The American Gangster

Hollywood by far is one of the most lucrative industries of USA. It generates billions in revenue and the great thing about it is that the raw material or resources never run out. Globalization has made Hollywood is now a house hold name all across the world and not only in America, Hollywood is riding the waves of success all across the world. The crime-drama genre of movie making in Hollywood has a long and lucrative history.In the past from God Father, to Scarface or Stanley Kubrik’s A Clockwork Orange, till Martin Scorsese master piece The Departed today, this austere genre of movies has attracted a huge number of audiences, mainly adults. Movies of this genre take little liberty from the creativity of the writer and rely mainly on the elements that are closer to life and that people can relate to. They show the eternal battle between good and the way it’s been fought in reality. That’s why most of the stories from this genre are either true or close to truth . Ridley Scott is among one of the finest film maker Hollywood has ever had.His unique vision, his ability the select the right man for the right role and his stories that touches the hearts of audiences is simply astounding. He pretty much became a house hold name after making the epic hit, Gladiator and lifted Russell Crowe to the heights of stardom. His last movie â€Å"The American Gangster† was released in November 2007 and turned out to be a box office hit generating more than 250 million dollars. With an Oscar winning, A-list cast, great producers like Brian Grazer and Mark Jacobson and Steven Zaillian behind the script, the movie was suppose to and turned out to be a nothing less than a timeless classic.On of the primary reasons for choosing this movie for analysis is the outstanding names attached to it, and chiefly, American Gangster represents the true face of an American age and society. It alleviates the differences between the age old good and bad schism and ass erts that intelligence and integrity combined can either make or command both the element of good and evil. First and foremost, Ridley Scott does the most important task in bringing the movie to life beside the script and that task in casting.Since the movie revolves around the life of Harlem’s drug lord Frank Lucas and the FBI agent hell bent on getting to him Richie Roberts, and since all the characters are pretty much real, so to say inspired by actual events and people, Scott had to be very careful in casting these two iconic roles that not only portray the characters of their real life counterparts, but also adapt those characters into themselves so as to bring out an outstanding combination of script and reality and give the audiences an anachronistic feeling.Scott had already worked with Russell Crowe in the legendary Gladiator and A Good Year so he was selected for the role of Richie Roberts. As for the protagonist, who else could play the role of an African American than the iconic Oscar winning Denzel Washington. Both actors studied hard to get into their respective roles buy adapting accents and body languages of their real life counter parts and the work paid off. Both veterans totally dominate the screen with not only their charisma but their out standing true to life performances.Since American Gangster is a period movie, an authentic look of United States and the City of New York had to be modeled after the era of late 60s and early 70s. specially the Harlem where most of the movie takes place is shown in the movie is shown relatively shabbier and crumbling to catch the look of late 60’s. Scott has utilized most of the actual locations of Harlem by toning them down to get the 60’s look. The attention to details is amazing. The scene where Lucas walks down the streets of Harlem along with his brothers gives a very authentic retro look.The puddles on the street, people wearing vibrant colored shabby dress on the crumbling side walks, the derelict apartments with cloths lines and small dingy shops by the streets gives sincere glance almost 40 years back. The costume design is amazing; with only Washington wearing more than 64 costumes throughout the movie that represents the fashion of the era. The dresses his wife Eva wears the first time Frank tries to woo her is simply as astounding with elegance and a pinch or nostalgia.The characters appear perfect in each and every attire. Richie (Crowe) adapts this sweaty and scruffy look to portray his underpaid and tough as nail job. Whilst Frank (Washington) evolves in his looks and personality through out the movie. His costumes move from servile and obsequious looking right hand thug to the rich elegant drug lord who wants to spend money, but not letting go of his dignity. The script and screen play are one of the prime elements of the movie.Based on the article by Mark Jacobson and molded into a seemingly perfect screenplay by the Oscar winner screen play writ er of the â€Å"Schindler's List†, Steven Zaillian, the movie is adequately paced with adequate amount of time for all the characters to bloom to their full potential. The character of Frank Lucas is by far the heart of the movie as he rise of a second rate right hand man to this powerful and ingenious entrepreneur who takes full advantages of the Vietnam war.Shown as a gentle and family man who loves his mother, wife and brothers, but at the same time a furiously ambitious man who guns down his opponents in the broad daylight if the occasion calls for it. The character of Richie though intense doesn’t get enough space to reach its full potential and very much remains the same. The screenplay takes some fictional liberties to a real life story worth of being watched. Pietro Scalia, has done a commendable job in the editing of the movie.The film has been trimmed down to the point where it runs a comfortable 157 minutes without making the story lag. Scene transitions are done amazingly and build a sort of suspenseful tension for the viewers as the story lines deftly shift from Frank to Richie. Aside from the sharp editing, the movie has been toned down in its graphic content to be suitable for audience and not letting the violence predominate the story line.Sound may not be the brightest of American Gangster’s features as the dubbing and sound effects lags behind the other elements of the movie. They dubbing is a bit hollow sounding where the voices seems to unnaturally echo. Filmed against the obstreperous background of Harlem, an attempt has been made to let the sounds of the bustling streets and traffic gets mixed with the voiceovers of the actors, but the result isn’t as sonorous. The sound effects are rather choppy, expect for the gun shots that reverberates throughout the whole theater.The film has the original score music of Marc Streitenfeld, and the songs of Jay-Z, Anthony Hamilton, and classics like Sam and Dave and Mavis St aples which gives the movie a typical African American look and feel. Cinematography by far is one of the most beautiful elements of the movie. Harris Savides has done a remarkable job to in capturing the true essence of a bleak and derelict Harlem. From the gritty looking daylight lit streets to the after dark gloomy and distant feel of Harlem, Harris has made sure to make everything look real rather than artificially lit sets.From the dimly lit Lucas’s drug locals to the diner where he has his breakfast as the sunlight hits the table illuminating everything brilliantly, each shot has its own visual treats. The faded and muted tones of the seventies also invoke a sense of melancholy or bleakness to parts of the film, which gives it a weight and depth. Incorporating all the quintessentials of great film making, the proper utilization of talent and an unparalleled vision is what makes The American Gangster, a success.Ridley Scott, even though too constricted to work on a proje ct as such as this one, has done an outstanding in rendering this movie as close to life as possible along with a superb cast who have done justice with their roles, specially Denzel Washington for out shining everyone in the movie. What makes this movie stand apart beside a great story and performance is the cinematography as Savides has tried to outdo himself by trying to capture the visual essence of an era four decades ago, which is one of the standing and most crucial elements of a period movie.

Issues on Paying College Athletes

For several years amateurism has posed a big controversy in college sports. Being a professional athlete is making the final cut, this is when athletes get paid for their talents for the use of entertainment. The athletes are given contracts due to their level of skill and performance. College is for students to get an education and prepare for a career. Most athletes attend college to get an education just in case they don†t make it to a professional sport level. College athleticism could be considered a stepping stone, it is a preparation stage for student athletes hoping to move on to the professional level. Many athletes attend college and play sports, but when they get to the professional level, they still aren†t capable of performing as well as expected. This is not the case with every athlete though, some of these young amateurs hit the professional league and explode and achieve beyond their expectations. Some of the collegiate athletes hit the professionals and perform better than experienced veterans. In the light of these facts, the question: â€Å"Should college players be paid? † is often posed. This question has been tossed around for a good number of years. It has probably been discussed since before college basketball players began to leave school early to become pro. As a college athlete I often feel that I deserve something extra, but every time I feel this way I always end up re-evaluating the situation. Once I†ve actually thought through the situation, I usually come to the conclusion that college athletes are already being paid. The education we receive and the experience of earning a college degree has no price value. This is the same thing South Florida coach Seth Greenberg stated when he was asked: â€Å"should college basketball players be paid? † in a series of questions asked by The Tampa Tribune (available at tampabayonline. net/final4/q&a. htm). It is a fact that college athletes generate millions of dollars of revenue for universities, but despite the question, there are very important facts that are overlooked when it comes to discussing this issue. As I stated earlier, it is fact that college athletic programs produce a large sum of money. This money usually comes through television rights fees, bowl games, ticket sales and other means. In light of these facts, many believe that student athletes deserve more than just a scholarship or grant for their efforts. These facts could bring one to conclusion that the financial arrangements between universities and student-athletes are unfairly balanced in the favor of the college institutions. There are many hidden facts that explain the impossibilities to pay our student athletes. At Notre Dame, for example, grants-in-aid to student-athletes are worth about $5 million a annually. Add that to the millions of dollars spent on travel, housing, equipment, health care and several other cost and pretty soon, you are talking about big time money. So, while athletes generate millions of dollars for universities, there are also millions of dollars in expenses, most of which directly assist the student-athletes. Even at smaller colleges that do not generate as much money as the universities, the money generated through the sporting events usually invested in equipment and other necessities for the student-athletes. In other words, it is a two-way street, college athletes are well compensated, in other words well paid already. Without college most of America†s young athletes wouldn†t even get the exposure needed to make an impression on for the professional leagues. The system has been around and working for many years now, the thought of changing the rules to enable college athletes to be paid seems to me as a total act of greed. As stated by Mark ([email  protected] net) in an article found at www. mhoops. com: â€Å"the whole stinking show is rift of greed in my opinion. It is a fact that CBS forks over $3 billion, this is proof (in their minds) that they don†t need to change anything. I feel that if this money were cut, they would change things as quickly as possible. I see athletes being paid in college as a disadvantage, not only to the less wealthy schools who wouldn†t be able to afford the better players, but to the student/athletes as well. I feel that the colleges with the most money, and the wealthiest alumni†s will always have the very best teams in college sports if this happens, this will leave the less wealthy colleges with the bottom of the barrel players. How could you expect the less wealthy schools to ever win? How fair could this rule transition be? Paying players to attend a school is cheating them of the education they would have gotten better at another school to give them a better chance at winning a game of football, basketball, or what ever kind of sport they play. Sports are not promising, any athlete could have a career ending injury at anytime; however, the education they receive will always be able to open doors for them. Another reason why I feel that college athletes shouldn†t be paid is because it is too expensive. Many colleges are not on the best budget. Some barely make enough money to support their team sports. CBS college basketball analyst Bill Packer, in the same Tampa Tribune question series listed above states: â€Å"It†s a moot question (Should college athletes be paid? ). Under Title IX, what colleges do for one sport it has to do for all. Because of that, the funds aren†t available to pay students from each of a school†s athletic programs. Paying [basketball players] is thrown out a lot in discussion, but if people understood the process of Title IX, they would realize paying players would be an impossibility. This is something easily understandable, if colleges could afford this kind of money then they should be able to afford more and better scholarships. College is a place for education. Many people look at the money generated by college sports and start to imply that the athletes bringing this money in should benefit from it. These same people never seem to see that the college athletes already are. If these students were never given scholarships to attend these colleges then they probably wouldn†t be there. The same athletes you see playing the many different sports they play in college, would more than likely be playing these same sports back home in the neighborhood just for fun if they weren†t attending college. This makes you wonder: â€Å"why can†t they play sports in college without being paid? † there isn†t much of a difference. The opportunity to get an education should be enough, too many people get caught up in the money though. The world of sports has changed enormously because of greed. Professionalism is the level when athletes get paid. Paying college players would completely eliminate amateurism. That would make college players professional, but professionals are supposed to be the best of the best, the cream of the crop and all college athletes are not amongst the best: â€Å"so why should they be paid? † Under the article of Title IX, paying one player means paying them all, and paying one sport means paying all sports in an institution, since all collegiate athletes aren†t the best players it seems to be a waist of money. The idea of paying college athletes is very demeaning. Since it is a known fact that many athletes do not go to class, and stay involved in many mix-ups, the idea would only bring forth more comodity. I think paying college athletes would bring in more students who have no purpose in college besides playing sports. This would also affect the population at many schools. I also feel that this would be asking for more incidents and to occur. As many athletes get involved in violations at universities with partying, drinking, and drugs, one would think that these rates would rise with several students who have no intentions on becoming educated on campus. This matter could be stereotypical, but at the same time it is a fact that several athletes drop out, flunk out, or are kicked out of school. My position is to keep them out, and not paying college athletes is one of the major ways to do so. If college athletes begin to get paid everyone will want to attend and for many that would be the only reason. This is not what college is designed for. College is a task, an opportunity, not a job, but it will prepare you for one in the future, if you prove yourself there then you will be paid. The principle is that the only way to eliminate this question would be to pay the college athletes, but that would produce a great decline in the population of education. To perform a task such as; colleges would have to drop all â€Å"scholarship† college sports and allow colleges either to run Division III programs or own minor league teams where the players are paid (under some salary cap) but they wouldn†t need to be college students. That would bring forth the problem of distinguishing: getting the best students in a college and getting the best players. . I think that would take away from our society and economics, leaving us with fewer professionals. College athletes should not be paid, this would eliminate the sole purpose of attending college. Who would attend class.

Jesus Christ Essay

Hate is one of the human’s feelings. It is a complex subject to study its reasons, causes and consequences. Broadly saying hate in this or that manifestation is one of the reasons of the majority of the violent crimes. Hate is used as an ideological background for a number of violent acts ranging from the street and terrorist attacks to full scale wars. Hate may be either justified in this or that way or it may be impulsive, based on the race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin. In the first case when the hate is caused by the unjust treatment it may be defined as rational, in the second one it is irrational (John R. Schafer, MA and Joe Navarro, MA, 2003). One of the most significant examples of the hate group is Aryan Nations. Aryan Nations is a typical hate organization promoting the white race supremacy. It is the political arm of the †White Identity Church of Jesus Christ-Christian,† long led by Richard Butler. The movement promotes the heresy known as †Christian Identity. † (Apologetics Index, 2006). The ideological background of the Aryan Nations is anti-Semitism. Paramilitary hate group Aryan Nations was founded in the mid-1970s by Rev. Richard Girnt Butler, now 77 years old. It was formed around Butler’s Church of Jesus Christ Christian, one of the several hundred churches affiliated with â€Å"Identity,† a pseudo-theological hate movement. Identity doctrine maintains that Anglo-Saxons, not Jews, are the Biblical â€Å"chosen people,† that non-whites are â€Å"mud people† on the level of animals, and that Jews are â€Å"children of Satan. † (The Nizkor Project, 2006). The anti-Semitism has been of the main hate ideologies since the biblical times. It was utilized by the worst human hating regimes, the most vivid examples of which were the Fascist regimes in Germany and Italy. The anti-Semitism doctrine as an ideology compromised itself in the 20th century. Aryan Nations militantly advocates anti-Semitism and the establishment of a white racist state. A statement of beliefs on the Aryan Nations Web site declares: â€Å"The Jew is like a destroying virus that attacks our racial body to destroy our Aryan culture and purity of our race. Those of our Race who resist these attacks are called ‘chosen and faithful. ‘† (Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian, 2006). In their â€Å"Declaration of Independence† the ideologists of the Aryan Nations declare threat to the white Americans from the federal government which pursues the interests of the Jewish rulers. The ideologists of the Aryan Nations state that only the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Teutonic, Scandinavian, Celtic peoples are the descendants of biblical Adam and the rest are the descendants of Cain and they are the results of the Eve’s original sin. The Aryan Nations leaders identify the Jews as the main threat to the white race. This movement could be considered as political and a religious movement. This is one of the causes of the extreme danger of Aryan Nations. Violence is declared by the leaders of the group. The motto of the group as indicated in its web site is â€Å"Violence Solves Everything! †. Still the original biblical part of the ideology of the Aryan Nation has been completely confused because the calls for violence became the dominating ones. The ideologies of Aryan Nations declaring their Christian origin try to support their violent call with the Muslim militant motto â€Å"Allahu Akbar! † (http://www. aryan-nations. org/) thus bringing complete confusion into their ideological basis. According to Aryan Nations â€Å"That VIOLENCE â€Å"IS† THE ONLY SOLUTION! You can no longer look toward local, state or federal law enforcement authorities to protect you, your families or your interests from these invaders† (Aryan Nations web site, 2006). The â€Å"Christian† identity of Aryan Nations was expressed by the leader of the group August Kreis in his comments on the 9/11 attacks and his attitude towards Al-Qaeda, â€Å"†You say they’re terrorists, I say they’re freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same jihadic feeling in our peoples’ heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they call Allah. † (Henry Schuster, March 29, 2005). Such sayings put off the religious part from the Aryan Nations ideology leaving the extremist one. Terror unites the â€Å"proponents† of some special â€Å"violent† Christianity and Mohammedanism. In fact the only things which may unite both groups are the hate, extremism and terror which they share as basic of their ideologies. In fact, Aryan Nations have a lot of common features with the extremist Muslim groups. They share the same anti-Semitism, they accept the same terror methods and they lack any constructive ideology. They both base their activity on the hate which is destructive in its nature. The numerous hate groups whose ideologies are based on the irrational hatred can hardly find any serious political support in such democratic and a multinational country as the United States. As for the connections of the hate groups with the Muslim extremists, they are not new. During the WWII the leader of the German Nazis Adolph Hitler tried to find the connections with the Muslim extremists. Moreover, some Nazis found refuge in Egypt and Syria after WWII. At the same time it is too early to speak about the real alliance between Neo-Nazis and Muslim extremists. Most likely the leaders of Aryan Nations express their desire to create such an alliance and it proves the ultimate danger of the group. â€Å"Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that while some U. S. extremists applauded the September 11 attacks, there is no indication of such an alliance — at least not yet, and not on a large scale. If it exists anywhere, he said, it is in the mind (and the Internet postings) of August Kreis. † (Henry Schuster, 2005). At the same time the Aryan Nations desire to link to the most dangerous terrorist organization confirms the fact that Aryan Nations may become the serious threat to the national security of the United States. Bibliography John R. Schafer, MA and Joe Navarro, MA, The seven-stage hate model: The psychopathology of hate groups, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin/March 1, 2003, available at http://www. rickross. com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups355. html, retrieved 06. 12. 2006

An Assessment of the Impact of Government debt and Deficits on the Essay - 3

An Assessment of the Impact of Government debt and Deficits on the Economic Growth of United States - Essay Example Reasons for current debt and deficit Basically, the public debt of the country refers to the borrowings that the government does outside of the national budget (Huntington, 1996; Tombak, 2012) whiles the deficit refers to the amount of funds spent outside revenue generation. As seen above, an increasing pattern in the growth of national debt and deficit affects the economic growth of the country greatly because it stagnate the growth of the gross domestic product (Mearsheimer, 2001). Many have wondered why the debts and deficit have evolved in the pattern in which they have in the figure. First, experts blame misplaced national priorities as the major cause of the national debt size of the country. This is said in terms of spending more on non-revenue generative ventures (Waltz, 2010). Secondly, the United States have been blamed for taking up upon itself more responsibilities that it can take than the country can actually afford in the face of the international world. To this end, the country always has surpluses to de al with in its national budget. Finally, government social intervention policies are greatly blamed. Currently, statistics has it that Medicaid and Unemployment benefits alone could raise more than 12% of the size of the GDP if there were other viable means of ensuring that such interventions could be adjusted into proponents of revenue generation and empowerment for the populace (Mahar, 2009).

Business law - contracts, summary to UCC, and FIRAC on a case Essay

Business law - contracts, summary to UCC, and FIRAC on a case - Essay Example Besides, there is not evidence that can act as a proof. Yes, since Light did not produce the quality services, which they had agreed and contracted prior the start of the exercise. In addition, the liquidated damages were also evident in the contract, which they had instituted besides each swearing to fulfill. No. This is because after Hart had entered into a contract with Brand Smith Roofing, he wrote to them two times before and after contracting with Broadview Roofing & Remodeling Inc. Brand Smith Roofing did not respond and nowhere making efforts to resurface, but continued to make Hart wait indefinitely. Unfortunately, during the case ruling, the magistrate unlawfully favors Brand Smith Roofing. Since, he failed to enforce the compensation of damages incurred by Hart. Yes. Because, Creighton University after assuring Ross of undivided attention regarding helping him to improve the academic prowess, it prompted him do courses that could not enable in the attainment of a degree. These encompass marksmanship and theory of basketball, though, he had failed with a D (96/128 marks). The statute refutes the enforcement of goods worth $500 or over especially in the event of action or defense (LII). This is only applicable where there is an indication of a contract, which proves there was an agreement made besides the signature (by the complainant either via his broker or via the agent) that allowed occurrence of the intended transaction (subsection 1). Suppose the aforementioned case (subsection 1) entails merchants within a rational duration, there will be receiving of written confirmation against the sender (LII). Here, the recipient has the privilege of knowing its contents, which have to satisfy the above case where its objection will be by a written notice offered within ten days after receiving. Additionally, contract that does not effectively

International Financial Reporting Standards Research Paper

International Financial Reporting Standards - Research Paper Example Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and efforts to converge United States GAAP and Global Standards will provide a framework for conformity of global financial reporting principles (Ernst & Young 15). The international financial reporting standards will enhance the comparability of corporations internationally. The new system will provide investors and shareholders with better monetary information of various organizations. The new system will assist investors to acquire dependable information of firms with international operations. Investors need firms’ details, which are more dependable, timely, pertinent and comparable across economies (Needles & Powers 48). As an investor or user of financial reports, the new system will reduce the costs I incur while investing and will increase the quality of information I receive. As an investor, my investment confidence will increase as a result of superior transparency among diverse companies’ monetary reports . This will increase my willingness to purchase the company’s securities. The new system will enable me to compare and interpret monetary information of different companies around the globe. This comparability will assist me in allocating assets in my investment portfolio. The comparability of monetary reports of various firms around the globe will increase trade in the international capital markets. The outcome will be an integrated global capital markets and simplified cross boundary investment. In the long term, there will be an enhanced liquidity in the financial markets and the cost of finances will reduce. The foreign capital inflows will increase since the companies will have access to global financial markets. The increase in foreign capital flows and reduction in cost of finances will stimulate investments within the country. Increase in investments will increase the productivity of the economy, and this would result to economic growth and development (Shamrock 65). Economic development will benefit me by augmenting the standard of living of the citizens. As a borrower, I will benefit from the low cost of credit, thus enabling me to finance my investment projects. The new system will reduce the costs of financial reporting, since companies with global operations will prepare monetary reports using a single standard. Multinational Corporations may save a significant amount of cash through circumventing the costs of translating their financial declarations into numerous local financial exposure principles (Shamrock 68). Reduction in costs of monetary reporting may result to low prices of services or products provided by firms, and as a consumer, I will benefit from the low prices. Walton notes that the new system will enable multinational corporations to analyze their competitiveness in local and worldwide markets. This will increase competition between these multinational corporations. Increase in competition will enhance the quality of services and goods provided by these firms. In order to acquire a competitive benefit, these firms may services and products as cheaper prices (Walton 87). As a consumer, I will gain from high quality of services and product and low prices. Monetary reports compiled using a single set of accounting standards help investors in evaluating various investment opportunities. Evaluation of financial repor

Mind the Gap Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mind the Gap - Essay Example Table of contents Abstract 1. Introduction 2. ‘The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises’ 3. Financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure 4. Sovereign debt crisis which affects the bank’s credit standards, credit margin, and funding conditions 5. Regulatory changes on policies that deal with bank lending activities 6. â€Å"The Federation of small Businesses† 7. Recommendation 1) Introduction â€Å"The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises† abbreviated as SMEs is defined by the European Commission as â€Å"an enterprise employing not more than 250 employees; having an annual turnover of not more than â‚ ¬50m and balance sheet assets of â‚ ¬43m; and that has less than 25 per cent of its capital.† However, SMEs are defined using three concepts and they include small, local, and single. They are small in nature when considering the number of employees, capital and assets, and turnover. They are also owned by a single owner who could only be the sole employee. SMEs are also local in nature because their markets are usually based on local areas or places of residence (Fielden, 2003). In the European Union, Small and Medium- sized Enterprises faces a number of issues in term of financing. These issues include effects of financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure; the sovereign debt crisis impacts on bank’s credit standards, credit margin, and funding conditions; and the effects caused by comprehensive regulatory changes on policies dealing with bank lending activities. However, â€Å"The Federation of small Businesses† abbreviated as FSB, has come to rescue these SMEs by representing them in the issues for financial market (Ministry of defence, 2013). Its functions revolve around practices dealing with financial lending â€Å"of the small and medium-sized Enterprises.† 2) â€Å"The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises† The SMEs have been recognized as the key contributors of the econo my in the European Union, due to the way they have changed the union into a market oriented economy. Currently, statistics shows that 96% of the registered firms are recognized â€Å"as small and medium sized firms,† with SMEs accounting for approximately 82%. These small businesses actively contribute to 25% of the annual Global Domestic Product of the European Union (Villa, 2011). Despite their great contribution, SMEs are faced with financial crisis, cause by various factors hence affecting the capital structure. The financial sector within the European Union is characterized by a system based bank where SOCBs or state owned commercial banks play an important role. SOCBs provide 78 % of the overall loans in the economy, with half of its credits being channeled into SOEs. This, therefore, makes it difficult â€Å"for the small and medium size enterprises† to access bank loans. 3) Financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure However, there are a number of factor s which leads to financial crisis that affects the SMEs capital structure. The first one is firm growth. It is suggested that firm’s growth is relatively negative to its capital structure. A SMEs’ information asymmetry may demand an extra premium for it to raise external funds, despite the true

Performance appraisals Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance appraisals - Research Paper Example Performance appraisals are aimed at the smooth accomplishment of organizational goals by monitoring employee behavior and enhancing employee productivity. This paper deals with the various aspects of performance appraisals including its use in the workplace, its subjective and objective nature, legal and ethical issues, advantages and disadvantages, and suggests possible alternatives. Performance appraisals in the workplace Performance appraisals play a pivotal role in the management of organizations. Performance appraisals serve a large variety of purposes within organizations. The management often uses performance appraisals for taking important decisions on promotions, rewards, transfers and terminations of employees, for identifying training and development needs, for validating selection and development programs, and for providing timely feedback to the employees on their performance (Robbins 228). Performance appraisals offer a unique opportunity for managers and supervisors to evaluate the performance of their employees and to improve their performance by timely feedbacks or interventions. For Chukwuba, performance appraisals play two potentially conflicting roles within an organization. The first of these roles is â€Å"to measure performance for the purpose of rewarding or otherwise making administrative decisions about employees† whereas the second is ‘development of individual potential’ within the organization (Chukwuba 3). Both these roles are essential for the overall growth and development of the organization. It is the responsibility of the supervisors to guide, direct and motivate the subordinates through appropriate performance appraisals. However, self-appraisals, peer appraisals, subordinate appraisals, customer/client appraisals, and multiple raters are also proved to be significant in various organizational settings (Jennifer 255). Performance appraisals yield employee satisfaction and enhance their performance when the ir work is appreciated or rewarded. On the other hand, it can also put an end to undesirable behavior among the employees. Objective and subjective performance appraisals Performance appraisals can be of two types-objective or subjective. While objective performance appraisals are based on facts subjective performance appraisals are based on individuals’ perceptions. As such objective measures appear to be more valid and reliable. However, it is a fact that the actual performance of an employee cannot completely be evaluated based on facts or statistical data alone. Therefore, effective management system makes use of both objective and subjective performance appraisals. Objective performance appraisals are results-oriented as the focus is on facts or statistical data whereas subjective measures are â€Å"based on individuals’ perceptions and can be used for appraisals based on traits, behaviors, and results† (Jennifer 254). While objective performance appraisals value the performance of employees in terms of their sales, business, achievements, profits or growth in income subjective evaluation takes into account such aspects as the efforts made by the employee, the attitude of the employee and his/her behavior. For instance, the

Drugs and their influence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Drugs and their influence - Research Paper Example In 2004, the famous Whitney Houston disappointed many of her fans when she was arrested because of drug use. She ended losing her voice and reputation. In 2009, Michael Jackson shocked the world with his death that is associated with drugs. Such cases are only a few of the many unknown cases of drug users. Other effect is on the economy of the government. Billions of government money has been spent to treat victims of drug abuse and eliminating its supply but it seems victims of it and its illegal market grew even more. Tom Whitehead (2011) in his editorial report mentioned that the government has wasted 100 billion pounds tackling illicit drug markets. Because of this, aggressive attempts to prevent abuse of drugs by the government not only in the United States but internationally have been enforced. The supply and cost, risk factors of illegal drug use, and practice of physicians all influence the continuous habit of using drugs. Understanding these factors may lead to better strat egies or techniques in dealing with the problem of drug use in the United States. Review of Related Literature Influence of Supply and Costs of Illegal Drugs in its use Most problems of drug use in the Unites States are rooted in the supply. The supply of illegal drugs is abundant in some States of the country especially in the southern part because of its proximity to Columbia and Mexico which are the largest producers and suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine (Reuter, 2009). Drugs flourish in the Northern cities of Mexico and seem too crawl beyond its border and expand to United States through its border cities. This claim is further supported by the study by Bucardo and company (2005) where they explained that Mexican border crossings might be a contributory factor on the rampant heroin use in the border cities of the United States. History also reveals that Mexican and Columbian drugs reach the United States and Canada via the Caribbean. With the proliferation of dru g production in these neighboring countries, eliminating drug use is almost would be difficult. Not only illegal drugs are abused because of abundant supply. Cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and over the counter (OTC) drugs are also commonly abused. More than 46 million individuals in the United States alone are smokers. The supply of cigarette and alcohol makes it an easy choice of drug abusers to shift from illegal drugs to cigarette and alcohol instead. Today that law enforcers are becoming stricter in the implementation of laws in clamping down drug traffickers, supply of cocaine was reduced forcing drug users to resort to over the counter drugs too. Most often, pain killers like codeine, morphine, and oxycodone are abused as a replacement of illegal drugs. Cost also influences the proliferation of drug users. Low price encourages users to continue the use of illicit drugs because it is affordable. Ironically, policies prohibiting its sale caused the price of the commodity to decr ease and that drug users could easily avail of it. The increased capture of drug traffickers by coast guards and other government authorities had significantly resulted in the low price of the commodity favoring drugs users because of reasonable price. Report also stated that the price of heroine had further deteriorated to 30% more even with a 26% seizure rate of heroine throughout the world (ONDCP, 2004). On the other

Paraphrase these pages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paraphrase these pages - Essay Example In order to examine the policies/procedures, it is important to be aware of the written and unwritten procedures in order to see if employees follow them. Lastly, knowing what the facility is putting out and the conditions of both the facility and the product are important as well as staffing issues and logistics such as shipping. The Vulnerability Assessment Project Leader is charged with many duties. All duties surround that of making sure that the demands of the schedule will be met and are able to resolve any issues concerning this. Making sure that the team is properly staffed with correct instructions and the supplies to do the job makes this possible. It also includes exercising leadership authority by interacting not only with members of the team, but also with facility management and higher up personnel. This is a consequence analysis table. It is a security analysis that shows the probability levels of any type of hostile action that might be taken towards the facility or i ts employees and the effect that it will have on customers and products. It also ranks them according to how high the probability of something occurring in relation to the type of consequence that will result for the company. For example, there is a high degree of probability for vandalism, but there is a low consequence expected for anything happening in the company. The three stages in project management are: project planning, managing the project, and the project closeout. Project planning involves making initial contact with the customer by understanding what they want and being able to define the project by looking at costs, number of personnel, conditions and terms, etc. Once the project is started, it is best to give weekly updates to the customer in order to let them know how the work is progressing and if there are going to be any unexpected changes in cost, production time, etc. The VA team has to be able to balance what the customer wants and what is feasible to what was agreed upon because the customer is not always right. Lastly at the end of the project, taking into account and producing all the financial paperwork and costs is imperative. All documents should be stored or disposed of and an after action review should occur to assess how the project went and if anything can be done better. There are many different ways in which a project can fail. Sometimes, poor planning or having the wrong people plan can hinder the entire operation ranging from the wrong goals to time management problems. In addition, if communication is not kept with the customer for the duration of the project, it could put the project in danger as it makes the customer loose faith in the project and can lead to further complications. Lastly, it is important to discuss what went right and what went wrong on the project in order to maximize efficiency. If this is not done, any mistakes that were made are likely to occur again in the future and could result in more drastic con sequences. Stage 1 is the most important because it lays the foundation for the entire project. If this is messed up, the entire operation is at risk. During the execution of the project, problems need to be handled immediately in order to avoid complications. By keeping in contact with the customer, it allows quicker action and recovery to occur when a problem happens. In the last stage, all following

FDT 1 week 12 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FDT 1 week 12 - Essay Example Its increasing expansion in operation around the central and North America has put it on the organized crimes definitions. Membership is subject to taking an oath which is accompanied with a trademark numerous tattoos on their faces and bodies and letter M or sum of 13. Their increasing rate of influence and attack on law enforcers across the United States has earned them a fearsome tag. Their criminal activities are diverse and just to mention a few include drug smuggling, gun running, people smuggling, hits for hire, theft, drug sales among others (Rafael,2007).Their increasing popularity and elevated status has attracted the attention of security agencies who in the recent past has initiated wide-scale raids to nab known and suspected gang members. The outcome has led to netting hundreds of arrests across the United States. The prowess in criminal records comes from the stringent initiation process and emphasis on ruthlessness as the measure of a member’s efficiency and parameter of promotion. They have strong legal structures that regulate behavior of members. Joint legislative remedies and increasing security measures are currently underway to eliminate this

Human factors in technology Essay Example for Free

Human factors in technology Essay Man is the only being who has utilized technology, to the point that it also caused technology to change rapidly through time. Technology has been one of the most influential concepts in the lives of every human being throughout history. It was so influential that it had become one of the major deciding factors in the direction of history. Technological innovations had evolved from the simple to the very complex. From the simple stone cutting tools that prehistoric man had, to the contemporary blades that virtually do not need any resharpening at all. There had also been evolution from the very crude computing technique such as the finger counting, to the very complex supercomputers. In terms of transportation, from the very simple mode of walking and running, man had innovated transportation technology by inventing and innovating cars, planes, ships, etc. Technology had not only affected transportation and computing, but also the social and psychological scene as well. Companies whose general trade is information and technology are the ones whose organizational structure is very much affected by the technological changes. Most of the companies are either computer manufacturers or technological research companies. Apple Inc. , formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc. is an American-based multinational corporation which has its focus on technical manufacturing and designing of electronics and software programs for variations of consumers all around the world. It headquarters can be found in Cupertino, California (Apple, Inc. , 2007; History of Apple, 2007; Mesa, 1998; Apple. com, 2007). This company basically focuses on the development and support of several electronic gadgets for the market. This same company currently has its eyes focused on the innovation of already existing technologies, as well as the formation of a new breed of technology for the market. Some of its world-famous creations are the iPod, iPhone and the AppleTV. Aside from these electronic equipment and gadgets, the Apple, Inc. is also into the creation of new and better software programs. In the past, it had focused on creating and developing operating systems (OS), and specific application programs. Today, Apple, Inc. is now setting the path before it releases its newest operating system, the Mac OS X â€Å"Leopard†. Apple is very much into expanding its frontiers by exploring new ways of marketing and product presentation (Apple, Inc. , 2007; History of Apple, 2007; Mesa, 1998; Apple. com, 2007). It is now into the trend of having an online store where its products, whether hardware or software, can be bought by just a click of the mouse. The company is well-known for their very user-friendly hardware as well as software. Their iPod series, as well as their iPhone, Macintosh series of personal computers and peripherals, iLife software suite, and the Mac OS are just some of their best-known software and hardware products. Also, the company is a major supplier of prosumer software products for specialized purposes such as the audio and film industry (Apple, Inc. , 2007; History of Apple, 2007; Mesa, 1998; Apple. com, 2007). The mentioned things about Apple, Inc. , set up a background for the contemporary company. Technology has an implicit message, and that is to put everything into a very objective perspective, where everything could and should not be subject to an individual’s / group’s personal judgments or beliefs. By virtue of technology, man was able to do things such as measurement and judgment without having biases. With the use of technology, organizations can track their development without having doubts if the people who assessed them were biased about the evaluation process. But this strength is also its weak point. Being very objective would mean that the assessment would be very strict, and it would be guided by certain sets of quantified measurements such as numbers and / or a set of quantified codes. These standards for judgment and assessment can be used to evaluate employees’ activities, company sales and company economic standing. Having these strict standards would mean an easier, more efficient and more economic way of assessing the company. With these, companies such as the Apple could rely on machines about their company’s survival. Machines, which are products of modern technology, could be programmed to assess particular aspects of the company and suggest possible options about how to make the company even more productive. This may sound farfetched, but it could be a good way of looking at the possibility of how machines could help organizations in optimizing their parts. Business oriented companies such as the Apple is currently facing the possibilities of having less human members, and more help from the technology they are developing. These companies, with the help of modern technology, could be able to assess their employees using certain standards that can be input to a computer for further assessment. This way, there would be less processing time, less need for human HRD team members, less specialists in the field of assessing people, more possible members for the pool of computer and technology specialists (which could also mean more capital would be invested on the specialty of the company), and less expenses on the part of the company. Looking at the advantages posed by this method, it would be good to conclude that this could boost company income, thus uplift the lives of its employees in an economic and political sense. On the other hand, this method could also pose a very detrimental effect to the company as a whole, both in the macro and micro perspectives. One disadvantage of this method would be that without the subjective judgments of humans on human resources, it would be possible to miss important and potentially able applicants. Also, it would be possible that the programmed machines would not be able to look the implicit factors such as family background and the personality types of the applicants. Another is the fact that hardcore statistics, which programmed machines use, does not claim that the results are products of the interplay of all possible factors, instead it can only present results with the extraneous factors (which may possibly matter) omitted. References: Apple. com (2007).Retrieved August 9, 2007 from http://www. asia. apple. com/. Apple, Inc. (2007). Wikipedia: The Fee Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 9, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Apple_Computer. History of Apple (2007). ). Wikipedia: The Fee Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 9, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_Apple_Inc.. Mesa, A. (2007). Apple History Timeline. The Apple Museum. Retrieved August 9, 2007 from http://applemuseum. bott. org/sections/history. html.

Role Of Concurrent Engineering Information Technology Essay

Role Of Concurrent Engineering Information Technology Essay Concurrent engineering is basically a product development method and is quite different from the traditional development approach as it employs simultaneous rather than sequential process. The companies implementing CE feel that by completing tasks in parallel product development is accomplished more efficiently and it also saves cost. This is basically a management philosophy and any organization or company can implement this whether it small, medium or large. This is a systematic approach to the integrated concurrent design of products and their related processes including manufacture and support. The work is done through cross functional teams in which engineers and managers of different disciplines work together simultaneously in developing product and process design. Basic motive of this approach is that it cause the developers from the outset to consider all elements of the product life cycle from concept disposal which includes terms like quality, cost, schedule and user requirements. Concurrent engineering process is also known as iterative development method. It requires continual review of a teams progress and frequent revision of project plans. The rationale behind this creative thinking is forward looking approach which is beneficial because errors can be discovered easily and they are less costly to correct at initial stages. How to know whether the concurrent engineering is for a particular company or not? The following factors help to determine this:- If the company faces any kind of below given problem:- If there is competitive pressure to develop new products. If there exists any kind of delays in product launch. Budget of developing product is higher than acceptable. Customer requirements are not known clearly. No transfer of knowledge from one product development project to the next. Any kind of shifting of responsibility for product development from one function to another. Above were the factors that enable us to determine that whether the company requires adopting the process of concurrent engineering for product development or not. It is very important to know that whether the company has ability to implement the process in there company. Belows are the factors that help to learn that whether the organization will be able to implement the required process in there company or not. Is there willingness to change for improvement in the company? Is senior management that committed and dedicated to work? Able to encourage and support team work. DIAGRAMMTIC REPRESENTATION PRODUCT SPECIFICATION MARKETING CONCEPT ENGINEERI-NG DESIGN CONCURRENT PROCESS DETAIL ENGINEERI-NG DESIGN BUILD PRODUCT ENGINEERING TEST TEST ENGINEERING MANUFACTURE PURCHASING SELL SALES The above mentioned is the diagrammatic representation of process which includes product specification, concept, details, build-up, testing, manufacturing and selling too. The processes as shown in the diagram are two way processes errors are also simultaneously checked as thus its name is concurrent process. Key features of concurrent engineering DESCRIPTION OF CE This is a systematic approach to the integrated product development which emphasizes response to customer expectations and embodies team values of cooperation, trust and sharing in such a manner that decision making proceeds with large intervals of parallel working by all life-cycle perspectives synchronized, by comparatively brief exchanges. INCLUSIONS Things are done simultaneously Process is the main focus Company is open to change Needs of customers, suppliers, quality control, marketing, sales and manufacturers are balanced and prioritized. GOALS OF CE Great competition Leads to improved profits Sales and profits from new products are raised Leads to reduction of human and capital costs Maintains or increases product quality Promotes team spirit and different departments come together SCOPE OF CE The process change is implemented within 1-2 years. Involvement of people with stakes in new products Focus is basically on process improvements. STRATERGIC BENEFITS OF CONCURRENT ENGINEERING CE is a management philosophy which is dedicated to the improvement of customer satisfaction through improved quality and reduced costs. The development time also reduces. Time to market also reduces and leads to reconciliation of conflicting requirements in product development. DIFFICULTIES IN IMPLEMENTATION Below are the difficulties which companies normally face while implementing CE:- Implementation is a major challenge. Cross functional change initiatives have high rates of failures. It involves radical cultural change in an area that is extremely complex and pressurized. If management does not support the employees or there is inadequate reward systems or say customers or supplier involvement is not good. Computer aided designs and tools are no available. If there are inadequate training and expertise. If company faces difficulty in managing or controlling technical processes. SUCCESS FACTORS IN IMPLEMENTING CE Pilot projects Change agents Team enrolment Team engagement Gaining commitment of functional managers Realignment of organizational processes and structures. PILOT PROJECTS These projects are a popular way to achieve radical changes to current working practices on small organization, where conditions are controlled and are managed by seniors or project leaders. Introduction of pilot projects was done to reduce the scale of initial changes within organization and also to evaluate potential impact. By this method high levels of implementation cost, risk and time can be reduced. There are two sub-components of pilot projects. The first one is concerned with selection of right pilot. It is easier to select the appropriate project such that it is easy to demonstrate as success. But what happens in some organizations is that senior management is under time constraints and also sometimes the next project is classified as project. There are organizations that select pilot projects that are of low risk to organization and this is mainly done to reduce overall failure. The second sub component deals with the visibility and promotion of the project within the internal organization. Mostly the organizations consider pilot project as high profile. This leads to organizations profit margins, creates newness to market and senior managements efforts in internally symbolizing the project by the usage of posters, newsletters and all these activities improves overall competitive market position. CHANGE AGENTS Change agents demonstrate the senior management understanding of the amount of time and effort required in implementation of concurrent engineering successfully. Internal change agents include engineering champions, product champions, and organized change teams of individual from different levels of the organization containing both part time and full time members. Some have hierarchical change agents. It helps to change peoples values and behaviors. TEAM ENROLMENT Concurrent engineering involves the process of bringing together knowledge and expertise from different areas in early phases of product development process. Team development leads to improvement of informal communication and functional integration. The team members and leaders selection is done in informal and unstructured manner. This involves two important processes; team engagement is the very first process includes how team members and leaders are selected and how they are located to work as a team unit. The second process is of empowering the team to carry out its product development activities successfully. The two main elements are assignment of new roles and responsibilities for team members and leaders. TEAM ENGAGEMENT Tenure of Team Leader and Team Member Functional skills and expertise are not required at a consistent level throughout the project and in most organizations the combination of full-time and part time team members. Collocation The permanent collocation of core team members from different functional departments and the team leaders and dispersion of the extended team members was the most prevalent method of improving multi-disciplinary interaction. TEAM EMPOWERMENT Team empowerment incorporates clarifying team leaders and roles of team members and their responsibilities. Sometimes team leaders roles and responsibilities are generated through forma methods. The main purpose is to clarify the team members and leaders their roles and responsibilities within team working environment. In some of the organizations this is done basically to keep the employees focused and thus help them achieve there objective. This proves to be quite beneficial in the two early product development stages that are product specification and project plan. GAINING COMMITMENT OF FUNCTIONAL MANAGERS In organizations senior management and internal change agents tended to use functional managers to gain information. In some of the cases educators and informants of concurrent engineering are assigned home functions. REALIGNMENT OF ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES AND STRUCTURES The changes are implemented in following areas:- Introduction to process improvement teams Education and training for teams Reward and recognition system Methods to transfer team knowledge EXTRA ROLES OF CONCURRENT ENGINEERING Over the last few years, there are many government sponsored and intiated studies have highlighted the need for the improvement of efficiency and competitiveness of the UK construction industry. This is done because it leads to reduce costs, project durations, improved quality, project procurement practices that are used in UK construction industry. It brings together multi disciplinary teams in which project developers from different areas work together and parallel. These cross functional contains systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, systems producibility. This process incorporates everything also the purchasing, marketing, production, quality assurance, the field and other functional groups. The implementation of CE involves three main areas which are people, process and technology. It includes major organizational changes because it requires the integration of people, business methods and technology. It has greater role in concurrent engineering in Weapon System Acquisition. There is greater role of concurrent engineering in human resource management. It is useful as a collaborative method for educational projects in engineering education. Role in education project is that it helps in setting up clear goal and define project boundaries for students and teachers, it helps define good structures for information handling, especially for supervisors and introduce a client role that continuously could define project requirements. There is greater role of concurrent engineering in the purchasing power. Companies that have implemented concurrent engineering report that they are producing higher quality products at lower costs and in less time than they were able to previously. It involves self management and leadership. CE plays an important role in product modeling. It also plays a vital role in system engineering management. EXAMPLES OF CONCURRENT ENGINEERING General electric aircraft engines divisions uses concurrent engineering for the development of engine. The teams achieved greater percentage reductions in design and procurement cycle times during full scale component tests. Second example is that of Boeings Ballistic Systems Division where concurrent engineering was used in 1988 to develop a mobile launcher and was able to reduce design by 40% and cost by 10% in building proto-type. Third example can be of Polaroids Corps Captiva instant camera which is again the result of concurrent engineering. ADVANTAGES Concurrent engineering practitioners claim that this design management system offers several benefits. Concurrent Engineering leads to: Improved customer satisfaction Improved quality Reduced cost Reduced new product development time Reduced time to market DISADVANTAGES There are some drawbacks associated with the initial implementation of concurrent engineering, including the need for considerable organizational restructuring and extensive retraining of workers. Such potentially disruptive changes and added work requirements may be met with resistance from managers and other employees. Also, there are usually considerable difficulties in transferring data among employees in different departments, which may require the additional tracking software applications. In addition to these significant up-front investments, organizations pursuing a concurrent engineering work model must typically wait several years before seeing the benefits of this transition.

Looking At John Okadas No No Boy English Literature Essay

Looking At John Okadas No No Boy English Literature Essay Right from the beginning of John Okadas No No Boy there is the juxtaposition of the Japanese-Americans returning from internment camps at the end of World War II and the Japanese-Americans that pledged themselves to the U.S. Military returning from service overseas. Ichiro Yamada, the protagonist, is facing a personal dilemma of national identity. He blames his stubborn Japanese heritage for him getting locked up, and the Americans were the ones that did the locking. His parents speak only Japanese in defiance to American influence. Despite being born and raised in America, Ichiro claims to be a Japanese nationalist and is consequentially imprisoned. His mother claims that the entire family is wholly Japanese, although Ichiro has never been to Japan. This generational conflict thats common in immigrant families is the spur for Ichiros identity crisis throughout the novel. The one exception to the hostility of the generational split lies in Ichiros friendship with Kenji. Kenji is a decorated war hero that was rewarded for his military efforts with material possessions from the federal government. He doesnt condemn Ichiro for his decision. He instead provides Ichiro a valuable glimpse at the extravagant reward of assimilation, but the image is tainted with the gangrenous injury he sustained in the service. Kenjis character is polarized by that of Freddie. He is an old friend of Ichiros and a fellow No No Boy that is determined to run from his problems with society and his family instead of dealing with them rationally like an adult. Okada associates everything maternal in the story with Japanese loyalty. Ichiro blames his Japanese nationalist mother as the reason that he became a No No Boy in the first place. She is a nationalistic elitist in every sense of the word. She refuses to learn English during the thirty years that she lives in Seattle and doesnt even believe the numerous reports that mighty Japan has lost the war to the Americans. To her, assimilation equals death. By contrast, Ichiros example of successful integration, Kenji, has a superb family life without a mother. When Mrs. Yamada finally comes to terms with Japans loss in the war, she drowns herself in the bathtub. The rest of the family is relieved from the alleviated expectations. Ichiro identifies his mother early on as the solitary force preventing him from reproachfully integrating into popular American culture, but her death provides a passing of the torch in Japanese nationalism and he soon finds out that his problems are of his own making . When Ichiro comes back to Seattle, things are not what he expects. Since he was so abruptly rounded up and shipped off to an internment camp, to proveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that they werent American enough to be trusted, he anticipates discrimination among mainstream culture, but he is met with what is developing into the most accepting era in American history (p. 153). The civil rights movement is just around the corner. The hostility that he expects from white Americans doesnt happen. The only bullying he meets is at the hands of other Japanese-Americans. Every powerful white man that Ichiro runs into receives a good impression from him. His old Professor Brown urges him to come back to the university. Mr. Carrick offers him a job on the spot at an engineering office in Portland. Both of them are very sympathetic for what he has endured and disagree with the injustice of the whole affair, yet Ichiro rejects all them. He could assimilate if he wanted to, but he doesnt because he is convinced that since he once rejected the United States that he is forever intolerable to it. He could have been an engineer in Oregon and ascend the social ranks. No longer would he have been a lower-class immigrant, but a shining member of the middle class. Instead, he chooses to maintain his social immobility and cultural isolation. This was a common feeling during this time, as Kenji puts it: They bitched and hollered when the government put them in camps and put real fences around them, but now theyre doing the same damn thing to themselves. (p. 164) Post-war Japanese-Americans are forcing segregation upon themselves. Most Americans, at least in this novel, prove entirely compliant in moving forwards from the past from which they came. They are willing to bring cultural diversity into their schools and workplaces, but the Japanese-Americans seem insistent on continuing their oppression. Early in the novel, Ichiro cites the guilt of his disloyalty to the United States as a reason for not accepting any of these offers. He hasnt fought for the country and doesnt feel like hes earned such lavish opportunities, so he leaves them for truly Americanized people to capitalize on. This reverence exhibited by Ichiro for American culture and those that it approves counteracts his attempts to remain loyal to his Japanese ancestry. He externalizes his need to be devoted to Japan onto his mother, but it doesnt end when she dies. He realizes that her strict codes of Japanese loyalty were not the only thing keeping him from assimilating. Ichiro turns down another promising job offer at the Christian Reclamation Center where the owner had already hired another No No Boy. It is no coincidence that Mrs. Yamadas suicide is juxtaposed with Kenjis death. The chapter in which both events are contained is the turning point in the novel. Mrs. Yamada dies because of her refusal to integrate into American society and Kenji dies from gangrene in an injury he suffered during his attempts to integrate into American society. The two extreme examples of national identity can no longer survive. Kenji tells Ichiro on his death bed that ethnic differences should be transcended to blur the lines of racial distinction, and therefore prove categorization difficult. Ichiro seems to take Kenjis advice to heart when he plans on becoming a true American with a house and a wife and kids, only to put himself on trial moments later for his treasonous intentions. He has also inherited the voice of his mother in his brain in addition to Kenjis a rampant incompatibility. These opposing viewpoints eventually begin to balance each other out, and Ichiro realizes that he is neither J apanese nor American. Ichiro began the novel concerned with improving his public image, and he gradually changes his concern to self-respect. The problem with his initial mindset is that self-esteem is determined by the will of the state. Nations create their own hegemonic value systems in this way to establish cultural standards. The notion of free choice is illusory. It is misery to continually cater to the evaluations of anonymous strangers. To project the lives of others onto oneself is to completely hide ones own personality. Ichiro is ashamed of his disloyalty to America. He acts as if every white American thinks that he is a traitor for not demonstrating himself to the country, but his fixation is evidence that he cares more on the matter than any white character in the story. With the deaths of his mother and Kenji, Ichiro becomes startlingly aware of the importance of his self-respect, since he no longer has his mother to blame his problems on or Kenji to live out his Americanized daydreams. Ichi ro begins to resist integration because, to him, it would mean forfeiting his identity in lieu of conformity. He concerns himself only with his own opinions and thinks independently of the cultural groups which surround him, as Kenji suggested he do. The symbolism of Ichiros altered ideals is apparent when comparing the start and end scenes of the novel. It starts with Ichiro walking out into the downtown Plaza as he contemplates his own path of nationalism, and ends with Ichiro ducking down a dark narrow alley. That path less travelled is precisely the path that Ichiro has chosen to take in his life. He chose not to blaze the beaten paths of American ideals or Japanese elitism that everyone seemed to be treading on, but rather a small hidden passageway tucked in between the two avenues. Throughout the novel, Emi remains an image of normalized American domesticity, and yet another failed opportunity at Americanization for Ichiro. Much like his wasted job offers, Ichiro thinks that he doesnt deserve Emi because her husband is in the military. When she devotes herself to him, they go out dancing and Ichiro fancies the thought of being with a woman that other men want. His fixation on the men that find her attractive rather than the attractive girl herself gives the scene masculine undertones. Emi alone is not enough to sway Ichiro to commit himself to her, but the sheer interest of other men provokes Ichiro think that he has a real catch on his hands. This is a prime example of Ichiro succumbing to the opinions of the general public in America instead of listening to his own self-respect and his own opinions.

History of the Independance Movement :: Essays Papers

History of the Independance Movement One of the most important forces that governed the course of Cuba’s colonial history was the concept of racism. From the moment that Christopher Columbus ignored the presence of indigenous peoples, and claimed the island for Spain on his first voyage in 1492, to the day Carlos Manuel de Cà ©spedes began the first revolution to independence, there was a strong tradition of separation and objectification (Franklin 1,4). Diego Velà ¡zquez was appointed governor of Cuba in 1511 (Franklin, 1). He founded the first European settlement, Nuestra Senora de la Asuncià ³n de Baracoa, on the Northeastern coast of the island. The European settlement of the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncià ³n was established in the middle of a pre-existing indigenous settlement, from which it got the name Baracoa (La Rosa Corzo, 35). Similar situations occurred in many of the other original settlements, such as the town of San Salvador de Bayamo. Christian prefixes were added to the indigenous names of towns. Europeans settled the center of these villages and natives were moved to the outskirts (La Rosa Corzo). During the fist one hundred years of colonization, the Native American population was greatly reduced, and gradually replaced by African workers (36). However, the pattern of settlement remained a constant. In a 1605 census two per cent of the total population was considered Indian, and thirty-six percent were African slaves. Most of these Indians lived outside of major cities under the jurisdiction of their own tribal leaders (36). As the French, Dutch and British began their exploration of the Caribbean, Spain was encouraged expedite its settlement of its existing colonies. Rapid settlement, coupled with Charles III’s 1789 policy of free trade in African slavery, led to the development of plantations, and a slave society (Howard, 2). By the beginning of the nineteenth century the stage was set for Cuba to become the biggest sugar producer in the world. The previous leading producer, San Domingue had almost lost its hold on the sugar trade altogether, due to the revolution. The United States was newly independent form European rules and looking for new trade partners; there was an opening in the market.

Child Abuse and Neglect :: Violence Against Children

The day began like any other day. It started with the hustle and bustle of the children rushing into the classroom, tearing off their winter gear and throwing it into the coat room. I noticed, however, one of the smaller boys named Tommy wasn't wearing a winter coat or hat. I thought that maybe his parents hadn't realized how cold it was out that morning. So I tried to push the idea out of my head so I could start the day, after all the Pledge of Allegiance had already begun. Later on at recess, I had told the children to get dressed to go outside. I held Tommy inside for a minute so that I could give him one of the coats that had been donated to the classroom. When I had reached to help him put the coat on I realized he became uneasy. I continued to help him, however, and I was shocked at what I had saw. It was cigarette burns on his neck. I suddenly realized I was witness to a serious case of child abuse! â€Å"According to the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, more than three million cases of child maltreatment were reported in 1995. In that same year at least 1,215 children died because of child abuse and neglect.† ( Child Abuse and Neglect ). There are several types of child abuse. The primary types are physical, sexual, emotional abuse, and neglect. Physical abuse is the most visible form of child abuse. Physical abuse can be defined as â€Å"non accidental trauma or physical injury resulting from punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, or otherwise harming a child† (American Humane ). If the child is being physically abused then you may notice bruises, swollen areas, or marks on a child’s face. In severe cases you may notice â€Å"human bite marks, cigarette burns, broken bones, puncture marks, or missing hair† ( American Humane). If you can not actually see physical abuse then you may notice something is wrong when a child begins to act up behaviorally. Some behavioral indicators include â€Å"withdrawn or aggressive behavioral extremes, complaints of soreness or uncomfortable movement, wearing clothing that is inappropriate for the weather, discomfort with physical contact, or becoming a chronic runaway†(American Humane). I think these indicators or physical abuse are very important for teachers, so they are aware of children who are being abused.

Comparing the Presantation of Conflict in the Charge

Compare the presentation of conflict in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Tennyson and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen. Alfred Lord Tennyson and Wilfred Owen are both poets who write about the conflict of war and its victims. ‘The Charge of the light brigade’ written by Lord Alfred Tennyson, it is based on a disastrous and real event that unfolded in the frimean war. The poem was written as a memorial for the numerous soldiers that died in the war. However the ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ is a sonnet written by Wilfred Owen.He writes about his feelings for the young men that he fought with on the front line in the Somme. Firstly, in both poems we are presented with imagery revealing the reality of the wartime battlefield this is called aural imagery. In ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ the words â€Å"into the valley of death† are used, this is a metaphor suggesting that the Light Brigade charge d themselves to their death, this shows the fierceness of battle and how people many people will died.The words â€Å"charge for the guns† proposes of the certain death that the soldiers will meet and how suicidal this charge is, it also suggests the madness of the war. Tennyson says â€Å"cannon to right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them† this shows the confusion through the soldiers and the fierce fighting that is happening in this war. Whereas, in Owens poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ the more graphic and hurried side of war is shown.Owen uses the words â€Å"for these who die as cattle† suggests the soldiers are abandoned in their own death and there is no way out, it could also suggest that they are sent to be slaughtered just like ‘cattle’ this proposes the tragedy and casualties of war. The words â€Å"monstrous anger of the guns† implies that the soldiers are scared of the guns and by likening th e guns to monsters; this is showing the soldiers are young as it is typically children who are scared of monsters.Owen also uses the words â€Å"hasty orisons† this shows how the dead are not cared for and given an inappropriate burial, and it also shows the speed and rushed tone of war. It could also suggest the people who are praying are not only praying for the dead but also praying for their own lives. Tennyson presents the realism of war as a desperate place where heroes are born, he does not show the reality of war, which might be due to the fact he has not experienced it himself. In contrast Owen presents the reality of war well as he shows the gruesomeness and bitter sadness of war using aural imagery.In Stanza two of ‘charge of the light brigade’ Tennyson writes ‘O the wild charge they made! ’ this shows the recklessness of the charge as Tennyson states the word ‘wild’ and also the pointlessness of the charge, Tennyson uses the word ‘made’ this shows it was in the past and we remember the past like we remember the dead soldiers. Owen uses the phrase ‘No mockeries now for them, no prayers nor bells’ this illustrates how critical Owen is of religious ritual. The phrase ‘passing bells’ could also suggest that the soldiers never got a proper burial.In Tennyson’s poem he exclaims ‘honour the charge they made, Honour the light brigade’ this indicates that Tennyson is ordering us to remember them for what they did for their country as they are already dead but on the other hand, in Owens sonnet he says ‘And each slow dusk a drawing down of the blinds’ this points out that every night as the sun goes down the soldiers family waiting patiently for them to come back, ‘slow dusk going down’ could represent their patience and hope lowering. Thirdly, in both poems there is use of aural imagery or onomatopoeia.We see this in Owenâ€℠¢s sonnet as he writes ‘rifles rapid rattles’ this is also a metaphor; he says this to create an atmosphere and give us a feel of what it’s like on the battlefield, later in the sonnet he also states ‘the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells’ this makes the atmosphere horrifying as we assume that screams are caused by pain or fear but in this case they have already got pain before the bullet has even got to them, this is because they have been traumatised by the intensity of battle.In Tennyson’s poem he uses the phrase ‘Volley’d and thunder’d’ this is used to show how the bullets where sent back and forth with some cannons in between representing the thunder I could also represent the one smaller army being bullets and the more powerful army being the loud prevailing army, ‘thunder’d is a use of apocalyptic imagery which is a way to describe the disaster of war as we associate thunder with danger an d authority.As well as the above Tennyson also uses the phrase ‘storm’d at with shot and shell’ this shows the confusion of war and the low visibility it relates back to the above quote as thunder comes in storms which could mean that the cannon shots come in packs, the word â€Å"shot† and â€Å"shell† are a violent, noisy, destructive force that that could be thought about in a storm. In both poems both poets use rhetorical questions in their poems, Tennyson says ‘Was there a man dismayed? this gives us an insight into the heads of these soldiers, trying to imagine how it must feel to charge into death head on. Tennyson asks if any of the soldiers were ‘dismayed’ which means to lose your courage or to be overcome by terror. The soldiers were going through hell on the battlefield and it would be a pretty normal reaction for the circumstances that they were in. On the other hand in Owens sonnet his asks about remembrance as he sta tes ‘What candles may be held to speed them all? this could mean a more general question like ‘what rituals can people possible perform to help these soldiers pass on peacefully? ’ these could be Rituals like lighting candles in church. This means we could than say that ‘these candles’ is a metaphor for the larger ceremonies we hold when to honouring those killed in action. As well as Owens question about remembrance and honouring Tennyson last question is also, as he proposes the question ‘When can their glory fade? he is trying to say ‘when wont they be known as legends’ as they have fought for their country when they were outnumbered one to a hundred but they did not oblige, they risked certain death for all for one cause. In conclusion, both poets have written their poems to convey the tragedy of war and to emphasise the importance of remembrance. I feel also wrote their poems to honour those who risked their lives and most had their lives taken for their country and queen. This makes the audience reflect on war as the poets have created a mental picture of the horrific scenes of war.

Physical and Chemical Properties Essay

Purpose: The Physical and Chemical Properties lab provides the opportunity to investigate the physical and chemical properties of pure chemical substances and analyze the experiment results. Procedure: In the beginning of the experiment, I filled two 24-well plates half way with the given chemicals and sucked up these chemicals into their labeled pipets for later use. Following this, I performed a number of steps on each of the four test tubes and recorded observations of the different substances including odor, color, reaction to heat, the effects on the red and blue litmus paper and HCI reactions. Observations: As most of the observations are noted on the table above, it is a fair assumption that all of these substances went through some sort of change whether it was a chemical or physical change except for Zinc. This may be because I had dropped my Zinc sample and had a tough time retrieving the contents but never the less; it had very little to no reaction to the tests. Also, regarding the boiling point and melting point of different substances; some had no reaction at all. Questions: Did you observer any chemical changes in this experiment? Yes, Litmus paper is an example of chemical solely and was effected by all the substances except for Zn. What evidence did you use to decide that something was a chemical change? Chemical compounds of the litmus paper reacted with the chemical compounds of the substance tested to create a new compound resulting in a change of color of the litmus paper. No evidence was visibly seen when MgO Mg(OH)2. Give at least two examples of chemical changes you observed. One example was the reaction on the litmus paper and the second example was Magnesium oxide’s change into Magnesium hydroxide when introduced to water. Classify the following properties of sodium metal as physical or chemical †¢ Silver metallic color: Physical †¢ Turns gray in air: Physical †¢ Melts at 98oC: Physical †¢ Reacts explosively with chlorine gas: Chemical Classify the following changes as physical or chemical †¢ Water freezes at 0oC: Physical †¢ Baking soda when combined with vinegar produces bubbles: Chemical †¢ Mothballs gradually disappear at room temperature: Physical †¢ Ice cubes in a freezer get smaller with time: Physical †¢ Baking soda loses mass as it is heated: Physical †¢ Tarnishing of silver: Chemical F. How would you show that dissolving table salt is a physical change? By boiling the water and using a distillation process to extract the pure salt. Once all water is retracted, you can see that the salt never went through a chemical change. Conclusions: By conducting this lab, it can be seen that physical and chemical changes are an everyday occurrence among many different substances. Using prepared lab techniques, we can make qualitative observations on the appearance, smell, and reactions of different substances. The Physical and Chemical Properties lab provides the opportunity to investigate the physical and chemical properties of pure chemical substances and analyze the experiment results within the guiding principles and techniques. By doing so, the following can be learned though the experiment: Chemical properties describe the tendencies of a substance to undergo chemical change and physical properties commonly used to characterize pure substances are color, odor, hardness, density, melting point, boiling point, and solubility in various solvents.

Parents Should Use Physical Force to Discipline Children Essay

Introduction                     Discipline is a set instructions laid down for correction and training. It can be in form of punishment, physical activity, exercise or training aimed at changing and/or improving the behavior of the person being corrected. Discipline has always been seen as forceful correction, thus bringing negativity in its perception (Foucault, 1977). Generally, for any parent, a child should grow in a manner that pleases the parent and the community. The use of force has always been associated with the phrase â€Å"to discipline†. Physical force when used by a parent in disciplining a child, may leave a mark on the body of the child that will always serve as a reminder to the child whenever the child goes wrong. But it’s the way to child abuse. Schwan (2011) states the mark will serve as reminder thus bring self-control in any child whom is a victim, thus the willpower that will drive the child what is right. With self-control, comes motivation that is the steering to propel a victim. Physically inflicting pain brings training and control. Training is a routine as well as control therefore calling the parent to come out strongly and be ready to bring back the child to the desired direction any time the child goes wrong. Force can be quick and effective because not all children react to other forms that parent use to discipline them, this is true for children with hearing impairment as a disability, under this situation parents are left with no option but to use force to make the child grow in accordance to the ways that pleases not only the parents but the society to which the child belong. References Shaver, P. R., & Mikulincer, M. (2011).  Human aggression and violence: Causes, manifestations, and consequences. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Fairchild, J. H. (1892).  Moral science: Or, The philosophy of obligation. New York: Sheldon & Co. Crosser, S. (2005).  What do we know about early childhood education?: Research based practice. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning. Films on Demand., & Films Media Group. (2010).  Breaking the Cycle of Abuse. Lawrenceville, NJ: Films Media Group. Source document

Description Paper on Gustav Klimt

DESCRIPTION PAPER: ART INTO TEXT The purpose of this short paper is to hone your abilities in using words to describe and understand the physical qualities of a work of art. By writing about art, you will take on the responsibility of examining it closely, organizing your perceptions and thoughts about it, and conveying in text an organized and clear summary of your visual analysis. First, choose a work to examine. There is no limit to which work you may choose, except that it must date from within our time period (the year 1400 of the common era to the present).If you have concerns about your choice, consult the professor. Please do not choose a work that has been discussed extensively in class or in the textbook. You may choose a work that you can see first-hand in Hong Kong (at for instance the Hong Kong Museum of Art or the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, or a work of public sculpture). If you opt to do this, please identify where the object resides in your paper. If you desire to cho ose a work from the West or other places not immediately accessible, please find and utilize many reproductions of it, from as many different angles as possible, and with different levels of detail.Please attach relevant images to the end of your paper (do not include them in the text). After choosing the work, you will then spend considerable time examining it (no less than 30 minutes is recommended). Then, take notes on what you see. Describe the media, principles of design and visual elements that you find in the work. Think about how line, volume, scale, balance, and/or visual rhythm are used in the work, if appropriate. Pay attention to as much of the surface of the work as you can see.Do physical features of the work suggest the purpose of its creation, the meaning it is trying to communicate, or its use or original physical context? What can you infer about the culture that made this object from its physical features? Finally, compose a 2 to 4 page (double spaced, with regula r fonts and margins) essay summarizing your findings. The bulk of the paper should be a well-organized description and formal analysis. You should organize this part of the paper logically, i. e. there should be an order to your description and analysis.Then, taking the features and relationships in the work that you find most compelling and important, assess its cultural meaning and/or significance based upon your observations. This should be your conclusion. Do not conduct research for this assignment. The focus here should be on honing your observational skills. You will be graded on clarity of writing and word choice (25%), organization (25%), thoroughness of observation (25%), and the plausibility of your conclusions based on evidence at hand (25%). Paper due in class on Monday, September 24, 2012. Penalties for not following instructions:Does not meet the page minimum: dropped a letter grade. Fonts and/or margins are oversized in order to meet page minimum: dropped five points . Illustrations are within the text rather than appended to the end: dropped a letter grade. Work chosen has been discussed in book or class extensively: dropped a letter grade. Research has been conducted: dropped two letter grades. Plagiary: automatic zero. Reuse of previously submitted material: automatic zero. Work is not within specified time period: dropped five points. Excessive redundancy/use of â€Å"filler†: points subtracted from thoroughness score.Farris’s rules of good formal nonfiction writing: Avoid use of first and second person pronouns (I, you, we, us). Avoid passive voice. Avoid redundancies, both in word use and content. Be sure of the meaning of a word before making use of it. Simplify phrasing in order to be direct about what you want to convey. Organize your thoughts before starting to write. When not writing dialogue, paragraphs must be at least three sentences long. Sentences in a paragraph should address a single subject. Avoid starting a sent ence with a conjunction. Avoid contractions. Omit unnecessary words. Assess evidence, not subjective reaction.

Multiculturalism And School Music Education Education Essay

Before get downing to discourse about Macaus music instruction, the general history background should be introduced ab initio. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong, which is to the E, surrounding Guangdong state to the North and confronting the South China Sea to the E and South. The entire country of Macau is about 29.5 kilometers and the population is about 544,000. ( Macau Yearbook 2007, 475 ) The history of Macau can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty ( 221-206 BC ) , Macau was under the legal power of Panyu county at the clip. Between the old ages 1368 and 1644, under the Ming Dynasty, fishermen moved to Macau from Guangdong and Fujian states. Therefore, Macau was a normal fishing small town before the reaching of Portuguese. Macau was a former Portuguese settlement, and was both the first and last European settlement in China every bit good. Since the Portuguese arrived in the sixteenth Century, Macau started to be developed as a major colony. In 1535, Lusitanian bargainers obtained the rights to ground ships in Macau ‘s seaports and to transport out trading activities, though non the right to remain onshore. ( Fung, 1999 ) In 1887, Macau became a settlement of the Portuguese imperium and its sovereignty transferred to the Portuguese. Macau became one of two particular administrative parts of the People ‘s Republic of China ( the other being Hong Kong ) in 1999. Under the policy of â€Å" one state, two systems † , the Chinese authorities is responsible for the district ‘s defence and foreign personal businesss, while Macau maintains its ain legal system, constabulary force, pecuniary system, imposts policy, and in-migration policy.The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high grade of liberty until at least 2049, fifty old ages after the handover. Macau participates in many international organisations and events that do non necessitate members to possess national sovereignty. Macau ‘s economic system is dependent mostly on touristry and chancing which make up about 50 % of the economic system. In peculiar, chancing in Macau was legalized by the Lusitanian authorities from the 1850s, and Macau has been known as the â€Å" Monte Carlo of the Orient † since so. It is worthwhile to see that most of the visitants come from Mainland China and Hong Kong. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Macau ‘s economic system to a great extent depends on Mainland China and Hong Kong. The population of Macau is consist of 95 % Chinese, includeing Cantonese and Hakka. The staying 5 % aliens which includes Portuguese, Nipponese and Philippine members. ( Result of 2011 population nose count. 11 ) Therefore, assorted cultural groups and sole history background form Macau as a multicultural society, and such phenomenon exists in anyplace. The first case is the multiple linguistic communications. The official linguistic communications are Lusitanian and Cantonese Chinese, and there are 40 % and 1.5 % of the population in Macau are able to pass on through Mandarin and English, severally. In add-on, Hokkien and the Creole Macanese linguistic communication besides exist. Furthermore, the 2nd illustration may be the festivals. Not merely should the Lunar Chinese New Year be one of the most important festivals in Macau, but besides the Christmas may be celebrated, every bit good.2. Macau ‘s instruction in colonial period.In the sixteenth century, the authorities clung to the instruction system of Portugal and about all the educational events were supervised by the Catholic missionaries in Macau. In 1572, the Jesuit priests established a school in Macau, taking to learn kids and the grownups who were willing to be a Christian missionary ( Li & A ; Choi, 2000 ) . Furthermore, in 1594, the first Western university was founded in Macau by the Jesuits, which claims the rubric of the first Western university in the Far East ( Li, 2001 ) . Such state of affairs besides happened in other settlements at the same clip. In 1599, the Jesuits transformed their school originally founded for the Indians into colleges for direction in broad humanistic disciplines ( Havighurst & A ; Moreira, 1965 ) . From the 16th to 19th century, except a bantam figure of kids from rich households who could engage private instructors, a immense sum of childs were taught merely by sermonizers. For illustration, a primary degree school named the St. Rose of Lima School was established in 1692, which targeted to learn basic reading, composing, Portuguese, Latin, French and English to kids who come from destitute households. ( Silva, 1998 ) To sum up, there were really few measures of primary schools existed at that clip. In the mid of 19th century, the authorities paid more attending to Macau ‘s instruction in order to consolidate the Lusitanian position in Macau. Li & A ; Choi ( 2000 ) point out that the Macau colonial authorities established the first Portuguese primary school in 1847 and managed by diocesan priests. The first Lusitanian Government secondary school was founded in the 1893 and managed by the authorities. In the twentieth century, with the dining development of Macau ‘s instruction, a series of jobs were besides exposed. The political legislative acts of Macau was alone due to the about 50 decennaries ‘ settlement by Portuguese. Such alone statues has sometimes been considered as a consequence of the contradiction between Chinese and Lusitanian authoritiess, and was besides be influenced by the sole mode in which Portuguese sovereignty had been carried out locally. Franco Nogueira, who was the Portuguese Foreign Minister, concluded the state of affairs in 1966 as follows: â€Å" aˆÂ ¦ We have ne'er been genuinely autonomous over Macau ; we have ever outlasted out of China ‘s good favour, and authorization has ever been shared with them. † ( Nogueira, 1966 ) , viz. there was restriction of Lusitanian sovereignty over Macau. Rosa ( 1990 ) besides points out that such state of affairs besides happened in local instruction system in the 1980s. The authorities ‘s policy could non follow the gait of the instruction development in Macau. Even more, there were really few pupils: merely 5 per centum of Macau ‘s pupil population, survey in the public schools. In institutional footings, on the one manus, the huge bulk instruction sectors were private Chinese watercourse schools and which held about 85 % . On the other manus, there were merely 15 % schools in Macau were government-run. In other words, the instruction in Macau had different systems, and both of the private and authorities schools were â€Å" fighting to run into the Territory ‘s demands – but hardly wining in making so. † ( Rosa, 1990 ) Due to the deficiency of proper organisation and support, the system of Macau ‘s instruction was extremely based on related states and countries, such as Hong Kong, the People ‘s Republic of China, the United Kingdom and Portugal. Such dependance can be seen from the course of study and the contents. However, the imitation and dependance may non run into the demand of Macau itself. The ground might be that the Macau ‘s alone history and civilization background may non be wholly same as other states or countries. Rosa ( 1990 ) believes that there were several defects in the country of human and physical resources. First of wholly, the absence of the available instruction material might be a serious job in Macau. For case, the teacher/student ratio was highly high at the pre-primary degree of private Chinese watercourse[ 1 ]school in 1988 ( 1/45 ) . Second, academic making of the teaching staff was unsatisfactory. There were merely 54 % of the instructors had accepted learning preparation or keep instruction grade ; on the contrary, 34 % of the instructors might merely complete secondary school. In footings of the physical resource, the private schools ever suffered from overcrowding in schoolroom and deficit of learning equipment. However, there had been some advantages in Macau ‘s instruction. Harmonizing to the research from Rosa, the age of most of the learning material in Macau was under 50 ( which was about 84 % ) ; moreover, 62 % of instructors were between 20 to 39. Obviously, th e immature instructor might be really helpful to get the better of the quandary at that clip. In add-on, in the 1980s, the private schools, which occupied a immense sum of the schools in the Territory, deficiency of proper intercession and support from the authorities, taking to a batch of Macau ‘s households being unable to pay fees for school and the increased rate of dropout. Hence, the authorities approved the Law No. 11/77/M on October 22 1977 and so some fiscal aids was set out based on it. The donees of such aid included the privately-owned school, their teaching staff and the pupils. First of wholly, the fiscal aid helped the instruction establishments to regenerate equipment and renovate plants. Second, instructors received authorities excess subvention in order to promote them through the Government Order No. 199/85 in 1985. Third and the most significantly, tonss of the pupils, even non all of them, received subsidies from the authorities, which non merely lightened the household finances load, but besides reduced the dropout rate which was highly high. Howev er, the fiscal aid might non enough to run into the demand of the development of Macau ‘s instruction. For illustration, the pupils ‘ allowance merely occupied about 40 % of mean schooling fees, viz. Macau did non hold free general instruction at that clip and might non accomplish the end of equity of instruction. Furthermore, harmonizing to Rosa ( 1990 ) , there was a Chinese watercourse instructors developing class sponsored by Macau Education Department since 1987. Rosa besides shows that in the academic twelvemonth 1988/89, there were 106 local instructors who took portion in the instructors developing class. To sum up, there were several issues exist in footings of Macau ‘s instruction during the colonial period. Initially, deficiency of organisation and systematized construction resulted in heavy dependance on other counties ‘ systems. However, it was happenstance with the cultural and societal world of Macau in a little grade. The 2nd job might be the restriction and deficiency of resource, including in human, infinite and fiscal facets. On the one manus, the deficit of eligible teaching staff and equal infinite may take hapless quality of instruction ; on the other manus, deficiency of instruction financess would be the ground of the high rate of bead off, and doubtless, such a high schooling fees no uncertainty increase the fiscal load of many hapless households. About all the jobs in Macau ‘s instruction could be partially attributed to the softness of local authorities supervising and direction. Even more, there were no exact official counsel and ordinance in footings of instruction country. Therefore, the authorities since handover has already changed their attitude to such facet and improved relevant policies and systems. For case, the most of import and necessary action is to implement and vouch free schooling, particularly in the first six old ages of primary school. And so, the mainframe Law on Macau ‘s Education System has been approved desperately in order to suit the Macau ‘s world of the development of society and civilization.3. Macau ‘s instruction since handover3.1 General instruction in Macau Macau enjoy a high grade of liberty harmonizing to the â€Å" one state, two systems † policy since handover on 20 December 1999. In footings of instruction, as prescribed by the Basic Law of Macau Chapter VI Article 121, the Government of Macau â€Å" shall, on its ain, formulate policies on instruction, including policies sing the educational system and its disposal, the linguistic communication of direction, the allotment of financess, the scrutiny system, the acknowledgment of educational makings and the system of academic awards so as to advance educational development † and â€Å" bit by bit establish a compulsory instruction system † ( Basic Law of Macau ) . And it besides provided that Macau ‘s general instruction is charged by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau ( the DSEJ ) . In institutional footings, the construction of Macau ‘s instruction sector rests chiefly on private-owned establishments. As Table 1 ( DSEJ, 2012 ) shows that approximately 85 % of local schools are private. Alternatively, merely 15 % schools are government-run. Even though the rates in 2011/2012 academic twelvemonth are really near to which in colonial period, this state of affairs has changed. From the academic twelvemonth 2007/2008, a 15-years free instruction is offered to the pupils who have been enrolled in the schools that are belonging to the free instruction school system, viz. it is free of charge from kindergarten to secondary in all public schools and great bulk of private schools. Meanwhile, pupils of non-free school would afford allowance from the SAR authorities every twelvemonth. For illustration, pupils of non-free kindergarten and primary received 10,000 MOP ( Macanese pataca, about 800 British Pounds ) , and the pupils from these secondary schools acquired 12 ,000 MOP in the academic twelvemonth 2009/2010. Table 1. Number of General School in Macau 2011/2012 ( DESJ, 2012 ) Free instruction school system* Public schools 2—3 5——1 11 Private Schools 1 2 2 15 4 26 3 53 Private schools of non-free instruction school system 3———3 5—11 Entire 6 2 5 20 7 31 4 75 Auxiliary reading: – There are wholly 35 schools supplying inclusive instruction. Among which, there are 8 public schools, 22 private schools of the free instruction school system and 5 private schools of the non-free instruction school system. Harmonizing to the TABLE 2 we can deduce that the figure of pupils decreased continuously in these 10 old ages. The ground might be the sustained decrease of birth rate from 1989 ( statistics from DSCE, 2012 ) . But it is worthwhile to see that the figure of instructor increased endlessly, in other words, the teacher-student ratio have became more sensible than in the colonial period times which was 45 pupils per instructor. And the ratio, which was about on tierce of colonial period, was 13 pupils per instructor. Table 2 Figures of General pupil Numberss in recent 10 academic old ages ( DESJ, 2012 ) 2002/2003 49,215 46,610 95,825 2,404 3,951 2003/2004 48,842 45,970 94,812 2,454 4,181 2004/2005 47,603 44,777 92,380 2,441 4,275 2005/2006 45,953 43,246 89,199 2,414 4,363 2006/2007 44,005 41,301 85,306 2,418 4,445 2007/2008 41,771 39,052 80,823 2,418 4,610 2008/2009 39,481 36,928 76,409 2,425 4,711 2009/2010 38,273 35,553 73,826 2,417 4,831 2010/2011 37,577 34,787 72,364 2,404 5,104 2011/2012 36,794 33,925 70,719 2,415 5,134 Not merely the sum of instructors is wrinkling, but besides the quality of learning material in Macau is bettering, every bit good. From the Table 3 ( DESJ, 2012 ) we can deduce that most of the learning material in Macau are possessing pedagogical preparation: more than 90 % of instructor of kindergarten possessing pedagogical preparation, and more than 80 % and 70 % of the instructors from primary and secondary schools received teacher developing class from 2008 to 2012 academic old ages. Furthermore, there are huge bulk of the instructors developing class are organized by DESJ, and other are supported by public university ( see the TABLE 4, ) , in other words, it sponsored by the authorities. In add-on, the Numberss of trainees are continuously grow these old ages. Therefore, the sufficient attending paid by the authorities is good to better the degree of instructors ‘ specialisation and learning ability. TABLE 3 Rate of instructors possessing pedagogical preparation ( for in-service instructors merely ) in recent 4 academic old ages ( DSEJ, 2012 ) Education degree Academic Year 2008/2009 Academic Year 2009/2010 Academic Year 2010/2011 Academic Year 2011/2012 Baby 95.3 % 94.6 % 92.1 % 93.2 % Primary 86.1 % 84.7 % 85.8 % 87.9 % Secondary 70.8 % 71.2 % 72.1 % 74.3 % Table 4 Figures of instructors developing ( including normal instruction ) in recent 3 academic old ages ( DESJ, 2012 ) Forming establishments Number of trainees ( by frequence ) 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 Education and Youth Affairs Bureau 17,964 23,950 32,340 University of Macau 677 754 805 Macau Polytechnic Institute 24 54 122 Colegio Diocesano de Sao 37 59 60 Entire 18,720 24,817 33,327 In footings of fiscal resource of Macau, harmonizing to the TABLE 5 we can deduce that investing from the authorities addition steadily. In 2007, the per centum of public instruction outgo to gross domestic merchandise is 2.1 % , and which was 0.2 % lower than 2008. After so, the rate arrived the extremum at 2009, which occupied about 2.6 % of the GDP. Table 5. Public instruction outgo and gross domestic merchandise ( DESJ, 2012 ) Unit of measurement: million Pataca Type Year 2007 Year 2008 Year 2009 Gross domestic merchandise 141,934 161,669 165,457 Public instruction outgo 3,028 3,704 4,372 Rate 2.1 % 2.3 % 2.6 % However, the rate of public instruction outgo to GDP of Macau was much less compared with whether western or about states. For case, harmonizing to the statistics from the World Bank ( see the TABLE 6 ) , the rates of both the United Kingdom and the United States held steady from 5.4 % to 5.6 % , and which was about twice more than Macau. On the other manus, the rates of Hong Kong and Japan, both of those are Asiatic states and shut to Macau, were besides much higher than Macau and floated between 3.0 % and 4.5 % . Therefore, the proportion of Macau ‘s instruction outgo to GDP was still at a low degree. Table 6. The per centum of public instruction outgo to gross domestic merchandise of United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong, Japan and Macau. State Year 2007 Year 2008 Year 2009 United Kingdom 5.5 % 5.4 % 5.6 % United States 5.5 % 5.5 % 5.4 % Hong Kong 3.5 % 3.3 % 4.5 % Japan 3.5 % 3.4 %—Macao 2.1 % 2.3 % 2.6 % In brave, harmonizing to the day of the months above, it can be concluded that: First, the 15-years free instruction system might be the most impressive facets of Macau ‘s instruction, which brings several benefits ; for illustration, it would helpful to accomplish the end of the instruction equality. And besides, it lightened the fiscal load on family. The most of import is that it would hold profound consequence on the development of the society. Second, the teacher-student ratio became more acceptable compared with the period times. Furthermore, due to the turning figure of free instructor train class, the overall quality of the instruction might better in some extent. Third, the authorities increased fiscal input to instruction, and the proportion of public instruction outgo to GDP raised. However, it might still lie at lower degree compared with western and some close states.3.2 General Music Education in MacauThe development of Macau ‘s music instruction may non be balanced in different facets. Social music instruction has shown it tendency of vigorous development: more and more private and extracurricular music categories organized by the authorities, the mission and civil groups appeared and â€Å" plays one of the most of import function in Macau ‘s music instruction † . ( Dai, 2004a ) On the other facet, third music instruction grew rapid since handover: foremost, in 2009, the Macau Conservatory united the affiliated in-between school of China Central Conservatory of Music to form a music secondary school ; secondly, the new class – music public presentation – is added in to the School of Art, Macau proficien t Institute, which expand the field of third music instruction. However, the development of general music instruction seems to dawdle behind compared with societal and third music instruction. Harmonizing to a study in 2003, Dai ( 2004b ) points out that Macau ‘s general music instruction is â€Å" free and self-generated, alternatively of regular and normative † , and â€Å" the instruction quality is unevenaˆÂ ¦ there are series issues and may impede the development of music instruction, which keep the degree downaˆÂ ¦ ( It may ) non presume its responsibility and duty † . Dai ( 2009a ) introduces some basic information of Macau ‘s general music instruction. Initially, in most instances, the primary and junior secondary schools offer one music lesson per hebdomad. What ‘s more, it is frequent to offer music extracurricular activities in the schools[ 2 ]. In add-on, the music instruction equipment is comparatively complete. Furthermore, an overpowering 89 proportions of the schools ain music schoolroom. In footings of learning stuffs, which are multiple and about all of them are imported from Hong Kong and Mainland China. Because there is no expressed ordinance or counsel from the local authorities, instructors should take learning stuffs by themselves. The deficient figure of instructor can be one of the most note worthy characters of Macau ‘s general music instruction and it may increase the instructors ‘ work load in some extent. It is besides worthwhile to see the instructor ‘s quality is different, some of them may non have music background or instruction degrees are lower than expect. On the other manus, although the authorities intercession in schools is restricted, it may take to a growing of music instruction via to keep a series music activity. For illustration, Macau Education and Youth Bureau ( DSEJ ) organizes interscholastic singing competition every twelvemonth, which may advance development of general music instruction via communicating of music public presentation among the schools. In add-on, the DSEJ holds series of activities to popularise art music and some music groups are invited in order to execute to the secondary school pupils. The purpose of the activity is to give a opportunity to the pupils to travel to music concert hall every twelvemonth because the organisers believe it may elicit pupils ‘ involvement of music grasp. What ‘s more, the one-year Macau Young Musicians Competition, held by Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macau S. A. R, aims to progress the musical humanistic disciplines in the district and heighten the preparation and public presentation abilities of immature local instrumentalists. For good over two decennaries, the competition has given 1000s of immature people the chance to derive cherished phase experience, and therefore has played a critical function in the betterment of the musical accomplishments of Macau ‘ young person. To sum up, the character of Macau ‘s music instruction can be concluded as: rapid development of societal music instruction and imperfect general music instruction. The latter includes 3 facets: issues on learning stuffs, authorities and instructor resource.III. Issues and Challenges in MacauTeaching stuffsDatas analysis Current state of affairs of learning stuffs can be described by two questionnaire studies in 2003 and 2009. Both of them are completed by music instruction professors of Macau Polytechnic Institute. ( Dai, 2004b & A ; Dai, 2009a )Table 7. Resource of the instruction stuffs of Macau*Beginning of learning stuffsQualityRateMacao 2 3.1 % Mainland of China 18 28.5 % Hong Kong 47 74.6 % Mission 2 3.1 % Complied by the schools themselves 23 36.5 %Entire60100 %* Multiple picks Most of schools selected learning stuffs that are imported from Hong Kong ; and so comes to the instruction stuffs that complied by the schools themselves and Mainland China, and those occupied 74.6 % , 36.5 % and 28.5 % individually ( multiple picks ) . Furthermore, merely 4 per centum schools use Macau and Mission editions. In add-on, the figure of schools whose teaching stuffs are determined by principals occupied about 15 per centums ; learning stuffs of the remainder 85 % schools are decided by their ain music instructors. Furthermore, those studies besides illustrate instructors ‘ attitudes towards learning stuffs. An overpowering 93 % of the instructors consider that the qualities of learning stuffs are tolerable but still have room for betterment, 7.4 % of them think the stuffs are disused, 3.7 % of instructors regard that pupils may non fulfill with the instruction stuffs and more than 20 % of them do non believe the instruction stuffs reflect local conditions or are suited to local demands ( multiple picks ) . Issues and challenges of instruction stuffs Harmonizing to the questionnaire study shows above we can deduce that the deficiency of incorporate and proper learning stuff could be a serious job of Macau ‘s music instruction. Fifteen ( 2008 ) indicates in her research that the current state of affairs of Macau ‘s music instruction stuffs is complicated. Assorted different editions are applied in both primary and secondary schools, including the stuffs exposed from Hong Kong and Mainland of China, complied by schools themselves, mention from songbooks and music instruments stuffs. In add-on, the unsure applications of those learning stuffs make the state of affairs more complex. At the first glimpse, it seems benefit to the instruction generation because of the variegation of learning stuffs. However, it may besides hold several disadvantages. First of wholly, there is strong subjectiveness and random in the choice of learning stuffs, it may take the inadequacy of criterion. Second, the patched quality of the instruct ion stuffs may harmful to the instruction equality. Such instruction stuffs system may because of the alone political, cultural and economical state of affairs in Macau. Before handover, the Portuguese-run colonial authorities took a mostly laisser-faire and negative attitude towards Macau ‘s civilization and instruction, and this led to miss of standardisation and considerable variegation of the educational system. ( Huang & A ; Chen, 2007 ) Furthermore, the policy of Macau ‘s learning stuff has non been stipulated by jurisprudence explicitly, whether the Proposta de Lei do Sistema Educativo district attorney RAEM ( Proposal for the Education Law Special Administrative Region ) legislated by Portuguese-run colonial authorities in 1991 or the Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo Nao SuperioriNon-Higher Education System Outline Methodi?†°legislated by Macau authorities in 2006. However, Hong Kong where has a similar colonial history as Macau implements much more positive criterions and policies imposed from British author ities. On the other manus, due to Macau ‘s economic system that concentrates on chancing and touristry and relies well Mainland of China and Hong Kong, its instruction and civilization signifier a characteristic that is regarded as dependance. Consequently, such grounds underlie several characteristics of Macau ‘s instruction stuffs – variegation, liberalisation and dependance ( Huang & A ; Chen, 2007 ) The systems of music instruction stuffs in nearby countries, like Mainland of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, are dissimilar from Macau. For illustration, from 2001, Mainland China patterns scrutiny and blessing system for learning stuffs. That is, the publishing houses should roll up music text editions observed by the New Music Curriculums Standards, and so those books need to be examined by the Examination Committee. ( MOE, 2006 ) several sorts of text editions arose after the policy of â€Å" One Principle, More Textbooks † issued by the Department of Education. Taiwan has similar learning stuffs system with Mainland China. ( Huang & A ; Chen, 2007 ) In footings of Hong Kong, Huang ( 2000 ) indicates that the Hong Kong Education Bureau issues the Recommended Textbook List to schools every twelvemonth. There are many assortments of music text editions on the list. For case, there are 7 sorts of music text editions in the junior secondary school list. ( Hong Kong, EDB ) Unlike the system of Hong Kong, Macau ‘s authorities dose non recommends any text editions to schools. And besides, there is no expressed criterion and counsel presented by the authorities of Macau, and which is different from Mainland China and Taiwan. Furthermore, there is no music learning stuff was compiled or published the local instruction section. Although some schools may roll up learning stuffs themselves, the quality and the character of localism may be weaken due to the restriction of local instructors ‘ professional degree. In summarized, the degree of Macau ‘s learning stuff system may still far behind the which in nearby countries. In brief, the deficiency of unitarity, the lack of ordinance and the jobs left over from history could be three major grounds which cause the current state of affairs of learning stuffs in Macau. And such issue has been widely concerned by local music pedagogues. For case, the Dai ‘s study ( Dai, 2009a ) shows that about all the music instructors agree that it is necessary to roll up a series of music instruction stuffs with in order to run into the local demand. And besides, a instructor suggests that local characters should be added into text edition. Such research reflects the demand from music instructors of local music instruction stuffs. To turn to the issues mentioned above, specific suggestions and recommendations will be given in Chapter IV. Teachers and instructor preparation Date Analysis The researches from Dingcheng Dai & A ; Baisheng Dai ( Dai, 2004b & A ; Dai, 2009a ) in 50 primary and secondary schools, the position quo of music instructors lists below: Table 8 Number of music instruction material Number Percentage Full-time 24 28.9 % Part-time 54 65 % Guest Teacher 5 6.1 % Entire 83 100 % The studies indicate that the entire sum of music instructor in the primary and secondary schools is 83 ( 1.66 per school ) . There are 24 full-time instructors and occupied 28.9 proportions. It is worthwhile to see that the sum to parttime music instructor which hold overpowering 65 per centum. In footings of instruction background of the instructors, merely 13 of them hold bachelor grade or above, which account for 15 % . 21 of them graduated from junior college. The remainder of the instructors may have enfranchisement of secondary school. The state of affairs of academic activities is besides contained in the research. There are 10 documents published in diaries ( 0.2 per school ) . Furthermore, 17 text editions are complied by the instructors ( 0.34 per school ) and 48 vocals are composed by them ( 0.96 per school ) , every bit good. The DSEJ ( Macau Education and Youth Affairs Bureau ) issued a Music Syllabus in 1999[ 3 ], 22 % of the instructors select the option that â€Å" I am familiar with it and will implement it purely † ; 56 % of them express their attitude that â€Å" I know it but can non implement it purely † ; and remainder of the instructors ( about 22 % ) may non be cognizant of such authorities paperss at all. 2.2 Issues and challenges of instructors and instructor preparation By the day of the months and researches shows above we can deduce that a batch of lacks exist in the Macau ‘s music instructor resource. Initially, insufficient of sum of instructor can be one of serious jobs. Dai ( 2009 ) indicates that it may increase the instructors ‘ work load, and underlines inability to farther preparation and development. A research by Beijing Normal University ( 2007 ) besides points out that it is about cosmopolitan that the learning material in Macau is suffered from long working hr and heavy work loads. In footings of music instructors, on the one manus, because a instructor may learn a batch of different classs, who may endure from endemic force per unit area to fix lessons and frequently be exhausted. For illustration, the studies show that there is a instructor should learn 8 different classs. On the other manus, due to some music instructors should learn non merely music, but besides other topics like Chinese and English, they have no suffi cient clip and attempt to go to learning preparation and farther perusal. Second, the low quality of the instructors can be a terrible job of Macau ‘s music instruction. Harmonizing to the informations above we can deduce that an overpowering 85 per centum of the instructors may non keep unmarried man grade. And more notably, most of the instructors are parttime and may non have professional music instruction or preparation of all time. For case, a instructor surveies mathematics in undergraduate and who may be both mathematics and parttime music instructor. Therefore, purely talking, the instruction background of the instructor is unwanted, every bit good. Therefore, merely a really few of the instructors ‘ professional background can run into the demand of eligible music instructor. Furthermore, the studies besides indicate that non merely the consciousness of academic research is deficient, but besides the theoretical idea of music instruction is bare. The history of third music instruction can be traced back to 16 century. Li ( 2001 ) mentioned that the Saint Paul College, which founded by Portuguese and claimed the rubric of the first Western University in the Far East, offered music class since 1594. It is too bad that the development of Macau ‘s third music instruction was dead since 1726 when the college closed. There was a space of third music instruction that was about 250 old ages until 1997 when the music class was established by the Macau Polytechnic Institute. Hence, the historical space of Macau ‘s third music instruction non merely suspended the first-class tradition, but besides had left harmful influence to its development until today. For case, more than half ( 54 % ) of Macau ‘s music instructors are received music preparation or instruction outside of Macau ( Dai, 2009a ) . At the first glimpse, it indicates variegation of endowment, but the lake of local music instructor instruction was emerged, every bit good. There are two universities in Macau that offered the class related to music instruction. The first 1 is the module of Education, University of Macau that offer music instruction as an optional class to primary and pre-primary instruction in the first or 2nd semester of year-2. However, such short-run preparation ( one semester merely ) may non fulfill the demand as a music instructor. The 2nd is Macau Polytechnic Institute that offers a 4-year professional music instruction class, which brings a great possibility for the development of third music instruction. However, some jobs still exist. Initially, little graduated table and pupil beginning limited could be a major hindrance to the development of third music instruction. Due to the little figure of registrations ( 15 – 20 per twelvemonth ) and the cost of instruction input, seldom of optional classs can be offered, which may non run into the demand of the pupils. In add-on, the beginnings of pupils are restricted because the sum of occupant decreases continuously ; and besides, it seems less attractive to the pupils from Mainland China even though the school accept them since 1996. Furthermore, the university can non form external class due to local authorities ordinances, therefore the demand of farther preparation from the local music instructors may non be satisfied. Furthermore, it has less internsh ip chances than expect, therefore some of the pupils can non develop experience cognition from internship, and the university may get feedback from the pupils about the current state of affairs of general music instruction which may helpful to set its course of study. In add-on, although farther instructor preparation classs are offered in several organisations[ 4 ], seldom of them are focal points on music or its teaching methods. It should be a serious issue in Macau ‘s instructor resource. Government Datas analysis The TABLE 9 shows public and non-tertiary instruction outgo between 2007 and 2010. The per centums of those to entire authorities outgo in the four old ages are besides listed. The sums of public instruction outgo are addition from 2007 to 2010. The per centum of which to entire authorities outgo is 16.2 % in 2007 ; However, over the following two old ages, the proportions decreased to 14 % and 13 % . But in 2010, the per centum rose to 14.9 % . Although the existent figure of public outgo of non-tertiary instruction grows from 2007 to 2010, the per centums of which remain the downward tendency between the 4 old ages. The proportion was 10.2 % in 2007, and autumn to 8.9 % and 8.2 % in 2008 and 2009. It hit a new depression in 2010 and which was 7.5 % . Table 9 Education Finance Indicators of Macau ( DESJ, 2012 ) Indexs Year 2007 Year 2008 Year 2009 Year 2010 Public instruction outgo ( Unit: 10 million Patacas ) 3,028 3,704 4,372 5,776 The per centum of public instruction outgo to entire authorities outgo 16.2 % 14.0 % 13.0 % 14.9 % Public outgo of non-tertiary instruction 1,912 2,347 2,763 2,896 The per centum of public outgo of non-tertiary instruction to entire authorities outgo 10.2 % 8.9 % 8.2 % 7.5 % Issues and Challenges The insufficient of investing of the local authorities for public instruction should be a one of the most primary factors curtailing the development of public, particularly non-tertiary instruction. Harmonizing to the TABLE 9 we can deduce that although the existent input is addition, the per centum of public non-tertiary instruction disbursement is decrease continuously. The ground of such state of affairs might be that the rise of non-tertiary instruction outgo can non maintain up with the entire authorities outgo. Because the entire authorities outgo remains increase in the four old ages due to the rapid economic growing of Macau[ 5 ]. It besides suggests that the velocity of Macau ‘s instruction development is slower than the rapid economic growing of Macau. The TABLE 6 shows the per centum of public instruction outgo to gross domestic merchandise of United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong, Japan and Macau. Harmonizing to the statistics we can deduce that the grade of public instruction outgo lags far behind the Western states. Even more, it remains far less that the per centum of Hong Kong which is such similar to Macau, no affair the history background or the current economic state of affairs. The local instruction section deficiency of valid paperss and steps which could steer or direct the development of general music instruction could be the other drawback. Because the Lusitanian authorities took laissez-faire attack to Macau ‘s private schools, that system of the schools and course of study are diverse. Such attack may besides take the school instruction deficiency of incorporate criterion. ( Feng, 1999 ) Furthermore, Macau Education System ( 1991 ) provides that the authorities does non hold the right to interfere learning plans of the schools, every bit good. However, Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, which is in charge of Macau instruction, has an duty to steer, manage and measure the non-tertiary instruction, and therefore the DSEJ establishes Education Commission, Youth Commission and educational supervising system. But it is too bad that music instruction seems rarely involved in the educational supervising system. And besides, the committees may chiefly concentrate on the extracurricular music activities, such as the interschool singing competition. Even though the activities promote growing of general music instruction in some extent, and flourish activity of general music instruction apparently, those may non wholly stand for the state of affairs of Macau ‘s school music instruction. The ground may be that, foremost, those are non everyday, viz. it is timeliness. Attention will be attracted merely if few months before it stars, and schools may fix it without attempt. Second, merely seldom of pupils can participant of the ac tivities, and it may non profit to all the pupils. Therefore it is unjust to the pupils who do non go to the activities. Third, the study of Dai ( 2009a ) indicates that some of the instructors consider that music category may replace by such activities[ 6 ]. However, music category is the lone manner to accomplish the end for comprehensive, equal and consecutive general music instruction. The DSEJ may disregard such phenomenon and importance of general music instruction at some extent. Furthermore, some school leaders may attach excessively much importance to ensue and ranking of the activities, and put unusual force per unit area on the music instructor. For illustration, consequence of the singing competition may act upon fillip and rating of the music instructors. Hence, the music instructors concentrate on preparing of the competition alternatively of general music category, and which can non offer benefits to the pupils ‘ music survey. In brief, even though the DSEJ and the Cultural Affairs Bureau make a great attempt to form music competitions, the right counsel for the activities is absent, and the basic map of music instruction is non achieved. It is besides worthwhile to see that the authorities paperss for general music instruction might be dawdling. The Macau Education and Youth Affairs Bureau issued a Music Syllabus in 1999 and which is available on the official web site ( DSEJ 1999 ) . The papers contains 3 parts and focal point pupils on different degree, including junior primary, upper primary and junior secondary. The web site besides offers two other links, including the Music Curriculum Standard of Mainland China and the Music Curriculum Outline of Hong Kong. Nevertheless, those two official paperss are issued in 2001 and 2003 individually, and which may propose that Macau ‘s official papers is far behind the Hong Kong and Mainland China. To sum up, the issues of the local authorities exist in three facets: the underfunding on public non-tertiary instruction, the deficiency of right counsel and the obsolescence of official usher paperss for general music instruction. In the first facet, on the one manus, the local authorities investing for instruction is non merely much less than the Western states, but besides smaller nearby countries ; on the other manus, the growing of the investing may non maintain up with the rapid development of Macau ‘s economic and society. Furthermore, the instruction and civilization sections of Macau lack proper counsel, therefore the extracurricular music activities hold by them may non accomplish the end for music instruction. In footings of the authorities paperss, which may be outdated comparison with the nearby countries.Need to suit cultural diversenessTeaching stuffs and cultural diverseness Presents, multicultural music instruction has become a tendency of music instruction throughout the universe. Meanwhile, local music besides be more emphatic because which plays a great of import function in multicultural music instruction. Dai ( 2009b ) insists that as an unalienable portion of history and civilization, local music represents non lone tradition and plants, but besides a sort of communicating between single and group. The instruction of local music may assist pupils and instructors to understand themselves ‘ universe via a series of comprehensive and related ways. Hence, local music should be a important attack to associate people, society and civilization. Music instruction may be isolated from the civilization and the societal environment when without local music. As one of the most of import parts of music instruction, learning stuffs should suit local music facet, every bit good. Fan ( 1990 ) insists a successful music learning stuffs should assist pupil to non merely research the civilizations of foreign states, but besides understand their ain music bequest. However, as I discuss before, the music learning stuffs of Macau might be in bad crisp. Local schools either borrow music learning stuffs from nearby countries, such as Hong Kong and Mainland China, or roll up their music instruction stuffs by themselves for each classs. On the one manus, Chang ( 1994 ) points out that there are two disadvantages of the deficiency of local instruction stuffs. The first 1 should be that the pupils might lose the opportunity to pass on with the outside universe at some extent. Second, he realizes that the pupils may non to update newest cognition. On the other manus, a study made by Wang ( 2010 ) indicated that the music textbooks used in Macau are chiefly emphasized on international common people vocals, like Nipponese, Korean and African Children ‘s nursery vocals ; and besides, the common people vocals from different territories of Mainland China are besides included in those teaching stuffs. However, seldom of Macau local music may be referred in those text editions. Therefore, he believes that the application of text editions imported from Hong Kong and Mainland China could ensue the fact that â€Å" non merely ca n't the local Macau pupils enjoy efficient music acquisition experienced in neighbouring parts, but the pupils besides lack the chances to larn their ain cultural and musical heritage from their ain music text edition † . On the contrast, Wang ( 2003 ) considers that the locally published instruction stuffs could â€Å" unite pupil ‘s learning competence in the part † and may give opportunities to the pupils to appreciate their ain music and cultural heritage more wholly. And besides, it can supply pupils the acknowledgment of their ain alone national features. Consequently, we can deduce that the lake of local music learning stuffs should be one of the most serious jobs in Macau ‘s multicultural music instruction. 4.2 Teachers, teacher preparation and the authorities Music instructors play one of the most of import functions in multicultural music instruction. The instructors should non merely learn music cognition to the pupils, but besides introduce the civilization which related to the music. Anderson ( 1991 ) considers that â€Å" music instructors must fix to make more than add stray choices of non-European musics to the course of study † , and they must assist pupils to understand the relationship between people and their music. Music instructors ‘ attitude and point of position in multicultural music instruction is highly of import, because it may act upon both instructors ‘ schemes and program, even the schoolroom ambiance ( Young, 1996 ) . The music instructor ‘s attitude in Macau can be acquired through Dai ‘s ( 2004 ) study. There is a inquiry in the probe about which sort of music accomplishment the instructors want to larn ( multiple pick ) . There are 70 % and 52 % of them want to larn more about â€Å" choir conducting † and â€Å" music teaching methods † ; â€Å" music grasp † and â€Å" eurythmies † occupied 44 % and 37 % individually[ 7 ]. There are merely 26 % and 18 % of the instructors interested in â€Å" universe musics † and â€Å" Chinese traditional music † . However, those two topics are the most of import facets in multicultural music instruction, and therefore we can deduce that merely a few of the instructors may invol vement and pay attending to multicultural music instruction. Such attitude in multicultural music instruction may impede its development at some extent. Current instructor preparation in Macau may non much aid to multicultural music instruction. As I mentioned above, the University of Macau offer music instruction as an optional class for primary and pre-primary instruction. But the topics related to multicultural music instruction, such as Ethnomusicology, Chinese traditional music are non available in the music instruction class in the University of Macau[ 8 ]. Furthermore, due to seldom of music instructor developing organized by the local authorities[ 9 ], multicultural music preparation might be a clean country in it. It is worthwhile sing that the ESA ( School of Art ) of Macau Polytechnic Institution may be the lone university refers subjects comparative to multicultural music instruction[ 10 ]. However, because the figure of pupils is little and the history of the university is short, it may non act upon Macau ‘s multicultural music instruction so much. As I discussed earlier, the local authorities deficiencies of criterion and ordinance to instruction, and which besides should be a ground of imperfectness of music instructors, learning stuffs and even more, multicultural music instruction. The fact that there is small policy should another failing in multicultural music instruction. Other states ‘ authorities, such as England, issues much more paperss in relation to multiculturalism than do authorities in Macau. For illustration, the Music Syllabus of Macau stipulates every twelvemonth ‘s instruction content and mark. In the primary degree, neither the instruction content or the mark reference multicultural music instruction. On the contrary, the section for instruction in the United Kingdom stipulates multicultural music instruction in every Key Stage. The State Curriculum ( for England, Wales and Northern Ireland ) for general music instruction at Key Stage 1 and 2 stipulates â€Å" students should be taught the cognition, accomplishments and understanding throughaˆÂ ¦ a scope of unrecorded and recorded music from different times and civilization † . ( National Curriculum ) Furthermore, it should be another failing that the Music Syllabus of Macau chiefly focuses on music cognition and accomplishment, alternatively of civilization. For case, the instruction content in grade 4 includes five parts: vocalizing, listening preparation, rhythm preparation, reading tonss and music grasp. In the last portion, the demands are: 1 ) listening vocal and instrumental pieces ; 2 ) separating genera of vocal and instrumental pieces ; 3 ) retrieving music kineticss ; 4 ) separating AB and ABA signifier ; 5 ) separating duple, three-base hit and quadruplicate metre. All of the demands are technique and seldom of them referred to civilization. Such state of affairs may non profit to multicultural music instruction.IV. Suggestions from other states theoretical accountsHarmonizing to the treatment before, the issues of Macau ‘s music instruction can be concluded in four facets. First, instructors and instructor preparation could be a portion of the issues: the figure of instructor is inadequacy, and the quality of the instructors may be lower than anticipate. Furthermore, the failing of third music instruction and the deficiency of farther learning preparation, may besides impact Macau ‘s music instruction profoundly. Second, lack of learning stuffs ordinance and local text edition should besides be a job in Macau ‘s music instruction. Third, in footings of the authorities, there are some issues on the authorities investing. Furthermore, the deficiency of valid counsel and the obsolescence of official usher paperss for general music instruction may be harmful, every bit good. Fourthly, civilization diverseness should be accommodated in order to develop Macau ‘s music instruction. In order to better and decide the issues, some first-class experience and theoretical account for general and multicultural music instruction can be learned from other states. However, Kennedy ( 2009 ) insists that a specific theoretical account of multiculturalism can non be transported straight from one state to another, because every theoretical account has its ain characters. Therefore, three states, including the United States, Hong Kong and Mainland China, are selected to demo their successful theoretical accounts and experiences. The ground why the states are chosen may be that, ab initio, the United States is the topographic point to implement the construct of multicultural music instruction most successfully around the universe. In footings of Hong Kong, the state of affairs of which is really similar to Macau: both of them were settlement, and so handover to China in the 1990s ; even more, civilizations of these two topographic point are similar due to the geographical prop inquity. However, the state of affairs of instruction in Hong Kong is better than Macau due to the different colonial authorities policy. Finally, Mainland China portion the same civilization with Macau, and its multicultural instruction developed really good in recent old ages.Multicultural instruction in by and large in the United States, Hong Kong and Mainland China by and large.The history roots of multicultural instruction should be traced to the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States is the societal action of African American and other people of colour aimed at disputing racial favoritism, subjugation and inequality ( Banks, 1989 ) . The motion focuses on equity and emancipation from white domination in both political and educational facets ( Blum, 1997 ) . They demanded for curricular reform in order to consistent with the racial diverseness in the state. Such motion besides inspired other groups to seek acknowledgment and equality in i nstruction, such as adult females, the handicapped and lingual minorities. The jobs received considerable attending in the educational establishments and organisations in the United States. Therefore, a host of plans, patterns and policies emerged and chiefly concentrate on little alterations or add-ons to traditional course of study. During 1970s, a figure of professional organisations encourage the integrating of cultural content and the course of study via issued policies and publications. For case, the National Council for the Social Study ( NCSS ) published the Curriculum Guidelines for Multiethnic Education in 1976[ 11 ]. And besides, the criterions for teacher instruction are issued in 1977, by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education ( NCATE ) , which require that the multicultural instruction content should be added to classs. From 1980s, the bookmans chiefly focus on developing new attack and theoretical accounts for multicultural instruction. ( Gorski, 1999 ) He besides consists that multicultural instruction must be understood comparative to the societal facet and political construction. Nowadays, the construct of multicultural instruction was applied in a figure of topics, such as history, mathematics ( Sleeter, 1997 ) , ocular art and music. In footings of Mainland China, Wang ( 2007 ) believes that chiefly emphasizes on â€Å" local diverseness † , that is, the cultural diverseness of Chinese minority groups should be the most of import facet of Mainland China ‘s multicultural instruction. He insists that the multicultural instruction in the western states may concentrate on civilization ‘s maintain and development. But in China, the endurance and development of the minority groups should be more important to multicultural instruction. There are 55 minority groups in China and all of them have their ain civilizations. Even more, 24 of them have their ain linguistic communications. The Chinese authorities issues several policies in order to develop and protect multicultural instruction. First, bilingual instruction is applied in the topographic point of abode of cultural minorities, which proposed in 1950 ab initio in the Plan for Cadre Cultivating in Minority Groups. Second, the civilization heritage of the cultural minorities was included in the course of study. The policy â€Å" Strengthening the Cultural Minorities Education † issued in 1980, which provides that the development of course of study and the compilation of learning stuffs should utilize their ain linguistic communication, and related to their ain history, civilization and humanistic disciplines. As a Particular Administrative Region of the People ‘s Republic of China, Hong Kong has alone position and ever see as runing pot of western and eastern civilizations. The authorities of Hong Kong attach much importance to multicultural instruction, and they believes that reformed instruction can advance the development of multicultural instruction even which is a comparatively new experience for the schools of the HKSAR ( Ho & A ; Law, 2009 ) . The planetary citizenship became a constituent of civil instruction for secondary school, and a figure of lesson in the course of study intended to assist pupil appreciate the diverse heritage of the universe ( Law, 2004 & A ; Curriculum Development Council, 1998 ) . The authorities besides insists that pupils should be educated to see and believe profoundly on â€Å" different values to their ain, their relationships with others, the community, the state and the universe at big graduated table † ( Ho & A ; Law, 2009 ) . Furthermore, the authorities believes it is necessary that the pupils should hold ability to appreciate multicultural diverseness in the humanistic disciplines, and understand the values and the traditions of universe musics. ( Curriculum Development Council, 2003 )Brief Introduction of Multicultural Music Education in the United States, Hong Kong and Mainland China.The United States is a innovator and a microcosm of international multicultural music instruction. The federal authorities wage attending to the development in humanistic disciplines instruction and issued the Goal 2000: Educate America Act in 1994 and set frontward the clear mark for American pupils: â€Å" All pupils will go forth classs 4, 8, and 12 holding demonstrated competence over disputing capable affair including English, mathematics, scientific discipline, foreign linguistic communications, civics an authorities, economic sciences, the humanistic disciplines, history, and geographics † . On the one manus, the authorities offers support in support facet, for illustration, $ 86.5 million available to provinces in 1994 to get down developing school betterment programs and an extra $ 5 million was made available to develop programs to utilize state-of-the-art engineering to heighten instruction and acquisition. On the other manus, the first National Standards for Arts Education is created with the transition of Goal 2000. The music course of study in the United States is developed on the National Standards for Arts Education. The standard requires the pupil to â€Å" understand music in relation to history and civilization † and to â€Å" place an appreciate music from different civilizations, manners and periods for all class † . There is no uncertainty that the publication of the criterion non merely go a milepost, but besides symbolizes the mature phase of the multicultural music instruction in the United States. In add-on, multiculturalism draws attending to music instructor instruction in colleges and universities. The multicultural constituents are added in the class. Furthermore, The National Association of School of Music ( NASM ) stipulates â€Å" all ( music ) undergraduate course of study shouldaˆÂ ¦ provideaˆÂ ¦ a repertory for survey that includes assorted civilizations and historical periods † . Furthermore, some provinces in the United States â€Å" have enfranchisement demands that specify that ( music instruction ) pupils should have music literature experiences that draw on a assortment of music civilizations from throughout the worldaˆÂ ¦ ( Including ) African and Asiatic musics. † ( Anderson, 1992 ) Furthermore, multicultural instruction is one of the contents in the scrutiny of learning enfranchisement in some provinces. For illustration, Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont and Virginia have multicultural music demands ; Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Oregon have multicultural demands in professional instruction for music enfranchisement. ( Ma, 2009 ) Multiculturalism refers to non merely musics from other states, but besides minority cultural musics. The New Music Curriculum Standards requires pupils to â€Å" develop and spread out † minority cultural traditional musics, and understand musics from other states. What ‘s more, the demand and rule of the instruction stuffs ‘ compilation are besides listed in the criterion. In footings of multiculturalism, the criterion requires the content of music text editions should maintain the balance between the Chinese traditional music and universe musics. It is besides worthwhile sing that the standard stipules that the text edition that is based on it should busy 80 % – 85 % in the entire sum, the remainder 15 % – 20 % should be local learning stuffs. Fan ( 2009 ) points out that the characters of music instruction stuffs in China are â€Å" diverseness of the content and big of the scope † . Take the music text edition published by People ‘s Music Publication House[ 12 ]as an illustration, which contains six units and involves western art music ( The Plant Suite ) , Asiatic music ( Indian, Turkey, Thailand musics ) , movie music ( music from â€Å" Do Re Mi † ) , Chinese traditional ( yangko ) and minority cultural musics. ANNEX? ? ?