Conflict Resolution at the Place of Business Essay

Conflict Resolution at the Place of Business - Essay Example This complexity must be understood and overcome in order for both parties to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. The facts of the case are as follows: Our company (for this paper, "USCo"), a large, Midwest-based American medical company, had recently decided to increase its direct presence in the European healthcare market. Up to now, our company had some distributors in Europe, and some European countries in which we used distributors. While we intended to keep distributors in the smaller markets, such as Eire and Greece, we regarded the nine "major" countries as too important to leave to a distributor. The company we were negotiating with (for this paper, "FrenchCo") had been distributing our product, a line of sophisticated automation instruments for microbiology, for over 10 years in Italy and France. USCo had been successful with its automated instruments throughout the world, but was lagging against other key competitors in the European market. Of particular concern was our market share in Germany, France and Italy. In some European countries, such as the Nordic countries, we were direct and enjoyed a number one position in the automated segment of the market. We felt that FrenchCo, despite its strong reputat... Their ability to gain market share was unimpressive. We felt that FrenchCo's managers were hidebound and focused on "traditional" manual technologies. FrenchCo's viewpoint: FrenchCo had started with Louis Pasteur, and defined microbiology not just for France, but for the world. FrenchCo's mission was to offer the very best microbiology products, be they automated or manual, to the global market. Although FrenchCo was a smaller company than USCo, it was nevertheless a leader due to its history, its emphasis on quality, and its deep understanding of the science of microbiology. Expectations for the meeting: We at USCo could only guess what FrenchCo's attitudes were. We guessed that they knew we were unhappy with our current distribution results, and that they had watched us develop direct distribution in European countries around them. We felt that they were trying to develop their own automated instruments, but did not know how far along they were in the development. After the negotiations were completed, we hired one of the FrenchCo managers, and learned a good deal about FrenchCo's expectations. As it turned out, FrenchCo was developing an instrument, but did not want us to know that. While they were also unhappy with the business results, they felt that they could learn about our technologies and use that knowledge to effectively compete against us. They also felt that we would fail if we came to the French market without them. They were not particularly concerned about the Italian market. Start of the Negotiations We suggested the meeting time, but FrenchCo chose the venue. We met in a leafy suburb of Paris. The President met us at the door after a 40-minute wait. We were expecting to be led to a conference room.

Peter Waldo and the Waldesians Essay Example for Free

Peter Waldo and the Waldesians Essay The Waldesians, a small community of Christians, originated in Lyon, France in the12th century. According to the Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions they rejected the authority of the pope, prayers for the dead and the veneration of saints. Despite severe persecution and excommunication by the Roman Catholic church over many years they have survived to the present day and have churches in Germany, Italy and in both North and South America. Peter Waldo ( also known as Pierre ( 1160 -1318) is said to have made a fortune by working as a merchant and   by lending money as a usurer, according to ‘The Conversion of Peter Waldo’ an anonymous document of about 1218.    The writer records how, in about 1173 Peter Waldo of Lyon heard a troubadour telling a story. He was enthralled and invited the story teller to his home. Waldo was so affected by what he heard that next day he went to a school of theology and asked what he should do. He was told :- â€Å"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, ( Matthew 19 v 21) Waldo asked his wife which she would prefer to keep – his personal property or his real estate. She was not pleased at having to make any choice, but chose the real estate. He then placed his daughters in a convent and distributed the majority of his money, some to those he had misused, but most to the poor of the area. At that time there was a famine and several times each week he provided food for the people. The people thought he was mad. At the time of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin, casting some money among the village poor, he cried, No man can serve two masters, God and mammon. Then his fellow-citizens ran up, thinking he had lost his mind. But he said. :-   My fellow-citizens and friends, I not insane, as you think, but I am avenging myself on my enemies, who made me a slave, so that I was always more careful of money than of God, and served the creature rather than the Creator. I know that many will blame me that I act thus openly. But I do it both on my own account and on yours; on my own, so that those who see me henceforth possessing any money may say that I am mad, and on yours, that you may learn to place hope in God and not in riches. Waldo was very interested in the Bible and in 1160 paid for a translation of it into the Romance language. Waldo began to travel about preaching. H e and his companions were known as ’the poor men of Lyon’. The group promoted pacifism according to Kreider and Yoder in ‘The History of Christianity’. ( page 25). The idea of lay folk, many of them illiterate, living in simple poverty was approved by the papacy at the Third Lateran Council in 1179. The pope did however add the proviso that they obtain permission to preach from local church authorities. At this time Waldo’s ideas were in keeping with the Catholic church. Waldo and his followers, by their poverty showed up the laxity and worldliness of many in the church and in 1181 the Archbishop of Lyon banned them from preaching. In 1184 they were excommunicated by the pope. So what had begun as a popular movement had become heresy in a few years. Although a few former Waldesians were welcomed back into the church the response of the majority   was to establish their own church with all the organization that implies – deacons, priests and bishops. Later they would claim that they were the only true church. They quickly became established in Lombardy and Provence Outbursts by the hierarchy of the Catholic church against unlicensed preaching and the group’s refusal to acknowledge the authority and need for the intermediary role of the clergy only served to make them identify Roman Catholicism as ‘the Great Whore of Babylon’ and thus not worthy of acknowledgement. They considered at that time that the validity o f the sacrament depended upon the worthiness of the celebrant   and as they rejected the worthiness of Catholicism they rejected its priests and sacraments that they administered. Waldesians preferred to study the scriptures for themselves rather than have them interpreted for them by priests as was the rule a the time. Gradually they established churches in most parts of Europe an d became the most widespread of ‘heretic’ groups of the time. They rejected or re-interpreted Catholic sacraments. The eucharist was only celebrated annually and in theory anyone could administer it. The priest became simply ‘a good man’. Most feast days were rejected as not being Biblical . Because they could not find evidence for purgatory within the scriptures they rejected it together with the idea of prayers for the dead. Similar thinking led them to reject saints not mentioned in the Bible. Their ideas became mixed with that of other groups. In southern France for instance they mixed with the ideas of the Cathars. They were so oppressed that there was a crusade against them in 1488 according to Ronald Finucane the pope so feared   what he perceived as a threat to the stability o f the church that an attempt was made to destroy their whole culture. Organised attacks were made upon them in Provence and in Italy. The Waldesians would no t have fought back physically as they condemned war and the shedding of blood. By the time of the Reformation the Waldesians were in contact with many groups across Europe and there was consequently a great exchange of ideas. Many joined local Protestant churches. Gradually they were absorbed into the mainstream of the Protestant Reformation. Not without continued opposition however. In 1655 the Duke of Savoy for instance ordered members to take communion or sell their lands and leave his territory.   After hearing false reports twenty days later a massacre ensued. By this time the Waldesians were worshipping openly in French. In 1685 the king of France Louis XIV renounced the edit of Nantes and so made it illegal to be a Protestant in France. They were under penalty of death or banishment   if they refused to admit that they had been wrong. After the French Revolution the Protestants of Piedmont were finally given religious freedom to worship as they wished and in 1848, the king of Sardinia , who also ruled Savoy gave them full rights, both civil and religious. Today’s Waldesians consider themselves Protestants in the Calvin tradition. They accept the doctrines of mainstream Protestantism and celebrate only two sacraments – baptism and the Eucharist. Authority is exercised by a yearly synod and individual churches by the pastor and a council of members. This is perhaps far removed from one man giving away his wealth and life style for the gospels sake, but the Waldesian church has evolved as all churches do, while at the same time remaining true to its ideals of justice, freedom conscience, and respect for religious diversity. This is exemplified in the American Waldesian Aid Society who carry out such activities as earthquake relief, the care of orphans of war and give help to refugees as well as the formation of Italian language Protestant churches. The fact that they are now considered as a mainstream church can be seen by their close links with the Methodist church and their links with the ecumenical movement . The Waldesians may be numerically a small group,   as they always were , but they were the forerunners of Protestantism and so are worthy of their place in church history. Works cited American Waldesian Aid Society found at http://www.waldensian.org/aws01.php and retrieved 13th November 2007 Finucane,R. 1980, The Waldesians in The History of Chrsitianity, Lion Publishing, Hertfordshire. Goring R. ( editor)1992 Chambers Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions, Chambers, Edinburgh. Kreider, A and Yoder, J. 1980, Christians and War in The History of Christianity, Lion Publishing , Hertfordshire. Robinson, J.H.( translator) The Conversion of Peter Waldo found at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/waldo1.html and retrieved 14th November 2007 Waldesians   found at   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldensians#Later_history and retrieved 13th November 2007

Lipase Catalysed Synthesis of Bio-based Reactive Polyester

Lipase Catalysed Synthesis of Bio-based Reactive Polyester TITLE OF THE RESEARCH PAPER: Green polymer chemistry: lipase catalysed synthesis of bio-based reactive polyester employing itaconic anhydride as renewable monomer. JOURNAL: Polymer Journal (2014) 46, 2–13 INTRODUCTION SUMMARY This paper is about the lipase catalysed synthesis of reactive polyester. In this synthesis lipase used as natural catalyst. The synthesis of reactive polyester was done by ring opening addition condensation polymerization (ROACP) reaction with dehydration. Cyclic anhydride and diol were used. Itaconic anhydride (IAn) is renewable biomass material so it was ideal monomer for synthesis of reactive polyester. IAn is five membered cyclic anhydride. ROACP did not possible between IAn and diol so the monomer succinic anhydride (SAn) or glutaric anhydride (GAn) were used with IAn and diol. The diol used were 1, 4-butanediol (BD), 1, 6-hexanediol (HD), 1, 8-octanediol (OD) and 1, 10-decanediol (DD). ROACP reaction of IAn with the diols in the ratios of IAn: diol with lipase as a catalyst in presence of molecular sieves were studied at 25 ºC in toluene for 120h. From the GPC analysis it is observed that all the reaction remained inhomogenous during the reaction and gave only low-molecular weight product with Mn between 150 and 390. The NMR result show that starting IAn completely consumed in ring opening reaction so IAn alone does not show RCACP so the addition of other component or changing reaction condition necessary. For these regioselectivity and substrate selectivity examination of IAn done by using model reaction of IAn and n-octyl alcohol. For regioselectivity observation ROA reaction was performed with Novoenzyme 435 catalyst without molecular sieve in toluene at 25 ºC with stirring. The ÃŽ ²-selectivity value without lipase was 90% and with lipase catalysis was 49%. It was because the ÃŽ ²-carbonyl group is sterically more favourable than ÃŽ ±-carbonyl group group adjacent to the vinylidene group so it confirmed that reaction catalysed by lipase. In ROACP reaction first ring opening addition (ROA) reaction between cyclic anhydride and diol and after that dehydration condensation reaction between alcohol group and carboxylic acid group occur. Out of four d iol OD gives good result in terms of yield, molecular weight and number of unit per molecule. ROACP using IAn, SAn or GAn and diol produced polyester in good yield. From the SAn polyester with Mn value of 650-3510 with 1.3-2.6 units per molecule were obtained and from GAn these value were 560-3690 and 1.2-3.1 respectively. The polymer synthesized have application as macromonomer, telechelic or crosslinking reagent. 2. LITERATURE SURVEY The review of this manuscript and presentation of perspectives has been conducted based on an extensive survey of the manuscripts describing similar or related research. Renewable biobased polymeric materials: facile synthesis of itaconic anhydride-based copolymers with poly(L-lactic acid) grafts (Okuda et.al, 2012) Biobased material are environmental friendly so these material now a days used mostly for synthesis organic compound. Current paper used itaconic anhydride (IAn) and lactic acid (LA) as a renewable starting material for synthesis of biobased polymeric material of poly (lactic acid) (PLA)-graft copolymer. Synthesis of Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) was done by two way; ring-opening polymerization of lactide with a variety of metal or nonmetal catalysts and direct polycondensation of lactic acid (LA) with acid catalysts. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA)-graft copolymer were synthesized by two way macromonomer approach and copolymer approach. First the using IAn the methacryloyl-type polymerizable PLA macromonomer (IAn-PLA Macro) were formed and then its copolymerization with n-butyl methacrylate (BMA), n-butyl acrylate (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) or ethyl methacrylate (EMA) to give graft copolymer with molecular weight Mn up to 1.61Ãâ€"105and biomass content more than 34wt%. When copolymer appr oached employing IAn as comonomer for radical polymerization with BMA used then IAn-BMA copolymer with Mn 5.76Ãâ€"104 obtained. These two approaches are used for synthesis of PLA-graft copolymer as â€Å"biomass plastic† having various application. 2).Enzymatic Polymerization: A New Method of Polymer Synthesis (kobayashi 1999) Enzymatic polymerization refers to polymerization using an isolated enzyme outside the biological system through non-biosynthetic pathways. The present article gives idea about development of enzymatic polymerization technique. Hydrolases and oxidoreductase types of enzyme were used for polymerization. By using these enzymatic polymerization method various material synthesized including polysaccharide like chitin, cellulose, xylan and amylose and un-natural polysaccharide by glycosidase through various monomer. Oxidoreductase initiated vinyl polymerization. The polymerizability was depend on ring size, opposing to chemical catalysis where ring strain is operative. Enzymatic polymerization has advantages of high selectivity, ability to operate under mild condition, catalyst recyclability, and biocompatibility. 3. Dehydration polycondensation in water for synthesis of polyesters by lipase catalyst. (Suda et al., 1999) Lipase is natural catalyst used for synthesis of polyester .In the present paper aliphatic polyester was synthesized by dehydration polycondensation in water by using lipase as catalyst. Polymerization was carried out at 45 °C for 24 h .size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was used for molecular weight determination. Methanol was used for isolation by reprecipitation. Effect of reaction parameter and the lipase origin on the molecular weight and the polymer yield have been systematically measured in the combination of sebacic acid and 1,8-octanediol. When the experiment was carried without the lipase (control experiment) then the polymerization did not occur indicating that polymerization takes place due to lipase as catalyst. The effect of temperature, solvent and amount of enzyme and monomer were systematically measured. When enzyme concentration increased it was observed that the yield was increased. It was seen that monomer amount also affected polymerization behaviour .The poly merization behaviour depended on chain length of the monomer in the polymerization of a co-dicaboxylic acid and glycol. NMR and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was used for terminal structure analysis. 4 .Enzymatic polymerization towards biodegradable polyester nanoparticles (Taden et al., 2003) Biodegradable polymer nanoparticles synthesized from the direct enzymatic polymerization of miniemulsion consisting of lactone nanodroplets. For polymerization of lactone lipase as catalyst was very efficient. Lipases were ampiphilic molecule and they adsorb onto the hydro-phobic lactone nanodroplets. Ultrasonication was used for the miniemulsification until reaching equilibrium and measure by turbidity measurement. When DSC measurements was done it was observed that the dynamic crystallization point of the synthesized polyester were shifted much down that crystallization inside the droplets was supressed when polymerization condition applied. The melting point of dried polymer was determined by DSC method. Non-spherical aggregate was formed when crystallization carried out at low temperature. The pH of the minemulsion shifted to 5-6 after polymerization from 7. 5. Green Polymer Chemistry Using Nature’s Catalysts, Enzymes (Pukas et.al, 2009) Enzyme are the natural catalyst. The use of enzyme as a catalyst increases as substitute to chemical catalysis method of organic synthesis. The advantage of enzyme were ability to operate under mild condition, high selectivity, biocompatibility and recyclability. The polymer synthesis was done by enzyme and the most common example are polycondensation, oxidative polymerisation and ring opening polymerization. The use of enzyme as a catalyst in polymer science is important methodology for the synthesis of novel polymeric structure, which are impossible or difficult to prepare. 3. CRITICAL REVIEW 3.1 ORIGINALITY The present paper is about the lipase catalysed synthesis of bio-based reactive polyester employing itaconic anhydride as a renewable monomer. For reducing carbon dioxide emission polymeric material was produced from biobased renewable material. Thus poly-lactic acid has been produced using biobased renewable material. Work on the ring opening polymerization using enzyme catalyst was already done. The work on the lipase catalysed ring opening polymerization of dicarboxlyic acid was first done in 1993 for the ring opening addition condensation polymerization (ROACP) involving dehydration already carried out. The work on the â€Å"dehydration in water† using lipase catalysed polymerization to formed polyester in water was also done. From the extension of an all these studies the current paper include lipase catalysed synthesis reactive polyester employing itaconic anhydride (IAn), succinic anhydride (SAn) or glutaric anhydride as starting monomer with for diol. Even though the c oncept was not new but the work done was novel. The author done the work with using new monomer IAn and four diol. ROACP between two monomer itaconic anhydride and diol was not possible so the author added one extra polymer so that reaction completed. Author carried out model reaction for getting information about the regioselectivity and substrate selectivity of itaconic anhydride using n-octyl alcohol. 3.2 TECHNICAL CORRECTNESS Technically, this paper is almost correct. All the obtained results have been represented through lucid graphs. DATA REPRESENTATION All the employed methods have been well-described by the authors. This enabled easy and correct interpretation of some of the related plots and enabled the understanding of the associated concepts. The spectra included in the manuscript clearly represent the results obtained via various experiments and the theoretical discussion supports the results represented in these spectra; which enabled better understanding of the experiments and the concepts. FLOW OF EXPERIMENT The flow of the experiments conducted is logical. In the initial part of this paper, the scientists have given a brief introduction about biobased renewable material. The authors used some references to state the method for poly lactide synthesis using two method ring opening polymerization of lactide and direct polycondensation of lactic. Lipase catalysed ring opening polymerization of dicarboxylic acid anhydride involving dehydration. The reference also included the â€Å"dehydration in water† and have conducted green polymer chemistry. To the extension of these work done current paper utilised the itaconic anhydride as a starting biobased monomer to produce a poly (lactic acid) macromonomer. The strategy of synthesis of biobased reactive polyester from itaconic anhydride was like that itaconic anhydride does not react with diol alone so it is necessary that the monomer added so that the reaction was completed therefore succinic anhydride or glutaric anhydride was used in combination. During the synthesis all reaction were remained inhomogenous and gave only low molecular weight product with Mn values between 150 and 390 as determined by GPC analysis. The H ¹ NMR studies show that the itaconic anhydride was completely consumed during ring opening reaction. In addition to these EIS-TOF MS analysis show that reaction of itaconic anhydride with diol reaction gives mixture of 1:1 and 2:1 adduct of IAn: diol. From these it was conclude that in addition to main ROA reaction small extent of condensation and dehydration occurred. After these study the author pointed out why the itaconic anhydride alone does not initialised expected ring opening addition condensation polymerization reaction. The reason behind these was that itaconic anhydride is less reactive than succinic anhydride in dehydration step. The author gives the information from result that ROACP involves two different types of reaction a ROA between diol and cyclic anhydride and dehydration condensation between carboxylic acid group and alcohol group. Author carried out model reaction before the study of the ROACP reaction to obtain valuable information about the product polyester structure and fundamental aspects of itaconic anhydride. The model reaction carried out using n-octanol instead of a diol. The regioselectivity information obtained from reaction carried out with novoenzyme 435 catalyst without molecular sieve in toluene at 25 °C. The author interpreted from result that was obtained from H ¹ NMR. The ÃŽ ²-selectivity value with lipase catalysis was 49% and without lipase catalysis was 90% and thus demonstrate that reaction was governed by lipase catalysis. Author also focus on the substrate selectivity in the reactant in order to prepare reactive polyester. The result from H ¹ NMR studies show that after 3h the IAn and SAn were 13% and 27% consumed respectively and without lipase catalyst these reaction did not occur. Author carried ROACP reaction under different condition using IAn, SAn and diol. IAn: SAn: diol were 2.5:2.5:5.0 and 1.4.0:5.0 taken for synthesis of polyester. When reaction carried out in without novoenzyme 435 no product was formed which insoluble in n-hexane. When the reaction carried out with the lipase but without the molecular sieve, reaction system becomes homogenous to synthesized polymeric product with low Mn .When the molecular sieve were added ROACP was increased and gave the polyester with higher Mn values. Out four diol 1,8-octanediol was the most favourable diol in terms of molecular weight , yield and number of units per molecule. Then paper ended with a detailed discussion on various parameters studied and results observed, which was followed by an appropriate conclusion. 3.3 CLARITY In this paper, the authors have lucidly explained the background of the topic, which gives a clear dogma of the researched topic. Explanation of some concepts enables better understanding of the experiments and reveals the authors’ logical approach towards the work conducted. Each of the sub-topics well describe the basic concepts covered within them. There is no repetition of matter. Therefore paper is reasonably easy to follow and understand. 3.4 BIBLIOGRAPHY Authors have provided 38 references; all the references have been cited in course of the discussion. All references are formatted as per guidelines mentioned for authors by the publishers of this scientific journal. Statements in paper can be correctly interpreted by referring to the cited references. 3.5 TITLE AND ABSTRACT Title of the paper is â€Å"Green polymer chemistry: lipase catalysed synthesis of bio-based reactive polyester employing itaconic anhydride as renewable monomer†. It is self-explanatory. By looking at the title we can get clear idea that the experiment includes synthesis of biobased reactive polyester using itaconic anhydride as a renewable monomer and lipase as a natural catalyst. The abstract of the paper presents an overview of the various studies conducted in the manuscript and briefly presents experimental framework and the most important results obtained by the authors. The abstract of paper is of appropriate length and sufficient to give clear idea about what work has been done. The abstract brings out all the main points of paper. 3.6 ILLUSTRATION AND TABLES The spectra and graphical representations as well as the table represented in the paper are appropriate. The results discussed in the text are accurately represented in the graphs and spectra. They are self-explanatory and simple to understand. There searchers have provided the analytical data of material synthesized during their research. This included Mass spectra, proton NMR spectra and IR spectra of precursor material and intermediate synthesized to point out the differences between the various polymer synthesized during the work using different combination of a monomer in different ratio using different diol and different reaction condition as a proof of the polymer being synthesized varies according to a reaction condition and monomer and its concentration. 3.7 ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION No alternative interpretation can be made from the obtained results. All the conclusions made by the author are correct and justify the results obtained. REFERENCES 17 Kobayashi, S. (1999). Enzymatic polymerization: a new method of polymer synthesis. J. Polym. Sci. Part a 37, 3041–3056. 26 Suda, S., Uyama, H. Kobayashi, S. (1999). Dehydration polycondensation in water for synthesis of polyesters by lipase catalyst. Proc. Jpn Acad. B. 75, 201–206. 29 Taden, A., Antonietti, M. Landfester, K. (2003). Enzymatic polymerization towards biodegradable polyester nanoparticles. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 24, 512–516. 34 Puskas, J. E., Sen, M. Y. Seo, K. S. (2009). Green polymer chemistry using nature’s catalyst, enzymes. J. Polym. Sci. Part a 47, 2959–2976. 15 Okuda, T., Ishimoto, K., Ohara, H. Kobayashi, S. (2012). Renewable biobased polymeric materials: facile synthesis of itaconic anhydride-based copolymers with poly (L-lactic acid) grafts. Macromolecules 45, 4166–4174.

A computer system consists of hardware and software. :: Computer Science

A computer system consists of hardware and software. A computer system consists of hardware and software. Hardwareis the equipment, which makes up the computer system. Hardware consists of: - Input devices such as keyboard, mouse, joystick - The Central Processing Unit (CPU) - Output devices such as a printer, monitor, graph plotter - Backing storage devices such as disc drive, hard drive - Media such as discs, tapes, paper etc There is hardware that I used is:  · Mouse  · Keyboard  · Printer  · Monitor A tracker ball mouse ==================== A tracker ball mouse is an input device and similar to a mouse but the ball is set into a cup on the top of the unit. A finger or, on larger tracker balls the palm of the hand, is used to roll the ball in any direction. The ball controls the movement of the pointer on the screen. Buttons on the tracker ball work in the same way as mouse butons to activate processes on the screen. My alternative of using a mouse with a tracker ball would be a mouse without a tracker ball. Benefit: ======== * A tracker ball does not require a large flat surface. Drawbacks: ========== * Most people find them a bit fiddly * Not accurate * Not quiet ALTERNATIVE: Mouse without a tracker ball ========================================= The pointer on the monitor screen mirrors the movement of the mouse by the user's hand. Under the mouse is a ball, which rolls as the mouse is moved. This movement of he ball causes two shafts to rotate inside the mouse; one shaft records the movement in the north-south direction and the other shaft records the east-west movement. When the screen pointer is over a0n icon or menu selection, the mouse button can be clicked, double clicked or dragged to activate a process. Some mice have a small wheel as well as the buttons. The function of the wheel depends on the software being used on the computer; in a document, it can allow the user to scroll up and down; in a desktop publishing package, it might enable the user to zoom in and out of the page. Over a period of time, the performance of the mouse can deteriorate as the ball and shafts collect dust and dirt. Some modern mice use a light beam and detector to register movements instead off the mouse ball. Many mice now use infrared or wireless links to the computer, which removes the need to have a connecting cable. Benefit: ======== * It is easy and convenient to use * It is inexpensive * Most modern software includes an option to use it. * It selects a position on the screen more quickly than is possible

Fist Pumping Their Way To The Top Essay

â€Å"Gym, Tanning, Laundry†, these three words have become increasingly popular among teenagers because of MTV’s hit reality television show, Jersey Shore. Television shows and their stars can become very influential to many of their viewers. Many of these viewers strive to be like these stars and mimic their style and attitude, in hopes of living the same careless lifestyle that has made these stars known around the world. Unfortunately, these television shows don’t always portray certain aspects of life realistically, and therefore send a false message that can be very deceiving. Studies show that television shows tend to follow several popular trends that do indeed portray the wrong reality. Harry F. Water’s article, â€Å"Life According to TV†, analyzes the different trends that television shows and movies in popular culture tend to follow. Harry Water’s focuses on George Gerbner’s research on the scientific examination of television far beyond familiar children-and-violence arguments. He describes television’s reality warp dealing with sex, age, race, work, health and crime. Water’s states in his article, â€Å"People over 65, too, are grossly underrepresented on television. Correspondingly, heavy-viewing Annenberg respondents believe that the elderly are a vanishing breed and that they make up a smaller proportion of the population today than they did 20 years ago. In fact, they form the nation’s most rapidly expanding age group† (Waters, 1982). Jersey Shore is a reality television show similar to that of â€Å"The Real World† and markets binge drinking, partying, fake tanning, and sleeping all day. It seems that the drama-driven cast seems to be promoting a careless way of life, and in fact might be rubbing off on its viewers. Elderly people are rarely seen on the show, and the stars are constantly shown going out with other young people, and going to bars and clubs that consist of other people around their age group. Even though some of the stars on the show are in their 30’s, they still live a constant partying lifestyle and act as though they are still young and essentially do not have to grow up yet. Teenagers watching this show can see this lifestyle as normal and strive to live their life the same way. The stars in the show live in a nice house and are constantly spending money, even though they only work at a pizza, ice cream and t-shirt company. In reality, these types of jobs would not cover the type of expenses these lifestyles come with. This lifestyle is extremely glamorized and in reality, someone living the same lifestyle as these stars would not be living nearly as luxuriously as they do, due to the success rate they have gained from the show. Many of these stars are on the front of magazines and all over different television talk shows because their show has become so successful and is increasing in fans. Some worry that viewers might have more motivation to be like these casts members and partake in inappropriate activities in hopes that they too will get famous. David Showalter a columnist for New Jersey newsroom says that, â€Å"MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ success is a cultural phenomenon† (Showalter, 2011), and for the most part he is absolutely correct. Jersey Shore has been a huge success, but for what? Partying? Another aspect of life that television shows often times portray unrealistically is health. Water’s states in his article, â€Å"Although video characters exist almost entirely on junk food and quaff alcohol 15 times more often than water, they manage to remain slim, healthy and beautiful.† Jersey Shore is centered almost entirely on partying and living that partying lifestyle- partying all night and recovering for half of the next day in order to be ready to do it again. However, the majority of the cast appears to be extremely well fit. This can confuse viewers because constant partying and binge drinking daily can be extremely harmful to one’s health. Even though going to the gym is part of these cast members daily routine, it does not make up for their excessive partying and will eventually catch up to them, when the viewers are no longer watching. These stars go out almost every night and are constantly shown belligerent to the point where they can’t walk and are starting fights in clubs and other public places, and for some reason young teenagers are seeing this as something cool to participate in. In an interview by Steven Guarino, he states, â€Å"Alcoholism is promoted on the Jersey Shore so much that it could influence younger viewers to drink irresponsibly.† The motive and center of the show is clearly the stars ongoing party lifestyle and their crazy drunken endeavors. The Situation, one of the cast members, has even stated in the first season on the first episode, â€Å"You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off.† Therefore, although the stars are constantly drinking and eating poorly, they still remain slim and good-looking, when in reality most people would be looking the complete opposite. Walter’s article also states, â€Å"Frequent TV watchers, the Annenberg investigators found, eat more, drink more, exercise less and possess an almost mystical faith in the curative powers of medical science.† When watching television shows, sometimes we get hooked and start to believe and agree with these stars way of life, not noticing the reality of it and allowing ourselves to get sucked into popular culture. Tanning is another major part of the popular Jersey Shore lifestyle. As we know, fake tanning can be very harmful to our skin, and cause skin cancer. However, the Jersey Shore characters act as if it is a way of life. Waters also states in his article, â€Å"Television may well be the single most pervasive source of health information. And it’s over idealized images of medical people, coupled with its complacency about unhealthy life-styles, leaves both patients and doctors vulnerable to disappointment, frustration and even litigation† (Waters, 1982). Despite what children have heard from their parents or other people, the un-healthy diets they see on television can appear healthy to them because they seem to be working for these reality TV stars and consequently can end up being more influential than what they’ve heard. Snooki, one of the show’s main characters, recently said on a Jay Leno show, that she’d like to change the world by installing cancer-causing tanning beds â€Å"in everybody’s homes.† Every member on the show tans in a tanning bed daily as a consistent part of their daily lives, and considers being tan as one of the main things one must do in order to be good looking. The cast members are very forward about this and seem to see nothing wrong with it. The Situation states in the second episode of the first season, â€Å"I wait till the last minute to shave, I wait till the last minute to put my shirt on ‘cause you feel fresh. These are rules to live by, shave last minute, haircut the day-of, maybe some tanning and the gym. You gotta do the guido handbook.† These quotes seem to be aiming towards the casts members’ hopes to influence viewers to live these similar lifestyles and to shoot to look like them, even if it’s not what’s best for the viewers’ health and unfortunately television shows continue to influence people in the wrong way. Although Jersey Shore seems to capture every negative aspect of reality television and continues to be unrealistic, it somehow remains the most viewed series on MTV. The third season finale delivered 4.8 million viewers; almost triple the audience who watched the season premiere on December 3 (Martin). It is clear that the Jersey Shore phenomenon is continuing to grow and become more widespread than ever before. This can be very troubling to parents and the messages being sent to young teenagers is influencing them in a very negative way, while showing them unrealistic â€Å"reality television†. With popular culture becoming more and more deceiving, viewers can forget to question who they are really taking after.

Race, Class, and Gender Rothenbergs book

Race, Class, and Gender Rothenbergs book Introduction Race, class, and gender are issues that many people find incredibly hard to appreciate and recognize as characteristics of diversity that define people not only in the United States but also on global platforms. From this dilemma, this paper focuses on conducting a critique of various articles appearing in Rothenberg’s book Race, Class, and Gender in the United States.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Race, Class, and Gender: Rothenberg’s book specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Racial Formations by Michael Omi and Howard Winant Michael Omi and Howard Winant discuss issues of class, gender, and race. They see these issues as social constructions as opposed to scientific aspects, which define people’s differences (Rothenberg, 2009, p.11). The authors view race as a concept that is deeply seated in the history of all people across the globe since time immemorial. Although human beings are seen as equal irrespective of their race, gender, or class with the modern approaches to race, gender, and class studies, Michael Omi and Howard Winant wonder why it is possible for one to see people who are different in terms of skin color, gender, and social economic status. Social economic status is a major factor that is used to segregate people into different classes. Although this debate is not consistent with the struggles by many nations including the United States to ensure that all people irrespective of their diverse characteristics are considered equal human beings whose fundamental human rights must be respected, the argument by Michael Omi and Howard Winant holds substance. I agree with it. Despite the extent to which people may decide to deny the realities of racial and gender identities, it is a fact that they identify other people as women or men, or from their place of origin. For instance, some Americans are categorized as Asian-Americans, whites, or Af rican-Americans. Notwithstanding the fact that all these persons are considered part of the rich American diversity, the usage of these terms to distinguish Americans has the aspect of race ingrained within them. Now, consistent with Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s arguments, it is perhaps impossible to see other people as ‘just people’ rather than seeing them as women and men.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This argument contends with Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s Assertion that â€Å"we utilize race to provide clues about who a person is† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.12). This ability is often navigated from one generation to another based on perceptions of how a particular group of people appears in terms of their faces. It is common during conversations to encounter people putting forward comments such as ‘you really do n’t look like a white’, which indicate that some people have some racial stereotyping, either positive or negative, on the manner in which certain races of people behave or act. I agree with Michael Omi and Howard Winant that perception of class based on social economic status is a major issue that afflicts many nations across the globe including the United States. For instance, the authors argue that interpretation of racial identities is heftily influenced by perceptions of class (Rothenberg, 2009, p.15). This argument often leads to construction of negative stereotypes. For instance, blacks have had an experience of being negatively stereotyped as predominantly belonging to a low social economic status. This matter perhaps reveals why there have been repeated cases for blacks being associated with crime. The question that rises from this issue is, should negative stereotyping of blacks explain why there is a higher prevalence of the blacks is prisons? Does it then n ecessarily mean that blacks belonging in low social economic class, as they are profiled in some media, imply that they engage in crime to earn a living? My position is that these cases are merely habits of thought, which while given public attention end up being legitimized. Consequently, they act as incredible mechanisms of distinguishing wrongly and profiling other people wrongly. This position agrees with Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s position that failure to appreciate that people are equal and similar amid their skin color or social economic status ends pushing for negative gender, race, and class perspectives beyond skin color conceptualizations (Rothenberg, 2009, p.14). How Jews Became White by Karen Brodki Written by Karen Brodki, the article ‘How Jews Became White’ narrates how European immigrants as from 1880s became assimilated into America, what the author terms as becoming white. This discussion is significant in terms of advancement of the debate of race, class, and gender perspectives as major experiences that the U.S. has been struggling to handle.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Race, Class, and Gender: Rothenberg’s book specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The article explores deeply into one of the dominant issues in America, which marked the beginning of appreciation of diverseness for Americans in terms of recognition of the contribution of every person irrespective of his or her place of origin, race, or class in economic development of the American nation. However, the author makes it clear that the substantive growth of America as a nation has not come into being in an easy way, but has entailed many struggles to deal with identities of people who make up the nation. In the studies of gender, class, and racial differences of persons, the developments made by the article on the process that was followed by the Jewfish emigrants before they were assimilated into America is incredibly significant. Jews were emigrants from Europe. Here, they were treated as an inferior class of people. Such perceptions of inferiority emanated from the fact that Jews provided the much-needed labor to the Native American. This case made the ‘white’ even more wealthy especially during the era of industrial boom in the United States (Rothenberg, 2009, p. 61). The usage of the word ‘white’ is strikingly significant in the perceptions of race and class. Indeed, Jews are white in terms of skin color. However, when it is argued that the white owned the factors of production while Jews provided the necessary labor to keep the industries moving on, it implies that persons in the low social economic status were not considered as real whites, although their skin color could be white. Education is one of the essential factors that determine the social economic status of an individual. Educated persons have better chanc es of acquiring better jobs. Hence, their social economics status is also likely to be higher. This argument coincides with the Karen Brodki assertion, â€Å"prior to the civil war, a college degree was still very much a mark of the upper class† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.61). This idea means that schools could only be accessed by those individuals belonging to higher social economic status, whether Native American or immigrants.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The situation even became worse for immigrants such as the Jews when colleges in 1930s had minimal rooms to accommodate immigrants irrespective of their social economic status. This argument is significant by noting that 1930s marked a significant time when racism was at its peak. In this context, I agree with Karen Brodki that perception of race and class are essential factors, which help to explain the struggles that America has gone through in the effort to reach its current state of embracement of various socio-demographic diversities of her inhabitants and integration of different cultures of a diverse number of people (Rothenberg, 2009, p.66). Today, the racially and culturally diverse people have a common culture referred to as the American culture. This culture does not segregate people along tribal, racial, gender, or even socio-economic class. All people have the rights to access justice and basic human needs including education and employment opportunities. The Social Con struction of Gender by Judith Lorber Authored by Judith Lorber, in the article Night to His Day: the Social Construction of Gender argues that people create gender through their social interactions. This argument means that gender is acted and performed. Judith Lorber supports this assertion by claiming that acting of gender involves prescription of various roles for different gender. For instance, the author says that it sounds awkward to some people who still believe that the roles of women and men are different in the society to think of men strolling children in the city of New York (Rothenberg, 2009, p.54). The manner in which people describe the dressing code and other characteristics of people also acts as a means of acting gender. For instance, thinking of description of a child as wearing certain clothes, which are thought of being supposed to be worn by a girl child is a mechanism of acting gender. This argument means that people have particular things that they expect one gender to do and not the other. Indeed, it is until the last two decades that people across the globe have appreciated that men could also put on earrings. This means that the history of people has always dictated things that are supposed to done by one gender as opposed to the other. In this extent, gender is performed and acted by people. Although gender may be seen from the perspective of Judith Lorber as an issue that can be evaded, the manner in which evading it can be done supersedes the reality of the manner in which gender is constructed within the minds of people. Judith Lorber posits, â€Å"Gendering is done from birth, constantly, and by everyone† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.55). This position means that immediately people are born, they are introduced to the debate of gender perspectives so that, by the time children learn to talk, they know the gender they belong to, mostly male or female. Arguably, the process through which this process takes place is beyond the contr ol of people since gender is implied even in the language that people use to communicate right from the usage of nouns to pronouns that refer to different genders. This kind of gender categorization of persons often gives rise to conflicts. For instance, based on normalization of the only two types of gender, transgendered persons may end up having whole life internal conflicts amongst themselves in the attempt to come to an understanding of why they divert from the normalized gender categories. Should this case then reveal why some persons who are transgendered strive with the problem of looking for mechanisms of transforming their gender identity so that they can fit into one of these two-gender categories: male or female? Despite the challenges that are introduced in the society by gender acting, I agree with Judith Lorber that gender is inevitable in some aspects. Judith Lorber argues, â€Å"As a social institution, gender is one of the major ways that human beings organize the ir lives† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.55). The collective progression of a society is dependent on divisions of labor. People can be selected to fit into different areas of economy based on motivations, talents, and even their academic qualifications. However, can people run away from the culture of classifying some jobs as more prevalent to certain gender relative to the other? This question is perhaps more important by considering that, even today, while people claim that there is no specific job that needs to be the province of a given gender, people still allocate tasks in a work environment to different persons based on age and gender demographic factors. Arguably, it is not surprising to encounter a job opening being advertised stating that the most preferred candidate should be a male or a female. Nevertheless, I agree with Judith Lorber that people are born with determined sex, with gender being socially induced (Rothenberg, 2009, p.57). Although one is born with the awarenes s that he or she is a girl or a boy, or even transgendered, it is from social interactions that one comes to learn than boys or girls dress in a certain manner, play certain games, have certain names, which are feminine and masculine, and the unique characteristics that best explain their sameness. The argument here is that, consistent with Judith Lorber’s presentation of gender identities along with how they are constructed, people perform and act gender. It is through such performance that one becomes cognizant of his or her sex. The Invention of Heterosexuality by Jonathan Ned Katz In his article The Invention of Heterosexuality, Jonathan Ned Katz traces the historical development of the concept of heterosexuality. To the author, studying the history of this concept is important since, â€Å"by not studying the idea of heterosexuality in history, analysts of sex, gay, and straight have continued to privilege the ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ at the expe nse of the ‘abnormal’ and ‘unnatural’† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.150) . From this assertion, it is evident that the author sees the concept of heterosexuality and the entire sexuality concept as being characterized by different interpretations as time progresses from when the biblical story of creation took place to the modern world. I subscribe to the above school of thought. There has been a change of what people consider a normal sexual inclination. The history of American experiences with sexuality struggles perhaps reveals it all. In the early 19th century, being a gay or a lesbian was a big crime. It was seen as both ethically and morally inappropriate. It was considered one of the ways of tearing the social fabrics that had been binding the American society together. The only socially justifiable sexual inclination was heterosexuality, which is now being described by the term straight. A century later, homosexuality including lesbianism and gay sexu al orientation are considered as normal sexual orientations. Indeed, it is an offence to discriminate people on the grounds of their sexual orientations in America. Jonathan Ned Katz also believes that there has been a big change in the manner in which sexuality is visualized. During the early Victorian age, 1820 to 1860, the author claims, â€Å"the actors in the sexual economy were identified as manly men and womanly women and/or as procreators† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.151). This description means that, if procreation did not fit in the equation of any relationship between two people, such a relationship was condemned. This case was to change later in the 1960s to 1980s when recognition of only one sexual orientation began to raise attraction of sexuality movements such as those staged by homosexual with the objective of acquiring the rights of being recognized (Rothenberg, 2009, p.158). This case clearly showed that sexuality is not a function of procreation but eroticism. In this regard, I agree with Jonathan Ned Katz since desire is the main driver of one’s sexual orientation. People have the freedom to satisfy their own desires subject to the limitation that they do not harm other people. Why should people fail to recognize homosexuality and other sexual inclinations? Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History by Douglas Baynton In this article, Douglas Baynton argues that disability encompasses one of the main aspects that are used historically to treat people unequally. According to him, discrimination of people has called into question the aspect of disability to ensure that such discriminations are justified (Rothenberg, 2009, p.33). Careful scrutiny of developments in the political arena of various nations makes this assertion of Baynton important. Analysis of how different groups of people have struggled to gain their freedoms reveals that disability is not just a physical incapability. For instance, women were de nied suffrage rights in America until 1930s on the ground that they had flaws that were related to their gender, which incapacitated them from making good decisions. Such deficits provided amicable responses to why male members of the society were not only valid and capable for making decisions such as voting the right people but also why they needed to domineer over women. Considering also the mass killing of Jews during the Nazi regime, the question of disability also arises. People who were killed during this time, mainly of Jewish origin, were considered an inferior race. Hence, the Jewish question was worth resolving. The solution was to mass slaughter Jews on the accounts of the perceived disability. From the above discussion, it intrigues one to think of how gender, race, and class are interrelated in terms of disability. Baynton provides an adequate response to this noble challenge by discussing the experience of black Americans with slavery. He argues, â€Å"The most commo n disability arguments for slavery were simply that African-Americans lacked sufficient intelligence to participate or compete on an equal basis in society with white Americans† (Rothenberg, 2009, p.37). Therefore, there was a misconception that skin color could indicate the degree of one’s intellectual intelligence. Consequently, skin pigmentation, other than white, was a disability. In this extent I agree with Baynton that disability is a crucial discriminatory issue that the society has always attempted to handle. Baynton evidences the darkest part of the historical relationship between disability and incapability when he argues that African-Americans were also considered having the risks of developing physical disabilities when they were given freedom. While this argument is important in developing the arguments for justification of denial of freedom among black Americans on the grounds of the perceived and actual disabilities, it is questionable whether indeed skin color may be indicative of one’s proneness to certain disability challenges such as deafness yet biologically there is evidence that skin color is due to melanin. This chemical component of the human body is not related to other aspects such as intelligence and susceptibility to situations that may make an individual disabled. Reference Rothenberg, P. (2009). Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: Mac Higher.