Colleges Should or Should Not Offer Online Classes

Nearly 12 million post-secondary students in the United States take some or all of their classes online right now. On the other hand, approximately 15 million students take all of their classes in a physical classroom. (Adkins) What do these number say about an online education? Well, they mean that there are both positive aspects and negative aspects to taking online courses. It turns out that there are many examples of both positive and negative reasons to enroll in or to not to enroll in an online class.Firstly, there are many advantages or reasons why someone would want to take an online course. One of the main reasons people take an online course is for flexibility of time. Flexibility of time corresponds to the online classes being available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, usually. This allows for one to plan their classes around their schedule, rather than their schedule around their classes. For this reason, it is often popular for people who need to work but still want to get a college education. It is also popular for parents who are working or have small children they need to take care of.Another example would be someone who has difficulty waking up for morning classes. Online can be arranged so that you can work at your convenience of time. Another major contributing factor to a positive outlook on online classes is that there are virtually no geographical restrictions. As long as you can put yourself somewhere with Internet access, you can take the course. Along with the ability to be anywhere you want, you can also go nowhere and simply take the class from home. This means the student can save a multitude of time and gas money.A good example of someone who would utilize this would be someone who lives far away from a college, and still wanted to get a degree without having to commute back and forth many miles everyday. Online courses also give a student a larger variety of courses to choose from. If you attend a physical college, a course you might want to take may not be available. With online classes, all you have to do it some online research to find the course you are looking for. In addition to opportunity of a class being offered, there is also the opportunity of getting into a class.With online classes, the spaces offered may be greater because there are no physical limitations of space that may have limited the physical class. In addition to these obvious examples, there are a few subtle things that people may no realize at first about the advantages of online classes. One, for example, is participation. Some students may find it difficult to participate in class and therefore feel less intimidated in an online environment. Equally important for some, perhaps, is that there is no dress code. Unless there is a web cam involved, a student could be in their pajamas or even naked if they wanted to be.On the other hand, there are quite a few disadvantages to taking an online course. One of the main reasons that many people struggle with is the discipline and time management skills. There are usually a few deadlines, but besides that, the students are fully responsible for keeping up with their work and staying to a schedule. Procrastination can be a detrimental factor to failure for some. Self- motivation tends to be a key that some do not possess. Another main problem some students experience is a social problem. In this style of education there is no direct interaction with a professor in person.Some students may be okay with this but many progress and learn better from face-to-face interactions and attention from the teacher. Together with the professor are the fellow pupils that are in the class. Where as some students completely enjoy relaxing and taking a class alone, some find it very lonely and depressing. Classrooms are meant to have a welcoming environment. This environment can often be particularly difficult to replicate online. An important academic reason to perhaps not take an online cl ass is the issue of transferring credits. Some institutions will not take online credit hours.This could obviously make your time spent on taking these courses completely worthless. For this reason, many people do not risk online courses and stick to physical classrooms with a definite reliable credit transfer capability. Finally, along with all of these examples, comes perhaps the most obvious one of all. To take an online course you need to have a computer. This means that the student has to actually be capable of using that computer too. Online courses are designed for ones own pace usually, but the majority of time spent on the task should not be figuring out how to work the computer.A student does not need to be a computer expert, but needs to be computer literate and relatively comfortable with the technology they will be using. The functioning of the computer not only depends on the student’s knowledge and skill, but also depends on the reliability of the computer. The computer is going to need to have at least a decent setup and also probably have a high-speed connection. For most even considering an online education this is usually doable, but it is not always the case.To sum it all up, online courses are a preferential decision based on an individual students research and the college’s interest in such a technique of learning. There are many positive and negative factors a college should consider before deciding to offer or not to offer online classes. The same can said for students deciding whether or not to take online classes. Online classes are a slowly increasing popular way of learning and teaching. The only way that one can decide to provide or take these courses is by looking at the research done and the facts known.

Skin & Tattoos Review

Patterson, M. , & Schroeder, J. (2010). Borderlines: Skin, tattoos and consumer culture theory. Marketing Theory, 10, 253-267. DOI: 10. 1177/1470593110373191 Assignment 1: Patterson & Schroeder Article Review This essay critically reviews an academic article which applies consumer culture theory to identity formation by illustrating the association of skin and body art to femininity and commodification. The paper begins with a brief summary of the key points outlined in the article which is then followed by an analytical evaluation of these points. After which I will examine why I believe they were able to make a compelling argument. I then go on to critique the style of the article and discuss some of the weaknesses I found in the argument presented by the authors. I end with a suggested issue for further research. The authors of this article intend to examine the establishment of identity, both generally and embodied, within the consumer culture theoretical framework. In order to do so they describe three fundamental assertions which have been derived from consumer culture theory (CCT) and employ three metaphors to illustrate how these concepts prove to be problematic. They further develop evidence which challenges the proposed concepts by applying them to skin, and more specifically to the skin of heavily tattooed women. It is their assertion that skin serves as the principal site for individuals to imprint their ideologies and convey their stories, it brings together the natural and the social. The concept of femininity and cultural ideas of beauty also become intertwined in the conjectural work put forth by the authors. In their attempt to show a correlation between skin, identity, and consumption, the idea that heavily tattooed women collect body art in order to distinguish themselves from the masses and challenge existing gender stereotypes forms the foundation from which they argue. According to the article an individual’s production of self is mediated by interaction with others in addition to a calculated use of commodities. However, they claim that interpretation of one’s identity is not always clear or easily discerned and further that access to the resources we use to create our identity is not equal amongst all individuals. The following relationships between skin, femininity and consumption form the structure from which they develop their assumptions: first, the containing function of skin is central to creation of femininity as ideals of the perfect body remain; second, femininity is implicit on skin so much so that transmission becomes an issue of surface projection; and third, well maintained, delicate skin has become an archetype of femininity and a desire to retain this indicator of gender difference leads women to want to work on their skin. The ambiguousness of such an overlooked and yet important organ enables the reader to relate to a vast number of viewpoints. Based on the evidence presented, I find the authors’ argument convincing and can appreciate why skin makes an ideal medium for research on consumer identity. What I took from the article was that beauty and identity are often interdependent and rely on how one interprets and creates it. I arrived at this conclusion by following their logic that skin is connected to our identity in how we adorn and maintain it. The closer we come to upholding social norms regarding femininity, which is often closely tied to ideals of beauty, the more highly we are regarded in society. We use our exterior surface as a canvas in which we create our inner identity, however, identity is not static and we are continually modifying and recreating ourselves. I like the idea that women are silently protesting and disrupting long held patriarchal beliefs of femininity by engaging in body art acquisition. I also agree that by partaking in forms of body modification, such as tattooing, women challenge the traditional ideals of beauty. While the article is written concisely and straightforwardly, I believe the metaphors they use could have been explained further in order to get a clearer understanding of their association to the topic at hand. I found the idea of skin as a container difficult to follow, the arguments presented in this section taken individually were clear, but when related back to identity and commodification it became someone convoluted. One aspect I believe the authors neglected to develop was the notion that individuals can assume simultaneous identities or that they can perform identities, whereby they represent themselves different from their visible characteristics. They touched on this with the discussion of tattooed women being both contained and transgressive in the narrow perception of beauty, along with the view of the mind/body dualism. I found the overall concept explored in this article quite interesting, but thought the execution left something lacking. At times the article almost seems somewhat philosophical in its assessment of the topic in that it relies largely on interpretive research. Identities are seen not as merely represented in discourse, but rather as performed, enacted and embodied through a variety of dialectal and non-linguistic means. After introducing the topic at hand and reviewing the relevant concepts that have been ascertained in regards to the conceptualization of identity within the framework of consumer culture theory, and more specifically, identity as it applies to skin, femininity and body art, the article concludes with a suggested direction for further study. The authors propose that more work on boundaries and understanding of identity and consumption should be done. In addition, they advise rather than looking at the meaning of the body, future examination should analyze what the consequences of consuming the body are.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Essay

â€Å"Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is THE ROAD,† (163) and with those words, Chris McCandless declared his independence and walked into the wild bush of Alaska in May 1992. Little did he know that in three short months, his decaying remains would be found by moose hunters, only a few miles from where he began his journey along the Stampede Trail. Chris McCandless’s story, which was retold in John Krakaur’s book, Into the Wild, is a true testament to the idea of freedom and independence that has powered the foundation of American society. Chris McCandless had always marched to the beat of his own drummer, as did many American heroes. Even when he was a child, Chris was known for being overly adventurous and a little less than cautious. This great sense of adventure frightened Chris’s family and friends ever since they noticed it when he was just a child. Because of this, his parents were horrified, but not completely shocked, when one day Chris departed from his typical life in Atlanta, Georgia and was never heard from by his family again. As a graduate of Emory College, Chris’s future potential would have been almost unlimited; he had so much ahead of him but threw it all away and spent the rest of his life on the road. What McCandless was searching for by leaving his safe life cannot be easily understood by most, but many transcendentalists shared a similar understanding of Chris’s â€Å"call to nature. Transcendentalism rejects typical culture or society and is often marked by a love of nature and a pursuit for a greater meaning of life. Many parallels can be drawn between Chris McCandless’s story and the stories from authors such as Walt Whitman. Many transcendentalists like Walt Whitman and Chris McCandless turn to the open road to get a better understanding of life, but in doing this, Chris puts his â€Å"secure future† in jeopardy by abandoning his former identity, giving up all of his possessions, and relying solely on the land. Chris gives up his life of security when he decides to alter his whole identity. Although Chris was raised in a seemingly tight knit family, in college he discovered that his parents’ marriage was the result of an affair, and his father maintained a bigamous relations for two years (121). After that discovery, Chris started to resent his parents, especially his father. His absolute anger towards his parents is what finally caused Chris to completely cut them off from his life as he ventured into the wild. In his two years being away from home, Chris’s family never heard from him once; even his sister, Carine, who was very close to Chris, never spoke to him again. Chris’s sudden absence in his family’s life hurt each member deeply. His father even questions, â€Å"How is it that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain? † (104). Although he knew he was hurting his family by leaving, Chris’s lack of concern for his family members stemmed from the hurt he felt that they each caused him. Walt Whitman’s character in Song of the Open Road does not find it as easy as Chris did to leave the past behind. The speaker of the poem writes, â€Å"Still here I carry my old delicious burdens, I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go. † This line shows that the author still carries memories and feelings from his old life with him on a daily basis, which exemplifies how hard they are to forget. This regretful attitude contrasts to that of Chris’s in that the speaker doesn’t want to completely leave the past behind but desires to recall his memories during future journeys. Not only did Chris directly cut off his family in order to leave his old life behind, but he also adopted a pseudonym that he felt was more fitting to his new personality. Kraukauer describes Chris’s final transformation and says, â€Å"No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny† (23). This new, outrageous name truly enabled Chris to leave his past of reason and safety behind and move forward to his new life of freedom and adventure. Not only did Chris completely alter his identity but his absolute resignation of worldly positions also put his future safety at risk. Before leaving for his journey and without his parents’ knowledge, Chris donated his entire college fund containing 25,000 dollars to OXFAM, a hunger relief charity (20). This gesture really proves Chris’s complete release of security and lack of consideration for worldly possessions. After starting his long journey with no money, Chris almost immediately abandoned his old yellow Datsun in a riverbed in the Lake Mead National Recreation area. He decided to do this after a flash flood wets the cars engine as a result of his failure to acknowledge the flood zone warning signs. In reality, Chris could have found a way to save his car but instead was exhilarated by the event and saw it as â€Å"an opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage† (29). At the same time, Chris burned his last small amount of money and â€Å"one hundred and twenty-three dollars was promptly reduced to ash and smoke† (29). After this, Chris’s journey was one that literally started from nothing; He had no money, no car, no food, and no one but himself. Chris’s dire need to get rid of every worldly possession greatly endangered his life. The speaker in Walt Whitman’s poem agrees with Chris’s opinion that worldly possessions are unimportant. When the speaker says, â€Å"You shall not heap up what is call’d riches, you shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve,† he is expressing his belief that wealth should be shared among many and not kept for one individual. Chris really exemplifies this concept by donating all of his money to those who were less fortunate than him. Chris’s last major risk to his life and security is his trip to Alaska. After a year and a half of traveling around the United States, Chris finally planned his trip to Alaska, which had always been his utmost goal. Chris went into his journey extremely ill equipped for the harsh months that would lie ahead of him in the Alaskan bush. Jim Gallien, an experienced woodsman who gave Chris a ride to the Stampede Trail, described Chris as having nowhere near as much food and gear as would be expected for that kind of trip (4). The only food Chris brought with him was a ten-pound bag of rice; he planned on shooting the rest of his food with a gun that by Gallien’s standards was too small to kill any major game. When questioned repeatedly on his plans for survival, Chris confidently assured Gallien, â€Å"I am absolutely positive I won’t run into anything I cant deal with on my own† (6). Chris’s overconfident attitude is what angered many experienced woodsman who replied to Krakauer’s first article about Chris. They complained that Chris was just foolish and naive for thinking he could take on Alaska alone with almost no experience or gear. One Alaskan hunter even states that only one word can sum up Chris McCandless: incompetent (177). Chris didn’t see his life like this however. He felt prepared and excited for anything the world could throw at him. His completely believed in himself and lived by the notion that nothing or no one could discourage him from his journey. The speaker in Walt Whitman’s poem is extremely similar to Chris McCandless in the sense that they both lived to travel the â€Å"open road† in order to experience life to the fullest. Whitman’s speaker says, â€Å"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. Both the speaker and Chris have an idealized view of living on the road and will not let anything deter them from it. Throughout his early life, Chris somewhat conformed to the traditional values and ideals encouraged by his parents and society. It wasn’t until he grew older that he decided to act upon his yearning escape it all and to travel and live in nature. He left his old, secure life behind for one filled with adventure, mystery, and danger. This action, which was looked down upon by many members of society, directly relates Chris to transcendentalist beliefs like those of Walt Whitman. Chris put his safety and security on the line by renouncing his former name, giving up worldly possessions, and venturing out in dangerous in foreign territory and these choices ultimately caused him his life. Even though it may not have been seen as sensible by many, Chris created his own path in life, and although it led to his death, the nomadic experience was what he always desired. Chris writes at the beginning of his final decent into nature, â€Å"No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become Lost in the Wild† (163).

Divorce Mediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Divorce Mediation - Essay Example 2. The mediator must use the framing and reframing of statements technique to defuse tension and hostility between parties and remind them that the children’s welfare are at stake. 3. Angela is in the best position to gain temporary custody of the children. Rationale The issues to be resolved between David and Angela can be divided into two: custody issue, and; property settlement issue. Initial and introductory mediation can be done during the first session as well as the issue on temporary custody. The subject of property settlement can be done in 1 to 2 sessions and child custody during the last session or vice-versa. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that everything can be settled in four sessions only. One of the ways to defuse tension and hostility during family mediation is through the technique of framing and reframing the statements of parties. The mediator must listen for hostile and provocative remarks coming from either party and be ready to reframe these remarks using neutral words to prevent the other from being agitated. It is also wise to remind the parties of the children’s welfare during the discussions.

Ethical Issues in Privatization of Jails Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Issues in Privatization of Jails - Essay Example The idea of privatizing prisons may not have been the brainchild of Florida Governor Rick Scott, but the implementation of the said move is certainly connected recently with him. The primary argument for the action is to save the state some $22 million annually (Deslatte, 2011). Critics claim that the perceived benefit does not warrant ovelooking the negative consequences. Furthermore, accusations are being levelled against Scott for allegedly having a conflict of interests in the matter. What follows is an examination of the moral grounds from which both sides may derive the strength of their respective arguments. The Moral Value of Privatizing Prisons One pertinent question that ought to be asked is, â€Å"What moral principle could serve as the basis for the privatization of prisons?† One principle could be the moral responsibility of the citizens of the state to contribute to the preservation of the state. If the latter entails saving the state’s funds, then this co uld provide a strong foundation for the argument. Considering that Governor Scott is not just any ordinary citizen but an official of the state, then he has a moral obligation to protect the state’s interests. More importantly, Kantian ethics dictates that an individual is bound by duty to fulfill a moral obligation, because the latter is inherently right (Albert, Denise, and Peterfreund, 1980). In other words, if the state can be preserved through the intelligent management of funds, then actions contributing to such a consequence can be morally justified. More importantly, regardless of consequences, Governor Scott was merely acting out of a sense of duty, as far as Immanuel Kant is concerned. Not only can such a position be argued for by appealing to a higher moral principle, but it can be demonstrated that privatizing jails can lead to beneficial consequences. One of the perceived beneficial consequences was mentioned above, namely, that the state may be able to save fund s, and consequently, sustain itself. Another good consequence is the possibility of such prisons to actually improve their operating conditions. Often, this is the case when a state institution is privatized, since the funding is now allocated primarily for the improvement of the involved institution, without having to go through a tedious process of bidding just to acquire a larger share of funding. In other words, the private funds may thus be utilized for the sole purpose of improving the prisons. This will invariably lead to better reform facilities and programs, larger capacities, and a generally improved level of security for the state. It must be acknowledged that such improvements will unnecessarily cost the state a good deal of money, unnecessary since it can be shouldered by private institutions. The Ethical Challenges Posed by a Corporatist Penal Framework As with examining the possible moral grounds of privatizing prisons, the opposite argument ought to be analyzed on th e basis of moral grounds. First, it must be noted that in privatizing a state-run institution, an implied message is being delivered, namely, that the

HR topic taken from a current news article Assignment

HR topic taken from a current news article - Assignment Example General Electric Company’s CEO, Jack Welsh is one of the most vocal proponents of this policy by claiming that this method weeds out the individuals who are a bad fit with the company. He is not alone in his support, 30% of Fortune 500 companies have similar policies including Ford Motor, Conco, Sun Microsystem, Cisco Systems, EDS and Enron (Lawler). They all systematically remove the bad employees on a regular basis and thereby send a strong message to the employees that there is little tolerance for poor results. Hence this forced ranking system has a big impact on the overall industry. Such a system of performance appraisal also provides information about the employees that other systems do not provide, especially when it comes to their place in the company performance spectrum (Lawler). It also promotes a culture in which employees believe that the company expects nothing but the best and those who fail to adhere to this standard will be fired. This causes the employees to continually work hard and exceed their past performance (Blume, Rubin and Timothy T. Baldwin). Managers generally avoid having difficult and painful conversations with their employees over their bad performance and try to minimize the conflict. This system literally forces the managers to address the issue of the employees thereby formalizing the management processes which only benefits the entire company (Lipman). A study published in an issue of the academic journal of Personnel Psychology tried to answer the question of whether a forced ranking system will improve the quality of the work force. In their model of 100 companies with over 100 employees, they employed the system of forced ranking and found out that there was noticeable improvement in the work force potential over the first several years. This improvement also included lowered voluntary turnover (Grote). However, there are many cons associated with the practice of forced ranking. It has been said to lower employee mo rale, teamwork and collaboration. If there is no compelling difference between the employees in the lower end who were fired and those who were not fired, it will spread a sense of injustice (Grote). This would lower morale and the system would be viewed in a negative light. Such a system also creates a very stressful and risky work environment. This can prevent high potential employees from joining the said company as they would try to avoid that work environment (Grote). Employee performance patterns do not generally follow a normal distribution and hence identifying the bad performers is a difficult matter (Lawler). According to the news article, most employees are slightly worse than average hence there is always the danger of satisfactory employees being identified as bad employees. Some departments are better staffed than others and the ‘poor performers’ in that group might as well be employees who were average but were surrounded by good employees and hence paled in comparison (Lawler). By repeating this process year after year, the lower quartile is eventually filled with employees who are average rather than ‘bad performers’. This can again lower the employee morale as they would feel that average employees are being misidentified and discriminated against (Donaldson). Such companies are also prone to legal challenges. Legal rulings state that a performance related

Burn Your Life Down & Prophets Prey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Burn Your Life Down & Prophets Prey - Essay Example This essay stresses that the first similarity between the two films is the suspense that makes watching either film interesting. The Burn Your Life Down film is a film that entails real acting, unlike the Prophet’s Prey, which comprises acting and reporting. In the former, Beau returns to the cabin that serves as the residence and starts drinking. At this point, it is not easy to tell the reason for his evident stress. Similarly, the Prophet’s Prey starts with the narrator explaining how he went to Utah just for viewing purposes. However, the narrator explains that he was shocked to see young girls in the company of a father-like man. Evidently, the two films have been set to entice the viewer to follow the stories since suspense has been enjoined.This study highlights that  similarity evident in both films is the portrayal of the lead characters as suffering from obsessions. While Beau is in an emotional meltdown occasioned presumably by the break up with his girlfri end, the prophet shown in the other film is obsessed with religion. Additionally, both films show individuals who have been imprisoned by harmful beliefs. For Beau, life seems meaningless after the breakup, which was communicated through a letter. Without the lady with whom he has spent time in the past, Beau feels, only death will end his miseries. Similarly, the false prophet goes to an extent of marrying girls as young as nine years.

The Impact that Line Managers have on Organisational Performance Essay

The Impact that Line Managers have on Organisational Performance - Essay Example The paper tells that while a business can generate its preferred culture through the use of its ideals and standards of accomplishment, organizational cultures tend to deliver more results when they are a by-product of the beliefs of a company’s workers. Organisational culture is a fact that will determine the ability of a line manager to successfully communicate with other workers. On the other hand, if a company has only a few workers, its organizational culture may compel the line manager to be the individual who disciplines errant workers or offers correction when necessary. This can cause problems because employees are not likely to confide in an individual that corrects their mistakes on a regular basis. In larger organizations, line managers have the chance to communicate effectively with employees and develop interpersonal relationships with them even as they monitor different activities and supply regular reports on the progress of work to higher ranking corporate exe cutives. Line managers are generally trusted by employees because they are not perceived as being merely the agents that are responsible for overseeing various functions. Whether an organization has a task-oriented culture or one where autocratic principles are observed, the line manager has the responsibility to enact this culture for the workers, who then emulate him or her. For instance, if corporate executives wish for their employees to develop a culture of teamwork, they have to incorporate their line managers in jobs that also include other employees so that a team atmosphere can be created. This means that the line manager has to be able to embrace change swiftly himself before successfully inspiring other workers to embrace change. Most line managers encourage the efforts of employees to realize corporate goals by use of rewards such as pay hikes, promotions, or simple praise. This culture of the provision of rewards will not only result in improved operations but will also result in both the workers and the management being able to trust in the growing relationship between both of them.

Multicultural Sexualities in American History Essay

Multicultural Sexualities in American History - Essay Example The essay "Multicultural Sexualities in American History" paper digs to explore the discrepancies and similarities among the Native American society and the European culture in the American history, as well as, highlighting the most appealing aspects of sexuality that have been adopted in today’s worldviews in addressing gender issues. The colonialism aspect that was practiced by the western cultural society was an effective tool that was used to erase the traditional non-binary roles of sexuality systems. The body is the main object that was observed to the root of sexual practices and gender identity depending on the physical features that opposite sex had. The two societies appreciated that there is a supernatural being that is the giver of life to these bodies. Sexual practices and desires were satisfied through these objects, as well as, giving birth to new generations. Both the Native Americans and the European societies respected the body since it was the object that determined sexuality and gender of people, as well as ethnicity. The body among these two worldviews was viewed as the means or the channel to self-identity. Moreover, different bodies formed hierarchical constructions that were connected with sexual roles in the society. Death was a concern among the two societies that dead bodies were respected. Sexuality entailed a social construction since its meaning took shape via a complex interplay of various cultural experiences, personal positions on individual’s identity and social sanctions.

On Why George Bush Won the 2004 Presidential Elections Essay Example for Free

On Why George Bush Won the 2004 Presidential Elections Essay The â€Å"Economic and Demographic Determinants of Presidential Voting†, a journal published in 2005 and written by Robert McNown from the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado, examines on how George Bush won the 2004 US Presidential election. McNown claimed that the area of socio-economic uniqueness of the citizenry removes the implication of statistics of 2 macro-economic concepts, such as increase in real disposable income and unemployment rate, in which the increase of inflation and employment are significant factors in voting for a President (McNown 2). The claim of McNown was based on â€Å"seven economic models† which utilizes a prediction from a variety of experimental and chronological data, such as economic indicators, public opinion, and factors indicating the advantages of incumbency or Presidential term of office, predictive of probable winning of George Bush from 50–97 percent over Senator John Kerry. The seven economic models are basically â€Å"political perceptions or analysis† that forecasted George Bush ability to win, in which the American Political Science Association (APSA) based in Washington DC has compiled the predictions of seven political scholars that McNown refers as â€Å"seven economic models† (Rajaee 12). Party affiliations and strong economy According to McNown, voters are influenced by underlying economic factors relating to family values. McNown implied that Party â€Å"affiliation† is a determining factor in Presidential voting, which means â€Å"party loyalty† is perceived by electorates (McNown 78). To further explain, McNown exemplified the Democratic Party as reflecting only the awareness of economic destitute in a society but â€Å"partisanship† may favor or captivate impact to voters (McNown 8). What could be interpreted in McNown’s analysis on the â€Å"seven economic models† or political forecasts relating to the â€Å"pulse† of George Bush’ winning ability was the â€Å"voters perception† of party loyalty of Republicans, in which the party platform could be perceived as sensibly inculcated to the overall perceptions of general electorates, specifically the traditional American family values. Thus, the indicators of â€Å"economic values†, to which the Democrats were also bearing, could have been much attributed to the Republicans party loyalty as bearing the â€Å"family values† relating to a more advantageous approach to establishing a strong American economy. Findings McNown’s claim may be supported by the indicators and factors that made George W. Bush win the 2004 elections. First, partisanship has proven the support of American voters from the metropolitan areas, as the Electoral College may have intensified the issue on family values that bore more weight of perceptions in â€Å"party loyalty†, as mentioned on probable winning of George Bush from 50–97 percent over Senator John Kerry. Second, the Democrats bearing on issues of economic destitute being supported by the African-American electorates outside the metropolitan areas have been marginalized, in which the perception to â€Å"socio-economic variables† (like poverty) did not â€Å"pick up† or make a vital sense to the overall electorates. Third, integrating party affiliations, party loyalty and economic issues may still boil down to the â€Å"stance† of the conservative voters, ranging from middle-aged to elder electorates. We may synthesize McNown’s claim from his derivatives of â€Å"seven economic models† or perceptions that most of the old and young American voters were overly conscious in partisanship, party affiliations and loyalty, in which would mean being loyal to a party may extend the consistency and realization of the party platform in the public office. Conclusion We may conclude that partisanship creates and establishes a â€Å"domino effect† to voters. The magnitude of impact summons the loyalty to party affiliations regardless of the current socio-economic issues. Having a two-party system of partisanship in America could be largely â€Å"weight† by popular perceptions to which America shall vote. This popular perception may be also referred as pre-conditioning the outcome of election and the insights upon the shift of government. With the performance of the Republicans to the 2004 winning of President Bush, it may have once again proven the old American saying, â€Å"America belongs to loyal Americans†. Works Cited McNown, R. â€Å"Economic and Demographic Determinants of Presidential Voting†. Department of Economics and Institute of Behavioral Science. University of Colorado. 2005. 28 June 2008 http://spot. colorado. edu/~mcnownr/working_papers/presidential_voting. pdf Rajaee, B. â€Å"Political Scientists Forecast Bush Victory in 2004: Six Out of Seven Models Predict Bush Will Win†. American Political Science Association (APSA). 2004. 28 June 2008 http://www. apsanet. org/imgtest/campbell. pdf

Photography Essays History of Photography

Photography Essays History of Photography History of Photography When you look at a photograph from your favorite photographer what do you see? Does it remind you of your past or make you think of the future? What if there was a photographer that made you think of not only the past but also the future as well? Well that is exactly what Abelardo Morell did with his Camera Obscura photographs. Abelardo Morell took Camera Obscura out of the past and brought it into the future. This paper plans to discuss who Abelardo Morell is, the history of Camera Obscura, and also discuss and analyze three or more photographs by Abelardo himself. It will also discuss Abelardo’s career and how Camera Obscura falls into his career as well as any statements from him about the process. Also any writings or responses by art critics and/or philosophers about Abelardo Morell’s work will be included. This paper hopes to bring across to the reader an understanding of Abelardo Morell and Camera Obscura. â€Å"Abelardo Morell was born in Havana. As a child he felt a sense of alienation and isolation in Cuba, feelings that remained when he moved as a teenager with his family to New York City. Although he later studied comparative religion at Bowdoin College, he eventually took up photography as a way to express his feelings as an immigrant to the United States during the turbulent 1960s† (Yorba). Photography took his mind away from all of the busyness the world had. â€Å"After earning an MFA from Yale University in 1981, he began teaching at Massachusetts College of Art in 1983, where he still teaches today† (â€Å"Site Lines,† Abelardo). Many students are extremely luck to have a mentor such as Morell. He went far and beyond what any other teacher would do for their students. â€Å"When I began teaching photography at the Massachusetts College of Art in the mid 1980s, one of the strategies I used to get beginners excited about photography was to convert our cla ssroom into a camera obscura† (Morell). Camera Obscura might sound like a complicated technique but it really is very simple. One would be surprised how easily it can be done. Even though it can be done very easily and may seem like a new technique, the process has been around for many centuries. â€Å"In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci wrote the earliest surviving description of the camera obscura (dark chamber), a device designed to reproduce linear perspective. The camera obscura, the prototype of the photographic camera, was a large dark room that an artist physically entered. Light entered through a small hole in one of the walls and projected a distinct, but inverted, color image onto the opposite wall that could be then traced† (Hirsh). â€Å"The Camera Obscura seems little short of miraculous, even after the optical rationale has been explained. That one pinhole of light can carry all the visual information of a landscape into a darkened room is still, after many centuries, unknown to the great majority of humans and surprising when they learn of it† (Morell). To understand it better the camera obscura was a darkened room or chamber that allowed only a pinhole of light to enter into a light tight area through which is called an aperture. Diffraction is what allows camera obscura to work. Diffraction in this sense is the bending of light waves that enter the chamber or room and to appear on the wall opposite of the aperture. This image can be produced with exceptional quality if accomplished in the right way. When viewing the camera obscura while it is taking place, one will notice that the image presented on the wall is inverted due to diffraction. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have developed this technique for drawing but was not credited for it. Later on people began to use it more to render drawings to be perspectively correct. Artists at the same time had a hard time with perspective, so the camera obscura helped advance their skills in drawing with becoming perspectively correct. This device is important to the history of photography b ecause it was one of the first forms of photography and cameras. It showed that, at the same time, advances could be made in photography, something with the means of time and knowledge. The discovery of the â€Å"new† technique brought about a need and desire of photography to this day, especially for Abelardo Morell. When deciding to create a camera obscura there are a few things one should consider before jumping into the mind-boggling technique. The first thing you need to consider is the room that you will be photographing in. This room needs to have at least one window and one entry way. The second factor to consider is the time of day you will be photographing in. The time of day where the light is the brightest is the best time to pull off this magnificent method. Also, look at what is outside of the anticipating room. Is the landscape dull or is it astounding? Depending on how amazing you want your photograph to come out depends on the photographer and the landscape that will be captured.