The Cause Of The Civil War Essay - 1940 Words

Kelah Lehart Mr. Henkel American History I October 14, 2016 The Causes of the Civil War The American Civil War divided the nation because there were tensions between the North, non-slavery states, and the South that focused on the expansion of slavery. The South believed that Abraham Lincoln planned to eliminate slavery which would destroy the growth of cotton. Eleven southern states then seceded from the Union, and became known as the Confederate States of America. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the South rebelled and sought to attack the Union. The war broke out on April 12, 1861 in South Carolina when the Confederate attacked the Union soldiers at Fort Sumter. The war was fought from 1861-1865 and extended as far north as Maryland and Pennsylvania, west to Mississippi, east to the Atlantic and south to the Gulf of Mexico. There were approximately 620,000 causalities and it ended with a union victory when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. The cause of the civil war has been a debated topic for years, because there was mo re than one cause of the Civil War including: Economic Differences between the North and South, the Abolition Movement, slavery, and Abraham Lincoln’s election; however, the primary cause was the expansion of slavery and secession. Economic differences between the North and South were one cause of the Civil War. Even though the people still owned and worked their farms, the North was becoming more and more industrial. Instead of usingShow MoreRelatedCauses of the Civil War951 Words   |  4 PagesCAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR In 1860, the world s greatest nation was locked in Civil War. The war divided the country between the North and South. There were many factors that caused this war, but the main ones were the different interpretations of the Constitution by the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the arrival of Lincoln in office. These factors were very crucial in the bringing upon of the destruction of the Union. They caused immediate war. In 1791, the tenth amendment wasRead MoreThe Causes Of The Civil War1016 Words   |  5 Pages In 1861, a Civil War broke out in the United States when the South declared their independence from the Union.  There is a great amount of reasons that people can argue how the Civil War was started. However, what most people don’t understand, is that most of the events leading up to the Civil War were related to slavery.  Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict, which led to a very vicious feud.   The immediate cause of the war was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 statesRead MoreThe Causes Of The Civil War1409 Words   |  6 PagesThe causes of the Civil War were complex and have been controversial since the country began. Some causes include; states’ rights, economics, and slavery. The most recognizable and popular cause is slavery. The freeing of the slaves was an important moral issue at the time and one of the greatest causes of the civil war. It was only by carefully avoiding the moral issue involved in slavery that Northerners and Southerners could meet on any common ground. (Goldston, 79). The time came in which ourRead MoreThe Cause of the Civil War800 Words   |  4 Pages The Cause of the Civil War Generally, it is thought to be the South’s fault for causing the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, the Civil War was mainly provoked by the North; through using the federal government to overtake the South, removing slavery which would destroy Southern economy, and creating the moral issue of slavery. The North was the primary reason for the start of a war that ripped our country apart. The North had full control over the federal government and used that to suppressRead MoreCivil War Causes1382 Words   |  6 Pages Causes of the Civil War John Brown’s Raid vs. Industrial Revolution John Brown’s Raid was a more influential cause to the civil war than the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution caused incompability between the North and the South. The North relied on wage laborers with the new machine age economy while the South relied heavily on slaves. So, the North did not need slaves for their economyRead MoreCauses Of The Civil War1740 Words   |  7 PagesThe Civil War was not an event that erupted overnight or something that no one had seen coming. It was a result of long stemming conflicts. â€Å"The road to civil war was complex and multi-faceted† (Wells, 1). These conflicts kept creating a divide amongst the states in the nation. The divide finally became so great, that the United States split into the Confederacy (South) and the Union (North), and fighting erupted. â€Å" â€Å"The Civil War,† Randall Jimerson observes, â€Å"became a total war involving the entireRead MoreThe Causes Of The Civil War1238 Words   |à ‚  5 PagesGalindo Mr. Scheet AP U.S History 5 November 2017 Unit 4 Essay The initial causes of the Civil War have been previously discussed and analyzed by historians, but have remained one of the most controversial debates, due to its numerous causes that created the most devastating war in American history. The country had been avoiding the disputes that would later become the causes of the civil war for decades. The Mexican War is proof that the issue of slavery was put on hold by President James K. PolkRead MoreCause of the Civil War1296 Words   |  6 PagesHistory 11 12/17/2006 The root causes and precipitating events that led to the Civil War (1861-1865) The Civil War between northern and southern states was a consequence of contradictions of two social systems inside the country. At the basis of these contradictions was a question of slavery, completely determining economic and political interests of South. North strived to enforce Federal government power to protect their own economic stability. As a result the South wanted a separationRead MoreCauses of the Civil War1489 Words   |  6 PagesThe Causes Of The Civil War The Political War The North and South fought over politics, mainly the idea of slavery. Basically the South wanted and needed it and the North did not want it at all. The South was going to do anything they could to keep it. This was the issue that overshadowed all others. At this time the labor force in the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were very valuable to the slaveholding planter class. They were a huge investment to Southerners and if taken awayRead MoreThe Causes Of Civil War2004 Words   |  9 PagesGà ¶ksel What are the causes of Civil War? Do ethnic determinants play an important role? Why are certain parts of Africa characterized by ethnic conflict while other parts remain relatively calm? The conventional understanding on the causes of civil war especially within African countries, to a considerable degree, has being predominantly characterized to draw its root on ethnic divergences. However, such premise appear extremely difficult to be true, owing to the fact that civil war is a complex action

The Master of Zen Free Essays

In â€Å"The mystery of Zen† the character is bewildered by the Zen master’s strange connection between him and the bow and arrow. Brought to light by this story, we experience the incredible connection between a sport, a man, and how the he uses his instinct to bring them together. Zen is a type of meditation intended to create a total togetherness with the body and mind. We will write a custom essay sample on The Master of Zen or any similar topic only for you Order Now As part of this togetherness, the bow and arrow would be considered an extension to the body as made one with the mind. This technique involves the communication with both abiotic and biotic mass to create peace or balance with ones surroundings. As an action is performed the master delves into a trance as he immediately responds to his environment in a fluid manner. The same view that is made to build this connection can also be used in other sports to reach excellence. Boxing is a sport that can be used as an example of the influence Zen can play on a not so peaceful sport. As in life, the most important fight you can win is the battle to resist mental defeat; this sport becomes a way of life. There are a few mental disciplines or practices the mind must follow to achieve success in and out of the ring. In order to gain a hold on one’s own style of boxing, there must first be effort that results in a good physical core and stamina. This means one needs to dedicate time and effort to build strength before one enters the ring. One’s goal is to have achieved an athletic physique and mentally satisfying accomplishment that one aims for. However, the greater underlying achievement is the subconsciously built benefit which is time management. Creating a working system that one eventually follows almost as second nature. This first step to becoming a boxer is essentially the layout for any future endeavors. Although the tasks might be different, the key ingredient to having a successful anything is consistency. This step brought me closer to reality. It helped me accept the fact that success is determined by how hard one is willing to work at something to be good at it. I found out starting up that boxing helped build a good work ethic, and gave me energy to open up time in my day to build a solid schedule for work, play, and school. The leading cause to this improvement was my hunger for building a foundation for a sport I was interested in. The second step I had to go through was learning combinations. This meant training my hands to move with my weight so I wouldn’t lose balance through the combination. Variations of light to heavy punches with timed duck and weaves meant I would need to go against my naturally unbalance motion to create a fluid and balanced form to stay on track. Prior to this training my body would prepare itself to go through at most a minute of intense motions I believed was exceptional. However, these new movements were far more complicated and went on for five or so minutes. My body would naturally cringe from having to duck from right to left as I had only taught my body to move from left to right. My answer to the issue was taking very deep breaths during my pick and weaves to decrease tension and slow my heart rate down. After two weeks of intense training I had noticed my breathing intervals were further apart. I would take a deep breath by grasping as much energy as I could and then let it all go. I also noticed that I was more focused and alert at work and school. Boxing helped me be more patient and calm while making decisions to accomplish objectives throughout the day. The answer wasn’t as simple as attacking the objective. A plan would have to be made and I would have to following through with it in order to win. This suited well for me because I learned to treat the obstacle somewhat like a match, as I would plan possibilities and measure the cost of taking one versus the other. Maybe I got into boxing in the first place because I knew it might clear my mind at work. Majority of the time, I had the responsibility to make executive decisions. Sometimes I would be answering two phone calls while dealing with customers and making arrangements for shipments all at the same time. To say the least, being patient and making a plan worked best. I would take a break from boxing from time to time and still use the patience I learned from it to make the best decisions at work. After sparing a dozen matches and a dedicated routine, I began to look at my surroundings differently. The average boxer has a particular style that he constantly works on to reach the peak of perfection. Some might have slightly different variations of the way they work but they are all essentially just cycles. My reaction time was fast and I was in good shape the only thing I was missing was intuition. When pushed to the brink in later rounds I would use the connection with my surroundings to change tactics. In business and school there is the ninety nine percent which is the effort you make to do well and there is that one percent that is intuition. The feeling that the decision made was the right one. It’s like that no worries type of feeling one gets after making a risky ecision, almost like a humble form of over confidence. The measurement of cost and benefit and then there’s that last nudge that tells you to make it happen. It’s fluent, as though you are one with that shipment that predictions say is too much for the margin. Knowing that when your body finally ducks under that over hand right, your own uppercut will connect with devastating force. Going thr ough these experiences helped me understand how to use the benefits of intuition on a deeper level. The practices and fundamentals of boxing transcend to what makes a hard working person. Adversity that needs to be overcome is answered with consistent practice of this sport. Many of the obstacles that one would run into in the business world and at school are confronted in different forms. The simple ground work of boxing is a universal map of how someone can approach and prepare for future endeavors. The connection that is strung tight with body and mind is important for attempting to accomplish anything. Relying on the self to make decisions sometimes without the resources necessary to make logical decisions requires this self-understanding and togetherness that can only be utilized by expressing the self. How to cite The Master of Zen, Papers

The performance of mourning Essay Example For Students

The performance of mourning Essay In the five and a half years since Cleve Jones, a San Francisco AIDS activist, decided to stitch a six-foot-by-three-foot grave-shaped quilt in memory of his lover, the AIDS Memorial Quilt has become the chief focus of mourning for hundreds of thousands bereaved by AIDS, as well as a canny organizing tool in the global battle against the disease. Ironically, in its present immensityfilling eight 48-foot tractor trailers, weighing 26 tons, covering the equivalent of 12 football fields when displayed on the grounds of the Washington Monument in October, and growing by another football field and a half just that weekend from new panels streaming inthe Quilt is perhaps nearing its effective social and political limits. This may have been the last display of the Quilt in its entirety, say its coordinators, who are beginning to find themselves the stewards of a sacred leviathan of mourning, difficult both to preserve and to show, and subject to much debate now as to its future course.Yet as a great community artwork and symbol of postmodern culture, even as postmodern performance, the quilts measure has hardly been taken. It is startling to visit the Quilt, for instance, and realize that its plan is inspired by the modern cemetery. This walking along the nine miles of black plastic walkways, this searching the eleven different color fields on the Quilt map to find which of the 22,000 plots is dedicated to, say, Charles Ludlam, suddenly feels familiar: This is what we do at Woodlawn, Mount Auburn and Laurel Hill. And indeed I did feel that I had come to a site radiating the specificity of what Walter Benjamin called an aura, that Charles Ludlam was in some sense actually here. Perhaps it is the acute sense of hereness about each person remembered in the Quilt, impossible not to experience, that leads on to the thought Wait now! This is not Woodlawn, but its symbolic double, its parody even, or better still, its performance. And a road show at that. The AIDS Quilt as traveling graveyard. How do you perform a graveyard? First you need performers. There are the live ones, like the white-clad volunteers, fully 1,000 of them in Washington, who have developed a balletic ritual of laying out the Quilt. There are the readerssome 500 were scheduled over the weekendwho make the showing of the Quilt a performance by calling off the sad litany of names and names and names: 32 for each speaker at the podium, eight hours a day, for three full days. There are also the visitors, who are invited to leave their own names and messages on the signature squares set aside for that purpose. But in truth it is the brio of the dead performers that captures our attention. There are moments when the entire vast field of the Quilt, riotous with the iconography of show business, takes on the aspect of a players cemetery. The top hats, tap shoes, gleaming black and white keyboards with flying notes or actual staves of music stitched in; the cut-work doublets, smiling and frowning masks, the programs and ticket stubs carefully sealed in plastic, the feathers, ribbons, junk jewels, a whole black slinky drag costume, the painting of Ludlam as Camille with all the ring curls these brilliant traces of vanished talent not only tell a tale of devastation to our crowd, but lead to reflections on the deeper structures of performance here.Real cemeteries of course specialize in permanence. Granite and marble are their natural materials. They seek to foster a sense of perpetual home, as one 19th-century enthusiast put it, and will offer, for a prepaid fee, perpetual care for your gravesite, though the idea lacks somewhat in historical probability. Despite the fact that a tangential cult of stitchers and gluers called Handmaidens of the Quilt has sprung up to repair panels already aging, the Quilt, like painted flats of scenery representing rocks or pyramids, is clearly not for all time. Its fragile materials will decay long before a tombstone, and must always be protected from the weather. From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Culture Essay Each Washington appearance has been a calculation to catch the conscience of the king.Cleve Jones is reported to have said, when he first envisioned the Quilt and the gathering of the names, that he wanted to make something he could take his grandmother to. Who can miss the shrewd conflating of tradition and subversion in the gay communitys reaching back to a 19th-century collaborative womens craft form for inspiration? Women have long understood how to give the needle to dominant social forms while perfectly fulfilling them. Thus the Quilt, without an ounce of apparent confrontation in its soft and comforting body, is a hugely visual riposte to official cultures fervent wish that AIDS would just disappear from view, like some distant famine. By now the Quilt includes many panels dedicated to women, children, I.V. drug users and hemophiliacs. But its association of gay sexuality with Reaganite cultural mythology the celebration of the rural American, family American, homemade American, nostalgic American in effect forcing its spectators to embrace in a single image what to many is an impossible contradiction this is no doubt the Quilts most brilliant and far-reaching element of ironic masquerade. Without losing its healing associations, the Quilt is far more than comforter. It is an inspired multiplex of grieving, art and social activism. Shaped by thousands of hands, it is, one might almost say, a seismic social art eruption, in so deep a region of the mind does it originate. It plays out a terrible connection between death and the erotic, thinks past mournings ancient links to church, family, class and state, yet re-imagines a connection between politics and the sacred. The Quilt is a new cultural form, a unique symbolic representation emerging in response to an unprecedented crisis, but it is renewing tragic themes that have always been the province of ritual performance.

The Biography Of Bob Marley Essays - Roots Reggae Library

The Biography of Bob Marley By: Sean Dolan Robert Nesta Marley was born in Rhoden Hall, Saint Ann, Jamaica in 1945. He started as a man just learning a welding trade taught to him in Kinston, Jamaica . While there Marley started a group in 1961 called the Rudeboys (later known as the Wailers). The Wailers included vocalists Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh. The Wailers use a style of music called ska, which was a hybrid of Rhythm and Blues and Jamaican Mento. He was a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and the most recognized reggae artists in the world today. In 1967 he converted from Christianity from Rastafarianisn. Rastafarianism is a religion that believed that the spiritual effect of marijuana, it also endorsed the idea of black superiority, and it also recognized Haile Salassie I (the king of Ethiopia) as a living god. After his conversion his religion became a big part of his music too. In nearly every song he sang of his new religion praising Salassie I. His music now contain a certain spiritualism and mysticism that was unique. Marley and the Wailers recorded Catch a Fire (1972), Burin' (1973), Natty Dread (1975), and Live (1975), and a couple other albums. During this time, there was a lot of turmoil in Jamaica both politically and economically and Marley cultivated a rebel image. In 1976 while a marijuana dealer was at his place at approximately noon, three guys came in a started firing everywhere. He took three bullets but survived the assassination attempt. After this he recorded Rastaman Vibrations (1976), Exodus (1977) and Babylon by the Bus (1978), Kaya (1978), Uprising (1980) and reissues of earlier work. In 1981, Marley died from cancer, but his work will be remembered forever. In my opinion, Bob Marley was a great musician who provided inspiration during a time of chaos in Jamaica. The lyrics he sung flowed through people as he sung it. Many people found him to be a just another druggy that sung but when he sung there was a certain spirit that is just undescribeable but now lives in his music. I personally consider him a hero for becoming an inspiration to an entire country.

Use tables or graphs to illustrate the price stability performance of Japan Essays

Use tables or graphs to illustrate the price stability performance of Japan Essays Use tables or graphs to illustrate the price stability performance of Japan Essay Use tables or graphs to illustrate the price stability performance of Japan Essay Japans economic slump, which began with a stock market crash in 1989, now lies in its fourth recession in ten years. The Asian banking and financial crisis has had a profound effect on this, the second largest economy in the world. Japanese under performing banks are carrying Yen150 trillion ($1.3 trillion) of bad loans. State-run corporations are dragging productivity down, unemployment is rising and Japanese consumer confidence remains low. Macroeconomic policy is proving highly unstable as Japans illness that of deflation remains predominant. Price stability is defined as the sustained absence of both inflation and deflation. (Mc Aleese: p.294, 2001). Further economic agents can make decisions regarding economic activity without being concerned about the fluctuation of the general price level. Along with effective fiscal policy, the control of government spending, low unemployment levels, controlled interest rates and hence inflation rates, macroeconomic policy is maintained. The most serious aspect of Japans economic sickness is deflation. Japans paralysis, where ineffective control measures have had many negative results, will now be discussed. Price Stability: Price stability, or rather instability in Japans case, is characterised by the prolonged presence of deflation. The stock market is hovering around a 19 year low. The Nikkei 225, the most commonly used Share Price Index, had stood at 14 times the Dow through the 1980s. However in February 2002 it dropped below the Dow Jones Industrial for the first time since 1957. Japans persistent decline in the general price level is again indicated by the Consumer Price Index. Prices have shown a 1% fall per annum. These falling price levels have increased real debt burdens. National debt stands at over 130% of GDP (www.economist.com). Also Japans banks are chronically weak and burdened by duff loans of Yen37 trillion, about 7% of GDP. So Japanese banks have been left carrying excess bad loans, forcing them to cut lending. Together with depressed consumer spending it has proved impossible for the Bank of Japan to deliver the negative real interest rates that the economy needs to revive demand. Interest rates in Japan stand at virtually 0%. However most companies are not investing but paying down their debts (mentioned above). This adverse impact on investment is also due to the fact that real long-term interest rates in Japan have reached high percentages. The fact that interest rates stand at zero has kept inefficient firms afloat and delayed restructuring. This has contradicted Japans bust advantage. Structural adjustment and creative destruction can prove positive outcomes of negative fluctuations. However, rigid labour and product markets, along with the Japanese keiretsu relationship have hindered the weeding out of inefficient firms. Simultaneously, low interest rates have led to low inflation rates (-0.6% in 2001). This has reflected weak demand and thus the economic slowdown. These supply-side factors, such as the intensification of global competition and deregulation, have put additional downward pressure on prices. This is contributing to the high debt ratio and subsequent price destruction. This bout of recession and deflation has not only had negative impact on CPI, share prices, investment and inflation but also on property prices. Since 1991, commercial property prices have dropped by an average of 84% in Japans six biggest cities (www.economist.com). Housing demand has also collapsed since 1996. Analysis: It remains evident that Japans economy lies in uncertainty, where consistent unstable price performance has given rise to the lost decade. Its current situation comprises of internal factors (e.g. buyer uncertainty) and external factors (e.g. the U.S. current bubble burst). These counter-cyclical variables have had the following negative effect the decrease in economic activity in Japan has led to the increased unemployment rate (+5.3%), bankruptcies, non-performance loans etc. Analysing Japans current prolonged crisis, it becomes evident that it displays attributes of Keynesian economics. The existing shifts in aggregate demand, the low rate of investment and price rigidities, all clearly display this. Price stability is an indispensable prerequisite to ensure sustainable development of the economy (Masaru Hayami, Governor Bank of Japan). 77 year-old Mr. Hayami however has failed so far to deliver such a position. This political paralysis, where political resistance to reform is demonstrated, is hindering Japans recovery. Again, the current Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi (elected April 2001), who unveiled a series of economic reforms has met with little success against this rigid political system, resistant to reform. Furthermore his termination of Makiko Tanaka (his Foreign Minister) in January 2002, along with his lack of co-operation with Economics Minister, Heizo Takenaka, has left Japan still in search of a cure. Is there Evidence of Inflation or Deflation in Japan at the moment? What problems might be associated with very low inflation or deflation? Deflation is defined as the persistent decline in the general price level of goods and services1. The most common measure of inflation statistics is the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In Japan, this has fallen at a rate of about 1% since 1999. If the GDP Deflator is used this deflationary trend can be traced back to 1995. The difference between potential and actual GDP is called the output gap. This is another indicator of price stability (or instability). Price stability is defined as the sustained absence of deflation (falling prices) and inflation (rising prices). It is fundamental to the second pillar of the new consensus, macroeconomic stability. Therefore policy makers welcome disinflation and low inflation. Owing to the bias2 in constructing CPI indices, an inflation rate of 0-2% has become acceptable. There are certain costs of changing prices regardless of whether these are due to high inflation or deflation. There is a loss in efficiency as menu costs and shoe leather costs are incurred. Additionally, the necessary fiscal and monetary policies required to attain stability are costly. More specifically, why is deflation problematic? Initially, falling prices seem like a good thing and people feel as if they have more money in their pockets to spend. Even those on a fixed income, (state pensions, social welfare) benefit from an increase in real income. In spite of all this, the far-reaching contagion effects of deflation mean it is a phenomenon to be avoided. Rather than spending more on the goods, which they can now afford, a continuous fall in prices means that consumer and investor spending actually slows down. Consumers and businesses are reluctant to buy goods, which they expect to drop in value in the near future. Such speculation curbs investment and saving increases. In an effort to encourage borrowing for investment, nominal interest rates fall and approach zero. Since the nominal interest rate is the opportunity cost of holding money, savings further increase. This fall in investment demand and activity retards economic growth. Furthermore, since the nominal interest rate cannot fall below zero, the real interest rate will always be positive. In times of deflation, the burden of debt therefore increases. It would seem that lenders gain and borrowers lose. The problem for lenders occurs when debt rises too high and borrowers cannot afford repayments. Banks who earn profits through loan repayments cannot attract big borrowers. T his type of debt deflation is the main problem in the Japanese economy today but is also reminiscent of the Great Depression in the 1930s. In times of low economic growth, it is typical to lower the currency value thereby making exports more attractive to foreign investors. However, the low nominal interest rates induced by deflation have caused foreign demand for the Yen to rise. The Yen remains strong and exports remain relatively expensive. On the whole, wages are accepted to be ratchet. This means that even if prices are falling, the nominal wage rate will not fall. Higher debt repayments and squeezed profits mean that the pressure on companies to cut costs is twofold. This leads to a Darwinian shake-out as companies see job cuts as the only option to save on costs. Deflation is clearly at the root of Japans failing economy. Policy makers must now look to the formulation and implementation of an effective plan to fight deflation if there is any hope of a recovery.

ANALIZATION OF CHARACTERS-- ALL QUIET ON THE WESTE

ANALIZATION OF CHARACTERS ALL QUIET ON THE WESTE Essay RN FRONT- PAUL BAUMER Paul Baumer is the 19-year-old narrator of the story. At the front, Pauls special friends in Second Company include his classmates Behm, Kemmerich, Muller, Leer, and Kropp. The six of them were among 20 who enlisted together, prodded on by Schoolmaster Kantorek. Although he doesnt say so, Paul is obviously a natural leader: Franz Kemmerichs mother implored him to look after her son when they left home. Paul is also courageous. He may momentarily panic, but he doesnt break under the most terrible battle conditions. He learns the sound of each type of shell; he dives for cover or grabs his gas mask at the right instant. In one battle, he gently comforts an embarrassed rookie who has soiled his underpants, and later soberly contemplates shooting the same man to spare him an agonizing death after his hip has been shattered. Cool as he is in battle, though, Paul has a hard time making sense of it all. He keeps recalling Behm, the first of his class to die, and when a second- Kemmerich- dies, he rages inwardly at the senseless slaughter of scrawny schoolboys. The callous attitude of commanders and orderlies toward an individual death saddens and disillusions him. His elders were wrong- there is nothing glorious about war- but he has no new values to replace the patriotic myths they taught him. At first his companions seem shallow to him- immediately forgetting the dead and turning their total attention to stockpiling the cigarets and food originally meant for the deceased soldier- and he is at pains to tell us why this callousness is necessary. Gradually, though, he comes to accept their approach: that poetry and philosophy and civilian paper-pushing jobs alike, all are utterly pointless in the midst of so much carnage. All you have is the moment at hand, and getting from it all the physical comfort you can is a worthwhile goal. There is another important element, too, to being with your comrades, as going on leave proves to Paul: no civilian u nderstands you the way these men do, and nothing from your former life sustains you the way their friendship does. These values come together for Paul the evening he joins an older friend, Katczinsky, on a goose-hunting raid. They spend the night roasting the goose before eating it, and each time that Paul awakens for his turn at the basting, he feels Katczinskys presence like a cloak of comfort. At other times, panicked and alone in the dark of the trenches, all it takes to steady his nerves is the sound of his friends voices. If he awakens from a nightmare, the mere sound of their breathing strengthens him: he is not alone. Paul gradually comes to realize that the enemy is no different from himself or from one of his friends. The Frenchman he kills in the trenches, Duval, looks like the kind of man whose friendship he would have enjoyed. The Russian prisoners he guards have the same feelings and desires and needs as he. He comes to see war as the ultimate horror. Its bad enough th at it pits man against man. But even animals and trees and flowers and butterflies are innocently caught up in the carnage inflicted by Man, the great Destroyer. As his friends are killed one by one, Paul can only cling to his newfound beliefs in the brotherhood of all men and the value of the spark of life within each individual. At the end, alone, he has only the blind hope that his own mysterious inner spark will somehow survive and guide him after the war. Otherwise, he sees no meaningful future. Themes 1. THE HORROR OF WAR Remarque includes discussions among Pauls group, and Pauls own thoughts while he observes Russian prisoners of war (Chapters 3, 8, 9) to show that no ordinary people benefit from a war. No matter what side a man is on, he is killing other men just like himself, people with whom he might even be friends at another time. But Remarque doesnt just tell us war is horrible. He also shows us that war is terrible beyond anything we could imagine. All our senses are assaulted: we see newly dead soldiers and long-dead corpses tossed up together in a cemetery (Chapter 4); we hear the unearthly screaming of the wounded horses (Chapter 4); we see and smell three layers of bodies, swelling up and belching gases, dumped into a huge shell hole (Chapter 6); and we can almost touch the naked bodies hanging in trees and the limbs lying around the battlefield (Chapter 9). The crying of the horses is especially terrible. Horses have nothing to do with making war. Their bodies gleam beautifully as they parade along- until the shells strike them. To Paul, their dying cries represent all of nature accusing Man, the great destroyer. In later chapters Paul no longer mentions nature as an accuser but seems to suggest that nature is simply there- rolling steadily on through the seasons, paying no attention to the desperate cruelties of men to each other. This, too, shows the horror of war, that it is completely unnatural and has no place in the larger scheme of t hings. 2. A REJECTION OF TRADITIONAL VALUES In his introductory note Remarque said that his novel was not an accusation. But we have seen that it is, in many places, exactly that. This accusation- or rejection of traditional militaristic values of Western civilization- is impressed on the reader through the young soldiers, represented by Paul and his friends, who see military attitudes as stupid and who accuse their elders of betraying them. In an early chapter Paul admits that endless drilling and sheer harassment did help toughen his group and turn them into soldiers. But he points out, often, how stupid it is to stick to regulations at the front- how insane this basic military attitude becomes in life-and-death situations. One such scene occurs in Chapter 1 when Ginger, the cook, doesnt want to let 80 men eat the food prepared for 150, no matter how hungry they are. Another occurs in Chapter 7 when Paul is walking around in his hometown and a major forces him to march double ti me and salute properly- a ridiculous display, considering what he has just been through at the front. The emptiness of all this spit and polish shows up again in Chapter 9 when the men have to return the new clothes they were issued for the Kaisers inspection: rags are whats real at the front. The betrayal of the young by their elders becomes an issue on several occasions. In the first two chapters of the book we learn how misguided Paul was by the teachings of parents and schoolmasters. We also see how older people cling to the Prussian mythof the glory of military might when Paul goes home on leave in Chapter 7. The Kaisers visit in Chapter 9 adds some hints of Remarques specific disillusionment with the leaders of his own country. From a broad study of literature and world history, we can see that these older people were not individually to blame for their views. They were simply handing on what was handed on to them. Still, we can also understand why Paul and his friends are so bitterly disappointed and so angry to discover that their elders were wrong. Most readers feel alittle sad that young men should consider the act of ridiculing adults their greatest goal in life, but we can also understand why they take revenge on Himmelstoss and Kantorek (Chapters 3 and 7). We even get a certain kick out of what they do, understanding their need to take out their disappointment on someone they know. These situations are, in miniature, an acting out of the bitter anger and disillusionment Paul feels when he says in Chapter 10, It must all be lies and of no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out. 3. FRIENDSHIP: THE ONLY ENDURING VALUE The theme of comradeship occurs often and gives the novel both lighthearted and sad moments. In Chapter 5 its easy to overlook how the farmer felt about having his property stolen and to chuckle aloud when Paul is struggling to capture the goose! We appreciate the circle of warmth that encloses him and Kat that night as they slowly cook and eat the goose, and then extend their warm circle by sharing the leftovers with Kropp and Tjaden. In Chapter 10 we enjoy their sharing of the pancakes and roast pig and fine club chairs at the supply dump, and we understand why Paul fakes a high temperature to go to the same hospital as Albert Kropp. Friendship emerges as an even more important theme at the front. In Chapters 10 and 11 we see men helping wounded comrades at great personal risk- or even, like Lieutenant Bertinck, dying for their friends. The handing on of Kemmerichs fine yellow leather boots also acts as a symbol of friendship- a symbol we can almost touch, and one that keeps us aware of how deeply a soldier feels the loss of each of his special friends. We can understand how hearing the voices of friends when one is lost (Chapter 9) or even just hearing their breathing during the night (Chapter 11) can keep a soldier going. We grieve with Paul and a lmost put down the book when Kat dies. 4. A GENERATION DESTROYED BY WORLD WAR I Taking all of the themes together and adding Paul and his friends hopeless discussions of what is left for them to do after the war (Chapter 5), we can conclude that Remarque succeeds in his main theme: showing that Pauls generation was destroyed by the Great War, as World War I was then called. CharacterIn the case of All Quiet, Paul is young and immature. Until he enlisted, he had never experienced real pain or tragedy in his life. Older people generally know from experience that human beings can survive incredible pain and still find meaning in life. Paul hasnt had any time to gain that kind of experience to sustain him. Therefore its asking quite a bit to have us accept, from him, whole theories about war and life and the nature of human beings. Still, whatever Paul might lack in age or experience is balanced for us by the honesty and sensitivity we see in him. Over all, then, in All Quiet on the Wes tern Front, the advantages of first person narration outweigh the disadvantages. There is a perfect fit of first person point of view with what Remarque wanted to say about World War I- that it destroyed a whole generation of the young. How better to show us that than to let us experience the war through the eyes of a young soldier? Remarque is proposing the view that human existence can no longer be regarded as having any ultimate meaning. Baumer and his comrades cannot make sense of the world at large for the simple reason that it is no longer possible to do so, not just for this group of ordinary soldiers, but for a substantial proportion of his entire generation. Remarque refuses to lull his reader into a false sense of security, into thinking that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world. The Destructiveness of WarThis is a major theme of this novel. Throughout this book, the men are exposed to limbs being blown off, blood flow everywhere, and innocent men dying in pain and agony. When they take shelter, bombs explode around them and they observe men squirm in order to save themselves. The destructive power of war is so great that even the fundamental difference between life and death become blurred. READ: Breaking Down The Metamorphosis Essay ComradesThe theme of comraderie, or friendship, occurs constantly in the novel. The friendship held within Pauls company keeps them from being driven insane by the horrors that surround them. These young men were brought to fight on the battlefield almost directly from the schoolyard. AlienationAt first Paul and his friends still behave as if their lives will someday return to normal. In the middle of the book, Paul goes home on leave, only to discover that his real home is now with his friends on the front. By that time, Kat dies, and Paul geels that his own life no longer has meaning. Although Paul comes to think of his comrades as brothers, he also learns that all men are brothers under their skin. The irony of war is that brothers are forced to kill each other. Paul expresses this theme when he showed compassion for the captured Russian soldiers and the French soldier he kills in the trench.hough Paul comes to think of his comrades as brothers, he also learns that all men are brothers under their skin. The irony of war is that brothers are forced to kill each other. Pauls expresses this theme when he showed compassion for the captured Russian soldiers and the French soldier he kills in the trench.

How the Fico or credit score impacts on consumers Research Paper

How the Fico or credit score impacts on consumers - Research Paper Example A lot of consumers don't appreciate the importance of personal credit scores and how it impacts on their daily lives. Some don’t know that credit scores are available and accessible online. A credit score can have a say on what a consumer is or is not able to do. For instance, it can determine what one pays for leasing or auto financing, credit card rates, car insurance and mortgages. It can affect things we may take for granted like whether one gets a job or rent an apartment. When applying for credit, the lenders want to know your credit risk level Buyers or consumers with poor credit (high credit risk level) are turned away by the lending institutions. The current tightening up of the loan and mortgage market makes the situation worse. Customers with less than a 700 credit score are being turned away by car dealers. It is now more important than ever to have a good credit score. Keywords: Credit score, FICOÂ ®, consumers, lenders. What is a Credit Score? A credit score is a number that summarizes your credit risk, based on your credit report at a particular point in time (FICO Booklet). Credit reports and credit risk levels can be evaluated using your credit scores by the lenders. Since it’s just a single number, the lenders don’t have to read through the whole credit history report. It is an indicator of how likely you are to pay your bills. Consumers should be aware that lenders use other information to determine one’s creditworthiness along with the credit scores.... A high score is preferred by the lenders. For instance a score of 720 will get you favorable interests on a mortgage, according to Fair Isaac Corporation. The following table shows how credit scores break out for the American public. Credit Score Percentage 499 and below 2 percent 500 – 549 5 percent 550 – 599 8 percent 600 – 649 12 percent 650 – 699 15 percent 700 – 749 18 percent 750 – 799 27 percent 800 and above 13 percent Components of the FICO Score A credit report contains different types of credit data. It is this data that is used to compute the FICO Scores. Data is grouped into five categories as illustrated below. The percentage represents the importance of each category in computation of your FICO Score. Source: Fair Isaac Corporation Website Items considered in the payment history are account payment information (credit cards, mortgage and retail accounts), Public records (legal suits, bankruptcy, liens and judgments) and delinqu ency, Severity of delinquency, recency of delinquency and adverse public records, past due items on file and accounts paid on time. Amounts owed is checked for the amounts owing on the specific types of accounts, number of accounts with balances, proportion of credit lines used and proportion of installment loan amounts still owing The line of credit history is concerned with the time duration since the accounts were opened and other account activities that have taken place. New credit category is used to check recently opened accounts, recent credit inquiries, last duration of credit inquiry and positive credit history re-establishment following repayment problems Lastly, types of credit used category looks at the recent information on the various types of accounts, be they

Financial accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Financial accounting - Assignment Example In the context of a company or a business unit, an income is what is mostly referred to as the earnings after interest, depreciation and tax (EADIT). The gain can be described as an increase in the amount of revenue and/or income by a specific amount, as compared to a previous figure (Gupta 213-250). According to IAS 18, revenue is supposed to be recognized exclusively under the following criteria: when a business unit has completed the transfer of ownership of goods; when a business has ceased exercising applicable managerial authorities and has given up any form of control over the goods; when the amount of the expected revenue can be determined with consistency; when it is certain that financial inflows resulting from a certain business transaction will be directed to an entity; and when expenditures and costs related to a business transaction can be measured with consistency (Christian and Lu?denbach 64-87). On the other hand, revenues obtained through the provision of services s hould be recognized â€Å"where the outcome of a transaction involving the rendering of services can be estimated reliably, associated revenue should be recognized by reference to the stage of completion of the transaction at the end of the reporting period. The importance of distinguishing between the terms in financial reporting is to facilitate the provision of reliable material information to the users of financial statement (International GAAP 328). The case study IBI Ryan PLC (the company) is a wholesaler of a wide range of consumer electronic, computing and telecommunications products. The company imports the bulk of its goods using container transportation and distributes from large regional warehouses to its customers, who range from individuals who have ordered on-line to large national retail chains. The company is finalizing financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2013. The company has experienced significant fluctuations in revenue and profits over the last 5 years. The financial statements as currently prepared, show an operating profit of ?51 million on revenue of ?4,003 million. According to the case, the company anticipated a delivery of the goods on Sunday the 31st March, one day before the preparation of the financial statements. Unfortunately, the delivery did not happen owing to a heavy snowfall for two consecutive days until Tuesday. The sales invoices showed a total sale of ?50,000. The delivery was not made but the company’s revenue for the financial year ending 31st March includes the sale. According to the requirements of revenue recognition as stated in the international accounting standards 18, the revenue of ? 50,000 could be measured with certainty and reliability. The cost incurred during the transaction could also be measured with a satisfactory level of certainty and reliability (? 25,000). The economic benefits of the transaction would flow to the company if the transaction were finalized. However, since the delivery was not done according to plan, within the financial period, the ownership of the goods was still with IBI Ryan. That means that the company did not pass the significant risk and reward of ownership of the goods to the buyer. Secondly, the company still had managerial authority and control over the goods. Therefore, the revenue

Assessment of overhead costs Essay Example for Free

Assessment of overhead costs Essay If a decision was made to outsource the manifold manufacturing, then the overheads of the Bridgestone Industries will show significant difference and even reductions in the level of overhead costs. The overhead pertaining to the wages and benefits for the non skilled personnel would decrease as the outsourcing of the product line would reduce the need for the non skilled personnel in the capacities of trucks and janitors by a small percentage level. The overhead associated with the salaried personnel, including the benefits would also decrease as there would be no need to hire or pay personnel to work on the manifold line. The production supplies overhead which includes production gadgets, tools and equipment like gloves, safety goggles and packing material etc would also reduce as the manifold line would not require such production supplies if outsourced. The overheads associated with the small technical tools would also reduce as the need for such tools would no longer be presented by the manifold line, if the line is to be outsourced to a third party. The usage of the utilities like coal, gas and electricity used to drive the manufacturing process of manifold would also be eliminated as an expense. Therefore the overhead associated with this expense would also be significantly reduced. On the other hand the wages of the no production employees and the benefits provided to them might not decrease. Any decrease in this overhead would be minimal as the non production employees are not greatly impacted by the outsourcing of a production line as opposed to the production associated employees and personnel. Similarly the deprecation conducted on the property and the taxes would not reduce and can remain stable as the property is shared by all product lines and as long as the other two product lines are operating, the depreciation overhead would still occur at the same rate. The expenses related to constant personnel for the training, travel, and union representation would also considerably reduce as the number of personnel employed will decrease with the outsourcing of the manifold product line. The project expense of the setup and arrangement of new equipment and machinery would not be a reducing overhead as this expense is effect by purchase of new equipment and not by the operation of a product line. The overhead associated with the benefits provided to employees in terms of overtime payment, on an hourly basis, state unemployment and the pension provided to employees and labor at the company would not reduce by a significant amount. Instead this expense can increase as more people are laid off or provided early retirement if the manifold line is outsources. Similarly the benefits of this kind provided to the skilled hourly workers specifically those associated with production will also reduce in the long term due to the outsourcing of the manifold producing. The reduction of this overhead would be due to the reduction in the employee/ labor strength in the production department which would reduce the expenses of benefits for the labor. Estimated Proposed Budget. In order to effectively budget for the year 1991, considering the manifold line is outsourced to a third party for manufacture, substantial assumptions had to be made. These assumptions pertained included adjusting the estimates of the active production lines at Bridgestone Industries with the incremental growth trend for their respective costs. The costs increase form year to year due to inflation and the changes in the CPI index. As a result it is important to adjust any forecasted figures for the respective growth trend of the costs and revenues. It has also been assumed that by outsourcing the manifold production line, the company is able to eliminate the costs associated with manifold production line labor, the direct materials used by the manifold production line and the overheads that were contributed to by the manifold production online. Another assumption that is made in the proposed budget is that even though the company has outsourced its operations for the manifold production line. The company is still selling the products by purchasing them from the outsourcing company and providing them to the automobile manufacturers in the United States. As a result the sales revenue is forecasted even though the costs associated are eliminated and not considered. Moreover the costs associated with outsourcing are not incorporated in the budget as they are no longer part of the manufacturing/ productions department. The following is the proposed budget for the year 1991 which considers the manifold production line to be outsourced while no additional production line is dropped by the Bridgestone Industries. Proposed Budget for the year 1991 USD (‘000) 1991 Sales Fuel Tanks 87,378. Manifolds 97,031 Doors 52,681 Mufflers/Exhausts Oil Pans 237,089 Direct Material Fuel Tanks 17,693 Manifolds Doors 17,414 Mufflers/Exhausts Oil Pans 35,107 Direct Labor Fuel Tanks 4,788 Manifolds Doors 3,084 Mufflers/Exhausts Oil Pans 7,872 Overheads 1000 3,093 1500 3,229 2000 1,152 3000 768 4000 4,049. 5000 11,043 8000 2,039 9000 3,261 11000 1,650 12000 8,543 14000 4,418 43,246 The proposed budget that has been drawn up significantly depicts that if the company opts to outsource the manifolds production line in the year 1991, then the company is able to observe significance reductions in its operating costs and overheads. Therefore it can be mentioned that by outsourcing the manifold production line the company can experience cost savings and better revenue levels. The proposed budget for the year 1991 indicates that the Sales forecast increased to $237 million while the direct material based costs are forecasted to be at $35 million. The forecast of the direct labor employed for the active production lines would be at $7 million only while the total overheads for the operation would be equivalent to 2 million only. The overhead burden rate in the year 1991 as a result is reduced to 307 percent with the allocated overhead for the fuel tank’s production line at $26 million while the production line for manufacturing the rear and front doors would be at approximately $17 million.

History Of Music Essay -- essays research papers

It can be argued that the vanguard of development has always been reflected in the arts of a culture. It is the poets, the dreamers and artists who are the architects of the future; the ones who ‘build the world they want to live in, the ones who dream out loud’1. Music is an elaborate art form, tempered by the emotions of those who create it and as such the dreams, creations and inventions are partly the products - or at least artifacts - of the world around them. As such, the social, economic and technological changes in society reflect themselves in the arts of the time also. The common question â€Å"Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?† when inspected proves rhetorical: they are parallel mirrors which reflect each other. W.H. Auden best expressed this when he said, â€Å"A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.† Tracing the course of musical development through history shows how closely music (of all the art forms) in particular represents the time in which it was written. The â€Å"immediacy† Auden speaks of is evidenced in music’s ability to associate itself with a specific point in time or event and always remind the listener of that time or place. It is impossible to analyse individual interpretation of music, however it is interesting to examine what caused musicians to write what they did, when they did. The personal interpretation or association of a work is superimposed; it is the music â€Å"going on to become.† By correlating musical developments with historical events or conditions, we can see not only why certain styles of music were written when they were, but also how the times dictated the styles as much as the styles dictated the times. The exact origin of music is unknown. We can only form educated guesses from the evidence that remains today: pictures on fragments on broken vases of musical instruments, or cave paintings of dancing figures. It is generally accepted that music was first used in prehistoric times in spiritual or magical rituals. This knowledge comes from the fact that music still forms a vital part of most religious ceremonies today. Whereas with ancient pictures, we can imagine missing pieces, or envision brighter colours, when it comes to music we have no idea of what instruments were used, or the sounds they made. Our relationship with the music of the time is ... ...tury. However, since most artists thrived on the emotional and irrational abstract that they were writing about, there was no specific category that this mode of thinking could fall into. This was a strength since the freedom to explore nature was infinite and without any restriction based on rules or laws. This invariably led to a reintroduction into religion and mysticism; people wanted to explore the unknown spiritual side of things. Music as a whole has had a gradual evolution throughout history. The tie between Man’s search for the unknown, quest for Truth and longing for spiritual fulfillment and the Arts is undeniable. Reactionary, or ‘pro-actionary’ music ties us tight to places or events both in our lives and in those of others. While architecture and artifacts can give us clues to what society was like in the past (Roman ruins tell us much about life two thousand years ago), it is only the music that can communicate what our predecessors were thinking or feeling. It is the poets, the dreamers and artists of old who were the architects of their future, which allow us to glimpse our past. And it has been said, to know where one is going, you must know where you came from.

Images of Black Christian Leaders Essay

African and Christian in the names of our denominations denote that we are always concerned for the well-being of economically and politically exploited persons, for gaining or regaining a sense of our own worth, and for determining our own future. We must never invest with institutions that perpetuate racism. Our churches work for the change of all processes which prevent our members who are victims of racism from participating fully in civic and governmental structures. † (Satterwhite, 1999) Race has been used by antebellum period social scientists to refer to distinctions drawn from physical appearance (skin color, eye shape, physiognomy), and ethnicity was used to refer to distinctions based on national origin, language, religion, food, and other cultural markers. â€Å"Race has a quasi-biological status and among psychologists, the use of race terminology is hotly debated In the United States, race is also a socially defined, politically oppressive categorization scheme that individuals must negotiate while creating their identities. † (Frable, 1997) This suggests racial motivation impetus more of a political-cultural propensity rather than a religious motivated trait. All along, even during the slavery, Americans of African descent, have consistently had a high sense of religious significance. The Christian Movement probably had a dramatic effect on the personal identity more so than the reference group orientation of black people as whole. African decedents as a whole, during this period in history, was observed as a singled reference group type orientation that determine behavior depended greatly on Black Christian leadership. The calls for religious framework forces one to consider the how the leaders was portrayed in current media of the period, i. e. newspapers, paintings photos, etc. What clearly points to the very success of black Christian leadership during the Civil War is indicated by the way unity was exhibited during this time black social and political culture. Both free black leaders and the masses of Southern slaves who rebelled against their masters turned a white war into a battle over slavery and racial injustice with religion as the foundational argument for both sides of the issue. Slavery’s destruction, ironically, removed a common focus of protest, and more importantly, enticed certain â€Å"black elites† to accept the â€Å"liberal concept† of changing American political culture through religion by trying to join it and reform it from within. The black Christian movements of the late 1800s was a significant single indicator of common social beliefs that may simply be related with other dimensions and intangibles not yet discovered or even recognized during this time. In brief, due to the impact of during this forty to fifty year span, Black Christian consciousness and awareness had become so pervasive throughout the black population that single item common-fate solidarity was adequate to capture a fully politicized sense of group consciousness. The history of African American Christianity is bound up with the history of American slavery. African Americans encountered Christianity in the context of enslavement, and it was as captives that they began the long process of making the gospel their own. The process varied across time and space and defies generalization or easy description. Sometimes conversion came quickly, in explosive moments of â€Å"awakening†; more often, it unfolded over generations, as Christian belief and practices insinuated themselves into slaves’ daily rounds. â€Å"In some settings, the new creed seems almost completely to have displaced older religions, which survived only in a handful of disembodied beliefs and rituals. In other places, Christian usages were grafted onto still vital African religious traditions, producing dynamic, richly religion philosophical creeds. Yet whatever the pace or pathway, slaves across the Americas were drawn into the dialectic of conversion, transforming the religion of their captors even as it transformed them. † (Campbell, 1995) Preceding Any War As the antebellum period began, America was approaching its golden anniversary as an independent political state, but it was not yet a nation. There was considerable disagreement among the residents of its many geographical sections concerning the exact limits of the relationship between the Federal government, the older states, and the individual citizen. In this regard, many factions invoked concepts of state sovereignty, centralized banking, nullification, popular sovereignty, secession, all-Americanism, or manifest destiny. However, the majority deemed republicanism, social pluralism, and constitutionalism the primary characteristics of antebellum America. Slavery, abolition, and the possibility of future disunion were considered secondary issues. The history and sociopolitical influence of the African-American church documents an interminable struggle for liberation against the exploitative forces of European domination. Although Black religion is predominantly Judeo-Christian, its essence is not simply white religion with a cosmetic face lift. Rather the quintessence of African-American spiritual mindedness is grounded in the social and political experience of Black people, and, although some over the years have acquiesced to the dominant order, many have voiced a passionate demand for â€Å"freedom now. † The history of the African-American church demonstrates that the institution has contributed four indispensable elements to the Black struggle for ideological emancipation, which include a self-sustaining culture, a structured community, a prophetic tradition, and a persuasive leadership. The church of slavery, which began in the mid-eighteenth century, started as an underground organization and developed to become a pulpit for radicals like Richard Allen, (discussed in detail) and the platform for revolutionaries like David Walker. For over one hundred ears, African slaves created their own unique and authentic religious culture that was parallel to, but not reflective of the slave-owner’s Christianity from which they borrowed. Meeting on the quiet as the â€Å"invisible church,† they created a self-preserving belief system by Africanizing European religion. Commenting on this experience, Alice Sewell, a former slave of Montgomery, Alabama, states, â€Å"We used to slip off in de woods in de old slave days on Sunday evening way down in de swamps to sing and pray to our own liking† (Simms, 1970, p. 263). During the late 1700s, when slavery was being dismantled in the North, free Black Methodists courageously separated from the patronizing control of the white denomination and established their own independent assemblies. This marked the genesis of African-American resistance as a nationally structured, mass-based movement. In 1787, Richard Allen, after suffering racist humiliation at Philadelphia’s St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, separated from the white congregation and led other Blacks, who had been similarly disgraced, to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A. M. E. ) in 1816. The new group flowered. By 1820 it numbered 4,000 in Philadelphia alone, while another 2,000 claimed membership in Baltimore. The church immediately spread as far west as Pittsburgh and as far south as Charleston as African-Americans organized to resist domination. Through community groups, they contributed political consciousness, economic direction, and moral discipline to the struggle for freedom in their local districts. Moreover, Black Methodists sponsored aid societies that provided loans, business advice, insurance, and a host of social services to their fellow-believers and the community at large. In sum the A. M. E. Churches functioned in concert to organize African-Americans throughout the country to protect them selves from exploitation and to ready them for political emancipation. Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World During this same period, David Walker exemplified the prophetic tradition of the Black church with his â€Å"Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World,† published between 1829 and 1830. Walker employed biblical language and Christian morality in creating anti-ruling class ideology: slaveholders were â€Å"avaricious and unmerciful wretches† who were guilty of perpetrating â€Å"the most wretched, abject, and servile slavery† in the world against Africans. To conclude, the church of the slave era contributed substantially to African-American social and political resistance. The â€Å"invisible institution† provided physical and psychological relief from the horrific conditions of servitude: within the confines of â€Å"hush arbors,† bonds people found unfamiliar dignity and a sense of self-esteem. Similarly, the A. M. E. congregations confronted white paternalism by organizing their people into units of resistance to fight collectively for social equality and political self-direction. And finally, the antebellum church did not only empower Blacks by structuring their communities; it also supplied them with individual political leaders. David Walker made two stellar contributions to the Black struggle for freedom–he both created and popularized anti-ruling class philosophy. He intrepidly broadcasted the conditional necessity of violence in abolishing slavery demanding to be heard by his â€Å"suffering brethren† and the â€Å"American people and their children† in both the North and the South. As churches grew in size and importance, the Black pastor’s role as community leader became supremely influential and unquestionably essential in the fight against Jim Crow. For instance, in 1906, when the city officials of Nashville, Tennessee, segregated the streetcars, R. H. Boyd, a prominent leader in the National Baptist Convention, organized a Black boycott against the system. He even went so far as to operate his own streetcar line at the height of the conflict. To Boyd and his constituents no setback was ever final, and the grace of God was irrefutability infinite. African Methodist Episcopal†¦Mark of Independence When Richard Allen was 17, he experienced a religious conversion that changed his life forever. (PBS, Allen) Even though born into slavery in Philadelphia in 1760, he became not only free but influential, a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and its first bishop. Allen, recognize as one of the first African-Americans to be emancipated during the Revolutionary Era, had to forge an identity for his people as well as for himself. Richard Allen Allowed by his repentant owner to buy his freedom, Allen earned a living sawing cordwood and driving a wagon during the Revolutionary War. After the war he furthered the Methodist cause by becoming a â€Å"licensed exhorter,† preaching to blacks and whites from New York to South Carolina. To reconcile his faith and his African-American identity, Allen decided to form his own congregation. He gathered a group of ten black Methodists and took over a blacksmith’s shop in the increasingly black southern section of the city, converting it to the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church hence, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Allen was chosen as the first bishop of the church, the first fully independent black denomination in America. He had succeeded in charting a separate religious identity for African-Americans. Although the Bethel Church opened in a ceremony led by Bishop Francis Asbury in July 1794, its tiny congregation worshiped â€Å"separate from our white brethren. † In 1807 the Bethel Church added an â€Å"African Supplement† to its articles of incorporation; in 1816 it won legal recognition as an independent church. In the same year Allen and representatives from four other black Methodist congregations (in Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Salem, New Jersey; and Attleboro, Pennsylvania) met at the Bethel Church to organize a new denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. To be noted, the white Methodists of the New York Conference resisted the move toward independence, but those of the Philadelphia Conference, in Richard Allen’s territory, gave a conditional blessing, an irony that must have galled the Bethelites (as Allen’s group was popularly known). Of the two black denominations, the Bethelites enjoyed greater growth and more stable leadership in the pre-Civil War decades. The Great Awakening The Great Awakening as a marker for a cultural and religious upheaval did not appear immediately, but in scholastic research on religion in the eighteenth century, the time reflects the complexity of attitudes toward, and consequences of, religious activity in the African American communities. Taken in total, the landscape of Black Christian images presented a vast picture, still incompletely realized, from the earlier and persistent view of a monolithic vision accepted by many. Possibly only to save a few rationalists or extremists could see a different scenario. After his own religious conversion, Richard joined the Methodist Society, began attending classes, and evangelized his friends and neighbors. Richard and his brothers attended classes every week and meetings every other Thursday. A. M. E. leaders began to use both written biographical materials and public commemorations of Allen’s life to instill a sense of history and tradition among the largely illiterate masses. Their complementary use of public commemorations and written accounts of Allen’s life during this period suggest a more general attempt among Black leaders to bridge the overlapping worlds of morality and literacy in order to establish a sense of tradition, an empowering historical memory, and a pantheon of Black heroes who might one day gain their rightful place in the national pantheon. (Conyers, 1999) Notwithstanding its name, the AME Church was clearly the most respectable and â€Å"orthodox† of black American independent churches. While some recognizably African elements surfaced in services, AME leaders tended to disdain if not actively to suppress those beliefs and practices that scholars today celebrate as signs of Africa’s persistence in the New World. The whole point of â€Å"racial vindication† was to demonstrate blacks’ capacity to uphold â€Å"recognized standards† in their personal and collective lives and thereby to hasten abolition and full inclusion in American society. Surely people interested in connections between black America and Africa should look elsewhere than the AME Church. Historically, the first separate denominations to be formed by African Americans in the United States were Methodist. The early black Methodist churches, conferences, and denominations were organized by free black people in the North in response to stultifying and demeaning conditions attending membership in the white-controlled Methodist Episcopal churches. This independent church movement of black Christians was the first effective stride toward freedom by African Americans. Unlike most sectarian movements, the initial impetus for black spiritual and ecclesiastical independence was not grounded in religious doctrine or polity, but in the offensiveness of racial segregation in the churches and the alarming inconsistencies between the teachings and the expressions of the faith. It was readily apparent that the white church had become a principal instrument of the political and social policies under girding slavery and the attendant degradation of the human spirit. In all fairness, without exception, Richard Allen embodied the assertive free-black culture that was maturing in the North by the 1830s. Despite criticisms of his domineering manner and personal ambition, Allen had attained by the time of his death in 1831, a position of respect among his people that was rivaled by very few of his contemporaries. Mother Bethel Church Via Allen’s single minded influence, the denomination reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1850’s with churches in Mother Bethel Church Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco, and other places in California. Moreover, Bishop Morris Brown established the Canada Annual Conference. Remarkably, the slave states of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, and, for a few years, South Carolina, became additional locations for AME congregations.

Equal Pay Act Assignment Essay

Research the Equal Pay Act of 1963: why is it important to know this law when designing the internal alignment piece of your compensation program? The Equal Pay Act (EPA) means men and women receive the same amount of payment for doing the same work, which it will be illegal if employers pay women less than men or for men who get less paid than women for the same work. This Act was passed in 1963 as a revision to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Most of complainant was women, which they always recieved less than men. I think this is unfair and against sex discrimination. Therefore, it is very important to understand this law for every organizations. According to Milkovich and Newman’s textbook, â€Å"Internal alignment, refers to the pay relationships among different job, skills, competencies within a single organization.† (p. 11). Even though there is the internal alignment of compensation program, it could not guarantee that sex discrimination will not be happen. Thus, to know this law is very important for everyone. Employees have their right to earn equal pay for equal work. This law is for protecting both men and women from sex discrimination in pay rates. Meanwhile, it is also important for employers which they have to be careful when they use internal alignment as a policy. It is because employees may not understand why they earn less income comparing with people who work as the same job. As the Internal alignment means employees will be paid based on their performance, so the important aspect of this policy is â€Å"to be fairness†. It can be included pay differences based on productivity, job responsibilities, and work output. Furthermore, the Equal Pay Act requires that employer have to pay employees at the same rate, but it does not require that employer will pay the same amount of compensation which it should be paid by the job duties and responsibilities. For example, if A and  B work as a saleman in ABC organization, which they do the same work, so they will earn the same rate. However, A receives higher income due to he made more sales. In this case, B cannot claim for the EPA because that does not violate. That is why it is important for employer to understand the Equal Pay Act truly. First, to protect the organization from sex discrimination, each organization should have pay structure and clarify to their employees carefully. Second, to keep a good image of organization. Whether big or small organization, they do not want to have bad image. Beside of lossing reputation, they might lose a profit and reliability from outsider. So, it is necessary to know the EPA. If employer pays two employees who work at the same duty with different amount, he/she should do a record why they get different paid, just in case that could be a crucial evidence in the future. Reference Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M. & Gerhart, B. (2011), Compensation, 11th edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin.Written Assignment Grading Form Content and Organization 70 Percent Percent Earned: Comments: All key elements of the assignment are covered in a substantive way. Research Equal Pay Act of 1963 Why is the law important when designing the internal alignment piece of a compensation program? The content is comprehensive, accurate, and/or persuasive. The paper develops a central theme or idea, directed toward the appropriate audience. The paper links theory to relevant examples of current experience and industry practice and uses the vocabulary of the theory correctly. Major points are stated clearly; are supported by specific details, examples, or analysis; and are organized logically. The introduction provides sufficient background on the topic and previews major points. The conclusion is logical, flows from the body of the paper, and reviews the major points. Readability and Style 15 percent Percent Earned Comments: Paragraph transitions are present and logical and maintain the flow throughout the paper. The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment. Sentences are complete, clear, and concise. Sentences are well-constructed,  with consistently strong, varied sentences. Sentence transitions are present and maintain the flow of thought. Mechanics 15 Percent Percent Earned Comments: The paper, including the title page, reference page, tables, and appendices, follow APA guidelines for format. Citations of original works within the body of the paper follow APA guidelines. The paper is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, and white space. Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed. Spelling is correct. Word count is within specified instructions.

Nike Sweat Shops Essays (798 words) - Economy, Clothing

Nike Sweat Shops.txt Essays (798 words) - Economy, Clothing Nike Sweat Shops There has been much debate and controversy recently concerning Nike's Asian labour practices. This is a very complex issue and one that is a long way from being solved. It is very difficult to determine which side of this argument to defend, as both sides acknowledge the facts, yet put a completely different spin on them. Do you believe Nike's critics who say they're exploiting workers? Or, do you believe Nike when they say that they are giving workers in these countries wonderful opportunities to raise their standard of living? The consensus answer to this question by all sides seems to be that Nike is improving but still has a ways to go. Nike's Asian ties can be traced back to the birth of the company. The CEO, chairman of the board of directors, and co-founder, Phil Knight, wrote his masters thesis at Stanford University in the 1960's on the prospects for using Asian labor to produce goods cheaper and more effectively. In order to incorporate this plan in to Nike's business structure, a partnership was set up with a Japan based company called Tiger Sports. Tiger Sports would manufacture shoes for Nike in Asia then shipped them to the United States to sell. In the 1980's however, this aspect of Nike's partnership with Tiger Sports was dissolved, and Nike was forced to expand production from the United States to countries such as Taiwan and Korea where their products could be manufactured at the same relatively low cost that Nike enjoyed through the Tiger Sports partnership. Over the last five of years, however, the production numbers for these countries have been decreasing at an alarming rate due to the fact that th eir economies expanded at a very rapid pace. This, in turn, caused the cost of labour to increase dramatically, and therefore Nike could no longer produce their product as efficiently as before. In lieu of the rapid economic growth in the pacific rim, and the increased production cost, Nike has moved more into countries such as Vietnam and China where the labour is cheaper and labour laws less stringent. (VLF, VN Fact Sheet) Nike does not own any of the factories that produces its products in Asia, and subsequently they do not directly employ the workers or management. They contract out work to factories that make all of the products and run all of the factories. They do, however, have a massive amount of leverage when dealing with these factories because of the huge contracts they supply. To ensure good labour practices, Nike has a Code of Conduct that every contractor must agree to abide by in order to get a contract. The Conduct Code in theory condemns and prohibits child labour, requires that workers be paid fair wage, imposes caps on the days and hours a worker can be forced to work, prohibits mistreatment or discrimination of workers in any form, obligates factories to implement programs that benefit worker's health and safety, and recognizes and respects the workers right to freedom of association. There are 1000 Nike employees worldwide monitoring operations at the subcontractors and specifically the Code of Conduct adherent. The most consistent criticism of Nike is that the workers in the factories contracted by them are not aware of the Code of Conduct that was agreed upon, and/or it is not enforced (especially the wages and overtime aspects) by the factory officials. Critics contend that the factories pay less than minimum wage at times, force too many overtime hours, and fail to make the workplace as clean and as safe as standards dictate. Many of the factories that are contracted have workers and management from different countries, causing some problems in communication. Some factories in China have Taiwanese Managers while factories in Vietnam have Korean managers. This is one reason offered by Nike in defense of the factories failure to comply with the Code of Conduct. To look into this issue, earlier this year Nike commissioned Andrew Young, a former civil rights leader and United Nations ambassador to do an analysis of how well the Code was working. Young and his staff visited four factories in Vietnam, Indonesia, and China for three to four hours

Easy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Easy - Assignment Example Pizza Hut also offers nutritious menu like their Caesar Salad which has lettuce and herbed croutons. And I discovered that the ambiance depends upon the preference of the customers; if he wanted warm, then Pizza Hut is the best choice and if he wanted cool and light, then its Burger King. And I could say that indeed the crew in Pizza Hut is the best, because they even serve you in your table, unlike the self-service orientation of Burger King. With respect to price, indeed Pizza Hut is pricy. If I don’t want to feel guilty to myself, I prefer either Burger King’s Veggie Burger or Big Fish, which are nourishing. I really feel good in the Burger King’s Whopper and paired with their Oreo Sundae Shake-Chocolate. For fun with friends, I prefer Pizza Hut’s pizzas and drinks. I agree with the person #1 that McDonalds open early to cater breakfast. I would like to suggest that fast food chains should start offering nutritious menus like fish, vegetables and fruits. In person #2, I wonder if the vegetables and fruits of their salads and shakes in McDonalds are loaded with chemicals from pesticides and fertilizers. McDonalds can do better if they use organic fertilizer for their lettuce, tomatoes and other fruits. In person #3, I agree with his idea of McDonald’s ads promotion. I agree also with what he said that McDonalds and Burger King had the same pricing. However, I say, McDonalds has nutritious burgers too, like their

Leading Edge Supply Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leading Edge Supply - Essay Example The importance of logistic edge supply is to trail down the circulation of the company stock and performance analysis. Initiating the aspect of logistic edge supply, intelligent platform comes into play since this provides key management data that in turn enables one to analyze critically the strengths and weaknesses attached across the supply chain. Other key management information includes optimization of planning route, understanding fraudulent activities that comes within the supply chain and enhance the workflow that usually is driven by data caused by intelligence platform (Ballou, 2003). Many companies ensure that implementation and utilization of leading edge supply is taken into consideration within the logistic systems of any organization. For the articulations be fully met, an organization is required to operate within the pre-requisite objectives that influence achievement of organization goals. When there is a presence of effective logistic in a management system of an organization, success comes at hand. However, this comes because of an organization chipping in to make sure that they employ qualified personnel, and tap into labor market using and adopting new technology that in turn boots operation within the management of an

Without topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Without topic - Essay Example type of a fallacy is highly common among politicians who, rather than commenting on the issue at hand, try to blame the other party in order to create hype especially among the media. This successfully distracts the opponent as well as the audience and media from the question or issue at hand. These personal comments might even affect a voter`s opinion about the opponent`s political position. One recent example of this fallacy is when President Obama, during his speech, said that â€Å"Gov. Romney "would ask the middle class to pay more in taxes to give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. Its like Robin Hood in reverse. Its Romney Hood" (Scott Neuman, Web). It is clear that President Obama is trying to discredit this opponent Gov. Romney by saying that he would introduce such a system in which the people belonging to the middle class would be taxed higher and people who are rich would benefit. This statement might turn the middle class people against Gov. Romney. As a response to this statement, Gov Romney said that, â€Å""Weve been watching the president say a lot of things about me and my policies, and theyre just not right. And if I were to coin a term, it would be Obamaloney† (Scott Neuman, Web). This is a clear example of an Ad Hominem fallacy as both the opponents are trying to damage the reputation of each other in order to gather high voted from the public. They tried to comment on the policies and even gave each other names like Romney hood and Obamaloney. Analysis of Argumentum Ad Logicam is a type of fallacy in which a person creates a disagreeable argument before disclosing the actual argument as it is easier to defeat the real case. It is also known as a straw man fallacy as a person creates a sketch of the opponent in his mind (straw man) in order to counter the opponent`s argument. An example of this fallacy is president Obama`s recent statement against Gov. Romney in which he says that, â€Å" "Were certainly not

Enterprise infrastructure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enterprise infrastructure - Essay Example In the service model, TRU should choose IaaS because its underlying infrastructure is well defined. In economic considerations, TRU should hire a public platform because the company will not incur up-front costs of constructing a private infrastructure. I am, therefore, recommending three things for TRU. First, TRU should use hybrid cloud for data portability. Second, TRU should use IaaS because of well-defined infrastructure. Lastly, TRU should hire a public platform because it is cheap. IT governance is the way in which an organization aligns its Information Technology strategies with business strategies to ensure the organization stays on track with its business goals. IT governance puts into consideration the interests of all stakeholders and also provides measurable business results. An IT governance structure in any business addresses issues such as the functioning of IT framework and its overall returns to the business. Every organization requires ways of ensuring that IT frameworks sustain the business’ strategies and objectives. The size of the organization determines the suitable level of IT sophistication governance that the business can apply. Very large and highly regulated organizations will require detailed IT governance structures and vice versa (Standards.org, 2) Strategic alignment involves linking IT and business so that they work together efficiently. The major issue in linking the two issues is the planning process. An efficient strategic alignment occurs when the IT team communicates effectively with the corporate side of the business about costs, progress and impacts (Standards.org, 4). Value delivery is ensuring that IT framework delivers the predetermined benefits to the business. The predetermined benefits are the ones the business intended to achieve by investing on IT infrastructure. Any business can ensure value delivery by efficiently managing its IT department. An efficient management of

The Wembley National Stadium Construction Essay

The Wembley National Stadium Construction Essay It was built to be the new home of football; to be one of the largest and magnificent stadiums in the world and designed to be state-of-the-art with a seating capacity of 90,000. Designed by the World Stadium Team led by Mott MacDonald, the Wembley Stadium now stands as the most expensive stadium ever built, the longest single-span roof structure in the world (315m), second largest stadium in Europe and the tallest in the world (133m) with every seat under roof cover. The concept was to build a state-of-the-art stadium, with none that can compare anywhere else in the world. The new stadium has a partly retractable roof which can be adjusted to allow sunlight to reach all parts of the pitch. During bad weather, the roof can be retracted in about 15 minutes to cover every seat (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/).  £120 million from the Lottery Fund was invested into the stadium with an additional loan of  £426 million through West Deutsche Landesbank. A fixed price contract was reached between the client and contractors. This made provision for a building cost of  £352 million and total project costs of  £757 million (Public Accounts Committee, 2004). However, like most iconic construction projects of national interest, the Wembley project was not spared its own share of controversies, accusations, rumours, anxieties and fascination. The Football Association (FA) must have imagined a spectacular 2006 FA Cup grand finale, the biggest UK soccer championship at Wembley National Stadium. Unfortunately, this important event had to be moved all the way to Wales! What was wrong? Wembley Stadiums extraordinarily ambitious re-development was utterly behind schedule.  The project later opened in March 2007, almost a year behind schedule and  £70million over budget and has since then kept some of the finest construction lawyers in constant employment. The Wembley Stadium concept was definitely ambitious and the product stands now impressively. Even more breathe taking is the 133m arch which when lit up at night shinning gloriously, and can even be seen across London. Wembley has indeed become Englands new icon of football. The client for the project was the Football Association (FA) working through its subsidiary the Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). The main contractor was Multiplex Constructions with Mott MacDonald being the Lead Designers. The project used two project advisors; Tropus at the initial stages (1997-2001) and Capita Symonds (2001-2006). The initial steel contractor was Cleveland Bridge 2.0 Problems during the project A litany of problems can be identified that bedevilled the construction of the Wembley Stadium mainly adversarial contracts, unreasonable risk allocation, cash-flow problems, design changes, poor performance, poor site management and litigations. These are presented in details below: Delays and indecisiveness even before the project begun: Plans for a new stadium were beset with delays, management problems and increasing costs since December 1996. The designs were revealed in 1999 and the stadium should have been completed in 2003 but the work itself started only in September 2002 due to many political and financial problems. The project was finally rescheduled to complete in May 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2119413.stm). Design Problems: Multiplex argued that Mott MacDonald`s design for the Wembley steel work was not fit for purpose and that the initial designs were not correct, constructible, co-ordinated and consistent. It further stated that Mott MacDonalds deficient design, failure to warn and/or take action is shown in many thousands of individual acts or omissions (Technology and Construction Court (TCC), 2006). Scope Creep: The initial scope was to accommodate athletics, rugby and football in the same stadium. This later became very controversial and resulted in the removal of athletics from the scheme in 1999, because of the technical and commercial challenges of accommodating the three sports within the same stadium. In December 2001, the scope was further changed with the removal of a hotel from the project, the expansion of hospitality suites and considerable changes to the north side of the stadium bowl. This took the Mott Consortium 7-8 months to redesign. These changes increased the cost of the project especially in steel works (TCC, 2006). Procurement Issues: In the conclusions of Public Accounts Committee (Eighth Report of Session 2003-04), it stated that Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project Organisations responsible for managing projects should be expected to set out a formal procurement process, which treats all bidders equally to avoid giving any one a potential advantage over the others. It further criticised Wembley National Stadium Limited for failing to follow a detailed and overt formal procurement process and having dialogue with Multiplex prior to starting the procurement process. A report by former Wembley project manager Tropus, said the appointment was made with undue speed. The James Report also concluded that there had been serious flaws in the procurement policies.'(James Report, 2002) Poor Communication: Apart from the major changes in the scope of the works, Multiplex  lamented not given access to vital design information which made them underprice the steelwork. Mott on the other hand thought Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work. (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002) Poor Planning and organisation: A lot of decisions seem to have been made hastily. No wonder several changes had to be made at later stages. When it became a prime objective to finish the project in time for the FA Cup finale in May 2006, efficiency and cost effectiveness became secondary issues. In my opinion, a lot of problems could have been avoided if Multiplex did not have to rush the job to meet unrealistic deadlines. Multiplex claims that it has sustained significant losses as a result of a multitude of breaches of contract and/or acts of negligence by the consultant, which had far-reaching effects for Wembley (TCC, 2006; Baloch, 2008). Disputes and disagreements: Cleveland Bridge (CB), the steel contractor terminated their contract in 2004 because they did not believe they would be paid for materials and that there were seemingly insurmountable difficulties between them and Multiplex. A sustained input from a steelwork subcontractor could have greatly influenced the timely completion of the project but eventually CB had to be replaced with all attending problems of a new project team member. Health and Safety problems: In March 2006, a temporary roof support fell by over half resulting in the evacuation of all construction workers and delay of work. Another accident occurred January 2004 resulting in the death of one construction worker and the injury of another when a platform collapsed without warning, trapping the men underneath (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/) Poor Performance by Cleveland Bridge: Delays were caused by CB as not all the steel sent to China could be fabricated in time to comply with the programme. So the steel sent to China was often shipped back to England with most not fabricated. Furthermore the steel sent to site was often missing crucial pieces (meaning it could not be erected) or else was untagged with the consequence that site staff could not identify the relevant pieces of steel (TCC, 2006). Poor Supervision by Sports England: The Government was less than happy with the level of supervision offered by Sport England. It stated that Sport Englands performance in monitoring the progress of the project has been lack, slovenly and supine. This ultimately resulted in supply team missing the focal point of the project right from the beginning and before long, a lot was out of hand (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002). Poor Stakeholder management: In a statement by The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee, it blamed some of the problems encountered on the project on poor stakeholder management. It said, the project had been undermined by the fundamental failure to include all representatives at the outset in planning the redevelopment (www.publications.parliament.uk). The resignation of Ken Bates in 2001 as chairman of WNSL gives a further hint. He cited a lack of support from the board and that he had been undermined by senior figures within both the government and the FA. He remarkably said, Even Jesus Christ only had one Pontius Pilate I had a whole team of them. (www.forbes.com). 3.0 The Problems Encountered: The Role of Project Management Project Management (PM) is the . . . application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements. (PMBoK, 2004). This same theme runs through other standards for PM including BS6079 and ISO 10006. Suffice it for now to say that PM is the managerial responsibility and actions involved in completing a project on time, in budget and to the specified quality standards, in accordance with the traditional performance criteria. The role of PM in the Wembley project will now be appraised under some of the key knowledge areas identified in the PMBoK. 3.1 Project Scope Management This involves developing a scope statement that will define the boundaries of the project and verify the amount of work to be done. PM uses such tools as brainstorming, fast diagrams, Value Management workshops to define the project. This is because if you have the wrong definition, you may come up with the right solution-to the wrong problem!(Lewis, 2007). If scope definition is not holistically carried out, major changes such as those experienced on Wembley may occur later and cause delays, cost variations leading to claims and litigations. This, I believe, was the akiles heel of this iconic project. Where change becomes inevitable, PM should manage them to protect the project from the effects of scope creep. Wembley failed in this area resulting in the considerable cost and time overruns. Lewis (2007) rightly said, I have become convinced that projects seldom fail at the end. Rather, they fail at the definition stage. 3.2 Project Time Management PM adorns itself with yet another accolade of being able to effectively estimate time frame for projects realistically and defining work packages and milestone to achieve this target. It employs one of its popular tools of Critical Path Method and scheduling in this respect. Many softwares including Primavera and MS Project have also been developed to helped in the management of time. Kaming (1997), Elinwa (2001) and Aibini (2006) however reveal that the occurrence of time overruns is high and that overruns can occur of projects irrespective of its size. Wembley was no exception. Some of the disputes, changes, cash flow problems, design problems etc. that caused resulted in the project being delivered in 10 months late and the subsequent changing of the FA Cup finals to Wales could have been avoided through effective project time management. PM should have helped to come out with a realistic duration for the project. 3.3 Project Cost Management This involves estimating the cost of all resources and such things as travel and other support details. After this is done, costs are budgeted and tracked to keep the project within that budget (Rad, 2002). This is very important in PM as the first question most clients ask is how much will it cost? It is the duty of the PM to realistically determine what it will cost to achieve a particular scope. The tough question then arises. Was Wembleys initial cost of  £445million realistic? Why did cost rise astronomically to  £757million at completion? The project even had to be stalled into injury time just to seek additional funding. Why couldnt PM prevent this? Much of the blame lies squarely on PMs failure to realistically estimate cost at conception. 3.4 Project Communications Management This is the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information. (PMBoK, 2004). Multiplex  claims it was not given access to vital design information and that this led to increased steelwork costs. Mott MacDonald on the other hand dismisses this saying, Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work (TCC, 2006). PM is supposed to create a smooth communication interface between all parties to forestall these misunderstandings. 3.5 Project Procurement Management This helps in selecting the most appropriate contractors and suppliers, administers the contract as well as form the best working relationships between all parties to achieve project goals. The Public Accounts Committee (2003-04), stated that Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project PM should have also salvaged the problem between Mott, Cleveland and Multiplex before it got out of hand, resulting in Cleveland walking away from the project with its attending problems. More also, it is known that competitive tendering and cost as a selection criteria has produced poor results in construction over the years and PM should have helped in designing the best procurement approach to prevent the problems (Egan, 1998). The contract used for the project was fixed cost method in which the client cleverly shirks risk to the contractor. This form of contract invariably results in creating an adversarial environment with where each party involved focuses their attentions on the needs and risks of their businesses as opposed to those of the project (Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., 2005).This may well be another area that grossly affected the results on Wembley and effective PM should have prevented this. 3.6 Stakeholder Management: Freeman and McVea (2001) describe this function as looking out from the firm or project and identifying, and investing in all the relationships that will ensure long-term success. At concept stage, this is used to collect views of all interested parties, especially those of end users who usually hold vital information that may be critical to the design, function and success of a project. If this was effectively done, it would have prevented the acrimony that grew between some of the contractors and would have saved the project from unnecessary delays and increased cost of replacing Cleveland Bridge. It would have helped to produce the best fitting design as well as sort out the fact that athletics, football and rugby in the same venue would present a lot of technical and functional difficulties at the design stage saving the project from about 8 months of redesign. 3.7 Site Management: Chan (1997) showed that out of 8 group factors that caused delays in construction projects, poor site management and supervision was amongst the top five. The accusations and counter-accusations during the hearing at the Technology and Construction Court between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge gives us yet another glimpse into an area of failure of PM on Wembley. The site was poorly managed as it was littered with random pieces of steel that had been delivered in the wrong order and a significant quantity of steel was sitting on trailers adjacent to the site or around the perimeter. This had the potential of disrupting flow of activities and even causing accidents (TCC, 2006). 4.0 The Actions and MeasureS that should have been taken The influential Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) reports called for new approaches to construction- one in which client leadership is key and where there is greater collaborative working between firms within the construction supply chain. Egan summarised five key drivers of change namely committed leadership; a focus on the customer; integrated processes and teams; a quality driven agenda; and a commitment to people. Some of the necessary actions and measures that should have been taken is now presented below: 4.1 Key Client Leadership: The new Terminal Five at Heathrow is a widely acclaimed example of current construction best practice. The approach was unique and tailored to the very needs of the project i.e. the client took a level of ownership of project thus creating a clear vision for how it wanted the project delivered and also staying close enough to the project from inception to completion (Brady, 2008). Latham (1994) recommended that the client should be at the core of the construction process because clients [essentially] drive best practice. Egan (1998). The Client in the Wembley Stadium project was the Football Association and thus should have: stayed close enough to the project, monitoring it and to make sure things dont go out of hand; ensured that major changes to the scope of works was frozen at a particular point on the project or avoided altogether. These changes often result in dispute, delays and extra expense; made sure that adequate funding was secured for the project before it even begun and that the estimation of both time and cost were realistically carried out; come out with clear, concise, realistic and unambiguous objectives at the conception of the project involving all necessary stakeholders so that major changes, such as those that were experienced, could be avoided; shared in risk of development/construction rather than cleverly shoving it to contractors. 4.2 The Heathrow Method: Terminal 5 was an audacious development project that involved more than 60 contractors and 16 major projects. British Airways Authority (BAA) adopted a unique approach to the project to make sure it is completed both on time and within budget. It used an innovative form of cost-reimbursable contract the T5 Agreement under which BAA holds all the risks associated with the project rather than transferring the risks to external suppliers and guarantees a level of pro ¬Ã‚ t for suppliers. (Brady, 2008). The Agreement included an incentive payment for contractors that achieved a certain level of performance. It decided to reimburse the costs of delivery and to reward exceptional performance and punish mediocre and poor performance only in terms of pro ¬Ã‚ tability. This created some sort of win-win environment for all parties and motivated the contractors to focus their attention on the needs of the project and collectively solve problems rather than concen trate on their own business risks and interests. These are the fundamental reasons why T5 achieved the laudable success of staying within budget and cost at completion. Cleveland would not have walked out of the job if it was given firm assurance of re-imbursement of cost incurred. The contracts should have been designed with an approach that offered incentives to all, for improvement in cost, time or quality and not in an adversarial environment associated with fixed cost contracts. 4.3 Integrating the Supply chain: Both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) underscored the importance of using integrated teams to realise project goals. The T5 approach used by BAA combined two main principles: the client always bears the risk; and partners are worth more than suppliers. It provides an appropriate environment for integrated team working [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] to enable suppliers to work effectively and focus on meeting the projects objectives not only in relation to the traditional time, budget, and quality measures but also in relation to safety and environmental targets (Brady, 2008). By doing that you take away negativity, allow space for innovation and create any opportunity for people to perform at levels they havent been allowed to before (Mylius, 2005). 4.4 Involvement of end users: End users often hold vital information as they are usually in a better position to comment on the detailed requirements for a building than senior management who may not even be the occupants of the building when it is completed. After all, the users have first hand experience of what makes a building successful or otherwise (Menches, 2008). By the use of such methods as focus groups, value management workshops and major surveys, the issue of athletics, rugby and football in the same venue could have been resolved even before any detailed design and thus eliminating the extensive delays and cost implications it had on the project (Barrett, P., and Stanley, C., 1999). 4.5 Use of a Project bank: In an attempt to integrate project teams in an atmosphere of trust, collaboration and openness, the National Audit Office (NAO) of the UK suggested the use of a project bank account. To ensure better construction, it said, suppliers [require] greater certainty that they will be paid on time to re-enforce the trust that should exist between all parties for collaborative working to operate effectively. This was endorsed by the Specialist Contractors who indicated that payments for the project delivery team should be protected and secure, which would, in turn, significantly reduce disputes and, more importantly, will encourage closer working relationships between all parties. (Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006). 4.6 Best Project Management Practice: At the execution level, much of the problems that occurred on the project could have been avoided or its impact attenuated if best project management practice was adopted by all especially Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge. Problems of poor site management practice, poor or incorrect fabrication of steel, design change management and communication could have been arrested with proper planning, organisation and control. 4.7 Careful Monitoring: Projects rarely stay on track in terms of time and cost. the more likely occurrence is that projects will be behind schedule yet over budget at any point in time. Good project management carefully and critically appraises all factors that a likely to push a project off schedule (Office of Government Commerce, 2005). Monitoring progress carefully and instigating timely corrective actions by both WNSL, Multiplex as well as the FA, would have helped identify the likely impact of any problems so that action can be taken to get the project back on track. 5.0 Conclusion Experience is a great asset to professionals practicing in any discipline, whether that experience comes from success or failure and whoever fails to learn from his mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Some of the key lessons on Wembley Stadium is thus now summarised below: Adequate time and effort needs to be invested in the strategic planning phase of every project to come out with clear, realistic, and unambiguous project objectives; Project team must engage effectively with users and other external stakeholders especially at the concept stage of any scheme to save the project from major changes with its attending problems; Construction procurement must move away from competitive tendering and cost as the selection criteria and develop procedures that use performance and team partnering and capability; Contracts must be designed to provide incentive to all for cost and time improvement and also forge a win-win environment between clients and supply chain members; Enough resources have to be made available for the project based on realistic estimates; Clients must assume central roles in projects for they essentially drive best practice; Continual change in project requirements and scope can be very detrimental for the project; Dysfunctional relationships and fragmentation can turn a perfect project scheme into a complete chaos and thus project teams must operate as a cohesive unit, with clear allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, it is evident, at least from the Wembley Stadium project that a poor knowledge and a lack awareness of the fundamental project management skills by the client can lead to failure as clients essentially drive best practice. An effective and successful outcome of project management on any project in most cases will only be achieved if both the client and the contractor or project management organisations are effective in the skills of project management. A poor client organisation, in terms of project management, may well drive a good project manager and his team into poor performance. Agreeably, it may not be a panacea due to many circumstances and occurrences that may well be out of its control. However, Project Management stands the chance of producing laudable results if the construction industry stopped treating it casually and unprofessionally but rigorously apply the great worth of knowledge and experience its gathered over the past years, through both its success and failure stories.