Women: Their Freedom, And How They Got It :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Women: Their Freedom, And How They Got It The Light at the End of the Tunnel In the past, women have been oppressed to a point where they were treated as a completely different species. They were in a country that seemed to be a dark tunnel with no hope, dreams, or sense of fulfillment. Now, women have been given their natural birthrights, and they are now able to do everything males can do. As the United States of America was building, women for some reason were not treated like they should have been. Strong women like Sojourner Truth stood up for what they knew was right. She was able to fight for all women, represent a whole "race" and take control, she was one of the very few women who had the strength and will power to face this problem head on, and win. She was able to take on an entire nation and voice her opinion regardless of what her consequences could have been. That is what it takes to free yourself and or other people from the hold of injustice. Not too many people have the quality to be able to stand up in such harsh situations but because of some brave women all of the women are able to walk down the street and feel as equal as any man passing by. They can vote, hold office, get high paying jobs, and be independent women, with independent thoughts. In the lights of the horrible past, women were able to build a defense system far better than any army or navy that any country could produce. The women were able to attack with intelligence, perseverance, and being able to bring up common sense that seemed to have been missing before. With this defense, they were able to produce an illustrious history. Now, women can linger with their pasts, and with the memories of the women who preceded them, and look towards a bright future, where people like Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Rodham Clinton exemplify the American women, who can live out the American Dream, once only available to males. No longer do women write books depicting their insecurities and injustices. Now women are writers of Pulitzer Prize winning works and teach aspiring male authors how to be the best they can be. In a society where it was once unheard of for women to even be educated, women take up the majority of grade school teachers, and many more have blossomed into college professors with Ph D's and MD's.

Strategic Review of Australian Department Store David Jones

David Jones Limited (DJS) is an Australian retailer tracing its origins back to 1838 when it first opened in Sydney to sell â€Å"the best and most exclusive goods† (DJS, 31 Oct. 2009). It has since expanded to become a national retail chain comprising of nearly 40 premium department stores. The subject of this analysis is a strategic business unit (SBU) that is playing an increasingly important role in the company’s future growth strategy; namely the provision of financial services. As the result of a strategic alliance with American Express (AMEX), DJS launched the David Jones American Express (DJA) card in 2008 (ASX Media Release, 20 February 2008). To effectively analyse the value proposition of this SBU and product it is important to first examine the overall value proposition of the company. As defined by Kotler, a company’s value proposition is the set of benefits which it promises to deliver to consumers in order to satisfy their needs (Kotler et al. 009). In the case of DJS these core benefits are the provision of an â€Å"empowering level of customer service†, a distinctive store ambiance, a unique and high quality product range and international brand portfolio offered at competitive prices, and a mission statement to â€Å"be the best full line, differentiated department store† (DJS Enterprise Agreement 2006). Key aspects of this proposition include the company’s focus on quality, luxury and aspiration. In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs it demonstrates a desire to deliver an experience and array of products which satisfy needs of belongingness and self-esteem in a potential buyer (Maslow 1954). It also forms the basis for the company’s positioning strategy and its marketing orientation towards customer satisfaction (AFR Boss Magazine, October 2009, p. 22). The company strives to deliver these key benefits to a primary target market consisting of â€Å"three generations of women (daughter, mother, grandmother) from households with above average disposable incomes† (DJS JP Morgan Conf. October 2009). In other words DJS has a segmenting, targeting and positioning (STP) strategy that is female skewed and aimed at the affluent ‘AB demographic’ which constitutes the top 20% of the socio-economic quintile based on education, income and occupation (Roy Morgan, 2009). The value proposition of the DJA card dovetails into this broad set of company values , offering an array of additional benefits and functionality for DJS customers that compliment the company’s market position as an aspirational brand (ASX Media Release, 20 Feb. 2008). Whereas historically the company’s branded store card was only accepted in DJS stores, the DJA card offers customers credit facilities at any merchant who accepts AMEX. It therefore leverages the AMEX brand as a leading global payments, network and travel company with its corresponding level of acceptance to offer DJS customers additional credit purchasing power and functionality (AMEX, 31 Oct. 2009). The DJA card also offers unique reward benefits and gift points to loyal customers, professing to â€Å"turn everyday spending into dream brands and dream destinations† (DJS, 31 Oct. 009). The value propositions of DJS and DJA can be considered effective for a number of key reasons. Firstly the core beliefs which underpin these value propositions have remained largely consistent over time, with only small changes in response to evolving markets. This is important given they act as the foundation of a company’s brand building process (MM 2009, p. 2-34). Secondly they are unique, leveraging DJS focus on luxury and aspiration to help differentiate product offerings like the DJA card from that of competitors. Thirdly these values augment the company’s segmenting and positioning strategy by providing clear benefits targeted to their core customer base. Lastly the value proposition is well communicated, permeating all aspects of their marketing mix and integrated marketing communications strategy through mediums such as in-store branding, direct mail, print media, publicity, and online marketing. An overall analysis of the five C’s was conducted for the DJA business unit: Company| Strengths: Joining of two strong brands, reduction of risk for DJS, wealthy customer base, strong growth of financial services, distinctive ‘house of brands’. Weaknesses: Potential damage to DJS brand by alliance partner’s actions, fee structure, lack of acceptance of AMEX cards generally, higher merchant fees associated with AMEX. Opportunities: Store expansion increasing reach of customer base for DJA card, expansion of DJA alliance, supplementary card, status program. Threats: Cardholder resentment at annual fee, alliance partner motivations, Myer IPO, supermarket co-branded cards, AMEX debt recovery procedures. | Customers| DJS retail: â€Å"DJ’s core customer comprises of 3 generations of women; daughter, mother, grandmother, with a household income of >$75,000 p. . † (Macquarie Australia Confere nce, 2009, Mark McInnes). As the DJA credit card is a product development strategy, of supplying new products to existing markets, the customers of DJA are essentially the same as the current DJS customers. | Collaborators| Strategic alliance with AMEX in the provision of the DJA credit card. International alliances with other retail stores when the DJA card is used within their stores (eg. Harrods, Harvey Nichols, etc. ). Other local ‘bonus partners’ in the DJA reward program (eg. Vintage Cellars). Competitors| DJs competitive environment is summarised using the following adaptation of Porter’s Five Forces (Porter, 1908, in MKMT, 2009, 1-26). Industry Competitors: Mastercard, Visa, and other smaller credit card providers. Along with other AMEX co-branded credit cards and store cards. New Entrants: Barriers to entry in the credit card market are high including capital for lending and the setup of infrastructure. Although these issues can be mainly overcome by forming a strategic alliance with one of the major credit card providers, as has been done in the case of the DJA credit card. Substitutes: There are a number of substitutes to the DJA credit card including EFTPOS direct from bank accounts DJS store cards, Visa Debit and cash. Power of Suppliers: Threat of forward integration by alliance partner AMEX. | Context| DJA’s operating context is defined using the following adaptation of PESTLE model (MKMT, 2009, 1-29). Political: Operating within each Australian State requires understanding of a multitude of separate state governments’ regulators, government policy and the impact on consumer confidence in the provision of credit cards. Proposed changes to the National Consumer Credit Regime currently being considered by the Federal Treasury. Economic: Performance of the credit card sector is closely linked to consumer confidence within the market, key indicators affecting consumer confidence include; GDP growth, unemployment rates, interest rates, banking sector health, public sector debt. Increasing levels of private sector credit card debt. Socio-Cultural: Current trends in fashion affecting ‘house of brands’ and indirectly the DJA card. Societal downward trend away from carrying and transacting with cash towards the use of alternative point of sales payments. Technological: New competitors in the form of online shopping experience. Legal: Operating within numerous legal jurisdictions requiring understanding of each unique jurisdiction in relation to providing financial services. Environmental: Current push towards credit card companies to introduce paperless billing. Demographic: Increasing standard of living in Australia leading to greater take up of credit cards and other lending avenues. Ageing population in Australia which is aligned with the DJS brand and the DJS core customer base. | SWOT Analysis (MM 2009, 1-25) Strengths: (S1) Brand strengths: David Jones is a strong iconic Australian brand with 170 year history (DJS JP Morgan Conf. , Oct 2009) and David Jones has offered branded credit cards to its customers for 48 years (McInnes, National Consumer Credit Regime, 12 June 2009). American Express formed in 1850 and in the 1950s, issued its first credit card (AMEX, 31 Oct. 2009). The DJA card capitalises on the strength of both brand heritages and service cultures, both locally and internationally (ASX Media Release, 20 Feb. 2008). S2) Strong financial structure with reduced risk to DJS: Alliance partner is responsible for the credit policy and owns the receivables of the Financial Services business with the transfer of $374. 3m of largely debt funded receivables to American Express (DJS FY09, 24 Sept. 2009) and so the risk associated with the portfolio sits with AMEX not DJS. (S3) Wealthy customers: Core customers have above average disposable income with a hous ehold income of greater than $75,000 (DJS JP Morgan Conf. , Oct 2009). (S4) Strong growth of financial services: 7. % growth in past year and same projected over next four years and large growth in core customer base (DJS JP Morgan Conf. , Oct 2009). (S5) Distinctive House of Brands: positioning with the best product range, great service and the reinvigoration of high-value stores (David Jones FY 09, 24 Sept. 2009). Each DJS offering needs to be distinctly branded in a way which creates an individual brand relationship with the customer whist also aligning with the overall position of the master brand of DJS itself (Aaker and  Joachimsthaler 2000). (S6) Growth of brands: Strong range of national and international brands (DJS JP Morgan Conf. Oct 2009). The growth of these brands via ‘the introduction of 50 new department store exclusive brands to its portfolio across all categories’ at DJS stores is more attractive to buyers (Samador, 28 Nov. 2008). (S7) Fee structure: High membership fees, merchant fees, and credit fees generate more cash for generous rewards program. Weaknesses: (W1) Risk of DJS brand being linked to AMEX: DJS brand linked to AMEX credit policy and debt recovery. AMEX are perceived to be a pushy credit provider, with one shareholder describing AMEX as a â€Å"low grade† card that diminishes David Jones' â€Å"prestigious reputation†, (Samador, 28 Nov. 2008). (W2) Fee structure: Internal shareholders resistance to the $99 annual membership fee and 20. 49% per annum interest rate (the DJS Store card was free to join). (W3) High merchant fees and low merchant acceptance: AMEX merchant fees are the highest of all mainstream credit cards on offer in Australia (RBA, 6 Nov. 2009). This has led to lower acceptance of AMEX compared to MasterCard and Visa Australia wide. Overall AMEX and DJS have complimentary and mutual strengths that compensate for their individual weaknesses, giving them greater combined strength. Opportunities: (O-1) DJA credit card usage outside DJS stores: The strong history of the store-card (McInnes, National Consumer Credit Regime, 12 June 2009) and the high proportion of store-card holders in the DJA card program (Samador, 28 Nov. 2008) imply that card usage is likely to continue to be concentrated in-store. Given national expenditure in Department Stores accounts for less than 9% of total retail spending (ABS Retail Trade, Sept 2009); there is large opportunity for DJA to grow revenue through usage in the wider retail market. O-2) DJA credit card usage inside DJS stores: The DJS store-card is held by many cardholders as a status symbol (Hanson, 2009, pers. Comm, 30 Oct. ). DJA may build on this perception to encourage greater spending in-store and greater in-store usage of the DJA card. (O-3) DJA cardholder expansion: The DJA card program inherited 400,000 active accounts from DJS (McInnes, National Consumer Credit Regime, 12 June 2009). However this is a small percent age of the market, given there are over 14. 3 million credit card accounts in Australia (RBA, 6 Nov 2009). Increasing the number of DJA cardholders, within the target segment, is a significant opportunity for DJA. Leveraging the increased market coverage, to be achieved by the DJS store expansion program (DJS JP Morgan Conf. , Oct 2009), is one such means of increasing cardholder numbers. (O-4) Expansion of the DJA alliance: In addition to credit cards, AMEX offers a range of insurance products, travel and financial services (AMEX, 31 Oct. 2009). DJA currently offers insurance products and travel services to their cardholders through their Gift Points program (DJS, 31 Oct. 009). DJA may offer a wider range of AMEX insurance products, travel and financial services, under the DJS brand, to their existing DJA cardholders and DJS customers. Threats (T): (T-1) Resentment of the annual fee: Many DJA cardholders, whom had migrated from the DJS store-card, resented the newly imposed $99 annual fee (DJS, 31 Oct. 2009). The resentment of the fee is re-ignited annually when the fee is levied, such t hat cardholders will continue to re-evaluate the on-going benefits of the DJA credit card. T-2) Alliance partner AMEX: Under the DJA alliance, the merchant fee is waived on purchases made within DJS stores on DJA credit cards (Hanson, 2009, pers. Comm, 30 Oct. ). Given the DJA credit card history as a DJS store-card, a high proportion of spending is conducted within DJS stores, thereby limiting the merchant fees collectable by DJA. AMEX would benefit significantly by luring DJA credit cardholders to alternate AMEX products, so AMEX would receive merchant fees on card purchases within DJS stores. (T-3) The Myer IPO: Preferential share allocations were offered to Myer One cardholders in the Myer IPO (Business Day, 23 Sept. 2009). Current and potential DJA credit card customers may have been swayed away to the Myer One card program to benefit in the Myer IPO. (T-4) Supermarket linked credit cards: The co-branded credit card market is keenly contested by department stores, supermarkets and petrol companies to name a few. Monthly retail expenditure on food is over five times greater than department store expenditure (ABS Retail Trade, Sept 2009). Customers may elect to align their credit card with the retail store where they spend the most money, the most frequently. (T-5) AMEX Debt recovery procedures: Under the DJA alliance, debt recovery is handled by AMEX. Strong debt recovery procedures and activity from AMEX may reflect poorly on the DJA card and the DJS stores as customer may not differentiate between the two. References Ansoff, I. Strategies for Diversification, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 35, Issue 5, Sep-Oct 1957, pp. 113-124. Maslow, A. 1954, Motivation and personality, Harper and Row. Aaker, D. A. , ; Joachimsthaler, E. 2000, Brand leadership: Building assets in the information society, Journal of Consumer Marketing. Kotler, P. , Adam, S. , Denize, S. ; Armstrong, G. 2009, Principles of marketing, 4th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall. Marketing Management, 2009, AGSM MBA Programs Graduate Diploma in Management. ASX Media Release, David Jones selects American Express as its strategic alliance partner for its general purpose card, 20 February 2008. Mitchell, S. , AFR Boss Magazine, October 2009, p. 22 McInnes, M. , ; Goddard, S. , David Jones – JP Morgan Conference Oct 2009. David Jones, Full Year (FY09) Results: August 2008 – July 2009, http://www. davidjones. com. au/images/corp/pdf/2009/FY09_Results_24Sep09. pdf, 24 September 2009. McInnes, M. , National Consumer Credit Regime, http://www. treasury. gov. u/consumercredit/content/consultation/submissions/downloads/national_consumer_credit_regime/David_Jones. pdf , 12 June 2009) Reserve Bank of Australia, Credit and Charge Card Statistics, http://www. rba. gov. au/statistics/bulletin. html , September 2009 @ 5pm. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Retail Trade, http://www. ausstats. abs. gov. au/ausstats/meisubs. nsf/0/0C3F2426BB831DF3CA257662000E0A71/$ File/85010_sep%202009. pdf , September 2009, p6 ASX Media Release, David Jones Selects American Express as its Strategic Alliance Partner for its General Purpose card, http://www. asx. com. au/asxpdf/20080220/pdf/317jmwgpqdm2qr. df , 20 February 2008. Samador, L. , Investors Turn on David Jones Amex card, http://news. theage. com. au/business/investors-turn-on-david-jones-amex-card-20081128-6mtb. html, 28 November 2008. Business Day, Premier results add weight to timing of Myer float, http://www. businessday. com. au/business/premier-results-add-weight-to-timing-of-myer-float-20090922-g0ly. html, 23 September 2009. David Jones, David Jones Enterprise Agreement 2006, http://www. sda. org. au/images/awards/award13. pdf, Accessed 2 Nov. 2009. www. americanexpress. com, Accessed 31 October 2009 @ 5pm www. davidjones. com. au, Accessed 31 October 2009, @ 5pm

Arthur Millers Life and Influences Essay

Arthur Miller has been one of Americas best known play writers who emerged in the United States since World War II. He has been writing since the age of seventeen and bases his work on personal experiences while attacking political views. One of his best known works is The Death of a Salesman which is about a man named Willy Loman who tries to emerge in the business industry and present a better image of him in society. Another important play is The Crucible which is about the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts where people blame one another of being witches to save themselves. Through his plays, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, Arthur Miller expresses his own personal life and criticizes the events of the second Red Scare after World War II. As a young adult, Arthur Miller worked in his father’s textile mill and would observe the behaviors of the employees. Miller would analyze his father, relatives or other hired business men working for his father, and saw how these men tried so hard to become successful because some couldn’t even sell anything. He would recognize how fast they would age because of so much work they went through just to try and rise economically. During the 1920s people felt that if they had money they would be accepted by society. If not then no one would care. Like many people Arthur Miller realized that the people in his father’s factory are disillusioned by the fact of becoming rich, successful and beating everyone else at the business game. While working there Miller started writing a short story in which he was influenced by the salesman in the factory. Manny Newman was one of Arthur Miller’s uncles that worked as a salesman in his father’s textile factory and after writing the short story his uncle’s life influenced Miller even more. Newman was often very competitive with the other salesman in the industry, even his own sons Buddy and Abby Loman. Buddy was the oldest son of Newman who was very athletic and popular with the girls but didn’t end up graduating from high school. Abby was his youngest son who was well on his way but still wasn’t sure about his life career. Miller said that â€Å"The Newman house hold was one in which you dared not lose hope and I would later think of it as a perfection of America for that reason†¦ It was a house trembling with resolution and shouts of victories that had not yet taken place but surely would tomorrow. â€Å"(Arthur Miller 3) It describes the disillusionment of the Newman family which later caused Arthur Miller to rewrite his short story, turn into a play and name it The Death of a Salesman. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of Salesman, he reflects upon the society he observed and their determination to succeed even when their dream was not going anywhere they wanted it to be. In the play, Miller asserts that â€Å"the underlying struggle of all such dramas is that of the individual attempting to gain his rightful position in society. †(Thompson 1). He compares Willy Loman to Manny Newman, his uncle, and tells the story of the family and his struggle to achieve his American dream of wealth. Like Newman, the character, Willy Loman tries to fit into society because society would not accept him as a failure. â€Å"He has based his own identity and self-worth on social acceptance—on how â€Å"well-liked† he is† (Thompson 2). Willy Loman constantly tried to find ways to sell things or become wealthy but he never succeeded. This causes Willy to feel out of place in society just like Newman and other people who weren’t wealthy in the 1920s because society would not care for the common man. Willy Loman is the biggest symbol in The Death of a Salesman; he is an important figure of society and commits himself to a fake society which blinds him from the values of human experience. In addition through his whole life and career, he has wanted to be wealthy but never succeeded his â€Å"American Dream†. Willy Loman â€Å"†¦Has completely sold himself to what is at best an anachronistic dream—that anyone can get ahead. This is what he has been brought up to believe, the promise of his mythic (salesman) heroes. † (Gordon 3). This shows how he always compared himself to other wealthy people like his brother and complained how his brother became wealthy but yet he never did when he had the same choice as his brother. He was disillusioned by the fact that he wanted a successful family so he even tried to push his own sons into the business industry because he believed it was the best choice for them. His two sons didn’t want to be salesmen and weren’t even good at it especially his son Biff. Willy worried about who Biff was going to be because he was the oldest and still didn’t have a manageable career or life. â€Å"He commits suicide to give his sons the only thing his society respects—cash. †(Gordon 2). Willy believed that he was more valuable dead than alive and was the only way he could give money to his sons. He wanted them to be recognized in the civilization so killing himself was the only alternative. Using his life insurance he would give money to his family making them wealthy and cceptable in society just like in his â€Å"American Dream†. Miller was also influenced by McCarthyism an important event in history and his life during the 1940s and 50s after world war two. Ever since the end of WWII the United States citizens have been blaming the social unrest on communist. Many people were afraid that the communists would take over and no one knew what communist looked like so they easily blamed people for the smallest things. â€Å"Communist rhetoric became common among displaced workers as well as artist and intellectuals† (McCarthyism 2009). Anybody who questioned or protested against laws in the United States would easily be blamed as a communist because they would be going against their own country. There was a growing paranoia as the time went on and many people wanted to stop communism from spreading which became the central theme of American policy both at home and work. Even then the people had already been losing their rights and privacy â€Å"Smith Act was passed, making it illegal to advocate the violent overthrow of government. Various loyalty programs designed to weed out communist from jobs in the federal government were put into place†¦ (McCarthyism 2009). The United States was coming into full chaos because even at one point they were blaming European immigrants of being communist because that is where it first emerged. Even many Russians were being deported to keep communism away according to some people and make the United States citizens feel safe and secure. McCarthyism first started with the senator Joseph McCarthy accusing others of being communist to only make himself look better. Joseph McCarthy was not the best senator and had many problems like temperance. Many people did not like him and he was afraid of losing his position so his only alternative was to seem like a hero. â€Å"McCarthy and his allies claimed that communist had infiltrated the government and other institutions†¦the attacks were baseless but nevertheless destroyed the careers of thousands of individuals. †(McCarthyism 2009). Calming others were communist made it look like he was saving the world. Many people were intimidated by McCarthy and some told the truth but McCarthy took the alternative of not believing them because it was more reasonable for some Americans to believe they told a lie instead of the truth. As a result the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created which attacked anybody who was blamed of being communist and Joseph McCarthy was a member of this Committee because he was the first to raise this paranoia even more. He took the advantage of the second Red Scare to make himself seem like a more productive senator. â€Å"HUAC members would browbeat their prey-some of whom were there on the basis of the flimsiest of evidence. Admitting their own past ties to the communist party†¦others who participated with them. (McCarthyism 2009). HUAC had the right to question anybody for any suspicion and invade their privacy. It showed how much America has changed because of some hysteria that people fell into because of a man wanting to be a hero. Arthur Miller was one of the targets of the HUAC members who was committed of being a communist by Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy often went against artist and other media arts members because they were the ones who often criticized the society in the United States through their media works. Arthur Miller was a playwright and had plays to show his work live during this time and they felt that he projected communism at his own plays. â€Å"He admitted that he had attended a meeting of communist writers, he refused to identify anyone he had met there and denied ever having been a member of the communist party† (Baughman 3). This made Arthur miller realize that the society then was like the society during the Puritan Era when people blamed each other of being witches. This later influenced him to write his book The Crucible a year later after his conviction. Millers The Crucible first started because of the accusations in United States which reflected upon the Salem witch trials in 1692. â€Å"Millers play employs these historical events to criticize the moments in human kinds history when reason and fact became clouded by irrational fears and the desire to place blame for society’s problems on others. †(DISCovering Authross,2003). Puritans accepted accusations and anything that might seem unreal so people could easily tell lies. They wouldn’t take reason into consideration and it involved hunting down and exposing of people suspected of being witches exactly like HUAC hunting down communist. Arthur miller wrote The Crucible as a commentary on McCarthyism then the actual Salem witch trials. Although the book does take place in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials he wrote the book to show what was wrong with the American society. â€Å"Miller illustrates his conviction that one can assert his â€Å"personality dignity† and â€Å"act against the scheme of things that degrades. † (Gordon 2). Miller expresses that idea through John proctor who won’t cooperate with the court on the witch trails and has his own opinion on what to believe. He doesn’t fall into the ideas that witchcraft is taking over just like Miller doesn’t cooperate with HUAC or falls into the chaos going on in his time period. As a result of this book miller was accused of being a communist again and later left the U. S. because he felt that everything in the society has gone too far and became a British citizen. Through his works we can see how Miller attacks the society that supposedly â€Å"rewards† the people with freedom because it is their right. Miller creates allusions through real life experiences that he has been through which is one of the reasons why his works have been so influential and prestigious. McCarthyism played a big role on The Crucible reflecting a modern society with the old Puritan era society saying that society has and never will change. As for The Death of a Salesman we can see how much the American dream has blinded people to try and achieve something they most likely never will and try to be fake to achieve it. People need to learn to face reality and accept it how it is because many people are lost only because they won’t accept their own.

Important Court Cases - 20th century american history Research Paper

Important Court Cases - 20th century american history - Research Paper Example History tells us about the things we should never forget. How civil rights in America were properly respected and enforced by both the courts and the government is something we need to understand fully. It is the cornerstone of America's greatness today and into the future. The legal history of civil rights goes back many decades, but the most important cases appear after the Second World War when increased urbanization was reshaping American demography and social situation (Marable 1984, 14). The first and most significant landmark case was Brown vs. Board of Education. Few can dispute the historical role played by this case which almost certainly is the most famous American court case of the 20th century. This case effectively ended segregation in the United States and proved very controversial at the time (Kluger 1975, 12). The case involved parents in Kansas and elsewhere who wanted to send their children to the schools closest to them, but because of their race were forced to se nd their children to black schools a great distance away. They launched a suit arguing that having separate schools for different races was unconstitutional and a violation of their rights. The Supreme Court agreed with them 9-0. A book by Myrdal showed the court that the state of black schools was inferior (Myrdal 1944). The court realized that schools were separate but not equal. A second case involving similar issues, often referred to as Brown II, led to the Court declaring that the desegregation of American schools should be done soon and quickly (Ogletree 2004, 8). This gave impetus to changes that began to happen across the country. But that was not the end of the consequences of this decision. This was not a court case decided in a vacuum. In its wake, the governor of Arkansas used the national guard to try to block black students from entering white schools (Kluger 1975, 90). He refused to accept the ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States. Instead, he wanted to pl ay to his racist base. President Eisenhower was forced to send in the army to ensure the rule of law. He nationalized the Arkansas guard and saw that the law was enforced. In Alabama, a similar event occurred involving the governor there. These dramatic confrontation set the stage for much of the civil rights movement and the rise of people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Civil rights leaders saw that the Constitution could protect them even if local sheriffs and lawmakers did everything they could to prevent changes from being made. Inspired by these cases, they pressed their issues by using non-violent protests. Education was just one legal battle fought during the civil war movement. People wanted to have less government control over their personal lives. Who was the government to say who a person could marry in a free country? And yet racist laws in much of the South prevented blacks and whites from marrying. Another significant case in the history of the civil rights movement was Loving vs. Virginia (1967). This was a case involving the marriage between a black woman and a white man, which the state of Virginia held to be illegal under their anti-miscegenation laws. These laws were in place based on a biblical conception of creation and marriage. Many people at the time believed that God had placed the races on

Assessments for the English Language Learner Research Paper

Assessments for the English Language Learner - Research Paper Example â€Å"The present culture of testing has placed an increased amount of emphasis on the development of state standards, high-stakes testing, and the use of rigid curricular programs† (Brantley, 2007, p. 28). Therefore, an educational assessment is mandatory in today’s highly competitive world. There are three types of assessments; formal, alternative and informal. The purpose of implementing a classroom assessment system is to improve instruction and student achievement. The English language learners are rapidly growing in the population of the U.S classroom. As such, considerate amount of thoughts and training need to be implemented when designing and administering educational assessments. There are many factors that need to be kept in mind while selecting educational assessments for students. Language barriers and educational background factors are the main factors. In the first factors, language barrier factors, different issue like different linguistics background, L evels of proficiency in English, and levels of proficiency of native languages are the three main barriers that should be addressed in the assessment. In the educational background factors issues such as degrees of formal schooling in native languages, degrees of formal schoolings in English language, and exposure to standardized testing should be addressed in the assessment. While administering an educational assessment, it crucial for the classroom teacher to provide the English Language Learning students with fair and appropriate assessments while keeping in mind the various factors that could hamper their academic growth. It is pivotal for the teachers to be knowledgeable about the different assessment types as to provide adequate and fair assess of their students’ progress as well as achievements in the class. As mentioned before, there are three types of assessments; formal, alternative and informal. The formal assessment is mainly based in the results of the standardiz ed tests and other formal exams regulated under the test- taking guidelines. In Formal assessment students are assessed on the basis of their written document, test, quiz or essays. The student’s progress is determined based on the data collected on the student’s performance on the tests. Formal Tests are usually used to assess the overall achievement of the student and compare his/ her intelligence with other students as well as to find a student’s strength or weaknesses in a particular topic. The formal assessment test has its own purposes, advantages and disadvantages. Formal assessment is a good assessment to be implemented to the student to determine their strength and weaknesses. It also evaluates the student’s achievement by comparing their progress with other students. It is appropriate to use the formal assessment to indentify the student’s special needs and it can also improve learning at an individual level for young English language lea rners. Formal assessments are categorized into separate groups such as norm referenced tests and criterion referenced tests. The Norm references tests are characterized by strict rules and implementations. These types of tests are mainly used to compare one student to another, one group of students to another group as well as schools. When implementing a norm reference test teachers should implement the test under specific and similar circumstances.

LACMA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LACMA - Essay Example There are some later cases that indicate surrealism’s power on the feminist movement. Iconic figures like Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Lee Miller, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Remedios Varo are denoted, alongside lesser recognized or newly found practitioners (Susan, Tere, Terri, Dawn & Buszek 201). â€Å"In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States† is the initial important exhibition committed to the state’s movement of artists who have regularly been ignored on the side of a European, male-based vision of surrealism. This mission is commonly linked to the set of artists that always featured in Paris during the twenties and thirties, reducing the contributions of female artists Susan, Tere, Terri, Dawn & Buszek 201). The exhibition takes a view of artists like Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Lee Miller, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Remedios Varo, and the impacts of layout and sex on their works and the general surrealist movement. With nearly 175 pieces of art in display by 47 artists from the early thirties and late sixties, this is an exhibition that completely explores a new definition of surrealism liberated from Europe’s cultures. Female artists protest their objectification through t hese pieces of art. The universe of the subconscious and dreams is a far more personal cause that associates to their individual queries of identity (Susan, Tere, Terri, Dawn & Buszek 221). In numerous respects, these surrealists were identical to Lewis Carol’s main character, Alice, in his renowned ludicrous novels. Their innovation was frequently muffled or marginalized by what appeared to be a somewhat arbitrary and bizarre world where legitimacy did not regularly reign. The curator of the â€Å"In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States† exhibition claims that the expansive survey depicts that north America provided

Project Management - Quality Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project Management - Quality Planning - Essay Example The quality planning process defines the approach to be adopted toward the management of project quality during the course of the project. For example, the quality manual necessitates the use of concrete blocks for the partition walls whose strength is at least 1000 psi, the quality assurance is accordingly achieved only when the blocks of specified strength are being used, and their continual checking and testing remains the responsibility of the quality control (QC) department. The QC department is supposed to carry out the tests as frequently as stipulated in the documents prepared in the quality planning process. As evident from the name, the quality planning process is designed in the planning phase of a project. In fact, it is one of the very early considerations about a project since it affects and is affected by the total project budget. However, its implementation occurs throughout the execution phase till the project closeout after the defects liability period, when contractor might have to incur additional costs to satisfy the customer in that period. This tool focuses on the comparison of costs incurred due to investment in quality and the benefits achieved thus. One way the analysis can be made is as mentioned here. For example, reduced amount of rework enhances the profits significantly. The cost of quality is weighed against the profits in terms of customer’s and client’s satisfaction, increased efficiency and improved public relations by comparing the current situation with some old project of similar nature that incurred losses because of bad quality. Benchmarking is termed as the measurement of quality for improvement. Basically, the previous quality level is taken as a benchmark and results achieved by the measurements taken to improve quality are compared with the old benchmark to analyze the progress.