Animal Rights Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Animal Rights Analysis - Essay Example Within the animal rights movement, every animal, from conception to natural death, has a certain value given by God. The second strand employs the arguments from the field of legal philosophy, specifically natural law, claiming that the right-to-life is a fundamental right which should be protected by law. On the other hand, if an animal and its existence threaten human life, it is morally permissible to kill this animal: for instance, outcasts with rabies, extreme aggressiveness of an animal or invasion of animals such as wild foxes or wolves. Also, gene engineering and cloning need sacrifices in order to protect human life and find treatment for incurable diseases. Also, all medicines and treatment methods are tested on animals to be sure that they are safe for human beings. In this case, it is morally permissible to do these things to non-human animals. This balance is an expression, then, of core values, of basic societal choices. This is the point where the distinction between r ights and boundaries collapses since Moral rights- beyond the core-become an expression of the kind of particularized societal choice of which fundamental boundaries are an expression. Moral boundaries are designed, thus, to allow communities to make and live by those differing balances which they deem fundamental.  Ã‚   The main similarity is in perspectives they are written from. Both web sites UUFETA   (Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Animal Freedom are based on religious perspectives incorporating moral and ethical point of view. Both web sites state that the community should always seek to adopt the highest standard of animal rights around. Both sites agree that the voice of one indi ­vidual in a modern society will normally carry little weight unless the demands which that individual articulates come from within the central elite and its decision-making body until those concerned get together with others who share a common interest and aggregate their demands into a program for action.

International businesscoca cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International businesscoca cola - Essay Example During economic recession, specific tariffs afford the local producers protection from foreign competition. The tax does not consider the value of the imported products but is based on the specific quantity of the imported products such as the volume or weight of the imported product (Carbaugh 2011). Specific tariffs affect the competitiveness of any company importing raw materials abroad. The tariffs will increase the prices of the products that are manufactured through use of raw materials that have been charged specific tariffs. For instance, if Coca Cola sets up operations in Myanmar and decides to import raw materials from other countries, the costs of production per unit will be high due to the specific tariffs that have been charged on the imported raw materials. Specific tariffs will be used by developing countries like Myanmar in order to protect the infant beverage industry from international competition from established players like Coca Cola and Pepsi. In addition, the My anmar government will also benefit through increased tax revenues by charging Coca Cola specific tariffs for the imported raw materials. Unfortunately, the domestic consumers will incur suffering due to higher prices for the Coca Cola brands. Generally, in the short term, the higher prices of products due to specific tariffs on raw materials will reduce the consumption by the customers, but the government will benefit from the increased revenues. On the other hand, free trade benefits the global economy through increased competition that leads to reduction in consumer prices and a variety of innovative products in the market (Tallman 2010). Question two: Coca Cola is a beverage manufacturing multinational company that was established in 1886. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, USA, and has operations in more than 200 countries. The brand portfolio includes more than 450 brands that are consumed to close to 1.5 billion people daily across the globe. The company has attained a 9 0 percent customer loyalty, and about 45 percent of the global beverage market share due to quality and innovative brands. The mission of Coca Cola is to refresh the world, create value to customers and inspire moments of happiness and optimism among the customers. The vision of the company is to provide a great working environment for the employees, provide quality brands to customers, act responsibly to the communities and maximise the long term returns to the investors. Coca Cola has operated in most of the countries in Southeast Asia except North Korea, Cuba and Myanmar. Due to the recent easing of the trade embargos by the European Union and United States on Myanmar, Coca cola can now enter the market after six decades. The European Union and the United States have allowed the US Corporations and citizens to invest in Myanmar after the ruling junta turned in to a democratically elected government thus paving way for civil authority in the country. Coca Cola international busine ss strategy is to operate a local business model in every target country; thus, Coca Cola has the opportunity of entering Myanmar. The company can sell bottled water, juices and sodas that are considered important in Myanmar. 2. Competitive position 2.1 Competitive position Coca Cola has attained a global leadership position in the soft drinks industry. The company has more than 400 brands and serves almost over 1.5 million customers daily. Coca

Evaluation of the existing operations

Evaluation of the existing operations Introduction In the initial part of this report, I critically evaluate the existing operations and identify areas of improvement in the system. While undertaking this process, I have also identified some problems in the existing operations, and have suggested some approaches to overcoming them, in line with modern approaches. I have chosen to undertake an analysis of the operations of TBS Publishers Distributors for my work. Methodology The information in this assignment is largely sourced from the primary source of information. I personally visited, observed and conducted various surveys and interviews with employees, management and customers for undertaking this assignment. Various websites, journals and online materials have been researched for undertaking this work, though primary source of information is stresses more and given more significance. I have approached this whole assignment, applying the principles and concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM), i.e., through continuous assessment and improvement of the whole operations system and looking at it holistically from customers perspective, as well as demanding the consistent participation of all the stake holders involved in the continuous improvement of Quality. The Quality Circles approach and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has also been applied/recommended to suggest resolution of quality issues that might arise while implementing TQM. Scope and introduction to the problem TBS is one of the top selling book shops in Calicut, India. During peak seasons and the launch of bestselling titles, there is tremendous waiting time for customers, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and decreased/lost customer loyalty. After detailed analysis of the operations system (explained in the later part of this report), it was found that the high waiting time for customers was due to the inefficient forecasting of demand, which also contributed to insufficient number of employees. This could be solved by non-adoption of latest modern forecasting methods, as well as integrating all the various resources of the company by implementing an advanced Enterprise Resource Planning software solution such as SAP or Peoplesoft. About the company According to its website, TBS is a leading provider of books, music, and other educational services and products in the state of Kerala in India[1]. Kerala is located in South India, and is renowned for its high literacy rate and its advancements in modern educational institutions. TBS have become one of the top book-stores and publishers in Kerala with revenues estimated to be over INR 20 million by their unique combination of customer service, innovation, efficient operations and cost competitiveness. [2] TBS is headquartered at Calicut in northern Kerala and has branches spread across Kerala in places like Kannur, Kottayam, Trivandrum and Trichur. It also has a vast network of agents across Kerala through which it distributes its products. TBS also sells office stationery, all types of lab equipments, raw materials for labs including chemicals, surgical items and apparatuses, equipment for   small industries, computer and IT components, sports   and athletic goods.[3] 80% of TBS revenues, and 85% of its profits are estimated to be from its books business alone, and hence this piece of my operations management work focuses on the books business alone, and whenever a specific shop location has to be mentioned, the main bookstore of TBS at Calicut is taken as reference.[4] Total Quality Management (TQM) TQM helps in the delivery of highest quality standards and the subsequent increase in operational efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, TQM constitutes the following: strategy implementation, plans and operational strategies for bringing together all the relevant practical quality control methodologies (Quality Assurance, Reliability Analysis, Statistical Quality Control, Random Sampling Inspection, etc) with the entire organisational mechanisms encouraging the consistent and continuous quality improvement. TQM concentrates in the entirety of the whole system and not just in its individual parts. Failure could be caused by various factors such as culture clashes/shortfalls, teamwork related issues, leadership and management issues, HR related issues, individual motivation issues and employee commitment issues, and other psychological and social issues as well as skills shortage or inadequacies of technical manpower and equipments.[5] Under TQM, customer is the primary focus, and every aspect of improvement is to be seen from a customers perspective. A holistic approach is used from an overall organizations perspective, and the customers are the most crucial and focus point of the whole approaches, and they are treated as the vital component of the whole operations. All stake holders must work together to achieve its objectives, i.e., a holistic approach with customers as the focal point, and involving all stake holders of an organization. Thus empowerment of employees as well as their team work is very critical for this approach to succeed.[6] Customer Satisfaction Survey According to David Garvin, eight characteristics that customers are interested are the following[7]: Since Customers are the central focus of TQM, a customer satisfaction survey was conducted with a sample size of 250 customers based on a survey questionnaire, to find out what matters most to the customers. In this survey conducted to evaluate the above parameters, it was observed that Features and Performance were the main lagging indicators, and there was much scope for improvement in these areas. The following chart demonstrates the customer satisfaction index (out of a total score of 10), the blue being the present score and red showing the areas which has scope for improvement. Analysis of Operations Processes under consideration The operations of TBS was analysed using the concepts of TQM (Total Quality Management). TBS could be categorized into a mass service business, with high capital investment and high volumes, medium variety of service offerings and low level of customization for its customers. The basic business proposition of TBS is that of a service provider of quality books and other services from the publishers to the potential end customers (Figure 1). TBS business can also be classified as a service business involving both Transformation of Place and Transformation of Ownership operation. Transformation of place because this business involves a great amount of storage and transportation, and Transformation of Ownership because it involves the change of ownership from TBS to the end customer. The Value Generation Process / The role of customers in the system Applying the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), the customers play a major role in TBS business since the business of educational services in Kerala is highly competitive, with a lot of small bookstores and a greater competition from pirated books market. There is usually no intellectual property rights or exclusivity agreements, and hence almost all leading book stores in this market offer the same product services. However, TBS has managed to have a competitive positioning in this market, by ensuring a loyal customer base. By helping end-customers buy magazines, lab equipments, CDs, books and other educational items, in a very straight-forward and effortless method, TBS generates value for its end customers. Again applying the principles of TQM, for any efficient organization to succeed in the long term, they must offer a bargain for both itself and the customer. This bargain in this case, could be explained in figure 2: The value generating model could be characterized by the five key tenets (Figure 3) as per the model of service management system[8] by Normann. Applying the principles of TQM, it can be seen that People, Systems and Processes should work in perfect harmony with each other, under a conducive culture, effective communication and excellent commitment from all stakeholders, as described in Figure below: Market Segmentation The demographics of end customers of this educational market segment transcends across occupations, genders, ages and financial conditions. The key distinguishing feature is the need of these end customers for TBS educational products. By applying the principles of TQM, in my observations, it was found that the categories of customers that shop at TBS are (figure 3): Service blue printing technique[9] By using the service blue printing technique[10] of Zeithaml Bitner (2003), the following process maps in the next few pages demonstrates the various buying flow map of TBS various customer segments. The various type of customer segments found were: Focussed Customers Topical Customers Unfocussed Customers These are explained in detail in the next few pages. Focussed Customers these were customers who knew precisely what product they would like to buy, seek advice from the customer service personals on its price and stock availability and then make the buying decision. These customers usually only bought the precise product they came looking for, and would spend very little time in the store. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be very high, compared to the other two segments. Topical Customers these were customers who were interested in particular topics. However, they usually are not aware of a specific title/product. They would directly go to the appropriate section of the store, look at various titles under that topic and the various offers etc, and finally make a decision on which title /product to buy. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be lower than Focussed Buyers, though much higher than Unfocussed customers. Unfocussed Customers These were completely random customers, who came to the store without having any plan on which title or topic to buy. They would randomly go through various sections of the store, and make impulsive purchasing decision. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be very low, compared to the other two segments. Service Concept Applying the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), the service concept of TBS can be classified based on the identified customer segments into Core services and Peripheral services Core: a. Location vital for any book store. TBS in Calicut is situated very close to a busy bus terminal and a leading supermarket, thus making it a very convenient and accessible spot for customers. b. Information counter/desk it is very essential and important because it helps TBS customers make decisions on which CDs, books or other educational products they need to buy, its location in the store and its inventory status. c. Variety a vast number of different services and books are offered at each TBS store, helping customers select their based on their individual preferences. d. Customer care facility    TBS offers excellent customer care facility to serve their customers. For this, they employ: e. Ease of reading/browsing The store layout has been carefully designed in such a manner that the customers can search efficiently and effectively e.g. adventure books by author, Playstation CDs by release date etc. Peripheral: Posters, Newsletters and other communications helps to enhance TBS visibility and information services by providing helpful information to customers. Sofas TBS always encourage customers to spend more time in their stores. They have realized that, more time customers spend in the book store, the more they purchase. Sofas are provided inside the store for reading the books in comfortable areas. Internet Connectivity There is Wireless Internet (WiFi) inside the TBS stores, giving additional revenues to TBS. It also attracts a lot of new and potential customers to the stores, especially travelers and tourists who want to access the internet. Coffee shop inside the stores Customers use this additional facility as it enables them to spend more time inside the store by having some refreshment during or after shopping. This facility also attracts potential new or future customers to the store. Delivery System In line with the principles of TQM, for delivering maximum value to its customers, TBS has designed and implemented a delivery system which is sketched out in Figure 4. The main components of this system include: For catering to ever changing customer needs and demands, TBS has ensured that it maintain many distinct layers of inventory. In each store, a back-office inventory is always maintained, to ensure availability of much demanded books, whose availability is important to prevent lost sales); also local warehouses are also maintained, enabling TBS to ensure that realistically fast-selling books are available in a timeframe of a maximum of 2 days; a central warehouse is also maintained to ensure that specialized books are stored, for those books that end-customers usually have to wait up to a maximum time frame of 5 days. TBS views inventory as both an asset and an insurance/guarantee against fluctuating demand, which is common in this turbulent market. However, the large amount of inventory at any point of time in their supply chain costs a lot for TBS, including: Physical/Geographic location: This is a very important factor of its business, because TBS relies primarily on end customers who visit its stores. With more customers visiting its stores, the more probability of sales. Also, it was observed that many new customers who primarily visit the stores coffee shop become buyers of TBS other product offering. TBS has a characteristic store plan/layout system, in which titles are grouped into topic (history, economics, politics etc), category (Posters, Blue-rays, books etc) and genre (comics, film etc). TBS also has different parts for specials such as new arrivals, offers/sale etc. to help customers. In addition, facilities such as sofas, coffee shop within the store, clean premises including passenger lifts and toilets. Also, other intangible factors such as a bright   and open atmosphere, large passages, passenger lifts and meticulously designed and implemented book-organization helps make it a comfortable experience for end customers. TBS has always ensured that good relationships with their vendors, suppliers, and publishers are maintained. This ensures more author visits, timely availability, higher priority treatment for new releases, and excellent price bargains from these vendors/publishers. Critical Evaluation of TBS operating and service delivery system For measuring the true most important strengths of TBS operating and service delivery system, it has to be assess at different levels: Based on my personal observations of the TBS bookstore and the feedback obtained with the interviews and interactions about the different kinds of customers who frequent TBS, the effectiveness of the operations management system could be evaluated by the following main criteria: a. Variety:   TBS end customers demand a vast variety of products including Books, CDs and magazines, and variety inside each of these categories as well. Hence, TBS has to ensure a right mix of volume as well as variety of CDs, magazines and books. TBS does not have a demand forecasting system right now, and hence it is very difficult to make any reasonable and accurate forecasting of demand in the near future. b. Availability: The buying decision of any customer is highly dependent on the ready availability of the product. In case the product they are looking for is not available, it is possible that the customer might buy it from its competitors. This is especially critical because TBS stresses a lot on customer retention and loyalty. c. Customer service experience: The customers overall experience in the store has to be pleasant, and is a very important factor. TBS ensures the availability of different ranks of customer-care service staff, who are well versed with specialist knowledge. Each of them serve about 6-7 customers/hour, and each customer on an average spends 6-10 min at the customer-care counter. TBS provides extra facilities such as a coffee shop, sofas, very clean wash rooms, baby feeding rooms and toilets. It was observed that almost 30% of the customers visit the coffee shop on course of their shopping experience in TBS. d. In-store promotions: These include promotions such as buy 1 get 1 free, festival celebrations, discounts, celebrity visits and authors book signing events. During my observation for two hours (2-4pm on a Saturday), 25 in 92 customers opted for a book which was under the promotions section. e. Purchase quantity per customer About 35% of customers purchased a minimum of 1 Magazine/CD/book. As described in Figure 6, we could plot a matrix to identify the various type of customers based on the amount of time they spent in the store, and the number of purchases they made. TBS uses this matrix to identify the most profitable high value customers as well as the least profitable unprofitable customers. The operational efficiency of the system determines the long term success of a business such as that of TBS. This could be evaluated and measured in various ways: a. Inventory flow is crucial for a fast-moving business such as educational books. Success is not defined by the quantity of books stocked in each store. But, how fast the product is transferred from the supplier/vendor to the end-customer determines the ultimate success of the business rather than finding the total number of books stocked. b. We must remove any bottlenecks that are there in any operations system. In the case of TBS, the main bottlenecks identified are: Bottlenecks in Supplier stage It is difficult to obtain enough quantities of some best seller books (especially those around which a hype is created even before the launch) from the supplier, as they are sought after by all book sellers, thus resulting in lost sales. This is the case especially during the initial launch of books (Eg: Harry Potter books). Bottlenecks in in-store Queuing system Customers are very demanding it terms of the time they spend in a queue in a shop, due to the fast lifestyles and increasing availability of online book shops. During my observations, it was found that the average dispensation time for each end-customer was 1.5 minutes, and the average queuing time was 6-8 minutes. Bottle neck in Customer care desk Customer satisfaction is very important in a highly competitive business such as book stalls. Any lack of customer care personnel, or the quality of service offered, could result in lost sales. The number of customer care personnel in TBS was limited during peak hours, and each customer during peak hours had to wait for an average of at least 3 minutes before he/she got some kind of help/support. c. Inventory Forecasting In the books business, it is crucial to effectively forecast demand and manage an optimum level of inventory in the whole system, i.e., both in-store and in warehouses. It must be able to predict much in advance, the expected peaking of sales (for eg: Cake cooking books during Christmas season or sports magazines during the time of a major sports event). TBS does presently this by using a multi-stage inventory, and promotional free home delivery offers during such peak periods. Suppliers as well as buyers possess enormous amount of power in the educational book industry. To have a profitable business, the books selling companies sign prior long term agreements with different stakeholders: a. Contractual agreements with publishers The negotiations with publishers are centered around the following areas: b. Business factors Book stalls has to consider other factors such as employee salaries, cost of maintaining the stores, the annual rents etc. The success of TBS depends heavily on the commitment and performance of its employees, both in-store employees and warehouse employees. The following considerations are needed : A major book shop like TBS requires many types of personnel for manning the various department inside the store such as administrative, billing, marketing sales, commercial, Human Resource Management and Inventory Management etc. TBS employees work in triple shifts and at any point of time, employs 13-17 employees inside the store, and during peak hours the number of employees can go as high as 20. b.  Ã‚   Employee Training Employee training is expensive, and it costs time, effort and money for TBS. To ensure that employees are working to their maximum efficiency, they have to be trained need to be ready to handle the high standards expected of them. c.  Ã‚   Efficiency The efficiency of staff has to be monitored continuously, and this could be done by measuring various parameters such as average time per customer, average time to fetch a book, number of positive customer feedbacks, etc. The largest customer who contribute maximum to the bottom line of TBS was found to be the unfocused buyers. Hence, it is imperative that TBS tries to get more of this customer segment to visit their store, and make them spend more time in-store (time spend in the store has shown strong correlation to the purchasing decision). I would like to recommend the following changes, in line with principles and practices of TQM and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), with the primary focus on customers and continuous quality improvement respectively as their goals. 1. Establishing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution To effectively have a holistic and total approach as envisaged by TQM, I recommend establishing a companywide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution such as SAP or PeopleSoft. This system will integrate all the sub systems of TBS such as Inventory Management, Inventory Forecasting, Billing, Logistics, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Customer Service, Information Management etc. For instance, under the inventory management module, if the stock(inventory) gets below a particular amount (counters set in advance), the system will automatically place the orders for additional stock from the publishers/suppliers. 2. Suppliers could also be given access to the stock levels of each store, or when the customer places a new order, for their particular products. Thus the principle of Just In Time (JIT) inventory management is also implemented. By implementing this system, the waiting time in-store could be reduced drastically resulting in better customer satisfaction. Also, information and orders can be placed/obtained at any place, or customers in remote locations could order and gift products to their friends in Calicut, by ordering online as envisaged by TQM. Delivery system demand forecasting before implementing ERP system 3. Improvement in online/web presence There are a lot of customers who visit the physical TBS store, however this has created bottlenecks in the system, especially in terms of billing counter and customer care desk. This has translated into customer dissatisfaction, and hence applying the principle of TQM, I recommend establishing a full-fledged, easy to use website, where customers can view the books, preview its pages, and make an order using debit or credit card, and have the book delivered at home. The delivery and payment mechanism could also be made flexible, such as reserve and pick-in-store, cash-on-delivery etc. Thus the principle of Total Quality Management is applied effectively and efficiently. 4. Loyalty Programs On top of the in-store customer experience and promotions, TBS should also offer loyalty programs (eg: Reward/Discount cards) to reward and promote repeat/high value customers. 5. Starting a DVD/CD/Blueray rentals section instore. The number of customers switching from Books to CDs and DVDs are increasing. Since, we are renting them, customers would come back to return them possibly resulting in future sales. It must be linked both to the online presence of TBS as well as to the ERP solution to be implemented. Thus, customer satisfaction could be improved because they can get all necessary related products from the same roof. Thus, the prime objective of TQM can be successfully satisfied by meeting the demands of customers and making them satisfied. 6. Increase the number of customer-care service personnel Non availability of personnel or high waiting time for customers in the customer care results in immense customer dissatisfaction, and lost customer loyalty. These have a long term effect on TBS brand and customer perception. Thus, this will ensure that Quality Function Deployment (QFD) objectives are also met, and could save TBS considerable amount of money that would have been lost due to bad quality. Simple changes such as installing a ringing buzzer in the counter could potentially resolve these issues. 7. Modern Billing Self-Desks These days, customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and comfortable with modern technology. They can without difficulty self use a Radio Frequency ID (RFID) billing self-desk by their own. Thus, savings on Human Resources as well as decrease in waiting time for customers can be obtained. 8. Well qualified and personable support personnel Staff must be well aware of the locations of various titles, and should be passionate about the products they are dealing with. They must be extremely patient, and hospitable. Staff must be always be well dressed and hygienic, and if they are not, it could result in a bad customer experience. By applying the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), we can provide immense value to customers, and drastically improve their satisfaction levels, at the same time providing value to us as well. I recommend, primarily the implementation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution that will holistically and totally look at and improvise all the different components of the service delivery system. Customers are the key focus, and priority is given for Do-it-right-the first-time approach, rather than rectifying after a problem arises. Thus by implementing the suggested recommendations, the operational profitability of the firm should increase. [1] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [2] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [3] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [4] Estimates, based on Personal Interviews with Management of TBS [5] RDI Online Course Materials for Operations Management [6] RDI Online Course Materials for Operations Management [7] Garvin, David Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality, Harvard Business Review, December 1987 [8] Richard Normann (1991), Service management: strategy and leadership in service business, Wiley (1991) [9] Zeithaml, Valarie A. and Mary Jo Bitner (2003), Services Marketing, International edition New York: McGraw Hill, third edition [10] Zeithaml, Valarie A. and Mary Jo Bitner (2003), Services Marketing, International edition New York: McGraw Hill, third edition

The Character of Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Pride and

The Character of Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen, like her most beloved heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is a keen observer of the nature of man in society. To simplify her studies, and to give her readers a better understanding of the concept of Pride and Prejudice, Austen does not focus our attention on the larger social structure as a whole, but skilfully directs our consideration only to a small, isolated segment of the society. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen scrutinizes a microcosm, people dwelling within similar cultural and social backgrounds, but representatives of the larger human community. Austen demonstrates in Pride and Prejudice through Elizabeth and Darcy that in man's perennial pursuit of the joys in life, those who conform too strictly or not at all to the existing social norms face the danger of never finding their place in life nor ever finding personal happiness. Elizabeth Bennet is a person worthy of our imitation. She is a model because she is different from all the other characters, except Darcy, and because she does not adhere rigidly to the standards set forth by society, "where the family and the community...tend to coerce and even predetermine the volition and aspirations of the self" She is self-reliant and independent, while "contemptuous of all the conventions that restrict the individual's freedom. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. The first sentence of the novel Pride and Prejudice highlights the importance of marriage within the world of the novel. The sentence suggests that the sole purpose for marriage was to increase the characters social and financial ranking. The quote m... ...nging from "She had a lively, cheerful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous", to "hardly a good feature in her face..." We can see that different people have varying views on her. Her observations lead us through the story, meaning that we see everything through her eyes, and her intelligence and wit mean we enjoy her commentary. At first I was unsure if the title statement was accurate to Elizabeth’s personality. But, like Elizabeth, my views changed, â€Å"Till this moment I never knew myself†, Elizabeth becomes a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart. Without neither family wealth nor wisdom to aid her, Elizabeth's success is an attribute to her inner strength. She is by far the most fascinating character in the book, and I believe all the reasons mentioned prove her to be an independent, unconventional and passionate heroine.

Navajo Code Talkers: the Unspoken Heroes of World War II

It’s a normal day in June 1944 and we were located on the Pacific Island of Saipan. As were walking through the lush, tangled wilderness with dense sugar-cane, steep ravines and jagged volcanic mountains, there was no such thing as a battle line for us soldiers. Danger was everywhere. The unseen enemy could be hidden by the thick tropical vegetation and the pitch black darkness of the new mooned night. Our eyes where constantly looking from the left to the right as we crossed by the walls of caves looking at the trees sprouting out of them for barrels pointing back. When we would stop for the night, we cherished the passing day, for we know tomorrow could be our last. One morning as we woke up from our uncomfortable beds, the ground, we noticed a silence along the enemy front. Carefully we scouted the terrain. They were gone. The Japanese had abandoned the area and retreated to new ground. As we inspected the area where they once occupied, suddenly artillery shells exploded all around us. I jumped to the ground as shrapnel exploded and flew overhead striking the tree that was behind me. We were being attacked. Not by the Japanese, but from our own guns. The radioman started shouting, â€Å"We are Americans! Stop The Artillery! † Nothing stopped, for the artillery commanders faced a known problem. The Japanese were far more fluent in English then we were in Japanese and have been known to send out faulty reports in perfect English. They thought it was just an enemy trick. â€Å"Stop Firing! We are Americans! † was echoed through the radio, each one more desperate then the last. Finally, a message was sent back, â€Å"Do you have a Navajo? † I was rushed forward, almost swept off my feet. Handing over my rifle to the radioman and started talking code. Within seconds the artillery stopped (Bruchac 2005, 135-7). This was a reenactment of an incident involving the United States marines during World War II. Sixteen-year-old Ned Begay, a Native American Navajo from Arizona, was at this fire fight on Bougainville, an area of Saipan, where U. S. troops fired on their own solders, not knowing that they were not the enemy. If it wasn’t for the Navajo code talker, more men would have died that day. This paper will cover many topics about the Navajo code talkers, including how they were formed, how the code was used to save American lives throughout the war. Finally, I will talk about what happened to the after the war. By providing this information, I how that it will strike a new incite of what the unspoken heroes of World War II went through. During the beginning of World War II, the Japanese was able to break every code that the United States created. The Japanese had more solders that were fluent in English, making it easy to crack the codes and create false orders that would sent our solders to their death. While the U. S. military was struggling with a way to find an unbeatable code, a civilian came up with the answer. Philip Johnston, a civil engineer for the city of Los Angles, came across a news article stating that the military had an armored division in Louisiana that was using Native American languages for secret communications. Philip Johnston, son of William and Margaret Johnston, was a Protestant missionary to the Navajo for many years. Philip had spent his childhood with the Navajo and was one of the few outsiders to be fluent in the Navajo language. At an early age, he served as a translator for his parents and for other outsiders and by the age of nine, Philip traveled to Washington D.  C. to translate for a Navajo delegation that asked President Theodore Roosevelt to look into the governments treatment of the Navajos and their neighbors (AAaseng 1992, 18). Philip knew that the Navajo language was virtually impossible for an adult to master. Every syllable in the Navajo language had to pronounce correctly. Of one was to change the tone of the syllables, the word could have a completely different meaning, causing the sentence to misunderstood. This was due to the Navajo uses of four different tones, low, high, rising, and falling (AAaseng 1992, 18). Johnston had learned how secret codes where essential for military operation while enlisted with the French during World War I. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that it would work. In February of 1942, Johnston met with Lieutenant Colonel James Jones, a signal officer, and was greeted with uncertainty and misbelieves. Johnston pointed out that knowledge of other Native American languages would be of no use to the enemy in understanding the Navajo language. Navajos where so isolated from the world that the language was as foreign to other tribes as it was to outsiders. In addition to this, the Navajo language was a spoken language and had no alphabet and there for couldn’t be reduced to a written format that can be studied afar. After many hours of arguments and demonstrations, in March 1942, he was able to present a demonstration to an audience that included Major General Vogel and Colonel Wethered Woodward from the marine headquarters in Washington D. C. Johnston was able to gain the cooperation of four Navajos living in the Las Angeles area and a Navajo who was enlisted with the marines (AAaseng 1992, 21). He divided the four Navajos into two groups and had the sent messages back and forth, while the Navajo marine was attempting to translate the messages. After the demonstration, the Navajo Marine was unable to translate a signal word. General Vogel was so impressed that in February 1942, just two months after the booming of Pear Harbor, Philip Johnston was asked to prepare a proposal for organizing and using the Navajo code Talkers. In May 1942, the first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp. They were known as the â€Å"first 29. † At Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, this first group created the Navajo code. They developed an elaborate dictionary and hundreds of words for military terms [ (Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet n. d. ) ]. The dictionary and all code words had to be memorized during training for the Navajos where not allowed to write down any of of the code. Furthermore, while enlisted, they were not allowed to write to their families for fear that the letters would be used to try to break the code. Once the Navajo code talker completed his training, he was sent to a Marine unit who was deployed in the Pacific. The code talkers' primary job was to talk, transmitting information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield communications over telephones and radios. They also acted as messengers, and performed general Marine duties. While in combat, it was rumered that for each code talker, there was an officer assigned to protect him from cabture. If for any reason that the officer felt that the code would fall into enamy hands, the officer was ordered to kill the code talker to protect the code. One of the great triumphs for the Navajo code talkers was the battle at Iwo Jima in February of 1945. The island was so small that on most maps you couldn’t see the island at all. Although small, this island was of great importance. The new boomers that the United States were using, the B-29, was flying a 3000-mile round-trip when booming Japan. Due to the length of this trip many pilots where getting shot down. Iwo Jima was the answer. Iwo Jima would be able to be used as an emergency landing field to assist the pilot’s chances. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo Code Talkers [ (Bingaman n. d. ) ]. The Major estimated that it would only take ten days, at the max, to win the battle. A month later, in March, was the island declared secure. By the end of the battle, the Navajo code talkers send and received over 800 messages, all without error, 6,800 U. S. soldiers died and nearly 20,000 more where wounded. Major Connor declared, â€Å"Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima† [ (AAaseng 1992, 88-97) ]. September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship A. S. S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the surrender from the Japanese was signed and World War II was officially over. The Navajo code was unable to be broken throughout the war. Because of this the code was classified as Top Secret and would remain so for over twenty years after the end of the war. It wasn’t until 1968 that the code was declassified and the Navajo code talkers would be able to tell their story. In 1982, the code talkers were given a Certificate of Recognition by U. S. President Ronald Reagan, who also named August 14, 1982 â€Å"Navajo Code Talkers Day† [ (Jr. n. d. ) ]. On December 21, 2000, Bill Clinton signed Public Law 106-554, 114 Statute 2763, which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to twenty-nine World War II Navajo code talkers. In July 2001, U.  S. President George W. Bush personally presented the Medal to four surviving code talkers at a ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC. Gold medals were presented to the families of the 24 code talkers that where no longer with us [ (Gray 2001) ]. For many the Navajo code talkers played an important role in World War II. From when Johnston realized how the Navajo language would benefit America, the formation of the code, and how long it would take for the Navajo to be recognized for their part in the war, the Navajo where truly the unspoken heroes of World War II.

Children Need to Play, Not Compete

Everyone wants to win. But should that be a child’s top priority? Children’s sports should be more focused on cooperation and pure fun. The physical and psychological negatives are not worth the feeling of winning a game or making a team. Competitive sports have too many negatives that outweigh the positives and should be either removed or restructured. After children are fully prepared and mentally and psychologically developed, by age twelve or so, children can move on to playing to win. â€Å"Children Need to Play, Not Compete† by Jessica Statsky is an explanation as to why children sports need to be less competitive.The stress of winning seems to be getting worse and worse as time goes on. Children are losing the love for sports because the fun is slowly but surely being taken away. Statsky states that, â€Å"even when children are not injured, fear of being hurt detracts from their enjoyment of the sport. † There are also psychological issues, which s houldn’t be a problem children have to deal with. Sports should be somewhat of an outlet, an escape for children to enjoy themselves apart from their everyday life, not an added stress.As Statsky ads, â€Å"Winning and losing may be an inevitable part of adult life, but they should not be a part of childhood. † Childhood is a time for making memories, participating in things that make children happy, and enjoying their time. Instead of stressing about winning, practicing, losing, making the team, and getting hurt, children should purely be having fun playing the sports that they love. Jessica Statsky presents a very reasonable and logical argument. It is hard to disagree with her viewpoint after reading the article.All of her examples were relevant and accurate. Statsky ties together her opinion along with facts and statistics. She makes several references to various books and authors and even sources such as the Los Angeles Times. Jessica Statsky has information from a New York Little League official, which shows that from California to New York, this is an issue that is being dealt with all over the country. Statsky also has information from a professor of kinesiology, Dr. Glyn C. Roberts, at the institute of Child Behavior and Development at the University of Illinois.Her arguments are very persuasive and well worded. Over all, Statsky has put together a very well-constructed article. â€Å"Children Need to Play, Not Compete† appeals to readers emotions. Children are a part of just about everyone’s lives. Everyone was a child once, and either has or knows someone who has children. No one wants to think about a child being hurt physically or emotionally. Although parents often get involved in the desire to win, it is more important that children have positive experiences and wait until they are mature enough to have winning become a priority.Statsky refers to Martin Rablovsky, a former sports editor for the New York Times who said after the coaches whistle blows, â€Å"The spirit of play suddenly disappears, and sport become job like. † Parents don’t want to see their children lose interest in a sport they love because of all the pressure. It is a fairly reasonable assumption to say that parents would rather their children have fun without the addition of winning, then to be stressed or harmed just to have that â€Å"win†.Parents could still praise their children for performing well and see how much better they will develop and be prepared for competition later in life. There are many points in â€Å"Children Need to Play, Not Compete† that are easily agreeable. It is true that between the ages of six and twelve, children shouldn’t be involved in competitive sports. Statsky states, â€Å"One readily understandable danger of overly competitive sports is that truly entice children into physical actions that are bad for growing bodies. Children do so much growing in this time period. They don’t need negative physical and psychological impacts from sports at such an important stage in life. Children should be taught cooperation, sportsmanship, and individual performance to prepare them for competition when they are developed enough to handle it. Everyone wants to be able to look back on childhood and have good memories. Sports programs should reconsider and reconstruct to cater to children’s needs and abilities. No one wants to see the love of sports slowly disappear over time.Children have their whole lives to compete. Childhood should be about pure innocent fun and making positive memories. Sports don’t need to completely change. It would help if the level of competition progressed as the children’s age and abilities progressed. That way they could be gradually becoming prepared for high school, college, or even professional sports in their future. If taking steps toward reconstructing children’s competitive sports is going to benefit children, then that is what needs to be done.