Managerial Decision-Making Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Managerial Decision-Making - Case Study Example he decisions makers of their firms, and if any stakeholders of the same are not satisfied by the outcome the managers are the people responsible to fix the problem. Managers use rational models, which suits them to make major decisions in their cooperatives. There are some rational processes that work when the models are used, but it does not mean that every good decision made must be from the models. There are times when the rational models cannot be used for a particular situation because each firm is different from the other, and it is a dynamic world where things are changing every day (Driver, Brousseau and Larsson 110). There is a need for change in the way managers make decisions to various particulars making it impossible to have standard decisions for every objective of a firm. The rational models are useful to the obvious decisions made every day, but there is the need to have use other ways of ensuring that the mangers are in control in the same time allowing the rest of the employees an opportunity to prove themselves to their ability (Driver, Brousseau and Larsson 110). This ensures good working environment for everyone and success to the

Trade and Exchange in Early England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Trade and Exchange in Early England - Essay Example By reviewing the history of trade and exchange in England, Curtin's assertion will be proven true. The River Thames is where England's first foray into trade and exchange began. With its estuary opening out to the North Sea and beyond that the Baltic and the River Rhine leading to continental Europe (Clout, 22), the structural basin rimming its shores provided an ideal location to establish England's biggest city, London. Beginning circa AD 50, Londinium was established by the Romans and populated with citizens who used the River Thames to not only do their laundry and provide their drinking water, but as a thoroughfare which encouraged trade with other countries through its junction of road, river and sea-going traffic (Clout, 22) and even its own mint to create coins. The Roman, Tacitus, in the second century, described Londinium "as a place teeming with businessmen and a famous centre of commerce" (Clout, 25). By the late fifth century, the Romans had abandoned the city but it was their early efforts of building roads, bridges, and houses of commerce, while establishing a busy importing business, which first gave London its reputation as a thriving port. Under Anglo-Saxon rule, London and the country of England continued to be developed specifically for ease of trade with other regions of the empire. Lundenwic was another major city of the period specifically established by the East Saxons as a trading town and river port (Clout, 40). In the Middle Ages, London continued to grow and prosper while the royal and government offices migrated from other areas in the country to reside in the city proper. The majority of overseas trade was channeled into the Port of London, although the east and south ports remained busy as well. Wool and cloth became the two main exports, while Cornish tin, hides, sheepskins, and foodstuffs were also sent to foreign merchants, although it was London's reputation as a major marketplace for imported goods, in particular wine, which had a greater impact on the Medieval economy. Fleming and Italian merchants use their considerable financial backing to organize this trade (Clout, 52). High demand for imported raw materials and manufactured goods was a boon to merchants and bespoke the higher standard of living many Englanders had come to expect in the fifteenth century. Icy conditions in the winter, however, precluded far-reaching travel during those months while spring and summer were the busiest periods for cargo ships. Ships of this time period were built with vast holds to carry the maximum of goods (Marshall, 12) for exchange. England lagged behind other countries in exploring across the Atlantic Ocean, however. Consequently the country's major exchanges were made only between European ports of call (Marshall, 33) until viable trade routes were discovered by Portugal, Spain, and France. During the Tudor and Stuart periods, much of London was rebuilt and its major waterways redirected; the River Walbrook was filled in and the ditch surrounding the city, created by the Romans centuries earlier to stem invasion attacks, also covered over (Clout, 58). London's ports became official quays, confirming the city as the major hub of commerce in England. According to

Basic Operational Features Of Grameen Bank Economics Essay

Basic Operational Features Of Grameen Bank Economics Essay I will like to focus my report on Grameen bank in Bangladesh. The patriarch culture in Bangladesh where women are treated as inferior to men restricts them from seeking wage employment. Their only source of income is self employment and they face difficulty in accessing individual lending programs. The labour force has been growing by 2.4% a year, while the agricultural, industrial and service sector can only accommodate 1.7% annual growth of the labour force. The agricultural sector which provides 78% of employment is saturated and limited due to technical constraints. The modern urban sector is too small to absorb additional labour, increasing productivity and income through self employment in the informal sector and improving human capital are the only viable ways to alleviate poverty and promote economic growth (World Bank 1997). The poverty in Bangladesh is mainly as a result of landlessness, high unemployment, low literacy and high population growth. The main determinants of so cial class in the rural areas are land ownership and command of financial resources. The Grameen bank was formally established in 1983 by Dr Muhammad Yunus, a professor in economics at the Chittagong University in Bangladesh, who instead of teaching economics decided to do something practical about it. Based on the philosophy that everyone has the right to credit, but the poor are excluded from conventional banking system. 2 BASIC OPERATIONAL FEATURES OF THE GRAMEEN BANK Lending is mainly directed towards rural poor women (97% of membership are women) with a maximum landholding of half an acre of land because the average farm size in Bangladesh is 2.4 acres (1984 figures) or non land owners. Only one member is allowed per household. These women are grouped into cells of five and they take collective responsibility for each others loan (no joint liability). This helps to substitute physical collateral with social collateral as it eliminates information asymmetry. These groups are separated according to gender, 5 to 8 groups come together to form a centre known as Kendros (between 25 to 40 women) organised by the banks staff. Weekly meetings are held at these centres where members of each groups attend to pay their weekly loan instalments, learn, practice, and discuss the rules of the program and other group activities. Members are required to save TK1 to TK2 per week (to create financial discipline). It is only of recent that the bank increased its weekly savings to TK5. A new member must have successfully saved for two consecutive weeks before qualifying for a loan and a deposit of 5% of the loan amount into a group fund (i.e. group tax). It offers interest rates for deposits between 8% and 12% and does not allow members to withdraw their savings from the group fund. However, members can borrow from at no interest from the group fund provided that all the other members of the group approve of the amount and its usage and that the loan does not exceed half of the funds total. If a borrower has been a member for 10 years, the bank will transfer total savings with interest to the savings account and the member can withdraw at will. One can argue that the lack of easy access to savings can be viewed as a short term additional fee for being a member and cannot be classified as a financial service but a down payment on a loan and a screening device. At the end of October 2009, total deposits in Grameen bank stood at TK74.55 million (US$ 1079.47 million). Deposits from its members constituted 54% of the banks total deposits. Balance of member deposits has increased at a monthly average rate of 2.29% during the last 12 months. The poor people in Bangladesh save between 2% and 12% of their annual income mainly to acquire land followed by providing family securities against unforeseen circumstances. Childrens education and their marriage and purchase of agricultural inputs are other factors. Collateral is not required to obtain a loan from the bank and the loan is repayable over 50 weeks instalment. Interest is payable at the end of the loan cycle. 20% interest for income generating loan, 8% for housing loans, 5% for student loans and 0% (interest free) for struggling members (beggars). If the loan is repaid on time, the borrower will be charged a 10% flat rate instead of 20% for an income generating loan at the end of the loan cycle. The interest charged is low compared to other government managed micro credit programs charging a fixed interest of 11% at flat rate which amounts to 22% on declining basis. The bank realised from the activities of BRAC that provisions of credit to the poor is not sufficient to alleviate poverty. In addition to credit provision, it also trains its borrowers to improve their skills and provision of other organizational inputs. All credit transactions are transparent and are openly conducted at the centre meetings. The virtue of this openness is to mitigate vested interest and constellations of power as well as deterring individuals from taking anti group actions. This peer monitoring mechanism works both within the group and at the centre, eliminating the danger of group collusion when the groups are self elected. 3 INNOVATIONS IN SERVICE DELIVERY The focus of microfinance agenda is now increasingly client or market driven as a result of the industrys focus on competition and dropouts. Competition, together with MFIs policies of encouraging clients to take larger loans each cycle has tempted some clients to take out multiple loans, far more than it exceeds their repayment capacity and they end up defaulting. The defaults were attributed to the fact that the poor do not always want to neither borrow nor automatically increase their loan size and the failure of MFIs to interact and keep contact with their clients in order to provide innovative products. Loans borrowed for microenterprise development, are mostly used to meet a multiple needs i.e. the fungibility of credit (Sebstad and Cohen, 2001) and this clearly shows the industry was not in tune with its clients. Borrowers demonstrated the imperfect nature of the products by withdrawing from the program. The high rate of drop out raised the operational cost for MFIs. Competiti on and client dissatisfaction was putting pressure on institutions to be innovative in their service delivery. Citing from the words of Hulme and Mosley (1997), they noted that the designers of the financial services for poor people need to acknowledge that the poor is not a homogenous group with broadly similar needs and the one size fits all approach will not work. However, recognising the heterogeneity of the poor clearly complicates matters for scheme designers. Homogeneity may be good for keeping the delivery cost low, but is it not necessarily good for institutional sustainability if dropout rates were kept low. Adopting the client-product nexus approach and improving the institutional-client linkages through the management information system to gather information from bottom up will help to broaden and deepen the outreach, and recognizing the financial landscape of clients for better evaluation of clients debt burden will aid better assessment of loan repayment capability of clients in order to reduce drop out rates. The bank has to some extent recognized the importance of product diversification to its clients as its financial structure and product diversification were subjected to questioning when the bank almost collapsed during the 1998 flood in Bangladesh. It decided to take up a huge rehabilitation programme by giving new loans start new income generating activities and to repair or rebuild their houses. Borrowers started to feel the pressure of accumulated loans as the new instalments sizes exceeded their capacity to repay. Another major factor unknown to donor agencies was that prior to the flood, some branch managers at the bank were giving out loans to customers who had defaulted on weekly repayments so the new loans could be used to make payments. This resulted to accumulated debts by the customers and the balance sheet statements did not reflect the true financial position of the bank. This led to the development of the Grameen Generalised System (GGS) commonly referred to as Grameen II. Under this new scheme, many rules that existed under the Grameen Classic System (GCS) were abolished or transformed. The major innovations under the Grameen Generalised System (GGS) are explained below. 3.1 Basic Loan The basic loan was introduced to provide for other unforeseen circumstances the borrower might face along the loan cycle. It provided an exit option for the borrowers. This is referred to as a flexi loan which provides an alternative route to any borrower who needs it without making her feel guilty about failing to fulfil the requirement of the basic loan. The basic loan is normally referred to as the Grameen Microcredit Highway. The logic behind the basic loan is that if a borrower keeps up with repayments (stays on the highway) throughout the loan cycle, she can borrow a larger sum (change gear and accelerate faster) on the next loan cycle and she knows ahead of time how much enhancement in loan size is coming, and can plan her activities accordingly. But if the borrower should experience some difficulties (such as natural disaster, sickness etc) during the loan cycle, she can renegotiate the loan (first detour) by reducing the instalment size that she can afford to pay by extendin g the loan period. The essence is to help the borrower overcome the problem in order to get back to the basic loan. Even if the borrower defaults further (second detour), the flexi loan will be renegotiated to another flexi loan until the borrower can comfortably keep up with the instalment payment. This flexibility was absent under the Grameen Classic System. It is important to note that once a borrower renegotiates to a flexi loan, she will loose the loan ceiling she must have accumulated over the years and can only re-enter the basic loan scheme with a loan size equivalent to a new entrant and as long as shes on the flexi loan, the borrower can only borrow the same amount for every loan cycle. Fig. 3.1: The interlink between basic loan and flexi loan Source: http://www.grameen-info.org 3.2 Custom-made Credit Service The GGS has created a methodology which can provide custom-made credit to a poor borrower. It allows a staff to be creative. He can design his loan product to make it a best fit for his client in terms of duration with the flexibility of variation from any number of months and years, timing of the loan and the size of weekly instalments can be varied. A borrower can pay more weekly when the business is doing well, and pay less during difficult times. In an extreme case, each instalment can be of different size. In the other extreme, all instalments can be exactly equal, like in GCS. 3.3 Group Fund Replaced Every new member is obliged to save 5% of the total loan amount into the obligatory savings account formally known as group tax. But now, half of the 5% is deposited into a personal savings account and the remaining half goes to a special savings account. A borrower can withdraw any amount from her personal savings account any time she desires. There is no restriction on her withdrawal. Weekly saving still continues and it goes to personal savings account. Special savings account is non withdrawable for the first three years. Then withdrawal is allowed generally once in three years keeping a minimum balance of TK2000 or half the amount in the account, whichever is larger. Under special circumstances the entire amount in the special savings account can be withdrawn. Some money from this account will be used to buy shares of the Bank. 3.4 Pension fund-Leading to Financial Self-Reliance Grameen Bank requires all borrowers with loans above TK8, 000 (US$ 138) to contribute a minimum of TK50 (US$0.86) each month in a pension deposit account. After ten years a borrower will receive a guaranteed amount which is almost double the amount she has put in for 120 months. The pension fund generates about TK 100 million ($1.75 million) per month. I find this very interesting because households in Bangladesh are large in size and it is customary for several generations to live together within a household. In such households, there is no need for retirement saving, and it can internalize many of the insurance activities that would require saving. For example members of the household can insure against health risk and old age. But this has not been the case with Grameen Bank because the benefit of the insurance package is appealing to its members and the pension pot also serves as a means of financial stability for the bank. 3.5 Other Savings The bank accepts deposits from non borrowers as well by incorporating a number of savings products into the system. Total amount of deposits account for 67% of the total outstanding loans of Grameen Bank in July, 2002, after paying back TK3.3 million (US $ 60 million) of its loans to the central bank, local commercial banks and foreign lenders, fell due the same period. 3.6 Loan Loss Provisioning and Write-off Policy If a borrower fails to pay her instalment for ten consecutive weeks or if she fails to repay the total amount she is required to pay within a six month period and she does not move into flexible loan, she becomes a defaulter. If she becomes a defaulter, 100 per cent provisioning must be made for the unpaid principal and interest. Exactly one year later, the amount must be written off. Writing off will be done on a monthly basis, rather than at a time of annual account closing. If a borrower is on flexible loan, generally the same policy will hold. Fifty percent provision must be made for the total balance amount of flexible loan and accrued interest on the annual closing date, even if the payment rate of flexible loan is 100% of the whole bank Fig. 3.2: Provisioning policy in Grameen Bank II Source: http://www.grameen-info.org 3.7 Loan Insurance Once a year, on the last day of the year, the borrower is required to put in a small amount of money in a loan insurance savings account. It is calculated on the basis of the outstanding loan and interest of the borrower on that day. She deposits 2.5% of the outstanding amount. If a borrower dies any time during the year, her entire outstanding debt is paid off by the insurance fund which is created by the interest income of the loan insurance savings account. In addition, her family receives back the amount she saved in the loan insurance savings account. 4 NATURE OF TARGET GROUPS IN TERMS OF GENDER AND POVERTY The bank targets women regarded to be very poor using the size of land ownership as the measure of poverty. As previously highlighted, the banks members are either non land owners or own half an acre of land. Based on the measure of poverty, these are very poor women. Women are generally seen as moral guardians of the household and there are perceptions that women in Bangladesh have a high repayment rate (a factor necessary for the financial sustainability for a micro lender) because it allows them to retain access to village groups, whereas men have many more opportunities for social contact. Women are more vulnerable to pressure to repay. They are easy to locate, being much less able than men to leave a locality temporarily to evade field workers and they are easier to intimidate into repayment than men who can always threaten violence. Women had limited access to credit and the banks model tries to address this limitation in order to strengthen womens social and economic worth. Ac cess to credit will empower women by improving their bargaining position, both within and outside the family. It provides a visible foundation of economic and social gain and a process that mainstreams their participation at institutional and policy levels. To successfully empower women, MFIs must provide services that will lead to economic gains for women and should also enhance their role in economic decision making. Grameen Bank has been able to empower women through the provision of basic loans with an option of switching to a flexi loan if the borrower defaults on repayment. The bank also provides other services such as education loan, housing loan and at the same time encouraging its members to save by deducting 5% of the total loan amount before disbursement. Grameen Bank also offers life insurance product for its customers to manage life risks. Empowerment must lead to greater leveraging and networking among women in the community. Grameen bank groups its members into cells. Each cell consists of five members and a total of 5-6 cells meet once a week at a centre referred to as kendros to make their weekly loan instalment payment, discuss with each other on new business ideas, help each other in their book keeping of accounts etc. These centres help women to create a sort of social network. MFIs must also provide a gender sensitive and proactive institutional framework for women where women are providing financial services to women. This will create opportunity for role modelling at all levels of the institution and also caters for the specific needs of women in microfinance and beyond. Unfortunately, most of the Grameen Banks staff that organise centre meetings are men. Access to credit is believed to empower women but there is a variation in the degree to which women borrowers in Bangladesh control their loans directly. A large proportion of womens loans are directly invested by their male relatives, who then channel the funds towards investment which are generally regarded as mens work. This problem can be eliminated if Grameen Bank can impose some restrictions on the type of investments the loan can be used for. R. Rahman (1986 Pg.33) discovered a diminishing loan control overtime, with the amount of loan borrowers themselves use falling from 86.6% of the total loan amount in the first year to 66% in the fifth year of membership in the Grameen bank. Womens high demand for loan and their ability to repay are normally seen as proxy indicators for empowerment. Unfortunately, the method for evaluating empowerment does not reveal patterns of loan controls within the household. In Bangladesh, field workers and women beneficiaries gave evidence of the p henomenon of women transferring control to men within their households. There is also the case where new members of a household in some villages in Bangladesh are forbidden to have contact with strangers, especially when the field worker in question is a male. This strengthens the case why Grameen bank should employ more women to manage these Kendros. Even though credit is very important, it must be provided with access to market and access to technology which extends beyond the neighbourhood and the community as identified by Montgomery, Bhattacharya and Hulme. It is true that access to credit will most likely reduce violence against women if channelled through the right path but it can at the same time exacerbate violence against women. According to the staff of Grameen Bank, some women who were unsuccessful in gaining loan access or who have to wait too long for their turn to get a loan are experiencing increases in domestic violence from frustrated husbands. In cases where loans have been managed by the husbands, there is the possibility of the husband refusing to repay, might have invested badly or abscond altogether with the money. The pressure is on the women to find repayment funds from their homestead activities. 5 WIDER IMPACTS The idea behind the wider impacts of microfinance is to account for the positive externalities on spheres (economic, social, political and cultural) beyond households at the local, regional and national level. Economic Impact: these types of impacts are mediated primarily through the intervention on markets. The establishment of MFIs have direct impact on individuals, households or enterprises which in turn has an affect on their participation in one or more markets and therefore affecting the outcomes of those markets. For example, if women have access to credit and markets just as men, they will become key players in the market. This will make the domestic market more competitive and eventually have an effect on the relative prices of all goods and services. The funding of small enterprises by microfinance institutions will help increase output growth and in turn create employment opportunities. Social Impact: social impact refers to changes in the social relations between individuals and between groups of individuals living in the society. Social sector variables are housing quality, education, health and sanitization. Grameen Bank offers the fewest support services for these variables of interest when compared with other leading MFIs in Bangladesh. Beyond the banks sixteen decisions about how members can manage their household and community and social justice which members are made to recite at the beginning of each group meetings. It has started however, to offer credit on special terms for investments in the quality of household life, like loans for tube wells, latrines and housing. Social relation may be rooted in ownership of tangible assets, such as land. Intervention of MFIs may change social relations either by introducing non land resources, which are now being owned by land-poor households. As explained by Rao (2001), microfinance interventions have been able to c hange poor peoples way of thinking about social expenses, such as celebrations that are less about showing off and more about maintaining links across families, building bonds and sustaining webs of obligations. Political Impact: this refers to changes in policy regimes and protection of civil rights. Several rural studies have pointed at the intimidating and coercive role of the state machineries, such as police and the land administration in rural society. MFIs should provide services that seek to address these issues. MFIs can achieve this objective by helping to establish local interest groups similar to that of the self help groups in India, to influence local politics, policies and resource allocation at the local level. Cultural Impact: MFIs should also provide services that will help address the adverse effects of cultural norms on women which is fuelled by institutionalized religion, or, may be inherited from predecessors. Other issues of interest are attitudes towards cleanliness, perception on the role of daughters, need for religious education for children, perceptions on husband wife relations, attitude toward cultural entertainments and participation of women in such programs etc. CONCLUSION MFIs have to some extent helped to alleviate poverty even though it is limited by some constraints and problems. It is important that MFIs must be innovative in their credit service delivery in order to completely meet the needs of the poor people. Considerable emphasis has been placed on providing service to women which tends to be widening the gap between financial services to poor women and poor men. MFIs should also include tailored services to poor men. It is also important that MFIs should in the future fit into mainstream financial sector such as listing itself in the capital market as an alternative source of funds to achieving self sufficiency and striking a balance between the welfarist and institutionalist approach to microfinance.

Senior Citizens Should Give Retirement to Family to End Recession :: Economics Economy

Retirees over the age of sixty two in the United States are estimated by an independent financial survey to be sitting on over one trillion dollars in total assets. That money mostly lies in financial institutions gathering interest while needy family members suffer impatiently waiting for the day when it will be their inheritance. But not all seniors are that callous, they give away their money to loved ones before they die. There is no better way for the elderly to show that they care. Those that do can enjoy the pleasure of watching their money being spent. It is a joy that they would never experience if they waited until their death. The country is in a recession that could be ended by an influx of spending money. The economic stimulus money that will be received by tax payers during the summer months will help but it is not enough. More money is needed. The economy would improve and the recession ended if the trillion dollars held by seniors was spent. It is up to them to end the recession in a loving way. Immediate handing over of their unneeded assets to loved ones would cause a spending spree the nation has never witnessed before. It would put the unemployed back to work and end home foreclosures. I am sure if our elderly realized their power to help they would quickly respond. I had a close friend who suffered with a nervous disorder all of his life. He lived with the help of a government welfare program which just gave him enough to survive. His parents were millionaires in the real estate business and owned at least twenty apartment houses. They let their son live rent free in one of them. But they gave him nothing more. I spoke with him many times over the years and listened to his complaints. He had little to eat and was lonely. The only hope he had was that one day his parents would die and leave him with their millions. They both were dead when he reached the age of seventy two but the money was left to his two sisters and their children. All he inherited was the right to continue living rent free. I never witnessed such cruelty. Many seniors are sitting on more money than they need while family members no longer living with them are destitute or have financial problems.

NA Meeting paper

Before I attended the NA meeting, I had felt more than a little apprehensive; I really wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the meeting and that made me very nervous. I have talked to and listened to addicts and recovering addicts many times before, my brother is a recovering addict and a few friends are also, but that did not prepare me for the sadness, grief, and happiness I saw in this meeting. The meeting started out with the person running it starting things off, and then asked if anyone wanted to share anything. There were about seven people in the meeting not including myself, and they all shared their stories and what was going on with them. I found their stories and life events uplifting and interesting to hear about, and I was proud of them for everything they have survived and made it through. When I think about the meeting and everything said in it, it really touches my heart how the people were able to overcome the obstacle of addiction and better themselves by kicking the habit. I was brought to tears by one mans story, he told of how he had lost his wife and turned to drugs to numb the pain and grief, but sadly became addicted. He went on to share how he lost everything in his life before it really ‘hit’ him that he had to change something, and he entered a rehabilitation center, got off the drugs, and today was his 1,826 th day of being clean (that’s five years). What I learned at the meeting, well really what I learned from the people who shared their journey, was more than I could ever put into words, it had such a great on me, and I am sure it will always be with me. I feel like I have somewhat learned some of the difficulties that these people have experienced in their life, I don’t mean to say I knew nothing of it before, but it is different hearing from people other than your brother. From what I heard in the meeting I really feel that I understand my brother and what he went through more clearly now. My perceptions about drug users didn’t really change, I already knew that drug users are just normal everyday people like you or me, they just have a problem, or addiction with drugs. I know how hard it is for people to be on drugs, and to be a recovering addict. When my brother got into and was addicted to Meth, it made him a completely different person, he was always agitated, mad, didn’t work, and he became violent with little to no provocation, and it was only ever toward me. Now that my brother is recovering and has been a recovering addict for going on three years, he has pretty much done a three-sixty; he has a steady full time job with benefits, doesn’t do drugs anymore, and has no violent tendencies. Overall, I really enjoyed and found the stories interesting, and like that I was able to really hear what they were saying and somewhat relate to what they were saying. I feel that I have learned a lot and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to go and have them share their stories with me.

What Ails Indian Sports?

One of the greatest† degradations that has occurred in our country during the second half of the twentieth century, has been in the field of sports and games. The† only major performance of note has been the gold medal in hockey won at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and the triumph at the 1983 & 2011 world cup in cricket,plus a few individual medals in Olympics and few success in Tennis. But these occasional triumphs do not augur well for the future of Indian sports. A nation of 1. 2 billion has not been able to produce a sportsperson or athlete of international standards even after 6 decades of independence. In today’s new climate of peace, a nation’s achievements in sports are valued far above its arsenal or military might. We have, however, lagged behind in every field in spite of a large potential manpower. What does really ail Indian sports? With a few honourable exceptions like cricket, chess and tennis (where, even at the best of times, our performance has been erratic to say the least), our sportspersons and athletes like the ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh and the ‘Sprint Queen’ P. T. Usha have failed to find a mention in the international medal tally, in spite of their best efforts and glowing eulogies at home. The chances of our doing well or making a mark in the international arena remain grim till date. At home also, the standard in regional, state-level and national-level games is fast deteriorating. The malady, indeed, is deep rooted. The first and the foremost cause is the poor state of our economy. We cannot spot, nourish and nurture talent even in the initial stages. Whoever hits the spotlight is, by and large, a fluke. He or she has done it on one’s own merit. For instance, our cricket hero Kapil Dev has come up’ against all odds to make a mark in international cricket. Privatisation or sponsorship of the various games and sports is the only answer especially when we cannot spare enough funds for sporting activities in the country. Today, when about less than 25% of our population lives below the poverty line, the nation cannot spare funds from other developmental activities to sponsor sports. In such a scenario, privatisation of sports and games is the only remedy. It is done in the United States and the rest of the developed world. We can also do this if we wish sports and games to flourish in this country. The second cause of the fast-deteriorating standards in Indian sports is the politicisation of sports. Regionalism, linguism and favoritism are all visible, when any selection for a national or international event is made. This coupled with the lack of basic infrastructure, has hindered any progress in this direction. While we have gone in for huge stadia like the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, we have sadly neglected building small stadia and arenas in the rural and semi-urban centers, to encourage sporting talent in the initial stages. And such talent, whenever it comes to the fore, is grossly neglected at the time of selection for any event because they do not fit into any caste, region, language or group considerations of the selectors. This is a major shortcoming at the moment. Then, there is a lack of professionalism in our sportspersons; they lack the competitive spirit and are prone to rest on their laurels. Very few of our sportspersons keep up the strict regimen in respect of diet and training once they have achieved some name and fame. A medal here or a medal there is all they can achieve in lifetime before fading away into oblivion. The acme of their achievement is the Arjuna Award. How many chess grandmasters like Viswanathan Anand or cueists of international repute like Geet Sethi has the country produced? Our sportspersons, who have kept up the initial promise, can be counted on fingertips. Parental emphasis on studies, at the expense of sports and game, is another cause for the desperate straits in which Indian sports and games find themselves today. A sportsperson is considered no good unless he or she is academically above par, if not brilliant. A good sportsperson, who does not fare well in studies, is always looked down upon as an idler or no-gooder. Added to it is the lack of sports consciousness in the Indian mind. Our duty is to create an awareness of sports and games in the minds of the people if things are to improve in times to come. Otherwise we are likely to sink deeper into the morass with the passage of time. It is true our achievements in the sports have been negligible, but it is also true that there is no lack of talent in our country. If healthy atmosphere is created and selections properly made we can do a lot in this field. Simply to honour the outstanding sports persons at functions or staging international sports will not serve our purpose. We should extend every possible facility to our sportspersons and encourage them to take up sports and games more seriously.

Free Essays on Cassandra

Cassandra, was a daughter of Hecuba and King Priam, the rulers of Troy during the Trojan War according to Homer's Iliad. Cassandra was a beautiful young woman, blessed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo, who was infatuated with her. Unfortunately, she shunned Apollo at the last minute and he added a twist to her gift; Cassandra was doomed to tell the truth, but never to be believed. "I promised consent to Apollo but broke my word... and ever since that fault I could persuade no one." [Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1208ff.] "Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry? Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?" [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1194] For this reason Cassandra was not believed when, near the end of the Trojan War, she said that there was an armed force hidden in the wooden horse that the Achaeans had abandoned. King Priam did not know what to do with her, so he tried to keep Cassandra locked up and out of the way of the warriors of Troy. When Troy finally fell to the Greek invaders, Cassandra was attacked and supposedly raped by the Greek warrior Ajax of Locris, but eventually avenged by Athena. When Cassandra accompanied the Greek hero Agamemnon as his mistress to his homeland, she was killed by his vengeful wife, Clytaemnestra. Aeschylus's Agamemnon tells the story of the Greek hero Agamemnon's fateful return home to Myceneae, where his wife Clytaemnestra waits to kill him. Cassandra is a powerful figure in this play, foretelling the doom of the hero and herself through visions of a curse upon his household. On his arrival Agamemnon fell victim of a conspiracy conceived by his own wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, who murdered both Agamemnon and Cassandra. This too Cassandra predicted: "... for me waits destruction by the two-edged sword." [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1149] The tragedy begins with Clytaemnestra awaiting Agamemnon's return from Troy, her secret lover and accomplic... Free Essays on Cassandra Free Essays on Cassandra Cassandra, was a daughter of Hecuba and King Priam, the rulers of Troy during the Trojan War according to Homer's Iliad. Cassandra was a beautiful young woman, blessed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo, who was infatuated with her. Unfortunately, she shunned Apollo at the last minute and he added a twist to her gift; Cassandra was doomed to tell the truth, but never to be believed. "I promised consent to Apollo but broke my word... and ever since that fault I could persuade no one." [Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1208ff.] "Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry? Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?" [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1194] For this reason Cassandra was not believed when, near the end of the Trojan War, she said that there was an armed force hidden in the wooden horse that the Achaeans had abandoned. King Priam did not know what to do with her, so he tried to keep Cassandra locked up and out of the way of the warriors of Troy. When Troy finally fell to the Greek invaders, Cassandra was attacked and supposedly raped by the Greek warrior Ajax of Locris, but eventually avenged by Athena. When Cassandra accompanied the Greek hero Agamemnon as his mistress to his homeland, she was killed by his vengeful wife, Clytaemnestra. Aeschylus's Agamemnon tells the story of the Greek hero Agamemnon's fateful return home to Myceneae, where his wife Clytaemnestra waits to kill him. Cassandra is a powerful figure in this play, foretelling the doom of the hero and herself through visions of a curse upon his household. On his arrival Agamemnon fell victim of a conspiracy conceived by his own wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, who murdered both Agamemnon and Cassandra. This too Cassandra predicted: "... for me waits destruction by the two-edged sword." [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1149] The tragedy begins with Clytaemnestra awaiting Agamemnon's return from Troy, her secret lover and accomplic...

Free Essays on American Colonists

The American colonists resisted taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760’s and 1770’s. This was set on the grounds that no man’s property could be legitimately taken from him without his own precise consent, either directly with the owner or even through his representatives. The slogan â€Å"No taxation without representation† came about and caused the colonists to rally behind it’s true meaning. So can it be justified that a man’s property may be taken away from him just for the sole purpose of British Parliament rules? We cannot also forget that another key battle was brewing about over the colonists and Parliament. We have also heard about the supporter’s of Parliament and their agreement in taxation without representation. Was this in fact true? During the 17th century the British people themselves went so far as to overthrow their monarch first in 1649 and again in 1688. This was because of the fact that the king tri ed to rule without seeking the advice and consent of the nation’s own representative body, the House of Commons. These two growing problems led to the potential agreement that both American and Englishmen believed that private property could not be taken by the government without proper consent. Virtually all American and Englishmen did in fact believe that a form of government without the owner’s consent could not legitimately take private property. For the English in the 17th century, â€Å"no one had more power than another† according to John Locke (1632-1704). Locke also stated â€Å"All men may be restrained from invading others’ rights.† God has given the world to all men in common, and he has also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience. The surrounding earth was in fact given to men for the support and comfort of their being. Every man has a property in his own way, and nobody has any right to it but himself. What makes the land a ma... Free Essays on American Colonists Free Essays on American Colonists The American colonists resisted taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760’s and 1770’s. This was set on the grounds that no man’s property could be legitimately taken from him without his own precise consent, either directly with the owner or even through his representatives. The slogan â€Å"No taxation without representation† came about and caused the colonists to rally behind it’s true meaning. So can it be justified that a man’s property may be taken away from him just for the sole purpose of British Parliament rules? We cannot also forget that another key battle was brewing about over the colonists and Parliament. We have also heard about the supporter’s of Parliament and their agreement in taxation without representation. Was this in fact true? During the 17th century the British people themselves went so far as to overthrow their monarch first in 1649 and again in 1688. This was because of the fact that the king tri ed to rule without seeking the advice and consent of the nation’s own representative body, the House of Commons. These two growing problems led to the potential agreement that both American and Englishmen believed that private property could not be taken by the government without proper consent. Virtually all American and Englishmen did in fact believe that a form of government without the owner’s consent could not legitimately take private property. For the English in the 17th century, â€Å"no one had more power than another† according to John Locke (1632-1704). Locke also stated â€Å"All men may be restrained from invading others’ rights.† God has given the world to all men in common, and he has also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience. The surrounding earth was in fact given to men for the support and comfort of their being. Every man has a property in his own way, and nobody has any right to it but himself. What makes the land a ma...

Blood clots Essay Example for Free

Blood clots Essay Choose cite format: APA MLA Harvard Chicago ASA IEEE AMA Blood clots are also known as the thrombus which is the result of blood coagulation step in hemostasis. Blood clots are formed through platelets’ aggression which makes a platelet plug and the stimulation of the humoral coagulation system. Blood clots noted as a pathologic in terms of thrombosis but then it is physiologic in terms of injury. Thrombus signifies blood clotting in the intact blood vessels. It is a big blood vessel that reduces blood flow via that vessel. Moreover, in the case of small blood vessel, the blood movement might totally stop which may cause death of tissue which provided by the said vessel. If the thrombus extricates and turns out to be free-floating, it becomes an embolus. There are several conditions in which blood clots form which involve atrial fibrillation which is a cardiac arrhythmia’s formation, heart valve replacement, extension periods of inactivity, a previous heart attack and genetic inadequacies (see â€Å"Thrombus†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. October 11, 2006). Blood clots’ preventions may decrease the possibility of pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke. Warfarin and heparin are frequently used to slow and restrain formation and progress of prevailing blood clots which permit our body to decrease and suspend the blood clots by means of usual methods. A thrombus is distinct from haematoma by means of: >being non-laminar >being elastic and brittle > has a high haematocrit >lacks of circulation (see â€Å"Thrombus†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. October 11, 2006). The purposes of this study are to: (1) know what blood clots are; (2) be aware on how blood clots do form and; (3) learn how blood clots treated. II. Discussion A. About Blood Clots If the blood vessels are destroyed, the lack of blood from the system should be suspended before â€Å"shock† occurs and may possibly leads patient’s death. It is achieved through the blood’s solidification and the said process is termed as coagulation or clotting. Blood clots comprise of a plug of platelets entangled in a group of insoluble fibrin molecules (see â€Å"Blood Clotting†. June 4, 2005). Moreover, blood clots are the misery and pest of the existence of human beings. The can create strokes and heart attacks and they suspend blood supply to an individual’s legs. Many physicians denote this process as thrombosis. Several scientists have extensive researched for a period of time regarding the vascular biology which has an intention to stop thrombosis and cure its consequences yet it continuously serves as a culprit for death causes. Approximately in the past five years, the Mayo cardiovascular researchers continually widened their investigations regarding the vascular biology after they found out that thrombosis formed through interaction of cells exist in the vessel wall and in the circulation of the bloodstream. Dr. Simari stated that: â€Å"The major focus of our lab is to understand the biological process that narrows blood vessels, both in arthrosclerosis and in re- stenosis. Our aim is to take the biological clues that we learn from our research and use them to generate biological markers and treatments that can predict, prevent and treat thrombosis at the site of vascular injury (see â€Å"The Biology of Blood Clots†. Mayo Clinic’s Online Research Magazine. 2006). In addition, the blood clots develop even if an individual does not experience injury. Even though majority of the blood clots have a tendency to suspend, there are circumstances in which blood clots can create medical dilemmas. Blood clots turn out to be risky if they block blood movement via artery or vein. If the blood clot prevents or deters the blood movement to an artery in the brain or heart, it may lead to stroke or heart attack. Blood clots can deter, too, the veins and arteries in our entire body which cause illnesses like varicose veins to serious pulmonary embolism. The picture below illustrates the formation of blood clot (see â€Å"Blood Clots†. HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). B. How blood clots do form? The cells which line inside the layer of blood vessel becomes injured which is instigated by a wound. The blood platelets automatically go directly to the injured area and connect themselves with the intention to close of the wound. Look at the picture below (see â€Å"How do blood clots form? March 11, 2004). Platelets clump together and the clothing process begins The platelets discharge a chemical substance which draw and bring together more platelets to the injured area. In the meantime, other substances are mix with platelets to create and develop a blood clot. This process is named as coagulation. Fibrin is released. Fibrin describes as a thread-like protein which aids the stabilization of the clot in the blood vessel. The picture below shows how blood clot forms and fibrin stabilizes clot (see â€Å"How do blood clots form? March 11, 2004). Additionally, blood clot can be developed too through gradual increase of plaque inside the artery-an example for this is the atherosclerosis- or other illnesses. Any vein or artery may possibly experience and form blood clots inside our body which include the coronary arteries that provide the heart with blood, the arteries which provide the brain with blood-an example for this is the carotid arteries, and the veins in the legs. As mentioned earlier, blood clots can also be dangerous if will it develop inside in any of these arteries: ? The pulmonary artery passes through from the heart to the lungs. Obstruction in this artery is named as a pulmonary embolism and may create a great damage in the lungs and in several circumstances, may lead to death. This is because of the abnormal heart pulse which is termed as atrial fibrillation or through a peripheral venous disorder inside the veins of the legs-an example is the deep vein thrombosis. ? One of the coronary arteries that can be found on the heart’s surface and provide the heart muscle with new, oxygen-rich blood. The obstruction of the coronary arteries may possibly cause a heart attack. In this condition, blood clots normally develop as a reaction to the plaque rupture that happens if a plaque piles up inside the coronary artery fractures’ wall, which initiate blood clotting. ? The carotid arteries that is located in the neck and provide the brain with oxygen-rich blood. Obstruction may possibly initiate a stroke-an example for this is the transient ischemic attack. ? The femoral artery which is located in the leg. Obstruction may instigate pain like claudication, absence of color’s area, weakness and when this is not cured, infection like gangrene and tissue death like necrosis. An artery can be located in the abdomen. Obstruction may create diarrhea, vomiting or pain (â€Å"Blood Clots†. HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). C. how blood clots treated Several physicians cure blood clots with several procedures. Treatments like anticoagulants that aid to prevent blood clots and clot busters that aid to suspend blood clots. In some serious circumstances, physicians may possibly decide to use for a catheter-based procedure which utilize a long, thin tube named as catheter or even decide for a surgery to take off the clot-thrombectomy. Moreover, there are maybe devices that need to be implanted in particular blood vessels in order to catch blood clots before there will be more injury happened (see â€Å"Blood Clots†. HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). C. 1 Treatment options for blood clots The option in treating blood clots is a case to case basis whether the clot has developed in an artery or a vein and creates stroke or heart attack. During emergencies, thrombolytic treatments-clot busters- may possibly used to suspend the blood clot. These treatments are applied to some selected patients in accordance to an extensive protocol. In order to be efficient, they are provided no less than one hour of the heart attack or in three hours of the stroke. Thrombolytics are normally applied when there are huge clots which cause severe and life-threatening signs. These can create abrupt and unexpected bleeding. There are many invasive methods that can also be used. One of these is the catheter-directed thrombolysis. It is a method which the catheter proc\vides thrombolytic enzymes straight to the blood clot. Throughout this process, greater enzymes’ concentrations could be utilized and may possibly have lesser side effects compared when the enzymes are supplied subcutaneously no less than two days. Thrombolytic method is followed by a treatment that has anticoagulants to stop more blood clots from formation. Anticoagulants could be advised to patients that have great risk of a blood clot. Researchers are really trying very hard to different catheter-based procedures to cure stroke rapidly. One of the experimental procedures which included is the use of a tiny â€Å"corkscrew† device which rapidly reverses the injury created by a stroke. The said device is directed to where the blood clot is; where it removes the obstruction. Another procedure depends on a special laser catheter which utilizes light energy to suspend rapidly the blood clot. These latest therapies can be accessible to a patient that cannot bear clot-busting drugs (see â€Å"Treatment options for blood. † Blood Clot, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). Furthermore, when a blood clot develops in a leg vein, there is a risk that a pulmonary embolism will form. A pulmonary embolism may possibly be a life-threatening in which blood clots break away from its location and passes through the bloodstream and stay in one of the blood vessels of the lungs. To avoid and stop a pulmonary embolism, the present blood clots in the legs may cured with a mixture of heat, thrombolytics, painkilling treatments, elevation of the injured area to lessen swelling and anticoagulants. This procedure relies on the clot’s size and the seriousness of any current symptoms. When a patient does not react to anticoagulants, the physicians will decide for a process which uses a catheter having a special device named as vena cava filter. The vena cava filter is inserted in the large vein which transports blood from the legs up to the heart and lungs (vena cava). Additionally, the vena cava filter is a kind of a device which catches blood clots within the vein before the blood clots are permitted to reach the lungs. However, there are several danger related with vena cava filters which comprise failure of the filter in terms of time and blood clots created by means of it. Many researchers really work on in improving the vena cava filters which can be withdrawn right after the medication of pulmonary embolism. There are researches that substantiated and confirmed that treatment in a longer period of time along with a low-does anticoagulant drugs aids in stopping the presence of blood clots amongst those patients who have background of vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (see â€Å"Treatment options for blood. † Blood Clot, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). C. 2 Diagnosis methods There are several ways on how to diagnose blood clots. It starts with a medical background and physical test. When there is suspension of clot, several of examinations are utilized to substantiate the diagnosis and these include Doppler ultrasound, CAT scan and MRI: *Doppler ultrasound pertains to an imaging technology which utilizes sound or motion waves to give visual images of the structure and of several blood vessels and organs in our body (see â€Å"Diagnosis methods for blood clots†. Blood clots, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). * CAT scan refers to computer axial tomography. It is an examination which utilizes a number of x-rays which got from different sides in order to give a computerized three-dimensional image of a body shape (see â€Å"Diagnosis methods for blood clots†. Blood clots, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). *MRI means magnetic resonance imaging which is a noninvasive examination that utilizes magnetic fields to give high-resolution cross- sectional or three-dimensional visual images of the aimed surface (see â€Å"Diagnosis methods for blood clots†. Blood clots, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006). References 1. â€Å"Thrombus†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. October 11, 2006. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Blood_clot 2. â€Å"Blood Clotting†. June 4, 2005. http://users. rcn. com/jkimball. ma. ultranet/BiologyPages/C/Clotting. html 3. â€Å"Blood Clots†. HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006. http://heart. healthcentersonline. com/bloodclot/bloodclots. cfm 4. â€Å"The Biology of Blood Clots†. Mayo Clinic’s Online Research Magazine. 2006. http://discoverysedge. mayo. edu/vascular_biology/ 5. â€Å"How do blood clots form? March 11, 2004. http://www. innohepusa. com/corporateweb/innohepus/home. nsf/Content/Howdoclotsform. 6. â€Å"Treatment options for blood. † Blood Clot, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006. http://heart. healthcentersonline. com/bloodclot/bloodclots7. cfm 7. â€Å"Diagnosis methods for blood clots†. Blood clots, HeartCenterOnline. May 9, 2006. http://heart. healthcentersonline. com/bloodclot/bloodclots6. cfm Blood clots. (2016, Aug 08).

Technology advance classroom Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology advance classroom - Research Paper Example Moreover, the concerned units can accelerate testing procedures, which overtly leaves extra room for execution of other instructional prospects. Additionally, they are also instructional applets. With the electronic respond devices which look like a TV remote control devices with a meagre digital screen, tutors and teachers can effortlessly access students’ test grades at their convenience. This eliminates frequent visits to scanners and other devices to sort county and area assessments that are pertinent in enrolling students for tests taken state-wide. Moreover, the same devices may be useful in instructor-mended examinations or for quickly sorting queries that teachers weave in normal classroom sessions (Meador, 2012). One obligation that teachers have is to strive and ensure that they deliver instructions that are designed and efficiently tailored to adequately provide for all students needs and educational requirements. Furthermore, since assessments and regular examinations are a pertinent mode of learning and tutoring students, offering teachers with these advanced devices that can competitively execute assignments would be immensely consummate and advantageous to both teachers and students (Meador, 2012). However, currently these advanced classroom tools are being utilized effectively for benchmarking and administering shortly termed examinations and assignments in most schools. Furthermore, the technological department is still prospecting on more ways of aiding the teachers to deliver their service to students by aiding them to teach and correct their students in succinct ways. In accordance with a president of a popular data and testing affiliation, this mode of teaching and learning in the institution would obviously elicit better results and performance output for the tutors among other merits such as the assessing procedure (Meador, 2012). Moreover, other

The Fall of the House of Usher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Fall of the House of Usher - Essay Example To be specific, psychological thrillers combine gothic elements and human psychology and entertain human minds. Besides, Poe leads the readers towards the secrets hidden inside the layers of human mind. So, Poe’s literary craftsmanship is beyond the scope of traditional mode of storytelling. One can see that Poe’s works help the readers to analyze the problems faced by the characters from a different angle of view. Thesis statement: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe can be regarded as a psychological thriller because the same exposes the deep relation between horror and insanity. This essay is broadly divided into: horror, insanity, and the relationship between horror and insanity. Horror: One can see that the author consciously links the main theme with the element of horror. To be specific, Roderick Usher’s dwelling place itself is the most important aspect of horror in the short story. The geographical location of the house in a remote area, ad ded with strangeness, forces the readers to feel the element of horror. On the other side, Roderick Usher’s strange behavior and his warm relationship with the narrator creates doubt in the minds of the readers. But the sudden twist in the story, related to the strange incidents at Roderick Usher’s dwelling place, leads the readers towards an illusionary world of horror. Still, the narrator tries to be cordial with Roderick Usher and his sister. But this does not help Roderick Usher to maintain his emotional equilibrium. On the other side, Madeline’s fate as the victim to her brother’s hallucination adds the element of horror to the plot. Kirsten Hinzpeter states that, â€Å"Madeleine’s illness which stuns even the physicians would additionally be a source of terror† (60). At the same time, Poe provides ample importance to unexpected events in the short-story. This unexpectedness, added with gothic setting, accelerates the free flow of the e lement of horror in the work. In short, the author’s interest in abnormal psychology results in the escalation of the element of horror in the work as a whole. Insanity: Insanity is another element in the short-story that leads the readers to suspect the real aim of the main characters. For instance, the narrator’s decision to visit a family infested with insanity is really suspicious. In this stage, the readers may suspect the narrator as an insane individual. Roderick Usher tries to keep himself as a normal person, but fails to do the same. For example, he tries to forget his illness by immersing himself in music and painting. He does not try to seek sympathy from others, but seeks help from his close friend. Still, his real aim by inviting his friend is ambiguous because he is totally abnormal in his behavior. Roderick Usher does not like to socialize with others in his locality. He leads a secluded life within the interiors of his home. This proves that Roderick Us her is aware of the problem of lunacy faced by his sister and him. Dawn B. Sova states that, â€Å"The dilemma faced by the romantic artist is represented by Roderick, who effectively plunges into madness when he leaves the real world behind in his search for the sublime† (69). But his sister is not an active participant in the story line. In the short-story, she is presented as an individual who is dead. One can guess that Roderick Usher killed his sister and is trying to cover his crime. This ambiguity and hallucination related to the element of insanity leads the readers towards the realms of abnormal psychology. So, one can see that the element of insanity adds strangeness to the main theme of the short-story. Relationship: horror and insanity: The author links the elements of horror and insanity in the short-story to create logical balance to the plot. For instance,

History 82 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History 82 - Essay Example 1. The American Indians were passive to the European attack in the beginning as they did not expect the new comers to be rivals. They believed the new people came in search of friendship and were superior to them. 2. The American Indians had ideals much different from the Europeans. They believed in sharing since they had abundance of everything. They did not see any reason to fight. They wondered why the Europeans mercilessly slaughtered the natives when there was so much available for everybody to share. Columbus rightly judged they would fall without resistance if they were attacked initially as they were very unsuspecting. 3. Once the word regarding the Spanish massacres started to spread, the American Indians started to fight against the new comers. But, they were not able to withstand the mighty armies of the Europeans and soon succumbed to them. Protests continued over centuries making the Europeans hate the Indians to the core. 4. African Americans were bought into the pictur e to work in the abducted Indian lands. What was kept common for all was made a particular communities properties and a new community which neither owned the land nor belonged to the nation was forcibly migrated there to work as slaves making their situation very vulnerable. The situation lasted for many centuries. 5. The African Americans accepted their plight due their vulnerable situation for the first few years. They started to voice their concerns in the form of rebellions and strikes after a few decades. 6. Cultural genocide was unleashed on the African Indians with the sole aim of eliminating their pride. Their children and land were abducted, families split and forced to live a secondary life in the name of civilizing them. Forced religious transformations were done to exterminate the Indians and make them follow only the European culture. The African Americans had great persistence through which they safeguarded their culture and spirituality. â€Å"Arawak men and women, n aked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts.† (Howard Zinn, 1) â€Å"The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...." (Howard Zinn, 5) â€Å"When a Spanish armada appeared at Vera Cruz, and a bearded white man came ashore, with strange beasts (horses), clad in iron, it was thought that he was the legendary Aztec man-god who had died three hundred years before, with the promise to return-the mysterious Quetzalcoatl. And so they welcomed him, with munificent hospitality.† (Howard Zinn, 12) â€Å"They lack all manner of commerce, neither buying nor selling, and rely exclusively on their natural environment for maintenance. They are extremely generous with their possessions and by the same token covet the possessions of then; friends and expect the same degree of liberality. ...† (As told by Las Casas)( Howard Zinn, 7) â€Å" We are unarmed, and willing to give you what you ask, if you come in a friendly manner, and not so simple as not to know that it is much better

Breast Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Breast Cancer - Essay Example When transcription is not sufficiently balanced, it becomes detrimental to the cell and can cause cancer (Cox & Goding, 1991). It is therefore important to secure a comprehensive understanding of transcription because efforts to carry out corrections to the process can be implemented in instances when issues in the process are apparent. Discussed specifically, the first stage of the transcription process, is seen when the RNA Polymerase-Promoter Complex would bind to the promoter gene in the DNA (Mukakami, et.al., 2001). Such binding also leads to the initiation of the RNA polymerase. The sigma protein has to be present in order for the promoter enzyme to work. Particular sequences on the non-coding strand of the DNA are considered as a signal which would start the unwinding process (Mukakami, et.al., 2001). When the process has been started, the RNA polymerase elongation enzyme then takes over and the second stage of the transcription process manifests. ... f the transcription process or the termination stage the uracil triphosphate or the UTP is added to the RNA through a pairing with the adenine (A) nucleotide on the template DNA strand (Gnatt, et.al., 2001). A phosphodiester bond is then formed and the RNA chain is stretched to 10 nucleotides; the excess diphosphate is expected to dissociate (Gnatt, et.al., 2001). A recent study in embryonic stem cells has revealed a transcription control mechanism that is pervasive and regulated by the gene c-Myc which causes cancer. This study has also discovered a pausing step in the transcription process which regulates the expression of about 80% of genes in mammal cells (Medical News, 2010). The long-accepted perception is that DNA-binding transcription factors include the RNA polymerase Pol II to promoters in order to start off the transcription process. Researchers now claim that additional factors for promoters stop transcription as soon as it begins its process (Medical News, 2010). This means that even as the normal cell processes are being carried out transcription already has faulty qualities. There is a need to engage the transcription process - and this can be a function of factor c-Myc. The pause-release role of the c-Myc is relevant in transcription because over-expression of c-Myc is seen in different tumors and the c-Myc's failure to releas e transcriptional pausing is associated with the increase of cancer cells (Medical News, 2010). These results from various studies are however, still not definitive. I am now interested in investigating the relationship of the over-expression of c-Myc in causing tumors, or more particularly, breast cancer. I propose that c-Myc has a major role in causing tumors, including breast cancer.

Quality management and competition in the parcel delivery industry Essay

Quality management and competition in the parcel delivery industry - Essay Example Conveyor belts and packet sorting machines were pressed into service in big cities by parcel management companies by the time of World War II. Now parcel delivery management too grown from a one based on simple modal operations to a series of complex computer aided and monitored systems. Parcel Management has undergone a lot of experimentation and evolution in more than century of its existence. There was a time when parcel delivery management was based on two simple linear functions of fast delivery at as low a price as possible. Jim Casey, the founder of UPS used the slogan: "Best Service and Lowest Rates." (www.ups.com) .Now the parcel delivery companies offer a choice of multiple speeds of delivery that vary in direct proportion to the cost of delivery. The higher the speed of delivery, higher is the transportation cost. Parcel companies advertise in advance about the exact timings at which time bound parcels can be picked up so that they go into the sorting and delivery mechanis m of the company at the earliest possible. A parcel company has multiple parcel management, collection and distribution hubs that are equipped with high speed conveyors and mechanised sorting machines. In areas, where volumes of parcel are low, manual sorting and distribution is practised. The delivery and collection channels emanating from a hub are called the spokes. A large parcel delivery company has multiple hubs and spokes. To integrate land and air operations parcel management companies have established ‘air hubs’ that serve as the air ‘spokes’ of the companies. This integration of air and land in a parcel delivery operation is also called a multi-mode activity. The hub and spoke system serves to cut down on needless road and air journeys and optimisation of operations thus saving a lot of overheads for companies. Due to pressing costs

Segmentation and targeting Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Segmentation and targeting - Personal Statement Example The major consumer characteristics influencing market segmentation include geographic, psychographic, behavioral and demographic characteristics. Harry and David, a leading internet-retail store that deals with delivery of fruit gifts exemplifies a successful marketing segmentation strategy. In the Harry and David site, segmentation has been achieved through development of a product mix consisting of; Among the various gift segments, the products are targeted to the needs of specific customers using different messages. For instance, the birthday gift segment allows personalization of the gifts by adding a free gift card where the customer can write a specific message. Flower gifts are also tailored to specific occasions like May Day (May 1st), Administrative professional day (April 25th), Earth day(April 22nd) and Nurses Week (May 6th– May 12th) among other occasions. Some of the Promotional messages used in the product mix include; The segmentation choice and the messages used in each category are suitable as they are tailored to provide a personal touch to the customers. However, I would include messages that appeal to the tastes of different age groups like teenagers, young adults and middle-age groups if I was responsible for marketing the Harry and David e-retail

Quality management and competition in the parcel delivery industry Essay

Quality management and competition in the parcel delivery industry - Essay Example Conveyor belts and packet sorting machines were pressed into service in big cities by parcel management companies by the time of World War II. Now parcel delivery management too grown from a one based on simple modal operations to a series of complex computer aided and monitored systems. Parcel Management has undergone a lot of experimentation and evolution in more than century of its existence. There was a time when parcel delivery management was based on two simple linear functions of fast delivery at as low a price as possible. Jim Casey, the founder of UPS used the slogan: "Best Service and Lowest Rates." (www.ups.com) .Now the parcel delivery companies offer a choice of multiple speeds of delivery that vary in direct proportion to the cost of delivery. The higher the speed of delivery, higher is the transportation cost. Parcel companies advertise in advance about the exact timings at which time bound parcels can be picked up so that they go into the sorting and delivery mechanis m of the company at the earliest possible. A parcel company has multiple parcel management, collection and distribution hubs that are equipped with high speed conveyors and mechanised sorting machines. In areas, where volumes of parcel are low, manual sorting and distribution is practised. The delivery and collection channels emanating from a hub are called the spokes. A large parcel delivery company has multiple hubs and spokes. To integrate land and air operations parcel management companies have established ‘air hubs’ that serve as the air ‘spokes’ of the companies. This integration of air and land in a parcel delivery operation is also called a multi-mode activity. The hub and spoke system serves to cut down on needless road and air journeys and optimisation of operations thus saving a lot of overheads for companies. Due to pressing costs

Rickshaw by Chinese literary great Lao She Essay Example for Free

Rickshaw by Chinese literary great Lao She Essay Through telling the story of Xiangzi, Lao Shes Rickshaw moulds a woman in Hu Niu that is the antithesis of everything that a woman should be in the traditional society of that period. In the time-honoured Chinese culture, there has long been a strong prejudice against women of power. Every unfavourable image has been linked with particularly those who have proved especially formidable. Throughout the histories that have been written by mostly men where views as traditional as Xiangzis have been prevalent, dominant women have been presented in the most unsympathetic light. In similar fashion, our look at the character Hu Niu is relentlessly coloured by Xiangzis harsh narrative. It is impossible to do a light reading of Rickshaw and hope to be presented a face for Hu Niu that is to true to her actual person. Therefore, in order to ensure that our understanding of this distinctive woman is holistic, we must consider two issues: what sort of social influences have manipulated Xiangzis point of view; and what is Xiangzis innate character that so overwhelming pre-ordains the way he thinks. Only after peeling back such layers do we see a depiction of Hu Niu that is not peppered by biases. Only by doing our own commentary on the story do we hear the point of view of who is not talking and what is not being told, and that is the narrative of Hu Niu herself. What we subsequently come to realize is that, due to his wild prejudices, Xiangzi has rejected his best chance of escaping the rickshaw-pullers misfortunes when he rejects Hu Niu. In the broader sense of the Chinese history, women who have held power have often been blamed as the cause for ruin of an entire dynasty period. Historians have, for example, always blamed the downfall of the Qing dynasty on solely Empress Cixi and her refusal to recognize the changing times around her. In a more specific sense within the context of this novel, Xiangzi presents Hu Niu as the woman who is fully to blame for causing the downfall of a man. Women who strayed away from the traits that society norms dictate are seen as abnormal. In the same way, Xiangzis descriptions are most discriminating when revealing thoughts about any strong woman in his life, and he especially vilifies Hu Niu. This is not unlike the negative ways that dominant women like Empress Cixi and Empress Wu Zetian have been  represented throughout history. Under Confucian beliefs, it has been highly regarded the notion that the best types of women were the virtuous ones who may show maternal instincts before they even marry towards their younger siblings and widower fathers. There have always been deep-seated attitudes that have limited womens access to power. Patriarchy being the norm of the culture, a womans position within her family and the social hierarchy was as a dependent, not leader, of men. The tendency has been to assign women and men different roles, and womens special reproductive functions, of course, encourage this division. Often, the sharply restricted participation of women as competitors raises questions about a females ability to command. In actuality, women are by nature no weaker than men. As a generalization, certainly, they may be physically slighter and their characters gentler, but this does not equate to them being fundamentally powerless, useless, hesitant, cowardly, or able to survive only by obeying men. Scientists and historians have devised systems to analyse the workings of the world that, coincidentally, protect their own interests while oppressing and dominating women: the theory of Yin and Yang, for example, was established to demonstrate that, inherently, the female sex (yin) is linked with softer elements of the world such as stillness, inwardness, or earth, etc., while the male (yang) is linked with much stronger elements such as motion, outwardness, sky. Commanding and opinionated women were seen to be transgressing this boundary of yin and yang. Women who yielded power and used their skills in mind games to manipulate situations to their favour are seen as masculine and unnatural. Women who used their sexuality were seen as even more improper. Regardless of their individual personalities and abilities, females have been perceived as too weak, irrational and emotional to rule. This sentiment is shown in a Chinese saying that stated: A woman ruler is like a hen crowing . As we see from the beginning of his tale, due to Xiangzis traditional views,  his dream is to someday marry a robust and honest country girl after making enough money . As a result, it is apparent to us that the foundation of Hu Nius very nature had doomed her from the onset to be the recipient of all of Xiangzi prejudices. The precise manner in which she came to catch Xiangzi in marriage ignited every one of his prejudgments against women, especially against those who yielded sexual power. Xiangzi is incredibly scared of sexual women, but he mostly piously masquerades this fear as loathing or distaste. The morning following Hu Nius seduction of him, Xiangzi is thoroughly disgusted by the thought of Hu Niu, whom he deems as ugly, old, nagging, and shameless (54). So despite the fact that the warlord soldiers has so heartlessly robbed from him the first rickshaw he had loved so passionately, in Xiangzis mind they are still nowhere near as despicable as Hu Niu is (54). The fact that all the wrongs in the world that have been done onto him did not compare to the hurt done onto him by sex-hungry women attests to his outright prejudice. After Hu Niu gains some knowledge from Xiao Fuzi about the variety of physical acts, she proceeds to use Xiangzis body to find her lost springtime (172). This enrages Xiangzi, who subsequently believes that Hu Nius cooking for him and caring for him is merely attempts to fatten him up to make him her plaything (152). Xiangzis disdain for sexual women also manifests itself in the way he sees Madam Xia, as merely a woman who could give him a little extra cash (204). Xiangzi always tries to find safety in reverting to look down on the women whom he secretly finds intimidating. He does not like Madam Xia because he finds her to be a little terrifying, the way Hu Niu had been terrifying (204). He feels that Madam Xia brought with her all the harmfulness and destructiveness of the female sex that he had already tasted before and hated. His scorn for sexually predatory women is confirmed by the fact that he feels Hu Niu and Madam Xia were the same line of goods (204), meaning both women were strong, calculating and impure. Xiangzis view had been shaped by the fact that society as a whole only accepted women who exhibited bashfulness and mildness. History tends to vilify Empress Wu Zetian, for example, and tell stories of her sexual appetites . She harboured imperial ambitions of becoming emperor and was indeed perhaps one of the most able of the Chinese emperors. In attempts to regain her youth as she aged, she kept  a number of young men as her companions , no different from the way both Emperors and ordinary men alike all kept concubines. But history has been quick to condemn the gender reversals and sexual excesses of women as abnormal and uncivilized. Xiangzis little regard for women also encompasses his prejudice against financially minded females. We as readers notice immediately how much more intelligent Hu Niu is than Xiangzi, but he only sees her as manipulative. Hu Niu recognizes that brute strength is hardly the only way to make a living. Her business sense shows clearly in her immediate idea to rent out a room to Xiao Fuzi to aid the latter in the entertainment of men, or her quick thought to rent out the rickshaw to Ting as opposed to letting it sit idle when Xiangzi caught pneumonia from the summer storm (184). She has it meticulously planned out of how much money to spend on what items. Hu Niu is astute about what actions can be taken when money begins to decrease. She suggests that they go back to Old Liu, act submissive, and make up with him for the fight she had with him; she knows that she needs to given her father face, that he needs to be flattered and cajoled. She calculates, albeit too late, that by submitting to Old Liu, she and Xiangzi would be able to get the mans money legally in the proper line of inheritance (147). We see Xiangzi subsequently admitting to himself that none of this had ever occurred to him (148). Yet, even though he admits that he had never thought Hu Niu would have a plan like that in mind, and now he had an idea of her smarts, he still refuses to agree with Hu Niu. His stubborn reasoning is that he does not want to be the wifes toy nor the father-in-laws lackey (149). But he himself has no other ideas. The absurdity is clear in the fact that his only argument is, he just does not want to loaf, and pulling a rickshaw is all he knows. Xiangzis prejudice against economically minded females is also seen in his disregard for Kao Mas advice regarding savings and investments. Kao Ma tries to teach Xiangzi how money breeds money and is herself very adept in modern financial strategies (70). Although Xiangzi thinks Kao Ma is perfectly nice and is one of the very few women whom he respects, her advice to him is very quickly dismissed by Xiangzi simply because she was merely a  woman. He trusts only himself, and when he adds up his money on his own, he promptly decides that it is much safer kept in his own hands (72). His entire mind is centred only on safekeeping the money that he has. Besides laboriously pulling a rickshaw for a seemingly infinite period of time, his mind is nothing like Kao Mas or Hu Nius regarding how to use the money one already has to earn more. Xiangzi in fact feels that his deathlike grip on his money is worthy of respect, and even though Kao Ma was a nice enough woman, he sees no advantage in following her advice (73). Even when Madam Fang, an old employer, had urged him to open a savings account, he promptly rejected the notion because, through his warped logic, he felt that the cash in his hands was much better than the numbers in a passbook (71). One can not help but think that if it were not the Madam Fangs and Kao Mas of the world giving Xiangzi these advice, if in fact a man Mr. Cao, perhaps had done so, Xiangzi would certainly have listened much more seriously. Xiangzis loathing for being under Hu Nius control is a reflection of the fact that, throughout history, there have been blatant biases against female rulers. That a female could gain power over men and an entire country thereby abandoning the path set up for her by society was not accepted to a huge degree. Cixi, likely the shrewdest woman of all of Asia during her period, has been credited with the some of the worst things to befall her era. Much has been said about her rule as being the significant contributing factor to the ruin of a nation. Be that as it may, her control stems from power she fought for and won for herself. She rose from the lowest positions of a fifth rank concubine to what was eventually considered by many at the time as the only man in China, and likely exercised more power than any woman in that time . Another illustration of the bias can also be found against Empress Wu Zetian. Likely one of the most influential and oftentimes misunderstood rulers of Tang Dynasty China, she controlled the empire during one of its more peaceful and culturally diverse periods . Some may say that she was ruthless in her desire to gain and keep power, but others may say that she merely did what she had to and acted no differently than any male emperors of the same period. The kinds of behaviour criticized in men are dramatically different than those criticized in women, especially one dominant and deviant enough to rule an empire. It should be no surprise to us, then, that Xiangzi, someone who is determined to be dependent on only his own size and strength, should find is so unbearable to be controlled by a woman like Hu Niu. Xiangzi is dogged about relying on nothing more than his own muscles, and he mistrusts a woman who uses shrewdness and mind game to get what she wants. To him, Hu Nius calculating proposals are shameful, and he hates having to be at the mercy of her dominance (149). The fact that a woman ordered him about was insufferable for someone as headstrong as Xiangzi. This loathing comes to such a height he eventually declares that he is glad that she is dead because she had always oppressed him (218). He believes anyone who is powerful or calculating to be evil and deserves to die. Despite the fact that Xiangzis hatred has been building since his meeting of Hu Niu, the severity and mercilessness of his venom here is still surprisingly startling. Xiangzi states that the only people he thought deserves to live was himself and Xiao Fuzi, who is loyal and honest (218). Such a statement reveals to the reader that if Xiangzi is ever at all capable of empathizing with anyone, it is only with the passive and the meek. Xiangzis discrimination against Hu Niu cannot be fully understood until we get a feel of his ode to Xiao Fuzi. The earliest we observe of his intolerance for women as a whole is when he purchases his first rickshaw and the only class of persons to whom he simply refuses to grant a ride are women, who are, in his opinion, an indication of bad omen (10). More appropriately, we could say Xiangzis bias is most concentrated against specifically those women who know what they want and stops at nothing to achieve it. We see that the only woman in this entire novel of whom he sings high and unfettered praises is the one woman who is different from Hu Niu in every possible way: simpleminded, thoughtless, compliant and sweet Xiao Fuzi. As we know, tradition calls for women to have no opinion, listen to the husband, be tolerant, be useful and not be afraid of hard work. Xiao Fuzi is the epitome of the perfect woman of Xiangzis dreams. Even when Hu Niu is making Xiao Fuzis life miserable and her business difficult, the latter is still capable of swallowing her tears, and humbling herself by throwing herself at Hu Nius mercy. The bearing of disgrace by kneeling  before Hu Niu is the most admirable of sacrifices (188). Xiangzi loves Xiao Fuzis mildness and it shows in his fondness for her companionship and conservations (186). With Hu Niu, he never got the last word. Xiangzi can only tolerate a traditional woman who listens to men. Therefore, in Hu Nuis devotion to Xiangzi, we see that her love could never find reciprocation or fulfilment. Furthermore, we can deduce for ourselves that if Xiao Fuzi was not someone who handed her whole life over to himsomeone who needed a man like himsomeone whom he could rescue (224), nothing about her either would have been any allure for Xiangzi. If Xiangzis opinion were the only narrative in the novel, then simply after considering his side could be the end of our story. After all, this novel is centred on Xiangzi the repetition in his buying the rickshaw, losing the rickshaw and is about how life has killed his idealistic dreams. However, merely Xiangzis account can not be depended upon. The story of Xiangzis loss of hope is told through two competing narratives. There is another narrator besides Xiangzi that every now and then gives us glimpses of the fact that the Hu Niu at the centre of all of Xiangzis lamentations is not completely real. Throughout Xiangzis struggles, the one character that we cannot get away from is Hu Niu, even though a pure account of her inner thoughts hardly ever surfaces. The importance of her role in this novel may seem somewhat belittled by the fact that every image we get of her character is through Xiangzis eyes. To work against Xiangzis bias, the reader must delve deeper under the surface n arratives through which to form ones own version of the original Hu Niu. We see very little of a non-Xiangzi-influenced, neutral narrators Hu Niu. And if we did rely on Xiangzis mind to tell us the whole story and all its underlying events, we would be cheating ourselves. For a thorough view of Hu Niu, Xiangzis version must be rounded out by our own analysis. The reason for this is that there is always a story unfolding that Xiangzi simply does not understand; there is a woman in this story that Xiangzi does not recognise. How reliable is Xiangzis explanation of the story? We should consider how reliable Xiangzis explanation is of the world at large. Xiangzis views of himself and the environment surrounding him occasionally seem ridiculously upside down. Having arrived in Beijing from the countryside at age 18, he has no education and is merely somewhat street smart. Being physically strong, and possessing characteristics like passion, honesty, righteousness , he is extremely self-righteous and self-confident. Through the narrators descriptions of Xiangzis arrogance, it helps us see that his views of himself are horribly distorted by his ego. Once he had grown into his body by his 20s, he became tall, strong, broad-shouldered and big-footed (5). He thought of himself as the best at what he did. We further see Xiangzis vanity in the fact that he goes as far as to smile at himself whenever he looks in the mirror; he is that satisfied with himself. He is so confident in his strength to be able to conquer everything that he never likes or bothers to talk with others or discuss anything with fellow rickshaw pullers. Even when he encounters something unlucky, he still believes that he would find a way out of it and would not be easily cheated or defeated because of his strength. All this narcissism we see in Xiangzi is a completely contradictory view to what we as bystanders think of him when we regard Xiangzi. We see on his face a particularly lurid scar, courtesy of a mule (5). This scar is long and large and a quite noticeable flaw on his face. Quickly, we begin to see that this scar is representative of more inherent character flaws, something more innate in Xiangzi that contributes to his eventual downfall. One of these flaws is his ego. Even though we see this gaping imperfection on his face, Xiangzis love for it remains the same as his love for his body, blind and excessive. He sees his face as also possessing tough strength just like his face (5). He essentially regards his face as another extension of one of his limbs; as long as his four limbs are strong, his face is also strong and noble. In actuality, Xiangzis scar attests to his short-sightedness. We sense that there is a feeling of mockery in the narrators detached statement that Xiangzi believes relying on only his []intelligence[] and exertions were enough to realize his ambitions (4). Another flaw is Xiangzis weakness for compliments, also a testament to his  vanity. He feels particularly important, for instance, when his impressive height requires him to duck his head when he passes through a doorway (11). Also, when no rickshaw puller is willing to risk going to Qing Hua University for fear of the warlord soldiers, all someone has to do is call Xiangzi a Big Boy and he promptly decides he would go, as though his strength could certainly prevent any danger from befalling him. This flattery of Big Boy, and the fact that the payer of the compliment was a short-of-bodybaldhead to whom Xiangzi felt significantly superior, led to the demise of Xiangzis first rickshaw. He had felt invincible. Xiangzis character flaw is also seen in his stubbornness. He is stubborn about not letting go of his money for medicine when he falls ill (9). He is stubborn about never needing a helping hand from anyone or anything. He deems himself to be so great that, depending only on his strength, he believes he would be able to escape from the evil cycle that is the life of a rickshaw-puller. This said cycle comprises the rickshaw man being forever doomed to pull a rickshaw his entire life, be frequently susceptible to injury, ultimately grow old, become chronically ill, and, unable to run any longer, one day fall down in the middle of the streets and die. Xiangzi is mulish about the fact that he could beat the system without anyones assistance if only he just stays away from distractions. This brings us to his ultimate stubbornness, which is about the disastrous distraction that is Hu Niu. As a result of seeing Xiangzis impressions of himself, we are wary of the validity of the image of Hu Niu Xiangzi projects through his narration. In knowing how traditional his views are and how biased he is against women of power, it is immediately evident how distorted his vision is of Hu Niu. As readers, we can see that his life takes a favourable turn when he meets Hu Niu. Even if we did contemplate her through Xiangzis prejudiced eyes, we can still see how useful and capable a person she is. This woman knows about life. We value her authority, and Old Master Liu values her authority and did not want to see her married and gone , but Xiangzi seems fundamentally incapable of seeing anything positive in her capabilities. In his mind, her intelligence translates into shrewdness, and her ability to manage and  organize translates into manipulation. What is more, he refuses to see that Hu Niu really cares for him. He rejects the possibility that, if only he would listen to Hu Nius advice, he could escape the rickshaw pullers horrible lifecycle. His stupidity is so blinding that he attributes his decline to the existence of Hu Niu, when in actuality his own stupidity is the very trait that causes his demise. Xiangzis closed-mindedness makes him unable to understand others motives, locking him in, and causing him to see everything from only his own point of view. Xiangzi does not have the intelligence or foresight to see the Hu Niu that readers see, or the fact that Hu Niu is his finest chance at a better life. Worse, he actually thinks Hu Niu will be the death of him. Every time she takes something into her own hands or solves a problem a problem from which Xiangzi would always run away, besides he would believe that he has suffered another wrong because he cannot stand being under her control (140-144). We consider Hu Nius economic sense to be sensible and her logic to be a good way to extract Xiangzi from his dreary existence. She has sensed that his personality could doom him to toil all his life (149). But she tells him outright that even though he may have his plans to sweat away his entire life, she has her plans to change that (149). And her plans for him consist of the hope that he will not need to pull a rickshaw anymore, not have to stink with sweat, and can get out of a dead-end occupation. Xiangzi, however, does not see that using keen business practices instead could lead quicker to a better life. All he wants is to painstakingly make money cent by cent through blood and sweat and buy his rickshaw; he does not know there could be any other ways to live. Hu Niu knows what must be done to help Xiangzi escape misfortune. She tells Xiangzi explicitly that she will take care of [him]; but all he wants to do is escape (83). To be sure, Hu Nius effort to end Xiangzis life as a rickshaw puller is partly due to the act that she does not want to be the wife of a poor rickshaw man (158). She regards herself as someone significantly more elegant than those living in the mixed courtyard. The thought that she could lose everything on Xiangzis account makes her momentarily almost regretful of marrying him (158). Nevertheless, these thoughts were only temporary  lapses in her mind, for she truly is in love with Xiangzi. She likens the happiness she feels being married to Xiangzi as feeling like her entire body was a big red flower blossoming warmly, fragrantly, beneath the rays of the sun (158). Inside, she knows that even if Xiangzi spends his whole life pulling a rickshaw, or if even he were reduced to begging, she would still never leave him; she would stay with him forever (158). Hu Niu tells Xiangzi of her love for him over and over: I think about you all the time. I love you. Ill take care of you (83), I know youre ambitious but you ought to realise that I really love you, too (156). But Xiangzi ignores it all. He is contemptuous of her behaviour and begrudges Hu Nius money (152). He does not want to think about how unmanly it is to be using his wifes money to buy a rickshaw (148). Hu Niu is scrupulous in her care for Xiangzi. She is not gentle by nature like Xiao Fuzi, so she does not know how to sweetly cajole him when speaking, especially if she is already anxious over him. When she tells Xiangzi that she still has four hundred dollars left after they marry and prods him to relax a little and enjoy life because he pull[s] a rickshaw and stink[s] of sweat all year long, it comes out sounding near to an order (148). But it is clear that her heart is not unkind and her intentions are good. Stubbornly, Xiangzi only sees the attention and concern that Hu Niu showers him as her attempts to fatten him up like a cow so as to better squeeze the milk out of him (152). We witness the fact that Hu Niu would very much like to have a quality family life with Xiangzi and hopes for Xiangzi to have a better life than that of a rickshaw pullers. She is undeniably calculating in deciding to approach her father, despite their fight, in order to get a firmer grip on Old Lius money. But this is so she would then be able to find Xiangzi a better job (157). She believes that Xiangzi has ideal traits of strength, diligence and frugality and sees in him potential for greater success if only he would let go of his death grip on the desire to only pull a rickshaw. But because Xiangzi has been a child of misfortune and knew what deep poverty was (152), he is unshakable in his belief that only hard physical labour is the solution to anything. Without much life experience (other than that of pulling a rickshaw), Xiangzi does not know any better. By ignoring the potential of Hu Nius abilities, he is  doomed to stay in the disastrous cycle. By looking beyond Xiangzis prejudiced criticisms of Hu Niu, we get a much most realistic view of this woman. Indeed, we even feel sorry for her. When she thinks of the joy of being married to Xiangzi, it is a fascination for her that she could not even speak of (158). We as readers, however, read almost in the same breath of Xiangzis hatred for her. While she wants to promenade with Xiangzi and show off the happiness of her marriage, Xiangzi, meanwhile, finds walking about with any woman in tow to be a disgraceful business, much less someone he abhorred as much as Hu Niu (146). This sort of ingrained thinking Xiangzi cannot change. Our sympathy for Hu Niu stems from the fact that her attempts to loosen his attitude and alter his mindset were ill-fated from the beginning. Xiangzis palpable narrow-mindedness permeates the entire novel. When he comes to the realization that his body wasnt as strong as it had been, he attributes it to the fact that Hu Niu, the bloodsucking monster, has sucked away his virility (205). It is never even a consideration that his age and the major bouts of illness could be the reasons for his inability to run as fast as before. Societal traditions have also embedded in him preconceptions about women like Hu Niu, whose every movewas like that of a woman who had been married for a long time (145) and chauvinism that a woman who is quick, experienced, and had an air of self-confidence is conversely not worthy of respect. Ironically, the more obsessively Xiangzi portrays to us the evil Hu Niu that he wants us to see, the more clearly we see the Hu Niu that is not shown through Xiangzis narrative. A thought that perfectly captures the irrationality and absurdity of Xiangzis mind is when Hu Niu poses to him the question, Between the two of us, who should listen to who? (149). This is a loaded question that triggers much thought. Despite the tenacity of Xiangzis incessant commentary, we do not come to side with him in formulating our answer to that question. On the contrary, we have gathered every evidence in each situation to believe that Hu Niu was the key to Xiangzis chance at breaking the cycle. Xiangzi is the only one who does not  see this and it is to his own immense detriment. His many character flaws are revealed in his enormous ego, stubbornness, shortsightedness, and staunch mistrust of others advice, especially advice from women. His prejudice against Hu Niu has been particularly hardened by societal beliefs and the traditional stigma that follows sharp and able women. Xiangzi is trapped in the blindness of his prejudice and remains perpetually unable to see and hear the Hu Niu that we ultimately comprehend. Ignoring Hu Nius help, support and advice, we watch with disappearing sympathy as Xiangzis hurtled towards the expected end of a rickshaw-pullers life cycle.