A Critique of Tess Onwueme’s Tell It to Women Essay Example for Free

A Critique of Tess Onwueme’s Tell It to Women Essay To Women, we travel back to a Nigerian village in postcolonial Africa. The story enlightens the audience about the dichotomy of traditionalism versus modernism and the ways in which different cultures interact. It ends by revealing the true meaning of culture; the real quality in a society that arises from a passion for what is excellent in arts, manners, and customs. Overall, the play discusses the role of women within this Nigerian village and largely examines the conflict of whether it is better to advance with the rest of the world, or to hold on to the traditions that truly make a society independent and beautiful. The play begins with Yemoja, the most important woman in the village, in a house with Daisy and Ruth, two feminist western-educated scholars. They are the primary antagonists in the play. At this early stage, we see that Daisy and Ruth are not fond of Yemoja. Daisy and Ruth are leaders of the â€Å"Better Life for Rural Women† campaign, which inspires women to believe that they are not only equal to men in many ways, but are even superior in others. The two of them select Yemoja as the mediator between the village and the western world that they are so desperate to force upon the women. The movement causes a great disturbance in the village between the men and women, and especially with Yemoja’s husband and father. Back in Daisy’s home, she has been getting into many disagreements with her family. Her husband Okei, disagrees with her passion about the feminist movement and they frequently fight about it. Her mother-in-law, Sherifat, still encourages Yemoja to participate in the village’s traditional tribal rituals. Sherifat expresses that it would a terrible fate if Yemoja attempts to assimilate to the modern culture and loses her roots. As the story goes on, Daisy becomes estranged from her daughter Bose, as Bose is beginning to understand more and more the culture of the village and becomes closer to Yemoja and Sherifat. Towards the end of the play, the villagers organize a march, for which Daisy gives Yemoja steps to teach to the rest of the women. It becomes clear to Yemoja at that point that western culture is not for them. Daisy and Ruth’s superior arrives to enlighten the women about her ideas of feminism. She is the one that will decide whether or not the movement has succeeded or not. When it is time for Yemoja to perform the dance, however, she and Sherifat perform one of the Idu rituals instead. Bose even joins in the dancing. Ruth falls and becomes extremely injured while Daisy is thrust into the middle of the action. The play ends here in a beautifully tragic scene as Ruth chokes to death while the rest of the villagers celebrate having revitalized their culture. Tess Onwueme’s play was delightfully written and captivating to any audience. The story was intriguing and definitely matched it’s title. Now I see that, Tell It To Women, is a statement on how the women of the village are always being told to do or be something. Whether it is by Daisy and Ruth or by their husbands, the women never really find their own voice until the very end. We see in the first movement, Sherifat telling the chorus of women that being a wife is â€Å"meaning that a wife deserves to be treated like a daughter and not something that you possess. † Yet, throughout much of the story, we see the women being treated like servants and as subhuman to Daisy and Ruth, the village men, and western civilization as a whole. However, I believe that even as a woman, the author was at times, very objective in her portrayal of feminism. She was able to write a play that showed both the positives and negatives of modernism, while advancing the ideals of traditionalism. She does all this without losing sight of what is most important to women of a small village like that. At one part she even has Ruth say â€Å"these rural women are very gullible, you know. All you need to do is make them feel they are important†¦ we need them anyway, maybe even more than they need us. † The author is commenting here on the passive-aggressive attempts of Daisy and Ruth but also shows that the village women do not actually need to be modernized. Perhaps here, the author is a little biased because she is making Daisy and Ruth out to be selfish and slightly cruel. To a western reader, the play was not very easy to read. The names of the villagers were at times tongue tying and I found myself changing opinions about a character because I in fact, thought they were another. Onwueme also does not really explain the native African dialect and proverbial expressions that are used, which was slightly confusing as well. Many play-writes include footnotes at the bottom of the page to explain vernacular that is not known to the reader and that would have been very helpful here. That being said, the true meaning of the play was present the entire time. The clash of cultures and the lingering pains of colonialism in Africa come through wonderfully in the author’s interpretation. In one eloquent line we see that colonialism left its mark of the villagers. Sherifat says to Daisy that â€Å"it’s easier for those who inflict the pain on others to forget. † Tell It To Women, while at times was hard to follow, beautifully captured the struggle of traditionalism versus modernism and is a true mark of feminism. Overall, I thought that the play was well written and captivating. Even as a man, when sometimes it is hard to understand the desires of women, let alone women of another culture, I was able to grasp the true value of this play. It enlightened me about African culture and the roles of men and women in society. I believe Onwueme did a tremendous job in exposing the struggles of postcolonial Africa in an artful representation.

Content-Based Video Retrieval Method

Content-Based Video Retrieval Method An Approach for Analyzing keyframes based on Self Adaptive Threshold and Scene Descriptors Suruthi.K, Tamil Selvan.T, Velu.S, Maheswaran.R, Kumaresan.A Abstract In this paper, we propose a CBVR (content based video retrieval) method for retrieving a desired object from the abstract video dataset. Recording and storing enormous surveillance video in a dataset for retrieving the main contents of the video is one of the complicated task in terms of time and space. Even though, methods are available for retrieving the main content of a video based on ROI as well as threshold values for retrieving background information key frames, determining the threshold values manually is a complex scenario. So, we propose a method, where we use self-adaptive threshold for determining the background information along with the use of several descriptors to increase the efficiency of determining the contents of the key frames. We can also use CBVR to retrieve the information of a desired object from our abstract dataset. Keywords: Self adaptive threshold, Keyframes, Descriptors, CBVR Introduction The process of providing security plays a major role in all organizations these days. This security can be provided in many ways considering the criticality of the information being secured. Theses security methodologies include providing manual guards around the perimeter or providing electric fence around the infrastructure or any other available effective means of technology available. In spite of the availability of these methodologies, an effective and 247 security could be provided with the help of installation of cameras at the crucial areas of an organization which should be out of reach for the humans. The optimal number of cameras to be installed in an environment could be calculated with respect to [1]. Since these cameras are recording videos with a time scale of 24 hours, the recorded videos are to be stored and analyzed where storing these videos require an enormous database and analyzing these videos require humans to play through the entire video in order to analyze t he incidents occurred where the biggest de-merit is that we cannot skip the videos being played since we would miss the important actions when we skip.so, we are in need of a method for extracting the essential events been occurred from the prolonged surveillance videos and storing these events alone in a separate database which would minimize the memory space being utilized for data storage along with minimization of human work to look through the entire videos. We know that the first step in observing videos is to convert it into individual frames or images since the broadcasting of moving visual images form a video. This can be termed as image retrieval. Image retrieval is the process of retrieving images from an enormous database based on the metadata added to the image which could be said as the annotations. But this annotations have some demerits. Annotating images manual is a time consuming work to be done and if images are annotated ambiguously, the user would never get the required results no matter the number of times he search the image database. Several methods for automatic image annotations have been under research due to the advancement in the field of semantic web and social web applications. In spite of the advancements, there is an effective methodology termed CBIR (content based image retrieval), in which feature extraction is basis. These features represent text based features representing keywords as well as annotations whereas visual features correspond to color, texture and faces along with shapes [2]. Since, features plays a major role here, when user inputs an input image, the pixel value of these images are com pared with all the images prevailing in the database and the results given to the user would contain all the images containing a part of the queried image which is an effective way of avoiding annotations to avoid ambiguity. Since we are dealing with videos here, we need an advanced approach from CBIR. 2. Related Work: Speech recognition is an important conc 3. Fast Clustering Method Based on ROI Since users find easy to access online videos easily these days, we are in need of finding an effective way to store and maintain enormous amount of video files facilitating easy and quick access for multiple users. In order to support research in this area, Guang-Hua-Song et al have proposed the fast clustering based on the region of interest (ROI). The authors have employed the average histogram algorithm for the purpose of extracting key frames from each shot. A shot could be defined as the depiction of a particular scene or action. A single shot refers to the action covered by a camera between the start and stop of the recording time which would be normally in the same angle. The extracted key frames are used for the generation of edge maps which contribute the next step in the video abstraction scenario. Based on the above methodologies, the authors have determined the key points. Calculation of threshold values from the respective key frames would be the next step which is done for the purpose of expanding and identifying the area surrounding the key points [9]. The authors have proposed the observation of main content in each of the key frame based on the threshold values defined and the concept of key points. As the final step of their proposed method, they have utilized the ROIs of the key frames and have performed the fast clustering method on them. The different methodologies involve before implementing the fast clustering method along with the implementation of fast clustering methodology is explained in the following sections. A. Key frame Extraction The representation of video sequence would be in the form of a hierarchical structure considering the scene, shot and frame contributing different levels on the hierarchy [10]. Different researches on video sequences requires the researches to deal with the different levels of the video sequence hierarchy with respect to the information needed for their research. Shot is to be considered first for the purpose of key frame extraction. The shot level is chosen at the hierarch among the other available levels due to certain reasons. The sequence of video frames captured continuously by a camera contributed a shot which also would include the moving objects, panning and zooming in terms of the recording camera. We also have a greatest merit with the shot as the two adjacent shot does not have the same content which would obviously eliminate redundancy. The authors have employed the use of algorithm proposed in [11] for the purpose of extracting key frames. The key frame extraction proces s also involves the average histogram method. A shot S = { } of length n is assumed. The kth frame in the assumed shot is represented as . Considering to be the gray level histogram containing L bins could be generated from frame, whereas the calculation of the average histogram H is done based on the following formula: Where represents the value of the ith frame of frame k. After the extraction of key frame, ROIs are generated by adopting a series of key frame analysis this process is followed by saliency map generation and edge map generation. B. Edge Map Detection It is a general concept that we would focus on objects which has a whole shape in the video. So there would be edges within these components. We are in need of determining the key points which would be available inside the objects and so determining edges would make our tracking process easier. The authors have used the canny edge detection scenario with respect to [12]. This process is followed by the location of key points and generation of ROI. C. Fast Clustering In a video sequence, though each shot would be having a different content to portray, some of the shots may look similar to one another in camera angle or facial expression of the people involved or in any other means. Sometimes, a shot would ne manually segmented into many shots and used at different places in a video sequence. The approach of the authors is to make the video sequence compact and thus they have clustered the key frames in order to avoid the redundant frames. Normally, clustering before the entire process of extracting the key frames is done would be of no use since the new frames could not be taken into account. In order to overcome this traditional approach, the authors have used fast clustering in which clustering process starts once the key frame extraction and identifying ROI are done. Even though this approach was good enough to an extent, the authors have not used more effective descriptors to extract more features from the frames for better observation. In addition to this manually setting the threshold to obtain the background information would not be so effective. 4. Application of Self Adaptive Threshold and Descriptors Though the use of assigning the threshold manually works in a better way, setting the threshold manually is a difficult task. So we are in need of an alternate way for setting the threshold which is the adaptive threshold methodology. We propose the use of adaptive threshold in our video abstraction method for the purpose of gaining more knowledge about the objects in the background. In addition to this, we have also made use of several descriptors such as FCTH (Fuzzy Color and Texture Histogram) and SCD (Scalable Color Descriptor). A descriptor is generally used for extracting different kinds of features from an image based on the functionality of a descriptor. Features refers to the different kinds of information that could be extracted from an image which may refer to the color, intensity, pixels, etc. the functionality of FCTH and SCD are discussed as follows: A. FCTH In this type of descriptor, fuzzy is used for gathering information about colors which lie between the pure black and pure white. Here, fuzzy is made used of since the general concept of fuzzy is to deal with all possible scenarios (partial true / partial false ) which lies between the True (1) and False (0) values. B. SCD (Scalable Color Descriptor) SCD is used here for the purpose of extracting information about the colors which are scalable. This scalable colors represent colors which are extended to the nearby boundaries and would be available in a different form within that boundary. C. Algorithm: Distance Vector We are using Distance Vector algorithm in this video abstraction process for the purpose of observing the distance travelled by an object in two subsequent frames in order to determine the motion of the object in a more likely scenario which involves the following steps: Detecting and identifying the boundaries of the moving objects. Extracting ROI (region of interest) of the object within the frame. Searching for the same object in the next subsequent frame. Detecting boundaries and location of the object. Comparing the location of the object and finding its distance moved from the previous frame to the current frame. Repeating the above steps for all the video frames would enable us to find the moving object distance covered for each frame. Updating the distance vector matrix. The overall methodology of the proposed methodology is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Block Diagram of the Proposed Methodology This scenario is applied for minimizing the memory complexity in terms of storing and retrieving enormous 247 surveillance videos where recording and storing of the entire video would increase the demand of memory as well as looking through the entire video to verify a crime scene would be a more complex scenario. In order to overcome this complexity, our method extract the key frames from the entire video and store it in a desired database where only the distinct images would be available minimizing the work of the user to look through a full length video. In addition to that, saving images would have a memory demand much lesser than the demand of the videos. Since we are using descriptors, more detailed information could be extracted from the images. Self-adaptive threshold enables the user to get more details above the objects available in the background which is an added advantage of this methodology. Any sort of frame can be given as a query into the system and the user would ge t the relevant video containing the respective key frame. If the frame is not available in any of the dataset, user would be shown with an error prompt. This process is termed as CBVR. CBVR is similar to CBIR but differs in a way that user would be given a frame (image) as a result in case of CBIR whereas result would be the entire video in case of CBVR. But in both the cases, data is compared and retrieved based on the contents available in the frames. 5. Experimental results We have conducted our experiment with videos available in the MATLAB dataset. First step would be the extraction of key frames based on self-adaptive threshold value which is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Window for Key frame Extraction Key frames are extracted and stored in a destined folder as shown in the Figure 3.     Ã‚   Figure 3. Key frames Stored in the Destined Folder After the key frame extraction, the user can input a key frame of their choice and the contents of all the available videos in the dataset are compared and the respective video containing the requested key frame would be found based on CBVR and retrieved as shown in Figure 4a. The user can click on the play button available at the bottom right to play the entire video containing the requested key frame. If the requested frame is ot found, the user would be prompted with an error message as shown in Figure 4b. Figure 4a. Video is retrieved based on the queried key frame using CBVR Figure 4a. User id prompted with an error message since the requested frame is not found Our experiment have showed a compromising result with more than 80% accuracy. As explained above, this methodology can decrease the memory space demands and the time of the user to spend in looking through the entire videos. 6. Conclusion In this paper, we have proposed a methodology for video abstraction based on several descriptors and self-adaptive threshold. This methodology facilitates user to minimize the memory demands and time demands for looking through the videos. Our methodology also makes use of CBVR for retrieving a video based on the contents with respect to the user requested key frame. The only problem that our methodology faces is the time taken for comparison if the key frame to be searched is available in the final video available in the dataset. Our future work is to concentrate on limiting the time space for comparison in a large video dataset. References [1] Tatsuya Hirahara Figure Captions Fig.1.Optimal Position fo

The Great Big Turnip | Analysis

The Great Big Turnip | Analysis Introduction: Our choice of storybook is The Great Big Turnip edited by Bob Williams, published by KohWai and Young. This book is appropriate for children aged four to six as it is specially designed and created to assist children who have mastered basic reading skills. Marchado (2010) states that the success of any book for young children depends on its presentation of basic human tasks, needs, and concerns based on childrens perceptions, and at a level at which they can respond (p. 289). Thus, after examining our selected choices of books, we decided to choose The Great Big Turnip because it has met many aspects of selecting the right book for young children. The story revolves around a farmer who had discovered a giant turnip in his garden. He could not pull it out alone hence he sought help from his family members and other animals in the house. Together, they managed to pull the turnip out of the ground and enjoyed plenty of food for many years. From this synopsis, the story is able to inculcate the value of teamwork in the readers as it teaches that joint effort makes it easier to complete a task. Its print and vibrant illustrations had captivated us instantaneously. The language used is age appropriate for children to learn and comprehend. The moral of the story is that we should always help others when they are in need, even if you may think that your help is insignificant. Literary elements: Plot: The plot is good because it creates suspense in the story to develop the childrens interest in reading the book. It is also simple and straightforward as it focuses on how the farmer gets help to pull the giant turnip out of the ground. Machado (2010) states that simple plot necessitated by the length of a picture book allows young children to become involved immediately in action, discover problem, and understand the resolution (p. 289). The story is in a chronological order as it unfolds sequentially. In the beginning on page 3, it talks about the farmer planting turnip seeds on the ground. In the middle on page 7, the farmer asked his wife for help when he could not pull the turnip out all by himself. Eventually, they still needed more people to help out. On page 14, it reveals how the turnip was pulled out from the ground. From the plot, readers are able to pick out problem-solving skills from the characters, such as asking for assistance. The climax of the story happens on page 13 when six more characters were involved in pulling the turnip out of the ground, and it arrests the childrens attention to find out how the characters overcome the situation. Characterization: The characters in the storybook are life like as they appear like normal living being. Machado (2010) states that characters should be portrayed realistically and have experiences and emotions with which children can immediately identify (p. 289). Thus, this book has definitely met the book selection criteria. The protagonist in the story is a farmer. As the story continues, other characters develop one after another throughout the story to help the farmer. The story does not talk about the characters past, present and future as it focuses on how the farmer gets help from his family to pull the big turnip out of the ground. Based on the farmers dialogue, it shows that he is a jovial person. On page 5 and 7, the farmer was elated to find out that his plant had grown into an enormous turnip. At the end of the story on page 16, the farmer shows a sense of happiness as it states that the happy farmer ate turnip for years (William, 2002). Besides, this book also portrays an array of emotions based on the other characters dialogue on page 7, 9 and 11. It shows excitement yet their struggles in pulling out the turnip. Setting: The farmers garden is the main location where the story took place during daytime. Based on a western context, readers are able to visualize a realistic event that occurred in the story which helps to build on their prior knowledge of the images. Theme: The theme of the story is able to relate to childrens understandings, needs and interests because underlying concept educates the importance of teamwork and unity. The farmer would not be able to pull the big turnip out of the ground without the help of his wife, son, daughter, dog, cat and mouse. It shows the significance of working towards a goal in harmony; oneness of mind. Style and Diction: The language used is simple and age-appropriate for children aged four to six. The language used is able to create mood from text such as exclaimed, cried and excited. The story involves a careful choice of words and rhythm such as they all pulled and pulled, but the turnip still would not come out! With a predictable text, children are able to participate by reading aloud to themselves or a storyteller. And the book contains good diction as it contains phrases like eyes popped out from her head, luckily, fell backwards in a heap. Point of View: The author used a third person point of view to write the story using pronoun like He, She and They. Objective point of view was used in the story as the author only tells what happen without stating more than [what] can be inferred from the storys action and dialogue (Literature, No Date). Stereotypes: It is not reflected in the storybook. Personification: It is not reflected in the storybook. Visual elements The picture-books visual variety would kindle the interests of the children and arrest their visual attention. It is slightly smaller than an A4-sized book which words inside are of Arial font and appropriate font size. The space in between words and line spacing are not cluttered. Hence, this popular fairytale facilitates easy one-on-one readings and independent reading. Cover page: On the cover page, yellow, embroidered images on the borders of The Great Big Turnip give volume to the title and front illustrations. Every word in the title is capitalised and dark turquoise in colour. Below the title is a bright and colourful cartoon of the climax of the story, which is also slightly similar to the cartoon on page 14 and page 15. The clever illustration will intrigue readers as it shows just the giant turnip spinning out of the soil and several characters falling behind. It allows readers to think about what happened in the story. Texture: Illustrations are two-dimensional which gives a visual texture and promotes imagery development. Line: Heavy lines used give more precision and curved lines used depict fluidity which brings the characters to life. Jagged lines can be found on page 15s illustration of the spinning turnip, which enables the readers to sense danger. Colour and Shape: Furthermore, the cartoon characters stand out more as additional colours and geometric shapes are used to allow the reader to clearly differentiate all of them. Illustrations from page 13 are good examples, as when the characters are pulling the turnip out, the reader would not focus on other things such as the house far away or even the forest in the background. Colours such as brown used compliment the settings like the farmers wooden house and the soil in his garden. There is also more assertion and rigidity in the illustration of the farmer due to the geometric shapes used (Scott, 1989). Free-form shapes such as the cursive ends of the turnip on page 15 enable the reader to imagine the great amount of force when the turnip was pulled out (Scott, 1989). All in all, the visual elements of the picture-book nurture visual literacy which builds on the language development of child. They allow the facilitating readability and influencing recall of the text (Machado, 2010).

Essay --

LINGUISTIC CURRY Posted on January 15,2014. I returned to India after a long period and at the airport I hear an announcement saying â€Å"Welcome, Mumbai me aapka swagat he!’ these words took me back to my college days where we used to communicate in hinglish- the merger of English and other Indian vernacular languages†¦. I was pleasantly surprised to hear ‘MUMBAI’- as when I had left it was called Bombay though the original name of the city was Mumbai named after the Goddess Mumbadevi. With migration of people from North India Mumbai became Bumbai, during the British raj it became Bombay and remained for a long period before rechristened as Mumbai. When we friends used to meet we would say –‘Hey dude, kaisa he?’ (Hey dude, how are you?) While placing the order in the canteen we used to say ‘Hey boss, do cutting chai.’ (Two half teas) People in India are growing up in a multilingual surrounding, resulting in code mixing (mixing of two or more languages). What is the reason behind code mixing? India is a developing country and only few people are fluent in English, with most people have their education in vernacular medium. Which leads to either reshaping the English syntax with Hindi words or simply the other way round. Hinglish has gained a lot of importance in India as it is the language of the masses and every individual can relate himself with the language. For the same reason many advertises and movies use Hinglish. Many multinational giants use Hinglish version of its international campaign to make their brands more acceptable and popular among Indian masses. Mc Donald’s campaign’ What your bahana is?’(Whats your excuse?) Coca-colas strap line ‘life... ... and judiciary use a lot of hinglish on daily basis. I remember an incident when I had gone to the passport office for my passport renewal an officer told me ’please, appka passport submit karo’. Nowadays even mobile apps have been created which support hinglish such as the famous app ‘swype’ by which the user doesn’t have to press individual keys to type but only swipe on the keyboard to type. This makes it easier for people to type in hinglish. The alphabets on the keyboard are in English. With such amalgamation, English is no longer virgin and the cross-pollination of English and Hindi has given birth to ‘HINGLISH’, which will rule the world community due to the virtue of its diverse dialects. Posted by rohan mehta at 5:43 pm Essay -- LINGUISTIC CURRY Posted on January 15,2014. I returned to India after a long period and at the airport I hear an announcement saying â€Å"Welcome, Mumbai me aapka swagat he!’ these words took me back to my college days where we used to communicate in hinglish- the merger of English and other Indian vernacular languages†¦. I was pleasantly surprised to hear ‘MUMBAI’- as when I had left it was called Bombay though the original name of the city was Mumbai named after the Goddess Mumbadevi. With migration of people from North India Mumbai became Bumbai, during the British raj it became Bombay and remained for a long period before rechristened as Mumbai. When we friends used to meet we would say –‘Hey dude, kaisa he?’ (Hey dude, how are you?) While placing the order in the canteen we used to say ‘Hey boss, do cutting chai.’ (Two half teas) People in India are growing up in a multilingual surrounding, resulting in code mixing (mixing of two or more languages). What is the reason behind code mixing? India is a developing country and only few people are fluent in English, with most people have their education in vernacular medium. Which leads to either reshaping the English syntax with Hindi words or simply the other way round. Hinglish has gained a lot of importance in India as it is the language of the masses and every individual can relate himself with the language. For the same reason many advertises and movies use Hinglish. Many multinational giants use Hinglish version of its international campaign to make their brands more acceptable and popular among Indian masses. Mc Donald’s campaign’ What your bahana is?’(Whats your excuse?) Coca-colas strap line ‘life... ... and judiciary use a lot of hinglish on daily basis. I remember an incident when I had gone to the passport office for my passport renewal an officer told me ’please, appka passport submit karo’. Nowadays even mobile apps have been created which support hinglish such as the famous app ‘swype’ by which the user doesn’t have to press individual keys to type but only swipe on the keyboard to type. This makes it easier for people to type in hinglish. The alphabets on the keyboard are in English. With such amalgamation, English is no longer virgin and the cross-pollination of English and Hindi has given birth to ‘HINGLISH’, which will rule the world community due to the virtue of its diverse dialects. Posted by rohan mehta at 5:43 pm

The Humane Work of Nurses & Voluntary Aid Detachments during WW1 :: World War I History

The Humane Work of Nurses & Voluntary Aid Detachments during WW1 The dictionary describes the word " humane " as ... "...humane adj. Kind, compassionate, merciful." and this was indeed so in the case of the volunteers who worked tirelessly to ease the suffering of the wounded soldiers of all combatants in the fields of northern France and Belgium, during the First World War. In the early days of the war, army nursing was strictly a male preserve, until it was necessary to recruit female nurses from the ranks of middle and upper class ladies. The warm summer days preceding the outbreak of war lent an air of adventure to the proceedings, and the feeling was that the coming conflict would be fought in a similar fashion to the previous cavalry and infantry- based battles of the nineteenth century. A few months intensive combat would be sufficient and everyone would be back in time for Christmas dinner. Similarly, these ladies were caught up in the initial fervour of patriotism, and being prohibited from fighting at the Front, were keen to "do their bit" for their country and their soldiers. Tired of knitting items of clothing destined for the trench es, they wanted to do something a little more substantial. The concept of `noblesse oblige` was suddenly revived as many stately homes and country houses opened their doors to wounded officers in need of convalescence, and everyone wanted to be seen in a nurse`s uniform. Indeed there were many well- connected aristocratic ladies who set up their own private ambulance groups, much to governmental consternation. The Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, through her contacts and single-minded determination, assisted the wounded at Namur, and used the fact that she was previously acquainted with both the German commandant and aide-de-camp to pester them for safe passage to Maubeuge. She wanted to get through the enemy lines to tend the Allied troops, but the commandant of Maubeuge put an escorted charabanc at her disposal and sent her to Ostend. The Millicent Sutherland Ambulance reached Renaix where the officer in charge sent them with a military escort to Brussels, where the American Ambassador, arranged for an American journalist to escort the party, with two German soldiers, to The Hague and thence Flushing and home. The publicity generated by her escapades set up an efficient and much- needed Red Cross hospital outside Calais. Women especially were keen to take up "the great adventure" because, for them, that` s exactly what it was. The Humane Work of Nurses & Voluntary Aid Detachments during WW1 :: World War I History The Humane Work of Nurses & Voluntary Aid Detachments during WW1 The dictionary describes the word " humane " as ... "...humane adj. Kind, compassionate, merciful." and this was indeed so in the case of the volunteers who worked tirelessly to ease the suffering of the wounded soldiers of all combatants in the fields of northern France and Belgium, during the First World War. In the early days of the war, army nursing was strictly a male preserve, until it was necessary to recruit female nurses from the ranks of middle and upper class ladies. The warm summer days preceding the outbreak of war lent an air of adventure to the proceedings, and the feeling was that the coming conflict would be fought in a similar fashion to the previous cavalry and infantry- based battles of the nineteenth century. A few months intensive combat would be sufficient and everyone would be back in time for Christmas dinner. Similarly, these ladies were caught up in the initial fervour of patriotism, and being prohibited from fighting at the Front, were keen to "do their bit" for their country and their soldiers. Tired of knitting items of clothing destined for the trench es, they wanted to do something a little more substantial. The concept of `noblesse oblige` was suddenly revived as many stately homes and country houses opened their doors to wounded officers in need of convalescence, and everyone wanted to be seen in a nurse`s uniform. Indeed there were many well- connected aristocratic ladies who set up their own private ambulance groups, much to governmental consternation. The Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, through her contacts and single-minded determination, assisted the wounded at Namur, and used the fact that she was previously acquainted with both the German commandant and aide-de-camp to pester them for safe passage to Maubeuge. She wanted to get through the enemy lines to tend the Allied troops, but the commandant of Maubeuge put an escorted charabanc at her disposal and sent her to Ostend. The Millicent Sutherland Ambulance reached Renaix where the officer in charge sent them with a military escort to Brussels, where the American Ambassador, arranged for an American journalist to escort the party, with two German soldiers, to The Hague and thence Flushing and home. The publicity generated by her escapades set up an efficient and much- needed Red Cross hospital outside Calais. Women especially were keen to take up "the great adventure" because, for them, that` s exactly what it was.

Crime Prevention Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Kids Being Charged with Felonies†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A felony is a crime in which the convicted may receive more than a year in prison for their actions. The paper that you are about to read is going to explore some of the issues about kids being charged with felonies. We will also examine some of the issues of how this is portrayed in our news media today. Furthermore, I will offer my opinion, on how kids being charged with felonies could be a positive step in the right direction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is real that in America today we have asked our kids to grow up at an alarming rate. There has been no other time in history that children are asked to be mature enough to handle adult situations with regularity. Many of the past generations just did what their parents told them to do. Mow the lawn, clean their bedroom, and maybe some household chores and so on. In today’s society we’re asking our youth to watch their younger siblings. We also ask them to use potentially dangerous technology at a mature level. Keep in mind that some adults can’t even use technology responsibly! Since we want them to grow up quickly we have to expect that they are going to make adult mistakes especially with the actual maturity level. Is it safe to say that some kids do something that wasn’t meant to be so harmful, and as it would turn out be so detrimental to their lives? When they do make a mistake should we give them adult punishments?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I start in Atlanta, Georgia where two girls baked a cake with glue in the batter and fed it to their fellow classmates. The two thirteen yr. old girls could be charged with up to twelve counts of assault. (CNN 11-19-04) It is situations like this were two girls could be in jail for a long time just because they were trying to pull off a prank.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Santee, California Charles Andre Williams, a student that was made fun of on a frequent basis brings a gun to school and gets off thirty rounds. The result was a death of another student. Williams had told several people the weekend before including an adult that he was planning to kill someone at school, but no one took him seriously. (CNN 3-8-2001) Again we ask students to make mature decisions, but it isn’t what we had in mind. The number of stories goes on and on including the King brothers who killed... ... juveniles. Hopefully someday we will come up with a positive solution that works. Until that day we can only hope that the fast maturing children of the world will mature enough to understand that nobody can just do whatever they want. There will always be consequences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reference   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Legon, Jeordan â€Å"Student hacks school, erases class files†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CNN-6/11/2003   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Girls charged over sickening cake†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CNN-11/19/2004   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"An epidemic of violence†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CNN-3/8/2001   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"King Brothers get reduced jail sentences†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CNN-11/14/2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"School Shooting suspect to face attempted murder charge†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CNN-3/23/2001

Whistleblowing and the Consequences

Whistleblowing is an act that has become more prevalent in the corporate and private sectors. A whistleblower is described by Liuzzo (2013) as â€Å"†¦a person who reveals to a governmental authority, or to news media, confidential information concerning some wrongdoing or conduct that he or she regards as unethical† (p. 28). Some of the most notable cases in United States history have involved corporations, utility companies and the President. Some cases have been so extensive that they have brought about the collapse of corporate giants and even garnered the resignation of the President prior to his impeachment.The following will outline some notable cases, reasons why some people decide to â€Å"blow the whistle† and steps that the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has taken to secure the rights of those who report violations in the workplace. With greater frequency, internal organization constituents such as employees and board members are repo rting issues of wrongdoing by their companies, instead of the reports coming from external auditing agencies (Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005, p. 277).Whistleblowing is further defined as, â€Å"the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to effect action’’ (as cited in Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005). Companies try to anticipate the possibility of unfaithfulness by demanding employees sign an employment contract or non-disclosure agreement, which would render the disclosure of company business a serious offense. Employees who feel an unjust action is taking place within their organization have two channels to approach to address the issues.An internal channel consists of reporting the offense to company management so that they have the opportunity to research and contend with the offense(s). This is the most beneficial to any organization as it allows them to determine solutions and their internal issues stay safeguarded. Instead of lengthy investigations and legal troubles, companies could save thousands of dollars if the employee brings to light an issue internally to management, which provides the information to the people who are best able to resolve the situation.Although internal channels are best for organizations, they  may not be the best option for the employee to ensure compliance. External channels would include news media and government officials. People who decide to use the external route are considered whistleblowers. Organizations are least likely to welcome this form of disclosure, as their profits will likely plummet while the bad press spreads. Some employees go this route without discussing the issues with corporate management because they do not know who to talk to or they feel that their concerns will not be addressed. People also go behind their employer’s back bec ause they are afraid of retaliation and being labeled a trader by co-workers.The use of the word whistleblowing actually goes back more than 100 years and had nothing to do with corporate espionage or wrongdoing. The term came about in 1863 in the federal government’s False Claims Act (Eaton & Akers, 2007). The Act was initially enacted to incent consumers to report acts of wrongdoing against the government. According to Eaton and Akers (2007), Congress revived the Act in 1986 and retaliation legislation was added. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 strengthens the protection for employees who disclose waste and fraud.In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was added after the collapse of Enron to hold publicly held corporations accountable for their actions. Whistleblowing statutes may vary from state to state. There are some states that only allow protection to a whistleblower if he or she is a public employee or is working for a government contractor (Whistleblower, 20 08). Some statutes allow for only the person blowing the whistle to have protection against employer retaliation, while others allow co-workers that are supporting the whistleblower in their effort protection.This is why it is vital to research the law within the state the injustice occurred. Whistleblowing cases have been steadily increasing year over year since an additional 21 federal laws have been put into place to coincide with the OSH Act 1970. Each law outlines what is considered a discriminatory act and the deadlines around filing a complaint. Due to the protection that these laws provide, more and more people are coming forward and disclosing issues within their knowledge. OHSA protection means that companies cannot take â€Å"adverse actions† against employees for uncovering the truth (Occupational  Safety & Health Administration, 2012).These actions include, but are not limited to firing, demoting, harassing threats, and reducing pay and/or overtime. Constant up dates to whistleblowing laws are allowing more industries to outline the rights of those who are thinking about disclosing misdeeds. Violations that are being reported include issues with airline and workplace safety, consumer products, food industry safety, and securities fraud. As of March 31, 2012, OHSA has reported a 139% increase in yearly reported cases from 2005 through 2011 (Occupational Safety & Health Administration, 2012).During the same period, only 2% of the cases determined were given merit, 22% were settled and the remaining 77% were either dismissed or withdrawn. These statistics lend credibility to the determination of the people who are blowing the whistle and trying to make the world a safer place for all. Although the constant updates to the laws are beneficial, in come cases anonymity would be advantageous for the whistleblower. The implementation of a whistleblowing policy within companies, organizations and schools is encouraged to avoid damaging public attent ion and loss of internal morale.The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners compiles data every other year on fraud cases both in the United States and internationally. The 2012 â€Å"Report to the Nations on Fraud and Abuse† provides the following statistics for those organizations surveyed between January 2010 and December 2011: (1) 5% of annual revenues are lost to fraud each year, (2) The medium loss to fraud was $140,000, with one-fifth of the cases involving over $1 million, (3) Most frauds occurred for 18 months before detection, and (4) Most frauds were detected through employee tips (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2012).A 5% loss to fraud each year is far from an insignificant amount to a company, and the statistic proves that providing employees with guidelines for revealing fraud can save a company thousands of dollars each year. The creation and inception of a whistleblowing policy is a small price to pay for safeguarding a company against losses to fi nancial and human capital. Whistleblowing happens for a variety of reasons, including identifying corruption, public safety and securities fraud.Sometimes the whistleblower is a direct employee of the company brought under scrutiny, while others have inside knowledge of wrongdoings through a working relationship. Although whistleblowing happens all around the world, the United States has had its share of famous cases that brought about new regulations to control further corruption in business dealings. Three cases and their outcomes are: 1)In June 1972, a break-in at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D. C. led to the resignation of the then current President, Richard M. Nixon.One of the perpetrators was a former CIA operative and a current security advisor to the President’s re-election campaign. Notebooks containing the phone number for â€Å"E. Howard Hunt (W. H. )† were found on two of the men, and these clues gave rise to intense media attention (Woodward, 2005). The United States Senate started an investigation to determine how far reaching the scandal was. A confidential informant, later dubbed â€Å"Deep Throat†, provided Washington reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein insight into misdeeds by the President and his advisors.â€Å"Deep Throat† continued to tell Woodward & Bernstein to â€Å"follow the money† until they eventually uncovered the illegal indiscretions happening in the White House (Arnold, 2008). On May 31, 2005, Vanity Fair magazine released the announcement that former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt was in fact â€Å"Deep Throat. † Felt was convicted of authorizing illegal FBI searches in 1980 and was later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. 2)Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a former vice president and head of research and development for Brown and Williamson, disclosed deceptive practices by tobacco companies in the manipulation of nicotine.He communicated that they knew nicotine was addictive, but failed to act upon it (Arnold, 2008). Jeffrey also insisted that the company ignored research proving that flavoring added to cigarettes caused cancer, along with concealing damaging documents that could be used against them in cases brought by sick patients. â€Å"Jeffrey considered the whistleblowing a great personal risk to himself and his family but still decided that it was for the better good of people and society for the practice to be exposed† (Whistleblower Center, n. d.)Testifying as a master witness, he helped the formation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that implemented a $246 billion settlement against large tobacco giants. Wigand was fired from his position prior to blowing the whistle, and he described his subsequent harassment in an interview on 60 Minutes in 1996. Becoming a whistleblower had damaging effects on Wigand’s life, some of which he has overcome after a great many years. He no longer had any privacy, and his reputation was ruined. D eath threats against him precluded that he needed around-the-clock bodyguards for several years.His wife divorced him and took his two children to live with her in another state. A critically acclaimed movie titled The Insider was made about his story in 1999 and it highlighted the harassment that he endured. After the movie came out, Jeffrey was in demand to speak at schools and health organizations about the dangers of tobacco and smoking (Salter, 2002). Salter also states that Wigand became a teacher and eventually reconciled with his children. 3)One of the most famous whistleblowing cases in recent history involved the collapse of the energy giant, Enron.Executive Sherron Watkins disclosed extreme accounting irregularities to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and expressed her concern for the collapse of the company (Arnold, 2008). After Lay did nothing and Watkins was demoted, Enron shares fell to $1 in November 2001 from a mid-2000 high of $90. In their book The Smartest Guys in the Room, McLean and Elkind surmise, â€Å"The Enron scandal grew out of a steady accumulation of habits and values and actions that began years before and finally spiraled out of control† (2004, pgs.  132-133).Deceptive accounting practices hid billions of dollars of debt from failed transactions, and Enron pushed auditors Arthur Anderson to ignore and not report them either. Many of the firm’s executives were convicted and spent time in prison. The auditing firm of Arthur Anderson was indicted and found guilty in District Court, but the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction. By this time, Anderson’s reputation had been marred and most of their customers abandoned them. This led to the shutdown of the firm.The lies and deceptions by both Enron and Arthur Anderson helped to create the previously mentioned SOX legislation. Several studies have been done on whistleblowers over the years to determine the motivation behind their actions. â€Å"While results seem t o differ slightly across studies, whistleblowers (as compared with inactive observers) tend to have good job performance, to be more highly educated, to hold higher-level or supervisory positions, to score higher on tests of moral reasoning, and to value whistleblowing in the face of unethical behavior† (as cited in Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005).This information indicates that someone with a lot of responsibility in an organization will have the knowledge of unethical, internal practices. A person of high moral judgment is more likely to turn in a company for violating various laws and standards, than someone who is okay with cutting corners to keep him employed. Before becoming a whistleblower, a person must have absolute certainty that a protected Act is being violated. The OSHA website contains a list of the Acts and their descriptions to determine which one is being breached. It will also provide the type of communication for the complaint (i.  e. telephone or writi ng. )Adherence to the guidelines is important to ensure that protection coverage is available in the case of retaliation by an employer. In addition, weighing the many pros and cons before making a decision to blow the whistle on a company or organization is vital. Whistleblowing should not be taken lightly, and the decision should be carefully thought out. Aggressive documentation of the issues and conversations with company management is extremely important. Researching which authority to approach is highly imperative.Although law protects whistleblowers, they sometimes will incur job loss, harassment, intimidation and even loss of property or life while pursuing the issue and resolution. Long, drawn-out court cases can lead to a loss of income and notoriety. Lengthy investigations can lead to secret personal issues becoming known. Lots of support from family and friends is needed during an investigation because the intense scrutiny can break down a person’s will. A person needs to be certain that they are prepared for an onslaught from the government and media prior to proceeding with their disclosure.Conversely, whistleblowing will give a person a moral sense of pride. Standing up for what you believe in will show people that you are not afraid to fight for what is right. Whistleblowers may also be looked upon as trustworthy since they are looking out for the welfare of others. Sometimes it is possible to obtain reward sums of money from the government for uncovering injustices. Lastly, if a whistleblower is unjustly retaliated against, they may obtain monetary remedies from their companies for retaliation.A recent tax fraud case against the Swiss bank USB AG awarded the whistleblower a record $104 million reward provided by the United State Internal Revenue Service (Temple-West & Browning, 2012). In a rare case like this, the whistleblower spent time in prison for his wrongdoing, but then was handsomely rewarded for turning in his employer for prom oting an illegal act. People have deeply personal reasons for blowing the whistle. Some may see it as a safety concern, while others who have participated in illegal acts have had a guilty conscience that they want to unburden.Hundreds of cases are reported, dismissed and/or won each year with the help of OSHA. Being a whistleblower is not something to be taken lightly as many questions must be raised before proceeding with the act. Numerous laws have made it easier for people to come forward when they witness misdeeds by those in charge, but knowing history and potential outcomes prior to voicing concerns will enable a person to deal with the backlash. Having good moral judgment and standing up for what you believe in will allow a person to live their life with few worries and a clear conscience.