Catullus One

Catullus was a Roman poet in the 1st century BCE. His poems were known for being differently written from what his contemporaries were writing at the time. While others were writing more â€Å"manly† poetry, about their sexual conquests, Catullus was less racy in his writings. In his â€Å"Poem 1†, Catullus is dedicating his new poetry to a man named Cornelius. While not a love poem like he usually wrote, â€Å"Poem 1† shows several aspects of Roman culture and gives us a glimpse of how Romans tried to make a lasting impression on the world of the future.In â€Å"Poem 1†, Catullus is simply dedicating his new poetry to Cornelius. He says that Cornelius â€Å"had the habit of making much of my poetic little†, which seems as if Catullus is saying that Cornelius made his poetry more of a big deal than it was worth. This may mean that Cornelius was very excited to be reading Catullus' poetry, implying that the two were friends, or that Cornelius was jus t an admirer of Catullus'. This is reinforced by the next line which states, â€Å"†¦ the first in Italy, were boldly unfolding all past ages in three volumes†¦ . In Rome, at this point in history, preserving one's legacy was a very important task to undertake. It was on the mind of most every notable Roman.Whether it was through great acts committed in the name of Rome or through great works of literature, everyone wanted to be remembered far down the line. What we see in Catullus' â€Å"Poem 1† is this notion of eternal preservation. Catullus says that he will give his new collection to Cornelius and that he hopes that, â€Å"for the sake of its patron may it survive a century or better. This shows the Roman preoccupation with the preservation of their legacy. Catullus' poem may also show the Roman idea of amicitia, or friendship. In Rome, friendship could be an actual friendship, where those involved have a sort of admiration and respect for each other, or a ci rcle of favors where one Roman would do a favor for another. It is possible that Catullus says that he will dedicate this poem to Cornelius as a return of a favor that Cornelius did for Catullus or in order for Cornelius to does him a favor later down the line.But it seems more likely, based on the way that he writes, that Cornelius and Catullus are good friends and Catullus is preserving his friend's name at the same time as he is trying preserve his own and to secure his legacy. The poem is ambiguous in the fact that it does not come right out and say whether Catullus is being sarcastic with his words. As stated earlier, it seems that the relationship between Catullus and Cornelius is one of friendship. However, there is room for interpretation towards the sarcastic side of Catullus' writing.It could be that Cornelius is a critic of Catullus, who tries to make little of his great works of literature. The dedication could actually be a jab at Cornelius if he is in fact a critic of Catullus' writing. Catullus has used his poems to attack his critics before, as in â€Å"Poem Sixteen†. He used his poetry to attack two critics, Aurelius and Furius, who were criticizing Catullus' less than masculine writing style. These aspects of Roman culture, the preservation of legacies and the concept of amicitia, are shown not only in Catullus' work, but also in other writings from the time.Many letters from Cicero to various correspondents show the value of amicitia, both the true friendship and the circle of favors that were both part of this friendship. When he writes to and about Tiro, it is shown that there will be an exchange of favors as Cicero has recently freed Tiro, who was his servant. In exchange, Tiro will be indebted to Cicero and will have to perform a service for him later to repay this favor. The preservation of legacies is apparent in other readings by Catullus as well. In â€Å"Poems 68 and 101†, Catullus uses his poetry to preserve the legac y of other men.He tells us of a friend of his named Allius and of his brother. This man, Allius, aided Catullus after the death of Catullus' brother. He offered him a home to stay under and the mistress of the house to take care of him. This poem also exemplifies the Roman favor system. In repayment for his aid to Catullus, Allius' legacy was preserved in â€Å"Poem 68†. Catullus' brother was also preserved in these poems. He tells us of the grief that he feels in the wake of his brother's death, and by doing so tells us of his brother. Catullus was a very strange writer to read.His poems could vary in subject matter from his obsession over Lesbia, to attacking his critics, to how he has writer's block after the death of his brother. However, his poems did accomplish one of the most important of Roman goals. He was remembered. And through our remembrance of Catullus, we are given a small glimpse into Roman society in his life and what was valued by that society. In addition t o this, we also remember many other Roman men who he preserved with his poetry. Without the efforts of Catullus and many others in their attempts to be remembered, we would not have the wealth of information that we do today about life in Rome.

A business plan for Mr. Rentals

This is a business plan of the company called Mr. Rentals that started in 199, founded by Glen and Kerrianne Hickman and is based in Perth Western Australia in a suburb called Balcatta. The business is about renting appliances and electronics and house goods such as VCRs and TVs from their stores for a particular period of time. (Mr. Rental, n.d.).The pricing techniques that the company should use must depend on the demand for the electronic appliances in the area they are operating. Furthermore, they should also consider the brand and the model of the appliance they are renting and depending on that they should set the price at which it should be rented.Moreover, they must also consider the price of that particular appliance at which it is being sold in the market. This is because if they will charge a higher price to the customers, firstly their market would decline. Secondly, if the appliances would be available to the customers on high rates, they would prefer saving some money a nd buying the appliance themselves.The prices of the company are charging for its rentals vary from the range of the products that they offer and also on the number of days or months for which the customer wants to hire the appliance. Under the kitchen items, Mr. Rentals offers freezers, fridges and microwaves. The freezers available are large and medium chest freezers and upright freezers that cost $11, $9 and $ 13 per week. The company offers medium, larger, extra large and bar fridges that cost $13, $15, $19 and $8 per week while the microwave is available at $ 6 per week.Under the lounge items comes audio, DVD and VCRs, game consoles, set top boxes, TVs and TV stands. The prices of these items vary from home theater system for $14 and stereos for $10 while DVD players for $3, DVD recorder for $11, DVD and VCRs combo for $6 and VCRs for $2 per week.Under game consoles the play station 2 is for $7, PS3 for $23 and Xbox 360 for $16.   106cm LCD TVs for $30, 106cm Plasma TV for $3 5, 51cm flat screen TV for $5, 66cm LCD TV for $20, 68cm flat screen TV for $20 and 81cm LCD TV for $23, TV units for $5 and set top boxes for $6. Under laundry items are dyers and washers. Dryers are available at $8 and washing machines from $10 to $16.Under the office items come computers, data projectors, printers and desks. The computers are available at the prices ranging from $23 to $33, data projectors are for $150 and printers for $6 and desks for $5.To promote its business, Mr. Rentals should use an advertising and promotional strategy and it would be best if the company advertisers in magazines that are related to females or whose target market are the household women. Furthermore, they can also advertise in the magazines that are famous amongst the bachelors. This could bring attention of the prospective customers and they would get to know more about the offerings of the company.Besides that, Mr. Rentals can also develop promotional literature such as flyers, catalogues,   leaflets,  free samples,  ad newspaper,  etc. Other than this, Mr. Rentals can use search engine tools to drive traffic to their website, EZ-Mail list, EZ-Affiliate tools, EZ-Hit counter tools, etc. The best time to do these promotional activities is when the demand of the items is the most. For instance, there is a higher demand for the laundry items in the summers because children go out to play in summers and dirty their clothes and same is with the elders.The demand of the game consoles, lounge items such as TVs, VCRs and audio systems is most during the vacations. The demand for the kitchen items such as fridge and freezers is also higher in the summers therefore they should be promoted in the summers more than in winters or in any other season.Doing the SWOT analysis would give a clear view of the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the company. Mr. Rentals promises free delivery within 24 hours that saves time of the customers and the company also has the offers online facility to place orders after which the company delivers, installs as well as demonstrates the appliance without any charges. Mr. Rentals also offers free services for the customers if they might have any complain or they might want any repairs or replacement of the appliance to be done.  Moreover, the company offers flexible agreement terms that can serve the customers well along with easy payments with several options such as direct debit, centre pay or credit card facilities. Mr. Rentals has the latest appliances available and they give the facility of up gradation to its customer with great package deals. These are all the strengths of the company and the company can benefit from it by maintaining this and also by adding some more facilities for the company.Weaknesses for the company can be types of deals it provides. If the company does not offer a wide range of deals or they do not have the brands available that suit the customers the most, their market wo uld decline.Therefore, sue to the competition existing in the market, they must ensure that they keep all the latest appliances in their stores. Opportunities for the company would be the deals that it offers. It must offer more and more interesting deals to attract the customers. However, a threat for Mr. Rentals would be the decreasing prices in the home appliances. If the electronic appliances manufactured by the companies are of lower prices, the demand for renting appliances would greatly reduce as people would prefer to buy the electronics instead.The results of the market research produced from the primary and secondary resources show that Mr. Rentals is quite popular amongst the customers. The primary data used is the company’s data that was available in the company and its website. Moreover, market research done through the surveys and questionnaires used tells about the likeliness of the customers for the electronic appliances and the deals offered by the company.Th e list of the products that the company is willing to sell is mentioned above in the paper. They basically deal with four categories of electronic appliance i.e. the kitchen, lounge, office and laundry items. The target needs of the company are realistic, achievable and sufficient to make a profit.To attract the target market, Mr. Rentals have a very good option of making allowance for seasonal factors such as in summers or during the holidays when there is a higher demand of laundry items in the summers and lounge items during the vacations. During such seasonal periods, the business can work to full operation.ReferencesMr. Rental. (n.d.).   Wanna read a bit about Mr. Rental’s History? October 27, 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.mrrental.com.au/home/index.php?id=32

1/8/99

1/8/99 Essay Lord of The FliesThree major themes in this story were: fear, the need for civilization, and instinct to be a follower. The most obvious of all the themes is mans need for civilization. The total opposite of the belief that man is innocent and society is evil is displayed in the story by showing that laws and rules, schools and policemen are all important to keep the dark side of human nature in line. When these concepts are ignored or slip away then we go back to the earliest part of their nature. An example of this is when the boys on the island get together at the beginning of the story and try to set some rules and assign a leader. This does not work out the way Ralph had expected, and it shows that uncivilization may occur when there are no regulations, and guidance from a leader. Fear of the unknown on the island are in the minds of the boys because of the terror of the beast. The fear is allowed to grow because they play with the idea of it. They cannot accept the belief of the beast, and they also cannot let go of it. The recognition that no real beast exists, that there is only the power of fear, is one of the deepest meanings of the story. I someone believes that another is superior, usually in strength and intelligence, they will be a follower of that person and fulfill their wishes. At first in the book, Ralph was elected chief. Everyone followed Ralphs commands because he was the superior. Ralph was Jacks superior, but Jack was still in charge of the members that left Ralph. Jack did not believe that Ralph was his superior in strength and intelligence. He left with choir, who followed him. The others soon believed Jack was superior to Ralph because he could hunt and supply them with food. They, of course, went and became part of Jacks tribe. Thsi all shows that people are easily fooled by a show of superior ability and will follow anyone that they believe to be powerful. Three symbols used in this novel are: the conch,the boys, and the hunting rituals. The conch stands for order and stability. It was a way of getting everyone together for meetings, and showing respect to whomever was speaking while holding the conch. The boys themselves represent the different ways of life, they had the intellectual Piggy, the adventurer, the bully, and the torturer. These all give the impression of diversity that is found in an actual society. the several hunting rituals symbolize the increasing powers of evil in them. All of the chanting and dancing they did when hunting was taken to another level of satisfaction, and excitement of that in murderers. Simon symbolizes the prophet-like figure. He is intelligent, and sensible, and he keeps up the hope that the boys will get rescued even when Ralph is doubting it. Some of the other boys on the island find him strange and think that theres something wrong with him. Simon meets the Lord of the Flies, which is represented by the pig skull on the stick. He is the only boy who realizes that there is no real beast on the island, and the only beast is the boys themselves. Simon is killed by the other boys who were caught up in a savage dance, which was an event that represented their barbaric way of living.

Hofstedes Dimensions Abstract Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hofstedes Dimensions Abstract - Assignment Example The five dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural dimension framework are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation. The power distance dimension measures the inclination of the poor citizens of a country to accept power is distributed unequally. In countries that have a high power distance index the people accept their status within the system even if they are at the bottom. Governments that are abusive take advantage of culture with high power distance to impose their regimen on the people. Arab countries have a much higher power distance score than western nations such as the United States. The second dimension of Hofstede’s framework is individualism. Individualism refers to the instinct of people of looking out for their best interest instead of the group. In individualism societies the people are taught to look out for themselves and their families. The United States is a very individualistic society, while Japan believes in collectivism. The survival of the fittest mentality of Americans has instilled a belief in the people that anyone can raise themselves out of poverty through hard work. High educational levels are needed for people in individualistic societies to compete for good paying jobs. The third cultural dimension is masculinity. â€Å"Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found† (Clearlycultural). The country with the highest masculinity index in the world is Japan. In Japan the females do not have equal rights in the workplace. Most managers and supervisors in Japan are males. The United States has a lower masculinity rating than Japan, but the glass ceiling effect still exist and females are often passed by for promotions due to their gender. The fourth

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations Essay - 1

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations - Essay Example To gain political millage the unions were supported and integrated into legislation in the 1900s. Workers union were the largest change to impact employee relations, in the political excerpt, causing indulgence of employee employer relations into acts of governance to protect every party. Unions impacted on politics based on the collective power member had and the power therein in swinging the vote. The workers in the British society, as it is with other societies, have always influenced political ambitions. In politics, the aim involved is getting the majority vote and this can only be obtained by having favour with different groups. Different workers and their categories can easily influence the vote of a given region by aligning with a particular context that favours them. This is the case with governance in the UK with trade unions having been initially illegal, legalized and then instituted in the constitution such that workers favoured the governance that provided rights and be tter working terms and conditions. Economic context In the economic sense, managing employee relations experienced changes through the growth of the Human Resource Management programs. The unions were vessels in which the employees made their demands. At first, the unions were destructive and mostly were expensive to the economic sector, with destruction and looting of property. Legalizing the unions saw members initialize a standard under which employee relations were approached in groups as opposed to individuals. Adoption of different employee relation strategies in the twentieth century, abandoning of unions, allowed the employers to make bargains with individual employees based on their capacities and responsibilities (Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan, 1998, p. 455). Economically, agreements with individuals are less costly compared to having to strike deals with unions. The working class is a fundamental group economically in the UK. The input by the workers in most cases det ermines the output or productivity of a region. The employee relations thus affect various economic concepts such as the GDP, GNP, Exports as well as Imports. Initially, before the industrial revolution, productivity was based on human resources and overworking was a common occurrence, but its increase came to be in the industrial revolution. During the era, the merchants and producers realized that by incorporating machine, productivity increased twofold and that meant more working hours for the employees. Employers introduced shifts and targets for every worker straining the relations as it was affected by the degree of comfort with the jobs. In the revolution, economic increases were recorded but it was soon followed by an outcry by the working forces, which led to unions to fight against oppression. Adopting new employee relation strategies after unions privatized the matters of employment as modern terms of work are negotiated based on personal responsibilities and performance. Social context Socially changes in employee relations have seen an increase in productivity. Changes from unionisation to HRM have seen employees take on more responsibilities within organisations. Socially allocation of responsibilities to workers has improved relations between employer and employee. Unions’ responsibilities included taking on blames by actions purported to have been by their members. Individual members in unions had little sense of

Narrative Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Narrative Information - Essay Example The Sage organizational set up concentrates on encouraging entrepreneurship, innovation, spirit of working as a team and using local software United Kingdom experts to make state of the art business programs. Present Marketing Strategy. Small and medium scale enterprises have shown strong needs to purchase business (specifically accounting ) software in order hasten and make more accurate current manual accounting business transactions. Such companies have back offices where accounting and bookkeeping (Larson, 1995) services are being processed. The medium and larger companies do need software that can make their tasks easier. When the accounting system is accurate and is updated constantly by the computer, then the customers and suppliers will know, as soon as possible (ASAP), what the daily business problems are so that remedies that will lessen the damage done will be put in place earlier. This is where Sage comes to the rescue. Sage will help, in a big way, the small and medium rate industries with their bookkeeping needs and accounting functions. The software, however, are being purchased by some the small companies. Based on the above, the company has been very successful with the present marketing strategy (Thompson, 1999). The income statement clearly shows that there is its present income has been on the rise. Because the present strategy is on the right track, then we will now be implementing a new strategy will be discussed below. This strategy is called Resource based marketing (Kinnear, 1996) strategy. OUTLOOK. According to Sage Chairman Michael Jackson, Individuals in Sage are being treated very highly and respected as a person. Sage company is constantly invented new products and new processes for its large customers' activities. Revenue has grown for Sage company because Sage manages to offer new products to its biggest resource(Samuelson, 1973) which is the CUSTOMER(Irwin,2000). Sage produces for its four million clients software solutions that takes good care its network. Sage has a network of over 22,000 reselling business partners. Based on the above Chairman Michael Jackson statement, invention is the name of the game. Many companies have put up a research( Dilworth, 1993) and development department in order to find new products to sell. These new discoveries will spell the difference between success and failure. By continually inventing new products where the competitors have no similar goods or services, the Sage company will have the edge in terms of market share.Another type of research and development strategy is to improve the quality or quantity output of something that has no competition because it is new discovery. For example, if the accounting software created by Sage can work harmoniously with adobe pdf files, and word files and excel files, as well as other

What are the main factors contributing to low expectancy in the Essay

What are the main factors contributing to low expectancy in the developing world Investigate possible solutions to these problems - Essay Example Money can buy comfort but these people are well below the poverty line because of which they are unable to buy clothes and ultimately face the wrath of extreme climatic conditions. The government has to take initiatives to ensure that their lives are saved, it is the responsibility of the government to safeguard their lives but the truth is that very little has been done for them in the past and nothing much is expected to change in the future. Drought and famine are also two other reasons because of which several people die each year in developing nations. â€Å"Governments of developing countries have invested in improving public health measures (safe drinking water, sanitation, mass immunizations), training medical personnel, building clinics and hospitals, and providing medical care. But much remains to be done. Malnutrition, especially among women and children, is still a big problem. And communicable, largely preventable diseases still claim millions of lives. For example, the average rate of measles immunization worldwide is just 80 percent, and every year more than 1 million children die of the disease. Many of those children are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the rate of measles immunization is the lowest- about 60 percent.† (Beyond Economic Growth) Cleanliness is another factor which plays a major part in deaths across the globe, diseases like malaria spread easily in developing countries because of lack of cleanliness and the same takes away several lives, these things can easily be avoided but nothing much has been done about it. It is high time for the government to step in and do its duty otherwise more lives would inevitably be taken away. Healthcare can play a pivotal role in saving the lives of several people, it is their right to have access to good facilities which they have been deprived of thus far, they should have access to

Project Initiation Document (PID), Project Management, Heritage 59 Essay

Project Initiation Document (PID), Project Management, Heritage 59 Residence in Thailand - Essay Example Financial viability is always an important variable for commercial projects of this nature (Knight 2006) and already, financial feasibility has showed a net profit of THB 380 million over 36 months. The scope of the project clearly defines the boundaries of the project as in what will be involved in the project and what will not be involved in it. The Heritage 59 Residence project will comprise of a two building edifice that is located Sukhumvit Road. The first building will be a maintained 12-storey building at the front side of the site. The second building will be a reconstruction of the existing 3 story-building into a 27-storey at the back side of the site. The proposed financial scope given to the project is THB 85,000 per Sqm with the total land size of project being 806 sq.m to be completed in 36 calendar months. The scope described is graphically represented below Achievable It is important not to set an objective that will be excessively difficult to achieve. The project objective has therefore been defined to be moderate and made up fulfilling all legal provisions that were given in the course of seeking permit for the site plan. Relevant At the end of the project, there should be specific benefits that can be pointed to as the outcome of the project and this is to make a commercial gain of THB 380 million out of the project. Of the tasks, the procedure of construction team and materials will be the most highlighted. Generally, a bid will be opened for interested suppliers to tender. An executive from the Tender Board will be consulted to oversee this process. The project manager will then put in the procedures for procurement to begin by following the steps laid down by the National Procurement Board. The procurement, which is to centre stage will be undertaken through

What organisational forms are best suited to develop innovation Use Essay

What organisational forms are best suited to develop innovation Use relevant theoretical approaches and illustrative exemples in your answers - Essay Example Organisational forms are dependent on the resources and technology available in a given situation. Other factors include the state’s resources and role, the development of the economy, the political development, technological advancement, and similar other forces. Emergence of organisational forms also depends on three factors: 1.) technological advancement with a corresponding social structural support; 2.) power and wealth available in a given situation; and 3.) the development of labour markets. (Aldrich, 2008, p. 177) This essay will discuss aspects and factors of organisational forms that are best suited to innovations. Innovation takes place when there is a â€Å"new element or a combination of old elements† (Schumpeter, 1934 cited in Sundbo, 2003, p. 98). Globalisation paved the way for new organisational forms. This was further enhanced with the popularity of the internet, information technology and the information revolution. Many organisations have followed the horizontal set-up, freeing some reins of power to their branches and subsidiaries, while some have followed the traditional form or the vertical set up, micro-managing their branches through technology. Organisations have to continuously introduce innovations in this age of intense globalisation. Changes and innovations have to be applied on marketing strategies, product orientation, HRM practices, and many other organisational strategies. Employees have to be prepared, trained and developed. Some strategies are institutionally programmed although change has to be spontaneous. Workers have to study and learn and hold the opportunity of lifelong learning. Companies attain competitive edge through constant innovation. The first periods of the new century marked profound shifts in organisation’s strategies with aims for talents, technologies and customer focus and loyalty (Venkatraman and Henderson, 2008, p. 258). Organisations keep constant contact with

How to Interact with Customers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

How to Interact with Customers - Essay Example In this particular case, it has to be highlighted that the issues faced by the consumers on the purchase of the products of the company’s sales’ department needed solutions. This makes the customers and consumers of the products call up to the customer service department. It is to be highlighted and mentioned that when the customers opt to call up the customer service executives of the company, they are in drastic and urgent need of help and support. The process of customer care executives asking them about their sales transaction details are bound to heighten the frustration level of the consumers and customers since it adds up to the delay in getting the desired solution. It also needs to be taken into consideration that in some cases, it might so happen that the customers may not have the sales transaction details at their immediate disposal. This might result in the process of being avoided or getting delayed in terms of getting a recommendable solution to their pro blem. In order to tackle this issue, the company can focus on implementing technology-based upgrades in its customer services. To start in the most traditional way, it can be said that the company goes for an upgrade of their entire customer support software. The new software should be having a feature which will allow the customer service representative to simply type the consumer name and id and thereby pull up the relevant details associated with their individual transaction. However, in the scenario, the company wants to quicken the process of tackling the issue, the company can focus on analyzing the customer queries that are commonly asked by the consumers and customers. It has to be said that the company will need to utilize the tactic of ‘listen and engage’. In order to start with the process of listening to the consumers and customer needs, the company needs to analyze the most frequently asked queries of the consumers. Once, the common queries are being identi fied, the company can focus on the process of designing a special section on the website with the label of frequently asked questions or (FAQs). The company can also opt for designing a user community-based page, which can be integrated with the company’s website. While talking about positioning the page, it has to be mentioned that the page should be placed in the portion of the website which will talk about the frequently asked questions. Also, the consumers who have purchased products from the company’s sales department has to be communicated about the existence of this page through email. This will help the consumers to deal with the product related issues, by asking fellow buyers and users of the same product. By having these particular features in the website, the company will be empowering the customers to troubleshoot their own set of product-related problems on the basis of self help. The self help feature will help in a great way to eradicate the need of call ing the customer service representative at all times. This is sure to provide a great amount of boost in regards to tackling of the issues related to the frustration level of the customers, since it will not be necessary from them to provide the details of their sales transactions at the first place.  

Compare and Contrast Three Hostels in Sydney Essay Example for Free

Compare and Contrast Three Hostels in Sydney Essay There are a lot of hostels in Sydney which are attracted because of its price and facilities. However, there are only three hostels that are suitable with postgraduate students, namely Maze Backpackers, Central Station Hotel and Nomads Westend Backpackers. This report will compare and contrast them with regard to location, price and facilities. Firstly, the location is contrasted between all these hostels. Central Station Hotel has the best location. It is near Central Station which is easily accessible by train, taxi and bus. While Maze Backpackers is in 417 Pitt Street and is located 5 minutes walking from this hostel to Central Station, Nomads Westend Backpackers is next to Central Station and its address is 412 Pitt Street. Secondly, the price is the most important feature is considered among three hostels and the price of rooms for each hostels is completely different. Central Station Hotel has only private rooms while Maze Backpackers and Nomads Westend Backpackers have shared rooms and private rooms. The cost of shared room with 4 beds in Maze Backpackers is $20. 58 whereas the cost of shared room whit 4 beds in Nomad Westend Backpackers is $23. 07 so it’s more expensive than Maze Backpackers’s. The private room in Central Station Hotel is the most expensive. It cost $38. 68 whereas a private room at Maze Backpackers and Nomads Westend Backpackers cost $17. 4 and $20. 94 respectively. Finally, there are some similarities and differences in their facilities. All of them have the Internet/Wifi, 24 hour reception; washing machines, safety deposit and credit card accepted but Maze Backpackers and Nomad Westend Backpackers are more convenient than Central Station Hotel because they have lounge area. However, Central Station is suitable with postgraduate students who need to use photocopying machines.

Solving proportions Essay Example for Free

Solving proportions Essay Proportions exist in many real-world applications, and in this problem  estimating the size of the bear population on the Keweenaw Peninsula. By comparing  data from two experiments, conservationists are able to predict patterns of animal  increase or decrease. In this situation, 50 bears were captured and tagged and released to  estimate the size of the bear population. A year later, after capturing a random sample of  100 bears only 2 of the bears captured were tagged bears. These proportions will be used  to determine the bear population on the peninsula. This new bear scenario can be solved  by applying the concept of proportions which allows the assumption of the  ratio of  originally tagged bears to the whole population is equal to the ratio of recaptured tagged  bears to the size of the sample. To determine the estimated solution, the bears will be the  extraneous variables that will be defined for solving the proportions used. The ratio of originally tagged bears to the whole population X_2_The ratio of recaptured tagged bears to the sample size 10050 = _2_ This is the proportion set up and ready to solve. X 100  (50)(100), (X)(2)The next step is to cross multiply.  5000 = 2X Divide both sides by 2 2 2  2500 = XThe bear population on the Keweenaw Peninsula is estimated to be  around 2500. The extreme means for this sample were 50 and 100, X and 2.  For the second problem in this assignment, the equation must be solved for Y.  Continuing the discussion of proportions, a single fraction (ratio) exists on both sides  of the equal sign so basically it is a proportion, which can be solved by  cross  multiplying the extremes and means. Y-1 = 3 Original equation solving for Y  X+3 4  4(Y-1) = -3(X+3) Cross multiply both sides  4Y-4 = -3X-9 Add 4 to both sides  4Y = -3X-5 Divide both sides by 4  Y = -3X-5 Final answer for Y  4 4  This is a linear equation in the form of y = mx + b. After comparing the solution  to the original problem, it is noticed that the slope, -3/4 ,is the same number on the right  side of the equation. This indicates that another method exists for solving the sameequation.  Y-1 = 3 Original equation solving for Y  X+3 4  Y-1 = -3(X+3) Multiply both sides by (X+3)  4  Y-1 = -3X-9 Add 1 to both sides  4 4  Y = -3X-5 Final answer  4 4 After solving both of these problems I found it interesting how 2 totally different  equations could be solved with the same basic functions. I also found that everyday life  can incorporate these math functions to solve or estimate daily life events for a number of  different reasons.. REFERENCES References: Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, 4th Ed., Dugopolski

Cultural Identity and Belonging in Muslims

Cultural Identity and Belonging in Muslims Religious conversion, cultural identity and national belonging: The world of Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks). Introduction It is always interesting to immerse in the mysterious past and to discover how the sense of national identity is created and transformed over the years. Throughout olden times and until now, cultural margins have shrunk or expanded, established nations and minorities within these have interacted with and influenced each other, religious and cultural conversions have frequently taken place and in the melting pot of history new distinctive uniqueness has begun to exist. This is particularly valid when the case of Bulgarian Muslims is discussed. Moreover, it is important to recognise here that the world of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks has been a subject of endless speculations and ethnic and political claims over the years and it is still very much unknown to the Western European ethnological and historical research literature. Much of the translated work that refers to the Pomaks is from Greek, Serbian, Turkish or Macedonian origin. Therefore it is, fair to say that the story of this Muslim enclave that inhibits mostly Bulgarian territories and speaks Bulgarian language, must be considered from a Bulgarian point of view and this is the main aim here. Consequently, this essay will examine the world of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks, their religious conversion from Christianity to Islam and the formation and transformation of their cultural identity and sense of national belonging. To accomplish all this, the essay will firstly discuss the religious conversion of the Pomaks, its background, character, mode and outcomes and how it has laid the foundations of Bulgarian Muslims’ cultural identity. In addition, this paper will comment on the transformation of the cultural identity and sense of national belonging of Bulgarian Muslims. Finally, it will conclude with thoughts on self-perception, perception of others and future hopes. Definition of the term Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks Before elaborating further on all abovementioned points, there is a need to establish and define the term Bulgarian Muslims and describe it in Bulgarian context. In order to achieve this, two reliable sources will be cited. Commenting on the issue of cultural belonging and religious identity of Muslims in Bulgaria, Kemal Karpat, a Turkish historian and researcher, states that: The Muslim identity of these populations consisted outwardly of certain objective symbols and acts such as names and ritualsand at their place of origin they tended to identify themselves with Islam in terms of social behaviour, rather than in terms of a political systemand possessed a passive communal Muslim identity (1990, pp. 131-132). In his The hijra from Russia and the Balkans: the process of self-definition in the late Ottoman state, he argues that the largest population group â€Å"in the area that is now Bulgaria†, was the Muslim population group. In terms of spoken language, he endorses that â€Å"they spoke Slavic† (1990, pp.132-134). In his Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula (2007, pp. 41-62), the well-known Bulgarian historian, researcher and writer Hristo Krasin, presents a different point of view to that of Kemal Karpat. He argues that all modern Bulgarian population has a strong Bulgarian ethnic origin and comprises of four groups. The first group consists of Bulgarians, who speak Bulgarian language and are Eastern Orthodox Christians. The second one consists of Bulgarians, who recognise themselves as Bulgarian speaking Muslims with Bulgarian or Turkish national identity. The third one consists of Bulgarian speaking Muslims, who recognise themselves as ethnic Turks because their Bulgarian national identity was partially erased over the centuries due to the aggressive assimilation politic of the Turkish Empire. The last group consists of Bulgarian individuals, who speak Bulgarian and Turkish languages. They recognise themselves as ethnic Turks, whose religions are Christianity and Islam and whose Bulgarian national identity was fully erased under centuries of Turkish Islamic brutality in Bulgaria. This classification of ethnic and religious groups only appears to be straightforward. In the context of the tricky ethic and religious relationships in Bulgaria and in the Balkans, nothing is ever simple. Hence, the purpose of this essay is not to involve the reader in a discussion of the suggested categorisation or its validity or reliability but to establish some clarity into the complicated issue of ethnicity and identity of the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims and their ethnic, cultural and national identity and self-perception. Subsequently, this paper will confine itself to the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, further referred to as Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks. Religious conversion: Pomaks until 1878 As it already beginning to emerge, the case of the Pomaks is complicated and a number of debates around it, display very strong positions and conflicting opinions. In order to appreciate all points of view and in search for the truth, it is imperative to consider the historical background of the issue. The existence of closed Muslim societies in Bulgaria is the direct inheritance of five centuries long Turkish rule over the Balkan Peninsula (Todorova, 1998, p.3). Even though there is no reliable data or figures to inform of population characteristics or major population shifts, some research has been done and there are number of existing theories that explain the size and grouping of Muslim population on the Peninsula. In his Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula (2007, p. 23), Hristo Krasin has attempted to assess the character and the effects of these movements. He claims that there were not any significant population transfers from Anatolia to the Balkans between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries and that the military formation send to take the Peninsula over, comprised only of soldiers and there no women travelling with the army. In her Identity (Trans) Formation among Bulgarian Muslims, Maria Todorova, a researcher from The University of California (1998, p.4) argues that the â€Å"chief historiographical controversy centres on the explanations for the sizeable Muslim population in the Balkans: Colonisation versus Conversion theory†. Furthermore, she suggests that â€Å"by the sixteenth century the settler colonisation process had stopped and yet the percentage of Muslims in the region continued to grow. Thus, the hypothesis offered is that â€Å"there were a great number of personal conversions to Islam among the non-Muslim population of the Balkans, respectively Bulgaria† (Todorova, 1998, p.6). In addition, a whole range of reliable academic research and publications from Bulgarian and Turkish authors, such as Omer Barkan from Istanbul University, Elena Grozdanova from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Albanian historian Sami Pulaha (all cited in Todorova, 1998, pp. 2-5), refer to data to evidence rapid Muslim population growth in Bulgaria between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries due either colonisation or conversion. In an attempt to join this debate and in discussion of the concrete but complex case of the Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks, it must be suggested here that although there is evidence to support both theories, the majority of all available sources, also supported by official documents and survived the time registers of the Ottoman empire, shape the idea that religious conversion on a massive scale took place in Bulgaria and respectively in the Balkans (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). The question is how the conversion from Christianity to Islam was carried out and the answer to this question is directly connected with Pomaks’ self-identification as Muslims and consequently gives some light into their actions and behavioural characteristics as citizens of the Ottoman Empire until the nineteenth century and independent Bulgaria after that. To discuss the mode of the religious conversion of the Pomaks and emphasise its importance for the formation of their cultural identity and national belonging, it must be made clear here that â€Å"conversion may occur in one or more of three ways: through voluntary association, by pressure, and by assimilation. Syncretism and strong cultural resistance can also complicate the conversion process† (The Applied History Research group, 2000, pp.1-3). There is another raging debate in Bulgarian and Balkan historiographical research literature about the mode of Pomaks’ conversion to Islam and the co-existence of Bulgarian Christians and Bulgarian Muslims. On the one hand, there are these, who argue that the conversion was forced upon the Christian population of Bulgaria and over the centuries, and especially the seventeen century, there was a mass conversion to Islam in across the country and especially in the mountain Rodopi region. There is a huge amount of literature, both academic and journalistic, supported with reliable and substantial evidence that the alleged obligatory conversion took place. In his Genocide and Holocaust against Bulgarians (2006, p.63), Bulgarian academic historian and writer Georgi Voinov claims that the systematic and focused compulsory conversion to Islam was one of the favourite methods of control and ruling in the Ottoman Empire, well known for its strong assimilation aspirations in order to promote pan-Turkism. To sustain his assertions, Voinov cites numerous sources, based on authentic literature, written by survivors or witnesses from fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. He also claims that there are official registers of the Ottoman Empire that had also captured those events and give objective information and statistics of all the atrocities that took place in the name of Islam and in order to erase Bulgarian national identity among the Bulgarian population (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). All abovementioned sources affirm that Islam in Bulgaria was not accepted voluntary but under duress. In the History Reader: The Rodopi mountain through the centuries (1966, p. 78), Bulgarian historian Peter Petrov cites a source from the sixteenth century that talks of 325 thousand young Bulgarian youths forcefully converted to Islam and taken to Anatolia to commence military service in the Turkish army. Only the boy’s number was known, for the girls, no-one has ever known. It is claimed, that conversion took place in 1515 and under the command of Selim Pasha. There are also endless lists from administrative Ottoman registers reporting evidence that Islam was not accepted on voluntary basis. Mass conversions took place in 1620, 1633, 1669, 1705, 1720, 1803, all of those through fire and sword, drowning in blood any resistance from the local Christian population (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). On the other hand, there are those academic writers and journalists, who for one reason or another and in an attempt to politicise the issue of Bulgarian Muslims, are nowadays trying to reassess historical events. Special attention is given to the religious and cultural conversion in Bulgaria. In the recently published second edition of his book The Mohammedan Bulgarians (2007, pp. 5-12), Bulgarian researcher and writer Stojan Raichevski asserts that change to Islam was forced upon the Christian Bulgarians by the power of the sword to a minimal degree but there were many other, more important reasons and economic factors, that played a key role, such as preferential taxation and trading agreements for Muslims in the Empire, the greed of the Greek Orthodox clergy, the conflict between the Bogomils and the Orthodox Church, etc. In addition, Kemal Karpat comments that at the time when their land was conquered, the Slavic speaking Muslims were under the authority of their local feudal lords and accepted Islam as the new faith as it supposedly was close to their native faith of Bogomilism, a mixture of Christianity, paganism and Manichaeism. In doing so, they hoped to preserve their land holdings and ethnic identity. Furthermore, according to the Applied History Research group of the University of Calgary (2000, p.1), â€Å"although conversion by pressure cannot be termed voluntary, the degree of force and coercion varies greatly. Indeed, military conquest was typically followed by the application of subtler pressures, such as commercial or judicial sanctions, to enforce the requirement of the new rulers†. Economic pressure was just as effective as an unrestrained military subjugation. Thinking objectively and considering all points of view and available data, one does not doubt here that many factors acted as an incentive to mass Islamic conversions in Bulgaria. What is interesting to communicate through this piece of work is that the combination of the different modes of conversion: by voluntary association, by pressure, and by assimilation, was accompanied with syncretism that determined some degree of cultural adaptation. It did, in turn, also provoke fierce cultural resistance and martyrdom from a large part of the Christian population. Hence, here was the historical picture in Bulgaria. On the one hand, those Bulgarians, who surrendered their religion for one reason or another, became Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks. They continued speaking Bulgarian language and the local area dialect, build their houses in Bulgarian architectural traditions, saved some elements of their old dress code, continued to recognise themselves as Bulgarians but built mosques, celebrated Eid and enjoyed preferential treatment from the Ottoman rulers. However, over the centuries they were exposed to the influences of their adopted Islamic religion and the aggressive pan-Turkism promoted in the Ottoman Empire and through blending of various aspects of different cultural customs and religious rituals or syncretism, somewhat new cultural arrangements took place. Bulgarian Muslims adapted culturally to the life in the Empire and although preserving their Slavic language and some sense of Bulgarian national identity, their levels of cultural adaptation reached much greater heights than those among the Christian Bulgarian population. Due to this fact and over the centuries, the Pomaks have tried to self-define themselves in terms of national conciseness and have become vulnerable to influences and an object of hatred or even political struggle. On the other hand, while Bulgarian Muslims were going through the process of cultural assimilation, the larger part of the Bulgarian population withstood the pressure, continued to observe their faith and traditions, regularly rebelled against the Turkish rulers and took part in more than fifty military conquests against the Turks, led by different European rulers. All Bulgarian uprisings against the Ottoman Sultans, fourteen in total in Bulgaria itself (Voinov, 2006, p.26), were drowned in blood. What needs clarification here is one, not very well popularised fact: Bulgarian Muslims took active part in the suppression and crushing of many of the rebellions. This, in turn, raises many questions, with one most imperative. What were the reasons that in the same ethnic population group, some of its members took the way of conversion and cultural adaptation but the others chose cultural resistance, martyrdom and self-martyrdom? How could these two groups live in relative peace under Ottoman rule but when an uprising against the Turks took place, Bulgarian Muslims ferociously and viciously attacked their Christian neighbours and fought on the side of the Turks, committing acts of unheard of cruelty and brutality? Their participation in the crushing of the April uprising of 1876 is notorious and it was described by the American writer and journalist Janarius Aloysius McGahan, who was one of the greatest war correspondents in the nineteenth century. In his American witness (2002, 3rd Ed.), Bulgarian historian Teodor Dimitrov has published McGahan’s notes about the atrocities in Batak, Bulgaria, and they read: â€Å"We spoke with many women, who had been through all stages of torture without the last one, death. The procedure, as it seemed, was the following: the Turks would take a woman, undress her, putting aside her valuables, gang-rape her and the last one, who had her, would kill her or let her go, depending on his mood†. What McGahan does not note here is that the Turks were not alone in the slaughter of the rebels. They are aided by their helpers’, the local Pomak population, Greeks and other small ethnic groups. Thus, Christian Bulgarians fought for freedom, while Muslim Bulgarians took part in the massacre of their uprising. What could have possibly provoked someone to behave in such a way? According to Doinov et al. (2001, p.112), â€Å"the shown cruelty was an outburst of the deep national and religious hatred against the oppressed nationalities in the Ottoman Empire, that has been groomed and encouraged for centuries by the ruling powers†. However, something else was at work there too. Kemal Karpat (1990, p.136) explains that Balkan Muslims, although living in a hostile Christian European world, remained largely apolitical. However, their â€Å"passive cultural-religious consciousness was easily converted to a dynamic Muslim identity when the circumstances required†. Perhaps when Bulgarian Muslims were faced with an unconditional act of resistance in the â€Å"most dramatic form: suicide and self-martyrdom† (2000, p.3), those acted as catalyst and the Pomaks replied with repression and brutality. Ekaterina Peychinova, Director of the Museum of History in Batak describes what drove the oppressors mad: For three days and three nights the people inside the church held together, and the shooting outside did not stop for a minute. At the end of the third day they gave in and opened the gates of the church. But then they had only two options: either become Muslims or die. Every single one of them chose death. (cited in Ivanova, 2008, p.1) The horrific power of those events and the depth of feelings and emotions are overwhelming. Keeping in mind that Bulgarian Christians and Bulgarian Muslims are from the same ethnic origin and the same blood flows in their veins, have religious and cultural conversion, syncretism and assimilation have changed the latter so much that they could commit such acts and have identity switch over, allowing for full degradation of human values? This essay does not have the ambitious goal to answer all those questions. History gives the answers and it will do the same here too. Many years have gone since those ghastly days and Pomaks’ sense of cultural identity and national belonging has evolved and changed again as Bulgarian Muslims themselves were at the receiving end of numerous assimilation governmental campaigns and strategies from 1878 until now. Cultural identity and national belonging of Bulgarian Pomaks Due to the fact that the Bulgarian speaking Muslims took an active part in the suppressing the April uprising of 1876, they did not enjoy friendly treatment from their Christian neighbours. With the advancement of the Russian armies in 1878, retaliation began and a substantial part of the Pomaks immigrated to the Ottoman empire, refusing to live under the rule of the â€Å"giaurs† or infidels. Many others took part in the Rodopi mutiny and lived in the so-called Pomak republic for about eight years until 1886, when the participating villages were included in the Ottoman Empire but only until the Balkan wars (Todorva, 1998, p.9). Furthermore, in the Ottoman Population: 1830-1914 (1985, p.78), Kemal Karpat cites Ottoman statistics, indicating that the total population of the Empire rose by about 40% in the period 1860-1878 due to coercive measures by Russia and Bulgaria. He mentions that among the Balkan migrants there were large groups of Slavic-speaking Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins and Pomaks with a negative sense of ethnic identity, as they considered themselves as Muslims but not Osmanlis (Turks). Thus, judging by the actions of the Pomaks, the question that must be asked here is: did the Pomaks have a Turkish or Bulgarian cultural and national identity at the end of the nineteen and beginning of twentieth century and is it possible to differentiate between religious and ethnic belonging? The Pomaks, who immigrated to the Ottoman Empire, had their cultural identity politicised and defined as Muslim and Turkish under the influence of the local political and ethnic culture (Karpat, 1990, p.137). Unfortunately, the Pomaks, who stayed in Bulgaria, did not have the opportunity to decide for themselves freely because during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they were subjected to a number of keen campaigns to accept and recognise them as part of the Bulgarian nation or â€Å"narod†, starting from 1920-s and continuing until the mid-80-s. In 1942, the first ever mass attempt to change the names of the Bulgarian Muslims to Bulgarian names took place. It was a result of the work of the Pomaks’ own organisation, called â€Å"Rodina† or Motherland. Consisting mainly of teachers, â€Å"Rodina† strove to improve the position of the Pomaks in Bulgarian society and to save them from the growing resentment and marginalisation. In the context of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom (1878 – 1944) and its nationalistic ambitions and assimilative tendencies, it is important to acknowledge here that Motherlands’ actions were justified in terms of seeking a national, cultural and linguistic unity of the Bulgarian society and the difficulties that the Pomaks could have faced, if tried to fit in that society. What is questionable here is the Pomaks desire to fit in. Although the Pomaks have, at that point, lost the very close contact with their original cultural authority, the Ottoman Empire, they were still in favour of their religious affiliation and were not willing to adapt to the fresh, language-based identity actively promoted by the modern Bulgarian state at that time (Todorova, 1998, p. 11). Another problem here is the attitude of the Christian Bulgarians, whose national consciousness was determined by religious and linguistic boundaries. Were they ready to forget the Ottoman rule and April 1876 and to accept the Pomaks as part of the Bulgarian nation and allow assimilation? Could adaptation and adoption take place and the complex issue of national identity, belonging and unity be resolved peacefully and once and for all? What is better: common national identity and national unity or multi-cultural society? During communist rule in the 1960-s, 1970-s and 1980-s, various Bulgarian governments tried to resolve the issue through numerous heavy-handed assimilation campaigns, when all Muslim names were changed to Bulgarian names, an attempt was made to form a united Bulgarian nation in order to neutralise nationalistic ambitions and claims from neighbouring Turkey. After the democratic reforms from 1989, all ethnic and religious groups in Bulgaria gained the freedom to self-identify themselves and promote their national and religious distinctiveness. All Muslim names were restored and seemingly the great effort to create a united Bulgarian national identity had ended. Hence, the national identity and cultural belonging of the Pomaks are somewhat fluid and non-defined, and the coming generations will have the chance to accomplish the process of integration or affiliation as they choose. It is, however, ultimate to accept the lessons of history and to abolish all attempts to forcefully create a single identity with identical religious or national characteristics. Cultural conversion through co-operation and co-existence is frequently welcome by small or big population groups, whilst conversion by pressure, conflict and aggressive assimilation is rejected and leads to confusion, hatred and frequently violent resistance. Conclusion In conclusion, it must be recognised here that the case of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks is of complex nature and the issue of defining their national identity and cultural belonging is still unresolved. There are many more questions to ask and answer and many more avenues to explore in order to establish which one of the national identity constituents is the most influential and possess the ultimate formative power. Consequently, it is the greatest regret of this work that it is impossible to analyse or develop fully all themes, ideas and debates in connection with the cultural identity, national belonging and self-perception of the Pomaks, when the number of words is restricted and there is lack of the research available. However, one humbly hopes to have offered here, merely an attempt of discussion on the important issues of cultural and religious identity and how they shape the very centre of the human concept of self. Finally, it must be emphasised here that the writing of this essay has been a vast learning experience for the author, an opportunity to study, investigate and explore the world of Bulgarian Muslims and be taught lessons that put historical and contemporary events into perspective. Bibliography Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1982). History of Bulgaria. Sofia: BAN Press, vol. 3-7. Dimitrov, T. (2002). American witness. 3rd Ed. Geneva: Geneva press. Doinov, D., Jechev, N. Kosev, K. (2001). The April uprising and the fate of the Bulgarian nation. Sofia: Academic Press â€Å"Professor Marin Drinov†. Ivanova, M. (2008). St. Nedelya church in Batak. Available from: http://www.pravoslavieto.com. (Accessed: 12 April 2008). Karpat, K. (1985). Ottoman Population: 1830-1914. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Karpat, K. (1990). The hijra from Russia and the Balkans: the process of self-definition in the late Ottoman state. In: Eickelman, D. Piscatori, J. (Ed.). Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, migration, and the religious imagination. Los Angeles: University of California Press, Chapter 7, pp. 131-152. Krasin, H. (2007). Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula. (Turskite porazii v Bulgaria i na Balkanskia Poluostrov). Sofia: Svetovit Press. Petrov, P. (1966). History Reader: The Rodopi mountain through the centuries. Sofia: BKP Press. Rajcevski, S. (2004). The Mohammedan Bulgarians (Pomaks). (Balgarite Mohamedani). Sofia: Bulgarian Bestseller Press. The Applied History Research Group. (2000) Old World Contacts. Available from: http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history. (Accessed: 14 April 2008). Todorova, M. (1998). Identity (Trans) Formation among Bulgarian Muslims. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. Voinov, G. (2006). Genocide and Holocaust against Bulgarians. (Genotsidad i Holokostat sreshtu Balgarite.) Sofia: Arateb Press. Cultural Identity and Belonging in Muslims Cultural Identity and Belonging in Muslims Religious conversion, cultural identity and national belonging: The world of Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks). Introduction It is always interesting to immerse in the mysterious past and to discover how the sense of national identity is created and transformed over the years. Throughout olden times and until now, cultural margins have shrunk or expanded, established nations and minorities within these have interacted with and influenced each other, religious and cultural conversions have frequently taken place and in the melting pot of history new distinctive uniqueness has begun to exist. This is particularly valid when the case of Bulgarian Muslims is discussed. Moreover, it is important to recognise here that the world of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks has been a subject of endless speculations and ethnic and political claims over the years and it is still very much unknown to the Western European ethnological and historical research literature. Much of the translated work that refers to the Pomaks is from Greek, Serbian, Turkish or Macedonian origin. Therefore it is, fair to say that the story of this Muslim enclave that inhibits mostly Bulgarian territories and speaks Bulgarian language, must be considered from a Bulgarian point of view and this is the main aim here. Consequently, this essay will examine the world of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks, their religious conversion from Christianity to Islam and the formation and transformation of their cultural identity and sense of national belonging. To accomplish all this, the essay will firstly discuss the religious conversion of the Pomaks, its background, character, mode and outcomes and how it has laid the foundations of Bulgarian Muslims’ cultural identity. In addition, this paper will comment on the transformation of the cultural identity and sense of national belonging of Bulgarian Muslims. Finally, it will conclude with thoughts on self-perception, perception of others and future hopes. Definition of the term Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks Before elaborating further on all abovementioned points, there is a need to establish and define the term Bulgarian Muslims and describe it in Bulgarian context. In order to achieve this, two reliable sources will be cited. Commenting on the issue of cultural belonging and religious identity of Muslims in Bulgaria, Kemal Karpat, a Turkish historian and researcher, states that: The Muslim identity of these populations consisted outwardly of certain objective symbols and acts such as names and ritualsand at their place of origin they tended to identify themselves with Islam in terms of social behaviour, rather than in terms of a political systemand possessed a passive communal Muslim identity (1990, pp. 131-132). In his The hijra from Russia and the Balkans: the process of self-definition in the late Ottoman state, he argues that the largest population group â€Å"in the area that is now Bulgaria†, was the Muslim population group. In terms of spoken language, he endorses that â€Å"they spoke Slavic† (1990, pp.132-134). In his Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula (2007, pp. 41-62), the well-known Bulgarian historian, researcher and writer Hristo Krasin, presents a different point of view to that of Kemal Karpat. He argues that all modern Bulgarian population has a strong Bulgarian ethnic origin and comprises of four groups. The first group consists of Bulgarians, who speak Bulgarian language and are Eastern Orthodox Christians. The second one consists of Bulgarians, who recognise themselves as Bulgarian speaking Muslims with Bulgarian or Turkish national identity. The third one consists of Bulgarian speaking Muslims, who recognise themselves as ethnic Turks because their Bulgarian national identity was partially erased over the centuries due to the aggressive assimilation politic of the Turkish Empire. The last group consists of Bulgarian individuals, who speak Bulgarian and Turkish languages. They recognise themselves as ethnic Turks, whose religions are Christianity and Islam and whose Bulgarian national identity was fully erased under centuries of Turkish Islamic brutality in Bulgaria. This classification of ethnic and religious groups only appears to be straightforward. In the context of the tricky ethic and religious relationships in Bulgaria and in the Balkans, nothing is ever simple. Hence, the purpose of this essay is not to involve the reader in a discussion of the suggested categorisation or its validity or reliability but to establish some clarity into the complicated issue of ethnicity and identity of the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims and their ethnic, cultural and national identity and self-perception. Subsequently, this paper will confine itself to the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, further referred to as Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks. Religious conversion: Pomaks until 1878 As it already beginning to emerge, the case of the Pomaks is complicated and a number of debates around it, display very strong positions and conflicting opinions. In order to appreciate all points of view and in search for the truth, it is imperative to consider the historical background of the issue. The existence of closed Muslim societies in Bulgaria is the direct inheritance of five centuries long Turkish rule over the Balkan Peninsula (Todorova, 1998, p.3). Even though there is no reliable data or figures to inform of population characteristics or major population shifts, some research has been done and there are number of existing theories that explain the size and grouping of Muslim population on the Peninsula. In his Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula (2007, p. 23), Hristo Krasin has attempted to assess the character and the effects of these movements. He claims that there were not any significant population transfers from Anatolia to the Balkans between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries and that the military formation send to take the Peninsula over, comprised only of soldiers and there no women travelling with the army. In her Identity (Trans) Formation among Bulgarian Muslims, Maria Todorova, a researcher from The University of California (1998, p.4) argues that the â€Å"chief historiographical controversy centres on the explanations for the sizeable Muslim population in the Balkans: Colonisation versus Conversion theory†. Furthermore, she suggests that â€Å"by the sixteenth century the settler colonisation process had stopped and yet the percentage of Muslims in the region continued to grow. Thus, the hypothesis offered is that â€Å"there were a great number of personal conversions to Islam among the non-Muslim population of the Balkans, respectively Bulgaria† (Todorova, 1998, p.6). In addition, a whole range of reliable academic research and publications from Bulgarian and Turkish authors, such as Omer Barkan from Istanbul University, Elena Grozdanova from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Albanian historian Sami Pulaha (all cited in Todorova, 1998, pp. 2-5), refer to data to evidence rapid Muslim population growth in Bulgaria between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries due either colonisation or conversion. In an attempt to join this debate and in discussion of the concrete but complex case of the Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks, it must be suggested here that although there is evidence to support both theories, the majority of all available sources, also supported by official documents and survived the time registers of the Ottoman empire, shape the idea that religious conversion on a massive scale took place in Bulgaria and respectively in the Balkans (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). The question is how the conversion from Christianity to Islam was carried out and the answer to this question is directly connected with Pomaks’ self-identification as Muslims and consequently gives some light into their actions and behavioural characteristics as citizens of the Ottoman Empire until the nineteenth century and independent Bulgaria after that. To discuss the mode of the religious conversion of the Pomaks and emphasise its importance for the formation of their cultural identity and national belonging, it must be made clear here that â€Å"conversion may occur in one or more of three ways: through voluntary association, by pressure, and by assimilation. Syncretism and strong cultural resistance can also complicate the conversion process† (The Applied History Research group, 2000, pp.1-3). There is another raging debate in Bulgarian and Balkan historiographical research literature about the mode of Pomaks’ conversion to Islam and the co-existence of Bulgarian Christians and Bulgarian Muslims. On the one hand, there are these, who argue that the conversion was forced upon the Christian population of Bulgaria and over the centuries, and especially the seventeen century, there was a mass conversion to Islam in across the country and especially in the mountain Rodopi region. There is a huge amount of literature, both academic and journalistic, supported with reliable and substantial evidence that the alleged obligatory conversion took place. In his Genocide and Holocaust against Bulgarians (2006, p.63), Bulgarian academic historian and writer Georgi Voinov claims that the systematic and focused compulsory conversion to Islam was one of the favourite methods of control and ruling in the Ottoman Empire, well known for its strong assimilation aspirations in order to promote pan-Turkism. To sustain his assertions, Voinov cites numerous sources, based on authentic literature, written by survivors or witnesses from fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. He also claims that there are official registers of the Ottoman Empire that had also captured those events and give objective information and statistics of all the atrocities that took place in the name of Islam and in order to erase Bulgarian national identity among the Bulgarian population (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). All abovementioned sources affirm that Islam in Bulgaria was not accepted voluntary but under duress. In the History Reader: The Rodopi mountain through the centuries (1966, p. 78), Bulgarian historian Peter Petrov cites a source from the sixteenth century that talks of 325 thousand young Bulgarian youths forcefully converted to Islam and taken to Anatolia to commence military service in the Turkish army. Only the boy’s number was known, for the girls, no-one has ever known. It is claimed, that conversion took place in 1515 and under the command of Selim Pasha. There are also endless lists from administrative Ottoman registers reporting evidence that Islam was not accepted on voluntary basis. Mass conversions took place in 1620, 1633, 1669, 1705, 1720, 1803, all of those through fire and sword, drowning in blood any resistance from the local Christian population (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1982, vol. 3-7). On the other hand, there are those academic writers and journalists, who for one reason or another and in an attempt to politicise the issue of Bulgarian Muslims, are nowadays trying to reassess historical events. Special attention is given to the religious and cultural conversion in Bulgaria. In the recently published second edition of his book The Mohammedan Bulgarians (2007, pp. 5-12), Bulgarian researcher and writer Stojan Raichevski asserts that change to Islam was forced upon the Christian Bulgarians by the power of the sword to a minimal degree but there were many other, more important reasons and economic factors, that played a key role, such as preferential taxation and trading agreements for Muslims in the Empire, the greed of the Greek Orthodox clergy, the conflict between the Bogomils and the Orthodox Church, etc. In addition, Kemal Karpat comments that at the time when their land was conquered, the Slavic speaking Muslims were under the authority of their local feudal lords and accepted Islam as the new faith as it supposedly was close to their native faith of Bogomilism, a mixture of Christianity, paganism and Manichaeism. In doing so, they hoped to preserve their land holdings and ethnic identity. Furthermore, according to the Applied History Research group of the University of Calgary (2000, p.1), â€Å"although conversion by pressure cannot be termed voluntary, the degree of force and coercion varies greatly. Indeed, military conquest was typically followed by the application of subtler pressures, such as commercial or judicial sanctions, to enforce the requirement of the new rulers†. Economic pressure was just as effective as an unrestrained military subjugation. Thinking objectively and considering all points of view and available data, one does not doubt here that many factors acted as an incentive to mass Islamic conversions in Bulgaria. What is interesting to communicate through this piece of work is that the combination of the different modes of conversion: by voluntary association, by pressure, and by assimilation, was accompanied with syncretism that determined some degree of cultural adaptation. It did, in turn, also provoke fierce cultural resistance and martyrdom from a large part of the Christian population. Hence, here was the historical picture in Bulgaria. On the one hand, those Bulgarians, who surrendered their religion for one reason or another, became Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks. They continued speaking Bulgarian language and the local area dialect, build their houses in Bulgarian architectural traditions, saved some elements of their old dress code, continued to recognise themselves as Bulgarians but built mosques, celebrated Eid and enjoyed preferential treatment from the Ottoman rulers. However, over the centuries they were exposed to the influences of their adopted Islamic religion and the aggressive pan-Turkism promoted in the Ottoman Empire and through blending of various aspects of different cultural customs and religious rituals or syncretism, somewhat new cultural arrangements took place. Bulgarian Muslims adapted culturally to the life in the Empire and although preserving their Slavic language and some sense of Bulgarian national identity, their levels of cultural adaptation reached much greater heights than those among the Christian Bulgarian population. Due to this fact and over the centuries, the Pomaks have tried to self-define themselves in terms of national conciseness and have become vulnerable to influences and an object of hatred or even political struggle. On the other hand, while Bulgarian Muslims were going through the process of cultural assimilation, the larger part of the Bulgarian population withstood the pressure, continued to observe their faith and traditions, regularly rebelled against the Turkish rulers and took part in more than fifty military conquests against the Turks, led by different European rulers. All Bulgarian uprisings against the Ottoman Sultans, fourteen in total in Bulgaria itself (Voinov, 2006, p.26), were drowned in blood. What needs clarification here is one, not very well popularised fact: Bulgarian Muslims took active part in the suppression and crushing of many of the rebellions. This, in turn, raises many questions, with one most imperative. What were the reasons that in the same ethnic population group, some of its members took the way of conversion and cultural adaptation but the others chose cultural resistance, martyrdom and self-martyrdom? How could these two groups live in relative peace under Ottoman rule but when an uprising against the Turks took place, Bulgarian Muslims ferociously and viciously attacked their Christian neighbours and fought on the side of the Turks, committing acts of unheard of cruelty and brutality? Their participation in the crushing of the April uprising of 1876 is notorious and it was described by the American writer and journalist Janarius Aloysius McGahan, who was one of the greatest war correspondents in the nineteenth century. In his American witness (2002, 3rd Ed.), Bulgarian historian Teodor Dimitrov has published McGahan’s notes about the atrocities in Batak, Bulgaria, and they read: â€Å"We spoke with many women, who had been through all stages of torture without the last one, death. The procedure, as it seemed, was the following: the Turks would take a woman, undress her, putting aside her valuables, gang-rape her and the last one, who had her, would kill her or let her go, depending on his mood†. What McGahan does not note here is that the Turks were not alone in the slaughter of the rebels. They are aided by their helpers’, the local Pomak population, Greeks and other small ethnic groups. Thus, Christian Bulgarians fought for freedom, while Muslim Bulgarians took part in the massacre of their uprising. What could have possibly provoked someone to behave in such a way? According to Doinov et al. (2001, p.112), â€Å"the shown cruelty was an outburst of the deep national and religious hatred against the oppressed nationalities in the Ottoman Empire, that has been groomed and encouraged for centuries by the ruling powers†. However, something else was at work there too. Kemal Karpat (1990, p.136) explains that Balkan Muslims, although living in a hostile Christian European world, remained largely apolitical. However, their â€Å"passive cultural-religious consciousness was easily converted to a dynamic Muslim identity when the circumstances required†. Perhaps when Bulgarian Muslims were faced with an unconditional act of resistance in the â€Å"most dramatic form: suicide and self-martyrdom† (2000, p.3), those acted as catalyst and the Pomaks replied with repression and brutality. Ekaterina Peychinova, Director of the Museum of History in Batak describes what drove the oppressors mad: For three days and three nights the people inside the church held together, and the shooting outside did not stop for a minute. At the end of the third day they gave in and opened the gates of the church. But then they had only two options: either become Muslims or die. Every single one of them chose death. (cited in Ivanova, 2008, p.1) The horrific power of those events and the depth of feelings and emotions are overwhelming. Keeping in mind that Bulgarian Christians and Bulgarian Muslims are from the same ethnic origin and the same blood flows in their veins, have religious and cultural conversion, syncretism and assimilation have changed the latter so much that they could commit such acts and have identity switch over, allowing for full degradation of human values? This essay does not have the ambitious goal to answer all those questions. History gives the answers and it will do the same here too. Many years have gone since those ghastly days and Pomaks’ sense of cultural identity and national belonging has evolved and changed again as Bulgarian Muslims themselves were at the receiving end of numerous assimilation governmental campaigns and strategies from 1878 until now. Cultural identity and national belonging of Bulgarian Pomaks Due to the fact that the Bulgarian speaking Muslims took an active part in the suppressing the April uprising of 1876, they did not enjoy friendly treatment from their Christian neighbours. With the advancement of the Russian armies in 1878, retaliation began and a substantial part of the Pomaks immigrated to the Ottoman empire, refusing to live under the rule of the â€Å"giaurs† or infidels. Many others took part in the Rodopi mutiny and lived in the so-called Pomak republic for about eight years until 1886, when the participating villages were included in the Ottoman Empire but only until the Balkan wars (Todorva, 1998, p.9). Furthermore, in the Ottoman Population: 1830-1914 (1985, p.78), Kemal Karpat cites Ottoman statistics, indicating that the total population of the Empire rose by about 40% in the period 1860-1878 due to coercive measures by Russia and Bulgaria. He mentions that among the Balkan migrants there were large groups of Slavic-speaking Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins and Pomaks with a negative sense of ethnic identity, as they considered themselves as Muslims but not Osmanlis (Turks). Thus, judging by the actions of the Pomaks, the question that must be asked here is: did the Pomaks have a Turkish or Bulgarian cultural and national identity at the end of the nineteen and beginning of twentieth century and is it possible to differentiate between religious and ethnic belonging? The Pomaks, who immigrated to the Ottoman Empire, had their cultural identity politicised and defined as Muslim and Turkish under the influence of the local political and ethnic culture (Karpat, 1990, p.137). Unfortunately, the Pomaks, who stayed in Bulgaria, did not have the opportunity to decide for themselves freely because during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they were subjected to a number of keen campaigns to accept and recognise them as part of the Bulgarian nation or â€Å"narod†, starting from 1920-s and continuing until the mid-80-s. In 1942, the first ever mass attempt to change the names of the Bulgarian Muslims to Bulgarian names took place. It was a result of the work of the Pomaks’ own organisation, called â€Å"Rodina† or Motherland. Consisting mainly of teachers, â€Å"Rodina† strove to improve the position of the Pomaks in Bulgarian society and to save them from the growing resentment and marginalisation. In the context of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom (1878 – 1944) and its nationalistic ambitions and assimilative tendencies, it is important to acknowledge here that Motherlands’ actions were justified in terms of seeking a national, cultural and linguistic unity of the Bulgarian society and the difficulties that the Pomaks could have faced, if tried to fit in that society. What is questionable here is the Pomaks desire to fit in. Although the Pomaks have, at that point, lost the very close contact with their original cultural authority, the Ottoman Empire, they were still in favour of their religious affiliation and were not willing to adapt to the fresh, language-based identity actively promoted by the modern Bulgarian state at that time (Todorova, 1998, p. 11). Another problem here is the attitude of the Christian Bulgarians, whose national consciousness was determined by religious and linguistic boundaries. Were they ready to forget the Ottoman rule and April 1876 and to accept the Pomaks as part of the Bulgarian nation and allow assimilation? Could adaptation and adoption take place and the complex issue of national identity, belonging and unity be resolved peacefully and once and for all? What is better: common national identity and national unity or multi-cultural society? During communist rule in the 1960-s, 1970-s and 1980-s, various Bulgarian governments tried to resolve the issue through numerous heavy-handed assimilation campaigns, when all Muslim names were changed to Bulgarian names, an attempt was made to form a united Bulgarian nation in order to neutralise nationalistic ambitions and claims from neighbouring Turkey. After the democratic reforms from 1989, all ethnic and religious groups in Bulgaria gained the freedom to self-identify themselves and promote their national and religious distinctiveness. All Muslim names were restored and seemingly the great effort to create a united Bulgarian national identity had ended. Hence, the national identity and cultural belonging of the Pomaks are somewhat fluid and non-defined, and the coming generations will have the chance to accomplish the process of integration or affiliation as they choose. It is, however, ultimate to accept the lessons of history and to abolish all attempts to forcefully create a single identity with identical religious or national characteristics. Cultural conversion through co-operation and co-existence is frequently welcome by small or big population groups, whilst conversion by pressure, conflict and aggressive assimilation is rejected and leads to confusion, hatred and frequently violent resistance. Conclusion In conclusion, it must be recognised here that the case of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks is of complex nature and the issue of defining their national identity and cultural belonging is still unresolved. There are many more questions to ask and answer and many more avenues to explore in order to establish which one of the national identity constituents is the most influential and possess the ultimate formative power. Consequently, it is the greatest regret of this work that it is impossible to analyse or develop fully all themes, ideas and debates in connection with the cultural identity, national belonging and self-perception of the Pomaks, when the number of words is restricted and there is lack of the research available. However, one humbly hopes to have offered here, merely an attempt of discussion on the important issues of cultural and religious identity and how they shape the very centre of the human concept of self. Finally, it must be emphasised here that the writing of this essay has been a vast learning experience for the author, an opportunity to study, investigate and explore the world of Bulgarian Muslims and be taught lessons that put historical and contemporary events into perspective. Bibliography Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1982). History of Bulgaria. Sofia: BAN Press, vol. 3-7. Dimitrov, T. (2002). American witness. 3rd Ed. Geneva: Geneva press. Doinov, D., Jechev, N. Kosev, K. (2001). The April uprising and the fate of the Bulgarian nation. Sofia: Academic Press â€Å"Professor Marin Drinov†. Ivanova, M. (2008). St. Nedelya church in Batak. Available from: http://www.pravoslavieto.com. (Accessed: 12 April 2008). Karpat, K. (1985). Ottoman Population: 1830-1914. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Karpat, K. (1990). The hijra from Russia and the Balkans: the process of self-definition in the late Ottoman state. In: Eickelman, D. Piscatori, J. (Ed.). Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, migration, and the religious imagination. Los Angeles: University of California Press, Chapter 7, pp. 131-152. Krasin, H. (2007). Turkish brutality in Bulgaria and in the Balkan Peninsula. (Turskite porazii v Bulgaria i na Balkanskia Poluostrov). Sofia: Svetovit Press. Petrov, P. (1966). History Reader: The Rodopi mountain through the centuries. Sofia: BKP Press. Rajcevski, S. (2004). The Mohammedan Bulgarians (Pomaks). (Balgarite Mohamedani). Sofia: Bulgarian Bestseller Press. The Applied History Research Group. (2000) Old World Contacts. Available from: http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history. (Accessed: 14 April 2008). Todorova, M. (1998). Identity (Trans) Formation among Bulgarian Muslims. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. Voinov, G. (2006). Genocide and Holocaust against Bulgarians. (Genotsidad i Holokostat sreshtu Balgarite.) Sofia: Arateb Press.

The Industrial Revolution Essays -- British History, Bourgeoisie

The Industrial Revolution in Britain’s history is marked as the period of great development that led to the modern era of growth, improved living standards and technology. Moreover, this revolution was not just limited to Britain; it affected the rest of Europe and America in the same positive manner. Due to the Industrial Revolution’s success in many countries, it is now commonly cited as the surest way for a country to develop. In economics, goals of a developed country are high production of goods, high Gross Domestic Product (GDP), low unemployment and sustained growth; during an Industrial Revolution all these are achieved. However, despite the main goal of IR to improve living standards for the population, the actual success when weighed against the social cost is debatable. It is accepted that IR improved the living standards of many; it created a new class, which Marx called the â€Å"bourgeoisie†, who had control over wealth, decisions and helped improve the lives of many others. However, many historians view this new class as â€Å"rapacious landlords and conscienceless capitalist[s]† [9] who exploited the working class for their own benefit. For a majority of â€Å"the working class†¦ ‘Industrial Revolution’ †¦ must have appeared†¦ as a gigantic and cruel experiment, which, insofar as it was affecting their house, their health, their subsistence and their pleasure, was proving a calamitous failure† [9]. Therefore, this group will be examined to determine more general effects of IR on the society. From the economic standpoint, IR did greatly improved the life of an average worker. In the era before, the production of goods depended on a few highly specialized workers creating goods in a small workshop. However, due to a small output, th... ...onishing that her employer did not provide the necessary equipment to protect herself, even though her work was in a noisy environment. Moreover, despite being a weaver, she was forced to stand during her job, which could be done sitting, due to the circumstances controlled by her employer. However, Susan was not the only one subjected to this; Cobbett, in his political register, describes the awful condition general factory workers was faced with [10]. He writes that factories were "cramped", the temperature "hovered around eighty degrees" and workers were not allowed to take breaks. These working conditions would result in transfer of diseases, hyperthermia and possibly death by exhaustion. Hence, it is apparent that the workers did not have a good environment to work in, rather, the conditions adversely affected their health in both the short and the long run.

Alice Walkers Color Purple - Celies Quest for Self-discovery Essay

Celie's Quest for Self-discovery In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Celie has many misconceptions of herself and her world. Due to her upbringing of pain and mistreatment, and her ignorance of a better world, Celie's image of herself and her own potential is very different from reality. The Color Purple, above all else, is the story of Celie's growth and self-discovery, which she achieves through her own commitment to herself and through the help of Nettie and Shug. Celie sees herself as ugly and stupid because she was told this by her father and her husband. In her young life, the only person who took the time to care for and encourage Celie was her younger sister Nettie. She took the time to teach Celie from her own schoolwork, after Celie had to leave school because her father had raped her and gotten her pregnant. As Celie says of her home education, as inadequate as it may have been, " Us both be hitting Nettie's schoolbooks pretty hard, cause us know we got to be smart to git away. I know I'm not as smart or as pre...

Capital Punishment: Not Cruel and Not Unusual Essay -- Pro Death Penal

Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of the death penalty claim that capital punishment is unnecessary since a life sentence accomplishes the same objective. What death penalty opponents neglect to tell you is that convicted murders and child rapists escape from prison every year(List of prison escapes, 2015). As I write this essay, police are searching for two convicted murders who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York on June 6th, 2015. The ONLY punishment from which one cannot escape is capital punishment. As the world is changing, so are people’s views on the death penalty. Some think that it does not follow the 8th amendment and that Americans should abolish it. Even though, a number of people do not wish to have the death penalty, in reality it has been around for centuries all over the world. In fact, the only thing that has changed about it is the crimes deemed punishable by death and the methods used to kill those found guilty (Wolf 21). Although, there are some flaws with the way the justice system administers the death penalty, it is a necessary punishment used to stop the worst possible criminals. The death penalty has a lot of history to it. Over the years, a variation of methods of been used in different countries. Some methods that have been used and some that are still used today: be-headings, hangings, gassing, electrocution, lynching, shootings, and lethal injections. As the years passed, the process of executing criminals change due to what people thought was cruel. In this time, lethal injection is the most common technique used in the United States with a select few states stil... ...-1.htm>. Death Penalty Curricula for High School, . "Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab and Death Penalty Information Center.." deathpenaltycurriculum.org. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 May 2015. . Fisanick, Nick. The Ethics of Capital Punishment. New York: Green Haven Press, 2005. Print. "http://law.jrank.org/pages/5002/Capital-Punishment-COSTSCAPITALPUNISHMENT.html.† law.jrank.org. N.p., 2011. Web. 6 May 2015. . "List of prison escapes" Wikipedia 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prison_escapes Williams, Mary. Is the Death Penalty Fair?. San Diego: Green Haven Press, 2003. Print. Wolf, Robert. Capital Punishment. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997. Print.

Bombardier Aerospace Essay

After acquiring a few companies, Bombardier Aerospace was now faced with the challenge of how to align the operations of these companies who all had different sets of data, processes and systems. Major areas of concern were process delays, low inventory turn, inconsistent pricing and billing of materials among others. Bombardier introduced the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) into its aerospace division with a vision to achieve higher efficiency in manufacturing and also to significantly save cost. To assess the performance of this IT project, Bombardier Aerospace needs to consider the following six variables which are interdependent as far as success or failure is concerned. System Quality examines the desirable characteristics of an information system. These may include ease of use, system flexibility, system variability and ease of learning. If we take a look at the first phase of the project which was carried out at the Mirabel Plant, we realize that this element of system quality is not very solid. There were complaints from users with regards to the IT system. Problems were encountered after the Go Live and as a result, several users were still using legacy systems for some aspects of their work. In the second phase at the Saint-Laurent plant, we realize that after robust measures were put in place, they achieved data accuracy of 97 percent. The second variable to consider is Information Quality. This examines the desirable qualities of the system output such as its relevance, understandability, currency, timeliness and usability. The methods employees encountered delays in modifying bills of materials. Also, it took some time before they could understand what information the newly formed Master Data group required of them. This tells us that Information Quality was poor in the first phase of ERP implementation. As far as the Use of the IT project is concerned, Bombardier Aerospace needs to look at the degree and manner in which staff and users utilize the capabilities of the system. For instance, the amount of use, frequency of use, appropriateness of use or the purpose of the use. In the phase two, most users of the new system reacted positively to it but the project at the Mirabel plant was quite different. Sourcing agents could not approve a purchase order for a part if its contract did not contain a price or if the current price was different from that stated in the contract. This was a flaw in the system as far as its use was concerned. Another way to assess the IT project’s success or failure is by measuring the User Satisfaction. Not until after about one year after Go live, user satisfaction at the Mirabel plant was not good enough. Users from various functions complained about significant delays in getting answers to their queries. At the Saint-Laurent plant on the hand, most users felt that the new system made their job easier. The ERP implementation had different impacts on individuals. Employees in finance at the Mirabel plant were frustrated by the system. They had to make manual corrections to the general ledger if materials were issued incorrectly. At the Mirabel plant, the majority of users thought that the new system had impacted them positively. They thought that their inputs were taken into consideration and they virtually used the system in all instances. In terms of organizational impact, we are able to tell from the case that the project was a successful one. One of the primary goals of implementing this system was improve visibility and reduce the value of inventory held by Bombardier Aerospace. The BMIS contributed to reducing inventories by $1.2 billion in just less than a year after Go Live. Also Procurement became more efficient and integrated due to the implementation.