Assessing a Underachieving Employee Essay

Executive Summary This is a short study about measuring an underachieving employee that I personally had to cover with. It discusses the jobs that arose. I analysed them and so put into topographic point a twosome of solutions. The most debatable work state of affairs that I personally encountered was with a work co-worker who was a immature lady working at the Cooperative nutrient group and she was underperforming. This relates to the constructs of book2. An debut to human resource direction in concern. session 4 Assessing and developing people at work. When my work co-worker foremost started working at the Cooperative she was an first-class worker who gave 100 % all the clip. She had worked at the Cooperative for merely over two old ages and we were in the procedure of believing about advancing her from a client service helper to a supervisor. She started to do errors at the check-out procedure. our director noticed hard currency deficits. losing dealing paperwork and errors on the lottery and paypoint terminuss. As a supervisor my director asked me to supervise the state of affairs over a two hebdomad period and to compose down any errors or hard currency deficits and put the day of the months they happened so that our director could make up one's mind what the following class of action would be. Measuring a Underachieving EmployeeThe analysis of the jobs that arose. I am utilizing constructs from book 2. An debut to human resource direction in concern. session 4. assessing and developing people at work. These errors that my work co-worker were doing could be go oning for a figure of grounds. She could be holding fiscal troubles so she has stolen the money that is why there are hard currency deficits. nevertheless that does non explicate why the other errors have occurred on the lottery and paypoint terminuss and it’s really easy to leap to the incorrect decision when analyzing this. I believe the chief point to be about public presentation direction as it states in book 2. session 4. 1. public presentation direction â€Å"ensuring that staff are motivated† . I don’t believe she is motivated any longer. as when she is at work she is stuck on a check-out procedure for really long periods of clip. There is no assortment in her occupation function to maintain her motivated. and to be absolutely honest when other members of staff are busy she does acquire forgotten approximately and if she does non inquire the other members of staff she would non even acquire her interruptions as they forget about her. Making the same thing twenty-four hours in twenty-four hours and twenty-four hours out can go a spot humdrum. This is why her public presentation has started to endure as she feels deflated and demotivated. It is as though she has given up on this occupation and merely turns up because she has to and she needs the money. As it states in book 2. session 4. 2 Measuring public presentation â€Å"the individual may miss way or be working to less than full capacity† . Which in this instance I believe to be true. This will impact how the concern is run if non cover with as other members of staff could get down to make the same. Customers will non desire to shop at that place if t he staff don’t show an involvement. The criterions that were one time at that place will get down to drop ensuing in a negative impact on the concern. A solution to the jobs that occurredThe first thing I would make would be to put up a record of meetings with this work co-worker and our director. This is a treatment about what is go oning and it is recorded for future mention. At this meeting I would discourse how we can travel frontward together as a squad. I would explicate to her the importance of her occupation function and how of import it is to acquire it right. I would put her little accomplishable marks to take for with wagess given when achieved. Arranging regular meetings is besides a good thought ; this could be done as a public presentation assessment. As it states in book 2. session 4. 4. table 4. 2. it has the â€Å"Opportunity to actuate staff by recognizing achievements† . I believe this is what is needed in this state of affairs. she needs to experience like a valued squad member. this would so give her the motive needed to make her occupation right and to her full capacity. the concern will so be more prod uctive as it stated in book 2. session 4. 2 Assessing public presentation. I may so look into whether she would be interested in altering her occupation function a small. for illustration. stock refilling. and bringing bringings in. look intoing day of the months on merchandises. that kind of thing. This would give her some assortment in her occupation and hopefully actuate her once more. This would necessitate more preparation and cost the concern. nevertheless if she is merely on the check-out procedures and non been monitored she is bing the concern money anyhow through the errors she is doing. Some of this preparation would be done externally. through preparation classs. nevertheless most of the preparation would be done by training. As it states in book 2. session 4. 6. Developing is non merely preparation classs. â€Å"coaching ; a manner of reassigning cognition and accomplishment from a more experient individual to a less experient person† . I think this is the best manner frontward for this work co-worker in this state of affairs.Research fr om the Internet I looked on the cyberspace and did some research to see how to develop underperformers at work. I found two the first 1 was Yourbusiness. azcentral. com. It fundamentally states that underperformers inhibit teamwork and lower morale of other staff members. It besides says you need to organize relationships with employees. so you can make a willingness to assist the person. It besides says to put incremental ends for the employee. What this web site was stating made sense. nevertheless I’m non certain how dependable this beginning is as it wants me to subscribe to them. The following 1 I looked at was World Wide Web. acas. org. uk. I found this website really interesting as it gives a full list of different signifiers that you can publish including appraisal signifiers. absence record sheets and tonss of information about how to pull off public presentation. I believe this to be a dependable beginning as this administration is devoted to forestalling and deciding employment iss ues. besides it wasn’t seeking to sell me anything. Tutor group forumI peculiarly enjoyed the coach group forum activity 2. 1 – Work Pleasure or Pain? It was nice that most people thought the same as me. in that they enjoyed their work. My hubby hates work and ne'er understands how I can bask traveling to work. I wholly agreed with what Mark Pickering said in that work is a pleasance and that it allows me to accomplish my ends in life. while supplying for my household. Mentions Book 2 ( 2012 ) ‘An debut to human resource direction in business’ The Open University. Milton Keynes. Study Companion ( 2012 ) . The Open University. Milton Keynes.Yourbusiness. azcentral. com.World Wide Web. acas. org. United Kingdom

Crime and Interview Essay

In addition, the culture of the company may also be one of the most decisive factors in the choice of the employers. For this reason, during the interview the above knowledge may as well help employees to attract the interviewers. Secondly, practicing before going to the interview is very important. After having well understood almost everything about the company, employers should practice some typical questions with a friends. They can interview each other to have a good reaction to some unexpected questions that might be raised during the talks. Moreover, they can also use a mirror or tape recorder to practice themselves. After finishing this step, employees will talk fluently so that they can have high appreciation from the interviewers. Last but not least, the employees should check everything again carefully on the day before the interview. The white, pale blue or pale yellows are the best shirts for an interview. Besides, they must have polished dress shoes. Everyone who wants to wear a suit, it must be conservative and below knee-length. A good-looking appearance will have a good first impression on the interviewers. In addition, they must check the traffic routes to make sure the timetable, practice again and get a good night sleep. They should relax and keep calm as it is very necessary. In conclusion, if people want to get a good position in a big company, they should follow the three above works, as these are the most effective and important in the preparation for an interview. These will help them to be more confident and have bigger opportunity to apply for their favorite job. Nguyen Thi Le Thuy – Writing Experience 3 Having a good interview is a stepping stone of having a good job. However, there are some methods that would be hardly known by people. This essay above pointed three important works you should prepare before going to an interview. Easily to be seen that the topic of the essay is how to have a good interview for a job. The writer wrote this essay in the form of an example essay. In this example essay, the writer’s main idea is three main works people should do before the interview. The introduction begins with the first paragraph that has a strong thesis statement â€Å"It is necessary for people to know the preparation for the interview including three main works†. There are three main supporting ideas. The first point is research the company. With this point, she demonstrated by an example. The second is practice before going to the interview. In this advice, the writer showed the reason why they should practice before going to the interview. The final point is check everything carefully before the interview. The writer also give some ideas about clothes we should wear, timetable and have a good sleep before the interview. The linking words used in the essay is quite rare â€Å" Therefore, in addition, for example, moreover†. On the other hand, these linking words is used quite appropriate. In the conclusion, the essay ends with a strong conclusion paragraph that provided insight on the thesis statement. â€Å"In conclusion, if people want to get a good position in a big company, they should follow the three above works, as these are the most effective and important in the preparation for an interview†. To sum up, this essay obviously have a clear outline. Ideas is arranged quite logic and appropriate. Although the linking words and example are used rarely, the ideas still connect fluently. Section B. A research essay Abstract : Capital punishment  or the  death penalty  is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the  state  as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a  death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an  execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as  capital crimes  or  capital offences. Capital punishment has, in the past, been practised by most societies;  currently 58 nations actively practise it, and 97 countries have abolished it (the remainder have not used it for 10 years or allow it only in exceptional circumstances such as wartime). It is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states, and positions can vary within a single  political ideology  or cultural region. Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world’s population live in countries where executions take place. Keywords : capital punishment, death penalty, crimes, abolish Outline : I. Introduction : Thesis statement: Many feel that all civilized communities should abolish the death penalty. II. Body – Wrongful execution – Closure family – Discrimination III. Conclusion Abolishing Capital punishment : A controversial issue In all societies, many cases occur where a criminal must be punished, so that they can be taught a lesson, and they can stop committing crimes. There are many different ways of punishing criminals: one is the death penalty. The issue of the death penalty has been avidly discussed throughout history. Some people support the idea of the death penalty, since they say it is only fair for one to forfeit their life if they take the life of another. Others feel that the death penalty is not fair, and fear that many innocents have been penalized for something they did not do. The issue of capital punishment deals with the moral issues of many people with different opinions within a community. It is a cruel punishment, and many have stated that legal systems should be able to devise another punishment to replace it. Prejudice is present in cases involving the death penalty. Many feel that all civilized communities should abolish the death penalty. First of all, it can seem dreadfully unfair to the families of those found to be innocent after the fact, if they are executed for crimes they did not do. If the Courts of Justice were to misjudge a person and claim them to be guilty, they cannot repair their mistake once that innocent person is dead. Executing an innocent is just as wrongful as any murder committed by in public. Perhaps it can also be considered murder if the jury causes the death of an innocent. Francois Robespierre, a well-known French revolutionist, once said, â€Å"Human judgments are never so certain as to permit society to kill a human being judged by other human beings. Why deprive ourselves of any chance to redeem such errors? † (Goldenman 1998). It is unjust for anyone to make judgments about others, and to decide whether they should live or die. Courts of Justice are known to make numbers of errors, which means it is unreasonable to allow defendants with the least doubt of guilt to be sentenced to death. John Stuart Mill, the famous philosopher, wrote that capital punishment – another term used for the death penalty – is a wrong done to innocents. It is impossible to restitute all wrongful executions ever made. â€Å"If by an error of justice an innocent person is put to death, the mistake can never be corrected; all compensation, all reparation for the wrong is impossible. (Blacks 1999). The courts of justice and all legislative bodies bear the onus, and should regard it with great respect, because if they do not, they become no different from wrong-doers in society who commit the crime of taking another’s life. It is a grave mistake to consider the death penalty as the main method to solve cases, or the best way to discourage crime, because wrongful convictions do occur, and it has been shown that the institution of the death penalty is no great disincentive. There are other methods of punishment, such a long prison terms, which can serve to exact reparation for heinous crimes. The first cause of wrongful convictions is faulty or false information given by witnesses. For example, a US Army Sergeant, named Timothy Hennis, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in South Carolina in 1986. One witness said he saw Hennis at the site of the murder, but the witness had mistaken Hennis for someone who looked like him. Some witnesses lie to ensure the defendant is convicted of murder. This usually happens when the actual killer attempts to shift the blame to someone else, so they can get away with it. In most cases, it is rather difficult to tell who the murderer is, and is based most frequently on who can tell the most persuading story to police. Because of this, the death penalty is the worst solution in most cases, because it does little to solve the case in a more clement way. Secondly, a great number of people consider capital punishment an evil act, because it is a cruel punishment exacted without just cause. It is might seem prudent to punish murderers with death because it tortures them, but their families, and the victims’ families, might think differently. The horror of a sentence of execution is compounded by years of waiting. Death row inmates are kept in solitary cells, where they are likely to be confined for twenty-three hours of each day. Interaction with others is kept to a minimum. Perhaps this kind of treatment might be punishment enough. Many consider the ultimate form of punishment as no disincentive for the crime of murder, and feel it increases killing, rather than diminishes it. They also hold it to be morally wrong. There are many difficult issues to deal with after a death sentence, which puts the family of the convicted person into as much discomfort and strife as the sentenced person. The most horrifying part is that they are constantly reminded of what will happen. The horrors of execution, the preparation for it, the psychological infliction of pain and the actual means of execution are considered by many to be barbaric. A whole sector of the community feels that it is an evil act to have any person put into that circumstance. â€Å"In criminal justice, combining this kind of ritualism with killing is considered an aggravation of murder. Yet this is the kind of death the state imposes on those it executes. Black 1998)† To punish evil with evil, the writer continues, and to exact an eye for an eye, and measure for measure, is to become as callous as the criminals. The last point, discrimination is also created by dint of the death penalty. In some cases, the court is prejudiced against the defendant. The reasons for their prejudice might be what they consider ignorance, racial bias, or poverty, as well as other undesirable traits. These characteristics can affect the way a judge and jury adjudicates the defendant. The family of a convicted person is also made to suffer from referred guilt and connectedness to crime, which is rarely repairable. Race is often an issue. Clarence Brandley, a black school janitor, was convicted in 1981 and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a white high school girl in Conroe, Texas. He was told by the police officer that since he was black, he had to be guilty of the murder. Judge Pickett stated about the case, â€Å"The conclusion is inescapable that the investigation was not conducted to solve the crime, but to convict Brandley† (Goldenman 1998). Prejudice in the court case proceedings has often contributed to the execution of many innocent people. Many supporters of the death penalty argue that it will deter violent crime. Dudley Sharp(2000) states, â€Å"The incapacitation effect saves lives – that is, that by executing murderers you prevent others from murdering, thereby saving an innocent life. The evidence of this is conclusive and incontrovertible. † People of this opinion believe that murderers would think twice before killing, because they fear death. This idea has been shown to be entirely false. Murderers rarely consider the consequences before they commit a crime. If all murderers think of the consequences before they kill, the murder rate would be lower in legislative areas where the death penalty exists. In fact, it has been shown that murder incidence remains the same when regions that carry the death penalty are compared with those with no form of capital punishment. There is no conclusive evidence to prove that the death penalty deters crime. To sum up, it does make sense that all criminals should be penalized to preserve peace and justice. Murderers are criminals, and deserve to be punished for their crime, but not with their own death. The death penalty has many flaws. Innocent people can lose their lives for crimes of which they bear no blame. The death penalty is considered to be highly immoral. It is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. People suffer greatly, both emotionally and physically, before their execution, and their families likewise. Capital punishment is not an antidote for violent crime. It is perfectly possible to deprive murderers of their freedom and throw them in prison for the rest of their natural lives. References Curry, Tim. Cutting the Hangman’s Noose: African Initiatives to Abolish the Death Penalty. (Archive)  American UniversityWashington College of Law. Gaie, Joseph B. R (2004). The ethics of medical involvement in capital punishment  : a philosophical discussion. Kluwer Academic. ISBN  1-4020-1764-2. Dudley Sharp (2002). Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries. Amnesty International. Law Center June 25 Francois Robespierre (1998). The Dealthe Penalty : Three things you should know. Goldenman Johnson, David T. ; Zimring, Franklin E. (2009). The Next Frontier: National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in  Asia. Oxford University Press. ISBN  978-0-19-533740-2. John Stuart Mill (1999). International Polls and Studies. The Death Penalty Center Judge Pickett . Juvenille Execution. The Commandments, Neg. Comm. 290, at 269–271 (Charles B. Chavel trans. , 1967). Kronenwetter, Michael (2001). Capital punishment: a reference handbook  (2nd ed. ). ABC-CLIO. ISBN  1-57607-432-3. Kronenwetter, Michael (2001). Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook  (2 ed. ). ABC-CLIO. ISBN  978-1-57607-432-9. McCafferty, James A (2010). Capital Punishment. AldineTransaction. ISBN  978-0-202-36328-8. Mandery,  Evan J  (2005). Capital punishment: a balanced examination. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. ISBN  0-7637-3308-3. Marzilli, Alan (2008). Capital Punishment – Point-counterpoint(2nd ed. ). Chelsea House. ISBN  978-0-7910-9796-0. Mary E. William (2006) . The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoint. San Diego Timothy Brook, Gregory Blue (1905). Death by a Thousand Cuts. The Times higher Education. Woolf, Alex (2004). World issues – Capital Punishment. Chrysalis Education. ISBN  1-59389-155-5. Simon, Rita (2007). A comparative analysis of capital punishment  : statutes, policies, frequencies, and public attitudes the world over. Lexington Books. ISBN  0-7391-2091-3. List of people who were beheaded

Blaise Pascal

Bryce Pascal We reach the truth for not just reason but for the mind. (1) Bryce Pascal says that he is one of the greatest thinkers of the 17th century. The 17th century is an era of scientific revolution. In the meantime, the main idea of ​​everyone is not just to listen to stories, but to ask everything. This brought about a change in thinking in the field of religion and science. Science makes it possible to cast doubts on the teachings of old churches. Scientists suffer from thought of mathematics and physics, but philosophers are suffering from the idea of ​​God. Small ideas are related to ordinary extraordinary, wonderful ideas. It was told once by Blythe Pascal. Bryce Pascal, born in Clermont-Ferrand, France on June 19, 1623, will change the world of science and mathematics. He is a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher. He is a genius of children. His early life was neither a sad story nor a very happy story. But his invention is still highly appreciated. - The French Revolution took place from 1789 to 1799 when the monarchy was overthrown, the Republic was founded, and the church was restricted. The French Revolution ended in 1799 with the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Revolution founded the French Legislative Assembly. Many people think revelation is the cause of the French Revolution, but revelation is not one of the main driving force of the revolution. Blaise Pascal is the third child of Étienne Pascal's child and his only son. Blythe 's mother died when she was 3 years old. In 1632, the Pascal family, Etienne and his four children left Clermont and settled in Paris. Bryce Pascal 's father decided to teach his son from an unusual educational point of view. Étienne Pascal decided that Blaise would not learn mathematics by the age of 15 and decided that all mathematical texts would be removed from their home. But his curiosity piqued his interest and he began studyin g geometry at the age of twelve. He learned that the sum of the angles of the triangle is two right angles When his father noticed, he allowed soft copies of Blaise Euclidean.

Lifespan Essay and Journal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Lifespan and Journal - Essay Example In working towards achieving my health and fitness goal I designed a program that adheres to Bandura’s social learning theory. In these regards, it involves his instances of implementing observational or modeling techniques. Bandura developed his social learning theory based on the famed Bobo doll experiments, wherein children were shown an image of a woman punching a bobo doll; the children then entered a room where there was a bobo doll and imitated her actions ("Albert Bandura," 2006). I attempted to incorporate modeling activities into my plan on a more complex level by participating in health and fitness programs that other individuals had participated in that have demonstrated success on their part. I then worked towards modeling their past actions in a conscious way to work towards my goal. Another element of Bandura’s social learning theory I incorporated into my quest to achieve my health and fitness goal was self-regulation. In these regards, Bandura indicates that there are three main steps: 1. Self-observation. We look at ourselves, our behavior, and keep tabs on it. 2. Judgment. We compare what we see with a standard. 3. Self-response. If you did well in comparison with your standard, you give yourself rewarding self-responses. If you did poorly, you give yourself punishing self-responses. These self-responses can range from the obvious (treating yourself to a sundae or working late) to the more covert (feelings of pride or shame) ("Albert Bandura," 2006).

Rhetorical situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rhetorical situation - Essay Example It is vital to note that the article rests on environmental knowledge and concerns. This is vital in the fact that many entities may rise to defend the same. It also expresses a wide network of interrelated environmental concepts. The audience is thus able to deduce that the river is more of an environmental concern than a developmental concern. The author utilized this context to express a dire a situation of the river. In addition, it highlights the concept that governments and citizens tend to ignore. In presenting the essays’ theme, the author highly utilizes the rhetorical strategies of ethos and logos. Logos is vital in describing the situation and its interrelated concepts. Ethos is highly utilized as a follow up strategy of logos. Ethos seeks to trigger the audience in defending their rivers. In this sense, the article is highly effective in persuading its audience. This regards the chronology of presentation and the inductive analysis that the author projects into the same. It is thus vital to provide rhetorical analysis of this paper. In terms of the rhetorical situation, it is critical to consider the context, purpose and audience. The paper exists in the context of environmental concern and ecology. This follows a pattern of showing the interaction of environmental concepts that comprise to form a particular ecology. This paper has a concern of manmade activities that contribute to destruction of the beauty and ecological benefits of the rivers Colorado and Rio Grande. In demonstration of the same, the author mentions a famed naturalist that termed Colorado as rich of fauna and flora. In this context, the author asserts that the river had rivulets that entered the Gulf of California at majestic volumes. This article is intended for ordinary citizens and entities that may rise to defend their ecology. In this sense, the author emphasizes that politicians and their affiliates may not contribute to restoration of the same. This means

India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

India - Essay Example In his finding, he discovered that the Machiguenga gave out the smallest amount possible, and none of the second players rejected the offer no matter how small. Unlike the Machiguenga, the Westerners had a tendency to share things on an equality basis. Other people would reject a high offer. A repeat of the experiment in different parts of the world proved similar results. According to the study, Henrich concludes that humans are not similar throughout the world as believed by social scientists who focused their research in America. A system that works for the Westerners could fail in the east. According to Michael Brown, for thousands of years, spirituality has been, and still is a major factor in the Indians lives (History King 1). Everything they do is in accordance with their belief. In India, the people live together as one despite their diversity. Millions of people celebrating their religions gather in the River Ganges during the Komhala festival every year. The westerner could probably never understand the Indians way of life. How a man could renounce every material thing to pursue a spiritual life is still a puzzle to the British. The answer is the two worlds define civilization differently. The Western culture embraces individualism, materialism, rationality, and masculinity. On the contrary, India bases their civilization on renunciation, the female, and the inner life. It is unfair to judge other people’s culture, customs, and civilization by comparing it to our own. History King. â€Å"Legacy - The Origins of Civilization - Episode 2: India, the Empire of Spirit (Documentary).† YouTube Video Clip. Jul 5, 2014. Web. March 17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffm-0FnVgmw Watters, Ethan. â€Å"We Aren’t the World.† Pacific Standard. Feb 25, 2013. Web. March 17, 2015.

The Controversial Approach of the Bank of England Essay

The Controversial Approach of the Bank of England - Essay Example This report presents a critical overview of the approaches adopted by the Bank for the sake of economic recovery in the country. Considering the devastating effects of the recent financial crisis, the Bank of England considered it essential to improve liquidity position through initiating â€Å"liquidity support operations† (Joyce). The intention behind these operations was to facilitate interbank market with more readily available funds. The Bank, in this regard, outstretched its normal operations by way of enabling commercial banks to obtain funds more easily. In addition to these initiatives, the Bank also considered other measures, such as, the introduction of â€Å"Special Liquidity Scheme† which enabled banks to exchange their assets with T-bills, which otherwise could not be materialized on short notice. This facility later was referred to as the â€Å"Discount Window Facility† (Joyce). However, these policies were brought into action after the Bank loosen ed the monetary policy by way of lowering down interest rates significantly. Although, the purchase of public and private assets was termed as a policy measure by the Bank, but in fact, these actions were forced to be taken by the Bank since the earlier loosening of monetary policy came out to be ineffective in achieving the 2 percent rate of inflation (Joyce, Tong and Woods). ... The growth trends in the UK economy from the first quarter have all been recorded in negative, i.e. – 0.1 percent, - 1.2 percent, 0 percent, - 1.4 percent, - 0.5 percent and – 1.3 percent. On the other hand, like other sectors of economy, the output of the construction sector of the UK declined significantly by 5.2 percent during the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Richards). According to the critics, the public and private assets purchasing policy of the bank proved to be detrimental itself for the economy as the Bank of England swapped financial assets with the commercial banks so as to increase the backup reserves of the banks, which could be used to further increase their lending operations in the market. But on the other side, the loosening of monetary policy and decline in interest rates meant that the deposits made by public in the bank were valueless. Moreover, the lowering down of interest rates also decreased the targets for businesses in the UK whi ch were set in relation to the returns expected on equity and capital of the firms. At the same time, it was also expected that the increased inflation rates would turn into increased demand and thus such increase in demand would lead to economic revival in the UK and would also improve lending operations in the UK financial market (Auerback). However, things went opposite to what was expected; as reported in the recent publication of the British Bankers Association, the mortgage lending for the month of June came out to be ? 7.2 billion, which if compared with the latest semi-annual averages was less than by ? 0.8 billion. Further, forecasting of mortgage lending shows that this declining trend

School Bullying in California Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

School Bullying in California - Research Paper Example In this strategy just like in the jigsaw puzzle, each student’s part is essential. For example, students in a history class are divided in to may be five groups and the task being to learn about World War 2. In one jigsaw group John can be responsible in researching about the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, May assigned to cover concentration Camps, Alex to cover Britain’s role in the war, Mike to research on the contribution of the Soviet Union. Eventually every student comes back to his jigsaw group and will try to present a well-organized report to the group. Thus if a member does not like the other he cannot do well on the test that follows (Barrows, 1998). This therefore encourages listening, engagement and empathy by giving everyone an essential part to play in the academic activity. Metro Center offers technical assistance that utilizes consultation methods which builds strong-client consultation relationtionship that result in sustained change and improvement. Thus district and school representatives take an active role in coming to understand and assess their own concerns rather than having to rely solely on the knowledge and skills outside experts. The NYS Spanish Bilingual Education Technical Assistance center which is funded by the New York State office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Language studies has a goal to enhance the knowledge and competencies of parents, educators and community member implementation (Barrows, 1998). Teaching specific skills and values: The policy should target areas identified as universally to students. Skill acquisition and publication should be addressed and their roles in academic and social adult role modeling. Holding Parent meetings: Involving parents is essential. Group discussion is necessary as it conveys what the students and parents are learning. Teachers and Parents have been supporting these policies

Tourism in Dubai Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism in Dubai - Research Paper Example Sources indicate that Dubai is using resources to tap into new emerging markets, which allows them to raise their position in already established/developedregions. All this is being done in a bid to increase the revenue the region rakes in annually, while it hopes to become one of the largest tourist destinations in the globe. This paper will analyze tourism in Dubai, and the potential the region has in terms of increase in growth for different areas in the economy. In 2011, Dubai boasted of an increase in the number of tourists who visited hotel apartments and hotels. This is from approximately 8 million in 2010, to over 9 million guests the following year. The initiatives in place guarantee that the emirates is the place to be once people decide to go on vacation, events, or business trips. The vibrant and dynamic nature of the tourism sector is being reflected by the hotels, hotel apartments, and the cruise passenger liners that attract more customers to the emirates (Nadeem 46). There are many factors that come into play when the success of Dubai is mentioned. The travel industry is one area that has played a part in the growth of the region’s success. Enhanced networking makes it possible for different sectors to chip in and aid in the success of the region. Dubai is now capable of reaching more people as a result of these diverse networks, which is aiding in the development and growth process of the UAE. There are regulations that need to be followed prior to visiting Dubai. As one of the seven emirates of the UAE, Dubai is one of the most prosperous regions in the Arab peninsula. The tourism sector has had a lot to do with this success, but to comprehend the nature of the region; one has to comprehend the regulations that govern the region. It is impossible to gain access to Dubai without a visa. Dubai can grant permits to citizens of certain regions upon arrival to the UAE, but they have limits. Also, visitors may be allowed permission to stay if they get sponsorship from citizens in the region, or any company that may be licensed to operate in Dubai. All these are ways in which the region can monitor the coming and going of foreign individuals. Awareness of the market presented by Dubai is created every day for people to realize that there are tremendous opportunities in the region (Page 97). This makes it even easier for people to get access to the region, increasing the chances of the region’s growth. Culturally, as with any region, there are different behavioralrestrictions that govern people living in Dubai. Since the tourism industry is booming and is attracting a large number of individuals of foreign descent, hotels and hotel apartments note that some of the things that may be considered normal in other developed countries may not necessarily be normal in Dubai. An example would be the strict adherence of Muslim laws, even if one may not be affiliated with the religion (Page 103). It is crucial to follow some of the cultures, for example; visits in the month of Ramadan may require individuals not to eat or drink in public as per the custom of the people. Moreover, decency in public is considered a moral obligation for individuals in Dubai. One is prohibited from wearing swim suits or even bikinis, unless they are on the beach. Tourists have to adhere to these restrictions regardless of whether they are Muslim or not. There are

Good Girl Gone Bad and Date Chris Brown Essay Example for Free

Good Girl Gone Bad and Date Chris Brown Essay Rihanna used to be one of my favourite singers back in the days. She started to change not only her image, but her music. I did some research and looked up what made her change this much. Her songs used to be what made her change this much. Her songs used to be much more sex-free. My research shows that Rihanna could have had experiences, or just wanted a change in her. I asked myself, How has Rihanna changed throughout her career?, and I could come up with many assumptions, but I want to make sure my assumptions are correct. I want to talk about her relationship with Chris Brown, her album A Girl Like Me and her album Good Girl Gone Bad. Rihanna started to date Chris Brown, an American entertainer. On February 8, 2009, Rihanna and her boyfriend Chris Brown had an argument that twisted into physical abuse. Rihanna was injured severely with facial injuries. Chris Brown turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department in Wilshire. On March 5, 2009, Chris Brown was charged with felony assault and because of making criminal threats. On June 22, 2009, he pleaded guilty and accepted to do community labor, five years probation and domestic violence counselling. He released a video online to apologize for what he had caused and is deeply saddened by it. He repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and accepts full responsibility for his actions. Right after this commotion, Rihanna had her fourth album, Rated R, which was released in November 2009 and was expressed as a very dark and mature impression due to earlier events. Her debut single, Russian Roulette, was a success. It is a mid-tempo pop song that contains famous RB ballad characteristics. According to the lyrics, the song is about a violent romantic relationship that ended unexpectedly. That song received positive reviews about her vocal performance and the song lyrics. Her third global single, Rude Boy, was released and recognized as the biggest worldwide success from the whole album. The song is about a girl who is getting attention from the guys, and they want her. They are probably just teasing her and cat-calling her, but Rihanna is much more like show me what you got. Its about a womans sexual freedom. Rihannas second album, A Girl Like Me, which was released in April 2006. It sold 115,000 copies in its first week and was certified Platinum. It alternates between the sunny dancehall/pop, hip-hop, club, adult music. The songs in this album were hardly about getting back at a guy or having an intercourse. Her songs were simply songs just to dance to, about someone losing her trust, love and compassion. Her lead single in that album, SOS, was number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first single to top the charts of United States. Her second single, Unfaithful, was a major worldwide hit. Songs like these were what everyone used to listen to, and not only people who have had an abusive relationship, or had their heart broken. Rihannas third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad was released in 2007. She wanted to start in a fresh track with the help of some music producers. She changed her image then to a more rebellious image. She dyed her hair black and cut it short. We figured Good Girl Gone Bad was the perfect title because it showed people Im my own person now. Not doing what anyone wants me to do. Im not the innocent Rihanna anymore. Im taking a lot more risks and chances. I felt when I cut my hair, it shows people I\m not trying to look or be anybody else, Rihanna tells MTV News. During an interview on UK radio station, Capital FM, Rihanna explained the meaning and reasoning behind the album title: Bad is not sleazy. Bad has its own term to every individual and in my case it just means Ive gotten a little rebellious on the album, broken out of my shell and Im taking risks Michael Jackson Bad kind of way.

Copyright Laws in Education

Copyright Laws in Education Abstract This paper is to give information on the copyright laws, Fair Use Act and the obligation of the classroom teacher to follow copyright laws. Within the paper, you will find different copyright laws and the reflection of that case or law. Lastly, you will read how important it is for teachers to understand copyright laws and how they can affect the teacher. I hope this paper gives the information needed to give the basic of Copyright Laws and background to the development of the Copyright laws. According to the Association of Research Libraries, the history of the Copyright law originated with the introduction of the printing press to England in the late fifteenth century (ARL 2017). Due to the rising number of printing presses, publication needed to be controlled. Across Europe, book growth exploded and there was an immediate need for protection of the rights of both the author and publisher from the earliest of literary pirates (HOC PP1). Per De Montfort University, copyright is a term used to define the legal property right subsisting in various works which result from the intellect of the creator. There were many laws created for copyright to not happen: 1787- U.S Constitution, 1790- Copyright Act, 1853- Stowe Vs. Thomas, 1891- International Copyright Treaty, 2005- Family Entertainment and Copyright Act. These were passed to ensure that no person was accused of copyright infringement. History of Copyright Laws Why they were passed A few laws that I will share are: 1787, this was when the acknowledgement of copyright was placed into the United States Constitution. According to the U.S Constitution, it states that the authors and inventors would have their work secured for a limited time and could be renewed every fourteen years (ARL.org). In 1790, the first copyright law was passed, this secured maps, charts, and books of authors. According to the ARL, it granted American authors the right to print, reprint, or publish their work. For the next copyright law, I wanted to share Stowe vs Thomas in 1853. I love books so why not share a case that shows how copyright laws affect individuals. Harriet Beecher Stowe sued a German publisher by the name of F.W Thomas (ARL). Beechers book, Uncle Toms Cabin, was translated into German and sold in the United States without Beechers permission. So, even though you did not take the words to make them your own, there are still consequences for the actions taken. As shown on ARL .org, copyright can happen to anyone and anywhere. With that being said, profits could not be made in European countries. Authors, publishers and printers joined together to support international copyright (ARL, Vaidhyanathan 50-55). Now for the last one that everyone knows and see every time they watch a movie. Per ARL, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act was enacted in April of 2005. This copyright law was created to give criminal penalties to individuals who may have recorded a movie while in the theater or those who may stream movies illegally. These laws were passed to ensure safety to not only authors, and publishers but also to ensure that individuals do not face future criminal charges. Fair Use Act How it applies to Teachers What is the Fair Use Act? According to the OCPS.net, Fair Use lets copyrighted material be used under certain guidelines, without the copyright holders permission, for purposes such as news reportings, teaching, research, criticism and parody. As far as teachers are concerned, though the Fair Use Act is in place, they should still consider taking the appropriate actions when using information that does not belong to them. Classroom teachers often photocopy readings and worksheets. Did you know that it could be copyright infringement if you make too many? According to Brighthub Education, if you are sued for copyright, you can use the Fair Use Act to your defense. The court would use the following factors: The purpose and character of the use The nature of the copyrighted work The amount and substantially of the portion used The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. Teachers Ethical Obligation to follow copyright laws According to Auburn.edu, teachers are constantly faced with opportunities to uphold or violate copyright laws. As an educator, you are to be professional and uphold your duties are a professional educator. One of the consequences could be termination of your job if you are found guilty of copyright infringement. It is important that teachers are aware of what constitutes Fair Use and abide by the rules set forth by their school system (University, 2017). Teachers are at the center of growth of technology. Teachers are faced with so many problems related to copyright laws. (University, 2017). As per Auburn.edu, teachers must be the role model for their students and educate them on copyright laws and what they can do to avoid copyright infringement. We as future educators, are the heart and soul of children learning. We give them the skills they need to use in life and to further their education. Throughout school, students will continue to write essays and be state tested on how they write. They want to give forth their best effort, as their teacher, you are the one who gives them this skill. Part of my personal ethics as an educator, I will strive to give my children the correct knowledge not only for everything education but copyright. References (n.d.). Fair Use | Association of Research Libraries ® | ARL ®. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/fair-use#.WK2_djsrLIU Copyright and Fair Use for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://www.ocps.net/lc/east/htc/mediacenter/Documents/FairUse. Explaining Copyright Law and How It Applies to Teachers: What You Need to Know About Fair Use, Making Copies More. (2015, August 31). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/6623-understanding-copyright-law-and-fair-use-for-teachers/ Home. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.historyofcopyright.org/index.html Welcome to the Digital Citizenship. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://www.auburn.edu/citizenship/index.html

Essay --

INTRODUCTION Advertising can mean many different things in today’s world. When advertising first was developed it was done by would of mouth and the classic flyer or poster, which is the traditional media. Then it moved up to using broadcast media such as radio to help capture a bigger audience. After that it moved towards the television where an even bigger audience could be reached. Lastly companies started to realize the shear amount of traffic that was generated by the Internet. The Internet first started to get popular in the mid 1990’s. Where only people with high tech computers and that could afford the service had the Internet. Of course the Internet did not look the way it does now during that time. There were no pop up ads, java, banners, or graphics that made a consumer purchase a product because they saw it on the Internet. One main reason that there was none of this was because the Internet could only use dial – up. Of course everyone knows how slowly that was, so picture trying to upload or update a website at that pace with huge files. We all know that this would take a very long time eventually making the company lose money. With the turn of the century close by not only did we enter a new century but we entered a new age of the Internet. The introduction of a cable modem drastically increased the Internet population. With speeds up to almost one hundred times faster then dial – up there was no comparison. With this new inven tion companies soon started to ease off on some parts of their advertising campaign and focused more on advertising on the Internet. So what is Internet Advertising? Internet Advertising is a way of marketing services or products on the World Wide Web. This can be done through search engine o... ... right people by increasing the awareness about the product, its benefits and drawbacks. This is important for the success of a business. There is both good and dark side of Internet advertising, including for social networking sites. As alluded to earlier, Internet marketing can manifest in negative, sometimes downright irritating, ways. Advertising malpractice can broach both the ethical and the legal. In e-mail marketing, knowing what constitutes spamming and what is legitimate advertising is extremely important. Internet threw open the plethora of opportunities for enormous scaling of business, thanks to the massive scope of expanding as well as popularizing the business by way of online advertisement. Now, every kind of business no matter big or small businesses can expand itself by way of online advertising where there are massive users across the whole world.

Kesey and Plath: A New American Myth :: Biography Biographies Essays

Kesey and Plath: A New American Myth A mutual friend sets up Ken Kesey and Sylvia Plath on a blind date. They meet in a Boston restaurant and discover they're both writers. Describe the ensuing conversation. Sept. 3, 1955 (from Sylvia's diary) It must have been some terrible mistake. Mother set me up with a certain Ken Kesey, a friend of a friend of the family. Terrible! We met at a restaurant on Harvard Square and it went downhill from there. I came home alright, but barely. I guess I can start from the beginning... Ken is large and very open with his body and gestures. He's from California, which could explain that. He dressed very casually and he had a crazy look in his eyes when he saw me. I don't know if he was happy to be there either. Apparently he goes to Stanford and is studying creative writing. I asked him about his writing and he started a whole speech on psychiatric wards and medications. I didn't want to hear a word about psychiatric wards, but he certainly got my interest. He volunteers to do experiments for money. I can't imagine going through what I went through voluntarily... I did venture to ask him why he was writing about hospitals and he looked very closely at me and said, "You've been there. I know." And he did. He was seeing inside me, all the way inside, and it was the most uncomfortable silence I've ever had. I mumbled an accusation and as soon as it came out, I knew my mother hadn't told him about all that. Dinner went alright, barring the conversation about hospitals. We walked around the square and by the river for awhile and then he invited me to his hotel room and I said no, but I really wanted to leave with him. I've been so bottled up for days... I wanted to do something different. We sat down facing Cambridge and he looked at me again, intently and laughed... "It's all black, isn't it? Then everything shuts down." Ken looked off toward the river. He started to laugh again. "I don't know what you're talking about." Sylvia put her knees closer together. Uncomfortable. "When they throw the switch. When it all shakes and then you black out. Then you can't think for days.

Essay --

Segregation, the separation of individuals by their race, was something that many African American experienced in their life after their freedom from slavery until the end of segregation around the mid-1900s. Southerners were less accepting of African Americans than their Northern counterparts. Southerners were often extremely cruel to African Americans, referring to them with demeaning names and physically hurting them, sometimes to the point of critical injury or death. During this time, James Meredith, a civil rights leader was born. James Howard Meredith was born as one of ten children on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi on June 25, 1933. He was not exposed to racism until a train ride from Chicago, where he had to give up his seat for a white man. This train ride was his catalyst for fighting for civil rights. He spent nine years in the Army Air Force following high school. After his service, he enrolled in the all-black school, Jackson State College in Mississippi. The beginning of his work started in the year 1961, when he applied for University of Mississippi, which back then was an all-white school that had been segregated and should have been integrated with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The Brown v. the Board of Education, taking place in 1952, was a case that overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that legalized segregation. This case brought about after an African American man from Topeka filed a lawsuit saying that black and white schools were not legal. This parent was Oliver Brown. This case was taken care of by Thurgood Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The court ruled in favor of Brown and segregation became considered illegal and in violation of ... ...aces, however, when they look at the same classroom about sixty years ago they will find it less diversified. Now, people can see African American children play with the children of white people. There are children who are of mixed race, when back then these children would be shunned by both sides. The children are able to play, become friends, and be happy. They are able to have a life where they do not have to worry about getting off the street just because a white person is passing by. They do not have to worry about moving to the back just because a white person has arrived. This would not have been the case sixty years ago. This place where children of all races are able to enjoy each other’s company was the result of many years of effort and blood, not only by one person but by many courageous individuals who wanted to create a better future for their people. Essay -- Segregation, the separation of individuals by their race, was something that many African American experienced in their life after their freedom from slavery until the end of segregation around the mid-1900s. Southerners were less accepting of African Americans than their Northern counterparts. Southerners were often extremely cruel to African Americans, referring to them with demeaning names and physically hurting them, sometimes to the point of critical injury or death. During this time, James Meredith, a civil rights leader was born. James Howard Meredith was born as one of ten children on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi on June 25, 1933. He was not exposed to racism until a train ride from Chicago, where he had to give up his seat for a white man. This train ride was his catalyst for fighting for civil rights. He spent nine years in the Army Air Force following high school. After his service, he enrolled in the all-black school, Jackson State College in Mississippi. The beginning of his work started in the year 1961, when he applied for University of Mississippi, which back then was an all-white school that had been segregated and should have been integrated with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The Brown v. the Board of Education, taking place in 1952, was a case that overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that legalized segregation. This case brought about after an African American man from Topeka filed a lawsuit saying that black and white schools were not legal. This parent was Oliver Brown. This case was taken care of by Thurgood Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The court ruled in favor of Brown and segregation became considered illegal and in violation of ... ...aces, however, when they look at the same classroom about sixty years ago they will find it less diversified. Now, people can see African American children play with the children of white people. There are children who are of mixed race, when back then these children would be shunned by both sides. The children are able to play, become friends, and be happy. They are able to have a life where they do not have to worry about getting off the street just because a white person is passing by. They do not have to worry about moving to the back just because a white person has arrived. This would not have been the case sixty years ago. This place where children of all races are able to enjoy each other’s company was the result of many years of effort and blood, not only by one person but by many courageous individuals who wanted to create a better future for their people.

The Importance of Good Writing Skills for Prospective University Students

Introduction In the age of technology, most students are absorbed in using electronic sources to either read or listen to academic information and usually attempt to memorize facts as far as possible. While electronic devices such as Android phones, iPads, Kindles, and other devices provide students with an amalgamation of information at their fingertips and students are very well informed regarding what is happening in the world and how various things work, they often lack the ability to form and express their opinions in their own words. This skill is often seen non-existent amongst prospective university students, who possess a great degree of knowledge regarding numerous topics, but struggle when they are required to write their personal statements to when they are required to write their dissertations in their final years. It is important for prospective university students to recognize the importance of good writing skills in order to help them get through their university years. The issues of plagiarism, use of vocabulary, and proper structuring must be addressed adequately in order to help prospective university students achieve good grades. The following tips may help university students improve their writing skills: Adopting the habit of reading: Listening to music, playing sports, and hanging out with friends are common activities found in young adults nowadays. However, a study found that approximately 21% of university-aged students said that they enjoyed reading while the majority of students did not express this interest (CollegeXpress, 2013). However, this hobby is highly important for students in order to help them improve their structuring, their ability of expression, and their vocabulary skills. Writing a diary or a blog: While diaries may be slightly out-dated, students can create a blog on a topic of interest which will help them regularly post their thoughts, feelings, and opinions regarding various topics. This will help enhance their creativity, expressive abilities, and enable them to generally enhance their writing skills to capture the interest of readers. Becoming a freelance writer: While prospective university students search for various part-time jobs, it may be beneficial for them to look for jobs as freelance writers. Indulging in activities such as writing advertising and marketing messages, writing emails, and other small tasks to earn a small income may pay a long way in their future. Avoid using slang when chatting, writing emails, or in any other form of communication: Using slang impairs a person’s spelling and vocabulary skills and may often hinder a person’s ability to write properly structured sentences. Hence, avoiding the use of such language can help a student write more appropriately in the future. Having good writing skills can help prospective students in their university years and can also pay a long way when looking for prospective careers. Most employers are looking for candidates with a good level of expression, excellent writing skills, and a high level of creativity. Research has found that individuals with good writing skills score 80% higher than those who do not possess such skills in university and tend to find jobs 30% quicker than others (Aims Community College, 2013). References Aims Community College. (2013) Online Writing Lab. [online] Accessed on: November 10, 2013 Available at: http://www.aims.edu/student/online-writing-lab/overview/why CollegeXpress. (2013) â€Å"Cultivating Exceptional Writing Skills for Success and Beyond†. Accessed on November 11, 2013 Available at: http://www.collegexpress.com/articles-and-advice/majors-and-academics/articles/college-academics/cultivating-exceptional-writing-skills-success-college-and-beyond/

Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002), Professor of Sociology at the College de France, might come into view an unlikely candidate for inclusion under the rubric of critical theory. An erstwhile structuralist, whose work sometimes appeared to run equivalent to that of Foucault, an erstwhile anthropologist and former student of Levi-Strauss, he was in numerous respects a characteristically ‘French’ theorist.However he distanced himself from the ‘objectivism’ of structural anthropology, at the same time as remaining stubbornly opposed to to post-structuralist deconstruction (Bourdieu, 1977; Bourdieu, 1984, p. 495). Furthermore, his work engaged very directly with both Marxist and Weberian traditions in social theory. One critic has even observed that it â€Å"is best understood as the attempt to push class analysis beyond Marx and Weber† (Eder, 1993, p. 63).Definitely, if critical theory is described in terms of its objective to change the world, then Bour dieu was as significant a theorist as any. Throughout the late 1990s, he appeared as by far the most well-known academic intellectual to join in active solidarity with the new ‘antiglobalisation’ movements. His La Misere du monde, first published in volume in 1993 and in paperback in 1998, turned out to be a bestseller in France and a main source of political motivation to the movement, both in the original and in its English translation as The Weight of the World.He was directly implicated in militant ‘antiglobalisation’ activism, speaking at mass meetings of striking railway workers in 1995 and unemployed workers in 1998 (Bourdieu, 1998, pp. 24n, 88n); he initiated the 1996 formally request for an ‘Estates General of the Social Movement’ and its May Day 2000 successor, the petition for a pan-European Estates General; he confounded the radical ‘Raisons d'agir’ group and its associated publishing house; he overtly called ‘for a left Left’ (Bourdieu, 1998a); and he was a regular contributor to the radical French monthly, Le Monde diplomatique.We may add that, like Marx, Bourdieu attached a distinguishing subtitle to what is still his best-known work Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Bourdieu, 1984). Bourdieu's reputation as a sociological thinker revolves around the ‘theory of practice’, in which he tried to theorise human sociality as the result of the tactical action of individuals operating within a constraining, however not determining, context of values.Notably, the term Bourdieu coined to explained this was ‘the habitus’ (Bourdieu, 1977), by which he meant â€Å"an acquired system of generative schemes objectively adjusted to the particular conditions in which it is constituted† (p. 95). It is at the same time structured and structuring, materially produced and very frequently generation-specific (pp. 72, 78). Elsewhere, he explained i t as ‘a kind of transforming machine that leads us to â€Å"reproduce† the social conditions of our own production, but in a relatively unpredictable way’ (Bourdieu, 1993, p.87). Like Marx and Weber, Bourdieu thinks contemporary capitalist societies to be class societies. However for Bourdieu, their dominant and dominated classes are discernible from each other not simply as a matter of economics, however as well as a matter of habitus: ‘social class, understood as a system of objective determinations’, he insisted, ‘must be brought into relation †¦ with the class habitus, the system of dispositions (partially) common to all products of the same structures’ (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 85).Bourdieu's most extensively cited study, though, and undoubtedly the most powerful in cultural studies, has been Distinction, a work that takes as the object of its critique specifically the same kind of high modernism as that privileged in Frankfurt Schoo l aesthetics. Where Adorno and Horkheimer had insisted on a radical discontinuity between capitalist mass culture as well as avant-garde modernism, Bourdieu would focus on the latter's own profound complicity with the social structures of power and domination.The book was footed on an extremely thorough sociological survey, conducted in 1963 and in 1967/68, by interview and by ethnographic observation, of the cultural preferences of over 1200 people in Paris, Lille and a small French provincial town (Bourdieu, 1984, p. 503). Examining his sample data, Bourdieu recognized three main zones of taste: ‘legitimate’ taste, which was most extensive in the educated sections of the leading class; ‘middle-brow’ taste, more extensive among the middle classes; and ‘popular’ taste, prevalent in the working classes (p.17). He characterised lawful taste mainly in terms of what he named the ‘aesthetic disposition’ to state the ‘absolute prim acy of form over function’ (pp. 28, 30). Artistic and social ‘distinction’ is consequently inextricably interrelated, he argued: ‘The pure gaze implies a break with the ordinary attitude towards the world which, as such, is a social break’ (p. 31).The popular aesthetic, by contrast, is ‘based on the affirmation of continuity between art and life’ and ‘a deeprooted demand for participation’ (p. 32). The distinguishing detachment of this ‘pure gaze’, Bourdieu argued, is part of a more general disposition towards the ‘gratuitous’ and the ‘disinterested’, in which the ‘affirmation of power over a dominated necessity’ implies a claim to ‘legitimate superiority over those who †¦ remain dominated by ordinary interests and urgencies’ (pp.55–6). Bourdieu's general sociology had posited that, without exception, all human practices can be treated as ‘eco nomic practices directed towards the maximizing of material or symbolic profi’ (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 183). Therefore his leaning to view the intelligentsia as self-interested traders in cultural capital. For Bourdieu, it followed that professional intellectuals were best measured as a subordinate fraction of the same social class as the bourgeoisie.Defining the leading class as that possessed of a high overall volume of capital, whatever its source whether economic, social or cultural he located the intellectuals in the dominant class by virtue of their access to the latter. The dominant class therefore comprises a dominant fraction, the bourgeoisie proper, which excessively controls ‘economic capital’, and a dominated fraction, the intelligentsia, which disproportionately controls ‘cultural capital’. The most apparently disinterested of cultural practices are thus, for Bourdieu, fundamentally material in character.Even when analysing the more ‘p urely artistic’ forms of literary activity, the ‘anti-economic economy’ of the field of ‘restricted’ as opposed to ‘large-scale’ cultural production, he noted how ‘symbolic, long-term profits †¦ are ultimately reconvertible into economic profits’ (Bourdieu, 1993a, p. 54) and how avant-garde cultural practice remained dependent on the ‘possession of substantial economic and social capital’ (p. 67). Finally, Bourdieu comes to discuss current practices in the visual arts. He sees the current bureaucratization and commercialization of the limited modernist field as a threat to artistic autonomy.He registers with disquiet certain recent developments which put at risk the precious conquests of the elitist artists-the interpenetration of art and money, through new patterns of patronage, the growing dependence of art on bureaucratic control, plus the consecration through prizes or honours of works successful merely with the wider public, alongside the long-cycle modernist works cherished by artists themselves. Bourdieu's critique of idealized artistic disinterestedness has been incorrectly reinterpreted as a theory of extensive egoistic domination, not least by the ‘consecrated' avant-garde.Bourdieu's socio-analysis of the artists has shown, in spite of charismatic ideology, that in practice the Impressionists and subsequent modernists lived a comfortable existence by the time of their middle age, and that usually gallery owners or dealers sold their works on their behalf, therefore relieving them of attention to the Vulgar' needs of material existence. Bourdieu as well accounts for certain recurrent features of the closed worlds of art, for example the social reality of artists' struggles over cultural politics, which the spiritualistic account cannot explain.Contrary to the orthodox expectations of sublimated suffering, Bourdieu cites numerous examples where the conflicts between arti sts over their specifically artistic interests caused open violence: the Surrealists' fight, in which Andre Breton broke a fellow artist's arm, is a case in point. Nor did the idealized expectations of art stop numerous cultural producers collaborating with the Vichy regime in the 1940s. In The Rules of Art, Bourdieu resumed many of the themes first broached in Distinction, particularly the role of cultural discernment as a marker of class position.Here he elucidated how Flaubert, Baudelaire and Manet had been critical to the institution of an ‘autonomous artistic field’ of salons, publishing houses, producers, commentators, critics, distributors, and all that; and to the establishment of a idea of ‘art for art's sake’, which measured legitimacy as ‘disinterestedness’. For Bourdieu, the latter concept marked the genesis of the modern artist or writer as ‘a fulltime professional, devoted to one's work in a total and exclusive manner, indif ferent to the exigencies of politics and to the injunctions of morality’ (Bourdieu, 1996, pp.76–7). This new artistic field had created a zone of autonomy, free from both the market and politics, in its ‘heroic’ phase, throughout the latter part of the 19th century. But in the 20th century, Bourdieu argued, modernist art had developed not as a critique of the ‘iron cage’ of instrumental rationality, however as a function of the power games of the dominant classes, its capacities for critical distance gradually eroded through cooption by both the market and the state education system.Bourdieu detected analogously ‘interested’ processes at work in the academic intelligentsia. The academic profession is a competitive struggle for authenticity and cultural distinction, he elucidated, which functions to reproduce the wider structures of social class inequality: whether applied to the world, to students, or to academics themselves, acad emic taxonomies are ‘a machine for transforming social classifications into academic classifications’ (Bourdieu, 1988, p.207). Afterwards he would stress the central significance of the elite graduate schools, the alleged ‘grandes ecoles’, to the power of the French social and economic elite, showing how their credentialism operated as a kind of ‘state magic’ for a supposedly rationalised society (Bourdieu, 1996, p. 374).Tracing the growing incidence of academic credentials among the chief executives of the top 100 French companies, he concluded that the obvious substitution of academic for property titles in fact performed a vital legitimating function: company heads ‘no longer appear †¦ the heirs to a fortune they did not create’, he wrote, ‘but rather the most exemplary of self-made men, appointed by their †¦ â€Å"merits† to wield power †¦ in the name of â€Å"competence† and â€Å"intelligen ce†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (p. 334).Where the Frankfurt School had worked with a model of theory as overtly critical, Bourdieu tended to have an effect on a quasipositivistic objectivism, in order that the moment of critique was often concealed behind a mask of scientific ‘objectivity’. In The Weight of the World, he used a mixture of ethnographic interviews and sociological commentary to mount a stunning condemnation of contemporary utilitarianism in the shape of ‘economic liberalism’ as creating the preconditions for ‘an unprecedented development of all kinds of ordinary suffering’ (Bourdieu et al. , 1999).However even here, in his most explicitly engaged work, he still insisted that sociological ‘science’ could itself uncover ‘the possibilities for action’ that politics will require exploring (p. 629). Where the Frankfurt School had conceived of intellectuals as considerably productive of critical sensibility, Bourdieu tende d to detect merely material self-interest. This sort of ‘reflexive’ critique is essential, he argued, to break with the ‘habits of thought, cognitive interests and cultural beliefs bequeathed by several centuries of literary, artistic or philosophical worship’ (Bourdieu 2000, p. 7).However such cynicism can easily cause a radical overestimation of the reproductive powers of the social status quo. Even though Bourdieu's vocabulary of ‘cultural capital' and ‘symbolic profits' has sometimes misled his readers, his persistence on the complex motives in artists' desire to make a mark does not permit him to forget the very important differences between the artistic field and the field of capitalist power. Bourdieu argues that the characteristic nature of artistic and other cultural fields is that they exist in the form of reciprocal gift exchange somewhat than being animated by money.Further, he does not lessen artists to their class position, nor doe s he deny that artists may certainly be singular figures. Indeed, the comparison across the limited and expanded artistic fields sharpens approval of the differences between the autonomous artists and others. The sociological analysis of the artworks, which illustrates how they are necessitated by social situation and artistic position-taking, can therefore become a ‘piquant sauce' which serves to intensify the pleasures of the works. References: Bourdieu, P (1977), Outline of a Theory of Practice, trans. R.Nice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ___(1984), Homo academicus, English edn 1988a, Homo Academicus, trans. P. Collier, Polity Press, Cambridge ___(1988), L'ontologie politique de Martin Heidegger, English edn 1991b, The Political Ontology of Martin Heidegger, trans. P. Collier, Polity Press, Cambridge ___(1993), ‘Concluding remarks: for a sociogenetic understanding of cultural works’ in Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives, eds C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone, Polity Press, Cambridge ___(1993a), The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature, ed. and introd. R. Johnson, Polity Press, Cambridge___(1996), Sur la television, English edn 1998c, On Television, trans. P. P. Ferguson, New Press, New York ___(1998), Contre-feux. Propos pour servir a la resistance contre l'invasion neo-liberale, English edn 1998b, Acts of Resistance: Against the New Myths of Our Time, trans. R. Nice, Polity Press, Cambridge ___(1998a), La domination masculine, English edn 2001, Masculine Domination, trans. R. Nice, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CT ___and L. Wacquant (1999), ‘On the cunning of imperialist reason’ Theory, Culture and Society, 16/1 ___ (2000) Pascalian Meditations. Cambridge: Polity Press Eder, K (1993). Th

Principles of Safeguarding

The Gogh Inquiry During investigations at Staffordshire Hospital, findings revealed serious failures of care, cases of unnecessary suffering of patients and higher than average mortality rates. Five other hospitals are also being investigated regarding their unnecessary death rates and poor nursing. Following these findings, Sir Bruce Gogh, England's INS Medical Director, has started an inquiry. Koch's inquiry looks at different cases where there has been unnecessary deaths and a lack of quality nursing.This report kooks at the different recommendations that have been made to improve the INS put in place by Gogh and looks at what has happened since Staffordshire regarding resignations, blame and public opinion. Different Opinions Patient groups are angry as there has been no prosecutions or resignations since the Staffordshire scandal. Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association quoted â€Å"It is deeply disturbing nurses fear the door is open for another tragedy on the scale of Mi d Staffs. It is vital politicians listen and ensure they provide the tools nurses need o provide a safe level of care to patients. The families of the patients who have died or have received poor quality care, are understandably angry and have lost faith in the INS. INS staff (front line nurses) feel like that the is blame aimed at them, as they are given targets to hit, which are impossible to achieve as well as first class care. Also, front line nurses warn that this could happen again due to lack of staff, cuts and the rationing of front line services. The Recommendations Following the Gogh Review, the current set of regulations are to be revised.This will include a call for greater regulation of INS managers and an overhaul of training for nurses and unqualified health care assistants. Also, changes to the supervision and regulation of health care are required to protect patients and to respond to public anger about the scandal, which has drained confidence in the rest of the he alth service. A recommendation for better training for health care assistants, and a call for them to be regulated, meaning they could be struck off if they failed in their duties.The report will also recommend changes to ensure managers are held accountable for their decisions. This could mean they are struck off a central register if they do not follow a revised code of conduct. The Effect on Public Opinion Patients at Stafford Hospital were left lying in their own urine and excrement for days, forced to drink water from vases, given the wrong medication or sent home with faith in the INS and health and social care. Whilst working on the wards staff may find themselves being scrutinized by patients and relatives, finding fault where there is none.

Popular Culture Media and Society: Culture Jamming Essay

Introduction â€Å"Culture jamming† is a strategy often utilized by the anti-globalization movement in the creation and reappropriation of memes, or memorable and persistent ideas. Traditional culture jamming strategies have included a variety of actions, ranging from billboard liberation, wherein artists reclaim billboards as public space, to media activism, wherein activists attempt to garner news coverage through some form of direct action in order to have their message heard. Additional tactics such as spoof advertisements geared to mock a particular brand or industry and branding removal, wherein activists remove all marks of branding from products, have also been deployed. Culture jammers attempt to expose the norms of western industrial society and call them into question but often their attempts are not popular enough to reach a large audience and encourage a large scale questioning of the status quo. The goals of the culture jamming community are to introduce new norms into societies that effectively turn back the meanings of current social norms. Despite the best intentions of those working within the movement, traditional culture jamming rarely makes it into popular culture and is thus often thwarted in the attempt to successfully challenge the norms perpetuated by globalization. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which culture jamming that permeates the media and crosses the line from subculture to pop culture can challenge hegemonic structures of power while simultaneously reinforcing those challenges by increasing their popularity. Through the study of popular culture artifacts from a variety of genres I hope to determine whether or not popular culture may serve as an effective strategic forum for the introduction of culture jamming artifacts, as opposed to the traditional and more subversive tactics being deployed by culture jammers. Towards an Understanding of Culture Jamming Culture jamming and studies of culture jamming have typically focused on the ability of an activist group or individual to effectively redeploy the signs and symbols of a dominant system in a manner that disrupts their meaning and critiques the overall system from which the symbols originate. In his recently republished 1993 pamphlet on culture jamming, Mark Dery (2001) states that culture jammers: †¦ introduce noise into the signal as it passes from transmitter to receiver, encouraging idiosyncratic, unintended interpretations. Intruding on the intruders, they invest ads, newscasts, and other media artifacts with subversive meanings; simultaneously, they decrypt them, rendering their seductions impotent (para. 36). From Dery’s perspective culture jamming can be seen as actions or artifacts that are politically or subversively charged. Jamming can range from parody to media gags, but always aims to make a statement against a particular target of power or popularity within a culture. Similarly, semiotic theorist Umberto Eco (1984) advocates that one form of media can be utilized to spread criticism pointed at another type of medium in order to â€Å"restore a critical dimension to passive reception† (p. 138). Eco refers to acts and artifacts that have this potential to be part of â€Å"semiotic guerilla warfare.† The signs and symbols of a culture are open to interpretation. While within a culture there may be a common meaning for these signs and symbols within a culture that meaning is not set in stone. A sign or a symbol may be used to contradict its own popular meaning. Thus we can see how semiotics plays an important role in developing tools for the toolbox of the culture jammer. The lack of fixed meaning in the signs we see on a daily basis allow culture jammers to turn back symbols as semiotic weapons against their creators. Kalle Lasn (2000) defines culture jamming as the demarketing of marketing. As the founder of Adbusters magazine, Lasn has pushed for the reclaiming and redeployment of particular brand names, icons, and advertising campaigns through a process known to culture jammers as subvertising. Lasn explains in his book, Culture Jam that culture jammers utilize Debord’s notion of detournement, or turning back specific aspects of a spectacle against itself. In the case of culture jamming, brands and their advertising are turned back upon themselves to reveal questions and inconsistencies about a particular advertiser’s ideals as seen through its campaigns. Lasn (2000) also claims that successful culture jamming can function as a pincer movement utilizing both high profile media campaigns that challenge industry in combination with grass roots campaigns for local action. The challenge to an industry or target combined with encouragement of behavioral change has the potential to change the perception of the target on a broad scale while also reducing support for the target. A well-organized pincer will get millions of people thinking about their lives—about eating better, driving less, jumping off the fashion treadmill, downshifting. Eventually the national mood will evolve (pg136). Lasn’s pincer attack attempts to make that which is currently chic or popular in a society unpopular on a massive scale. As fewer people within the society buy into the imagery of a particular industry or brand the industry loses financial support and must either change its practices or face rejection by the community at large. Lasn has spear headed grass roots campaigns such as â€Å"Buy Nothing Day;† an annual campaign urging consumers to avoid buying anything on the last Friday of November (a date commonly known among retailers as â€Å"Black Friday† as it often marks record profits for retailers as a result of holiday shopping). Lasn combines this grassroots campaign with thirty-second television ad spots on CNN each year as well as more locally oriented promotion such as fliers that activists can print off the Internet and disseminate at will. Christine Harold (2004) claims that the culture jammer â€Å"seeks to undermine the marketing rhetoric of multinational corporations, specifically through such practices as media hoaxing, corporate sabotage, billboard ‘liberation,’ and trademark infringement† (p. 190). These strategies are used by jammers in an effort to â€Å"glut the system† by supplying audiences with contradictory messages. Their goal is to generate a qualitative change in the minds of the audience about the subject matter targeted. Harold (2004) critiques traditional culture jamming as a rhetorical strategy because it often relies upon revelation of hidden truths and rejection of the systems it attempts to play upon. In her analysis, Harold specifically indicts Lasn’s publications and others who deploy parody or direct negation of corporate logos in their attempts to cause questioning of norms. Reliance on parody as a mechanism for revealing truth requires audiences to deconstruct the common meaning of a sign with little to work with but the sign itself. Additionally, parody causes a commitment to rhetorical binaries that articulate rejection of the targeted idea with little room for the idea to be reframed. Dominant powers within a criticized system can easily utilize these tactics for their own means. The reliance on a recognized symbol helps to maintain its cultural prominence. The rhetorical binary used by culture jammers allows the targeted entity to easily deflect criticism and quash the questioning of norms. While Adbusters and activists of similar ideology may put forth a message of rebellion and rejection corporate targets can use these concepts of rebellion and rejection to sell their products. Recent advertisements for Sprite illustrate this concept well as they focus on rejecting celebrity culture and embracing one’s own character by purchasing the product. Harold (2004) advocates a more appropriative approach to culture jamming seeks to be appropriated by commercial media in order to redirect the focus of dominant media systems. Much of Harold’s argument focuses on the value of media activism via prank, pointing to groups such as the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) and Biotic Baking Brigade (BBB) as groups that have successfully received positive media coverage through their pranks. Clearly, we can see that culture jamming may be an effective strategy for putting dominant hierarchies, organizations, and systems into question. However, Reinsborough and Harold (2004) both raise interesting points in terms of the effectiveness of the strategy, with Harold illustrating the problems of strategies that are not appropriative and Reinsborough recognizing that subversive media strategies (such as those Harold advocates) are often limited in scope. When considering Reinsborough’s (2003) usage of the word meme the concept that he is referring to is not necessarily identical to that articulated by memetic theorists. Susan Blackmore (1999) has broadly defined memes as â€Å"everything that you have learned by imitation† (pg6). The definition of imitation from a memetic perspective should not be confused with â€Å"copycat† acts. Instead, imitation should be seen as memes passing from one mind to another. In his article on culture jammers and the World Wide Web, Stephen Downes (1999) defines the meme as a â€Å"contagious idea that spreads from one mind to another† (para. 2). He articulates that memes are a way to represent the ideas contained within advertising and explains that in order for ideas to take hold in one’s mind they must appeal to the audience in a way that helps them to be remembered. Similarly, Kalle Lasn (2000) speaks of â€Å"infotoxins,† or â€Å"infoviruses,† that permeate dominant media forums. Lasn claims that disinformation is propagated through media and public relations spin resulting in the establishment of incorrect beliefs about the world. In one example, Lasn refers to the media’s portrayal of anti-automobile activists as limiters of personal freedom as a contributing factor in the failure of activists to popularize their message. The movement becomes unable to stimulate a mindset shift towards a culture that is less dependent upon petroleum products. As the activists are seen as â€Å"anti-freedom† harms they are attempting to solve such as global warming are not taken seriously. Additionally, he argues that while the effects of global warming can be seen on both local and global scales, disinformation that has been spread through dominant media forums has led to a sense of complacency about the issue in the minds of Americans. Lasn believes these â€Å"infoviruses† are untruthful memes that must be challenged through the production of counteractive memes that outperform those that movements wish to question. â€Å"We build our own meme factory, put out a better product and beat the corporations at their own game. We identify the macromemes and the metamemes—the core ideas without which a sustainable future is unthinkable—and deploy them† (pg124). Both Reinsborough (2003) and Lasn (2000) seem to be identifying that memes are memorable and popular concepts that have the ability to be spread in order to transform cultural norms. Blackmore (1999) and Downes (1999) clearly illustrate that memes are made up of ideas that are picked up from popular culture and imitated. The process of culture jamming can be seen as one generating memes that hold a meaning that challenges existing norms. To return to the analogy of the gene, culture jamming can be seen as a form of â€Å"memetic engineering† with a goal of producing a dominant and meaningful meme that causes new â€Å"traits,† or meanings, to become exemplified within a culture. Understanding the Transformative Potential of Popular Culture Communication and mass media scholars have examined the extent to which popular culture may contribute to the formation of cultural norms and social structure. Guy Debord (1977) implicates popular culture in large portion of what he labels â€Å"the society of the spectacle.† Debord’s (1977) view of the world in the era of global capitalism is one in which popular culture serves to provide images or representations of the world that do not represent its historical state, but instead inspire audiences to digest the world around them as commodities as a replacement for the real. Artifacts such as films are not representative of art, but are tools to inspire audiences to strive towards the acquisition of consumer goods and respect the hierarchal structure. Debord (1977) points out that the society of the spectacle is replete with images and representations that drive audiences to become consumers. This consumption leads audiences to respect the structural hierarchies that repress them. In essence, the complacency most audiences have towards the consumption of images and subsequently the world around them drives this structuralism. While Debord (1977) implicates popular culture and the spectacle as paramount in the construction of a social order of consumption, he does offer some hope for those striving to work against the consumptive nature of capitalist hierarchies in the form of â€Å"detournement† By creating contradictions, negations, or parodies of a given work, â€Å"corrections† can be made to the meaning of the work in order to create a meaning that is more representative of the â€Å"true† states of societies. Marshall McLuhan (1964) argued in his groundbreaking work, Understanding Media, that popular culture experienced a drastic shift with the advent of technologies such as film, radio and television. Whereas popular culture had been print dominated in years previous, the shift to new types of media changed the way media was created and the effect was dramatic. McLuhan argues that the introduction of printed texts into cultures undermined the tribal aspect of communities and collective ideas that had once dominated small communities. Cultures became more individualistic and increased the power of logic and rationale of the written word as opposed to commonality among group members. The advent of new media brought about a more collective consciousness as individuals were drawn to its aesthetics. New tribal communities formed that were rooted in both local and global norms. Audience exposure to new and different sights and sounds increased the shared understanding across cultures. McLuhan also illustrates that the spread of media united people as a result of the media’s importance by comparing media to staples of a society’s economy. Television, for example, can be used to construct the cultural norms of a society. Those people who are active audience members of a particular television show or genre are likely to have shared beliefs, forming a tribal community of their own. McLuhan argued that the community building potential of television and the syndication of programming created the potential for these cultures to spread globally. While McLuhan’s work was performed in the 1960s the subsequent popularity of the Internet seems to confirm at the very least that communities of people who make up television audiences extend worldwide as fan sites, bulletin boards, and blogs dedicated to television programs cross multiple borders and cultures. Television, much of McLuhan’s media, is a part of popular culture. Research has also been conducted suggesting that popular culture has the ability to reaffirm existing cultural norms or as a tool in transforming current norms. Lee Artz (2004) has examined the cultural norms that are present in the bulk of the animation produced by the Walt Disney Co. Artz argues that the autocratic production process embraced by Disney executives results in four dominant themes present in nearly every animated film the company has released. These themes include the naturalization of hierarchy, the defense of elite coercion and power, promotion of hyper-individualism and the denigration of democratic solidarity (p. 126). The prevalence of these themes can be identified through study of the narratives contained within Disney films as well as through the stylistic elements of the animation itself. The ease with which animated film can be translated and transported into the languages and cultures of peoples worldwide offers a large audience to Disney in marketing its films and film-related products. The portability of Disney products from one culture to another is a problematic notion for Artz (2004), as he explains the social stratification present and reaffirmed in the films produced is largely representative of the global capital system that allows Disney to thrive as a media giant. Artz suggests that effective resistance against these thematic representations cannot be implemented by rogue Disney artists injecting subversive messages into films. Instead, â€Å"cooperative creations and narratives† and the appropriation and subsequent use of animation technology by artists, writers, and producers committed to the promotion of democracy would be more effective. This conclusion appears to be impirically proven. While not discussed in Artz’s work, subversive strategies have been employed by disgruntled artists involved in the production of Disney films (such as the post-production inclusion of an image of a topless woman in the background artwork of The Rescuers). However these acts did not generate substantial negative publicity for the company. Peter Simonson (2001) has examined the successes the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have experienced as a result of using communication strategies rooted in popular culture. PETA seeks to change predominant cultural norms in the area of animal welfare. Their traditional communicative strategies have relied on the generating news controversy and gaining news coverage. Simonson proposes that social movements and organizations seeking to change popular morals or norms rely upon social noise—a multifaceted concept that can be defined as messages that are compelling or loud enough to be heard amidst the signals of mass-media. Noise disrupts commonly held social meanings and is often discordant or disagreeable to a subset of the audience. Scholars have also focused on what makes a particular artifact or action popular. John Fiske (1989) studied culture as popular culture in terms of texts. By making textual analysis of artifacts in popular culture, Fiske began to make claims about the structure of popular messages. Fiske introduced the concept of the producerly text as a primary characteristic of popular culture. The producerly text is conceptually anchored in the distinctions made by Barthes (1977) between the writerly and readerly texts. Barthes contends that readerly texts are those that we are able to read passively. Interactions between the audience and these texts are receptive; there is no need to question or interpret the text in a different way than it is written. Writerly texts can be seen as those texts that require the reader to constantly evaluate and rewrite the meaning of the text, and writerly texts usually require some specialized knowledge or a toolset to decode (Fiske 1989). Many scholars and activists concur that there is a risk when entering into pop culture that the rhetoric used by those critiquing dominant ideologies and structures may be co-opted. The potential exists for the message to be appropriated by those in power for their own means; the message becomes incorporated by those in power in order to embolden their own claims or profits. The same process that allows activists to change the meaning of texts is available to everyone. Popular culture has the potential to create and transform both societal structure and norms. Additionally, communities of common exposure and belief can be developed using popular culture as a medium. There may be a risk of that subversive ideas can be incorporated by dominant systems of power, but this incorporation does not necessarily limit the transformative potential popular culture holds. When considering the culture jammer’s intent of questioning and changing norms popular culture becomes an interesting point of cultural injection. Conclusion In essence, the popular culture jam seeks to be appropriated into pop culture- it becomes pop culture and helps to redefine that which is popular. The result is a sort of â€Å"subpropriation,† where in the author seeks to have his or her work popularized in order to simultaneously popularize a previously subversive concept or idea. However, this appeal to the popular does not necessarily stop culture jamming from occurring. Entry into popular culture does not dictate that the message will be recuperated by industry. Rather, popular culture jamming takes place at a different point than other types of culture jamming. The â€Å"jam† in popular culture jamming occurs at the point that the artifact, action, or behavior becomes popular. The most obvious effect of moving towards a jamming of popular culture is the increased access to larger audiences. Popular culture does not request to be covered in the same way that news-oriented communication or advertisements often do. Instead, popular culture places demands upon media outlets to not only be covered but also be distributed to the masses. This sense of demand results because the popular is attractive to the media as a potential form of profit. Again, we see Fiske’s (1989) theories on production and incorporation at work. A popular culture jam spreads as a result of its popularity. Often this popularity is created by the irresistible profits that may be yielded from an artifact’s incorporation into the popular. In essence, one aspect of the structures that propagate and allow for globalization (and the subsequent problems that those in anti-globalization movements perceive to be resultant from it) to persist and thrive are turned back to criticize either itself or another portion of the hierarchal structure. Popular culture, despite the criticisms it often faces for lack of sophistication or intelligence, is an important element of our lives. Popular culture may also serve as a tool for those struggling against globalization, rampant consumerism, and capitalist exploitation. Each time we turn on a television or listen to the radio or log on to the Internet we are exposing ourselves to popular culture. Popular culture should not be perceived as an intellectual wasteland. While much of that which makes up popular culture may be perceived as being detrimental to society by any number of people, activists and media scholars cannot ignore or reject it. Popular culture needs to be embraced and transformed through the use of producerly texts in order to improve and transform the genre into another persuasive conduit for activists. Popular culture is not going away. In the age of new media popular culture is becoming even more pervasive in our lives as media formats are combined. If embraced as a rhetorical forum by culture jammers, popular culture can be transformed into a more revelatory and revolutionary space for communicating ideals that activists wish to make popular. References Artz, L., (2004), The Righteousness of Self-centered Royals: The World According to Disney Animation, Critical Arts Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, 116-146. Blackmore, S., (1999). The meme machine, 1st ed., Oxford University Press. Debord, G., (1977), The Society of the Spectacle. Available at http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/pub_contents. Dery, M., (2004, Oct 10), Culture jamming: hacking, slashing and sniping in the empire of signs. Available at: http://www.markdery.com/archives/2004/10/cultureJamming_l.html. Downes, S., (1999, Oct. 4), Hacking memes. First Monday, 4.10. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_l 0/downes/index.html. Eco, U., (1984), Semiotics and the philosophy of language, 1st ed., Bloomington, USA: Indiana University Press. Fiske, J., (1989), Understanding popular culture. 1st ed. Boston, USA: Unwin Hyman. Harold, C. (2004). Pranking rhetoric: â€Å"culture jamming† as media activism. Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 21, No. 3, 189-211. Lasn, K., (2000), Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge—And Why We Must, 1st ed. New York, USA: HarperCollins Publishers. McLuhan, M., (1964), Understanding Media. London, England: Routledge Press. Reinsborough, P., (2003, Aug.), Decolonizing the revolutionary imagination, Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, No.1, Available at: http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/l/de_colonizing/index.html. Simonson, P., (2001), Social Noise and Segmented Rhythms: News, Entertainment, and Celebrity in the Crusade for Animal Rights, Communication Review, Vol. 4, No. , 399-420.