Provision Of Services In The Financial Sector Essay - 7

Provision Of Services In The Financial Sector - Essay Example Most of these adults are located in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The mobile phone device is also changing the provision of services in the financial sector. The cell phones are regarded as cost-effective. The improvement in the technology sector has enabled the use of cell phones in the financial sector. The poor individuals in the society manage a wide range of financial instruments. In most cases, the microfinance sector has several requirements including insurance coverage, loans for emergency needs, pensions and microenterprise loans among others (Dommel 13). The financial sector should address the constrictions entailed in the financial service providers in order to reduce the poverty rates in most regions. This is because most individuals will be supported to invest and also save their money for future use. For instance, the financial service providers should be able to increase access to remittances in the rural areas. They should also consider providing enhancing savings groups and increasing branchless banking.

Bureaucracy and administration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bureaucracy and administration - Assignment Example Woodrow Wilson, the founder of the American public administration was a public bureaucrat who stated that the English have studied well the art of doing away with executive powers. This motivated the Native Americans and the English to set their governing tones. According to Henry (118), the English and the Indians motivation for bureaucracy were as the result of the satisfaction they got for working for the public and serving the society to bind them closer. Hamilton is another public bureaucrat as well as one of the first public administrators who worked as the treasurer of the bureaucratic system. He was interested in administrative apparatus and contemplated to make investigations of the science and history of civil government. According to Henry, â€Å"Hamilton displayed a strong interest in understanding the administrative apparatus of the state†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.9). He was determined to write a book on public administration that would make modifications which would give humank ind freedom and happiness. He believed that heads should be well paid as they had more power than those who appointed them and the congress to his recommendations. According to Henry (116), Hamilton’s motivation was to make a difference to society. To him, doing good to the public was far more important than doing well for one self. Another motivator was his personal characteristics. Hamilton had the energy and strong interest to understand administration in different perspective and convince people on importance of bureaucracy to the society. He also argued that money does not necessary make the world go round but the happiness of the public and their freedom is what should matter most in public administration. The behavioral bureaucratic proposition dictates that organizational people differ in various ways (Henry 117). There is the administrative man who is defined by rationality, emotional needs and tricks. Economists use models to be able to understand the changes in eco nomy with the change in behavior of men and their activities. Rational men are motivated by their own self interest like making massive profits and will use all resources available to fulfill that. Administrative men understand the behavior of the organization as well as the mission and their interest to the society. According to Henry, â€Å"Administrative man has all the unique idiosyncrasies, blind spots, and limited power of psychological man, but, like economic man, also understands the mission and behavior of the organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.117) Henry (118) also explains unsatisfied bureaucrats who are not impressed by the work they do and demand variation of themes from public administrators. A fraction of the public demand to have job satisfaction, including the people who do not have the intelligence to manage the moods of others as well as not having the ability to comprehend what is required in their jobs. Their motivation, according to Henry (119), is the federal sati sfaction which stated that majority of employees were satisfied with their jobs and the left percentage would be rewarded with jobs that met their satisfaction as long the changes did not have negative effects to the organization. According to Henry (119), there are also the frustrated bureaucrats who do not appreciate the way they are treated in their organization. They

CHILDREN OF MEN LONG TAKES

CHILDREN OF MEN LONG TAKES Children of Men is a 2006  British  dystopian science fiction film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarà ³n. The film was based on future; 2027, and how no child had been born in any part of the world for eighteen years. The world had descended in disorder, with most of the governments in the world being collapsed (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). That left United Kingdom as one of the only remaining organized society. As a result millions of refugees entered United Kingdom to seek asylum but Britain had become a militarized police state. Due to which the army forcefully detained all illegal immigrants and suspected supporters. A long take is known as plan- sà ©quence or sequence shot in French. It is basically a shot that is not interrupted with any cuts. It lasts longer than the conventional time of a shot or editing pace and is a strong creative tool in the world of movie making. The camera keeps on moving, rotates, goes over the shoulders, change its position but without stopping the camera or shooting for even a second. It is usually used to create a dramatic and narrative effect or emphasize on a particular scene to capture attention. It is not possible to shoot a feature- length movie in one take because a 35mm camera reel typically runs for only eleven minutes whereas an extended 16mm reels of the tape can run up to thirty minutes. Although with digital video, it is possible to shoot for over two hours on a single tape (Bordwell, Thompson, Film Art- an Introduction); for example in the movie Russian Ark by Alexander Sokurov. He was able to manage a ninety- six minutes film in a long take. It is obvious that a long take requires much more hard work compared to short takes or cuts because while shooting a long take, there are no rooms for mistakes. If anything goes wrong, the entire scene would have to be shot all over again from the beginning and so on. So the scenes have to be perfectly choreographed and performed by the characters. Luckily, the director of the movie; Alfonso Cuarà ³n is highly known for carrying out long takes and manipulating the footage into smooth long takes. Before Children of men, he had performed successful long takes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Y tu mamà ¡ tambià ©n. Even though the movie Children of Men consists of heavy editing and short shots but some highlighting scenes are done in extraordinary long takes. This allowed the director to carry out certain aspects of narrative or non- narrative form with the different stylistic options. Mixing long and short shots also creates parallels and contrasts among scenes (Bordwell, Thompson, Film Art- an Introduction). Making the viewers visualize the state of the world and condition they were living in due to lack of peace and infertility amongst women. The film Children of Men features numerous long takes but with four striking major ones. In the first one which was at the very beginning of the movie, a bomb blast happened right after Theo came out of a cafà ©. In that long take the director was able to achieve in showing the viewer pretty much what the movie was going to be about. For instance beginning from the bomb blast and then slowly drifting the attention towards the streets. The cars were old and damaged; regardless of being the future technology had reversed, instead of moving forward it had either stopped or was being extinct. In that long take the director was able to capture many events that made perfect sense to the viewer. For example the cars passing by, suddenly a bomb blast happens, everything near the blast gets destroyed, screams of the wounded and the people nearby could be heard. In the second long take scene it was shown that five people which included the refugees who were a part of an underground resistance group advocating  equal rights  for all immigrants in Great Britain called Fishes were in a car, heading towards their hideaways along with their leader Julian and her separated husband Theo; an activist turned apathetic bureaucrat. That car scene recaptures ones concentration and makes it almost impossible to figure out the cameras position. It is astonishing how skillfully the camera angles and positions have been choreographed without the scene seeming formless. Some shots are being taken from where Julian is sitting and then from the back, from the side, from the top, front etc. It looked as though the actors were making the video themselves. It is almost unbelievable with the camera moving to all sorts of radical perspectives; the actors are giving out marvelous performances along with the chaos. For example the ping pong ball scene seemed too good to be real, that how can two people actually do that so accurately without a cut? After which, out of the corner of an eye, a flaming car appeared, as soon as the driver hits reverse refugees and other madmen come out of the woods with sticks and start attacking the car. In all the confusion a motorbike appears with a gun and shoots Julian. Without a cut maintaining continuity, suddenly Julian was covered with blood all over, which gave the viewer a jaw dropping outcome. The car that they were driving was completely modified in reality; the seats were able to tilt and lower the actors out of the way of the camera. The windshield was designed to tilt to support the camera movement in and out through the windscreen (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Whereas in Alfred Hitchcocks movie Rope, to shoot the long takes, furniture was continuously being moved and modified and then put back to where it was by the spot boys so that the cameras and camera men could move easily. Though similar to Children of Men, instead of the car windshield, the walls in Rope were able to glide and were mobile also to accommodate the camera movements. After experiencing the first two long takes, the viewer holds their breath as soon as the next long take comes, expecting something terrible or thrilling to happen. The director didnt let the viewers down and performed a truly heart wrecking scene. It was the scene in which Kee gives birth to a child. One can swear that the girl gave birth in real life, exposing a bit of her flesh in between her legs, a real crying new born baby with its cord still attached, covered in blood escapes the mothers womb into the hands of Theo. It was truly a beautiful scene, beautifully conducted and accomplished. However the last major long take scene felt as though a nightmare had been ripped out of your own head and put on the screen. And what made it more unbearable and tear-jerking was the way it had been shot in a long take of about six minutes. The way camera followed Theo and Kee in the scene in which a major war was happening. Continuous bomb blasts and open fires in between the UKs army and the refugees were going on, people kept on falling and dying, without any cut in the shot the blood sprang from the wounded bodies. In just one scene so much was going on without narration. The director was able to capture more than one outstanding performance. We could see Luke taking away Kee on a wheel chair and at the same moment the other members of fishes were about to kill Theo and his helpers. Due to the long takes used, it was impossible for the viewer to lose interest in the film as something extraordinary, unexpected or shocking always happened. Throughout the long takes the fluidity of the camera movement from one camera angle to the next enabled the viewer to get a closer look, perhaps an inside look, into the world the characters were living in and really felt the threats and dangers that they were in at that moment. WORKS CITED 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     (Bordwell, Thompson, Film Art- An Introduction, 209) 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     (Bordwell, Thompson, Film Art- An Introduction, 209)

Mother Courage: The Hole In The Cheese :: essays research papers

Mother Courage contains a quote that pulls the entire play together so innocuously; it's hard to believe that Brecht originally intended it to be so symbolic. Yet, there it is, in scene six, the chaplain rhetorically asks, "What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?" This line operates on the three essential layers of the play: the level of the character, of the playwright (plot), and of the audience. On "face" value, this line is said about peace. The chaplain believes that the image of peace as the norm and war as an abnormal event is backward. He sees war as the standard occurrence (the cheese) and peace as merely an interim incidence (the holes in the cheese). Thus peace is nothing without a backdrop of war upon it; a hole is only a hole - it contains nothing. The substance of life is war.But the chaplain's line wouldn't be as significant if it didn't have a more global meaning. In the light of the plot, "What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?" is a question that Mother Courage should ask and apply to herself. Clearly the cheese is Swiss Cheese specifically, and more generally all of her children. Mother Courage only thinks about a certain part of her children - their use to her in her business. She has an odd sort of motherly care for her children; abstractly, she has affection for them, but it's only abstract. The only concrete feelings she expresses toward her children is that they should listen and depend on her; as long as they stay and work with her, she will keep them safe. But she can't understand that their identities are so crucially different than the tiny roles she has given them in her life. She only sees the hole, but her children are real people with real ambitions. Swiss Cheese has such a desire to be honest and useful, but she only sees a simpleton. Kattrin can't voice her feelings, but it's clear that she's a strong woman like her mother, and yet Mother Courage slams her (unintentionally) in every interaction they have. Kattrin is treated like an unwanted wage slave. Mother Courage cannot see the substance of her children, and when it is lost, cannot find what she thought they were because her reality was a hole. Their use to her was a hole framed in substance, and when the substance is lost, the hole is exposed to never have existed.

Apush Paper (It’s Fail)

James Jun Pribaz APUSH 5 13 February 2013 Frontier Thesis- Summary, Agreement, and Why â€Å"The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development. † In this article, Frederick Jackson Turner believes that, in relation to his frontier thesis, the history of the United States is most influenced mainly by how Americans had assimilated the West into the culture they held.The frontier, in Turner’s stance, was where settlers had restarted civilization as a whole and begun to redevelop the conditions present further east in the United States. By doing so, the frontier is classified as being the most rapidly Americanized area in the whole nation; however, the frontier also influenced the culture of the United States by promoting individualism, American ingenuity, and a restless amount of energy. Additionally supporting his argument, Turner also pointed out the dangers of having no frontier. Turner began to question the possible outcomes from the dissipation of the frontier.Historians, on the other hand, took up a different view on the frontier and its effect on American culture. The historians believed that, instead of the frontier, other factors had influenced the history of the United States, such as slavery, the Civil War, capitalism, and slavery. Furthermore, they hotly contested Turner’s claim of â€Å"free land. † The historians declared that the land, which was inhabited by the Indians, was in all actuality not free at all as countless wars had been fought for this land, resulting in many deaths.The historians also challenged Turner’s thesis by stating how communities, corporations, and even the federal government had allowed the inhabitation of the West, instead of individualism. Therefore, Turner’s thesis and the thoughts of the historians contrasted sharply; however, both sides acquiesced to the idea that the West had influenced u s to some extent. I disagree with the â€Å"frontier thesis† that Frederick Jackson Turner had claimed was true.Instead of the frontier influencing the history of the United States, I agree with the historians that many other factors had played a role in molding how the nation progressed. Events like slavery, the Civil War, capitalism, the railroad, immigration, and numerous inventions all had significant impacts on how American culture came to be. Turner also emphasized how the land was free on the frontier which could clearly and concisely explain the development of the nation. In contrast, I believe that the land in the west was free in thought, but not free in reality.As more and more settlers poured to the west after the Homestead Act, it became rather evident that the West offered little to no prosperity. The weather was dreadful, life was relatively isolated as most western settlers were farmers, and the soil was inhospitable to crops. Therefore, I diverge on the stanc e that Turner advocated for, which stated that the frontier had mainly impacted American history, and hold that countless other factors had played a great part in America’s development, not just one particular one.

Particle Accelerators

What are particle accelerators used for? A particle accelerator is a device that uses electric fields to propel electrically charged particles in a vacuum, which approach the speed of light, towards each other and collide. The result hopefully being that the kinetic energy in the particles and other energy converted into subatomic particles or various types of nuclear radiation. There is more than one type of particle accelerator; they come in two basic types: †¢Linear †¢Circular Linear Accelerators The linear accelerator, or linac, uses microwave technology to accelerate electrons in a part of the accelerator called the â€Å"wave guide†. Particles pass through a line of hollow metal tubes enclosed in an evacuated cylinder. Within a hollow conductor there is no electric field so a charged particle travels at constant speed inside each of the tubes. Between one tube and the next there is a potential difference which varies in size and direction as an AC voltage is applied to the series of tubes. Bunches of charged particles are accelerated from tube to tube, moving with the voltage wave as it travels along the linac. The largest linac in the world, at Stanford University, is 3. 2km long. It is capable of accelerating electrons to an energy of 50 GeV. Stanford’s linac is designed to collide two beams of particles, accelerated in turn by the linac and temporarily kept in storage rings. The two most important problems in the linac design are the accelerator cell voltage flatness and the transverse mode impedance of the cell. Disadvantages †¢The device length limits the locations where one may be placed. †¢A great number of driver devices and their associated power supplies is required, increasing the construction and maintenance expense of this portion. If the walls of the accelerating cavities are made of normally conducting material and the accelerating fields are large, the wall resistivity converts electric energy into heat quickly. On the other hand superconductors have various limits and are too expensive for very large accelerators. Cyclotron The cyclotron was the first circular accelerator. A cyclotron is somewhat like a linac wrapped into a tig ht spiral. Instead of many tubes, the machine has only two hollow vacuum chambers, called dees, that are shaped like capital letter Ds back to back. A magnetic field, produced by a powerful electromagnet, keeps the particles moving in a curved path. The potential difference between the dees constantly alternates in direction, so that every time the particles reach the gap they experience a forward acceleration. Within each dee the particles travel at constant speed during each half-revolution. As the particles gain energy, they spiral out towards the edge of the accelerator, where finally they exit. Advantages of the Cyclotron †¢Cyclotrons have a single electrical driver, which saves both money and power, since more expense may be allocated to increasing efficiency. Cyclotrons produce a continuous stream of particle pulses at the target, so the average power is relatively high. †¢The compactness of the device reduces other costs, such as its foundations, radiation shielding, and the enclosing building. The world’s most powerful cyclotron, the K1200, is capable of accelerating nuclei to an energy approaching 8 GeV . Synchrotron The synchrotron is the most recent and most powerful member of the accelerator family. It consists of a tube in the shape of a large ring through which the particles travel; the tube is surrounded by magnets that keep the particles moving along the centre of the tube. The particles enter the tube after already having been accelerated to several million electron volts. They are accelerated at one or more points on the ring each time they make a complete circle around the accelerator. To keep the particles in a rigid orbit, the strengths of the magnets in the ring are increased as the particles gain energy. In a few seconds, the particles reach energies greater than 1 GeV and are ejected, either directly into experiments or towards targets that produce a variety of elementary particles when struck by the accelerated particles. The synchrotron principle can be applied to either protons or electrons, although most of the large machines are proton-synchrotrons. Differences between Cyclotron and Synchrotron †¢Synchrotron has a single ring unlike the cyclotron which has two. †¢Synchrotron is surrounded by magnets, cyclotron has two magnets in all. †¢Synchrotron accelerates the particles at one or more places as opposed to cyclotron which accelerates the particle with the potential difference between the two dees. †¢Synchrotron is much cheaper way to achieve high energy particles than the cyclotron and therefore the original cyclotron method is no longer used. Particle Detectors Particle Detectors are instruments used to detect and study fundamental subatomic particles and are one of the most important pieces of equipment in the particle accelerator. The particle detector sees the particles and the radiation after the collision created by a particle accelerator. Geiger Counter A â€Å"Geiger counter† usually contains a metal tube with a thin metal wire along its middle, the space in between them sealed off and filled with a suitable gas, and with the wire at about +1000 volts relative to the tube. It measures ionizing radiation, and detects photons, alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, but not neutrons. An ion or electron penetrating the tube tears electrons off atoms in the gas, and because of the high positive voltage of the central wire, those electrons are then attracted to it. In doing so they gain energy, collide with atoms and release more electrons, until the process snowballs into an â€Å"avalanche† which produces an easily detectable pulse of current. With a suitable filling gas, the flow of electricity stops by itself, or else the electrical circuitry can help stop it. The instrument was called a â€Å"counter† because every particle passing it produced an identical pulse, allowing particles to be counted but not telling anything about their identity or energy. Cloud Chamber The fundamental principle of the cloud chamber was discovered by the British physicist C. T. R. Wilson. The cloud chamber consists of a vessel several centimetres or more in diameter, with a glass window in the top and a movable piston forming the lower side. The piston can be dropped rapidly to expand the volume of the chamber. The chamber is usually filled with dust-free air saturated with water vapour. Dropping the piston causes the gas to expand rapidly and causes its temperature to fall. The air is now supersaturated with water vapour, but the excess vapour cannot condense unless ions are present. Charged nuclear or atomic particles produce such ions, and any such particles passing through the chamber leave behind them a trail of ionized particles (see Ionization) upon which the excess water vapour will condense. This makes the course of the charged particle visible as a line of tiny water droplets, like the vapour trail left by an aeroplane. These tracks can be photographed and the photographs then analysed to provide information on the characteristics of the particles. A cloud chamber is often operated within a magnetic field. The tracks of negatively and positively charged particles will curve in opposite directions. By measuring the radius of curvature of each track, its velocity can be determined. Heavy nuclei such as alpha particles form thick and dense tracks, protons form tracks of medium thickness, and electrons form thin and irregular tracks. Although the cloud chamber has now been supplanted almost entirely by later devices, it was used in making many important discoveries in nuclear physics. Bubble chamber The bubble chamber, is similar in operation to the cloud chamber. In a bubble chamber a liquid under pressure is kept at a temperature just below its boiling point. The pressure is lowered just before subatomic particles pass through the chamber. This lowers the boiling point, but for an instant the liquid will not boil unless some impurity or disturbance is introduced. The high-energy particles provide such a disturbance. Tiny bubbles form along the tracks as these particles pass through the liquid. If a photograph is taken just after the particles have crossed the chamber, these bubbles will make visible the paths of the particles. As with the cloud chamber, a bubble chamber placed between the poles of a magnet can be used to measure the energies of the particles. Many bubble chambers are equipped with superconducting magnets instead of conventional magnets. Bubble chambers filled with liquid hydrogen allow the study of interactions between the accelerated particles and the hydrogen nuclei.

Free Essays on Louis Xiv

Louis XIV, The Sun King Louis XIV was only four years old when he succeeded his father to the French throne. Often uncared for, he nearly drowned because no one was watching him as he played near a pond. This began to shape in his young mind an early fear of God. Louis' character was also shaped by the French Civil War. In this, the Paris Parlement rose against the crown. For five years, Louis would suffer fear, cold, hunger and other spirit-breaking events. He would never forgive Paris, the nobles, or the common people. Finally, in 1653, Cardinal Jules Mazarin was able to end the rebellion. He began to instruct Louis on his position as king. Even though Louis XIV was now of age, the Cardinal remained the dominant authority in French politics. French kings gained respect as a soldier; Louis served with the French army during France's war with Spain. His biggest battle, however, was sacrificing his love for Mazarin's niece for politics. In 1660 he married the daughter of the king of Spain to bring peace between the two countries. Mazarin died March 9, 1661. On March 10, Louis claimed supreme authority in France. Not since Henry IV had such a claim been made. Louis saw himself as God's representative on earth, therefore, infallible. He oversaw roadbuilding, court decorum, defense, and disputes within the church. He had the support initially of his ministers, then that of the French people. He had given France the image it desired-youth and vitality surrounded by magnificence. Louis won the favor of the nobles by making it evident that their future depended on their ability stay on his good side. This weakened the nobility, and would eventually weaken France. Louis had among his supportors a wide spectrum of individuals. Writers such as Moliere were ordered to glorify him. Monuments rose throughout the country and Louis had palaces built in his honor. The most elaborate was Versailles, located outside Paris. Away from d... Free Essays on Louis Xiv Free Essays on Louis Xiv Louis XIV, The Sun King Louis XIV was only four years old when he succeeded his father to the French throne. Often uncared for, he nearly drowned because no one was watching him as he played near a pond. This began to shape in his young mind an early fear of God. Louis' character was also shaped by the French Civil War. In this, the Paris Parlement rose against the crown. For five years, Louis would suffer fear, cold, hunger and other spirit-breaking events. He would never forgive Paris, the nobles, or the common people. Finally, in 1653, Cardinal Jules Mazarin was able to end the rebellion. He began to instruct Louis on his position as king. Even though Louis XIV was now of age, the Cardinal remained the dominant authority in French politics. French kings gained respect as a soldier; Louis served with the French army during France's war with Spain. His biggest battle, however, was sacrificing his love for Mazarin's niece for politics. In 1660 he married the daughter of the king of Spain to bring peace between the two countries. Mazarin died March 9, 1661. On March 10, Louis claimed supreme authority in France. Not since Henry IV had such a claim been made. Louis saw himself as God's representative on earth, therefore, infallible. He oversaw roadbuilding, court decorum, defense, and disputes within the church. He had the support initially of his ministers, then that of the French people. He had given France the image it desired-youth and vitality surrounded by magnificence. Louis won the favor of the nobles by making it evident that their future depended on their ability stay on his good side. This weakened the nobility, and would eventually weaken France. Louis had among his supportors a wide spectrum of individuals. Writers such as Moliere were ordered to glorify him. Monuments rose throughout the country and Louis had palaces built in his honor. The most elaborate was Versailles, located outside Paris. Away from d...

Week 7 Discussion - MKT 571 Example

Week 7 Discussion Week 7 Discussion It has been said that we are in the ‘dot com age’ yet e-commerce still remains new and often chaning in terms of business management and information technology. Today a lot of publicity has been given to e-commerce and this is because of lack of understanding rather than its understanding. E-commerce can be diffined as the sharingof business information, maintaining business relations and conducting business transactions. The benefits of e-commerce on the other hand go without say and they include overcoming physical bounderies to open international market. E-commerce has helped reduce operational cost and also helped in mass customization. E-commerce has taken many forms and one of those is Business to Business (B-to-B) which is most profitable with 7.29 trillion dollars by 2004 Gardner Group.Despite the huge amounts of revenue created through B to B e-commerce they instances poor results and this can mainly attributed to poor mmeassages in B to B e-commerce.Models for B-to-B1. Update and Verify Data: Hire a temp or a telemarketing firm (I personally like Business to Business Marketing) to place a call to every one of your prospect companies to verify names, titles, functional titles, mailing addresses, and other information that helps target communications with each one.2. Enhance Data: Data sources are available (D&B, infoUSA, ReachForce) that can append information to data such as annual sales, years in business, number of employees, headquarters vs. branches and more. There are also sources for less common information such as number of computers, software presence (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, Apple), building square footage, etc. While this data may not be perfect, it can help B2B marketers better target their marketing and sales efforts.3. Profile Buyers: B2B marketers can take their customer base and build a profile of size, SIC code, annual sales, etc. and rank them. This ranking profile can be used to identify marketing lists that will more li kely contain qualified prospects. If the B2B company’s target universe is small, this is not cost effective. But for those with larger prospect pools it’s a valuable tool.

An Overview of Agricultural Geography

An Overview of Agricultural Geography Around ten to twelve thousand years ago, humans began to domesticate plants and animals for food. Before this first agricultural revolution, people relied on hunting and gathering to obtain food supplies. While there are still groups of hunters and gatherers in the world, most societies have switched to agriculture. The beginnings of agriculture did not just occur in one place but appeared almost simultaneously around the world, possibly through trial and error with different plants and animals or by long-term experimentation. Between the first agricultural revolution thousands of years ago and the 17th century, agriculture remained pretty much the same. The Second Agricultural Revolution In the seventeenth century, a second agricultural revolution took place which increased the efficiency of production as well as distribution, which allowed more people to move to the cities as the industrial revolution got underway. The eighteenth centurys European colonies became sources of raw agricultural and mineral products for the industrializing nations. Now, many of the countries which were once colonies of Europe, especially those in Central America, are still heavily involved in the same types of agricultural production as they were hundreds of years ago. Farming in the twentieth century has become highly technological in more developed nations with geographical technologies like GIS, GPS, and remote sensing while less developed nations continue with practices which are similar to those developed after the first agricultural revolution, thousands of years ago. Types of Agriculture About 45% of the worlds population makes their living through agriculture. The proportion of the population involved in agriculture ranges from about 2% in the United States to about 80% in some parts of Asia and Africa. There are two types of agriculture, subsistence, and commercial. There are millions of subsistence farmers in the world, those who produce only enough crops to feed their families. Many subsistence farmers use the slash and burn or swidden agricultural method. Swidden is a technique used by about 150 to 200 million people ​and is especially prevalent in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. A portion of land is cleared and burned to provide at least one and up to three years of good crops for that portion of land. Once the land can no longer be utilized, a new patch of ground is slashed and burnt for another round of crops. Swidden is not a neat or well-organized method of agricultural production by it is effective for farmers who dont know much about irrigation, soil, and fertilization. The second type of agriculture is commercial agriculture, where the primary purpose is to sell ones product at market. This takes place throughout the world and includes major fruit plantations in Central America as well as huge agribusiness wheat farms in the Midwestern United States. Geographers commonly identify two major belts of crops in the U.S. The wheat belt is identified as crossing the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Corn, which is primarily grown to feed livestock, reaches from southern Minnesota, across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. J.H. Von Thunen developed a model in 1826 (which wasnt translated into English until 1966) for the agricultural use of land. It has been utilized by geographers since that time. His theory stated that the more perishable and heavier products would be grown closer to urban areas. By looking at the crops grown within metropolitan areas in the U.S., we can see that his theory still holds true. It is very common for perishable vegetables and fruits to be grown within metropolitan areas while less-perishable grain is predominantly produced in non-metropolitan counties. Agriculture uses about a third of the land on the planet and occupies the lives of about two and a half billion people. Its important to understand where our food comes from.

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic Management - Essay Example An anchor company can supply ships to marine wholesalers, they can supply anchors to marine wholesalers. In addition to this they can also supply steel plates, metal fabrications, plastic injection modeling so on and so forth. Structural steel frames and bases are also included in these services. As far as the case study is concerned, it is known that Albatross only supplies hooks and snags to its clients. Breaking Even: â€Å"Break-even analysis is a technique widely used by production management and management accountants. It is based on categorizing production costs between those which are "variable" (costs that change when the production output changes) and those that are "fixed" (costs not directly related to the volume of production).† (Break-Even) The sales volume required by a business to make profits is called a breakeven point; the following answer will present the breakeven point of Albatross. Breakeven point comes into the picture when a pricing strategy is being d eveloped. This pricing strategy can be a part of either the marketing plan or the business plan. The best option between A and B would be selected giving a just explanation. Fixed Cost per unit= Total fixed cost/ Volume of Production In this case it is x=$500,000/5000 X=$10 (Fixed cost per unit in process A) Case B= $12 Anchor and Process Process A Process B a Fixed Cost per Anchor $10 $12 b Total no of Anchors to Attain Break-Even 50000 Units 62500 Units I would recommend process A because the break-even would require only 50000 units whereas in process B it would require 62500 Units. The sooner the break-even is reached the better. So process A is recommended considering that it would take much lesser time to sell 50000 units than 62500 units. One very important long term change would to invest heavily in latest technology, the second long term change would be to buy more land to effectively manage the needs of the company. One short term change would be to access more shipping op tions; the second option would be to choose the most effective shipping option. The technology that is being used in the company is without a doubt obsolete, they have to invest in new machines. They can never expect growth should they keep using the same obsolete machinery. The company needs to invest in technology; the use of outdated technology can never facilitate growth. New machines will produce better products and at a good speed, this will make the company much better than ever. This will also bring down the cost of production, the old machines require much maintenance, and this would be much different in the case of new machines. Ergonomics: Ergonomics aims at two most important things, they are health and productivity. When an employee is unwell, he will never be able to produce what is expected of him and the organization will suffer because of his lack of productivity. Easy to use machines should be bought by an organization so that the employees never get affected and t heir productivity is never hampered. The organization must not buy anything that will affect the health of the employees. In this particular case Albatross

Holfstede cultural dimensions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Holfstede cultural dimensions - Essay Example The above practice would help in enhancing the applicability of the human resources practices to help in meeting the needs of the personnel employed in different multinational organizations. Culture is learned through the inherited human nature, based on different preferences, experiences, and values. Four cultural dimensions of Holfstede identifies those global applications, which are reflected by, in all aspects of life such as family life, practices of child rearing, education, health care and the employment practices (ASHA, 2014). The cultural dimensions as generated by the cultural scientist, Geert Hofstede are generated based on the cultural dimensions model which is elucidated as follows. The parameter of individualism or collectivism as generated by Hofstede evaluates the culture of a region based on individualistic and collectivist attributes. People dwelling in regions governed by collectivist approaches operate in a close cultural setting that reflects mutual care and understanding for each other. The collectivist countries also reflect honor for the existing cultural and social norms. On the other hand the regions governed or based on individualistic cultures reflect individuals that tend to take decisions in an independent fashion by not taking into consideration the needs and views of other members in a social group. Thus, decisions though taken by individuals based on social norms are loosely knit to each other thereby affecting the existing social fabric (Piepenburg, 2011). This dimension can influence the perceptions of person’s disability. For example, after facing any negativity in the life or suffering of any accidental disability can change the thoughts of the person. The victim can be more focused to live an independent life by analyzing the cultural backgrounds. The caretakers of these victims can facilitate them for a self-care life (ASHA, 2014). Uncertainty Avoidance tends

CJ3Book Review The body of the Condemned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CJ3Book Review The body of the Condemned - Essay Example But they each define a certain penal style.† (Foucault, 1995, p. 7) Foucault points out that modern forms of punishment are, thankfully, not carried out in the same spirit or with the same purpose. Many legal reforms were instituted between the old world of executions and torture and the new world of prisons and labour camps, the main difference being that what used to be a public spectacle became, over time, a regimented process, more bureaucratic than anything else, that is carried out behind high walls and locked doors. For Foucault what is significant about this change is that the punishment is no longer something visibly displayed, and it no longer focuses so sharply on the human body of the convicted person. Foucault concedes that penalties such as imprisonment, forced labour, deportation and the like do also affect the human body but they do so indirectly: â€Å"The body now serves as an instrument or intermediary†¦physical pain, the pain of the body itself, is no longer the constituent element of the penalty.† (Foucault: 1995, p. 11) He observes that a whole army of â€Å"technicians† are now involved in the penal side of the criminal justice system, and one need only think of the modern prison to realise that he is right. Warders, chaplains, social workers, educators, even doctors and psychologists all participate in the process. In states and in periods where in states where the death penalty is or was permitted, there is also an increasing presence of technicians in the process. The methods chosen for death have veered away from elements of spectacle and torture and have become swifter, for example the guillotine in France, the hangman’s noose in England and the lethal injection in America. Technical experts accompany the convicted person right up to the moment of execution. Drugs are used to dull the sensations of inmates, and also to make sure that executions are free of physical pain. Foucault calls this a kind of d isconnection which makes the penalties non-corporeal and therefore distanced from the physical being of the person. Punishment in this way becomes, for Foucault something abstract, with only the most fleeting actual contact with the body of the victim. If modern punishment systems do not target the prisoner’s body any more, then the question of what exactly it does target then arises. Foucault suggests: â€Å"The expiation that once rained down upon the body must be replaced by a punishment that acts in depth on the heart, the thoughts, the will, the inclinations† (Foucault: 1995, p. 16) Some people might refer to this as the soul of the person, and cite moral or religious beliefs to underpin this view, but Foucault looks instead at the way attention has shifted away from the past crime that has been committed, and towards the person who has committed the crime and now deserves some kind of punishment. There is in modern criminal justice systems a belief that punishmen t can be used to change a person’s behaviour for the better, and perhaps even influence his nature and personality in a positive way. This can be done in a way that suppresses part of the person’s personality. Foucault also observes a modern fascination in the causes of crime, by which he means all the circumstances which surround it, including the background of the criminal and all the various factors which contributed to his committing the crime. This is a very important point, because it brings Foucault to make a serious judgement about modern

Developing a Health Advocacy Campaign , Prostate Cancer Research Paper

Developing a Health Advocacy Campaign , Prostate Cancer Funding - Senator Boxer introduced the Prostate and Mens Education Act, - Research Paper Example The cause of prostate cancer is not clearly understood, but researchers argue that issues like race, family and age are beyond ones’ control. But some risk factors like avoiding fatty foods can be avoided as one is advised to eat more fruits, unsaturated foods, whole grains and intake of less red meat. Some medication from well equipped health centers helps reduce the spread of the cancer in the body. Drugs like; finastede have shown to reduce the prostrate cancer risk (John, 2008). California population is the most affected with cancer cases with 1,277,200 people affected with different types of cancer. The state projects that in 2012, more than 144,800 new cases will occur. The patients with prostate cancer include 20,195 new cases that makes up to 28% and 3,085 deaths occurs. The survivors of prostate cancer are 240,200 that accounts for 42%. Although from 1988 to 2009, 11% reduction has been reported as mortality reduces by 23% (CCR, 2012). The advocacy that have been effective include the â€Å"Us too advocacy† that uses the prostate cancer survivors and victims to spread the awareness creation. They give speeches in forums, hold door to door awareness creations and attended screening centers to help explain to the attendees the screening environment. The attributes that makes this advocacy campaign is that it involves survivors, volunteers and experts to spread the required awareness messages. The volunteers take their time to deliver the message of the benefits of early screening, explaining the screening environment to the people so that they attend the screening exercise and encouraging people the people to attend the screening centers. The other attribute makes this advocacy to be effective is the involvement of medical experts on comprehensive research and provision of a variety of advanced treatment (CCR, 2012). The other advocacy campaign that is effective is the â€Å"Zero prostate cancer†

Development of Political Parties Research Paper

Development of Political Parties - Research Paper Example 78-79). This paper is an attempt to present a bird eye’s view of the history of the political parties in the United States of America. Discussion Surprisingly, the constitution of United States, unlike other constitutions of the nations does not present any guidelines about the political parties of the country. In fact, the First President of United States and the Father of the Nation, George Washington was strongly against political parities because he viewed political party system as something, which would bring conflicts, inefficiency, and stagnation to the system (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). However, as soon as United States gained independence, disagreements and discrepancies surfaced out in the views of the founding fathers of America (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). The First Part System came into being when differences between the Treasury of the State Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson regarding the role and strength of the federal government (Nivo la & Brady, pp. 78-79). Hamilton and its supporters wanted a strong central government to control ad look after the matters; however, Jefferson and his disciples feared that a strong central government like that of Britain would invite the states to stand up against the Federation someday. This was the era of 1792-1824 (Maisel, pp. 98-99). This tug of war between the Federalist Party of Hamilton and Jefferson’s Democratic Republican Party went on to include various foreign policy issues as well (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). Towards the end of the 1820’s the era of good feelings started and these personal and policy differences were settled. However, important here is to note is that Democratic Republic Party was the clear winner and survivor (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). However, it was not until the Second Party System that foundation of the modern American Political Party system came into existence. During this era of 1828 to 1854, the Democratic Party led by Andrew Jackson and the Whig Party in the leadership of Henry clay were facing each other (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125; Ritchie, pp. 367-373). Towards the end of this era, many of the democratic leaders accepted Whiggish ideas; however, many other economic and social issues were forcing the Democratic Party itself to divide into two thus giving birth to the third political party system in the United States (Wilson & DiIulio, pp. 193-197). This was during the third political party system when the Republican and Democratic Parities emerged which continue to be the dominant force in American politics (Stonecash, pp. 59-67). Many experts believe that the newly born Republican Party emerged as a national party, which was bold enough to take strong economic and social decisions such as creation of banks, rail roods, abolishment of slavery and others (Bibby & Schaffner, pp. 112-113; Maisel, pp. 98-99). In fact, slavery was the major issue during this period. The Democratic Party, which had a strong alliance with the farmers of the South and the West were unable to continue this alliance due to the issue of slavery. Furthermore, the Democratic Party finally was divided into two fractions with for and against slavery (Maisel, pp. 26-28). On the other hand, Republicans believed on the concept of free soil and thus wanted the abolishment of slavery (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). As mentioned earlier that Republicans remained in the spotlight during this era and after the civil war, they were able to exercise their control over

International Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Trade - Essay Example Most of the countries participate in such trades. The US exports high tech goods such as aircrafts, chemicals and ammunitions and at the same time it imports consumer goods, which are traded internationally at much lower prices. Usually, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment has a direct correlation; that is to say, employment or new jobs in the country rises in tandem with the growth in GDP. Gross Domestic Product, in the economic parlance, is the measure of goods and services that are produced in the country. GDP is the sum of the incomes of all the residents within the country. It is also measured by adding all kinds of spending such as government spending, investment spending and consumer spending. All exports generate incomes at home and they are part of GDP. Imports do not form a part of the GDP as they generate incomes abroad. For many years in US, imports exceed exports. That means domestic markets suffer in the goods that are imported. For example, steel import disrupt s domestic steel industry resulting into a closure of many units and the loss of jobs. The government often imposes tariffs on certain products to make imports costlier safeguarding domestic industries. At times, the government resorts to quota system and restricts imports within predetermined quota for a given country. This is usually found in textiles and garments business where quotas are allotted to the countries beyond, which they cannot send material into US. Tariffs restrict international trade as they are one kind of tax on imported good and make imports costlier. The university students in US are not benefitted as consumers of other industrial goods because education industry in US is a big exporter. A huge number of students from other countries enroll in US universities for study and research by paying huge tuition fees in US dollars and spend in US for their essential needs during their learning. Since 1930s, many countries have supported free trade among nations by redu cing tariffs. That is how the process of globalization has progressed at the rapid pace and world trade touched to the tune of almost $12,400 billion by 2009 (International Trade Statistics, 2010 p.12). World Trade Organization (WTO) works toward reduction of tariffs and smooth flow of goods and services among the nations. The WTO also works to discourage retaliatory taxes among nations. When two countries trade their currencies form a relationship for transaction to place. It is true that exchange rates between two currencies are governed by the demand-supply dynamics of the currencies that arise due to trade between two countries. When US imports more Chinese goods and exports less to China, a trade gap also called balance of payments is created causing more demand for Yuan against dollar. When this continues for a long, dollar tends to depreciate against Yuan. In 2011, the US exported goods worth $103.93 billion to China while imported goods worth 399.36 billion creating trade ga p of $295.5 billion. The trade gap was $273 billion and $226.8 billion in the year 2010 and 2009 respectively. The figures reveal that the trade gap is constantly on the rise and the reason for this is that the China produces hosts of goods at much lower the cost compared to the producers in US. The US consumers have benefitted a lot due to these

Development of Political Parties Research Paper

Development of Political Parties - Research Paper Example 78-79). This paper is an attempt to present a bird eye’s view of the history of the political parties in the United States of America. Discussion Surprisingly, the constitution of United States, unlike other constitutions of the nations does not present any guidelines about the political parties of the country. In fact, the First President of United States and the Father of the Nation, George Washington was strongly against political parities because he viewed political party system as something, which would bring conflicts, inefficiency, and stagnation to the system (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). However, as soon as United States gained independence, disagreements and discrepancies surfaced out in the views of the founding fathers of America (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). The First Part System came into being when differences between the Treasury of the State Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson regarding the role and strength of the federal government (Nivo la & Brady, pp. 78-79). Hamilton and its supporters wanted a strong central government to control ad look after the matters; however, Jefferson and his disciples feared that a strong central government like that of Britain would invite the states to stand up against the Federation someday. This was the era of 1792-1824 (Maisel, pp. 98-99). This tug of war between the Federalist Party of Hamilton and Jefferson’s Democratic Republican Party went on to include various foreign policy issues as well (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). Towards the end of the 1820’s the era of good feelings started and these personal and policy differences were settled. However, important here is to note is that Democratic Republic Party was the clear winner and survivor (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). However, it was not until the Second Party System that foundation of the modern American Political Party system came into existence. During this era of 1828 to 1854, the Democratic Party led by Andrew Jackson and the Whig Party in the leadership of Henry clay were facing each other (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125; Ritchie, pp. 367-373). Towards the end of this era, many of the democratic leaders accepted Whiggish ideas; however, many other economic and social issues were forcing the Democratic Party itself to divide into two thus giving birth to the third political party system in the United States (Wilson & DiIulio, pp. 193-197). This was during the third political party system when the Republican and Democratic Parities emerged which continue to be the dominant force in American politics (Stonecash, pp. 59-67). Many experts believe that the newly born Republican Party emerged as a national party, which was bold enough to take strong economic and social decisions such as creation of banks, rail roods, abolishment of slavery and others (Bibby & Schaffner, pp. 112-113; Maisel, pp. 98-99). In fact, slavery was the major issue during this period. The Democratic Party, which had a strong alliance with the farmers of the South and the West were unable to continue this alliance due to the issue of slavery. Furthermore, the Democratic Party finally was divided into two fractions with for and against slavery (Maisel, pp. 26-28). On the other hand, Republicans believed on the concept of free soil and thus wanted the abolishment of slavery (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). As mentioned earlier that Republicans remained in the spotlight during this era and after the civil war, they were able to exercise their control over

Meaning of Life and Happiness Essay Example for Free

Meaning of Life and Happiness Essay I do not think that there is a single person in the world who can say that knows what happiness actually is and, more importantly, that knows how to achieve it. We sometimes get the glimpse of pure happiness but those moments are so rare and so intense that we only recognise them too late. Each of us understands this feeling in a different way†¦I, for instance, see it as the one that can make you feel that there is no worry in life and nothing and nobody can hurt you anymore. For me, it is when you feel like you can do anything and forget about the past, the future, just enjoying the mere present. In my case, it is one of two feelings that can make you cry with all your heart†¦because it is too much for you to express in plain words or pointless gestures. â€Å"Tears are words that the heart can’t express† a wise man once said and could have never said it better, as happiness is that joy which is so strong that sometimes even hurts. However, I never remember the recipe for happiness and even if I did I do not think it would work again because one of its components is also hazard. Still, this does nt make me stop searching for it and devote it everything I do, I am and I achieve. Likewise, each person I’ve ever met, consciously or not, did the same†¦we want to get something, to become someone. Why? Not because that would make us feel miserable, but fulfilled and maybe a little bit more: happy. Hence, I strongly believe that happiness is the main purpose of our lives, the whole aim of our ephemeral existence. We are born happy and we want to die the same; this is the true ideal that we all crave for reaching. Money, wealth, knowledge mean nothing, without someone who cares about what you have achieved. Human beings, whether they like admitting it or not, need other human beings to share their secrets with, to share their joy or sorrow; as genuine joy can only become happiness if there is another person by your side. In other words, happiness is, in my opinion, the actual meaning of life; and life seems so complicated especially because we seldom get to its core, we almost never get to know what happiness feels like†¦and afterwards all that remains is an unclear memory of the moment and a wish of feeling it again.

Dichotic Listening Experiment

Dichotic Listening Experiment George Papamanolioudakis Dichotic listening Abstract: In this experiment we collected data from seventeen (17) first year psychology students in order to identify the differences in speech recognition between the left and the right ear. Based on previous findings we expect that there will be a significant difference between them, as the left hemisphere of the brain which controls the right side of humans bodies, contains major areas controlling speech producing and recognition (Gallese Stamenov, 2002). A dichotic test was produced, using headphones, presenting the participants nonsense syllables such as â€Å"ka† and â€Å"ta† at the same time to both left and right ear. Our goal was to analyse scores from both ears and confirm if there would be a difference between them. The data we collected was ratio, within participants, and they were analyzed using a non-parametric test (Man-Whitney) due to the small sample given. The results have shown that we can confirm the above hypothesis, although later research with higher sam ple, would help as finalize the findings, and provide evidence with different methods. Introduction: In this study, we are going to examine whether people’s ability to report words accurately, is affected by which ear they hear them in. In order to investigate this, we are going to perform a dichotic listening task. Previous research (Kimura, 1961) on this subject, showed that the left hemisphere recognizes speech sounds better than the right. As the brain is connected with the body almost contra-lateral we assume that the right ear will be more capable of receiving words than the left. We can question this experiment, as it was performed to patients with epileptogenic foci, in different parts on the brain. Later on, based on an annual meeting of the academy of Aphasia in Chicago 1966, Doreen Kimura (1967) reviewed all evidence relating the asymmetry in speech recognition between the two hemispheres of the brain, confirming that the right ear of all humans was more able to recognize verbal stimuli due to better connections with the left hemisphere of the brain. Another experi ment (Molfese, Freeman, Palermo, 1975), which recorded auditory evoked responses from both cerebral hemispheres of humans in all ages, agreed that the left hemisphere responded more dynamically in speech stimuli, than the right which responded better in non-speech stimulus. The reason that makes the left hemisphere more accurate in verbal – speech stimuli, is that many areas related to speech are located there. Variety of evidence can prove that, such as many case studies of damaged brain cells on the left hemisphere of individuals that caused speech dysfunctions. More specific Broca’s area among other areas of the left hemisphere, has been repeatedly reported to be very important in the verbal domain (Gallese Stamenov, 2002). All these studies would not be so accurate if scientists were not able to analyze brain activity through specialized technology such as Magnetic encephalography (MEG), FMRI and PET scans. Using FMRI scientists Embick, Marantz, Miyashita and Oâ⠂¬â„¢Neil (2000) concluded that Broca’s area is specialized in the syntactic process of our brain, therefore there is a certain correlation given. Another area of the brain seems to play a crucial role on language understanding. Scientists found that when they increased the mean arterial pressure (pharmacologically) of a patient with a left frontal-temporal stroke, they managed to improve his language deficits as the Wernicke’s area (located on the left hemisphere) had improved perfusion (Hillis, et al., 2001) Other interesting findings have been discovered by examining patients with â€Å"split brain†. These patients had their corpus callosum removed (the part that unites the left with the right hemisphere), for other medical reasons, and gave scientists the opportunity to explore the differences between the â€Å"connected† brain and the â€Å"split brain†. Those findings showed that in the split brain condition the individual could not identify verbally an object presented on his left eye only, (left eye – right hemisphere) because there was no connection between the two hemispheres (Gazzaniga, 1967). Many researchers have used the dichotic listening test in order to examine whether the left or the right ear (right or the left hemisphere of the brain) would analyze better speech stimulus or other sounds (birds, music etc.). In this experiment we will introduce the same method in order to come up with a conclusion, as we expect that there will be a significant difference between the left and the right ear. Method: Participants: Seventeen first year undergraduate psychology students participated in this experiment. Ten (10) males and seven (7) females. Mean age =22.3, and the range was eighteen (18) to twenty-nine (29). All participants were right – handed. Design: The independent variable of this experiment was the left and the right ear, and the dependent was the correct identifications of the syllables provided both from the left and right ear. The experiment was within participants, as we measured correct answers from each participant individually. Materials: Each participant used a pair of headphones which provided stimuli for each ear. The stimuli was 15 combination of nonsense syllables, consisted of one of a series of consonants (b, d, g, k. p, t) paired with the vowel â€Å"a†. These sounds were recorded in 16 bit mono-aural mode and edited to 500 millisecond duration. Each person listened 30 presentations of the stimuli, carefully balanced for both ears, each one providing a different consonant – vowel pairing. For example the sounds â€Å"ka† and â€Å"ta† were presented at the same time on a different ear. The presentation of the sounds was reversed for a total of 30 trials. For example the sounds â€Å"ka† and â€Å"ta† were presented in both ears equally. Here is the link to the test (Dichotic Listening) Procedure: All participants arrived on CityU on time. They were welcomed by the instructors and placed on their seats. They were asked to read the information sheet and after all questions were answered they signed the consent form. Each participant used his/her own computer with her/his own headphones. They were asked to visit the link to the test, and when everyone was ready they completed the dichotic listening test individually. The test that was used was from APA webpage: ( http://opl.apa.org/Experiments/AlphabetList.aspx) on the â€Å"experiments† section located under word â€Å"d† (for dichotic listening). After clicking in the test they were asked to put the class ID number in order to collect the data from each of them. After they finished, they were thanked for their participation in the study and left. Results: This experiment took place in order to confirm that the right ear would recognise better syllables due to the immediate connection to the left hemisphere, than the left ear. The data we collected was ratio, within participants, and a non-parametric test was carried out (Man-Whitney) because of the small number of participants. The data shows that there was a significant difference understanding syllables from left and right ear. More specifically the right ear scored much higher (m=11,76 sd= 3,63) than the left (m=6,71 sd=3,08). The hypothesis was two tailed, and based on Man –Whitney’s non parametric test z=3,64 p Discussion: Based on previous research, we were able to perform a dichotic listening test in order to confirm that there would be a difference understanding syllables from right to left ear. As Doreen Kimura suggested (1961) the right ear was more capable recognising verbal stimulus as it is connected directly to the left hemisphere of the brain. Assumption which was made after many dichotic listening tests (Kimura, 1961), brain dysfunctions especially in the Broca’s and the Wernicke’s area (Gallese Stamenov, 2002), and specialized brain scanning through MEG, FMRI and PET technology (Embick, Marantz, Miyashita O’Neil, 2000). The absence of corpus callosum in many case studies confirmed that after separating the two hemispheres of the brain (split brain), the patients were not able to recognize verbally an object presented on their left eye, as the connection to the left hemisphere was lost (Gazzaniga, 1967). Our hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference understanding speech stimulus from the left to the right ear, and our findings can confirm those differences showing a huge possibility to find the same results to the whole population p References: Embick, D., Marantz, A., Miyashita, Y., ONeil, W., Sakai, K. L. (2000). A syntactic specialization for Brocas area. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(11), 6150-6154. Etard, O., Mellet, E., Papathanassiou, D., Benali, K., Houdà ©, O., Mazoyer, B., Tzourio-Mazoyer, N. (2000). Picture naming without Brocas and Wernickes area. Neuroreport, 11(3), 617-622. Gallese, V., Stamenov, M. (2002, April 1). Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Brain and Language. Retrieved from ebscohost: http://web.a.ebscohost.com Gazzaniga, M. S. (1967). The split brain in man. Scientific American, 217(2), 24-29. Hillis, A. E., Barker, P. B., Beauchamp, N. J., Winters, B. D., Mirski, M., Wityk, R. J. (2001). Restoring blood pressure reperfused Wernicke’s area and improved language. Neurology, 56(5), 670-672. Kimura, D. (1961). Cerebral dominance and the perception of verbal stimuli. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie, 15(3), 166. Kimura, D. (1967). Functional asymmetry of the brain in dichotic listening. Cortex, 3(2), 163-178. Molfese, D. L., Freeman, R. B., Palermo, D. S. (1975). The ontogeny of brain lateralization for speech and nonspeech stimuli. Brain and language, 2, 356-368.

Robert Maynard Pirsig Bibliography :: Author, Pirsig, Biography

Robert Maynard Pirsig Bibliography Robert Maynard Pirsig was born in Minneapolis on September 6, 1928. After high school Pirsig decided to join the army and from the ages of 18 to 22 served the United States. Once discharged, he decided to study at the University of Minnesota. Here he obtained degrees in philosophy and journalism.(1) Once finished, Pirsig decided to travel to India. He talks about this trip in his book, stating it as a trip that expanded his experience but not his understanding. When he returns, he marries his first wife, Nancy Ann James, an administrator, on May 10, 1954. (2) Working many jobs, including an instructor for English composition at Montana State College and instructor of rhetoric at the University of Illinois, he receives a break and then becomes a technical writer for a variety of technical institutions. Though the time period could not be found (puzzling?), I believe his transition from teacher to writer was when he suffered his â€Å"mental breakdown†. During this event he received electric shock treatment, which coincides with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He divorced on August, 1978 and remarried to Wendy L. Kimbell on December 28, 1978. His first child, Christopher, from the first marriage dies shortly after on November 17, 1979.(1) He is now living in New Hampshire with his wife and 2 kids, Theodore and Nell. He tries to remain reclusive explaining â€Å"The Buddhist monk has a precept against indulging in idle conversation, and I think the basis of that precept is what motivates me.† (Letter from Robert Pirsig to Boduar Skutuik, August 17th, 1997) While residing here he released his newest book, Lila: An Inquiry into moral, released in 1991.

Mary Leakey :: essays research papers

Though technically defined as an archaeologist, Mary chose to follow a route of interesting research relating to physical anthropology. She is known mostly for the excavation of a two million-year-old fossilized human skull in 1959. She has also worked to help the world understand that the evolution of humans follows a principle rather than a theory. The name Leakey is synonymous in most people's minds with the successive dramatic discoveries of fossilized hominid bones and stone artifacts that have, over the years, pushed the origins of true man further and further back in prehistory. Less flamboyant than her husband, Louis S. B. Leakey, or her son Richard Leakey, Mary Leakey was the "unsung hero,† of the clan for years, even though she was, in fact, responsible for many of the spectacular Leakey finds, including the nearly complete skull of Zinjanthropus, which was at first thought to be the missing human evolutionary link. Mrs. Leakey finally received a measure of long-overdue public recognition with her discovery, in 1978, of 3.5-million-year-old fossilized hominid footprints at Laetoli in Tanzania, proving beyond a doubt that the australopithecines had walked upright. On July 17, 1959 Mary Leakey made her second major discovery. Accompanied only by her two Dalmatians, Mary Leakey set off to investigate the oldest layer at the site. As she surveyed the exposure with her practiced eye, a scrap of bone protruding from the ground caught her attention. Gently brushing aside some of the deposit, she saw two large hominid teeth in place in an upper jaw. Mrs. Leakey raced back to camp shouting, "I've got him! I've got him!" Using camel's-hair brushes and dental picks, the Leakeys gingerly uncovered a full palate and set of teeth; by sifting through tons of eroded scree, they eventually found about 400 bone fragments, which when pieced together formed an almost complete hominid skull, later dated at 1.75 million years, of the genus Zinjanthropus. Over the next few months, Mary Leakey found other hominid bones and 164 stone tools of twelve different types, including choppers, scrapers, anvils, and hammerstones. As luck would have it, a camera crew for the British television series On Safari arrived on the scene the day after Mary Leakey's momentous find, and thus it was that "Zinj" came to international public attention. For the Leakeys, it meant worldwide recognition. Fame brought controversy, too, and it was not long before Louis Leakey's bold assertion that "Zinj" was the so-called "missing link" between the primitive ape-men and Homo sapiens was proved to be incorrect.

Socially Responsible Literature: Reflections on “Silence”

Both Tadeusz Borowski’s chapter â€Å"Silence† and Bertold Brecht’s poem â€Å"A Worker Reads History† are socially responsible pieces of literature and poetry, respectively, as the authors seem to capture the untold aspects of history that need to be understood. Both works are intended to educate the audience by countering propaganda type pieces that portray a common hero or victim. As it has been said, life does imitate art and life is not common nor filled with characters of complete morality.It should be said, as well, that many literary works do pose questions in themes of morality, public issues, or private problems endemic to society, however these themes and questions are usually answered. Common art is filled with dissonance and consonance while extraordinary art is only dissonant, as is life. There are only questions in this type of art and for this reason, the writers chosen do entertain their audiences by compelling them to think beyond the lit erature and look at life in a different way.Bertold Brecht’s poem â€Å"A Worker Reads History† is filled with questions and is meant to cause the audience to contemplate the unsung and ordinary heroes of history that do not receive attention. He asks â€Å"Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears? Frederick the Greek triumphed in the Seven Years War. Who triumphed with him? † This social criticism in the form of questions is socially responsible to audiences in that the myth of the fallen or triumphant hero is merely a nationalistic and propaganda type tool used to glorify and glamorize war and political progress.Brecht, also wonders about Caesar’s victory and â€Å"was there not even a cook in his armyâ€Å"? Of course, tales of cooks and other workers would not be so romantic and patriotic. The title is very telling then of the point of view of the poem and the intention of the regular person or regular aud ience to comprehend their lack of place in history as unacceptable or, at the very least, questionable.Similarly, Tadeusz Borowski’s â€Å"Silence† is very telling in the title as to the intention of his story and the socially irresponsible action of being silent to the truth. Here again, we do not see characters portrayed in heroic terms, we see, as an audience, gritty reality. As Holocaust survivors, having been silent, these men had pent up rage against their oppressors and just as they suffered in silence for so many years, they murdered one oppressor, who was gagged in silence and then trampled to death.The importance of noting that the American officer, who promised justice, and was ignored is important, as well. He was not viewed as a hero and the oppressed men were not meant to be portrayed as victims. The theme to note is the importance of actions versus words, as the American’s promise was not as satisfying as the silent, secret murder. But, as sociall y responsible art the action taken was written and, therefore taken out of the darkness of secrecy to it’s own action.In closing, both works attempt to persuade audiences to think differently about the portrayal of history and the grittiness of the real silent heroes and victims. There is no simple dichotomies in these pieces nor is there a resolving conflict. The beauty is in the questions posed. Therefore, in this way these works do serve as entertainment that prompts the audience to question themselves, their world, the works they have read, and the responsibility of knowing the truth.

Social Media at Ibm and a Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte

IT InfrastructureSession 01 Social Media at IBM IBM has been aggressively using social media to tie its far-flung and huge workforce together and, without a doubt, also with a mind towards selling these technologies as part of its service offering. IBM’s Beehive Social Network is a glimpse of how social networks might be used and received in the future. It is an Internet-based social networking site that gives IBM staff a â€Å"rich connection to the people they work with,† both professionally and personally.Using it, employees can make new connections, track current friends and co-workers, and renew contact with people they have worked with in the past. In the first nine months of use, over 35,000 registered IBM employees created over 280,000 social network connections to each other, posted more than 150,000 comments, shared more than 43,000 photos, created about 15,000 ‘Hive5s,’ and hosted more than 2,000 events. Beehive seems to be succeeding â€Å"to h elp IBM employees meet the challenge of building the relationships vital to working in large, distributed enterprises. †Ref: IBM Watson Research Center (2008) â€Å"Project: Beehive†, available at http://domain. watson. ibm. com/cambridgeresearch. nsf/0/8b6d4cd68f, last accessed 28 Feb 2013. A Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte Social media technologies are making fast inroads into organisations. In the context of knowledge intensive work the propositions of improving communication, information sharing and user involvement seem particularly promising. However, the role and impact of social technologies in enterprises in general, and knowledge work in particular, are still not well understood, despite emerging scholarly works in this field.Our case investigates emerging communicative work practices on the Enterprise Social Networking platform Yammer within Deloitte Australia. We uncover a set of emerging practices enabled by the platform within the case company and reflect on our results in the context of the knowledge-intensive nature of professional service work. We find that Yammer in the case company has become 1) an information-sharing channel, 2) a space for crowd-sourcing ideas, 3) a place for finding expertise and solving problems, and most importantly 4) a conversation medium for context and relationship building.Ref: Riemer, K, Scifleet, P & Reddig, R (2012), â€Å"Powercrowd: Enterprise Social Networking in Professional Service Work: A Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte Australia†, available at http://hdl. handle. net/2123/8352, last accessed 28 Feb 2013. 1. What aspects of social media technologies do the above case studies illustrate? †¢ Information sharing †¢ Communication †¢ Joint problem sharing †¢ Discussion forums †¢ Networking †¢ Events management †¢ Generation of ideas/innovation 2. What other examples of the use of social media technologies for corporate communication are you aware of? Face book for marketing, discussion boards, event notification †¢ Dropbox for document sharing, joint authorship †¢ Google docs for document sharing, joint authorship †¢ Google talk, Skype for voice and video communications †¢ Linkedin for networking, profile, job seeking, employ seeking, outsourcing †¢ Share-point for document sharing, discussion board, joint authorship 3. To what extent can / should an IT Infrastructure Manager control the extent and mode of use of social media technologies? Can / Should Control Use |Cannot / Should Not Control Use | |Control access to some social media, such as personal email |Access to information | |accounts that deliberately bypass corporate mail pathways |Use of personal communication devices, especially for personal | |Access to and storage of certain type of content (pornography,|communication | |racial, anti-social) |Downloading of apps to non-corporate devices | |Privacy of corporate data – identifying realms of privacy: |Communication outside of work hours | |confidential, internally confidential, public, potentially |External threats – hacking, invasion, blocking, loss of | |public |external security | |Censorship of inappropriate non-professional communication – | | |through policies & governance | | 4. What are some implications of these developments in the use of social media technologies for the management of existing corporate IT infrastructures? †¢ The company needs to choice between hard censorship approach, or open communication sharing approach Need to provide training and education for staff to understanding guidelines and penalties †¢ Need protection against external threats by between fire-walls and software management †¢ Need a communication policy framework that covers all aspects of information communication, storage, access and use within the company †¢ Need to have staff sign communication agreements, based on these policies and comp letion of training and education †¢ Want a better understanding of what social media are used in the company, how they are currently used and how they may be used 5. Are social media technologies really any different from the technology used in existing corporate IT infrastructures? Social Media Technologies ARE Different |Social Media Technologies AREN’T Different | |Global scope of communication and exposure |Underlying motivations are similar | |Policies of social media providers |Underlying mechanisms and technology are the same | |Motivation of social media – recognition, networking, |Accessibility is the same | |crowd-sourcing, accessibility, to make money |Company needs to manage different levels of access and rights | |Relative to the existing infrastructure of the organisation |to publish company information | |Higher functionality has a different purpose | | |Based on equity of access and right to publish | | Social Media at Ibm and a Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte IT InfrastructureSession 01 Social Media at IBM IBM has been aggressively using social media to tie its far-flung and huge workforce together and, without a doubt, also with a mind towards selling these technologies as part of its service offering. IBM’s Beehive Social Network is a glimpse of how social networks might be used and received in the future. It is an Internet-based social networking site that gives IBM staff a â€Å"rich connection to the people they work with,† both professionally and personally.Using it, employees can make new connections, track current friends and co-workers, and renew contact with people they have worked with in the past. In the first nine months of use, over 35,000 registered IBM employees created over 280,000 social network connections to each other, posted more than 150,000 comments, shared more than 43,000 photos, created about 15,000 ‘Hive5s,’ and hosted more than 2,000 events. Beehive seems to be succeeding â€Å"to h elp IBM employees meet the challenge of building the relationships vital to working in large, distributed enterprises. †Ref: IBM Watson Research Center (2008) â€Å"Project: Beehive†, available at http://domain. watson. ibm. com/cambridgeresearch. nsf/0/8b6d4cd68f, last accessed 28 Feb 2013. A Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte Social media technologies are making fast inroads into organisations. In the context of knowledge intensive work the propositions of improving communication, information sharing and user involvement seem particularly promising. However, the role and impact of social technologies in enterprises in general, and knowledge work in particular, are still not well understood, despite emerging scholarly works in this field.Our case investigates emerging communicative work practices on the Enterprise Social Networking platform Yammer within Deloitte Australia. We uncover a set of emerging practices enabled by the platform within the case company and reflect on our results in the context of the knowledge-intensive nature of professional service work. We find that Yammer in the case company has become 1) an information-sharing channel, 2) a space for crowd-sourcing ideas, 3) a place for finding expertise and solving problems, and most importantly 4) a conversation medium for context and relationship building.Ref: Riemer, K, Scifleet, P & Reddig, R (2012), â€Å"Powercrowd: Enterprise Social Networking in Professional Service Work: A Case Study of Yammer at Deloitte Australia†, available at http://hdl. handle. net/2123/8352, last accessed 28 Feb 2013. 1. What aspects of social media technologies do the above case studies illustrate? †¢ Information sharing †¢ Communication †¢ Joint problem sharing †¢ Discussion forums †¢ Networking †¢ Events management †¢ Generation of ideas/innovation 2. What other examples of the use of social media technologies for corporate communication are you aware of? Face book for marketing, discussion boards, event notification †¢ Dropbox for document sharing, joint authorship †¢ Google docs for document sharing, joint authorship †¢ Google talk, Skype for voice and video communications †¢ Linkedin for networking, profile, job seeking, employ seeking, outsourcing †¢ Share-point for document sharing, discussion board, joint authorship 3. To what extent can / should an IT Infrastructure Manager control the extent and mode of use of social media technologies? Can / Should Control Use |Cannot / Should Not Control Use | |Control access to some social media, such as personal email |Access to information | |accounts that deliberately bypass corporate mail pathways |Use of personal communication devices, especially for personal | |Access to and storage of certain type of content (pornography,|communication | |racial, anti-social) |Downloading of apps to non-corporate devices | |Privacy of corporate data – identifying realms of privacy: |Communication outside of work hours | |confidential, internally confidential, public, potentially |External threats – hacking, invasion, blocking, loss of | |public |external security | |Censorship of inappropriate non-professional communication – | | |through policies & governance | | 4. What are some implications of these developments in the use of social media technologies for the management of existing corporate IT infrastructures? †¢ The company needs to choice between hard censorship approach, or open communication sharing approach Need to provide training and education for staff to understanding guidelines and penalties †¢ Need protection against external threats by between fire-walls and software management †¢ Need a communication policy framework that covers all aspects of information communication, storage, access and use within the company †¢ Need to have staff sign communication agreements, based on these policies and comp letion of training and education †¢ Want a better understanding of what social media are used in the company, how they are currently used and how they may be used 5. Are social media technologies really any different from the technology used in existing corporate IT infrastructures? Social Media Technologies ARE Different |Social Media Technologies AREN’T Different | |Global scope of communication and exposure |Underlying motivations are similar | |Policies of social media providers |Underlying mechanisms and technology are the same | |Motivation of social media – recognition, networking, |Accessibility is the same | |crowd-sourcing, accessibility, to make money |Company needs to manage different levels of access and rights | |Relative to the existing infrastructure of the organisation |to publish company information | |Higher functionality has a different purpose | | |Based on equity of access and right to publish | |

Development of the Instrument

The first subspace contains 8 items which captures leader's morally grounded principles at work such as: ‘When I take a managerial decision at work, I consider ethical repercussion of my decision† and â€Å"l take ethical rules seriously when supervise my subordinates in the organization†. Spiritual Depth which is the second subspace contains 8 items which captures leaders deeper self-awareness, deeper self-awareness, self fleeting at work such as â€Å"l believe incorporating spirituality into work makes a leader benevolent † and â€Å"l try to find a deeper sense of meaning in my leadership and work†.Positive Engagement which is the third subspace contains 8 items which captures leaders how leaders develop positive change in the organization through courage and hope such as â€Å"l persuade my team to dream big and think out of the box in the organization† and â€Å"l believe in my teammate's ability to produce positive results in the organi zation†.Community Responsiveness which is the fourth subspace contains items that futures leaders contribution to the society and community service such as â€Å"I actively associate myself in projects related to corporate social responsibility for the benefit of the community' and â€Å"l care about leaving a legacy for future generations†. METHODOLOGY Judgment Sampling is used to gather data for this study. The subject population was managers working in business and nonprofit organizations. First, pilot study was conducted with 30 managers to remove redundancies. The revised re-assessed survey was sent out for data collection.For Confirmatory factor analysis Honking (1995) proposed using a sample size of 200 but Honking (1995) also recommends using a sample of 1 50 for new scale development. For exploratory study, judgment sampling was used to collect the data. I tried to obtain responses from managers who have experience in leading people and who have diverse tenden cies towards benevolence. Judgment Sampling was used as it gives an insight in choosing the respondents, flexibility, convenience. Participants were reached by Professional email groups, Social networking sites, Professional contacts and references.

Critically evaluation of the role of insurance within a wider system Essay

Critically evaluation of the role of insurance within a wider system of risk financing and management - Essay Example They may audit firms to make sure that their risk management practices are adequate to guard against risk. This paper will examine risk management, in general, along with examining risk management in the case of banks, cyber firms, and farming. Risk Management Risks must be identified, and this is the first part of the risk management process, according to Carter et al. (1994). The identification process of risks may be approached by a combination of methods, including intuitive management; using department experts; using standard questionnaires and checklists; using expert computer-based systems; using structured interviews; through brainstorming sessions; or using outside specialists/consultants. The second process is risk quantification, and this means that the impact and probability of a each risk is estimated for each risk. After that, the estimate is quantified by using a spreadsheet which estimates timescales and costs. The next process is risk prioritising and filtering,which means that the important risks are recognized and controlled, and risks are prioritized according to whether they care a Category 1 risk (cost effect only); Category 2 risk (contingency plans and costs affected); or Category 3 risk (programme contingency and cost affected). The Category three risks are the higher priority, and the risks are prioritized from there. ... Mitigating strategies include avoiding the risk altogether by removing the cause of the risk; transferring the risk, which means that the risk is passed to somebody capable of handling that particular risk; reduction of the risk, which would consist of investing in insurance or some other up-front investment; management of the risk, which means that the risk is managed continuously until it is managed out; and contingency, in which funds are produced for the risks which are of low likelihood and impact, or have not been revealed. The next step after that is risk monitoring, reporting and control, which necessitates the use of a risk register, which is carried out by the risk manager. A risk audit is the step after his, which ensures that proper procedures are being followed to manage the risk. The final step is the project completion, which means that the risk manager assesses the project after completion, and assesses the adequacy of the risk management. Interplay Between Insurance and Risk Management According to MacMinn (1987), there is an interplay between insurance and risk management. Specifically, corporations purchase insurance as one way to control their risk (Arrow, 1964). While there is the theory that purchasing insurance is sometimes inefficient for a firm, because the cost of the insurance often exceeds the expected loss, so many firms who are risk averse would not want to purchase insurance because they are interested in maximizing profits, insurance still plays a large role in risk management (Godfrey et. al, 2009). This is because, according to Godfrey et al.(2009), the markets do not always behave rationally. When a corporation does not purchase insurance, that corporation is assuming that the

Ga Kpanlogo and Ewe.Traditional West African dance and music Research Paper

Ga Kpanlogo and Ewe.Traditional West African dance and music techniques - Research Paper Example Comparison of Ga Kpanlogo and Ewe Drumming culture Ga Kpanlogo and Ewe are more or less Ghanaian cultures and they are West African in nature. Ga Kpanlogo has its origin in the capital city of Ghana, Accra, given this is the traditional home of the Ga people whose culture is manifested here (Lewis 2002, p.5). This type of dance can be termed as the urban youth dance and drumming. In addition, it is mainly a symbol of commitment among the rapidly growing youth in the capital of Ghana. This is due to the advocacy nature of the culture while trying to shape the political vision of the post-colonial Africa (Music 2001, p.10). Ewe music and drumming, on the other hand, are a combination of musical and drumming activities of the Ewe people of Ghana, Togo and Benin. This community throughout West Africa is known for drumming and their mode is in the form of a sophistication of cross rhythms and polyrhythm borrowing some of their similarities from jazz and Afro-Caribbean music. This form of drumming embraces diversity and therefore, the drums and music are played in so many different ways depending on where the group playing it originates. The Ewe drumming culture is composed of several drums, a bell and a rattle, and this will be different from Ga Kpanlogo, which is generally composed of drums. Each group of complete Ewe drumming is composed of a master drum together with other secondary drums and an iron bell (Lewis 2002, p.8). The Ewe people do not only have a complex drumming culture but also a complex way of their living. One of their beliefs is that if one person is good at drumming and dancing, then i t is because they inherited it from an ancestor who was good at it. It is important to realize that for both the Ga Kpanlogo and the Ewe music systems, they exhibit 16 voices in their voice notations in terms of their female and male voices. It is notable that the music and drumming cultures of the two societies have some aspects in common. The two forms of drumming and music relate to the belief systems of their respective societies. For example, in the Ewe people music helps them reconnect with their ancestors as they feel the power of life. The aspect of ancestors is quite fundamental to the people of Ewe as they possess the ability to define an individual’s destiny, hence they must be pleased through music (Music 2001, p.13). Secondly, both the group music and drumming culture are aesthetic. For example, the Ewe considers powerful music as good music. This is as the force of drumming helps people remember their past victories as very important concepts. The drumming and m usic of the two communities are a significant symbol of their history as well. In the past for example, drumming helped the Ewe people achieve their freedom from their captors through the blessings from their ancestors (Burns 2006, p.24-6). According to this culture, music is a destiny manifested as a gift from the ancestors. For the two communities, music is used for and during special functions such as during war, at funerals and for rituals for the ancestors in the society. After such functions are over, other genres are put in place for continuity (Rentink 2002, p.31-8). Ga Kpanlogo, as played by the Ga ethnic group most of whom live in Accra, existed in the recreational dance and music. It has since spread as bushfire throughout the country, which began just as a mere creative dance (Agawu 1987, p.9). As opposed to the Ewe dance and music, which were influenced by Afro-Caribbean music and jazz, this form of