Threat of migration as a core feature of the demographic landscape Essay

Threat of migration as a core feature of the demographic landscape - Essay Example This essay demonstrates that perhaps the biggest threat that migrant children face is that of child labor and trafficking. Due to lack of awareness, migrant children are known to be easy prey for child traffickers. In most cases, such children are lured with the promise of a good life elsewhere but most of them end up as being sex slaves while the boy children end up in construction and agriculture in some nations. In some Caribbean nations, some agencies came up to the children of migrants offering to reunite them with their parents. The children transit in such journeys without any adult accompaniment and this makes them vulnerable to child traffickers. Even after being united with their parents, some parents and especially mothers end up encouraging their daughters to participate in the sex trade for to help in paying the family bills.In conclusion, most families from third world nations have used migration as a means for economic survival. While parents who have migrated abroad i ncrease the remittances to their families, research has continually shown that such a move presents numerous threats to children. In most cases, the children who have been left behind are placed in a situation that increases their vulnerability something that has a negative effect on their psychological wellness. In addition to this, such children are vulnerable to abuse as well as misuse. Even the migrant children are not left out as they suffer the threat of sexual exploitation, child labor, and trafficking.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Learning is a natural ability that is wired into many animals DNA; the way that humans should learn has been debated by the various educators because of the endless ways to teach. Teachers and parents take this matter seriously like Ralph Waldo Emerson in â€Å"From Education† and Todd Gitlin in â€Å"The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut† who created essays on education; and Billy Collins in â€Å"The History Teacher† entail for then and who wrote a poem concerned with the status of education. These people show what the importance of education is entailing what learning should and should not involve; a teacher should respect and have patience for children; a teacher should also let a child have creativity and lessons of the past. Many teens do not respect their teacher which might be because the teacher does not respect them; as the golden rule goes, â€Å"treat others the way you would treat yourself†; Ralph Waldo Emerson in â€Å"From Education† would probably agree with this quote because he strongly believes that, â€Å"the secret of [e]ducation lies in respecting the pupil,† (page 102). Shows that Emerson understood what children are thinking then did something to help them by simply respecting them. Another big issue with education is patience; some people do not have enough patience to guide children to what they are supposed to learn. Emerson also believes that patience is an important part in education, â€Å"to regard the young [children, they require] no doubt, rare patience: a patience that nothing but faith in medial forces of the soul can give,† Emerson was trying to say that someone has to really care in order to teach information to children (page 105). Some people do not see the point in having art classes or history classes; the reason why is because art assists students to express themselves in a way that words cannot along with helping them find out what kind of person they truly are; and history is needed to teach children where they originated from; and to show them mistakes that other people in the past made so they will not make them again. Todd Gitlin in â€Å"The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut† agrees with this â€Å"[students] need some orientation to philosophy, history, language, literature, music, and arts that have lasted more than 15 minutes,† (page 156) because students need the outlet to express themselves; or if they do not they would not learn morals then they would become exactly  what people were trying to stop; As shown in â€Å"The History Teacher† by Billy Collins who stated, â€Å"the children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart,† all because â€Å"[the teacher tries] to protect his students’ innocence he told them the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age, a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters. And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age, named after the long driveways of time,† this demonstrates how not teaching children lessons of the past which are the brood violence’ that others committed in history; by not teaching this history it affects children’s behavior in real life (page 143). Morals are right and wrong many people’s morals will differ; this is why teaching them is tricky because the teacher’s morals might not be the same as the parent’s morals. This is why some of the history in textbooks is sometimes just the summary of what really happened but not enough for the main point to be set across unlike in â€Å"The History Teacher† where, â€Å"the Spanish Inquisition [is] nothing more than an outbreak of questions such as â€Å"How far is it from here to Madrid? †,† and â€Å"the War of the Roses took place in a garden, and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan,† explains when a teacher goes too far in trying to protect student’s mind from bad; when only good is taught and everything else is censored then the students become the opposite; because they do not know the consequences of doing bad, which is why history is taught. As teachers and parents they have to let their students make their own choices as shown in â€Å"From Education† Emerson says, â€Å"it is not for you to choose what he shall know, [or] what he shall do,† shows that sometimes a student needs to find out the consequences the hard way, and let them choose what they want to learn (page 143). Education is needed in modern day society to help students and children grow and help the nation; by giving students proper education the teacher are not really helping the students but they are helping themselves. Teaching creativity helps a student express themselves; respect should be given so the student can give it back; patience is needed to help them understand; morals need to be taught through history so the student will make fewer mistakes; these are essential to a good education and an even better future: as shown by the writings of Billy Collins, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Todd Gitlin.

PEST Analysis of Genting Highlands

PEST Analysis of Genting Highlands Genting Highlands, also known as Resort World Genting, was the idea of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong. He wanted to create a holiday resort in Malaysia, 2000 feet above sea level, where one can experience cool weather and have a relaxing vacation amongst the nature. Today, Genting Highlands is a leading leisure and entertainment resort. It compromises of six hotels, a country and golf resort, two apartment blocks and a theme park, international shows, gaming experience, leisure cruising and meetings and conventions. Their vision is to be a leading integrated resort operator in the world (Genting Malaysia Berhad, 2011) Genting Malaysia: http://www.gentingmalaysia.com/ Resort Word Genting: http://www.rwgenting.com/ Marketing Problem Marketing Audit External PEST Political and Legal Environment In 1965 when Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong purchased a mountainous land in between Selangor and Pahang there was an anomaly issue of the ownership title, one part of the land being leasehold and the other being freehold. Dato Harun Idris the Menteri Besar of Selangor at that time (politician) agreed to grant a freehold. When one has a business in a country, the laws that are set have to be complied. In political and legal forces the laws that govern the corporations have an impact on decision making. Some of the most commonly used political strategies are constituency building, political action committee contribution, advocacy advertising, and coalition building. Economic Environment Here in Malaysia the economic climate has been quite sound. We have trade freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom and high levels of fiscal independence. The highest corporate tax rate and the highest income tax rate are moderate. The tax revenue is low as a percentage of GDP. Inflation is very minimal and government does not alter market prices much with direct subsidies. The simple hire procedures with no minimum salary make the labour sector flexible and help businesses to stay competitive. Social Environment Customers have increasingly visited Genting Highlands as it was the first ever integrated resort. Globalisation has marked Malaysia on the globe and also increased more tourists to come over and spend their vacation in Genting Higlands. However times are becoming more challenging as new integrated theme parks are opening in Malaysia. Technology Environment Over the course of time the rate of change in terms of technology has moved to a rapid pace. Technology contributes directly to its competence in terms of substantially increases competitive levels as others may be better placed and have more sophisticated internal technology systems. Gentings Leisure and Hospitality also emphasizes technological facilities advancement. As mentioned by Mr. Andrew innovation is always encouraged in the theme parks bringing in new rides and adventure so as to not stagnate with the old school rides but keep adapting to deliver that experience of a lifetime. The Manager also mentioned that in terms of building customer relationship technology has evolved the strategies from analogue to digital. In terms of establishing a relationship between Genting and its customers, more mobile apps such as android or smartphone friendly websites are designed to cater to the customers convenience. Supplier, Publics, Intermediaries, Customers and Competition (SPICC) Suppliers Most of the suppliers are from a local source. If only the supply is exhausted or the requirement cant be fulfilled by a local vendor, then Genting looks for a foreign alternative. Even the live food stock for the restaurants and hotels in Genting Highland, they are purchased from a domestic vendor from the surrounding small business owners. Publics Genting Highlands provides abundance job opportunities, as per se there are 15000 employees working for Genting Berhad altogether. At least one person is said to be working for Gentings from the families of the neighbouring villages around Genting Highlands. Mr Andrew also mentioned that there are some avenues for the Orang Asli community. Help is being offered in the form of domestic aid and education aid. Intermediaries There are intermediaries such as the travel agencies and holiday package providers. They promote the leisure activities to the foreign and local market. Even the state tourism promotes the fun come holiday vacation at Genting Highlands. Customers and Markets Competition As Gentings was the first evert integrated resort in Malaysia it did have much competition for years. Recently over the past 10 years many changes have occurred in terms of tourism in Malaysia which opens avenues for business to open more resorts and theme parks around the country. As a result few months ago Legoland opened up with its theme park and resort. Soon to come many more integrated resorts may be built so Genting Highlands has to renew its brand image to upkeep as a key player in this industry. Relative Market Share Genting Malaysia Berhad is in the cash cow sector. According to five year annual report summary, it shows that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (ebitda) to be profitable as it increase from 2,024.2 Million (2010) to 2,330.2 (2011). Genting group Malaysia is considered to be in a matured market as it was operating since 1971which is still generating cash and making profits for the company. In the interview with Mr.Andrew, marketing manager of Genting Malaysia Berhad, he mentioned the Hotel is always occupied and customers need to do their bookings 2 to 3 weeks before visiting. From this it can be gathered that the Genting Malaysia berhad is continuously making money and he also mentioned that there is less investment needed in the company to be made to maintain its service. The investment made is only on the maintenance of the theme park, room service, renovation and refurbishment on the hotel which is going on from 1st October 2012 until the end of January 2013. Competitors The competitors of Genting Malaysia Berhad can be defined as any company that is in the similar industry. Genting Malaysia Berhad is into the Theme park and hotel business in Malaysia but also at the same time Genting faces competition from the Sunway Group Malaysia, Lego land and Mines Resort city. Sunway lagoon and Sunway Resort Sunway lagoon is a multi- park destination and into the theme park sector and one of the famous amusement park in Asia , with five division such water park, amusement park, extreme park, wildlife park, scream park (sunwaylagoon,2012). Together with Sunway lagoon attached with its own Sunway resort and spa five star hotel. Lego Land Lego Land recently opened in September 2012, and located in Johor, Malaysia. The size of the theme park is 76 acres (310,001 m2). Other park such as Legoland water theme park and hotels will be opening soon (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). The theme park has 40 interactive rides and 7 different theme park (legoland, 2012) The Mines Resort City and Mines Wellness Hotel Mines resort city has its own theme park named Mines wonderland and a Shopping Mall.The Mines wellness hotel is a five star hotel together the hotel is build with a man made beach and swimming lagoon. Internal 5 Ms Men (labour) There are 7000 employees of Genting Theme Park. Some of the employees are Malaysians, and some others are from other countries. The employees of Genting Highland or Hotels must be trained before they actually do the work. The time for the training is depends on the job that the employees apply. For example, the employees who work in the front desk or entry level, they have to be trained for six months. Money (finances) According to Genting Malaysia Financial Statement in 2011, the company got RM 1,322.3 million profits. And the company total asset is RM 13,490.6. Machinery (equipment) Genting theme park has a ride that other competitor do not have, it is the Flying Coasters. The Flying Coasters is a unique hang-gliding roller coaster that mimics the sensation of flying (Resort World Genting). Minutes (time) Genting Highland Resort has been running for 47 years. Genting Highland has three parks, which are outdoor park, indoor ark, and Video Games Park. The time operation of those three theme parks has a little bit differentiation. Outdoor Park Indoor Park Video Games Park Monday Friday 10 am 6 pm 10 am 12 am 9 am 12 am Saturday, Malaysia School Holiday, and Public Holiday 9 am 10 pm 9 am 1 am 8 am 1am Sunday and Malaysia Public Holiday 9 am 6 pm 9 am 12 am 8 am -12 am Materials (factor of production) Factor of production is an economic term to describe the inputs that are used in the production of goods or services in the attempt to make an economic profit (Investopedia Dictionary). There are four factors of production: Land Labour Land is all the natural resources used for production. Genting Highland resources it includes the land it self, 12,000 acres and 2,800 acres of land from the Pahang and Selangor State Government. Each person has different level of skills. In Gentings company, there are designers who design the hotels look, architectures, engineers, etc. Capital Entrepreneurship / Enterprise A business capital can include, finance or investment for the business, machines, buildings, factories, etc. The people who can organise the other three factors of production, which is Land, Labour, and Capital. The people are the managers who willing to take the risk and come up the innovatie idea to bring the company in the highest level of business success. SWOT Analysis Strengths Genting Highlands is one of the big attractions especially to a foreigner who come to visit Malaysia. It is provides leisure and hospitality services, which comprise amusement, gaming hotel and entertainment. The strength of Genting Highlands is in great marketing programmed and strong brand image that can take advantage of the opportunity, which is to increase the tourist. Genting Highland also consider as a good location because it is near to everywhere and it takes like only less than one hours of driving away from Kuala Lumpur, the city centre of Malaysia. In Genting Highlands, they have a five hotels at the resort which is genting hotel, highlands hotel, resort hotel, theme park hotel and first world hotel with a total about 10,000 hotel rooms and they are full house everyday. They are also including the genting convention centre for a meeting, any convention or exhibitions at the resort and also very famous with the casino. Especially during a night hours, we would never get bored because they still open the bar lounge, sports bar and also the safari so everyone can go and have fun in no time. Weaknesses As we know, Genting Highlands is a hill resort in Malaysia, and it is nestled on a mountain. So this can be effected by a global warming because it seems less showing because it is publics conscious issues towards the environment and especially when it is rain, so they need to wait or can play the indoor theme park only. It causes the problem to those who already bought the ticket with an outdoors theme park. Another benefits to educate the publics and make them feel confident with the environment on the harm of effect of global warming towards the Genting highlands. Especially, it would be a bad effect for those are coming for the first time and got no chance to play the outdoor theme park. Opportunities Most of the foreign Genting visitors come from Asia country such as Thailand, Singapore and China. The company more focus to improve the economic conditions of the market. Genting has also made further investments in other countries in developing its name as one of the international gambling and entertainment giant in the world. Threats After we have done with the research, we know that Genting can emphasize more on the uniqueness of having the best theme park and more excitement at a cool whether and can create something more interesting to the customers while having a weather problem. In the other hand, Genting also need to focus on their very close competitors because they are also faces increasing threats from gaming market in the region such as Macau and also in Singapore. Market Assumptions Marketing Missions/Values and Objectives Marketing Strategy Ansoff Ansoff (1987) contends that to survive and succeed in an industry, the firm must match the aggressiveness of its operating and strategic behaviours to the changeability of demand and opportunities in the marketplace (Thompson Martin, 2006). The Ansoff product/market growth matrix provides a simple way of generating four basic alternative directions for strategic development (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). Box A of Ansoff Matrix is an existing product with existing markets. Box B, the top right-hand one is a new product developed by the company with existing markets. Under the box A is box C, which is the existing products in the new markets. The last one is box D. In box D, what companies do is taking the full diversification, with altogether new markets and new products (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). According to Andrew Leong, marketing manager of Genting group, Genting will have a new ride in anytime soon. The construction is on going. This means, Genting theme park developing a new product in the existing market (box B). He also mentioned that Genting is not just upgrading the theme park, sometimes they also improve the service and make it better. In the Ansoff Matrix, what Genting do is including in box A. For the hotels, Andrew leong said, By the time I do renovation in the first floor of the hotel done and it continue until the top floor, I will start to renovate in the first floor again. From the explanation, the situation of the hotel business is include in box A. And it also can consider that Genting do an active continuously upgrading the business. They provide the best of the best what they can do for the customers and try to put their position ahead from other competitors. In box A, it includes Market Penetration and Consolidation as the strategy companies used. Market Penetration is where an organisation gains market share (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). While Product Development (Box B), involves thinking about how new products can meet customer needs more closely and outperform the products of competitors (Portkabins Case Studies). Porters Generic Strategies According to porter, strategies allow organizations to gain competitive advantage from three different bases: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus (David, 2009). Genting Malaysia Berhad can be categorized using the differentiation strategy. Location One of the uniqueness about Genting Malaysia Berhad is the location. The City of Entertainment is situated on the mountains called the Titiwangsa Mountains, which is on the border between Pahang and Selangor of Malaysia (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). Besides attracting Malaysia visitors Genting Highlands have attracted many people from various parts of the world; Marketing Manager Mr. Andrew has mentioned people from countries such as Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, and the Philippines comes here to spend their holidays as its a beautiful place with great weather. Genting Highlands came up with a strategic idea by locating their entertainment destination in such area which is different from other competitors. Speaking of the weather, in Genting Highland since is located in the mountains area the weather temperature is not higher than 25 oC( Wikimedia Foundation ,2012) The weather can be described as amid cool misty mountains with spring-like weather year-round (rwgenting, 201 2). Hospitality and Service Genting Malaysia Berhad has six hotels located in the mountains. The Maxims, Genting Hotel,Resort Hotels,Theme Park hotel, First World hotel and Awana Genting Highlands (rwgenting,2012). From here we can see that Genting Malaysia Berhad has gain its competitive advantage that no Hotels in Malaysia has come up with this strategic and secondly The First World Hotel is the largest hotel in Malaysia and 4th largest in the world with 6,118 rooms/suites available (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). There are few awards that Genting Malaysia Berhad has received this year and one of them are highest profit growth company under the trading/Services, Hotels, IPC and Technology Sectors category, awarded by the edge billion ringgit club. Last year they have also won Industry Excellence Award-Hotel Sector 2010/2011 by BASIS Publications House Sdn Malaysia National news Agency (Bernama) (genting, 2011) Theme parks and Entertainment On the other side, Genting Malaysia Berhad has also gained its competitive advantage from the wide range of games and entertainment offered in Genting Highlands, the space they have provided for games only is over 200,000 square feet. Genting Malaysia Berhad is also known to be upgrading new and latest games for their theme parks that make them distinctive between their competitors. Genting Malaysia Berhad has recently invested in the new Snow World, the biggest winter wonderland in Malaysia with space area of 22.8K square feet and the one and only thrill game in Malaysia, the 4D Motion Masters (rwgenting, 2012). In other ways to attract customers Genting has also held events for awards ceremonies such as Iffa Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Lux Style Awards and MTV Asia Awards (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). Mr. Andrew also said that he is indirectly marketing the Genting Malaysia Berhad through these ceremonies by having satellite to enable people in other countries to watch the award ceremonies LIVE. Value Proposition Their vision is to be leading leisure, hospitality and entertainment corporation in the world, (Annual Report 2008). Similar to their vision statement, their value proposition is to deliver the best of service to their customers especially their valued customers. The Gentings Marketing Manager Mr.Andrew said that they take personal care to acknowledge the needs of their customers in order to build a long term relationship with them. He emphasized that they are looking at a very friendly relationship. Digitalization has altogether made that very possible as their personal invites to events are sent out via emails, texts and there is a constant immediate response activity between the company and customers. The accommodation for valued customers is prepared to their personal interest and preferences in terms of food and beverages and other services. As the resort is set out on the mountain with nature and a pleasurable weather, certain group activities are held in the midst of the rainforest or the cliff top overlooking an astounding view. Imagine having a corporate teams outdoor activities with the tranquil sounds of nature, the scents and fragrance of flora and sometimes one may spot eagles, hornbills and other birds of paradise just cruising through the mountainous terrain. These are some of the customer valued moments that one may encounter in Genting, utmost exhilarating experience to those who hail from the hustle and bustle of the city lifestyle. Directional Policy Genting Highlands operates in two segments and they are: Leisure and hospitality, which includes the gaming, hotel, theme park, tours and travel, related to the bnty Size of the Segment- The number of the customer in Genting Highlands are large. They are in too many category that you can see in the graph below : Share Market In this company, the Genting Highlands group has much brunch such as Singapore, because it is one of the major casino resorts, and also in Macau, India, New York and Australia and other more country. These are one of the strategies because it would better luck in the casino and healthy visitor arrivals to boost profits at the resort or any hotel in those countries. At the same time, they can promote and tell to the tourist that they can also travel in the same places but in other countries. Current Market Share Genting Company have investment for the racetrack in between US$70S million and US$730million based on US$380 million with the license fee and between US$325 million and US$350 million capital expenditure programmed. The US$250 million can be used to directly offset the capital expenditure, and the companys net will be between US$455 million and US$480 million. The Maybank in Malaysia analyst said that it was a mere 3% earnings per share accretion which would give a low 6% return on equity on the intended multi billion ringgit investment in resort in New York. So we can see that the current market of Genting company is not focusing only on the one in Malaysia, or one country but they are very active in other countries also. The pretax profit from power increased 3 percent million ringgit on a higher tariffs in Malaysia and China, so at least they can cover whatever they have loss. Profit Lift The higher revenue was recorded at the group non-leisure divisions, particularly the plantation. For the plantation revenue, it is 53.8% owned the Asiatic Development amounted to RM249.50 million or the higher 93% higher RM 129 million a year earlier. The plantation company also achieved a higher crude palm oil and the selling price of RM3,403 starting from January to March against RM1,927 per tonne a year. Marketing Product Price Place Promotion People Processes Physical evidence Budgets Conclusion

A Comparison of Everyman and Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus Essay

A Comparison of "Everyman" and Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" Everyman and Doctor Faustus are both Morality Plays, these are specifically plays that existed within the Medieval period. They were popular during this period as they were intended to instruct the audience in the Christian way and attitudes to life. The morality play is essentially an allegory written in dramatic form. In the fourteenth Century, morality plays were mainly based on the seven deadly sins as in everyman with each character representing each sin. Everyman centers around allegory. It focuses on the allegorical representations of moral issues with the inclusion of figures that represent abstractions of the issues that are confronted. Doctor Faustus follows the general five-act structure of an Elizabethan Romantic Tragedy. However Christopher Marlowe used the structure of an older Medieval form of English Drama, the morality play as a model. Morality plays tended to show the moral struggle of mans soul and the conflict of good and evil. This is evident in the play of Doctor Faustus who is embroiled in a battle between the temptation of the devil and God. You could argue that Doctor Faustus is not classed as a morality play. Because in the tradition of a morality play God and the devil are external forces that affect the individual. However, in Doctor Faustus it is far more of an internal drama inside Faustus? own mind. Both are entirely didactic in nature, they were made with the intent to educate their audience in one respect or another. There was a moral to each that conveyed similar messages. Therefore the term ?morality play? correctly defines each one. The medieval time period in which Everyman was written contained a society that r... ...the rejection of the medieval due to further emphasis on the individual rather than God. After all, the opening scene of Doctor Faustus was praising science and magic in favour of God. So where do we draw the line? Everyman statically reflects the period of medieval whereas Doctor Faustus focuses on the actual change in that particular period of the Reformation. Therefore it is possible to see the alteration from one period to another. Bibliography - ?Doctor Faustus?-Christopher Marlowe - ?Norton Anthology of English Literature? - Oxford Dictionary Online - ?LION?- - http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk - http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Texts/faustus.html (3/12/03) - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/ (5/12/03) - http://www.miracleplayers.org/everyman/play.htm (15/12/03) - http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/intro.htm (17/12/03)

all I Know Is What I Read In The Papers - Will Rogers -- essays resear

"All I Know Is What I Read In The Papers" - Will Rogers There have been many criteria over the past few centuries that measured one's political clout and influence: divine right, property, money, and acquaintances. In the twentieth century, particularly the past two decades, the political power to influence others resides in information: the more information you have and the more you know how to use it, the more potential influence you have. People rely on the media for their information, as it is the most easily accessible, efficient, and passive way of acquiring knowledge. Unfortunately, the media is not completely reliable as it can and has been manipulated by politicians, their parties, and their governments. This makes the media a powerful weapon as politicians use it to effect voters political choices through advertising, change popular opinion on issues of state, and debasing political campaigns through smear tactics. "You can make a candidate someone they aren't. You can protect them from someone they are, or make them more of what they are".-Senator Norm Atkins(1) "An election is like a one day sale†¦the product (candidate) in a sale (campaign) is only available a few hours on one day".(2) The main goal one hopes to achieve by advertising something is to make it marketable so people will purchase it. Since what a politician hopes to ultimately do is persuade people to vote for, or buy, their political platform, they would be foolish to not take advantage of the captive and passive audience of the advertising mass media. Unfortunately politicians and their management take advantage of this medium to manipulate voters' choices. Two cases of advertising manipulation on voters was during the Canadian National Referendum of 1992 and the Quebec Referendum of 1995. During the National Referendum of 1992 over the Charlottetown Accord "three hours of free broadcast time was made available during prime time on every radio and television network that met the statutory criteria"(3) according to the Referendum Act. The act also states that "half (of the time) is allocated to the ‘Yes' and half to the ‘No' side"(4). This allotment of advertising time did not take into account the print advertisement that was plastered al... ... in that matter"(22). Truedeau floored Bouchard by saying that "the federalists would have done better in the recent Quebec referendum "(23) if the Yes side didn't "make Quebeckers, especially former premier Rene"Levesque, look like victims"(24), Politics is a very dirty game, and if you don't develop a thick skin to deal with the rhetoric then you will not survive the smear campaigns. "I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets"(25) The mass media in all its manifestations has a mandate to be a forum for views both directly and indirectly through advertising and journalist reporting, This massive forum has been the place, for many years, that politicians have had their voice. Like many other institutions, the mass media has been utilized as a tool of the political world with which politicians, their parties, and their governments capture the fixated and passive audience, thus making the media a powerful device to affect voters political choices through advertising, change popular opinion on issues of state, and debasing political campaigns with smear tactics.

Deals with the Devil Essay

The Devil is portrayed in many ways and throughout many different types of literature, movies, and music. The most iconic image of the devil is a red beast with horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork in his hand. This famous image depicts an evil monster that is in the depths of hell where he rules over the other evil beings of the world. This is only one image of many that you can find in a vast amount of literature and media both past and present. In The Devil and Tom Walker, the devil is described as a black woodsman, human in form but with red eyes. Similarly in The Devil and Daniel Webster, the Devil is described as a â€Å"dark-dressed stranger,† who is soft spoken but has an evil smile. In these descriptions you still get a sense of evil from the Devil but he is in human form. So what or who is the Devil? From early stories in Christianity, Lucifer commonly known as Satan or the Devil is originally an archangel created in the image of God. He is the highest form of an angel, but challenges God and is cast down to rule the pits of hell. Can someone created in the image of God as Christianity suggests be a dark stranger or a red beast? The Devil can be depicted in many ways, but what the Devil really represents is the existence greed and moral corruptness in society. Regardless of the imagery, the Devil plays a similar role throughout literature and media both past and present. One of the earliest stories of a man making a pact with the Devil is a character named Faust, from an old German legend. Faust was a brilliant scholar but always wanted more knowledge. The Devil comes to him one night and promises him infinite wisdom for a certain amount of time after which Faust’s soul would be owned by the Devil. Faust readily agrees and signs a contract with the Devil. Faust lives with his infinite knowledge until the year comes when the Devil comes to collect his soul. Faust is then taken by the Devil and spends the rest of eternity in hell. This story maybe one of the original stories of the Devil making a deal with a man for his soul. The Devil knows and uses the man’s greatest desire to lure him into signing a contract to get his soul. Man is easily corruptible when promised his deepest desire and choses instant gratification without fully understanding or thinking of the repercussions. In Anne Rice’s novel Memnoch the Devil, the Devil begins to stalk Lestate until one evening he appears to him and takes him on a voyage. Lestate is a very old and powerful Vampire, known to only look out himself and his own needs. The Devil takes Lestate to Heaven and Hell where he tells Lestate the story of the beginning of time when God created the world and human beings. Memnoch, or the Devil, spent a lot of time on Earth admiring God’s creation, but begins to notice the suffering and pain of human beings and the souls of deceased that are stuck in between Heaven and Earth. He describes God as uncaring of the evil in the world he created and begs God to do something to help the humans that are suffering on Earth and Sheol, which is the afterlife. Memnoch claims that he is not evil in fact he was an archangel created in God’s image, but because he questioned God several times about why he is letting humans suffer God gets angry. God casts him out of Heaven to find all the lost souls on earth and Sheol that he thinks deserves to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, before Memnoch can return. This turns out to be a daunting task and he enlists Lestate to be his partner and adversary of God. This journey throws Lestate to question everything he has ever known about God and the Devil, sfor he has lived centuries and had dismissed such notion that Heaven and Hell exist. Lestate ends up running from the Devil and when he returns to Earth he steals a biblical artifact, Veronica’s Veil, he reveals the artifact to the world. In the end it is revealed that the Devil was only using Lestate by allowing him to return with an artifact that would renew faith in God and therefore limit the amount of souls sent to Hell. In this story the Devil is manipulative and cunning though he claims he is not evil. Although Lestate never made a deal with the Devil, the Devil won by using Lestate’s narcissism for his own purposes. In the Phantom of the Opera, a popular Broadway show, one can view the Devil as the representation of the masked phantom in the opera house. The young understudy Christine hears a beautiful voice calling to her when she arrives at the opera house. She had heard stories of an â€Å"Angel of Music† who could give her a more powerful and beautiful voice and readily begins to sing with the Devil. A series of mysterious accidents forces the lead singer to lose her voice therefore losing the star role in the opera. Christine is the given then given the lead role after her voice improves drastically while practicing with the Devil. â€Å"The Angel of Music† takes Christine to the depths of the opera house tunnels against her will. Christine is in love with another man, who searches for her in the tunnels of the opera house. The Devil captures Christine’s love and tells her he will kill him if she doesn’t stay with him. This story is similar to the short stories of The Devil and Tom Walker and The Devil and Daniel Webster, in that the characters make a deal with the Devil to improve some aspect of their lives but when the Devil wants to collect on their deal none of the characters want to go willingly. One noticeable difference between the stories is that in the end of The Phantom of the Opera Christine shows kindness to the â€Å"Angel of Music† and he lets her go and he disappears forever leaving only his mask behind. Overall mankind has shown a pattern of making deals with the devil for their desires to their own detriment. From the short stories of, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Devil and Tom Walker, to the legend of Faust, and the Phantom of the Opera musical you can see similarities in all the characters desiring something unattainable. The Devil then comes to them and promises to deliver their wishes for a small price, merely their souls for the rest of eternity. The Devil feeds on the lack of moral integrity and uses this to gain power over these characters souls. On the other hand, in Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice changes the â€Å"deal with the devil† theme because Lestate never actually bargains with the devil, none the less the Devil gets what he desires. As you can see, literature and other mediums have adapted the story of making a pact with the Devil in many ways. Works Cited Faust. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipeadia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust Rice, A. (1995). Memnoch the Devil. Knopf. The Phantom of the Opera. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera

Early Intervention for Special Needs Children Essay

The development and implementation of early intervention activities for young children who have a delay or who are at risk for future delays are relatively recent phenomena in the United States. Early intervention as an applied and academic field has developed primarily within the specialty area of early childhood special education (ECSE), a field comprised of professionals from many disciplines. The genesis of ECSE in the United States may be traced to the formation, in 1968, of the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Program (HCEEP) branch within the United States Department of Education. Although other work had occurred in early intervention prior to this time, the establishment of HCEEP provided national recognition and federal funds to address early intervention issues. Since 1968, rapid changes have occurred in the field of early intervention. The most significant event impacting on early intervention was the passage of Public Law 99-457 (P. L. hereafter) in 1986. This law mandates education for handicapped children aged three to five years and provides both impetus and funding for early intervention for children younger than age three. From the viewpoint of an outside observer, the passage of only eighteen years from the establishment of a specialty area to that specialty area demonstrating efficacy such that its tenets become law is admirable. However, these tenets, and the practices derived from them, are based on research that has recently received negative reviews. It is clear that ECSE has done well, but many challenges remain to be met. Failure to conquer these challenges could result in a loss of valuable ground that many have worked hard to achieve. Early Evidence for Early Intervention As the fields of special education and early childhood education evolved, evidence were accumulating that early intervention could be effective. In a classic study, Skeels (1966) examined the effects of environmental stimulation on two comparable groups of infants. Mentally retarded females acted as surrogate mothers for one group (n = 13), providing these children with attention and stimulation. Twelve infants with average IQs remained in a nonstimulating orphanage environment. Eighteen months later, the stimulated infants gained an average 27. 5 IQ points while the control group dropped 26. 2 points. Twenty-one years later, Skeels (1966) continued to find differences between those who were placed in the enriched environment and those who were not. Of those in the experimental group, all were found to be self-supporting as adults. Four of these adults had completed college and, as a group, had a median high-school education. Of those in the control group, four adults had been institutionalized. The median education for these adults was at the third-grade level. Additional evidence came from the work of Kirk (1965), who studied handicapped preschoolers. He compared institutionalized mentally handicapped preschoolers who received a preschool program with a comparable group who remained on the wards and received no intervention services. Children in the experimental program showed significant gains on intellectual measures. Six of the fifteen-experimental group children were able to leave the institution by age eight, while none of the children in the control group left the institution. Works researched provided additional evidence for the value of early intervention. Based upon these studies, the consensus emerged that children’s cognitive skills develop early in life and very rapidly, and that early enrichment can have profound influences on a child’s future functioning. Although this consensus is no longer accepted without question, this philosophy, nevertheless, played a major role in the acceptance of early intervention and helped to create a social climate for legislation favoring handicapped children. Legislative Activities Both research and societal factors converged to provide momentum for the early intervention movement in the 1960s. The changing social climate in the United States in the 1960s led to the passage of favorable legislation for several groups. Litigative and legislative activities occurred in the areas of civil rights, rights for the disadvantaged, and rights for the handicapped. A breakthrough for early intervention, focusing on disadvantaged children, was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Part of this act was directed at the establishment of Project Head Start. This program was designed to provide early intervention for disadvantaged preschool children in the research found that these IQ gains disappeared after the children entered school. Based on societal and political pressures, Head Start continued despite the negative research findings. Arguments by researchers who questioned the findings and suggested that unmeasurable gains were being made bolstered the pro-Head Start forces. The results of a nineteen-year longitudinal study on children who participated in Head Start (the Perry Pre-school Project) found a number of positive results. These benefits included: (a) less need for special education, (b) more positive school attitudes, (c) less arrests, (d) less teen pregnancy, and (e) better employment histories. Other research has supported these findings. As an early intervention program, Head Start is the most well-known in the United States and has served over eight million preschoolers. Additionally, Head Start has had a major impact on early intervention for children with handicaps. The Economic Opportunity Acts Amendments of 1972 mandated that at least 10% of the total population served by Head Start be children with handicaps, giving Head Start the status of the first mandated, mainstreamed early intervention program in the United States. This occurred well before the concept of mainstreaming became popular in special education. One of the most important pieces of legislation regarding young children with handicaps was the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act of 1968. This act established the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Program of the Department of Education, which has been responsible for funding the majority of innovative service projects in early intervention that occurred in the United States. This legislation may be viewed as the formal beginning of the field of early intervention for the handicapped. HCEEP programs will be discussed more fully later in this chapter in the section on current practices. The next major legislation to affect early intervention activities was an act that impacted significantly on educational practices for all handicapped children–the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P. L. 94-142). P. L. 94-142 provided for a free, appropriate public education with related services to all children with handicaps between the ages of three and twenty-one years. This act has been called the â€Å"Bill of Rights† for children with handicaps. The overall impact of this act on educational practice has been discussed in other places. While this act documented acceptance of the need for early intervention by the federal government, it also provided individual states with the option not to serve these young children. Unfortunately, this was an option many states adopted. In 1985, only twenty-four of the fifty states had mandated services for handicapped children under age five and only eight states had mandated services for handicapped children under age three. Although P. L. 94-142 had a major impact on such intervention, supporters of early intervention were aware of the implementation problems involved in serving young children. As a result of successes with preschool early intervention, the need for services for even younger children was being heralded. Congress responded to these calls for early intervention in 1983 by passing the Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act (P. L. 98-199). These amendments provided financial incentives for states to extend early intervention service levels down to birth. Unfortunately, funding remained dependent upon the number of children served between the ages of three and five, and the act, in effect, diluted the funding available for the three- to five-year-old children. Also, incentives built into these amendments to encourage individual state participation were weak and ineffectual. Lobbying groups for early intervention continued their activities to push through a law mandating early intervention for all young children with handicaps. In 1986, Congress responded by passing P. L. 99-457, (Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act). P. L. 99-457 mandated that all preschool-aged children with handicaps receive a free and appropriate education by 1991. This law provided penalties for states that did not conform to the law. In addition, P. L. 99-457 created a new state grant program for infants and toddlers with handicaps. The passage of P. L. 99-457 has signaled a new era for early intervention. The federal government has recognized the need for early intervention (at least at the preschool level) and has provided funds to support it. P. L. 99-457 is also significant in other ways. Children need not be classified into narrowly defined categories to receive services. The importance of the family in development has been heavily emphasized, especially for those children under age three years. For infants and toddlers, the definition of what constitutes intervention services has been broadened. For all children, a wide variety of possible intervention options has been acknowledged. It is clear that the passage of P. L. 99-457 is not the final stop for advocates of early intervention. Concerns regarding how states will implement preschool services and how service policies will be defined remain. Questions regarding services for infants and toddlers are just beginning to be addressed. Many problems still exist, but Public Law 99-457 represents a major accomplishment for advocates of early intervention and a benefit for the children and families who will receive services. Problems in the Present Currently, early intervention activities regarding the development of and research on â€Å"best practices† are occurring. However, there is a growing tendency to question some of what has been accomplished by early intervention. Questions have arisen concerning the research on which early intervention activities are based and on the data from which costs have been obtained. These particular areas–research and costs–have traditionally provided a foundation for early intervention. This report briefly reviews concerns regarding knowledge of costs and the research base of early intervention. Early Intervention Research In a â€Å"review of reviews,† White, Bush, and Casto (1985-86) found overwhelming agreement that early intervention is effective (94% of fifty-two studies). Unfortunately, they also found that a number of these reviews based this assertion primarily or solely on studies done with disadvantaged children. The benefits of early intervention for disadvantaged children are not a major issue of contention. Controversy ensues when these findings are over generalized to children with handicaps. A number of well-conducted reviews of early intervention for handicapped children has been completed. These reviews have been cautious with their conclusions, but overall the findings have been quite negative, particularly regarding the validity of the studies. Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen (1987) found that 71% of the forty-nine studies they reviewed used methods that made the results scientifically uninterpretable. Other researchers essentially agreed with the Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen findings. They then attempted to argue that the lack of effectiveness found for early intervention programs was a result of the nature of studies in early intervention. Researchers used meta-analytic techniques to examine a number of common assumptions made regarding early intervention programs and found little empirical support for those assumptions. An extremely comprehensive review by Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen ( 1987), which examined 105 studies by degree of causality and by type of child served, was no more positive for the early intervention movement. These authors stated that any conclusions regarding the efficacy of early intervention must be considered tentative and conditional. They noted that â€Å"there is insufficient evidence at this time to conclude that there are cause-effect relationships between the interventions and outcomes observed†. Dunst and associates further stated, in agreement with Casto and Mastropieri (1986), that children in early intervention programs do make positive developmental and behavioral changes across time but that â€Å"the extent to which the interventions are responsible for observed effects is difficult to ascertain† (p. 285 ). Some researchers have been critical of reviews of early intervention because they tend to exclude single-subject methodology research. Many of the problems in reviewing this literature base are related to the subjective nature of comparing this research, as no standard metric is employed across studies. Reviews of the single-subject literature in early intervention have been conducted and are favorable but have not significantly refuted other reviews. Single-subject studies do show strong evidence for a functional relationship between dependent and independent variables. These single-subject studies usually focus on a narrow, well-defined objective. Although this is useful for demonstrating functional relationships, it represents only parts of the whole of an early intervention program. Also, these studies are usually conducted under rigorous investigative control, a feature not available in most early intervention programs. Successful programs frequently have problems when disseminated for use by a wider audience. Also, many single-subject studies do not sufficiently address generalization and maintenance issues. Researchers provide suggestions for single-subject research in early intervention, many of which are identical to those that need to be addressed by group research.