometown and spread Jazz music as ambassadors of their new found freedom. Hence, between the First and Second World Wars (1914 – 1940) Paris adopted Jazz music as its own. In this way, there was a huge transformation of Jazz music from an African- American genre to becoming an iconic phenomenon of international repute. Jazz music, that began with small marching bands, big bands, or by piano and banjo solos soon disintegrated as the focus centered on smaller ensembles. The Jazz musician I have chosen to write about is Louis Armstrong, (1901 – 1971) who is considered to be one among the best of Jazz musicians. Born in New Orleans on 4th August, 1901, Louis overcame his poverty-stricken background and rose to become one of the greatest solo improvisers in the field of Jazz music. Louis played the trumpet in a very innovative and interesting way and his style relied on improvis ation during his playing the trumpet. He also pioneered a new style of singing called ‘scat’ which is improvising during singing without real lyrics but in perfect tempo and melody. Armstrong had a sort of gravelly voice and besides his virtuosity in his trumpet playing abilities, he was quite famous for his ‘scat’ singing. In fact, he holds the record of being the oldest Jazz artist to have cut a No. 1 record at 63 years old, which is called ‘Hello Dolly’. What is most spectacular about this record is that it toppled the Beatles by reaching number 1 on the charts in 1964. ‘Hello Dolly’ (1964) was the chart-buster title song for the award winning musical ‘Hello Dolly’. This wonderful song also won a Grammy for the best vocal performance by Louis Armstrong which enthralled his audiences all over the world. It was later made into a movie where Armstrong appeared and dueted with Barbara Streisand. Composed by Jerry Herman , ‘Hello Dolly’ is a very vibrant and catchy number rendered with equal enthusiasm and energy by the famed Louis Armstrong. The song begins with a rhythmic syncopated style using instruments. After the instrumental introduction, Armstrong begins singing in his own inimitable ‘scat’ singing style. He has a deep voice that is highly expressive of the lyrics ‘Hello Dolly’. The band comprising of saxophone, drums and trumpet played by Armstrong himself lends complete support in between the vocals. The interlude of ‘Hello Dolly’ is quite a lengthy one, with the trumpet as the main instrument and the other instruments filling in to add a different flavor. His flair for innovation is a major plus point for this singer as he uses a lot of improvisation both in his trumpet playing as well as in his singing. Some of the rhythmic beats used are long while others are staccato in presentation. Armstrong’s voice is throaty and guttural b ut even so very captivating. The pace of the entire song is medium paced while the tone is highly energetic with snatches of highs and lows that give it its own uniqueness and beauty. The final bar of the instrumental part has Armstrong improvising into a crescendo and this is duly answered by the supporting saxophone. Immediately after the interlude, Armstrong takes over and concludes the piece by singing using both lyrics as well as syncopated sounds that makes it so unique and attractive. Armstrong is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz musicians of all time who has

“a Study of Bpo Industry with Reference to Employee Essay Example for Free

â€Å"a Study of Bpo Industry with Reference to Employee Essay The industry is very diverse, with several sub-segments, each displaying its own unique characteristics. The BPO players need to be excellent in every facet of operations as the market is highly competitive at every level and re-defining itself every day. It is basically a people-centric industry. The scenario however, is not as rosy as it looks, for this sector with enormous potential. Like any other industry during its growth phase, this industry is also going through its share of turbulence. There was the issue about people quitting the BPO jobs and the question arrived in my mind were: â€Å"Why do BPO executives job-hop so frequently? Is it just because of money or are there other reasons? and created an interest in my mind to find out the answers not only for the above questions but also for finding out the retention strategies that can be adopted by BPO’s. For the purpose of this project, the research work is limited to only 10 BPO’s in Mumbai and their 200 employees. It was very difficult to study the industry as a whole as the size of the industry is very large and it is very difficult to extract information about the attrition rates and reasons for he same and also the strategies adapted by different companies to retain its staff in limited time period given for completion of the project.

What It Means To Be A Great Power Politics Essay

What It Means To Be A Great Power Politics Essay Great Powers are the most powerful members in the international system. The idea of Great Power plays a significant role in the theory of international relations as any changes in the Great Powers strategies or emergence of new Great Powers normally alter the status quo. This essay began by examining the different criteria used by scholars to define Great Powers, following by my own definition of Great Powers to further discuss and illustrate my understanding of this concept. Today, China plays a new role in the international system, garnering increasing attention around the globe. Chinas economic strength and political clout are already influencing places beyond the Asia Pacific region. Africa, as a place in which Chinese engagement is expanding rapidly, can be used as a region to assess whether China is a Great Power or not. The second part of the essay analyses Chinas foreign policy towards Africa since the 1990s with attention to Chinas objectives there as well as the reactions of the African. Various aspects will be discussed, including Chinas political, economic, military presences and soft power to assess whether China is a Great power in Africa or not. II. Definition of Great Powers in the International System Scholarly definitions The traditional definition of great power can be found in the distinction made at the Paris Peace Conference, which suggested that great power is a state with a global scope of interests in the international arena  [1]  Throughout the years, the concept of great power has been conceptualized by a number of theoretical schools of international relations, for example, realism, liberal internationalism and constructivism. According to a prominent British historian Arnold Toynbee, great power can be defined as a political force exerting an effect coextensive with the widest range of the society in which it operates  [2]  , while one of the leading scholars of the international relations in 20th century, Martin Wight regards, great powers as powers with general interests, i.e. those whose interests are as wide as the state systems itself, which today means worldwide.  [3]  And for Professor Hedley Bull from the University of Oxford, great power contributes to international system by managing their relations with one another; and by exploiting their preponderance in such way as to import a degree of central direction to the affairs of international society as a whole.  [4]  I agree with these viewpoints that the ability to project influence and power beyond its region is a decisive factor for defining greatness. The concept of great power is a pivot in many realists international relations models, including the theory of hegemony, balance of power and the polarity in international system. According to a prominent Neo-realist scholar, Waltz Kenneth stated in his remarkably influential book, Theory of International Politics, the great powers extraordinary positions in the international system enable them to undertake tasks that other states have neither the incentive nor the ability to perform.  [5]   Some realist scholars argued that there is asymmetry of power within the international system. According to Krasner, when power asymmetries are high, the frequency of intervention increase.  [6]  He put forward the argument that a great power intervene the weaker states internal affairs by various norms, values and principles to justify and legitimize their actions. They sometimes violate those values and principles, but themselves stay free from external interference.  [7]   Another realist scholar, Leurdijk also suggested that the international system is in hierarchical relations- relations of dominance and subordination.  [8]  That means, the great powers are those who dominant over the subordinated countries. Therefore, from this perspective, a great power is a state which has more state sovereignty and autonomy it can claim, and it is subject to less external intervention.  [9]  Also, a great power is able to enforce the rule of international law. Meanwhile, contemporary international law incorporates broader ideas more than the rule of non-intervention. According to Khachikian from Stanford University, it now embraces ideas of permissible intervention, such as enforcing international peace, protecting one nationals, preventing a spillover across state borders, stopping mass human suffering and others  [10]   Generally speaking, the traditional definitions of great power emphasize on the powers wide global interests in the international system, while some scholars consider great power as a state which possess the capacity to exercise influence within the international system. From this perspective, great powers are able to intervene their targets of intervention and not being a target of intervention by other actors in the international system. To conclude, we may say that the former viewpoint stress on goal and interests while the latter on put emphasis on capability and influence. Both of the concepts are able to provide us a general view. And it is true that a great power should be a state playing active role in the international system and possess the ability to influence on the region it interested in. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that the definition of Great Power should also be something more specific and concrete. There need to be a standard unit of account for measuring political power. In this essay, I will assess a countrys power through various defining elements, for example, its geographic base, economic resources, educational and technical level, military potential etc. Great Power in a more tangible sense To be a great power in international system, the nation has to possess not only economic prosperity and military might, but also strong soft power and identity as a leader. In this essay, economic strength refers to the level of development. For soft power, strong cultural ties with other countries, moral strength and technological level should be considered. Identity as a leader refers to the bargaining power in international arena and the ability to take action independently and at the same time, plays an active and co-operative role in the international system. Economic strength Economic strength cannot merely assessed by the size of the economy, but also to what extent, the economy is developed. From my perspective, a great power must be economically developed. Economic development used here includes several meanings: First, the growth of national income (measured by the Gross National Product) or the output of goods and services per head of population. Second, the increase in ability of a society to produce goods and services and to satisfy wants. However, If we consider development as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy,  [11]  as what Professor Amartya Sen put forward, then one can argue that economic development as a process of expanding the economic freedoms that people enjoy. Apart from monetary value, economic security, living standards, life expectancy, and social welfare like education and health services should also be considered. Therefore, internally within a Great power, people should enjoy the rights to sell and purchase the goods at equilibrium prices provided by a competitive environment which the movement of labor and capital is fr ee. Also, it should be structurally strong in the industrial, financial and technological sectors. Economic growth is often the greatest source of global influence. Nevertheless, high-level of economically developed is just a criterion for being a Great Power. For a Great Power in International System, the country should accept and adapt to the rules of games in the international system. Economically, the country has to cooperate with other leading economies in overcoming obstacles to world trade, being an active part of the international market. Military strength Military strength is a significant factor of a countrys power projection capacity. Military strength of a certain country is usually measured by military expenditure, defense spending, number of military personnel and aircraft carrier, size of navy, etc. However, we should not neglect the level of military technology in assessing a countries power. The arm force of a Great Power should be a modernized one. Furthermore, to be a Great power in international system, the state has to maintain frequent high-level dialogue regarding strategic matters with other actors within the international system. Soft power and identity as a leader The concept of Soft Power is invented by Harvard University political scientist Joseph Nye, he stated that soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others.  [12]  From my point of view, this idea embraces cultural factors, educational level, reputation of the state, etc. The higher the level of soft power, the higher the countrys ability to achieve their objectives in their targeted region, therefore, it is a crucial criteria for being a great power. National image is something intangible but important for a nation to portray itself as a great power. Stability of political and social systems, cultural interactions with other countries, active participation and contributions to world peace are all related to how the country is seen by the outside world. Having respect and prestige, it does not only help the state to overcome its internal problems, but also convince the targeted region that their actions are legitimized. A great power must be able to influence on the region you interested in, at the same time, that region welcome your influence and engagement. As soft power is a key factor for achieving international objectives and legitimizing actions, we should take it into account when assessing a countrys greatness. Furthermore, the state identity as a leader is also a decisive factor. A great power is a state which has bargaining power in international arena and the ability to take action independently. Independent does not mean refusal to bring itself in line with the international system, but referring to not being the target of intervention by other powers. And the identity as a leader also refers to active and co-operative role in the international system. My definition for Great Power is a combination of tangible and intangible elements. To conclude, a great power is an active player in the international arena with strong economic, military strength and soft power, while having interests and capacity to project its influence to places beyond its region. At the same time, the targeted place welcomes its influence. III. Is China a Great Power in Africa? Chinas rapidly increasing engagement in Africa is virtually rooted in her remarkable rise as a global power. With greater involvement into African market in the form of development assistance, trade and investment, together with some level of military cooperation, peacekeeping and employment of soft power, China has emerged as a key-player in Africa. The expansiveness of her activities has gone beyond the Western engagement that came before her in the region and her engagement became one of the most significant developments for Africa in recent years. Through playing an active and positive role in Africa, China has built up her benign image and Great Power status in the world. This part of the paper analyses Chinas foreign policy towards Africa since the early 1990s to discuss whether China is a Great power in Africa or not. As mentioned in the first part of this research paper, one of the criteria to be a Great power is the ability to influence on the region you interested, at the same time, your influence and intervention are welcomed by the region. Therefore, the second part of this paper examines the objectives underlying Chinese foreign policy towards Africa and discusses whether China is successful in achieving those objectives. Chinas involvement on the African continent will be reviewed from various levels, including economic engagement, political presence, military ties and the projection of soft power. It argues that the impressive scale and scope of Chinas engagement together with the positive reactions from African countries to Chinas expanding presence proved China to be a Great Power in Africa. Chinas Objectives in Africa Chinas rapidly expanding engagement in Africa is actually part of its transformation of the foreign policy to a more active one. Chinese objectives in Africa basically include, access to natural resources, export markets,  [13]  projecting her influence beyond the Asia-Pacific region and thus strengthening Chinas status as a Great Power. Facing fierce criticism from the West after the Tiananmen Incident in 1989, China started to establish closer ties with non-Western countries.  [14]  Since African states constitute a massive voting clout as they occupied over one-fourth of the seats in United Nations General Assembly, China can be benefited from developing cordial relations with them. In the 1990s, China greatly increased her assistance to developing countries, especially to African countries.  [15]   China helped African states overcome their tremendous poverty, boosting the African economic through comprehensive investment and development in the region. Beside economic sphere, Chinas contribution in United Nation peacekeeping and continued training and educational assistance reflects Chinas significant role in Africa that it can be conceived as a Great Power in the region. Chinas Political presence in Africa The beginning of the relations between China and Africa can be dated back to the voyages of Zheng He (1372-1433) in the Ming dynasty, while some scholars regarded the Bandung Conference of 1955 marked the real start of Africa-China relations.  [16]  The momentum of closer ties greatly accelerated throughout the last 10 years. Their closer relationships signalized by frequent high-level diplomatic trips by Chinese leaders to African capitals and frequent high-level diplomatic trips by African leaders to Beijing.  [17]  In 2006 there were 48 African states heads gathered in Beijing for the Forums on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which marked the largest gathering of African top political leaders outside of the United Nations (UN).  [18]   Besides, there are rapid establishment of African and Chinese migrant communities in both China and Africa. In addition to governmental level interactions, continuing increase in interactions between ordinary Africans and Chinese can also be seen within their relationship.  [19]   The first part of this paper has mentioned that we may assess a country is a Great Power or not from a geographical perspective. Through this perspective, Chinas engagement in Africa is broad enough as a Great Power because it maintains official diplomatic relations with 48 African countries out of the total number of 53.  [20]  Several events reflected African support to China, for example, they supported Beijing to be the host city for 2008 Olympic Games during the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision-making process. Also, Africa supported Chinas One-China policy and helped prevent Taiwan from getting a seat in United Nations many times.  [21]   Moreover, China is actively participating in the affairs of the African Union (AU). China promised $100-$150 million for constructing permanent headquarters and attended African Union summits in 2006 and 2007.  [22]  Chinas governments assistance has been appreciated by Africa. Jean Ping, the chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, commended China in January 2009 for her contributions to Africa and identified China as Africas key strategic partner.  [23]  He also expressed that the African Union would like to boost consultation and cooperation with China on the regional and international affairs.  [24]   Different from the European great powers in the 19th century, China did not send her troops to Africa to fight wars and depriving the African aborigine. Rather, China has demonstrated effort for keeping peace without appearing military threat. According to Xinhua News Agency in 2007, a total of 1,400 Chinese troops are taking part in separate UN peacekeeping operations in seven African countries, including Sudan, where 415 Chinese peacekeepers are deployed in the south.  [25]  The number of military personnel deployed by China in peacekeeping operations in Africa exceeds those of other permanent members of the UN Security Council, making China the largest contributor of all. Furthermore, China provides financial support to the African Union regarding the peacekeeping in Somalia and Darfur.  [26]   Politically, China has a strong presence and influence in Africa. China also plays an active and constructive role in peacekeeping activities in Africa. At the same time, Chinas role has been highly recognized by the African countries. For example, the top official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia commended that, never in modern history has a nation successfully made such a determined and massive effort as China has in achieving progress within such a short span of time. Ethiopia has been following this remarkable achievement with great interest and admiration.  [27]  As mentioned above, a Great Power able to influence the region at the same the region welcomes your influence. From this perspective, China is qualified as a Great Power in Africa. Chinas Military Presence in Africa For arm sales to Africa, China ranked the third from 2003 to 2006.  [28]  Although Chinas military ties with Africa are not as strong as political and economic ties, to some African states, military cooperation with China is extremely crucial. Especially for those countries under civil wars but that came under military embargo from the west, for example, Sudan and Zimbabwe. China has established some small arm factories in Sudan and Uganda, producing light weaponry for the region. Besides, in 2005 and 2006, Nigeria purchased missiles and fighter jets from China and in turns, awarded oil contracts to China.  [29]   In fact, China maintains security and military relations with all African countries except those four countries diplomatically recognize Taiwan. In this sense, China maintains a great military presence in the region. Also, its armament sales and peacekeeping activities have the capacity to alter the political situation in Africa. Chinas major objectives in Africa are getting natural resources and maintaining economic interests. And she is able to achieve her goals through providing the military resources to persuade African countries to help her. To counter the American presence in Africa, China will continue to expand its military ties with African countries, at the same time, making contributions to the United States peacekeeping in the region. Chinas steps will further enhance her Great Power status in Africa. Chinas Economic Presence in Africa The volume of China-Africa trade in recent years increased dramatically, from $8.92 billion in 2001 to $40 billion dollars in 2005, $73 billion in 2007, and reached $106.8 billion in 2008. China is now, overtaking Britain and France, became Africas second largest trading partner after the United States.  [30]  31 China has extended scope of duty-free imports from Africa from 190 to 440 items and is discussing with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) for proposing a free-trade agreement between them.  [32]  African countries greatly appreciated Chinas removal of tariffs on goods as they have been benefited from Chinas action.  [33]   In 2001, Hu Jintao called for Chinese enterprises to go global. Key State Owned Enterprises have begun to set up joint ventures in extractive industries in Africa.  [34]  In 2005, China had already established over 800 enterprises in Africa region.  [35]  In 2009, Chinese investments by both the government and private enterprise in Africa almost tripled in value compared to the figures in 2000.  [36]   Between 2000 and 2003, China provided $1.3billion in debt relief to 27 African countries and an additional $1.2 billion in debt cancellation for 33 African countries in 2006.  [37]  In addition, China has provided considerable amount of development aid, in the form of low-interest loans, to African countries. China provided $13 billion to Angola, $9 billion to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and $2.5 billion to Ethiopia as well.  [38]   Additionally, China is the members of African Development Bank Group (AfDB), African Development Fund (ADF) and West African Development Bank (WADB). China contributed to the Banks institutional activities, and technical assistance operations to promote economic and social development in Africa. China hosted the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AfDB and the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ADF in Shanghai in May 2007.  [39]  Besides, China is engaging actively into the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the South African Development Community (SADC).  [40]  All these reflected Chinas pivotal role in Africa. With ongoing economic and trade cooperation and exchange, we can see that China presence in Africa keeps rapidly growing and China has capability to influence events in the region. As African countries are yearning for an alternative to the West that they have relied on over a long period of time, they are in need of Chinese investment and assistance to help develop their economies. Unlike the Western donors who tend to impose Western values like democratic ideas on Africa, China invest and provide aid without much preconditions and interference in their internal affairs, therefore, it is not unimaginable that China is regarded by Africa as a more cooperative and valuable partner to the West. Besides providing loans, China also invest in infrastructure development and many high-visibility projects, that the African leaders generally in favor. Physical infrastructure constructions have been long neglected if not avoided by Western donors.  [41]  Also, Chinese investors are highly reputed by the African of their rapid completion of infrastructures with acceptable qualities.  [42]  Moreover, the General populace in Africa prefers physical infrastructure to monetary aid as the aid money would eventually be manipulated by corrupt leaders. Through providing more practical help, Chinas influence and presence in Africa are further strengthened. Nevertheless, some argue that there are also many complications for China to expand her presence in Africa. The biggest obstacle is the anti-Chinese sentiment resulting from the flooding of cheaper Chinese manufactured goods in African markets. The Chinese firms underbid many local firms in Africa, causing close down of factories and unemployment. However, we should not neglect that import of cheaper goods from China means that the African can buy many goods that they could not afford to purchase before. And the Chinese investment projects at least created some new job opportunities for the Africans. All these actually have improved the living standards of many general Africans. Nowadays, China has already constituted a pivotal part in the African economy. Although the Africans may consider Chinese engagement as a challenge as they worry about Chinas growing global power may turn her role in African to become as stifling as they have experienced with the west  [43]  , generally, they need Chinas participation and the African leaders today consider Chinese embrace as not only a source of investment, but also a chance as well as a counterbalance to the West. Soft power To access a country is a Great power or not, we do not only consider its influence over their targeted regions through economic and military power, but also the influence through soft power. When examining Chinas power in Africa, its projection of soft power should not be neglected. As mentioned in the first part of this paper, soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others  [44]  In this paper, Chinas soft power policy refers to the use of cultural, educational means to boost her image and thus to influence public opinion and persuade nations abroad in Chinas favour. The establishment of Confucius Institutes and the recruitment of international students are prominent forms of Chinese projection of soft power. China has already set up more than 20 Confucius Institutes throughout Africa, teaching African people Mandarin, Chinese history and culture.  [45]   China has educational relationships with 50 African countries and keeps increasing her assistance on training and education to African countries. In 2005, China also hosted the Sino-African Education Minister Forum.  [46]  In 2007, there are around 5,900 students from Africa studying in China, with most of them receiving scholarships provided by the Chinese government.  [47]  The Chinese government also promised to double the number of such scholarships by 2011,  [48]  and establish 10 agricultural technology centers in Africa.  [49]  Every year, China trained large number of African professionals in fields of agriculture, education, medical science, etc. Besides, Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency also trains African journalists in both Africa and China.  [50]   Chinas use of education, technical training and cultural exchange as a channel of employing soft power is successful in boosting Chinas image in Africa and thus expanding its global influence. The projection of soft power can essentially gain the support from the general public in Africa. With closer and closer educational relationships, the future generations and educated elites in Africa will certainly have better understanding about China. Having support from governments, and non-governmental actors, including both educated elites and general populace, China gained legitimacy as a Great Power. IV. Conclusion My definition of great power as mentioned in the first part of the essay, is an active player in the international arena with strong econ