Understanding Urban Landscapes Essay Essay Example

Understanding Urban Landscapes Essay Essay The outgrowth of modern urban planning is as a consequence of attempts that are directed at turn toing and work outing the societal jobs that result due to the increased rural to urban migration. The figure of persons traveling into urban countries in hunt for better work chances keeps increasing quickly by the twenty-four hours. It has hence become important for alterations to be made and implemented in the manner edifices are designed and planned so as to cover with this state of affairs. The postmodern bend in architecture and planning is nevertheless non equipped good plenty to get by with these societal issues as it merely focuses on peculiar demands. illusions and wants. Modernists’ thought of urban planning and development focal points on large-scale. technologically rational and metropolitan-wide urban programs that are efficient that are characterized by no-frills architecture ( Harvey. 1989 ) . Post modernism architecture alternatively displays a construct of urban planning as a mixture of past signifiers of design superimposed upon each and current utilizations most of which are passing. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Urban Landscapes Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Urban Landscapes Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Urban Landscapes Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The fact that city can merely be commanded in spots has made urban design ( postmodern bend in architecture ) to be merely sensitive to local histories. peculiar societal demands and wants and common traditions therefore bring forthing architectural signifiers that are specialized and extremely customized that scope from may run from confidant and infinites that are personalized through memorials that are traditional to spectacle merriment booming to give appealing and singular architectural manners. Post modern bend in architecture and planning has besides departed from modern be aftering constructs of how infinite is regarded. Modern be aftering perceives infinite as a thing to be shaped and created for societal intents hence ever subservient to societal undertaking building. Postmodern bend in architecture and planning nevertheless perceive infinite as an independent and independent thing that should be shaped in conformity to aesthetic purposes and values which do non needfully hold anything to make with accomplishing a societal nonsubjective except possibly for their timeless beauty ( Relph. 1987 ) . This paper seeks to find if this bend is better equipped to cover with the societal issues for which modern planning was implemented for. It can be comfortably argued that the London act of 1895 laid the foundation for modern planning that emerged on the content. This act regulated the tallness of edifices on specific sites. As old ages went by. alterations and developments were made on the Act which finally led to the geometric unadorned manners that characterize modernism that dominated urban landscapes content all over the universe ( Best A ; Kellner. 1997 ) . Modern planning was implemented to better the life conditions of urban countries. Initially urban planning aimed at work outing jobs that were present in urban countries by beautification of edifices and building of gardens. This did non work out and the aim was shifted to planing and creative activity of good residential houses and vicinities in urban countries. This displacement is really what founded the signifiers and forms of modern metropoliss. Modern urban be aftering emerged as a consequence of industrialisation which caused several people to travel to urban countries where the industries were based in hunt of occupations. Industrialization was blamed for working workers and doing inequalities in life conditions. Persons in urban countries lived in hapless conditions such that they had hapless lodging. exposed to bad air. unequal H2O and hapless wellness Urban planning hence aimed at bettering these conditions and turn toing the societal demands of those who resided in urban countries ( Relph. 1987 ) . This was done through enaction of municipal by-laws that governed and regaled the criterions of edifices. town layouts and mold of industrial towns. The by-laws besides ensured edifice patterns particularly those that concerned fire and general safety of occupants were observed. Minimal criterions were set for door and window sizes. Later. criterions that regulated the breadth of the street between edifices. size of the backyard and tallness of edifices were besides implemented ( Cohen. 1981 ) . As old ages went by and the population in urban countries increased. so were alterations made on the by-laws to suit the immense Numberss. Such alterations were chiefly made on highs of edifices increasing them so that a big figure of persons could be supported on a little country of land. Building patterns that concerned safety and wellness were nevertheless maintained. These programs aimed at keeping general cleanliness and wellness of town inhabitants. They besides went out of the vicinity and sought to guarantee that conveyance was equal and efficient in urban countries. The by-laws regulated how far from the railroad lines and roads the edifices were constructed. Streets and railroad lines were improved and illuming provided to heighten efficiency in going even at dark. These programs directed where stores. schools and other institutes would be located in urban countries. The constructs of these programs have had a great impact on modern urban landscape though non in the manner the early contrivers had hoped for ( full modern civilisation in all facets including societal ) . The impact can merely be seen in the in things such as traffic circles. u-loops. vicinity programs and the unintegrated orderly land-use zones. Their precious hopes and thoughts for Reconstruction of urban Centres and societal reforms have yielded really small. These thoughts have fundamentally either been simplified and turned to theoretical accounts that are either used in schoolrooms. adjusted to planning tools that are extremist for vicinity planning and urban Centre districting. bureaucratically modified. politically adapted for exigencies or eroded so that their application and disposal can be easy. Urban be aftering alternatively of concentrating at run intoing societal demands. it has turned to be a motion whose chief purpose is merely to do metropoliss function expeditiously more in the same as mills do. These alterations therefore resulted to what is now referred to as postmodern bend in architecture and planning. This bend is characterized by cost effectivity where the builders and interior decorators aim at salvaging cost of edifice and doing them low income undertakings. They are characterized by holding flats. stores. establishments such as categories and babe attention centres all in one edifice. This is unlike the thought the early urban contrivers had in head of a good metropolis where these installations were located in a comfy walking distance from residential countries. The job of this design where everything is housed under one roof is that growing through extension by breadth or length can non be achieved. Growth in these edifices is merely possible done generation as they no longer have the rectangular form that was required of all edifices ; they nevertheless are built in conformity with the owners’ desires who want the edifices to be distinctively different from others. This has resulted to the outgrowth of edifices that are of all kinds of forms. Postmodernist architecture and planning is considered non to hold any life as there is no clear differentiation between public environment and private belongings ( Cohen. 1981 ) . This is to connote that it has truly messed up with the environment as it is chiefly characterized by edifices and fencings and as nil is being done to continue the environment. Postmodernist architecture provides no healthy environment to the metropolis inhabitants as was intended by modern urban planning. This bend is really important as it has had a great impact on the lives of people who reside in the urban Centres Harvey. 1989 ) . The current architecture is said to typify poorness which is worse than the slums it is seeking to acquire off from. It is argued that the postmodern bend in architecture and planning does non supply nice lodging and societal proviso ( Best A ; Kellner. 1997 ) . The civilization and civic Centres presented provided by station modern architecture for illustration are argued non to hold all the needed installations such as book shops that are utile to the populace. The interior decorators in postmodern architecture and planning are besides accused of being insensitive to self variegation amongst the metropolis occupants and non doing any attempts towards supplying it as perceive it to be ugly and irrational and that it could do pandemonium. Urban occupants are besides comfy by the absence of self-diversification and seem non to trouble oneself about sing it as a demand. Switch and development in engineering has to a great extent contributed postmodern architecture and planning. It makes it possible for the interior decorators to pass on with clients and orient the designs so that they meet all the maps. cultural gustatory sensations and state of affairss. These interior decorators work to run into all the ends of their clients claiming to encompass democracy and freedom. But so they ignore the struggles that could originate between jurisprudence and democracy and the hits that exist between justness and freedom. The jobs faced by the minorities and those who are unprivileged are normally ignored ( Silver. 1996 ) . Development in communicating engineering and through the postmodern architecture has made it impossible for vicinities to turn to their ain jobs and state of affairss doing it difficult for them to develop. The modern planetary metropoliss have emerged as a consequence of alterations in cooperation. They are designed such that they serve as Centres for concern activities. Most concerns seek to do net incomes therefore will cut on costs in all ways including edifice building in footings of design and functionality. This is one of the grounds as to why most edifices are multi functional ( Johnson. 1970 ) . Postmodernist architecture is market orientated and is non in any equipt to cover with societal issues. It is chiefly focused to run into the desired of the proprietors who do non see the demands of the metropolis inhabitants. The demands of the hapless are non addressed the same manner those of the rich are. Diverse counter cultural elements have besides been ignored by postmodern architecture and planning ( Saskia. 1996 ) . Postmodernist architecture and planning has reduced environmental criterions as it has makes no attempt towards conserving the environment. It besides is private focussed and has no topographic point for the populace. It has made populating conditions in urban countries worse instead than bettering them. This goes particularly for the hapless and minorities whose demands are ever swept under the rug as those of the wealthy are addressed. It can hence be concluded that postmodern bend in architecture and planning is non good equipped to get by with the societal issues that modern urban planning was intended for. Word Count 1650. Mentions Best. S A ; Kellner. D. . ( 1997 ) . The Postmodern Turn. New York. NY Guilford Press. Cohen. R. ( 1981 ) â€Å"The New International Division of Labour. Mulitinational Corporations and Urban Hierarchy† . From M. Dear A ; A. J Scott ( explosive detection systems ) . Urbanization and Urban planning in Capitalist Societies ( 1981 ) . London. Taylor A ; Francis. Harvey. D. ( 1989 ) . Postmodernism in the City: Architecture and Urban Design† in conditions of postmodernity. Oxford. Basil Blackwell. Johnson. E. A ( 1970 ) . The Organization of Space in Developing Countries. Cambridge. Ma: Havard University Press Relph. E. ( 1987 ) . The Invention of Modern Town planning. London. Taylor A ; Francis. Saskia. S. ( 1996 ) . Cities and Communities in the Global Economy from American behavioral scientist. New York. New york: Routledge Silver. C. ( 1996 ) . Planing the Twentieth-century American City. Baltimore. Mendelevium: JHU Press. Global webs. linked metropoliss

Biography of Charles Sheeler, Precisionist Artist

Biography of Charles Sheeler, Precisionist Artist Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 - May 7, 1965) was an artist who received acclaim for both his photography and painting. He was a leader of the American Precisionist movement which focused on realistic depictions of strong geometric lines and forms. He also revolutionized commercial art blurring the lines between advertising and fine art. Fast Facts: Charles Sheeler Occupation: ArtistArtistic Movement: PrecisionismBorn: July 16, 1883, in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaDied: May 7, 1965, in Dobbs Ferry, New YorkEducation: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsSelected Works: Crissed Crossed Conveyors (1927), American Landscape (1930), Golden Gate (1955)Notable Quote: â€Å"I favor a picture which arrives at its destination without the evidence of a trying journey rather than one which shows the marks of battle.† Early Life and Career Born and raised in a middle-class family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Charles Sheeler received encouragement from his parents to pursue art from an early age. After graduating from high school, he attended the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art to study industrial drawing and applied arts. At the academy, he met American impressionist painter William Merritt Chase  who became his mentor and modernist painter and photographer Morton Schamberg who became his best friend. During the first decade of the 20th century, Sheeler traveled to Europe with his parents and Schamberg. He studied painters from the Middle Ages in Italy and visited Michael and Sarah Stein, patrons of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, in Paris. The Cubist style of the latter two had a significant impact on Sheelers later work. When he returned to the U.S., Sheeler knew that he could not support himself with income from his painting alone, so he turned to photography. He taught himself to take photos with a $5 Kodak Brownie camera. Sheeler opened a photography studio in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 1910 and earned money photographing construction projects of local architects and builders. The wood stove in Sheelers house in Doylestown, Pennsylvania was the subject of many of his early photographic works. In the 1910s, Charles Sheeler supplemented his income by photographing works of art for both galleries and collectors. In 1913, he participated in the landmark Armory Show in New York City that exhibited the works of the most noted American modernists of the time. Painting After the tragic death of his best friend Morton Schamberg in the influenza pandemic of 1918, Charles Sheeler moved to New York City. There, the streets and buildings of Manhattan became the focus of his work. He worked with fellow photographer Paul Strand on the 1921 short film Manhatta. Following its exploration of the urban landscape, Sheeler created paintings of some of the scenes. He followed his usual technique of taking photographs and drawing sketches before committing the image to paint. In New York, Sheeler became friends with poet William Carlos Williams. Precision with words was a hallmark of Williams writing, and it matched Sheelers attention to structure and forms in his painting and photography. They attended speakeasies together with their wives during the Prohibition years. Another important friendship developed with the French artist Marcel Duchamp. The pair shared an appreciation of the Dada movements break from concern about traditional notions of aesthetics. Alfred Eisenstaedt / LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images Sheeler considered his 1929 painting Upper Deck a powerful representation of all that hed learned to that point about art. He based the work on a photograph of the German steamship S.S. Majestic. To Sheeler, it allowed him to use the structures of abstract painting to represent something entirely realistic. In the 1930s, Sheeler painted celebrated scenes of the Ford Motor Company River Rouge plant based on his own photographs. At first glance, his 1930 painting American Landscape appears peaceful like a traditional pastoral landscape painting. However, all of the subject matter is the result of American technological might. It is an example of what was called the industrial sublime. By the 1950s, Sheelers painting turned toward abstraction as he created works that featured parts of larger structures like his bright-colored Golden Gate showing a close-up portion of San Franciscos iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Photography Charles Sheeler worked for corporate photography clients throughout his career. He joined the staff of the Conde Nast magazine publishing firm in 1926 and worked regularly on articles in Vogue and Vanity Fair until 1931 when he was offered regular gallery representation in Manhattan. In late 1927 and early 1928, Sheeler spent six weeks photographing Ford Motor Companys River Rouge production plant. His images received strong positive acclaim. Among the most memorable was Crissed Crossed Conveyors. By the late 1930s, Sheeler was so prominent that Life magazine ran a story on him as their first featured American artist in 1938. The next year New Yorks Museum of Modern Art conducted the first Charles Sheeler museum retrospective including over one hundred paintings and drawings and seventy-three photographs. William Carlos Williams wrote the exhibition catalog. Alfred Eisenstaedt / LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images In the 1940s and 1950s, Sheeler worked with additional corporations such as General Motors, U.S. Steel, and Kodak. He also worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the 1940s photographing items from their collections. Sheeler cultivated friendships with other renowned photographers including Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. Precisionism By his own definition, Charle Sheeler was part of the distinctly American movement in the arts called Precisionism. It is one of the earliest modernist styles. It is most often characterized by a precise depiction of the strong geometric lines and forms found in realistic subject matter. The works of precisionist artists celebrated the new industrial American landscape of skyscrapers, factories, and bridges. Influenced by Cubism and presaging Pop Art, Precisionism avoided social and political commentary while the artists rendered their image in an exact, almost rigid style. Among the key figures were Charles Demuth, Joseph Stella, and Charles Sheeler himself. Georgia OKeefes husband, photographer, and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz was a strong supporter of the movement. By the 1950s, many observers considered the style outdated. Later Years Sheelers style in his later years remained distinctive. He abstracted subjects into an almost flat plane of lines and angles. In 1959, Charles Sheeler suffered a debilitating stroke which ended his active career. He died in 1965. Legacy Charles Sheelers focus on industry and cityscapes as subjects for his art influenced the Beat movement of the 1950s. Author Allen Ginsberg, in particular, taught himself photography skills to emulate Sheelers groundbreaking work. Sheelers photography blurred the boundaries between commercial and fine art when he eagerly embraced industrial corporations and artistic depictions of their production plants and products. Source Brock, Charles. Charles Sheeler: Across Media. University of California Press, 2006.

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Assignment

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems - Assignment Example Enterprise resource planning systems envisioned to facilitate sharing of information, business planning, as well as decision making upon an establishment -wide basis (Somers & Nelson, 2003). For instance, companies that have adopted Enterprise Resource Planning systems can use them to forecast the demand for a product, track inventory, order the needed raw materials, allocate costs, and devise production schedules. Enterprise permits firms to replace intricate computer-applications with a lone, integrated system. Enterprise Resource Planning system shares data with other business software systems in a company. Enterprise Resource Planning system is a planning backbone for a firm’s core business operations. ERP system is a complex and cosmic system that undertakes years and a lot of cash to implement. In implementing an ERP system, there is a need to pay attention to the commitment of the top management. For the implementation to be successful, the top managers must support the project through funding and undertake an active responsibility in fostering the change. The other aspect to pay attention to is the re-engineering of existing business procedures while implementing ERP system. One key benefit of enterprising resource planning is derived from re-engineering a firm’s existing business operations (Gunson & Blasis, 2002). Enterprise resource planning systems bring integration into a company; hence, a company should understand the kind of integration as well as its effect towards the whole business. Experts with technical, functional and interpersonal skills should be obtained to implement ERP; therefore, there is a need to pay attention to enterprise resource planning systems’ consultants while implementing ERP systems. Another point to keep in is the implementation time.  

Early Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Early Civilizations - Essay Example The example of China and Mesopotamia vividly portray that geographical location and climate in different parts of the world 'caused' similar traditions, economic, social and political development. Geographical location and environment determined the nature of both societies and their activities. In China (during the Shang and Han Dynasties) and Mesopotamia (Sumerian period) agriculture was the main activity and the core of economy. This issue remained a central one in both civilizations: for some, it remained crucial to the maintenance of an 'enduring' national home: and for others, it represented a fundamental obstacle to the creation of more accommodating and cosmopolitan cultural order. China and the Mesopotamia had similar climate and soil conditions, but lacked water resources and irrigation systems. Irrigation was also associated with urbanization, which, in its turn, led to development of crafts and trade (Ebrey 34). Both civilizations developed unique rural culture and values, traditions and art based on the cults of Sun and farming. For instance, the remarkable features of the Shang Dynasty (began about 1600 BC- 1046 BC) and the Sumerian period (5th to 3rd millennia BC), were cultural identity, self-centeredness, unique philosophy and literary traditions explained by the fact that both civilizations were separated from the rest of the world. The civilizations competed effectively against the culture and values of outside world as an organizing principle in the unique identity. During the Han Dynasty and the Hammurabi period, both civilizations culturally and mythically were also deeply centered (Oppenheim and Reiner 34). The historical continuities which composed the culture of the Han Dynasty were pronounced, especially compared to their European states. Not only has the Han Dynasty (within its own borders) largely escaped the worst catastrophes of modernity, at the same time relations between the Asian nations and the overarching state have been relatively stable. Similar processes were typical for the Hammurabi period (Ebrey 27; (Oppenheim and Reiner 38). It is possible to say that environment influenced the development of similar laws and regulations accepted by these civilizations (the Code of Hammurabi and the Code of the Han dynasty which gained the recognition of Confucianism). During the Hammurabi period and the Han Dynasty these civilization expanded their geographical territories with military campaigns. The Han Dynasty established the Silk Road while Hammurabi established trade relations with neighboring states. Environment influenced the quality of life and city developments, architecture and art; they built sophisticated buildings and established written forms of communication (Oppenheim and Reiner 39). In China and the Mesopotamia people had similar views about the world and nature, state organization and philosophy. As the most important, a religion had a highly complex subject which had an impact on culture in three different ways: socialization, influences which shape behavior in a particular social setting and individu al orientations to life (Ebrey 87). In sum, environment had a crucial impact on the development of early civilizations and caused the development of similar economic activities and world views. Unique views and art were nothing more than a response to the environment and climate. Religion played an important role in lives of

Mortality Data Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mortality Data Paper - Assignment Example Arrangement of data may take place in any way that the researcher may desire. If the data is in the form of percentages then they may be arranged in an ascending or descending order. The same goes for any data in a numerical form; whether it is the arrangement according to position of something or its quantity, the data is arranged in a fine order in this step. In the second step the illustration or representation of the collected data takes place. There are several ways in which a data can be represented. A graph can be used to demonstrate the percentage or amount of something. Apart from graphs, bar charts of many kinds are used as well; stem and leaf diagrams, tables, pie charts, histograms and such are used as well. This step only includes the choice of way one might desire to represent their data in. The last step of Descriptive Statistics includes mentioning a summary of the collected data. In here an attempt of explaining what the research was conducted on, what methods were used for it, what was the targeted population, the results obtained from the research and a theory that the researchers might have deduced from the obtained results. â€Å"The highest death toll of a population from strokes or cerebrovascular diseases is the population belonging to the middle-income countries while the lowest is the population from low income countries.† A diseases cluster is known as the occurrence of a disease which targets a larger number of people instead of the expected number of populations in a certain area, group of people or time period (California Department of Public Health). An epidemic is known as an outbreak of a biological or viral disorder which spreads into the population of the world. The area for an epidemic is not a certain one and it may spread in many locations at a period of time. The targeted area is not restricted to any kind, any population may become a target and the patients are not isolated to a certain community. Epidemics

Concepts Of Time And Eternity

Concepts Of Time And Eternity Before beginning to look at time and eternity it is necessary to ask two questions; what is time and what is eternity? Eternity is most often thought of as existence for a limitless amount of time although many use it to mean a timeless existence altogether, an existence outside of time itself. So our concept of eternity is in many ways dependant on our concept of time. So then what is time? This has been discussed and pondered by many philosophers beginning with Aristotle, who speculated that time may be motion. He did however add that motion could be slower or faster but time could not be, it was a constant. Aristotle obviously did not know about Einsteins theory of relativity in which time can also change. Also when Einstein was working on his theory of general relativity and proposed his then revolutionary idea that mass can curve space, he was not aware that the universe was expanding. So our concept or definition of time is still something which, with our further discoveries of how the Universe is constructed, we are still developing. So we will then take a look at how time and eternity have been viewed historically by philosophers and how this has been developed up to the present day. Let us first take a look at the progression of our concept of time. In ancient Greek philosophy Plato speaks about the Demiurge. The demiurge is a term for an artisan-like figure which is responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The demiurge however is not the creator figure in the monotheistic religious sense, both the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are considered either uncreated and eternal, or the product of some other being. Plato speculates that the Demiurge creates order in the universe. The Demiurge is a force that provides order and stability of a kind and has an important place in Platos thought on time. In the Timaeus, several possible arguments can be chosen concerning the nature, beginning or indeed no beginning of time. Aristotle in contrast to Plato tries to prove in his Physics, that time neither has a beginning nor an end. His main argument revolves around the point that time or motion always was. If something that had the qualities of motion of movement existed, then it would either have to have been in constant movement or begun to move. Therefore, something that begins must too end. That the heaven as a whole neither came into being nor admits of destruction, as some assert, but is one and eternal, with no end or beginning of its total duration, containing and embracing in itself the infinity of time, we may convince ourselves not only by the arguments already set forth but also by a consideration of the views of those who differ from us in providing for its generation.  [1]  For Aristotle time can have no beginning or end. Something which begins cannot continue on for eternity. His thought also applies to ideas such as the beginning of the world, since for the world to change, or begin, G od or the Creator would have to be subject to a god changing his mind but this would be impossible. Simply put the idea of their being a beginning to time is contrary to Aristotles thought. If we go back to Augustine, we see the importance of Scripture in the Confessions. Therefore in relation to time, if we take the following passage from the Book of Genesis, then we shall see the basic workings or the initial starting point for Augustines theory on time. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.  [2]   It is clear that in the beginning there must have been a first step taken for the world and indeed the universe to come into existence, and this was the will of God. Augustine begins Book XI by asking O Lord, since eternity is Yours, are You ignorant of the things which I say unto You? Or see Thou at the time that which comes to pass in time? Why, therefore, do I place before You so many relations of things?  [3]  Augustine appears to be afraid that God is somehow frozen in Eternity, truly without change, without any role to play. However, he does take comfort in the hope that we also pray, and yet Truth says, Your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him. (Matt 6:8)  [4]  So God will provide for Augustine, or at least he hopes and believes having red scripture that God provides for him. So too has God given us the world and the universe. That he has created all of these things is enough for Augustine, as he says in Chap. 4 of book XI They [the heavens and the earth] also proclaim that they made not themselves; therefore we are, because we have been made; we were not therefore before we were, so that we could have made ourselves.  [5]   Here we see Augustine marvel at God in his creation of the universe. For Augustine he is trying to show how time came into existence with the creation of Heaven and Earth. God created this universe and everything in it and time, as we know it, began with creation, In the beginning. Yet there are some questions that need to be answered as St. Augustine shows us. And no times are co-eternal with You, because You remain for ever; but should these continue, they would not be times. For what is time? Who can easily and briefly explain it? Who even in thought can comprehend it, even to the pronouncing of a word concerning it? But what in speaking do we refer to more familiarly and knowingly than time? And certainly we understand when we speak of it; we understand also when we hear it spoken of by another. What, then, is time?  [6]  This is a very good question, but is there an answer? Augustine does not seem to be able to find one. When he comments on people who ask what God was doing before time began he says Behold, I answer to him who asks, What was God doing before He made heaven and earth? I answer not, as a certain person is reported to have done facetiously (avoiding the pressure of the question), He was preparing hell, says he, for those who pry into myst eries I boldly say, That before God made heaven and earth, He made not anything. For if He did, what did He make unless the creature? And would that I knew whatever I desire to know to my advantage, as I know that no creature was made before any creature was made.  [7]   Augustine does try to explain eternity being a moment of time, But should the present be always present, and should it not pass into time past, time truly it could not be, but eternity.  [8]  Time then, as opposed to eternity, is always moving and it is always in motion, as Aristotle said. Eternity, however, remains constant, unchanging and complete. But still we are left with that seemingly simple question; what is time? If we look at time as motion, constantly moving on, then we can look at past time or uture time. It is difficult to try and make any concrete claims over the issue of past, present and future. For example, if we say that the past day has been a long one, are we not talking about a day or a state that no longer exists? This is also the case if we speak about the future. How can we comment on the future, e.g. it will be a cold week or a warm day, if it does not exist. But can we measure time in the present? Augustine launches into discussion of the present time that shows the futility to grasp what time is. But we measure times passing when we measure them by perceiving them; but past times, which now are not, or future times, which as yet are not, who can measure them? Unless, perchance, any one will dare to say, that that can be measured which is not. When, therefore, time is passing, it can be perceived and measured; but when it has passed, it cannot, since it is not.  [9]  Augu stine continues to narrow down the present time into days, hours, moments, heartbeats and eventually into a single moment, If any portion of time be conceived which cannot now be divided into even the minutest particles of moments, this only is that which may be called present; which, however, flies so rapidly from future to past, that it cannot be extended by any delay. For if it be extended, it is divided into the past and future; but the present has no space.  [10]  We have come to a stage whereby it is almost pointless trying to even understand time, whether past, present or future. Augustines discussion on time is impressive but he is faced with that question again, that still has not been answered. What is time? It is too difficult, perhaps impossible, to offer plausible explanations. The answer to the question of time is to be found, paradoxically, outside of time.. in eternity We exist in this temporal world, but do not understand fully what time is to us. We are simply not in a position to fully comprehend time. After much searching, debating and discussing, Saint Augustine slowly winds down to a prayer, a prayer of acceptance and hope. You unchangeably eternal, that is, the truly eternal Creator of minds. As, then, Thou in the Beginning knew the heaven and the earth without any change of Your knowledge, so in the Beginning Thou made heaven and earth without any distraction of Your action. Let him who understands confess unto You; and let him who understands not, confess unto You. Oh, how exalted are You, and yet the humble in heart are Your dwelling-place; for Thou raisest up those that are bowed down, and they whose exaltation You are fall not.  [11]   God exists outside of Time. Time is a creature created by God. Gods Will is not temporal like our own. That Eternal God exists allows for everything we know. So, we ask again, what is time? According to Augustine, and other Christian writers and thinkers, It is a creation, just like you or me. We exist in it and travel in this temporal world, universe towards something. What that something is, in Christianity anyway, is eternity. So then we now ask ourselves the question, what is eternity? Concepts of eternity have developed along with the development of the concept of God in a Western context. Eternity has been viewed in history both as timelessness and as everlastingness and following the work of Boethius and St. Augustine divine timelessness became the dominant view. The two views were however very different. Boethius presented the idea of divine eternity as straightforward and relatively problem-free, while Augustine wrestled with the idea and expresses continual puzzlement and indeed amazement at the idea of time itself and with it the contrasting idea of divine eternality.  [12]  We have already looked at Augustines struggles with what time is, but what does Boethius say? It is the common judgement, then, of all creatures that live by reason that God is eternal. So let us consider the nature of eternity, for this will make clear to us both the nature of God and his manner of knowing. Eternity, then, is the complete, simultaneous and perfect possession of everlasting life; this will be clear from a comparison with creatures that exist in timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ for it is one thing to progress like the world in Platos theory through everlasting life, and another thing to have embraced the whole of everlasting life in one simultaneous present.  [13]   Boethius asks the questions about eternity in regard to providence, how can God know about something before it happens, but not then control or influence the free will which he gave to human beings? His answer is to do with the mind of God. God does not know the world in the same way that human beings do because God exists outside of time, so he doesnt view the world as a progression of events. He does not see past present and future as we might but at the same time he knows all future acts and remembers all past acts. He sees the world in one single act, which includes knowledge of every choice of every human being from the beginning of the world to the end. Therefore he doesnt influence the free will or choices of human beings but he did, and indeed does, already know them. In metaphysical terms eternity could be summed up by asking the question can anything be said to exist outside of time and space and if it can how can it and, maybe more importantly, why? Many religions say that God is eternally existent but how we understand this depends on which definition of eternity we use. God might exist in eternity which means a timeless existence where the past, present, and future just do not mean anything. On the other hand, God might exist for eternity, which means he has already existed for an infinite amount of time and will continue to exist for an infinite amount of time. There is another definition that states that God exists outside the human concept of time, but also inside of time because if God did not exist both outside and inside time he would not be able to interact with humans as he does through answering prayers etc. Whichever definition of eternity we use it is safe to say that humans cannot fully understand eternity, since it is either an infinite amount of time or something other than the time and space we know. If we use the concept of God as Creator, as a being completely independent of everything else that exists because God created everything else. If this premise is true, then it follows that God is independent of both space and time, since these are properties of the universe. So then, according to this notion, God existed before time even began, he exists during all moments in time, and he will continue to exist after the universe and time itself will cease to exist. St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summae Theoligica argues against Boethius concept of time and eternity, he says As we attain to the knowledge of simple things by way of compound things, so must we reach to the knowledge of eternity by means of time, which is nothing but the numbering of movement by before and after. For since succession occurs in every movement, and one part comes after another, the fact that we reckon before and after in movement, makes us apprehend time, which is nothing else but the measure of before and after in movement. Now in a thing bereft of movement, which is always the same, there is no before or after. As therefore the idea of time consists in the numbering of before and after in movement; so likewise in the apprehension of the uniformity of what is outside of movement, consists the idea of eternity.  [14]  He is saying that what is eternal is interminable, that it has no beginning nor end and that because eternity has no succession like time, moment after moment in past present and future, it is therefore simultaneously whole. He says also that The idea of eternity follows immutability, as the idea of time follows movement, as appears from the preceding article. Hence, as God is supremely immutable, it supremely belongs to Him to be eternal. Nor is He eternal only; but He is His own eternity; whereas, no other being is its own duration, as no other is its own being. Now God is His own uniform being; and hence as He is His own essence, so He is His own eternity. Is it therefore the case that when we speak of eternity we speak of God? Is God the only thing that can be eternal? Certainly it is true that scientifically the only things we can know are those we experience in life but eternity, although almost universally accepted as a fact, is unknowable to us at least in our lifetimes. When we go, as Christians and others believe, to eternal life after this life, then we may have knowledge of eternity as we have experience of it with God as he is, but here and now we can ask what is eternity but we can never re ally answer it. According to William Lane Craig, on a relational view of time God would exist timelessly and independently prior to creation; at creation, which he has willed from eternity to appear temporally, time begins, and God subjects himself to time by being related to changing things. On the other hand, the Newtonian would say God exists in absolute time changelessly and independently prior to creation and that creation simply marks the first event in time.  [15]  According to the Christian doctrine, still taught to this day, of creatio ex nihilo, the universe began to exist a finite amount of time ago. And this doctrine, according to Craig, receives philosophical confirmation from arguments demonstrating the absurdity of an infinite temporal regress of events and empirical confirmation from the evidence for the so-called big-bang model of the universe.  [16]  But while we might agree that the universe began to exist, does this also mean a beginning to time? If one believes that time exists separately from events in the sense that if there were no events there would still be time, then there need not be a beginning to time as it exists outside of events. To say that the universe began to exist on such a time scale would simply be to say that a finite time ago there were no physical objects. However if one accepts that time cannot exist apart from events, then this means that the beginning of events, or beginning of the universe, would also be a beginning of time. So then is eternity simply a never ending period of time? Or does it exist separately and independently of time? We might ask in regard to God what does it mean to say that God is eternal? It can mean that he exists in divine timelessness or in divine temporality. Divine timelessness is the traditional view of God as being outside of time. It is the position advocated by Augustine, Boethius and Aquinas who we have looked at and also others such as St. Anselm. Divine temporality also holds the notion that God is omniscient and omnipotent. It is important to say that Gods temporality is not to be interpreted as a limit to his power, knowledge or being. Those who uphold a divine temporality view have problems with the views of the divine timelessness of God and indeed it has recently come under criticism by some philosophers and also by some theologians. Oscar Cullmann, a theologian, wrote that Primitive Christianity knows nothing of a timeless God. The eternal God is he who was in the beginning, is now and will be in all the future, who is, who was, and who will be (Rev 1:4). Accordingly, his eternity can and must be expresses in this naive way, in terms of endless time.  [17]   Richard Swinburne, a philosopher, wrote that the claim that God is timeless seems to contain an inner incoherence and also to be incompatible with most things which theists ever wish to say about God.  [18]  In this view Gods eternalness is expressed as being everlasting, without beginning and end, but he experiences time and is therefore able to work within time, and so is involved and working in time with us. This divine temporality is indeed a modern Christian view. It has often been stated in sermons around Christmas time that the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, God becoming man, signalled God entering into time and space with us and he continues to be with us in that same way. John M. Frame states that On Christmas, we celebrate something quite wonderful: God entering our time and space. The eternal becomes temporal; the infinite becomes finite; the Word that created all things becomes flesh.  [19]  He does also note a paradox though in this notion of God entering Space and time by saying From day to day, from hour to hour, the changeless God endures change. But God the Son incarnate is still God, still transcendent. As he responds to events in time, he also looks down on the world from above time and space, ruling all the events of nature and history.  [20]  So why enter time at all? The Christian answer is that he did this to show us how much he loves us, by dying for us, in our place, so that we might have eternal life. Even now God is both God and man, forever, so that he doesnt just rule is from above, but walks with us in every step, in every experience of our lives. As Frame puts it; So Christmas reveals in a wonderful way that God acts in time as well as above it. It shows us wonderfully how God relates to us, not only as a mysterious being from another realm, but as a person in our own time and place: interacting with us, hearing our prayers, guiding us step by step, chastising us with fatherly discipline, comforting us with the wonderful promises of the blessings of Christ. Truly he is Immanuel, the God who is really with us, who is nonetheless eternally the sovereign Lord of all.  [21]   Taking Christ as a pointer to God in both eternity and in time we see in Johns Gospel Jesus say of himself Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). With the use of two different tenses, past in reference to Abraham and present in terms of Christ even though logically it should be past tense we are given an insight maybe into what eternity is, separate to time, at least as we know and understand it. Arthur C. Custance says in his book Time and Eternity that The really important thing to notice is that time stands in the same relation to eternity, in one sense, as a large number does to infinity. There is a sense in which infinity includes a very large number, yet it is quite fundamentally different and independent of it. And by analogy, eternity includes time and yet is fundamentally something other. The reduction of time until it gets smaller and smaller is still not eternity; nor do we reach eternity by an extension of time to great length. There is no direct pathway between time and eternity: they are different categories of experiences.  [22]  Therefore we experience time and cannot have a full understanding of eternity due to the fact it is beyond any experience we can have. So then why even ask about it, or even entertain the thought of it? Christoph and Johann Blumhardt in their book Now is Eternity give our reasons for asking about ternity quite simply when they say that The deepest need each of us has, even if we are not conscious of it, is that of eternal life.  [23]   In the book they discuss the impact that the loss of any awareness of eternity has had on the modern world. They say that for most people in todays world it is the temporal and transitory things of life that are most important for them. This is because these things are immediate, tangible, and visible. But it means that the eternal dimension of life that part of it that is divine and thus enduring is never acknowledged or sometimes never even realised that it is there. They go on to say that When eternity is forgotten, human destiny is robbed of its real significance, and the goal of life limited to the search for fulfilment on an earthly plane. Remembered, it enlarges our view and, through what is best and noblest in us, reminds us of the promise of another home on a higher plane: the world from which we come, and to which we must one day return. To be mindful of eternity is to know that our earthly existence will one day be overshadowed by the eternal reality of everlasting life.  [24]  Eternity is a part of who we are just as much as time is. We may live in time now but when we die we go to eternity, it is as much of what makes us human than anything else and therefore as we are destined for eternity we have that innate yearning and calling to know it and understand it, as with every other aspect of our being, but never will until we can experience it. When we read Augustines wonder and amazement when he is pondering time it is something qui te remarkable. It shows a man who has genuinely tried to walk the path of enlightenment. Augustine was faced with some problematic questions that were unanswerable, at least by the human mind and condition. Time is a creature that is so real in our lives, but is as fleeting as the wind, we cannot truly grasp it. Searching for time in the past, present, and future Augustine finds that it is a fruitless act. The answer to the nature of time is to be found in Eternity. That something so great, with a life span that has stretched from the beginning is a creature willed into existence by the Eternal God. That God is, guarantees our existence. God provides for Time and for Creation by His existence. We move also then to talk of eternity, if the nature of time is to be found in Eternity then we must ask what is eternity? The answer to this question then is again impossible to grasp, but the best clues to its answer are found in scripture. In the Old Testament God is referred to in the pres ent, I am, not I was or I will be but I am. This eternal state of being constantly in the present is our greatest insight into what eternity is. After wrestling with all these thoughts of time and eternity and what they are or, more accurately as we cannot fully grasp the concepts, what they might be, we are left back with Augustine and his ultimate belief that the mysteries in which he engaged only turn us towards something greater, something final, and that something is God. Ultimately the path to eternity, that is God, requires not an enlightened mind but a ready faith. We can ask all the questions we want, but in the end we must wait until we are with God, because at it says in the Eucharitic prayer at Mass On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are.  [25]  And then we shall grasp the concept of not only eternity but time and every other thing that we could not grasp here on earth, coming to true knowledge of God and therefore full knowledge of the Truth.

Essays --

â€Å"Ilmu pengetahuan tanpa nilai-nilai yang mulia belum tentu dapat melahirkan masyarakat yang baik dan berjaya. Nilai-nilai yang mulia tanpa ilmu pengetahuan juga tidak akan melahirkan masyarakat yang berjaya†. Begitulah ungkapan kata-kata bestari oleh mantan Perdana Menteri kita, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Bapa Pemodenan Negara yang merupakan salah satu daripada pencetus kegemilangan dunia pendidikan negara. Selamat pagi dan Salam 1 Malaysia saya ucapkan kepada: Pengerusi Majlis, Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Johan Ashaari bin Murti, Menteri Pendidikan merangkap Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Yang Berhormat Datuk Romario Ansam anak Rungah, Timbalan Menteri Pendidikan. Yang Amat Berhormat Pehin Sri Maher Zain, Ketua Menteri. Yang Berhormat Freddy Jabu anak Jugah, Timbalan Ketua Menteri. Yang Berhormat Datuk Halimah, Menteri Tugas-tugas Khas Dalam Negeri berkaitan Pendidikan. Yang Berhormat Datuk-datuk dan Datin-datin. Yang Berbahagia Datuk Ariffin Faiq, Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan. Yang Berbahagia Datuk Sabri bin Rahmat, Rektor IPGM. Yang Dihormati Encik Hafiz Azman, Pengarah Pendidikan Negeri. Yang Berusaha Puan Saftuyah binti Safri, Pengarah Institut Pendidikan Guru Tunku Abdul Rahman. Pengarah-pengarah IPGK dan Wakil-wakil Pengarah IPGK. Yang Berusaha Encik Amir bin Jamal, Timbalan Pengarah Institut Pendidikan Guru Tunku Abdul Rahman. Ketua-ketua Jabatan Persekutuan dan Negeri. Ketua-ketua Jabatan dan Ketua-ketua Unit Institut Pendidikan Guru Tunku Abdul Rahman. Pensyarah-pensyarah Kanan. Para Pensyarah. Staf-staf Sokongan. Para Graduan. Para Ibu Bapa. Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan dekat di hati. Tegak rumah kerana tiangnya, tegak bumi kerana paksinya, tegaknya saya di sini adalah untuk menyampaikan sebuah pidato yang bertajuk â€Å"Kecemerlan... .... Kesimpulannya, corak pendidikan yang diaplikasikan di Malaysia adalah lebih menyeluruh kerana ia merangkumi aspek fizikal dan rohani. Pendidikan di Malaysia bukan sahaja ingin membentuk pelajarnya yang aktif dan cemerlang dalam kurikulum dan kokurikulum malah ia juga memberi fokus kepada kelengkapan rohani dan moral agar pelajar yang dilahirkan sempurna dari segala segi. Maka dengan itu hadirin, saya sekali lagi menegaskan, pendidikan ini bukan sahaja penting untuk mengembangkan minda dan bakat manusia, malah ia juga penting untuk memacu legasi pembangunan negara. Ini adalah kerana pendidikan merupakan nadi kepada pencetus kegemilangan dan martabat sesebuah negara tersebut. Oleh itu, penting sekali untuk kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia dalam melancarkan aspirasi negara iaitu mencapai kecemerlangan dalam pendidikan untuk menaikkan nama negara di persada antarabangsa.

Harrah’s Database Gamble Essay

Harrah’s is the world largest provider of branded casino entertainment; it has around 25 million customers (2001) 25 casino with 40,000 gambling machines in 12 states. For years it had been a fairly small gambling company but, by 2001, had emerged as the second largest in the industry. By the mid-1990s, the gambling Business was flourishing and it was difficult for Harrah’s to survive in the markets due to intense competition, so they came up with a strategy of introducing a customer relationship management (CRM) software which helps to know their customers exceptionally well. A CRM system coordinates all business processes for dealing with customers, which in Harrah’s case includes both gambling and hotel customers. .The overall system Harrah’s developed has been named WINet (Winner’s Information Network) . The heart of CRM strategy was customer loyalty program called total rewards . Harrah’s CRM-based strategy appears to be a great success. Harrah’s say it keeps the customer information confidential and that it is not out to exploit gamblers. However, opponents of the gambling industry have criticized Harrah’s use of customer data. Harrah’s claims the Total Rewards program actually gives these people rewards instead of encouraging them to gamble more. He Further clarified that All we used to know was how much money we made on each machine, but we couldn’t connect what kind of customer used them , but with the help of technology he could get all the data of the customers. 1. Analyze Harrah’s using the competitive forces and value chain models. Harrah’s is facing intense competition. This competition is coming from established competitors as well new players Customers have many options in terms of how, when, and where they gamble. Harrah’s is using its new business strategy to create a new service, and catch its customers. Harrah’s new information system is having a strategic impact on its operations, sales and marketing, and service activities. 2. Describe Harrah’s business model and business strategy. How do they differ From those other gambling companies? Harrah’s business strategy is a customer relationship management strategy. (CRM). CRM system coordinates all business process for dealing with customers. Harrah’s uses its CRM software to identify and track its profitable customers. Harrah’s Total Rewards program allows gathering information about its customer’s gender, age, location, games they like to play as well as reward its customers for the amount of time that they spend gambling at Harrah’s casinos. Harrah’s competition relies on fancy reward schemes, due to which Harrah’s is getting to know its customers by studying and analyzing their behavior. 3. What role has database technology played in Harrah’s strategy? How Critical is it to the success of the company? Database technology is the heart of Harrah’s strategy. Harrah’s database Record information about Harrah’s customers, including gender, age, home location, Favorite games, length of playing time, size of bet, number of bets, average size of the bet, and total points. Harrah’s uses information for its business Processes to create marketing programs for its customers and also retaining in its customers each time a customer makes a transaction his record is updated. Harrah’s all casinos have access to the centralized database because of which Harrah’s employees are able to view each customer’s record and offer that customer same treatment regardless of which casino the customer visit. Database technology helped them to gain a 13% profit in the first year itself. 4. How did Harrah’s use CRM software and modeling tools to address the Company’s problem? Harrah’s uses CRM software to organize business processes that deal with Customers. After combining its gambling and hotel reservations data, Harrah’s uses its CRM software to build gambling profiles for each of its customers, analyze the customer data, and create different marketing programs. Harrah’s WINet system enables the company to estimate how much money the company can earn from a customer over a period of time. 5. Are there any ethical problems raised by Harrah’s use of customer data? Explain your answer. There is an opportunity to gain more money by selling the customer data but Harrah’s has said that it will not sell customer data to any organization. Some competitors criticized that Harrah’s is exploiting gamblers, If this argument is true, then encouraging a person with a gambling addiction to spend more of his money, is obviously wrong. He Justify by saying that the Total Rewards program actually gives these people rewards instead of encouraging them to gamble More. 6. What problems can database technology and customer relationship Management software solve for Harrah’s? What problems can’t they address? The database Technology and customer relationship management software enable Harrah’s to Maintain sharp customer profiles, analyze its data to identify the most profitable customers, improve its customer service, and offer consistent customer service. The database technology and customer relationship management software help Harrah’s achieve a competitive gain in the gambling industry. The database technology and customer relationship management software cannot address organizational issues, such as the switch from a casino-focus to a Customer focus, loss of privacy fears, and gambler exploitation criticisms.

Free Essays on Violence In The United States

and the help of an adult, instead of fighting with physical means. Here are some tips for you to stop the violence. Learn safe routes for walking in the neighborhood, and know good places to seek help. Trust your own feelings, and if there's any sense of danger, get away fast. Report any crimes or suspicious action to the police, your school authorities, or your parents. Don't open the door to anyone you and your parents don't know and trust. Never go anyw... Free Essays on Violence In The United States Free Essays on Violence In The United States Through the decades violence has spread though the United States. But what exactly is Violence? Violence is intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force. It basically means to cause someone or something to suffer. Today in the United States violence is a huge problem. Whether is domestic violence, violence in schools, from the media, or violence from wars? But there are people out there who want to help. People can make a difference. There are so many different causes of United States violence. One cause is domestic violence. Domestic violence is violence coming from your own home. From your parents or family, or if you have a broken home. Usually the violence comes from a drinking problem or drugs. Another place where it might come from is violence in schools. There have been so many shootings, and kids will bring knives to school and have fights. Even with girls there have been fights. Recent studies show that fights between girls are much more powerful than boys. They hurt physically and mentally. It could make you unstable. Another cause of violence is violence from the Media. They show all these video games that show shooting and killing is okay. Also from the television and movies makes a huge impact on some ones life. Then the war causes violence because people start to choose sides and start to break the peace. What can you do to help stop violence? You can be a big part of stopping violence in the United States. You can settle argument be words and the help of an adult, instead of fighting with physical means. Here are some tips for you to stop the violence. Learn safe routes for walking in the neighborhood, and know good places to seek help. Trust your own feelings, and if there's any sense of danger, get away fast. Report any crimes or suspicious action to the police, your school authorities, or your parents. Don't open the door to anyone you and your parents don't know and trust. Never go anyw...

Review of In On It essays

Review of In On It essays The production of In On It contains three separate yet intertwined plots. The first story introduced is one of man who is dying of an incurable disease and whose marriage is on the verge of divorce. Next comes the post-modern story of two actors quarreling over the best way to act out the play they wrote. Additionally there is a story of gay lovers reminiscing about their past and putting an effort to make their relationship succeed. The transitions between stories are easily facilitated through the use of set design, lighting, and acting. Throughout the majority of the play there are only blocks of light shone directly on the actors, leaving the stage and surrounding environment completely black. This leaves a trace of ambiguity as to where the scene is taking place, and involves the audience in allowing them to use their imagination. In this way scene changes are believable and can take place in an instant when cued by the lighting or the actors. Switching between characters is done simply by the actors being illuminated in a different light, and maybe changing posture or tone of voice. The struggle for meaning is a central theme in the play, and the directing certainly reflects that. A parallel can clearly be seen between the constant changing of scenes to make sense of the stories, and the characters themselves striving to find meaning in their own lives. We also see this through the jacket that is merely in a beam of blue light at the beginning, but gains more and more meaning as the play moves forward. The narrative form helps the audience to relate to the characters in this way and gives the story cohesiveness. Despite relief from a few comic scenes, the general mood of this play was more dramatic, reminding us constantly that death and loss are major parts of life. These motifs are seen obviously through the ill man who loses his family, health, and ultimately his life through the car crash. We also see loss when the tw...

Describing the morphology and behavior of gorilla, white-handed gibbon Essay

Describing the morphology and behavior of gorilla, white-handed gibbon and bolivian grey titi monkey - Essay Example Most gorillas are diurnal and forage mostly on ground from sunrise to nightfall. They usually feed in the mornings and afternoons with a long mid-day break and rest in between. There is little aggression amongst members of the same family. Western gorilla shows visual signs through facial expressions. They exhibit around 22 distinct sounds; barks, grunts, hoots and screams. Hoots could be contact call to tell forest location. Gorillas displays quadrupedal knuckle walking. Mountain gorillas are totally folivorous whereas wild gorillas are vegetarians but captive gorillas readily eat meat. This is a primate whose fur coloring varies from dark-brown and light-brown to black, sandy colours. The feet and hands are white; likewise there is a ring of white hair surrounding the black face. They are literally aerial acrobats.Gibbbons are predominantly brachiators, moving through the forest by swinging from one branch to another by the use of their arms. It has curved fingers, very long arms, elongated hands, short legs. Although they rarely come to the ground, while down they walk bipedally raising their arms above their heads. Gibbons have got tough, bony padding on their buttocks called ischial callosities. Gibbons are frugivorous.The white handed gibbons are arboreal and diurnal. White handed gibbons protect their family groups by warding off the rest of the gibbons by their calls. Every morning each family gathers on the territorial edge and starts a â€Å"great call†, which is a duet between the mating pair.This is their way of communication. The Bolivian titi is a species of titi. It is from eastern Bolivia and a tiny territory of Brazil. The Bolivian titi is diurnal, cryptic and lives in small groups of families. It is monogamous in nature and mates for life and stays in groups that are made up of 2 to 7 members; some 5 young ones and 2 adults. There

Prayer in School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prayer in School - Essay Example I think that the government should be focused on the school's academics, not what religion they are to study. The proposed amendments would cause nothing but trouble considering that there would be many arguments on what beliefs should be taught. Religion is private and schools are public. Having any prayer in school goes against the basis in which our country was formed upon. America came into being because colonists wanted religious freedom. Our founding fathers carefully wrote the constitution to grant the freedom of separation of church and state. A prayer created and supported by a government violate the very essence of the spirit in which the US was formed. It was not until 1962, in the case of Engel v. Vitale, that the Supreme Court ruled that the voluntary prayer used to begin the day in New York public schools was unconstitutional. [Paul D. Kauper, 1963] The prayer, created by the New York Board of Regents, read, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country."[Geoffrey R. Stone, 1983] The decision to ban school-sponsored prayer was "so unpopular that many school districts simply have disregarded it."[Greenawalt] In fact, a 1980 American National Election Study found that 72.1% of Americans believe that schools should be allowed to start each day with a prayer.[Kirk W. Elifson and C. Kirk Hadaway] Since the banning of organized prayer in public schools in 1962, the nation has been in steady moral decline. Divorce rates, teen pregnancy, violent crime, and drug use have all increased. Many school prayer supporters believe there is a direct correlation between the removal of prayer from public schools and the decline of morality. Religious conservatives are convinced that religious influence in the schools is necessary to teach students morals and values. Through their rulings, the court has also defined some times and conditions under which public school students may pray, or otherwise practice a religion at any time before, during or after the school-day, as long as your prayers do not interfere with other students. In meetings of organized prayer or worship groups, either informally or as a formal school organization. Before eating a meal at school -- as long as the prayer does not disturb other students. In some states, student-led prayers or invocations are still delivered at graduations due to lower court rulings. [Geoffrey R Stone] However, the Supreme Court's ruling of June 19, 2000 may bring this practice to an end. Some states provide for a daily "moment of silence" to be observed as long as students are not encouraged to "pray" during the silent period. As society goes we have things we would be better suited addressing than whether or not kids get to go to a crusade. Kids seem to have a better handle on it than we adults. If your kid gets out of school two hours to hear a nondenominational sermon why are you concerned There are far worse things for your kid to get out of school for. If your religion does not believe in a God then your kid should be firmly grounded in your faith that he cannot be swayed by listening to this. [Riley M. Sinder & John K. Lopker] Prayers in public school should be allowed as it may inculcate the belief that God exists. In today's world, many are turning out to be infidel and many are following