Globalisation of Higher Education Essay Example for Free

Globalisation of Higher Education Essay The term ‘globalization’ means integration of economies and societies through cross country flow of information, ideas, technologies, goods, services, capital, finance and people. Globalization is a process, which has affected many areas of human life, one of those being education. The effect of globalization on education bring rapid developments in technology and communications are foreseeing changes within learning system across the world as ideas, values and knowledge, changing the roles of students and teachers, and producing a shift in society from industrialization towards an nformation- based society. Globalization has a multi- dimensional impact on the system of education. It promotes new tools and techniques in this area like E- Learning, flexible learning, distance education programs and overseas training. The globalization of education is shaping young children of a country into ‘global citizens with a broad range of skills and knowledge to apply to a competitive information based society. Globalization also facilitates international collaboration and cross- cultural exchange. Globalization of higher education is a major concern for all societies. As the essential driving force of economic, social and human development, education is at the heart of the change that is dramatically affecting our world in the areas of science, technology, economic and culture. This paper will analyze the positive and negative impact of globalization on Higher education for developing countries. Effective education system is the foundation of opportunities to lead a decent life. One should ensure that all Children should have adequate access to education at all income level. The paper argues that education is a core element of society. The basic cause of global inequality is due to the difference in opportunities in education between different countries. People can only contribute and benefit from globalization if they are endowed with knowledge, skills, and values and with the capabilities and rights needed to pursue their basic likelihoods. The accuracy of the analysis is dependent upon the accuracy of the data reported by various people of the country. The result of this study will help all the sectors of the society to understand better, the culture, values and education system of other countries and facilitates its adoption. Educators can also use this result to bring the changes in their areas if necessary. Introduction The term â€Å"Globalization† represents the international system that is shaping most societies today. Globalization is a process by which many areas of human life such as economies, societies, politics, business and cultures have been affected around the world. One of these areas being education. The term ‘globalization’ means integration of economies and societies through cross country flows of information, ideas, technologies, goods, services, capital, finance and people. It s characterized by an accelerated flow of trade, capital and information as well as mobility of individuals, across geographical borders. It reflect comprehensive level of interaction than that has occurred in the past, suggesting something beyond the work â€Å"international†. Globalization means more competition, not just with other companies or institutions in the same city or the same region. Globalization also means that national borders do not limit a nation’s investment, production, innovation and education. Therefore, the term â€Å"globalization† has acquired many emotive commutations. At one extreme, globalization is seen as an irresistible and benign force for delivering economic prosperity to people throughout the world. At the other, it is blamed as a source of all contemporary ills. However, while the theory of globalization is relatively new, the process is not. Roberson (1992) further states that globalization was initially discussed from economic perspectives, but soon after it became a topic for discussions among intellectuals from cultural perspectives as well. According to Giddens â€Å"Globalization the dialectic of homogenization and heterogenization† (1991. p22). In other words, globalization, by intensifying the interconnectedness among different people, things and ideas, homogenizes the world and yet at the same time, the world becomes heterogenized as people are more aware of differences due to the increasing proximity with differences under a globalize world (Giddens, 1991 ). The notion of the world community being transformed into a global village, as introduced in 1960 by Marshall Mc Luhan in an influential book about her newly shared experience of mass media, was likely to be the first expression of the contemporary concept of globalization. Cited in Epstein, 2002). After 1980, accounts of globalization focused on a professed tendency of societies to converge in becoming modern, described initially by Clark Kerr and colleagues as the emergence of industrial man (cited in Robertson, 1992). One critical issue that emerges from all of these restructuring processes is the central role of Knowledge, education and learning for the success of the Global Information Society (GIS) and global information economy. Globalization impacts all aspects of society. Higher education may and business contents seem particularly influenced by them. In the twentieth century, may developing countries have xperienced growth in the educational facilities available to them due to the entry of institution from the west. Some believe that this process is an invaluable opportunity for the people of the developing counties to increase their skills and standard of education. Other fear that it is merely a modern version of cultural imperialism that will lead to the creation of a universal, ultimately western society. People can only contribute and benefit from globalization if they endowed with knowledge, skills and with capabilities and rights needed to pursue their basic livelihoods. They need employment and incomes, and a healthy environment. These are the essential conditions with empower them to participate fully as citizens in their local, national and global communities. Education is a major concern for all societies. As the foundation and essential driving force of economic, social and human development, education is at the heart of the change that is dramatically affecting our world in the areas of science, technology, economics and culture. Steven Schwartz (http:// www. Ssn.. flinders. edu. u) believed that â€Å"Education, where possible, hould be integrated into the private sector because ‘higher education is increasingly and international enterprise’ and thus will increasingly be pressured and drawn into deregulation and privatization. † This paper analyses the effect of globalization on higher education and also discusses about the impact of globalization on higher education, various opportunities and challenges on the society. Imp act of Globalization of Higher Education. Education is undergoing constant changes under the effects of globalization. The effects of Globalization on education bring rapid developments in technology and communications are oreseeing changes with in school system across the world as ideas, values and knowledge, changing the role of students and teachers, and producing a shift in society from industrialization towards and information- based society. It reflects the effect on culture and brings about a new form of cultural imperialism. It brings rapid development in technology and communications are foreseeing changes within school system across the world as ideas, values and knowledge. The rise of a global society, driven by technology and communication development are shaping hildren, the future citizens of the world into ‘ global citizens’, intelligent people with a broad range of skills and knowledge to apply to a competitive. , information based society. The future of countries often lies with in their ability to compete in a global market where industrial based economies are giving way to knowledge based industries, realizing the importance of â€Å"knowledge skills and the intellectual capacity to meet the challenges of accelerated change and uncertainty†. Education is becoming a lifelong learning and training process, developing ransferable skills and knowledge that can be applied to competitive markets where knowledge and information is being trades as a commodity. Although globalization seems to be unavoidable to many counties and numerous initiative and efforts have been made to adapt to it with aims at taking the opportunities created from it to develop their societies and people, in recent years there are also increasing international concerns with the dangerous impacts of globalization on digenous and national developments. Various social movements have been initiated against the threats of globalization particularly in eveloping countries. The negative impacts of globalization include various types of economic, political, and cultural colonization by advanced countries on those developing and under- developed countries. In evitable, how to maximize the opportunities and benefits from globalization to support local developments and reduce the threats and negative impacts of globalization will be the major concerns of developing countries. Opportunities of globalization of higher education Knowledge is the driving forces in the rapidly changing globalize economy and society. Quantity nd quality of specialized human resources determine their competence in the global market. Emergence of knowledge results in both challenges and opportunities. It is well known that the growth of the global economy has increased opportunities for those countries with good levels of education. Globalization has a multi-dimensional impact on the system of education. It promotes new tools and techniques in these areas like- E- learning, flexible learning, distance educational programme and overseas training. The introduction of technology into the classroom is changing the nature f delivering education to the students is gradually giving way to a new form of electronic literacy , more programs and education materials are made available in electronic form. Teachers are preparing lectures in the electronic form and even students are presenting assignments and giving papers in the electronic form. The blackboards have been replaced by the LCD’s. The chalk has been replaced by the pointers and the power point presentations. Books have been replaced by compact discs. Even grades and the exams are gradually becoming available through electronic means and notebooks are replaced by laptops. Now the students do not have to carry heavy bags to the classrooms. Even the students can be examined through computer managed learning system and do tutorials exercises on a computer rather than in the classroom. Even, the technology has given the opportunity to deliver the material through electronic source i. e. via power point presentation and even the notes can be distributed to the students via electronic mail. With such changes and the emergence of video conferencing and the internet, the barriers of distance are being broken down at a rapid rate, due to the key aspect of globalization. Students and adults or in other works each and every person can now learn in variety of ways and there is no longer any need to be physically present in the education institutions in order to learn. The material is becoming readily available over internet, through video conferencing and tape recordings. Teacher can deliver the lecture to the whole class with the help of video conferencing without being physically present in the class. Now, the student of can get the education from any part of the world without traveling over there. The person can stay in his /her own country and et the education of which country he/ she wishes without going over there. Students can learn any time and at any place. Anyone can maintain libraries of texts, images computer software and other forms of data, anywhere at any time. The rapid growth of television services, with their immense influence as media of mass communication, has been very relevant in the technological shift. Other larger contribution to this shift includes the transistor and space satellites. Communication and information based technology over the years is the internet. This is a massive network of computers located hroughout the world. Developments in the delivery of education is allowing for individuals to explore new areas of learning and thinking that could not be done with pen and paper. They are discovering knowledge through inquiry and experimentation rather than memorizing facts in a teacher dominated classroom setting. Another opportunity of international trade leads to allocation of resources that is consistent with comparative advantage. Globalization results in specialization which enhances productivity. Thus, the international trade, in general, is beneficial and that restrictive trade practices impede rowth. That’s why many off the emerging economies, which originally depended on a growth model of import substitution, have moved over to a policy of outward orientation. Globalization of higher eduction also gives the opportunity in movement of capital. Capital is a key factor of production. Capital flows across countries have played an important role in enhancing the production base. Without capital any type of economic activity is not possible. Capital mobility enables the total saving of the world to be distributed among countries which have the highest investment potential. Emergence of strong capital market has been one of the important features of the current process of globalization while the growth in capital and foreign exchange markets have facilitated the transfer of resources across borders, the gross turnover in foreign exchange markets has been extremely large. The internationalization of higher education can be linked to various internal and external changes in the international system. Externally, there have been changes in the labor market, which have resulted in calls for more knowledge and skilled workers and workers with deeper nderstandings of languages, cultures and business methods from all over the world. â€Å"Modern education is almost exclusively focused on preparing children for an urban future. † Challenges of globalization of higher education No doubts, higher education has attained a key position in the knowledge society under globalize economy. However, the challenges faced are immense and far- reaching. Its impact on the clientele via, individuals, institutions, systems and societies are not only not clear but also not comprprehentible at this moment unless it is viewed in the context of various other factors that re simultaneously operating on the higher education system. Some agrees that the rapid cross national flows of people, goods , capital and information may dissolve the nation states, push institutions( university is the one) into a common mould where as others disagree. It is assumed that globalization promises dramatic and rewarding change to the higher education system, of societies, which are relatively stable in their political, social and institutional make up, while for the will performing higher education system. It is also true that globalization has given the dvanced economies a huge advantage as they had made enough preparation prior to its launching while others are caught in the trap without any preparation. Integration into world economy today’s implies not only mastery of traditional knowledge but also the capacity to acquire the new skills required by a knowledge society. It is therefore evident that an unequal sharing of the new communication and information technologies only serves to reinforce existing inequalities. While education deficits are obviously greater in developing countries, this is a major issue in developed countries as well. In many industrialized countries there is a persistent problem of illiteracy and low skills, which is and important source of social exclusion. Unequal access to education also fuels growing wage inequality and worsen the income distribution. The uneducated and unskilled in industrialized counties face sever disadvantage in an increasingly competitive global market. However, the provision of both primary and secondary schooling increased during the 90’s across the globe, but progress is inadequate and hides the differences between counties and regions. There are many evidences that the more rapid progress is possible if the political will nd the resources exists, in high and low income countries alike. The increase in poverty in the world is the most tragic phenomenon in this era of abundance. It is the cause of marginal and the exclusion of increasingly bigger groups of the world population and in particular, affects children, the young and women. As a consequence, we see the development of cultures of poverty and marginalization that lock the same people into the cycle of poverty and reinforce their exclusion. But it is still the inequality with regards to knowledge that constitutes one of the biggest challenges of our societies. The traditional raw materials and non renewable natural resources under threat of extinction no longer occupy the most important place in the process of production and development . It is knowledge in itself that has become one of the key resources of economic growth. The introduction of technology is also becoming a challenge to the society. As the implementation of technology and communication to be successful and to educate a society, both the students and teachers need to be technologically literate. Communication technology is offering new challenges for students of all abilities as they can discuss issues of concern with heir fellow students from around the world. A shift in education is becoming evident where more responsibility is being placed on the individual for his or her learning, instead of solely on the teacher. Subsequently, the teachers themselves also need to be highly technologically literate, needing the competence and confidence to prepare students for a global information society. Just because of technology and communication seems to be creating in human life between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ resulting in a bifurcated society of those who can afford such information technology and those who can’t. so too does globalization. While education institutions in western societies are embracing technology, developing countries are once again left behind, too weak and fragile to implement development programs for education, let alone introduce technology as well. There are severe limitations in delivering basic services. A lack of infrastructure and funding makes it difficult to implement any technological and communication advancements. However, despite differences in economy, political, cultures and society, second and third worlds have adopted educational ideals from western thought and are anxious to appear odern and therefore promote education as a symbol of modernity and development to their own population and the foreign countries. The spread of education internationally, as a result of globalization, has clearly had effects on Cultures worldwide. Now the sources of wealth come from knowledge and communication instead of natural resources and physical labour, which once characterized the United States as a n industrial society. This is a global rather than a national economy. The new economy puts a premium on intellectual capital and the people who produce it. This means that the demand for igher education is expanding dramatically. Education is needed throughout a lifetime, and the marketplace for that education is international. This growth makes education appealing to the private sector. Educational institutions have reacted by becoming more market oriented. Due to this increasing free trade around the globe- to end protection in many sectors so that there is more competition and privatization, education is increasingly being drawn into this global capitalist competition. The internationalization of education has become one of the key themes of ducational policy and planning in the 1990’s and the integration of worldwide capital and labour markets; educators are being forced to respond to a new set of challenges. The demographics of higher education have changed substantially. Less than one fifth of today’s college students meet the traditional stereotype of attending school full time. For the new majority of students, higher education is not as central to their lives as it was for previous generations of students. Research shows they want a very different relationship with their college than students have historically had. They are unwilling to pay for activities and services they do not use. Higher education is being subjected to greater criticism than in the past on issues varying from low productivity and higher cost to the quality of leadership and the inadequacy of technology use. This is an invitation to a private sector that rightly or wrongly sees higher education as the next health care industry. Another challenge is of currency trade. Currency trade has become an end in itself. However, the volatility in the foreign exchange has created often times panic situations. The most recent xample of this was the East Asian crisis. Contagion of financial crises is a worrying phenomenon. When one country faces a crisis, it affects others. It is not as if financial crises are solely caused by foreign exchange traders. Another, major concern is to deliver world class education with updated curriculum and practical exposure. This is possible only by attracting talented and experienced persons in to academics. At present it is difficult to assess not only the nature and dimensions of globalization, but also what it means to the field of education. A few educational researchers have attempted to made onnections between the several dimensions of globalization and the policies of education. Globalization of Higher Education in India India is also following the global phenomenon. As part of globalization, the economic reform packages were introduced in India in the beginning of 1991. These reform packages imposed a heavy compression on the public budgets on education sector, more specifically so on higher education. This has trickled down to public expenditure on education in general, and higher education in particular. Indian government and Indian corporate sector has recognized the importance of management ducation in the ganging global scenario. Today under the reforming economic conditions, integration of the Indian economy with world economy presupposes efficiency and competitiveness in the domestic front as well as in the international arena. As the process of globalization is technology-driven, and knowledge driven, the very success of economic reform policies critically depends upon the competence of human capital. But, what is observed is the reverse. Even within the education sector, relative priority assigned to higher education has been on the decline. It is to be realized that higher education institutions lay an important role insetting the academic standard for primary and secondary education. They are also responsible for not only providing the specialized human capital in order to corner the gains from globalization, but also for training inside the country, provide policy advice, etc. Globalization is expected to have a positive influence on the volume, quality an spread of knowledge through increased interaction among the various states. Today our education system is strong enough but central and state governments should change their roles with in the education system, re- inventing them as facilitating supervisory rganizations. Teacher training, infrastructure and syllabuses need to be urgently upgraded. Industry should come forward to share experience with students and to offer more opportunities for live projects. Commercial institutions offering specialized education have come up everywhere. In view of globalization many corporate universities, both foreign and Indian, are encroaching upon our government institutions. Our Institutes like IIM’S and IIT’S have produced world class professionals. These institutes imparts quality education as per industry expectations and give due importance to institute Industry interface. Under the new scenario, Government – Private partnership is becoming important in Management Education. Now India is a transforming country. We are near to achieve status of developed nation. The demand for higher education has been growing rapidly with comparatively faster growth in enrolment in higher educational institutions than the growth in number of higher educational institutions. The growth rates are doubled among the students enrolled in post- graduate and research, while the number of institutions for post –graduate and research studies has grown at a slower rate in 1990’s than in 1980’s. India is witnessing new era in the field of Management Education. Many Corporate groups like Reliance, Nirma, Tata, Sterlite etc have promoted Management Institutes. Some reputed foreign universities are also coming to India. But government should issue some guidelines so that fees structure remains with in certain limit and those who are from economically poor background have same opportunity. Conclusion Globalization has had many obvious effects on educational technology and communication systems change the way education is delivered as well as roles played by both teachers and tudents. The development of this technology is facilitating the transition from an industrial based society to an information-based one. At the same time, there is a dark side to globalization and to the very openness of the new information systems. While the richest countries grow richer, the poor are becoming poorer. Income, information and education gaps between the rich and the poor are widening not narrowing: economic crises, trade imbalances and structural adjustments have precipitated a moral crisis in many countries, tearing the basic social and ultural fabric of many families and communities apart, resulting in increasing youth unemployment , suicide, violence, racism and drug abuse and anti social behavior form schools. In the 21st century, education systems face the dual challenge of equipping students with the new knowledge, skills and values needed to be competitive in a global market while at the same time producing graduates who are responsible adults, good citizens both of their country and of the world. Thus, globalization challenges us to rethink not only how much education is needed but also its ultimate purposes.

The History And Debate Of Euthanasia Philosophy Essay

The History And Debate Of Euthanasia Philosophy Essay Euthanasia has been a controversial issue for a very long time. The ancient Romans and Greeks supported euthanasia after the interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath that was written around 400 B.C. They believed that the persons life should not be preserved if this person has no interest in life. Hence, voluntary euthanasia was not banned in the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. However, committing Suicide as well as helping others to commit suicide was considered as a criminal act by the English jurisdiction during the 1300s. Euthanasia faced the first direct law against it in New York at the 1828 which was known as the Anti-Euthanasia law. Euthanasia like Abortion had become a major issue for debating in the following decades until the recent days .(Sandhyarani, 2001). Nowadays, all dictionaries and references define euthanasia as mercy killing of patients in severe incurable pain. Oxford dictionary for example, has defined euthanasia as: the painless killing of a patient suffe ring from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The way these definitions were defined came from the origin of the word Euthanasia, where Euthanasia is a Greek word came from the 17th century to combine two words, Eu which means well and easy and Thanatos meaning death.(Oxford dictionary, 2010). Euthanasia nowadays can be categorized into many different forms and types, the first and most common one is the active voluntary euthanasia where the patient is mercifully killed with his own will and request, its also known as the assisted suicide. Other different form is known as the involuntary passive euthanasia that let the patients die without their own request, this kind is known for patients who are in comas or unable to talk or communicate with others.(BBC, 2009). With the current debates and developments in the world, euthanasia is being discussed globally, legalized in some countries and still discussed in others. Netherland was the first country in the world to legalize Euthanasia in 2002, followed by Belgium at the end of 2002 and some parts in the United States of America. Switzerland on the other hand allows the physician assisted suicide in special cases but the euthanasia is still not legal in this country. What must be known about the laws of these countries is that they are strictly standardized for euthanasia as euthanasia is being applied only to specific kinds of patients. Euthanasia is indeed one of the most controversial issues to date. Taking both sides, supporting and opposing euthanasia in the society, doctors and governments into considerations, the main question now centers on whether Euthanasia is the right act to consider on the cases with no cure and whether euthanasia should be legalized. The process of painlessly helping a terminally ill person to die should be legalized as its a merciful act that offers dignity and compassion at lifes cruel end. People who are euthanized are going to die anyway. However, by legalizing euthanasia, they can be saved from suffering terrible pain.(Friedman, 2010) Therefore, governments should not stand in the way of letting severely ill people with no chances in getting cured to end their lives legally by Euthanasia. The following research project will hereby focus on the reasons why euthanasia should be legalized, what we can prevent and gain by legalizing euthanasia, effects of euthanasia and its future. The time frame used in this research project is from 2000 till date, the research is showing the latest ideas and arguments presented in the world where euthanasia is still developing and arguments involved in this issue are leaning more towards legalizing euthanasia day after day. 2.0 Body of Content 2.1 Euthanasia is a Freedom of Choice: Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage, or my house when I propose to take a residence, so I shall choose my death when I am about to depart from life. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman Stoic Philosopher, orator and statesman) Every person was born free and has the right to die free with his own will. Moreover, dignified death is one of the fundamental rights people are supposed to have as being part and parcel of the fundamental rights to life. According to the Daily Telegraph (2008), Chantal Sebire was a French woman diagnosed with a rare type of cancer (a malignant neoplasm of the nasal vault) in 2002, her tumor developed and reached a point where it cannot be stopped or cured, it made sever deformities in Sebires face taking away the senses of smelling, tasting and eventually sight from her. Moreover, Sebire was suffering from horrible pain; she said a normal human would not allow an animal to go through. She appealed to the French court asking for a permission to have an assisted suicide as she could not bear the pain anymore. However, her appeal was rejected as euthanasia is not legal in France. Two days later Chantal Sebire was found dead as she committed suicide in her house after her appeal was re jected. It can be seen from that case that this way of crossing into death was unfair as it was more scary and painful experience than a regulated euthanasia. In Sebires case as well as other similar cases where cure is not found for patients, patients are going through horrible pain and they are going to die anyway, governments should not stand in the way of those severely ill people with no cure or treatment to end their lives legally by assisted suicide. Therefore, the life of those patients is their choice and they have the right to continue living or die peacefully. The pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of relief from pain and suffering. (Cockeram, 2007). By having the superior power in keeping the lives of patients with no chance in getting well or having cure is not giving them relief or even happiness, it is like holding their lives, watching them suffer at the last moments of their lives and locking them in a life they are not having since they have lost their senses, feelings or even conscious. Opponents of euthanasia argue that euthanasia is a cruel act and a human enforcement to end other people lives without their permission. Lozano mentioned that the Vatican believes that ending lives of severely ill people even the premature babies who are gravely ill by euthanasia is an illicit act as well as act of cruelty. (CNA, 2006). Therefore, opponents believe that euthanasia would violate the Gods gift of life and enforce in ending lives of people who are not able to communicate with others. However, according to the article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 5 adds No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. If no one shall be subjected to torture, then why do we have to watch them suffer? (Euthanasia UK, 2007). Most of the people who choose euthanasia are those patients who suffer from diseases that cause a lot of pain and cannot be treated. If those patients choose not to bear the pain, they should have the right to do so. (Bose, 2011). It is the right of those patients with no cure to choose their own life and death. Other kind of brain dead patients who are in irreversible coma and cannot communicate have no chances in getting back to life or even getting well as in most cases their brains are damaged, it is in their favor as well as other patients favors with chances in getting cured to be euthanized, providing them with the mercy killing doesnt mean it is a cruel act against their will but it is ending their suffer, releasing their locked souls in no life and lowering the expenses their parents or relatives have to pay for hospitals only for keeping them alive but unconscious through machines. Euthanizing such patients can be by shortening the amount of oxygen or food given to them through machines and tubes. Therefore, euthanasia should not be considered as a cruel act but an act of mercy that gives patients and even their parents the right to choose life or death at the time of suffer and inevitable death.

The Hopeless Battle :: Racism United States History Black Essays

The Hopeless Battle A courtroom is supposed to be a place of equal ground, where a person of any race, gender, or religion receives fair treatment under the law, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty by a jury of their peers. This has not always been the case, even though it was always been in the constitution. The 1930s was the beginning of the Great Depression. Most people were poor and couldn’t find work. The economy was terrible all over the world. During this period, the country was preoccupied, and little was done to help the black people receive the rights and treatment that they deserved. It was impossible for a black man in Alabama to receive a fair trial during the 1930s. A black man didn’t stand a chance of winning a court case against a white person because, Alabama was one of the most prejudice states in the country, the white people in Alabama during this period of time were still prejudice, and people resisted any change that would allow a black man more power. They also believed that black people were second-class to white people. To begin with, if a black man was on trial, the location of the courthouse played a major part in the verdict. The southern states were much more prejudice than the northern states. The majority of the southern states fought for slavery in the Civil War. Even in the 1930s, southern states refused to follow orders from the White House on how blacks were to be treated. Alabama and Mississippi, without much question, have been the most consistent centers of opposition to racial change, while Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina have been relatively less conservative. There has been no shortage of strong segregationists in the latter states, but militants have not dominated electoral politics to the same extent that they have in Mississippi and Alabama. (Black 105) A black man didn’t have much of a chance of winning a case against a white man anywhere, but this was especially true in the states of Alabama and Mississippi.

Malcolm X :: essays research papers

Malcolm's life is a Horatio Alger story with a twist. His is not a "rags to riches" tale, but a powerful narrative of self-transformation from petty hustler to internationally known political leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Louise and Earl Little, who was a Baptist preacher active in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, Malcolm, along with his siblings, experienced dramatic confrontations with racism from childhood. Hooded Klansmen burned their home in Lansing, Michigan; Earl Little was killed under mysterious circumstances; welfare agencies split up the children and eventually committed Louise Little to a state mental institution; and Malcolm was forced to live in a detention home run by a racist white couple. By the eighth grade he left school, moved to Boston, Massachussetts, to live with his half-sister Ella, and discovered the underground world of African American hipsters. Malcolm's entry into the masculine culture of the zoot suit, the "conked" (straightened) hair, and the lindy hop coincided with the outbreak of World War II, rising black militancy (symbolized in part by A. Philip Randolph's threatened March on Washington for racial and economic justice), and outbreaks of race riots in Detroit, Michigan, and other cities (see Detroit Riot of 1943). Malcolm and his partners did not seem very "political" at the time, but they dodged the draft so as not to lose their lives over a "white man's war," and they avoided wage work whenever possible. His search for leisure and pleasure took him to Harlem, New York, where his primary source of income derived from petty hustling, drug dealing, pimping, gambling, and viciously exploiting women. In 1946 his luck ran out; he was arrested for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison Malcolm's downward descent took a U-turn in prison when he began studying the teachings of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam (NOI), the black Muslim group founded by Wallace D. Fard and led by Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole). Submitting to the discipline and guidance of the NOI, he became a voracious reader of the Qu'ran (Koran) and the Bible. He also immersed himself in works of literature and history at the prison library. Behind prison walls he quickly emerged as a powerful orator and brilliant rhetorician. He led the famous prison debating team that beat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, arguing against capital punishment by pointing out that English pickpockets often did their best work at public hangings!

Mental Status Exam

The mental status examination or mental state examination, abbreviated MSE, is an important part of the clinical assessment process in psychiatric practice. It is a structured way of observing and describing a patient's current state of mind, under the domains of appearance, attitude, behavior, mood and affect, speech, thought process, thought content, perception, cognition, insight and judgment. [1] There are some minor variations in the subdivision of the MSE and the sequence and names of MSE domains.The purpose of the MSE is to obtain a comprehensive cross-sectional description of the patient's mental state, which, when combined with the biographical and historical information of the psychiatric history, allows the clinician to make an accurate diagnosis and formulation, which are required for coherent treatment planning. The data are collected through a combination of direct and indirect means: unstructured observation while obtaining the biographical and social information, focu sed questions about current symptoms, and formalised psychological tests.The MSE is not to be confused with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), which is a brief neuro-psychological screening test for dementia. Theoretical foundations[edit] The MSE derives from an approach to psychiatry known as descriptive psychopathology[4] or descriptive phenomenology[5] which developed from the work of the philosopher and psychiatrist Karl Jaspers.From Jaspers' perspective it was assumed that the only way to comprehend a patient's experience is through his or her own description (through an approach of empathic and non-theoretical enquiry), as distinct from an interpretive or psychoanalytic approach which assumes the analyst might understand experiences or processes of which the patient is unaware, such as defense mechanisms or unconscious drives.In practice, the MSE is a blend of empathic descriptive phenomenology and empirical clinical observation. It has been argued that the term phenome nology has become corrupted in clinical psychiatry: current usage, as a set of supposedly objective descriptions of a psychiatric patient (a synonym for signs and symptoms), is incompatible with the original meaning which was concerned with comprehending a patient's subjective experience.ApplicationThe mental status examination is a core skill of qualified (mental) health personnel. It is a key part of the initial psychiatric assessment in an out-patient or psychiatric hospital setting. It is a systematic collection of data based on observation of the patient's behavior while the patient is in the clinician's view during the interview. The purpose is to obtain evidence of symptoms and signs of mental disorders, including danger to self and others, that are present at the time of the interview.Further, information on the patient's insight, judgment, and capacity for abstract reasoning is used to inform decisions about treatment strategy and the choice of an appropriate treatment sett ing. [9] It is carried out in the manner of an informal enquiry, using a combination of open and closed questions, supplemented by structured tests to assess cognition. [10] The MSE can also be considered part of the comprehensive physical examination performed by physicians and nurses although it may be performed in a cursory and abbreviated way in non-mental-health settings.[11] Information is usually recorded as free-form text using the standard headings,[12] but brief MSE checklists are available for use in emergency situations, for example by paramedics or emergency department staff. [13][14] The information obtained in the MSE is used, together with the biographical and social information of the psychiatric history, to generate a diagnosis, a psychiatric formulation and a treatment plan.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Meanwhile, back at the hotel room, Raziel has given up his hopes to be a professional wrestler and has resumed his ambition to be Spider-Man. He made the decision after I pointed out that in Genesis, Jacob wrestles an angel and wins. In short, a human defeated an angel. Raziel kept insisting that he didn't remember that happening and I was tempted to bring the Gideon Bible in out of the bathroom and show him the reference, but I've just started reading the Gospel of Mark and I'd lose the book if the angel found out about it. I thought Matthew was bad, skipping right from Joshua's birth to his baptism, but Mark doesn't even bother with the birth. It's as if Joshua springs forth full grown from the head of Zeus. (Okay, bad metaphor, but you know what I mean.) Mark begins with the baptism, at thirty! Where did these guys get these stories? â€Å"I once met a guy in a bar who knew a guy who's sister's best friend was at the baptism of Joshua bar Joseph of Nazareth, and here's the story as best as he could remember it.† Well, at least Mark mentions me, once. And then it's totally out of context, as if I was just sitting around doing nothing and Joshua happened by and asked me to tag along. And Mark tells of the demon named Legion. Yeah, I remember Legion. Compared to what Balthasar called up, Legion was a wuss. I asked Balthasar if he was smitten with me,† Joshua said over supper. â€Å"Oh no,† said Joy. We were eating in the girls' quarters. It smelled really good and the girls would rub our shoulders while we ate. Just what we needed after a tough day of studying. â€Å"You weren't supposed to let him know we were on to him. What did he say?† â€Å"He said that he'd just come off of a hard breakup and he wasn't ready for a relationship because he just needed to spend a little time getting to know himself, but that he'd love it if we could just be friends.† â€Å"He lies,† said Joy. â€Å"He hasn't had a breakup in a hundred years.† I said, â€Å"Josh, you are so gullible. Guys always lie about stuff like that. That's the problem with your not being allowed to know women, it means you don't understand the most fundamental nature of men.† â€Å"Which is?† â€Å"We're lying pigs. We'll say anything to get what we want.† â€Å"That's true,† said Joy. The other girls nodded in agreement. â€Å"But,† said Josh, â€Å"the superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue, according to Confucius.† â€Å"Of course,† said I, â€Å"but the superior man can get laid without lying. I'm talking about the rest of us.† â€Å"So should I be worried about this trip he wants me to take with him?† Joy nodded gravely and the other girls nodded with her. â€Å"I don't see why,† I said. â€Å"What trip?† â€Å"He says we'll only be gone a couple of weeks. He wants to go to a temple at a city in the mountains. He believes that the temple was built by Solomon, it's called the Temple of the Seal.† â€Å"And why do you have to go along?† â€Å"He wants to show me something.† â€Å"Uh-oh,† I said. â€Å"Uh-oh,† echoed the girls, not unlike a Greek chorus, except of course they were speaking Chinese. In the week leading up to Joshua and Balthasar's departure, I managed to talk Pea Pods into taking on a huge risk during her shift in Balthasar's bed. I picked Pea Pods not because she was the most athletic and nimble of the girls, which she was; nor because she was the lightest of foot and most stealthy, which she was also; but because she was the one who had taught me to make bronze castings of the Chinese characters that were the mark of my name (my chop), and she could be trusted to get the most accurate impression of the key that Balthasar wore on the chain around his neck. (Oh yes, there was a key to the ironclad door. Joy had let it slip where Balthasar kept it, but I was sure that she was too loyal to him to steal it. Pea Pods, on the other hand, was more fickle in her loyalties, and lately I had been spending a lot of time with her on and off.) â€Å"By the time you return, I'll know what's going on here,† I whispered to Joshua as he climbed onto his camel. â€Å"Find out what you can from Balthasar.† â€Å"I will. But be careful. Don't do anything while I'm gone. I think this trip, whatever it is that we are going to see, has something to do with the house of doom.† â€Å"I'm just going to look around. You be careful.† The girls and I stood at the top of the plateau and waved until Joshua and the magus, leading the extra camel loaded with supplies, rode out of sight, then, one by one, we made our way down the rope ladder to the passageway in the cliff's face. The entrance to the passageway, and the tunnel for perhaps thirty cubits, were just wide enough for one man to pass through if he stooped, and I always managed to bruise an elbow or a shoulder along the way, which allowed me to show off my ability to curse in four languages. By the time I got to the chamber of the elements, where we practiced the art of the Nine Elixirs, Pea Pods had the small furnace stoked to a red heat and was adding ingots of brass to a small stone crucible. From the wax impression we had made a wax duplicate of the key, from that we'd made a plaster mold, which we'd fired to melt out the wax. Now we'd have one chance to cast the key, because once the metal cooled in the plaster mold, the only way to release it was to break off the plaster. When we broke off the mold Pea Pods held the end of what looked like a brass dragon on a stick. â€Å"That's some key,† I said. The only locks I'd ever seen were big bulky iron boys, nothing elegant enough for a key like this. â€Å"When are you going to use it?† asked Pea Pods. Her eyes went wide like those of an excited child. Times like that I almost fell in love with her, but fortunately I was always distracted by Joy's sophistication, Pillow's maternal fussing, Number Six's dexterity, or any one of the other charms that were heaped upon me daily. I understood completely Balthasar's strategy to keep from falling in love with any one of them. Joshua's situation, on the other hand, was harder to figure, because he enjoyed spending time with the girls, trading stories from the Torah for legends of the storm dragons and the monkey king. He said that there was an innate kindness born in women that he'd never seen in a man, and he liked being around them. His strength in resisting their physical charms astounded me perhaps even more than the other miraculous things I'd seen him do over the years. I couldn't relate to the act of raising someone from the dead, but turning down a beautiful woman, that to ok courage beyond my understanding. â€Å"I'll take it from here,† I said to Pea Pods. I didn't want her to be involved any further in case things didn't turn out well. â€Å"When?† asked Pea Pods, meaning when would I attempt to open the door. â€Å"Tonight, when you have all gone to live in the world of pleasant dreams.† I tweaked her nose affectionately and she giggled. It was the last time I ever saw her in one piece. At night the halls of the fortress were lit by the ambient light from the moon and the stars that filtered in from the windows. Everywhere we went we carried a clay oil lamp which made the serpentine curves of the passageways seem even more like the inside of a huge creature as they swallowed up the dim orange light. After several years with Balthasar, I could find my way through the main living quarters of the fortress without any light at all, so I carried an unlit lamp with me until I had passed the girls' quarters, stopping at the beaded doorway to listen for their gentle snores. Once I was well away from the girls' door, I lit my lamp using one of the fire sticks that I'd invented using some of the same chemicals we used to make the explosive black powder. The fire stick made a soft pop as I struck it on the stone wall and I could swear I heard it echo from the hall up ahead. As I made my way to the ironclad door I could smell burning brimstone and I thought it strange that the smell of the fire stick had stayed with me. Then I saw Joy standing by the door holding an oil lamp and the charred remains of the fire stick she'd used to light it. â€Å"Let me see the key,† she said. â€Å"What key?† â€Å"Don't be foolish. I saw what was left of the mold in the room of the elements.† I took the key from where I'd tucked it in my belt and handed it to Joy. She examined it by lamplight, turning it this way and that. â€Å"Pea Pods cast this,† she said matter-of-factly. â€Å"Did she take the impression as well?† I nodded. Joy didn't seem angry, and Pea Pods was the only one of the girls skilled enough in metallurgy to have done the casting, so why deny it? â€Å"Getting the impression must have been the hard part,† Joy said. â€Å"Balthasar is fierce about guarding this key. I'll have to ask her what she did to distract him. Could be a good thing to know, huh? For both of us.† She smiled seductively, then turned toward the door and pushed aside the brass plate that covered the keyhole. In that second I felt as if a frozen dagger had been dragged over my spine. â€Å"No!† I grabbed her hand. â€Å"Don't.† I was overcome with a feeling of revulsion that wrenched my insides. â€Å"We can't.† Joy smiled again and pushed my hand away. â€Å"I have seen many wondrous things since I came here, but there has never been anything that was harmful. You planned this, you must want to know what is in here as much as I do.† I wanted to stop her, I even tried to take the key away from her, but she grabbed my arm and pushed into a pressure point that made my whole left side go numb. She raised an eyebrow as if to ask, â€Å"Do you really want to try that, knowing what I can do to you?† And I stepped back. She put the dragon key into the lock and turned it three times. There was a clicking of machinery finer than anything I had ever heard, then she withdrew the key and shot the three heavy iron bolts. As she pulled the door open there was a rush of air, as if something had moved by us very quickly, and my lamp went out. Joshua told me what had happened later and I put the timing together myself. As Joy and I were opening the room they called the house of doom, Joshua and Balthasar were camped in the arid mountains of what is now Afghanistan. The night was crisp and the stars shone with a cold blue light like loneliness or infinity. They had eaten some bread and cheese, then settled in close to the fire to share the last of a flask of fortified wine, Balthasar's second that evening. â€Å"Have I told you of the prophecy that sent me in search of you when you were born, Joshua?† â€Å"You spoke of the star. My mother told me of the star.† â€Å"Yes, the three of us followed that star, and by chance we met up in the mountains east of Kabul and finished the journey together, but the star wasn't the reason we went, it was only our means of navigation. We made the journey because each of us was looking for something at the end.† â€Å"Me?† Joshua said. â€Å"Yes, but not just you, but what it is said was brought with you. In the temple where we travel now, there lies a set of clay tablets – very old – the priests say that they date back to the time of Solomon, and they foretell the coming of a child who will have power over evil and victory over death. They say he will carry the key to immortality.† â€Å"Me? Immortality? Nope.† â€Å"I think you do, you just don't know it yet.† â€Å"Nope, I'm sure,† said Joshua. â€Å"It's true that I have brought people back from the dead, but never for very long. I've gotten better at healing over the years, but my back-from-the-dead stuff still needs work. I need to learn more.† â€Å"Which is why I have taught you, and why I am taking you to the temple now, so you may read the tablets yourself, but you must have the power of immortality within you.† â€Å"No, really, I haven't a clue.† â€Å"I am two hundred and sixty years old, Joshua.† â€Å"I've heard that, but I still can't help you. You look good though, I mean for two hundred and sixty.† At this point Balthasar started to sound desperate. â€Å"Joshua, I know that you have power over evil. Biff has told me of you banishing demons in Antioch.† â€Å"Little ones,† Joshua said modestly. â€Å"You must have power over death as well or it does me no good.† â€Å"What I am able to do comes through my father, I didn't bargain for it.† â€Å"Joshua, I am preserved by a pact with a demon. If you do not have the powers foretold in the prophecy I will never be free, I will never have peace, I will never have love. Every minute of my life I must have my will focused on controlling the demon. Should my will fail, the destruction would be unlike anything the world has ever seen.† â€Å"I know how it is. I'm not allowed to know a woman,† Joshua said. â€Å"Although it was an angel that told me, not a demon. But still, you know, it's hard sometimes. I really like your concubines. The other night Pillows was giving me a back rub after a long day of studying, and I started getting this massive – â€Å" â€Å"By the Golden Tenderloin of the Calf!† Balthasar exclaimed, leaping to his feet, his eyes wide with terror. The old man began loading his camel, thrashing around in the darkness like a madman. Joshua was following him, trying to calm him down, fearing he might have a fit any second. â€Å"What? What?† â€Å"It is out!† the magus said. â€Å"Help me pack up. We must go back. The demon is out.† I stood cringing in the dark, waiting for disaster to fall, for mayhem to reign, for pain and pestilence and no good to manifest, then Joy struck a fire stick and lit our lamps. We were alone. The iron door hung open into a very small room, it too lined with iron. The entire room was just big enough to contain a small bed and a chair. Every span of the black iron walls was inlaid with golden symbols: pentagrams and hex symbols and a dozen others I had never seen before. Joy held her lamp close to the wall. â€Å"These are symbols of containment,† Joy said. â€Å"I used to hear voices coming from in here.† â€Å"There was nothing in here when I opened the door. I could see in the second before the lamp blew out.† â€Å"Then what blew it out?† â€Å"The wind?† â€Å"I don't think so. I felt something brush me as it passed.† Just then someone in the girls' quarters screamed, then a chorus of screams joined in, primal screams of absolute terror and pain. Instantly Joy's eyes filled with tears. â€Å"What have I done?† I took her sleeve and dragged her down the passage toward the girls' quarters, snatching up two heavy lances that were supporting a tapestry as we passed and handing one to her. As we rounded the curves I could see an orange light ahead and soon I could see that it was fire blazing on the stone walls from broken oil lamps. The screaming was reaching a higher pitch, but every few seconds a voice was removed from the chorus, until there was only one. As we approached the beaded doorway into the concubines' chamber the screaming stopped and a severed human head rolled in front of us. The creature stepped through the curtain, oblivious to the flames that licked the walls around it, its massive body filling the passageway, the reptilian skin on its shoulders and its tall pointed ears grating against the walls and ceiling. In its talonlike hand it held the bloody torso of one of the girls. â€Å"Hey, kid,† it said, its voice like a sword point dragged across stone, a yellow light coming from behind its dinner-plate-sized cat's eyes, â€Å"it took you long enough.† As they rode back to the fortress, Balthasar explained to Joshua about the demon: â€Å"His name is Catch, and he is a demon of the twenty-seventh order, a destroyer angel before the fall. As far as I could tell, he was first called up to assist Solomon in building the great temple, but something got out of hand and with the help of a djinn, Solomon was able to send the demon back to hell. I found the seal of Solomon and the incantation for raising the demon almost two hundred years ago in the Temple of the Seal.† â€Å"Oh,† Joshua said, â€Å"so that's why they call it that. I thought it had something to do with one of the barky sea animals.† â€Å"I had to become an acolyte and study with the priests there for years before I was allowed access to the seal, but what is a few years against immortality. I was given immortality, but only so long as the demon walks the earth. And as long as he is on earth he must be fed, Joshua. That's the curse that goes with being this destroyer's master. He must be fed.† â€Å"I don't understand, he feeds on your will?† â€Å"No, he feeds on human beings. It is only my will that keeps him in check, or it was until I was able to build the iron room and put golden symbols on the wall that would hold the demon. I've been able to keep him in the fortress I made him build for twenty years now, and it has been some respite. Until then he was with me every minute, everywhere I went.† â€Å"Didn't that attract enemies to you?† â€Å"No. Unless he is in his eating form, I am the only one who can see Catch. In his noneating form he's small, the size of a child, and he can do little harm (except for being incredibly irritating). When he feeds, however, he's fully ten cubits tall, and he can tear a man in half with the swipe of his claw. No, enemies are not a problem, Joshua. Why do you think there are no guards at the fortress? In those years before the girls came to live there, some bandits attacked. What happened to them is legend now in Kabul, and no one has tried since. The problem is that if my will were to fail, he would be set loose again on the world as he was in the time of Solomon. I don't know what could stop him.† â€Å"And you can't send him back to hell?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I can with the seal and the right incantation, which is why I was going to the Temple of the Seal. Which is why you are here. If you are the Messiah predicted in Isaiah, and on the clay tablets in the temple, then you are the direct descendant of David, and therefore Solomon. I believe that you can send the demon back and keep me from suffering the fate of his return.† â€Å"Why, what happens to you if he is sent back to hell?† â€Å"I will assume the aspect of my true age. Which I would guess, by this time, would be dust. But you have the gift of immortality. You can stop that from happening.† â€Å"So this demon from hell is loose, and we are returning to the fortress without the Seal of Solomon or this incantation to do exactly what?† â€Å"I hope to bring him back under control of my will. The room has always held him before. I didn't know, I truly didn't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"That my will had been broken by my feelings for you.† â€Å"You love me?† â€Å"How was I to know?† The magus sighed. And Joshua laughed here, despite the dire circumstances. â€Å"Of course you do, but it is not me, it's what I represent. I am not sure yet what I am to do, but I know that I am here in the name of my father. You love life so much that you would brave hell to hold on to it, it's only natural that you would love the one who gave you that life.† â€Å"Then you can banish the demon and preserve my life?† â€Å"Of course not, I'm just saying that I understand how you feel.† I don't know where she found the strength, but the diminutive Joy came from behind me and hurled the heavy lance with as much power as any soldier. (I felt my own knees starting to buckle in the face of the demon.) The bronze tip of the lance seemed to find its way between two of the monster's armored chest scales and drove itself a span deep under the weight of the heavy shaft. The demon gasped, and roared, opening his massive maw to show rows of saw-edged teeth. He grabbed the shaft of the lance and attempted to pull it out, his huge biceps quivering with the strain. He looked sadly down at the spear, then at Joy, and said, â€Å"Oh, foul woe upon you, you have kilt me most dead,† then he fell back and the floor shook with the impact of his huge body. â€Å"What'd he say, what'd he say?† Joy asked, digging her nails into my shoulder. The demon had spoken in Hebrew. â€Å"He said that you killed him.† â€Å"Well, duh,† said the concubine. (Strangely enough, â€Å"duh† sounds exactly the same in all languages.) I had started to inch forward to see if anyone was still alive in the girls' quarters when the demon sat up. â€Å"Just kidding,† he said. â€Å"I'm not kilt.† And he plucked the spear from his chest with less effort than it might take to brush away a fly. I threw my own lance, but didn't wait to see where it hit. I grabbed Joy and ran. â€Å"Where?† she said. â€Å"Far,† I said. â€Å"No,† she said, grabbing my tunic and jerking me around a corner, causing me to nearly coldcock myself on the wall. â€Å"To the cliff passage.† We were in total darkness now, neither one of us having thought to grab a lamp, and I was trusting my life to Joy's memory of these stone halls. As we ran we could hear the demon's scales scraping the walls and the occasional curse in Hebrew as he found a low ceiling. Perhaps he could see in the dark somewhat, but not a lot better than we could. â€Å"Duck,† Joy said, pushing my head down as we entered the narrow passage that led to the cliff above. I crouched in this passage the way the monster had to crouch to move in the normal-sized halls and I suddenly realized the brilliance of Joy's choice in taking this route. We were just seeing the moonlight breaking in through the opening in the cliff's face when I heard the monster hit the bottleneck of the passage. â€Å"Fuck! Ouch! You weasels! I'm going to crunch your little heads between my teeth like candied dates.† â€Å"What'd he say?† asked Joy. â€Å"He says that you are a sweet of uncommon delicacy.† â€Å"He did not say that.† â€Å"Believe me, my translation is as close as you want to the truth.† I heard a horrible scraping noise from inside the passage as we climbed out on the ledge and up the rope ladder to the top of the plateau. Joy helped me up, then pulled the ladder up behind us. We ran to the stable where the camel saddles and other supplies were normally kept. There were only the three camels that Joshua and Balthasar had taken, and no horses, so I couldn't figure out why we were taking the time to stop until I saw Joy filling two water skins at the cistern behind the stable. â€Å"We'll never make it to Kabul without water,† Joy said. â€Å"And what happens when we make it to Kabul? Can anyone there help? What in the hell is that thing?† â€Å"If I knew, would I have opened that door?† She was remarkably calm for someone who had just lost her friends to a hideous beast. â€Å"I guess not. But I didn't see it come out of there. I felt something, but nothing that size.† â€Å"Act, Biff, don't think. Act.† She handed me a water skin and I held it in the cistern, trying to listen for the sound of the monster over the bubbles as it filled. All I could hear was the occasional bleating of the goats and the sound of my own pulse in my ears. Joy corked her water skin, then went about opening the pig and goat pens, shooing the animals out onto the plateau. â€Å"Let's go!† she shouted to me. She took off down the path toward the hidden road. I pulled the water skin from the cistern and followed as quickly as I could. There was enough moonlight to make traveling fairly easy, but since I hadn't even seen the road in daylight, I didn't want to try to negotiate its deadly cutbacks at night without a guide. We had almost made the first leg of the road when we heard a hideous wailing and something heavy landed in the dust in front of us. When I could get my breath again I stepped up to find the bloodied carcass of a goat. â€Å"There,† Joy said, pointing down the mountainside to something moving among the rocks. Then it looked up at us and there was no mistaking the glowing yellow eyes. â€Å"Back,† Joy said, pulling me back from the road. â€Å"Is that the only way down?† â€Å"That or diving off the edge. It's a fortress, remember – it's not supposed to be easy to get in and out of.† We made our way back to the rope ladder, tossed it over the side, and started down. As Joy made it to the ledge and ducked into the cave something heavy hit me on the right shoulder. My arm went numb with the impact and I let go of the ladder. Mercifully, my feet had tangled in the rungs as I fell, and I found myself hanging upside down looking into the cave entrance where Joy stood. I could hear the terrified goat that had hit me screaming as it fell into the abyss, then there was a distant thump and the screaming stopped. â€Å"Hey, kid, you're a Jew, aren't you?† said the monster from above. â€Å"None of your business,† I said. Joy grabbed the ladder and pulled me inside the cave, ladder and all, just as another goat came screaming past. I fell on my face in the dust and sputtered, trying to breathe and spit at the same time. â€Å"It's been a long time since I've eaten a Jew. A good Jew sticks to your ribs. That's the problem with Chinese, you eat six or seven of them and in a half hour you're hungry again. No offense, miss.† â€Å"What'd he say?† Joy asked. â€Å"He says he likes kosher food. Will that ladder hold him?† â€Å"I made it myself.† â€Å"Swell,† I said. We heard the ropes creak with the strain as the monster climbed onto the ladder.

Branding Essay

BRANDING ESSAY Subject: The brand as an aspirational and cultural agent 14/03/2013 According to Philip J. Kotler â€Å"a brand is a name, term, sign symbol or design, or a combination of them to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to identify them from the competitors†. This definition expresses the brand as the sum of the representations that we have, however, the brand is also a cultural agent. To remain permanently in the mind of the consumer brands must build a recognizable brand and offer their cultural role models to their customers.Thus it is necessary to include this cultural aspect to the marketing strategy of the brand. After explaining how this cultural and aspirational aspect is characterized in the minds of consumers and brands, it will be interesting to know its origins and consequences, finally understand why and how a brand builds a culture and a strong identity. The success of a brand depends not only on the functional value it offers to consumers, its reputation and good health depends heavily on the emotional value it adds through its products.And the brands gain momentum in today's culture, they seek to become mirrors of our personalities and that is why it is indispensable to build a distinctive brand image. The brand positioning is to place an image in the mind of the consumer. The success of the brand in the consumer's opinion is fundamentally dependent on its desire to appropriate the brand and express it as a part of his personality. This cultural dimension of the brand had been discussed by Jean-Noel Kapferer (French expert of brands) in his book â€Å"Les marques, capital de l’entreprise† in 1990. He expresses the cultural facet of the brand as a key element of brand identity.In the same vein he argues that brands around the products and services sold, build aspirational universe in order to stand out and sell their products. This universe consists of all intangible assets acting as symbols, references, lifestyles, emotions etc. †¦ feature of the brand. This set forms a specific imaginary that illustrates the values and the brand positioning to form a unique cultural heritage (Jean-Noel Kapferer et Vincent Bastien, Luxe Oblige, 2008) This heritage must be expressed and transmitted to the consumer to feel the desire to join and share.Even if this has a great value in brand equity, it is not enough to form a brand culture. The cornerstone of its creation is a major concept; which is distinct to the brand and based on an innovative aspect (e. g. Nike and culture transcendence). In this case there is a set of communication shared by a class of consumers relaying the brand culture. This research of brand culture is becoming more and more important, especially because consumers search meaning in their consumption and they need to be involved in this consumer society that is constantly evolving.Similarly, the development of the media and especially the intern et makes it fertile ground for the development of this cultural facet. We are part of a brands cultural bath influencing us in all our acts of consumption. The brand is a center of social identification of the individual, our consumption reflects our identity. Especially for brands that operate as social signs (car brands, clothing, food, telephone, etc. †¦ ). And brands have become cultural facts, when we consume we do not consume only the product but also the brand. Every act of consumption is symbolic and cultural; there is no longer a pure commercial consumption. The brand becomes a symbol, a materiel embodiment of the myth. So as customers drink, drive or wear the product, they experience a bit of the myth. † (Douglas B. How Brands Become Holt in Icons, The Principles of Cultural Branding, 2004). He explains this behavior like this: â€Å"Customers use iconic brands as symbolic salves. They grab hold of the myth as they use the product as a means to lessen their ide ntity burdens†. It means that the brand through its culture must convey specific models to achieve the desires and soothe the anxieties of consumers.The purpose of brands is to create moments of recognition that put images, sounds, feelings, on the deep desires of customers. Holt adds that a strong brand identity and a clearly identifiable culture have a positive effect on the brand and business: â€Å"When a brand delivers a powerful myth that customers find useful in cementing their identities, this identity value casts a halo on other aspects of the brand. Great myths enhance the brand’s quality reputation, distinctive benefits, and status value. † This halo effect shows brands cannot underestimate their cultural influence.The essential idea in this concept of culture is that it is an integral part of the brand, but she is not defined consistently. It is universal and timeless at the same time it must keep its customers at every change of generation. The succe ss of a brand lies in its ability to adapt to a given society, to know how to react when tensions and desires of consumers mutate. Or that Accordance must match the brand identity. Success comes once the brand has articulated the brand identity with market expectations through the establishment of a strong brand culture.For example Nike in its infancy based its marketing strategy on its philosophy of self-transcendence, a value in accordance with an aspiration of American society in the post-prosperity when the logic of the American dream seemed to have lost its splendor. The socio-economic changes constantly and attitudes of societies are transformed. Thus it is essential that brand can find what, in its identity, can meet the expectations of customers in the generational change. The consumer's desire is not focused on a specific good or service, this desire is by cluster (Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher, Anti-Oedipus, 1977).This means that when the customer is considering purch asing, the choice is not just the object itself but to all cultural, symbolic or historic associations attached to them. For example when I want this dress that is behind the showcase, I do not just want this dress, but the shoes that go with the silhouette, the style, the man, the romantic dinner and almost the lifestyle that goes with this dress. And brands need to rethink their communication model to know the consumer interest in all that associations of the product.They can no longer base their identity on customer insights; it must do so on a strong culture. The brand identity is not an element to be overlooked in a marketing strategy because the cultural and aspirational aspect it reveals is becoming increasingly important in the consumer's decision. Brands must know how to create interest and special recognition in his mind through communicating their values and their major concept. The customers’ expectations continually evolving, that is why it is important for bran ds to adapt through the establishment of a strong and sustainable brand culture. I hope you understand that as an Erasmus student I used for my research French theories to support my arguments. Well I apologize for any mistakes in English that I could commit. ) Bibliography * Jean-Noel Kapferer, Les marques, capital de l’entreprise (1990) * Jean-Noel Kapferer et Vincent Bastien, Luxe Oblige, Paris, Eyrolles (2008) * Douglas B. Holt, How Brands Become Icons, The Principles Of Cultural Branding, Harvard Business School Press (2004) * Gilles Deleuze et Felix Guattari, Anti- OEdipe, Editions de Minuit, 1977.