Principles of diversity equality Essay

Outcome 1: Understand the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion. 1.1 Define what is meant by: Diversity:- Is that right of each individual to be different and to have differences from others. Equality:- the state of being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities. Inclusion:- the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure. Discrimination:- the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex. 1.2 Describe how direct or indirect discrimination may occur in the work setting. Direct discrimination: Institutional/Company: different pay levels offered for the same job, promotion offers to only a select group of employees; job offers and training opportunities being offered to individuals of a certain race or age; bullying, excluding others, provocations of colleagues or clients on the basis of their gender, age, religious beliefs, ethnicity, language, social class, sexual orientation. Indirect discrimination: Inadequate facilities put in place for those with disabilities, making demands on workforce which they deem as being disadvantageous to employees of a certain group; using overly complex terminology when providing information either members of staff or the clients Read more: Describe the potential effects of discrimination essay 1.3 Explain how practices that support diversity, equality and inclusion reduce the likelihood of discrimination. Mixing groups of individuals in situations like; training sessions encourages cohesion and fosters the opportunities for individuals to work well with each other in partnership. Introducing facilities that aid mobility as this encourages the involvement of individuals who are less mobile and makes them feel included as their needs are being taken into account. Putting in place polices that empower employees and show the individual’s value to the company such as; employee of the month awards and bonuses given for consistent good work. This will increase the employees’ confidence in carrying out their job and want to  continue their employment contract with the company. Outcome 2: Know how to work in an inclusive way. 2.1 List key legislations and codes of practice relating to diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination in adult social care settings. Equalities Act (2001). The Employment Act (2008). Health and Social Care Act (2012). Human Rights Act (1998). Mental Capacity Act (2005). Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006). 2.2 Describe how to interact with individuals in an inclusive way. Being empathetic towards the clients’ situation and showing a genuine interest in their concerns and needs. Allowing and encouraging a two-way dialogue to occur between the care worker and the client using techniques such as; active listening to aid communication. Respecting individual’s cultural and/or religious differences and working with them in a way that doesn’t go against their beliefs or morals. 2.3 Describe ways in which discrimination may be challenged in adult social care settings. Putting in place a company policy of zero-tolerance regarding discrimination. Informing all members of staff and clients about how and when to make complaints regarding any issues of concern including discrimination. Encouraging others to challenge discrimination. Maintaining a record of discriminatory behaviour and resorting to disciplinary actions to deal with such behaviour. Routinely updating policies and procedures of organisation in relation to discrimination. Using previous discriminatory cases to aid the continuous professional development of the members of staff as they can act as an example of how they can respond and handle similar situations if and when they occur in their future working life with the company. Outcome 3: Know how to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. 3.1 Identify sources of  information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. Company care worker handbook. Skills for care website. Heath & Social Care Information Centre website. NHS website. Healthcare Diversity Council website. 3.2 Describe how and when to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. An individual should access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination in instances where they believe that either them or the client who they are assisting being treated unfairly due to factors like an individual’s race or ethnicity; having access to the relevant legislative rules and regulations such as; the Equalities Act (2001) or The Employment Act (2008) and the company’s policies and procedures regarding diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination so that they know exactly what their employer is legally required to put into place in order to foster diversity, equality, inclusion and prevent discrimination. This information especially the company’s policies and procedures will also inform the care worker of the proper procedure that needs to occur when the care worker experiences issu es regarding diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination.

Why We Write

Have you ever stopped in the middle of what you were doing and just asked yourself: â€Å"What am I doing?† This isn't a philosophical or existential question. While trying to write this essay, I find myself asking â€Å"What exactly am I doing?† The obvious answer would be writing, or struggling to. But as my mind, like an insatiably curious child, started asking an endless stream of â€Å"Whys† and â€Å"Hows† I became more aware of this act that seems to be taken for granted. Writing is so ingrained in our human society and our lives that we barely even notice it or care to think about its significance. Yet it would be almost impossible for us to live without it. That is because writing is a physical and visual representation of language; it is a form of communication. Writing is a practical necessity that allows us to connect with each other and share our thoughts, and it is also a means for cultural and artistic expression. Through writing we can pass down and communicate knowledge from one generation to the next, which is a fundamental factor in the progress of human society. How did it all start? Oral language developed tens of thousands of years ago when our early ancestors began living in communities and the need for coordination and communication arose. Written language, however, was created much later in the cradle of human civilization known as Mesopotamia. The existence of civilization entails the appearance of cities and long-distance trade, and finding a way to communicate over great distance became necessary for humans. As evidenced by discovered pieces of clay with pictographs on them, the traders and merchants of the city-states of Sumer discovered writing to coordinate their trade. As with oral language, written language may have developed out of a practical necessity, and has since proven to be useful and important in our human society. Even in our contemporary times we still use writing for pragmatic purposes when we want to communicate information to others. We have been doing it for the greater part of our lives, and even something as simple as texting a friend constitutes writing. Texting is an example which shows that through a visual manifestation of language we can communicate with others and overcome the limitations of time and space. But we don't communicate through writing for practical reasons alone. We also communicate to share the unique inner workings of our creativity. Literature is a prime example of that. It can reflect our innermost passions, ideas and values as well as those of a particular culture. Through literature, writing is intricately woven into our lives as a form of personal, artistic and cultural expression which has the capacity to change and influence society. We read and analyze written works created hundreds of years ago to observe the impact that they've had on societies of different times and places. Take for example the writings of the ancient Greek poet Homer, the author of the now classic epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey. It does not take an in-depth literary analysis to understand that the cultural values of the ancient Greeks were high reverence to their gods and the divine laws. In both works it is repeatedly shown what befalls those who disrespect and disobey any of the gods. For instance, when King Agamemnon refuses to release the captured Chrysies, the daughter of a priest of Apollo, the sun god descends from Mount Olympus to rain pestilence on the Greek army. It is thanks to writing that these epic poems, formerly passed down through oral tradition, have reached us and allowed us to better understand the society and values of the ancient Greek civilization. However, there is no rule that an author's writing should necessarily reflect their culture. There are works of writing that are the personal expression of the author and can serve as critiques of the current societal values and as innovations in literature. Many writers are actually pioneers in this sense, inventing new genres or challenging the status quo. Mary Shelley, at just 19 years of age, had created one of the world's first science fiction novels, Frankenstein, and pioneered a genre. Emily Brontà «, on the other hand, challenged the social norms of her time with Wuthering Heights. These examples illustrate that writing is not only a means of cultural or self-expression but an act of constant innovation. The authors' works do not only show the beliefs of their society during those times, but also criticize those beliefs and serve as a push during the transition between time periods. And even today these are relevant and popular works of art which allow us to analyze the values and norms of the past and to see how the ideas of these writers have influenced and changed our world. These cultural and personal expressions have withstood the test of time and reached all the way to our present day world. It is thanks to the development of writing that we now have a practical way to communicate our thoughts and our creative ideas to each other. And as we saw with the literary examples, communication through writing transcends the boundaries of space and time. Innovations and discoveries that were made hundreds of years ago and far away from us are now within our reach because writing has been an essential factor in the preservation and communication of human knowledge over the centuries. Writing has been crucial for the accumulation and innovation of human knowledge. By preserving and communicating information over the generations we learn from the discoveries and inventions made in the past and strive to improve upon them to better our world and future. We enjoy the luxuries of today thanks to the pioneering and innovating work of the great minds that came before us. Our world is shaped by the ideas and discoveries of the past which are woven into our society thanks to the development of writing. As I draw to the end of this essay, I find writing even more fascinating than ever before. In essence, writing is like a river that carries human experience, knowledge and wisdom forward in time, but it also allows us to look back to our past. Thanks to it we have experienced and learned about ideas, sciences and arts which have existed hundreds of years ago and far away from us. Writing has allowed us to express ourselves and share our beliefs about the world. It has given us the opportunity to gaze upon the reflection of our world, and to strive to make it better than what it was. Right now we stand in the middle of a vast infinity. What the generations of the future will learn about us and our legacy will greatly depend on our writing now.

Comparison Between Erec and Enide and Don Quixote Essay

The famous Spanish novel, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote is a parody for epic. It mimics traditional epic in a funny way so as to destroy the conventional expectation behind this serious genre. Therefore, its plot structure can be compared with Chretien de Troyes’ Erec and Enide ,a classic romance epic in Late Middle Ages. In Erec and Enide, the value of chivalry, courtly love and guest and host relationship may be found in this work. Speaking of chivalry, it starts from Erec’s adequate qualities of knighthood: handsome, valiant, noble, young and wealthy. He is qualified as a knight perfectly in appearance, social position and personality. Thereafter, Erec goes through two adventures. In the first one, he experiences a dishonored event, humiliated by a dwarf, the knight named Yder’s servant, and he fights and gains his honor back. In this combat, the dwarf’s physical imperfect may suggest his mental shortage, since he didn’t go hunting as other knights do, but he chose to accompany the queen with casual dress. This behavior and his lack of equipment may indicate that he may not fulfill his obligation of chivalry well. Therefore, the retribution means not only for the return for his honor but for the correction for his uncourtly behavior. After that, Erec becomes so attached to his wife , Enide, that he quits hunting with other knights. Afterwards, he goes on to the second journey. In the second one, he encountered a giant, Guivret, who symbolizes his overacting of courtesy. Guivret is also defeated, showing that Erec has corrected his behavior of overdoing. These two adventures tell that chivalry should be followed neither lacking nor exceeding. When it comes to courtly love, it may be shown from the relationship between Erec and the queen. At the beginning of the story, Erec’s undressing and his accompany with the queen may suppose his unusual relationship with her. When he triumphs over Yder, he commands Yder to go back to the queen to honor her. Since Erec can’t make this love toward her be revealed for the difference of social status, he puts this love into his heart and reveals it in this way. As for the relationship between guest and host, Erec meets the father of Enide and he shows his hospitality to Erec, and he in the end was rewarded for honor and wealth. Although Don Quixote has similar structure, its context reverses audience’s expectation of traditional epic and makes fun of it. First, speaking of chivalry, Don Quixote’s appearance may not be adequate: he is an old and lean person with a meager face. Besides, he is praised by getting up early; apparently it is not a description for a good knight. Cervantes makes Don Quixote funny by these portrayals. Later, he has several adventures, and in one of them he encounters the Biscayan, a servant of the ladies. Don Quixote’s fight with him mimics the combat between knights, and that it ends with Don Quixote’s victory and his request for the Biscayan to beg for mercy in front of his beloved lady, Dulcinea del Toboso. Second, as to courtly love, Don Quixote imagined a farm girl, Aldonza Lorenzo, to be the Princess Dulcinea del Toboso. Even though every time Don Quixote calls her name before he is going to fight, he never talks to her, nor did her know his name. Besides, unlike the noble ladies in traditional chivalry work, Dulcinea is described as â€Å"the best hand of any woman in all La Mancha for salting pigs†. Third, when it comes to the relationship of guest and host, in Don Quixote’s first journey he breaks the law of guest and host. He enters the inn and troubles the landlord to the degree that the landlord wants him to leave without charging him. In conclusion, Cervantes doesn’t only mimic the romantic epic badly for mocking it. He also wants to criticize it by putting a knight to the 17th century. The value of chivalry may differ from the value in 17th century society so much that the originally normal behavior of knights seems ridiculous in people’s eyes from different time.

Reality Internet Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reality Internet Assignment - Research Paper Example Another definition is given by Jonathon Bignell, who defines it as the unscripted actions and behavior of everyday people, which are the shows’ focus of interest (Edwards 17). While reality TV’s boundaries are blurred, the most fundamental factor separating it from other TV genres is its focus on people’s situational reaction and private thoughts. Effects of Reality TV Production Elements on Non-Reality TV Because of reality TV’s popularity, non-reality TV has been forced to pick up some production elements from them to remain competitive on the screen. One of those elements assimilated into non-reality TV is the use of real-life participants. Since reality, TV’s biggest appeal is the use of real people playing their part, rather than actors, non-reality TV has taken up the tendency to create characters out of real life people (lostintelevision 1). One example of this is the HBO drama The Wire, which uses real life people together with actors to cre ate an authentic feel in their program. The use of real neighborhoods and real occupants of these neighborhoods with no acting experience and placing them in situations like drug busts and murders, while also taking their reactions, is what made The Wire such a big TV hit. With time, these real-life characters, including workers in the Mayor’s office, became integrated into the show, adding to the authenticity of its message. Another element used in non-reality TV and borrowed from reality TV is the use of unscripted performance (lostintelevision 1). Again, The Wire is a good example of this with the producers placing real life characters in the midst of their scenes and focusing on them to see their reactions. Normally, because the people of Baltimore are used to these situations makes their reactions authentic compared to, for example, bringing in actors into these situations. However, while these situations are unscripted, the producer sets up the situations with real life events being controlled using a narrative structure carried by the actors. Another element of reality TV that has been assimilated into non-reality TV is the use of reality-style testimonials, where the characters explain their situations to the camera and the audience (lostintelevision 1), such as was used in the British Sitcom The Office. The narration is usually in the form of present tense and usually deals with what is going on as the audience watches as the narrator of the testimonial adopts informal styles of speech and communication. Surveillance or observation is another production element popularized by reality TV that has influenced the production of non-reality TV. Just as in reality TV, non-reality TV has become reliant on observation and has turned to intrusive surveillance to become more real. Documentaries have especially taken up this element by integrating CCTV images into their production. This has also introduced the element of voyeurism with the CCTV images bei ng used for surveillance becoming increasingly intrusive (lostintelevision 1). The producer uses the CCTV imagery to exhibit something that he/she is investigating and this positions the audience as voyeurs in the situations being filmed. While those being followed do not at the time, and the cameras were not meant to pick up what they were doing, the producer eventually uses these images to create a real-life situation. Impacts of Reality TV on Cultural Norms Sex and promiscuity are some of the most

Green Tailing (Retail Innovation) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Green Tailing (Retail Innovation) - Term Paper Example Green tailing also focuses on achieving low cost the customers, thus, they are able to achieve greater savings. However, innovations in green tailing focus not only on price, but also on exploiting fashion, providing outstanding services, offering expanded range of products, and selling high quality merchandise (Stern & Ander, 2008). Since some retailers lose while others win, all retailers must adapt to -Est Theory. The –Est theory states that a retailer must be the best by being superior to all others at one core proposition that is important to specific customers. Most green retailers achieve this through communicating their -Est position to the customers, executing it relentlessly at the store level and orienting their staff to that position. Additionally, their day-to-day operational decisions and strategies are based on that position. The world of retailing is changing faster and more dramatically than ever before, hence, it is always advantageous for a retailer or suppl ier who gets to that position first. Before, most green retails’ life cycles looked like a typical bell curve. ... In essence, green tailing is a crucial element of the future of retail. Therefore, it holds the key to understanding a seismic shift in consumer behavior that shifts the balance away from price to other factors that will require businesses to rethink their basic models. Types of green retail stores There are various types of stores that are considered as environmental friendly, which sell green products. Consumers have now become more enlightened; most are beginning to look for sustainable, green, and organic products (Radcliff, 2011). Hence, they are looking for stores and suppliers who embrace eco-friendly methods and green aspects in their operations. These stores include Clothing and Apparel that sell clothing products from sustainable organic materials such as bamboo fiber, hemp, cotton and other recycled fabrics. There is also increased demand for peace silk or vegan silk that is extracted from hatched silkworm castings; hence, no silkworms are harmed in the extraction. Additio nally, eco-friendly clothing is made with natural and organic dyes in accordance with green specifications. Secondly, there are green furniture stores that sell furniture made from natural materials such as teak wood, bamboo, natural fibers and reclaimed sustainable materials. More so, in finishing, this furniture use natural dyes, water and soya-based finishes, natural oils and waxes (Radcliff, 2011). Thirdly, there are organic foods grown through strict observance of green principles without use of any artificial chemicals and fertilizers. Lastly, there are personal care and household cleaning products that are made from natural and organic ingredients that are raised up with adherence to green

Is global warming a genuine threat to the planet earth Essay

Is global warming a genuine threat to the planet earth - Essay Example Further the rise of global warming phenomenon also led to the rise of climatic heat and humidity spreading many diseases which claimed a large number of lives in regions like Chicago. The incidence of global warming also affected the geographical and topographical formations by causing rivers like Mississippi to completely dry up. (Stein, 2001, p.5). The incidence of global warming to a huge extent is rendering huge impact to the pattern of life forms on the earth and thus has become a considerable threat to the planet. Thesis The incidence of global warming is becoming a gradual menace by the annihilation of several species of flora and fauna from the earth’s surface. Effects rendered by global warming generally encompass larger areas of the planet whether filled or not filled with biological species. The intensity of the effect of global warming in annihilating larger forms of biological species is still contested for lack of proper research activities in this direction. Hig h concentrations of carbon dioxide, a potential contributor to the greenhouse effect, in the atmosphere is observed to be the major factors for large number of species to evaporate out of the earth’s surface. Estimates made show that around 43 percent of the total biomass possessed by the earth in major tropical regions go extinct on account of the effect of global warming. ... (Malcolm, Liu, Neilson, Hansen & Hannah, 2006, p.539, 544). The incidence of global warming cause rapid changes to the climatic parameters of different regions and thus can be taken as a significant contributor of the extinction of many biodiversity species from the earth’s surface. The cause of the extinction of different life forms on the planet earth has been hugely attributed to the changes in climatic patterns. Estimates made show that incidence of high amount of climatic changes contribute to around 35 percent to the extinction of different life forms. Large amount of human activities like deforestation and other industrial and commercial activities are the potential contributors behind intensifying the effect of global warming. (Thomas, Cameron, Green, Bakkenes, Beaumont, Collingham, Erasmus, Siqueira, Grainger, Hannah, Hughes, Huntley, Jarrsveld, Midgley, Miles, Huerta, Peterson, Philips & Williams, 2004, p.145). Thus it is found that the occurrence of global warming i s one of the major contributors behind the gradual extinction of many recorded and unrecorded life forms from the face of the planet. The deforestation of trees and other industrial effects are emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide gases in the atmosphere causing warming up of the climate. Rising climatic temperatures amount to the event of global warming causing the event of extinction of life forms. Anti-Thesis The above discussion hints that a large part of the flora and fauna of the planet has earned extinction owing to the harmful effects of global warming. However such a statement fails to gain much strength for a number of factors have been researched which are not related to the

Social justice for African American women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social justice for African American women - Essay Example ing the black women criminals,appears far easier than creating a health care system that ensures healthy babies for all citizens†. She argued that, there are two main ‘ingredients that powerful white men have poured into establishing social order.The first pertains to â€Å"the dehumanization of Africans on the basis of race,†and â€Å"the control of women’s sexuality and reproduction† (Rhapsodyinbooks, 2008). Before the feminist movement, according to Roberts the black African women had no rights; they were just slaves to the masters. In fact, the worse was they did not own their body--denied of the right to self-preservation. They were so unfortunate that they just like a chattel--a thing that could be sold. In addition, masters (the white men) would pay $400 and get a young female.The poor black woman would be forced to procreate for the masters.After she was used,the master would then sell her and her three kids for an amount of $4000. Roberts add ed that, â€Å"for slave women procreation had a little to do with liberty†... That was the scenario before, but it seems like the ban of importation of slaves during 1808 did not reach its power and influence in today’s time--United States government enslaves, criminalizes and dehumanizes those who do not compliment to the white men and women. 1.3 Injustice and Inequality Social problems in America still haunt the soul of Black women. Dawson (n.d.) stressed that white women were always praised and often tagged with kind words like industrious, intelligent, and responsible. On the contrary, Black women were dubbed as lazy, ignorant, and shiftless. Despite the provisions enclosed in 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), black women were still treated the way they were before. In addition, this act discriminates the poor black women--it limits their time on aid to a lifetime maximum of five years. Further, it strictly requires single mothers to marry. Those who lived far beyond in their segregated homes would suff er to travel miles of distance just to find livelihood for their children (Rhapsodyinbooks, 2008). 1.4 Assessment Justice requires equality and just treatment--no discrimination and violation of rights. Roberts, in her exemplary work detailed the points how black women were treated as if they were not human and did not exist. She argued that the concept of â€Å"liberty† was just about and for the interest and welfare of the whites only; for those who belong to middle class--that â€Å"liberty† is just concerned on the concept of â€Å"abortion.† Towards the end, she also reiterated that many policy proposals were detrimental to the Americans specially the ‘underestimated’ black women. Her argument

Networking Infrastructure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Networking Infrastructure - Essay Example iv) Not all communication channels preserve the order of messages sent to them. To deal with the possible loss of sequencing them, the protocol must make explicit provision for the receiver to allow the pieces to be put back together properly. v) Sometimes the process may be unable to accept long messages. This property leads to mechanisms for disassembling, transmitting, and then reassembling messages.(Computer networks- Andrew S. Tanenbaum) The above architecture consists of four areas: NC area (NCA), freely accessible area (FAA) for subscription purposes, protected provider's private area (PPA) for service-specific servers and global Internet (GI). These areas are physically separated and IP traffic between them is run over a router with enabled packet-filtering controlled by the LS (log in server). The client will be connected to UNIX based server (i.e. the Sunblade machine). Setting up a DHCP server enables the user to manage the addresses and other network information for client computers on the private network. With the DHCP configured on the network, a client computer can simply indicate that it wants to use DHCP and the DHCP server can provide it's IP address, network mask, DNS server, router and other information needed to get up and running on the network. With the DHCP, the user can simplify the initial network configuration that each client computer on the network needs to do. Later as the network evolves, the information can be easily updated, having changes automatically picked up clients when they restart their network interfaces. The minimum tools needed to set up DHCP server are: A firewall that allows requests for DHCP service. A configured /etc/dhcpd.conf file (For Sunblade machine) A running dhcp server daemon The DNS (Domain Name System) is essentially a distributed database that translates hostnames into IP addresses and IP addresses back to host names. The database also contains information related to each domain, such as how the domain is organized into zones, where to route mail for that domain and whom to contact with questions associated with the domain. To maintain the DNS server efficiently the following configuration tasks can be performed: Logging: The user can indicate what he wants to log and where log files reside. Remote server options: The user can set options for specific DNS servers to perform such tasks as blocking information from a bad server, setting encryption keys to use with a server or defining transfer methods. In the above model the DNS, DHCP, Win server, mail and FTP all have public IP addresses. 2. Network Address Translation allows a single device, such as a router, to act as agent between the Internet (or "public network") and a local (or "private") network. This means that only a single unique IP address is required to represent an entire group of computers to anything outside their network. The shortage of IP addresses is only one reason to use NAT. Two other good reasons

Consider the impact of the Vietnam War on American culture Essay

Consider the impact of the Vietnam War on American culture - Essay Example B. During this period TV was an important medium for information; news reports of the war telecasted the gory details which reinforced the feeling of redundancy of the war among the Americans, resulting in antiwar protests and demonstrations. III. Effects of advancement A. Cambodian invasion in 1970 resulted in antiwar demonstrations in college campuses all over American. In a few days time, deaths of students occurred in large number. B. The redundancy of the war added with thousands of American soldiers getting killed in war fueled the antiwar sentiments among the young Americans. Large number of young Americans left the war to burn their draft cards. This became a national sensation due to wide coverage by the television. IV. Evolution of the advancement A. In Vietnam, the increasing intensity of the war created psychological problems among the American troops which resulted in drug consumption among them. The hippie culture was reflected back home in American among the youth when they protesting against the war by blocking roads and government buildings for days, singing songs and consuming drugs. B. Music industry developed vastly during the Vietnam era with hundreds of songs getting recorded in single years. Music like rock ‘n’ roll albums that were conceived during that era are popular even after several decades have passed. V. Conclusion A. The hippie culture among the youth created antiheroes in the society who influenced the culture for a generation. B. Popular music of different genres during that era established both the antiwar views and the prowar statements. Music was adopted by the young antiwar protestors as a way of voicing their views. Introduction and Thesis Statement The Vietnam War was a long running combat between the nationalist forces and the United States with the alliance of South Vietnam. The war was more a strategic movement by America to curb communism, and the nation’s involvement was in all terms unofficial st atus. The American troops dispatched under the official purpose of military training to the South Vietnamese troops. The war had a huge impact on the music and culture of America. Events that Led to the Advancement The war, which apparently seemed redundant to the general Americans, had a great impact on them. It has divided the American people like no other war has done. The atrocities of the war were telecasted on the TV, the unspeakable violence induced people to distance themselves from the war. The costs incurred during the war affected the nation’s economy for decades after the war ended. During the mid twentieth century America got involved in the Vietnam as it felt threatened by the growing influence of communism. However, the young generation of that period did not see any concrete reason to feel threatened, and as such, the Vietnam War did not seem a necessity. Moreover, atrocities and millions of American soldiers getting killed and maimed were telecasted in TV whi ch was viewed in every American home. The war was often characterized as the living-room war or the television war. During the course of the war, the events in the battlefield were telecasted in a systematic manner. It was an era when televisions were rapidly becoming a forceful medium of news for the Americans. According to a survey in 1964, the American people had equal trust on newspapers and televisions for information. By 1972, another survey

The Problem of Animal Consciousness Essay Example for Free

The Problem of Animal Consciousness Essay Do Horses Gallop in Their Sleep? By Matt Cartmill Let me propose a thought experiment. Imagine, if you will, that theres a certain clump of nerve cells in the brain thats essential for conscious awareness. Now suppose that a certain drug suppresses neural activity in just this nucleus, with no effect on the rest of the brain. Subjects who take this drug do things as usual, but they experience nothing. The drug converts them into sleepwalkers. Finally, imagine that Ive developed a new form of this drug, which has permanent effects. It abolishes consciousness forever, with no effect on behavior. I want to test it on you. How much will you charge to take it? I think the question answers itself. Spending your life as a sleepwalker is equivalent to being dead, and so you will charge me whatever price you would charge to commit suicide. I offer this thought experiment to dispel the notion that conscious awareness is too metaphysical and subjective a phenomenon for science to concern itself with. The phenomenon of consciousness is the source of all value in our lives. As such, it should be at the top of the scientiï ¬ c agenda. Yet despite its fundamental importance, consciousness is a subject that most scientists are reluctant to deal with. We know practically nothing about either its mechanisms or its evolution. In fact, many distinguished scientists and philosophers believe that consciousness has no evolutionary history, because they think that human beings are the only creatures that have it. Although most scientists will admit in private that our close animal relatives probably have mental lives something like ours (because, after all, they have bodies and brains and behavior that resemble ours), a lot of scientists are reluctant to say so plainly and publicly; and those who do can count on being accused of sentimentality and anthropomorphism. If you have a dog, you have probably had the experience of seeing your dog search out a favorite toy and bring it to you in hopes of getting you to play with him. Its hard even to describe these familiar experiences without saying things like, The dog was trying to ï ¬ nd his ball, or The dog wanted me to play with him. But scientists arent supposed to say things like that, at least when we have our lab coats on. If we discuss such things at all, we prefer to do so in some way that doesnt involve attributing intentions or any other mental states to the dog. There are at least two ways we can do this. First, we can use clumsy behavioral circumlocutions for mental language. Instead of saying, The dog looked for his ball until he found it, we can say something like, The dog exhibited repeated bouts of investigative behavior, which ceased after he contacted the ball. This somehow manages to suggest that the dog wasnt thinking about the ball while he was looking for it, and that he didnt perceive anything when he got it in his mouth. Second, if we ï ¬ nd these circumlocutions silly and tedious, we can adopt some variant of what is sometimes called logical behaviorism, in which the mental words are still used but they are redeï ¬ ned in terms of the probabilities of certain behaviors. In this view, a dogs intentions and desires and beliefs turn out, when properly understood, not to be something inside the dog, but theoretical constructs pinned on the dog by a human observer. Therefore, the human observer can know whether the dog has intentions and desires and beliefs, but the dog cant.

Womens Role In The Contemporary Society Sociology Essay

Womens Role In The Contemporary Society Sociology Essay In March 2011, Obamas administration released a report concerning the present womens condition in U.S.A.: it was really different from the one released 50 years ago, that represented the first report about the womens status requested by the president J.F. Kennedy. From the previous definition of perfect housewife in Kennedys administration report in 50s, nowadays women are described as a key feature of economy. Actually, women are in a difficult and controversial position: their condition is unstable, according to the deep contradictions between social roles and individual ambitions. In Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economical Well-Being, Valerie Jarret, Obamas counsellor, states that: As the report shows, women have made enormous progress on some fronts. Women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now more likely than younger men to have a college or a masters degree. Women are also working more and the number of women and men in the labor force has nearly equalized in recent years. As womens work has increased, their earnings constitute a growing share of family income. (Jarrett, Tchen, iii) Unfortunately, it does not mean that gender equality has been reached. Indeed, the report stresses how all these achievements didnt bring to earning equality: American women have an income which is 75% less than mens one, according to the same level of education and job profile, in spite of the Equal Pay Act, which was passed in 1963 in order to overcome the gender pay gap. Moreover, women are also alone in their unequal condition: the married ones passed from 72% in 1970 to 62% in 2011; the single-parent family is mostly made by women, single or divorced, which brings them to an inferior social condition. This recent report doesnt portray, of course, a condition of gender equality. The long women path, made by great protests and important social and political achievements, reached a situation which is difficult to define and to change. Since 1950s women are fighting for their rights, and a lot of important historical changes were traced on the common people way of thinking. It does not regard only political and social stances, but also the way in which women were perceived and symbolized by traditional culture and media. The only way to understand how to give a change to the social role of the women in the contemporary society consists in tracing a trajectory that starts from the beginning of their fight and comes to our period. Just in this way it is possible to get the awareness of what can be improved and what deserves to be saved. Family, motherhood, domestic life: after the second war world, these were the most important concepts which leaded the American women condition. In 50s, home was the symbol of the family life, after the wealthy period brought by the economic growth, and every single family had its own house and was able to spend their incomes in consumer goods. According to that, the freedom of the American women could have its own expression in the house-life. The reaffirmation of the women as tutelary god of the domestic life became a symbol of stability in the post-war society. The post-war woman had to be the emblem of a calm and sexually reassuring femininity: maternity was the key-concept of the new femininity, which was meant as a symbol of the new successful American society. So, a political and social discourse leaded by the official history put women in an inferior position than mens one in the social scale. A turning point in the American women situation was brought by the publication of Friedans book The Feminine Mystique. The problem that has no name which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease (Friedan, 433). In the same year, the federal report of the Commission on Status of women denounced their discrimination in the working, political and juridical spheres, claiming for fair salaries and maternity leave. Friedans voice reawakened women awareness of their condition: she talked about the feeling of frustration and social distress of the American women, who apparently lived in a comfortable and easy condition. It traced the beginning of the womens fight for their rights and for a new role in the society. It was characterized by an ideological feminist approach, which furthermore brought to the creation of associations for the defe nse of women rights. A real revolution against the common way of thinking gender discrimination took place in politics, society and media: in the 70s, the movement gained a series of political successes, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972), Womens Educational Equity Act (1974) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978). Otherwise, the two historical achievements of the movement were about abortion and divorce: in 1973, abortion became legal in U.S.A. after a long case, Roe vs. Wade, which was discussed by the United States Supreme Court; in 1969, the governor of California, Ronald Reagan, signed the Family Law Act, in which it was considered legal the No-Fault Divorce, which was accepted by the other states by 1985. Afterward, in the XXI century, Friedan looked back to the women movement, stressing the important changes brought by its achievements: There is no doubt that the womens movement has transformed American society, opening life in many ways for women and men alike. There may be nostalgic yearnings for the feminine mystique, but women are no longer defined solely in terms of their relation sexual, maternal, or domestic to men. They are defining their lives themselves by their actions in society (Friedan 2002, 14). Her statement is important because it stresses the difference between the position of women in the past century and the present one. The fight for the rights brought to a great success for the women, and their role is, of course changed since the 50s. Otherwise, the contemporary society is characterized by a peaceful uncritical acceptance of the world as it is: people hear about political disparity, unjustified wars and social problems, without any deep will to change the sit uation. The affluent society brought a lot of life spheres to a paralysis, which symbolizes the pacific acceptance of the world as it is, with its precarious balances. It seems to be the repetition of that condition of  «mystique » defined by Friedman, but in this case applicable to the whole society. So, women also enjoyed the wellness effects on their position: after the great fight for rights, they reach a hypocritical equal role in the society as mens one. The path to the gender equality passed to a more intellectual stage: feminism became feminisms, that means a great division between all the women rights movements, according to their gender, racial, or religious approaches; in the universities an important field of studies, such as Women Studies, carried on important researches about womens culture and tradition. What appears as a present achieved condition of gender equality is, abruptly, contradicted by the above-mentioned 2011 federal report In Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economical Well-Being. The success in educational and political spheres does not correspond to an equal salary condition. Most of the women are also ostracized by important roles in the great companies, as well as in politics. Mass-media broadcast a feminine image based on the enhancement of the body, and the cultural icon of womens inferiority has not been deleted yet. Nowadays, the challenge is no more between mens and womens roles: it is evident that the matter is about a more wide range of social problems and inequalities which involve both men and women, and it results as a difficult stand-point to overcome. Indeed, a lot of recent studies shows as women discrimination is a matter of fact. As Julie Goldscheid stresses: Workplace inequality based on sex, as well as discrimination based on other protected characteristics, persist notwithstanding several decades of antidiscrimination laws (Goldscheid, 61). Otherwise, the 2011 federal report states that women are a key feature of the modern economy: in spite of it their role is corrupted and women have to face a constant discriminatory approach in their workplace. It does not depend any more from a social and political fight with mens power. It deals with the actual features of our contemporary society, which is not characterized by a shared solidarity in front of all the disparities. Most of the fights which had to be brought are left to the social minorities, which can just try to manage the problems, but they cant really face alone the spoiled facets of our community. For example, it is the case of the Chicano women movement: it was born in consequence of the success of the Chicano community in their fight for their minority rights in 60s, but the feminist association Comision Feminile Mexicana Nacional had to be created to fight for the adoption of bilingual consent form on the compulsory sterilization of women in U.S.A., in 1975. It shows how it does not exist a real solidarity between the different social members: even in the same community, it is difficult to fight for a common reason, and so everyone is facing the social unease on his own. Finally, another aspect of the matter to be faced is, of course, the strong influence that the society gender perspective plays in the process of womens identity self-determination. The tradition of women as a second sex, the other, the deviation from the norm which is male, seems to have been overcome by all the achievements in the past century: but the problem is still persisting, since nowadays the sociological researches emphasize the presence in the contemporary society of stereotypical standards of what a woman should be. As Izzard and Barden question: We also wished to think about what happens to a womans identity when she feels out of that fit when she cannot feel herself mirrored in the images that society presents to her of Woman. How does our society constrain women into or release them from narrow definitions? (Izzard and Barden, 2). It is a subtle discrimination, which represents the most difficult challenge of the matter, because it is the effect of the identity-making leaded by mass-media. Taking these points into consideration, I would say that a further step has to be made. It should represent a deep change in the approach to the matter. When I read The Future of Feminism, I completely agreed with Betty Friedan when she states that More than ever, we now have to think about moving to the second stage: the way to live the equality that we fought for in a world of diverse new family combinations of women, men, and children. The second stage is where we must move, women and men together. We need a new and politically active consciousness-raising to get us beyond the polarized and destructive male model of work and decision making and the undervalued womens model of life the model that takes it as inevitable that having children is a womans free individual choice to short-circuit permanently her earning power and her professional future (Friedan 2002, 15). Her opinion is important to understand the point in which we are stuck now: if one of the greatest leaders of the w omens right movement is ready to say that it is the moment to leave the fight against men, and work together in order to get new important achievements, it means that the times are changing. We cannot talk anymore about a fight for the main political rights, which were gained during the past 50 years, but the so-called  «second stage » should be a more conscious and shared struggle for real changes in our paralyzed wellness society. Nowadays, the everyday social problems are shared by both men and women: we are talking about temporary employment, child-care especially for individual families and mobbing in the workplace. It is a matter of fact that these social features are strongly linked with our lives, but as well the common tendency is to feel them as irrelevant to our existence. It results that it is the effect of media and socio-political discourse to lead us to the indifference and the uncritical acceptance of this reality. So, rethinking about the women movement fight as an important historical moment for the social achievements in order to reach gender equality is the key to start the  «second stage » of the struggle. Actually, the main step to be made in this second phase is, of course, a restructuring program of the work system, especially about its conditions. It is the first influence that society got in the everyday women, and as well men, lives: for example, thinking about individual families, managed by woman with a temporary job, it is evident that no help is given by governments to maintain her son. It is obvious that the first consequence is the dismissal of all those expectations about career, in favor of a low-profile job which let woman grows up her son. Furthermore, in the contemporary society the young generation is having great problems to face its career perspectives, because of the difficulties to find an employment. It involves especially women, who suffer more this social unease. As the 2011 federal report shows, their education level highly increased, but their salaries are still low because of the effects of the impasse which occurred in the job market. In conclusion, it is clear that great achievements were brought in gender equality process during the last fifty years. Women are considered a main feature of the economic system, and they are no more obliged to follow their so called housewife destiny. Otherwise, it is important to stress the need of new fights in order to contrast those sexual discriminating tendencies, which still exist in our society. The matter has to be meant as a global problem, and for this reason it should be shared by the different members of the community without any differences of gender and race. Media shouldnt corrupt our view about the society and its uneasiness: but, on the contrary, we should take advantage of our possibilities to face different realities around the world. For example, in Asia great developments are taking place, and the employment strategies for women are constantly elaborated in accordance with the changing society: as Leng Tang states, These developments imply less time spent on d omestic chores and child-raising, as well as greater possibilities for participating in employment outside the home throughout the life course (Leng Tang, 10). The need of gender equality is one of the most important aims to be pursued: but it can be gained just through great efforts made by all the members of the contemporary community, once more united to get their fundamental social rights. Sources Jarrett, Valerie and Tchen, Christina. Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being. Washington, U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration, March 2011. Jackson, David. White House Report: Women lag in pay, gain in education. USA Today, 01 March 2011. Gerson, Kathleen. Hard Choices: How Women Decide About Work, Career, and Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Print Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. In Peter B. Levy, 100 Key Documents in American Democracy, Westport: Greenwood, 1994. Print Friedan, Betty. The Future of Feminism. In Free Inquiry, Volume 19: Issue 3, 2002. Goldscheid, Julie. Gender Violence and Work: Reckoning with the Boundaries of Sex Discrimination Law. In Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Volume 18: Issue 1, 2009. Izzard, Susannah and Barden, Nicola. Rethinking Gender and Therapy: The Changing Identities of Women. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2001. Print Leng Tang, Leng. Old Challenges, New Strategies: Women, Work and Family in Contemporary Asia. Boston: Brill, 2004. Print

The Rise of the Nazi Party Essay -- Nazis Germany Hitler Essays

The Rise of the Nazi Party Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and insecurity towards the Weimar Republic. Hitler built on these feelings and offered the secure and promising alternative of the extremist nazi party. Although there were many factors that contributed to the rise of Hitler and the collapse of the Weimar republic, Hitler’s ability to build upon people’s frustrated view of the hatred of the treaty of Versailles and the circumstances it placed upon the German nation, was the fundamental reason for Hitler’s rise to power and the Weimar Republic to collapse The Treaty of Versailles, signed by the Weimar Republic at the conclusion of WW1, introduced economic insatiability and caused a profusion of hardship. The idea of resorting to an extremist group promising better alternatives became an attractive option to many Germans. The Treaty of Versailles’ vindictive terms and unreasonable reparations (6,600,000,000 pounds) resulted in undesired economic circumstances. Unemployment rose to 25%, no less than fifty percent of school children were undernourished and annual meat consumption fell from 52kg to 26kg per person. In general, the German standard of living decreased dramatically. The terms of the hated treaty angered and frustrated people. Hitler, intensely detesting the November criminals1, promised to build a back powerful nation, the German public, in a state of disillusionment, responded positively to this claim and began to support the Nazi Party. Hitler’s ability to take advantage of the Treaty of Versalles and the har dship that it brought to the German nation contributed to Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of the Weimar Republic. The instability of the newly for... ... with other factors, lured many Germans in to believing in the nazi ideals and supporting the Nazi party whilst stirring up a hatred of the current Weimar Republic. With a combination of poor leadership on the Weimar Government’s behalf, the signing of the hated Treaty of Versailles and an unattractive economic situation, Hitler, using his charismatic personality, was able to convince the majority of the public to resort to the extremist nazi party. There are many other factors that influenced the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism; In every case, however, Hitler’s manipulative skills and sophisticated behavior towards circumstances lead to the success of the Nazi Party. By successfully manipulating the above set of circumstances, Hitler was able to cause to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi Party. 1The November criminals. Hitler nicknamed the Weimar Republic this as he saw them as being responsible for signing the hated tTreaty of Versalles. Resources Problems and issues in modern history   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   J. Simpson et al Booklets handed out in class Encyclopedia of Britinica Various internet sites

Frederick Douglass :: American History, Masters and Slaves

In 1845, Frederick Douglass published a narrative will be remembered in history forever. Douglass’ narrative is a recount of the tough life on the plantations before his escape to New York. He describes in this narrative the senseless acts of cruelty on the part of the masters as well as the debased lives of the slaves. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave provides a powerful account of the role of ignorance of slavery, the damaging effects on slaves and slaveholders, and the knowledge to the path of freedom for African Americans. Frederick Douglass was born in a slave cabin, in February, 1818, close to the town of Easton, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. (Bio of FD, 1) Frederick Douglass, whose full name is Frederick Augustus Washington Baily, was abandoned by his mother when he was just a baby and then was raised by his grandparents. Douglass never knew his father and according to him and nearly everyone, "†¦opinion was also whispered that my master was my father† his father figure was a white man ( NLOFD, 1). When Douglass was around the age of six, his grandmother took him to the plantation of his master and left him there. (Bio of FD, 1) He stayed there with his master for about two years then he was relocated around the age of eight where he was sent to Baltimore to live as a houseboy with Hugh and Sophia Auld, relatives of his master. Not long after his arrival his new mistress taught him the alphabet. The lessons soon came to a cease when Hugh said â€Å"learning will spoil the best nigge r in the world† (Foner, 17). When her husband forbade her to continue her instruction, because it was unlawful to teach slaves how to read, Frederick took it upon himself to learn. This marked the turning point when Frederick Douglass started to become a man. Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written to expose the ignorance of slavery, the damaging effects on slaves and slaveholders. Douglass wanted to show the world his story and point of view throughout his journey through slavery. The novel lets the readers feel the cruelty and hardship of Douglass’ life. The narrative goes from his early childhood, to when he escaped to freedom, to his role in the abolitionist movement. When Douglass was a young boy, he witnesses for the first time his aunt, a slave, getting whipped.

Symbolism in August Wilsons Piano Lesson Essay -- August Wilson essay

In The Piano Lesson each central character learns a lesson. August Wilson uses plenty of symbolism throughout his play, the strongest symbol being the piano itself, representing the family's history, their long struggle, and their burden of their race. Throughout the play, the conflict revolves around the piano, and Berniece and Boy Willie's contrasting views about its significance and about what should be done with it. Berniece is ashamed and cannot let go of the past, or the piano, and Boy Willie wants to move his life forward, and use the piano to do so. Wilson portrays the 'lesson' of the piano as accepting and respecting one's past and moving on with one's life gracefully, through Berniece and Boy Willies contrasting actions and the play's climactic resolution. Berniece believes the piano represents the spirits of the past and should be left alone and never bothered, and is afraid to accept or embrace her family?s history. The piano represents a particularly bloody and disturbing past for her. She sees Sutter?s ghost and senses his presence, and is constantly haunted by the thought of the dead spirits coming into her life. She believes the piano stands for the bloodshed in her family?s history, and is ashamed of the violence associated with obtaining it. When encouraged to play the piano, she refuses steadfastly, saying ?that piano?s got blood on it.? She thinks that the spirits in the piano are bad, and is ashamed of the bloodshed they have caused. ?All this killing and thieving,? she exclaims. Berniece also believes the piano has strong sentimental value, and won?t agree to let go of it any way. She remembers how her mother cared so much about it. Berniece says, ?For seventeen years she rubbed on it till her hands bled.... ..., and Boy Willie finally realizes the true power and significance of the piano, the conflict is resolved. Wilson demonstrates how one should accept and respect the past, move on with their life or slow down to pay respects to their family?s history, by describing the struggle over a symbolic object representing the past like the piano. Often people will sulk in the past and struggle with themselves and the people around them when they cannot come to terms with their personal history or a loss. Others will blatantly ignore their personal history and sell valuable lessons and pieces of it for a quick buck to advance their own lives. Berniece and Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson are great examples of these people. Through these contrasting characters and supernatural occurrences, Wilson tells the tale of overcoming and embracing a rough and unsettling family history.

Telecity Group Plc Financal Statement Analysis

Submitted in fulfillment of assignment 1 of Financial and Management Accounting course Telecity Group plc Background Founded in 1998 with the establishing of the first data centre in Manchester, Telecity Group plc is operating a carrier-neutral data centre in Europe to support digital economy. It is a combination of TeleCity Limited, Redbus Interhouse Limited and Globix Holdings (UK) Limited. As a leading provider of data centre services, Telecity Group plc is listed in London Stock Exchange.In the meanwhile, it is is a constituent of the FTSE 250, FTSE techMARK 100 and FTSE4 Good indices. Driven by the rapidly increasing of digital economy, Telecity Group has been targeting to build secure, resilient and highly-connected colocation environments for the IT and telecoms equipment, to which customers can outsource their telecoms, web and IT infrastructures. For this purpose, Telecity Goup has launched the demand-driven data expansion programme, which is expanding its data center capaci ty through Europe.This European-based programme is expected to increase customer power capacity, which will in turn bust company economic of scale. Furthermore, as an Information Technology Company, Telecity Group has been highly relying on high and new technology to attract new customers and increase profits. Thus, much effort has been put into company’s ability to innovate new products and services in terms of data accessibility, security and specialty. Focusing on evaluating the implementation of its growth strategy, this paper will analyse it is financial statement base on the basic financial ratios.Ratios Analysis Introduction This section will evaluate Telecity Group plc’s financial ratios in detail. Other than looking at the past and present performance trends of the Group, this essay will also discover the company’s financial performance in comparison to Datacenter industry overall. Consequently, company management team will be able to determine the shor t term forecast of future performance. Furthermore, the analysis in this section can give guidance to investors by providing data and giving realistic view of Telecity Group’s inancial position and comparison to the industry. Profitability Ratios Given the important role profit plays as financing both dividends to shareholders and retained earnings, it is the main measure of financial performance. Figure 1 Profitability Ratios (GPM- Gross profit margin, OPM- Operational profit margin) As can be seen from figure 2, the gross profit was dramatically increased from 52% to 56 % through year 2010, and there was impressively improvement for year 2011.This can be explained by company’s successfully implementation of its growth strategy. On one side, driven by the high demanding of digital economy, the company has been focusing on increasing earnings by expanding data centre capacity and adopting new technology. On the other hand, along with the growth there is high cost. Howe ver, the even higher revenue growth still made the growth of gross profit margin. Operation profit was slightly decrease in year 2011, which implies high administrative costs in 2011. This is mainly because of a total amount of ? ,510,000 provisions respect of certain leases and the acquisition with Data Electronics and UK Grid, the costs of which were accounted in operational exceptional items in consolidated income statement. Figure 2 Profitability Ratios (PreTPM- Pre-tax profit margin, PostTPM- Post-tax profit margin) The pre-tax profit margin has also significantly improved from near 23. 5 % to about 25 % in 2011. One of reasons of this improvement is the gains on foreign exchange. The most important reason should be the write off of costs incurred on refinancing, which was an ? 00m five-year financing agreement with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS from last year. Unlike PreTMP, post-tax profit margin has dropped impressively to about 17. 6 %. This may be mainly bec ause of the dramatically increment in both current tax and deferred tax. Figure 3 Profitability Ratios (ROCE- Returns on capital employed, ROE- Returns on equity) Figure 3 shows that The Telecity Group’s average ROE is comparable to industry ratio which is 7. 1% up to year 2010. However, in terms of growth, the trend is dramatically going down from 2009, which is despite the fact that both total equity and profit after tax have been improved.However, the growth of profit was not in pace with the equity. In fact, this makes sense when take into account the company’s expansion strategy, which has been being successfully implemented by setting up new data centres across Europe. A big money has been invested in this expansion program, which in turn provided the company high potential turn-over. In general, financial analysts consider return on equity ratios in the 15-20% range as representing attractive levels of investment quality. In this sense, the company’s perf ormance is healthy with regards to efficiency of profitability.ROCE is one of Telecity Group key performance indicator, which is added to evaluate company’s strategy of focusing earnings return from investment. ROCE was decreased during year 2011, which was due to the company’s capacity expansion programme and acquisitions’ effect. Even though, the company’s performance in terms of generating returns is healthy in comparison with industry average rate at about 8%. Liquidity Rations Liquidity ratios are to measure a company's ability to pay off its short-term financial obligations (Atrill and McLaney, 2011).Figure 4 Liquidity Ratios In theory, the higher current ratio is better as it clearly identifies the company’s ability to pay off short debts fund its on-going operations. (Investpedia, 2009) In the case of Telecity Group, its average current ratio shows that the current assets are not able to cover its current liabilities. This is mainly because the company has invested a big money into company’s capacity expansion program and acquisition, which are holding most of company’s capital. However, the average rate is comparable to the industry as a whole at 0. 8. Trade receivable days are healthy between 25 and 40 days over the year from 2009 to 2011, there is even a decrease from 40 days to 35 days in year 2011. This is due to the demanding digital economy market. Financial Gearing Financial gearing happens when business is financed in a way of borrowing (Atrill and McLaney, 2011). The analysis of gearing ratios is to evaluate the business’s level of gearing, which is the key factor of assessing risk. Figure 5 Gearing Rations (D/E- Debts to equity, ND/E- Net debt to equity)Figure 5 shows that gross debt to equity has increased from about 30% to over 60% in year 2011 after a slightly decreasing in year 2010, which indicates Telecity Group is highly geared in 2011. This is because the significantly increase of non-current borrowing for company’s capacity expansion program and the two acquisitions. Net debt to equity is concerned with company cash to repay the borrowings. It has impressively increased to more than 60% as well demonstrating that risk exists at Telecity Group’s failure. Figure 6 Gearing Ratios (IC- Interest covre, NIC- Net interest cover) Interest cover ratio measures the amount of operating profit available to cover interest payable(Atrill and McLaney, 2011)†. As can be seen from figure 6, gross interest cover has fallen from 11 % to 10. 4 % in 2011. In terms of net interest cover which takes into account finance income, the cover ratios were slightly increased. Overall, the figures are showing that Telecity Group has the strong ability to service its debt. Cash flow analysis CFPS is concerned with the company ability of generating cash. Therefore, it is commonly referred by analysts for more accurate measure of a company's financial situation.Figure 7 Cash flow ratios (EPS- Earnings per share) The CFPS has increased from 37 pence in 2009 to 60 pence in 2011. The EPS is averagely higher then CFPS as we would commonly expected. Both EPS and CFPS have increased over the two years. The main reasons for the increase and the difference between CFPS and EP as follows: 1. Movement in foreigner exchange 2. Movement in trade receivables and trade payables 3. Depreciation charge 4. Cost of exceptional items To sum up, the net cash flow from operating activities has significantly improved by 25 % to over ? 120million. Over ? 00 million was spent on investment activities, which include capacity expansion program and acquisition activities. Investment analysis â€Å"Investment ratios are designed to help shareholder to assess the returns on their investment† (Atrill and McLaney, 2011). Earnings per share have risen from 19p to 21p in 2011, which is basically because of the increasing profit margin over the year. Conclusion As can be s een from above, the Telecity Group plc has gone through a stable healthy financial year with regards the implementation of its growth strategy. Telecity Group’s profitability stayed stable and healthy in the near two years.The low profit increment was due to the company’s expansion and acquisition strategy. Given the fact that data centre services is demanding in digital economy, Teleicty Group’s successfully expansion and acquisition will in turn make big returns. Liquidity is poor in terms of ability to cover its current liabilities. However, given the industry ratio being 0. 58, it is comparable healthy in the market. Furthermore, the short trade receivable days imply the high market demands in the data centre industry. Company’s gearing has risen to extremely high level due to its growth strategy.From investor’s perspective, there would be risk of investing in the case of company’s failure. However, take into the consideration of the cha racters of data centre industry, which are demanding the high capacity, connectivity and flexible services, Telecity group are in no way to failure as it has achieved successful implementation of its business across Europe and gained the potential of attracting new contract with exiting as well as new customers. Overall, the Telecity has been seeking the best practise within the data centre industry as a leading provider of premium carrier-neutral data centres.As the result of its successful capacity expansion and acquisitions, the further high turnover is inevitably. Appendix 1 Profitability| Gross Profit Margin| =| Gross Profit/Revenue%| ? | ? | 2009| =| 88,727| /| 169,383| %| =| 52. 4%| 2010| =| 109,773| /| 196,397| %| =| 55. 9%| 2011| =| 134,701| /| 239,818| %| =| 56. 2%| ?| Operating Profit Margin| =| Operating profit/Revenue%| | ? | 2009| ? | 39,102| /| 169,383| %| =| 23. 1%| 2010| =| 55,173| /| 196,397| %| =| 28. 1%| 2011| =| 65,359| /| 239,818| %| =| 27. 3%| ?| Pre-tax profi t Margin| =| Profit before tax/Revenue%| ? | ? | 2009| =| 38120| /| 169,383| %| =| 22. %| 2010| =| 45,941| /| 196,397| %| =| 23. 4%| 2011| =| 59,438| /| 239,818| %| =| 24. 8%| ?| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Post-tax profit Margin| =| Profit after tax/Revenue%? | ? | 2009| =| 34722| /| 169,383| %| =| 20. 5%| 2010| =| 38,031| /| 196,397| %| =| 19. 4%| 2011| =| 42,641| /| 239,818| %| =| 17. 8%| | Return on Capital Employed| =| Operating Profit/Total Capital employed| ? | ? | 2009| =| 39,102| /| (80,467+218,931)| %| =| 13. 1%| 2010| =| 55,173| /| (80654+257,545)| %| =| 16. 3%| 2011| =| 65,359| /| (183,451+298,027)| %| =| 13. 6%| | Return on Equity| =| Profit after Tax| /| Equity| %| ? ? | 2009| =| 34722| /| 218,931| %| =| 15. 9%| 2010| =| 38,031| /| 257,545| %| =| 14. 8%| 2011| =| 42,641| /| 298,027| %| =| 14. 3%| Liquidity| Current Ratio| =| current Assets/Current Liabilities | 2009| =| 51,623| /| 82,961| =| 0. 6 | ? | ? | 2010| =| 46,501| /| 82,474| =| 0. 6 | ? | ? | 2011| =| 48,398| /| 103,283| =| 0. 5 | ? | ? | ?| Trade payable days| =| Trade payables/Cost of Revenue*365| 2009| =| 47,089| /| 80,656| *| 365| =| 213days| 2010| =| 47,085| /| 86,624| *| 365| =| 198days | 2011| =| 57,935| /| 105,117| *| 365| =| 201days | ?| Trade receivable days| =| Trade receivable /Revenue? | 009| =| (19,483-6,975)| /| 169,383| *| 365| =| 27days| 2010| =| (22,139-746)| /| 196,397| *| 365| =| 40days| 2011| =| (26,365-3,560)| /| 239,818| *| 365| =| 35days| Gearing| Debt to equity| =| Non-current borrowings/Equity%| 2009| =| 80,467| /| 218,931| %| =| 36. 8%| 2010| =| 80,654| /| 257,545| %| =| 31. 3%| 2011| =| 183,451| /| 298,027| %| =| 61. 6%| ?| Net debt to equity| =| Borrowings less cash/Total Equity%? | 2009| =| (80,467-32,140)| /| 218,931| %| =| 22. 1%| 2010| =| (80,654-24,362)| /| 257,545| %| =| 21. 9%| 2011| =| (183,451-22,033)| /| 298,027| %| =| 54. 2%| | Interest Cover| =| Operating profit/Interest expense ? 2009| =| 39,102| /| 3788| =| 10. 3| ? | 2010| =| 55,173| /| 5,017| =| 11| ? | 2011| =| 65,359| /| 6,300| =| 10. 4| ? | ?| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Net Interest cover| =| Operating profit/Net Interest expense| *Net interest expense=Finance expense-interest? | 2009| =| 39,102| /| (3788-117)| =| 10. 7| ? | 2010| =| 55,173| /| (5017-11)| =| 11. 0 | ? | 2011| ? | 65,359| /| (6300-103)| =| 10. 5 | ? | Cash Flow| Cash flow per share| =| Net cash flow from operating activities/Number of equity share issued| 2009| =| 74,017| /| 198,092| =| 0. 37365| =| 37. 4p| 2010| =| 96,380| /| 198,092| =| 0. 86542| =| 48. 7p| 2011| =| 120,554| /| 198,892| =| 0. 606128| =| 60. 6p| Investment| Earnings Per Share| ? | ? | 2010| =| 19. 0p| 2011| =| 21. 1p| References Atrill, P. and McLaney,P. (2011) Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists. 7th. ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Telecity Group plc Annual report and accounts 2011 Data centres at the heart of the digital economy, 2011 TelecityGroup. Telecity Group plc Annual report and accounts 2010 Data centres at t he heart of the digital economy, 2010 TelecityGroup. http://www. investopedia. com/terms/c/currentratio. asp, Investopedia.

New Urbanism

{text:change} {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} New Urbanism New Urbanism is a relatively recent architectural and social design principle to leave its mark {text:change} {text:change} on United States society. Many past contributing factors present in society {text:change} {text:change} have lead some Americans {text:change} {text:change} to call {text:change} {text:change} for the implementation of a New Urbanism way of life in recent years. After defining and {text:change} discussing exactly what New Urbanism is, I will {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} delve deeper into the movement in an attempt to uncover {text:change} {text:change} what this new movement is a response to. This, in turn, will help to identify some of the problems current suburbs face today. As defined by scholars, the term â€Å"New Urbanism† refers to â€Å"an intellectual movement of architects and planners that is opposed to the normative growth patterns of our society† (Gottdiener and Budd 96). Simply defined, one can think of the New Urbanism way of life as a rebellion against the way society has expanded into vast suburbs. New Urbanists do not like the concept of an automobile based suburbia. They believe that their neighborhoods should be small, taking no more time than five minutes to reach the neighborhood center {text:change} {text:change} from the boundaries of the neighborhood (Gottdiener and Budd 96). In addition, New {text:change} Urbanists believe that their societies should have a diverse selection of shops, parks, schools, and churches easily accessible to all (without an automobile) (Gottdiener and Budd 96). New Urbanists want to return to the way cities were {text:change} before American society was forever changed by the invention of the automobile. In order to achieve this objective {text:change} {text:change} , sidewalks and public transportation must connect dwellings with businesses, {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} thereby eliminating the need for daily use of the automobile as the essential means of transportation. Now that we {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} have an understanding {text:change} {text:change} of exactly what New Urbanism is, it is natural to question what led its early adopters in the 1980s to create or look favorably upon its implementation The {text:change} {text:change} roots of the New Urbanism movement can be traced back to the period after World War II and possibly earlier. When the automobile transitioned more from an idea {text:change} to large -scale roduction in the early 1900s, little did anybody know the widespread impact a simple transportation mechanism would have on American society. Life, as it was known then, would never be the same. Before the invention of the automobile, cities in America existed much like the neighborhood communities that {text:change} the New Urbanism movement hopes to bring back . {text:change} {text:change} As the number {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} of automobiles in society life increased, {text:change} the need for close proximity of necessary businesses and workplaces to the automobile owning family decreased . As Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk stated in their 1993 article regarding New Urbanism, â€Å"the suburbs and cities of today continue to separate the naturally integrated human activities of dwelling, working, shopping, schooling, worshiping, and recreating† (Duany and Plater-Zyberk 196). The automobile has helped to separate these critical establishments from the American household. The {text:change} authors infer that the increased importance of the automobile has led to an exponential rising of the amount of funding for {text:change} roadwork {text:change} while the amount of funding for civic programs has been reduced. Civic programs are crucial to the American society, economy, and environment (Duany and Plater-Zyberk 196). Such a shift towards increased emphasis on funding road {text:change} {text:change} work can be seen in the recent Economic Stimulus Bill passed by Congress and the President. Over $130 billion will be spent on the improvement and building of roads and bridges, which further highlight the relative importance of {text:change} {text:change} the automobile in American society. The other main {text:change} factor that lead to {text:change} {text:change} the birth of {text:change} {text:change} the New Urbanism movement is the suburban sprawl that accompanied the end of World War II. Sprawl, as defined by M. Gottdiener and Leslie Budd, is the â€Å"’haphazard growth’ of relative low density over an extended region, with residential units dominated by {text:change} single-family homes† (Gottdiener and Budd 145). Simply stated {text:change} {text:change} , sprawl is the exodus of citizens from the city into the outlying areas. Sprawl has lead to the creation {text:change} {text:change} of residential areas without much, if any, planning. This lack of planning usually results in the {text:change} {text:change} essential components of a {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} neighborhood being located far from the residential areas. Urban {text:change} {text:change} sprawl can have a tremendous {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} negative {text:change} {text:change} impact on the city neighborhoods that are left behind when citizens move to the suburbs. The {text:change} article entitled â€Å"From Institutional to Jobless Ghettos† by William Julius Wilson highlights this key point when referencing a quote from Loic Wacquant, a member of the Urban Poverty and Family Life Study. Wacquant said that â€Å"residents remember a time, not so long ago, when crowds were so dense at rush hour that one had to elbow one’s way to the train station – now have the appearance of an empty, bom bed-out war zone† when referencing the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago (Wilson 112). This effect is something that the New Urbanism movement is {text:change} {text:change} trying to correct. By {text:change} {text:change} attempting to counteract the effects of sprawl on society, suburban residential neighborhoods can be planned into New Urbanistic neighborhoods. Many city planners and architects have already attempted to do this. Some of the most famous New Urbanistic societies are the towns of Celebration, Florida and Seaside, Florida. text:change} {text:change} It is important to remember that just because architects and planners build a New Urbanistic neighborhood, that doesn’t necessarily mean {text:change} that, the residents of that neighborhood will live in the New Urbanistic way. For example, in Celebration, Florida there has not been an increase in sociability amongst {text:change} {text:change} strangers {text:change} {text:change} despite the fact that the dwellings have porches (Gottdiener and Budd 97). Gottdiener and Budd then go on to infer that just because you place suburbanites in a New Urbanistic society, that doesn’t mean that the residents will drop their suburban-like tendencies (Gottdiener and Budd 97). New Urbanism is a fairly new ideology that is opposed to the way in which society has grown during the past century. The underlying causes behind the formation of the New Urbanism movement can be traced back to the invention of the automobile and the pattern of urban sprawl that took place in most, if not all, major cities around the country shortly after World War II. New Urbanism strives {text:change} {text:change} for a societal efficiency that increases social networks while decreasing the idea {text:change} {text:change} of spreading out the neighborhood. Although New Urbanism seeks to address the problems caused by this urban {text:change} {text:change} sprawl growth pattern through architecture, it will likely take more than a different architectural design to change the long ingrained {text:change} {text:change} mindset of the automobile driven suburban citizen. text:change} {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} Works Cited Duany, Andres and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. â€Å"The Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor. † The City Reader. 4thEd. Richard T. LeGates and Fredric Stout. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print. Gottdiener, M. , and Leslie Budd. Key Concepts in Urban Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc, 2005. Print. Wilson, William Julius. â€Å"From Institutional to Jobless Ghettos. † The City Reade r. 4th Ed. Richard T. LeGates and Fredric Stout. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print. New Urbanism Is New Urbanism really important in the development of our society or community? This question may come across to each individual who pays attention and concern to the progress of our society. According to a website name Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia it stated that â€Å"new urbanism† is an urban design movement whose popularity increased in the 1980s and early 1990s. Its goal is to bring change in all aspects of real estate development and urban planning.There are many reasons why new urbanism is significant. According to Jacky Grimshaw on his website, it advocates the importance of new urbanism. It stated that new urbanism is important because it gives real choices for people just like transportation, location where to live and access to opportunity.New urbanist shows support to regional planning for open space, appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. As we all know that United States was developed in the form of compact, m ixed-used neighborhoods in the first quarter of the 20th century. A new system of development was imposed through out the nation, replacing neighborhoods with a rigorous separation of uses which was popularly known as suburban development or sprawl and was happened after the World War II. Most of the US citizens adopted the suburban or sprawl.Suburban development carries a significant price even though for a fact that it has been known. In spite of the slow population growth of the countryside, the conventional suburban development spreads out to consume large areas of countryside (See New Urbanism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_urbanism#Background).*Sprawl and its Related Problems*Urban renewal has played a significant role in cities worldwide such as Saint John, New Brunswick, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Glasgow, Scotland and Bilbao, Spain, Canary Wharf, in London and Cardiff Bay in Cardiff. It has had a great impact on the urban landscape and still present until to this ver y day. Urban renewal or new urbanism is controversial because it suggests the use of eminent domain law force reclaiming private property for civic projects (See Urban Renewal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_renewal).New urbanism is a reaction to sprawl (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia). Sprawl was defined as the process in which the spread of development across the landscape far outpaces population growth. The landscape sprawl makes four dimensions and these are:* A population that is widely dispersed in low density development* Rigidly separated homes, shops, and workplaces* A network of roads marked by huge blocks and poor access* And a lack of well-defined, thriving activity centers, such as town centers and downtowns.1People live in more sprawl regions tend to drive greater distances, breathe more polluted air, own more cars, face greater risk of traffic fatalities and walk and use transit less.2In United States, most of the Americans who live in the metropolitan live in a mon o-detached homes and commute to work by automobile.3 But there is one state in United States which is considered as America’s sole urban center where important fraction of the population lives in apartment, works downtown and commutes by public transit and this state is New York.4Even new urbanism has helped in developing our way of life; new urbanism has drawn criticism from all quarters of the political spectrum. Some environmentalists criticize new urbanism as nothing more than sprawl dressed up with superficial stylistic cues.5 These critics of new urbanism often charge it of elevating aesthetic over practicality, subordinating good city planning principles to urban design dogma.6In addition, according to Matthew E. Khan (March 2006) that sprawl’s critiques often argue that suburbanization may offer private benefits but that it imposes social costs. This â€Å"cost of sprawl† literature posits that there are many unintended consequences of the pursuit of the â€Å"American Dream† that range from increased traffic congestion, urban air pollution, greenhouse gas revenues, and denying the urban poor access to employment opportunities (See The Benefits of Sprawl. http://greeneconomics.blogspot.com/2006/03/benefits-of-sprawl.html).  In a research made by Anthony Downs (August 1999), he mentioned that many  urban economists think these growth-related problems as caused mainly by â€Å"market failures† which means failing to charge people who benefit from sprawl the true costs of the decisions they make that contribute to sprawl. He also added that it â€Å"under-prices† those decisions and encourages over-expansion into low-density settlements. He sets three examples and these are:* failing to charge commuters a money toll for driving during peak hours to offset the time-loss burdens they impose on others in the form of congestion.* failing to charge residents of low-density suburbs the full social costs of removing land from open space and agricultural uses.* failing to charge high enough land costs for new low-density peripheral subdivisions to take account of the real costs of adding the infrastructures required to service those subdivisions (See Some Realities About Sprawl and Urban Decline. www.anthonydowns.com/sprawlrealities.PDF).But the economists were able to make a proposal how to solve the â€Å"market failures† and these are:* Peak-hour road tolls on major commuting arteries.* A development tax on land converted from agricultural to urban uses.* Impact fees on all new developments. (See www.anthonydowns.com/sprawlrealities.PDF).Below is the most sprawling, residential density made by Reid Ewing, Rolf Pendall and Don Chen (See http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/sprawlindex/MeasuringSprawl.PDF).Centeredness Score RankVallejo-Fairfield-Napa, CA PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   40.9  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1Riverside-San Bernardino, CA PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   41.4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   51.9  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach- FL MSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   53.9  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4Oxnard-Ventura, CA PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   55.5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5Oakland, CA PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   57.6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6Gary-Hammond, IN PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   61.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7Detroit, MI PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   63.0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   8Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC MSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   69.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   9Anaheim-Santa Ana, CA PMSA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   72.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10I think there is nothing wrong if we embrace sprawl or new urbanism concept because it helps to develop our country especially when it comes to our country’s facilities even there are related-problems arise. But taking those steps goes with responsibilities. Each individual and our government must know how to h andle related-problems and find its remedies related to sprawl.References1. Reid Ewing, Rolf Pendall, and Don Chen. Measuring Sprawl and its impact. http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/sprawlindex/MeasuringSprawl.PDF.2.   New Urbanism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_urbanism3. Matthew Khan. The Benefits of Sprawl. Tufts University, March 2006. http://greeneconomics.blogspot.com/2006/03/benefits-of-sprawl.html.4. Anthony Downs. Some Realities about Sprawl and Urban Decline. http://www.anthonydowns.com/sprawlrealities.PDF. New Urbanism {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} New Urbanism New Urbanism is a relatively recent architectural and social design principle to leave its mark {text:change} {text:change} on United States society. Many past contributing factors present in society {text:change} {text:change} have lead some Americans {text:change} {text:change} to call {text:change} {text:change} for the implementation of a New Urbanism way of life in recent years. After defining and {text:change} discussing exactly what New Urbanism is, I will {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} delve deeper into the movement in an attempt to uncover {text:change} {text:change} what this new movement is a response to. This, in turn, will help to identify some of the problems current suburbs face today. As defined by scholars, the term â€Å"New Urbanism† refers to â€Å"an intellectual movement of architects and planners that is opposed to the normative growth patterns of our society† (Gottdiener and Budd 96). Simply defined, one can think of the New Urbanism way of life as a rebellion against the way society has expanded into vast suburbs. New Urbanists do not like the concept of an automobile based suburbia. They believe that their neighborhoods should be small, taking no more time than five minutes to reach the neighborhood center {text:change} {text:change} from the boundaries of the neighborhood (Gottdiener and Budd 96). In addition, New {text:change} Urbanists believe that their societies should have a diverse selection of shops, parks, schools, and churches easily accessible to all (without an automobile) (Gottdiener and Budd 96). New Urbanists want to return to the way cities were {text:change} before American society was forever changed by the invention of the automobile. In order to achieve this objective {text:change} {text:change} , sidewalks and public transportation must connect dwellings with businesses, {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} thereby eliminating the need for daily use of the automobile as the essential means of transportation. Now that we {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} have an understanding {text:change} {text:change} of exactly what New Urbanism is, it is natural to question what led its early adopters in the 1980s to create or look favorably upon its implementation The {text:change} {text:change} roots of the New Urbanism movement can be traced back to the period after World War II and possibly earlier. When the automobile transitioned more from an idea {text:change} to large -scale roduction in the early 1900s, little did anybody know the widespread impact a simple transportation mechanism would have on American society. Life, as it was known then, would never be the same. Before the invention of the automobile, cities in America existed much like the neighborhood communities that {text:change} the New Urbanism movement hopes to bring back . {text:change} {text:change} As the number {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} of automobiles in society life increased, {text:change} the need for close proximity of necessary businesses and workplaces to the automobile owning family decreased . As Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk stated in their 1993 article regarding New Urbanism, â€Å"the suburbs and cities of today continue to separate the naturally integrated human activities of dwelling, working, shopping, schooling, worshiping, and recreating† (Duany and Plater-Zyberk 196). The automobile has helped to separate these critical establishments from the American household. The {text:change} authors infer that the increased importance of the automobile has led to an exponential rising of the amount of funding for {text:change} roadwork {text:change} while the amount of funding for civic programs has been reduced. Civic programs are crucial to the American society, economy, and environment (Duany and Plater-Zyberk 196). Such a shift towards increased emphasis on funding road {text:change} {text:change} work can be seen in the recent Economic Stimulus Bill passed by Congress and the President. Over $130 billion will be spent on the improvement and building of roads and bridges, which further highlight the relative importance of {text:change} {text:change} the automobile in American society. The other main {text:change} factor that lead to {text:change} {text:change} the birth of {text:change} {text:change} the New Urbanism movement is the suburban sprawl that accompanied the end of World War II. Sprawl, as defined by M. Gottdiener and Leslie Budd, is the â€Å"’haphazard growth’ of relative low density over an extended region, with residential units dominated by {text:change} single-family homes† (Gottdiener and Budd 145). Simply stated {text:change} {text:change} , sprawl is the exodus of citizens from the city into the outlying areas. Sprawl has lead to the creation {text:change} {text:change} of residential areas without much, if any, planning. This lack of planning usually results in the {text:change} {text:change} essential components of a {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} neighborhood being located far from the residential areas. Urban {text:change} {text:change} sprawl can have a tremendous {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} negative {text:change} {text:change} impact on the city neighborhoods that are left behind when citizens move to the suburbs. The {text:change} article entitled â€Å"From Institutional to Jobless Ghettos† by William Julius Wilson highlights this key point when referencing a quote from Loic Wacquant, a member of the Urban Poverty and Family Life Study. Wacquant said that â€Å"residents remember a time, not so long ago, when crowds were so dense at rush hour that one had to elbow one’s way to the train station – now have the appearance of an empty, bom bed-out war zone† when referencing the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago (Wilson 112). This effect is something that the New Urbanism movement is {text:change} {text:change} trying to correct. By {text:change} {text:change} attempting to counteract the effects of sprawl on society, suburban residential neighborhoods can be planned into New Urbanistic neighborhoods. Many city planners and architects have already attempted to do this. Some of the most famous New Urbanistic societies are the towns of Celebration, Florida and Seaside, Florida. text:change} {text:change} It is important to remember that just because architects and planners build a New Urbanistic neighborhood, that doesn’t necessarily mean {text:change} that, the residents of that neighborhood will live in the New Urbanistic way. For example, in Celebration, Florida there has not been an increase in sociability amongst {text:change} {text:change} strangers {text:change} {text:change} despite the fact that the dwellings have porches (Gottdiener and Budd 97). Gottdiener and Budd then go on to infer that just because you place suburbanites in a New Urbanistic society, that doesn’t mean that the residents will drop their suburban-like tendencies (Gottdiener and Budd 97). New Urbanism is a fairly new ideology that is opposed to the way in which society has grown during the past century. The underlying causes behind the formation of the New Urbanism movement can be traced back to the invention of the automobile and the pattern of urban sprawl that took place in most, if not all, major cities around the country shortly after World War II. New Urbanism strives {text:change} {text:change} for a societal efficiency that increases social networks while decreasing the idea {text:change} {text:change} of spreading out the neighborhood. Although New Urbanism seeks to address the problems caused by this urban {text:change} {text:change} sprawl growth pattern through architecture, it will likely take more than a different architectural design to change the long ingrained {text:change} {text:change} mindset of the automobile driven suburban citizen. text:change} {text:change} {text:change} {text:change} Works Cited Duany, Andres and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. â€Å"The Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor. † The City Reader. 4thEd. Richard T. LeGates and Fredric Stout. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print. Gottdiener, M. , and Leslie Budd. Key Concepts in Urban Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc, 2005. Print. Wilson, William Julius. â€Å"From Institutional to Jobless Ghettos. † The City Reade r. 4th Ed. Richard T. LeGates and Fredric Stout. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print.