The Parthenon in Athens Essay Example For Students

The Parthenon in Athens Essay The Parthenon in Athens is perhaps one of the greatest architectural achievements by the Athenians. After being repeatedly demolished, the Parthenon stood as a â€Å"symbol of Greek independence, culture, and pride†(111 Thames Hudson). In 447 BC. Pericles promoted building the Parthenon on the remains of an earlier temple on the Acropolis. The proposal of the Parthenon pleased the Athenians because â€Å"it served as much as a celebration of Athens and her achievements as it did as a centre to worship the goddess Athena†(111 Thames Hudson). The new temple to Athena was â€Å"sacked by the Persians†(187 Abrams), so Kimon of Athens hired Callicrates to again begin rebuilding the temple to Athena. But, Pericles temporarily halted construction to commission another architect, Ictinos. So, together Callicrates and Ictinos â€Å"made many subtle adjustments in the lines of the structure and the placement of columns to refine the design and possibly to counteract the effects of various optical illusions that would otherwise seem to distort its (The Parthenon) appearance when it was viewed from a distance†(188 Abrams). We will write a custom essay on The Parthenon in Athens specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now This is why the Parthenon is so achtecturaly amazing. Besides its shear size, the materials used were very heavy and difficult to work with, yet the Parthenon interior cella and exterior and astoundingly flawless. With the exception of the timber roof supports, the entire Parthenon was built from marble â€Å"from the quarries of Mt. Pentelicon†(112 Thames Hudson). After such struggles, it is not hard to imagine why the Parthenon was so important to the Athenians.

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author Born Zelda Sayre, Zelda Fitzgerald (July 24, 1900  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ March 10, 1948) was an American writer and artist of the Jazz Age. Although she produced writing and art on her own, Zelda is best known in history and in popular culture for her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald and her tumultuous battle with mental illness. Fast Facts: Zelda Fitzgerald Known For:  Artist, author of Save Me The Waltz, and wife of author F. Scott FitzgeraldBorn:  July 24, 1900  in Montgomery, AlabamaDied:  March 10, 1948 in Asheville, North CarolinaSpouse:  F. Scott Fitzgerald (m. 1920-1940)Children:  Frances Scottie Fitzgerald Early Life The youngest of six children, Zelda was born to a prominent Southern family in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father, Anthony Sayre, was a powerful justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, but she was the darling of her mother, Minerva, who spoiled young Zelda. She was an athletic, artistic child, equally interested in her ballet lessons and in spending time outdoors. Although she was a clever student, Zelda was mostly uninterested in her studies by the time she reached high school. Beautiful, spirited, and rebellious, Zelda became the center of her young social circle. As a teenager, she already drank and smoked, and enjoyed causing minor scandals by doing things like dancing â€Å"flapper† style or swimming in a tight, flesh-toned bathing suit. Her brash, daring nature was even more shocking because women of her social status were expected to be genteel and quiet. Zelda and her friend, future Hollywood actress Tallulah Bankhead, were frequently the topic of gossip. As a girl or a teenager, Zelda began to keep diaries. These journals would later prove to be the earliest signs of her creative mind, containing much more than a rote record of her social activities. In fact, excerpts from her early journals would eventually appear in iconic works of American literature, thanks to her relationship with a soon-to-be legendary novelist: F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Fitzgeralds In the summer of 1918, Zelda first met the 22-year-old Scott when he was stationed on an Army base just outside of Montgomery. Their first meeting, at a country club dance, would later be the basis for the first meeting between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Although she had several suitors at the time, Zelda quickly came to favor Scott, and they grew close over a shared worldview and their similarly creative personalities. Scott had big plans, and he shared them with Zelda, who became equal parts muse and kindred spirit. She inspired the character of Rosalind in This Side of Paradise, and the novel’s closing monologue is taken directly from her journals. Their romance was interrupted in October 1918, when he was reassigned to a base in Long Island, but the war soon ended and he returned to Alabama within a month. Scott and Zelda became deeply involved, and wrote to each other constantly after he moved to New York City in early 1919. They married in 1920, despite some objections from Zelda’s family and friends over his drink and his Episcopalian faith. That same year, This Side of Paradise was published, and the Fitzgeralds became notorious on the New York social scene, embodying the excesses and brilliance of the Jazz Age. In 1921, just before Scott’s second novel was finished, Zelda became pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter, Frances â€Å"Scottie† Fitzgerald in October 1921, but motherhood did not â€Å"tame† Zelda into a quiet domestic life. In 1922, she was pregnant again, but the pregnancy did not make it to term. Over the next couple of years, Zelda’s writing began to appear as well, mostly sharply-written short stories and magazine articles. Although she joked about her writing being â€Å"borrowed† for Scott’s novels, she did resent it too. After their co-written play The Vegetable flopped, the Fitzgeralds moved to Paris in 1924. Together in Paris The Fitzgeralds’ relationship was in a complicated state by the time they reached France. Scott was absorbed with his next novel, The Great Gatsby, and Zelda fell for a dashing young French pilot and demanded a divorce. Zelda’s demands were met with dismissal from Scott, who locked her in their house until the drama passed. In the months following, they returned mostly to normal, but in September, Zelda survived an overdose of sleeping pills; whether the overdose was intentional or not, the couple never said. Zelda was often ill around this time, and in late 1924, Zelda was unable to continue her traveling lifestyle and instead began painting. When she and Scott returned to Paris in the spring of 1925, they met Ernest Hemingway, who would become Scott’s great friend and rival. Although Zelda and Hemingway loathed each other from the start, Hemingway did introduce the couple to the rest of the Lost Generation expat community, such as Gertrude Stein. Increasing Instability Years passed, and Zelda’s instability grew – along with Scott’s. Their relationship turned volatile and more dramatic than ever, and both accused the other of affairs. Desperate for success of her own, Zelda took up the reins of her ballet studies again. She practiced intensely, sometimes for up to eight hours a day, and while she did have some talent, the physical demands (and the lack of support from Scott) proved too much for her. Even when she was offered a spot with an opera ballet company in Italy, she had to decline. Zelda was admitted to a French sanatorium in 1930 and bounced between clinics for physical and psychological treatments for around a year. When her father was dying in September 1931, the Fitzgeralds returned to Alabama; after his death, Zelda went to a hospital in Baltimore and Scott went to Hollywood. While in the hospital, however, Zelda wrote a whole novel, Save Me The Waltz. The semi-autobiographical novel was her biggest work to date, but it infuriated Scott, who had planned to use some of the same material in his work. After Scott’s forced rewrites, the novel was published, but it was a commercial and critical failure; Scott also derided it. Zelda didn’t write another novel. Decline and Death By the 1930s, Zelda was spending most of her time in and out of mental institutions. She continued to produce paintings, which were tepidly received. In 1936, when Zelda seemingly disconnected from reality, Scott sent her to another hospital, this one in North Carolina. He then proceeded to have an affair in Hollywood with columnist Sheilah Graham, bitter about how his marriage to Zelda had turned out. By 1940, though, Zelda had made enough progress to be released. She and Scott never saw each other again, but they corresponded until his sudden death in December 1940. After his death, it was Zelda who became an advocate for Scott’s unfinished novel The Last Tycoon. She was inspired and began working on another novel, but her mental health declined again and she returned to the North Carolina hospital. In 1948, a fire broke out at the hospital, and Zelda, in a locked room awaiting an electroshock therapy session, did not escape. She died at the age of 47 and was buried alongside Scott. Posthumous Discovery The Fitzgeralds had been on the decline when they died, but interest quickly revived, and they became immortalized as the icons of the Jazz Age. In 1970, historian Nancy Milford wrote a biography of Zelda that suggested she had been every bit as talented as Scott, but had been held back by him. The book became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and it heavily influenced future perceptions of Zelda. Save Me The Waltz subsequently saw a revival as well, with scholars analyzing it on the same level as Scott’s novels. Zelda’s collected writings, including the novel, were compiled and published in 1991, and even her paintings have been re-appraised in the modern era. Several fictional works have depicted her life, including several books and a TV series, Z: The Beginning of Everything. Although perceptions continue to evolve, the Fitzgerald legacy – of which Zelda is most definitely a huge part – has become deeply engrained in American popular culture.   Sources: Cline, Sally.  Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise. Arcade Publishing, New York, 2003.Milford, Nancy. Zelda: A Biography. Harper Row, 1970.Zelazko, Alicja. Zelda Fitzgerald: American Writer and Artist. Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zelda-Fitzgerald.

Sicko Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sicko - Assignment Example After seeing how well the universal healthcare programs worked for the people in Canada, England, France and Cuba, I would have to say that the program should become a norm for the United States as well. I truly believe that if it is implemented in the same manner as in those countries, then the system would actually work for us. Since we are already paying one of the highest taxes in the world, why not actually make that money work for the people paying for it by covering their healthcare costs? Granted that the cost subsidies would put the health insurance companies out of business and maybe the doctors will earn less under the system, but isnt the idea of healthcare to â€Å"help† people become well or prevent their illnesses? Isnt it the job of doctors to â€Å"do no harm† under the Hippocratic Oath? None of that is happening under the American system of healthcare at the moment so yes, it may not be cost-effective for the bottom line of the insurance companies and doctors who are used to fleecing their clients, but it is what will be in the interest of their patients and should therefore be done for them. I would definitely like to initiate the British form of universal healthcare in America. That is because nobody is turned away from the hospitals, the care is given without question, and the medicine is subsidized at a flat rate cost that is affordable to the working class and free to the retirees and jobless who do not stop needing medical care or medicines just because of their age or situations. That is why I would definitely be willing to sacrifice the quality of the healthcare for the quantity of the healthcare. Imagine, being able to get the tests that you need albeit in a schedule in Canda, while you need to wait for health insurance approval for the test in the United States and most likely get denied the procedure anyway. It seems like a no-brainer in that instance. The test will get done, you just need to wait your

Learning style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning style - Essay Example Solitary is my best way of learning, where I carry out study on my own. Some prefer studying through social or group discussions among other styles. The reflection matches with mine since I have the unique learning style that I also prefer most, in addition, I also combine other learning styles as mentioned above. Generally, I prefer the use of solitary learning style which involves personal learning that does not involve the help of the other people. Personally, I am very shy to talk in front of other people, therefore, I do not feel comfortable in the other style like social which has to involve many people as well as the group discussions that will do have to contribute. Even though group discussions are good study habits, I do not participate so much when it comes to the group study. I do not speak so much in class, and I like keeping everything to myself, and fail to participate in the group discussion, or class participation like answering questions, demonstrations among others. Being a Non-American, I am afraid of raising my hand in front of other learners even when I know the answer because I feel they might laugh or mock me. Since I do not have the courage to face everyone, I do not contribute so much in class. Even though I do not interact so much with people, but I relate with very social friends. Physically, I enjoy playing with other people. Even though I do not talk too much, I use a lot of vocabulary to write (Erickson, p 12). My current study habit is that reading on my own in a quiet place, by so doing, I realize that I utilize my time well when I am seriously studying alone than when being with others. In fact, I sometimes prefer locking myself alone in the room to avoid external distractions. In my current study, I find it not working well with my learning style since; I realize that I need to combine a number of my learning style in order to achieve my objectives. I would prefer to adopt group

The Democratic Stalemate in Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Democratic Stalemate in Egypt - Essay Example Democratization is therefore the process through which any given political system that has never been democratic becomes democratic. This enables the citizens in the participation of the election of their leaders through a free and fair election. The citizens are also able to freely participate in the countries civic and political duty without intimidation and their rights are fully protected hence they are able to freely operate within the borders of their country (Gelvin 24). Despite, this they must be aware that the laws are applicable to each one of them equally without discrimination. For a long time the freedom of the Egyptians had been curtailed due to the autocratic rule that their previous leaders bestowed on them. The media was not allowed to freely express the wishes of the people leave alone to criticize the government policies and their leaders (Sayigh 12). The political involvement both in terms of competition and voting has never been liberalized, as the ruling party h as gained excessive power and dominance hence denying other parties political space. Democracy has never existed in areas where there is no freedom of worship through religion or without the freedom of expression whether popular or unpopular. According to democratic theorists, democracy is always quite parallel within a command economy. These calls for a situation where the rights of the minority are also protected while empowering the citizens economically and the powers of the government must as well be made limited (Stabile). Literature review The slow pace in the Egyptian democratization process had been largely because of the existence of the Mubarak state due to the autocratic Mubarak rule for quite a long time. The shout of the Egyptians and the â€Å"Arab spring† has been on the international media portraying the need by the Egyptians for a democratic state. This process has though been thwarted by a series of factors and reasons which such media has not given any for m of consideration. According to Gelvin (24) these are the factors that have made it hard for the rule of Mubarak to be ousted off power not until the revolution by the Egyptian people came into effect to overturn such a government. Due to the existence of a variety of political, economic and other socio cultural factors could not make it visible that Egypt would move from its volcanic upheaval of the twentieth century to near democracy in the second half of the 21st century. Partly, the bright democratic future of Egypt has been made dull by the political monopoly of the ruling class, the excessive powers bestowed upon the state to prevent intended reforms. As stated by Katz (166)The powers are as a result of the existence of the loyal bureaucratic structures and use of public security forces for the benefit of the government. The other factor is the existence of the Islamic forces that are quite radical who act in a vacuum due to the lack of well strengthened institutions. Economi cally, Egypt largely depends on local consumption hence the needed role and impacts of the foreign trade are not a factor that can control autocracy, if in case then the foreign countries need the Egyptians more that the Egyptians need them (Gelvin 27). The countries also experiences and complete absence of an economy that is market driven, this has made it possible that the local population is extremely impoverished

The Situation Of Hong Kongs Ocean Park

The Situation Of Hong Kongs Ocean Park Introduction In contemporary international business with an increasingly open market, many local enterprises are facing severe competition from large scale international company. In the case of disparities in overall strengths, it is quite essential and necessary for local business to explore new development ideas as well as new space for development. With its continuing effort on re-engineering these years, Hong Kong Ocean Park has turned a profit of 95.7 HK$ millions in 2004. However, with the coming opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong Ocean Park should be well prepared for the challenge from its main competitor by starting from its own characteristics, repositioning, identifying its absolute advantages, carrying out redevelopment plan with the support from its partners and local government. This report is mainly focused on the statement of the current situation of Hong Kong Ocean Park and discussion about its future development. To begin with, there will be some basic introduction of Hong Kong Ocean Park like its mission, vision and so on. Next goes the analysis of external and internal environment. After that, strategic choices will be discussed. And finally, suggestion and recommendation are proposed to the CEO and Board of Ocean Park. 1. Strategy concepts and vocabulary Mission: Ocean Park provides all guests with memorable experiences that combine entertainment and education, while inspiring lifelong learning and conservation advocacy. Our aim is to maintain a healthy financial status, while striving to deliver the highest standards of safety, animal care, products and guest service (Ocean Park Hong Kong, 2010). Goals and objectives: -boost the number of annual visitors from four million in 2004 to five million by 2010; -to make a 0.5 per cent contribution to Hong Kongs gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010. Vision: Ocean Park aspires to be a world leader in providing excellent guest experiences in a theme park environment connecting people with nature (Ocean Park Hong Kong, 2010). And, more specified, its vision is to become number one marine-based park for each family not only from Hong-Kong but also from mainland China. The main performance measures to determine the success of Ocean Park are the following: Firstly, it has high reputation in both Hong Kong and mainland China. As it has been operated for more than 28 years, it become a long-time favorite of several generations, many local people were sympathetic to Ocean Park. Thus, people who had visited the park as children were now bringing their own children to it. Secondly, it had become a fixture of Hong Kongs cultural heritage. Thirdly, the number of visitors in 2004 is 4 m of people (with daily maximum capacity 35 000 people); total revenue in 2004 was 536.2 HK$ m comparing to 428.3 HK$ m in 2003, surplus for 2004 year was 95.7 HK$ m comparing to deficit 4.1 HK$ m in 2003. And finally, its new brand (Whiskers) is recognizable at every house in China and plays a major role in the success of Hong Kong Ocean Park. On one hand, we have stakeholders, who help to achieve parks purpose and mission, such as Hong Kong government, Home Affairs Bureau and the Tourism Board, employees of Ocean Park corporation and parks visitors (customers). On other hand, we have those, who interfere with achieving parks purpose and mission, such as activist groups (certain environmental groups and animal rights activists), who insist on forbidding of buying and transportation exotic animals to park, trade associations and unions (bus companies and taxi drivers), who are against building a mass transit railway (MTR), and competitors, who want to regain the market share. 2. External Environment Key driving forces and their ranking Raise and spend HK$5.55 billion from private and government loans to revamp parks well-worn product line (approval of development plan) Global changing in tourism for Hong-Kong and Asia-Pacific region (development of tourism in region) Disneylands arrival worldwide success of main competitor-Disneyland, coming to Hong Kong (Disneys success or failure) PESTEL ANALYSIS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS for amusement park industry 1) Threat of new entry As entertainment and theme park industry requires a lot of money (for park equipment, human resources maintenance), the entry barrier is high. Also lots of time is required for parks planning, construction, development and launching, a lot of licenses and legalization is needed (safety, sanitary, security etc). Besides this, a large space of land is essential to the development of the amusement park, especially in Hong Kong, where the land price in real estate market is high. 2) Threat of rivalry With low differentiation of products visitors choice will be based on price and service only. As a result, there is an additional pressure on the price and service competition. Ocean Park needs to carry out different plans and activities such as redevelopment and introduction of new attractions. There are no rivals with exactly the same range of products. Disneys arrival is only expected. 3) Threat of substitution In the familys leisure activities segment, where Ocean Park is operated, many organizations provide different kind of services. These include Cultural Center, Zoo and Botanic gardens. Thus, Hong Kong, as a metropolis, has a variety of cinemas, karaoke clubs, family cafes, concert halls and museums. Such services cant offer full range of activities, which Ocean Park provides, but they have an impact on number of customers, especially during the days of unique events, such as blockbusters premieres or festivals. 4) Bargaining power of buyers (visitors) As Ocean Park successfully established and positioned its image with unique attractions, it has become a must see place for foreign visitors. The tourist bargaining power is low due to it is hard for visitors to get the same experience at any other place as they have had in Ocean Park. Local residents have a high buying power as they have many other choices for leisure. For instance, they can go to Wetland Park for ecotourism and nature and wildlife experience, they can also go to movies or fitness club for entertainment purpose. Moreover, the switching cost is relatively low for them. 5) The power of suppliers Suppliers have quite high power. Thus, construction elements of amusement rides are huge and complicated, thats why park is highly tied with supplier. Additionally, supplier is responsible for maintenance of objects he has developed for park. This caused in higher dependence of selected constructor. Otherwise, this market is developed and the choice of suppliers is become greater now. While constructing buildings (hotels, etc) with particular contractor park cant easily change to another contractor because of high switching cost). The situation with the exotic animals is such as Ocean Park can buy in particular country only. The underlying dynamics, which are driving five forces 1) Aftermath of economic crises and increasing in number of suppliers will decrease supplier power. 2) Disneys arrival decrease entry threat in entertainment park industry and increase competitors rivalry. 3) Developing of new technologies will affect rising of substitutes. Also competitors with new technologies will win (in this aspect Disney has an advantage) 4) Disneys arrival increase demands in diversification of Ocean Parks products. 5) Ticket price advantages (185 HK$ for adult ticket at Ocean Park compared to 295HK$ for the same ticket at Disney). 6) The main rival (Disney) is also same market oriented (families with children), therefore, this could rise buyers power. Based on the five forces analysis, the main dominant force of industry is substitutes. Less importance has suppliers and further buyers. Looking forward, the five forces will change in this way: -Rivalry will increase with Disneys arrival; -Buyer power will increase slightly; -Substitute threat will also increase; -Entry threat decrease dramatically; -Supplier power will also decrease. Five forces much more affect Wetland Park Ocean Parks key competitor, located at the northern part of Tin Shui Wai, in Yuen Long, than Ocean Park itself, because Wetland parks products are less differentiated. It has a 10,000m2 visitor centre, Wetland Interactive World, and a 60-hectare Wetland Reserve (Hong Kong Wetland Park, 2010). Arrival of other competitor Disney and its substitutes doesnt affect much Ocean Park because it has its own niche. More differentiation of new products, directed mainly to Chinese native culture will affect rivalry, substitutes and buyers. Unique high-quality products and services also will influence buyers. For seeking suppliers big impact will have Internet and special web-sites with best quality of service, characteristics, recommendations and prices. Strategic group/space analysis for Ocean Park There are 2 key competitors for Ocean Park: 1) Hong Kong Wetland Park, mentioned above. It is a conservation, education and tourism facility, consisted of large visitor centre, Wetland Interactive World and a Wetland Reserve. This park provided visitors with opportunities to observe wildlife, awareness and understanding the values of wetlands throughout the East Asian Region and beyond, wetlands conservation. So, its mainly about wetlands. The Hong Kong Wetland Park is also going to be a world-class ecotourism facility to serve both local residents and overseas tourists (Hong Kong Wetland Park, 2010). Compare to Disneyland and Ocean Park, Hong Kong Wetland Park has different facilities and product range (such as themed exhibition galleries, a theatre, a souvenir shop, an indoor play area), provide different services and thus, like Disney and Ocean Park, has its own niche. The range of facilities provided is the narrowest among 3 parks. Therefore, Wetland Park cant meet demand of those visitors, who are looking for excitements and extreme pleasure, which can be found on a rides at 2 other parks. 2) Hong Kong Disneyland, arriving in a nearest future. After 28 years of operating as a near monopoly, Ocean Park would soon have to compete with one of the biggest names in the entertainment and theme park industry. Moreover, Disneyland targets the same group of parks customers families with children. It has well-known brand and reputation. Its the world leader in terms of entertainment. Several of Disneys characters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh) were household names all over the world, including in Hong Kong. Image, which Disney company holds almost for a century (The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923) and Disneyland itself (first park was opened in 1955) for half a century (compared to 28 years of Ocean park) helps to attract visitors not only from Hong Kong and midland China, but also from different part of the globe, especially those who are from the USA and Europe (The Walt Disney Company, 2010). But, despite of distinguish of Chinese culture, Disney characters may be not as popular in Hong Kong as Ocean Parks mascot, Whiskeys. Among other advantages of Disneyland are: location (it could be reached in just 10 minutes from Hong Kongs airport and less than 30 minutes from downtown Hong Kong); the price claimed to be the least expensive among the five Disney amusement parks throughout the world; the area of Disneyland is 310 acres compared to 215 acres of Ocean Park; 5 times greater investment than for Ocean Park; world-renowned innovation; high customer service standards. Strategic groups within the entertainment and theme park industry in Hong Kong Broad Ocean Park Disneyland Product range Narrow Wetland Park Global Local Geographical Scope On one hand, Ocean Park is a part of entertainment and theme industry. Its market is families with children. On other hand, Disneyland, its future competitor, applies to the same market. Despite of this, Ocean Park has its own niche with visitors from mainland China and products range, combining entertainment and leisure as well as education. 3. Internal Environment Ocean Parks resources 1) Tangible: financial private and government loans; expected HK$5.55 billion investment; HK$145 billion economic effectiveness; surplus from operations in 2004 was HK$182.2 million on revenues of HK$536.2 million; net current assets HK$283.2. physical Sea World, marine life and real animals: 35 rides and attractions; favorable and convenient location on the southern side of Hong Kong Island; wide range of new activities, such as the Abyss Turbo Drop thrill ride, seasonal and special events (Chinese New Year, Easter Holiday, Summer Holiday, Halloween and Christmas), popular water-related activities, interactive activities with animals, edutainment programs, successful Sea Jelly Spectacular and so on. 2) Intangible: long-time reputation of park with government, customers; new brand sea lion named Whiskers; cultural heritage of Hong Kong; great number of repeated visitors. 3) Human: 37 100 employees, their skills and knowledge; Thomas Mehrmann, new CEO of Ocean Park, and his previous experience at US-based Six Flags Corporation. Main capabilities of Ocean Park 1) New products, facilities and services development capability continually adding new features and attractions. Therefore, in a nearest future Ocean Park will become one of the best marine-based theme park with strong connection with nature. 2) Research and development, marketing and sales capabilities: plan to refurbish and rename Ocean Parks 2 major areas (the Lowland and the Highland), new hotels to be developed, including a five-star boutique, spa-type hotel, plan to open offices in the major urban areas of Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai to enhance promotional activities in Hong Kong and attract more mainland visitors. 3) New incentive compensation that linked employee compensation to the financial performance of park. The competences of Ocean Park local market loyalty, customers trust and love long-term reputation, distinct Chinese characteristics recognizable brand education in combination with recreation cost and differentiation of product, encouraged visitors to return to the park distinctive work culture, with its own norms and practices Competitive Advantages of Ocean Park over Disneyland cultural heritage of Hong Kong, orientation mostly on visitors from midland China first-mover advantages primary focus of Ocean Park on real nature and wildlife in contrast to Disneys strengths in cartoon characters, castles, virtual reality and fantasy no need to engage in high-profile advertising and publicity, rely more on word-of-mouth more diverse and wide range of products price advantage: the admission price for Disneyland is expected more than twice higher for child and one and a half higher for adult than price of Ocean park. And visitors from mainland China are very price sensitive. SmartFun Annual Pass program with unlimited admission to the park for its holders within a year, and discounted prices for food, souvenirs orientation not only on entertainment, but also on education of visitors special events for traditional Chinese holidays (Chinese New Year) besides events for western holidays (Halloween) Despite Ocean Park build its strategy on its resources, capabilities and competences, it cant relay only on them they need to be developed, innovated and refreshed, because they may begin to look dated and shabby for their visitors. For example, it can import more species, construct water/sea-related facilities and hotels. Overall, Ocean Park resources are sustainable, with some exception such as, the impact on these resources from environmental groups opposition. SWOT ANALYSIS Positive impact Negative impact Internal environment Strengths -diversified and wide range of amusements (thrills, animals, seasonal and special events) -product line revamp -highly linked with culture of mainland Chinese visitors, knows their demands and behavior -the main, oldest and most famous amusement park in the country, hometown favorite -28 years of operating as a near monopoly -no need to engage in high-profile advertising and publicity, rely more on word-of-mouth -strong business connection to the local government (support from the government of Hong Kong and mainland China) -previous experience of Thomas Mehrmann (new CEO of Ocean Park) in theme park industry (at US-based Six Flags Corporation) -local market loyalty -positive image of park Weaknesses -located on a hills-hard to get to some riders-thats why visitors experienced rides only once -different facilities are old and un-attractive and need renovation -a lot of activities depend on weather -no substantial capital investment External environment Opportunities -focusing on delivering mainland Chinas visitors as well as foreign visitors -plan to build a mass transit railway (MTR) station to connect Ocean Park to the subway grid -the development and improvement of the amusement machinery, which can impact the services and features of the organization and its relationship to their foreign visitors -raise the standards of park with Disneyland arrival fostering sponsorships -plan for building new hotels (boutique and spa-type) orientation on new luxury tourism market segment Threats -economical instability (such as the Asian financial crisis of 1999-2001, lasted for 3 difficult years for Ocean Park), outbreak of different diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 (Both these factors can affect number of visitors and their buying behavior, worsening the park financial situation) -arrival of Disneyland Hong Kong -location on valuable real estate: it could be shut down and its land could be sold off for other recreational or commercial purposes. 4. Strategic Choices Business-level strategy Hong Kong Ocean Park uses hybrid strategy, which seeks simultaneously to achieve differentiation and low price relative to competitors (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). Most activities were carried out based on this Strategy. 1) Hong Kong Ocean Parks admission fee is Adult HK$185, Child HK$95 which is lower that of Disneys: Adult HK$295(weekdays) HK$350(holidays); Child HK$210(weekdays), HK$250(holidays). 2) Hong Kong Ocean Park did not spend too much on new fixed-asset attractions due to short life circles of them and difficulty in coming up with an encore. 3) It keeps part attractions fresh, novel and exciting while minimize costs. Instead of buying in new attractions, Hong Kong Ocean Park focused on culture innovation. Some relative low-cost ideas proved successful: Seasonal and special events attracted repeat visits every year. 4) Hong Kong Ocean Park did not take part in highly cost advertising campaign. Compared to its competitors, Hong Kong Ocean Park tended to rely more on word-of-mouth to generate additional business. Since Hong Kong Ocean Park was the local residents favorite theme park and had high reputation in Hong Kong even in Asia. Hong Kong Ocean Park had profound influence on several generations in Hong Kong, people who had visited the park as children were now bringing their own children to visit the park. Actually, Hong Kong Ocean Park was locally born and bred and had become a fixture of Hong Kongs cultural heritage. 5) Hong Kong Ocean Park had a clear organizational structure, no too much redundancy. It can save labor cost. 6) Hong Kong Ocean Park had identified its strategic customers clearly; those are Local tourists and Mainland Tourists. So, it carried out several plans to attract its key customers. a) It hosts several festival events and activities to complement its park offerings with distinct features, like Chinese New Year. It had distinct Chinese characteristics that reflected its roots in Hong Kong, a quintessentially Chinese city. b) Retained its unique SmartFun Annual Pass Program and tactically reviewed and developed value-added benefits to build sales and local customers loyalty. This program encouraged annual pass holders to visit the park repeatedly. Visitors to the park would spend money in other areas to boost revenue beyond the admission fees. 7) Hong Kong Ocean Parks had clear and definite position; that was to become the best marine-based theme park in the world need a source here!!, to provide customers with a place for recreation and education about marine life and environmental conservation. This unique strategic position is differentiated Hong Kong Ocean Park from its competitors and ensure its advantages over the main competitors. Competitive strategies of Hong Kong Ocean Parks competitor Disneyland was regarded as Hong Kong Ocean Parks main competitor and it adopted a differentiation strategy. With a differentiation strategy, a company provides products or services that offer more benefits than those of its competitors which are widely valued by buyers. The aim is to make a company advantageous over its competitors by offering better products or services at the same price or increasing profits by a slightly higher price (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). More specifically, Disneyland took below action plans in line with its differentiation strategy: 1) The selling points of Disneyland were Disney cartoon characters, fantasy world and famous Americans brands, 23 rides and attractions. 2) Disney has strong abilities to create fantasy and virtual situations, and it was going to leverage the benefits of animation into its amusement parks. 3) There would be two hotels in Hong Kong Disneyland which could provide guests with better recreation facilities. 4) There was going to be a subway station linking Disneyland to other parts of Hong Kong which enable Disneyland to has convenient transportation advantage over its competitors. 5) Unique Disney World-styled wedding ceremony was offered to guests in Disneyland. Strategic direction In 2005 Ocean Park had good business characteristics it became profitable, with significant market share, effective management team and successful recognizable brand. Otherwise, arriving of Disneyland could negatively impact on success of a company. To avoid this, Ocean Park must define a right strategic direction. Most preferable direction is product development. This means that Ocean Park need to improve its products range and number of additional services. Thus, by offering new wide set of entertainment and educational products for all target groups, the company can gain advantages to harden its brand, attract new consumers and retrieve lost customers, who not engaged with old facilities and services any more. Despite the international tourists is a minor group in customers totals, company could start to develop a new markets. This development includes marketing campaign directed to tourists from selected countries and making contracts with tour agents. Realization of these methods helps to increase tourists share when local citizens share will decline after Disneyland coming. International Strategy International Strategy for Ocean Park is limited to marketing policy for preferable countries. The main reason of this limitation is that Ocean Park cant be expanded to other countries like Disneyland does, for example. Its based on local flora and fauna and strongly attached to Chinese culture. Also other countries may not have such resources. Ocean Park is a unique, not common product. Not every country even needs it. Thus, expansion is considered in case of marketing development only, such as connection with potential tourists, opening of offices, TV advertising and so on, which helps to enhance promotional activities in Hong Kong and attract visitors. CAGE FRAMEWORK for Ocean Park Cultural distance: With increasing popularity of the Ocean Park, the CEO and Broad of Ocean Park need to think about it attractiveness to tourists in case of the whole world. Indeed, Ocean Park activities are affected by cultural heritage, but it only helps park to attract tourists not only from Asia, but also from all over the world. High priorities should be given to those countries, from where the number of tourist is significant. Administrative and political distance: Its important to consider at first countries with good and stable relationships with China and Hong Kong. Geographic distance: High priority should be given to those countries, from which the number of tourist is significant, then to neighbor countries. Therefore, Ocean Park need to make agreements with tour agents in these countries, organize different sales and advertising, so, expand its marketing presence in these countries. Economic distance: The economic circumstances of a country is an important factor when carrying out international strategy. Therefore, the amusement theme park cant be developed well in the countries with bad economic circumstances. Thus, the main orientation of Ocean Park will be on countries with high income per capita or high level of consumer wealth. 5. General introduction and future of development Hong Kong Tourism Since the reunification (except during the SARS outbreak in), the Hong Kong tourism industry has performed well. In 2004, Hong Kong tourism industry reached new heights, with 21810630 tourists, increasing by 40.4% compared to the figures of 15536839 in 2003 (subject to SARS impact), meanwhile, the revenue of tourism amounted to 91.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, up to 9.6% over 2003 (http://www.discoverhongkong.com). Hong Kong government has always been thinking of a new positioning and development direction. In the Governments policy report, it is identified that Hong Kong to be Backed by the Mainland and towards the world, to be an international metropolis providing quality services, and it is clearly stated the new policy as Market Leads, Government Facilitates. need a source here!! Tourism is the most robust momentum in services industries, one of the pillar industries of Hong Kong and is paid high attention by Hong Kong government. In the new situation and new policy paradigm, the Government begins to make overall planning for the tourism industry, which means that the Government will take more proactive measures to promote the development of tourism (http://www.gov.hk). In 2004 mainland visitors continued to be the majority of Hong Kong tourism with a number of 12245862 tourists, increasing by 44.6%. Free exercise program was the driving force to promote further expansion of mainland market. Moreover, from July 1, 2004, the free exercise extended to 32 cities in South China and East China, 100 million 58 million residents from these cities could apply for travel to Hong Kong with the name of free exercise. In 2004, there were 426 million free exercise visitors, accounting for 34.8% of the total number of tourists; which rose more than twice than 134 million tourists in 2003 (http://www.discoverhongkong.com). With the support from the government as well as the increasing trend of visitors travelling to Hong Kong, it is predicted that there will be a bright future for Hong Kong tourism which will directly promote the development of them park industry in Hong Kong. 6. Suggestions to Hong Kong Ocean Park Generally speaking, Hong Kong Ocean Park, with Disneylands arrival, should transform hybrid strategy to differentiation strategy. More specifically, it involves two main parts: marketing strategy as short term goals and infrastructure construction as long term objective. However, it should always stick to its mission and vision of delivering the highest standards of safety, animal care, products and guest service, be a world leader in providing excellent guest experiences in a theme park environment connecting people with nature. put a source here! Marketing strategy Product: Keep on introducing a variety of interactive activities with animals. For example: the Ocean theatre that staged dolphin and sea lion shows every day. Keep focus on seasonal and special events like Chinese New Year and Halloween. For instance, during summer holiday, some water-related activities such as water-war of foam parties should be organized which target teenagers. Develop a niche products, e.g. Sea World-styled wedding ceremony. Provide more sophisticated products to its customers than Disney. For example, build boutique hotel and spa-style hotels for tourists with higher income, expectations and needs. Such, move to a new market segment, even luxury tourism. Price: Concentrate on giving value for the money the customers have paid. It is quite essential to attract mainland visitors who are more sensitive on price. Provide guests with more amusement facilities at a lower price than Disneyland to attract more visits. As to the local residents, it is suggested to offer them the annual pass as it creates loyalty and a real sense of value by encouraging annual pass holders to visit the park repeatedly. Some special offer to different groups in the society is also recommended, for example, a discount for students during holidays. As a step of moving from hybrid to differentiation strategy after Disneys arrival, at first, Ocean Park should keep its prices, but later, with differentiation of its products range, the prices could be increased. Promotion: Make full use of word of mouth marketing and the advantage of being the localized theme park. Proceed the promotion through the unique feeling of growing together with Hong Kong (Yan Le, 2007). Advertising campaign in Hong Kong can be carried out through the interactive quiz of the knowledge about animals to inspire their interest in nature and wildlife. As there is a significantly increasing number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, it is strongly suggested that Hong Kong Ocean Park should establish agencies in major cities in China to showcase its unique attractions and attract more mainland visitors. Expand the marketing campaign to international markets to attract foreign tourists. In case of Disneys arrival, Ocean Park can start more aggressive marketing politic for attracting tourists from all over the wor

Ouija Boards :: essays research papers fc

Ouija Boards For those of you that do not know what a ouija board is, it is a device used to supposedly ask questions of and receive answers from a seemingly supernatural force. Using a ouija board has become a controversial subject. Some people regard them as "evil" or a "tool of the Devil", yet they continue to be sold in stores along Scrabble and Monopoly as a game. The Ouija board was invented in the early 1890's by William Fuld. It is now sold by Parker Brothers. A ouija board is a small board with various symbols printed on its surface. These symbols include all letters of the alphabet, the numbers 1 to 9 and 0, and the words yes and no. A smaller board, shaped like a heart, called a planchette or pointer is used to direct the answers. Two or more people rest a Ouija board on their laps and press their fingers lightly on the pointer. One of them asks the board a question. The pointer supposedly answers by indicating a word or a number or by spelling out words. According to people who believe in the ouija board, spirits guide the pointer. Others think the fingers of the questioner influence the pointer. There are basic guidelines that should be followed for using Ouija boards. If any of you are willing to try one you should check out some of the safe things to do to protect yourself or anyone else from possible harm. As many people improvise a ouija board as a game, it is always best to protect yourself. Where there is no protection from 'evil forces' extremely frightening things can occur. Sinister messages can be spelt out, claimed to come from the devil. As to prove that no one person is purposely pushing the pointer, tales have been told of all removing their fingers except one, and the pointer continuing to whiz around in manic fashion - or of the pointer jumping up in the air or hurling itself off the table and smashing. Also evil spirits have been known to lie about who they are tricking the users into further danger. You have to be the judge of the information you receive. To believe everything that comes through on the board just because it's from the other side is extremely gullible, and is like believing everything that you read in the newspaper or see on TV. If your mind tells you there's something wrong, there probably is . If the information you're getting seems new to you, compare it with other channeled material and see if you're comfortable with it. Ouija Boards :: essays research papers fc Ouija Boards For those of you that do not know what a ouija board is, it is a device used to supposedly ask questions of and receive answers from a seemingly supernatural force. Using a ouija board has become a controversial subject. Some people regard them as "evil" or a "tool of the Devil", yet they continue to be sold in stores along Scrabble and Monopoly as a game. The Ouija board was invented in the early 1890's by William Fuld. It is now sold by Parker Brothers. A ouija board is a small board with various symbols printed on its surface. These symbols include all letters of the alphabet, the numbers 1 to 9 and 0, and the words yes and no. A smaller board, shaped like a heart, called a planchette or pointer is used to direct the answers. Two or more people rest a Ouija board on their laps and press their fingers lightly on the pointer. One of them asks the board a question. The pointer supposedly answers by indicating a word or a number or by spelling out words. According to people who believe in the ouija board, spirits guide the pointer. Others think the fingers of the questioner influence the pointer. There are basic guidelines that should be followed for using Ouija boards. If any of you are willing to try one you should check out some of the safe things to do to protect yourself or anyone else from possible harm. As many people improvise a ouija board as a game, it is always best to protect yourself. Where there is no protection from 'evil forces' extremely frightening things can occur. Sinister messages can be spelt out, claimed to come from the devil. As to prove that no one person is purposely pushing the pointer, tales have been told of all removing their fingers except one, and the pointer continuing to whiz around in manic fashion - or of the pointer jumping up in the air or hurling itself off the table and smashing. Also evil spirits have been known to lie about who they are tricking the users into further danger. You have to be the judge of the information you receive. To believe everything that comes through on the board just because it's from the other side is extremely gullible, and is like believing everything that you read in the newspaper or see on TV. If your mind tells you there's something wrong, there probably is . If the information you're getting seems new to you, compare it with other channeled material and see if you're comfortable with it.

Psychology and Pure Entertainment Purposes Essay

It is a known fact that there is a great diversity of entertainment options. There are many forms of entertainment targeted towards population for different purposes such as educational, informative, or pure entertainment purposes. To begin to talk we would say that as everything, entertainment may be looked whether as a positive or negative thing. Of course, opinions about this topic can be many, depending on the angle we might be looking at it. On the one hand, entertainment is seen as a good thing for society. Referring to television for example and taking the subject from an educational point of view, there are several channels which are mainly about nature and even can provide information about physical phenomena affecting our Earth, things which can be found interesting mostly for children. Nevertheless, television has become a bad influence in the opinion of many people, as there is a lot of perversion and violent things they would prefer not to see. On the other hand, we could take the psychological field. Referring to this topic, entertainment seems to be very positive and relaxing, for example watching television when we get home after a long period of working. It certainly can help to open up our minds and stay calm for a while. However, when it comes to adolescents this can become a bad habit and abusing of its benefits can keep them apart from their obligations and their study. To sum up, I would say that we all enjoy the occasional escape from reality; but more and more entertainment is shoving its way into our world. It’s everywhere we look, we are forced to deviate from the path it leads us down. Entertainment could be a good aspect in our society if we learn how to take control of its advantages and disadvantages.

Darwin observed several facts which contradicted his theory of natural- or survival selection The WritePass Journal

Darwin observed several facts which contradicted his theory of natural- or survival selection Introduction Darwin observed several facts which contradicted his theory of natural- or survival selection IntroductionDiscussionPhysical attractivenesCompetitivenessNurturing qualitiesSociabilityStatusConclusionRelated Introduction Darwin observed several facts which contradicted his theory of natural- or survival selection, one of which was the dazzling plumage of peacocks that appeared to have nothing to do with survival, and in fact seemed to be more of an open invitation to potential predators. The fact that peahens prefer to mate with males who have the most brilliant and luminescent plumage, and that males are often larger than females in species in which they need to engage in physical combat in competition over females, (Crawford Krebbs, 2008) lead to Darwin’s second evolutionary theory: the theory of sexual selection. Competition among members of the same species for reproductively relevant resources is the pillar of Darwin’s (1859) theory of natural selection (West-Eberhard, 1979) and he proposed two primary ways in which sexual selection could operate. Firstly, intrasexual competition; consisting of competition between members of one sex, the result of which leads to mating access with the opposite sex, and secondly, intersexual selection or preferential mate choice. Intersexual selection refers to the tendency of one sex to choose as mates certain members of the opposite sex based on specifically desired qualities. Darwin referred to intersexual selection as â€Å"female choice† because he observed that throughout the animal kingdom females were prone to be more discriminating than males in their mating choices, (Crawford, Crebs 2008). In the past several decades the evolutionary perspective on interpersonal attraction and mate selection has gained increased attention and proposes that humans are governed by rules of attraction and mate selection that prioritize the conception, birth, and survival of their offspring. (Mahfouz, et al. 2008). Intrasexual selection in humans appears to operate mostly indirectly, through social hierarchies, rather than through direct competition as can be observed in the animal kingdom, e.g. two antelopes locking horns in com bat over a female. In this way patterns of sexual selection do not immediately involve environmental changes, and neutral or even dysfunctional traits could potentially develop through female choice (Buss, 1986). This begs the important question; what are the preferred characteristics valued by human beings when it comes to mating? One of the main strategies of competition in mating is to make oneself more attractive than others of the same sex by use of specific tactics and displaying certain resources (Buss, 1988).   Trivers (1972) further illuminated Darwin’s theory of sexual selection when he suggested that the one driving force behind sexual selection is the relative parental contribution of both sexes in their offspring. Males should adopt a reproductive strategy which maximizes the opportunity to mate, and females should adopt a strategy that relies on choice, only mating once the best male out of a number has been identified. According to Buss (1986) under conditions of female choice, males are expected to display the traits most valued by females, and may compete for elevation in hierarchies while women tend to favour high-status men. Buss (1988) conducted a number of studies with the hypothesis in mind that patterns of human intrasexual competition can be predicted from knowledge of mate sele ction criteria, and examined preferences in partner choice. He found three replicated sex differences; men more than women preferred mates who were physically attractive, and women more than men preferred mates who showed good earning potential and who were college educated. Thus, it would seem that females can increase their reproductive success by choosing a man of high status with sufficient resources, thereby able to provide material security to successfully raise offspring. Males, on the other hand, increase their reproductive success by choosing women who are receptive, fertile, and possesses characteristics suggestive of being a good mother (Singh, 1993). Where as the reproductive value of a man can be easily assessed by looking at external symbols of power such as social- and economical standing, women’s reproductive value is concealed. However, from an evolutionary based perspective it is assumed that physical attractiveness is primarily a reflection of a womanâ€⠄¢s reproductive success (Buss, 1987), and is portrayed in this way by certain desired physical characteristics like full lips, clear skin, clear eyes, an abundance of hair, symmetry, good muscle tone, youth (Buss, 1993) and lower body mass (Swami and Furnham, 2007). From an evolutionary viewpoint, both sexes should have evolved a preference for mates that possess these desired qualities, increasing levels of competition to project such characteristics and ensure reproductive success. The number of options available when deciding on a mate has become potentially overwhelming in modern times. Not only are there more people in our local environment, but modern dating methods present us with more options than humans have previously had to deal with. However, research suggests that mate qualities valued by people offline are the same as those valued by people online (Lenton, et al., 2008), and that online interaction is driven by the same needs as face-to-face interaction. Thus, online interaction should not be regarded as a separate arena but as an integrated part of modern social life (Wellman Hathornthwaite, 2002). A study by Hitch et al. (2005) which looked at desirable qualities as projected on online dating sites found the most striking difference across gender to be related to earnings and education. Although both sexes show a preference for partners with higher incomes, this preferences is much more pronounced for women, as also found in Buss’ studies. It was also found that although users prefer a partner with a similar education level, men tended to have a strong dislike for a better educated partner, where as women avoided less educated men. In another study focused on the importance attached to physical attractive qualities, Hancock and Toma (2009) studied profile pictures of women on dating websites by looking at self-presentation and in particular at levels of deception in the form of the number of discrepancies as contained in photographs . They assumed that from an evolutionary perspective youthfulness and physical attractiveness would be qualities valued more by women than by men, and found that women’s photographs were indeed less accurate, with discrepancies relating to mentioned weight, hair length and age as preferred by men, and higher incidences of retouching photos. Although earlier studies focused on self-presentation on internet dating websites, researchers have recently shifted their attention to self-pr esentation in less anonymous settings like social networking sites.   A study by Ellison et al. (2006) found that people tend to act differently in social networking environments when compared to those interacting in anonymous settings. This finding had vast implications in identity formation in the online world, as it basically indicated that online self-presentation varies according to the nature of the setting. Along with dating sites, friend-networking websites like MySpace and Facebook have become very popular, and offer a highly controlled environment for self-presentational behaviour- an ideal setting for impression management (Mehdizadeh, 2010). A study by Zhao (2008) examined identity construction on Facebook, with the main hypothesis being that Facebook users would engage in what internet dating sites users engage in- the presentation of their hoped-for possible selves, defined as socially desirable identities an individual aim to construct, in this case online. They dis tinguished between implicit identity claims, which involved the display of photos and profile pictures, and explicit identity claims, involving verbal descriptions of the self under the â€Å"About me† section of facebook. However, it was found that this was the least elaborated of identity strategies and photos were mainly used for identity construction. Results were consistent with internet dating studies and the way in which a self which is more socially desirable was projected. The construction of the self online has been found to differ between the sexes because different kinds of social roles come into play during interpersonal communication (Archer, 1989). Women, unlike men, tend to place greater importance on sexual-interpersonal aspects of self-definition, and a review of gender differences in identity development revealed few gender differences, apart from in the areas of sexuality and family roles, supporting findings that relationships are more important to womenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s identity formation than to men’s (Manago, 2008). Research highlights that it is critical that social scientists don’t view Cyberspace as one generic space, but rather to consider how different spaces online are constructed (Whitty, 2007). Specific characteristics of internet communication may affect gender self-presentation, and the way in which Facebook allows users to present a very strategic presentation of their selves and to control what remains hidden and what is revealed, makes it a fascinating medium to study. The objectives of the current study was to look at the effect of gender and relationship status on the projection of reproductively valued qualities on Facebook from an evolutionary perspective. From an evolutionary viewpoint one would expect similar gender differences as was found in Buss’ studies, with women placing more of an emphasis on physical attractiveness and youth and the way this is projected on Facebook, and men projecting qualities which portray status and competitiveness. The projection of sociability was correlated with â€Å"warmth† and it was predicted that women would score significantly higher on the projection of this characteristic, with single women scoring significantly higher overall. Important to note is that the projection of these mentioned reproductively valued qualities would be of an unconscious- and implicit nature, considering that Facebook is primarily seen as a social networking website, rather than as a virtual arena designed to meet m embers of the opposite sex, as is the case with online dating websites. Both gender and relationship differences in the projection of   physical attractiveness, competitiveness, nurturing qualities, status and sociability were predicted. It was predicted that married persons, already being in a position of long term mating, would project these qualities significantly less than single persons. There were four main hypotheses: Hypothesis one: Single males will score significantly higher on projected status and -competitiveness than single females. Hypothesis two: Single females will score significantly higher on projected physical attractiveness, -nurturing qualities and -sociability than single males. Hypothesis three: Single males will score significantly higher on both projected status and -competitiveness in comparison to married males. Hypothesis four: Single females will score significantly higher on projected physical attractiveness, -nurturing qualities and -sociability than married females. Discussion Darwin’s theory of sexual selection suggests that desirable members of the opposite sex possess reproductively valuable assets over which members of the same sex compete. Gender differences typically exist when it comes to which reproductively relevant resources are valued by men and women. Females seem to increase their reproductive success by choosing a man of high status with sufficient resources, thereby able to provide material security to successfully raise offspring. Males, on the other hand, increase their reproductive success by choosing women who are receptive, fertile, and possesses characteristics suggestive of being a good mother (Singh, 1993). Research suggests that mate qualities valued by people offline are the same as those valued by people online (Lenton, et al., 2008) and studies investigating mating preferences on online dating websites display similar findings, with women going to significantly greater lengths than men to enhance physical attractiveness on    profile photos, and men emphasising their status and income to a significantly greater extend than women. The present study proposed that evolutionary differences between the sexes with regards to sexual selection should also exist in non-dating online environments like the social networking website, Facebook, with females placing more of on emphasis on projecting physical attractiveness, sociability and nurturing qualities, and males projecting competitiveness and status. Most of the hypotheses were confirmed and were consistent with other studies on mating preferences from an evolutionary viewpoint. Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. Firstly, support was found for significantly greater female than male use and perceived effectiveness of projecting physical attractiveness and nurturing qualities. Secondly, support was found that single women perceive the effectiveness of projecting physical attractiveness to a significantly greater extent than married females. T hirdly, support was found for significantly greater male than female use and perceived effectiveness of competitiveness. Fourthly, support was found that single persons perceived the use and effectiveness of projecting sociability as significantly greater than married persons. Finally, the perceived use and effectiveness of the projection of status did not vary significantly for either gender or relationship status. These findings provide evidence that mating preferences are also displayed implicitly in non-dating online environments where the main agenda is social networking, rather than attracting a mate. This implies that the projection of reproductively valued assets could also be an unconscious process, engrained in our evolutionary biological make-up. The results of this study will now be discussed in terms of each hypothesis, after which the practical implications of the study will be highlighted and   suggestions will finally be made on how future studies could utilize and expand these findings. Physical attractivenes As predicted, significant results were found for the projection of physical attractiveness for gender, with women scoring higher overall than men, and also for relationship status, with single persons scoring significantly higher than married persons. These findings provide evidence that pressure on women to appear young and attractive is just as prevalent in today’s society as it was when Darwin wrote his theory on sexual selection in 1871, noting that â€Å"In civilized life man is largely, but by no means exclusively, influenced in the choice of his wife by external appearance†, 1871. (p. 738).   The pressure to be beautiful can be most blatantly observed on dating websites where the intrasexual battle between women ensues as they compete for the attention of a potential partner, and rely solely on photos as a method to project physical characteristics, even lying about age and weight to appear more attractive (Hitsch et al., 2005). One study found that men were mo re likely to respond to an advertisement in which a woman identified herself as a recovering addict than to an ad in which the woman identified herself as obese (Minervini McAndrew, 2005). Findings of this study reveal Facebook to be just as a competitive virtual arena which exhibits similar characteristics to online dating websites, including the strategic way in which one’s projected physical attractiveness is manipulated and enhanced online. Women displayed considerably more of a tendency to change their profile pictures on a regular basis than men, thereby drawing attention to- and emphasizing their looks to a much greater extent than men. This tendency was particularly highlighted along single women. Considering that evolutionary biology rules out beauty for its own sake (Derry, 2008) these findings reflect the unconscious way in which women on Facebook project reproductively valued qualities to the opposite sex through the implicit medium of photography. Although facial attractiveness is expected to predict the popularity of both men and women, and emerged in virtually all dating studies based on real interactions as a powerful predictor of popularity (Asendorpf et al., 2011), women tend to score significantly higher on projected physical attractiveness in comparison to men, as also supported by the findings of this study. Further significant differences were found between single- and married persons, with single users projecting physical attractiveness more than married users. This supports predictions, and reflects that there is less pressure on married couples to emphasise physical attractiveness, which can be attributed to the fact that they are already in positions of long term mating, and there is thus less of a need to project this asset. Another interesting finding in the current study was that only 52% of single women listed their age, followed by 78% of married women, 88% of single men, and finally 94% of married men. This further highlights the pressure on women to appear youthful, and it is interesting to note that it is predominantly single women who do not choose to list their age. Considering that 78% of married females list their age, one can not generalize this finding to women in general. The conclusion which must thus be drawn is that single women tend to de-emphasize elements relating to age in an attempt to appear more youthful. It is also interesting to note that the average age of single women was 24 in comparison to married women who were aged 29 on average. Considering that married women were aged slightly older than single women, one would in fact expect them to be more secretive about their age. However, this research indicates findings to the contrary and highlights the reproductive value of appea ring young for single women. These findings are supported by various previous studies into mating preference that found both physical attractiveness and youth as indicative of health and fertility in women, and as valued significantly by men as sources of reproductive value (Buss et al., 1990; Buss Barnes, 1986; Buss et al., 2001; Buss Schmitt, 1993; Feingold, 1990, 1992; Kenrick Keefe, 1992; Kenrick, Keefe, Gabrielidis, Cornelius, 1996; Singh, 1993; Singh Young, 1995). Competitiveness Human beings tend to live in groups and all groups have status hierarchies, whether formal or informal, with reproductively valued resources usually abundant at the top rather than the bottom, creating steep levels of competition (Buss, 2001). Levels of   intrasexual competition also increase, especially among males, as male resource display is judged as more effective than female resource display when it comes to attracting a mate. Men more than women display characteristics that would lead to the likely acquisition of resources like ambition and industriousness (Buss, 1988). In the current study significant gender differences were found for the projection of competitiveness, with males overall scoring significantly higher than females, as predicted.   Previous studies found that men were more likely to display resources as a tactic of intrasexual competition than women, also linking to studies done on mating preferences as displayed on online dating websites which found that me n tended to project their status in society, as well as their income, to a much greater extent than women   (Hitsch et al., 2005, Toma et al., 2008, Mahfouz, 2008). Although projected levels of competitiveness is not viewed as directly projecting resources or income in the case of this study, it is seen as a powerful indicator of a male’s ability to succeed in allocating valuable resources such as financial income. Levels of competitiveness did not vary significantly between single- and married men as predicted, indicating that the projection of competitiveness is valued by males in general and not just single males. This could arguably be explained by the fact that, from an evolutionary viewpoint, men may have evolved over human evolutionary history a powerful need for sexual access to a large number of women (Buss, 1993) which in combination with the innate ability to father offspring until much later in life than women are capable of biologically, entails higher levels o f competitiveness to suffice throughout a male’s life. In one study men stated that they would ideally like to have more than 18 sex partners in their lifetimes, whereas women state that they would desire only 4 or 5 (Buss Schmitt, 1993), and these findings were replicated twice when 75% of men but 0% of the women approached by an attractive stranger of the opposite sex consented to a request for sex (Clark Hatfield, 1989). From an evolutionary viewpoint, marriage is a relatively modern concept, implying that gender differences with regards to intra- and intersexual competition have not changed dramatically in modern times. In this sense competitiveness leads to a higher position in the social hierarchy, and better chance of providing for one’s offspring, and should not significantly vary between single- and married men, as findings illustrate in this study The importance of physical characteristics in the female choice of a mate is prevalent throughout the animal kingdom, and one benefit of a woman in permanent mating conditions is the physical protection offered by a man, Buss (2003). Considering that levels of competitiveness was correlated with participation in sports, one could further explore the possibility that physical strength as displayed in sports is valued as a reproductive resource by women- supported by studies such as Buss (1995) which found that women valued physical protection abilities more than men, in both short-term and long-term mating. Thus, it is additionally also possible that men project physical strength by appearing â€Å"sporty† in profile photos as the reproductively valued asset of providing physical protection to female offspring. This could also account for the insignificant difference between single- and married males when it came to the projection of competitiveness, seeing that men can father (and thus protect) offspring until late in life. Nurturing qualities The current study predicted that women would score significantly higher on projected nurturing qualities than men, and this hypothesis was supported. Both single and married women projected nurturing qualities to a greater extent than males. Stereotypically women are nurturing, where as men are somewhat more aggressive and less person-centred. Traditionally sex differences have been explained by the process of socialization , and the way men and women are influenced by societal norms to play acceptable gender roles. However, from an evolutionary viewpoint men would need to exhibit higher levels of aggression, and competitiveness, supported by the findings of this study, to protect their positions in society where as women with lower levels of competition and higher investment in their offspring are expected to show more nurturing behaviours (Workman Reader). This study supports findings from previous research which highlight nurturing qualities in women as being innate, as illustrat ed in a study by Bernt (1986) in which it was shown that women are more attracted to intimate relationships than men (Berndt, 1986), and cross-cultural studies which suggests women to be more person-centred, in contrast to men who are more object-centred .There is also evidence that sex differences in nurturance has its origins in infancy, and a study by Simner (1971) found that infant girls more than infant boys were more likely to also start crying when they heard another baby cry,   than when hearing a loud noise (Workman Reader, 2001). Contrary to prediction single women did not score higher on projected nurturing qualities than married women with married women having the highest scores on projected nurturing qualities overall. A possible explanation for this could be that married women, who being married are in a more secure position to either have children- or already have children, are either consciously or unconsciously depicting salient nurturing qualities. This study also illustrates that the biological experiences of pregnancy and lactation generate a strong, instinctual drive in women to nurture (Silverstein, et al., 1999), as illustrated by the higher, although not significantly so, proportion of married women who exhibited nurturing qualities in this study versus single women. Sociability A significant difference between single- and married subjects was noted when it came to sociability, with single Facebook users projecting sociability to a greater extend than married users. This links to previous studies done on Facebook which found that most users attempted to project a socially desired self, claiming that they were â€Å"popular among friends†. Fierce competition was also noted among Facebook users for the size of social networks they claimed to possess, and competition to have the most amount of â€Å"friends†, Zhao (2008). Thus, it would seem that the desire to appear sociable or popular offline, also exists online. There is further   support for the importance of social skills as found in a study by Buss (1989) which studied mating preferences across 37 cultures and found that kindness, intelligence and social skills were listed as the top criteria for a potential mate. This supports the current study’s prediction, that single Facebook us ers would appear significantly more social than married users. However, unlike predicted there was no significant difference between men and women when it came to projected sociability, revealing that the projection of warmth towards others is just as important for single men as it is for single women. Significantly lower levels of projected sociability in married couples could be a reflection of lower levels of social activity as portrayed in profile pictures, perhaps as a result of spending more time with their partners or children, but could also indicate that there is less of a need to exhibit sociability, and thereby project popularity among friends . Status Status is closely correlated to financial income, and it was predicted that men more than women would display their status on Facebook, supporting studies such as one by Buss (1988) in which it was found that men more than women display characteristics that lead to the likely acquisition of resources, e.g. degree attainment.   However, this was not the case, and no significant differences in the projection of status were found between either men and women overall, or single- and married subjects. There could be several explanations for this, one relating to previous studies done on online dating websites which found that both sexes tended to favour members of the opposite sex with similar educational levels. Considering the overwhelming support that previous studies provide with regards to the importance that women attach to resource income as a reproductive value and status as a reflection of financial income, another explanation could lie in the obvious fact that Facebook is a so cial-, rather than dating network, and that popularity as illustrated with regards to exhibiting sociability, is highly valued. Thus, it would be just as important for women than for men to list their status in a virtual social network where one would expect similar levels of education among friends or acquaintances as a general rule. Also, Facebook is arguably not different from online dating websites where users, both male and female, tend to list their status as a formality, but in which one study men stated in a questionnaire that they did have a particularly strong distaste for a better educated partner, while women particularly avoided less educated men (Hitsch, 2005). Conclusion In conclusion, the implicit nature of photography and the unconscious way in which participants use it to project reproductively valued qualities to members of the opposite sex are particularly interesting findings. Facebook as a social networking website, in which users have control over self image and access to many tools with which to present themselves in a favourable way to others makes it a fascinating medium to further explore. Limitations and suggestions for future research should be noted. Suggestions for future studies include conducting a cross-cultural study to see if there are any significant differences to note. Secondly, exploring other functions on the social networking website, such as the number of friends- or social networks a user possess, additional photo albums, qualitative analysis of verbal descriptions under the â€Å"About me† section or status updates of users, etc. The vast amount of additional information available on Facebook could be used to supplement current findings, and other popular social networking sites such as MySpace could be researched in a similar fashion. Thirdly, different age groups could be tested for significant correlations- or differences. Fourthly, data could be collected in combination with questionnaires, supplementing findings. Fifthly, a study looking at specific differences between the explicit and implicit projection of reproductively valued qualities on Facebook could be conducted. Finally, there are many other traits which both sexes highly value in the opposite sex like displaying humour, good manners, sympathy, good grooming (Buss, 1988), similar values, honesty (Whitty, 2007) etc. and future studies could aim to include these. Although this study and its hypotheses were interpreted from an evolutionary perspective, additional theoretical accounts are possible, and it should be kept in mind that evolutionary explanations supplement, rather than replace traditional modes of explanation in psychology (Buss, 1988). These results may seen as the start of an exploration into social networking websites and how resource valued traits are unconsciously and implicitly projected to members of the opposite sex, but current social psychological accounts should also considered.

Anthology Submissions A Good Idea or Not

Anthology Submissions A Good Idea or Not Thinking of submitting to an anthology? I’d say if you have time to write an essay based on the submission guidelines, aren’t looking for great financial reward but are seeking to be published in a â€Å"real† book, there’s nothing to lose. I noticed a small ad in Poets Writers for submissions to an anthology devoted to lessons learned from our mothers. The editor, Eric Bowen, had decided to create an anthology of essays and poems and donate half of the proceeds to shelters for women and children affected (amazon.com/Wisdom-Our-Mothers-Stories-daughters/dp/1453631011) I was delighted to have my essay about my mother and knitting selected and the book has been a wonderful gift item. And it was my first time published in a book so a great credential to add to my resume. Shortly after, I was invited to submit an essay to a book being compiled (amazon.com/Im-Going-College-Not-You-Surviving/dp/0312607296 ) While these opportunities weren’t high paying, I felt they were important and a chance to have my work judged Without giving the writers any themes, I received submissions that span the entire citrus spectrum, from sour to sweet.   Inside are poems and essays about parents, families, jobs, food, and memories.   The title, Tangerine Tango: Women Writers Share Slices of Life, came from my love of the color orange and love of alliteration. I offered to pay the writers $50 for their submissions and have decided to donate the proceeds from the sales to fight Huntington’s Disease, which honors one of the writers who lost her mother to the disease this year. I loved working with the writers and shaping the book, seeing the themes that emerged.   I hope to do it again! So, I’d encourage you to submit to an anthology if you see one that speaks to you as a writer. Not for the money, but to be included in a book that you can be proud to be part of and will give you a chance to be published. I’d be wary of offers that don’t pay at all, or are for total commercial gain. Be sure you maintain the rights of your work too. You never know, being in an anthology could be a steppingstone to more acceptances.  

Based on DQ1rw, DQ2Bridget Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Based on DQ1rw, DQ2Bridget - Essay Example The recruitment will be based on talents and skills of employees in question. The recruits will be appointed on the basis of ability to make predictions based on the trends experienced currently, interact well with the existing strategic planners and implementers in the organization, and use of statistical models and expert judgments. These employees will be subjected through a thorough training before absorption. The employees will be trained and orientated about the organization’s activities. They will be evaluated using a SWOT analysis. This will be done as on job training and job rotation so as to enable them capture the idea and concept of the organization. Eventually the right persons will be placed in the right positions matching their talents, skills, qualifications, and training. After a significant period on job, there will be an evaluation of their performance carried out. Their future needs will be anticipated considering the past performance they shown with the ex isting needs. The previous trends involved in promotions and quitting will then be assessed and considered. After an extensive appraisal of the employee performance, the organization then decides on the employee with diverse skills and abilities to be placed in other places (McGregor, 2005). Both Russia and China are famous for robust potential in earnings. However, the exports from China are much more than those from Russia. Before the reforms in China back in 1978, the economy relied much on vestiges of the Maoism whose communism tenets determined a common pay for every rank in the society, however, the high ranking officials and power elite still benefited greatly from the sundry perks and preferential treatments they got. On the other hand, Russian economy is mortgage oriented. There are favorable employee rates though (Phatak et al., 2009). Therefore Russia is considered much more attractive in terms of â€Å"the right

Construction and Maintenance of Building Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Construction and Maintenance of Building - Essay Example In addition, the primary source of energy for the building will be generated from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit. Combined power and heat integrates the production of usable heat and power (electricity), in one single, cost effective and highly efficient process. The CHP system is sustainable, clean and renewable. CHP generates electricity while also capturing usable heat that is produced in this process its efficiency is greatly increased. This is unusual contrasts with conventional ways of generating electricity where heat is simply wasted and in the process impacting negatively on efficiency. In today’s coal and gas-fired power stations, up to two-thirds of the entire energy consumed get lost in such a way, frequently witnessed as a cloud of smoke rising from the cooling turrets, the process is very environmentally unfriendly. This will be a very eco-friendly aspect of construction as it is very efficient in its purpose and design. Sub-structure or Foundation- is the lower section of the building, located below the ground level and the damp proof course. A foundation is part of the structure that is in direct contact with the ground to which the loads are equally transmitted to the supporting surrounding soil. Shrinkable soils are those types whose contents are made up of more than 35% have a modified plasticity index greater or equal to 10% and of fine particles. The fine soil particles are having nominal diameters of 60 Â µm. Plastic index of a given soil is its measure of the change in volume potential that is determined by Atterberg Limits test. Soil particles whose nominal diameters after the test are greater than 425 Â µm are eliminated through sieving in advance. Particles with diameters smaller than 425 Â µm are promptly reported for Atterberg Limits test. The Plasticity index of the soil multiplied by the real percentage of particles with contents less than 425