The New York City Department Of Consumer Affairs - 1664 Words

1. Introduction In 1992, the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (NYCDCA) conducted a study where it was found that women paid, on average, 25% more for the same haircut as men. Subsequently, in 1994, the state of California estimated that women paid an annual gender tax of approximately $1,351 for the same services as men and therefore, in 1995, California decided to introduce a bill in order to protect consumers from price discrimination for services, for example from hair salons, however, not for gender pricing of goods . These examples demonstrate that â€Å"pink taxes† seem to exist for a long period of time and gives the impression to persist. In this essay, I am going to investigate, provide evidence and analyse this exact issue using my own economic awareness and the data I found while researching this matter. 2. Gender Price Gap Evidence and Economic Theory More recently, in 2015, NYCDCA looked at 794 products from 35 different categories and found that women’s products are, on average, 7% more expensive than similar products for men. Also, the gender price gap seems to be more evident on beauty products, clothes and toys. This is supported by a recent research conducted in Britain by The Times which found that products targeted to women are, on average, 37% more expensive than similar products targeted to men. Figure 1: Some of The Times’ study findings Figure 1 shows some of the price discrepancies found between genders in The Times’ research. ForShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination Is A Fair Share Of Discrimination1469 Words   |  6 Pagesbe defined as â€Å". . . the extra amount women are charged for certain products or services. Things like dry cleaning, personal care products, and vehicle maintenance† (Elliot Sec. 1). According to The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) studies have shown that the average female consumer pays 42% more in products whereas men only pay 18%. This is only an overall view in product revenue on how much women are charged more just based on their gender. From a little toddler to a senior citizenRead MoreBlack Male And Caucasian Police Officer Essay1489 Words   |  6 PagesThis took place on July 17th, 2014 in Staten Island, New York City. Within the department I was surprised on female African American NYPD Sargent Kissy Adoni on how she did not intervene. As a result of Ga rner s death, Police Commissioner William Bratton ordered an extensive review of the NYPD s training procedures, specifically focusing on the appropriate amount of force that can be used while detaining a suspect. According to CBS New York Bratton stated â€Å"we are not targeting communities of colorRead MorePresident Of Government And Political Affairs1130 Words   |  5 Pages Millersville University American Presidency Conrad Dobler GOVT 215: Dr. Lawrence Department of Government and Political Affairs May 3rd, 2017 What does president do that makes the public feel as if they are strong, or powerful, and what determines a president to be labeled as limited? That’s really up to one s views on politics, their morals, and opinions. In this paper I will go over three of what I consider to be the best, and strongest Presidents history has ever had. TheRead MoreThe Impact Of Privacy On Online Purchase Decisions Essay723 Words   |  3 PagesEuropean online shopping league. Computing Vnunet.com, Business News, Available from: www.computing.co.uk/news/1159326 [Accessed 11 November 2008]. Janiszewski, C. (1998). The influence of display characteristics on visual exploratory search behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(3), 290–301. Jansen, F. P. J. (2006). German Sunday shoppers in Roermond: Shopping motivations and choice criteria, Unpublished thesis, Marketing Department, Tilburg University. Johnson, C.A. (2005). Us e-commerce: 2005Read More The Impact of Department Stores Essay1327 Words   |  6 PagesThe Impact of Department Stores Departments stores introduced the customs of shopping as we know them today. Before the advent of giant emporiums like Macys and Saks, people made their purchases in specialty and dry goods houses, usually located in a nearby part of town. Store owners in small or rural areas, expecting a slow turnover of merchandise, sold their goods at a high mark-up, but allowed thrifty customers to bargain for lower prices or barter with cash crops. Window-shopping had yetRead MoreA Common Goal Of Hispanic Consumer855 Words   |  4 PagesA common goal between most U.S. companies is simple: attract the Hispanic consumer. In 2012, a Nielson Report declared Hispanics to be the fastest growing ethnic segment, with expectations to grow 167 percent from 2010 to 2050. It’s been recorded that Hispanics are currently the largest minority in the country, with the Hispanic market growing 60% in the last decade. Though the Hispanic market is considered a large homogenous market by many, it is actual ly made up of diverse ethnic and racial groupsRead MoreCorporate Social Responsibility of Hsbc2219 Words   |  9 Pagescountries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. Shareholders: With listings on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges, shares in HSBC Holdings plc are held by around 220,000 shareholders in 119 countries and territories. The shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Receipts. Activities: Through an international network linked by advanced technology, including a rapidly growingRead MoreMy Life - Original Writing Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesHearing Past Clinical Therapist at Journey to Wellness, School Social Worker at New York State School for the Deaf Education Gallaudet University Title: Education Public Health Advocate Greater New York City Area | Individual Family Services Current CEO/Founder at Blacks Browns of the Big 3, Inc. Past Elder Care Coordinator at My Family, Program Evaluator - Project Street Beat at Planned Parenthood New York City, Inc., Associate Director; Education UNCG Summary Compassionate leader with expertiseRead MoreThe Career Of Communication By Dr. Robert Harrison Essay1563 Words   |  7 PagesHearing Past Clinical Therapist at Journey to Wellness, School Social Worker at New York State School for the Deaf Education Gallaudet University Title: Education Public Health Advocate Greater New York City Area | Individual Family Services Current CEO/Founder at Blacks Browns of the Big 3, Inc. Past Elder Care Coordinator at My Family, Program Evaluator - Project Street Beat at Planned Parenthood New York City, Inc., Associate Director; Education UNCG Summary Compassionate leader with expertiseRead MoreEleanor Roosevelt : Women s Rights1074 Words   |  5 Pagessiblings moved in with their grandparents in New York when their parents died. She was born into a rich New York Family. Until the age of 15 she was a tutor. Then she was sent to an all-girl school where she excelled under the mentorship of the headmistress. This mentor also helped young women fight for independents. Eleanor Roosevelt, at the age of 18, went back to New York and became very actively in women reform. She then joined the National Consumer League Their mission was to change unsafe working

Mix of marketing activities Free Essays

Undertaking 3 1 ) Mix of Selling Activities 1. Branding Lets clients cognize what merchandise the company will bring forth with different manners and Sons. The definition of stigmatization is making a name, logo or a design that merely identifies and differentiate merchandise from others. We will write a custom essay sample on Mix of marketing activities or any similar topic only for you Order Now Purpose: A successful stigmatization can set up trust and builds trueness between clients and the company, communicates the company values which mean the values of the company distinguish their merchandises from other rivals and the quality of their merchandises. 2. E-mail selling E-mail selling aids by directing messages via electronic mail to the clients to allow them cognize what merchandises will be sell in the market. Purpose: Provides personalized services to clients. Email selling can update clients every clip about the cargo of their purchased merchandises. Email selling besides enables to advance merchandises and services at the same clip. 3. Banner adverts Graphical adverts which can be either on in writing or text messages that are shown on web pages. When clients clicked on the either of the adverts, it will travel on to new page and straight off unfastened to the advertizer ‘s place page. Banners are normally in formats such as GIF, JPEG or PNG. Banners are of import because they can advance, purchase and sell their merchandises utilizing this advert. Purpose: Banner advertisement can be used really efficaciously to advance a merchandise or service on the web. This will bring forth gross revenues when the concern is introduced to a immense audience. Banner advertizements will do more profitable for clients that have its ain alone qualities that can hike on-line gross revenues. 4. CRM Besides known as Customer Relationship Manager. CRM is an information industry that provides a company utile and relevant information to clients in order to hold a good known relationship between the company and clients in an organized manner. The information provided must fit with the clients ‘ demands. Purpose: CRM has the undermentioned intents such as cognition direction which enables for employees to hold valuable information in what action to do, Database consolidation is to interact a client recorded in one topographic point to assist and advance client support service and Integration of channels and systems which is to react to clients through a channel of their pick such as electronic mail, phone and online chatting. 5. Search engine optimisation Search engine optimisation is a manner for hunt engines to happen and rank a site higher than other web sites in response to a hunt question and therefore helps clients easier to happen the site that they wanted. Purpose: Search engine optimisation will assist the site to advance their merchandises and services by seeking the company ‘s site. Every clip clients type the keyword of the site, the ranking of that site will travel higher. This will enable to utilize the hunt engine to the advantage in order to acquire needed traffic. 6. Per chink advertisement Pay per chink advertisement is besides known as Cost per chink or Pay per Ranking. Pay per chink advertisement allows clients to name the site that searched at the top of the hunt engine consequences by typing for the merchandises or services they wanted to utilize. The higher clients visit the site, the higher the advertizement will be shown in the list. Customers will pay when they click on and link to the site. Purpose: Pay per chink is a signifier of advertisement that engage websites with links of the company on other web sites. Every client chinks on the advert, certain of amount will be charged to the clients. This will assist the company to derive much more net income from ecommerce. 2 ) Reasonable attacks to online selling activities. 1. Registering with as many hunt engines The intent of registering with as many engines is to let holding a better line in with the hunt engine. This can be really valuable tool in seeing where to travel in spread outing the company ‘s web site into the market. 2. Clear stigmatization and promotional bundles The intent of clear stigmatization and promotional bundles is that they give consumers a freedom of pick in taking their merchandises, offer a step of protection to clients because they can easy place the provider which they are fond of. 3. Use of streamer advertisement theoretical account The intent of use of streamer advertisement theoretical account is to construct consciousness, sell something, and thrust traffic to an advertizer ‘s web site. 4. The usage of forum The use of forum is a good manner to acquire back links and traffics but members must lend to the forum in order to be active in the site and non merely spamming the forum with the company ‘s links. Giving relevant and elaborate information, clients or members of the forum might be interested to look into out the nexus. 3 ) Offline selling demands: I. Direct selling is a method where advertizers approach clients straight face to confront with the merchandises or services for roll uping an sum of information about their clients and clients. II. Mass selling is a maximal exposure of advertisement merchandises to clients. Merchandises that many people want will be introduced to a immense audience. a. Magazines Magazines might and can be expensive but magazines are really utile because it focused on the advertisement to the clients which they might be interested to cognize about the advert. B. Direct Mail Direct mail can be utile because the mail is straight sent from the company to clients instantly for their wants and demands. Roll uping information from clients by detecting references on their cheques and inquiring them to make full out information cards. c. Newsletters Newsletters presents can be really influential and powerful message to clients because it provides layout and design and they can bring forth really interesting newssheets in a really cheap manner. d. Newspapers By puting advertizements about the company ‘s concern in newspapers can be really utile and may convert clients through the advertizements because newspapers ever have been read by people every twenty-four hours. This method is really effectual. 4 ) Plan addresses both bing and new clients In order to retain clients online or offlines, the undermentioned factors should be taken into consideration: 1. Developing profitable clients In order to set up profitable clients, the company must continuously be pulling new profitable clients in the industry sectors and they must besides active retain the profitable current clients and re-establish dealingss with past clients. 2. Profiling clients Customer profiling is based on demographic, psychographic and geographic features. The description of clients must include income, business, and degree of instruction, age, gender, avocations or country of abode. 3. Specifying clients For retaining clients, the company must specify their possible clients. To be successful, the company must be able to carry clients more easy and when the company able to carry them, it is easier clip to hold concern with clients. 4. Deciding targeted group Targeted group will be decided by the company which clients will establish on their age and gender. Each group will be able to prove their merchandises which may be a positive manner to derive client ‘s trust and do even more net income. 5 ) Compile prospective clients in the group a. Plan to turn to bing clients I ) Offer trueness If the company plans to do the bing clients loyal to them, they must offer them a particular deal such as take downing the monetary value in order to do them happy and loyal. two ) Tell-a-friend option The company can state the bing clients to advance their site and concern to their friends in order to derive more loyal clients. three ) Offer pre or station gross revenues services Offering pre gross revenues services to clients, the company must be able to research and program new merchandise before giving out to clients in order for them to do a suggestion and do a better merchandise for them to be happy. four ) Considering monetary value factors based on clients need. Reducing monetary values on the merchandises that the clients ever need will be able to retain the bing client ‘s trueness. B. Plan to turn to new clients I ) Mailing list Mailing list such as direct mail is an effectual manner to convey a message or a manner to publicize and advance a new specific merchandise to big audiences in order to derive new clients. two ) Offers Offers will be given to clients such as take downing the monetary value as considered by the company for a chosen merchandise that might acquire the client ‘s purpose. three ) Memberships New clients will be offered full rank for them to acquire the latest intelligence and information about new merchandises of their demands. four ) Easy payment services New clients may be able to utilize their recognition cards if they are buying their merchandises online because it is easier for them to pay without any transit required. 6 ) Sphere name Company name is called â€Å"Arts and Crafts online† Sphere Name Type Handiness artzandcraftzonline.com Commercial Yes fun-artsandcrafts-online.com Commercial Yes artscrafts4u.com Commercial Yes The best sphere name that have been chosen is artscrafts4u.com Reasons on why this sphere name is the best: This sphere name is short and easier for clients to retrieve the site. This sphere name may be interesting for clients in order for them to see the site more frequently. The sphere name can pull clients in doing concerns. How to cite Mix of marketing activities, Essay examples

Close To The Edge by Yes free essay sample

Many fans of the classic progressive rock music may be familiar with the band Yes and Fragile at least. However, I decided to go to more of the obscure and talk about Close To The Edge. This is a three track album lasting for about 40 minutes. Yep, we have some long epics on this one, with the longest one(that being the title track) last for well over 18 minutes. The other two are about ten minutes respectfully making for the grand finale in a sort. I notice that there are also some space themes much like in Dream Theater`s Count Of Tuscany which adds a nice touch. The British masterminds have might as well made a magnum opus, at least for now, but I have yet to check out every album. While for me there arent too many flaws, as I mentioned before, the title track alone is 18 minutes which can be a problem for people who have give second attention spans(no offense) so you may want to be careful with. We will write a custom essay sample on Close To The Edge by Yes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You also really cant go without listening to all of the stuff from this album(but thats more of a compliment because it means that they can glue you in). All in all, I see nothing too bad about this album, its fun, catchy at times, and can easily make for Yes` magnum opus. But alas, we have yet to see everything. I must give it an 8/10. This is the Grim Reaper, signing off.

John Gilberto Rodriguez Essays - , Term Papers

John Gilberto Rodriguez JOHN GILBERT? RODR?GUEZ Poderoso y pol?mico son algunos de las palabras usaron para describir el trabajo art?stico de John Gilbert? Rodr?guez. La fotograf?a no ha sido un medio fuerte y popular a expresar o comunicar la experiencia de Latino y la cultura en nuestra sociedad. Ni lo tiene fue expresado de un punto de Veterano de Chicano Vietnam del panorama. Todav?a, para un grupo grande de nuestros ciudadanos, este trabajo y estas im?genes representan una interpretaci?n de la cultura, los sentimientos y las emociones de la comunidad de Chicano. Para tan grande como la comunidad est? en este pa?s y particularmente en California; muy pocos fot?grafo registra estos complejo y a gente apasionada. Nacido en San Jos?, residiendo actualmente en el Este San Jos?, John uni? al Ej?rcito en 1968 y luch? en Vietnam donde ?l se wounded en la acci?n. El gast? a?os que rehabilitan en un hospital de veteranos y luego matriculados y graduados del Instituto aclamado de Arroyos de la Fotograf?a. La c?mara ha llegado a ser mi voz. Habla para mis pensamientos, los sentimientos, las experiencias y las ideas. Hoy, yo no b?squeda m?s larga para la imagen, est? en m?, y es qui?n yo soy. El trabajo cubre los per?odos diferentes del desarrollo en la vida de artista y conocimiento, e incluye retratos m?viles de individuos y expresiones personales de la vida pol?tica y cultural de la comunidad de Chicano. El trabajo de Rodr?guez de John Gilbert? se ha representado en El Andar Revista Biling?e, Arte Latino, la Galer?a de Fot?grafo, la Galer?a de Ojo, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, El Ella la Galer?a Gris, El Centro del Recurso de la Biblioteca de Chicano, la Liga Pac?fica del Arte y la Galer?a de la Asociaci?n de Fot?grafo de Publicidad de Pen?nsula. Soy atra?do a su trabajo a causa de un inter?s personal en la fotograf?a. Cu?ndo yo vi el retrato del ojo, yo fui interesado para averiguar inmediatamente que era. Qu? marcas RODRIGUEZ rom diferente otros artistas que he estudiado son sus influencias. El es influido por la guerra en que ?l sirvi? y los m?rtires que salvaron su naci?n. Este fondo es lo que hace una pintura o fotograf?a verdadero. Por generaciones, el espa?ol ni?os que hablan no fueron permitidos hablar su primer idioma en el motivo de escuela, y el cielo prohibe si ellos lo hablaron en las aulas. Ahora, en clases biling?es hoy, yo encuentro que nuestros ni?os son hechos para recitar el Juro Fidelidad. .. de palabras que son sin sentido, en un idioma que ellos entienden. Nosotros, as? como tambi?n nuestros ni?os deben tener el la Libertad de la Elecci?n en lugar nosotros permite la inseminaci?n de nuestras mentes de ni?os con, Prometo la Lealtad. ..

The 10 Most Stressful Jobs

The 10 Most Stressful Jobs work stress- we all have it in some form, no matter what we do. whether it’s deadlines, or colleagues who make things challenging, or not enough resources to perform at a certain level, every job has its down times. however, some jobs are just more stressful than others, especially ones that deal in actual life-or-death scenarios or the public crucible. every year, careercast does a survey to determine the most stressful jobs around. they look at 11  different stress factors, including: deadlines, public attention and pressure, travel, interacting with the public, salary, physical demands, job environment, hazards, risks to others’ safety, and risks to one’s own life and safety.here are the most stressful jobs, according to that survey:enlisted military personnelit may come as no surprise that men and women on duty in active war zones face the most job stress of anyone. enlisted military personnel (even those not serving on the front lines) face a number of phy sical challenges in their career, as well as concerns about their safety and the safety of those around them.firefighterwhen a firefighter responds to a call, it could be a false alarm, or it could be a raging fire with people to be rescued. firefighters need to be prepared for any outcome when they leave on a call. by the very nature of their jobs, they run into very unsafe situations to make sure that the rest of us are safe- a high-pressure situation no matter how you look at it.airline pilotairline pilots are entrusted with the care of not only a plane full of passengers and crew, but also a giant piece of multi-million-dollar equipment. plus they have to do it all on a very strict schedule. the next time you’re delayed in an airport, take some time to reflect that we’re asking pilots to achieve great things under an incredible amount of pressure.police officerlike firefighters, police officers are often the first responders when things go terribly wrong. they†™re tasked with the huge public trust of keeping law and order- a responsibility that can weigh on the everyday life of an officer. they’re often exposed to the worst elements society has to offer, and risk harm on a daily basis.event coordinatoralthough event planning is rarely a life-or-death situation, it can be an incredibly stressful career path. if all of the elements of an event don’t go just right, it’s often the coordinator whose name and reputation are on the line. not only that, he or she is directly accountable to clients and the public.public relations executivelike event coordinators, public relations executives are often very publicly accountable for their actions. olivia pope may make â€Å"handling it† look smooth, but in reality the people who try to manage public information for clients are often up on a very high-profile high wire.senior corporate executivestock prices dropping like it’s hot? company had a very high-profile mi stake or a bad customer experience that went mega-viral? it’s likely the ceo whose reputation and job which are on the line. the combination of business stress plus public accountability is likely what lands high-level corporate executives on this list.tv broadcasterimagine that thousands (or millions!) of people are watching you on television, with every second immortalized in hd. any slip of the tongue could launch a thousand twitter statuses, or worse- land you in youtube infamy.newspaper reportermuch of the time these days, newspaper reporters can’t win. the financial woes of the newspaper industry are legion (how many times a week do we hear that newspapers in general are on the brink of death?), but even reporters worried for their jobs can’t afford to let news quality or misinformation slip.taxi driverif you’re a taxi driver, not only do you welcome dozens of strangers per day into your car and personal space, but now for traditional yellow cab vet erans there is extra competition lurking from rideshare apps like lyft or uber. for many drivers, the stresses of the open road join the risks of interacting with the unknown public.so after knowing what the most stressful jobs are these days, are you brave enough to tackle them?

Who Is Aleister Crowley The Truth About His Life and Work

Who Is Aleister Crowley The Truth About His Life and Work SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The name â€Å"Crowley† has become synonymous with occultism, magic, and secret societies- but who was the man behind it all? Who was Aleister Crowley, really, and why has his name come to be synonymous with esoteric writings? In this article, we’ll discuss who Crowley was, including his life story, the many controversies he inspired, his connection with the occult, and all his famous writings. If you’ve ever wondered about the inspiration behind characters like Supernatural or Good Omens’ famed demons, it all comes back to one famed occultist. WhoIsAleisterCrowley? Aleister Crowley (pronounced CROW-lee), born Edward Alexander Crowley in 1875, was a famed writer, occultist, and hedonist known for practicing magick- this unique spelling not only differentiated his practices from stage magic, but also encompassed all actions leading toward a person’s destiny, or their â€Å"True Will.† Crowley’s Early Life Crowley was born to a preacher and spent the first part of his life as an evangelical Christian. His father died when he was 11, and Crowley’s beliefs changed quite quickly- soon, he started rebelling by not only questioning the Bible, but also by engaging in all kinds of activities that the church frowned upon. His behavior eventually led to his mother calling him â€Å"the beast,† which he adopted and embraced. By age 20, Crowley had adopted the name ‘Aleister,’ the Gaelic form of Alexander, as his new name. Crowley spent some time attending Cambridge University but dropped out before completing a degree. During his time in college, he considered a career in Russian diplomacy, but an illness caused him to reconsider. The illness also caused Crowley to think more philosophically about life and death, spurring him further toward the occult. He was known to be sexually promiscuous, primarily with women, but occasionally with men as well- most notably, fellow Cambridge student Herbert Jerome Pollitt. Pollitt and Crowley were not able to make their relationship last, as Pollitt was not interested in Crowley’s occult pursuits. Crowley deeply regretted the loss of their relationship, and his feelings were folded into his religious practice. Crowley Joins the Golden Dawn After leaving Cambridge in 1898, Crowley turned his attention toward hedonistic pursuits and his new involvement with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a group dedicated to studying the paranormal and the occult. Over the year or so he was involved with the group, Crowley rose quickly through the ranks but found himself butting heads with prominent members, such as Irish poet W. B. Yeats. Some members of the organization found his hedonism off-putting as well as his bisexuality, and he was not permitted to join the higher ranks. Further infighting led to Crowley attempting to take control of certain parts of the Golden Dawn lodge, which discredited his remaining friends in the organization, particularly Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. Crowley Forms the A∠´A∠´ After his time with the Golden Dawn, Crowley traveled the world, climbing mountains in Mexico and India while further developing his spiritual practice. In Paris, Crowley met Rose Kelly, who was set to be married to another man in an arranged marriage- the two instead married one another out of convenience in 1903, though they later fell in love. The two bonded over their mutual spiritualism, and during a meditation session, Rose reportedly passed on the message that Horus, an Egyptian god, was waiting for Crowley. Crowley pursued the idea, reportedly making contact in 1904 with a spirit named Aiwass who served as Horus’ messenger. During this contact, Aiwass is said to have dictated the text of what would later become The Book of the Law, or the sacred text of Thelema, to him. Crowley continued to travel the world, though Rose and their daughter, Lilith, remained behind. During this time, Rose developed a serious drinking problem and Lilith contracted typhoid, dying in 1906. Rose’s deteriorating mental health and their daughters’ death put increasing strain on their marriage, and the two divorced in 1909. Rose was later committed to an institution in 1911. Continuing his involvement in the occult, Crowley founded his own organization as a successor to The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, called A∠´A∠´, in 1907. Though he already had a reputation, a public court case in which his former friend Mathers sued him for disclosing secrets of the Golden Dawn in his own work shot him to even greater stardom. His involvement with the occult got him branded as a Satanist, a reputation he was more than happy to play up. Crowley’s Influence Grows Much of Crowley’s income came from publishing, as he continued writing and releasing books of poetry. He also wrote numerous articles for Vanity Fair, which at the time was edited by his friend Frank Harris. His articles included "On the Management of Blondes" and "Three Great Hoaxes of the War." His influence grew throughout the early to mid-20th century, as his writings drew in more practitioners of Thelema. He even started his own abbey in 1920, where he and other Thelemites lived and worshiped, practicing sex magic and creating art. His hedonistic lifestyle continued, and he developed a significant heroin problem. After significant controversy resulting from the quality of living at the Abbey of Thelema, Crowley was branded as â€Å"the wickedest man in the world.† He was deported from Italy under Benito Mussolini’s rule, and again deported from France thanks to his reputation. His hedonistic lifestyle and continued travels led to him becoming destitute. He took on students and even attempted to sue people he believed had libeled him, and though he won some cases, the legal fees were too much. He was declared bankrupt in 1935. After a brief interest in converting Adolf Hitler to Thelema, Crowley began associating with prominent members of British intelligence, specificallyBritain's Naval Intelligence Division, including Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl. He died in 1947, with his funeral being labeled a Black Mass by the press. Why Is Crowley Significant? Aleister Crowley achieved a level of fame quite unlike any other occult figure of his kind. While figures like Mathers and Allan Bennett may have been higher up in famous organizations like the Golden Dawn, it’s Crowley’s name that’s remembered, immortalized on the cover to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and in Black Sabbath’s â€Å"Mr. Crowley.† Part of his fame no doubt comes from the influence of his philosophy. One of Thelema’s tenets, and one of Crowley’s major life mottos, was â€Å"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.† Though there are multiple ways to interpret the meaning, one popular theory is that this motto, advocating for individualism alongside Thelema’s teaching that the world was approaching a new age, led into the cultural revolution of the sixties, which similarly embraced drug use and sexual liberation as a response to a straight-laced society. Many figures who helped catapult Crowley to posthumous fame, such as The Doors, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath, all grew out of the countercultural movement of the 1960s, even if they were not active during that period. These icons of rock and pop culture helped solidify Crowley’s cultural relevance, but that’s only part of the story- there’s also much to be said about Crowley’s courting of controversy. Why Was Crowley So Controversial? It’s not hard to see why Crowley was a controversial figure; he was unabashedly bisexual in a time when that was frowned upon, he embraced rumors that he was a Satanist and child murderer, and he founded a religious organization that operated in opposition to dominant religions like Christianity. But it wasn’t just rumor that fueled his reputation- numerous events also convinced people that he was literally dangerous. One such event was the death of Raoul Loveday, a Thelemite who lived at Crowley’s Abbey of Thelema in Italy. According to Betty May, Loveday’s wife, Loveday drank a sacrificed cat’s blood. Other rituals included cutting themselves with razors if they used the pronoun ‘I.’ Loveday died while living in the Abbey after drinking from a polluted stream, prompting May to leave and tell the story to the press. It was this event that got Crowley branded as â€Å"the wickedest man in the world,† by John Bull, a British tabloid. But other events raised suspicions as well, such as when Crowley feuded with a mountaineering group as they tried to climb Kanchenjunga. The group eventually refused to climb any further, and though Crowley warned them that it would be dangerous to turn back, they did so- all of them, except Crowley, died in an accident. Crowley also exhibited some controversial political and social beliefs, such as his interests in Nazism and Marxist-Leninism or his misogyny and racism. Richard Spence and Tobias Churton have both suggested and that his controversial persona and numerous eccentricities were in fact adopted to hide his true purpose: that of a British spy. According to this theory, many of Crowley’s strange activities were done to throw people off the scent. He supposedly joined the Golden Dawn to gather information on Mathers, a Carlist, and that his attempted seizing of power was meant to discredit Mathers. Spence further suggested that some of Crowley’s travels were attempts to further British interests, such as searching for Mexican oil or monitoring the opium trade in China. Crowley was rejected from the British Naval Intelligence Division but did spend some time in the company of famed British spies. Other historians have noted Crowley’s involvement with George Sylvester Viereck and his paper The Fatherland, which aimed to keep the United States neutral during World War I. Though some have said that this was because he was a traitor to Britain, one biographer, Lawrence Sutin, has written that this was a coordinated attack on German credibility in New York. Sutin argues that, by pulling bizarre stunts and being hyperbolic, Crowley was actually acting under the wishes of British intelligence to discredit the Germans. Though it’s possible that Aleister Crowley’s â€Å"wicked† persona was an affectation to cover up his spy work, that theory isn’t what has drawn people to him. His contemporaries and later generations have long been interested in his connection with the occult, his storied life, and his many magickal writings. Aleister Crowley's Books Though Crowley is best known as the â€Å"wickedest man in the world,† his writings were his main source of income throughout his life. From poetry to religious texts, Crowley’s work is a large part of why he’s such an iconic figure today. Below you can see a list of his most important and popular publications: White Stains, 1898 Alice: An Adultery, 1903 Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law), 1904 Collected Works of Aleister Crowley 1905–1907 Konx Om Pax: Essays in Light, 1907 Clouds without Water, 1909 Which is also Falsely Called BREAKS. The Wanderings or Falsifications of the One Thought of Frater Perdurabo, which Thought is itself Untrue. Liber CCCXXXIII [Book 333], 1912 The Equinox: Volume III, Number I, 1919 Diary of a Drug Fiend, 1922 The Confessions of Aleister Crowley : An Autohagiography, 1929 Moonchild, 1929 The Stratagem and other Stories, 1929 The Equinox of the Gods, 1936 Little Essays Toward Truth. 1938 Eight Lectures on Yoga, 1939 Liber OZ, 1941 The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, 1944 Magick Without Tears, 1954 Liber Aleph vel CXI: The Book of Wisdom or Folly, 1991 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley The Law is for All Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 The Vision and the Voice Famous Aleister Crowley Quotes Aleister Crowley, as a prolific writer and public figure, has a great number of memorable quotes. Some of his most famous include: â€Å"Black magic is not a myth. It is a totally unscientific and emotional form of magic, but it does get results - of an extremely temporary nature. The recoil upon those who practice it is terrific. It is like looking for an escape of gas with a lighted candle. As far as the search goes, there is little fear of failure! To practice black magic you have to violate every principle of science, decency, and intelligence. You must be obsessed with an insane idea of the importance of the petty object of your wretched and selfish desires. I have been accused of being a "black magician." No more foolish statement was ever made about me. I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practice it.† - "The Worst Man in the World" in The Sunday Dispatch (2 July 1933) â€Å"Every man and every woman is a star.† - The Book of the Law (1904) â€Å"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.† - The Book of the Law (1904) â€Å"The conscience of the world is so guilty that it always assumes that people who investigate heresies must be heretics; just as if a doctor who studies leprosy must be a leper. Indeed, it is only recently that science has been allowed to study anything without reproach.† - The Confessions of Aleister Crowley (1929) â€Å"The customer is usually wrong; but statistics indicate that it doesn't pay to tell him so.† - Magick Without Tears (1954) â€Å"Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass are done; but there is that which remains.† - The Book of the Law (1904) â€Å"Happiness lies within one's self, and the way to dig it out is cocaine.† - Diary of a Drug Fiend (1922) What’s Next? Want to know more about early 20th century literature? Learn more aboutThe Great Gatsby's title and how it reflects the themes of the book! Like your literature with a twist of the occult? This analysis of the character of Abigail Williams inThe Cruciblecovers her role in the fictionalized Salem Witch Trials of the play. Aleister Crowley's writings are pretty dense- if you need some help understanding him, check out this collection of AP language and composition terms!

Factory collapse by tran tran Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Factory collapse by tran tran - Essay Example Prior to construction, the factory should have quality material in use. Some contractors may work too consume the minimum costs hence ends up using poor quality materials that pose extra risks to the factory. In addition to that, the machines the factory will also use act as a determining factor to the strength of the foundation. In such cases, some factories use machines that are at the dispensation of continuous vibration hence weakening the foundation of the building. All these can be on achievement when there is close monitoring and evaluation by a qualified architect and the rest of a multidisciplinary approach (Reynolds and McKeown, 660). Therefore, a societal strict policy should be in place to ensure that all the constructors utilize the quality steel and cement when constructing the factories avoids any future predicament. Such proactive approach is likely to ensure that there are no cases of factory

Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation Assignment

Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation - Assignment Example The organization has a rich history which dates back to the industrial revolution. The company was founded on September 19, 1759. The human capital of the firm is what has made this organization so successful. The biggest companies in the world are recognized by their talent and the attitude of their people (Martinez, 2014). The global workforce of the firm is composed of 49,700 employees. The majority employees of the firm are located in the UK and Europe. GKN has operations in 33 countries across five continents. GKN has expanded its operations using both wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. The strategy of the organization is to maximize shareholder value by growing its earnings, dividends paid to shareholders, and maintaining sustainable growth in sales, profitability, and cash generation (Gkn, 2015). A main competitor of the company is Meggit PLC. Meggit PLC is a global engineering company that specializes in extreme environment components and smart sub-systems for aerospace and energy markets (Meggit, 2015). The global workforce of this firm is composed of 10,000 employees and the operations of the company are located across Asia, Europe, North America, Brazil, India, and the Middle East. One of the goals of the corporate governance initiatives of the company is to maintain internal control. The board of directors of the company is composed of nine members. Kevin Cummings is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the firm. Within the board of directors there are four committees. These four committees are the executive committee, audit committee, remuneration committee and nominations committee. Over the last few years three of the awards that the company has won include Quality Achievement Award 2013, Excellent Quality Supplier Award, and Fords certification for manufacturing excellence. GKN generated revenues of  £7,136 million of 2013. The revenues of the company

Leadership Theory and Assessment Essay Example for Free

Leadership Theory and Assessment Essay Emotional Intelligence Mark Orvidas Walden University Introduction I have to say that getting back to considering emotional intelligence has been a bit of a walk down memory lane. When I was working for JJ, I was invited to attend a leadership workshop on emotional intelligence. As you might imagine, and probably have experienced, there were many individual and group exercises. I particularly remember a talk given by Daniel Goleman, he stresses the social aspects of leadership, and how it emotional competencies may trump intellectual competencies once a certain knowledge threshold is achieved. Later, we all receive a personalized copy of his new book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, which was the fall of 1998. New Insights Self-awareness is a basic competency that requires being in touch with our feelings, and using those feelings as a guide to decision making (Goleman, 1998). Being self-aware can help build self-confidence as a leader. While taking the assessment I felt like a Likert scale might be a more accurate scale since I found myself answering a version of â€Å"sometimes† to many questions (Nahavandi, 2012). Consequently, when this happened, I answered false, for to be â€Å"true† it should always be true. That said, my score on the self-awareness subsection was by far the worst (5 of 8). I realized that I really don’t create opportunities to learn about myself, nor do I analyze events that affect me. I usually don’t take things too personally and move on to the next challenge (unless it really was my fault! ). I have to say that I scored pretty well in the other categories, none â€Å"perfect† and I think this is due to the fact the my job for the last 20+ years requires a high degree of self-motivation, self-regulation, understanding and above all, social skill: although, my next lowest score was social skills (12 of 15). I don’t do to well with handling difficult people, and I don’t feel like I am all that persuasive. Usually, I just let the facts speak for themselves. New Impacts I think I will take these results and pay more attention to the details of how a scenario has unfolded and put myself in a position to ask what I could have done differently. Use the opportunity to assess strengths and weaknesses and learn about myself. I feel like I am a pretty humble, easy-gone person but can be hard on myself when the mistake is mine. I feel that as a public health leader, I would share my missteps with my team and perhaps others may do the same so we all can learn from each other in a non-threatening environment. In doing so, perhaps I will be a more authentic leader and be able to share my vision from a credible position, and others will be inspired to follow my lead. Reference: Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York, New York; Bantam Nahavandi, A. (2012). The art and science of leadership (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Legalizing Prostitution Essay -- Prostitution, Sex, Security

Catherine Smith is a single 42 year old woman with two children. Her job as a secretary is no longer sufficient enough to cover her bills. She does not have a college degree and her job will not cover any part of tuition if she does decide to attend college. One night, while coming home late from work, she noticed women walking around on the street counting their earnings for the night. That is when she acquired the idea to become a prostitute. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines prostitution as the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations in exchange for money. These type of situations occur on a daily basis. Some women really enjoy having sex, so why wouldn’t they want payment for it as well. Prostitution should be legalized in the United States. Prostitution is looked down on as an immoral activity. Some people do not even consider it to be a profession. It is indeed morally wrong but maybe it is considered so because of social norms. Women who participate in this profession are seen as harlots and tramps and a disgraceful member of society. Some of these women are addicted to drugs, they have no other choice but to be involved in the profession while others have been coerced into it. Most of their backgrounds involve terrible role models while others have parents that forced them into doing these acts. Prostitution is an internationally known trade. Internationally this trade can be found anywhere from Bangladesh to China. It is known to go back as far as 2400 BC. Within this historically and largely practiced trade comes several types of prostitution; Child prostitution, street, brothels, private, door knock, Citizens Band (CB) radio, individual, survival, and sex for drugs. Child prostitution is... ...measure, but if fine-tuned correctly and if prostitutes are taken into account then it sure will help bring down rates. Works Cited Clemmit, Marcia. â€Å"Prostitution Debate.† CQ Press. 18.19 (2008): 435-438. CQ Researcher. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print. Sanders, Teela, Maggie O’Neil, and Jane Pitcher. Prostitution: Sex Work, Policy, and Politics. London: SAGE, 2009. eBook Collection. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. Wurth, Margaret H, et al., â€Å"Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution in the United States and the Criminalization of Sex Work.† Journal of the International AIDS Society. 16.1 (2013): 1 - 3. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. Clark, Charles S. â€Å"Prostitution.† 3.22 (1993): n. pag. CQ Researcher. Web. 23 Oct. 2015

Investigating the Acceleration of Connected Particles Essay

Aim The aim of this experiment is to investigate the motion of a trolley on a plane and compare the results with a mathematical model. Model’s Assumptions * No Friction – When creating the mathematical model I am going to assume that there is no friction acting upon the trolley. This is due to the fact that the trolley will be running upon a smooth plane, which offers no resistance. The trolley is also constructed upon wheels, which minimises the affects of friction between wheel and surface if any. Furthermore the track used for the trolley is specifically designed for the trolley, therefore reducing friction even more. * Smooth Pulley – The pulley over which the weights pulling the trolley will be passing through, will be smooth. This is for the reasons that the most costly and smoothest pulley available to me will be used. Therefore this should not also provide any resistance, which may impede the flow of motion. * Inextensible String – The string, which will be attached to the trolley to accelerate it, will be inextensible, i.e. the string used will not be elastic. * Flat Surface – The plane over which the trolley is going to be run must be flat, i.e. it must not be slanted up or down or to a side, or else gravity will also be playing a major part in the acceleration or deceleration of the trolley. To ensure the track is flat I placed a ping-pong ball on the track. If the ball rolled up, down or to a side then I would know that the track is not flat and would adjust it in accordance with the motion of the ping-pong ball. * String not at an angle – The string running off the trolley should be parallel to the track. This is due to the fact that a non-parallel string would be pulling the trolley down as well as forwards. Pulling Forwards = ? Cos ? Pulling Down = ? Cos ? * No Swaying – In the mathematical model I am going to assume that the falling mass does not sway. This uses the same concept as the rope not being parallel to the trolley. If the mass sways, the falling mass is not using its full potential. Pulling Down = m Pulling Sideways = m Cos ? * Negligible Air-Resistance – This is due to the unique construction of the trolley; low frame, compact design and no extended parts or objects disrupting the aero-dynamics. Conduct To mimic the real life situation of the motion of a trolley on a plane I am going to use a trolley of mass ranging from 498g to 1498g, which will be run upon a set of smooth tracks. To accelerate the trolley a light inextensible string will be attached to the trolley, which will then be run over a smooth pulley. At this end of the string masses ranging from 20g – 80g will be attached which will accelerate the trolley. The mass of the trolley will also be changed. The length of the track will always be kept at 1 metre and the time taken for the trolley to travel the metre will be recorded. While conducting the experiment I realised that clamp holding the pulley covered 1cm of the track. Therefore when carrying out the experiment I released the trolley from 1.1m along the track, giving the trolley it’s 1m course to run. Accuracy To ensure accurate and reliable results a set of fixed rules must be followed. The length of the track will always be kept to 1 metre. Also three separate readings will be recorded when measuring the time taken for the trolley to travel the fixed metre. Furthermore I am going to ensure that the track is flat, i.e. it is not slanted up, down or to a side, else gravity will also be acting upon the car. Mathematical Model To create the mathematical model I am going to use Newton’s second law, which states, ‘The change in motion is proportional to the force’. For objects with constant mass, as is the case with this experiment, this can be interpreted, as the force is proportional to the acceleration. Resultant force = mass * acceleration This is written: F = ma The resultant force and the acceleration are always in the same direction. If I use the equation of Newton’s second law F = ma and transpose it into the form y = mx + c where the gradient of the graph is gravity. F = ma mg – T = ma T = Ma (Substitute into mg – T = ma) mg – Ma = ma mg = ma + Ma mg = a (m+M) a = g (m/m+M) a = g (m/m+M) + 0 y = m x + c This graph should pass through the points (0,0). To work out acceleration for the mathematical model using the above formula. Mass of trolley (M) = 498g Mass of weight (m) = 20g Distance = 1m a = g (m/m+M) + 0 a = 9.81 (20/20+498) a = 0.38 ms-2 All the accelerations have been worked using the above technique and have been presented in the table of results below. Mass of Trolley (g) Mass of weight (g) Distance (m) Acceleration (ms-2)

Business Research Project Essay

Last week our team was requested to identify a company that has faced or is currently facing problems or situations that can be addressed by research. We chose Blockbuster as our research project, we analyzed the company and identified the company’s bankruptcy as our research problem. Based on that, we set our research hypothesis as the possible causes or reasons that lead the company to bankruptcy. According to that hypothesis we formulated our research questions. In order to go ahead with our investigation and find out if any of the independent variables proposed in our research is related to the bankruptcy of Blockbuster, we have to identify who is going to be our population and our research sample. Let starts first by understanding what populations and a sample are. In statistical terminology a population can be understood as a determined or specific set of things or units that are going to be investigated or studied, while a sample or population sample can be described as a subset or portion of the total units comprising the population. In other words the population is the group of elements or objects to be studied or investigated and of which inferences are made, that later will be tested to be finally accepted or discarded. By sampling a representative portion of the population is selected to be tested the results and conclusions about the population are drawn. Our investigation is limited to Puerto Rico area, so our targeted population will be Blockbuster customers in Puerto Rico. Our sample will consist of 24 puertorrican Blockbuster users selected utilizing the random sampling method. Once we have identified the sample we need to determine which data collection method will be used to obtain information. The collection and analysis of information is extremely important and there are four basic ways in which data can be collected. The first one is to obtain the data from a previously published source, this one is possible when someone has already collected and published the data needed. The second method is to perform an experiment to obtain the data. By this method a specific experiment is  designed and performed by the researcher under specific and controlled conditions. The third method is performing a survey, this method consist of selecting a sample and delivered them several question and record the information given by respondents. The last method is the observation, by this method the researcher observes behavior of the population in their natural environment and records the findings. As our data collection method we chose the survey that will be delivered to the selected sample of Blockbuster customers in Puerto Rico. Our survey will contain several questions to be answered and will consist in to parts. The first one will have multiple choice questions and the second one will have question that will require the opinion of the respondent. This method will allow us to have and insight on what was the real reason behind Blockbuster’s bankruptcy, and the closure of its video stores. This surveys will be sent by email to the personal email address of the respondents. They will have 7 days to answer it and send it back by email. Once the responses are received the answer given in the multiple choice question will be tabulated and the others will be recorded and analyzed. Reference University of Phoenix. (2014). Week Three Statistics: Statistic for Business and Economics 11th Chapter 6. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT/561PR website. University of Phoenix. (2014). Week Three Statistics: Statistic for Business and Economics 11th Chapter 7. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT/561PR website. University of Phoenix. (2014). Week Three Statistics: Business Research Methods 11th Chapter 10. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT/561PR website. University of Phoenix. (2014). Week Three Statistics: Business Research Methods 11th Chapter 11. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT/561PR website. University of Phoenix. (2014). Week Three Statistics: Business Research Methods 11th Chapter 12. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, QNT/561PR website.

How does Shakespeare build up the contrast between love and hate in Act 1 scene 5 Essay Example

How does Shakespeare build up the contrast  between love and hate in Act 1 scene 5 Essay Example How does Shakespeare build up the contrast  between love and hate in Act 1 scene 5 Paper How does Shakespeare build up the contrast  between love and hate in Act 1 scene 5 Paper The play Romeo and Juliet is about the relationship between two young people who are from feuding families. The two lovers are basically doomed from the start, as we can see from the title of the prologue The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Tragedy tells us that it the story will end in disaster, which it does. The prologue gives us an outline of the story telling us a brief history of the two families and what happens to Romeo and Juliet. The first few lines tell us about Two households alike in dignity. Dignity shows us that the two families are dignified, and probably have a good reputation in the city.We also see that they are very alike. Despite the families high standard, their mutiny is an act of rebellion against the prince; their fighting could put the whole city of Verona in danger. After telling us about the two families, the prologue then tells us about the fate of Romeo and Juliet. They were both born from the fatal loins of their parents, loins meaning the reproductive ar ea and fatal meaning anything made from them is doomed. This shows an idea of fate; as soon as they are born they are destined to die.The lovers are described as star crossed, their destiny is all planned out for them. Star crossed has probably got something to do with astrology, something people believed strongly in during Shakespeares time, because people believed that if stars or plants crossed each others path it meant good or bad things would happen. The whole reason why they die is because of their parents strife, the parents hold the grudge against each other strongly, hence the word strife, but Romeo and Juliet dont care about it, they bury their parents strife. On reading the prologue, the audiences will feel that because of the feud the story will end in tragedy as a result.Act 1 scene 5 is important in the play because this is when Romeo and Juliet first see each other and instantly fall in love. To contrast this, it is also where they will see Tybalt at his most furious and threatening. The audience will have a feeling something bad will happen in the scene because Romeo is unwelcome at the ball as a Montague. Romeos premonition of something bad happening will be proved right because of him gate crashing, as we can see from Tybalts anger. Romeos presence at the ball is obviously going to cause trouble, and him wanting to see a Capulet girl wont help much either, Romeo flirting with Juliet increases Tybalts determination to get revenge on RomeoAct 1 scene 5 is all set in the Capulet house, during a ball, so Shakespeare had to create an appropriate atmosphere for it. The atmosphere he creates is jovial, exciting and happy. The constant bustle of the servants creates a fast paced, exciting atmosphere. Wheres Potpan, that he helps not to take away? this develops the idea of the servants bustling about. The atmosphere is made welcoming by Capulet greeting them in a friendly manner, Welcome gentlemen! this make the guests feel accepted and protected in C apulets hands. The audience may feel anxious about the friendly atmosphere suddenly turning sour because of Tybalts reaction to Romeos arrival. The atmosphere is quickly brought back down to stable by Capulet, as he stops Tybalt doing anything brash as he wants his ball to go well.In lines 43-52 Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, and her beauty overwhelms him. He describes Juliet as something extremely precious and bright, that her beauty makes her stand out from the rest of the crowd. Romeo says a list of contrasts which describe her, a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear being one of them. This gives the audience an image of a bright jewel against a black persons skin. This develops the idea of light against dark. This makes Juliet seem like an extraordinary person who stands out well against the mundane crowd.In lines 53-91 Tybalt has just noticed Romeos presence and in return he is furious. He could recognize the masked Romeo because of his typical Montague way of talking in rhyme, as we can see from This, by his voice, should be a Montague. So obviously Tybalt has grown accustomed to the Montagues way of speaking. Tybalts reaction is, again, impulsive and violent, Fetch me my rapier, boy. Tybalt instantly wants to fight, despite all the guests and the chance of ruining his uncles ball. Tybalt thinks the only reason Romeo has came to the ball is to mock the Capulets efforts, this fuels his hatred for Romeo, urging him on to fight. Tybalt uses words which show hate, like villain many times. This shows he thinks Romeo an enemy. This contrasts with Romeos little speech, as he used words that showed love and affection, Tybalts words show hate and loathing.Capulet isnt too happy with Romeos arrival at the ball, but he still doesnt let Tybalt fight him. He tells Tybalt to calm himself down and leave Romeo alone. He goes on to say that Verona brags of him and he is a well governed youth. This suggests that Capulet is not automatically assuming that Romeo is bad, and is giving him the benefit of the doubt. Capulet is acting like this because he doesnt want his ball ruined by a fight, or maybe because he is feeling very friendly. Also, the Montagues are his guests, so he has a duty to protect them anyway. Capulet starts to get angry about arguing with Tybalt, he starts to talk in a hushed voice, -You are a princox go: be quiet or- he is about to threaten Tybalt, showing that he can be just as angry as Tybalt can get, but he still has to attend to his guests.When Tybalt has stopped arguing with Capulet, he storms off threatening Romeo. He says that the intrusion that presently seems so sweet and innocent shall develop into bitterest gall, a strong hatred. Tybalt is saying that because he cannot avenge Romeos intrusion, at the moment, he will get him in the future with a lot more brutality. Tybalt has made the atmosphere very uneasy and the audience may feel a strong hatred linger.After this the play goes back to Romeo and Juliet, so the mood is sw itched back to love from hate. The two lovers are talking to each other in a sonnet. A sonnet is very appropriate in this section, because sonnets were a popular way of writing poetry about love. The lovers may or may not be aware that they are talking in a sonnet, but either way it shows love. Romeo speaks the first quatrain using imagery to describe his and Juliets hand as pilgrims worshipping at a shrine. He flatters her by saying that his unworthiest hand is profaning her hand, the holy shrine, so his lips, the two blushing pilgrims are ready to soften the roughness with a tender kiss.Romeo is hinting that he wants to kiss her hand. Juliet says in her reply, the second quatrain, that Romeos hand shows proper devotion in what is doing, and saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, she is suggesting that they hold hands instead of kissing straight away. She also says palm to palm is holy palmers kiss; she might be saying that it will still be like a kiss if they just hold ha nds. Romeo and Juliet then share the third quatrain. Romeo starts by asking if saints have lips as well as palmers, again developing the idea of Romeo wanting to kiss her, but this time on the lips. Juliet says they do have lips, lips they must use in prayer. Romeo cleverly turns this into a reason to kiss her, by saying let lips do what hands do! meaning hands touch when they pray, so their lips should touch. So Romeo kisses Juliet on the lips, and they are about to start another sonnet, but the nurse needs to talk with Juliet.The nurse tells Juliet that her mothers craves a word with her. Romeo is curious, about this, so he asks What is her mother? This is when reality breaks in on Romeo and drags him out of his happiness, the nurse replies Her mother is the lady of the house, so she is Lady Capulet, therefore Juliet is a Capulet, his enemy. Romeo has a very shocked reaction to this, he says his life is my foes debt, he thinks that he owes his life to his enemy, who is also his lo ver.Act 1 scene 5 is extremely important in the play because it is the main point of Romeo and Juliets relationship. It is also important because it is the starting point of Tybalts vengeance seeking with the Montages that will result in two deaths, Mercutios and his own. The contrast Shakespeare has built up is very strong, with the sensitive, gentle love between Romeo and Juliet, and the strong hatred from Tybalt. This scene sets out what will happen later on the play, the strong feelings of love and hate and the deaths, and the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Best friends in our lives

Best friends in our lives Best friends are needed in life, and we all have them at some point in our lives. Some of us have had best friends that are imaginary, for some of us is mom, dad, or a family member, and for the rest a best friend is some stranger person that they meet along the way. For me, my best friend growing up was one of my younger cousins. He was 9 months younger but always acted like the oldest, toughest, and meanest one. We had a plan on what to do when we were old, we both dreamed on having a taco/Mexican restaurant. We both loved tacos and every Thursday after school we would go around the corner from his house and buy tacos from â€Å"Don Michael,† a super affordable place to eat where you would get way more than what you actually paid for. We were very closed and almost every weekend we wanted to sleep at each other’s house. After a few times staying at my house, he only wanted me to stay at his house, but he would not stay in my house for any reason. I thought it was a bit weird at first but I would always agree with him, and we would stay over at his house. One time, after several months of me constantly asking, he finally decided to stay in my house. Everything was going well and we were having a great time: eating a lot of food, candies, played video games, table games, playing soccer in the middle of the street, and watching movies. When it was time to sleep, we turned the lights off and the silent night began only to be torn apart with the noise of someone crying. At first I thought it was out side in the street, but as I listen closely and carefully I noticed the noise was coming form inside the house, inside my room. I quickly turned my light on and realized it was my cousin crying. â€Å"I havenâ€℠¢t done anything wrong, I haven’t said anything mean† I thought to myself. After a few seconds of crying with the light on he said he wanted to go home and see his mom. I was 8 years old and I had watched a lot of movies so I was thinking, â€Å"he must be sensing something, and we have to go see what’s going on with my aunt.† After having my parents drive for 45 minutes, we arrived at my aunt’s house and found out there was nothing wrong with my aunt and I started to wonder why my cousin was crying. A few years later, he agreed to stay over at my house again. The same thing happened over and over again so I knew that there had to be something wrong. It wasn’t until 6 years later when my cousin went to see a doctor and he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. At the age of 17, I didn’t understand what that really meant and I wanted to help my cousin any way possible. Helping him was not very easy since my family and I had moved to a different country when I was 12. Living with schizophrenia doesn’t just take a toll on the person that has the disease but it also affects the family members. Managing it is not impossible and living a joyful long life could be very possible. Before covering the treatments and how to manage schizophrenia we will first discus what exactly is schizophrenia. Then, we will move on to the causes of the disease. Last, we will talk about the treatments and management of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that involves severely distorted beliefs, perceptions, and thought processes. During a schizophrenic episode, people lose their grip on reality. They become engulfed in an entirely different inner world, one that is often characterized by mental chaos, disorientation, and frustration (CITE). According to Psychologytoday.com, there are at least 21 million people in the world that have Schizophrenia.

Cantonese Romanization System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cantonese Romanization System - Research Paper Example From the essay it is clear this is a form of Romanizing Cantonese proper nouns that is widely used by the Hong Kong government departments and non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong. This use of this method by the government has a long history dating back to the days of British rule and it has undergone a lot of metamorphosis through the two world wars. There are no strict guidelines laid on the method since it just established itself and since then it became a common practice. Due to the un-standardized nature of the method, this system got its critics to a point that other systems are recommended in teaching institutions for its place. As the research declares there are several drawbacks associated with Hong Kong government Romanization system. Firstly, Hong Kong government Romanization system not fully standardized as a system and thus posses a great challenge in spelling since many of the phonemes are similar to more than one letter combination or the other way round. Secondly, In Hong Kong government Romanization system, all tones and distinctions between unaspirated and aspirated stops are omitted and this leads to a great problem in spelling. Lastly, there is existence of inconsistencies throughout Hong Kong government Romanization system as a result of loss of distinctions historically. That is, a distinction between alveolar and palatal sounds making most consonants undistinguished in present-day speech, lacks tone marks, lacks diacritics and different spellings sometimes used for the similar phonemes.

Home work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Home work - Assignment Example he major financial issue raised in this article is the increasing cost of health insurance and the high profits earned by health insurers despite the reduction in the availment of medical care by most Americans (Abelson, 2011). One other issue is whether health insurance companies should already be charging high premiums because they expect a rise in the pay outs they will be giving in the future. A legal issue conveyed in the article is about the effect of the health care law on the high premiums presently being charged by health insurers. Is it legal for these companies to be increasing charges already to cover the federal laws’ provisions? It is the legal responsibility of a doctor to maintain confidentiality of the medical records of his patient. It is also his legal duty to practice his profession within the scope of his training and capabilities. A doctor must work within the guidelines of the employer’s health care contract and the government’s health care legislations. Insurance premiums are rising even when patients’ demands for care are decreasing because the insurance companies are preparing themselves from any sudden rise in demand when the economy improves and the people have more money to spend on their health needs (Abelson, 2011). Some observers are also saying that the insurance companies are already preparing for the full enforcement of the health care law in 2014 where they expect to earn less when coverage will be more accommodating (Abelson, 2011). If patients are postponing preventive tests, later on it might affect the quality of their health. This is quite alarming because the possibility of curing some illnesses increase with early detection. In the long run, the amount they think they are saving from postponing preventive test may not even be enough to cure future diseases they may acquire. Delaying preventive tests can cost the patients more financially and will have a negative impact on their health. The likely

Siblings Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Siblings Groups - Essay Example 'the bonds among brothers and sisters are unique - the longest lasting relationships most people have. The sibling relationship lasts longer than the relationship of parent and child and often longer than that of husband and wife (Barbell, 1995, 1).' Regardless of the lack of literature and research that has been previously collected regarding the importance of the relationship between siblings, far too many children are separated from their siblings when child welfare agencies have to intervene. This essay will review the current literature concerning the out-of-home placement of siblings including the impact of separation of siblings and research regarding this sensitive issue. Additionally, a further discussion concerning when it may not be in the child's best interest to co-locate siblings will be presented. Lastly, how the findings of this research impact current social work practices will be discussed. In the last few decades there has been much more attention paid to the importance of the sibling relationship. ... siblings may become stronger, perhaps even stronger than those between parents and children. Children in these families learn to depend on each other to cope with their common life experiences. If intervention intended to help the children results in their separation from each other, they suffer additional loss and grief (Barbell, 1995, 1). This essay will review the current literature concerning the out-of-home placement of siblings including the impact of separation of siblings and research regarding this sensitive issue. Additionally, a further discussion concerning when it may not be in the child's best interest to co-locate siblings will be presented. Lastly, how the findings of this research impact current social work practices will be discussed. Available Literature In the last few decades there has been much more attention paid to the importance of the sibling relationship. As stated previously, prior much emphasis was placed on examining the parent/child relationship but the importance of the sibling relationship tended to be overlooked. Often siblings from dysfunctional families can be a tremendous amount of strength and support for one another. This is especially true when they have through their shared past relied heavily on each other for love, comfort and support. Shlonsky et al. in 2005 reported that siblings have the ability to help each other to repair the damage and repair the affects of long term parental neglect and abuse. However, they also noted that the relationships can be damaging as well. This varied response to the sibling relationship and its impact on the formative lives of children discloses more visibly the need for further research into the relationships and a thorough understanding by the social

Victim Support and Social Work

Victim Support and Social Work Victims of a Serial Killer Vangerlena Smith Violent crimes happen to certain individuals or groups every day. Sometimes the victims have the same characteristics, and sometimes there is no trace of recidivism pertaining to the victims at all. Some of those characteristics may include sex, gender roles, age, ethnicity, economic status, goals, education level, area of residence, stature or body type, etc. There is one particular case where the victims had similar characteristics. The case is that of Jeffrey Dahmer, a famous serial killer who lured, killed, and dismembered all of his victims’ body. All of Dahmer victims were male, mostly African American. According to the research I have done majority of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims were hitchhikers, travelers, homosexuals, in some type of desperate need, or in the areas where Dahmer resided. He never went out of his way to go and find his victims; they just of sort of came to him. They were all also obviously young because he would meet them in clubs, bars, or at parti es. The ages of the victims are listed as follow: 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 33, and 36. Dahmer also had victims who had a chance at living. Before he became the serial killer that he is known as today, Dahmer was arrested multiple times for fondling and molesting younger boys in public plays; such as, fairs, carnival, etc. In the following paper the nature(s) of the crime that Dahmer committed will be addressed. How to deal with the victims and their families on a micro, mezzo, and macro level will also be explained. Also, as any human being, social workers have personal values and ethics that sometimes conflict with those of their professional values and ethics. Nature of the Crime The violent gruesome acts of what Dahmer did to his victims could fit many natures of crime. Dahmer’s first victim was a nineteen year old hitchhiker whom he just picked up. Later the two got drunk and engaged in sexual activities, and the victim simply wanted to leave afterwards. Dahmer did not want him to so he killed him, dismembered his body, and disposed of him. This is where the pattern started. The previous information shows that one of the natures is obviously control. It was said that Dahmer never really had any friends, so he was a loner. He obviously got the victim drunk so he would become totally vulnerable to the situation, so that he could take advantage of the victim. The victim deciding to leave was totally out of Dahmer’s control, so he made it where he was in control; he hit the victim over the head with a dumb bell where he then proceeded to kill him. It’s debatable that Dahmer’s first murder was unplanned, so the sense of control that h e felt afterward his first murder, he wanted to continue to feel. This is the starting point of his recidivism. According to: â€Å"Sadism, a term introduced by Krafft-Ebing (1898) late in the nineteenth century, originally referred to sexual pleasure derived through inflicting pain and suffering on others. Over time, the term was expanded to include nonsexual enjoyment derived from sadistic acts† (Marten Kahn, 2011) Dahmer acts also could be labeled as perversion. For some of the victims they did not willing have sex with the offender. Also, some sexual acts were also done to some of victims’ corpse after death. Dahmer, in his teen years had struggled with his homosexual desires; combined with his years of being a loner, he decided to just take actions and deal with those desires. Lastly, the nature of Dahmer’s crime could be labeled as revenge. As stated earlier, Dahmer was a loner growing up. Yes, he had sexual desires like any other human being, but no one wanted to engage with him in any type of way because he was seen as an outcast. It could be possible that Dahmer’s act on his victims could have been one of revenge from earlier stages of his life. Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels Assessing the victims, families, community, and nation on the level of micro, mezzo, and macro scales is a critical level in evidenced-base practice. According to Hull Ashman (2012): â€Å"Practice with individuals is considered as micro practice, practice with families as micro/mezzo practice, practice with group as mezzo practice, and practice with larger systems, including organizations and communities, as macro practice† (Ashman Hull, 2010). Dealing With the Situation on a Micro Level On the smallest level, the micro level, for this case it is much easier to start with the live victims of molestation and fondling. This level could be used to work with the individuals to get some understanding on how they are coping with what had happened to him and also throw out suggestions. I’m sure at this level it’s easier to find out what each of the young men are probably wondering why did this happen to them, and what did they do to deserve it. On this level, it’s easier for a social worker to handle because they get to work with the individual one on one. In a mezzo group setting the victim may be ashamed to open up about what happened to them, and in return never get the proper help they need for moving on or coping. Some victims who has had things done to them and never told or got properly treated sometimes become the perpetrator of that same crime later on in life. According to Davis (1991): Dahmer’s probation officer noted that, â€Å"When Jeffrey was eight, his father said, a neighborhood boy had sexually molested him. Perhaps this may be the reason why Jeffrey has sexuality issues† (Davis, 1991). So Dahmer’s actions are a product of child molestation, and what could possibly happen if one stays quiet. It is also important to work with the individual family because family support when dealing with these types of things is vital. The social worker could encourage the family to do things such as, not help the victim stay the victim. They can do this by not treating the victim like something’s always wrong. Of course it’s a given that they will probably never forget the incident, but the reminder of it does not help them cope. For those who lost their lives as victims of Dahmer, families could be assessed individually on a micro level as well. Everyone has a different experience when it comes to death of a loved one, so they cope in different ways. It would be very inaccurate to marginalized them all into one category and help them to all cope in one way. It isn’t possible. Also, close friends, neighbors, teachers, classmates, could all be assessed on an individual level; depending on the level of closeness to the victim. According to Social Work License Map (2012): â€Å"Micro practice is the most common kind of social work, and is how most people imagine social workers providing services. In micro social work, the social worker engages with individuals or families to solve problems. Common examples include helping individuals to find appropriate housing, health care and social services. Family therapy and individual counseling would also fall under the auspices of micro practice, as would the medical care of an individual or family, and the treatment of people suffering from a mental health condition or substance abuse problem. Micro-practice may even include military social work, where the social worker helps military service members cope with the challenges accompanying military life and access the benefits entitled to them by their service. Many social workers engage in micro and mezzo practice simultaneously. Even the most ambitious macro-level interventions have their roots in the conversations between a single social worker and a single client† (Social Work License Map, 2012). Dealing With the Situation on a Mezzo Level Mezzo is the level of assessment dealing with group settings. Pertaining to the victims of Jeffrey Dahmer; this is where a social work could get all the molested victims in one room, and maybe have them share their experience and how it affected them. There is such a thing called self-help groups and in these groups the individuals all have something in common. Within these groups they help one another cope with the particular problem. They sometimes do this by expressing their feelings. If these victims could come together and talk about how Dahmer affected them, they may just be able to move on. Also, on this level the victims along with their families could be assessed. Once assessed on a micro level, if the individual could open up about how they were affected to their families, then maybe the family would know how to assist them in helping them cope. â€Å"Those skills used in working with individuals provide the foundation for work with larger groups, organizations, and commun ities† (Ashman Hull, 2010). One victim may not want the family to baby them because of what happened to them; where on the other hand, another victim may need that extra attention from their parents, siblings, etc. For the deceased victims, their families could also be assessed together. They need to know how one another feel, to emotionally support each other about the loss of their loved one. For instance, if a couple’s child was one of Dahmer’s victims they may deal with it differently. The husband may keep it boggled all in and the wife may cry all the time. Well they need to know how to communicate with those different feelings to help one another maintain emotional stability. The husband could comfort the wife during her times where she feels as if she wants to cry. On the other hand, the wife could encourage the husband to talk about his feelings more often, or at least let him know she’s there if he ever feels the need to talk about the loss. According to Social Work License Map(2012): â€Å"Mezzo social work practice deals with small-to-medium-sized groups, such as neighborhoods, schools or other local organizations. Examples of mezzo social work include community organizing, management of a social work organization or focus on institutional or cultural change rather than individual clients. Social workers engaged in mezzo practice are often also engaged in micro and/or macro social work. This ensures the needs and challenges of individual clients are understood and addressed in tandem with larger social issues† (Social Work License Map, 2012). Dealing With the Situation on a Macro Level On the Macro level, a social worker deals with the community which consists of the families, individual victims, close friends, etc. In the community where Dahmer did all his murdering, could rise up a scare amongst some people and be of a shock to others. On this level, a social worker could be effective by going to meet with parents and plan ways that they could make the community a safer place where their children could live, play, etc. Setting up a neighborhood watch team, parents making sure they know where there children are going when they leave home, and making sure that the children be alert of strangers are all ways in solving some of the problems in a community of uproar. As for the community of Dahmer’s victims who didn’t survive, a social worker could advocate for more police security in that area, just to watch for things of suspicion. Because not only were those communities afraid of Dahmer, but they were afraid that there were more killer out there like him. This is where the macro level gets broader. What Jeffrey Dahmer did to his victims become known nationally. This created worry all over the United States. How would social workers address the issue to a community as broad as the whole nation? First, they could brainstorm ideas for the nation to keep themselves self. For example, they could encourage people not to hitchhike at night. They could also warn that all hitchhikers should not be picked up as well. As stated before, another safety precaution is that parents know where their children are at all times. For those who are of age, encouragement to not leave from clubs, bars, parties, etc. with strangers would be a great gesture. A killer who has the intent to kill cannot be dissuaded to kill, but those who could possibly fall victim could set up precautions for their safety to prevent the incidents that happened to Dahmer’s victims from happening to them. According to Social Work License Map (2012): â€Å"The practice of macro social work is the effort to help clients by intervening in large systems. Examples include lobbying to change a health care law, organizing a state-wide activist group or advocating for large-scale social policy change. Macro practice is one of the key distinctions between social work and other helping professions, such as psychiatric therapy. Macro social work generally addresses issues experienced in mezzo or micro social work practice, as well as social work research. Macro practice empowers clients by involving them in systemic change† (Social Work License Map, 2012). All in all, every victim, their family, their friends, etc. could be assessed on either a micro, mezzo, or macro level. Not all people are going to deal with every crisis the same way, so they should not be expected to cope the same way. Some don’t mind speaking in group settings where others may want to talk on a more individual basis. In the Dahmer’s case the level of macro got as broad as the United States, but in some cases the issue on a macro level could become global. Ethical Issues/Values Conflict As a social worker I would personally be all for the victim, not matter the evidence behind what Dahmer did. For example, Dahmer had some psychological issues so that calls for the need of treatment. As far as professional value goes, it’s clear after a psychological evaluation was done that Dahmer needed help; however, my own personal values says that he was not right for taking the lives of innocent people, therefore he should spend the rest of his life in prison. For the same reason, I would also want him to spend his life in prison because some of those victims were teenagers. Also, not only did he kill all of his victims but he removed the flesh from their bones, he cut some of their hearts out, crushed their bones, had sex with the corpses; that is completely inhumane. According to O’meara (2009): â€Å"Dahmer drilled holes in his living victims heads; poured in chemicals to zombify them, had sex with the corpses viscera, and kept some body parts in his refrigerator, occasionally eating them† (OMeara, 2009). As for the victims, I think it would be unethical, so to speak, of me to say that they could have prevented things from happening to them; such as, not leaving the club with Dahmer, not leaving with a stranger period, not getting drunk and falling into a stupor, etc. However, every social work knows or should know that it’s never the victim’s fault about what happened to them (Gough Spencer, 2014). Also, they would not only be some ethical issues and values conflict when it comes to the social worker, but also everyone engaged in Dahmer’s case. Once the prosecutor present all the evidence without thinking some, not all, or the jury will want in him jail; some would even vote death penalty because of their values. Policy Issues Policy issues on the Jeffrey Dahmer case would definitely be his sentencing. It is obvious in my research that Jeffrey Dahmer was psychologically ill, and need major help. However, the argument was that Dahmer disposed of the bodies, which means he was afraid of consequences. If he didn’t dispose the body he probably could have got sent to get some type of treatment. The Jeffrey Dahmer case is rare out of many. As stated before violent crimes happen to certain individuals or groups every day around the world. Murders sometimes just go on a random killing spree, but in Jeffrey Dahmer’s case all of his victims have common characteristics and trait. All of his victims were male, majority of them being black for some odd reason. They all were also of young ages. Some of those characteristics of Dahmer’s victims were their sex, gender roles, age, ethnicity, economic status, goals, education level, area of residence, stature or body type, etc. He mostly picked up hitchhikers, drunken people, or people who just needed a couple of bucks and were willing to do anything. Jeffrey Dahmer’s criminal acts started with the molestation of younger boys. The above content discusses how to help the victims who survived and the loved ones of the victims whose lives were lost cope on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. On the micro level each indivi dual victim is assessed for counseling. The micro level gives the individual more space to be open about what happened without being judged in any kind of way, or with being afraid. The micro level is a vital step to the mezzo and macro levels. On the mezzo level the victim could then be assessed in a group setting with people such as, their families, other victims, their friends, and so forth. The macro level is the largest level of all. On this level, communities, neighborhoods, and even the nation are included. It just depends on how broad the crime is and in Dahmer’s case the murders made national news, frightening many parents out there with young male children. References (2012, July 20). Retrieved November 12, 2014, from Social Work License Map: http://socialworklicensemap.com/macro-mezzo-and-micro-social-work/ Ashman, K., Hull, G. (2010). Understanding Generalist Practice. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Davis, D. (1991). The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare. New York City: St. Martins Paperback Press. Gough, J., Spencer, E. (2014). Ethics in Action: An Exploratory Survey of Social Workers Ethical Decision Making and Value Conflicts. Journal of Social Work Values Ethics, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p23-40. 18p. Marten, W., Kahn, W. (2011). Sadism linked to loneliness: psychodynamic dimensions of the sadistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. 98 (4), pp. 493-514. OMeara, G. J. (2009). He Speaks Not, Yet He Says Everything; What of That?: Text, Context, and Pretext in State v. Jeffrey Dahmer.. Denver University Law Review, Vol. 87 Issue 1, p97-137, 41p.

Phytoremediation :: essays research papers

Introduction: In recent years it has become clear that some environmental chemicals can cause risks to the developing embryo and fetus. Evaluating the developmental toxicity of environmental chemicals is now a prominent public health concern. The suspected association between TCE and congenital cardiac malformations warrants special attention because TCE is a common drinking water contaminant that is detected in water supplies throughout the U.S. and the world. There is a lot of concern about the clean up of toxic pollutants from the environment. Traditional methods for cleaning up contaminated sites such as dig and haul, pump and treat, soil venting, air sparging and others are generally harmful to habitats. Some methods strip the soil of vital nutrients and microorganisms, so nothing can grow on the site, even if it has been decontaminated. Typically these mechanical methods are also very expensive. Most of the remediation technologies that are currently in use are very expensive, relatively inefficient and generate a lot of waste, to be disposed of. Cleaning up contamination: Phytoremediation is a novel, efficient, environmentally friendly, low-cost technology, which uses plants and trees to clean up soil and water contaminated with heavy metals and/or organic contaminants such as solvents, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other toxic compounds from contaminated environments. This technology is useful for soil and water remediation. Mechanisms: Phytoremediation uses one basic concept: the plant takes the pollutant through the roots. The pollutant can be stored in the plant (phytoextraction), volatized by the plant (phytovolatization), metabolized by the plant (phytodegradation), or any combination of the above. Phytoextraction is the uptake and storage of pollutants in the plants stem or leaves. Some plants, called hyperaccumulators, draw pollutants through the roots. After the pollutants accumulate in the stem and leaves the plants are harvested. Then plants can be either burned or sold. Even if the plants cannot be used, incineration and disposal of the plants is still cheaper than traditional remediation methods. As a comparison, it is estimated a site containing 5000 tons of contaminated soil will produce only 20-30 tons of ash (Black, 1995). This method is particularly useful when remediating metals. Some metals are also being recycled from the ash. Phytovolatization is the uptake and vaporization of pollutants by a plant. This mechanism takes a solid or liquid contaminant and transforms it to an airborne vapor. The vapor can either be the pure pollutant, or the plant can metabolize the pollutant before it is vaporized, as in the case of mercury, lead and selenium (Boyajian and Carriera, 1997; Black, 1995; Wantanbe, 1997).

Assignment for Resort Management Essay

The key areas requiring coverage will be the following: What factors influenced Disney to internationalize and why, please discuss thoroughly What were Disney’s ownership specific advantages (what did they have to trade/what areas were they expert in?) What were Disney’s location specific factors (the Where) – why did they select France? – Discuss and thoroughly evaluate and discuss using factors in the text What were Disney’s internationalization advantages (the how), how were they going to achieve such a complex move to a European culture and why? Assess the relationship between two parties (Disney & the French Government), who holds the most powerful position, discuss and evaluate What are the multiplier’s effects for France and Disney? Evaluate, analyze and compare Conclusion No additional research is necessary for this assignment. All details are included in the text given to you. Reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons, LTD from Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research Vol. 3 No 1, 1997 Disneyland Resort Paris: a permanent economic growth poll in the Francilian landscape Anne- Marie d’Hauteserre Department of Geography, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven CT06515 USA Disneyland Resort Paris was located in the Francilian landscape to increase the capital accumulation of the Walt Disney Company. It has settled there permanently, thanks in part to the convention signed by the company with the French government who needed an economic growth pole in the eastern part of the Paris Basin. Disney accepted the partnership and it’s constraints because it had ambitious real estate development plans. The French government, with it’s New Town policy, was the only European country that could provide such a large acreage which it used to lever Disney’s presence. Keywords: capital circuits; new towns; economic growth pole; landscape formation; public/private partnership Introduction The arrival of the Magic Kingdom in the Francilian1 landscape ignited a vituperative press campaign by French intellectuals who stood adamantly opposed to American cultural imperialism. It is the latest (although only) international theme park venture by Disney Company. Why did this highly successful company, selling an American specific cultural product that would not benefit from production cost reduction, decide to internationalize? It certainly would not reduce labor costs as illustrated by the migration of European car factories to the United States, while it would require major construction costs. Was the prospect of a widened European market by the  time of the opening of Disneyland Resort Paris in April 1992 the main incentive for foreign foray, and why? Was it established to act as an economic growth pole, complementing the French state’s policy of urban development of the Eastern suburbs of Paris? Large theme parks, like megaevents, promise potential economic development of the areas they localize in. This new geographic landscape was produce not just by private capital, to be dismantled at capital’s whim (Harvey, 1989), but by the synergic action of several different agents. This paper will demonstrate how the continued economic success of Disneyland Resort Paris is not simply just the result of it’s capacity to create profits through it’s consumption in a new locale, however semiotically explained, and/or the result of the judicious choice of the localization of this cultural capital circuit at the apex of European accessibility. Its success is circumscribed by and dependent on the French government’s development strategies and judicial structures. Capital has had to negotiate with government the design of it’s commodified landscape, the continued organization of which has also been subject to pressure by its potential customers. The convergence of these agents’ guarantees that Disneyland Resort Paris will remain embedded in Marne-la-Vallee in spite of all the difficulties it has faced until now such as financial restructuring in March 1994. The paper will first discuss how different approaches to economic globalization explain the Disney Company’s move to internationalize and how the choice of the site was based more on traditionally geographic reasons such as accessibility and availability of land. It will then demonstrate how the Company’s designs to ensure continued growth in the far future could only be accommodated by France with it’s New Town development strategy. This allowed the state to impose constraints on this private venture to ensure that it would remain a permanent part of the Francilian landscape whose new design the company had to negotiate. The paper will then show how Disneyland Resort Paris is not the white elephant that the French government was accused of subsidizing but will continue to act as a major economic growth pole. Causes of Disney Company’s move to internationalize The circuits of capital approach emphasize the totally interconnected nature of finance, production, commodity trade and consumption. ‘Capitalism is a process of reproduction of social life through commodity production. The laws of capital circulation are consistent’ (Harvey, 1989:343). The primary requisite of a capitalist economy is a continuous circulation of capital. Jean-Paul Sartre had noticed already in 1945 that ‘over and above greed, a genuine economic principle motivates Americans: â€Å"Money is supposed to circulate† (Combat)’. As capital circulates it is transferred from one investment to another. It follows only one cardinal rule: value be increased. Competition has become increasingly global. Disney Company, like all TNCs, is essentially a capitalist enterprise driven by profit. ‘The odd thing about post-modern cultural production is how much sheer profit seeking is determinant in the first instance’ (Harvey, 1989:336). The domestication of fantasy in visual consumption is inseparable from centralized structures of economic power. Disneyland Resort Paris is a private instrumental space designed for the efficient circulation of commodities, which is itself a commodity produced for profit. Cultural capital may represent an infinitely more expendable resource for capital accumulation than traditional investment capital, both for private companies and for governments. Cultural capital is considered here as a form of economic capital invested in the production of culture, rather than a symbolic capital, a person’s or group’s knowledge. These circuits of capital are not abstract notions; they are anchored in space where they create geographical landscapes. The company and its imagineers have been pushed by investors to create more and more circuits. The Bass brothers controlled nearly 25% of equity and so named Michael Eisner as the new company chairman in 1984, following other hostile takeover attempts, because the company was not exploiting it’s full potential to create more circuits of capital (Wallace, 1985; Taylor, 1987). The company, in 1984, was already a powerful brand name with annual revenues of $1B. Disney’s profits had soared to $783M in 1989 and its revenues had reached  $8.5B in 1991 thanks to a very successful theme park in Japan, through enlarging the Orlando area and through other ventures. It’s new directors wanted to capture more of the surplus value the name generated by entering the real estate business. They wanted to collect more than just royalties, as in Japan, to control more hotel development (they own only a small portion in Orlando), and to draw in more potential customers. ‘They are banking on Eurodisney as the principal engine of Disney’s growth in the 90’s’(Business Week, 1990). Disneyland Resort Paris was considered a major investment potential by 1984 because of the worldwide shift in capitalism from an emphasis on production to consumption. The organization of consumption has just as important an effect on economic and social structure as the organization of production (Lash, 1993; Zukin, 1991). Shopping, consuming is the most important contemporary social activity on North America (Levine, 1990; Williamson, 1986). The consumption landscape can be viewed as a by-product of the changes in the distribution of income in the constant struggle of labor and capital over economic surplus. Consumption is also emphasized inside the parks. The Magic Kingdoms represents a fantasy landscape constructed around an entirely fictive nexus based on highly selective memory and mediated by mass consumption. In the United States â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.the Disney landscape has become a model for establishing both the economic value of cultural goods and the cultural value of consumer products† (Zukin, 1991: 231) and has legitimized investment in them. In the over crowded market place (even or especially that of theme parks – see Figure 2) imagery has become increasingly critical as a way of attracting particular publics and facilitating acts of consumption. The decision to internationalize is a major strategic decision. Disney was looking for economies of scope and co-ordination (Dicken, 1992: 143). Although the process of knowledge accumulation obtained from locating in new markets generates endogenously productivity gains that can sustain long run growth, the company had to ‘compare anticipated streams of monopoly profits with expected costs of product relocation’ (Grossman and Helpman, 1992:335). The innovation phase of its entertainment product (‘Magic Kingdom’)  required it’s location in California, close to the movie and television studios it’s inception and survival depended on (W.Disney in Schikel, 1968). As the product matured, the company reacted to the actions of major competitors. To prevent further entry by competitors it developed the resort in Florida and licensed the ‘Magic Kingdom’ to a Japanese company (Lanquar, 1992). The dynamic nature of economic and social processes finally led to the direct penetration of foreign markets, penetration of foreign markets, penetration limited in Europe exclusively for the next ten years to it’s French site (Convention, 1987.) Disney Company developed a globally integrated competitive strategy to focus on it’s know-how in resort development which had taken it thirty years to develop and refine and which would differentiate it from it’s competitors. In North America, Disney World had remained the most frequented tourist site, as of 1995. Las Vegas is disputing this ranking today. Dunning (1980, 1991)2 indicates that, at the micro (firm specific) level, to internationalize, companies need to fulfill three conditions: ownership specific advantages, internationalization of the use of these advantages, and location specific factors, all of which characterize the Disney Company if not always in the traditional manner. Disney’s ownership specific advantages reside in intangible assets, it’s perfected knowledge in resort development, it’s ability to create new imaginative visual consumption products, it’s sophisticated imagineering skills, inscribed in it’s brand image. Disney’s pursuit of an intentional accumulation of knowledge to respond to anticipated market conditions (for example, by engineering new themes for consumption, since the company has vowed to forever renew it’s parks, cf. Flower, 1991: 186-8, 205-6, 279, 285) requires an allocation of resources and investment of the same magnitude as for creating new technology. ‘Internationalization of this knowledge will require [Disney] to operate a network of [parks] on a world-wide basis’ (Grossman & Helpman, 1991:82). The application of these skills is limited to theme park creation although the idea has been replicated in other arenas of consumption: mega-malls, for  example, seek to attract and retain customers for the longest time by presenting Disney-like attractions. Steve Wynn salutes Disney’s imagineering with his pirate shows performed against the backdrop of a ‘Treasure Island’ sidewalk dà ©cor in Las Vegas. Copycat theme parks have burgeoned too, like Busch Gardens. This socio-spatial complex of production cannot be geographically separated from its consumers. It has needed to locate (i.e. to move outside of the US to where the consumers are) this new form of consumption as well as to localize it’s specific features (creating it’s own landscape within another cultural landscape, both at a geographic site and in the business and consumption world). The very localized consumption space offered by its theme parks limited it’s possibility for expansion. Disney needed to serve new markets in different locations directly even though the product is virtually identical. Marginal increases in numbers of visitors would have been minimal even if the parks in the United States were enlarged (this was one of the main reasons for Disney’s original move to Florida). This potential number of tourists from Europe would not increase either much above the 2 million now visiting the theme parks in the United States, considering the slow growth of European population and of it’s wealth. Time and cost space convergence have not been significant enough at the international level for pleasure travelling and it has not dissolved the psychic distance (language barrier for travelling to the United States, if not inside the Disney theme parks). Geographic reasons for choosing a location in Europe and a Francilian site. The Disney Company has mentioned two major reasons, or more traditional location specific factors (Euro Disney SCA, 1992). It can draw on 350 million customers (almost one and half times the size of the population of the United States) over an area half it’s size (Figure 1). Such a geographic move was to enable it to take advantage of the growth of short break holidays in Europe, together with the growth in numbers and sophistication of tourists while finding it’s niche in the increasing  tourist market segmentation. Four groups of tourists have been identified in Europe: 52% still travel attractive coastlines in warmer climes, 13% buy tourist packages, 25% prefer rural tourism and the rest practice urban tourism (Straw & Williams, 1990: 241). It founded its strategy on the notion that new consumption practices can take place anywhere and are eminently transportable. The company wanted to insure that it would remain the industry leader while it captured more of the world’s market share and augmented the size of the firm (Grover, 1991). Their target, for some sectors, is up to a 20% yearly increase (Lanquar, 1992:73). Long holidays occur over the summer months whereas shortest trips (their targeted travel niche) are taken year round. In 1985, more than %19 had taken a second holiday in the European Community, 27% in France. Unfortunately, that kind of travelling could not maintain it’s early fast growth: it had increased 10% yearly in Great Britain between 1976 and 1985. France was also then the European leader in international conferences (Straw & Williams, 1990: 242). The recession, combined with the staging of several mega-events in Europe in 1992, absorbed much of the disposable income for that year and beyond (Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France; World Fair in Sevilla, Spain; Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain). Disney Company also relied on the fact that its products-division received 50% of its worldwide revenues from Europe. Fifty-five million copies of The Journal Mickey are published yearly in Europe, including now a Russian version, but only 13 million in the United States. At least 250 European societies have signed licensing contracts with the Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 89). Walt Disney Animation, one of the largest European studios for the production of cartoons had been implanted in France earlier (Saffarian, 1992). European consumption habits already included Mickey Mouse paraphernalia. Disney Company’s organizational apparatus leads, now across the world, to an increasing consumption synergy as its merchandise acts as both commodity and advertisement. In 1990, one third of its revenues were generated from foreign sales (Grover, 1991: 200). Name recognition is crucial even if often taken for granted in the consumer world (Flower, 1991: 21, Grover,  1991: 187). ‘Disney’ has become a shared term in world culture. Disney Company’s megadesigns (‘Dream, diversify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and never miss an angle’, W.Disney, 1988: 7), part of the dynamism and growth of transnationals, boosted competition for the park between European countries where it was considered a potential economic growth pole by itself and because it co-operates with other large multi-nationals. Cultural consumption contributes to capital accumulation by enhancing profits on entrepreneurial investment in production and distribution. European governments were anxious to anchor this new circuit of capital on their soil where it wold spawn more circuits. In the first ten years of Disneyland’s existence in California, the Disney company took in $273M, the peripherals $555M (Sorkin, 1992: 224). What distressed Walt Disney even more than the loss of surplus value was the disorderly and sullying form of this growth. In Orlando it has led to the construction of 76,800 hotel rooms, 5000 of which are under direct Disney management, 12,000 under licensing agreement (Rencontres, 1992). All the others are the result of spillover effects which include the implantation of 23 attraction parks around Disney World (Figure 2) The two other main contending countries besides France were Spain, for it’s sunshine (access, however was very constricted) and Great Britain because of the successful entertainment complex of Blackpool. The creation of Disneyland Resort Paris opened new spaces for the service economy where it should have a positive effect on capital accumulation in real estate development. Cultural goods and services gain economic significance through their role in interacting circuits of economic and cultural capital (Zukin, 1991: 260). In the contemporary (European, French) market economy investment in cultural capital would offset cyclical devaluation in other parts of the same circuit or in other circuits. European governments regard tourism as having an important economic role through its impact on foreign earnings, employment creation and regional development, because the activity is labor-intensive and employment can be generated relatively cheaply by those governments. In the United Kingdom  tourism supports 1.4 million jobs (Urry, 1990). Urban tourism is being used as a spur to regeneration in many de-industrialized(zing) areas in spite of the strong dependence of tourist activities on part-time and seasonal as well as low-skilled, and this low-waged, labor (Straw and Williams, 1990, Urry, 1990). Man governments were desperate to stem unemployment. In the mid 1980’s, 16 million workers were unemployed in the European Union. The unemployment rate hovered around 10% between 1983 and 1992 with highs of 12% in France and 21.2% in Spain. The rate for young people was 18% across the Union but reached %30 in Spain and Italy(Commission des Communautes Europeenes, 1992). Many of the recruits of Disneyland Resort Paris are young and unskilled (Lanquar, 1992:117). Cultural and environmental problems can also be exaggerated by the introduction of mass tourism (e.g. Disney World’s problem with sewage effluents in the Orlando area, Flower, 1991: 252). Such economic development can occur only if it does not put undue pressure on vulnerable natural resources. European governments are involved in tourism development because of its multiple impacts. Tourism, in turn, has commercialized ‘civilization’: in France, the transformation of ‘the places of memory’ into ‘places to visit’ has returned handsome benefits. The French government takes a broad perspective on tourism: it is more socially and culturally informed and less biased toward economic issues (OCDE, 1992, Rencontres, 1992:157). Why did Disney Company choose a rainy site close to Paris? It is one of three major population concentration poles in Western Europe, the other two being London and the Rhine Valley, and it is the most accessible to these other two (see Figure 1). Spain or the London area would have given access to the European Union market but from a peripheral location. Accessibility underpins the pull of centrality. The Paris Basin is at the juncture of northern and southern Europe: it is an unavoidable thoroughfare. Paris is also one of the most attractive cities with 25 million foreign visitors throughout the year. It is fewer than the 60 million visitors of London, but the majority of these are domestic (Straw & Williams, 1990). Those who will come to Disneyland Resort Paris, the company reasoned, will remain in the Eurodisney hotels 2 or 3 nights to visit Paris too. Studies conducted in 1985 determined there was great demand potential for theme parks in Europe (only one in ten people had even been to a theme park) that was largely unfulfilled (Rencontres EPA, 1992). ‘The large Paris metropolitan area is missing a theme park that could restore it’s tradition as a center for recreation’ (Ousset, 1986). He felt that Disneyland Paris would fulfill that role. There existed only two large recreational complexes in Europe: Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England (7 million visitors a year) and more than one hundred-year-old Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagan (3.8 millions) (Urry, 1990). Its site (in Marne-la-Vallee) illustrates the importance of geographical location (Figure 3) in it’s traditional materialist interpretation, which is even more critical at the microlevel. The company had definitely opted for the French site in 1985, in spite of it’s unfavorable weather conditions, following studies conducted since the 1970’s in several European countries on the feasibility of a number of sites (Grover, 1991: 187-8). Disney Company was looking for a site that was easily accessible to a large number of potential customers year round. When the company returned to court French authorities in the early 1980’s it had also realized that it’s projects needed a minimum critical mass to allow them to function as resorts. They were thus looking for a site that would guarantee the land area needed not only for it’s theme parks (a total of three are planned into 2017) but also for the hotels, restaurants, residences, office that would be built because of the demands generated by the parks (Figure 4). At the same time, social practices are structured in time as well as in space as they structure that space. Spain has offered the Walt Disney Company a better deal than France, but it was not able to put together a large enough parcel of land (Grover, 1991: 188). The Paris area was the best equipped to handle such a large real estate project thanks to the state’s ‘New Towns Policy† initiated 30 years ago: large virgin plots of land were ready for  rapid urbanization, minimizing the cost of infrastructure provision and of the environmental disruption caused by such construction (Roullier, 1993). Four million cubic meters of land were moved, 68,000 cubic meters of rocks were molded and 85,000 trees planted, while work on sanitation and drainage was equivalent to that required by a town of fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants during the construction of the Disney park (Nouveau Courrie, 1992). This readiness includes not just the transport and other physical infrastructure, but also the judicial and administrative mechanisms for integrated project developments conducted by both the state and private companies. New town development strategy and the constraints of the ‘convention’ New Towns were created by the French Government in 1964 to guarantee a more harmonious economic development of the Ile de France by emphasizing the eastern side until then neglected (Bastie, 1991: 88). Major industries had located on the western and southern side of Paris, while their pollutants blew east. The French government’s planned office center, La Defense, was built on the western fringes of Paris. These new towns were to offer a dynamic urban life within an architecturally stimulating environment and to remedy the earlier uniformity of suburban high rising apartment projects constructed to house the lower French classes, and little else (Roullier, 1993) The government chose suburban locations for the new towns (Figure 5) to counteract the main characteristics of all suburbs: their distance from town renters which turns suburban dwellers in Europe into second-class citizens (Merlin, 1989). More than a million people now live and work in these new towns, 225,300 in Marne-la-Vallee alone in 1993 (Figure 6, EpaMarne/EpaFrance, 1994). Their exact location as well as their layout was to respect the physical characteristics of the area and to take advantage of its environment amenities. Disney Company came on board when the third section (Bussy-St-Georges: 7000 housing units, 600,000 square meters of offices and 90-hectare technological industrial park) was just started (Etablissments Publics, 1991). The park’s size made it an ideal addition to the new town.  Disneyland Resort Paris was not just an amusement, but a large urban development, supported by major improvements in the transport network finance by the French government. (Boyer, 1994). In the French Government’s view, for the French new towns to really develop – i.e. grow beyond the need for constant state subsidies and to successfully change into old towns – attracting private investment was as important as constructing subsidized housing. The implantation of Disneyland Resort Paris crowned a development strategy conceived many years before (Roullier, 1993). The long-term objective was to make this area on of the main economic pivots of Europe, as revealed by it’s name ‘Val d’Europe’. This objective was based on the improvements in transport systems that would restore freedom of choice to town dwellers, provide access to the labor force and offer distribution networks for businesses. Transportation has been a key to new town development from its inception. The existing transport network is capable of draining towards Disneyland Resort Paris all those millions of anticipated visitors (Figure 3). All main communication routes in Europe or within France converge towards this area. Even if the Magic Kingdom were to fail (close it’s doors), these transport improvements would remain as the basis for attracting other private investors to an area that has always been designated for urban growth. Continuous urbanization from the other three sectors had been planned for this area, for some indefinite time in the future. The park only accelerated the process. There are two main themes to the development of Marne-la-Vallee as a new town. One is an office complex ten kilometers from Paris, with direct links to the capital. The other is the complex of Val d’Europe centered around Disneyland, one of it’s featured attractions, with a large number of offices serving as headquarters for Disney in Europe (100,000m2) that should attract other offices functions to occupy another 200.000m2. (EPA, Marne/EPA France, 1994; Boyer, 1994). By attracting large numbers of tourists, Disneyland Resort Paris will act as an investment magnet on other circuits of capital, based on the provision of hotels, tourist and leisure facilities and office buildings, that the French government will channel precisely through it’s new town of Marne-la-Vallee and as per the 173-page accord signed by two on 24 March 1987 after 27 months of arduous negotiations. The complete document with it’s appendices totals more than 400 pages (Convention, 1987). Results in real estate values remain way below predictions because Europe has been mired in an economic recession since the opening of the park. Although the French government seems to have given in to Disney Company’s demands (Grover, 1991), for example by agreeing to an international rather than a French court to settle disagreements, the detailed contract attributes obligations to both sides. The French government spent 2.7 billion FF to provide first rate transportation links, but it has meant added jobs for the area (4,500 for the rail line, 1,300 for the RER). Disney Company must, in turn, guarantee a minimum number of rides for the Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) on the extended regional metro (RER) ‘A’ line, or pay for the difference (Convention, 1987, Article 11). A detailed program of development of the land offered to Disney schedules each step. It was not given all 1,945 hectares to speculate with at will, contrary to some press accounts (Business Week, 1990; Smadja, 1988). Disney Company spent only 500M FF to acquire the land necessary for the it’s first theme park (covering the costs of the infrastructure provided with the land) but it led to private investments of 10B FF (Lanquarm, 1992:109). Other major projects, such as international soccer stadium and centers of higher learning, are being erected in the area, encouraged in part by the presence of Disneyland in Paris (Boyer, 1994). Disney Company also appreciated dealing with one main negotiating team, the EPA (Etablissement Public d’Amenagement), whose existence was permitted by the new town judicial structure (Rencontres, 1992: 99-122). This is a public development corporation that fulfills both commercial and financial functions. It is established by government decree and has powers of pre-emptive and compulsory purchase, as well as legal and financial autonomy. It can thus function as developer in the new town, while it also  represents the government. Communication remains remarkably static-free between this private company and French authorities, thanks to the single government voice and thanks to the detailed blueprint that indicates who does what, when, and how (Convention, 1987). The company also underlines the importance of continuity on the French side, adhered to through the years, since the first negotiations in 1985, by the French government in spite of political changes at the helm (Rencontres, 1992:100). The French state did require that this development occur within guidelines set up in a ‘Projet d’Interet General’ (EPAMarne, 1987, Limery, 1996) that seeks to insure a coherent approach that will, for example, enable the villages in the area to maintain their present specific characteristics. The requirement was not made in a spirit of simulated heritage but to maintain architectural variety while enabling new construction to be fully integrated in the new town’s landscape. This evolution will transform the living conditions of the residents of the old villages of the area who thought they could maintain a rural lifestyle only thirty minutes away from Paris and who are going to be invaded by millions of tourists. Agriculturists and ecologists have joined forces to fight for the preservation of agricultural areas within the new town to counterbalance this mounting urbanization. (See Roullier, 1993; Bastie, 1991). The departement of Seine-et-Marne has seen an increase of 18,000 hotel rooms between 1985 and 1992. This includes the 5,200 rooms constructed by Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 165). It wants to develop the potential attraction of the southern part of the departement, i.e. the region farthest from the park that includes Fontainebleau, from Melua to Chateau-Landon and from Barbizon to Montereau. It’s cultural and natural landscapes are rather exceptional since they include a number of famous castles (Fontainebleau and it’s museum. Vaux-le-Vicomte, Moret-sur-Loing) and beautiful natural forests. It is also an area frequented by locals (9 million per year) and by many foreign visitors (Maison Departementale, 1994). Disneyland Resort Paris is a wonderful opportunity to increase the level of visits by outsiders to the area which has suffered until now from it’s location in the shadow of Paris (25 million foreigners visit the capital, less than a  million come to this area). The convention that Disney Company signed includes the obligation for it to advertise other tourist sites in the area besides it’s own, as per Article 10 of the 1987 Convention (see, for example, the Michelin Guide to the Magical Kingdom). Tourist operators who do not have exclusive contracts with Disneyland Paris are also solicited to include these other stops in their packages. The departement is also trying to increase partnership agreements with a variety of service providers. Europcar, the official car rental agency of Disneyland Resort Paris, will put inside each vehicle a tourist map of the whole departement, as well as discount coupons for castles and restaurants in the area (Convention, 1987, Conseil General, 1991). Negotiating the design of the Francilian landscape The French government must have recognized that behind the vitriolic cultural debate about Disneyland Resort Paris stood a high level of capitalist investment in performance, in the machinery of reproduction, investment designed to create a ‘product’. The French government did not bow to capitalism which, like technology ‘does not invite a close examination of it’s consequences. It asks for trust and obedience†¦.because it’s gifts are truly bountiful’ (Postman, 1993: xiii). Contrary to popular opinion which accused it of caving in to the bullish tactics of Disney and the lure of many jobs, the French government had already resisted approaches by the company in 1976. French negotiators needed proof that this product could be exported. Tokyo Disneyland could not serve as a model in European negotiations and development, because the Disney Company was not a direct participant. It sold the exploitation rights to a Japanese company (Oriental Land Company) who financed, owns and runs the park. It did, however, serve the purpose of proving that the Magic Kingdom could be successfully transplanted onto foreign soil. ‘We’re finally able to convince the French negotiators that we really meant business.’ (Recontres, 1992:113). Because of the cultural capital are formed in real spaces, they suggest how space in an advanced service economy is really formed. ‘Capital creates and  destroys it’s own landscapes’ (Harvey, 1989). Space is structured by circuits of capital as they leave messages embedded in their surroundings. ‘Since the nineteenth century, shifting from one landscape to another has depended less on individual mobility than on a broad scale varied remaking of landscape itself.’ (Zukin, 1991: 18). Landscapes sometimes grow by accretion; they do not seem as historically and culturally bound as in the past as they are constantly reinvented by ‘footloose’ capital. The French government could not have forced Disney Company to choose a location in France. Some incentives to influence it might have over come any benefit government intervention could command. Tax concessions may eliminate any gains or lead to a transitory gains trap. The wages obtained from the supplementary jobs might be very low, leading to minimal tax and spillover gains, while increasing the need for services. The landscape is broader, has deeper roots and relies on more interconnections than government alone can control, especially on the international scene, since government intervention is restricted to it’s territory. Strategies of cultural consumption may only complement, rather than contradict, strategies of capital accumulation. The competitive edge of the French government to capture the Disney investors was by means of product differentiation, offering a space they enhanced through design and designation. The linkage between cultural capital and real estate development enables new economic structures to be localized and to acquire specific geographic locations: Marne-la-Valle for Disneyland Resort Paris. Disneyland Resort Paris demanded specific efforts to insert this large international project into a suburban new town within which it is to evolve rapidly. These are efforts of co-ordination in planning strategies, in capturing spillovers and in image development (Rencontres, 1992). Disneyland Resort Paris could not, by itself have acted as a growth pole that would economically resuscitate the eastern suburbs of Paris. The circuit of cultural capital it represented fizzled out within two years: Disneyland Resort Paris was ready to close it’s doors in March 1994 because it was bankrupt due to blunders before and at the time of the opening cultural, financial and economic matters. A capital asset that cannot earn income has  no value; it becomes a liability. It did subject Disney Company to some ridicule by the press (Solomon, 1994). The tension between globalization forces that led to it’s expansion in Europe and localization forces, the result of local differences in production and marketing techniques has forced Disney Company to change and adapt it’s much prized know-how: for example, it has had to accept the sale of alcohol in the park. Losses were mounting too dangerously to ignore subtly different cultural practices. It was assumed that traditional status systems and parochial loyalties would wither away in the course of economic growth. Globalization has not done away with culture-specific modes of consumption. One of Disney Company’s continued problems is the minimal amount spent by these millions of Europeans within the park: an average, in 1992, of 310FF instead of the expected 333 (Commission du Tourisme, 1993), down to 224FF in 1995 (Revenu, 1996). These spectators (Disney Company’s terms for the visitors of it’s parks) have chosen other non-pecuniary forms of participation in Disney’s spectacle. The resort was, however, integrated in a long-term project of the French government, dedicated to the balanced economic growth of the Parisian Basin. The short-term effect of Disney Company’s capital venture was counteracted by the long term (30 year) ‘convention; signed by both parties. Disney Company could not withdraw, especially if the circuit was no longer profitable. This convergence, in Marne-la-Vallee, of capitalist action and social action created the synergy for Disneyland Resort Paris to be financially restructured in March 1994 so that it could again generate profits. Mutual effects of economics (circuits of capital pushing Disney Company to find new investment opportunities), politics (the French government looking for economic growth poles), and culture (the acceptance of a not-so-foreign popular cultural trait) are restructuring the Francilian landscape. Landscape includes the geographical meaning of ‘physical surroundings’ and the ensemble of material and social practices: it is the entire panorama. It connotes a contentious, compromised product of society, but on which powerful institutions have a pre-eminent capacity to impose their view: both  the French government and Disney Company in this case, not just the private company Disney (i.e. capital). In the United States, potential investments that are not targeted on short-term gain are often criticized as ‘social’ investments, but all investment takes place in a social context. Although it is believed that the role of sovereign states is being eroded in favor of international organizations, agencies and/or associations, private or political, that of France used it’s ‘strategic’ position to direct the development and prosperity of the Parisian Basin. The French government tried to avoid that public value be held captive to private value. It wanted to avoid that improvement explicitly reject the social variety of habitation of explicitly seek security by exclusion. Capitalism’s most lasting product is landscape (new geographies) which in many places it had rendered impermanent, forever exhibiting a new repertoire. Such shifting landscapes illustrate the structural charges of the global economy (Harvey, 1989; Zukin, 1991; Dicken, 1992). The spatial mediation of cultural consumption affects the redistribution of benefits among social classes and explains the direct interest of the French government in a Disney theme park, and it’s offer of the Marne-la-Vallee location. Space does make material form for the differentiation of a market economy but places can be selectively configured to promote community goals. The French government’s intervention of land in Marne-la-Vallee from matter to property so that development (localized economic growth) would not lead to obsolescence and dereliction here or in other parts of the Paris basin. It demonstrates that capitalism is not a monolithic force operating alone at the universalizing level to carve up the world according to it’s sole designs. Spillover effects of partnership Both parties emphasize positive results in spite of the vituperative press campaign which accompanied the arrival of Disneyland in the Francilian landscape (a ‘cultural Chernobyl!’). Such a large attraction was recognized as both a chance and a challenge: ‘The chance we grabbed, and together with our American partners we have worked to make the park a success so the 12 million visitors will bring wealth to this whole eastern region. The challenge we are facing is to become a strong pole of attraction culturally and economically’ (Rencontres, 1992: 196) Daniel Robert (of Bison Fute fame) added: ‘Marne-la-Vallee is blessed with an extra-ordinary opportunity to sell it’s millions of square meters of office space, it’s ideal of an urban area, it’s strategic position’ (Rencontres, 1992: 55). The presence of such a large investment has emboldened Marne-la-Vallee to combat the skepticism that smaller potential private investors show when solicited by New Towns. Visitors poured into Eurodisney: 6.8 millions by October 1992, 19.5 millions by February 1994 (Eurodisney SCA, 1992, 1994). It’s basic allurement is it’s Americanness. It has been the best received park ever in Europe and it is the number one paid admission attraction there: Beaubourg Centre received only 8.2 million visitors in 1993, 3.8 million of which were free entries to the library; La Villette saw 5.8 million entries, the Effiel Tower 5.4; the Louvre welcomes 5 million visitors per year (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 5). These numbers are insufficient, however, for the park to break even, since it needs 11 million per year to do so and reached just that number only it’s first year of operation. Number of visitors followed a downtrend until 1994: 6,708,551 averaged 1.45 visits in 1993. In 1994, only 5,574,059 (-16.9%) pushed the turnstiles 1.61 times. Visits by residents of the Parisian Basin had dropped by 31.3&. In 1995, however, the park registered a 21.5% increase in attendance. The percentage of foreign visitors had dropped by 15% between 1992 and 1993 down to 56% of the visits but it was back up to 61% in 1994. The majority of the customers (93.3% of the 5,777 hotel rooms and bungalows – more than are available in the city of Cannes) are tourists, versus less than a two-thirds average for the Ile de France, but here too the number of foreigners has dropped (72% in 1994, 75% in 1993, vs. 82% in 1992). The occupancy rate of hotels has remained way below Orlando’s rate of 79% even if it did not increase from 55% in 1992 and 1993 to 61% in 1994 and 68.5% in 1995. Every hotel night sold by Disneyland Resort Paris engenders the sale of at least one other hotel night in the area. In 1994, Eurodisney hotels stared welcoming guests who were not necessarily attracted by the theme park (EPAMarne, 1994, EPA-France, 1995). Marne-la-Vallee is a creation in progress and it needs to become credible in the eyes of private investors. Although a negative image of Disneyland Resort Paris was diffused by the press during the construction phase, based on it’s American cultural attributes, it’s business of selling false reality for pleasure and it’s bullish negotiating tactics with the French government and later with private companies and labor, the more positive one of leisure and festivities and of successful business know-how has since been emphasized. Disneyland Resort Paris is more than the Magic Kingdom because of the hotels, leisure resources, offices and residences it plans to construct (Figure 4). It has developed an image as a solid capitalist enterprise, the kind Marne-la-Vallee wants to attract. Know-how can be applied to both Disneyland Resort Paris and Marne-la-Vallee, so that Mickey’s notoriety in Europe can increase that of Marne-la-Vallee, it’s present location. There does exist the danger that it becomes ‘Disney Vallee’. The social construction of the regional identity of Marne-la-Vallee will be dominated by Disney’s cultural capital and the various other capital circuits it will engender. Two strategies have been suggested to counteract such a danger. At the national level, the state should put in place structures that define the identity of Marne-la-Vallee separate from the company’s trademark. At the local level, endogenous and original solution need to be found to allow each and every inhabitant to identify culturally with the specific part of the Brie plateau s/he lives in. Disneyland Resort Paris has fulfilled it’s role as an economic growth pole both directly and indirectly, distributing spillover effects in the eastern suburbs of the Paris Basin while bringing economic benefits to the country. Within the perimeter of Disneyland Resort Paris, the ratio between public and private investment is 1 to 8, similar to the one found in most new towns. The French government invested 2.7B FF in public infrastructure while private companies and individuals disbursed 23B FF (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 2). Construction employed 5,100 local workers and 180 companies for a cost of 13B FF 47% of which went to Ile de France companies, 76% in the case  of residential developments. The company also had to construct 1,800 housing units occupied by 3,500 of its employees. In 1992, Disneyland Resort Paris paid 81M FF in local taxes and 250M FF in sales taxes. On opening day it employed 11,500 people, two thirds of whom were French (70% by 1995), one fifth of other European origin. There are now 9,700 employee representing a saving of 7% in operating costs. The downsizing came as part of the financial restructuring of March 1994. They were paid 2B FF in salaries and benefits, a substantial addition to the revenue stream of the new town. They generated with Disneyland, another 25,000 jobs in the area. The fifty tons of laundry produced daily by the resort, for example, led to the construction of two plants in the area. A little over 40% of these employees live in the Seine-et-Marne departement and thus consume within the area. There are another 5,000 seasonal jobs, 10% of which are filled by local residents. The economic activities of Disneyland Resort Paris in 1993 generated 9.2% less revenue than in 1992, although visitor spending outside of Disneyland Resort Paris increased by 3.8%. Another decrease of 6/9% was registered in 1994. In the fiscal year 1991-2, the company spent 2.7B FF, but only 2.2 in 1993, a decrease of 20% in goods and services (insurance, laundry, electricity†¦). Purchases registered a gain of 14% in 1994, and investments for improvements and maintenance, of 22%. Much of the income from these purchases remains in the area. 93% of food products are bought in France, 65% in Ile de France. Statistics were culled from Eurodisney Resort, 1993, EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995, Eurodisney SCA 1992, 1993, 1994. The French government received 4BFF in foreign currency (3.4% of foreign currency earnings through tourism in France in 1993), 812MFF in taxes and 9 to 15,000 jobs, depending on the season. Although totals fluctuate from year to year, they remain a plus for the economy. Disneyland Resort Paris led to a more than 3% increase in the total number of foreign tourists in France, 60.1M in 1993, 61.3M in 1994. The combined activities and purchases of all 61.3 million tourists provide 5.1% of the French GNP and 7.1% of it’s foreign currency earnings. The park is placed seventh as a major tourist operator in France, with 4.9BFF in revenues, behind Air France, SNCF, Accor, Club Med, Aeroports de Paris and Nouvelles Frontieres (EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995). Other theme parks come way behind: Futuroscope earned only 300MFF, Asterix 194MFF. The financial restructuring of it’s annual debt, which amounted to $370M in Marhc 1994, allowed the park to announce a profit of $35 million in the second quarter of 1995 and increased attendance helped consolidate profits for the remaining of the fiscal year†¦. at least prior to debt payments (New York Times, 1995: D7). There was wide-spread optimism that Disney’s presence in Europe would enhance the attraction sector’s image, help improve standards of presentation and raise consumer expectations and especially willingness to pay. It has increased investment in smaller-scale attractions in France Asterix park (25 miles north of Paris) which had required an investment of $208 million receives 1.5 million visitors per year. The comic books it represents three-dimensionally have been translated in 40 languages. It conquered 7% of the potential market in the Paris Basin in three years. Disneyland Resort Paris aims for 17%. Under the influence of Disneyland Resort Paris it has begun a five-year refurbishment program. It has also been forced to define it’s product more clearly (Saffarian, 1992). Futuroscope, ‘an intelligently entertaining’ park, has revitalized the region that surrounds it. It opened in June 1987 and boasted profits of 15M FF from revenues of 300M FF paid by 2 million visitors in 1994. It’s theme is moving images. When innovators must compete in integrated product markets, they have reason to pursue distinctive ideas, and thereby contribute to the global accumulation of knowledge. ‘Dynamic Cinema’, one of the most sought-after attractions at Futuroscope, thrills, awes and panics spectators through the use of a 60/second flow of images and hydraulically controlled seats with computerized links to the pictures (Tresch, 1994). It has also had repercussions in other European countries. Port Aventura opened in May 1995 near Barcelona. Four hundred million dollars were invested, 20% of which by Annheuaer Busch, over 20 hectares, i.e. 50 acres (Tagliabue, 1995). Conclusion Both sides have benefited from this partnership between a private multinational corporation and public authorities. Disneyland Paris has maintained the momentum of development in Marne-la-Vallee that the French government wanted to stimulate. ‘The success of the office centers of Marne-la-Vallee, of the Cite Descartes (and area of higher learning) and the presence of Disneyland Resort Paris demonstrate that betting on Marne-la-Vallee to assure the economic development of the eastern part of Paris Basin was the way to go, even if success was long in coming’ (Merlin, 1989: 77). New large projects are being constructed and jobs and their multiplier effect, taxes, new transport lines are increasing. In 1995 attendance numbers were on the rebound and hotel revenue and occupancy rates augmented. Even Orlando had rocky beginnings before returning it’s investment many times over and the two American parks suffered from lulls (Grover, 1991, Flower, 1991). Both the company and the French government had remained optimistic since talks for the next stage of development are right on schedule. Disneyland Resort Paris obtained a site it can grow in, with the necessary communication links to one of the most densely (in numbers and in purchasing power) settled areas in the world while it provides the French government with a major economic growth pole. The contract binding the two parties distributes obligations to limit the ability of private companies to speculate on investments made by public bodies financed by the general public, while it guarantees the timely completion of these investments. Optimism was justified when Disneyland Resort Paris opened as scheduled on 12 April 1992. It is still justified today as attendance numbers and spillover effects are on the increase. (Revenu, 1996: 9). Proving that public/private partnerships can enhance social benefits and capital accumulation. Endnotes 1 ‘Francilian’ refers to Ile de France, also called the Paris Basin 2 A National Public Radio report in June 1996 indicated that Las Vegas had become the number one tourist destination among travelers who booked through travel agents. In a private communication, J. Brett of the Nevada Commission on Tourism mentioned that 30 million visitors were welcomed in the past twelve months in Las Vegas. Although slightly more than the 30 million who visit Disney World, the numbers quoted are of turnstile pushes rather than of head counts. I was not told how the total number of visitors to Las Vegas was arrived at. 3 All forms of knowledge (all products based on knowledge) have peculiar properties as economic commodities. Know-how is a ‘non-rival’ good: using it does not preclude others from doing it, of, other theme parks. It also ‘non-excludable’: the very use of information in any productive way is bound to reveal it in part (Grossman & Helpman, 1991: 15). Preventing unauthorized use of it depends on property laws and their enforcement. One can understand Disney Company’s sensitivity to any copyright infringements. 4 The first theme park in the Western world was built at the end of 1200’s by Robert II of Artois at Vieil Hesdin. It included a revolving castle, a grotto within which rain or snow could be willed, animated marionettes, collapsing bridges, as well as exotic plants and animals that symbolized paradise. Charles V destroyed the park 300 years later. References Bastie, Jenn (1991), La Seine-et-Marne dans le schema directeur de I’Ile de France, Cahier du CREPIF, 36 Boyer, Jean-Marie (1994). Marne-La-Vallee, Paris, Ile de France, EPAMarne. Business Week (1990). 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