What systems are used to effectively manage service quality in the Essay

What systems are used to effectively manage service quality in the hospitality industry Discuss and evaluate the benefits and issues that arise from a strategi - Essay Example The strategic systems available for measuring quality of service delivery involve revenue enhancement strategies, routine and in-depth staff performance evaluations and tools which are directed specifically at the firm’s clientelle. This project discusses the aforementioned strategic tools whilst also highlighting the potential positive and negative outcomes of these approaches to measuring service quality. One dimension of service quality pertaining to customer perceptions of the appropriateness of service delivery involves the functional elements of service delivery, such as the tangible methodology of practice regarding how the service was delivered (Miguel, Silva, Chiosini & Schiitzer, 2004). These delivery elements include basic concepts such as the friendliness of staff members, availability of staff, quality of food preparation, ease of check-out in the hotel environment or any other aspect which involves the facility and the service aptitudes of the industry’s internal staff (Grossman, 1999). From a different researcher perspective, these elements of service delivery are categorised as interaction quality which directly involves the customer-staff interventions and associations during the process of patronising the hospitality firm (Alexandris, Kouthouris & Meligdis, 2006). The strategic approach to measuring the quality of the aforementioned aspects of service delivery can be accomplished, in theory, in a distinct process: Assessment of customer-based revenue streams utilised comparatively to changes in service methodology to determine a correlation between frequency of customer re-visit to the facility and changes to the service delivery practices in the firm between strategic groups. As a step toward strategic revenues management, the process of obtaining the firm’s highest conceivable revenues based on the sale of the firm’s total capacity (Ng, 2006),

Ronald Reagan Essay Example for Free

Ronald Reagan Essay Ronald Reagan came from humble beginnings. He was born on February 6, 1911 in the town of Tampico, Illinois. His parents were Jack and Nelle. Jack Reagan was an unsuccessful salesman who was also known as an alcoholic. His mother, Nelle Wilson Reagon was a devout farmwoman who raised Ronald and his older brother, Neil, in the Disciples of Christ Church despite their fathers Catholicism. The family moved frequently, sometimes in response to new job opportunities, sometimes after Jack had been fired because of his drinking. In 1920 they settled in Dixon, Illinois, where Jack became the proprietor and part owner of a shoe store (Reeves 2). Ronald Reagan was an outgoing, optimistic, popular, and apparently happy youth despite the problems of his family. He was interested in sports from an early age and particularly liked football and swimming. Ronald was also nearsighted, which was later diagnosed, made baseball difficult for him. He was a hardworking and modestly successful student, with a talent for memorization (Miller Center). He was active early in school dramatics. As a teenager, he worked during summers as a lifeguard at the swimming area of the local river and put aside much of what he earned for his education (Reeves 6). Reagans youth was in many ways oddly similar to that of other provincial Americans who rose to political prominence: a boyhood in a small town, a family struggling precariously on the edges of the middle class, education in small, undistinguished schools. Huey P. Long, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and many others had grown up in comparable circumstances. But unlike most other small-town boys who rose to political greatness, Reagan showed little early interest in politics (Brinkley). Jack Reagan, like most American Catholics of his era, was a staunch Democrat and Ronald inherited his fathers unreflective enthusiasm for the party even though, throughout the 1920s, it enjoyed little national success. He became a fervent admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, an attachment that grew stronger when the New Deal agencies began providing jobs to unemployed men (among them his father) in depression-ravaged central Illinois (Miller Center). But he never became actively involved in Democratic politics in the state. He found himself drawn occasionally into campus politics at Eureka and in his senior year won election as class president. But when he graduated in 1932, with a B. A. in economics and sociology, politics and public life remained far from his thoughts. He was, he later wrote, drawn to some form of show business, an interest born in part of his experiences in the Eureka drama society (Brinkley). Following graduation, at a time when a quarter of Americans were unemployed, Reagan found work as a radio announcer, first in Davenport, Iowa, then later Des Moines. Reagan struggled at first but in time became one of the best-known sports announcers in the Midwest (Reeves 9). He also became a popular speaker before Des Moines service groups and enlisted as a reserve officer in the U. S. Cavalry so he could ride horses regularly. But he dreamed of bigger things. In 1937, Reagan went to California with the Chicago Cubs baseball team on spring training and arranged through a friend for a screen test at Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers offered Reagan a contract for $200 a week that launched his film career (Brinkley). His growing success also won him a series of deferments from military service (at the request of Warner Brothers) once the United States entered World War II, and then after he was called up and commissioned an officer in the cavalry, an assignment with an army film unit. He spent the war in California making army training movies at a military base in Los Angeles, with time off to make feature films at Warner Brothers (among them the successful 1943 tribute to the military, This Is the Army ) (D’Souza 10). Much of the time, he lived at home with his family. Despite his later claims to the contrary, he never left the country and never saw combat. But he cooperated with studio public relations efforts to portray him as a soldier, who, like other soldiers, left his family to go off to war. Feature stories described Wyman bravely carrying on, raising the children and maintaining the household while her man was away. Newsreels and magazine photos depicted Reagan coming home for leaves and visits. Reagan later sometimes seemed actually to have believed the ruse. Even decades later, he liked to talk about coming back from the war, like other veterans, eager to take up family life again (a life that in his case had hardly been interrupted) (D’Souza 11). Reagans postwar acting career never regained the momentum it had enjoyed in the early 1940s. He had some occasional successes (among them The Hasty Heart in 1949), but he found himself working more often now in minor roles or minor films. Jane Wymans career, in the meantime, was flourishing, and her absorption with it contributed to what were already growing tensions within the marriage. The couple divorced in 1948 (Reagan 4). As his career and his marriage languished, Reagan had begun to become active in politics. His first vehicle was the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the film actors union. Reagan had been active in SAG since his first months in Hollywood, and his involvement grew with his marriage to Wyman, who was also an important figure in the organization. In 1946, he chaired a union strike committee and demonstrated an energy and a toughness that his SAG colleagues had not previously seen. In 1947, he became president of the union, a position he held for six years. Reagan still considered himself a liberal Democrat, and he used his new political distinction to campaign for Harry Truman in 1948. There was occasional talk of Reagan himself running for Congress as a Democrat, but party leaders apparently opposed the idea because they considered him too liberal (Barlietta 15-17). In reality, Reagans political views were changing more rapidly than his public activities suggested. During the war, he had harshly criticized the waste and corruption he saw in the awarding of military contracts, and his suspicion of government bureaucracies only grew in the following years. He was also now complaining frequently about taxes. He had signed a million-dollar contract with Warner Brothers in 1944, but the very high wartime tax rates (up to 90 percent in the upper brackets) greatly reduced his income. In 1950, after initially endorsing the actress Helen Gahagan Douglas for the United States Senate, he switched his support to Richard Nixon in mid-campaign. And as president of SAG, he became active in efforts to distance the union from Communist influence (driven to do so, no doubt, by the savagely anti-Communist political climate, but also by his own deep and growing aversion to Communists) (D’Souza 12). By the late 1940s, he was cooperating with the FBI and testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities against Communism in the union (although he was not asked to name any individual Communists). Subsequently, he cooperated with the studios as they quietly administered the notorious blacklist of alleged Communists who were to be barred from employment in the movie industry. Reagan later claimed that the effort by Hollywood Communists to take over the motion picture business, and the unwillingness of many liberals to confront them, was responsible for his political turn to the right (Brinkley). At least as responsible, however, was his marriage in 1952 to Nancy Davis, a young and largely unknown actress whom he had met at a dinner party in 1949. Davis was the daughter of a once-successful stage actress, Edith Luckett. Her natural parents separated when she was an infant, and she spent most of her childhood in the home of her mothers second husband, Loyal Davis, whose name Nancy took and whose right-wing political views she uncritically absorbed. Her familys conservatism reinforced Reagans own accelerating drift to the right (Brinkley). Reagans second marriage was a happy one. The couple lived in a comfortable home in Pacific Palisades and began to spend time at a ranch Reagan had bought near Santa Barbara. They had two children, Patricia, born in 1952, and Ronald, born in 1958. But Reagans film career was now in serious decline. Warner Brothers had not renewed his contract, and he was having difficulty finding steady work elsewhere. He was now in his mid-forties, and major stardom was coming to seem beyond his reach (Reeves 13). Over the next few years FBI agents working with the House of Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood Motion Picture Producers, got 320 people blacklisted from the entertainment industry. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan refused to support those actors such as Larry Parks, Joseph Bromberg, Charlie Chaplin, John Garfield, Howard Da Silva, Gale Sondergaard, Jeff Corey, John Randolph, Canada Lee, and Paul Robeson who were on this list.   Reagans support of McCarthyism enabled him to continue working in Hollywood but his films continued to appear in mediocre films such as Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Last Outpost (1951), The Winning Team (1952), Law and Order (1953), Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), Tennessees Partner (1955) and Hellcats in the Navy (1957). Between 1954 and 1962 Reagan also worked for General Electric as host of the companys weekly half-hour dramas for television. (Miller Center) In the 1930s and 40s Reagan had been a loyal supporter of the Democratic Party. However, he switched to the Republican Party after the war and supported Dwight Eisenhower (1952 and 1956) and Richard Nixon (1960). In 1964 that Reagan became a national political figure. (Barlietta 67) This was as a result of a televised speech in support of Barry Goldwater. It did not help Goldwater win the election (he was seen by most people in America as a dangerous, right-wing extremist). However, it did convince members of the Californian business community that here was a man with the charm to sell right-wing extremism. Reagan was approached about becoming the Republican Party candidate as Governor of California with the help of a smear campaign against Pat Brown and promises of tax cuts he won an easy victory. (Miller Center)? As governor Reagan quickly established himself as one of the countrys leading conservative political figures. This included dramatic budget cuts and a hiring freeze for state agencies. He also put up student fees and when they complained he sent state troopers to deal with their protest meetings. (D’Souza 45) Re-elected with 52 per cent of the vote in 1970, Reagan introduced a series of welfare reforms during his second term in office. This included tightening eligibility requirements for welfare aid and requiring the able to seek work rather than receiving benefits. However, the tax cuts never came, in fact, he presided over the largest tax increase any state had ever demanded in American history. Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter. (Miller Center) On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar. (Brinkley) Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit. (Brinkley) A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. Their victory turned away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the Nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. (Brinkley) In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve peace through strength. During his two terms he increased defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. (Brinkley) Reagan declared war against international terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub. By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, he maintained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war. In keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa. D’Souza 74) After leaving office in 1989, the Reagans purchased a home in Bel Air, Los Angeles in addition to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara. They regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party; Reagan delivered a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Previously on November 4, 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public. (D’Souza 111) At the dedication ceremonies, five presidents were in attendance, as well as six first ladies, marking the first time five presidents were gathered in the same location. Reagan continued publicly to speak in favor of a line-item veto; the Brady Bill; a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget; and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president. In 1992 Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the newly formed Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. His final public speech was on February 3, 1994 during a tribute to him in Washington, D. C. , and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994. Brinkley) In August 1994, at the age of 83, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, an incurable neurological disorder which destroys brain cells and ultimately causes death. In November he informed the nation through a handwritten letter, writing in part: â€Å"I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimers Disease At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainde r of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you. † (Miller Center) After his diagnosis, letters of support from well-wishers poured into his California home, but there was also speculation over how long Reagan had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration. In her memoirs, former CBS White House correspondent Lesley Stahl recounts her final meeting with the president, in 1986: Reagan didnt seem to know who I was. Oh, my, hes gonzo, I thought. I have to go out on the lawn tonight and tell my countrymen that the president of the United States is a doddering space cadet. But then, at the end, he regained his alertness. As she described it, I had come that close to reporting that Reagan was senile. (Miller Center) However, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman, a physician employed as a reporter for the New York Times, noted that the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimers can be fuzzyand all four of Reagans White House doctors said that they saw no evidence of Alzheimers while he was president. Dr. John E. Hutton, Reagans primary physician from 1984 to 1989, said the president absolutely did not show any signs of dementia or Alzheimers. (Miller Center) Reagan did experience occasional memory lapses, though, especially with names. Once, while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, he repeatedly referred to Vice President Bush as Prime Minister Bush. Reagans doctors, however, note that he only began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992or 1993, several years after he had left office. His former Chief of Staff James Baker considered ludicrous the idea of Reagan sleeping during cabinet meetings. Other staff members, former aides, and friends said they saw no indication of Alzheimers while he was President. Barlietta 197) Complicating the picture, Reagan suffered an episode of head trauma in July 1989, five years prior to his diagnosis. After being thrown from a horse in Mexico, a subdural hematoma was found and surgically treated later in the year. Nancy Reagan asserts that her husbands 1989 fall hastened the onset of Alzheimers disease, citing what doctors told her, although acute brain injury has not been conclusively proven to accelerate Alzheimers or dementia. Reagans one-time physician Dr. Daniel Ruge has said it is possible, but not certain, that the horse ccident affected the course of Reagans memory. (Barlietta 209) Reagan died of pneumonia at his home in Bel Air, California on the afternoon of June 5, 2004. A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying: My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has died after 10 years of Alzheimers Disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyones prayers. (Brinkley) President George W. Bush declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning, and international tributes came in from around the world. Reagans body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass. On June 7, his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral was held conducted by Pastor Michael Wenning. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until June 9; over 100,000 people viewed the coffin. (Miller Center) On June 9, Reagans body was flown to Washington, D. C. where he became the tenth United States president to lie in state; in thirty-four hours, 104,684 people filed past the coffin. On June 11, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were Mikhail Gorbachev, and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq. Brinkley) After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred. (Brinkley) At the time of his death, Reagan was the longest-lived president in U. S. history, having lived 93 years and 120 days (2 years, 8 months, and 23 days longer than John Adams, whose record he surpassed). He is now the second longest-lived president, just 45 days fewer than Gerald Ford. He was the first United States president to die in the 21st century, and his was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. (Miller Center) His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.

deviance :: essays research papers

SUMMARY OF DEVIANCE In the eighth chapter of â€Å"Sociology†, I. Robertson explains that there are many definitions about deviance but not enough, so he tries to find closer one and clarify the deviance. He starts with a question which is â€Å"who is deviant?† and lists of its answers.In the list of its answers, Robertson benefits from Simons` study and he says that; â€Å"the words refer to people and acts that other people strongly disapprove of †(23).On the other hand, Robertson then counters it with conflicting topic of sociological literature.He claims that the concept of this definition is found slippery one by sociologists.After this idea,Robertson questions second definition which is â€Å"dviance is any behavior that doesn`t conform to social norms†(24).However, Robertson judges this definiton as not helpful.He exemplifies that eating three meals in a day can be deviant behavior for some unimportant social norms.Therefore, Robertson argues that minor deviations are n`t included in the particular sociological interest.He claims that the main idea of sociological interest is about violations which are regarded as offensive by majority of people. And he says that one word is stigma – a bad reputation or disapproving by a lot of people. After this analysis, he benefits from second definition and improves it, so he finally declares a definition, which is â€Å"deviance refers to behavior or characteristics that violate significant social norms and expectations and are negatively valued by large numbers of people as a result†(24). He emphasizes that this definition clarifies deviance more than others. He continues with clarification of deviance by helping of main three points. Firstly, he claims that there is no close relationship between deviance and statistical rarity. He exemplifies that jogging before the breakfast can be unusual statistically but not a reason for deviance. However, Robertson then states that some norms can be modified or abandoned time to time. He makes clear it with an example that premarital sex was prohibited in American society several years ago. However, nowadays the majority of American society admits this event normally. As a result, Robertson declares firmly that norms can lose their force or influence as time passes. Secondly, Robertson argues about division of â€Å"normals† and â€Å"deviants†. He explains briefly that there is no class between normals and deviants. He illustrates that if we divide people as thieves, patients (mental disordered) or drug users, we will have a few â€Å"normal† people. In addition to them, Robert son says, â€Å"deviance is relative†(25).

oTHELLO :: essays research papers

Othello Essay In Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello†, the role of women is deeply emphasized; the significant characters of the play Othello, Iago, and Casio, each have a lady that stands behind him. These women each have commitment to remain faithful and respect their husband's needs, especially Desdemona and Emilia. Desdemona is the victim of this play; Shakespeare portrays her as the loyal wife even up to her death. Throughout the story, Desdemona appears to live for her husband. Desdemona's one goal in life is to please her husband. Emilia represents another aspect of female strength, less logical character, which relies on her sense of instinct. She understands her role as a wife (act 4, scene 3) Emilia is talking to Desdemona about husbands. " Yet we have some revenge. Let husbands know Their wives have sense like them. They see, and smell, and have their palates both for sweet and sour, As husbands have. What is it they do When they change us for others? Is it sport? I think it is. And doth affection breed it? I think it doth. Is't fraility that thus errs? It is so too. And have not we affections, Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?"(page 217 line 104-113). Emilia and her husband Iago have different affiliation than Desdemona and Othello. Desdemona and Othello truly love each other, while Emilia, having no common sense of hatred towards Othello, has never actually loved Iago. She educate Desdemona, she is ignorant of Iago's evil nature and is also unsuspecting of his plot against Othello. Bianca appears to have a very insignificant role in the play, yet she as a major role in the death of Desdemona. Bianca’s relationship with Cassio, seems as though Bianca really wanted to have a relationship with him, (scene 3, act 4).

Reparations: African Americans Justice Essay

The United States government should pay reparations to African Americans as a means of admitting their wrong-doing and making amends. The damages African Americans have sustained from White America’s policy of slavery have been agonizing and inhumane. Therefore, I am in favor of reparations for African Americans. The effect of slavery has been an enduring issue within the African American community. Many of us are cognizant of the harm racism brought to the African American race, conveyed through slavery, racial segregation and discrimination. African Americans suffered many atrocities, but the greatest damage done to them was the destruction of they’re original identity. African Americans no longer have a native language or any African customs to connect them to Africa. Today, African Americans are connected together because they all share a common foundation-the horrendous experience of slavery-and the great effort to conquer its lingering result. (www. AcedemicLibrary. com) Americans should realize the magnitude of slavery’s consequences on African Americans as a whole. Blacks were brainwashed and stripped of self-esteem and taught to be ashamed of dark color of their skin. Many African Americans have effortlessly tried to advocate â€Å"Black Pride†, trying to re-instill self-worth and being proud of our distinct facial and body features, and darker complexions. African Americans had zilch to begin with after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. Slaves were promised a â€Å"mule/ and 40 acres† and they didn’t live to receive it nor did generations to follow; because the American government has yet to live up to its word. The fruit of the slaves’ labor was stolen from the â€Å"land of the free†. The victims of the White people’s African slave trade never experienced such freedom. This race deserves compensation for the mistreatment Pongee Bryant it has suffered and continues to endure. Paying reparations to the descendants of African American slaves would bring about a tremendous improvement for the advancement of Black America. (Douglass, Fredrick, 1845, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass). White Americans have profited from education, life experiences, riches that were handed down by their ancestors. As well, African Americans have been handed down the hardship of race-related issues, poverty, and the unknown history of their past. African Americans have constantly been inflicted with the social status of their low-income level in contrast with that of White Americans. America should be ashamed for their mistreatment of a race that did not ask or even desire to reside in this country. Yet, they still wear their ugly face of racism, and discrimination, and only seek to segregate African Americans, as if they were at fault. Americans may argue Blacks shouldn’t be complaining, whining, and to pull themselves up by their boot straps. Well, Martin Luther King once said â€Å"White America wants us to pull ourselves up from our boot straps, but we don’t have any boots†. (Shuttlesworth, Fred, 1999, A Fire You Can’t Put Out). The U. S. government has a moral responsibility to this race of people to compensate, African American’s because they were denied their heritage, religion, family, and culture. America alleges it is a religious-based country and their faith resides in God. The bible says: â€Å"If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. † This country consistently contradicts itself in the way it wants to be perceived. If America has any belief in God, they should feel an obligation to compensate the African American descendants of slave ancestors. (Exodus 22, Bible). Pongee Bryant White Americans may argue that the country did enough when it passed the Civil Rights Act in 1960. They may also state America has enough resources and equal opportunity for each individual of every race to succeed. However, there is a huge wealth gap in social status among blacks and whites mostly because of oppression, discrimination and racism toward the modern day contemporary black. Whether anybody wants to admit it, there is still a glass ceiling (i. e. ,a status barrier) against African Americans. Reparations would bring African Americans justice and economic power in this country. There are numerous black reparation organizations which could receive the money and distribute it evenly among African Americans, to incorporate black-owned businesses, home ownership, and better education selective for young and old blacks. These reparation organizations could also invest money into smaller black-owned businesses, and other industries that would further the African American race, and ensure a rapid growth of African American middle-class and beyond. (Robert J. Brym/ John Lie, Sociology) The exploitation of African Americans in this country took on many forms through decades. The centuries of slavery in this country laid the foundation of our current relationship to America. From cotton fields to building America’s most significant buildings African Americans have helped build the wealth in this country. Yet, the African American race has endured the most terrorism from the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, plantation jails, police torture and murder, and poverty. Slavery was a crime against humanity; and it still is in existence in many other ways and forms. America has created a system with, voter discrimination, drugs, and drug sentences to keep the African Pongee Bryant American man enslaved. The government should compensate the African American race and put an end to a never-ending oppression cycle. The government of the United States of America was instrumental in having pressured the German and Japanese governments into the payments of reparations to the people who suffered and survived the crimes and legacy of slavery endured during World War II. The government of the United States has also already paid reparations to the Japanese-Americans who were detained in concentration camps during World War II. America calls herself a fair nation: a civilized country which respects civil and human rights, encourages opportunity for and well-being of all her people, and can be trusted by other nations as a county whom honors her word. Well, America promised African Americans 40 acres and a mule and didn’t live up to her promise. America’s attitude and silence on reparations reeks of hypocrisy. (X, Malcolm, Biography of Malcolm X). America should also pay reparations to African Americans because they consistently want us to labor for their work and take all the credit. For instance America is at fault for African American dead and injured men who served and were drafted in the Vietnam War. America put young black men on the front-line of a war they had nothing to do with nor helped contribute to. America wanted a race that was not yet â€Å"capable† of voting but was competent enough to fight in a war. A race that did not have the option of drinking from any fountain, sitting anywhere on a bus, using any bathroom, however we were fit for fighting. The point is America constantly benefits from African Americans, but refuses to compensate African Americans for their contributions to this country. (www. AcedemicLibrary. com).

Middle Ages Report essays

Middle Ages Report essays What are the Middle Ages? Do you know the answer to that question? Or do you think you know the answer? The Middle Ages were a time of knights, kings, and castles basically your average fairytale. But the Middle Ages were not fun all the time. There was the Black Death, the bounding church and the life as a serf. I bet you dont even know what a serf is. Well Im going to tell you all about the Middle Ages. After the Roman Empire fell in c. 500 AD, Europe entered a new era of history. This era was called the Middle Ages. After the fall of Rome, the people left behind many useful things. Such as roads, Language (Latin), and a growing religion (Christianity). Sadly though they also left a crumbling economy, and when the economy fell so did trade. Thus started a form of stereo typing... Feudalism. Feudalism is just another word for social classes. The reason I use the word stereotyping is because in the Roman Empire mostly people were treated equally but in the Middle Ages things changed. There became ranks or groups depending on your wealth and power. Kings, Nobles (Lords), Nights, Vassals and Serfs. Only Nobles, Kings and Nights could own fiefs. These fiefs contained a Manor (very big house), small village (usually filled with serfs), Mill (to grind the wheat and such to make bread and other useful things) and a church (to pray and help the poor (at times)). The king would have the lords in his realm to use their armies. The lords would have the vassals to do things in which they felt they didnt have to do. The vassals would be given fiefs from the lords in whom they honored or pleased. Each fief would have a small town with serfs living in it. The serfs were poor and all their money and possessions belonged to the vassals that owned the land. Workers or serfs were bound t o there manors and could not leave without permission from there Lord (Noble). They actually had little more freedom them slaves. But unlike sla...

The History and Domestication of Bananas

The History and Domestication of Bananas Bananas (Musa spp) are a tropical crop, and a staple in the wet tropic areas of Africa, the Americas, mainland and island Southeast Asia, South Asia, Melanesia and the Pacific islands. Perhaps 87% of the total bananas consumed worldwide today are locally consumed; the rest is distributed outside of the wet tropical regions in which they are grown. Today there are hundreds of fully domesticated banana varieties, and an uncertain number are still in various stages of domestication: that is to say, they still are inter-fertile with wild populations. Bananas are basically giant herbs, rather than trees, and there are approximately 50 species in the Musa genus, which includes the edible forms of bananas and plantains. The genus is split into four or five sections, based on the number of chromosomes in the plant, and the region where they are found. Furthermore, over a thousand different types of cultivars of bananas and plantains are recognized today. The different varieties are characterized by wide differences in peel color and thickness, flavor, fruit size, and resistance to disease. The bright yellow one found most frequently in western markets is called the Cavendish. Cultivating Bananas Bananas produce vegetative suckers at the base of the plant which can be removed and planted separately. Bananas are planted at a typical density of between 1500-2500 plants per square hectare. Between 9-14 months after planting, each plant produces some 20-40 kilograms of fruit. After the harvest, the plant is cut down, and one sucker is allowed to grow up to produce the next crop. Banana Phytoliths The evolution of bananas are difficult to study archaeologically, and so the domestication history was unknowable until recently. Banana pollen, seeds, and pseudostem impressions are quite rare or absent at archaeological sites, and much of the recent research has been focused on the relatively new technologies associated with opal phytoliths- basically silicon copies of cells created by the plant itself. Banana phytoliths are uniquely shaped: they are volcaniform, shaped like little volcanoes with a flat crater at the top. There are differences in the phytoliths between varieties of bananas, but variations between wild and domesticated versions are not as yet definitive, so additional forms of research need to be used to fully understand banana domestication. Genetics and Linguistics Genetics and linguistic studies also help in understanding banana history. Diploid and triploid forms of bananas have been identified, and their distribution throughout the world is a key piece of evidence. In addition, linguistic studies of local terms for bananas support the notion of the spread of the banana away from its point of origin: island southeast Asia. Exploitation of early wild forms of bananas has been noted at the Beli-Lena site of Sri Lanka by c 11,500-13,500 BP, Gua Chwawas in Malaysia by 10,700 BP, and Poyang Lake, China by 11,500 BP. Kuk Swamp, in Papua New Guinea, so far the earliest unequivocal evidence for banana cultivation, had wild bananas there throughout the Holocene, and banana phytoliths are associated with the earliest human occupations at Kuk Swamp, between ~10,220-9910 cal BP. Todays Hybridized Bananas Bananas have been cultivated and hybridized a number of times over several thousand years, so well concentrate on the original domestication, and leave the hybridization to botanists. All edible bananas today are hybridized from  Musa acuminata  (diploid) or  M. acuminata  crossed with  M. balbisiana  (triploid). Today,  M. acuminata  is found throughout mainland and island southeast Asia including the eastern half of the Indian subcontinent;  M. balbisiana  is mostly found in mainland Southeast Asia. Genetic changes from  M. acuminata  created by the domestication process include the suppression of seeds and the development of parthenocarpy: the ability of humans to create a new crop without the need for fertilization. Bananas Across the World Archaeological evidence from the  Kuk Swamp  of the highlands of New Guinea indicates that bananas were deliberately planted by at least as long ago as 5000-4490 BC (6950-6440 cal BP). Additional evidence indicates that  Musa acuminata  ssp  banksii  F. Muell was dispersed out of New Guinea and introduced into eastern Africa by ~3000 BC (Munsa and Nkang), and into South Asia (the Harappan site of Kot Diji) by 2500 cal BC, and probably earlier. The earliest banana evidence found in Africa is from  Munsa, a site in Uganda dated to 3220 cal BC, although there are problems with the stratigraphy and chronology. The earliest well-supported evidence is at Nkang, a site located in southern Cameroon, which contained banana phytoliths dated between 2,750 to 2,100 BP. Like  coconuts, bananas were most widely spread as a result of the sea exploration of the Pacific by Lapita peoples ca 3000 BP, of extensive trade voyages throughout the Indian Ocean by Arab traders, and of exploration of the Americas by Europeans. Sources Ball T, Vrydaghs L, Van Den Hauwe I, Manwaring J, and De Langhe E. 2006.  Differentiating banana phytoliths: wild and edible Musa acuminata and Musa Journal of Archaeological Science 33(9):1228-1236.balbisiana.   De Langhe E, Vrydaghs L, de Maret P, Perrier X, and Denham T. 2009. Why Bananas Matter: An introduction to the history of banana domestication.  Ethnobotany Research Applications  7:165-177. Open Access Denham T, Fullagar R, and Head L. 2009.  Plant exploitation on Sahul: From   Quaternary International  202(1-2):29-40.colonisation to the emergence of regional specialisation during the Holocene. Denham TP, Harberle SG, Lentfer C, Fullagar R, Field J, Therin M, Porch N, and Winsborough B. 2003.  Origins of Agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea.  Science  301(5630):189-193. Donohue M, and Denham T. 2009.  Banana (Musa spp.) Domestication in the Asia-Pacific Region: Linguistic and archaeobotanical perspectives.  Ethnobotany Research Applications  7:293-332. Open Access Heslop-Harrison JS, and Schwarzacher T. 2007.  Domestication, Genomics and the Future for Banana.  Annals of Botany  100(5):1073-1084. Lejju BJ, Robertshaw P, and Taylor D. 2006.  Africas earliest bananas?  Journal of Archaeological Science  33(1):102-113. Pearsall DM. 2008.  Plant . In: Pearsall DM, editor.  Encyclopedia of Archaeology. 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