Bach1 essays

Bach1 essays Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born in 1714 in Weimar. He was a German composer, one of the most influential and celebrated composers of his era. He was the third son of Johann Sebastian Bach and he trained under his father. He studied philosophy and law at the universities in Leipzig and Frankfurt. He then decided that he would rather pursue a musical career instead of a career in philosophy or law. From 1740 to 1768 he was harpsichordist for Frederick II, King of Prussia, after which he became music director of the five principal churches in Hamburg. Bach was one of the chief representatives of the empfindsamer Stil (German, "expressive style"), which emphasized frequent contrasts in emotion and contributed many technical features to the classical style. His Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, which there were two volumes, one in 1753, and one in 1762, of is important for describing how music was performed during his lifetime (the printed notes themselves do no t always indicate what composers intended). Bach wrote a large number of works, including 210 harpsichord pieces, 52 concertos, oratorios, passions, and church cantatas. Bach was sometimes known as the "Hamburg Bach" or "Berlin Bach"). Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach achieved renown as a leading composer and keyboard player of the mid-18th century. His many compositions bridge the transition from the baroque to the later rococo style. Carl Philipp Emanuel led the new movement but never forgot his father's instruction. "For composition and keyboard playing, I have never had any teacher other than my father," he once wrote. Carl Philipp Emanuel moved to Hamburg in 1768 to serve as director of music for the city. His book 'Versuch uber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen' (Essay on the True Art of Piano Playing), published in 1753, became an important influence on later generations. He died in Hamburg on Dec. 14, 1788. ...

Realigning Elections in American History

Realigning Elections in American History Since the stunning victory by Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States Presidential election, the discourse around words and phrases such as â€Å"political realignment† and â€Å"critical elections† have  become more commonplace not only among  political analysts but also in mainstream media. Political Realignments A political realignment occurs when a particular group or class of voters changes or in other words realigns with a political party or candidate who they vote for in a particular election – known as a critical election or this realignment may be spread out over a number of elections. On the other hand, â€Å"dealignment† occurs when a voter becomes disenfranchised with his or her current political party and either chooses not to vote or becomes an independent. These political realignments take place in elections involving the U.S. Presidency and the U.S. Congress and are signified by power changes of the Republican and Democratic parties that constitute ideological changes both issues and party leaders.  Other important factors are legislative changes which affect campaign financing rules and voter eligibility. Central to realignment is that there is a change in voter’s behavior. 2016 Election Results In the 2016 election, although Trump is winning at the time of this writing the Electoral College by a margin of 290 to 228 votes; Clinton is winning the overall popular vote by more than 600,000 votes. In addition, in this election, American voters gave the Republican Party a clean power sweep – the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. One key to the Trump victory was that he won the  popular vote in three of the so-called â€Å"Blue Wall† States: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  Blue Wall States are those who have solidly supported the Democratic Party over past ten or so presidential elections. With respect to the electoral votes:  Pennsylvania has 20, Wisconsin has 10, and Michigan has 16.  Although these states were essential in propelling Trump to victory, it is important to note that his margin of victory from these three states totaled approximated 112,000 votes. If Clinton had won these three States, she would be the President-elect instead of Trump.   In the ten Presidential elections prior to 2016, Wisconsin had only voted Republican on two occasions – 1980 and 1984; Michigan voters had voted Democrat in six straight Presidential elections prior to 2016; and as well, in the ten Presidential elections prior to 2016, Pennsylvania had only voted Republican on three occasions – 1980, 1984 and 1988. V. O. Key, Jr. and Realigning Elections American political scientist  V.O. Key, Jr. is most well-known for his contributions to behavioral  political science, with his major impact being on election studies.  In his 1955 article A Theory of Critical Elections, Key explained how the Republican Party became dominant between 1860 and 1932; and then how this dominance shifted to the Democratic Party  after 1932 by using empirical evidence to identify a number of election which Key termed as â€Å"critical,† or â€Å"realigning† which resulted in American voters changing their political party affiliations. While Key specifically starts with 1860 which was the year that Abraham Lincoln was elected, other scholars and political scientists have identified and/or recognized that there have been systematic patterns or cycles which have regularly taken place in the U.S. national elections.  Ã‚  While these scholars are not in agreement as to the duration of these patterns: periods that range from every 30 to 36 years as opposed to 50 to 60 years; it does appear that the patterns have some relationship with generational change. Election of 1800 The earliest election which scholars have identified as realigning was in 1800 when Thomas Jefferson defeated the incumbent John Adams. This election transferred power from George Washington and Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Party to the Democratic-Republican Party which was led by Jefferson. Although some argue that this was the birth of the Democratic Party, in reality, the party was established in 1828 with the election of Andrew Jackson. Jackson defeated the incumbent, John Quincy Adams and resulted in the Southern States taking power from the original New England colonies. Election of 1860 As stated above, Key explained how the Republican Party became dominant starting in 1860 with the election of Lincoln. Although Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party during his early political career, as President he led the U.S. to abolish slavery as a member of the Republic Party. In addition, Lincoln and the Republic Party brought nationalism to the United States on the eve of what would become the American Civil War. Election of 1896 The overbuilding of railroads caused several of them, including the Reading Railroad, to go into receivership which caused hundreds of banks to fail; resulting in what was the first U.S. economic depression and is known as the Panic of 1893. This depression caused soup lines and public ire towards the present administration and made the Populist Party the favorite to take power in the 1896 Presidential election. In the 1896 Presidential election, William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan and while this election was not a true realignment or did it even meet the definition of a critical election; it did set the stage for how candidates would campaign for office in subsequent years. Bryan had been nominated by both the Populist and Democratic parties. He was opposed by the Republican McKinley who was backed by a very wealthy individual who used that wealth to conduct a campaign that was intended to make the populace fearful of what would happen if Bryan won. On the other hand, Bryan used the railroad to make a whistle-stop  tour giving twenty to thirty speeches daily.  These campaign methods have evolved into the modern day. Election of 1932 The 1932 election is widely considered as the most well-known realignment election in U.S. history. The country was in the middle of the Great Depression as a result of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal policies overwhelmingly defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover by a margin of 472 to 59 Electoral Vote. This critical election was the underpinnings of a massive overhaul of American politics.  In addition, it changed the face of the Democratic Party.   Election of 1980 The next critical election occurred in 1980 when Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeated the Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter by the tremendous margin of 489 to 49 Electoral Votes. At the time, approximately 60 American’s had been held hostage since November 4, 1979, after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran had been overrun by Iranian students. The Reagan election also marked a realignment of the Republican Party to being more conservative than ever before and also brought about Reaganomics which was designed to fix severe economic issues that confronted the country.  In 1980, the Republicans also took control of the Senate, which marked the first time since 1954 that they had control of either house of Congress. (It would not be until 1994 before the Republican Party would have control of both the Senate and the House simultaneously.) Election of 2016 – Realigning Election? The real question with respect as to whether the 2016 election victory by Trump is a â€Å"political realignment† and/or a â€Å"critical election† is not easy to answer a week after the election.  The United States is not experiencing internal financial distress or facing negative economic indicators such as high unemployment, inflation, or increasing interest rates. The country is not at war, although there are threats of foreign terrorism and social unrest due to racial issues.  However, it does not appear that these were major issues or concerns during this election process.   Instead, one could argue that neither Clinton or Trump were viewed by voters as being â€Å"Presidential† due to their own ethical and moral issues.  In addition, since lack of honesty was a major hurdle which Clinton attempted to overcome throughout the campaign, it is quite plausible that out of fear of what Clinton would do if elected, voters chose to give the Republicans control of both houses of Congress.

Read Robert C. Solomon's article It's Good Business on pg. 36 of the Essay

Read Robert C. Solomon's article It's Good Business on pg. 36 of the 11th edtion. Summarize, do you agree or disagree with Solomon's position Why or why not Give examples to support your claim - Essay Example s can work in favor of a business while providing examples of how businesses fail when they don’t work within ethics are all seen as practical, real life situations that determine the success or failure of a business. The first main point that Solomon points out is to define what ethics means within a corporation or small business. He shows that ethics is one that is needed on all levels of management and ownership and which creates a framework of success for individuals. More importantly, there is an establishment of ethics is not based on what it means to keep a job or to be a successful business person, but to instead develop a mindset that is based on how one works within a community. Solomon states that â€Å"Executives are most effective and successful when they retain their ‘real life’ view of themselves, their position, and the human world outside as well as inside the corporation. Business ethics, ultimately, is just business in its large human context† (34). This particular statement is essential as it defines what ethics means in business. Rather than thinking of it as following business policies and doing what one is told in terms of management, is the need to unde rstand the humanistic element as well as how actions will affect others. This particular point is one that is the foundation of ethics and which shows that the definition of ethics needs to be considered outside of the assumptions made by those who analyze different perspectives. An example of this definition can be seen in almost any business. A personal example is seen from a friend who works within a computer organization. The mindset in which this individual has is to please the boss and to make sure that the work is efficient and effective. The managerial staff as well as the main CEO is interested in how this will create profit for the business. Similar to Solomon’s point, this doesn’t show a term of ethical behaviors. This individual may find a problem with the

The Diversification of the American Families Essay - 1

The Diversification of the American Families - Essay Example The research team is composed of Alvin and Heidi Toffler and they end at a conclusion that neither of these changes is bad and such conclusions they arrive at through the historical view of some vital changes in family (Alvin and Heidi 2000 pg 594). How is America Diversifying? The article starts by mentioning that the American population is not dying given that it is diversifying. The diversification is though not quite evident to the American citizens hence some unwarranted uncertainty. The diversification of the American population is taking place right from the population itself, the children and the society. The diversification is taking place due to the changing trends in the society such as divorce, remarriage and new family lifestyles, which creates a new family from the other each time such facts are adhered to appropriately. Through fracturing, the existing families are actually taking a completely new form, which is more diversified due to the revolutionary changes from a shift in energy, technology, work, economics and communications. Technology has created some way in which some aspects in the society are viewed, the majority of the Americans have high value for work due to changes in lifestyles minimizing the room for the traditional aspects of the family as it existed before. It is quite easy to detect that the world is changing rapidly depending on the nature of the aspect discussed above. The American family has diversified from the traditional family to the nuclear family through evolution from the first wave family to the third wave family and today we have the wave family, which is a kind of family, which is quite hard to define as it happens in the single life situation (Alvin and Heidi 2000 pg 594-95). The Americans through their government have diversified the general industry to incorporate all the citizens in terms of all the aspects.  

Of The Monetary Model Essay Example for Free

Of The Monetary Model Essay The exchange rate determination in UK is not an exception to the contemporaneous developments in econometric theory in economics field. This is because the economic world today is competitive and dynamic. This competition and dynamism that engulfs the economic arena of exchange rate require keen studies to establish the reliability and validity of monetary models used in determining the exchange rate. United Kingdom enjoys a relatively good and positive economy than other European counterparts. Evidently, sterling pound is strong against the euro and even the US dollar. This is because of the nature of economic structure and policies. In addition to that, UK attracts large quantity of foreign investors due to its open economy. Thus, in policies regarding to monetary policies especially exchange rate determination should be good enough to sustain and attract other foreign investors. It is in this line of thought that this dissertation chapter shall empirically examine exchange rate determination in UK. In order to do that effectively, the paper look forward to validate the monetary model in the determination of the sterling pound exchange rate by applying cointegration methodology. Introduction Exchange rate determination has a long history in the UK, this date back from Bretton wood era when exchange rate was fixed by agreement in relation to United States dollar from 1944 to 1971. However, after the United States government cancelled its undertaking to buy gold at a fixed rate the peg was abandoned. The new approach to exchange rate determination from 1971 was inevitable. United Kingdom and other countries were adopted a float to the currency, such that the price of sterling pound currency in terms of another currency was determined by foreign currency money market. But today, the exchange rate determination regime is based on the exchange rates being adjusted at a regulated rate (Davidson, 1998; Dawson Baillie 2007; Fredrick 1968). Thus, the concern of this dissertation chapter on methodology is concerned about the validity of this regulation of exchange rate. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to empirically assess the relationship between sterling exchange rate with other major currencies and a vector of explanatory variables in the monetary model of exchange rates in order to establish whether the behavior of this exchange rate lends support to the monetary model. This is an interesting area of study in relation to its importance to businessmen, academicians, investors and policy makers. In relation to the importance of the exchange rate determination, Rogoff and Maurice (1996), states that; issues relating to monetary approach to exchange rate is a core area and remains vital to bilateral trade involvement especial to Britain and other nations. In regard to exchange rate determination aspect, the oversight of exchange rate history since 1970s (Richardson1979: 215), there has been a decline in the nominal value and fluctuations of the UK sterling pound in the world market against other currencies like US dollar and Japanese yen. This was as a result of the abandonment of the fixed exchange rates which were applicable across all transaction counters. But during the late 1990s the pound gained strengths due the available trade deficits with its trading partners. In this connection, Laurence, (2005) states that monetary models of exchange rates are to help the economical conscious mind to establish whether there is a way by which exchange rates in the money market enhances support for the monetary models. Literature Review on methodology The monetary approach to exchange rates remains and continues to be a key area for spartial and temporary research in relation to field of international monetary and financial management. Due to this importance, the substantial contribution by xxxxemphasisis that exchange rate is a core area and remains key to bilateral trade involvement. Thus, econometrics scholars emphasize on the proposition of monetary exchange unit as a prerequisite to bilateral trade rather than the transaction between the two trading partners (Davidson, 1998; Fredrick 1968). Exchange rate determination as a monetary exchange unit policy has bearing on the impact of trade and business transaction that may likely to occur between the UK and other trading partners. Therefore as a consequence, various studies have been done that constructs a rich body of knowledge that about the empirical examination of the monetary model in relation to the exchange rate determination in UK. The monetary theory in regard to exchange rates suggests that the nominal exchange rate is determined by contemporaneous excess supplies of money between United Kingdom and the other trading nation. Nations that adopts and adhere to a relatively restrictive monetary policy usually experience an appreciation of their currencies against that of their trading partners, while the nations that adopt and adhere to a relatively expansionary monetary policy experience a depreciation of their currencies against that of their trading partners. Therefore, theory application in practical aspect of econometrics in relation to exchange rate determination helps to project the proportional relationship between the relative money supply and the exchange rates between the bilateral trading nations for a specific period of time. The aspect of the theory that enables it to project the proportional relationship between the relative money supply and the exchange rates between trading partners of Britain, is important and has tangible and intangible implications at levels of policy, empirical and theoretical. For instance, at theoretical level the monetary approach is the basis foundation for United Kingdom open economy. The theory of open economy was adopted from work of Lucas (1982) of open economy quantity theory. While at policy level, the theory has impact on the structural adjustment programs. These structural adjustment programmes are sponsored by IMF, World Bank and exchange rate misalignment in monetary unions that UK is a partner like EMU (European Monetary Union). Due to this domestic and global implication of the monetary model, it has not only been widely accepted, but also widely tested model for exchange rates in econometrics. Rich body knowledge has been contributed by empirical Research conducted by other researchers like Wilford (1980); Haynes and Stone (1981); and Rogoff (1983), in their studies during the period of floating exchange rates to establish support for the model was not in favor of the model, since their evidence did not support the monetary model. While other category of researchers by Frankel, (1976); Billson, (1978); and Downburst, (1979). In their studies during the period of interwar and the periods of flexible exchange rates, the outcome of their results was largely supportive of the monetary mode. In an attempt to explain the reason for poor performance of the model, Rogoff and Meese, (1983); hypothesized that the reasons for poor performance of the model was due to the constraints imposed on relative monies, assumptions of purchasing power parity, incomes, exogeneity of money supply, uncovered interest rate parity, interest rates, and the statistical problems were some of the hindrance that were pointed out. However the new approach to the model that incorporated the use and the development of the cointegration and error-correction statistical technique awakened the research into empirical examination of the monetary model. Despite the renewed anxiety and drive for research to determine the validity of the model, there was mixed results coming from different researchers. For instance, research by Engle and Granger (1987); through employing a two-step cointegration methodology came up with negative response in support for a long-run relationship between exchange rates and the set of monetary variables as projected by standard monetary model. These results by Engle and Granger resulted to a low morale and discouragement for further research. Hoper was found by the research that was conducted by Taylor and MacDonald in 1994, which they used multivariate method of Johansen and Juselius. The results of studies of Taylor and MacDonald supported that the model determine with precision the stylized facts of recent float because the residuals were I (0) (Gardner 2007; Huston 1969; Jonson 1999; James, 2008) and the point estimates are close to their a priori values. In regard to recent work on the model was that which was conducted in the year 1998 by Diamandis. Diamandis employed relatively a more sophisticated approach to the study by using multivariate unit root test, cointegration test and panel unit root test that found a tangible support for the monetary model of exchange rates. Furthermore, Diamandis suggested that unrestricted monetary model is and should be a valid framework for explaining the long-run movements of exchange rates. To elaborate on the literature review, a lot has been covered by various scholars on the monetary model of the exchange rate in the UK and Europe at large. Ranging from empirical studies during the flexible exchange rate periods, during the inter war periods (1970s) in Europe was done by Fredrick (1968) and Huston (1969). While the study and research on floating exchange rates during the post war period was done by Davidson, (1998) and Granger, (2002). Who found that there were constraints imposed (Taylor, Lucio 2003) on relative interest rates, monies and incomes, in addition to assumptions of interest rate and purchasing power parity and exogeneity of money supply within Europe and UK included that lead to the unworthy performance of monetary models in relation to exchange rates determination. Up to the recent work by Diamandis that gave life to the monetary model through his supportive research outcome. The main reason for the high and intensity engagement in the research on the empirical test is all because the empirical monetary model of exchange rate is the most tested propositions in the country’s economic undertakings. Evidently, many scholars have had their take on the empirical determination of the exchange rate determination of which they have coming up with different and mixed empirical results. This paper shall seek to empirically investigate the efficiency, effectiveness, validity and reliability of the monetary model for the bilateral exchange rate between the UK sterling pound and other currencies like US dollar. In order to do this examination effectively, the methodological approach is the use of the Gregory and Hansen (1996); cointegration test.

Global Reputation of American People Essay -- essays research papers

The American If asked to describe Americans in a few words, some foreigner's may use such adjectives as 'powerful, influential, smart, wealthy or patriotic.' Undoubtedly others will venture on to say that Americans are 'lazy, spoiled, reckless, arrogant, or foolish.' There is no doubt that a foreigner who has never stepped foot on American soil will probably have distorted but firm views of America, its people and its government. This is because America is very influential, both positively and negatively, around the world. For any born and raised American it may still be hard to give a clear, unbiased perception of America, simply because America is so diverse and few have seen all that the United States has to offer. As a born and raised American, who has seen but a glimpse compared to what is offered within the boundaries of our country, not to mention, I have yet to have the opportunity to see and live in any other country, by which I could compare America. I can only give an overview of what I have observed, both first-hand and second. Americans are for the most part ignorant, selfish, egotistical, and irrational, however, we are also diverse, enterprising, competitive, and?best of all?liberated. I could not imagine myself living in Iraq right now?nor any other far away country for that matter. What?s worst than the fact that I can?t is that many don?t try. Not only is the most impoverished American citizen entitled to some means of government nourishment but many complain about it. We also love to accept welfare checks, complain that immigrants are taking our jobs, and at the same time refuse the jobs that are ?below? us as Americans. It isn?t just the lower class either, the upper and middle class is guilty of ignorance an... ...hat are protecting us. One recent case was with the Patriot Act. After the occurrence of 9/11 everyone, for the most part, was in favor of the Patriot Act because they believed it would protect them. However, after the nation?s nerves began to settle and people weren?t as anxious, many Americans decided the Patriot Act was actually inconvenient for them and changed their minds. It would seem that no matter how much freedom is awarded to us we will never be satisfied. Furthermore, Americans happen to be indecisive and irrational when it comes to their own government. In all, Americans can be ignorant, selfish, egotistical, irrational and indecisive, while also remaining diverse, enterprising and competitive. Best of all, we are liberated. Of course my views are only generalizations. As I said, we are a diverse people and do not share any characteristics as a nation.

Oriet Gadish – Ceo of Bain & Co

I ended up working for the number two person in he military after the chief of staff. It was a pretty exciting place to be because all of the Information-?everything actually-?was coordinated through there. I learned to deal with an awful lot of Information, to be very responsible, and to work long hours. But also, when there were events going on, I was in the war room, which is a pretty confined space, and I learned to have respect for other people but also not to be intimidated by them, because they're people. I think that really helped me later on throughout my career.I also saw people making really important decisions, life and death decisions, and I realized that you can always afford to have perfect Information, 100 percent of what you need, In order to make a decision. Later on, when I think about the way we do business at Pain, where we emphasize providing clients with solutions that are practical rather than perfect and where we often have to make decisions based on imperfec t information, I think back to those days. And it just reinforces the idea that you can always have perfect information in order to make a decision.I think I was tongue to understand that fully at the time but it has certainly Influenced me. The army also exposed me to all different kinds of people. The Israeli army brings together people from many different cultures because Israel Is very much an Immigrant country; it still Is. The Israeli is a little bit European, a little bit Middle Eastern, a little bit American, and within those broad groups there are so many different cultures as well. From Europe, for example, the Israeli is a little bit German, a little bit Polish, a little bit French, a little bit-?you name it.And so I learned to be aware of different cultures and to tolerate deferent opinions. And somehow I hind all of that influenced me as well, although again I was probably too young to register It at the time. After the army, I got my undergraduate degree In psychology at the Hebrew University. I then started my doctorate, decided that's not what I wanted to do and, long story, I ended up in the United States at Harvard Business School. The HUBS Experience My MBA has played an incredibly important role in my career.I wouldn't be where I am today without it. Saddles -1- Initially, I set out to earn a Doctorate in Business Administration (DAB) and planned to get an MBA along the way. I had imagined I was going to teach. So I started with the combined program that four or five of us got into, which meant you could do the MBA and the DAB in four years. Just to be on the safe side, I decided to finish the MBA first. After that, when I started my DAB, I decided that business was not something I wanted to teach. It was something I wanted to practice. O walkout an MBA, I probably wouldn't be doing what I'm doing at all and I might not even be in this country. HUBS was, in effect, the only school I applied to, mostly because it didn't require a background in economics or other subjects as most business schools did. I also had a friend who had studied at HUBS, and when he talked about the experience it seemed very interesting. So I decided to submit an application. I actually wrote it in Hebrew and had somebody translate it for me. Then, Just to be on the safe side, I also took that application to Wharton and they accepted me, literally, on the spot.They were also going to give me a scholarship, but I would have had to study statistics during the summer and I decided I didn't want to do that. So I came to Harvard, which didn't give scholarships for the MBA program. Also, inflation was really high at the time so it was expensive to take out a loan. But because I was also in the DAB program, I got a scholarship for my doctoral work, which, when I didn't finish the DAB, became a standing loan. That was the only way I could afford HUBS and get through the program. HUBS was my introduction to the United States.I would read cases with my di ctionary. I still remember the first case. It was eleven pages including the exhibits and it took me six hours to read. I was pretty desperate because literally every second word I had to look up in the dictionary. And the dictionary didn't give any business meaning to most of the words. For example, the dictionary described he word â€Å"contribution† as being something about giving to nonprofit organizations. So reading the cases was extremely time consuming and hard. And then I would take my dictionary to the classes or to exams. Exams were the worst.It would take me three times as long to read an exam. I'd always sit in the first row and if it was a really long exam, I'd write at the end, â€Å"This took me three hours and twenty-five minutes to write, but here's what I would have done had I had time to actually run the calculator. † In class, I forced myself to speak even though that was difficult too because of the language. If I couldn't find a word, I'd use six words to express the idea. I Just had to force myself to do things like that and that's how I learned English. I also had never seen television, but I'd heard about advertisements.We didn't have TV advertisements in Israel; there were none. So I went to a classmate's dorm room and I would turn on the TV to see what the ads looked like. I also had never been to a large supermarket. So I went to a supermarket to see what it looked like and how products were set up and so on and so forth. One time, we had a final exam on cereal, something that I had never tasted. I still don't like it, but at the time, I didn't know what it was and I couldn't imagine there were sixteen varieties and why would you want more? I also had no idea who Johnny Carson was.So I was learning quickly about the United States and its culture, and I was learning the language. I had no problem when there was a case in Turkey or almost anywhere international. But I had a problem when Johnny Carson or cereal was part of the case. Gaudies -2- In school, I paid almost no attention to the fact that I was a woman. I had enough challenges: learning English, figuring out business issues, figuring out how to study even though I couldn't read English as quickly as my peers. In fact, I had one course where the cases were forty or fifty pages long.I went to the professor and I said, â€Å"Are there any particular cases that I should read? Because I can read each one of those every day Witt my Angels n. † Ana en salad , â€Å"Well, winy don't you Just all T ten class I thought to myself, â€Å"Well, I don't intend to. † And I did, actually, get an excellent grade in that class. I studied all different areas of business as well. I think it was important for me to not get too focused on any one area at that early stage. Had I completed my doctoral program, I would have focused on marketing because I was interested in that.But instead I took a broad mix of courses in my second year. I benefited from that and, actually, that absolutely has helped me throughout my career. I learned that you should be able to focus on one or two things and be extremely good at them but if you lose your curiosity about other things you're not going to be good even in the few things you focus on. You'll be much too narrow minded or much too narrowly focused. The other interesting thing about HUBS was the case method. The first class I as in, I thought, â€Å"This is nuts. † Then I realized that it was a great teaching method because it forces you to be involved.It forces you to be a part of the discussion. It forces you to listen to the way other people think about a problem. You're active as opposed to Just passively listening to a lecture. And it allows you to draw on things that are not in the case but that maybe you learned that morning in marketing. I am on the HUBS Visiting Committee and every now and then they teach a case. I Just love it. I really enjoy it. And again, almost alw ays in real life you make decisions based on imperfect information† to some degree, and the case method is a good exercise to prepare you for that.Early Career It's very hard when you are Just coming out of an MBA program to figure out what life is really going to be like and bid for a Job. But I was drawn to consulting because of the problem-solving part of it, which has always been my interest. And what I loved about Pain and Company was how practical it was. It was not about reports; it was about results. It's still not about reports. It's still about results. I have still never looked at a report. I don't think there is any other consultant who can say that.And it was very clear, when Bill Pain talked about the company, that he and the other people at Pain were passionate about results. Focusing on results calls for a different way of doing consulting. Now, mind you, I could barely write good English so the idea of not writing reports was a big plus for me. But I liked the idea that you really were thinking about results and implementation and not Just a report. That causes you to think about how you're going to communicate with clients, what you're going to communicate, and how perfect the information has to be to find a workable solution.That's different from happily consulting, where the focus is to convince clients that the solution is theirs and that it's the right solution for them so they Gaudies -3- will implement it. At Pain, it was all about solutions and implementation, and that appealed to me. Bill Pain had been the number two guy at Boston Consulting Group (BCC) and, by all accounts, was going to be running BCC eventually. But his idea of focusing on results was at the time a fundamentally different way of approaching consulting.BCC focuses on ideas and on developing tools that we all still use today and I give them credit because they're fantastic tools. But Bill wanted to take it a step further and not Just leave clients with ideas. He wanted to focus on results, not reports. That was revolutionary at the time. Changing course for a boat that was working very well-?and BCC was doing extremely well and was very highly regarded -?would not nave Eden easy. So 3111 tarter Nils own consulting Tall. I Nat was ten Pain I Joined and that's how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors.Being anchored in this idea of results not reports keeps us focused. So we're constantly asking ourselves, when I call Monday morning at 8:00, what is the client actually owing to have to do in order to make our recommendations happen? The case is not finished unless we know what steps he's going to take to implement the solution. And there's something I call the 80-100 rule, which means you don't want a 100 percent perfect solution if an organization at this time in its history cannot implement it. It's better to have an 80 percent solution if the organization can implement it.Eighty times one is eighty; 100 times zero is zero. This practical approach, focusing on strategy and results, is what we call our â€Å"True North. † And with that you have meeting you can evolve around and build on. Everybody in the organization knows that that is the core of what we do. You can build new practices, you can experiment with new ideas, you can also move very quickly and change, as long as you know that this is the focus that you're all working toward. And I think it has served us very well. First Client My first major client was a company in the steel industry, which was, at the time, an uncommon place for a woman.I worked in the steel industry for about five years. We worked on all different aspects of the industry, but at the end of the ay one of the things we figured out was how they could save an awful lot of money by continuously casting almost 100 percent of the steel. At that time, there was some continuous casting going on, mainly in Japan, but it was more common to reset the production processes for every different type of steel needed. We discovered, however, that if the company could move to continuous casting, they would be able to save between $80 and $100 per ton.The issue was that in order to continuously cast steel, you could use only one mix. But there are many different varieties of steel, requiring different mixes, that different customers need. There are different alloys you add to steel to make it higher quality, lower quality, stronger, softer-?whatever. But we thought if we could reduce the number of steel varieties and the number of mixes used, we could introduce continuous casting and save a lot in the production process. That was unheard of in the United States. Gaudies -4- Everybody said, â€Å"No, customers won't want it. So I went and talked to customers and found that they actually would be happy to do that. We found that there were a lot of customers who were perfectly happy to take a higher-quality steel as long as they didn't have to pay much more for it. The n I was stuck with a metallurgist who said that it could not be done. He explained to me why there are 300 different kinds of steel. I didn't know anything about metallurgy but I went through all of the varieties of steel and had him explain to me what each one of those steels was meant for and then I asked questions and triggered him to think. If we added aluminum to this, would this still satisfy this kind of customer? † He said, â€Å"Oh, yes, that would be much higher quality than they need. † We were able to bring the number of varieties down room 300-and-some to thirty. By the end of the discussion, the guy absolutely believed I knew metallurgy, which I did not. It was Just this practical way of working. The company did indeed build a continuous caster, and they did indeed save a lot of money, and they did indeed turn around from being number I don't know what to Deluge under one In proactively In ten country.I gnat's an example AT ten work we 00 at Pain. It's inv igorating to have real impact like that. Being a Woman in Business The first time we met with both the CEO and the SCOFF of the steel company, I had two presentations to give. I was with one of the founders of Pain. My manager was there too. In fact, I was the most Junior person there. At one point, the SCOFF was talking about how he was going to arrange a tour for us of the other steel companies. In the steel industry, companies shared a lot of information with each other. They still do in order to prevent accidents and so on, for safety reasons.Anyway;ay, the SCOFF was talking quite enthusiastically about arranging a tour for us and then he stopped and froze. He was looking at me and then he said, â€Å"Well, I don't know about Root. † Nobody had any clue what he was talking about. Then he said, â€Å"Well, you see, women are considered bad luck in our industry,† and everybody froze, the CEO and all the people in our group from Pain and Company. I Just turned around and said, â€Å"Well, in that case, I think that you should make sure that I go to every single one of your competitors. † That broke the ice and that was it.I went on to work in the steel industry for five years. I loved it. They even made a special hat for me. It said, Root Gaudies and then it said, â€Å"The Little Light Will Lead Us,† because my name Root comes from the Hebrew word for light. I was definitely one of the guys and I enjoyed it. Actually, there was one other funny story. In the steel industry, people used to use a lot of four-letter words. At the beginning, people would realize I was there and it would make them uncomfortable. They say, â€Å"Oops! I'm sorry. There's a lady in the room. † I remember once sitting in a room with the guy who later became the CEO.And he said something that had a four-letter word in it, and suddenly he said, â€Å"Oh, there's a lady in Gaudies -5- the room. † And he turned to me and he said, miss, and as I wa s saying to you yesterday, Root,† and he repeated it again so he actually made a point, which is kind f fun. Another time, there was a big meeting and this was clearly holding everybody up. So I looked for the right time and I used one of those four-letter words in a sentence the way they did, and that was it. They were comfortable talking again. And then we were Just working and moving forward together.I thought, if that's the language here, then that's fine. The lesson I learned was never to take it personally when somebody thought that a woman couldn't do something, whether it was a client or even a colleague at Pain. For example, once at Pain, very early on, one of the menders, one of the managers, and I were visiting a client. At one point, the founder said, â€Å"Dan, why don't you go and talk to X? Root, why don't you go and talk to-?oh! Actually, I'm not sure how he'd react to a woman. † I didn't say anything then but the next day, I knocked on his door and said , â€Å"Did you realize what you did yesterday? And he said, â€Å"No. What did I do? † I told him and then I said, â€Å"l completely understand. But if I don't get a chance, then none of us, not Pain, not you, and not l, will ever know if I can actually talk to people like that and if we can have a productive conversation. He was very thoughtful. And the next time we went together to a meeting, he gave me a chance to have an important conversation. The conversation went well and that was that. I had taken some responsibility for managing the situation. I hadn't gotten upset. And I knew that this was not personal. It was the same with clients.I'd walk in Ana teen would always assume Tanat I was ten most Junior person. I learned to use either a sense of humor or other little tricks to force them to forget that I was a woman and to Just focus on what we were doing. One time, for example, I was with he CEO of a company in the Midwest. I'd actually been on the case for a while . I was a manager. I had a brand new consultant with me, a young guy named Paul. We were sitting talking with the CEO. I would ask a question and the CEO would listen to me and then he would direct his response to Paul. It made it difficult for us to really engage in a discussion.So when the CEO went out to say something to his secretary, I told Paul, â€Å"Every time I ask a question, when I'm done, Just look at me, so the guy will get tired of looking at your ear. He'll have to look at me as well. † And, honest to God, Alfa an hour later, the guy was Just looking at me and we had a good discussion, and we continued to have good discussions after that. I never had to say a word. You can have a sense of humor. You can know that it's not personal. And you can Just find creative ways to solve the problem. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you deliver. That's not unlike what guys have to do.And frankly, in most cases, once people get over the fact that you're a woman and start focusing on what you're saying and what you're doing and the results that you provide, the fact that o'er a woman is completely forgotten. It's like in the steel business. After a certain point, I don't think they could even remember that at one point in time that they even thought about me being a woman versus a man. The Automotive Industry Later, I worked in the automotive industry with a major car company. We started with two little projects but quickly discovered something not related to either one of those Gaudies -6- projects.We realized there was too much complexity in the number of options for cars being offered. Basically, you could have any combination of options you wanted. So the car manufacturers were producing cars with all kinds of options, and not necessarily based on market studies of the combinations customers preferred. So there were either too many cars that people were not particularly interested in or it would take a year to get your ca r with the options you wanted. We calculated that there were about ten billion combinations of Just about every car line they had and that was, of course, absurd.That didn't make sense for suppliers, for dealers, or for manufacturers. So we came up with a program to reduce the number of combinations of cars made in the plant from ten billion to Just fourteen. If somebody wanted a special car, they could still order it but it would take longer. To reduce the number of combinations so dramatically, we went back and looked at all the cars that were purchased. From all of that data, we figured out which combinations people preferred. Our findings were pretty intuitive actually. The salespeople said the dealers would hate it.In fact, the dealers were ecstatic because too often they had cars sitting on the lot that nobody wanted. The customers liked it because we had figured out the options they tended to prefer so they weren't walking away with options they didn't really want. And of cou rse the manufacturing team loved it because you could save a hell of a lot of money by streamlining production and limiting the number of combinations you had to manufacture. Initially, neither the salespeople nor the marketing people liked it, because they really believed that customers wanted all Kolas AT pitons.From ten time AT Hoar, when you could n â€Å"any color you wanted as long as it was black,† to Sloane, where you could have absolutely anything you wanted, the industry had gone from one extreme to the other. To make a long story short, we were able to convince the marketing and sales people that this would work. And eventually we were able to come up with this program, which reduced the time to delivery from months and months to days. And throughout the entire system, from the suppliers to the manufacturers to the dealers, we ended up saving this company on the order of $9. Billion a year. This was in the late sass. I'd say the company was proud of our work and we were proud of our work. We learned some of this from Toyota and Ionians. But you learn from wherever you can. If you're really good at what you do, you learn in one industry from what somebody doing in another industry. That's one of the benefits of working on a broad set of issues in diverse industries and always bringing them into whatever you're doing. Hard Times at Pain After all of these years, I think dwelling on precisely what happened is kind of irrelevant.The fact is that the founders of Pain started to take some money out. They had some bad advice from an investment banker and they took too much money out of the company. That meant the company was burdened with a lot of debt relative to its size, with a very high interest payment going forward. The model they had used was based on the company growing at a refit of 50 percent a year. Although the company had grown at Gaudies -7- that rate in the past, it was, of course, not practical. To make a long story short, that was a n unsustainable model.The first inkling the rest of us had of the situation was when the founder fired people, which was a complete break in the unwritten social agreement that existed at Pain and Company. Because we're a consulting firm and this was an SOP, the labor department eventually made the whole transaction public. That's how the rest of us learned what, exactly, was happening. After that, we had to turn around the company without the founder. But I'll give Bill Pain credit; he was the first one to realize that he had made a mistake. He asked Mitt Rooney to come and help and then Bill Pain worked hard to try and help turn the situation around.The founders had to give back some money. We had to negotiate with banks, and so on and so forth. But it's a situation that very few service firms have ever survived. In fact, we were told by an investment bank that we were not going to survive. But we asked Mitt Rooney, who was then head of Pain Capital and had been Vice president of Pain and Company, to come back. He really helped us negotiate tit the banks and handled other issues related to the situation so that the rest of us could focus on our clients and on our people, since those were the only assets we had left.Reputation is the third asset a company like ours has, and that was shaky given the fact that the story was in the news. So the rest of us focused on clients and on our people. We worked hard too to make sure that our most important people didn't defect. Headhunters were calling every single person in the company. We also focused on our clients. Our existing clients knew what we were doing to resolve the rises so we were okay there. It was more difficult when we went to beauty contests Tort prospective new clients Ana our competitors would leave ten latest Fortune or Forbes or whatever saying what was going on at Pain.It was getting those new clients that mattered most to us. And that's what we focused on. Internally, we had a few defections. But when I think back, there was only one major defection, in terms of the key people, that I really felt bad about. So we managed to avoid mass defections. I remember one day somebody came into my office and said, â€Å"l want to talk to you about a Job offer. I was vice president, and I was a real open door, so these people felt comfortable talking to me. And I thought, in this particular case, this guy is so much better at consulting than he would be at what he was going to do, and I said that to him.He said, â€Å"Well, but I don't want to be the last one here. Everybody's talking to headhunters. Isn't that right? † I realized he was right. So I called every headhunter I was talking to and said, â€Å"Don't call me,† which was actually taking a risk. I decided to stay with Pain and Company unless things fell apart. So the next time somebody name into my office and said, â€Å"Everybody's talking to headhunters,† I was able to say in all honesty, â€Å"Well, I' m not. I'm absolutely committed to staying here. † Soon after, the first guy came back to me to tell me that he too had decided to stay at Pain after I told him I wasn't going anywhere.And I asked him to do something that was very counterintuitive. I asked him to go out and tell people that he had received a Job offer, that he had seriously considered taking it, that he had in fact said yes to the offer Gaudies -8- and that he had decided instead to stay with Pain. He said, â€Å"I can do that. You don't do those things. You don't want people to know. † I said, â€Å"What? You told me that everybody's talking about leaving, or at least talking to headhunters, but nobody talking about the fact that they have decided to stay.I think it's a pretty powerful story. † So he hesitated, and then he agreed to spread the word about his decision. That was the beginning of a reversal of what could have been a mass defection. I then became chairman, but I perceive the leaders hip of this firm as a partnership. The partnership really is what comes first when we think about our governance. I was chosen through a selection process by all of the partners. The key criteria centered on people who are very good at what we do in our business.Throughout the history of Pain and Company, our selection of leaders centers on the people here who have the most impact with clients. We wanted a chairman who would serve as a role model in that. So in our company, people in senior positions continue to work with clients and not Just to sell but also to do the real consulting work. I still have clients I work with, and it's the only way to (a) keep me interested, (b) keep me up to date on what's really going on with clients, with our company, with our team, etc. And (c) keep the consulting we do strong.If you take senior people away from the consulting, which they are good at, and shift them to doing only administrative work or selling or public speaking-?all of which we do too of course-?then their experience is not available to the clients and it's not available as mentoring to your own team. So I agreed to become chairman on the condition that I would be able to continue to work with clients. I think that sets us apart from other professional service firms. Today, all of our senior people, the ones who are the most highly regarded, continue to work tit clients and, most importantly, they want to continue to work with clients.The clients are always canalling. I en problems are always canalling. So Its Important to keep learning. This is a pretty exciting business because of that. And, in my case, I play an international role as well. I work with international Coos. And I mean I really work with them, I do not Just interact with them. It's very exciting to see how Coos think, how government and business interact in different countries, how culture affects business, etc. It's fascinating. I love the international aspect of my work. I Just sis I didn't have to travel so much for it. I don't like to travel, but I love what I do when I get there.In terms of time management, I used to say that I spend 70 percent of my time with clients. That's probably true but I probably work more than 100 percent of my time. But really you don't break it up that way. When I'm abroad, for example, I might do client work in the morning. Then I might talk to U. S. Clients in the evening or talk with my secretary about administrative issues. I meet with our people in our various offices to talk about their clients or internal issues. I might be giving a beech in Germany, for example, and then work with people from the office on the way over there.If you have a lot of energy, you can put a lot of things together. It's not a precise science. It is not even a precise art, but it is an art. You Just have to have a lot of energy and to really love what you're doing. Gaudies -9- Critical Success Factors I don't tend to think about myself much. I'm very goal oriented when I go forward. But I think a big part of what consulting does has to do with psychology and learning to really listen to what people are saying both verbally and nonverbally. Having a â€Å"True North† has also been key. It has kept us focused on strategy and results as inseparable.Strategy combined with results is very powerful. Strategy without results is meaningless, and results without strategic thinking may not be very productive or useful. So combining almost everything we do with strategic thinking and results is critical. There were times when we actually had to fight to keep that. We had a lot of discussions about it. We ended up calling it our â€Å"True North,† and today it is Just part of the language here and part of how we think about critical decisions. We'll say, â€Å"This is a real true-north question,† when we have a really difficult decision to make.We have even â€Å"resigned† from some pretty lucrative projects when we didn't believe that results were going to happen. We do it with dignity, after a lot of discussion, but those are hard things to do. For example, a large Fortune 50 company got into trouble. We were asked to come in and help them. We helped them turn around financially but we also saw they had to turn around strategically. This was one of our major clients. We were involved in almost every aspect of their business. Anyway;ay, the papers were writing about what a great turnaround they were doing, and so on and so forth.The CEO was on the cover of all kinds of magazines. But strategically, we believed that they could not be involved in the four businesses they were in-?that, eventually, they would not be able to sustain that business model. There was one business they clearly should have gotten out of, but it was part of the legacy of the CEO, and he didn't want to get out of it. We did all of the analysis and all of the people in the organization agreed with us. But we couldn't convi nce the CEO. For six months, I had discussions with him. We had data. We Ana eve n Eng. Ana teen we Salad, â€Å"Well, In Tanat case, we Delve Tanat you can't thrive.You may not even survive long-term. † We suggested that they might want to sell themselves to somebody at that point, and we identified who might be the best buyer for them. Instead of going that route, they continued on with the four businesses. We decided to tell the CEO what we thought, that not moving in a more forceful strategic way could cost him the company. Since he didn't budge, we said we would resign, although I asked him for permission to go to the board, which, to his reedit, he let us do. One of my colleagues and I went and presented our views to the board.The board was split but eventually decided to side with him, and that was that. We resigned. Less than a year later, they came back to us and said, Mimi were right, and could you please help us now. † At that point, they had no option but to sell. They would not have been prepared to sell had we not pushed for that earlier. And we might not have suggested that had we not been following our true north. We really told them what we believed and even though there were lots of other things we old have continued to work with them on-?for tens of millions of dollars-?we really decided that was not the right thing to do.When they came back to us, we helped them sell. The social issues had Gaudies -II- been resolved by then. There was less money than they could have gotten the year before, but the shareholders still did pretty well. As the CEO and SCOFF said later on, â€Å"If it weren't for your guys and your willingness to stick to what you believed, we probably would be bankrupt. † If you have a true north and a set of core values that you stick to, you will end up making decisions that have short-term costs. But I believe, at the end of the day, they will have a long-term value.It's not something you do easily. And i t feels horrendous-?first because you feel like you failed to convince a client to do something, which is what consulting is all about, and second because of the short-term costs. It's a hit to the collective pocketbook and to your own. But when you have a true north like we do, it's really what allows you to deal with internal divisions and external adversity at the end of the day, and I think we're very lucky that we have that. I think it can create a distinctiveness from your peers or your mediators, and I think that's invaluable.Changes in the Industry I think the world has come back to where it was before the e-craze. There used to be consultants who were mostly focused on IT. There are companies that are focused mostly on informational stuff. And there are companies that are focused, as a headline, on strategy. That's where we are except that we have always focused on the operations side as well as the strategy side of a business. We believe you can't do one without the other. And then there was a period during the e-craze when everybody tried to do everything. We didn't and I think it has served us well.

Racism and Stereotypes Essay

â€Å"Sport provides a particularly public display of relations of dominance and subordination†¦. The point of sport is to display publicly the processes of challenge and struggle between two sides alleged to begin in equal terms but determined to produce and sustain relations of dominance vis-a-vis one another. Moreover, sport as a meritocracy based on skill quietly reaffirms our national common sense; individuals who work hard and possess the right stuff will always prevail. Turned on its head, this lesson becomes even more insidious: those who are at the top must have risen to the top through fair means and thus deserve their position. In contrast, those not at the top do not possess the requisite talent for such privilege. Even the runner-up is a loser†(Wulfemeyer & Rada, 2005). Sport provides an objective measure to evaluate the performance of a player and/or a team. There are countless statistics for athletes in every sport, which are evaluated on a daily basis. Statistics show how well an athlete performs and how good of an player they truly are. As an athlete, talent is all that should matter and be looked at when making a judgment of whether they are good or not, unfortunately this does not always hold true today. Stereotyping, racism, sexism and all those negative aspects of life, which were thought to have diminished over the years, are still prominent and portrayed through the media to this day. Stereotyping is the process of imposing characteristics on people based on their perceived group membership (Harrison, 2001). Based on stereotypical beliefs, we make social assumptions and make judgments on our knowledge of the perceived traits of those that fit into social categories. Viewing groups in terms of stereotypes is the brain’s way of filling in missing information about individuals we know little about by superimposing perceived traits of the group to which they belong. This is an efficient adaptation of the human mind to allow us to get out of â€Å"getting to know† everyone we encounter. Humans have neither the cognitive capacity, time, nor the desire to process all of the information available to us. We therefore use our cognitive space as efficiently as possible by categorizing and compressing information in an attempt to store more (Rose & Christina, 2006). When stereotypes are based on a wealth of accumulated social and factual knowledge and are not used to make trait assumptions about individual group members, they are generally accurate and pose few problems. It is when stereotypes are based on false, misleading, or limited information that they become problematic. While most stereotyping, even the problematic variety, can be considered harmless it holds potential for quick activation if circumstances and situations present themselves (Harrison Jr. , 2001). Sport and physical activity provide an abundant ground for the development, utilization, and prolongation of stereotypes. Racial stereotypes regarding the abilities of African Americans and Europeans are very much prominent in the realm of sport and physical activity. These stereotypes have been fueled historically by theories developed to explain the perceived performance differences between African Americans and European Americans. Many years of theorizing and hypothesizing about the natural physical abilities of African American athletes have shaped the thinking of entire populations. These seemingly scientific theories and hypotheses have formed the origin of today’s African American athlete stereotype (Armstrong, 2011). The former United Nations’ Secretary General, Kofi Annan was quoted saying â€Å"sport is a universal language that can bring people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status† (United Nations, 2005) but this was not always the case. Major barriers have been conquered over the years to bring equality to this nation and validate the former Secretary General’s above statement. One of the biggest issues that was dealt with was racism. This is a topic many like to tiptoe around and believe is nonexistent in American, the so-called melting pot of the world. Ethnic groups are equal if not more dominant in professional sports today in their participation in sport but the same cannot be said for the coverage of the events that they participate in. Research shows that there are still priming racial stereotypes made by sport announcers (Westerfield, Johnson, Hallian). â€Å"African American athletes, once excluded from participating in professional and intercollegiate sports because of institutionalized discrimination, now participate in many sports at a rate that equals or greatly exceeds their representation in the population. This is especially true in the case of intercollegiate and professional football and basketball† (Center for the Study of Sport in Society, 2001). As equality became more evident in sport, especially football and basketball, so did the media coverage of these sports. The development of technologies, such as the television or Internet, allows people all over the world to watch a growing increase in the popularity of sport. Over the years sports coverage has given a larger viewing population to the networks and the sporting entities have used that coverage to increase their revenue. Even though both equality for the minority player and the media were growing at the same time they were not growing together. It was true that blacks were getting more rights to play but they were not being broadcasted out to a larger audience by the media. For years African Americans and the African American community have been underrepresented in television coverage. When African Americans did appear they were often pigeonholed into demeaning, stereotype ridden portrayals, showing them as â€Å"bestial, brutish, buffoonish, comical, criminal, dependant of government entitlements or support, ignorant, lazy, menacing, oversexed, and prone to out-of wedlock births† (Wulfemeyer & Rada, 2005). The question of bias in sports coverage is neither new nor limited to race. To date, several research projects have uncovered bias across race, gender, and ethnicity (Wulfemeyer & Rada, 2005). The presence of bias has not been limited by venue either. Research has found bias across a wide range of sporting events ranging from professional and intercollegiate sports in the United States to international events such as the Olympics. Research has also demonstrated that bias can take many forms, from what is heard from the spoken commentary on-air to what is seen from the game coverage (Wulfemeyer & Rada, 2005). One form of racial bias that researchers have consistently uncovered is the brawn versus brains descriptions directed toward the players. It would seem as though complimenting an athlete for his or her athletic ability and physical attributes would seem positive and encouraging to a player but that is not always the case. Sometimes these seemingly positive comments have an underlying bias that is revealed by the commentary’s views of the players. This image that is made by the media that African Americans are naturally athletic and are blessed with God given talent can portray the negative creation and perception of the lazy athlete who does not have to work hard or at all at his/her craft. Many times it was also portrayed that blacks were more animalistic and farther away from being civilized than the rest of the population as well. These stereotypical expressions were put into the open in 1989 when Jimmy Snyder, an on-air personality for CBS Sports, openly told the public that the success of African American athletes was the result of selective and effective breeding on the part of the slave owners. Announcers negate not just physical and intellectual ability; intellect and character were also commented on, further negating the African American athlete. These stereotypes are not just targeted towards African Americans; they apply and are present for all races. Examples of these stereotypes are things such as blacks don’t feel pain, have no morals, are not team players have animal instincts, etc. Caucasian players can’t jump, they are hickish, and they are too loud or to opinionated and are very naive to everyday life. People of Asian decent are always good at math, cant drive well and are very strict with their children. Native Americans are lazy and sometimes alcoholics, and only live off the casinos. Hispanics are not patriotic, they all drive trucks; they are all-good at yard work and like to have a lot of children. All of these are examples of stereotypes that are out in society today and the list could continue to go on and on. These stereotypes that are portrayed by the media have prominent effect of the sports that athletes choose to participate in, in many cases it probably even effect what position they play. Since media has become such a big part of today’s society and is incorporated into our everyday lives young athletes watch sports on television and listen to what is being said about certain athletes and are likely to base what they want to do on the sport that they best fit into. For example if you are black you best fit in playing either basketball or football, if you are white you best fit in playing baseball or swimming, if you are of some sort of Hispanic decent you should play soccer or maybe even baseball. Even though racism is suppose to be a topic that was squashed long ago it still lives very much through stereotyping and is successfully denying full integration throughout the spectrum of sport. These same stereotypes that are made by the media towards the male roles of sport also apply to females as well. Even though woman around the world now participate in sport they are still not held to the same standard as males. â€Å"When female athletes transgress gender norms and boundaries, even in a â€Å"Post-Title IX† moment, they are still held to antiquated societal standards of emphasized femininity and feminine appearance by the mainstream news media† (Waches, Messner, Dworkin, Cooky, 2010). A great examples of this taking place is the Don Imus controversy in 2007 when he made stereotypical, sexist and offensive comments about the Rutgers University woman’s basketball team. Sexism is the belief or attitude that women are inferior to men, the application of masculine stereotypes to women or the hatred of one gender or sex (Griffin, 1992). â€Å"In collegiate sports, sexism can manifest itself in several ways including inequitable funding dedicated to women’s sports, media coverage of women’s sporting events, women’s college coaching salaries, views on elite female athletes and prejudice and discrimination against lesbians† (Whiteside & Hardin, 2009). Sexist views on female athletes originated in the 1920s, from medical establishment concerns about the masculinizing effects of sport participation on women. From a contemporary standpoint, football, men’s basketball and most male college sports draw more interest and revenue than women’s college sports. This reality provides the foundation for beliefs about female athletic inferiority (Griffin, 1992). Sexism appears most often in women’s basketball, in part, because the game draws the most attention among women’s college sports and because women’s basketball is more similar to a men’s sport than any other college sport. In addition, women’s basketball is not one of the socially approved feminine sports like tennis or golf. Traditionally, prissy sports like tennis, golf and gymnastics are viewed as more feminine and these sports are, coincidentally, inundated with White women. Black women have customarily participated in basketball and track, which have long been considered as masculine sports. Sport controversies can alienate and oppress Black female student-athletes who already confront isolation, media criticism, prejudice and stereotypes. Neglecting race and gender controversies in sport can impact athletic department’s brand name recognition, alumni donations, corporate sponsorships and game attendance. More important, race and gender controversies also can negatively affect minority and female student-athletes’ recruitment, student-athletes’ social development and social justice for all student-athletes. â€Å"Inquires should uncover sociocultural implications that can be used to craft recommendations in instances when race, gender, and sport adversely intersect† (Waches, Messner, Dworkin, Cooky, 2010). It is said that racism is something of the pass and in today’s society it is non-existence but according to Gill (2011) there is a modern type of racism called new racism. New racism is based on the widespread belief that racism no longer exists and civil rights legislation created an equal playing field. New racism includes feeling a way of life is threatened by others and different cultures are assumed to be incompatible. The traits that truly distinguish new racism from historical racism are: racial ambiguity, blaming Blacks for their problems, and the use of the media to facilitate racism. Racial ambiguity refers to putting forth a non-prejudiced explanation for what might be considered as a prejudiced statement. For instance, when Don Imus was asked to explain his comments about the comment he had made about the woman’s Rutger team he stated that his comments were intended to be a joke. Present in new racism, unlike historical racism, is the belief that the problems Blacks experience are not a result of social disadvantage, but rather a result of some predisposed deviance in Black culture (Gill, 2011). It is evident that racism, sexism, prejudice, stereotyping and a lack of equality are still very much present it sport today. Even with all the equality acts and laws that have been passed the playing field has yet to be leveled amongst different races, ethnic groups, and genders. Even though many sports have been intermingled there are still many sports that are dominated by one specific minority and that is not how it should be. The media needs stop putting emphasis and specific aspects of certain people’s life because in doing this they are generalizing a group. Through generalization the media is implying that a certain group of people are all the same and thus should all be expected to act the same way. This brings a very negative aspect to sport. Since sport is such a big part of American culture I believe that the media should really begin to change their ways and stay as unbiased as possible to allow the viewing population to make their own judgments and opinions on people based on their talent, not on what generalized group they have been placed in. References Armstrong L., Ketra (2011). ‘Lifting the Veils and Illuminating the Shadows’: Furthering the Explorations of Race and Ethnicity in Sport Management. Journal of Sport Management 25, 95-106. Gill Jr, L. Emmett (2011). The Rutgers Woman’s Basketball & Don Imus Controversey (RUINUS): White Privlages, New Racism, and the Implications for College Sport Management. Journal of Sport Management 25, 118-130. Griffin, Pat (1992). Changing the Game: Homophobia, Sexism, and Lesbians in Sport. QUEST 4, 251-265. Harrison Jr, Louis (2001). Understanding the Influences of Stereotypes: Implications for the African American in Sport and Physical Activity. QUEST 53, 97-114. Rose, J. Debra, Christina, W. Robert (2006). A multilevel Approach to the Study of Motor Control and Learning (2nd ed). University of North Carolina-Greensboro: Pearson. Wachs L. Faye, Messner Michael, Dworkin L. Sheri, Cooky Cheryl (2010). It’s Not About the Game: Don Imus, Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Media. Sociology of Sport Journal 27, 139-159. Westerfield R. Carl, Johnson L. Darrell, Hallinan J. Christopher. Picturing Success: Photographs and Stereotyping in Men’s Collegiate Basketball. Journal of Sport Behavior 22:1. Whiteside E. Erin, Hardin Marie (2009). The Power of â€Å"Small Stories:† Narratives and Notions of Gender Equality in Conversations About Sport. Sociology of Sport Journal 26, 255-278. Wulfemeyer K. Tim, Rada A. James (2005). Color Coded: Racial Descriptors in Television Coverage of Intercollegiate Sports. Journal o Broadcasting & Electronic Media 49, 65-85.

Finding My Way Back to School Essay Essay Example

Finding My Way Back to School Essay Essay Example Finding My Way Back to School Essay Essay Finding My Way Back to School Essay Essay Essay Topic: A Long Way Gone Finding my way back to school has been a long time coming. I have wanted to attend college before I even finished grade school. At seventeen I married a Military man. I always said, When I move to another base I will start college. We moved to Fort Hood, Texas. Nine years have gone by and at last I have enrolled in a degree plan at Gifford University. What made me wait so long is a laundry list of items. The main issue Eve had was procrastination. I talked myself out of college more times than I can remember. I would say, l dont have the money, time, skills, or the smarts to go to college. After years of doubt I had an awakening, my son was born. My son being born made me want to finish my dreams. I wanted to make our life better. My entire life I have loved to help people and listen to them. I researched colleges and found the Psychology program at Gifford to be beneficial. I want to work with foster children. Getting my degree in Psychology will help me achieve that goal. My life has had to change while attending college. My son is one year old, so he requires most of my time and attention. I have to balance my son and homework. : Ive had to change my movie marathon and reading for fun days, to diaper duty and what pronoun to use. These changes are well worth it when I weigh the outcome. Another change or obstacle Eve had to manage is my husband. My husband works full time and attends college as well. Trying to find a balance is very hard. Im still working on dividing myself between spouse, child, and school. The sacrifices I am making now are for my family and me. I know after graduation all my hard work to start my career, and the sacrifices Ive made will pay off. Returning to school has been easy for the most part. I eve found I need to work on my writing skills. Other then my writing skills for classes, I really enjoy college. I am a mild perfectionist. I try to get great grades and when I do not get great grades, I stress often. I am trying to work on not stressing and still work hard for good grades. Ive been working on strategies for myself. Finding myself in school again; I need a strategy to help me out. I found if I tell people I need quiet time to study for a test they leave me alone. If I tell people I need quiet time just to study, they still bother me. So I send out a text saying, l have a test now, dont other me, and I turn off my phone. So far so good no one has popped up at my home and I am able to write assignments. Another strategy is nap time. I do my discussions when my son Is napping. I study and write assignments when bed time for my son rolls around. Finding my way back to school has been a challenge; I wish It would have happened sooner. Maybe now Is the best time and I am glad I have started this process now. All the challenges and headaches are so worth It. Even If I do not get my dream career, I still can feel proud of myself for completing college. I cant wall t Tort my next chanter AT Tie so

How to Negotiate Your Salary in an Interview

How to Negotiate Your Salary in an Interview In negotiations, the first person to blink usually loses. The same goes for salary negotiations. If you name a number first, you’ll never know how high the hiring manager might have gone to win you. Here are five sneaky ways an interviewer will get you to answer the money question, and how to avoid them.Q: â€Å"What is the salary range you’re expecting?†Your ideal answer: â€Å"I’d like to get a better sense of the requirements before I commit to a number. Just so I can make sure I have a sense of what you need.†Q: â€Å"How much did you make at your last job?†Your ideal answer:  Don’t answer it. Say instead: â€Å"First I want to make sure I understand the ways in which this position’s responsibilities will differ from those of my former position. Let’s discuss the details before we agree on a fair amount.†Q: â€Å"What are you hoping for in terms of salary?†Your ideal answer:  This is basically the sa me as the first question. If they’ve already asked some version of this, try this answer, and keep deflecting: â€Å"I’m sure whatever you’re offering will be commensurate with the going market rate for this position.† This puts the burden of fairness on them.Q: â€Å"In order to make you an offer, I’ll need to know your requirements.†Your ideal answer:  False! Resist! Deflect again! How about: â€Å"Let’s start with what you have budgeted for this position and then we can discuss from there.†Q: â€Å"Why don’t you want to disclose your salary requirements?†Your ideal answer:  This is quite the bold one, and not all that common. At this point, it’s okay to fight fire with fire. Try: â€Å"I’d really like to get a sense of what this position is worth to your company before I make any commitments.†As tough as it is to be tough, it will pay out in the long run. You may feel awkward about taki ng such a hard line, but your interviewer will respect you as someone not to be trifled with. You might even win yourself the offer with your negotiating prowess.

An extended definition of belief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An extended definition of belief - Essay Example Langston Hughes mentioned that he was asked to declare his belief publicly as a Christian at the age of 12 by his church. According to Hughes, 12 years is not a matured age for a person to declare his belief publicly (Hughes, p.224). Even adults or old people are sometimes confused while talking about their beliefs. A person’s belief is normally strengthened by what he has been taught during his childhood by others. For example, a Christian child may get education about Jesus from churches during his childhood. Same way, a Muslim child may get more knowledge about Prophet Mohammad during his childhood. It should be noted that the Muslim child may not get proper education about Jesus or the Christian child may not get proper education about Mohammad during their childhood. Thus, a particular belief is cultivated in the minds of people during their childhood. Another interesting fact about belief is that it is highly subjective. Different communities exist in most of the religio ns because of the subjectivity of belief. These communities are interpreting the same information in different ways. For example, the beliefs of Pentecostal communities in Christian religion are different than the beliefs of Catholics even though both relying Holy Bible and Jesus for shaping their beliefs. Same way, Shias and Sunnis in Muslim religion have different beliefs even though both believe in Holy Quran and Prophet Mohammad. In short, belief is highly subjective and it depends on the intellectual abilities and wisdom of the believers. Joel Engardio, belief is all about tolerance. In his opinion, â€Å"people we don’t understand become less scary when we get to know them as real people. We don’t have to be each other’s cup of tea, but tolerance lets a variety of kettles peacefully share the stove† (Engardio, p.229). Nobody can claim that his belief is superior to the belief of others. Neither the Christians, nor the Muslims or Jews claim that what they are teaching is the truth. As mentioned earlier, different people interpret Bible and Quran in different manner and hence different types of beliefs are prevailing in this word even among the same religions. According to Albert Einstein, Nothing is absolute and everything is relative in this world. Even that principle may not be true in the case of religious beliefs. In other words, nobody can claim that their belief is better than the beliefs of others. Under such circumstances, it is better to respect the beliefs of others rather than ridiculing it. Belief is just like how two blind people explain the shape of an elephant after touching different parts of the elephant’s body. The blind person who touches the ear of the elephant may describe the shape of elephant as flat whereas the blind person who touches the tail of the elephant may describe its shape as thin rod. Even though both are right, the ultimate truth is entirely different from the explanations of these two people. Belief is also just like that. The definitions of God by the Muslims and Christians would be right. However, none of these definitions may be perfect. Under such circumstances it is better to respect these definitions or beliefs rather than ridiculing it. John Allen Paulos mentioned that people believe in God even if they are aware of the illogic and gaping holes in the arguments for God. He has mentioned that even though he don’t believe in God, he believes in love (Paulos p.237). Paulos’s arguments seem to be little bit contradictory. All religions

Describe and discuss what, in your opinion, are the main difficulties Essay

Describe and discuss what, in your opinion, are the main difficulties facing Records Managers attempting to manage the electronic records of an organisation - Essay Example Unless these challenges are addressed, valuable government information may be lost forever (Bearman 1990; Cox 2000; Dearstyne 2002; Veatch 2002; and Kurtz 2004). Electronic records management or ERM that is mainly managing and preserving access to digital records is not and never will be easy; but it is not an impossible task. ERM provides a digital environment for capturing electronic documents and applying standard records management practices. Supporting the medium to long term information management needs of the business, it manages a corporate filing structure, document classification within the filing structure and formal retention and disposition scheduling. This is based on an approved disposition and review schedule of the organization (eGovernment 2001). The following three events noted by Kurtz (2004) speak of the value of maintaining sensible ERM practice today. They point to neglect of preserving information and ignoring the impact of technology. First, in March 2002, the FBI's handling of the investigative records of the Timothy McVeigh case was attributed to outmoded computer systems and systemic information management problems that created a last-minute delay in the execution of McVeigh. According to the report, thousands of pages of FBI investigation reports were not turned over to McVeigh's lawyers before the trial due in part to antiquated computer systems that could not locate and retrieve the needed information. Timothy James McVeigh was an American convicted of eleven federal offenses and ultimately executed as a result of his role in the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. He is commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City bomber. The bombing, which claimed 168 lives, was the deadliest act of terrorism in U.S. history until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in U.S. history (Cole 1996). Second, on September 11, 2001, the tragic events at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon highlighted the importance of having continuity of operations plans in the event of a disaster. In both places, business operations were affected because critical information was destroyed. Without such plans, agency information assets and future business operations and services are at risk (Kurtz 2004). Third, numerous allegations have been made concerning the Departments of Interior and Treasury destroying Indian trust account records related to a class action lawsuit filed against the Government. The plaintiffs allege that the Government has mismanaged and lost information on individual Indian trust accounts that will deprive the plaintiffs of billions of dollars in royalties (Kurtz 2004). This paper looks into the main difficulties facing records managers attempting to manage the electronic records of an organisation. They include old ways of operation, patchy compliance to laws, absence of corporate control, the dysfunctional ways archivists look at records, resistance of archivists to changes, governments and universities ignoring ERM, leadership void, lack of guiding principles, diminished role of archivists and records managers in information policy, and lack of competency of archivists and records mangers. In this paper, the terms "archivists" and "records managers" are used interchangeably. DIFFICULTIES Old ways of Operation. Prior to