A good citizen Essay Example for Free

A good citizen Essay A good citizen is someone who cares for himself by being good to himself and for the country at the same time by casting vote during the time of election, being honest, law-abiding, paying tax regularly, thinking of common good, thinking of the society by leaving a common place clean and following the rules. Let us discuss the above mentioned points in detail to realise the responsibility of a good citizen. Being good to himself! One can be good to himself by being disciplined. Self-discipline is all about acting according to what your brain tells instead of acting accrding to how your heart feels. Often discipline is equated to loss of freedom, as it often involves sacrificing pleasure, for eg. Violating traffic rules, checking mail when sitting in the class, sleeping for five minutes more than the time set in the alarm, skipping a day’s work out, eating ice-cream when on diet and things similar to these. Self-discipline is so important in life that it makes you feel very confident when you go by the plans fixed by your brain. When petty pleasures such as eating icecream when on diet and checking mails plenty times a day are forgone, body gets tuned to abiding by the plans of brain, in return brain will gain a lot of pleasure as the body is in the right track. One can think of great plans and formulate complex agendas when the body is under the fullest control one’s brain. Casting a vote! Is it so important to cast vote. Voting in an election is just like donating blood to someone who is urgently in need of it. The dawn or demise of a nation purely depends on the attitude of every individual of the nation. Voting is the process of selecting a party of interest which shows suitable policies mandatory for the well being of the nation. Voting odes not just stop with casting a vote, in fact casting a vote is the last step in the process. It is the responsibility of every individual to keep a track on the parties in a country just like the shares bought. Only then it will be easy to understand the plans and real intention of the party despite the fancy policies that they share with the public. Tiny drops of water makes an ocean, so do not forget to vote and as a responsible citizen insist your friends to vote if they refuse to vote. Being honest is bliss; it is not easy to be honest, perhaps not impossible to be honest too. Taming a generation to be honest will help the next generation to be honest naturally. Honesty does not give way to corruption, bribery, injustice and therfore it helps every individual to get the share he deserves. When every individual gets what he actually deserves, the country will be derpived of famine, drought, poverty, terrorism, discrimination and many other evil practices. Law-abiding is just the practice of abiding by the law, just like how we abide by the words of our parents. Law is nothing but a set of rules based on the code of ethics to assure justice for all. A good citizen should respect the law instead of considering it a hindrance on his way. Any individual who goes by his conscience does not have to be bothered about law. Abiding by law reduces the crime rate and raises the standard of the nation in the international picture. Paying tax can be equated to paying the due respect to parents for taking pains to raising us. The tax that we pay is always less for the facilities the government provides us with. Imagine a country where there is no government, the country will be devoid of road, transport, justice, food, water and all basic amenities. Survival becomes a struggle for existence whereas now we are able to think of a business and estimate margin. A regular tax payer is helping the government to take care of the basic facilities and services and as well to take care of the people in the downtrodden who are deprived of these basic amenities. Thinking of common good! Until a particular period of time, there was no concern for the transgenders and they underwent all the ill-treatments on earth. Similary the colors from Africa and other parts of the world were given a bad treatment in U. S. until the Civil Right Act 1964 was enforced. These rectifications in a country did not happen all of a sudden and the radical shift was not an overnight’s change. People who respected the common good for others fought for it and bought it for them. The best example is Nelson Mandela who spent around 36 years of imprisonment fighting for the colors. A good citizen can give his share of contribution by not ill treating anybody, respecting the elders, helping others, doing charity work and so on. These petty works promise a lot of satisfaction. Leaving a place clean; a country is the house of a big clan of people. We bear the utmost responsibility to keep it clean as host of the place. A clean atmosphere always arouses pure thoughts and promises a fresh brain. We have done the maximum damage possible to our mother nature; let us at least try to keep our country clean, so that let our next generation inherit the discipline of taking care of the country after us.

Single Stage Selective Tendering

Single Stage Selective Tendering The method of single stage selective tendering involves finding contractors, possibly from previous experience, and asking them to submit tenders for the project at hand. Because you choose your contractors yourself you can properly dig to find the best one. Past experience is always a help in making your decision, not only this but you can take into account the resources of the company youre using, their health and safety record and their references. Not only this but when choosing a contractor it is also sensible to take into consideration the type of work your doing, some companies will specialise in different areas. There are a few benefits to using single stage selective tendering, firstly you can choose your own contractor and remove bad performing contractors, secondly companies are competitive over it and lastly you can rotate your contractors ensuring you always have a fresh pair of hands. Two Stage Selection Sometimes, potential contractors may be invited to initial discussions about the project to provide input. This is usually only when a project has a short time scale or the client doesnt have much time to work with. After this initial discussion the client can invite his favourite contractors back for a second, which again is a good way to gather more ideas and different inputs on the project. After the second interview the client should definitely know who he wants on board and it the discussions should make it easier to select his contractor. This is a good way of selecting a contractor as you can gather a wide range of input from the first two discussions; it also allows the client to meet all potential candidates allowing him to make a sensible decision. In the second meeting it is likely the contractors will bring bills of quantities to submit as part of the final tender. Open Tendering Open tendering almost explains itself. A client will put some form of advertisement out for a contractor and all contractors are welcome to reply. The client can then make this decision based on portfolios, references or CVs of potential contractors. Open tenders usually occur when a service such a road cleaning is needed. The major disadvantage in open tendering is that many contractors who you have know nothing about, considering their costs and reputation too, can apply, meaning you could end up making a bad decision due to minimal knowledge. References are important in open tendering. Serial Tendering Serial tendering has a number of benefits to it. This is because when you choose a contractor for serial tendering he will be involved on a number of projects. The contractor provides a price for the first project and then uses this to estimate prices for the following tasks. This method of tendering is usually used when there are a number of similar projects taking place, for example a series of schools being built. The advantages to serials tendering are that firstly, the contractor gains valuable knowledge from initial projects to be used in the other projects and secondly the client is guaranteed a long term commitment from the contractor. OBJECTIVES IN TENDERING There are a number of different objectives you will set for yourself in the tendering stage of a project. These objects can have an affect on the tender costs, and if they are not met, it means your overall price will rise. Profit Margin The profit margin of a project is basically how much profit there is to be made, it is a figure taking into consideration all of the costs, once all these costs deductions are done we are left with a rough figure or how much money is to be made. Cost Costs are always a key thing to keep in mind; it will definitely be an objective for the contractors and client to ensure that they keep within their cost restraints. The lower the overall costs of your project, the lower the asking price will be. Some contractors will loose money from their own pocket if they do not keep to their initial set costs. Time It is important to ensure you keep within your timescale on a project, lengthy projects will cost more money than short ones and going over your time scale will have a roll on effect on the overall price. FACTORS AFFECTING THE LEVEL OF TENDERS Main Contractors The main influence in the levels of tenders is the value of a project. Small projects tend to have large lump sum overheads resulting in small profit margins whereas larger projects rely on massive financial commitments. There are numerous other factors that affect the levels of tendering: The number and reputation of other companies trying to secure a tender. The economic climate of a country. Bank of England Base rate higher base rate=higher loan repayment Specialism Location The location of a project can have a massive effect on the tender price. For Example, if a client chose a contractor based in the UK to carry out works in northern Scotland the tender price will be significantly higher. Not only will prices rise due to the fact that the contractor will have to get himself and his men and machinery to northern Scotland and back but sometimes, on long-term projects, the contractor will have to pay for temporary accommodation, including food and drink. Temporary accommodation will cost a lot and can have a great affect on the contractors tender price. Not only this but also, if the project is based somewhere like London, where living costs are substantially larger than the rest of the UK, this can have an effect on the tender price. Site Access The accessibility of a site can also have a significant affect on the tender price. If the site is in the middle of a busy city centre, this will make it hard for large plant to access; city centres also bring a lot of traffic which results in delays. If your site is small with not many access routes or roads it can deem difficult for larger plant to get in, some projects require new access points and routes to be made for larger plant to do their jobs. This obviously costs money, which results on a larger tender price. Site Conditions If the chosen site is unlevelled or bad it means that before works can even proceed, the site will have to be sorted out. This can cost a lot of time and money depending on the state of the site. Some sites are contaminated which will result in a massive operation to decontaminate the site and a massive increase in tender pricing. Sub Contractors Subcontractors are usually appointed in one of two ways. The first way is as a domestic subcontractor to the main contractor and the second is a nominated subcontractor by the client. When there is specialist work that needs to be done that a contractor cannot, he will send for a subcontractor who can do the work. Some subcontractors get recommend by the client. There are once again, factors that influence the prices: The location of the work The schedule of the subcontractor How specialist the work is The client/contractor relationship with the sub contractor. M4 Single Stage Selective Single stage tendering requires the potential contractors to attend one interview with the client before one is chosen. This method is usually used when the client is looking for a partnership agreement with a guaranteed price and profit share. Single rate is also good for projects that need specialist attention. It is a good method for the projects such as hospitals where the client can guarantee a max price. Two Stage Selection This kind of tendering is often used for the design and build aspect of a project as it is good for gathering a wide range of ideas from a number of potential contractors. A sensible contractor will bring ideas to save money to the client and whoever usually manages to save the most money will be hired. This is a good method for specialised needs as the information you gather from the contractors can inform you on whether of not they themselves can carry out the work, which will be cheaper, or whether they have good links with sub contractors that specialise in that area. Two stage selection is good for any building that needs specialist care and also for school and colleges as the client gets significant input from all the potential contractors in the first two stages. Serial Tendering Serial tendering is used when there are a number of similar projects being undertook. It is good because the contractor can use his knowledge from pricing the first building to then price the following projects too. Not all the projects have the same layout but are similar in material and plant need. This enables the contractor to get a quicker idea of price ranges for the other projects as he already knows what he is expecting. Serial tendering is used when a series of school are being built, it can also work for a series of police stations or hospitals. Serial tendering is also good for housing projects, shop chains and restaurant chains. Open Tendering Open tendering is the most traditional tendering method. It is when anyone is open to submit a tender and the client will go through the applicants and choose, who he believes, to be the most suitable candidate. Open tendering can work for any kind of building and also is used for general services like road cleaning. It is good because you get a wide range of applicants to choose from. Even buildings that need specialist work done can be open tendered as the contractors themselves can appoint subcontractors for that kind of work. There are a number of different factors that will have an effect on tender method to be chosen, the following factors can all have an effect on what kind of tender method you use; The location of the project, European construction works are usually dealt with differently to non-EU construction projects. Project size, massive multi-million projects sometimes need the combined help of a number of contractors, e.g. Channel Tunnel. Financial stability of construction company tendering for the work. Company reputation Company resources, including plant, labour and materials. Company competency, including health and safety aspects. The size of projects does have a big effect on the contractor you can use. For many small projects, worth around  £10,000 or less, the majority of clients would find a local contractor to do the job, however for the larger scale projects contractors can be brought in from all corners of the country. Not only size but also the type of work being carried out affects this too, as mentioned before, sometimes a number of contractors will have to join together, in what we call a consortium, in order to meet the high demand of resources needed. And lastly, the massive, high-value projects must be kept an eye on. To ensure they have the capacity to take on such a large financial debt and the associated cash flow requirements, the financial accounts of a prospective tender must be checked over a number of years.

Impact and Challenges of Citizen Reporters

Impact and Challenges of Citizen Reporters Abstract As the global affectation by voyeuristic media challenges the standardized impart of information, it is through the contiguity of citizen reporting that standards of exchange will be challenged and influenced towards a significantly positive outcome. The following dissertation represents an amalgamation of current arguments both for and against citizen reporters and their integration into mass media. The information presented will quickly acclimate the reader to the historical importance of this debate, and through representation of an objective viewpoint, conclusions will be drawn regarding the relative sustainability of this form of media integration. The establishment of a world body of reporter will be shown as necessitated by our expansion as a world of voyeurs, which aligns the inherent need for human contact with the decided assimilation of global information. Research Questions The following questions represent my interest in the topic of Citizen Reporters: Who are the citizen reporters in today’s society and what effect do they have on the current media climate? What does the future look like for citizen reporters and what challenges lay ahead for a free-form integration of their unique viewpoints on important global incidents? Triangulation The obvious utilization of multiple sources, expanded upon either side of the citizen reporter debate will enable my objective view of all arguments and discussion. Additionally, through research and identification of current sources of citizen reporters I will be able to determine the accurate analysis of these entities within outside research, as well as my own integration of their framework into my discussion. Methodology Due to the extremely modern relationship between the substantial integration of citizen reporters and current forms of media exploitation, the most important research of this topic was encountered in magazines and journal entries which represent subjective viewpoints on both sides of the debate. Additionally, discussion with editors of affluent news entities substantiated my research and offered a more immediate impression of the distinct challenges ahead of citizen reporter utilization. Introduction As the high swells battered the coast of New Orleans, a young woman stood on the balcony of her seventh floor apartment watching cars and mailboxes as they were swept away in the current. Her images appeared days later as eyewitness accounts of the terrible Hurricane Katrina disaster and offered the public a firsthand glimpse of terrible devastation. Across the globe, â€Å"the potential value of citizen journalism first became glaring in 2005 when camera-phone images of the London Underground bombings†¦made front pages around the world.†[1] Regardless of incident, the power of the uniquely positioned citizen to provide the world with spectacular images of important global events has set precedence for the future of reporting. The debate rages, however, as to the efficacy of these first hand accounts, and the dilution of media with illegitimacy has further proffered doubt into the validity of citizen reporting. Hypothesis Ultimately, it will be through the efforts of a collaborative world media that barriers and boundaries to the freedom of information may be dismantled and dependent upon the prudent editorial mitigation of erroneous reports, the world will greatly benefit from incorporation of citizen accounts into their media diets. Personal Affectation The research herein details a highly introspective look into my own apprehensions regarding citizen reporting. In the end, through the acceptance of a world necessity for a decrease in censorship and an integration of a wide variety of sources, not just the current information monopoly, I determined that I accept and appreciate the utilization of citizen journalists. The information was readily available, yet distinguishing the more pertinent arguments from those that are simply jaded and encouraged by fear of change was a bit more difficult. In the end, personal discussions with publication editors, as well as a wide variety of material greatly assisted in my appreciation for this form of media. Defining Citizen Reporting In an effort to determine the actuation of citizen reporting, one may only need to turn to current events to spark acumen in the realization of this form of communication. The impact of images of Rodeny King in and the impactive racial slurs of Michael Richards in the US or the devastating destruction of the Underground Bombings in London, have all had an extremely provocative influence on citizen media dedication. In fact the illumination of a world of purported truths has only been affected as the local media conglomerates have begun to accept citizen participation as a necessity in the struggle for accurate and realistic information. The import of reality television and online voyeur websites such as YouTube continue to affirm the power of viewership and the necessitated prioritization of information. In fact, it is through the socialization of news and first-hand integration of rapid iconography of media shakers that the revision of global media has become a perpetual debate. The citizen reporter can potentially evolve from anyone with a camera or even a mobile phone who is lucky enough to encounter a rare and important (and sometimes not so important) circumstance. The ensuing integration of this visual media into local news shows and global media behemoths alike sustains the necessity of in depth interaction with world events. The proliferation of such varied forms of transportable media continues to affirm a desire for interaction within a global community, and through the attraction of citizen reporters, information sharing continues to become far easier. The Supporters—The World Media Conglomerate As world media organizations struggle to identify the veracity within citizen journalists’ contributions, many are accepting their import as a necessitated integration into their future business plans. In fact, through the continued assimilation of the informal journalistic body, the more impactful events will become global focuses unlike ever before seen. â€Å"The journalists role is now to concentrate harder on how, when and where we can add value through our strengths of analysis, context, background and range. But as we do this we must be open to what members of the public bring to our attention. When handled properly, it adds value and improves quality.†[2] The analytical comport of the true journalist will become the equivalent of intensive factions of editors who receive and re-interpret the findings of their citizen journalists in order to proliferate the desires of a well-informed society. Several local citizen based websites and firms have taken this approach to the extreme, standardizing their workforce into the contributions of citizen journalists, many with no prior skill or training. Yet, their effectiveness is debatable, and as financial corporations, supporting their perpetuation does not yet seem to be the most prudent of financial decisions. â€Å"Internet analyst Jay Park at Samsung Securities in Seoul argues that OhmyNews was successful because it was politically motivated, not business-oriented.†[3] The reality for countries such as Korea is that government regulation of media inhibits the ability to receive unbiased broadcasts important to political elections and the legislative power of the people. The fundamental necessity of free media continues to drive global interaction in regards to citizen reporting, oftentimes inspiring the camera toting voyeur to explore scenarios previously impenetrable to the traditional news reporter. The redefinition of media will continue to include citizen reporting into its annuls, challenging journalists to significantly change tactics and seek more affluent and provocative stories in addition to daily occurrences as their focus shifts from subversive to immersive. ‘â€Å"Traditional journalism is the outside looking in,’ Mitch Gelman, executive vice president of CNN.com, said. ‘Citizen journalism is the inside looking out. In order to get the complete story, it helps to have both point of views.’†[4] Obviously, the ability to see all dimensions within a breaking news story becomes an integral part of the global assimilation of citizens into the scheme of media reporting. Additionally, through a necessitated desire to affect change and political activism, the pertinent inclusion of a wide variety of media offers an escape from government regulated politicking. Whereas in the UK, the regulation of political campaigns means minimalizing mass media integration of television advertising, sourcing additional communicative avenues has become a significant priority. The Labour party, inspired by the power of YouTube took to advancing their cause through the well known presence of Tony Blair in an unprecedented inclusion of a major British political figure into a world formerly ruled by lonelygirl15, a once powerful yet innocuous YouTube force. It is integration of multiple media avenues which continues to afford a world media the opportunity to view uncensored information, and while political propaganda is undeniably susceptible to the affectation of the representative party, the viewers are now challenged to explore many avenues to effectively decipher thei r own pertinent information. The Naysayers—The Struggle to Protect Media Yet, the converse of the global citizen integration into mass media also poses significant concern and potential debilitating effects to this veracity based empire. So far, the most significant naysayers continue to be journalistic supporters who feel that the potential integration of citizen reporting poses significant problems for information exchange. Namely, the ability to regulate citizen content or invoke accountability protocol against those who misuse their powers and global affectation, signifies a dilution of world media which could negatively affect the transfer of important facts to the public. As governments refuse to regulate electronic content, namely publically shared information, â€Å"such changes raise policy issues that disturb some colleagues. How can our journalistic reputation be protected when we are not fully in control of our content?†[5] Oftentimes subjected to the infiltration of a derisive surfer, web and media content must constantly be edited and investigated in order to assure the publication of truth in global broadcasting. â€Å"Just as the printing press was disruptive in its time, the ubiquity of the Net and the cheap tools that give voice to anyonewhether talented or nothas kicked off a period of creative ferment.†[6] In fact there are significantly powerful web spiders or congregations of hackers and dissenters seek to flood virtuous areas of media with their own petulant inklings. Mitigation of these groups means constant warfare, and as vacillatory as the world public is, their accidental integration into global media could mean dissonance and refusal of participation in sites whose news publications incorporate citizen reporters. A secondary opinion detailing concern within the integration of citizen reporting lies in the fact that trends and fads fade when public opinion becomes stagnant. â€Å"Other industry watchers also express doubts that citizen journalism will turn out to be a going concern. Had it been an attractive global model, ‘someone would have made lots of money by now.’†[7] And, regardless of whether someone has cornered the market on citizen journalism or not, the willingness of the public to accept its efficacy plays an integral role in its future success. While many companies are copying the model set up in South Korea, the perception is that their eventual disintegration will spell a reaffirmation of journalistic principles and affect a minimalization of citizen journalism. The Future—Dog Walking Star Breaches Headlines Currently, there are few websites completely devoted to the perpetuation of citizen journalism. In South Korea, â€Å"OhmyNews, set up in 2000, now has about 90 full-time staffers 65 of them journalists and some 44,000 citizen contributors. Together, they produce around 150 articles a day. This year, it expects revenues of about $6 million, 60% of which come from online ads and the rest from the sale of the companys news product to Internet portals, and from miscellaneous services.†[8] The challenge of a completely integrated site such as this one is that online advertising, regardless of integration of unpaid citizen reporters into a news site is the influx of capital which assures perpetuation and expansion. Should this particular site not attract the investment capital needed, their failure is immanent. Yet their power and assimilation of attentive citizens represents a significant advance at the forefront of global media. They have even branched out in order to attempt incorporation of global audiences into their media focus. â€Å"OhmyNews English-language news division is produced by nearly 1,500 citizen reporters from more than 100 countries, plus five professional editors based in the U.S. and Korea.†[9] Remarkably, the reliance on conventional media continues to minimize the effectiveness of online agencies such as this one, and in spite of potentially similar broadcasts with integrated content that might represent government censorship in their countries of origin, viewers and readers have not yet attached their interests to the facilities of global reportership. Additional global journalism integrates the use of similar electronic voyeurism such as YouTube into more socially affirmative avenues such as Yahoo News. â€Å"Users can visit the section of Yahoo News, dubbed You Witness News, to upload pictures and video that will then be uploaded to Flickr and related video sites. Yahoo and Reuters editors will then go through the material to determine if any of the content can accompany news articles.†[10] It is through the dedicated editorial departments of such online agencies that the perpetuation of public support for citizen journalism will predominate the views of naysayers. Without thorough source analysis and standardized operating procedures which will guarantee the clarity and veracity of reports, sites such as Yahoo and OhMy will continue to encounter significant resistance from a traditionalist mindset. Where the romanticism of citizen journalism and the freedom of information exchange may capture the majority of the world’s nations with the novelty of more widespread and un-censored media coverage, in France, stringent legislation has now been enacted in order to ban this idea of free reporting and videography. â€Å"The ostensible purpose of the ban is to curb ‘happy slapping,’ the recording of assaults and other crimes by accomplices in order to post videos on the Internet as trophies†¦France is the first country to legislate against it Quite apart from instances of official misconduct, however, the ban attempts to squelch the growing phenomenon of ‘citizen journalism.†[11] This drastic measure has hardly been challenged by the French media organizations, as their government owned framework mitigates the exposure of the world to uncensored French news. Highly evident within this government influence is the limited media coverage of the 2005 u rban riots during which the majority of informatory video came from citizen broadcasts. The resistance from the French regime to accept the global implications of incorporation of its citizens as news correspondents shows an ongoing manipulation of public media sources. The unfortunate fact of this censorship is that dissonance among citizens results in redistribution of French attention towards online media broadcasters regardless of government regulation. The right of humanity to remain informed is an accepted practice throughout the globe, yet political interference continues to hamper the advance of propaganda-free broadcasting. Finally, asides to the mainstream influx of news sources continue to spring up throughout the global information deluge. â€Å"The Center for Citizen Media, which launched a website last month, is setting out to encourage grassroots media, and especially citizen journalism. Its one of the latest new media groups jumping into the movement to further citizen journalism online.†[12] Through encouragement and incremental journalistic education for citizens, the electronic media centers throughout the world will enforce a tactic of freedom of information, which enlivens a residual essence of historical significance: the right to know. Through dedication to human information involvement as well as integration of first-hand accounts into global events, the continuation of information sharing will stand resilient to selfish naysayers. Issues of Confidentiality One area which must be addressed within the scope of citizen journalism is the mitigation of privacy infringement. The idea that anyone with a camera or a pen could become a global media informant makes the lives of media makers much more susceptible to exposure. An individual’s scheme of recognition might include photographically accosting a famous icon with the expectation that through utilization of their image and a distorted narrative, that they could influence headlines worldwide. Throughout my research, the paparazzi played an important role already in this media manipulation, yet the integration of potentially millions of would-be journalists drastically increases the size of their information army. It will be extremely important for major media organizations to discourage their potential affect on the pervasive exploitation of media icons in order to continue to support privacy and fairness regardless of global integration. Conclusion It is not the quality of the reporting, nor is it the frequency, but it is the inherent freedom of citizen reporters which challenges the global media magnates to incorporate the influential view of its people into daily information sessions. Where news was once the ability of government bodies to communicate their policies, the integration of daily human interest stories reminds the global citizenship that it is the interest of humans which most drives effective media. Through perpetuation of the World Wide Web, the global community has shrunk the distance between continents, oftentimes finding as much brotherly interaction across borders as within. It is the unique ability to voyeuristically involve all world citizens in the occurrences which shape society and the environment with which it interacts that determines the approach taken towards future challenges. It is absolutely a necessity to mitigate the effect of journalistic elitists through citizen challenges of an information i nflux; in this way, the reeducation of a global community will be dependant on all unique perspectives, and not just those relative to the monopolistic media organization. References â€Å"Bloggers, Citizen Journalists See Katrina From the Inside; As News Organizations Cover the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Broad Strokes, Bloggers Citizen Journalists are Reporting on the devastation While Living its Consequences.† Information Week: September 1st, 2005. Fernandez, Sophie. â€Å"Happy Slapping the French Public; Sarko Takes a Stand Against Citizen Journalism.† The Weekly Standard: March 13th, 2007. Ihlwan, Moon. ‘â€Å"OhmyNews’ Oh My Biz Problem; The Korean Site for Citizen Reporting Hasn’t had Much Success So Far With its Moves Into Other Markets—And it’s in the Red at Home (Asia).† Business Week Online: November 2nd, 2006. Johnston, Garth. â€Å"YouNewsTV Turns Viewers Into Stringers.† Broadcasting Cable: 137:10, March 5th, 2007. Levy, Steven. â€Å"Dawn of the Amateurs; A Flap Over Fraud on Wikipedia Raises Questions About the Reliability of Information in the Age of ‘You Media.† Newsweek International: March 26th, 2007. â€Å"Media Analysis: Citizen Journalism Acceptance Impacts PR. (User Generated Content).† PR Week (US): December 11th, 2006. â€Å"More Sites Venture Into Grassroots/Citizen Media; There’s a Growing Number of New media Groups Pushing a Movement To Further Citizen Journalism Online.† InternetWeek: February 1st, 2006. Sambrook, Richard.â€Å"Citizen journalism and the BBC: ‘ when major events occur, the public can offer us as much new information as we are able to broadcast to them. From now on, news coverage is a partnership’ (citizen journalism).†Nieman Reports: 59.4, Winter 2005. 1 Footnotes [1] Garth Johnston, â€Å"YouNewsTV Turns Viewers Into Stringers.† (March 5th, 2007) [2] Richard Sambrook, â€Å"Citizen journalism and the BBC: ‘ when major events occur, the public can offer us as much new information as we are able to broadcast to them. From now on, news coverage is a partnership’(citizen journalism),† (Winter 2005) [3] Moon Ihlwan, ‘â€Å"OhmyNews’ Oh My Biz Problem; The Korean Site for Citizen Reporting Hasn’t had Much Success So Far With its Moves Into Other Markets—And it’s in the Red at Home (Asia),† (November 2nd, 2006) [4] â€Å"Bloggers, Citizen Journalists See Katrina From the Inside; As News Organizations Cover the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Broad Strokes, Bloggers and Citizen Journalists are Reporting on the Devastation While Living its Consequences,† (Sept 1, 2005) [5] Richard Sambrook, (Winter, 2005) [6] Steven Levy, â€Å"Dawn of the Amateurs; A Flap Over Fraud on Wikipedia Raises Questions About the Reliability of Information in the Age of ‘You Media,† (March 26th, 2007) [7] Moon Ihlwan, (November 2nd, 2006) [8] Moon Ihlwan, (November 2nd, 2006) [9] Moon Ihlwan, (November 2nd, 2006) [10] â€Å"Media Analysis: â€Å"Citizen Journalism Acceptance Impacts PR,† (Dec 11, 2006) [11] Sophie Fernandez , â€Å"Happy Slapping the French Public; Sarko Takes a Stand Against Citizen Journalism,† (March 13th, 2007) [12] Richard Sambrook, (Winter, 2005)

Essay on Downfall and Denial in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menage

Downfall and Denial in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams allows the main characters in the plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, to live miserable lives, which they first try to deny and later try to change.   The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays.   The characters, Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda from The Glass Menagerie are prime examples.   Blanche and Amanda have had, and continue to have, many struggles in their lives.   The problem is that Williams never lets the two women work through these problems and move on.   The two ladies are allowed to destroy themselves and Williams invites the audience to watch them in the process (Stine 474).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The downfall, denial, and need to change of the two women are all quite evident in these two plays. First the troubles of Blanche and Amanda need to be recognized. Blanche has apparently had practice hiding her drinking problem. When she arrives at Stella’s home, she sneaks a shot of whiskey (Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene1. Page 18. Lines 12-17). When she is later offered a drink, she acts as though she has no idea where the alcohol is kept (Williams, A.S.N.D. 1.19.12-15).   Amanda cannot accept the fact that no gentlemen callers are coming for Laura, her daughter, thus making that reality more difficult for Laura to accept (Williams, The Glass Menagerie, 1.28.1-5).   Neither Blanche nor Amanda allows herself to recognize her problems and work them out.   They both deny the existence of these problems, thereby enabling their difficulties to become larger and even more complicated.   When Stella offers Blanche a second drink, Blanche states, "One's m... ...Blanche and Amanda.   Tennessee Williams wrote very similar plays along common themes, plays that both disturbed and aroused sympathy for the characters as well as the real life counterparts that they represented.    Works Cited Baym, Nina et al, eds.   The Norton Anthology of American Literature.   New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995. Hassan, William.   Tennessee Williams: Parallels in Frustation.   Boston: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Krutch, Joseph Wood.   Modernism in Modern Drama.   New York: Cambridge University Press, 1953. Stine, Daniel.   Tennessee Williams: An Interpretation.   Chicago: University Press, 1977. Williams, Tennessee.   A Streetcar Named Desire.   New York: Signet, 1947. Williams, Tennessee.   Anthology of American Literature:   From Realism to the Present.   Ed. McMichael, George et al. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.    Essay on Downfall and Denial in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menage Downfall and Denial in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams allows the main characters in the plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, to live miserable lives, which they first try to deny and later try to change.   The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays.   The characters, Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda from The Glass Menagerie are prime examples.   Blanche and Amanda have had, and continue to have, many struggles in their lives.   The problem is that Williams never lets the two women work through these problems and move on.   The two ladies are allowed to destroy themselves and Williams invites the audience to watch them in the process (Stine 474).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The downfall, denial, and need to change of the two women are all quite evident in these two plays. First the troubles of Blanche and Amanda need to be recognized. Blanche has apparently had practice hiding her drinking problem. When she arrives at Stella’s home, she sneaks a shot of whiskey (Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene1. Page 18. Lines 12-17). When she is later offered a drink, she acts as though she has no idea where the alcohol is kept (Williams, A.S.N.D. 1.19.12-15).   Amanda cannot accept the fact that no gentlemen callers are coming for Laura, her daughter, thus making that reality more difficult for Laura to accept (Williams, The Glass Menagerie, 1.28.1-5).   Neither Blanche nor Amanda allows herself to recognize her problems and work them out.   They both deny the existence of these problems, thereby enabling their difficulties to become larger and even more complicated.   When Stella offers Blanche a second drink, Blanche states, "One's m... ...Blanche and Amanda.   Tennessee Williams wrote very similar plays along common themes, plays that both disturbed and aroused sympathy for the characters as well as the real life counterparts that they represented.    Works Cited Baym, Nina et al, eds.   The Norton Anthology of American Literature.   New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995. Hassan, William.   Tennessee Williams: Parallels in Frustation.   Boston: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Krutch, Joseph Wood.   Modernism in Modern Drama.   New York: Cambridge University Press, 1953. Stine, Daniel.   Tennessee Williams: An Interpretation.   Chicago: University Press, 1977. Williams, Tennessee.   A Streetcar Named Desire.   New York: Signet, 1947. Williams, Tennessee.   Anthology of American Literature:   From Realism to the Present.   Ed. McMichael, George et al. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.   

Influence of Realism on Literature :: Literature Realism

Influence of Realism on Literature After World War I, American people and the authors among them were left disillusioned by the effects that war had on their society. America needed a literature that would explain what had happened and what was happening to their society. American writers turned to what is now known as modernism. The influence of 19th Century realism and naturalism and their truthful representation of American life and people was evident in post World War I modernism. This paper will try to prove this by presenting the basic ideas and of these literary genres, literary examples of each, and then make connections between the two literary movements. Realism Modernism not only depicted American society after World War I accurately and unbiasedly, but also tried to find the solutions brought upon by the suffering created by the war (Elliott 705). The realistic movement of the late 19th century saw authors accurately depict life and it’s problems. Realists attempted to â€Å"give a comprehensive picture of modern life† (Elliott 502) by presenting the entire picture. They did not try to give one view of life but instead attempted to show the different classes, manners, and stratification of life in America. Realists created this picture of America by combining a wide variety of â€Å"details derived from observation and documentation...† to â€Å"approach the norm of experience...† (3). Along with this technique, realists compared the â€Å"objective or absolute existence† in America to that of the â€Å"universal truths, or observed facts of life† (Harvey 12). In other words, realists objectively looked at American society and pointed out the aspects that it had in common with the general truths of existence. This realistic movement evolved as a result of many changes and transitions in American culture. In the late 1800’s, the United States was experiencing â€Å"swift growth and change† as a result of a changing economy, society, and culture because of an influx in the number of immigrants into America. Realists such as Henry James and William Dean Howells, two of the most prolific writers of the Nineteenth-century, used typical realistic methods to create an accurate depiction of changing American life.

Self Discovery Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Self Discovery â€Å"What are you going to do after you get your degree?†Whenever I announce my occupation, this trite, well-intentioned question never fails to follow. I am a student, a senior at Metro, studying Literature and History. Not only a student, I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and female. No, I don’t bring in a paycheck, but my life is fulfilling, gratifying, deserving and challenging. Will I teach, write, join the downtown business crew again, or become a clerk in the bookstore? Maybe I will. Whatever I do, I know I will strive to be a bit more patient, observing the tiniest of details, attempting to be more considerate and understanding of people, honoring their backgrounds and culture. While studying English and History, I have obtained a clearer sense of being. I have repeatedly professed that my family and faith prioritize my life, however, I often found that the chaos of establishing a career and pursuing the ‘American Dream’ clashed with those values. Caught in a whirlwind, life was centered around the present, focusing on the future, without the time or necessity to reflect on the past. The study of liberal arts has opened new windows to the past in my mind, allowing the wisdom and thoughts of many great people circulate and stimulate my efforts, giving credence to many of life’s blessings and insecurities. The struggles, discoveries, confessions, and pronouncements of those who are forged in history often apply to modern day life relationships. A fellow classmate, very intuitively, remarked that my writing always reflects back to my personal life. The impact of history and literature on my life, explains the gift I have found in my studies. Socrates (469-399 B.C.), a professional teach... ... and to idle, but I will try to keep an open mind! The study of literature requires critical reading, understanding the background of the author, being cognizant of the historical culture in which the author wrote to fully comprehend the statement being made. I believe when I finally nail the hole on the study wall when hanging my degree next to that of my husband and daughter, I will apply the skills learned in my Liberal Arts education to my every day life and acquaintances. WORKS CITED Hollister, C. Warren. Medieval Europe – A Short History. USA:The McGraw-Hill Co., 1998. Thoreau, Henry David. â€Å"Walden.† The Norton Anthology – American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. USA:W.W. Norton & Co. 1998. 1768-1820. Woolf, Virginia. â€Å"A Room of One’s Own.† The Longman Anthology – British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. USA: Addison-Wesley Ed. Publ., 1999. 2465-2499.

Letter of advice on how customer service in BA can be improved

I am writing to offer you some advice on how customer service in BA can be improved. Your Chief Executive, Mr Willie Walsh, suggested I write to you because he was impressed with my suggestions about monitoring and evaluating customer service. The four areas I will focus on are: 1. Improvements to quality 2. Reliability 3. Improvements to the organisation 4. Improvements to employees There are many ways in which you can improve the quality of your service in BA. Firstly I believe the introduction of extra staff training will highly benefit your company and in turn help improve your customer service. For instance all staff should be trained to deal with difficult customers; this can be very disruptive to the clientele and furthermore create a negative image for BA. If all staff is trained in this area it will mean that procedures can run smoothly and disruptive customers can be dealt with effectively. As well as this staff should be trained in helping people with special needs such as elderly, disabled, or young children. It is important that they are treated the same as regular customers and treated with due care and attention. This will attract attention to your company as people will know that your company is customer focused and has high levels of customer service for all types of people. Moreover you could introduce policies such as the introduction of new rules that will set higher expectations from your staff. This can include approaching as many customers as possible and asking them if they need any assistance in areas such as check-in. This will improve customer service levels as you can ensure that everyone is following the rules that have been set and in turn you can add more rules and regulations that will ensure that all staff is doing the same thing throughout your business. To each individual team you can set monthly targets, this will allow you to monitor the section and then create more objectives you plan for them to reach. This will benefit customers because each group of people will have objectives that they need to achieve and will be monitored throughout their progress to ensure the highest quality customer service is provided. As I suggested in a letter to your chief executive Mr Willie Walsh, the use of mystery shoppers and surveys will highly benefit your company in terms of customer service. These two methods will identify areas where there are problems and will allow you to put in the correct measures so this can be improved. For example if a mystery shopper identified that the staff were unfriendly, this will mean you can put in place training and/or aims and objectives and allow you to fix this issue. This will make your customer service more reliable because it will mean that it is aimed at certain aspects that have been pointed out as being under par. However it is also necessary for management to focus on customer service. This will help keep staff happy as they know that the management care about the service provided to customers and will in turn encourage them to adopt the same style. As well as this it can also improve levels of customer loyalty, this is because customers will feel that they are being treated very well and the staff are ensuring that the customer’s needs are met to the highest standard. This will not only boost the amount of return customers but also give BA the reputation of being customer focused. This will also attract customers that usually use other airlines increasing the popularity of your business and in turn the reputation of BA will grow. This will lead to increased sales as there will be a high volume of customers and consequently this will create increased profits. Finally I believe it is imperative that you train and develop your staff as this will allow you to gain the most from them. It will improve the levels of customer service they provide, and mean that they are more confident with their job roles. Secondly they will be motivated to work hard and self evaluate their performance. If each and every member of staff does this it will improve the whole of BA’s performance and make it become a more successful company. For instance if a member of staff has been trained in customer service, they will be confident when communicating with the customer and providing information (such as ticket information, baggage information), when they are positively rewarded by the customer (through language and expression) they will feel motivated to work even harder and will become critical of their own work and make sure it is to the best quality, and if not then try to improve it. This will mean that staff will constantly try to achieve the best that they can and provide excellent service. In comparison, a member of staff who has not been trained in customer service will be unsure about the way they should talk to the customer and will therefore feel unconfident with the work they are being asked to do. This will lead to them not being motivated to work hard which will make the quality of their work even worse. All in all this will mean that BA is being represented badly through its staff.