Reading England in the 1500s Definitions and Notes Flashcard

Reading England in the 1500s Definitions and Notes

Why had Henry failed to achieve his aims in foreign policy by 1529 Essays

Why had Henry failed to achieve his aims in foreign policy by 1529 Essays Why had Henry failed to achieve his aims in foreign policy by 1529 Paper Why had Henry failed to achieve his aims in foreign policy by 1529 Paper Essay Topic: History Henrys aims since he came to the throne in1509 was glory, he thought he could get this through vast amount of money. Henry at the time was almost broke and therefore needed glory quickly, and the way Henry came up with to make money and gain glory was via war. He needed to attack France but he had no money, Wolsey raised the funds and so became very close to Henry and he went on to gain glory. Although Henry was satisfied with the war he still wanted more glory and to be a dominant figure in Europe. Unfortunately Henry had not achieved his aims by 1529, this was due to a number of reasons, one being that the other powers in Europe were much bigger and grew faster than Henry so he could not keep up. One important reason for Henrys failure to achieve his aims were a number of set backs during 1509 and 1529. One of these set backs comes as early as 1514 where even though Henry has won the war between France and England he is still in essence broke, this makes it hard for Henry to have any impact on foreign politics and does not put him in a good position to go to war again. Henry gets an opportunity to become a leading figure in Europe in 1518 with the Treaty of London, but unfortunately the Turkish never really attack so Henrys power goes to waste. In 1523 Henry is on course for taking over France (being only 50 miles outside Paris with 10,000 troops) but his alliance breaks down and he is forced to retreat. This shows that he was close to being a dominant force in European politics but just missed out due to this major setback. Henrys lack of military power was another thing that set him apart from the rest of Europe. Due to the fact that Henry was not as big as the other countries and that he could not pay his soldiers as much Henry simply did not have as bigger army as other dominant powers. This depicted Henry as weak to his fellow leaders, thus making him seem unimportant and not worth taking too much notice of. Wolsey was one of the reasons that Henry did not achieve his aims, this is because however much Wolsey helped Henry he would always be against him due to his want of the papacy. This meant that Henry never got what he quite wanted, and his ideas were always slightly adjusted, thus never giving Henrys desired outcome. The relationships within Europe were another reason Henrys aims were never accomplished, Wolsey would make alliances but Henry would regularly fall out with the other leaders splitting up the alliances. For example in 1516 Henry weakens his alliance with the Empire by falling out with Max. The traditional view of France as the enemy meant that Henry never really had an alliance with France. The major blow was when Wolsey missed out on the France + Empire + Pope Treaty, this showed Henry was not a dominant as he was not respected enough to be asked into the alliance. Henry was competing against very powerful kings in Europe, thus finding it hard to make an impact on foreign politics. Charles the 5th controlled most of Europe making him very powerful militarily and dominating most of Europe. Whereas Henry had England which was relatively small and had a small population. Francis 1st has vast amounts of money that gave him respect and the ability to do things he wanted such as build an army or show off his wealth (the field of cloth and gold). Whereas Henry was almost broke and struggled to raise funds to go to war. In conclusion Henrys lack of power and dominance and the fact there were strong leaders in Europe meant he was not taken as seriously as the others, and he could do nothing to make them listen, as he simply did not have the resources to challenge them. The other greater powers meant Henry had no chance of coming into line with them as he could not grow in power quicker than them, especially with the money he had. If Henry had gone with Wolseys ideas totally then Henry may have found his glory in peace rather than war, and in turn saved more money. This would have meant he could have executed his foreign policy better. Unfortunately this never happened therefore meaning that Henry never achieved his foreign policy aims by 1529.

Indonesia - Suharto politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Indonesia - Suharto politics - Research Paper Example 3). This started in central Java when he involved himself in many enterprises that were very profitable thus helping in the funding of the poor military forces. This business with Islamic therefore strengthened his relationship with the Muslims thus making it easier for him to from alliances with them. Indonesia is also highly populated by Muslims who were looking for ways of making Indonesia a Muslim republic. Reasons Why Indonesians Mainly Opposed Communists Communism was strongly opposed by Indonesians because a military propaganda convinced international and Indonesian audiences that an abortive coup scheduled for September 30th, 1969 was coup organized by the communists. It was also reported that the murders and atrocities committed against many Indonesians were targeted at Indonesian heroes. The army led a campaign to destroy Indonesian society and communist party. In some parts of the country, the army organized religious, militia and civilian groups where communist vigilantes defeated the army, killing approximately half a million people. Consequently, Indonesian Communist Party was eliminated by political Islam and the military. Key Experiences that Shaped Suharto’s Politics Suharto had served in key military positions during the reign of Sukarno. On February 1966, he was appointed lieutenant General by the president. On the other hand, the March 1966 Supers mar decree transformed most of Sukarno’s power to Suharto giving him permission to do whatever he found necessary in order to restore peace ( Elson, 2001, p. 8). Elson further assesses that he also served in the Indonesian security forces that wee against Japanese here, he rose become the Major General when Indonesia gained independence. This gave him enough experience that shaped his political life. New Order Implemented under Suharto The new order implemented under Suharto was the building of a very powerful institution in the presidency of Indonesia. Therefore, Suharto isolated his rivals from the ruling elite and army and rewarded his loyalties with patronage. The new order aimed at achieving economic development, political order, and ending mass participation in political processes. The new order was featured in a weak society, corporatization and bureaucratization of societal and political organizations, with effective and selective opponents’ repression. Suharto’s order ensured a government that was authoritarian and military dominated. The order established two intelligence agencies; State Intelligence Coordination Agency and Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order for maintenance of domestic order. Position of Islamist Parties Muslim parties’ position was justice, democracy and gender equality. They encouraged female activists. These parties were more democratic and moderate than the other political parties. They radically criticized the position of Americans towards Muslims through peaceful demonstrations. The y also sought to recover the Muslim identity both in the social and political arenas. State of Economy Inherited by Suharto and his Key Reforms Suharto inherited a nearly-collapsed economy from Surkano due to social breakdown and political conflicts during Surkano’s reign (Miller, 2008, p. 5). However, Suharto revived the economy by controlling the 1965-68 hyper-inflation. Miller (2008,

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria - Essay Example The problems that exist in the available data for ABR is the fact that the reported cases are just approximations as given by various national summary tables which are able to give only a rough estimate of the real burden of illness. Thus there is no great precision in these figures and the real number of infections and deaths are therefore definitely higher than the figures provided. This problem can be overcome by doing studies in limited settings such a single hospital or a cluster of hospitals where the actual figures are taken (WHO, 2014). Resistance can be tackled by using antibiotics only on prescription by a certified health practitioner, completing full treatment dose, even after healing and avoiding sharing of antibiotics with other people or taking leftover prescriptions. The methods that have little impact are the ones that are single and isolated interventions such as prescription and dispensation of the right drugs without much education to the patient. These studies lack accuracy since the data used is only estimates. An appropriate study should be done in a limited setting and should be conclusive taking into account the cost and specific type of resistance witnessed and by what particular bacteria (WHO,

Sherlock Holmes Essay Example for Free

Sherlock Holmes Essay The use of clues and red herrings this way creates a sense of atmosphere and suspense which appeals to the modern day reader because it is what most modern day stories include and as this was written in the Victorian era it is still giving the reader the sense of uneasiness; for example, In The Speckled Band, the gypsies are red herrings because Conan Doyle writes about them in a way as to suggest they are to blame for the crime however this only makes the reader build up false accusations against them and they become oblivious to the real criminal. The use of language is very interesting in Conan Doyles stories because there are many variations compared to the language we use today. For example in the speckled band Holmes asks Helen Stoner to take a seat but instead of using the phrase have a seat which we would use in todays modern language, he says to Miss Stoner pray take a seat which is a polite way of asking the same thing of someone. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries women were not treated with an equal amount of respect as men and so by Holmes addressing Miss Stoner in that way, it is an example of how he is unique and does not think less of women. The modern reader may struggle to understand some of the meanings of the phrases used because they have slightly different meanings to us now. For example, Holmes addresses Watson and says, I beg you will not disturb me, using I beg in todays society would have a different meaning altogether as it would seem as though you desperately want something. Also, the language tells us a lot about Victorian society, in the past people were addressed according to their class and this was determined from where you lived. The suspect in The Speckled Band is Dr. Grimsby Roylott; he commits the crime of murder because he wants to ensure he gains full entitlement to a large sum of money. Conan Doyle uses very powerful imagery to create the character of Dr. Roylott such as, He was a huge man.. face.. marked with every evil passion and also He strode out of the room. These two quotes are a few examples of the language the author uses to build up the readers accusations against Roylott and also to show how he placed himself above others and to show his importance. In the Red Headed League, the main suspect is John Clay; he works hard only for half-pay. This is similar to The Speckled Band because both crimes are money related. From the techniques Doyle uses, the reader is meant to think that Roylott and Clay are the villains but then he also uses other techniques to make the reader doubt their suspicion. This makes the story ending much more unexpected. The writer uses suspicion by making the suspects act in mysterious and different ways to everyone else. From the behavior of the suspects, you find out that back in Victorian Society many crimes were based on money and the belief that it was very important; this is a very big similarity between the two periods of time because in todays society the majority of crimes are still money related. The victim in The Red Headed League is Jabez Wilson; he is a shop owner who is being deceived by his employee, John Clay. He believes that John is doing photography down in the cellar, however he is digging a tunnel to the Bank. The victim in The Speckled Band is Helen Stoner; she comes home after questioning the mysterious death of her twin sister. The writer uses techniques to make the victims seem helpless in comparison to Holmes, such as making them seem desperate for his help as though they are incapable without him, which in effect emphasizes his great skills and capability at solving crimes. Also, Helen Stoner is made to seem weaker than Jabez which shows how women were given less opportunities than men and that men were thought to be more powerful and important. A motive is a reason for something and all suspects must have a motive in order to commit a crime. The motive for both The Speckled Band and The Red Headed League is money. In The Red Headed League, John Clay attempts to steal from the Bank of London and in The Speckled Band; Dr. Roylott attempts to stop his daughter from marrying in order to inherit money that they would be entitled from the will of a past relative. Holmes motive for solving crimes is for the excitement in each individual case not for actually solving the crime itself. He says to Watson that he suffers from ennuie meaning that he finds everyday life boring. The motives show how important money was in Victorian Society; the main reason for this is because it determines your class. All Sherlock Holmes stories have strong morals; these are serious messages that teach the reader something. Both The Speckled Band and The Red Headed League have the same moral and that is that money isnt everything. Money can get people into a lot of trouble, in these cases murder and robbery. This is important for Victorian readers because money is very much related to their lives and people were very discriminate about class back in those times; these morals can be seen as a warning to them. These morals would appeal to a modern reader because it is still valid for todays society. It is a way of distinguishing right from wrong and showing how crime results in punishment and that justice will be done. The morals dont seem harsh to me, I think they are fair. It is a strong message; however I think they can be interpreted differently in both the Victorian society and todays society. Back in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries money often determined peoples class which could affect their lifestyles however; many crimes are committed in order to gain money for different reasons. The key parts of the stories that I feel appeal to me, as a modern day reader, are the processes leading up to the crime being solved and the frequent use of red herrings. Also, the Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes would appeal to modern readers because they are of a detective genre which still relates to todays society. I would recommend these stories because they are very well written and are also educational and informative about Victorian Society. I preferred The Speckled Band because it had the most unexpected ending due to having so many red herrings in. I think that that makes the story more exciting and interesting to read. Adriana Romano 10N Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.

Citizen Service Centres (KEP): Perceptions of Customers

Citizen Service Centres (KEP): Perceptions of Customers 1. Introduction 1.1 Importance of the Research According to the philosophical bases of marketing customer wants satisfaction. As the consumer is the key for a firm, the voter is the central element for a government or party (Lock and Harri,1996).In this context the citizen voter wants satisfaction and searching his satisfaction from the services that are offered to him is ‘‘ a lens through which government and public managers can gain a better perspective on how citizens respond to the performance of public services, (Van Ryzin , 2004) and offers important findings for the policy makers. Citizen satisfaction surveys are frequently used by U.S. local governments and public administration researchers in order to measure the quality of local government services (Hatry et al., 1992; Miller and Kobayashi, 2000). A big number of U.S. cities use surveys regularly (New York , San Francisco, Phoenix etc.),in order to analyze in a descriptive and unvaried way , the level of perceived quality of services ,within a locality and over time (Van Ryzin et al., 2004). Recent studies have compared citizen satisfaction with benchmarks that were developed from data collected across many localities (Miller and Miller 1991; Miller and Kobayashi 2000), and have focused on the individual, jurisdictional, and city-specific determinants of citizen ratings of service quality (De Hoog, Lowery, and Lyons 1990; Hero and Durand 1985),like taxes and expenditure ,and also on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents such as race (Schuman and Gruenberg, 1972). Other investigations have negotiated the citizen satisfaction from the police according to their ethnoracial characteristics (Brad W. S. 2005), or satisfaction from the education system or from hospitals (Amyx,Bristow ,2001, Suda Anita D.,1998). The importance of the public services quality became popular in the United Kingdom at 1990s when the political parties put an emphasis on the subject ,but even in our days the need for quality services that meet â€Å"customer† citizens needs and expectations, is more and more obvious .This need for quality public services is even expressed by the European Social Fund, as the implementation of the strategy and policies of the European Committee at Member States ,is strongly related with the public service organizations, which many of them are responsible for (ESF,2009). And although, in the marketing research exist a number of well-developed models of approaching customer satisfaction, there has been little development of a model that would test citizens satisfaction. As a result, it would be valuable to test such a model in the framework of Greek public services. 1.2 The Research Objectives The overall objective of this research is to examine the Greek citizens perceptions and expectations of service quality concerning the Citizen Service Centres (KEP) -a Greek public service based on servqual model. From this overall objective a number of more specific aims can be identified: Investigate consumer expectations towards the service offered from public services Examine citizen perceptions about Citizen Service Centres(KEP) Asses the factors that play an important role in the service quality of Citizen Service Centres (KEP) 2. Literature Review 2.1 Politics and the marketing concept It has often been argued that the application of ‘marketing tools and instruments in politics is nothing new (Perloff, 1999; Baines and Egan, 2001).In the last twenty-five years what have changed about the political marketing is not just the size of political marketing management but also the belief that political actors act and think in political terms. Political actors are them that they try to do marketing management in a frame of integration of marketing instruments in a coherent marketing strategy (Newman, 1994a; Dermody and Scullion, 2001). It is supposed that the selling of politicians and the selling of a product is linked (OShaughnessy, 2001) and that commercial and political contexts are essentially similar (Kotler, 1999). Many marketers believe that the tools and concepts of marketing can be transferred directly to the political arena (Lock and Harris ,1996) .The applications of political marketing are used as a tool of managing politics, developing policy (Nimmo, 1999), or even governing (OShaughnessy, 2003). The marketing concept in commercial terms is based on the principle that all company planning and operations will be customer oriented. As such the philosophical basis of the marketing concept is that customer want satisfaction (OCass, 1996). When a political party or candidate applies this concept to the political process, they must be in a position to adapt to and satisfy voters needs (Mauser, 1983; Newman and Sheth, 1987; Reid, 1988). For major mainstream parties, the overriding objective is to attract voters, win elections and hold power (Lock and Harris, 1996).In this extent knowing the degree of satisfaction of citizens seems to be important. 2.2 Citizen Citizen is every person of a state that has the citizenship of it (New Encyclopaedia, 2006). According the place and the time different criteria were used to define the citizen .The genealogical criterion, which is the oldest, the legal criterion and the economic (taxation) criterion .According to the first, citizen is the son of citizen that hasnt lost his rights. This definition was used in the ancient cities in order to distinguish the mass from the public. According to the second criterion citizen is each one that is recognized like that from the law. And finally, according to the last , citizen is each one that owns property or a quantity of goods and contributes to the governmental budget (Encyclopaedia Papyrus Larousse Britannica, 1992).Citizens have some rights and obligations .Their rights are political such as the right to vote, to be member of the jury or public servant , and personal such as the right to live ,to have free speech , to work, to live in freedom ,etc . ,that are protected from the state and are given to everyone. Citizens obligations such as taxation are set in order to protect the privileges that are offered to citizens from the government and they emerge from the need of the States existence (New Encyclopaedia, 2006). One of the governmental works is the provision of goods and services. All the modern governments take part directly to the economy by providing goods and services , organising industrial enterprises I promoting economic activities .Providing sanitary, education, and social insurance services , is one of the modern states concerns (Heinz Eulau ,1992). 2.3 Citizens as Customers, Customers as Citizens The classic definition of customer is â€Å"one who purchases or receives a product or service† (Carlson, 1997). The concept of customer is often more complicated in the public sector. For example, the city of Coral Springs in Florida, refined the idea by considering two distinct categories of external customers. Moreover, a building permit applicant is a direct customer while the applicants neighbors are among the indirect customers who will benefit if the decision helps to ensure a safer city and more appropriate land use and construction practices. But even with these refinements, â€Å"citizen† sometimes has a broader meaning. Citizens enjoy rights and take on responsibilities that extend well beyond those commonly recognized to customers (Popovich, 1999). Despite the passage of generations, the fact that government cannot succeed without the peoples trust and support, is a true even today. These essential elements of civil society shape the capacity and help determine the actual performance of government. Societys efforts to accomplish its highest priority and most practical goals are likely to fall short in the absence of the peoples agreement in the functions of government. As the customer is the key for a firm, the citizen -voter is the central element for a government. 2.4 Public services A service is a non material product (education, health safety etc).The meaning of public services isnt constrained in the area of Public and Αdministrative law .The public service is a known significance in the economy, as an appropriate tool of the states expansion in the social relations, for the preservation of stabilized provisions for the welfare state. Beyond the needs of the of practical policy, the interest of the political science with the expansions of the political philosophy is expressed , as the public service is characterized as the expansion of the state in its social activity . In other words , it is the way by which the state contacts the citizens in order to cover their direct needs .After the two World Wars this phenomenon is observed in the European area .In Germany , this works as ‘‘Anstalten (institutions) and the ‘‘ offentlichen Unternehmungen (public enterprises) . The administration (the welfare state) undertakes and guarantees ben efits even for the preservation of life of human who live massively in big cities such as transportation ,cleanliness , water , electricity etc. ÃŽ ¤he principles of function of the public services are connected with the needs and social aims that are tended to fulfil. Therefore, services are provided to everyone in the same way in order to cover the needs, under conditions that change from time to time (Encyclopaedia Papyrus Larousse Britannica ,1992 ). According to the Europa Glossary that is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon ,the concept of public service is >. At the same time the Europa Glossary defines that continuity of service quality security of supply equal access affordable prices social , cultural and environmental acceptability Article 16 of the EC Treaty, introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, confirms the role of public services in the European Union. The EU policy on operators of public services is still shaped by the desire to liberalise network public services and to widen the scope of competition on national markets, be this, in the areas of rail transport, postal services, energy or telecommunications>>. 2.5 Citizen Service Centres (KEP) The institution of KEP was founded in 2002, based on an idea of the Deputy Minister Mr Beno. The KEP were founded according to the article 31 of law 3013/2002 and were staffed with short term labour agreement workers, according to the processes of article 6 of law 2527/1997. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (2007), over 60.000 of citizens visit every day Citizen Service Centres (KEP) for certified or not processes, ratifications of registrations, certifications of genuine signature and every kind of administrative information. The last three years 40 new KEP were founded and now they are 1035 at their total. The centres are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 20:00, and Saturday, 8:00 to 14:00. At Citizen Service Centres (KEP) citizens can:  · obtain information on what they need to do in order to manage their transactions with the municipality * submit applications for the processing of matters that involve the City that the KEP is registered and state agencies in accordance with joint decisions issued by the Interior Minister or other competent Minister >(City of Athens ,2007). Some of the procedures (about 1.014 at total) that Citizens can carry out at Citizen Service Centres are the following:  · The registration or transfer of registration of a passenger vehicle or motorcycle  · The issuance of a birth certificate duplicate  · The issuance of a criminal record duplicate for general or legal use  · The issuance of a marital status certificate  · The issuance of a birth certificate duplicate for those registered with the City of Athens  · The application for a rent subsidy for the year 2006 to Workers Housing Organisation beneficiaries (former recipients)  · The issuance of a registry birth certificate duplicate for an adult or minor  · The issuance of a public transport pass for individuals with disabilities  · The application for the seasonal unemployment benefit in accordance with Article 22 of Law 1836/89 OAED (Greek Manpower Employment Organisation)  · The issuance of a marital status certificate for individuals registered with the City of Athens (online)  · The application for a rent subsidy for the year 2006 to Workers Housing Organization beneficiaries (new recipients)  · The issuance of a marriage license duplicate  · The application for the OAED (Greek Manpower Employment Organization) family subsidy  · The issuance of a drivers license  · The issuance of a Type A military status certificate (full)  · The renewal of a drivers license  · The issuance of a registry death certificate duplicate  · The application for change in passenger vehicle or motorcycle ownership  · The issuance of a permanent residence certificate  · The issuance of a judicial interdiction certificate See Appendix 1 Progressively KEP were transformed to Centres of Completed Transactions, bringing the Public Administration more near to citizen. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (2007), citizens trust KEP and are in general satisfied from them. Nowadays they have permanent staff which possesses about 2588 positions. The number of affairs that KEP handled the last years is presented at the table below: PERIOD NUMBER OF AFFAIRS SERVED CITIZENS 2006 3.042.509 1.154.554 2005 2.305.195 1.527.516 2004 1.643.313 1.316.505 2003 423.759 356.872 Medium number of affairs per day from Monday to Friday: 11.805 Medium number of affairs per day (Saturday): 821 According to the Ministry KEP are recognizable from about the 80% of citizens. Equally big are the visits to them that they exceed 60%, since they were enriched with new, more attractive for the citizen processes. But more interesting are the numbers linked with the subject of satisfaction of citizens, which according to the ministry exceeds the 90%. The problems that the Public Administration was facing when KEP were created were multiple. The most serious of them were the bad organization and the centralism of public services, lack of confidence in the government owned services, lack of evaluation, lack of meritocracy, weakening of ASEP, fragmentary, and consequently unsuccessful, efforts of application of Electronic Governing, absence of controls and sanctions and finally inflation of bureaucracy and corruptness. For this reason in 2007 a number of regulations of the article 15 of the law for Citizen Service Centres (KEP) were introduced, in order to fight the difficulties and dysfunctions of citizens service (Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2007). Some of the regulations were the following:  · The foundation of the Direction of Organization and Operation of KEP in the General Secretariat of Public Administration and Electronic Governing. The Direction was founded in order to guarantee the proper operation of KEP, but also their evolution in Centres of Completed Administrative Transactions, and the resolution of problems that emerges, because of their big number, the crowd of subjects and processes that they realize and the recent enlargement of their competences. The monitoring and the co-ordination of the operation of KEP is practiced , up today, at fragmentary way from the existing Direction of General Secretariat of Public Administration and Electronic Governing, fact which creates difficulties as far as it concerns the united confrontation of problems.  · The regulation of subjects of mobility of permanent personnel. The employees will stay in the KEP of their placement, for at least a five-year period, so that the experience, which has been acquired in the particular KEP, not to get lost.  · The simplification and acceleration of processes  · The restriction of joint responsibilities between the Ministries. It is indicatively reported that Minister of Internal Affairs does not act jointly in more than 25 different regulatory actions  · The obligatory deadline of 50 days for the transaction of the affairs of citizens  · The payment of complete compensation in the citizen in case of delay  · The self appointed search of supporting documents from the service on behalf of the citizen. 208 certificates can be requested from the service without the citizens presence, for 18 of them the self appointed search is obligatory. Indicative is the progress that took place in the case of self appointed search of certificates of birth from KEP, where, while in 2005 they had 231.327 certificates and medium time of transaction the 8 days, in the end of 2006 the transaction reached 432.188 certificates, that is to say almost double, with medium time of transaction the 5 days. Same is the acceleration as far as it concerns the certificates of familial situation, where while in 2005 were published 253.071 certificates, in 2006 until 2007, 373.219 certificates have been published  · The suppression of submission of supporting documents and their replacement with a personal declaration form for 7 cases  · The videoconference of administrative bodies  · The generalization of electronic communication and exchange of documents between the services. The network â€Å"SIZEFKSIS† ensures 50.000 digital certificates (under form of card) in civil servants equal in number. With this way is provided the possibility of electronic distribution of document, with simultaneous place of signature on this, with electronic way, without a problem of genuineness, after the distribution becomes from the above permitted employees with the use of digital certificate of (card). This electronic distribution involves big acceleration of process of publication and mission of document and contributes considerably in the fighting of bureaucracy.  · The application of a plan of restriction of state expenses and the enlarged public sector, by reforming the public services, so that they become more functional and effective  · The promotion of a regulatory reform, with the establishment of rules of good legislation as well as a system of evaluation of the results of legislative regulations in the competitiveness and the entrepreneurship The City of Athens operates a total of seven (7) Citizen Service Centres (KEP), one in each City District. Citizen Service Centres provide an online service for Athens citizens with regards the following: * City of Athens municipal roll certificates * Permanent residence certificates * Certification TAP property fee payment (in cases where agreement exists on the number of square metres registered with the Public Power Corporation and the contract of purchase) The Citizens Helpline 1595 provides information on documents required for all procedures processed by Citizen Service Centres. 2.6 Service marketing Usually marketing had been seen as having dual dimension.On the one hand, there is the notion which supports that the existence of an organization in economical and social content is based on the satisfaction of customer needs and wants, and on the other hand there is the â€Å" set of activities † which serve this philosophy in order to be implemented (CromptonLamb,1986). The marketing of services is a sector with particular characteristics .The expenditure on services is growing in most industrialized economies. According to the European Commission , â€Å"the percentage share of gross domestic product attributable to the services sector rose from 38 per cent in 1970 to almost 50 percent by 1990†. Crowell supports that â€Å"what is significant about services is the relative dominance of intangible attributes in the make up of the service product†. Services as a special kind of product usually they do not result in ownership but they can be linked to a physical good require special treatment. According to Jobber, as many offerings may combine tangible and intangible characteristics the distinction between them is >. For example, a marketing research study provides a physical good, which is the report that comes out, but also is the result of a number of service activities such as interviews with respondents, analysis of results, designing of the research, etc. Products such as a skirt or a pair of socks usually are not accompanied by a service so they can be characterised as pure goods, but also a visit to a doctor or psychotherapy can be regarded as a pure service as there is nothing tangible that the client receives. 2.6.1 THE NATURE OF SERVICES Service characteristics can be summarised to the following four: intangibility, variability, perishability and inseparability. 2.6.1.1 Intangibility As intangibility can be characterised the fact that services cant be smelled, touched, tasted or seen. Service is â€Å"a deed, performance or effort and not an object device or thing† (Berry, 1980). In other words customer cant evaluate a service before buying it and sometimes cant evaluate it even after consuming it. For this reason the challenge for the service providers is to prove the quality of the service by communicating tangible benefits to consumers. Another characteristic of intangibility is the fact that the service cant be owned so customers pay for the use of product or the performance. 2.6.1.2 Variability The provision of service quality may vary depending to the person who provides it. In other words important factors are the capabilities the person has, his physical and mental situation (tiredness, attitude etc.) the location the service is provided .So, in order to control quality variation , methods such as evaluation systems , tight quality controls and service standardization methods are necessary (Jobber,2004). 2.6.1.3 Inseparability In contrast with physical goods services cant be stored in order to be used later. Services are characterised by the â€Å"simultaneous production and consumption.† Because of this characteristic service providers role is very important to the satisfaction of consumer, as many times he is supposed to be himself the company in the eyes of customer (Berry, 1980). For this reason â€Å"the importance of service provider is an integral part of the satisfaction gained by the consumer†. The behaviour of the service provider is also important for the experience that the customer has for the provided service .So, great importance must be given to the training and rewarding of the staff and its selection (Aijo,1996). Another element that is connected to inseparability is the fact that the customer may experience the service in combination with other customers because of the nature of the service and the place it is offered. At this case marketing managers should take into consideration the role of customer interactions between them, but also the inter customer conflicts and nuisance (Barron et al., 1996). 2.6.1.4 Perishability Unlike the physical goods, services cant be stored in order to be used in the future or at peak times. So service providers should take into consideration the combination of demand and supply and use methods such as multi-skilling of the staff in order to be used at peak seasons or part time employees, supply flexibility, differential pricing and reservation system in order to minimize time waiting (Jobber, 2004). Today one of the greater challenges that the sector of services has to face is the increasing competition in combination with the growing expectations of customers and the developing demands of customers as service improves (Joseph Walker, 1988). 2.6.2 SERVICE MARKETING MIX Models had to explain the relationship between the market and the organisation in order to maximize the seconds performance (Gronrooss C, 1982). To certain extent managing services are more complicated than managing products, as products can be standardised. The standardisation of a service is far more difficult as there are more input factors i.e. process, people, physical evidence, to manage than with a product. The service marketing mix consists of the 7Ps model. These include except from the classical 4 Ps that stands for: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, three more Ps which are People, Process and Physical evidence. 2.6.2.1 People People participate and deliver the service experience, the efficiency and effectiveness, the availability and capability, the customer interaction and the internal marketing. Any provision of service includes as an essential part the use of appropriate staff and people. In order to gain an organisation competitive advantage it is important that it recruits the right staff that is well trained in the delivery of service. Usually consumers perceptions and judgements are affected by the employees they interact with. Consumers wait from the staff to have the appropriate attitude, service knowledge and interpersonal skills that they are paying for. So many organisations train their staff to certain standards. Physical Evidence Physical evidence concerns the place where the service is delivered, infrastructure, facilities, surroundings, essential evidence and peripheral evidence ,equipment and premises. It is an element of the service mix that contributes to the formation of the opinion of the consumer about the organization .So the judgments and the perceptions of the consumers are formed by the sight of the service provision .For example if you walk in an office you expect a friendly environment neat and tie. Process The systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service, constitute the process. So process refers to the operating process that takes the customer through ,from the initial contact till the service experience and evaluation , database management, service delivery, queuing systems, ordering ,standardization .The customer usually expects efficiency and quickness at the process of the service delivery and this fosters consumers loyalty and confidence in the organization. 2.6.3 Quality Quality is important to business organisations and their consumers, because quality products or services can and will secure consumers business. In addition, linking quality with expensive spending is not absolute, as price will not determine always quality. The high or low quality of a product or service is usually determined, â€Å"by how it made the consumer feel and whether consumer expectations were satisfied or exceeded† (Kotler P. et al, 2008). Quality was very popular in the marketing literature,  « where the notion of satisfying the customer was a dominant model of quality of service provided and consumer satisfaction  » (Raftopoulos V., 2005). The US Strategic Planning Institute in 1972 developed the concept of relative perceived quality (RPQ),  «that is the perception of quality as defined by customers, relative to the offerings of competitors. In other words quality is what a customer perceives it to be and this is a dynamic and complex notion.  » 2.6.3.1 Public service quality The need for quality public services is also expressed by the European Commission through the European Social Fund in its program for 2007-2013.The reason is that the quality of public services affects the implementation of policies and the strategy design as public sector organizations are responsible for them at a big degree at the Member States ,e.g. government ministries , local authority departments and special agencies (ESF,2009). The fact of how important is the quality of public services and the need to be improved, became popular, in Britain, at 1990s when the Government gave clear > on the subject, by the proposal of the Conservative Prime Minister John Major enclosed in his Citizens Charter White Paper (Prime Minister, 1991). The issue faced great consensus from the political parties as the same year both Liberal and Labour parties published their own citizen charter proposals. The citizen driven improvement of the quality of public services was a fact (Black et al., 1994). This policy which faced the citizen as user and needed the reporting of performance from the service providers was continued for a long period it was enriched with best value new policies and was popular as>.According to this concept public services is better to be managed than administrated (Black et al.,2001). At the same time another reason that public service quality is important is that the needs and expectations of the users change and increase. Service quality and how to measure it developed to be a critical issue ,so during the 1990s performance measurement techniques developed as a result of >such as government legislation ,regulatory activity by industry keepers and major policy initiatives, as Black St. et al. , characterize them, and not as a result of the needs of the service provider. Meanwhile , all the efforts of understanding and measuring public service quality where characterized as weak and an increasing interest for quality improvement models techniques , certification and awards developed .So a number of new significances appeared such as total quality management and continuous improvement, process mapping techniques, Institution Standards and Charters. The revolution of the commercial service sector that took place the previous decades influenced also public sector organizations that faced the need to provide quality services that meet ‘customer needs and expectations. As Wisniewski remarks, > (Wisniewski, 2001). The notion of treating the customers has started to change as they dont receive passively uniform services without their voice or influence being considered (Skelcher, 1992). At the opposite side, the adoption of traditional methods may lead to the delivery of a service distant from customer needs. So organizations many times, after a more profound search, discover that the needs and values of customers are different from what they assume before searching (Farquhar C.R. ,1993). In order to discover customer perceptions and collect data concerning the attitudes o

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 1

It happened at Rashel's birthday party, the day she turned five years old. â€Å"Can we go in the tubes?† She was having her birthday at a carnival and it had the biggest climbing structure of tubes and slides she had ever seen. Her mother smiled. â€Å"Okay, kitten, but take care of Timmy. He's not as fast as you are.† They were the last words her mother ever said to her. Rashel didn't have to be told, though. She always took care of Timmy: he was a whole month younger than she was, and he wasn't even going to kindergarten next year. He had silky black hair, blue eyes, and a very sweet smile. Rashel had dark hair, too, but her eyes were green-green as emeralds, Mommy always said. Green as a cat's. As they climbed through the tubes she kept glancing back at him, and when they got to a long row of vinyl-padded stairs-slippery and easy to slide off of-she held out a hand to help him up. Timmy beamed at her, his tilted blue eyes shining with adoration. When they had both crawled to the top of the stairs, Rashel let go of his hand. She was heading toward the spider web, a big room made entirely of rope and net. Every so often she glanced through a fish-bowl window in one of the tubes and saw her mother waving at her from below. But then another mother came to talk to hers and Rashel stopped looking out. Parents never seemed to be able to talk and wave at the same time. She concentrated on getting through the tubes, which smelled like plastic with a hint of old socks. She pretended she was a rabbit in a tunnel. And she kept an eye on Timmy-until they got to the base of the spider web. It was far in the back of the climbing structure. There were no other kids around, big or little, and almost no noise. A white rope with knots at regular intervals stretched above Rashel, higher and higher, leading to the web itself. â€Å"Okay, you stay here, and I'll go up and see how you do it,† she said to Timmy. This was a sort of fib. The truth was that she didn't think Timmy could make it, and if she waited for him, neither of them would get up. â€Å"No, I don't want you to go without me,† Timmy said. There was a touch of anxiety in his voice. â€Å"It's oilly going to take a second,† Rashel said. She knew what he was afraid of, and she added, â€Å"No big kids are going to come and push you.† Timmy still looked doubtful. Rashel said thoughtfully, â€Å"Don't you want ice cream cake when we get back to my house?† It wasn't even a veiled threat. Timmy looked confused, then sighed heavily and nodded. â€Å"Okay. I'll wait.† And those were the last words Rashel heard him say. She climbed the rope. It was even harder than she'd thought it would be, but when she got to the top it was wonderful. The whole world was a squiggly moving mass of netting. She had to hang on with both hands to keep her balance and try to curl her feet around the rough quivering lengths of cable. She could feel the air and sunlight. She laughed with exhilaration and bounced, looking at the colored plastic tubes all around her. When she looked back down for Timmy, he was gone. Rashel's stomach tensed. He had to be there. He'd promised to wait. But he wasn't. She could see the entire padded room below the spider web from here, and it was empty. Okay, he must have gone back through the tubes. Rashel made her way, staggering and swaying, from one handhold to another until she got to the rope. Then she climbed down quickly and stuck her head in a tube, blinking in the dimness. â€Å"Timmy?† Her voice was a muffled echo. There was no answer and what she could see of the tube was empty. â€Å"Timmy!† Rashel was getting a very bad feeling in her stomach. In her head, she kept hearing her mother say, Take care of Timmy. But she hadn't taken care of him. And he could be anywhere by now, lost in the giant structure, maybe crying, maybe getting shoved around by big kids. Maybe even going to tell her mother. That was when she saw the gap in the padded room. It was just big enough for a four-year-old or a very slim five-year-old to get through. A space between two cushiony walls that led to the outside. And Rashel knew immediately that it was where Timmy had gone. It was like him to take the quickest way out. He was probably on his way to her mother right now. Rashel was a very slim five-year-old. She wiggled through the gap, only sticking once. Then she was outside, breathless in the dusty shade. She was about to head toward the front of the climbing structure when she noticed the tent flap fluttering. The tent was made of shiny vinyl and its red and yellow stripes were much brighter than the plastic tubes. The loose flap moved in the breeze and Rashel saw that anyone could just lift it and walk inside. Timmy wouldn't have gone in there, she thought. It wouldn't be like him at all. But somehow Rashel had an odd feeling. She stared at the flap, hesitating, smelling dust and popcorn in the air. I'm brave, she told herself, and sidled forward. She pushed on the tent beside the flap to widen the gap, and she stretched her neck and peered inside. It was too dark to see anything, but the smell of popcorn was stronger. Rashel moved farther and farther until she was actually in the tent. And then her eyes adjusted and she realized that she wasn't alone. There was a tall man in the tent. He was wearing a long light-colored trench coat, even though it was warm outside. He didn't seem to notice Rashel because he had something in his arms, and his head was bent down to it, and he was doing something to it. And then Rashel saw what he was doing and she knew that the grown-ups had lied when they said ogres and monsters and the things in fairy-tale books weren't real. Because the tall man had Timmy, and he was eating him.

Biopure Case Study Essay

Oxyglobin and Hemopure are two blood substitutes that Biopure Corporation was developing. Oxyglobin was recently approved by the FDA for veterinary use while Hemapure is estimated to be approved in two years for human use. If Oxyglobin is launched it will be the first blood substitute for the veterinary market a small and price sensitive market. There is a perceived risk by Ted Jacobs, the VP of Human Clinical Trials at Biopure, that if Oxuglobin, the vet product, is launched before Hemopure and at the low price of $150/unit, that it will become very challenging to sell Hemopure once launched at $800/unit. B. Market Analysis a)Human 14 million units of RBCs were donated in the United States in 1995, 12. 9 Million from volunteer donors and 1. 1 million from autologous donors (donate to self, few weeks prior to surgery). 50% of the blood supplies are handled by the American Red Cross. Of the 14 million units donated 2. 7 million are discarded due to expiration or contamination, 3. 2 million transfused into anemia patients and the remaining 8. 1 million transfused into surgery and trauma patients. Blood Collection is a struggle as post AIDS blood contamination paying for donation of blood units is prohibited by the law; it should be done on volunteer basis. Due to low rates of donation and short shelf-life, shortage of RBC units in medical facilities in not uncommon and therefore the need for blood substitutes in the human market is high. b)Veterinary The veterinary market is smaller than the humans as in 1995 2. 5% of 800 dogs/vet GP suffering from acute blood loss were deemed critical and received transfusion, for a total of 300,000 dogs (800Ãâ€"15,000 vet GPx 0.  025), although there is a potential to cover 30% of these pets or about or 3. 6 million dogs. These veterinary GP lack adequate supply of canine blood units lack of animal blood banks. Vets rely on housed donor animals which 84% of them are dissatisfied with the current available blood transfusion alternatives. This constitutes a big opportunity for Oxyglobin. C. Competition Biopure has two competitors for the human product, Baxter and Northfield both of whom are pursuing a Hemoglobin purified from outdated RBC at unit cost ranging from $8-$26 vs. Biopure’s hemoglobin purified from cattle at unit cost of $1. 50. Both Northfield’s and Baxter’s products are expected to launch 2 years after Oxyglobin and same year as Hemopure. Oxyglobin’s only competition is the blood collected from in-house animal donors. One important difference between Hemopure/Oxyglobin and competition is that Biopure’s products do not require storage at 4 °C and can be stored at room temperature; this is a significant difference because there is no added cost attributed to refrigeration. D. Pricing Hemopure as Baxter’s Hem Assist and Northfield is expected to be priced between $600-$800/unit and I suggest that it prices at the highest range of the spectrum because it does not require refrigeration and there will be perceived savings by pharmacists and hospital managers. On the other hand Oxyglobin and because of the â€Å"doubling rule† used by the vets meaning they charge pets owners double the price of the manufacturers ask price), it is arguable and to keep the drug affordable that the price ranges from $80-$100 per unit. Others argued that the price should be set at $200/unit because of all the advantages, added business and cost savings it brings to the practice and pet owners as well. II. Problem/Decision statement Two related issues need to be addressed by the CEO. †¢Should Oxyglobin be launched before Hemopure? Although Oxyglobin was granted approval by the FDA, few challenges remain to be sorted, such as: 1. Reluctance of veterinarians to use the product instead of blood from animal donors 2. Setting the price of the product at a rate that won’t affect the future sales of Hemopure 3. Devise a good distribution strategy for the product (manufacturer direct vs. distributor) On the other hand Hemopure needs to overcome the following obstacles: 1. FDA approval 2. Price of hemoglobin vs. blood transfusion ($600 vs. $125) 3. Fierce competition from Human hemoglobin by Baxter and Northfield 4. Uptake by physicians Biopure needs to launch its first product to start generating revenue, take the company public, raise more funds to support Hemopure’s Phase 3 trial and launch. Before deciding on launching Oxyglobin ahead of Hemopure, all the challenges mentioned above need to be addressed. III. Strategies for Improvement To overcome Oxyglobin’s challenges listed above, the following criteria need to be met: 1. Target Emergency care vet practices 2. Target large Vet practices (3+) 3. Set the price at $200 (see Appendix 1 for analysis) 4. Focus Marketing efforts on non-critical dogs Biopure should start by targeting emergency care vet practices as blood transfusion are more common there, 150 transfusion/year as compared to 17 at vet GP, penetration to this market will measured by unit sold per care center and lower reliance on animal donors. To increase the market share further large vet practices with 3+ doctors as according to exhibit 7 pg 17 of the case, these practices have the highest â€Å"average monthly case load† of about 450 dogs per month, it’s imperative to measure a rapid incline in uptake of our product by these practices. Based on the analysis in Appendix 1, it is clear that setting the price at $100 is more lucrative but we have to plan for the launch of Hemopure and therefore we should consider setting the price at $200 to justify its launch at $600 to $800 in 2 years. We should monitor the sales of Oxyglobin at this price and monitor if the uptake from vets is increasing from the 5% predicted by the market analysis (table A). Finally, focusing the marketing effort on non-critical dogs is crucial as they are a sizeable market and because although veterinarians can justify using this product to critical dogs, it’s hard to justify that for non-critical dogs (pricing and efficacy should help support that). The cease of using animal donors in these clinics will show that Oxyglobin is successfully replacing this old practice. Alternatively it is important to think about the possibility of setting the price of Oxyglobin at $100 to reap as much benefit from being the first and only vet blood-substitute, in the event that Hemopure doesn’t get approval from the FDA. It’s highly probable that Hemopure won’t be successful in the clinic because it’s of cattle origin, they changed the formulation to be stable at room temperature (excipients could be toxic) and the concentrations used are much higher than their human counterparts. In this case and to mitigate this risk, lowering the price to a $100 will help the sales and uptake of the product by a larger market. The market research conducted prior to launch (Table A and B) shows that a high number of veterinarians and pet owners will use the product at the $100/$200(x2) price. Based on the calculations in Appendix 1, it is clear that setting the price at $100 is more lucrative to Biopure than pricing it at $150 or 200$ because of the double price rule which affects the uptake by both pet owners and vets. To be cognizant and not to jeopardize the future Hemopure launch, I recommend that we set the price at $200, because there is a need for a blood substitute as 84% of the vets are reporting overall dissatisfaction with the blood transfusion alternatives available in the marketplace. Secondly, Oxyglobin provides an alternative for animal blood donated by other animals which incurs the risk of matching and potential transfer of diseases. The storage at room temperature adds value as this will reduce the need to buy expensive refrigerators that need calibration, validation and maintenance. Finally, there no assurance that vets will automatically double the price of the product especially if they foresee a high demand by pet owners, a practice that we should encourage and help the vets appreciate the upside. Although blood transfusions in the veterinary market are infrequent and the market scope is limited, Oxyglobin has the potential to become a lucrative investment for Biopure. It is possible that Hemopure will not be licensed by the FDA, that humans will resist buying a product of cattle origin especially that human hemoglobins will be available around the same time by competitors and that physicians will not prescribe it for the reasons described above. To minimize these risks and to start generating revenue that will help the company grow, become public and raise more funding, I therefore recommend that we sell Oxyglobin first before the launch of Hemopure.

The Level Of Violence On Screen Essays - The Jerry Springer Show

The Level Of Violence On Screen Essays - The Jerry Springer Show The Level Of Violence On Screen The Analyzation of Violence on Screen In the last few years, I have noticed that on screen violence has become as common as a Cheesesteak in Philadelphia. People often argue that the violence seen on screen is influencing our culture, yet each year the amount of viewers' increase. It seems that in order for your film or program to be successful it must contain violence. In my opinion, this constant levitation of violence on screen is due to our cultures' infatuation with the art of violence. Violence is present in the most of our cultures most enjoyedfilms like Independence Day, daytime talk shows such as Jerry Springer and even in cartoons that have been around forever like Tom & Jerry. I can recall a time when daytime talk shows (Donahue, Oprah) would hardly ever have audience feed back and very few panelists. My how times have changed. On today's talk shows, such as Jerry Springer, there is always a boisterous audience member, or an insane guest. Just as sure as you will find Abe Lincoln on a penny, you will see a cha ir fly on Jerry Springer. The Springer show was the first show to have guests' fight without stopping the camera. Jerry Springers' blatant disrespect for daytime show rules stirred controversy in the media but it also stirred up something in the public. interest.Although Jerry Springer had gone against all the rules of daytime, his rebellion had made his talk show the most watched show in the nation. When the Springer show surpassed the ratings of all time favorite Oprah Whinfrey, it was re-established that violence sells. Recently the Springer show has stopped airing its' fierce and very real fights for many reasons, one being that 23% of the people that watched his show are under the age of sixteen. Although Jerry Springer is a show intended for adults, childrens' shows contain violence as well.When I was a child, I saw nothing wrong with the Elmer Fudd hunting Rabbits or other Looney Tune characters being blown up, shot, or thrown off a cliff. Wile E. Cyote was always being kille d while scheming to catch the Road Runner. The most popular cartoons always contained violence. Though not the most violent, Tom & Jerry exhibited the cat and mouse chase with a little extra. There have been countless times I have been glued to the TV as Tom was beaten up, cut up, or strangled by the witty mouse Jerry. It did not even strike me as violence, but it was. I watched Tom & Jerry a few days ago, I realized that the whole show was based on Tom and Jerry trying to kill each other. Tom trying to kill Jerry to eat him or keep his master and mistress happy and Jerry trying to kill Tom to save his life. There weren't a lot of weapons used in Tom & Jerry except for a few explosives here and there but never any guns like in many big screen movies.Everyone loves to go to the movie theatre with their over priced snacks and sticky floors, but what makes movies sell? The films that make the most money at the box offices are usually action films that have many fist fights, explosives and big guns. Independence Day grossed more at the box offices than any other film in history. The movies plot was typical. A group of fearless humans attempts to save the earth from vicious extraterrestrial. Will Smith fist fought aliens, blew up planets and clobbered all the bad guys. The movie was consisted of a visual feast of explosives, property damages, and incredible sound effects. Independence Day was to Sci-Fi what Twister was to disaster films. Although Independence Day contained a massive amount of violence almost every person in America went to see it, and loved it. Just because our culture loves violence on screen, it does not mean that we all have sick and tormented minds, we are not all just killers waiting to happen. Our culture is obsessed with real issues being dramatized . There is nothing wrong with having violence in films and on T.V. If a person wants to sit down

The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Essay Example

The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Essay Example The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Paper The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Paper Essay Topic: Film The Godfather The gangster genre of film has been on of the few genres which has evolved over time whilst still remaining close to the basic formula of each film. One of the firsts to mark the start of the gangster/crime genre was D. W. Griffiths The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912). The earlier films were set in the silent era if film. Meaning the narrative would often be crude and lack depth, due to the lack of any true dialogue. It wasnt until the 1927 film that the first modern gangster film was created, in the form of Josef von Sternbergs melodrama Underworld. It held many of the standard conventions and filmed from the gangsters point of view, a first for the genre. When the 1930s and the emergence of sound being used in the film dawned. So did the use of real-life crime bosses being used in the narrative for the crime/gangster drama. Many films were made about Al Capone. The films also because more appealing to the audience, as the added excitement of screeching tyres and gun shots. As the 30s continued, a wave of gangster films was released, each using the same narrative formula each time. Usually involving a gangster or bootlegger cast in an ant-hero role, however, towards the end of the film, he would meet his demise. One of the main formulas on the gangster genre was its mise en scene. The lighting was always dark. The costumes and props were also set to a specific formula, gangsters wore nice suits (usually black) and carried Tommy Guns. Police officers wore their uniforms and carried batons and private detectives always wore a brown trenchcoat and hat. In the early 1930s, the Hays Production Code brought the curtain down on the days of glorifying the main role of gangsters as hero. The code brought us new gangster films, portraying the police or private detectives on the right side of the law as the Good Guys. Most of the films carried a moral of Crime doesnt pay. This quietened the uproar from the audience as the narrative gave the audience a hero that they could truly get behind. Gangster films kept to the same kind of formula which were tried and tested, until 1972. Im gonna make him an offer he cant refuse. Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather (1972) reinvented the genre. Based on the book, written by Mario Puzo, of the same name, the film was about the Corleone family. A Sicilian family who settled into New York, whos crime syndicate made them as powerful as the Government and Big Business. One thing thats strikes with The Godfather is the non-diegetic soundtrack. It has one of the most recognisable theme tunes in a film. However, every piece of music is parallel. This may add to the soundtrack in one way, yet the lack of contrapuntal may be a detriment in another. This could be due to Francis Ford Coppola wanting to play it safe, and to not tamper with the atmosphere the music creates. The Godfather also had many selling points to the audience. The most obvious being its cast, featuring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton. However, one can look towards the book aswell to draw in an audience. The narrative structure remained focused on a single story throughout the course of the film. This is rare for a film with such a long approximate running time (Nearly 3 hours). This have been detrimental to the appeal of the film, as people may find it hard to sit through a single story for 3 hours The language in the film is also very important to the film. One thing the audience might notice is the lack of the words Mafia and Cosa Nostra. These being replaced with a euphemism of The Family (Or La Famiglia). This is quite the Juxta position, as such euphemisms are used; yet there are brutal murders which take place throughout the course of the film. There is also the use of both Italian and English. This could be interpreted as Coppola and Puzo trying to make them film as authentic as possible. People who are of different ethnicity still speak their mother tongue, even though they have immigrated to another country. The costume used in the film continues on with the gangster formula, with the Corleone males in expensive suits, the women in expensive clothing too. This is a shift from the moral of Crime doesnt pay which was placed on the genre some 40 years earlier. The opening shot of the film is a close up a face of a man in the Dons dark hone office; this opens up with intrigue, as the audience doesnt know who this man is. Most of the camera angles used in the film are used to make Don Vito Corleone look as powerful as possible, usually a high angle mid shot, to make him superior. There are also scenes where he has a light shining from above him, to make him look God like, despite his actions being more of reminiscent the devil. The Godfather laid the template for future films of the genre, while still following. It continues the representation of Italian-Americans being very family-orientated, complimented with a fiery temper. This is a double-edged stereotype, as it is positive that Italians are very close knit families, yet negative because of the short fuse. Say ello to mah lil friend Scarface (1983) was loosely based on Al Capone, however, the lead role was that of Cuban immigrant Tony Montana (Played by Godfather star Al Pacino). Scarface has a different selling point to The Godfather, which is that it is loosely based on Al Capone. However, the use of Al Pacino, who was in The Godfather can also be its selling point. One major difference between Scarface and The Godfather is its non-diegetic soundtrack. There is one scene in the film which is reminiscent of a Rocky movie. There was a montage where Montana and his associates were committing many illegal activities, however, the music used was contrapuntal, and it had a very positive sound to it. The language used was modern, with lots of expletives, showing that the gangsters are now starting to lose their class. Gangsters used to be like upper class businessmen, however, now the audience were starting to see gangsters as lower class people, who just happen to have money. The costume was a slight variation on the classic gangster attire. They were still wearing suits, however, the style is modern. One also notices the style of suit change as the film progresses, especially on Tony Montana. When he first enters Floridas crime world, he was wearing a cheap, pea-green polyester suit. However, towards the end of the film, his style becomes more and more expensive. Compare this to The Godfather, almost everyone is in a black suit, this could be due to Coppola wanting the audience to view the Corleone family as the Bad Guys and Brian LaPalma wanting the audience to root for Tony Montana. One of the first props the audience will take notice of is the Chainsaw which is used to kill Tonys friend Angel. This showed that the genre was getting more brutal and there was blood in abundance. This again can be referred back to The Godfather, as Tony cared for his friends and family, which is a positive social trait, however, this is sandwiched between the brutality and criminal activities. Scarface borrowed a lot of its Mise en Scene from The Godfather, despite being made some eleven years later. The audience was still seeing big guns, luxury cars, suits and money. The camera angles were made to look Tony Montana look very powerful, with lots of close ups and high angle mid shows and back lighting. The film also kept with a single narrative structure. Look, can everyone stop getting shot? Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) did something most films have tried, but havent really succeeded in. Making working class people look like gangsters. Gangsters were becoming working class heroes. The narrative has multiple stories, the first being the card game which has put the four central characters into  £500,000 worth of debt, and the second being the shifting of marijuana between two different gangs who have never even met before. The camera angles used were very different; there werent as many close-ups as there wasnt really one single central character. That being said, the first shot is an extreme close up of Eddy and other unnamed men (who later turn out to be policemen). One camera shot that is used to good effect is the slow motion shot. It makes an action-packed shot seem more realistic, as it is thought that when something like getting shot at happens, everything seems to happen in slow motion. The diegetic sound in these scenes are also muffled. There was also a lack of any direct brutality. The Godfather and Scarface show killings in great detail, however, when someone got shot in Lock, Stock, we dont actually see it happening. The musical score was also very different from the norm when it comes to the Gangster genre. The use of bands such as Ocean Colour Scene made the soundtrack more appealing to the audience, as opposed to constant parallel soundtrack. The costume made reference to the films pred ecessors; however, it was given a more casual look. Suits were not always the clothing of choice. Many characters opting for jeans and a shirt. However, the use of leather jackets and trench coats by almost all characters made it a new norm in the genre. The film had a selling point of Sting and Vinnie Jones starring in the film. Mustard? I dont care if hes Mohammed Im-Hard Bruce Lee Snatch (2000) continued where Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels left off. Using many of the same values used, the multi tier narrative and the semi-open endings. Both Lock Stock and Snatch had relatively open endings, with Tom straddling the bridge at the end of Lock, Stock and with someone coming over from America to buy the diamond in Snatch. The genre of the gangster has evolved greatly since its primitive early beginnings and has been somewhat cyclical. In the beginning, the gangsters were glorified, then vilified, now we seem to be living in an era where gangsters are glorified once again. We have also seen a shift from an Italian-American dominated genre to a more global genre, with some of the more successful films taking place in London. The films have also become shorter, with The Godfather and Scarface being longer films with a single narrative structure with a definite ending. To shorter, multiple narrative films where things are constantly changing.

The Story of an Hour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Story of an Hour - Essay Example To Mrs. Mallard, this was a bending of her wills that she did not agree with. If one looks closely at the relevance of the aforementioned heart trouble of the main character, it could be seen that the issue in the marriage is the real heart trouble and not the physical condition of the character. After Mrs. Mallard’s emotional period, she went to her room alone and was met by an â€Å"open window and comfortable, roomy armchair where she sank.† The room is a representation of the private thoughts of Mrs. Mallard where no one entered except her, a condition she was forced to be in because if she told other people, she might be dubbed as rebellious or could be seriously misunderstood. The roomy armchair could portray how comfortably Mrs. Mallard could be with herself, looking honestly into her desires without any condemnation so that she freely thought of all the freedom she could enjoy now that her husband is dead. The open window represents what the character considers as her way of escape from the marriage that â€Å"bent her

Television as a live medium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Television as a live medium - Essay Example To say, hence, that it is â€Å"still alive† as if it is already clutching for dear life would be an understatement. The fact is that live television is a platform by which people are informed today. So long as there are events like disasters, sports, and political exercise such as election, among others, the relevance exists more than ever. The proliferation of canned television shows does not diminish it. Defining â€Å"Live† Bourdon (2000) explained that the concept of â€Å"live† television is fundamentally a label expressing a technological capability (532). It brings people from everywhere - whether at home, work, bars, even the streets - to events as they happen. In the discourse trying to specify the meaning of television and to differentiate it from the cinema, â€Å"liveness† is one of the three identified characteristics that made the medium unique (the other two are screen size and domestic reception) (532). â€Å"Liveness† also denotes the aspect of television that is identified with truth, facts and authenticity. Bourdon cited this point as he defined live television a live transmission of events to the viewers through the use of technological apparatus, making it a public phenomenon since it allows people to live event simultaneously (534). This definition implies two important characteristics. It is all about transmission of events as they occur and, at the same time, it is also about people viewing events together. The concept of â€Å"live† also assumed several meanings. Bourdon comprehensively cited many excellent examples. For example, when a singer does not lip synch in the performance, then it is called live musical performance. There is also the case of talk shows. Resource persons are invited and are moderated by hosts to tell the audience about their lives or to discuss interesting topics (Bourdon, 532). Bourdon argued that live television is present in many programs and television sequences (53 3). This variable indicates the persistence and permeation of live broadcast even on genre that are not classified with news and reporting on current affairs. Bourdon, called this socio-semiotic unity, a fundamental force that ensures the persistence and survival of â€Å"live† television throughout history (532). Out of all the definitions, White helpfully pointed out that â€Å" liveness† is the ultimate concept that â€Å"subsumes a host of other qualities and characteristics† and that it â€Å"serves as â€Å"an anchor for the properties considered essentially televisual - immediacy, presence, reality effects, intimacy and so on† (81). Covering Catastrophe The recent devastation wrought by the super typhoon Haiyan both to human lives and to property in Tacloban City, Philippines is the most recent testament not only to the viewers’ recognition and acceptance towards â€Å"live† broadcast but also its relevance and contribution to televi sion as a medium. Certainly, the most advanced technologies have enabled many reporters to cover the event live as the storm raged even when power, communications and transportation became unreliable. Reports were beamed from the city to the United States as the storm unfolded real time. The static and interference in transmission all served to highlight the catastrophe in the process of flattening