International Bussiness an Asian Perspective Chapter 9-11

CHAPTER 9 9. 1)  Ã‚  The interest rate on South Korean government securities with one-year maturity is 4% and the expected inflation rate for the coming year is 2%. The  US  interest rate on government securities with one-year maturity is 7% and the expected rate of inflation is 5%. The current spot exchange rate for  Korea  won is $1 = W1,200. Forecast the spot exchange rate one year from today. Explain the logic of your answer. Drawing on what we know about the Fisher effect, the real interest rate in both the  US  and  South Korea  is 2%.The international Fisher effect suggests that the exchange rate will change in an equal amount but in an opposite direction to the difference in nominal interest rates. Hence since the nominal interest rate is 3% higher in the  US  than in  South Korea, the dollar should depreciate by 3% relative to the South Korean Won. Using the formula from the book:  Ã‚  (S1  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ S2)/S2  x 100 = i$  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ iWon  Ã‚  Ã‚  and substituting 7 for i$, 4 for iWon, and 1,200 for S1,  yields a value for S2  of $1=W1,165. 9. 3) You manufacture wine goblets.In mid-June you receive an order for 10,000 goblets from Japan. Payment of ? 400,000 is due in mid-December. You expect the yen to rise from its present rate of $1 = ? 130 to $1 = ? 100 by December. You can borrow yen at 6 percent a year. What should you do? The simplest solution would be to just wait until December, take the ? 400,000 and convert it at the spot rate at that time, which you assume will be $1=? 100. In this case you would have $4,000 in mid-December. If the current 180-day forward rate is lower than 100? $, then a forward contract might be preferable since it both locks in the rate at a better level and reduces risk. If the rate is above ? 100/$, then whether you choose to lock in the forward rate or wait and see what the spot does will depend upon your risk aversion. There is a third possibility also. You could borrow money from a ba nk that you will pay back with the ? 400,000 you will receive (400,000/1. 03 = ? 388,350 borrowed), convert this today to US$ (388,350/130 = $2,987), and then invest these dollars in a US account.For this to be preferable to the simplest solution, you would have to be able to make a lot of interest (4,000 – 2,987 = $1,013), which would turn out to be an annual rate of 51% ((1,013/4000) * 2). If, however, you could lock in these interest rates, then this method would also reduce any exchange rate risk. What you should do depends upon the interest rates available, the forward rates available, how large a risk you are willing to take, and how certain you feel that the spot rate in December will be ? 100 = $1. 9. ) You are the CFO of a Philipine firm whose wholly owned subsidiary in Mexico manufactures component parts for your Philipine assembly operations. The subsidiary has been financed by bank borrowings in the United States. One of your analysts told you that the Mexican pes o is expected to depreciate by 30 percent against the dollar on the foreign exchange markets over the next year. What actions, if any, should you take? Your financing and operating capital are in dollars, yet many of your costs (labor) must be in peso.Your hard assets are all in peso, and their value will decline. On the other hand, if the peso depreciates, then your dollars will go further. So perhaps doing nothing is the best approach. If you are pretty sure that the peso will depreciate, then you may want to avoid any major peso-denominated costs that you can until after devaluation. That may mean holding back on shipments if possible, and you may want any dollar-denominated purchases made before the devaluation.You may want to move any peso-denominated major accounts into dollars before the devaluation. CHAPTER 10 1. Why did the gold standard collapse? Is there a case for returning to some type of gold standard? What is it? The gold standard collapse for the reason it would not allow for a nation's economic expansion. When times of war or acts of the like required for a economy's government to spend above the limits of its gold supply in turn the government would print extra money into circulation to compensate the excessive expenditures.This would cause a problem when these times of crisis would end and the extra printed money caused rapid inflation with in that nation. That nation would then try to re-establish it's rate hold per ounce of gold, yet not being able to internationally maintain that rate which would cause failure in this system. This is just one good reason I see as the collapse of the gold standard. I would say not. The problem is presented when a nation has the desire and ambition to grow yet there is only a set amount of gold and silver to be removed from the earth to back monetary value.When you have a limited amount of backing it kind of limits your growth and expansion. I could foresee a problem with any system if the players are too i nconsistant and change the environment of the game too often. I currently have faith in our floating exchange rate system because it acommidates human inconsistancy and allows for frequent change with the ability to stabilize. 2. What opportunities might current IMF lending policies to developing countries create for international businesses? Most of these developing countries are consumer countries.IMF usually focuses on areas that will be improved by the specific kitty. You can therefore look into these areas and seek to be an exporter to them, whether of services or of goods. These countries are also seeking to stabilize balance of trade. If they seek to import, there is still business for anyone who is aligned to hit at the right time. The fact also, that they have simplified cost and maturity means that it can create sustainability of any business that starts due to ease of re-borrowing. 3.Do you think the standard IMF policy prescriptions of tight monetary policy and reduced g overnment spending are always appropriate for developing nations experiencing a currency crisis? How might the IMF change its approach? What would the implications be for international businesses? Critics argue that the tight macroeconomic policies imposed by the IMF in the recent Asian crisis were not well suited to countries that were not suffering from excessive government spending and inflation, but instead from a private-sector debt crisis with inflationary undertones.Anti-inflationary monetary policies and reductions in government spending usually result in a sharp contraction of demand, at least in the short run. In the longer term, the policies can promote economic growth and expansion of demand, which creates opportunities for international business CHAPTER 11 CLOSING CASE 1. Why did China Mobile feel it was necessary to issue equity in markets outside of its home base in Hong Kong? What are the advantages of such a move? Maybe it’s because China Mobile wanted to tak e advantage of international exchange rates.Since the company wanted to achieve maximum competitive advantage, one way of assuring itself that it will always have adequate capital funding is by seeking external currencies as sources for tapping and hedging against any local market conditions that may have a negative impact on its local stocks. The advantages of such a move are the fact that other major world currencies such as the U. S. dollar tend to be more stable against most world currencies and the fact that being cross listed easily can be a use of additional funding to the company in the future should the need arise. 2.Why did China Mobile price the bond issue in U. S. dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars? Pricing the bond issue in U. S. dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars is to safeguard the stability of the price of its bond. Since the capital markets within the American market is also the most vibrant in the world, pricing the bond in U. S. dollars will ensure that for pu rposes of trading, there is a more vibrant, ready and willing market that can assure China mobile's bond to have a fair value and upon expiration, market values will most likely be much higher than those of the local market. . Can you see any downside to China Mobile's international equity and bond issue? I don’t see any downside issues that should discourage China Mobile's international equity and bond issue. Probably, there would be more of a challenge in the socialist culture of China. By pricing its equity and bond internationally, the local market may shun from the company on their capital markets since it’s perceived to be more attractive in international players. Although China Mobile’s international†¦

Having a New Member in a Family

When a child is used to being the baby of the family its hard to let go of that position. So for me finding out that a new baby was on its way it was very exciting, but than when the baby arrived it wasn’t very exciting after all. Everything change. As a result, I decided to built a fence that kept me separated from my family. I enjoyed being the baby of the house. I would always gets everything I wanted or asked for. I would think that basically the whole world revolved around me and only me. Everyone one always called me daddy’s little princess and that made me even more spoiled. I would love to be around my family play games with them do mostly everything. But, everything started to change once my mom made an announcement that she was pregnant. That moment was very important and surprising to everyone. I was happy that I was going to have a little sister or brother. After a while, everyone started paying attention to my mom and her tummy and that I wouldn’t get any. One day my uncle said to me that after the baby arrived he or she was going to be the new baby of the family, that it was going to take my spot. After I heard that I got sad, since I was used of having everyone spoiled me. From that moment on I was starting to drift away from my family. Months later my mom was ready to give birth one morning and I couldn’t go since I had school. Later that morning my dad told me and my brother we had a new baby sister. All throughout school I was thinking how my life was going to change. Lots of ideas popped into my head. I even thought of my parents forgetting about me. After school my dad came to pick me up so I could go to the hospital and visit. Once I entered the room I saw my mom holding a small human being. I was happy to see my new baby sister. I walked towards the bed and carried the baby. She was so small and her face was red with little white dots on her cheekbones, and she had a look of confusion. As I held my new baby sister I realized that she was going to need all the attention in the world even mine. I than also realized that I wasn’t a baby anymore that I didn’t need all the attention I always had that now it was going to be the baby’s turn to be daddy’s little princess. After that day I stopped acting like the world revolved about me because it never did. I gave my full attention to my baby sister. Everyone told me they thought I was going to get jealous and my respond was that I was at first but I than realized that she need it more than me. One day my dad told me that I was always going to be his little girl. I was glad he told me that. The fence I had built was just to damage the beautiful relationship I had with my family. It started to fall little by little as I started to become conscious that attention was nothing compared to having a family that cared about you. My family helped me tare down the fence because they showed me that just cause your growing doesn’t mean people are going to stop caring about you or not give you attention that there will always be a time where you have the spotlight.

A Critical Analysis of The Great Gatsby

The beginning of the 20th century was marked with substantial changes including the industrial revolution, WWI and the gradual diversification of moral views as opposed to the uniformity imposed by the clericalism that had dominated the American society from its conception.The dynamically changing morality first and foremost touched the new bourgeoisie, or the class of people who made their fortunes rapidly and became wealthy at relatively young age.com/cumulative-exam/">The Great Gatsby is a famous novel by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The action takes place on Long Island and in New York City in the 1920s era. The characters of the drama are mostly wealthy, yet young people, going through the stage of the inner morality reformation.The literary work depicts the stable upper-middle class of the 1920s, who used to live in the West Egg district of Long Island. Contemporary New York City lured people with its countless opportunities to realize oneself and improve one’s m aterial well-being; Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate, is not an exception. He is flexible and intelligent enough and thus moves to New York for the purpose of learning and working in bond trade.Furthermore, he’s originally solvent enough to afford a flat in the fashionable West Egg district: â€Å"My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch [†¦]† (Fitzgerald, 4).Upon the arrival to New York, Nick soon gets attracted to the fun-driven lifestyle, implying noisy parties, light flirt and false, theatrical love. The family of his cousin Daisy, who lives not far from Nick, is equally wealthy and aristocratic: her husband Tom graduated from a prestigious university and runs a successful business. Daisy is a beautiful, but excessively materialistic woman, who once had a romantic affair with Gatsby, but soon rejected him because of his allegedly questionable ability to provide for the future family.Instead, she accepted Tom’s proposal and selected confidence in the tomorrow’s day as opposed to the strong, barely controllable emotions she had for Gatsby (Milford, 69). The protagonist of the novel, Jay Gatsby, stands to certain degree apart from the lawful third-generation businessmen he is on friendly terms with. Gatsby is a descendant of a poor family, but, owing to his motivation for learning, he manages to enter St. Olaf’s College, which he, however, soon leaves because of the despair, associated with his janitor’s job (Turnbull, 122).Driven by his love for Daisy, he fanatically seeks ways of becoming rich and even dares break the law and engages with criminal business. However, the protagonist remains sincere in his attitude towards people and seems extremely kind, generous and broad-minded person: â€Å"It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you come across four or five times in life†¦ [his face] believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself† (Fitzgerald, 52-53).As one can assume, wealth, as implied in the American Dream, particularly popular among the middle-class population, is one of the major themes of the literary work: â€Å"The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in the era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess† (Bruccoli, 73).Wealth, or, more precisely, its lack, becomes the major reason for the destruction of the beautiful fairy tale romance between Gatsby and Daisy. Financial prosperity is also the main factor motivating Tom’s extramarital lover, Myrtle, for seeing the man on the regular basis. Finally, money becomes a catalyst of Gatsby’s tragic outcome of being slaughtered after taking Daisy’s blame for the accident with My rtle (Bruccoli, 79; Lehan, 211).When approaching the theme of wealth from an alternative perspective, it is possible to notice The Great Gatsby contains a comprehensive overview of the sociology of upper-middle class and newly minted rich businessmen. In particular, the western part of the district is inhabited by newly rich, whereas the denizens of East Egg represent nobility and aristocracy: â€Å"Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste.Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloans’ invitation to lunch† (Lehan, 215).At the same time, aristocratic circles are depicted as mannequins, whose public behavior rarely reflects their true beliefs and attitudes. For instance, Tom is unfaithful in his relationship with wife and starts an affair with a woman, whose backg round is far from aristocratic and who lives in a poor neighborhood.Wealth is also close-knit with the theme of   moral freedom, which causes the moral degradation of the top society (Lehan, 233). The Buchanans are literally heartless: instead of attending Gatsby’s funeral and demonstrating their respect for everything the dead made for safeguarding Daisy’s reputation, they simply change the place of residence and distance themselves from the tragedy both physically and psychologically.Even Gatsby, the most â€Å"authentic† and open-minded person in the novel, seems adversely affected by his wealth and sinks in the marsh of criminal affairs increasingly deeper so that even his surroundings learn about his illegal alcohol business and murders he committed.Therefore, by describing the wealthy New York City communities of the 1920s, Fitzgerald prominently illustrates the negative impact of excessive prosperity on human value system and intrinsic ethical principle s. The author also proves that money provides great freedom, but really few people are psychologically prepared to accept and successfully manage it.Works citedBruccoli, A. New Essays on The Great Gatsby. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985.Fitzgerald, F. S. The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth Editions, 1993.Lehan, R. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Craft of Fiction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1966.Milford, N. Zelda. New York: Harper and Row, 1970.Turnbull, A. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1962

The Best and Worst Training Experiences Research Paper

The Best and Worst Training Experiences - Research Paper Example Elements of training design include setting learning objectives, developing instructional strategies, evaluating performance, sequence objectives, and content establishment, and the application of knowledge and skills (HSS, 2012). A trainer should choose the best form of training from the list of available options for better results. This paper will analyze both my best and worst training experiences as an employee with reference to the book, â€Å"Employee Training and Development† by Raymond A. Noe. My training as a driver is probably the best training experience I have had for years. Since my earlier years, I had always hoped to become a driver. Therefore, when the chance came I took it with enthusiasm. I took the training for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had hoped to own a car in a few months’ time and therefore I had to learn the skills of driving to be able to drive my own car. Secondly, I had a job in a food store where I was required to have a driving license as an additional skill. Therefore, the management sent me to a driving school for training. The objective of the training was to equip me with the necessary driving skills and road safety rules that would enable me to transport foodstuffs around my state effectively, safely and without breaking any traffic rules. Actually, I was not the only trainee in our driving school at the time. The design of the training targeted all students who desired to acquire the skills and knowledge in driving. I participated in the training alongside my colleagues. The training took place in many locations. The theory classes took place in a room suited for a driving lesson while the practical took place on the road. This arrangement was very suitable and conducive for this type of training. Different training methods were in application. Lectures and discussions took place in class while skill lessons applied on the road using the training car (FAO, 1998). The expertise of the trainer was unquestiona ble. He used convenient language, moderate training speed, gave instructions with an understanding mind, and was very encouraging. His mode of communication was perfect and he offered us chances to discuss and practice. The elements that I appreciated most in the training process included setting learning objectives, developing instructional strategies, evaluating performance, and the application of knowledge and skills (HSS, 2012). The application of the Behaviorism theory was clear in the training. I would observe and implement what the trainer was doing on the wheels until it become clear (Mergel, 1998). I can actually say the training was successful and I was able to transfer my learning to my job as I can drive comfortably and safely. However, I would recommend an increase on the practical lessons and the introduction of counseling topics for would-be drivers. My training as a sales representative was a bad experience. I had ventured in this training with a hope of securing a p art-time job with a soft drink manufacturing company. The objective of the training was to equip me with necessary sales and marketing knowledge and skills. The target audience was a number of students from our student organization. A friend and I participated in the training. The training took place in one of the empty rooms in the company and the training room was not conducive for the training as there was too much noise from the manufacturing machines in the company.

Heroes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Heroes - Essay Example Moreover, a level of discussion will also be appropriated with regards to what typically defines a hero and what does not. Finally, a discussion of the motives for this level of hero creation and the ultimate societal effects that this has on different groups will also be discussed. Firstly, with regards to the idolization and near canonization that many individuals within our society seem to be labeled with on a more and more frequent basis, one must categorize this into the ultimate need that key shareholders within the process view to exist. For instance, as was the given case with the firefighters of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the nation, the media, and the government were eager to find anyone or anything to idealize as a means of restoring a fundamental faith in the foundations of the nation; so thoroughly shaken by such a hideous act. This type of societal, governmental, and media response to a crisis and the need to quickly find heroes is not a new concept. Although many of the readings that have informed this essay helped to paint the picture for how civil servants and other non-heroes are regularly cited as heroes by the media, the fact of the matter is such a practice of placing titles on individuals merely perform ing their jobs has existed for much longer than just the few brief years since 9/11 (Welch 42). One need look no further than the Doolittle Raiders to see the primal importance that a small band of men sworn to fulfill their duty and perform missions at the behest of commanding officers in a time of war were quickly labeled as heroes in a country that desperately craved such examples at such an abysmally dark period of the United State’s engagement in World War II. What should be realized first and foremost is the fact that our society’s current definition of hero and heroism has

The Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Internet - Essay Example The World Wide Web is ccessible vi the Internet, s re mny other services including e-mil, file shring, nd others described below. Virtully ll of the services nd products relted to the Internet were originlly defined to stisfy demnds emnting from the cdemic nd reserch world. We re only just entering into the er where the min driving force for new developments is coming from the commercil sector. The originl users of the Internet were drwn from nrrow segment of the populce. They hve recently been joined by the new genertion of users with wider rnge of bckgrounds thn cdemi nd reserch. The club-like nture of the Internet is fst disppering s the ese nd cost of ccess mkes it ccessible to much greter udience. (John, 2001) The two Internet pplictions tht re most likely, in the short term, to hve n impct on the non-IT mnger re e-mil nd the world wide web (WWW). E-mil provides very simple nd effective wy of sending both simple text messges nd computer files (for exmple spredsheets nd word processed documents) to one or number of recipients. The WWW enbles individuls nd orgnistions to provide globl udience with full gmut of multimedi informtion tht cn be ccessed esily. ... The WWW enbles individuls nd orgnistions to provide globl udience with full gmut of multimedi informtion tht cn be ccessed esily. The benefits of ll of these Internet services re vilble t locl telecommunictions chrge rtes. The Internet's potentil to chnge the wy we conduct business is only just beginning to be understood. lredy it is cler tht mngers must orientte their thinking to dpt to the opportunities (nd threts) tht re being creted. 3. Security on the Internet Internet security, or more ccurtely the lck of it, is one of the topics most likely to generte concerned comment from the press. The volume of medi coverge given to computer hckers nd the potentil dmge they cn cuse, tends to be out of proportion to the relity of the sitution. This not to suggest tht the issue of security is not extremely importnt. When breches occur they cn cuse finncil loss nd severe embrrssment. The British Lbour Prty, currently forming the UK government, ws forced to close its WWW site temporrily becuse of mlicious tmpering with the contents. (Hrtmn, ckermnn, 2005) n inventive mind hd chnged both the text nd grphics with the im of cusing severe embrrssment. There hve lso been mny instnces where finncil institutions hve suffered finncil loss due to their security being compromised, lthough losses re very smll when compred to other sources of frud. 4. dvntges of the Internet The Internet hs the potentil to deliver unique set of business benefits over nd bove existing IT technologies. There re number of resons for this: 1. It is simple to use compred to most of the ppliction softwre tht we normlly encounter in the business environment. This ese of use spns the different types of computer nd operting system

How the US Constitution Relates to Being an Army Officer Essay

How the US Constitution Relates to Being an Army Officer - Essay Example Article 1 section 8 stipulates clearly this role (Legal Information Institute 1). This therefore implies that United State Army serves under dual chain of command. These chains of command encompass the executive and legislative branches of government. Thus, from the founding of United State subordination of army officers to civil authority has been a crucial principle to the nation’s constitutional system. Military profession has recognized and embraced a tradition of service to the nation before self-interests. Constitution acknowledges military role of protecting freedom and important national interests. It also balances the duty of military with constitutional democracy where people get chances to maintain ultimate authority over the military through their elected leaders. There are several sections of United States’ Constitution affecting a military officer. The constitution is the foundation of army in United States. In Article 1 Section 8 clause 11 through 16 give s the Congress the powers regarding the Army. For instance, clause 12 dictates that the Congress has the mandate to form and assist army. Clause 13 authorizes Congress to provide all the assistance, which Navy requires. Similarly, clause 14, 15, and 16 empowers the Congress to call and discipline military, to suppress invasions, and to regulate the activities of United States military. This therefore implies that the constitution of United States demands military officers are answerable to the Congress. Congress can declare war, award letters of marque and retaliation, enacts rules that to direct capturing on land and water. In addition, the Congress can send any military officers to areas, which it feels United States should display its military mighty. Although the army has its autonomy, the Congress prescribes their cause of actions (Legal Information Institute 1). The US Constitution requires that people who enlist or re-enlist in Armed Forces of United States to pledge enlistme nt oath. Any commissioned officer can administer the oath of enlistment for a given term of service in any branch of the military. Army officers swear, before the United State flag, that they will support and defend the Constitution of United States against domestic and foreign enemies. The army officers also assure the nation that they will be faithful and obedient to the orders from the president of United States. This oath of enlistment binds military officers to respect the spirit of United States Constitution. Loyalty to the Constitution in the part of army officers implies that they are ready to uphold ideals of their unit (Legal Information Institute 1). Therefore, the army officers dedicate and commit themselves to serve and protect the country faithfully. The foundation of laws of military justice has its basis on the United States Constitution. Article 1 section 8 gives Congress powers to regulate military operations. These powers enabled the Congress to enact substantive and procedures laws that direct the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Military law came into existence in the year 1950. Enactors of this law borrowed a lot for United State Constitution in order to make the existing law into a comprehensive code. Uniform Code of Military Justice underwent revision in the year 1968. The law established military courts. The Uniform Code of Military Justice allows the Army Criminal Investigation Command to investigate misconducts of military personnel. Misconduct on the part military officers ranges from rape,

ETHICAL CHOICES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ETHICAL CHOICES - Essay Example Individuals may develop morality as they grow and learn responsible acts within their particular environments or may be taught by their superiors on what entails morality and how to behave morally within the given environment. Morality has immense significance to the particular society, community or organization that sets the moral norms. To begin with, morality as an obligation has seen the development of interpersonal and societal respect among members of various societies. It is through morality that societies and individuals have managed to uphold religious doctrines and ideologies that have defined such societies for ages. Morality has also ensured that people promote positive ethical values that have seen eradication and abolition of corruptive activities to support sustained institutional development and accountability. Aspects of morality have also humbled individual members of given societies and institutions to an extent that each person acts in the best way possible to ensure maximum security of the others. In addition, morality has played great role in ensuring sustained peace in the given societies or institutions. Morality has helped in the reconciliation of antagonizing societies and groups to help in constructing harmonious coexistence. Furthermore, entities of morality assisted in the development of responsible members of the society who live to satisfy their role within the given societies. Essentially, it is worth noting that morality entails all the sufficient instruments to direct and define wholly created and caring human beings. It is morality that will help shape individuals’ characters and beliefs about certain aspects of life within the given society. Morality has to override any other normative systems. Generally, morality is rather a bigger entity when compared to any form of normative or descriptive systems that define and dictate human odes of conducts. Making of any

Egyptian Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Egyptian Religion - Essay Example The people would revere the king as a person having a divine person. The king is also described as a human being. Also, the king is also depicted in movies and storybooks as a dictator king. The people bow down and obey his commands without hesitation. The following paragraphs explain the three interconnecting functions of the king or pharaoh. The king’s role in Egyptian religion is three -pronged. First, the king has a divine function. Second, the king is has a human form. Lastly, the king has an influential political role to implement on his subjects. First, the king has a divine function. The king is considered a god. The Egyptians were believed to have conceived the world as a social process that from dawn to dusk. The Egyptian king helps maintain the balance of the universe after its original maintainer was treacherously killed. The king is also helped by the Egyptian priests in the maintenance of a universe that moves in complete harmony. This theory of the delicate balance that the Egyptian universe hangs shows that the king plays a very precarious role indeed. The King’s power then extends beyond the horizon in Egypt because the sky also extends to the far reaches of the king of Egypt. The king is also called by such names as gods of the provinces, gods of the towns of the earth and other names (Quirke 70). As a god, the king grants prizes and rewards to his subjects that follow his every command.The book Ancient Egyptian Kings states that the kings were revered as gods through the construction of monuments like the landmark Pyramid. Egyptian society looked at the king as an elite member of society. Many quarters in Egypt even consider their king as more important than their gods in heaven. The country could not run without the king god ruling over them. In fact, the king is considered as the unifying apex of any dualities that form the Egyptian society. The king services as the mediator between the people and the Egyptians gods up in the sky. The king god of Egypt is replaced by heredity. This means that the next King -god must be the son of the current king. In addition, the god Horus was worshipped in Egypt by many people. The goddesses namely Wadjet and Buto, Saisin were linked to the Egyptian king (Baines, 100). The king gods were often helped by their temple priests.The king built temp les in the form of pyramids. And the province of Fayoum is one of the largest oases in Egypt. This is located Southwest of the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. The temple in antique for. "the kings of the 12th Dynasty (1991-1786 BC) chose to build their capital city here, and to be buried in pyramids built nearby, on the edge of the desert. Subsequently, priests and other personnel were employed in the pyramid temples, where the king's mortuary cult was performed after his death and burial. Around this nucleus, the community soon developed and lawyers, doctors, scribes, craftsmen, tradesmen and all the other elements of a thriving society came together.1" The above quote shows that a major portion of an ordinary Egyptian's life is spent constructing the pyramids. The pyramids have always caught the amazed and awe of its spectators. For, the ordinary people of today do not know how such a huge mammoth building was built with the primitive instruments that the Egyptians used during those time period. The pyramid is the resting place of the pharaoh or king when he dies. It has a locking mechanism so that no one can enter the tomb after the king is buried. For, this pyramid lock is used to prevent the looting of the treasures hidden inside the dead king's pyramid chamber. For."throughout the ages,

Curriculum and External Frame Factors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Curriculum and External Frame Factors - Essay Example The campus is located in a safe and supportive environment appropriate for the students, staff as well as to the general faculty operations. Industries are stable and have history of financial support to the institution and its employees. The public and private school systems’ provide graduate education programs for the institution and have a reputation of high quality education programs. The commuter students enjoy accessible public transport services into and out of the city at reasonable costs. Moreover, community facilities as well as other public services are at the reach of the students and this ascertains the quality of education that is offered within the institution. Besides commendable learning environment, the institution is situated at proximity to recreation parks, which are very important for the student’s leisure activities. Moreover, the government has been very instrumental in offering supportive services to the institution and ensuring that the public enjoy the learning facilities offered within the institution as part of its basic responsibility towards the public. Key sectors driving the economy will continue to be the federal government, technology, construction, international business, and hospitality (City Data website, nd). Trinity University has a higher enrollment of Washington DC residents compared to all other private universities in the city or region. The university college is at proximity with public transport infrastructure with road and rail transport being the predominant means of commuting. Transportation services through roads by buses and taxis are easily accessible. Besides the commuter students, Trinity nursing college has boarding facilities though a few in numbers and the institution offers medical and counseling services. The Washington DC’s government acknowledges and recognizes the contributions of the institutions within the locality; for instance, the 2011, pay roll records indicate that about 40% of the annual payroll was from the local residents who were employees to the institution. The nursing college has a total employee population of 221 persons from within the city and the environment. Besides the direct contributions of the college to the lives of the city dwellers, about 2,190 Trinity graduates live within the city and contribute to the welfare and development of the city through talents, civic engagement as well as through the tax income by the government. Their influence in general welfare through formal employment as well as voluntary activities within the local organizations cannot be overemphasized (Trinity Washington University Annual Report, 2011). The population within the city and the environment reflect a mix of cultural and ethnic characteristics with a wide spread of age groups; from the elderly to the children. The populations within Washington exhibit traits of relatively good income levels; with majority receiving average incomes while some receive above average incomes. The general poverty levels are low and there are humanitarian organizations which run program s targeting assisting the poor from within. Washington DC has a great diversity in terms of

Introduction to business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Introduction to business - Essay Example In fact, any negative or positive outcome affects them directly. In this business, there is a change after change of ownership. This is seen as the company opens new groceries and bakery stores. The company has also excelled in public relation and marketing. Moreover, the company has managed to incorporate corporate social responsibility in its system. When one works in King Arthur flour, there are a number of benefits. The first crucial benefit is gaining ownership of the company. The company is 100 percent owned by the employees. This means that the employee controls their fate in the company. Moreover, employees have a stake in the flour. Additionally, employees are viewed as precious members of the group. Employees are also offered training and development opportunities. This means that they continuously gains skills in the company. Such benefits include training on baking or cooking workshops. They are also given free products and store discounts. In conclusion, King Arthur Flour is a great place to work. This is because of employee benefit and its involvement in social responsibility. This has in fact agitated my urge to work in such a

The Nice Guy Essay Example for Free

The Nice Guy Essay Maybe he’ll say he’s ? nally ready to pass me the baton. out a way to ? nalize the data. Who was helping you out, Lynne or Aaron? †¦ Neither? Ugh. All right, all right. Call me when you’re on your way in to the of? ce, OK? See ya. † [Hangs up. ] Damn. This totally messes up my morning. Now I’ll have to try to hack my way through the spreadsheet before the meeting. I can’t imagine what it’s like taking care of a parent with a terminal illness. How awful. But Lisa’s really slipping. She was such a go-getter and a great operations manager, but her focus has been shot since her mother got sick. Instead, he was starting a â€Å"new media† company. The notion of leaving a great job at TRH and joining his team was the furthest thing from my mind, yet the crazy guy pitched me so hard I couldn’t resist. And he was right. He knew that companies would need a strategic partner that could provide creative ideas in all media – print, radio, TV, and â€Å"that information superhighway I keep hearing about. †Daner was going to be that partner. We’ve had our ups and downs, but it’s been an incredible ride. Up from ? ve people to over a hundred, a client list that boasts some of the biggest companies in the world. And the best part is, it’s just the beginning. Larry is still a tiger, but he’s getting a bit tired and wants to golf. I can’t blame him for that. It’s de? nitely time for him to retire. Lately I could swear he’s been doing the nudge-nudge, winkwink in my direction. George thinks he’s in the running too, but I think he’ll be cool with reporting to me. Wonder: Once I’m CEO, should I put George in charge of our European expansion? A footprint in Europe will make us even more indispensable to our clients. It will make us a global leader, not just a domestic shop. George has done well under Larry for the past two years. He was pretty psyched about his promotion to VP of business development. He’s great on the technical end of things, but he still needs more polish and experience with customers. He is feisty, though–always willing to take on anything. And he’ll challenge Larry at the drop of a hat. I’m surprised Larry puts up with it and doesn’t chop him off at the knees. Still, when it comes to people, Larry can really be so hard-nosed. His take- no-prisoners attitude is understandable when bidding on business but not when it comes to people. Like when Larry said Lisa’s become a liability lately; he even hinted about replacing her. Ugh. Lay off Lisa? I can barely think the words, let alone say them to her. She’s always been my right arm. She usually knows what I’m thinking even before I do. Sure, Jim or Andrea could eventually handle the role of operations manager, but there’s a steep learning curve. Note to self: Have another heart-to-heart with Lisa to discuss the possibility of reducing her workload for a while–or maybe see how she’d feel about taking a leave of absence that would let her focus on her mom. I really want the old Lisa back. 7:38 AM Passing Edgewater Park on the Shoreway This traf? c is ridiculous. If I leave by 6:00, I’m golden. But if I wait until after 6:30 to wake Sheila and the kids on my way out, I’m hosed. At least today I get to see an amazing sunrise. Bonus. Man, I could jog faster than this. I remember all those brainstorming jogs with Larry along the lake. It was great to compare notes and talk about the future. For an old guy, he did pretty well – up until his heart attack three years ago. I almost lost it last week when he said that he was going to start jogging again – and he’s aiming to run the Boston Marathon in April. Please, Larry, stick with golf and sailing! It’ll be fun to blow him away with the strategy and the numbers. It’s been a ton of work preparing for this, but now we’re ready. We can mobilize quickly once he gives us the green light. I’m a little surprised that he’s stayed away from our recent planning sessions. I thought he’d want to provide some feedback and direction. Perhaps it’s his way of pulling back and empowering me before handing me the reins. So, the million-dollar question is: What will he say? I think I know the answer. He’ll love the bottom line–that he can golf and sail as much as he wants. He’ll like his new chairman-only role so that he can step away from the dayharvard business review Between you and me, I’m not totally ruling out compromise, but you need to push back. Remind them how much business we’ve given them over the years, and remember we’re talking about a big chunk of change here. Besides, they should have caught the mistake. You can do this, Justin. Keep me posted. † I can’t believe this. More problems? Abbe Printing had to redo the whole thing because of their mistake, and now that rep Randy is trying to convince Justin that Daner should split the cost of the reprint with them? Forget it! I can’t stand it when people try to take advantage. I grew up in a print shop, for cryin’ out loud. Gimme a break! Justin does have a point, though. The murky print specs Lisa prepared on that job created a bit of a gray area in terms of culpability, but still – we give Abbe dozens of jobs a year. Over $2 million in revenues, I’ll bet! We could be hardnosed on this. Sticking us with a bill like this just doesn’t feel right. Still†¦maybe there’s room for compromise. I know that Randy is a good guy, and besides, they’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty for us many times. I really don’t want to torch that vendor relationship. a little after the kids go to school.

Defining And Evaluating Methods Of Measuring Performance Accounting Essay

Defining And Evaluating Methods Of Measuring Performance Accounting Essay Performance measurement is the performance-based management process which is flowing from the organizational mission and the strategic planning process. Performance measurement are includes the objective and subjective assessments of the performance of both individuals and subunits of an organization such as divisions or departments. Performance measurement are effective in ensure that a strategy of organisation is successfully implemented by monitor an organisations effectiveness in satisfying its own predetermined goals or stakeholder desires. Performance measures may be based on non-financial as well as on financial information. The Return on Investment (ROI) Two measures of divisional performance are commonly used is ROI and RI. ROI is the most common profitability ratio. Nowadays, most of companies concentrate on the return on investment (ROI) of a division that is profit as a percentage in direct relation to investment of division which instead of focusing on the size of a divisions profits. ROI addressed divisional profit as a percentage of the assets employed in the division. Assets employed can be defined as total divisional assets, assets controllable by the divisional manager, or net assets. The main advantage of using ROI is provides a valuable information about the overall approximation on the success of a firms past investment policy by providing a abstract of the ex post return on capital invested. According to Kaplan and Atkinson, they state that however, lack of some form of measurement of the ex post returns on capital, there is still useful for accurate estimates of future cash flows during the capital budgeting process. When ROI is used as a managerial performance measure, Measuring returns on invested capital also focuses managers attention on the impact of levels of working capital (in particular, stocks and debtors) on the ROI. It can lead to decisions making that are optimal for individual divisions but sub-optimal for the company. ROI focuses on short-term profitability, looking only at the last quarter or last year for performance evaluation. This time horizon may not be long enough for many projects to be evaluated. According to Daiva BurkÃ…Â ¡aitienÄ-, a further attraction of ROI is that it can compare the return of different businesses field for example division within the company or competitors by adopting it as a common denominator. Therefore, corporate managers want their divisional managers to focus on ROI so that their performance measure is congruent with outsiders measure of the companys overall economic performance. However, the used of ROI for evaluating the economic performance of a division is more appropriate than evaluating the managerial performance, since controllable profit and assets are not exposed in external published financial statements. For comparing the economic performance of a division, net income is likely to be the preferred profit measure to be used as the numerator to compute ROI in order to ensure consistency with the measures that are derived from the financial reports of similar companies outside of the group. ROI has been most widely used financial mea sure for many years in all types of companies. ROI is also a useful medium to communicate the ROI to those who have varying degrees of financial knowledge. The ROI concept allows managers to speak the same language when handle project goals in financial terms across several departments in a corporation as well Information Technology (IT) vendors use ROI as a sales tool to easily convey the economic value of their products. The residual income (RI) Residual income overcomes the dysfunctional aspect of ROI. It is because the use of ROI as a performance measurement can lead to under-investment. For example a manager currently achieving a high rate of return( say 30 percen) may not wish to pursue a project yielding a lower rate of return ( say 20 percen) even thought such as a project may be desirable to a company which can raise capital at an even lower rate ( say 15 percent) (David Otley, n.d). Thus, used RI is better than ROI. The purpose of evaluating the performance of divisional managers, RI is defined as controllable contribution less a cost of capital charge on the investment controllable by the divisional manager. For evaluating the economic performance of the division RI can be defined as divisional contribution less a cost of capital charge on the total investment in assets employed by the division. Besides, RI is favour than ROI and it more flexible because different cost of capital percentage rates can be applied to investments that have different levels of risk. There is not only will the cost of capital of divisions that have different levels of risk differ so may the risk and cost of capital of assets within the same division. The RI measure enables to calculate the different risk-adjusted in capital cost while ROI cannot incorporate these differences. The economic value added ROI and RI cannot stand alone as a financial measure of divisional performance. One of the factors contribute to a companys long-run objectives is short-run profit ability. ROI and RI are short-run concepts that deal only with the current reporting period whereas managerial performance measures should focus on future results that can be expected because of present actions. RI has been refined and re-named as economic value added (EVA) by the Stern Stewart Co. EVA is a financial performance measure based on operating income after taxes, the investment in assets required to generate that income and the cost of the investment in assets (or, weighted average cost of capital). The objective of EVA is to develop a performance measure that find the ways in which company value can be added or lost. The EVA concept extends the traditional residual income measure by incorporating adjustments to the divisional financial performance measure for distortions introduced by GAAP. Thus, by linking divisional performance to EVA, managers are motivated to focus on increasing shareholder value. The objective of developed EVA is producing an overall financial measure that encourages senior managers to focus on the delivery of shareholder value. According to Stern Stewart Co. the aim of companies managers whose shares are traded in the stock market should be to maximize shareholder value. Therefore, financial measurement is an important key used to measure divisional or company performance should be congruent with shareholder value. They claim that compared with other financial measures, EVA is more likely to meet this requirement and also to reduce dysfunctional behaviour. EVA is not just a performance measure but can be the major part of an integrated financial management system leading to decentralised decision making. . It leads the each different department managers to make the best decision lies to the companys goals. Thus adoption of EVA should indirectly bring changes in management which in turn can enhance company value (Stern, Stewart and Chew, 1991). It can be proved by an article in an issue of Fortune magazine (1993) described the apparent success that many companies had derived from using EVA to motivate and evaluate corporate and divisional managers. In fact, companies which have adopted EVA as the basis of management performance measurement have experienced a significant increase in their shareholders wealth. Limitations of financial performance measures Financial performance measures are generally based on short-term measurement periods and this can encourage managers to become short-term oriented. For example, relying on short-term measurement periods may encourage managers to reject positive NPV investments that have an initial adverse impact on the divisional performance measure but have high payoffs in later periods. Financial performance measures are as lagging indicators (Eccles and Pyburn, 1992) by time lag between actions and results. They state the outcomes of managements actions after a period of time, produce too late to influence current decisions. Therefore, its hard to understand or know what the manager did caused what to happen. Hard to know, what the manager did that makes the thing going well or bad as well. Financial performance measures are limited to current reporting period only and it needs to be supplemented by non financial information such as customer satisfaction and quality while Managerial performance measures focus and expect what will be the future result. The major problem is obtaining profit measures are based on the historical cost concept and thus tend to be poor estimates of economic performance. Companies tend to rely on financial accounting-based information for internal performance measurement (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). This information may be appropriate for external reporting but it is doubtful for internal performance measurement and evaluation. In particular, using GAAP requires that discretionary expenses are treated as period costs, resulting in managers having to bear the full cost in the period in which they are incurred. Many traditional measurement and evaluation methods such as ROI, EVA, ROCE and so on have failed to yield an appropriate estimate of the pay back from these complex systems (Barua et al., 1996). Some claim these performance indicators have a high reliance on financial perspectives and thus portrait only one facet of the organisation. Balance scorecard (BSC) BSC was introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992) to overcome the shortcomings of traditional management accounting and control which fails to signal changes in the companys economic value as an organization makes substantial investments or depletes past investments in intangible assets. The scorecard contains four different perspective which is financial performance, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. These perspectives reflect the interests of the key stakeholders of companies involving shareholders, customers and employees (Mooraj et al., 1999). There are several benefits of adoption the balanced scorecard highlight by Kaplan and Norton 1992. One of the benefits is focusing the entire company on the few key things needed to create breakthrough performance. A balanced scorecard might show that an organisation is only weak in a couple of areas but that these areas are impeding its overall success. By focusing everyone in the organisation on improving those areas, overall performance gets better. Next, it assists to integrate different company activities such as quality and customer service. By looking at different organisational programmes or units from different perspectives can be a way of getting everyone singing from the same song sheet. If the balanced scorecard shows customer service to be weak, focusing on everybodys customer service performance behaviours will lead to small improvements in each department or unit; the overall effect will be a bigger improvement in the organisations customer service performance across the board. Lastly, managers and employees both know what is required to achieve excellent overall performance by breaking down strategic measures to lower levels of the organisation. For example, an organisation might have overall goals to increase productivity by 5 per cent. By breaking down its productivity measures to granular levels of the organisation as part of a balanced scorecard, every member of the organisation will have clear targets that achieve their overall goals. Performance Prism The Performance Prism was developed by (Andy Neely and Adams, 2000) takes a drastically different look at performance measurement and sets out clearly to recognize how managers can use measurement data to improve business performance. It has a much more comprehensive view of different stakeholders for example investors, customers, employees, regulators and suppliers than other frameworks. It must be considering the wants and needs of stakeholders first before the strategies can be formulated (Neely et al., 2001). Thus, the stakeholders and their needs have been clearly identified, if not, it is impossible to form a proper strategy for company. According to Andy Neely, now lots of measurement frameworks for example like the balanced scorecard tends to take a fairly narrow view of stakeholders which refer to shareholders and customers. However, it ignores employees, suppliers, regulators and in todays society organisations cant afford to ignore those different pressure groups. Those di fferent groups of stakeholders that might be interested in the business. The strength of this conceptual framework is that it first questions the companys existing strategy before the process of selecting measures is started. In this way, the framework ensures that the performance measures have a strong foundation. The performance prism also considers new stakeholders (such as employees, suppliers, alliance partners or intermediaries) who are usually neglected when forming performance measures. It is structured to throw light on the complexity of an organisations relationships with its multiple stakeholders within the context of its particular operating environment. It provides an innovative and holistic framework that directs management attention to what is important for long term success and viability and helps organisations to design, build, operate and refresh their performance measurement systems in a way that is relevant to the specific conditions of their operating environment. (Andy Neely, Chris Adams, Mike Kennerley, 2002). Lastly, the performance Prism has considered the stakeholder satisfaction and stakeholder contribution compare to other performance measurement dont consider it. Now a way of thinking about this is that as a stakeholder in an organisation as a customer of an organisation, there are certain things I want from the organisation. Conclusion Divisional performance measurement should be based on a combination of financial and non-financial measures. Financial performance measures cannot stand alone as a measure of divisional performance. Profitability is only one of the factors contributing to a companys objectives. An incorporation of non-financial measures, such as competitiveness, product leadership, productivity, quality, innovation and flexibility in responding to changes in demand, creates the need to link financial and non-financial measures of performance.

Is Heterosexuality Socially Constructed?

Is Heterosexuality Socially Constructed? ‘Heterosexuality is socially constructed. Discuss Not only heterosexuality, but the very word, has changed in the way it is understood. I begin this essay with a clarification of terms, discussing what is understood by sexuality and gender and the implications of constructivist views. From this it is natural to move on to a discussion of labelling theory, of the effects of heteronormativity and of homovisibility, noting Foucaults recognition of positive implications in terms of difference. Finally, I consider how arguments against heteronormativity might be answered, in part, by Foucault. Constructionists hold human behaviour is socially constructed, by the environment in which people live. They do not consider human behaviour to be innate or immutable, as they believe human behaviour is shaped by their social context throughout their lives. They hold that sexuality is also socially constructed and sexual behaviour to be a product of socio-cultural conditioning. Sexual meanings are not universal absolutes, but are subject to historical and cultural variation. (DeLamater, Hyde, 1998, p.16) Constructionists regard the meaning of a sexual act as dependent solely on the cultural, historically specific context in which it occurs; they believe that sexuality is expressed in many different forms across a variety of different cultures in many countries. A sexual act in one country might not be construed as sexual in another. (Weeks, 1991. p. 20) This is evident in the anthropological study of a tribe in New Guinea. It is part of this tribes cultural belief that masculinity can be transmitted by insemination of semen to a young boy, either anally or orally, by an older male. (Herdt, 1984 p.165) In western society this could be perceived as a homosexual act, or, for essentialists, used as evidence of universality. But for constructionists this behaviour cannot be generalised to the larger population; constructionists suggest that labelling these acts as homosexual is incorrect as the tribe do not apply the same meaning to these acts as in western culture: to impose the same understanding as in the west would be ethnocentric. (Gergen, K. 1999. p. 26) Social constructionists want to chart ways that the meanings of sexual desires shift throughout history. Social constructionists regard sexual desire as contingent, not biologically determined as viewed by essentialists. (Warner, 1993 p.45) Michel Foucault (1981) works analyzed the history of sexuality from ancient Greece to the modern era. Foucault articulated how profoundly understandings of sexuality can vary across time and space. This is demonstrated by how the prevalence of what we now term heterosexuality has varied over the centuries and also from culture to culture. This is discussed by Foucault, who also notes that, although sexual behaviours in ancient societies resemble what we today see as homosexual/ heterosexual behaviour, the terms are not congruent with ancient societies. For example the ancient Greeks did not have terms or concepts that correspond to the contemporary dichotomy of ‘heterosexual and ‘homosexual therefore to this different historical context the modern terminology cannot be accurately applied. (Foucault, 1981, p.89) Constructionists aim to gain a deeper understanding of sexual phenomena and are not primarily interested in the first cause of sexual orientation: they look at understanding the ways in which differences in sexual behaviour are ‘produced by social processes in a particular social context. Constructionists aim to understand how we express and organise sexuality and why labels of difference in specific areas have been invented in some cultures and not others; why a particular culture accepts one form of sexual expression and not another; and how heteronormativity has come to dominate modern western society. (DeLamater, Hyde, 1998, p.10) These important questions I will investigate in my essay. Constructionists can identify many historical contexts where individuals have engaged in same-sex relations, but it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that terminology labelled categories of sexual acts as specifically either heterosexual or homosexual. They suggest, therefore, that these terms contributed to the construction of sexuality in the western modern era. (Katz, 1995, p.45) Ned Katz is an important figure in the sexuality studies and he supports the constructionists argument. In The Invention of Heterosexuality (1995) he looks at how the meaning of the term heterosexuality changes throughout time. Katz notes that the term heterosexuality (Heterosexualità ¤t) was first used in 1868 by German-Hungarian journalist, Karl Maria Kertbeny, not long after the term homosexuality was coined by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. Heterosexuality made its first published appearance in English in a medical publication in 1869. (Katz, 1995, p.40) At first, the term heterosexuality was not used as homosexuals binary opposite but was used to describe abnormal manifestations of the sexual appetite, either same sex or opposite sex, which did not conform to social norms that held that sex was for procreation. At one time the term ‘sodomite had a similar meaning, this term was applied to people engaged in specific non-procreative sex acts, and related to the activity rather than their holistic sexual identity. (Katz, 1995, p.45) This distinction between the activity performed by someone who, among many other things, does that (a baker bakes, and a sodomite sodomises) and a person defined in a particular way regardless of activity (a woman, a Jew) is now largely lost in contemporary use of gender labels, which now seem inescapable. Furthermore Katz suggests that in the 1920s the term was revisited in the second edition of the publication: ‘heterosexuality was then used to describe a manifestation of sexual passion for one of the opposite sex; normal sexuality. (Katz, 1995, p.42) This term became well established and was used by Freud to describe normal sexuality. However this adaptation, used by scientists and physicians, signifies the start of heteronormativity as it suggests that sexual passion for the opposite sex was normal, healthy and superior influencing the rise of what Rich terms compulsory heterosexuality. (1994, p.45) Creating this distinction between normal and abnormal sexual preferences encouraged scientists and physicians to seek cures for those considered abnormal, thus compromising the liberty of the segregated and aggrandising the professional who diagnosed deviance. (Rivkin and Ryan: 1998, p.670) This was supported by Foucault, who writes that â€Å"it was this categorisation of homose xuality that first exposed the hitherto unfettered and unmonitored human sexual desire to scientific scrutiny and classification† (Rivkin and Ryan, 1998, p.677). Katz suggests that If homosexuals were to win society-wide equality with heterosexuals, thered be no reason to distinguish them. (Katz, 1995, p.52) Furthermore, he holds that if homosexuals and hetrosexual do win society- wide equality [†¦] the homosexual/heterosexual distinction would be retired from use, just as it was once invented. (Katz, 1995, p.52) The term heteronormativity was coined by Michael Warner, to contest the elemental form of human association (Warner, 1993, p.21). This term describes how society has been dominated by heteronormative behaviour through the prevalence of ‘compulsory heterosexuality. Warner suggests that heterosexuality has become an institutionalised form of normative social practice. (p.22) Heteronormativity describes the dominating societal norms that shape individuals behaviour, pressuring the individual to conform to accepted cultural forms. This suggests some discomfort and constraint, finely distinguished from Foucaults suggestion that â€Å"the individual is not repressed by social order; the individual is in fact formed by it (Foucault: 1981, p.217). Heteronormativity has consequences for that minority who do not comply with normative society, for example homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, and intersexual people; individuals who deviate from atypical accepted heteronormativity are liable to heterosexism as they face prejudice and discrimination by some in the conforming proportion majority. (Warner, 1993, p.23) Heteronormativity has been reinforced by religious beliefs, partly through the prevalence of Christianity in western culture. The major western faiths reject homosexuality and elevated heterosexuality as the only accepted sexual preference. Although there have been disagreements on interpretation of the bible, the influence of institutional faith has largely underpinned heteronormativity. (Warner, 1993, p.27) Heteronormativity is demonstrated at the moment of birth: individuals are quickly assigned to a sex category dependent on their sexual organs and therefore expected to conform to social gender roles. The power and dominance of heteronormativity is apparent when intersexual babies, with both male and female sex organs, are born. Intersexuals do not conform to normal categories and this deviance generates such anxiety that some intersex babies have surgery shortly after birth to assign their sexual organs and their gender to either a male or female sex category obviously without their consent. (Dreger, 1998, p.45) This demonstrates the extent in which heteronormativity has come to dominate modern western society. This type of operation has been reported to cause problems with sexual pleasure in later life. This begs the question, is conforming to heteronormativity necessary if it conflicts with personal preference or if it has negative implications for the individual? Hetronormativity can be challenged by increaseing homovisability, Societal visability of gay couples, gay teachers, or even open conversation about homosexuality can reduce the dominance of hetronormativity (Dreger, 1998, p.44) Judith Butler (1991) challenges heteronormative views in her publication Imitation and Gender through challenging binary sexual (and gender) categories, thus demoting heterosexualitys dominance, reducing its normative power by increasing homovisibility and awareness of alternative sexual orientation, which in turn makes alternative sexual preferences more socially acceptable. She holds that sexual identities and desires are constantly changing: sexual expression is intertwined with societal power relations. (p.727) For example, in ancient Greece, in determining sexual preference the gender of a partner was less significant than whether or not someone took the active or passive role in sexual relations. This demostrates how power relations are intertwined into sexuality. Similar influences are also at work in contemporary stereotypes as womon are frequently portrayed as the passive sexual partner and men the active partner, however this perception is changing. (Dover, 1989. p.89). Butler suggests that hetronormativity is reinforced through socio-cultural conditioning and also via the transmitting of visual culture which promotes hetero-visability and homo-invisability. This notion is supported by Richard Dyer (1993), who holds that contemporary cinema plays a vital role in maintaining heteronormativity (p.726) Butler also investigates gender categories, and the implications categories of difference have on gender identity and gender roles. Butler argues that men and woman are essentially the same apart from different organization of sexual organs and, as a feminist; she defends individuals rights to equality. Foucault would support this as he would argue that our habit of categorising the world in a ‘gendered way is itself a social construction. He states that when you view the world through the lens of gender differences, gender differences will be found. (McNay, 1992, p.121) Butler (1991) believes that gender like sexuality is socially constructed. She suggests that gender is not something we are, but something we do. She holds that individuals play out a role that is socially enforced upon them through social conditioning. Gender roles assigned at birth are based on individuals biological sex; this gender role is played throughout individuals lives. (p.720) Furthermore, Butler like Katz, holds that heteronormativity could not exist without the categorisation made by terms of difference and therefore questions the whole purpose of their invention. (p.723) While the theories already discussed recognise the power of categorisation and a norm Foucault is more explicit about the political effects of consciousness. Foucault, in History of Sexuality (1981), challenged essentialist assumptions, and his ideas have been important in the constructionist approach to sexuality. Foucault suggests that the way that individuals are categorised by difference is part of a larger social discourse that is representative of the power relationships within society. Foucault holds that these power relations are constantly changing depending on historical and cultural context and that there are also positive implications to the generation of terms of difference. These terms can provide recognition and power to people otherwise invisible, and provide leverage for visibility, a source of pride and political power in order to fight for their right to equality. He suggests that segregating homosexuals in this way heightens homo-visibility, and homosexuals feel p art of a collective who can create their own subcultures, fighting the dominance of heteronormativity. (p.67) Increased homovisability can be demonstrated by the gay liberation movement in the Stonewall protests, and the extent of popular support for the London Lighthouse. All constructivists hold that heterosexuality is socially constructed: indeed, all behaviour is product of socio-cultural conditioning. Similarly, all hold that heterosexually is a social construct that is culturally and historical dependent on the social context in which the term is used. Ned Katz, in particular, looks at the evolution of the term heterosexual and demonstrates the way the meaning of the term has changed throughout time, supporting the constructivists claim that sexuality is historically and culturally contingent. (Katz, 1995, p.52) With such consensus, what evidence is there to the contrary? Firstly, essentialists suggest that homosexual and heterosexual acts are historically consistent. This argument seems to be supported by Darwins evolutionary theory that holds heterosexuality is essential for reproduction and the continuation of the species, and that there is regularity and consistency in some patterns of sexual behaviour, displayed across space and time. This might seem a strong criticism of the constructionist position as it suggests that sexuality is rooted in our biological nature rather than a product of social conditioning. Secondly, another question that must be asked of constructionists is that, if those who are considered deviant face heterosexism and discrimination, why would they choose to come out and face the negative implications of a homophobic society? Also, the constructionist suggestion that all behaviour is a product of social conditioning can also be questioned, as it fails to explain why transexuals seek gender reasignment. Finally, the construct ionist argument cannot account for those who generally believe that they are born with the biological sex organs that do not correspond with their psychological sex. Paradoxically, perhaps Foucault provides an answer to the final two questions as, although he agrees the terms heterosexual and homosexual are of modern construction and therefore cannot be used to describe same sex or opposite sexual relations that have existed before the modern era, he also suggests that labels of difference have positive implications for the segregated: a shared label is a collective identity, providing them with the public visibility need to fight for equality. People might suffer prejudice, but the reality of their experience is recognised and endorsed by the labels of difference. Bibliography Berger, P, Luckmann, T (1966) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and theSubversion of Identity. New York: Routledge. Butler, Judith (1991) ‘Imitation and Gender Insubordination, Literary Theory: An Anthology, Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan (Eds) London, Blackwell Publishing, 1998 Clausen, J (1996) Beyond Gay or Straight: Understanding Sexual Orientation, Chelsea: House Publishers. DeLamater, JD, Hyde, JS (1998), Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality, Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 35 p.16 Dover, KJ (1978, 1989) Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Dreger, AD (1998) Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex, Cambridge, (MA): Harvard University Press Dyer, Richard (1993) The Matter of Images, London: Routledge Foucault, M (1981) The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, London, Pelican. Gergen, Kenneth J (1999). An invitation to social construction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Halwani, R (1998) Essentialism, Social Constructionism, and the History of Homosexuality, Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 35. p.89 Herdt, G (1984). Rituals of manhood: Male initiation in New Guinea. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Herdt, G (1993) Mistaken sex: Culture, Biology and the Third Sex in New Guinea. In: Gilbert Herdt (ed.), Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and in History, New York: Zone Books Katz, Jonathan Ned (1995) The Invention of Heterosexuality. New York, NY: Dutton (Penguin Books). Laqueur, T (1990) Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. Cambridge, (MA): Harvard University Press McNay, L (1992) Foucault and Feminism: Power, Gender and the Self, Cambridge, Polity Press. Plummer, Ken (1995) Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds: London Rich, Adrienne (1994) Compulsory heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence Blood, Bread, and Poetry. Norton Paperback: New York 1994 Richardson, Diane (1996) Theorising Heterosexuality: Telling it Straight, Buckingham: Open University Press Rivkin, Julie and Ryan, Michael (1998) (Eds) Literary Theory: An Anthology, Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan (Eds) London, Blackwell Publishing, 1998 Warner, Michael (1993), Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press Weeks, Jeffrey (1991), Against Nature, London: Rivers Oram Press Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Introduction Fetal alcohol syndrome is a set of birth defects caused by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The occurrence of FAS varies from 0.5 to 3.0 per 1,000 live births. However, it can be much higher depending on the community; low socioeconomic status and race seem to be a contributing factor in those who are most at risk. (play therapy) The prevalence of FAS is thought to be underestimated for several reasons. This includes the physical features are often understated and difficult to recognize, a lack of clinical expertise, and the stigma that comes with maternal alcohol use. So not only do these mothers report their alcohol use less, clinicians may also be reluctant to ask women about their alcohol use (Jones). Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading nonhereditary cause of mental retardation and specific facial abnormalities and altered growth. (Prenatal exposure to alcohol, 2000). Not all children who are exposed to alcohol get FAS. This suggests that there must be a critical does of alcohol and a sensitive period in the development of the fetus. Description The effects of exposure to alcohol are referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. This includes full-blown fetal alcohol syndrome, partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, and alcohol-related birth defects (Landgraf et al. 2013). â€Å"The amount of maternal alcohol consumption, the timing of consumption, and the duration all affect which level of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder a child is placed under† (Batshaw et al. 2013). Alcohol consumption in the first two months leads to more adverse affects on the fetus. Alcohol also negatively affects the fetus in certain ways in each trimester. In the first trimester brain cells are affected. In the second trimester the facial features are affected. Finally, in the third the hippocampus in the brain is affected. (play therapy)This is due to how much development still needs to occur and can be affected by the alcohol. A mother’s age may also have a play in whether FAS occurs. According t o O’Leary â€Å" the risk of impairment in offspring of women drinking five or more drinks per occasion at least weekly, is increased by 2-5 times when the mother is 30 years of age or older.† Alcohol crosses the placenta during pregnancy so it is known that they main reason for FAS is maternal alcohol consumption. However, paternal alcohol consumption may also pass on effects to the fetus from the sperm. History Fetal Alcohol syndrome was first reported in the United States in 1973. Eleven unrelated children, whose mothers continued to drink heavily during pregnancy, had similar patterns of growth deficiency and morphogenesis. After these reports, it was found that this connection was not a new observation. A committee to study drunkenness was formed in the 18th century of individuals in the British House of Commons. Their results were that infants born to alcoholic women had a â€Å"starved, shriveled, and imperfect look.† (Jones et al. 2010). Then in 1899, a doctor studied infants of alcoholic females. He recognized an increased frequency of early fetal and infant death in the infants. However, despite troublesome indications the medical community continued to disregard the issue. In the case in 1973, Dr. David Smith was asked by Dr. Shirley Anderson to come down to look at eight children who had been born to alcoholic mothers. These children came to the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic at the King County Hospital due to Dr. Christie Ulleland’s interest in the area. One night, she was informed that an alcoholic woman was about to give birth so she went to find out everything she could about the effects of alcohol on fetal development and found that there was no information available (Jones et al. 2010). So she decided to learn everything she could about the topic. Over the next year she found eleven infants who had been born to alcoholic women. She then turned the children to the care of Dr. Anderson when another opportunity presented itself. Dr. Anderson then invited eight of those children to the outpatient clinic for the evaluation with Dr. Smith. As each child was examined a â€Å"specific pattern of malformations that included: microcephaly, short, pal pebral fissures, and a smooth philtrum† was noticed in half of the children (Jones et al. 2010). Soon after Dr. Smith’s â€Å"unknown files† were searched for, for the same three features. These files consisted of â€Å"hundreds of children with birth defects whom he had evaluated but had been unable to diagnose† (Jones et al. 2010). Two children were found to have the same features so their mother’s charts were studied and it was revealed that both children had been born to alcoholic women. As time went on more children were identified with the same features all to mother’s who were alcoholics. Since the initial findings it has been found that exposure to alcohol in the womb may produce a broad spectrum of defects which is now known as the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. (Jones et al. 2010). Diagnosis There are many key features of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; these can be grouped by growth retardation, characteristic facial features, and central nervous system abnormalities and dysfunction, structural or functional (O’Leary et al. 2004). These categories are used for in the diagnosis of a patient with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The patient must have at least one growth abnormality, all three characteristic facial features, and one functional or structural abnormality or the Central Nervous System (Landgraf et al. 2013). Liles states that â€Å"prenatal and postnatal deficiencies in height, weight, head circumference, brain growth, and brain size would all be included under growth retardation. A deficiency in height and weight is considered at or below the 10th percentile and head circumference is considered when below the third percentile.† According to Landgraf et al. (2013), the diagnosis of growth disturbances excludes â€Å"familial microsomia, constitutional developme ntal retardation, prenatal deficiency states, skeletal dysplasia, hormonal disorders, genetic syndromes, chronic diseases, malabsorption, malnutrition, and neglect.† The characteristic facial abnormalities that are used in diagnosis of FAS include a smooth philtrum (the groove between the upper lip and nose), short palpebral fissure length (shortened openings between the eyelids), and thin vermillion (the upper lip) (PLAY THERAPY). Functional impairments in the Central Nervous System are considered intellectual deficits when below the third or the 16th percentile in three of six areas: â€Å"cognitive or developmental abnormalities, insufficient executive functioning skills, motor functioning delays, inattention or hyperactivity, deficient social skills, or sensory, pragmatic language, or memory problems.† (Play therapy) Symptoms Along with the criteria for diagnosis, children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome have many other symptoms. Spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, preterm birth, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have all been found to relate to alcohol exposure in infants. Spontaneous abortion is defined as fetal loss prior to 20 weeks of gestation. The reason for the death is usually unknown but certain risk factors are found in some cases. Evidence found, as early as 1980, suggested that drinking during pregnancy was associated with an increased rate of spontaneous abortion. Studies have been done that suggest that the risk is not increased unless at least three drinks per week are consumed. Stillbirth is when fetal loss occurs after 20 weeks of gestation. (PRENATAL EXPOSURE) Originally, studies suggested that an intake of 14 or more drinks per week was associated with stillbirth. Later a study found that more than five drinks per week could lead to a three times increased risk of stillbirth. Another study fo und a 40 percent increase in the possibility of stillbirth for women who consumed any amount of alcohol compared with those who did not. Exposure to alcohol also shown to be associated â€Å"placental dysfunction decreased placental size, impaired blood flow and nutrient transport, and endocrine changes.† (PRENATAL EXPOSURE) All which could result in stillbirth. Preterm birth is delivery occurring before 37 weeks of gestation. Researchers found it difficult to study the trend between preterm birth and maternal alcohol due to small sample sizes, insufficient assessment of alcohol exposure, and unreliable gestational date among other factors. However, some studies have been completed and one found that 10 or more drink per week may lead to three times increased risk for preterm delivery. There is no known reason why Sudden Infant Death Syndrome occurs. However, there are many theorized reasons including prenatal alcohol exposure. Although studies have been done, they are not reliable due to small sample sizes. (STILLBORN) According to Batshaw (2013) imaging studies found a decrease in brain volume and abnormalities of the corpus callosum, basal ganglia, and other brain structures. The death of certain cells may be responsible for a small size of the cerebellum. The corpus callosum sometimes fails to even develop in something children with FAS. Autopsies of brains also included malformations of the gray and white matter regions of brain tissue and failure of cells to migrate during brain development to the correct position. An infant’s cry is another characteristic which can be affected by exposure to alcohol. Research has found that the intensity, time between a stimulus and infant’s cry, and the pitch of the cry are significantly different in children who were exposed to alcohol than those who were not (PRENATAL EXPSOURE TO ALC). The infants may also have a weak sucking response. Children with FAS may have delayed intellectual development, neurological abnormalities, vision, hearing, and balance problems. These children also may have â€Å"heart and limb problems, sleep disturbances, jitteriness, trembling, heart disease, spina bifida, renal, orthopedic, dermatologic, connective tissue, and respiratory problems, as well as bedwetting, voluntary or involuntary passing of stools, tremors, seizures, echolalia, and schizophrenia.† (play therapy) Long Term Implications Many long term implications have been identified that affect children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Many have oversensitivity to stimuli such as bright lights or sounds, certain smells, and even certain textures. Exposure to ethanol can also lead to ADHD and executive functioning deficits (Batshaw et al. 2013). A study has shown that 85 percent of children diagnosed with FAS also are diagnosed with ADHD (Liles). Organizing, sequencing, planning, and certain forms of abstract thinking are all tasks that are included in executive functioning. Those with problems in executive functioning are unable to be independent because they are unable to do daily tasks like getting dressed. Other long term implications include motor control. Most parents start seeing a delay in fine and gross motor skills by 12-13 months of age. Motor control is influence by the Central Nervous System. There are many functions that are involved in the CNS. The sensory organs including ears, eyes, and skin provi de feedback to the CNS, motor reactions and balance may be affected due to problems located in the inner ear (Prenatal exposure to alc). Communication delays including receptive and expressive language and hearing disorders are often common in children with FAS. Hearing disorders in children with FAS include auditory maturation, sensorineural hearing loss, and intermittent conductive hearing loss (o’leary). Children with FAS also have a wide range of behavior and developmental abnormalities. These children may be antisocial and one third of children exposed to alcohol prenatally show significant aggressive behavior. (O’Leary) Since these children experience social issues, it may result in an increased likelihood of depression, suicidal ideology, anxiety and panic attacks, and other various psychiatric disorders (Liles). With problems in communication, executive functioning, and social issues, among others, these children often experience lower cognitive ability. Many studies done show a high possibility for children with FAS have IQs that would place them in the category of mental retardation, an IQ lower than 70. They also have problems in â€Å"spelling, mathematics, and completion of carious classroom tasks.† (Liles) These individuals are more likely to drop out of school and have higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, delinquency, and abnormal sexual behaviors (Landgraf et al. 2013). This shows the importance in the support and treatments child with FAS need. As children with FAS get older, the long term implications not only follow them to their adult life but also cause other problems. They may have mental health problems, become victims of crime, get into trouble with the law, or may not be able to live on their own. They may not be able to work which also means even if they have the ability to work, they do not have the resources to. The problems with social ability also may affect their potential to have intimate relationships. Treatments Treatments can be very important in helping those with FAS, so they are able to cope with daily living. According to the National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (2014) home intervention and early school intervention are important to help overcome issues an individual may be having. There are many services for individuals with FAS these include prenatal, birth to age 3, children 3-6 and school age, adolescents, and adults. Prenatal services are targeted at the mother; physicians should provide women with information about the effects of drinking during pregnancy. Since early intervention is so important for children with FAS a physician can recommend part C in IDEA. This allows for children birth to age 3 at risk of later developmental delay to receive services before meeting criteria eligibility. A stable and nurturing environment is critical for these children and so the family needs to be educated about the importance of caregiver attachment. (NOFAS) Once a child reaches the age of three, early intervention services stop and families are refereed to preschool handicapped programs or special needs preschool through Part B of IDEA. Unlike Part C, a child must be eligible for this program to receive services. This becomes a problem for some children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome because few meet the criteria. Categories they may qualify for include other health impairments, behavior disorder, or learning disorder. This allows for services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, or social skills training (NOFAS). Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome may have more prominent behavioral and mental health issues, so parents should not dismiss concerns they have. Adolescents with FAS miss out on skills like observational learning or basic maturity so vocational and transitional services are important. Giving them explicit instruction along with lifestyle support is important while in school to increase the possibility of a better outcome as an adult. Open communication and close supervision is incredibly important since adolescents with FAS often do not know appropriate boundaries or how to read subtle social cues. As an adult it may be difficult for those with FAS to receive services unless they have met the eligibility criteria before the age of 22. Adults living with FAS may qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits, Medicaid, and Section 8 Housing subsidies. (NOFAS) It is important at any age in the lifespan to have a routine for those living with FAS. The National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (2014) gives strategies for handling symptoms at each stage of life for those living with FAS. For infants, seeing specialists in areas is suggested to help with delays or a nutritionist for poor weight gain. Toddlers who are distracted easily may need a routine established or specific structure. School age children who have problems making and keeping friends may need to be paired with a child who is a year or two younger and need activities to be short and exciting. Parents of adolescence who are being victimized need to monitor the activities the children are engaging in. Adults living with FAS may also have difficulty obtaining or keeping jobs so looking into trade schools job training programs may be beneficial for them. (NOFAS) Although no studies have been done to see how play therapy can help children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, research has been done with children who have similar characteristics and behaviors; this includes but not limited to low self-esteem, aggression, and hyperactivity. This allows practitioners to help children with FAS (Liles et al. 2009). â€Å"Develop a more positive self-concept, assume greater self-responsibility, become more self-directing, become more self-accepting, become more self-reliant, engage in self-determined decision making, experience a feeling of control, become sensitive to the process of coping, develop an internal source of evaluation, and become more trusting of himself/herself† are recommendations during play therapy given by Liles for children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Conclusion Although, some say an occasional glass of wine won’t affect your baby, the best way to avoid FAS is to refrain from drinking while pregnant. Educating women and men on the risks of prenatal alcohol exposure is important. Medical practitioners should also be educated on new information that is found regarding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome so they can pass the information along to clients. For women who are trying to get pregnant refraining from drinking is crucial because the early stages of development are the most impacted by alcohol exposure. Individuals affected with FAS will have to deal with it their whole lives. Although treatments are available, the disorder is not curable. Early diagnosis is important so that support measures can be taken in the individuals’ environment which may help to avoid problems later in life. As information becomes available and technology increases more can be studied about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

The Equal Rights Amendment Essay -- Women Feminism Equality Essays

The Equal Rights Amendment "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1923, this statement was admitted to Congress under the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution granting equality between men and women under the law. If the Era was passed, it would have made unconstitutional any laws that grant one sex different rights than the other. However, in the 1970s, the Era was not passed, and therefore did not become law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea for an equal rights amendment first became acknowledged in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1916, Alice Paul founded the National Women's party (NWP), a political party dedicated to establishing equal rights for women. Traditionally, women were viewed as weaker and inferior to men. The purpose of the ERA was to prohibit any person from acting on this belief. Alice Paul viewed that equality under the law was the foundation essential to full equality for women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In November of 1922, the NWP voted to work for a federal amendment that could guarantee women's equal rights regardless of legislatures' indecisions. The NWP had 400 women lobbying for equality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite strong opposition by some women and men, the NWP introduced and Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1923. In order to become law, the amendment needed a two-thirds vote in both houses of the congress of the United States, or a supporting petition of two-thirds of the state legislatures. Then the amendment would have required ratification by three-fourths of the states. However, it failed to get the two-thirds majority required to move onto the states for approval. The proposed amendment also failed in following sessions until 1972, when it won a majority vote in Congress. The main objectives of the women's movement included equal pay for equal work, federal support for day-care centers, recognition of lesbian rights, continued legalization of abortion, and the focus of serious attention on the problems of rape, wife and child beating, and discrimination against older and minority women. The ERA would have addressed all of these issues if it were passed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Had it been adopted, the ERA would have resolved the paradox of an oppressed majorit... ...t giving the Supreme Court and federal agencies authority to spell out the meaning of equal rights would be risky. Decisions made on such a level would be too far removed from the ideas and desires of the people. Opponents felt that equal rights should be dealt with on a local or state level where legislators can be voted out of position if the people do not like some of the decisions made.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the ERA did not pass, all of the actions made by NOW, NWP, and any of the other women's movements, have greatly aided women in their battle against sex discrimination in the work place, in educational institutions, and in their roles as wives and mothers, and finally laid to rest the controversy over protective legislation and equal rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like the Fourteenth Amendment, we are inclined to forget that the ERA was designed not to change values but to modify behavior of mainstream citizens by changing the constitutional status of a particular group. The ERA's purpose was and is to provide equality of opportunity through the Constitution and legal system for those women who want to realize full personal and professional expectations within mainstream America.