The Architecture of the One New Change in City of London

â€Å"Stealth Fighter† was the ocular inspiration for Atelier Jean Nouvel who invited by Land Securities to a limited competition for the redevelop of the One New Change Site. The site is located in a really critical and historic point in London and in the bosom of the City of London. City of London is a alone country taking London economic sciences by giving work to more than 370.000 people. The 70 % of the edifice in the City of London are Offices for Financial and Business Services. Although the City is a place of about 10.000 occupants, a acquisition centre of over 29.000 pupils, a national centre, a house for art and cultural heritage but besides a finish for every visitant by giving a high quality of environment through its development. The One New Change’s location is something really sensitive as the site is lied straight face-to-face of the St Paul’s Cathedral. A 1950s Portland rock and ruddy brick building was occupied before the site. The edifice was designed by Victor Heal and was originally constructed for the Bank of England. Although it had been criticized for being out of day of the month and when they asked to go a listed edifice it described as â€Å" the worst provincialism † . Besides a missive to the Times signed by many outstanding art historiographers said that it would do â€Å" a really bad neighbour for the St Paul’s Cathedral † . In 2003 Land Securities the proprietor of the site arranged a competition for the redevelop of the One New Change Site. Atelier Jean Nouvel, which supported by Arup, won this competition and the design of the new undertaking started in serious in 2004. The new design of the One New Change is situated to the E of St Paul ‘s Cathedral and it is bounded by Cheapside to the North, Bread Street to the E, New alteration to the West and Watling Street to the South of the Site. The proposed strategy of the new edifice is a new mixed-use development with retail and offices. The new development design embodies the rules of high quality design, that attract the people to a well-designed and sustainable topographic point where could work and loosen up. A new 6 floors constructing with more than 20 000 m2retail topographic point, stores and associated installations designed at the cellar, land and first floor degrees and with more than 30 000m2floors of offices above up to about 51.80m tallness. Besides on the top eating house, cafe , saloon and unfastened public infinite designed carefully for the roof degree. The new retail stores unfastened seven yearss a hebdomad giving life to the City of London as during the weekend the most of the stores are close. Besides it offers a shelter infinite for the tourers who visit the City of London, as it is located between the St Paul’s Cathedral, Tate modern, the Millennium Bridge, the Barbican and Bank. As the edifice was criticized during the design procedure that a new shopping promenade will construct following to the St Paul’s Cathedral ; Peter Rees the City’s of London main contriver answered that: â€Å"This isn’t a shopping promenade. This is a high street reborn.† He is right as the new design is location among three alive streets in the fireplace of the City of London and the purpose of the designer was to make a assorted community of stores, eating houses, coffeehouse, office workers, shoppers and tourers. The design represents the modern-day metropolis centre where young person, elderly, workers and households could all portion the high quality designs. In 2003 when Land Securities asked from the Atelier of Jean Nouvel to take part in the limited competition for the redevelop of the One New Change some inquiries were critical for the design and development of the site: â€Å" Therebuilding of the block bounded by New Change, Cheapside, Bread and Watling Streets must enrich the full vicinity. There are inquiries to reply: how makewefinish the bing system of shopping streets? How do we construct following to St. Paul’s Cathedral In a manner that pays court and is in duologue? How do we make a roof landscape, worthy of being viewedfromthe Dome, anattractive,sober, roof landscape that is â€Å" initstopographic point † in harmoniousness with the environing rooftops? † The location of the site is so of import as the site is situated merely 60m to the E of the St Paul’s Cathedral so some issues took into history during the construct and develop design. One of the vital and large issue was the â€Å"St Paul’s Heights† and protected position ordinance. The new design respect the ordinances for the â€Å"St Paul’s Heights† and protected position and a new 6 floors constructing about 51.80m height that it is merely the one tierce of the Cathedral tallness, It is proposed and designed carefully for the One New Change Site. â€Å"In response to turning concern that of import positions of the Cathedral would be obscured by the exalted constructions being erected in the vicinity.† The concluding proposed design creates two prosaic back streets in between the new edifice. These prosaic back streets are chiefly associating Cheapside with Watling Street and Bread Street with New Change ; with the New Change being unfastened to the sky. The two back streets meet in the centre of the edifice, making a cardinal point to the dome of the St Paul’s Cathedral. The stores and offices are organized around, where a lift gives to the populace a bird's-eye entree to the roof through the cardinal atrium that is besides provides natural visible radiation to the office floors. The Atelier of Jean Nouvel had clever used this ordinance of â€Å"St Paul’s Heights† to carve an unfastened public roof patio that gives to the populace wholly new positions of the St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London. This ordinance is good known to anyone involved with any edifice in the City of London. However, this ordinance is straight related with the demands of â€Å"St Paul’s Depths† as London was an outstation of the Roman Empire and this heritage is protected the resistance. In 1935 the Act3was passed for the protection of the St Paul’s Cathedral, because through the old ages, some amendss had happened to the Cathedral as a consequence of some foundation motions from different beginnings. This was statute law in relation to deep basis with the â€Å"St Paul’s Depths† to protect and safe the cloth of the Cathedral from farther amendss. The One New Change needs to follow the ordinances of the â€Å"St Paul’s Depths† as is located merely 60m E of the St Paul’s Cathedral, but when the building phase started the site was founded in shallow foundations. The cellar of the new design had to widen down to the London Clay encroached the statute law and the Act3about the â€Å"St Paul’s Depths† . It was the first clip where the diggings in such deep proposed with in the country. So it was truly of import from the design squad and the client to proof that no harm will do to the Cathedral after the completion of the diggings will hold the minimum consequence to the Cathedral’s foundation. After a batch of observations and surveies one of the cardinal inquiries was if there would be any alteration in the groundwater government at the Cathedral’s foundations. So a batch of appraisals and studies of land motion during the diggings and motion monitories took topographic point and eventually they proofed that no effects will happened to the Cathedral’s foundation. However in the phase of the developed design a missive from the Prince of Wales to the Land Securities about the design of the new proposed edifice created a batch of treatments for the design and the stuffs, that the designer chosen for the edifice. The Prince made clear to the client that the Atelier Jean Nouvel approached wrong the site and he called for an alternate house to take over the sensitive site paces of the St Paul’s Cathedral. The reply from the designer Jean Nouvel was that: â€Å"What you regulate is what you get.†

The Philosophy of Action in Hamlet

‘Words, words, words’: Hamlet’s philosophy of action Central to any drama is action. What distinguishes drama from other literary forms is the very fact that it is acted upon a stage, that voice is given to the words and that movement creates meaning. It is, therefore, puzzling that the most seminal dramatic work in the English language contains, arguably, precious little of what many might describe as dramatic action. Nevertheless it has moved, enthralled and, what is more, entertained generations of theatre goers across the centuries and is still regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most popular play.It has divided critics: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe regards as central to the play Hamlet’s inability to act[1] whereas T. S. Eliot reduces the work to ‘an artistic failure’. [2] If Tom Stoppard is to be believed, even the characters are at odds with this apparent lack of drama as Stoppard’s Rosencrantz asks ‘is it too much to expe ct a little sustained action?! ’[3] If then, we are to acknowledge that action is central to drama, it is important to remember that such action is usually derived from conflict.When regarding Hamlet through this basic philosophy, the play is in every way dramatic. The play is concerned with conflict. We have international conflict, familial conflict and internal conflict and it is these conflicts that drive the play. This is confirmed within the opening line ‘Who’s there? ’(I. i. 1)[4] Immediately we are plunged into the state of paranoia that envelops Elsinore, the question is confrontational and, furthermore, directs us towards the international conflict between Denmark and Norway. The drama of the play, however, is not as simple as this.For instance, we must also consider the dramatic structure of a play and apply this to Hamlet; a structure that goes from equilibrium to conflict and then on to a new equilibrium. It is impossible to relate this to the play; for who would agree that the Elsinore, at the start of Hamlet, is in a state of equilibrium? Indeed, as Stephen Ratcliffe points out, the catalyst for all action in the play does not occur within the play[5]. The murder of Hamlet’s father has already happened when Barnardo delivers that famous first line, a line which itself suggests a response to something that has happened offstage.Ratcliffe goes on to discuss that the line could almost be a response to a ‘knock knock’ joke but more seriously that it: begin[s] the play in response not only to some implicit, unspoken physical action- some motion or noise in the dark, [†¦] but to an implicit action not performed on stage – some motion of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father which Bernardo, who speaks this line, must imagine he has seen and/or heard. [6] Ratcliffe also suggests that the action not performed on stage does not happen at all.Alarmingly, he refutes Claudius’s confession of frat ricide in Act III, arguing unconvincingly that Old Hamlet’s murder had never taken place. [7] In spite of this he does raise an interesting issue that is concerned with the question as to why – when in Western literature dramatic narrative is defined by cause and effect – does Shakespeare place the primary cause off stage and beyond the gaze of his audience? We are left to imagine the dramatic possibilities of opening the play with the alarming and visually striking image of a brother’s murder.If Shakespeare’s decision to leave this exciting and sinister event in the wings confounds us, what, then, are we to make of the climax of the play? If we are to return to the classic dramatic structure of a play, we expect to see rising action leading to a climax that, in turn, leads on to the falling action culminated by the denouement. Hamlet gives us no such structure. There is no climax in the classic sense or if there is it appears in the final scene, n ot where one would expect. There is, nevertheless, one possibility that the climax may appear earlier in the play and that would be, in the traditional sense, in Act III.The murder of Polonius in Act III, scene iv might be regarded as the turning point of the play in the same way that Mercutio’s death in Romeo and Juliet is seen as such. It is at this point that we see Hamlet at a height of passion, ‘How now? A rat! Dead for a ducat, dead’ (III. iv. 23). The use of the word ‘rat’ shows Hamlet’s contempt for his supposed victim, the repetition of ‘dead’ embellishes his determination to kill, and the ducat is the small price Hamlet values the life he has just taken. The consequences of this action feed into every other event that is to happen: Claudius’s resolve to kill Hamlet, Ophelia’s eath and Laertes’s act of revenge which brings about the play’s final dynastic collapse. Once again, though, Shakespear e ‘removes’ the audience from the action, having the murder take place ‘offstage’. Polonius is murdered behind the arras and this takes us away from the immediacy of the action. There is no huge build up with a climactic duel as there is in Romeo and Juliet; we are not even given the drama of remorse that is evident in Macbeth. For these reasons, it is impossible to consider the death of Polonius to be the dramatic climax of the play, merely another cause leading on to another effect.This shortage of ‘action’, though, is illusory. A. C. Bradley comments on this when he suggests a hypothetical reaction to the play: What a sensational story! Why, here are some eight violent deaths, not to speak of adultery, a ghost, a mad woman, and a fight in a grave! [8] Hamlet does have a dramatic conclusion, of that no one is in doubt, but this has come after a series of procrastinations from the titular hero. All other action is kept firmly offstage. One mig ht hear Bradley go on to say ‘Treason, pirates, war, the storming of a castle and a regime change! The latter two were included in Branagh’s film version strongly alluding to the storming of the Iranian embassy in 1981 an event that was intensely exciting and dramatic for any that can remember it. For Shakespeare, however, such extravagant action appears to be superfluous to his play and is, therefore, not of importance. As a consequence, it would appear redundant to continue analysing what is not in the play, as Ratcliffe has done at length[9], and to focus on what Shakespeare does give us. What Shakespeare does give us is words, ‘words, words, words’(II. i. 192) and it is through these words that he provides the action. It is here where I must agree with Ratcliffe when he suggests that, in Hamlet, it is the language that is of importance and not the action. [10] It is necessary, then, to look at the power of language within the play and how Shakespeare fa cilitates it in order to sustain a dramatic structure. Firstly, as mentioned above, the catalyst for all the action in the play happens off stage but is delivered to the audience, and Hamlet, through the words of the ghost. We know that these ords are to hold significance as we have shared Horatio’s anxiety for the ghost to ‘stay and speak’ (I. i. 142). The appearance of the ghost is not enough. It is, therefore, the words that are spoken to Hamlet in conjunction with the apparition that help to creates the first piece of dramatic action in the play: Now, Hamlet, hear. ’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me – so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus’d – but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown. [†¦]Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts- O wicked wit, and gifts that have the power So to seduce! – won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (I. i. 34-46) What is striking about this scene is how it is dominated by the ghost and how little Hamlet actually says. If it were one of the lesser characters, it could be assumed that they were struck dumb and in awe of the presence of a spectre but, even this early in the play, we know enough about Hamlet to realise that this would not be the case for him.He mentions a few lines earlier that he is not afraid, saying ‘I do not set my life at a pin’s fee’ (I. iv. 65), so why now is he so quiet? Surely Shakespeare feels that Hamlet, like the audience, should be still with trepidation at the drama that is unfolding before them. In this short passage of the ghost’s speech we have incest, adultery, witchcraft, treachery, not to mention murder. Here we see Shakespeare using the power of words to create the action upon the stage, words that, like Ra tcliffe points out, enter through our ears as did Claudius’s poison. 11] Later on in the play we will see words used as poison, again by Claudius, when, in true Machiavellian style, he corrupts the mind of the vengeful Laertes. When discussing the power of words we must look at the play-within-a-play sequence of Act III, an aspect of the play which has been discussed at length by the critics but also one that brings into question another facet of action, that of acting. Hamlet is an extremely self-conscious play, bringing comedy into a highly dramatic moment in Act I, scene v when Hamlet asks the ghost ‘Canst work i’th’ earth so fast? (l. 170): this is an obvious comment on the crudeness of Elizabethan stagecraft. Earlier in the same scene Shakespeare has commented on the possibility of a bored audience when Hamlet comments on ‘this distracted globe’ (l. 97)[12] and, when Polonius states that when he played Caesar ‘Brutus killed me. â₠¬â„¢ (III. ii. 103) Jenkins points out that the actors playing Hamlet and Polonius were likely to have played Brutus and Caesar respectively in an earlier play and therefore are about to ‘re-enact’ the murder. 13] If we look at Hamlet’s instructions to the players: Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-cryer spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you avoid it. (III. ii. 1-14) Again, we have a very self-conscious speech where there seems to be an in-joke upon the acting style of the actor who plays Polonius, if not intended by Shakespeare it could certainly be performed as such.There is also the awareness of audience as well in the comments about the groundlings which is rather a brave joke which, had they been enjoying the play, would have gone down in good humour. It might also be considered that Shakespeare followed up the joke by including the dumb-show that followed! If we look closely at the instructions, however, we notice the emphasis on the words rather than the action. The opening imperative is ‘Speak the speech’ and interestingly ‘as I pronounced it’ not as I acted or showed it which seems strange to say when instructing actors.It is true that in the restricted views of an Elizabethan playhouse an audience would go to hear a play but this would not be the case in a private cou rtly performance. Also we must remember that Hamlet is only concerned with one member of the audience; someone who, one might assume, would have the best view of the play. Hamlet’s instructions are followed by references to the tongue and mouth where the words must inevitably come from and then the simile of the town cryer again placing stress on verbal communication.Hamlet requests a limit to the ‘action’, the body movement – the acting- so that it is the language that is of paramount importance. In such a self-aware moment of the nature of acting and drama in the play are we not to assume that this is coming from Shakespeare as much as Hamlet? The players’ sequence has significance because here we have on stage the mechanics of Hamlet. There is the murder of Gonzago/Hamlet acted out on stage, the betrayal of Lucianus/Claudius and the union between the Lucianus/Claudius and Queen/Gertrude.Here Shakespeare gives us what we were denied in the first a ct the event which sets the whole play in motion. Not only that but by having Lucianus as the nephew to Gonzago we are also witnessing the events that are about to happen on stage or, at least, those that we expect to happen. Interestingly enough, though, is that Shakespeare has included a dumb-show as if to appease the groundlings despite his earlier comments but it is not through watching this that Claudius reacts but rather the words of the players that follows.At the line ‘On wholesome life usurps immediately’ (III. ii. 254) Claudius can no longer remain seated for he cannot deny the words, something that has been discussed and embellished by Ratcliffe. [14] The question as to why Claudius does not react to the dumb-show can be resolved in performance by choosing to have Claudius showing signs of discomfort throughout until he can finally stand it no more as in Olivier’s film version. There is nothing in the text, however, that suggests that this is how it sh ould be performed. The king questions Hamlet, Is there no offence in’t? ’ (III. ii. 227) and in this dialogue there is nothing to suggest that he is suffering from any anxiety regardless of how this line has divided critics. [15] So once again we see that it is words that have more power, more effect and more significance than mere actions. In looking at the philosophy of action in the play one must recognise that the play is essentially a revenge play and that all action must stem from the concept of revenge. Michael Mangan defines the revenge play as a play which: harts the protagonist’s attempts to [revenge]: this may involve a period of doubt, in which the protagonist decides whether or not to go ahead with the revenge, and it may also involve some complex plotting (in both senses of the word) as the protagonist decides to take revenge in an apt or fitting way. The revenger, by deciding to take revenge, places himself outside the normal order of things, and often becomes more and more isolated as the play progresses – an isolation which at its most extreme becomes madness. [16] It would appear, from this definition, that Hamlet is, indeed, a revenge play but who is it that seeks revenge?I would argue that it is not Hamlet for, as Catherine Belsey notes, ‘[r]evenge is not justice’[17] and we are reminded throughout the play that Hamlet seeks justice. For instance, Hamlet does not act rashly for he states: Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart (III. ii. 71-73) This might suggest that Hamlet holds reason close to his heart. Here we see that contrary to popular belief Hamlet is not a man that is ruled by passion but that is not to say that he is not passionate.If Hamlet were ruled by passion he would not have devised such an elaborate ploy to confirm the guilt of the king but would have acted straight away. Gone would be the procrasti nations and Hamlet could have roused up the populace as easily as Laertes does in Act IV, as Bradley points out[18], and Claudius would have been dead by Act II. Many critics that have argued this case seem to suggest that Shakespeare’s reason for prolonging the action was to fill out the five act structure of the play. [19] We are given three possible revenge heroes in the play: Hamlet we can discount, Fortinbras and Laertes.Shakespeare has provided these two characters to put Hamlet’s inability to act into stark contrast. Through Fortinbras we see the noble prince revenging the death of his father through careful planning and sharp resolve and in Laertes we see a rash young man whose desperate bid for revenge only quickens his own demise. It is important to note that even with the careful planning Fortinbras still shares Hamlet’s prolonging of the act when we consider that Denmark’s defeat of Norway was at the time of Hamlet’s birth some thirty y ears previous.Hamlet, however, does not seek revenge. He could have easily been able to exact it when he says ‘Now might I do it pat’ (III. iii. 73). The semantics of the word ‘might’ suggest that he has no intention of committing the murder. ‘Will’ or ‘must’ would imply a more decisive move yet Shakespeare gives us a Hamlet who is questioning his actions. His decision to spare Claudius whilst at prayer further indicates that it is justice and not revenge that Hamlet desires.Claudius points out to Laertes that ‘No place indeed should murder sancturise’ but Hamlet delays his action because he wants justice – a death for a death- like for like. Significantly, Hamlet is a revenger who is unable to act as Calhoun states he is unable to ‘play the role’,[20] or to use Ted Hughes’s metaphor: Like the driver of a bus containing all the characters of the drama, he hurtles towards destruction, in slow motion, with his foot jammed down hard on the brakes. [21] Having established the substance and value of words in Hamlet it is necessary to return to the question of dramatic climax in the play.It has always been recognised that it is a dramatic impossibility to act Hamlet on the stage in its entirety and it is not unknown for students of the text to skip through sections when reading but one thing always remains and that is the soliloquies. Within the play we have the most beautiful speeches composed in the English language and it is one of these that, I believe, forms the climax of the play. The climax of language that we are given in the play does follow the classic dramatic structure coming in Act III and at the risk of sounding cliched I would suggest that it is the ‘To be or not to be’ speech.It is in this soliloquy that we have the nub of the play rests and that is Hamlet’s internal conflict on how he should act. It has long been considered to be the musin gs of a troubled mind contemplating suicide and whilst no one will argue that Hamlet’s is not a troubled mind is he really deliberating the end of his own life? I would argue no. Shakespeare has already given us such ruminations earlier in the play with ‘o that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ (I. ii. 129) and I find it difficult to accept that a dramatist of Shakespeare’s calibre would not have developed his main character by the third act.In fact, I would argue that after confronting the ghost and hearing the charge against Claudius, Hamlet has been given new meaning to his life and that all thoughts of suicide have faded. ‘To be or not to be’ should read as ‘To do or not to do’ or ‘To act or not to act’ for it is in this speech that we witness Hamlet’s thoughts on whether to proceed with the killing of Claudius. Not once in the speech is there an ‘I’, nowhere does Hamlet refer to himself. His examples of the ‘whips and scorns of time’ (III. i. 70) save one do not seem to be justifications for taking one’s own life:Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of dispriz’d love, the laws delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th’unworthy takes (III. i. 71-74) Apart from unrequited love, for which many have taken their life, these seem to be the wrongs that are urging Hamlet to seek justice against Claudius. I might take this further and suggest a reading of the soliloquy where Hamlet knows that Claudius is eavesdropping, something that seemed to me implicit in Brannagh’s film. Through this reading we can see that Hamlet is acting a role for us as an audience but specifically for Claudius and Polonius.He is diverting attention from his true thoughts of murder whilst also confirming his ‘antic disposition’ (I. v. 180). In addition to this it explains why he apparently forgets the ghost of his father as he claims ‘No traveller returns’ (III. i. 80) as it would not be practical to reveal the truth at this stage. Also, the speech concludes that it is conscience that prevents him and the fear of the unknown when prior to this he has stated that it was because that God has ‘fix’d / His canon ’gainst self-slaughter’ (I. ii. 131-132).Arguably, this could be a variation of the same rationale yet there is a distinct change in tone which suggests a difference in attitude. Therefore, it is within this soliloquy where Hamlet reaches his decision which he reveals to Ophelia (and Claudius) when he says that ‘all but one – shall live’ (III. i. 150). One might argue that the opening line of this speech, ‘To be or not to be’ (III. i. 56), uncontrovertibly suggests that Hamlet is, indeed, reflecting on suicide but, once again, this is another self-conscious reflection upon the nature of drama.For Hamlet, the character in the play Hamlet, must act in order to ‘be’ and as a revenge hero, that act is the murder of Claudius. While Claudius is alive, Hamlet’s mind and soul are troubled and only through the act of revenge with ‘a bare bodkin’ can he bring about his ‘quietus’ (III. i. 75-6). Words, therefore, are the focus of this play. It is Shakespeare’s longest and in it we are given a character who ‘â€Å"comes alive† only in language’[22], it is through words that the dramatic action, except the final scene, takes place upon the stage.In terms of drama, the play is at odds with its form in that the driving action of the plot precedes the start of the play. We are given a revenge hero who is unable to live up to that title and only seems to spring into what one might call action when he has been hit by Laertes poisoned rapier and he knows that he is about to die, something which he poin ts out twice in the scene. Indeed, in performance, the final scene can be played as equally low-key as it can be played dramatic. In a self-conscious play such as this it seems clear that Shakespeare understands the power of words.To a dramatist, all action that can be created on a stage is a representation – one that is created through words. Crucially it is through language that the world of Elsinore is created and all those that exist within it exist through the words that they speak. It is, therefore fitting that Hamlet’s dying words are ‘the rest is silence’ (V. ii. 363) for he knows that without language he is nothing. Through Hamlet Shakespeare gives us a world where action is secondary to language because, in drama, one creates the other. 3967 words (exc. footnotes) 4338 words (inc. footnotes) Bibliography Primary SourcesShakespeare, William, Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins, The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd series (London and New York: Routledge, 1994) Stoppa rd, Tom, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (London: Faber & Faber, 1967) von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, ed. and trans. Eric A. Blackall (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995) Secondary Sources Belsey, Catherine, ‘Revenge in Hamlet’, in Hamlet: Contemporary Critical Essays, ed. Martin Coyle (London: Macmillan, 1992), pp. 154-159. Bloom, Harold, Hamlet: Poem Unlimited, (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003) Bradley, A. C. , Shakespearean Tragedy, 3rd edn. London: Macmillan, 1992), pp. 84-166. Calhoun, Jean S. , ‘Hamlet and the Circumference of Action’, Renaissance News, Vol. 15, No. 4. (Winter, 1962), 281-298. Dickson, Andrew, The Rough Guide to Shakespeare, (London: Rough Guides, 2005) Eliot, T. S. , ‘Hamlet’ in Selected Essays (London: Faber & Faber, 1951), p. 141-146. Fernie, Ewan, ‘Terrible Action: Recent Criticism and Questions of Agency’, Shakespeare, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June, 2006), 95-11 8. Hughes, Ted, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being (London: Faber & Faber, 1992), pp. 233-239. Jump, John D. , (ed. ) Hamlet: A Selection of Critical Essays (London: Macmillan, 1968), pp. 2-32. Kettle, Arnold, ‘From Hamlet to Lear’, in Shakespeare in a Changing World, ed. Arnold Kettle (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1964), pp. 146-159. Mangan, Michael, A Preface to Shakespeare’s Tragedies (London and New York: Longman, 1991) Ratcliffe, Stephen ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3/4. (Autumn, 1998), 125-150. ——————–, ‘‘Who’s There? ’: Elsinore and Everywhere’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Autumn, 1999), 153-173. ———————– [1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, ed. and trans.Eric A. Blackall (P rinceton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 146. [2] T. S. Eliot, ‘Hamlet’ in Selected Essays (London: Faber & Faber, 1951), p. 143. [3] Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (London: Faber & Faber, 1967), p. 86. [4] William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins, The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd series (London and New York: Routledge, 1994), subsequent references are to this edition. [5] Stephan Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3/4. (Autumn, 1998), pp. 125-150. [6] ——————–, ‘‘Who’s There? : Elsinore and Everywhere’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Autumn, 1999), p. 153. [7] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, pp. 135-139. [8] A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, 3rd edn. (London: Macmillan, 1992), Lecture III, p. 93. [9 ] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’ pp. 125-150 [10] Ibid. , p. 129. [11] Ibid. p. 131 [12] Having opened my Christmas presents and receiving Bloom’s Poem Unlimited after I had written this essay, I feel obliged to cite him for what I assumed to be an acute and original observation.If only Father Christmas hadn’t been so efficient, I could have at least pleaded ignorance! Harold Bloom, Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003), p. 10 [13] Jenkins (ed. ), Hamlet, p. 294 [14] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, pp. 131-132. [15] Jenkins explains how the line has been used to show Claudius’s calm attitude to the play and to prove his unease in Jenkins (ed. ), Hamlet, p. 301. [16] Michael Mangan, A Preface to Shakespeare’s Tragedies (London and New York: Longman, 1991), p. 67. [17] Catherine Belsey, ‘Revenge in Hamlet’, in Haml et: Contemporary Critical Essays, ed.Martin Coyle (London: Macmillan, 1992), p. 154. [18] Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, p. 98. [19] Notably the anonymous critic in ‘Extracts from Earlier Critics, 1710-1945’ in Hamlet: A Selection of Critical Essays, ed. John D. Jump (London: Macmillan, 1968), p. 22. [20] Jean S. Calhoun, ‘Hamlet and the Circumference of Action’, Renaissance News, Vol. 15, No. 4. (Winter, 1962), p. 288. [21] Ted Hughes, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being (London: Faber & Faber, 1992), p. 236. [22] Ewan Fernie, ‘Terrible Action: Recent Criticism and Questions of Agency’, Shakespeare, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June, 2006), p. 96.

Fast Food Essay Essay

America’s obesity is caused by numerous factors, that which are viewed differently by people. For example, many different people believe the problem of obesity is caused by over eating, increased portion sizes, lack of nutrition, and how fast food companies are going after children. These problems are all considered to be immense problems of obesity. Though, different people may believe only one of the followings is a major cause. Thus, it is of importance to discuss the reasons why. see more:effect of junk food essay First of all, portion sizes from fast food restaurants have dramatically increased over the course of a few decades. In the article, â€Å"By Any Other Name, It’s Still a Supersize,† the author, Lisa R. Young, states that, â€Å"In the last few years, Hardee’s, Burger King and Wendy’s all have introduced 1,000-calorie-plus sandwiches stuffed with 12 ounces of beef – the amount of meat recommended for two days for most adults.† This shows that one meal can be more than half the average calories needed for individuals in a single day. Instead, people should avoid large quantities of food and should eat healthier. Consequently, big portion sizes are one of the factors of obesity. Second, fast food companies are deliberately targeting children as they are easy targets to go after. Kelly Brownell, the author of â€Å"Are Children Prey for Fast Food Companies?† says how Happy Meals from McDonalds are served with toys. These toys are advertised and are served with low nutritious food. â€Å"Only 12 of 3,039 possible kids’ meal combinations meet nutrition criteria for preschoolers.† However, if fast food companies would serve healthier foods to children, like fruits and milk, the statistics would increase. Also, these foods are high in sugar, and fat. Ultimately, companies targeting children with unhealthy food and toys can lead to a higher rate of children being obese or diabetic. Strangely enough, fast food mimicking fast casual places may actually be better and healthier due to its fresher ingredients. Julie Jargon writes the article, â€Å"Fast Food Aspires to ‘Fast Casual’†; and she states that fast food restaurants are up scaling their food. â€Å"In the hope of appealing to more-sophisticated consumers, fast-food chains are moving beyond simple cheeseburgers and tacos, adding fancier ingredients such as portabella mushrooms, citrus-herb marinated chicken, and pepper bacon.† This upgrade may be attracting more customers to the fast food industry, but they will be attracted to healthier foods. Therefore, it may not be as much as a leading cause as of obesity as other things. In conclusion, fast food companies have changed America for the worse over the course of a few years. Fast food places mostly have high fat and low nutritious portion sizes that shouldn’t be eaten daily. Families shouldn’t eat fast foods as much as they think they should, and instead should result in eating healthier, fresher products. Alternatives to fast food places may dramatically decrease obesity in America. America’s obesity epidemic may be led by the fast food industries.

International Politics Current Event Memo Article

International Politics Current Event Memo - Article Example It was confirmed that the policies used by China were violating the set global trade rules. Particularly, it was confirmed that the export rules applied by China on the rare-earth metals were not consistent with China’s obligation in the WTO. In defense, China stated that the rules were in place as a measure to safeguard the environment, but the WTO said that those reasons were not enough to limit exports. The WTO ruling covered seventeen rare-earth metals that are used in making of electronic products. According to the authors, the decision is likely to see a reduction in rare-earth metals prices. The authors note that the Obama leadership is keen on stepping up such trade cases against countries such as Russia, China and India. This is in an attempt to stop such countries from violating WTO rules. The main actors covered in the article are China, the United States and the World Trade Organization. On one hand, China’s interest is to limit the export of rare-earth metals to other countries. According to Chinese officials, such restrictions are important in helping conserve the environment. On the other hand, the WTO and the United States are keen on ensuring that China does not put policies in place that violate the WTO rules and limit international trade. For the WTO, this is an attempt to create a level-playing field in which all countries operate on fair policies that do not negatively affect other member countries. As noted in the article, the US is interested in following such cases in order to enhance fair trade policies. This is of benefit to the US economy. For example, it is noted in the article that the steelmakers in the United States welcomed the decision taken by the WTO since some of these rare-earth metals such as tungsten are used in the steel industry. The institutions relevant to the article include World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Mechanical properties and acoustic behaviour of screed Essay

Mechanical properties and acoustic behaviour of screed - Essay Example The topping thus made is a layer of high strength concrete, with better mechanical properties than other finishing matrial used ordinarily on the surface bases........(1) However, due to the poor surface finishes available at sites, it is advisable to use screed adequately while making correct leveling for the laying of screed to get the required smooth finish. Proper tools like trowels are used for this purpose. The general guidelines for laying a screed layer provide that there should not be any deviation of more than 3mm over a length of 3 meters, to get the smooth and level floor of good quality. The figure shows the deviation curve for the screed layer on a concrete surface over a 3-meter length, with datum level as reference point...........(2) There are mainly two types of screeds, bonded and monolithic screeds. The difference lies in their application. While bonded screed is applied to a hardened concrete floor surface, monolithic screed is applied at the time of laying the concrete flooring itself. This type of screed is applicable only on strong and hardened concrete that has a characteristic strength of more than 20MPa, as the bonding of adhesive is not possible for screed with weak concrete. Moreover, the screed layer cannot fill any cracks on the base floor and therefore the crack will show up over a period. The base concrete surface should be smooth and level to allow a screed layer of approximately 25 mm. thickness, being in the range of 15 to 40 mm.. The preparation of base concrete should be such that it is hardened uniformly, free of oil or dirt, If there is a presence of any earlier screed layers, then same need to be removed by scrapping allover, as the cleaning at edges or pecking at intervals will not be sufficient. The surface should be vacuum cleaned with high air pressure to free it of all dust particles. For this purpose, a mixture of sand and cement should be

Education for the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education for the Future - Essay Example The pace of learning will increase, whereas the necessary attendance is likely to be reduced, as there will appear such feature as virtual attendance - human hologram will be able to perceive all information, including from sensual channels (see, hear, touch and so on). The concept of education is also likely to alter - from 'teaching' to 'education' in pure meaning, i.e. there will be more attention to individual assignments. Nevertheless, the role of teacher, or, more precisely, tutor, will remain intact, and in addition, the professor's authority and knowledge will become one of the main stimuli for secondary education. In fact, schools will be more adjusted to each person's needs, and classes will be formed according to each student's interests and aspirations for future. From earliest years, students will concentrate on the subjects or topics they find interesting or worth attention, whereas the so-called general disciplines, such as math, history, literature and physics will 's urvive'.

Regulatory & Economic Environment Assignment Essay

Regulatory & Economic Environment Assignment - Essay Example This is also the same for the company to do in an effort to eliminate the competition threat by creating a rather precise marketing plan. The best way to do this is by carrying out a SWOT analysis of the competitors alongside the PEST analysis for a target market. Focusing on the Strengths of the competitor, one recognizes that the company has an already established base in the Asian market and that the deals they are offered are rather superior and worthy seeing as they are already acquainted with the suppliers in the region. A weakness that one can identify in terms of the manner through which business is run is acknowledging the fact that the competitor’s brand has not fully settled in the retailers market. The main reason as to why Brought Kitchens identified the company was the high amounts of sales that it had started making and this was due to a shift in the customers who go for cheaper products. However, accommodating this is one of the most effective strategies to car ry out. Opportunity comes in from the fact that the suppliers, unlike customers do not have a specific product of preference or rather do not have favorite retailers. This gives the company an opportunity of identifying itself with the Asian market. The threats however are in terms of the licensing and revoking of their earlier deal with their former European counterparts in case of anything. Part b Going through the political stature of the Asian market and target markets is important in understanding whether the country is trustworthy for investment and reliance in terms of business. Economic state is also vital in that one gets to understand and have prospects of the prices of the commodities. On the other hand, social factors come into play when attempting to understand the nature of people in the area and their attitude towards foreigners. Technology is also important to comprehend whether the people in the area accept changes in terms of technology which basically happens in c lose intervals. Putting all these factors into consideration assures the company of prosperity in its ventures. Question 2 Part a Dj Sports as stated has had its name in the market for a very long time and the fact that its policy, â€Å"Our name sells itself† is a rather confident one that it shows that there is no need of carrying out advertisements and signing labels just to get their products to the market. However, seeing as there are other companies that have come up in the contemporary environment, a challenge has been posed and the company must act in an effort to keep its product running, a market assessment has to be carried out. Engaging in the SWOT analysis of the company comes in as a key strategy. The fact that the company has been in the market for long in itself is a very large strength seeing as they have earned the reputation and trust of the customers. A weakness however is the fact that the company has decided to lay back and not take on any key advertisem ents as opposed to competitors. Advertisements ensure that the product reaches a wide range of customers and if they do not see the DJ line in advertisements, it is hard for them to choose a product that they know little or nothing about. An opportunity presents itself from the fact that customers believe that the company

Case study assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment - Case Study Example Although it will be uncomfortable to call the Vice President of Engineering and inform him concerning the potential problems/delay, oversight with regard to this issue is fundamental if the correct seris of choices will be made as the deadline for this project nears. Moreover, another rational for this response to be put forward by this student has to do with the fact that if the situation escalates, the Vice President of Engineering alongside many other high profile individuals within the company will be irate with regard to the fact that this issue was not brought to their attention prior to it causing a work stoppage or hardships/ill will/or even legal trouble between the producer and the client. Unfortunately, even though the Vice President will be upset with regard to the fact that this issue threatens to derail the timeline that was already delayed, seeking to be forthcoming with respect to this issue is ultimately the best approach. B) Option B does presents Tim with the possibility of including old components as a function of meeting the Vice President’s directions to merely â€Å"get the stuff done†; however, the best approach within situation A & B is to seek to return to the production line and finish the products utilizing newly crafted components and hoping that the impurity levels will be low enough to pass quality control. C) In the case that Arnold is out of town when Tim calls him, it is incumbent upon him to attempt to reach out to him on an emergency contact number or to escalate this situation to the next layer of management. Although it is true that Tim will be uncomfortable with going up the chain of command higher and higher, the need to do this so that further heartache with respect to the production process and customer dissatisfaction will not occur in the future. Explaining the situation from the very beginning is the best way to

Project management for business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Project management for business - Essay Example The success of the project was also underpinned by building effective control systems which included email, shared servers and interfaces that facilitated better discourse between project members. Such systems also created opportunities for routine data collection and analysis, further underpinning success in decision-making in terms of cost control and resource allocation. Planning and monitoring as strategies of Arup were the most instrumental in ensuring that the project achieved its objectives, which is supported by best practice literature in project management. This report highlights how planning and development of monitoring and control systems best served meeting budgetary and timeline expectations for closure of the Water Cube project. In preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Arup Project Management was heavily involved in the construction and design of the Water Cube Aquatic Centre, a highly successful project. What made this project so significantly triumphant was proper planning and establishment of relevant monitoring and control systems. Outside of the physical and functional features of the Water Cube, in relation to architectural design, Arup’s involvement in planning the proper team, developing effective organisational hierarchies, and ensuring that project outcomes were achieved underpinned Arup’s success in this project. This report evaluates why Arup’s planning, monitoring and control systems contributed to achieving successful project objectives. The Water Cube Project entailed construction of a revolutionary aquatic centre in Beijing which would facilitate aquatic competitions for the Games. The centre was to be constructed to sustain a competition pool, a warm-up pool for competitors, and a relevant diving pool. For the purpose of the Games, the centre was to be constructed with 17,000 spectator seats and, after the Games, be reduced

The Idea of Being a Leader Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Idea of Being a Leader - Personal Statement Example Though these were just a few flashes in the pan did not matter at that time. They helped boost my ego which stayed inflated for a long, long time. The last day of the school had come. Suddenly the world seemed large, wide and menacing. I would be leaving all my dear friends with whom I had grown up, laughed, cried, argued, fought, made up, and in general just took life for granted. They had seen me besides studying, taking the active part in school functions, sports, dramas, elocution contests, and always been there for me and with me. I was not really sure what I was to do after school years. One said to go to college, another said it was not worth it. That my parents could not afford my college fees did not deter me. I simply did not have the will. I did not wish to go through some four grueling years just to prove to the world I was leadership material. This is when I learned the importance of following one's intuition when all else fails to convince. (Dr. Garfield, 322)1. It took me a couple of years to decide that I had better learn some skills and find a job. This led me to take up a course in shorthand and typing. I found some jobs and did a course in business management. But there was something else life had in store. I was not aware of it. But when I was 19, a Christian group met me and told me I need God to help me steer the course of my life. After some hesitation, I gave them a chance. Pilgrim's Progress Working in an auto dealers firm, I took an active part in church activities in my spare times. Evangelism and church planting could seem to be a raw deal in the beginning. But it yields fantastic returns and dividends. I found myself participating in campaigns, leadership meetings, seminars, and even began making my own speeches and presentations. My desire for writing found expression in 1976 when I got an opening to work for a religious magazine run by an American lady editor, Jane McNally, under whose leadership, I was able to polish up my grammar and even learn writing skills. I began participating in writing seminars and competitions and won prizes. Visions and Goals I was moving up in life. I found a job in a large, consumer goods manufacturing firm, and got set to buy an apartment flat. But the pay from my regular job, though decent, was not enough. This is when I decided to give a shot at teaching. My English was good and so was my shorthand. I got a part-time assignment to teach both these subjects at an institute after my regular office hours.

Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Essay Example for Free

Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Essay The modern republics of Poland and Lithuania had been once been a single, strong nation known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This commonwealth was established in 1569. Although there were other states in the commonwealth, none of them was as powerful as Poland. The nation was on the brink of success when the rest of Europe was ravaging in the famous thirty years war between 1618 and 1648. The Commonwealth noblemen had no desire to get involved in these wars and they were able defend the country against external attacks from the Germans, Russians and the Ottoman Turks (TLK). However, the commonwealth’s supremacy and stability did not last for long and there already were clear signs of decline by the mid 17th century. The main cause of the decline was wars that were fought within and outside the commonwealth. Thus, the weakened state could not hold itself together after these wars which ultimately led to its partition. The decline of Poland was basically evincible in the legislative body Sejm. The divergent systems of the parliament grew ineffective and inefficient at a time when the deputies went verbal asserting â€Å"Liberum Veto† which gave them excessive power over national resolutions. The country’s population had decreased by big proportions as a result of wars. This made it practically impossible for the nation to succeed in its wars against other nations, though they were able to defeat the Ottomans at Vienna. This was the last success realized by the commonwealth military (Davies 24). The Szlachta (noblemen) also diminished in their ability to influence others and consequentially depreciated in military vigor. In a myriad of situations they became impotent and viewed â€Å"veto† as the only remaining legislative symbol within the commonwealth (25). The Decline of the Commonwealth In 1648, the warlike Cossacks, with the support of Russia, upstaged a rebellion against Poland. Thus the Russians began to influence the affairs of the country. Later in 1655, the Commonwealth was involved in another war with Sweden, provoked by the policies of Commonwealth kings from the Swedish royal House of Vasa. The Swedes installed Stanislaw Leszczynski as king. However, they were defeated by the Russians in 1709 and this resulted in the reinstatement of Augustus on the throne (TLK). Augustus was at conflict with parliament and this lead to a civil war in 1717. The Russians responded by reducing the powers of the Sejm, who by now were at the centre of running Poland, came to the rescue of Augustus. This resulted in Poland being forced to cut down the size of her standing army. When Augustus died in 1733, Leszyski returned to the throne. This move was met with resistance from the Russians who forced him out and made Fredrick Augustus, a son to Augustus, king instead. Another blow to the commonwealth was the Saxon rule that lasted for sixty years. It drove the nation to the edges of lawlessness, devastating it even more. A powerful alliance between Russia, Prussia and Australia ensured that Poland’s legal system and maintain ace of order was paralyzed. The three nations formed the â€Å"Alliance of the Three Black Eagles† owing to the fact that all the three had eagles, black in color, on their coat-of-arms (Kjaergard 121). The Partitioning of the Commonwealth By the 18th century, the Commonwealth could not handle the many internal problems that were plaguing it and this made the fragile nation more vulnerable to external influences. The political system was in shambles and this soon culminated to the schism of the commonwealth. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian, Prussian, and Austrian powers (TLK) . The first partition was in 1772, when the Commonwealth lost 733, 000 square kilometers of land together with about four million people. Russia took most of the land while a majority of the population went to Austria. The Sejm ratified the partition agreement despite much resistance from the state’s deputies. After the first partition, there was a period of relative stability that saw to the development of a better education sector in the country. There was a rise in the number of professionals in various fields. The king initialized a healing programme, which was executed by the â€Å"Great Sejm†. The Four Year or Great Sejm came up with a new constitution (Domar 56). â€Å"Liberum Veto† was abolished under the newly formed constitution, changing how the country was governed. people were guaranteed personal freedom and more liberty was enhanced. England, France and the United States hailed the newly formed constitution. On the other hand, this step was viewed as a threat by the rulers of Austria and Russia. This led to a wide instigation of large numbers of magnate under the leadership of Branicki Ksawery, Potocki Szczesny and Rzewuski Seweryn. This was a betrayal of the commonwealth hence leading to the formation of the Targowica Confedaration in disrespect to the declarations of the newly formed constitution (Kjaergard 122) The second partition was as a result of Russian invation. The troops from Russia decided to cross the borders and immediately war broke out. Joseph Poniatowski who was the King’s nephew together with Kosciuszko Tadeusz, a supporter of the American Independence War, erected a vehement resistance although all confidence was crushed after the Prussians joined the fighting. Many people, who would otherwise have been citizens, ran away to other countries. In 1793, Prussia and Russia were obliged to sign the Second Partition Treaty. This led to about About This led to holding in of more than half of the entire nation with a population of about four million people. Later, there was a meeting at Grodno composed mainly of the Sejm which deliberated on the legal processd to make legal the process of partitioning of the country. After the partitioning, there was widespread discontent within the general population (Kostrowicka 34). The final partition in 1795 was the most devastating. A lot of Poles were evicted from their country. The King was seized and taken to prison in St. Petersburg. Other people were sent to the harsh cold deserts of Siberia and thousands more fled to other lands. Conclusion Although Poland’s history is one full of turmoil, a lot can be learnt from it. It is clear that good governance policies should be in place for a country to run smoothly. The heads of state should at the fore front providing the much needed leadership to citizens of their countries. If the Polish constitution had had good policies, and if the leaders were competent enough, then maybe the history of the Poles would be much different and better than it is.

Roe Through the Chain of Command Essay Example for Free

Roe Through the Chain of Command Essay President Johnson implemented the Rules of Engagement (ROE) during the war in Vietnam, particularly Southeast Asia. His intention for this set of rules was a means of control. The ROE dictated who (of the enemy) and where the American troops were allowed to attack, even if they were clearly within enemy reach. This set of rules benefited the hierarchy in the Chain of Command, but had a much less desirable effect on those who actually carried out the rules. This paper will explore the ROE and how it affected the military through the Chain of Command. Soldiers were limited in their ability to defend. The ROE paralyzed them from shooting even when they were shot at because the rules stated they must be certain their target is the enemy and not terrified civilians. They were only allowed to attack other soldiers and/or those dressed in combat gear with weapons (Moss, 2010). This negatively impacted the soldiers’ will to fight because they felt the ROE were not in place to protect them but to enforce political policy. Their requests were ignored. When in combat, the ROE forced the soldiers to keep their safety and preservation of their lives secondary while continuing to follow rules set forth by commanders on safe grounds (Moss, 2010). Battalion commanders are responsible for their battalion (300-1,000 soldiers) and the commands they are to execute during battle (United states army, para. 1). The Battalion commanders had the responsibility to directly enforce the ROE to the soldiers of the battalion. If the soldiers did not follow commands correctly or effectively, the Battalion commanders must answer to the Commander in Chief and suffer the consequences if any. The ROE limited the commanders from utilizing their sophisticated weaponry and equipment to its fullest capability. The Division commanders were considered experts in the military. However, their expertise was disregarded and ignored by the President. The Division commander would instruct and guide their soldiers to carry out well planned attack strategies but were often overridden by those higher up in command based on the ROE. What made sense to the Division commander was secondary to the restrictions of the ROE. The commanders were able to increase and add to the ROE but they were not allowed to reduce the rules or bend the rules in any way (Moss, 2010). The Division Commander was faced with great difficulty of knowing the enemy was at an advantage due to the ROE because their goal was to defeat the enemy. It seems the ROE had a different goal. In 1967, Gen William Westmoreland initiated his war of attrition in hopes of victory. Westmoreland requested 2000,000 additional troops to expand the military against the VC/NVA forces, among other requests. President Johnson denied these requests. President Johnson only approved 55,000 additional troops (moss, 2010, p. 216). General Westmoreland was one of the commanders whose expertise was ignored and overridden by President Johnson and Secretary McNamara. He was forced to give Americans false information on the US status of the war; this was demeaning to his professionalism. The department of Defense was responsible for informing Vietnam troops of ROE’s implementations and changes. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara delegated to the Joint Chief of Staff to provide the commanders with the rules. Debates were held when changes to the ROE occurred and Secretary McNamara was often the mediator who settled those debates. Again, during these debates, military advise from experts was often ignored (Drake, 1992 p. 9). It became apparent that the purpose of the ROE was to continue protecting decision makers President Johnson and Secretary McNamara. President Lyndon Johnson initiated the ROE’s in avoidance of the Soviet Union and China interferences. The ROE’s restricted the military commanders and â€Å"†¦played a major part in the failure of U.  S air power in this singular black mark on the record of American military aviation† (Dorschel, 1995, para. 1). President Johnson was hopeful that the ROE would be effective in controlling the temperament of the war. He was also using this limited war tactic to win votes during the 1964 elections. â€Å"The new president (Johnson) also feared that the injection of U. S. combat forces into the Vietnam War would provoke adverse reactions throughout the world and trigger uprisings of domestic opposition that could stifle his domestic reform program and cost him the 1964 presidential election (Moss, 2010 p. 122). President Johnson was convinced the military commanders were more concerned with spending and he did not consider their expertise and professional input when decisions were made during combat. â€Å"The president and his advisors often disregarded the advice of military experts, believing that: Generals know only two words: spend and bomb (Dorschel, 1995, para. 12). † It is apparent that the Rules of Engagement was used as a political tool to secure positions in office of President Johnson and General Westmoreland with disregard of preserving the integrity of soldiers, pilots, and commanders. The training nd skills of the troops were not appreciated and were completely negated by via the ROE. â€Å"Crews were forced to fly in predictable ways, fly the same routes over and over, and operate in ways that went against their training and experience. The continuous changes to the rules and the complexity of them made learning and remembering them a difficult task and the predictable nature of the campaign and the protected areas in North Vietnam caused heavy American losses. It was all but impossible to inflict the kind of damage necessary to achieve the stated goals of the offensive (Dorschel, 1995, para. 25).

The Kennewick Man Controversy

The Kennewick Man Controversy An Exploration of the Kennewick Man Controversy The Kennewick Man controversy is one of the most well known federal court cases dealing with NAGPRA and Anthropological research. The case is influential for Native Americans, Anthropologists, Archaeologists, and federal law makers alike. Though it lasted many years and endured a very bumpy road, the Kennewick Man case will serve as a great example and learning tool to anthropologists of today, tomorrow, and years to come. Kennewick Man has a great significance to anthropology and archaeology for various reasons. It is perhaps the most influential example of how the NAGPRA laws affect anthropologists and the complications that can come with the lack of clarity in those laws. Kennewick Man also has influenced anthropology by being one of the oldest and most complete human skeletal remains found in North America, which led to new information on origin due to his skull morphology. â€Å"As one of the best-preserved New World skeletons of the period, the Kennewick specimen has the potential to contribute greatly to this discussion, but it may be reburied before scientists can study it further† ( Slayman, http://www.archaeology.org). The true significance of the Kennewick man cannot yet be fully explained because all of the scientific findings have yet to be concluded. We can only hope that the future research will result in the anthropology discovering more answers that can lead us to greater in-dep th knowledge of who we are, how we got here and how humanity originated. Kennewick man can definitely be considered an ethical debate, when looking at the process from both a Native Americans religious and cultural perspective, as well as from an anthropological and scientific perspective. The ethical debate from the perspective of the Northwest Indian tribes to claim the remains is that according to their understanding of NAGPRA law they had â€Å"cultural affiliation† to the Kennewick Man, making those tribes responsible for the traditional spiritual and cultural care of those remains and furthermore becoming their property. Vine Deloria, Jr., a professor from the University of Colorado and Standing Rock Sioux native writes on the subject, siding with Native Americans stating that â€Å"Archaeology has always been dominated by those who wave â€Å"science† in front of us like an inexhaustible credit card, and we have deferred to them believing that they represent the discipline in an objective and unbiased manner. Yet the discovery of a skeleton in the Colombia River led to an excessively confused lawsuit..and a spade of claims by scholars that this skeleton could rewrite the history of the Western Hemisphere.† (Thomas, Page xviii). Because of their ethical standing, the scientific justification is not necessarily an important argument for US Anthropologists to keep the remains. The whole reasoning behind the NAGPRA laws should have, in their opinion, given them all rights to the remains which would have in turn prevented the remains from being studied further. When viewing this as an ethical debate through an anthropological perspective, it comes down to the scientific importance of being able to study the remains. â€Å"Archaeologist Rob Bonnichsen was quoted as saying: ‘Theres a whole book of information [in Kennewick Mans bones]. To put him back in the ground is like burning a rare book so well learn nothing. . . .It seems to be the case that there is a major effort to block scientific inquiry into the study of American origins (OHagan, 1998: 8).† (Watkins, Page 13) The results of further researching the Kennewick Man would make it possible to obtain answers that would benefit not only the Native Americans of North America, but humanity as a whole. Anthropology is in essence the holistic study of humankind, and using the well preserved pieces of our past such as the Kennewick man, can most definitely shed new light on origin theories and lead to discoveries of our past. NAGPRA is the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act, is a law which was passed by the federal government in 1990 to provide â€Å"a process for museums and Federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.† (www.nps.gov/nagpra). NAGPRA states that these cultural items will be repatriated to the Native Americans if they can prove cultural affiliation to the items in question. â€Å"Cultural affiliation is established when the preponderance of the evidence based on geographical, kinship, biological, archeological, linguistic, folklore, oral tradition, historical evidence, or other information or expert opinion reasonably leads to such a conclusion.† (http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/TRAINING/Cultural_Affiliation.pdf) In order to attempt at clarifying the determination of cultural affiliation, certain guidelines have been set in place. â€Å"All of the following requirements must be met to determine cultural affiliation between a present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and the human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony of an earlier group: (1) Existence of an identifiable present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with standing under these regulations and the Act; and (2) Evidence of the existence of an identifiable earlier group. Support for this requirement may include, but is not necessarily limited to evidence sufficient to: (i) Establish the identity and cultural characteristics of the earlier group, (ii) Document distinct patterns of material culture manufacture and distribution methods for the earlier group, or (iii) Establish the existence of the earlier group as a biologically distinct population; and (3) Evidence of the existence of a shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and the earlier group. Evidence to support this requirement must establish that a present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization has been identified from prehistoric or historic times to the present as descending from the earlier group.† (http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/TRAINING/Cultural_Affiliation.pdf) In the Kennewick Man controversy, The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for the land on which the Kennewick Man was found, initially making him the property of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. They had chosen to allow anthropologists to study the remains to try and uncover some answers in the mystery of the Kennewick Man. After through NAGPRA, the remains were ordered to be returned to the local Native Americans, the Scientists and Army Corps decided to try and pursue an appeal with NAGPRA. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers where soon after involved in a Federal court case to determine to whom the remains should belong. Since the Kennewick Man was discovered on their property, the remains became that federal agencys responsibility. After the final ruling, it was ordered that the Kennewick man stay property of the Army Corps. The Kennewick debate involved a US Federal Court case between the Northwest Native American tribes (the Umatilla, Yakama, Nez Perce, Wanapum and Colville) who laid claim over the Kennewick Mans remains, and the US Army Corps of Engineers Scientists who were responsible for the remains because they were discovered on their property. The archaeologists and physical anthropologists studying the remains argued that the substantial significance of the remains could help answer many questions of human immigration into North America. These scientists were the plaintiff in the case. After further study of the remains the Department of the Interior and National Park Service, in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers were able to find reasoning to disprove exact cultural affiliation with the Native America Tribes, stating that NAGPRA laws did not apply to the Kennewick Mans case. The Anthropologists wish to further study the remains because they are one of the oldest, most well preserved and complete human remains ever to be found in the Western Hemisphere. By studying the bones, we could find answers to when and how humans first entered North America, as well as information about the Kennewick Mans death, culture and lifestyle. The Native American tribes did not want him studied because if he were culturally affiliated with the tribes, they would be responsible for ensuring the Kennewick Mans proper burial. Defacing or studying the remains would be against their religious, spiritual and cultural beliefs. The Plaintiff Scientists in the case were comprised of eight anthropologists and archeologists brought together for the right to study the remains and stop repatriation. â€Å"The eight plaintiffs in Bonnichsen v. United States included five physical anthropologists (C. Loring Brace, Richard Jantz, Douglas Owsley, George Gill, and D. Gentry Steele) and three archeologists (Robson Bonnichsen, Dennis J. Stanford, and C. Vance Haynes Jr.). Owsley and Stanford were at the Smithsonian Institution and the others held university positions.â€Å" (Oldham, www.historylink.org) The defendant party consisted of the five Native American tribes claiming cultural affiliation to the remains and promoting the repatriation of the Kennewick man. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers were in charge of the remains, and along with the Department of the Interior and National Park Service furthered the studies to determine the origin of the Kennewick Mans ancestry and lineage for proper affiliation. The Kennewick Man case was finally concluded, and the ruling was in favor of the plaintiff scientists. â€Å"The scientific community should be allowed to study the 9,000-year- old human bones known as Kennewick Man, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled †¦ rejecting an appeal by several tribes claiming kinship and seeking to rebury the remains†¦ The three-judge panel, with an opinion written by Judge Ronald Gould, upheld a District Court decision that the tribes have shown no direct kinship to the remains and have no such authority.† (Paulson, www.Seattlepi.com) Today the remains of the controversial Kennewick Man reside in the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, where scientists continue to study the remains. The ruling and scientific studies proved that the lineage of the Kennewick man was more Caucasian than Native American, therefore disassociating him with Native American affiliation and removing him from NAGPRA regulations. In the controversial case involving the Kennewick Man, I am pleased with the outcome. I side with the scientists, acknowledging the significance of studying the Kennewick Mans remains. Because the Kennewick Man was proven to be not of Native American lineage, it seems unarguable that the case be removed from under NAGPRA laws. The potential answers that can come from the future studies of the Kennewick Man are so immense that I can only wait with excitement for results to come from these studies. With Archaeology and Anthropology technologically advancing more and more every day, it is a great immeasurable victory for science to be able to challenge and win such an influential case as this one.

Patrick Henry Essay -- essays research papers

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry was a great patriot. He never used his fists or guns to fight for his country, but he used a much more powerful weapon at which he held great skill: his words. Possibly the greatest orator of his time, his speeches such as "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" struck a cord in the American spirit of those who opposed oppression and tyranny. Henry was born on May 29th, 1736 in Studley, Virginia. His schooling was basic; elementary school, then trained in the classics by his father. His father, John Henry was an well-educated Scotsman who was a surveyor, colonel, and justice of the local county court. Still young, Patrick Henry first took up storekeeping in which he failed twice, and then farming which also proved unsuccessful. Despite his early struggles he then married Sara Shelton, and with the new responsibilities of marriage he took up the practice of law. He was naturally talented in the new job and soon found himself very successful. The first signs of his "oratorical genus" were shown in case in which he represented Virginia asking for a change of law that had been disallowed by King George III. After this case he was soon accepted as a member of the House of Burgesses. There he delivered another famous speech opposing the Stamp Act. After concluded this speech calls of "Treason! Treason!" rang though the hall, but Henry replied "If this be treason, make the most of it." Thus began the li...

Outside the Law: Women Criminals in Arizona History :: Essays Papers

Outside the Law: Women Criminals in Arizona History Throughout history, men and women have often been stereotyped into specific roles. Men have frequently been characterized as being more forceful and violent than their female counterparts. Men have also often been portrayed as adventurous pioneers while women were considered to be more frail and delicate. Nowhere has this stereotype been more prevalent than in Arizona history. In the years before statehood, Arizona's reputation as part of the "Wild West" was legendary. From stagecoach robberies and saloon fights to the shootout at Tombstone, the early days of the Arizona territory are filled with stories of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Of course, most of these stories involve the men of Arizona history. Men were typically cast both as the mysterious bad guys who robbed the stage, and as the noble sheriffs who struggled to uphold the law. Women, when they were remembered at all, were most frequently cast as virtuous pioneer women, struggling to retain femininity in the rough Arizona frontier, or as wanton saloon women with few redeeming characteristics. As can be expected, however, most of these stereotypes of women in Arizona history are sorely misguided. It is true that women in the nineteenth century were expected to abide by certain standards of 'womanhood'. According to Paul Knepper in his article, "The Women of Yuma: Gender, Ethnicity, and Imprisonment in Frontier Arizona, 1876-1909", these standards were "...the cardinal virtues of submissiveness, piety, purity, and domesticity" (241). Women in the Arizona territory had the doubly difficult duty of being expected to abide by these standards of womanhood while simultaneously fighting an undeveloped territory where any signs of weakness were shunned. There was a group of women in nineteenth century Arizona who did not fit this stereotype of female passivity and decorum. These were women who, for one reason or another, broke the law and were branded as criminals. Some of these women broke the law deliberately with shocking disregard to personal life or property. Others broke the law reluctantly, only trying to feed themselves or their families. Yet others were victims of an unfair morality bias against women. When they were punished for their crimes, some of them received leniency from the court based on their gender, while others were made to suffer horrible indignities because the system had no place for women criminals.

Essays --

Enviro Geo 1 CP: Take Home Final Exam Unit One Review: Biodiversity A. What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is the variety of life and all natural processes found on Earth. B. Why is global biodiversity decreasing? The main cause of the decrease in global biodiversity is the result of human activity. This means habitat destruction, hunting, invasive species, pollution, and climate change that threaten the extinction of species. C. How can we protect and preserve biodiversity? One way we can preserve and protect biodiversity is through the law. Right now, legal actions are being made to save species from extinction. For example, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) forbids the government and private citizens from harming listed endangered and threatened species or their habitats. Also Species Survival Plans (SSP) are made to manage, protect, and reintroduce threatened and endangered species by putting them into captivity until safe to be released. D. How do energy and nutrients move through ecosystems? a. (reference food webs/food chains/energy pyramids) Energy and nutrients move throughout the ecosystem through the consumption of other creatures. This transfers energy to the next consumer, however it transfers smaller and smaller amounts of energy as the chain of consumers grows larger. E. THE BIG QUESTION: Why is it important to protect biodiversity? Biodiversity increases an ecosystem’s productivity; meaning all species play huge roles in it, especially humans since they have the ability to completely change nature. Humans heavily depend on plants and animals and benefit directly from diverse ecosystems: plants, clean water, oxygen, food, and fertile land all come from healthy bio... ...ding then transforming into Industrial agriculture with the advancements of technology. B. How can we produce enough food for a rapidly growing population while sustaining our ability to produce it? Our world today faces the problem of running out of space. We need not only land to live on, but also land to cultivate crops. Already forty percent of Earth’s land is used for farming purposes, and with a population over seven billion and still rapidly growing, the main problem is, There isn’t enough room. So the price of food is raising. Right now, one billion people are suffering from hunger, they can’t afford the food that is taking up living space, so if we cut down more forests and destroy nature, will the prices go down? The best way to produce enough food for our population as of now is to use our resources more efficiently and reduce our wastes of food. Essays -- Enviro Geo 1 CP: Take Home Final Exam Unit One Review: Biodiversity A. What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is the variety of life and all natural processes found on Earth. B. Why is global biodiversity decreasing? The main cause of the decrease in global biodiversity is the result of human activity. This means habitat destruction, hunting, invasive species, pollution, and climate change that threaten the extinction of species. C. How can we protect and preserve biodiversity? One way we can preserve and protect biodiversity is through the law. Right now, legal actions are being made to save species from extinction. For example, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) forbids the government and private citizens from harming listed endangered and threatened species or their habitats. Also Species Survival Plans (SSP) are made to manage, protect, and reintroduce threatened and endangered species by putting them into captivity until safe to be released. D. How do energy and nutrients move through ecosystems? a. (reference food webs/food chains/energy pyramids) Energy and nutrients move throughout the ecosystem through the consumption of other creatures. This transfers energy to the next consumer, however it transfers smaller and smaller amounts of energy as the chain of consumers grows larger. E. THE BIG QUESTION: Why is it important to protect biodiversity? Biodiversity increases an ecosystem’s productivity; meaning all species play huge roles in it, especially humans since they have the ability to completely change nature. Humans heavily depend on plants and animals and benefit directly from diverse ecosystems: plants, clean water, oxygen, food, and fertile land all come from healthy bio... ...ding then transforming into Industrial agriculture with the advancements of technology. B. How can we produce enough food for a rapidly growing population while sustaining our ability to produce it? Our world today faces the problem of running out of space. We need not only land to live on, but also land to cultivate crops. Already forty percent of Earth’s land is used for farming purposes, and with a population over seven billion and still rapidly growing, the main problem is, There isn’t enough room. So the price of food is raising. Right now, one billion people are suffering from hunger, they can’t afford the food that is taking up living space, so if we cut down more forests and destroy nature, will the prices go down? The best way to produce enough food for our population as of now is to use our resources more efficiently and reduce our wastes of food.

Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing

Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing Summary:  Offshore outsourcing is growing 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. Indeed, while most enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation. By Dean Davison | December 9, 2003 — 00:00 GMT (16:00 PST) Offshore outsourcing is growing 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. Indeed, while most enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation.Even the current political fervor about jobs being moved offshore via outsourcing is not impacting the demand or strategy of IT organizations. Offshore outsourcing will continue to grow as a â€Å"labor arbitrage† model until 2008/09. META Trend: During 2004/05, outsourcing will divide into commodity and transformational services. Infrastructure service s will mirror grid-computing structures and develop consumption-based pricing (a. k. a. , â€Å"utility services†). Through 2006/07, transformational services (e. g. application development maintenance and business process outsourcing) will segment along horizontal (function commonality) and vertical (specialized) business process/services outsourcing functions. Although vendors will attempt to bundle infrastructure with â€Å"value† services, clients will demand â€Å"line item† pricing by 2008/09. Through 2004/05, IT organizations will outsource discrete projects/functions offshore (e. g. , from application development projects to specific call center support). Growth will continue at 20%+.Offshore strategies by domestic vendors will shift business from large, integrated outsourcing contracts, but most IT organizations will still develop strategies that focus on pure-play offshore vendors. The top 10 risks of offshore outsourcing are as follows. 1. Cost-Reduct ion Expectations The biggest risk with offshore outsourcing has nothing to do with outsourcing – it involves the expectations the internal organization has about how much the savings from offshore will be. Unfortunately, many executives assume that labor arbitrage will yield savings comparable to person-to-person comparison (e. . , a full-time equivalent in India will cost 40% less) without regard for the hidden costs and differences in operating models. In reality, most IT organizations save 15%-25% during the first year; by the third year, cost savings often reach 35%-40% as companies â€Å"go up the learning curve† for offshore outsourcing and modify operations to align to an offshore model. 2. Data Security/Protection IT organizations evaluating any kind of outsourcing question whether vendors have sufficiently robust security practices and if vendors can meet the security requirements they have internally.While most IT organizations find offshore vendor security p ractices impressive (often exceeding internal practices), the risk of security breaks or intellectual property protection is inherently raised when working in international business. Privacy concerns must be completely addressed. Although these issues rarely pose major impediments to outsourcing, the requirements must be documented and the methods and integration with vendors defined. 3. Process Discipline (CMM) The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) becomes an important measure of a company’s readiness to adopt an offshore model.Offshore vendors require a standardized and repeatable model, which is why CMM Level 5 is a common characteristic. META Group observes that approximately 70% of IT organizations are at CMM Level 1 – creating a gap that is compensated for by additional vendor resources on-site (see  Figure 1). Companies lacking internal process model maturity will undermine potential cost savings. 4. Loss of Business Knowledge Most IT organizations have business knowledge that resides within the developers of applications. In some cases, this expertise may be a proprietary or competitive advantage.Companies must carefully assess business knowledge and determine if moving it either outside the company or to an offshore location will compromise company practices. 5. Vendor Failure to Deliver A common oversight for IT organizations is a contingency plan – what happens if the vendor, all best intentions and contracts aside, simply fails to deliver. Although such failures are exceptions, they do occur, even with the superb quality methodologies of offshore vendors. When considering outsourcing, IT organizations should assess the implications of vendor failure (i. . , does failure have significant business performance implications? ). High risk or exposure might deter the organization from outsourcing, it might shift the outsourcing strategy (e. g. , from a single vendor to multiple vendors), or it might drive the company toward outsourci ng (if the vendor has specific skills to reduce risks). The results of risk analysis vary between companies; it is the process of risk analysis that is paramount. 6. Scope Creep There is no such thing as a fixed-price contract.All outsourcing contracts contain baselines and assumptions. If the actual work varies from estimates, the client will pay the difference. This simple fact has become a major obstacle for IT organizations that are surprised that the price was not â€Å"fixed† or that the vendor expects to be paid for incremental scope changes. Most projects change by 10%-15% during the development cycle. 7. Government Oversight/Regulation Utilities, financial services institutions, and healthcare organizations, among others, face various degrees of government oversight.These IT organizations must ensure that the offshore vendor is sensitive to industry-specific requirements and the vendor’s ability to: 1) comply with government regulations; and 2) provide suffici ent â€Å"transparency† showing that it does comply and is thus accountable during audits. The issue of transparency is becoming more significant as requirements such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act place greater burdens of accountability on all American corporations. 8. Culture A representative example: although English is one official language in India, pronunciation and accents can vary tremendously.Many vendors put call center employees through accent training. In addition, cultural differences include religions, modes of dress, social activities, and even the way a question is answered. Most leading vendors have cultural education programs, but executives should not assume that cultural alignment will be insignificant or trivial. 9. Turnover of Key Personnel Rapid growth among outsourcing vendors has created a dynamic labor market, especially in Bangalore, India. Key personnel are usually in demand for new, high-profile projects, or even at risk of bein g recruited by other offshore vendors.While offshore vendors will often quote overall turnover statistics that appear relatively low, the more important statistic to manage is the turnover of key personnel on an account. Common turnover levels are in the 15%-20% range, and creating contractual terms around those levels is a reasonable request. Indeed, META Group has seen recent contracts that place a â€Å"liability† on the vendor for any personnel that must be replaced. The impact of high turnover has an indirect cost on the IT organization, which must increase time spend on knowledge transfer and training new individuals. 0. Knowledge Transfer The time and effort to transfer knowledge to the vendor is a cost rarely accounted for by IT organizations. Indeed, we observe that most IT organizations experience a 20% decline in productivity during the first year of an agreement, largely due to time spent transferring both technical and business knowledge to the vendor. Many offsh ore vendors are deploying video conferencing (avoiding travel) and classroom settings (creating one-to-many transfer) to improve the efficacy of knowledge transfer.In addition, employee turnover often places a burden on the IT organization to provide additional information for new team members. Business Impact: Offshore outsourcing can reduce IT expenditures by 15%-25% within the first year. Longer term, process improvements often make great impacts on both cost savings and the quality of IT services delivered. Bottom Line: As IT organizations consider the vast benefits and allure of offshore outsourcing, they must balance the risks and uncertainties with the potential for labor arbitrage.Strategic Decision Challenges Researchers have applied different perspectives to understand sourcing decision, the key among them being production and transaction cost economics (Ang & Straub, 1998), resource-based views (RBV), and resource-dependence views (Teng et al. , 1995). The Resource-Based View (RBV) argues that a firm’s competitive advantage depends heavily on its resources, as well as how these are used. Resources that are valuable and rare can lead to the creation of competitive advantage (Wade & Hulland, 2004).Competitive advantage can be sustained over longer time periods to the extent that the firm is able to protect against resource imitation, transfer, or substitution. The knowledge-based theory (KBV) of the firm considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource of the firm. Its proponents argue that, because knowledge-based resources are usually difficult to imitate and socially complex, heterogeneous knowledge bases and capabilities among firms are the major determinants of sustained competitive advantage and superior corporate performance.There is certain level of paradox in outsourcing when viewed from RBV or KBV prisms. Proponents of outsourcing have often used RBV to justify outsourcing decisions. The lack of resources, or resourc e gaps, that a firm has can also be rectified by acquiring resources from outside the firm boundaries by souring arrangement (Teng et al. , 1995). Outsourcing has been considered as a part of the way that firms assemble knowledge from suppliers (Shi et al. , 2005). Thus, information systems (IS) outsourcing can be seen as a mechanism to integrate IS knowledge from IS vendors.Knowledge sharing by both, client and supplier sides, is considered to be a success factor in outsourcing (Lee, 2001). However, some researchers have raised concerns regarding the potential loss of internal know-how through IS outsourcing (Willcocks et al. , 2004) and the potential loss of intellectual property (Chen et al. ,2002; Evaristo et al. , 2005). Outsourcing involves the inherent risk of forgoing the development of the knowledge base of the firm. Hoecht and Trott (2006) argues that innovative capability of the firm is largely dependent on cumulative knowledge built up over many years of experience.Innov ative ability cannot be simply bought and sold. Earl (1996) argues that innovation needs slack resources, organic and fluid organizational processes, and experimental and entrepreneurial competences – all attributes that external sourcing does not guarantee. Aron (2005) describes these risks as the long-term intrinsic risks of atrophy. These risks are an inevitable byproduct of the process of outsourcing. Over time, if a company outsources an activity completely, it loses the core group of people who were familiar with it. They retire, they leave for employment where their skills are more alued, or they simply become less technically competent and out of date. Reliance on outsourcing is problematic, not only because key areas of expertise may be gradually lost to the outsourcing organization but also because outside providers may not have the desired leading edge expertise over the long-term (Earl, 1996) or may spread their expertise among many clients so that it degrades fro m core competency to mere industry standard. Hoecht & Trott (2006) remind senior managers of the harm that may be inflicted on the ability of the organization to survive in the long term if its core competencies are slowly eroded through outsourcing.A related issue is that of the strategic intent (DiRomualdo & Gurbaxani, 1998) behind the offshore outsourcing decision by organizations. Strategic intent in this context can range from an improvement in the IS unit of the organization (which generally provides the lowest degree of benefits), an improvement in the business processes of the overall organization, or a commercial intent to generate profits by developing core expertise in the domain of outsourced IT service (Kishore et al. , 2004–2005).The commercial intent is exemplified in the oft-cited case of American Airlines who established a new subsidiary to sell airline reservation related services commercially to other airlines and travel agents using Sabre, its airline rese rvation system, and to generate new revenues and profits from this line of business. Strategic intent behind outsourcing is an important challenge as it has been shown that stock market reacts favorably and rewards companies when they outsource with an intent of creating the maximum returns for the firm (Agrawal et al. 2006). On the vendor side, vendors can develop their expertise through building knowledge from experiences and holding the knowledge for competitive advantage. Szulanski (Szulanski, 1996) identifies lack of incentives, lack of confidence, turf protection, and the â€Å"not invented here† syndrome as motivational factors potentially influencing knowledge transfer in outsourcing arrangements.This two-sided nature of knowledge transfer is expected to create asymmetric information leading to outsourcing failures. From a client’s view several challenges then arise including deciding what is the right proportion of IT function insourced or outsourced, and what IT application should be outsourced or kept within for strategic reasons.