The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 14

damon Where were they? Elena watched the water anxiously. If anything had happened to Meredith or Stefan, it was Elena's fault. She had convinced Stefan to let Meredith jump the fal s. His objections had been total y reasonable; she could see that now. Meredith had been marked for death. For God's sake, Celia had almost been kil ed simply getting off a train. What had Meredith been thinking, jumping off a cliff into water when she was in the same sort of peril? What had Elena been thinking of to let her? She should have been by Stefan's side, holding Meredith back. And Stefan. She knew he ought to be fine; the rational part of her brain kept reminding her that Stefan was a vampire. He didn't even need to breathe. He could stay underwater for days. He was incredibly strong. But not so long ago, she had thought Stefan was gone forever, stolen by the kitsune. Bad things could happen to him – vampire or not. If she lost him now through her own stupid fault, through her own stubbornness and insistence that everyone pretend that life could be the way it used to be – that they could have some simple fun without doom fol owing them – Elena would lie do wn and die. â€Å"Do you see anything?† Bonnie asked, a tremble in her voice. Her freckles stood out in dark dots against her pale face, and her normal y exuberant red curls were plastered flat and dark against her head. â€Å"No. Not from up here.† Elena shot her a grim look, and before she even consciously made the decision, she dived into the pool. Underwater, Elena's vision was clouded by the froth and sand thrown up by the fal s, and she treaded water for a moment as she tried to peer around. She saw a patch of darkness that looked like it might be human figures off near the middle of the pool and struck out toward it. Thank God, Elena thought fervently. When she got closer, the darkness resolved itself into Meredith and Stefan. They seemed to be struggling against something in the water, Stefan's face near Meredith's legs, Meredith's hands reaching desperately toward the surface. Her face was bluish from lack of oxygen, and her eyes were wide with panic. Just as Elena came close to them, Stefan jerked sharply and Meredith shot upward. As if in slow motion, Elena saw Meredith's arm swing toward her as Meredith rose. A sudden blow sent Elena shooting backward toward the rocks behind the fal s, the fal s pushing her deeper underwater as she passed under them. This is bad, she had just enough time to think, and then her head hit the rocks and everything went black. When Elena awoke, she found herself in her room at home, stil in her bathing suit. Sun shone through the window, but Elena was wet and shivering with cold. Water trickled from her hair and bathing suit, droplets winding down her arms and legs and puddling on the carpet. She was unsurprised to see that Damon was there, looking as sleek and dark and poised as ever. He'd been perusing her bookshelf, as comfortable as if he were in his own home, and he wheeled around to stare at her. â€Å"Damon,† she said weakly, confused but, as always, so happy to see him. â€Å"Elena!† he said, appearing delighted for a moment, and then he frowned. â€Å"No,† he said sharply. â€Å"Elena, wake up.† â€Å"Elena, wake up.† The voice was frightened and desperate, and Elena fought the darkness that seemed to be holding her down and opened her eyes. Damon? she almost said, but bit the word back. Because of course it was Stefan who was gazing worriedly into her eyes, and even sweet, understanding Stefan might object to her cal ing him by his dead brother's name twice in one day. â€Å"Stefan,† she said, remembering. â€Å"Is Meredith al right?† Stefan wrapped her tightly in his arms. â€Å"She wil be. Oh, God, Elena,† he said. â€Å"I thought I was going to lose you. I had to pul you to shore. I didn't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His voice trailed off, and he hugged her even closer to his chest. Elena did a quick self-inventory. She was sore. Her throat and lungs hurt, probably from breathing in water and coughing it out. There was sand al over her, coating her arms and bathing suit, and it was starting to itch. But she was alive. â€Å"Oh, Stefan,† Elena said, and closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head against him. She was so cold and wet, and Stefan was so warm. She could hear his heart beating beneath her ear. Slower than a human's, but there, steady and reassuring. When she opened her eyes again, Matt was kneeling next to them. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked her. When she nodded, he turned his gaze to Stefan. â€Å"I should have jumped in,† he said guiltily. â€Å"I should have helped you save them. Everything seemed to happen so fast, and by the time I knew something was real y wrong, you were bringing them back out of the water.† She sat up and touched Matt's arm, feeling a warm flood of affection for him. He was so good, and he felt so responsible for al of them. â€Å"Everyone's fine, Matt,† she said. â€Å"That's what matters.† A few feet away, Alaric was inspecting Meredith as Bonnie hovered over them. Celia stood a little farther away, her arms wrapped around herself as she watched Alaric and Meredith. When Alaric shifted away, Meredith caught Elena's eye. Her face was white with pain, but she managed to give her an apologetic smile. â€Å"I didn't mean to hit you,† she said. â€Å"And Stefan, I should have listened to you, or just had more sense and stayed on shore.† She grimaced. â€Å"I think I might have sprained my ankle. Alaric's going to drive me to the hospital so they can tape it up.† â€Å"What I want to know,† Bonnie said, â€Å"is whether this means it's al over. I mean, Celia's name appeared, and she was almost strangled in the train doors. And Meredith's name appeared, and she almost drowned. They both got saved – by Stefan, good job, Stefan – so does that mean they're safe now? We haven't seen any more names.† Elena's heart lightened with hope. But Matt was shaking his head. â€Å"It's not that easy,† he said darkly. â€Å"It's never that easy. Just because Meredith and Celia could be saved one time, it doesn't mean whatever it is isn't stil after them. And even though her name wasn't cal ed, Elena was in danger, too.† Stefan's arms were stil around Elena, but they felt hard and unyielding. When she glanced up at his face, his jaw was set and his green eyes ful of pain. â€Å"I'm afraid it's not the end. Another name has appeared,† he told them. â€Å"Meredith, I don't think you could have seen it, but the plants you were tangled in spel ed it out against your legs.† Everyone gasped. Elena clutched his arm, her stomach dropping. She looked at Matt, at Bonnie, at Stefan himself. They'd never seemed more precious to her. Which one of the people who she loved was in danger? â€Å"Wel , don't keep us in suspense,† Meredith said wryly. Her color was better, Elena noted, and her voice sounded crisp and competent again, although she winced as Alaric touched her ankle gently. â€Å"Whose name was it?† Stefan hesitated. His eyes darted to Elena and then quickly away. He licked his lips in a nervous gesture she'd never seen from him before. Taking a deep breath, he final y said, â€Å"The name the plants spel ed out was Damon.† Bonnie sat down with a thump, as though her legs had given way. â€Å"But Damon's dead,† she said, her brown eyes wide. But for some reason the news didn't shock Elena to the core. Instead, a hard, bright feeling of hope flooded her. It would make sense. She had never believed someone like Damon could just be gone. â€Å"Maybe he's not,† she heard herself say, lost in thought as she recal ed the Damon in her dreams. When she had passed out under the water, she had seen him again, and he had told her to wake up. Was that dreamlike behavior? It could have been her subconscious warning her, she supposed doubtful y, but his name had appeared underwater. Could he be alive? He had died – she had no doubt about that. But he was a vampire; he had died before, and lived again. The Guardians had tried, they said, and they had said there was no way to bring Damon back. Was it a pointless hope? Was the eager beating of her heart at the thought that Damon might be alive just Elena fooling herself? Elena snapped back to the present to find her friends staring at her. There was a moment of complete silence, as if even the birds had stopped singing. â€Å"Elena,† Stefan said gently. â€Å"We saw him die.† Elena gazed into Stefan's green eyes. Surely, if there was any reason to hope, he would feel it the same way she did. But his gaze was steady and sad. Stefan, she saw, had no doubt that Damon was dead. Her heart squeezed painful y. â€Å"Who's Damon?† Celia asked, but no one answered. Alaric was frowning. â€Å"If Damon's definitely dead,† he said, â€Å"if you're sure about that, then whatever is causing these accidents might be playing on your grief, trying to hit you where it hurts. Perhaps there's an emotional danger here that it's trying to create as wel as a physical one.† â€Å"If spel ing out Damon's name is meant to upset us, then it's aiming at Stefan and Elena,† Matt said. â€Å"I mean, it's no secret that Meredith and I didn't like him much.† He crossed his arms defensively. â€Å"I'm sorry, Stefan, but it's true.† â€Å"I respected Damon,† said Meredith, â€Å"especial y after he worked so hard with us in the Dark Dimension, but it's true that his death didn't†¦ affect me the way it did Elena and Stefan. I have to agree with Matt.† Elena glanced at Bonnie and noticed that her jaw was clenched and her eyes glistened with angry tears. As Elena watched, Bonnie's bright eyes dul ed and lost focus, gazing off into the distance. She stiffened and turned her face up toward the top of the cliff. â€Å"She's having a vision,† Elena said, jumping to her feet. Bonnie spoke in a voice flatter and rougher than her own. â€Å"He wants you, Elena,† she said. â€Å"He wants you.† Elena fol owed her gaze toward the cliff. For a wild moment, that hard, bright hope came bursting back into her chest again. She ful y expected to see Damon up there, smirking down at them. It would be just like him, if he'd somehow survived death, to show up suddenly, make a grand entrance, and then pass off the miracle with a shrug and a dry quip. And there was someone standing at the top of the cliff. Celia gave a little scream, and Matt swore loudly. It wasn't Damon, though. Elena could tel that right away. The silhouetted figure was broader than Damon's lithe form. But the sun was so bright she couldn't make out the person's features, and she lifted her hand to shade her eyes. Like a halo, blond curly hair gleamed in the sunlight. Elena frowned. â€Å"I think,† she said, recognition dawning on her, â€Å"that's Caleb Smal wood.†

Papago Woman

Papago Woman, written by Ruth M. Underhill, is an ethnography of the life of a native american woman named Maria Chona, a member of the Southern Arizona Papago people located right outside of Tucson, Arizona on a reservation. Ruth lived among the Papago from 1931 till 1933. She studied the life of the Papago with her main subject an older Papago woman named Chona. She says at one point how she learned amongst these people and Chona, â€Å"I feel, nevertheless, that out of all this flurry there came the story as it had appeared in Chona's mind,† (27). By hearing the life of this Papago woman she learned about life as a Papago.To collect data about the Papago way of life and Chona, Ruth Underhill asked many questions. She was very forward with her questions at first because she had not yet known the Papago way of life, such as asking the name of Chona's dead son and not knowing that the name of the dead are not said out loud. Underhill integrated her life into that of the tribe. In the 3 years she stayed there she learned much through this method. She studied the language and Papago method of breathing by listening to the way they say their words and learned how they pronounce r's as l's and f's as p's.She also used translators along the way. Part one of the Papago woman describes Ruth Underhill's first encounter with the Papago people. Ruth goes to Tuscon, Arizona on a grant from Colombia University, the college she was attending, to live amongst this native american tribe in the southwest. Underhill drives to Arizona and meets a few friends living in Tuscon who tell her about the tribes people . They tell her how a few Papago come to their homes looking for work. They describe them as soft-spoken, brown people. Underhill inquired about any of the english speaking Papago she could meet.She is then introduced to a yardman, Rafeal, or Lapai in the language of his people. Lapai in turn takes her to meet a woman named Chona who lives on a reservation in an un furnished dwelling, similar to that of a cellar. Ruth listens with intent as Chona talks. Lapai translates the conversation for her. Throughout her stories, Ruth notices that Chona talks about how it used to be when she was a child. Ruth asks Chona about her family. She learns that Chona had two sons and a daughter but one son who was a medicine man died, the other is in Mexico, and the daughter got married and moved away.Ruth asks the name of Chona's dead soon and is met with an uncomfortable silence. Lapai tells Ruth that Chona had a sister who married a man named Lillat, whom she calls â€Å"husband-of-my-sister,† but died and Lillat was remarried with children (Underhill 5). They decided to go on a trip to visit Lillat and his family who lived far out on the reservation away from government headquarters. Soon they set out but not before the rest of the people living around Chona tried to all hitch a ride with Ruth to see Lillat. On the way, Ruth learned much about the lan d as the Papago know it.She learns about eating cholla during the dry season, or â€Å"hungry time,† (Underhill 8). Chona points to a white rock and tells Ruth about the kidnapping of the Papago woman by the Apache during the fall when the corn was ripe. Chona also mentions Coyote and I'itoi who are very important people in Papago stories of history. â€Å"Coyote,† she said, â€Å"helped put the world in order. Only he made mistakes,† (Underhill 9). She would not talk further about Coyote because, â€Å"These things about the Beginning are holy. They should not be told in the hot time when the snakes are out. The snakes guard our secrets.If we tell what is forbidden, they bite,† (Underhill 9). A few hours later they arrived at Lilliat's adobe home. In true Papago fashion, they waited to be welcomed. They all stood across from each other smiling. Lapai and Ruth were never introduced but instead were greeted with kind smiles of gratitude. She learned that t he Papago do not believe in sayings superficial things such as thank you but instead being welcomed through hospitality. With news of the guest arrival, the whole village came to eat at Lilliat's house. Before dinner began, the ways of child-rearing were viewed.The youngest son of Lilliat was told to â€Å"Shut the door,† and was not praised but instead allowed to sit on the men's side of the table. As dinner went on Ruth observed more and more of the Papago customs. Strangers were studied very carefully to see their true selves. Bedtime was early and the bed was on the ground. Early rising is custom of Papago because, â€Å"Papagos had learned how to deal with the sun and did not hate or fear it. Those who slept past the dawn light were set down as hopeless drones,† (Underhill 14). The day begin when men went to fill the water tanks.The water was shared and not thrown out with the guest being the first to use it. Women set to work with the meals for the day and basket -making. Later that day, a girl named Vela who could speak a little bit of english visited. She promised to help Ruth with translations. Ruth realized that her persistent questioning had been seen as ignorant and embarrassing to Chona. The women told Ruth about their job to bring the clouds to make rain. She soon discovered they would be taking a trip to gather cactus fruit to prepare wine for the rain festival.They rode to the sahuaro cactus to gather the pear-ish fruit. Ruth again learned about Coyote and I'itoi. â€Å"When I'itoi was furnishing the earth, he thought he would put sahuaro all over. Then everyone could have fruit without too much walking. But Coyote, he doesn't like work,† (Underhill 19). Coyote had not fully planted the seeds given to him by I'itoi to distribute the cacti and instead dropped them on the south hill. Then the cactus only grew on the south hill and not the north. The women gathered the cactus fruit and boiled it for the wine. Then it soon began to rain.Next, the people ventured to Lillat's parent village, Burnt Seeds, to gather for the rain festival. On their third night there the men dressed up for the dancing that would take place that night. They all gathered around a fire and danced and chanted in circles. The women picked the men they wanted and held hands to join in the dancing. They sang the same song continuously, â€Å"On the edge of the mountain, A cloud hangs. And there my heart, my heart, my heart, Hangs with it,† (Underhill 24). The next night when the wine had fermented the village gathered again to drink.This night was when they would drink until the wine was all gone which led to everyone getting drunk. The medicine man prophesied the rains would come after four days. A week from the night, the rains came and raged for a week. Once that ended the villagers once again gathered to sing and do work such a basket weaving. This chapter helps the ethnography by giving an example of Ruth's immersion into t he tribe by experiencing their traditions. In part two, Underhill begins by telling a little background on the Papago people and Chona. The origins of the Papago people are mentioned.They are closely related to the Pima people who live in lush lands near the border of Mexico. It is this reason that the Papago know them as the â€Å"River People† whilst the the Papago call themselves the â€Å"Desert People,† (Underhill 31). The Pima and the Papago were once one group split by the migration of the spanish missionaries. Since the desert had not attracted the church, the Pima, living in greater lands â€Å"adopted American names and American clothing, and by 1871 had an American school,† while the Papago people cherished their ancient way of life (Underhill 32).Ruth witnessed and documented the life of the Papago whilst studying the life of a 90 year old woman named Maria Chona, â€Å"She was the daughter of a prominent leader, Jose Maria, nicknamed Con Quien. â⠂¬  (Underhill 32). She loved her father and therefore â€Å"accepted her culture completely,† (Underhill 33). Ruth was able to write the biography with little fluency in the Papago language and with Chona knowing a small bit of Spanish. What Ruth noticed about the stories of the Papago was there repetitive nature. Small details that are not important to non-Papago natives are confusing.Things such as emotion were summed up in ways such as â€Å"I liked it,† or â€Å"I did not like it,† (Underhill 33). Chona wanted Ruth to write everything exactly as she told it but due to the emphasis on details and repetition, the non-native readers of the story would not be satisfied. Chona, we learn, â€Å"As a woman, she could not take part the ceremonial life,† but, â€Å"Chona accepted her status without stress or rancor,† (Underhill 34). She possessed an interesting background, one where she had two husbands. Her first husband was a shaman. Chona also had a co-wife, since polygamy was a norm amongst her people, whom she resented.She describes her home growing up. She lived at Mesquite Root in a grass house. Her father was the chief there. As a child the girls did not wear tops. Water was scarce and what was there was red in color, â€Å"Oh yes, our water was always red. It made the corn gruel red. I liked that earth taste in my food,† (Underhill 36). The men of the village would go to hunt without water because it was considered womanly to bring water along. Chona's mother would ground seeds to make flour while her father would listen to people problems. Her father also liked to gamble, gaining himself the nickname The Gambler.The men would smoke tobacco often during gambling. When it was time to eat, the dishes were not washed, â€Å"When we had finished we did not wash the dishes. How could we, with no water,† (Underhill 38). Due to water scarcity they were not able to bathe either. When the children would play the bo ys would catch rats and roast them for all to eat. They would also go to the racetrack to run. When they were hungry they would gather food planted by Elder Brother, â€Å"Elder Brother planted those things for us,† (Underhill 39). When it was time for rainy season, Chona would experience the same ritual that Ruth would years later picking the cactus fruit.During the time of menstruation, Chona's mother would enter into the Little House so as not to bring bad luck and death to her father during war. For the men if they were â€Å"Killers† then they would have to be purified (Underhill 41). This meant they were separated from their family for days. Everyone in the family would be cleansed and gain power from the dead enemy. In her family, Chona's grandfather had been a medicine man. Due to this association and her brother behavior it was known that he would be a medicine man. Chona's family was always sick.The medicine man would come to their house constantly to heal th em. He sang songs to cure what ailed them. Singing seemed to be a big part of Chona's life. It was natural to her family and soothing to her. People would dream of owls and then sing in front everyone so that the owls would go away, â€Å"People had to be sent for who had dreamed of owls, because that is how all songs come, by dreaming,† (Underhill 48). At one time an evil medicine man sent a a sickness that covered the whole village. So medicine men begin to walk into each hut waving branches to gather the sickness.Chona did not get as sick as everyone else did. She did begin to have visions. She saw things that no one else did but it was natural to her because of her family background. During summers the corn was planted. It was said that, â€Å"The corn was once a man and he lured a woman away to sleep with him,† (Underhill 52) They would sing about that encounter and plant the corn so that it would grow strong. Summers also made the people happy because it was when the rain would come. Ruth also gathered that from what she heard form Chona was that their was a story for every occurrence.So just like the corn, there was a story for the rain. The story was turned into singing that would help bring the rain along with the cactus festival. Like her father, Chona was hardworking, passionate, and a gambler. She was so good at gambling that she even beat a grown woman. As she got older she went through menses, â€Å"Girls are very dangerous at that time,† (Underhill 57). When girls go through menses they would bring lightning into the village and go to the Little House behind their families homes to prevent these occurrences that happen during menstruation.When her dangerous time came to an end after a month , she was bathed to prevent death to her family and her hair was washed with soapweed fibers, â€Å"That is the way women should always wash their hair and it will never grow gray,† (Underhill 59). During this period the girl would also grow very thin, â€Å"We girls are like strips of yucca fiber after our coming of age is over,† (Underhill 61). At cleansing she was named Cha-veela as is customary during this time. When it was time to marry, Chona did not know her husband. He was a medicine man's son.Her breast had grown large so it was her time marry. Her father told the boy's parents about the marriage and they agreed to it. The boy was told last about the marriage. Her father gave her advice on how to be a good wife, â€Å"That husband of yours, listen to him,† (Underhill 62). For the marriage they had to lie together in her hut with her mother beside her for four nights. This is how Papago are married and she moves in with him after. Her husband has three brothers but one is a man-woman, â€Å"The third brother was called Shining Evening and he was a man-woman,† (Underhill 64).After a while she became dangerous again and goes through menstruation. When she is integrated into the fami ly, the mother tattoos her chin with four black marks. At one point Chona goes with her husband to se a race against the River People. Her people won and received many items from the betting. Chona has her first child and becomes very superstitious as not to harm the child, â€Å"I was kind to the people in our village who looked sick or ugly, and I never laughed at them, so that my baby should have a good body,† (Underhill 66).Soon after, two of her husband's brothers marry. The wives always stayed with Shining Evening when the men were out, â€Å"We girls used to spend all day with that man-woman, Shining Evening,† (Underhill 67). Chona had six children with her husband, five of which were boys and one a girl. The boys all died. She would leave her babies at home sometimes to go help the Mexicans with their harvest. They were always on the lookout for Apaches, the enemy, and were almost killed. They vowed never to go to the Mexicans alone again. Her husband started h aving visions.He was a Coyote-Meeter, â€Å"When he had his medicine man's dreams, it was our comrade, Coyote, who came to him and sang him songs,† (Underhill 71). soon after her husband became a medicine man. After this occurrence her father died and the medicine men could not save him. They buried him with his blanket, pillows, and a few valuables. White men soon came and brought with them whisky. The men of the village would drink this and have visions like a medicine man would, â€Å"Men grew crazy when they drank that whiskey and they had visions,† (Underhill 74).For some time Chona would leave to visit other villages. One time when she was returning, she heard news that her husbands had married again. Chona was heartbroken and left him. She took her child and went to her brother. Her uncle who resided there married her to an old rich man despite her disagreement because women had no say in matters such as these. Her new husband brought her many things. She learne d that her first husband had grown sick and died upon hearing the news. He did not want his second wife and cried when he heard of Chona's marriage, â€Å"I never saw my first husband again.They told me when he heard of my new marriage he cried,† (Underhill 78). Soon after his death Chona caught falling hair sickness, a disease from the white people. A medicine man cured her and taught her how to cure. Chona has two sons from her second husband. One, a medicine man, died young because a wild woman was with him, â€Å"She lay with my son in the house when she should have been at the Little House,† (Underhill 85). Ruth learns that seven years prior to her arrival, Chona's second husband had died. After she was alone in her home she would go to visit her daughters home at Burnt Seeds village.This chapter helps the ethnography by having Ruth hear exactly what she came there to learn. It tells the life of an actual Papago women. Part three briefly talks about child-rearing amongst the Papago. Children are always surrounded, â€Å"The Papago child was born not into a single family but into a group,† (Underhill 89). The child is taught to be apart of the group and never seen as an annoyance. They learn action through observation. One of the most important was not to speak the name of the dead, â€Å"Because if the dead hear they may think you are calling them.And they will come and take you because they are so lonely,† (Underhill 90). Ruth also learns that a woman's place is not with the men. She had realized how separated things were between the sexes. The woman told her they do not fret because, â€Å"Why should we envy men? We made the men,† (Underhill 92). Another thing she noticed was the lack of love stories among the Papago. The woman told her that there were love songs and stories but not many. Woman would also become enamored with the men bringing back scalps and chase after them, â€Å"Some women went crazy and ran after men-but it was the ‘scalps,'† (93).The Papago in the present are also talked about. Ruth says, â€Å"By the time of my visit, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had moved in,† (94) and they were soon introduced to more modern ways. Men joined the army learning english and schools were built. The Papago today vote and have dictionaries in their own language. This chapter helps the ethnography by giving a short insight on the child-rearing, love amongst the Papago, and present day Papago. The most important issues of the ethnographer seemed to be retelling the story in a way that readers could understand.Ruth mentions this in the beginning of chapter two about the way the story was told in traditional indian style which is confusing to outsiders. The most important aspect of interpreting things like this seems to be that the observer must live amongst the people to fully understand their ways and interpret them for others. This is the same for the film â€Å" A Man Calle d Bee† and the Yanomamo text. The perspective of the ethnographer is that the Papago people are so different from the outside world; soft-spoken and tribal in their ways.This colored her analysis through her main focus on an older resident of the tribe who had grown up the Papago way. The ethnographers methods are convincing because she relays a story just like it was told to her and includes her experience amongst the people making the report all the more convincing. Ruth does not necessarily generalize her findings because she tells of the present Papago, interviews, and has older tribe member giving a story on that side of life, and includes the writer's own experience at the rain festival.This ethnography helped me to see how an older people lived. The Papago are ancient in their ways and I see that when I compare their way of life to my own. Ruth reinforced my assumptions about human behavior mostly when she described the ways men and women were separated and seen in diff erent lights, much like today. Works Cited Underhill, R. M. U. (1979). Papago Woman. (Reprint ed. , Vol. 1, p. 98). Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.

Qing China and the consequences of the golden age Essay

The â€Å"Prosperous Age† was a period where Qing China experienced a drastic increase in population, flourishing trade and commerce, and a remarkable level of social and political stability during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. However, its brilliance was overshadowed by its subsequent consequences and China was soon at its breaking point in the 19th century. This essay would then evaluate on the implications of the â€Å"Prosperous Age† and how the long-term consequences proved to be more negative in the 19th century due to a string of crisis, and subsequent problems that continued even in modern China of the 20th century. Negative Unanticipated Long Term Consequences Reversal of Trade Fortunes with Britain During the 18th century, there was mounting European demand for Chinese goods (Hung, 2011). Britain in particular, had strong liking and demand for Chinese goods especially tea. Hence, it led to the outflow of British silver into China, but little inflow of silver back into the British economy resulted in China enjoying a trade surplus (City University HK, 2007) while Britain suffered from a trade deficit. To redress this deficit, Britain began to smuggle and sell opium in China (City University HK, 2007). China’s attempt to prohibit opium then resulted in the Opium Wars and suffered a tragic defeat. The defeat in the Opium War led to the signings of unequal treaties . Upon signing of the unequal treaties, much Chinese marked it as the beginning of a century of shame and humiliation. Although China was never formally colonized, the lack of ability to defend its basic sovereign rights and ability to govern its own country made it look like a like semi-colonized state of Britain. Consequently, the Qing government was seen as weak and inefficient to combat against the foreigners and much Chinese lost faith in the Manchurian Qing government. As a result, this gave rise to the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) where violent revolts and attacks were targeted against foreigners as a sign to resist their influence. Boxers, supported by China, suffered a yet another defeat and were forced to sign yet another unequal treaty: Boxer Protocol, where the reparations drastically crippled the Chinese economy till the mid 20th century (Zheng, 2009). Thus, we can see that the initial trade surplus, a sign of â€Å"Prosperous Age† resulted in British to redress the situation by selling opium to the Chinese led to the Opium Wars and the unequal treaties which greatly weakened Qing China internally and externally in the 19th century. China’s failure to counter foreign influence led to their continued defeat in the Boxer Rebellion at the end of 19th century, where another unequal treaty continued to cripple her till mid 20th century , thereby demonstrating the long term consequence of the â€Å"Prosperous Age† was indeed negative in the long run, especially since the consequences did not confine just to the 19th century but even stretched to the 20th century. Reforms did not keep up with population boom During the â€Å"Prosperous Age†, China’s population tripled from less than 150 million to over 400 million (Perkins, 1969). Civil Service Exam however continued its strict quota for passing (Bentley & Ziegler, 2003) and that meant a lower ratio of scholar to population passes. The frustration of students led to the rise of influential leaders like Hong Xiuquan who sought for reforms which led to the Taiping Rebellion . Coincidentally, the backbone of his rebels were the poor peasants who were forced out of arable lands and were socially upset and frustrated, which was also due to the consequence of the population boom. The consequence of the Taiping Rebellion led to a weakened Qing as they were forced to decentralize power to provincial elites to deal with the crisis and this power was never fully recovered even after the rebellion was suppressed (Sng, 2011). Provincial elites who did not return the power were a growing sign of defiance and could have the possibility of rising up against the imperial court. The unneeded civil unrest caused by Taiping Rebellion also served to exacerbate subsequent crisis like the Northern Chinese Famine (1876-1879) where the government was severely blamed for not providing sufficient aid. The excess unrest and loss of power proved to be detrimental in the 19th century as it crippled China and the country with no official political bloc stepping up to assist with the problems and crisis. In short, China was in a total disarray and chaotic. Lack of technological advancement Qing China favoured political and social stability over technological innovation which they feared would lead to unsettling changes. Furthermore, the vast population available to firms was a cheaper alternative to increase output, rather than investment of new technologies which was costly (Bentley & Ziegler, 2003). This proved to be adverse in the 19th century when China engaged in wars. In the Opium Wars, the Qing military was no match against the British who utilized better technology to triumph (Tanner, 2010). The first defeat resulted in Treaty of Nanjing which ceded Hong Kong to Britain. Subsequent wars like the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1985) had China suffering a crushing defeat against a more superior and modernized Japanese army. China then ceded Taiwan, Penghu and the Liaodong peninsular to the Japanese. It clearly implied that China could not defend its own sovereign ground and indicated how backward the Chinese army. It questions the right of China to even claim rights over those territories if she could not even defend it properly. The problem gets exemplified into the 20th century when China continued to suffer several defeats to the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War . Even with the Self-Strengthening Movement (1861-1895) which was embraced to modernize China was insufficient. The subsequent defeats to Allied forces in the Boxer Rebellion and Japanese in the Sino-Japanese Wars marred the success of the movement. Especially significant was the defeat in First Sino-Japanese war as for the first time in over 2000 years of history, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan (Johnson, 2010). Coupled with the defeat, China’s international and regional standings were challenged and staged subsequent revolutions that led to other problems and the eventual demise of Qing. Positive Long Term Unanticipated Consequences Building a new foundation based on common people The end of Taiping Rebellion inspired nationalists (Del Testa & Lemoine & Strickland, 2001) to fight for the betterment of Chinese. It was because of the consequence of the â€Å"Prosperous Age† that led to the decisive rise of nationalist to seek for reforms. An example would be the decentralizing of power, which meant many parties would be involved in decision-making process, rather than just the monarch government. This would ensure that concerns are taken into deliberation before decision-making that will benefit majority of the Chinese, rather than the imperial court only. The nationalist dream then culminated in the 1911 Revolution in the early 20th century, where the Qing was overthrown and the Republic of China was established. Nevertheless, the dream of the nationalist was short-lived due to a power struggle within. Even though election was scheduled for 1913, but it soon became clear than Yuan Shikai wanted to establish his own power base. Sun Yat Sen was then forced into exile after he stepped down as head of the newly formed Kuomintang (Foster, 2007). The new government was then monopolized by Yuan and led to decades of political division and warlordism, including monarchy restoration (Blecher, 2010). Therefore we can see that the perceived benefits from the consequence of â€Å"Prosperous Age† in the 19th century did not fully materialize in the 20th century. Monarchy restoration was attempted and defeats the purpose of the promised sharing of power with the people initially. Political and social unrest persisted even with the new government which culminated in the May Fourth Movement (1919). Hence, we can see that China did not become better even with the end of Qing. It would be judgmental to argue that the initial rise of nationalists had resulted in a better China. It would be fairer to argue that the initial rise of nationalists led to more power struggle and dissident movements like the Chinese Warlord Era (1916-1928) as there were no strong political forces to enforce stability and order until the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came in 1949. Conclusion Hence, we can see that the consequences of the â€Å"Prosperous Age† proved to be more negative. The severity of the negative consequences shed light on the crises in the 19th century which crippled China internally and externally. The impact of the consequences was so overwhelming that it even snowballed to the 20th century and further crippled modern China. In contrast, the perceived positive consequences was that it built the foundation but the problem was that the foundation was weak and unstable which in turn led to more problems which culminated in more movements and revolutions. Furthermore, problems like sovereign issues were not solved by reforms or China’s surge in military strength but rather treaties that returned territories to her under imminent conditions . Thus, we can see that the long term consequences were more negative in the 19th century as it continued the crippling of China economically, socially and militarily and as well as set the stage for the movements and revolutions in the 20th century which did not necessary bring about stability and communal power amongst its people until the CCP came into power in 1949. References – Hung, H.F. (2011), Protest with Chinese characteristics: demonstrations, riots, and petitions (p24-26). USA: Columbia University Press – Qian Long Emperor’s Letter to George III, 1793, retrieved from Sanders & Morillo & Nelson & Elleberger (2005), Encounters in World History: Sources and Themes from the Global Past, Volume 2 (p289). McGraw-Hill – Sng, T.H (2011, Oct 4). Size and Dynastic Decline: The Principal-Agent Problem in Late Imperial China 1700-1850. – City University of HK Press (2007), China: Five thousand years of history and civilization (p109). Hong Kong: City University of HK Press – Perkins, D.H. (1969). Agricultural development in China, 1369-1968. Chicago: Aldine – Bentley & Ziegler (2003). Traditions and Encounters (p724-740). New York: McGraw-Hill – Tanner, H.M. (2010), China: From the Great Qing Empire through the People’s Republic of China 1644-2009 (p77). USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. – Del Testa & Lemoine & Strickland (2001). Government leaders, military rulers and political activist (p86). Greenwood Publishing Group – Foster, S (2007). Adventure Guide China (p18-19). Hunter Publishing, Inc. – Blecher, M.J. (2010). China against the tides: restructuring through revolution, radicalism, and reform (p205). Continuum International Publishing Group – Johnson, R.E. (2010). A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches (p267). Cambridge University Press – Zheng, J.G. (2009). Historical dictionary of modern China 1800-1949 (p32). USA: Scarecrow Press

Financial Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Management - Term Paper Example It is considered as the largest and leading company that brews perfected beer with a volume of 49.2% share of beer sales (Anheuser-Busch InBev, 2008). In terms of volume of brewing it was considered as third in the world’s leading distributors of beer before it was acquired by In Bev in 2008 July and the merger was completed in November 2008. Based on revenue it was considered as the top notch in its industry. It operates 12 branches (breweries) in the United States of America and 17 other branches overseas. The products best known are Budweiser, Busch, Michelob, Natural light, Ice. In Bev: In Bev on the other hand was the second largest brewery in the world. While its core business is beer, it also deals in the soft drink market as well. It is a merger of Am Bev and Interbrew. Its headquarters was in Leuven, Belgium where Anheuser Busch is now located. It had approximately 86,000 employees who managed the day to day activities like production and supply of finished products ( beer and soft drinks) around the world (Anheuser-Busch InBev, 2008). Before the merger with Am Bev, Interbrew was the third largest brewing company in the world by volume. In Bev had many operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia pacific. Description of merger The merger between Anheuser Busch and In Bev created the global leader in beer followed by SAB Miller Company. It is also one of the top five Companies that produce commercial products like beer. In Bev was the second largest brewer in the world while Anheuser Busch was the largest brewing Company in the United States of America and also had the highest revenue or returns in investment (Anheuser-Busch InBev, 2008). Type of merger: This merger is a vertical merger or acquisition due to the fact that Anheuser Busch and In Bev are in the same level of operation, production and organization. The two companies also produce similar products like Budweiser. In Bev and Anheuser Busch were in the same product ion level because they produced many beer types resulting in a vertical merger. The merger amid the 2 organizations is a responsive merger, acquisition, takeover because it has a situation in which a target company’s management and board of directors agree to be acquired by another Company. In this case In Bev taking over Anheuser Busch. Here a public offer of stock or cash was made by In Bev and the board of directors of Anheuser Busch Company was publicly approved the buyout terms. They may be subject to regulatory or shareholder approval. Competitors: The major competitors that Anheuser Busch in Bev faces are the following: - Carlsberg, Heineken, SAB Miller Carlsberg is the fourth largest Company in the world. They have major markets in Asia and Europe with Northern Europe acquiring the largest markets of beers produced by Carlsberg. Their products or brands are many, over 500 to be exact (McShane, Sampson and Restrepo, 2008). Carlsberg does not only deal with beer alone, it also deals in soft drinks like coca cola whose production occurs in Denmark and Finland. Beer and soft drinks are the major products that help Carlsberg in achieving their desired returns in investment thereby realizing their initial objectives. These are some of the factors that help this thriving Company attain the fourth position when it comes to production and supply of products around. Brands differ significantly in

Taj Mahal Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Taj Mahal - Statistics Project Example Taj Mahal, one of the greatest structures on earth and wonders of this globe, was built by the Mughals, Muslim rulers of India. Meaning "crown palace", Taj Mahal is expressed differently by some as a "dream" others as "elegy in marble". At the lower chamber, Taj Mahal houses the queen’s grave and Shah Jahan was also added after her passing. Traditionally significant ladies of the royal families were given different names at the temple during their marriage or in some significant function (McCarthy, 2011). Constructed over a period of twenty-two years, the temple was completed in 1648 C.E. with a fee of 32 million rupee. Its architect, a renowned individual at his time, is considered to have done a magnificent work. He was also the individual who documented everything, which is used today to study the temple. This was from the twenty thousand workers who worked on the temple to the inventory and the sources of the materials used. Among the employees were expert craftsmen from L ahore, Delhi, Qannauj and Multan and others who worked on specialized tasks (McCarthy, 2011). Soaring to a height of 213 feet, the structure has a diameter of 58 feet and is flanked by four subsidiary dome chambers (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 1992). The entire structure (both outside and the interior) is designed and decorated with inlaid patterns of flowers and calligraphy using precious gems such as agates and jaspers. The main archways are chiseled with passages from the Holy Quran and bold works of flowering pattern., which give the structure a mesmerizing charm to its beauty. It uses the architectural design of interlocking arabesque concept, which dictates that each element has its own stand and perfectly intergrates with the main structure. Historically, Taj Mahal is presented as a love story that begins in 1612 when Princess Arjumand Bano from Persia married Shah Jahan (the then prince of Khurram) and the Mughal emperor. After marriage, Arjumand Bano’s name was changed to Mumtaz Mahal (the chosen of the palace) and was the second wife to the emperor (Zahoor & Haq, 1997). Being a companion and advisor to the throne, the queen travelled with the emperor on his journeys and military expeditions. Her companionship sparked the emperor’s heart and brought positive effect to the emperor inspiring him to perform acts of charity and benevolence throughout his life. A serious turn took place during a campaign at Burhanpur when Mumtaz Mahal gave birth to their 14th offspring (Zahoor & Haq, 1997). Divested by this act, the emperor and the court went into mourning for over 2 years within a few months after death of the queen. It is said that Shah’s hair and beard turned white, and he was recklessly determined to build a monument in consorts and loving memory of his beloved wife, and that was how a structure never seen before like Taj Mahal came to mind. The queen’s dead body was taken to Agra and buried in a garden on the banks of Yamun River (Simmons, 2002). A group of the finest architects were later called upon to come up wi th a plan for erecting a tomb for her. Usta Isa, a Persian master architect, was called upon to design the structure. Usta Isa commenced his works with his assistant and 20000 laborers,

Analyze of the Vibe Magazine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Analyze of the Vibe Magazine - Essay Example Analyze of the Vibe Magazine Vibe magazine has been seen to be very creative in the way it designs its cover and has used creativity of its cover to increase popularity of the magazine. The magazine has used celebrities such as Rap and R&B musician Mary J. Blige for its cover especially during its first few days when it was launched. The cover of the magazine is a graphical one and unlike in many magazines, the cover of Vibe magazine is usually more creative and graphical. The cover of Vibe magazine always has a celebrity and sometimes a single celebrity may be in the cover for many issues of the magazines, either continually or not. The back cover serves as a feature in the magazines, offering readers a sneak peak of the development in the music industry and also looking at the Caribbean market. Vibe has a clear format which makes it easy for readers to be able to be able to read the magazine and easy for them to find their interest in the magazine as well. It has specific structure such as a 20-question featur e at the back of the magazine that addresses reggae music and Caribbean music in general. Vibe has also entered in to the internet domain since the development of the internet and it has an online version of the magazine that is a mirror for the printed version. The online version is even more dynamic and the contents can change much more dynamically unlike the printed version that is a bimonthly magazine and once printed and circulated cannot be changed. Location in the marketplace (competitors etc) The magazine is headquartered in New York and but is in circulation in most of North American country. This huge circulation is probably caused by the fact that rap and R&B music is an American affair that covers the all states of America. The man competitors of the Vibe magazine are other entertainment magazines such as Playboy. However, due to its creative and different from streamline format, the magazine is able to access a different market niche that has not been tapped by other en tertainment magazines. Description of general content The magazine offers news about the celebrities in the entertainments industry. The magazine maintains a graphical approach to its content and most of its content is colorful pictures rather than many les of articles. The magazines features in each of its issue a huge volume of rap and R$B artists who are on the pages of the magazine. Apart from celebrity and entertain news, Vibe also features information

The International Trade in Antiquities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The International Trade in Antiquities - Essay Example This trade cuts across local thieves to larger international looting networks. These include auction houses in the US, Asia, Middle East and Europe. It is difficult to quantify this trade but it is estimated at four billion dollars annually. Looted antiquities are illegally moved across many borders, changing hands many times before reaching their final destination. This makes their origins very difficult to trace. These antiques end up with museums and privare collectors. Ownership history is then fictitiously given to the antiques. False documents are also made to prove authenticity of the antiquities, to give assurance that that the antiquity's origin is legitimate. Despite numerous attempts to tighten control from law enforcers worldwide, this trade continues. It is boosted by the developing technology and the advanced market. For example, the online auction sites have made controlling this trade very difficult. This paper examines the two positions. The proponents include traders and middlemen while the opponents are archaeologists, conservationists, law enforcement agencies and historians. It then evaluates the strong points in both arguments against weak ones. Proponents' position Proponents argue that trading in antiquities is economically beneficial to the local communities that are economically surviving. They further argue that placing restrictions or illegalizing this trade will not change this situation but only place it underground. Israel's case study Israel has a rich heritage in archaeology. It is however facing constant erosion by illegal excavators to meet a rising demand for these items. The antiquities authority in this country has an electronic database of more than 14,000 sites. Thousands of these sites have been eroded. The destruction has sparked a controversy in Israel between the government agencies and the traders. The authority demands a change of the law since it currently allows trading in antiquities. It has a strong belief that by outlawing this trading, the traders will be unable to operate within Israel and thefts within the archaeological sites will be stopped (Blum, 2008). The traders on the other hand maintain that by passing the law, this trade will continue but now underground as is the case in Jordan, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus and Greece. The IAA established a Theft Prevention Unit in 1985 with a mandate to prevent theft from these sites and monitor the trading in these antiquities. It was granted the power to search arrest and carry out investigations for any commercial operations in the field. According to Ya'akovi, 144 people were caught illegally excavating on ancient sites in the year 1995. The IAA is also authorized to make decisions on who gets and who does not get the license to engage in this trade. Currently there are authorized dealers and their turnover adds to approximately five million dollars yearly. The Antiquities law of 1978 was very effective in nationalizing antiquities for their protection. Article 2(c) asserts that if an antiquity is found after the enforcement of this law, it will

Essay on Horizontal Recruiters Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Horizontal Recruiters - Essay Example It is the only cemetery that is under the Armys jurisdiction while the other 113 are under the Veterans Administration. He notes that although these men and women who are buried there were once regular citizens like the people who come to read their names, they are seen as heroes. The Army has glorified these corpses as something that should be revered and that it is something that people should be humbled by because these soldiers laid down their lives for their country. The author also suggests that President Kennedy also became a heroic entity within the walls of Arlington because of his assignation and the fact that he is the most visited grave in the cemetery. He talks about the fact that although he was under court martial his father was able to get him out of it and this act led to him being elected president later. All of this information made the author angry about what he was seeing how the Arlington Cemetery as a tribute to the militarys need to emulate its victims. Another historical fact that he brings to light is the fact that Arlington was once named "Freedom Village" and it served as a place where free slaves were living just after Lincoln freed them. This was a place where they could receive permanent housing and community service. This was an established village for them for over 30 years. Unfortunately because it was under the jurisdiction of the Army, many residents complained that the living conditions were like living in slavery. After the war it was more difficult for the ex-slaves to get the help they needed and the federal assistance they were receiving was reduced. He makes the point that the Arlington National Cemetery brought this about and created a welfare state before there was welfare available to the nation. Another travesty that this young man is upset about is the fact that in Arlington National Cemetery blacks and whites could not be buried together. This created another way for the slaves to be separated within the

The Adoption Of Integrated Marketing Communications Essay

The Adoption Of Integrated Marketing Communications - Essay Example Integrated marketing communications is a marketing strategy that is extremely common-sense. IMC is an emerging concept. Therefore, it does not as yet have theoretical framework that is mutually accepted by all academicians or scholars. A number of scholars, however, are contributing to the building of a theory base. That is, in the rapidly changing advertising environment now found in many countries, there has been an inevitable calling for a more coordinated and systematized marketing communication concept and approach, which have often taken the form of Integrated Marketing Communications. Integrated marketing communications has been defined as a management philosophy (Stewart, 1996), an educational movement (Hutton, 1996), and a unifying business practice (Burnett and Moriarty, 1998), among others (cf. Stewart, 1996). These inconsistencies in defining and measuring IMC have prevented the development of a cohesive research stream in this area. In order to build on and extend previous research, we chose to adopt the original definition of Duncan and Everett (1993), who define IMC as "the strategic coordination of all messages and media used by an organization to influence its perceived brand value." The companies, who have adopted integrated marketing communications, use one strategy for everything instead of dividing communications into several departments. It is a re-invented marketing strategy and it must espouse two fundamental principles: 1. The first principle stipulates that marketers should view all forms of media, print, electronic equally. No precedence should be given to one form of media over the other, for example, to newspapers over television etc. Marketers should possess a totally unbiased and prejudice-free approach towards all form of marketing media. 2. The second principle that is a very important part of the marketing strategy is that the people responsible for marketing in every organization must approach all kinds of marketing media with a strategic approach and do proper planning in this regard. The background behind the emergence of IMC comes from three major areas. First, from the corporate or client side, an increasing competitiveness and higher risk in the marketplace brought about by aggressive activities by management's merger and acquisition group have been required simply to meet the consumer's increasingly diverse needs more successfully through a variety of new marketing strategies. Second, from the media and market side, weakening power of traditional marketing and advertising due to the rapid development of information technology has increased the search for more effective and cost-efficient methods in marketing communications. Third, from the consumer side, on-going changes and increasingly diversified consumer lifestyles have encouraged advertisers to develop more elaborate and quicker response communication disciplines. The traditional advertising media base has now been replaced with new forms of media. Thus, the companies now have to adopt new and emerging forms of

Investigate the employees attitudes and perceptions in an organisation Essay

Investigate the employees attitudes and perceptions in an organisation to discover how these were related to employees job satisfaction and performance - Essay Example These two have been found effective indicators of job satisfaction in past studies. By using a survey questionnaire, the author would like to measure and understand how perception and employee attitude affect job satisfaction and ultimately job performance. In the past, a massive amount of attention has been given to studies involving job satisfaction and employee-related topics. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, employees and employers alike have both explored opportunities to improve working conditions and productivity that could lead to higher profitability. The changing times and needs of employers have been subjected to criticism and attention. What employers found motivating years ago may be different from what motivates them today? Their attitudes and perception could also be different from recent years. Such is why companies find it crucial to update knowledge and information on subject matter that could improve employee productivity. Happy employees are said to more efficient and productive at work (Durkalski, 2001). They exude a certain aura that also influences others and therefore produces an environment conducive for accomplishing work efficiently. This happiness may be related to job satisfaction and could affect job performance. For this paper, employees attitudes and perception, specifically organizational commitment would be examined and related to job satisfaction. Since job satisfaction is an abstract concept, the author found it beneficial to measure it through absenteeism and turnover ratio of companies. These two have been found effective indicators of job satisfaction in past studies. According to Saari and Judge (2004) different employees have different attitudes. Different people have varying perspectives on their jobs or careers. Even how one may view his or her organization may be different from

Analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Analyze - Essay Example This is because in spite of creating employment and creation of an alternative source of energy, it results to increased levels of environmental pollution. The article focuses on given the basis of the rules that have been laid down by EPA to regulate the negative impacts of fracking. Some of the most interesting statistics from the article include the gas production industry which emits 40 percent of the methane; the rules formulated will reduce the emission of harmful by nearly 95 percent (Weinhold, 2012). Furthermore, natural gas mining is done in 33 states and this number will increase (Weinhold, 2012). The most common sources that have been used in the article are reports by EPA, EIA (Energy Information Association) and GAO (Government of America). The article highlights the negative impacts of fracking. Environmental Protection Agency that is abbreviated as EPA stated that they were concerned about the high levels of pollution resulting from unsupervised fracking locations. As a result, EPA came up with rules and regulations to monitor these sites (Weinhold, 2012). The article highlights that pollutant emitted during this process can result to health complications such as cancer and heart diseases. This issue interests me since I am a devoted environmental conservationist and I am concerned about the conservation of the

Social work Essay Example for Free

Social work Essay Divergence between social work and the law is the shift in the perspective or priority of social work that occurred during the 1930s. Previously social work played an important role in legal processes or in the justice system by supporting investigations and providing vital testimonies in court cases. However, during the 1930s at the onset of the great depression, social work underwent a change in priority so that the direction of efforts was towards humanistic issues and mental health issues so that social workers engaged more in these areas and less in legal aspects. It was only during the early 1990s that an area of social work renewed links with law. This was spurred by the recognition of social workers of the need to succumb to the legal regulation of the profession to make social workers recognized as service providers. (Barker Branson, 2000; Neighbors, 2000) In another sense, divergence between social work and the law also pertains to the conflict or friction between the values of social work and laws such as self-determination highly valued by social work relative to the constraints or control imposed by laws. In mental health care, respect for the person forms part of social work practice but mental health laws allow forms of restraint in certain situations and subject to regulatory standards. (Preston-Shoot, Roberts Vernon, 2001) As social work again renewed its relationship with law, social workers need to know a number of things about law. First is the manner that laws are made and passed since social workers are also advocates of any change or improvements needed in areas of law they are involved in. Second is the manner that legal provisions and jurisprudence are interpreted to be able to apply or use laws in various areas of service delivery. Third is the manner that legal provisions are enforced such as procedures in the courtroom, legal documents, roles of members of the legal profession, and other workings of the legal profession since social workers also take part in these procedures. (Barker Branson, 2000; Neighbors, 2000) 2. Summarize in your own words what forensic social workers do, motivations for forensic social workers, and what are the steps toward forensics becoming a specialty. Forensic social workers apply social work to issues pertaining to the law or legal systems (Brammer, 2006). Specifically, forensic social workers fulfill three primary functions. First is the provision of consultation, education and training to members of the legal profession, law enforcement authorities, correctional system personnel, and the public over areas of social work integrated with the law. Second is rendering diagnosis and recommendations and providing treatment to populations within the correctional system, crime victims, witnesses, and criminal justice staff. Third is engaging in administrative and advocacy functions such as policy development, mediation or arbitration, education and training, and research. These are general functions since social workers engage in these functions in terms of their fields of competence or expertise. (Johns, 2007) The greatest and encompassing motivation for forensic social workers is the personal rewards achieved from altruistic actions. The pay of forensic social workers varies according to specialization and expertise. The work is not necessarily appreciated in the criminal justice system or the public. (Barker Branson, 2000) There are three steps in becoming a forensic social worker. First is to acquire exceptional knowledge on the selected area of expertise. Second is to effectively communicate acquired knowledge and translate this into practice to enhance expertise. Third is to become known as an expert in the field through networking or referrals. (Barker Branson, 2000) 3. After reading these two chapters, would forensic social work be a profession you would be interested in pursuing, why or why not? Yes. Forensic social work is a challenging field that develops the potential of social workers to develop knowledge and skills in a multidimensional field of practice that benefits a wide-range of people, especially those with limited knowledge of the law and legal system. Reference List Barker, R. L. Branson, D. M. (2000). Forensic social work: Legal aspects of professional practice (2nd edn. ). New York: The Haworth Press. Brammer, A. (2006). Social work law (2nd edn). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Longman. Johns, R. (2007). Using the law in social work (3rd edn. ). Devon: Learning Matters Ltd Neighbors, I. A. (2000). Forensic social work: The interface between social work and the law. In K. Van Wormer A. R. Roberts (Eds. ), Teaching forensic social work: Course outlines on criminal and juvenile justice and victimology (pp. 113-117). Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Inc. Preston-Shoot, M. , Roberts, G. Vernon, S. (2001). Values in social work law: Strained relations or sustaining relationships?. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 23(1), 1–22.

Motivation Behind Creative Accounting Accounting Essay

Motivation Behind Creative Accounting Accounting Essay Creative accounting is a practice that potentially being undertaken as a result from some individual care more on their own interest and indirectly causes issues arise in ethical dimension of creative accounting. From information perspective, agency theory gives a clear picture on creative accounting scenario. Whereby managers misuse their privileged position in manipulating financial reporting in their own interest which providing superior information content to shareholder. Lack of personal skill or unwillingness to carry out detailed analysis making individual shareholders do not have the clear view on the effect of accounting manipulation give a high possibility in the incidence of creative accounting. Definition of creative accounting In the USA, the preferred term of creative accounting is earnings management, however in Europe the preferred term is creative accounting. Generally, creative accounting is accounting practice that falls outside the regulation and give benefit to certain people. It can be described as a practice with a clear aim to interrupt the financial reporting process which affects reported income to make it looked normal and provides no true economic advantages to relevant parties like shareholders. Concisely, creative accounting is the transformation of financial accounting figures from what they actually are to what users desire by taking advantage of the accounting policies which is permitted by accounting standard. Motivation for creative accounting There are several motivations have been identified in stimulating the behaviour of creative accounting in the organization. These are proven by various researches being done in the past. Firstly, the significant motivator for creative accounting is to report a decrease in business income to lower the tax paid. Second, to enable the companys performance appear better in future, company will maximize the reported loss to make bad loss in that year. This is called big bath accounting for the purpose in smoothing the income. Thirdly, to provide positive view on expectations, securities valuation and reduction on risk for analysts in anticipated capital market transactions and maintain firms performance in analysts expectation. Other motivations are to manipulate profit in order to match the reported income to profit forecasts and to distract attention from negative news by boosting companys profit figure though change in accounting policies. Managers motivations in managing earning aim to report a stable growth in profit not only to reduce the perception of variability toward organisations earnings, but also are in relation to income measurement. In order to make company faces less risk and gain more benefit in aspect of raising fund, takeover bids as well as prevent takeover by other company. Creative accounting is needed to maintain or promote the share price and create a good profit growth. To gain benefit from inside knowledge, director of the company engage creative accounting to postpone the release of information to the market. Last but not least, many types of contractual right, obligation and constraints based on the amount reported in the accounts also motivate company to apply creative accounting. Techniques of creative accounting Creative accounting is actively applied in six areas. The first area is regulatory flexibility, whereby changes in accounting policy are permitted by accounting regulation. For example, IAS permit carrying non-current asset can be recovered at either revalued amount or depreciated historical cost in asset valuation. Secondly, dearth of regulation by which some accounting treatment might not be fully regulated as there is few mandatory requirements. The third area is management has large extent of estimation in discretionary areas, such as assumption in bad debts provision. Fourthly, some transactions can be timed as to show the desired appearance in accounts. For example, the manager is free to choose the timing to sell the investment just to increase earning in the accounts. Fifthly, to manipulate balance sheet amounts by using artificial transaction. Last but not least, by reclassification and presentation of financial amounts through balance sheet manipulation in order to smooth financial ratios and also based on cognitive reference point in financial numbers presentation. Existence of creative accounting Theoretically, managers motivation in creative accounting is acceptable. However, there is various empirical studies have concluded that certain of companies apply a particular techniques of creative accounting to some extent, for example, applied in non-discretionary component of the bad debts provision. Other evidence is classificatory smoothing by using the extraordinary items, such as pensions cost, dividends from unconsolidated subsidiaries, extraordinary charges and credits and research and development costs in manipulating the figure of income in financial statements as it was proven by several researchers. Merchant found that managers acknowledge manipulative behaviours in accounting information and Black argued non-current asset sales are exploited by manager as creative accounting tools through timing of its transactions since relevant accounting standards are permissive. Creative accounting behaviour is slightly still persisting although regulations are tightened. Amat reported out of 35 large listed companies especially in Spanish identified that creative accounting behaviour was overt and considered legal. In addition, there are 3 possible indicators of creative accounting: (1) auditor report qualifications, (2) special authorizations from regulatory agencies, and (3) changes in accounting practices. In Spanish case, the direction of creative accounting was connected to general economic conditions and this somehow affected reported earning and adjusted earning against Spanish listed companies. However, there are some unique features of Spanish accounting environment bring out special attention such as the audit report qualification are ordinary, and creative accounting may be arose from the collusion of the regulatory authorities. Creative accounting behaviours can be identified by having thoughtful analysis of financial statement or observed by reasonably well- informed user of financial statement. But, how clearness the users of statement observe creative accounting is questionable. As in Spanish, analysts fail to report the existence of creative accounting. Anyway, value of information content in financial statement is concerned even though financial statements give adequate information enable users to adjust for creative accounting as certain investors rely on reported earning numbers in income statement. Ethical perspective of creative accounting There are some ethical issues concerning the exercise of creative accounting. Revsine stated that loopholes in accounting standards provide manager some spaces in the sense of manipulate the timing in income reporting. In his opinion, accounting is a tool to supervise contracts between managers and financial groups, identify possibility of accounting manipulation and how properly it reflected in pricing and contracting decisions. Ethics of bias in choosing accounting policy which implied in creative accounting can be seen through accounting regulators and management level. There are 2 views of accounting (deontological and teleological) which viewed differently by Revsine and Ruland. From Rulands perspective, deontological view is the moral applied to actual action and teleological view is actions should be judged based on the result of such action. Whereas from Revsine perspective, teleological view of accounting is employed in private sector which permit manager to use loose standard to achieve what they want and deontological view is about strict standard in preventing accounting manipulation in public sector. In addition, Ruland has also differentiated positive responsibility and negative responsibility. From accounting perspective, positive responsibility refers to present an account free from bias. Meanwhile, negative responsibility refers to managers would be liable for actions done by others, which they fail to avoid. Compared to duty to act, Ruland has stressed on duty to refrain, which means avoid the inherent bias in creative accounting. Its importance can be looked into 3 issues, which are relentlessness, certainty of result and responsibility. Professional accountant regards creative accountings are ethically doubted. Conner stated that managers tend to misapply accounting principles to give better appearance in financial statement to investors. Conflict of interest, client requests to alter account and for tax evasion are the most frequent ethical issues. Accountants attitudes toward creative accounting depend on whether it is arisen from misuse of accounting principle and manipulation of transactions. Merchant and Rockness found that accountants more critic in misuse of accounting principles as accountants duty is on rule-based and it falls within their expertise. Failure to act ethically may damage the reputation as an accountant unless he or she reports the abuse to the appropriate party. Slotting is not an acceptable accounting treatment in company practices. There are some action can be taken by accounting regulators in order to restrain creative accounting: Decrease allowable accounting method or fix method used in different condition so that scope for choosing accounting method can be narrow downed. Companies should also be consistent in using method chosen by them. Some rules should be established to reduce the abuse of judgement. For instance, International Accounting Standards presently have almost removed the extraordinary item from operating profit. Also, companies should be consistent in applying accounting policy to restrain the abuse of judgement. Implementation of Substance over form can decrease artificial transaction and this can make linked transaction become one as whole. To restrict the use of timing of genuine transaction, item in account should be regularly revaluated. The increase or decrease in value should be stated in the account each year the revaluation occurs. International Accounting Standards also tends to value item at fair value rather than historical cost. Besides alteration in accounting regulations, ethical standards and governance codes must be properly executed to avoid individuals from performing creative accounting. Comparison with other author on the article presented From the study done by Dilip and Eno in Creative Accounting in Bangladesh And Global Perspectives found that the cause of creative accounting is the conflicts of interest among different interest groups. For example, managing shareholders want to pay less tax and dividends. Investor-shareholders are interested to get more dividends and capital gains. Countrys tax authorities would like to collect more and more taxes. Employees are interested to get better salary and higher profit share. Dilip and Eno also reported that creative accounting may arise under 3 different financial market conditions: Depending on the financial market evaluation of the companys future prospects, company keep changes its shares to attract investors to contribute to such shares either at par or at a premium. Aim to show a desirable picture of its financial conditions when the company whose shares are already listed in a stock exchange. Based on inflated profits through overvaluation of assets, undervaluation of liabilities and change in systems of stock valuation that promote the image of company in a short time, company having its shares listed in the stock exchange may declare and pay high dividends. Both of them examines creative accounting in Bangladesh scenario, they found out many of the company prospectuses published in Bangladesh are based on creative accounting. An expert opinion survey also done by them and result showed that although it is not clear for how long, creative accounting has been clearly practice in Bangladesh. Creative accounting not only being practiced in Bangladesh but it seems to be widespread globally in developed countries such as UK, USA as well as Australia. And the case of Enron is the most broadly known case of creative accounting in USA. Dilip and Eno also suggested that the code of professional ethics should be strictly overemphasized. Accounting education is needed as well as the responsible of instructor to instill moral values of integrity, honesty and sincerity into students character as it is critical to modern society, the business world and the accounting profession.

Evaluating Television Advertisements For Effectiveness

Evaluating Television Advertisements For Effectiveness Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication that is designed to communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes. Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively. Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or persuade voters; by not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular ac tivities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to smoke. The forms that advertising takes and the media in which advertisements appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they wish to deliver. The word advertise originates from the Latin advertere , which means to turn toward or to take note of. Certainly, the visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of advertising are intended to attract attention and produce some response by the viewer. Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape. Newspapers and magazines often have more advertisements than copy; radio and television provide entertainment but are also laden with advertisements; advertisements pop up on Internet sites; and the mail brings a variety of advertisements. Advertising also exists on billboards along the freeway, in subway and train stations, on benches at bus stops, and on the frames around car license plates. In shopping malls, there are prominent logos on designer clothes, moviegoers regularly view advertisements for local restaurants, hair salons, and so on, and live sporting and cultural events often include signage, logos, products, and related information about the event spons ors. The pervasiveness of advertising and its creative elements are designed to cause viewers to take note. Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may achieve this objective in many different ways. An important function of advertising is the identification function, that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other products. Another function of advertising is to communicate information about the product, its attributes, and its location of sale; this is the information function. The third function of advertising is to induce consumers to try new products and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion function. The identification function of advertising includes the ability of advertising to differentiate a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality. One famous example of this is found in the long-running advertising for Ivory Soap. In the late 1800s, a soap maker at Procter and Gamble left his machine running during his lunch period and returned to find a whipped soap that, when made into bars, floated. The company decided to capitalize on this mistake by advertising Ivory Soap with the phrase It Floats. This characteristic of Ivory Soap served to uniquely identify it and differentiate it from other bars of soap. The information function of advertising can also be found in advertising for Ivory Soap. For more than one hundred years, advertisements for Ivory Soap have focused on such product characteristics as purity of ingredients, child care, and soft skin. These characteristics, in turn, were often related to key benefits that could be obtained from using Ivory Soap. Thus, various advertisements emphasized That Ivory Look, which focused on the relationships between product characteristics and the benefits of obtaining a fresh and healthy appearance. The third and most important function of advertising, persuasion, is also evident in the long-running Ivory Soap advertising campaigns. The advertiser, Procter and Gamble, has linked Ivory Soap with obtaining benefits that are important to customers: a fresh and healthy appearance for women, a mild, nonirritating method for bathing babies, and a novelty for children in the tub (since it floats). The benefits of the product suggest reasons to buy and use Ivory Soap and thus provide a basis for persuading consumers. Different benefits are important to different customers. Thus, to realize its full potential as a persuasive tool, advertising must often be tailored to emphasize those benefits that are important and meaningful for a particular type of customer or a particular use of the product. Advertising has a very long history. It existed in ancient times in the form of signs that advertised wares in markets. In Europe and colonial America, criers were often employed by shopkeepers to shout a message throughout a town. Medicine shows, in which there was a combination of entertainment and an effort to sell a product, usually a patent medicine or elixir, presaged modern advertising by creating an entertainment context in which advertising was embedded. Advertising became especially important in the second half of the nineteenth century as retailers began to advertise products and prices that would bring customers to their stores. Advertising for patent medicines also played a prominent role in the development of advertising, and by the end of the nineteenth century, the firms that would become advertising agencies had already begun to form. Though user habits are rapidly changing, television advertising has long been considered the most effective mass-market advertising format. The introduction of digital video recorders such as TiVo, which allows viewers to skip advertisements, as well as the popularity of commercial-free cable channels, have begun to diminish the reach and effectiveness of TV advertising. Television advertisings crowning moment is the Super Bowl, where companies debut their very best television commercials, effectively putting them in competition with all of the other television commercials. With the cost of a single 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl running into the millions, most companies opt instead for running their TV advertising in time slots that best match their advertising budget. Television is the most common and most wide spread advertising medium. Watching TV is the most common leisure activity among the consumers.They spend attentive time watching TV.It will not be an exaggeration to describe television as the giant advertising medium as a report shows that people spend 5 to 6 hours (average) a day watching TV. Showing your ad on TV has several advantages.TV reaches almost every household and it touches more people than any other medium can do.Even the most popular newspaper only covers the metropolitan area.However TV reaches every corner of your city, your state and your country.In fact some of the very popular channels reach the whole world. Reach Larger Audience than Newspaper Newspaper can only accommodate pictures and words.TV reaches much larger audience than newspaper can do and it can do this work within a very short span of time.Another thing that you should keep in mind is that people usually look only for the news and they overlook the ad in newspapers.However if you run your ad in the middle of the favorite TV commercials of the consumers they will surely watch the ad. TV Ads have Visual Appeal You can also go for radio ads,but again radio only captures sound.TV is the only medium that uses words,sounds,picture (both still and movie) and also music to motivate the consumers emotionally.With so many options it successfully captures the viewers complete attention. You can Take Your Audience Anywhere TV ads are so popular because with a camera you can take your audience almost anywhere you wish.You can show them anything. Not only the end result but also your factory,the procedure of making the product,the packaging and so on.It appeals to the viewers sight and hearing at the same time.With the application of color it turns the world of advertisement into a real world and it easily makes people believe in it. TV Ads can Emotionally Motivate the Consumers Television can show many people about your product or service at a time.Every time the consumers see the benefit of using your product or service they will get inspired to buy it.It will remind them of their desire to possess what you offer.It can instantly give your product or service the prominence it needs. Reach Targeted Audience TV ads can reach the target audience most easily.You can reach the housewives between the best commercials or soaps. You can make funny ads for children and reach them during they watch their favorite cartoon programs.You can reach the elderly people during some religious programming and the office goers during news. However remember a few things while making a TV ad.Make it simple so that people can easily remember it.Repeat your ad at regular intervals.Go for a single consistent message. Offer what the audience wants and focus on the consumer needs.You will surely make a successful ad. Being titled theKing of advertising medium television has the power to influence consumer behavior over and again. Despite the many entertainment options we have today, television remains the dominant medium in most U.S. households, according to a study by Ball State University. Americans on average spend over 4 1/2 hours watching TV each day. Advertising your product or business on television can be very effective, but there are also several drawbacks. Before you purchase ad time, you should be aware of the disadvantages of advertising on television. Expense Producing a television commercial and purchasing airtime is costlyit is the most expensive form of advertising there is. TV commercial production is often a complicated process which can involve a lot of manpower, time and equipment. Some ads are simplefor example, just graphics and a voiceover. Other ads involve renting a studio and equipment, hiring a director, writers, actors, light and camera operators and editors. Who you hire to produce your ad will also affect the overall cost. For a less expensive, albeit lower quality ad, use your local cable station, which often has the capability to produce ads. If you have more to spend and want a higher quality ad, hire a professional production company. And assuming youre not an advertising professional, its wise to hire an advertising agency to help you come up with a campaign, which will add further expense. Besides production, there are a number of other factors affecting the final cost of your ad. Once the commercial is completed, you must then purchase airtime on one or more TV stations. According to AllBusiness.com, the key with TV advertising is repetition, so youll want to air the commercial as many times as possible. This is why TV stations offer pricing in bulk. Another cost factor is the size of the market in which you run the commercial. Airtime in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas is more expensive than in Eureka, California or Amarillo, Texas. And cost will also depend upon where the ad will be seen. Local advertising on cable TV is significantly less expensive than ads that run on major networks nationwide. Changes Because of the complex process of making TV commercials, it can be difficult to make changes once the ad is complete. If a sale price or special offer needs changing, it could take days or weeks to make the adjustment at additional cost. Meantime, you may be unable to run your ad if the information is no longer correct. This will cost you valuable time during which youre not reaching your audience, unfortunate especially if youre advertising an event or limited time offer. In comparison, a newspaper or radio ad can be changed almost overnight and will likely cost little or nothing to change. Ad Campaign Creating an effective advertising campaign is not an easy task. You want your ad to be memorable, informative and entertaining enough to keep the viewers attention. If you dont have prior experience writing ads, you should hire an advertising agency. You can present them with the information you want to use in the ad, as well as any creative ideas you may have. The advertising professional will help you shape your information and ideas into what will hopefully be an effective ad campaign. Just remember that even agency-created, high-quality campaigns dont always work. TV-viewing audiences can be fickle and hard to please; sometimes its difficult to tell whether your ad will bring them to your business or make them change the channel. Your best chance of creating an effective ad campaign is to leave it to professionals. Hitting the Target Finding the right viewers is critical to the ads success. If youre selling womens shoes, then buying ad time during Monday Night Football is unwise, as most of the viewing audience is male. Run your ad instead during shows mostly viewed by women. Your advertising agency or a TV stations advertising department can help you decide when and on what channels you should advertise. They have access to Nielsen ratings, which are compiled from surveys that ask TV viewers what they watch. These ratings also provide viewer demographicsinformation such as gender, age and economic class. These statistics make it easier to determine when your ad should air based upon audience makeup; if your ad misses its target audience, it may fail to increase your business. Avoiding Commercials For viewers, television advertising can be an annoyance. Many people use commercial breaks to go to the bathroom, get a snack or flip channels. Add to that all the other entertainment options they have such as video-on-demand, radio, the Internet, Mp3 players and video gamesopportunities abound to miss the ad altogether. All you can do as an advertiser is create the best ad you can, repeat it often and hope viewers watch it and patronize your business. DVR A relatively new technology that is making its way into households across the nation is the DVR or Digital Video Recorder. A more modern version of a VCR, a DVR allows users to digitally record TV shows easilyand automatically, and to record more than one show at a time. Unfortunately for the advertising industry, DVRs allow users to fast-forward through commercials. According to Cnet News, a March 2006 study by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research said about 70 percent of advertisers surveyed believed that DVRs and video-on-demand will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials. It remains to be seen just what sort of effect DVRs will have on television advertising. Evaluating television advertisements for effectiveness is difficult since each viewer is affected by them in a different way. A general formula known by the acronym AIDCA is used by many advertisers to determine whether or not an ad will succeed in influencing viewers. The A in AIDCA stands for Attention, the I is for Interest, the D is for Desire, the C is for Credibility or Conviction, and the final A stands for Action. Each of these steps is believed to be key in creating a quality advertisement.

Popularity of Soccer Around the World Essay -- essays research papers

Popularity of Soccer Around the World I am going to talk about the most popular sport in the world: football. Now, you may be having visions of huge quarterbacks, dressed up in their padding and helmets, parading down the field during the Super Bowl. But the other kind of football, the football the rest of the world knows, has no padding or helmets. This other football is known in America as soccer. In more than 175 countries across the globe, football, or soccer, rates as the number 1 national sport. Football dates back as far as thousands of years ago. There are records that show that ancient civilizations of Greece, Egypt, and China (among others) played an age-old form of football with a stuffed leather ball. Early games in Old England were like mob riots. There were no rules; it was anything goes! The games were so rowdy and violent that many English rulers tried to outlaw them. But it didn’t work. In fact, English travelers took the game with them, spreading it all around the globe. But there needed to be rules. In 1863 the Football Association was formed, or FA, in England. They developed the first real set of rules for modern soccer, or football, as we know it. And actually, the word â€Å"soccer† came from their name, specifically from the word â€Å"assoc†. By 1900 football teams from all different countries were playing against each other, and there was a need for a common set of rules. In 1904 the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or more commonly...

The doom of apple :: essays research papers

The Ethics of War   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unrestricted submarine warfare is often considered a shady practice in a time of war. Unrestricted submarine warfare is when one country sets up an area that is declared a war-zone, any ships that enter this zone, military or civilian, will be fired upon without warning. Is this right? In my essay, I will weigh the pros and cons of this tactic used by the German’s in WWI.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The practice of unrestricted warfare cost the lives of many innocent people. No warning is given so there is no chance to surrender or abandon ship! And foremost, unrestricted submarine warfare violates the so-called rules of war. In the case of the Lucitania, it was believed to be carrying supplies (this was true) and the ship could have later become a threat to Germany if converted into a war or transport ship. But, at the time, the ship or its 2000 passengers were not a threat to U-20, yet the Lucitiana was sunk without warning and with massive losses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unrestricted submarine warfare is a very shady, but effective tactic, nonetheless. When implemented, little to no supplies reach your enemies, this gives a tactical strangle hold on a war. Why is no warring given on civilian ships? To a U-boat stealth and surprise are its only defenses. Once a U-boat reveals itself, it is open to ramming and attack thus endangering the crew. In most cases, keeping your troops safe comes above keeping the enemies safe. Why would someone need to attack a civilian ship anyway? Because they may be carrying supplies. To say unrestricted submarine warfare violates the â€Å"rules† of war then why is the opposition violating the â€Å"rules† by putting troops and supplies on a civilian ship making it a target of submarines? Using the lives of innocent people as a shield to protect supplies is just as bad as firing on an unarmed ship without warning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is unrestricted submarine warfare right? In my opinion a submarine must give civilian ships a chance to abandon ship. A submarine does not need to expose itself to send a warning, send a radio ultimatum, and then a warning shot. How much of a treat could a passenger ship pose anyway?