Helping Chinese Consumers Essay

QuarkMan Technology was founded in 2012 by David Yuan. As the Chinese domestic consumption continues to grow at a rapid speed, consumers need a reliable source for independent and impartial review of products to find the quality and functionality. The mission of the company is one of â€Å"unveiling products’ essence in an independent, professional, and powerful way.† The two core principles are â€Å"Independence† and â€Å"Fairness†. QuarkMan has set up two business units, Information Advisory and Media. The reports and data obtained by the testing of products are handled by the Information Advisory unit and the Media unit takes this information and displays it in a user friendly way so that consumers can make educated decisions. QuarkMan Media is further divided into Jancr which is the consumer goods testing division and China Consumer Report which is the communication division responsible for settling disputes between the consumer and manufacturer. SWOT ANALYSIS for QuarkMan Strengths Manages their own lab and return team Strong relationship with third party labs and research institution labs State of the art testing lab with 400 pieces of equipment and 3000 square meters External expert network from numerous industries In-house lab is a stand-along profitable business unit which finances the media unit Weaknesses Hard for an independent and fair media company to be profitable in China In order to remain independent, advertisements on their website is not an option Majority of the testing resources are owned by the government affiliated consumer associations, industry associations and government research institutes A big chunk of the capacity has a very low utilization rate Takes 2-3 weeks for QuarkMan to deliver one product review and others longer QuarkMan struggling with capacity issues Opportunities No mature player conducting comparative tests and analysis across different industries The third party testing market was controlled by the government but has now become a huge and rapidly growing market QuarkMan currently handling six product categories but have the opportunity to handle more Exhibit 4 – Private only handles 10% of the current market share Threats Private sector is growing at a CAGR of 25% Speed is a key factor for the high growth rate New players in the market have gained decent traffic from more frequent content releases Exhibit 4 – Foreign markets only handle 25% of the current market share Problem/Decision Statement How can QuarkMan influence consumer perception of their brand and business values and thus gain their trust and business? Identification of Alternatives Consider advertisements as a revenue stream with the use of a 3rd party to manage the sale and pay a portion back to QuarkMan so independency and objectivity is upheld. Use these funds to mark the business philosophy of QuarkMan to gain additional market share. Obtain additional financing through other interested parties and use revenues to promote the business model and use additional financing funds to expand testing resources and improve turnaround time and reach more consumers Critical Issues Impact on current and potential consumers and their ability to trust QuarkMan if they attempt to raise revenue revenues through advertising The use of a 3rd party to manage advertisement while increasing revenue and the effects on their ability to stay independent and transparent to the consumer Significant lead time to bring products to market and the limit number of product reviews that can be completed times. The use of a 3rd party to manage advertising would directly go against the company’s core principles of Independence and fairness thus leading to more mistrust. Analysis Consider advertisements as a revenue stream with the use of a 3rd party to manage the sale and pay a portion back to QuarkMan so independency and objectivity is upheld. Use these funds to mark the business philosophy of QuarkMan to gain additional market share. The current market has a distrust of the industry because of the lack of transparency and the blurred lines between the agency reviewing the produce and the product manufactures. The current Chinese consumer agency is not transparent and the government plays such a significant role in the reviews because of this the consumers do not trust any consumer reports. QuarkMan’s guiding principles of independence and fairness will be viewed as conflicting with any advertisement from a manufacturing. This conflict will add to more doubt from their consumers. Obtain additional financing through other interested parties and use revenues to promote the business model and use additional financing funds to expand testing resources and improve turnaround time and reach more consumers This alternative would allow for additional revenues while not compromising their independence and fairness. QuarkMan can continue to market their product and services through current media channels and bring awareness to their strong brand name and transparency while setting them apart from the current competition. This will help to generate long term customer loyalty. Additional revenues can strengthen their 3rd party testing environment and help to reduce the lead times and number of products able to be reviewed at one time. They can further expand the types of products they review and be able to reach more potential customers. Recommendation The recommendation based on the entire analysis would be to obtain additional financing through other interested parties and use revenues to promote the business model and expand testing resources to improve turnaround time and reach more consumers. This alternative would allow for additional revenues while not compromising their independence and fairness. QuarkMan can continue to market their product and services through current media channels and bring awareness to their strong brand name and transparency while setting them apart from the current competition. This will help to generate long term customer loyalty. Additional revenues can strengthen their 3rd party testing environment and help to reduce the lead times and number of products able to be reviewed at one time. They can further expand the types of products they review and be able to reach more potential customers.

Burglary & distinguishing characteristic

Burglary, larceny, and robbery all involve theft or the possibility and/or likelihood of theft, but there are some important distinctions between the three. Burglary is essentially the act of breaking into a premesis with the intention to commit a crime – usually theft, but other offenses are also included. A charge of burglary can be made whether or not a crime takes place inside the building or premesis; the act of trespassing is what sets burglary apart from the other two crimes.Robbery involves taking property which belongs to another person, by use of force or the threat of force or violence. The distinguishing characteristic of robbery is the use or threat of force; without this element, the crime committed is simple theft. In the case of robbery, the property is taken with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of that property. But where burglary can be levied as a charge whether or not the crime took place, robbery can only stand as a charge if an actual theft did occur.Larceny is itself a type of theft, but with a handful defining conditions which must be met. The threat or act of violence is not present, as in robbery; however, the larcenist must be in complete possession of the taken item and remove it from its original location. The length of time that the victim is deprived of his or her property (whether temporary or permanent) does not have bearing on the charge. Also, the theft qualifies as larceny whether the theft is carried out directly (by the larcenist) or indirectly (by a third party).The controlling factor in identifying larceny is possession – whether or not the accused larcenist takes complete possession of the property and removes it from the possession of its rightful owner. In addition, the thief must have intent to steal, and the item stolen must have value. In virtually all jurisdictions, all three offenses are subclassified in varying degrees of severity. Works Cited Mansfeld, Yoel and Pizam, Abraham. (2006) Tourism, Security and Safety : From Theory to Practice. Burlington, MA : Elsevie

ING Life Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ING Life - Case Study Example This is because ING Life has done some investment in information and technology solutions through implementing the Val IT to ensure that the business organization gets a maximum return on it investment in information and technology. Limitations of using a public infrastructure (Internet) When deciding on what information and technology infrastructure to use it is important for a company to evaluate the content of the information which the handle. Since ING is an investment institution it usually handles information and data which might be sensitive in nature. One common dis advantage of using a public infrastructure for companies such as ING is that information is not secure and such companies are often targets of hacker. Public interfaces are easy to get in for professional hackers since they do not have complex security protocols and firewalls. For example, if an investment company uses public interface information technology solutions their customers might suffer from identity the ft since this information is usually contained in the company’s servers. ... ING’s public infrastructor solution is effective because though being public its access is only limited to specific ING partners internationally. Security is ensured by investing in solutions that will involve each partner ensuring that the public interface is secure on their end. However, this is not enough because its network systems can be still be hacked through systems such as sql injunctions which have happened to the organization specifically in Belgium. ING should invest in more secure infrastructures such as Vsat which will ensure direct communication of ING branches internationally in a secure manner since Vsat incorporates security protocols which are very effective. Vsat is an effective communication infrastructure because it incorporates both voice and data traffic. Vsat will give ING a onetime solutions in it communication and data due to the incorporation of voice and data traffic in the interface (Ramon, 2004). The company will also be able to control traffic s ince they will be in charge of their own network. By using advanced network solutions such as Vsat, Ing company will be able to link its local area networks and wide are network forming a mesh of different inter connected networks that cover the whole business establishment internationally (Elbert, 2004). The institution should also implement local area networks technologies that are secure, easy to maintain and reliable. For example, if the company invests in wireless local area networks it should consider hiring network security experts to ensure that their databases cannot be accesed by hackers since wireless networks are the most commonly hacked network since they can be harged from a distance (Bhaiji,

Review the general applications of monoclonal antibodies,emphasising Essay

Review the general applications of monoclonal antibodies,emphasising their advantage and limitations with specific examples - Essay Example They have received usage in the areas of medicine, molecular biology and biochemistry; when used in the field of medicine, they are identified from the end of the name of the non-proprietary medicine, is identified because it contains –mab in its name. This paper will explore the general applications of monoclonal antibodies, and the discussion will offer more emphasis to their limitations and advantages. Discussion Monoclonal antibodies are used in the field of medicine for the detection of different varieties of toxins, drugs or hormones. When used for this general purpose, they are aimed at the target area in the body of the individual. For example, when used to detect or stop the growth of cancer cells, these antibodies are targeted at the specific proteins found on the surfaces of some cancer cells. When injected into the body of the individual, these monoclonal antibodies locate the cancer cells and then attach themselves to the given cancer cells or antigens (Kontermann , 2005). In some cases, they are used on their own and in others conjugated with other substances. When naked monoclonal antibodies are injected into the body, they bind themselves to the target receptors or the antigens found on the cancer cells being targeted (Yarbo, Wujcik and Gobel, 2011). The advantages of using monoclonal antibodies include that when they are used to target some types of cancer cells, they will attach themselves to the particular receptors of the cancer cells, and then they stop the continuation of the growth of cancer cells. Some of the examples used for this purpose of treating cancerous growth include rituximab (Biburger, Weth and Wels, 2005). Rituximab is used for this curative purpose to treat some types of B-cell on-Hodgkin lymphoma. The second monoclonal antibody type is trastuzumab, which is used for the treatment of HER2-positive cancerous growths on breasts (American Cancer Society, 2008). The disadvantage of using monoclonal antibodies is that they can be attached to toxins, which are made from plants or bacteria. In the case that they are used to transport these toxins, the toxic element is likely to affect the targeted cancer cells as well as the normal cells of the patient (Yarbo, Wujcik and Gobel, 2011, p. 558-560). Towards resolving this issue, researchers are in the process of researching for antigens that affect the cancerous cells only, and not the normal cells. Monoclonal antibodies are used in the medical processes of radioimmunotherapy and radioimmunodetection of cancer, where some of the new variants of the antibodies can be targeted at the cell membranes of the cancerous cells of a patient (Goldenberg et al., 2006). The advantage of monoclonal antibodies when used for this purpose includes that they help in enhancing the background ratios of tumours and they also aid the delivery of higher dosages, as compared to the case when they are directly conjugated for use with other compounds (Rossi et al., 2006). The disa dvantages of using monoclonal antibodies in this manner include that the functionality of many of the drugs that have been developed is not approved by health and drug testing organizations. One of the new cancer drugs based on the working of monoclonal antibody technology is Ritoxin, which was approved for use in health institutions, by the FDA in November 1997 (Salvana and Salata, 2009). Monoclonal

Haitian Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Haitian Culture - Essay Example This paper approves that the general findings with regard to Haitian family structure is that evolving from extended families that shared resources, work and which functioned as support units, the modern Haitian family is more nuclear in orientation, with the traditional extended families giving way to modern structures found in the west. In terms of education and language, as well as religion and health, Haiti’s problems relate to the use of Creole and French in classroom instruction, problems with inclusion and the use of Creole in intellectual discourse, the poor health prognoses of Haitians in general, and the role that language plays in stratifying and keeping class boundaries in place. This report makes a conclusion that education issues in Haiti are often linked back to language and to Creole in particular, and the role of language in education, with language policies being plagued by a lack of consistency historically. That inconsistency had negative impacts on Haiti education policy and outcomes. French was primary, and for a long time until the 1970’s the status of Creole was uncertain. Creole was eventually integrated as a primary language of instruction after that, but progress remained mixed, with issues remaining relating to spelling, and the use of Creole for primary school education as an elementary school instruction language. The bone of contention was with regard to the continued use of French to bolster the prospects of both the poor and rich families’ children and their economic prospects in life, with Creole being seen as detrimental to such prospects, when used solely as the language of instruction in place of French.

Evolution of the construction industry since the industrial revolution Essay

Evolution of the construction industry since the industrial revolution - Essay Example The building industry as a whole underwent a revolution. The Industrial Revolution created an enormous increase in the production of many kinds of goods and brought about changes in technology and innovation. As the Industrial Revolution grew, private investors and financial institutions were needed to provide money for the further expansion of industrialization. Before the industrial revolution, only ten percent of the people lived in cities while most lived in towns and villages scattered around the cities. The revolution brought about changes which drew large number of people into cities as industry expanded. This resulted in increased demand for housing and the high-rise buildings came into existence. Money was easily available through banks and financiers for construction. Loans and mortgages helped people to build and buy homes. The construction industry is a major industry in the economy of Great Britain and is growing steadily. Advancement in technology led to a boom in the industry in all sectors. While onsite construction was common, offsite construction grew along with it. This resulted in cost reduction and better quality control. Prefabricated structures were largely used and installed specially for bridges. Private housing sector has grown tremendously and may have reached a plateau today in Great Britain. Homes in England with three or more bedrooms were only 7% in 1971 whereas in 2002/3 it stood at 34%. Semi detached homes in England are the most common system of dwelling but only 28% of them have been built in the past 40 years. All the others are much older. The construction industry is divided in two sections – new construction and repairs and maintenance. In the early 1990s, total construction output (in 1995 prices) decreased sharply in Great Britain as a whole2. After 1995, the construction output increased

The Rise of Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China, Essay

The Rise of Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China, Culminating in the Proclamation of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 - Essay Example He started his career as a teacher. In 1918 he left for Beijing and worked as assistant librarian at the Beijing University. There he became member of Marxist study group. In 1919, he returned to Changsha and became more attracted to the message of Russian revolution and Leninist version of Marxism. Mao was one of the thirteen delegates who attended the Chinese communist party's founding congress which was secretly convened in Shanghai in July 1921 (Mao, 2011). Mao was more attracted to countryside and peasants than cities and proletariats. He spent more time on studying the rural socio economic conditions and focused on organising the peasants. In fact, he discovered the great revolutionary potential of peasants. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has merged with the nationalist party of Kuomintang in 1923. However, this partnership did not last long. By 1927, it became clear that Mao and Chiang had different perceptions on Soviet interests in China. Mao supported Soviet Union while Chiang opposed it. As a result, the CCP- Kuomintang alliance broke. Both the leaders competed for domination of China. While Mao focused on rural areas, Chiang focused on urban areas. In 1927, Mao published the Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan. It contained the important ideas of Mao. He believed in the power of the peasants and described it as a tornado. In his opinion it is "so extraordinarily swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to suppress it." (2011). He believed in the revolutionary creativity of peasants which Marxist-Leninists reserved for the Communist Party. According to Mao, it is not the party which has to determine the revolutionary capabilities of the peasants, but the peasants who has to judge the capability of the party for revolution. From April, 1927 onwards, Chiang Kai-shek focused on destroying communists and their organisational base in urban areas. Rise of Mao Mao had great admiration for sun Tzu and gave prior ity to maintaining an army. So he formed the Red Army. He knew that war against the powerful state will take years to win. He worked for gaining support for the red army among the peasants. He followed the tactic of sun Tzu, attack when stronger and retreat when weak (Seize the Night, 2010). Mao applied this strategy four times when confronted with the strong forces of Chiang. In 1930, a notable incident called the Futien incident occurred. That is, Mao suspected that a red army unit in Jiangxi is not supporting him and so ordered execution of 3000 officers and men. This shows Mao’s strict nature. Between December 1930 and September 1931, there were three guerrilla campaigns under the leadership of Mao, but failed. The fourth guerrilla campaign in 1932-33 was also a failure. But, the fifth one succeeded. In 1934, after series of defeats, the communists and three red armies were pinned down in the mountains of Jiangxi Province in southern China. The communist army became exhau sted as a result of harassment form the Kuomintang. As a result of the nationalist offensive, the communists and the red armies decided to flee their southern bases and retreat to meet Communist forces in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in northern China (Hays, 2011). This retreat is known as the long march. It was a six thousand mile march. The long march began in Jiangxi on October 16, 1934 and crossed 24 rivers, 18 mountain ranges (5 covered with snow) and 11 provinces before it ended after 368 days at the caves of Yenan on the edge of the Gobi desert in northern China (Hays, 2011). On January 8, 1935, they met in Zunyi in Guizhou province. There, they discussed the future leadership of the communist party. The old leadership and generals of the red army supported Mao. He was made the

Designing a course in technology-Enhanced learning for Adult learners Essay

Designing a course in technology-Enhanced learning for Adult learners - Essay Example This paper aims to present a discussion that revolves around principles of learning design. The focus is to design a unit assessment plan that will educate 65 year old adults on prevention, treatment, and management of foot related complications. Some of the skills that the unit assessment aims to establish among the older population include synthesis of instruction, exploration skills, designing skills, collaboration, and reflection skills. Technological transformations have prompted the majority of educators to adopt newer and advanced forms of newer technology in teaching. Teachers in institutions of higher learning have opted for the use of e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, education applications, and design Web sites to pass knowledge and information to learners (Caulfield, 2011). The mode of connecting teaching to learning has formed the center of current debate, with critics questioning the validity of the relationship. This is because they have argued that such learning techniques are vulnerable to losing their validity with changes in technology. On the other hand, proponents have highly held the phenomenon, citing their value in expanding the learning and teaching experience. Rogers (2003) maintains that the application of skills in learning and teaching is crucial, as it determines the effectiveness of the teaching and learning experiences. When a new technology emerges, there are various levels that educators should undergo in their endeavors to fully adopt any technological model of teaching (Rogers, 2003). However, recent research has revealed that some learning sessions have not fully benefited from the advantages of employing technological based teaching and learning experiences. This is because of the different degrees of adaptation by teachers. Analysts have argued that educators should follow the right procedure in their quest to make some technology based models of teaching part of their professional initiative. Some of the

Research Brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Brief - Essay Example The types of HRD interventions are classified into individual based, group based and inter group based interventions. The individual based interventions involve counseling, coaching, motivation and mentoring etc. the group based interventions involve group facilitation, virtual teams, conflict management and many others while the inter group based interventions involve third party peacemaking interventions as well as organization mirroring. The main focus is implied on the techno structural intervention. This deals with the restructuring of the entire organization. This restructuring is done with the area of the workload of the total organization by dividing it into several subunits in order for the effectual completion of the tasks. This restructuring can be done on certain major factors which include organization size, technology, worldwide operation, and environment and organization strategy (Sandhu.G et al, 2012). One of the most vital parts of the techno structural intervention is considered to the employee involvement which can be defined as the foundation of skills, power, information, knowledge and finally reward. One of the concluding modules of HRD interventions includes the work design. The work design involves not only the scientific management but also the motivational approach. The involvement of the employees in the process of organizational development is of core importance (Gamerdinger.1997). Without the part played by the employees in the interventions, success is never guaranteed. The impact of the employee involvement on the types of interventions can be made effective by providing them with several learning styles and processes which makes it able to enhance the positive outcome from the employees. Alongside the advantages that the implication of HRD interventions holds, there are certain challenges impacting the professional practice of HRD. These challenges not only affect the HRD

Traditional Values In Now Essay Example for Free

Traditional Values In Now Essay In the 1950’s, the family was portrayed as consisting of a father, a mother and their children who were most preferably boys. Rarely were there any girls in the shows that were brought on television. The men were supposed to work and earn money that would then be used to bring home what was needed in the house for the women to cook in other words the men were seen as bread-winners while the women were the bread makers. There was also a lot of racism and the difference between colored and white people was clear-cut-interracial. Marriages were unheard of and those people who did so were discriminated against and even suffered being labeled as outcasts in the society. There were also areas that were segregated specifically for the different races and they could not mix. One was not allowed to live in such areas unless they belonged to the specific race that was allowed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One was labeled a social misfit if found to be a gay or a lesbian. The society went out of its way to discourage such behaviors and practices. It was not so much as preventing the occurrence of such behavior but to hide it from the society. There were benefits provided to married people that were denied the unmarried because they wanted to ensure that they avoided having homosexuals in the society. Since it was a form of deviance there was a cure recommended for it and this was marriage and children. If this failed then one had to pretend that it was working (http://www-mcwilliam.com). Due to the huge number of young pregnant girls, there was a lot of adoption happening in the 1950’s. Women were beaten up by their husbands and also sexually mistreated and it was always depicted that it was their faults   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the current practice of non-traditional family values, one finds a lot of single parents and also gay and lesbian marriages in which they adopt to complete the family set-up recommended by the traditional family values. Most of the social problems that are to be found in the current society have been blamed on this breakdown of traditional family values. The presence of families headed by single mothers has been blamed for the increased rate of unemployment, juvenile crime, school dropout and poor health. (http://www.scu.edu). Most families that are led by single women are mostly black families just as was previously during the traditional family value days. They were usually separated from their husbands and it is still happening up to date.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Up to now, the women are still not seen as equals with men although there have been huge strides taken towards this opinion. Women are still discriminated against economically and also in terms of employment. Although there has been an increased awareness of the homosexual marriages, it is still frowned upon by society. This has led to the formation of various protest groups that intend to justify their way of life and demand to be respected regardless of their sexual orientation or gender. However, one finds that these people are still not free to express themselves, as they tend to face violent incidences when come across people who do not conform to the changes taking place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In America, a huge percentage of black men render themselves unable to perform the traditional male roles in the family and hence become irrelevant. They are usually involved in drug abuse and various forms of violence and more often than not end up being imprisoned thus increasing the number of households headed by black women. The problems that the black community faces are blamed on their departure from the traditional family values but the more they are blamed the more remote their chances for returning to the traditional family values become. Nowadays, there is an increase in the number of single white mothers and there is increased concern over this new phenomenon yet when it was about black mothers not much was done to prevent its increase.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The traditional value of having a nuclear family that includes two parents and children is being exercised even in homosexual unions. They have gone so far as legalizing their unions through marriages and in the recent years they are even wedding in church. Due to the various advances made in the scientific field, these couples can end up having their own children and if this is not desirable or possible for them, they adopt a child from the welfare system (http://bad.eserver.org). In trying to show that homosexuals are not really normal, they are depicted even by the media as people with awkward traits like men who have feminine traits and women who strive to look and behave like men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although society is accepting some of the changes taking place in the society, some parts of the society are still very much attached to the values that were to be found in the society are very much attached to the values that were to be found in the traditional families. These are usually those who benefited from the practice of such values. These people include mostly white, married heterosexual men. They are the people who fight most for the reintroduction and reinforcement of the traditional families values. In the traditional family values, men and especially white men were treated differently from other people and also treated other people differently. The traditional values were racist and sexist and favoured the white men who looked down on the white women and other races as being inferior to them (Leed D. H. Schaninger C. M. pg 3-6)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There has been an increase in the number of interracial marriages and they are becoming accepted although some are still staunchly against them. This has affected the family structure in that there is now the introduction of children who are not purely of one race. This then makes them unable to be able to look down on any race, as they do not belong to any specific race. Among these group of people racism is very minimal if any and this is a huge improvement in regards to social cohesion. It has led to the melting pot theory in the United States. The adoptive strategy that was practiced in the traditional family when a girl got pregnant out of wedlock has reduced, as more women prefer to become single parents instead of giving their children up for adoption.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By empowering women financially, it has liberated them to be able to make choices on how to lead their lives. Previously women were supposed to listen to their husband’s wishes and do their best to help them achieve their dreams. This has changed to enabling women to achieve their dreams and to succeed where men had dominated before. It has allowed them to make decisions to live their lives even in the absence of a man in their lives. By incorporating some traditional values in the non-traditional families there is a sense of stability introduced in the society and also liberation of people like marriages. When some disruptive values like racism are abandoned it leads to increased harmony in the society and the issue is striking the right balance between the two ways of life.                      Reference: Barlow A. Probert R. 2004 Regulating Marriage and Cohabitations: Changing Family Values and Policies in Europe and North America- An Introductory Critique Law Policy pg 1-11. Lee D.H. Schaninger C.M 2002 Altitudinal and Consumption Differences Among Traditional and Non-traditional Childless Couple Households Henry Stewart Publications New York USA Mc William peter 1996 Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do Traditional Family Values Retrieved on 17th October 2007 from http://mcwilliams.com/books/aint/404.htm Perry T.L 2007 Family Values, Race, Feminism and Public Policy Retrieved on 17th October 2007 from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/other/lawreview/familyvalues.html Sandell J. March 1994 issue 12 The Cultural Necessity of Queer Families To a Certain Extent 1993 really was the year of the queer. http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/12/sandell.htm

Islamic Education After Independence Education Essay

Islamic Education After Independence Education Essay Initially, Islamic education was taught after school hours. Starting from 1962, the Islamic religious subject was implemented and officially included in the school time table where it was taught for 120 minutes (2 hours) per week by the teachers approved by the state authority.(Education Ordinance 1957). Rosnani (1996) is of the opinion that although these recommendations were positive, in the sense that they gave importance to religious instruction in national and national-type schools, they affected all Islamic religious adversely i.e a decline in pupil enrolment because Malay parents saw many advantages in the national schools, firstly their children could learn religion whether in national and national-type English schools. Second, greater opportunities to further studies and, greater job opportunities that awaited graduates of national schools compared to religious schools.The decline in enrolment was due also to the automatic promotion until Form Three, the abolition of the Malayan Secondary School Entrance Examination and the establishment of national secondary schools. The second major consequence was the transformation of the the Madrasahs curriculum in accordance with the National Educational Policy where the Malay language replaced Arabic as the medium of language and the religious subject had to be reduced to accomodate new secular subjects i.e Malay language, English, Mathematics, Geography, History and general Science. The third major impact of the National Education Policy was the shortage of teachers in the Madrasah because qualified teachers left for better facilities and better pay offered by National schools. Madrasahs institutions also had acute financial problems and had to be rescued by state religious department. Rosnani, (1996) further claimed that these factors, in addition to changing societal values brought about the decline of Madrasah and near demise of pondok in 1960s. Paradigm shift a) The Integrated Curriculum for Primary School (ICPS) and The New Secondary School Integrated curriculum (NSSIC) It was a fact that the 70s witnessed the increase of Islamic conciousness among the Muslim throughout the Muslim World including Malaysia which subsequently contributed to educational reform. A few Islamic organizations such as ABIM, Al Arqam and Jamaat Tabligh were also formed during the 70s where their dynamic activities help to strengthen Islam in Malaysia. According to Ghazali (2000), there are many factors contributing to the Malaysian educational reform. Apart from the implementation of suggestions and report made in 1979, the changes in the political climate where people were more inclined to Islam should be considered. The influence of the Islamic movement in Iran gave a significant impact among the Muslims in Malaysia to support the Islamic party (PAS). Then, the government under the leadership of Tun Dr. Mahathir officially introduced Islamization policy in 1983. Consequently The Islamic institutions, the International Islamic University (IIUM) and the Islamic Banking were established. The philosophy of the University was inspired by the recommendations of the first World Conference on Muslim Education held in Mecca in 1977. According to this philosophy, knowledge shall be propagated in the spirit of Tawhid leading towards the recognition of Allah as the Absolute Creator and Master of mankind. Thus all disciplines of knowledge should lead towards subservience of this truth. Knowledge is a form of trust(amanah) from Allah to man, and hence man should utilize knowledge according to Allahs will in performing his role as the servant and vicegerent (khalifah) of Allah on earth. In this way the seeking of knowledge is regarded as an act of worship (Diary IIUM, 2005) Subsequently in 1982, The Ministry of Education, introduced The New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC). It was implemented nation wide in 1983. The NPSC was formulated to provide equal opportunity to students to acquire basic skills and knowledge in addition to inculcating noble moral values. The emphasis of this new curriculum is on the acquisition of the three basic skills,namely reading, writing and mathematics. With a renewed emphasis on integration, it was decided in 1993 that a change of name take place. The New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC) is now known as The Integrated Curriculum for Primary School (ICPS)(Curriculum Development Centre 1997). The New Secondary School Integrated curriculum (NSSIC) or integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KBSM) which was guided by the recommendation of the first World Conference on Muslim Education 1977, in Makkah was introduced in 1988 for lower secondary level and in 1989 the curriculum was implemented in phase up to form five level. (Hasan.L, 1993). The main focus of the curriculum is on an integrated educational approach. The approach incorporated knowledge with skills and moral values. It also combine theory with practical training. The strategy is to incorporate Moral Values into curriculum and the Malay language with curriculum (Curriculum Development Centre,1997). b) The National Educational Philosophy (NEP) The Education Act 1961 has determined Malaysias education policies for over three decades until it was repealed in 1996. The Education Act 1996 is the latest and is the most comprehensive where it stated for the first time in writing the National Educational Philosophy (Under Act 550). The official statement of NEP states as follows : Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on the firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are resilient and capable of achieving a high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the betterment of the family, society and the nation at large. Langgulung, H (1993) stated that based on this NEP, the planning of KBSM is meant to help students to develop their intellectual, spiritual, emotional as well as physical potentials in comprehensive and integrated manner. It is hoped that the comprehensive and integrated development could create student who is able to adjust himself in society and contribute to the progress and the welfare of himself in order to function effectively and productively in the national development. Southeast Asian Education particularly Islamic Religious Education in Indonesia and Malaysia The Indonesian Experiences After the downfall of Ottoman Empire the entire Muslim countries were completely dominated by Western Colonial countries, particularly British, French, Spanish, Dutch and so forth. Southeast Asian countries were ruled by the British and the Dutch. The British ruled Malaya and North Borneo, whilst the Dutch ruled Indonesia. Dutch rule in Indonesia lasted for over three hundred years who used iron claws to suppress private schools that sought to establish carders to fight colonialists. The establishment of Sekolah Tinggi Islam Japan occupied Indonesia for three years, during which Dutch schools were totally closed down and replaced by Japanese curriculum including language of instruction. Indonesian fighters for Indonesian independence suggested that since all tertiary level of education were closed by Japanese, it is high time that Islamic higher institution of learning (Sekolah Tinggi Islam = STI) be established. The idea was suggested by Majlis Shura Muslimin Indonesia (Masyumi) along with the establishment of armed forces called Hizbullah (Gods Party). The prominent personalities leading the school are : 1. Dr. Mohammad Hatta (Vice President) as chairman 2. Mr. Soewandi (Civil servant) as deputy chairman 3. Mohammad Natsir (later on became the first Prime Minister of Indonesia after independence) as secretary 4. Several other members of society such as Prof. R.A.A Hoesein Djajadingrat, Dr.Hidayat, Dr. Soekiman and many others were acting as members of executives. The Sekolah Tinggi Islam started with four faculties i.e Law, Religion, Economics and Education. After independence, Religious faculty was sponsored by Ministry of religious affairs and became Government Institute religious of knowledge (Institute Agama Islam Negeri = IAIN) whose curriculum were planned by people graduated from Al Azhar. It is logical that the curriculum of IAIN in early days of its establishment was carbon copy of faculties in Al Azhar before the latest reforms in 1961. The institute originally has three faculties like in Al Azhar, i.e Usuludin, Shariah and Arabic language, later they added faculty of tarbiyyah (education) Organization like the Muhammadiyah during the Dutch rule even set schools using Dutch as a medium of instruction to compete with the schools established by the Dutch. Other organization such as Nahdatul Ulama (NU), Persatuan Islam(Persis) and Al -Irsyad continued to maintain Pesantren (religious training centre for Advanced Islamic Studies), Madrasah (Islamic schools) and pondok(Muslim boarding schools) which they had been managing, so much so that bumiputera (the son of the soil) children need not have to go to Dutch government schools for their education. In the early fifties the government tried to set up schools for the training of religious teachers (Sekolah Pendidikan Guru Agama-PGA) by putting some of the exising Madrasah under the management of religious affairs. The objectives was to train religious teachers in government schools where religious knowledge was also taught. This was followed by the setting up of Sekolah Guru Hakim Agama (SGHA) to cater to the needs of the Muslim jurists both in Shariah and the State courts. The Muslim organizations and Muslim community alike were quite disappointed with the scope offered by both the PGA and SGHA. Muslim organizations such as Muhammadiyah continued to be self reliant in the management of their schools. All they needed to do was to comply with the government regulations and current requirements. Pesantren too began to mushroom since the fifties. A press statement issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the later part of the seventies put the figure at 20,000 Pesantren with 9 million students. It is estimated that current figures have far exceeded these numbers in view of the 40% increasing of Indonesian population from 150 million in the seventies to a 220 million currently. Rapid Development of Islamic schools Among the factors that contributed to the rapid development of Islamic schools lately were: 1. The government inability to cater to the educational needs of all children. The problem therefore was partly resolved by the existence of private schools. 2. Dissatisfaction with the scope offered by the PGA and the SGHA in the fifties.The government, however, has been trying to improve the situation by: i) Accepting the standard of madrasah so that they would be at par with public schools. ii) Uplifting students of madrasah for admission into equivalent public schools at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels. iii) Recognizing the private madrasah certificate as equivalent to the state (government) madrasah certificate to enable leavers of private madrasah to continue with their studies in equivalent government schools iv) The influence of the Islamic revivalist phenomenon world wide, particularly the international Conferences of Muslim Education first held in Makkah 1977, Second in Islamabad 1980, Third in Dakka (Bangladesh), 1981, Fourth in Jakarta 1982, the Fifth in Cairo 1987 and Sixth in Makkah 1993 and the Seventh in South Africa 1996. The conferences had deliberated on this religious education from elementary to tertiary level and produced guidelines for the implementation. How far Muslim countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, have responded to these guidelines and implement them in their curriculum is yet to be seen. The International Conferences of Muslim Education mentioned above should be a stepping stone toward the unified religious curricular reforms in Muslim countries for the years to come. The Malaysian Experiences The history of Islamic religious education in Malaysia before independence The history of Islamic education in Malaysia dated back as early as 13th century when Islam first came to this region (Abdul Halim, 1995). Islamic education can be divided into four stages : i. Centered around teachers houses ii. Centered around mosques, suraus and madrasahs iii. Centered around religious institutions called pondok. (literally , Hut school) iv. Centered around religious institutions called madrasah schools i. Centered around teachers houses At the early stage it was carried out in a very informal way suitable to the environment of that time which it centered around teachers homes (rumah-rumah guru). Students came to the teachers (normally known as Ulama) homes to learn reading Quran and fardhu Ain (basic Islamic teaching). ii. Centered around mosques, suraus and madrasahs Due to the increasing number of students flocking to the teachers homes where the later could not accommodate all of them, then came the idea of religious education to be centered around mosques, suraus and madrasahs. The teachers used to sit with their students in circles. These teachers were easily received by the society even sometimes they were called to palaces to teach the king of the state and their relatives. iii. Centered around religious institutions called pondok Subsequently it centered around religious institutions called pondok. (literally, it means hut school) Pondoks are traditional religious schools which dominated the Malay world education system in the earlier part of 14th century. i.e pre colonial and even during colonial period. The pondok institution was the first and most influential legacy in Islamic education in both Malaysia and Indonesia (called Pesantran). The management of these pondoks differs from place/center to another place/center and there was no standard set of syllabus. However, the mode of instruction was similar to that practised in Makkah and Cairo before the advent of modern methods of teaching. Rosnani (1996) mentioned that many scholars have discussed the origin of Pondok institution in Malaysia, whether it originated from Sumatera, Indonesia or Pattani, in Southern Thailand. However, she argued that one cannot dismiss the possibility that the pondok institution was an influence of Makkah education of that era because the content and the teaching methods in pondok institutions were comparable to those in the Al Haram Mosque in Makkah and many pondok teachers had taken the pilgrimage to Makkah and deepened their knowledge of Islam. Some of the famous ulama (Tok guru) in the middle of 19th century were Tok Selehor, Tok Kenali, Tok Kemuning, Tok Ku Pulau Manis, etc. Although there was no standardised content and no limitation in the years of study. The pondok curriculum shared some common features of the subject. All pondoks usually include the basic disciplines such as Tauhid, Al-Quran, Fiqh, Hadith, Nahu, Sarf, Tasawwuf and Akhlaq. After years of study and considered as alim or knowledgeable by their guru these students will come back to their respective villages to teach and some may go abroad to further their study to Makkah, Cairo, Pakistan or India.. When these students went to Al Azhar University and other Middle East countries they were taught and trained with the curriculum of that particular place of study and easily got influenced by it. Thus, when they returned to their home countries they usually joined the existing pondok or established a new one. They would planned and implemented either totally or partially the curriculum they had went through in their early days as students. Thus, it was not a surprise to find out that many pond oks or madrasahs curriculum were the carbon -copy of Al- Azhar and other Middle East countries. This situation continues until now since the academic results or certificate given by these pondoks and madrasahs are not generally accepted by mainstream universities, many of these students have to continue their education in locations such as Pakistan, Egypt and other Middle East countries. iv. Centered around religious institutions called madrasah schools At the end of 19th century especially after World War 1, with the influence of Islah movement led by reformists Sayyid Jamaluddin Al Afghani (1839-1879) and Muhammad Abduh, (1849-1905), many religious madrasah schools were established in many places in Malaysia as alternative to pondok school and also to compete with the secular school. The Malaysian reformists ideas came from Sheikh Tahir Jalaludin and Shiekh Ahmad Al Hadi who were very much influenced by Al-Afghani and Abduh (Al Attas,1972). With these Madrasah system, Islamic education not only focus on spiritual, fardu Ain and Tauhid but it became more comprehensive, it include other subjects in the curriculum such as Arabic language, Maths and Geograph. Islamic Education during the British Period Japan conquered Malaysia (1941-45) and was defeated to the British. The British then made few educational reformations starting with Barnes Report and Fern Wu Report. Briefly, the Barnes Report stated the lack of religious instruction in schools had led Malay parents sent their children to learn religion in the afternoon sessions which were very tiresome. The committee suggested jawi be omitted and religious instruction be taught instead. Barnes Report also suggested only one system of primary education (national primary school) to be held. Fenn Wu Report suggested and supported trilingual where Malay, Chinese and English languages should be encouraged to be the medium of instruction. As a compromise, the government passed the Education Ordinance 1952, where the promotion of national school system by gradual introduction of English into Malay Vernacular schools and Malay and English languages into Chinese and Tamil Vernacular school and also recommended the maintenance of English nat ional type school. Interestingly, it also recommended that religious education be provided to pupils either within school premises or in suitable premises close by as part of the school lessons ( Hussein Onn,1957). During the British period education was divided into religious and non religious education. Here has the beginning of the secular education in Malaysia. Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an innovation of British colonial government. Many of the earliest schools in Malaysia were started in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka, and Singapore. The oldest school in Malaysia is the Penang Free school, founded in 1816, followed by Malacca Free School later changed to Malacca High school in 1978. While the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) was established in 1905 based on English Public School. Many of these schools still carry with them an air of prestige although there is no formal difference between these schools and other schools. Islamic education after independence and the impact of National Educational Policy Formal educational policies came into place after Malayas independence in 1957. The task of the new government was to establish a national education system which, while making the Malay as the national language of the country, the languages and cultures of non- Malay communities are preserved and sustained. The most important development was the implementation of The Education Act 1961 where The Razak Report and the Rahman Talib Report became the basis for the formulation of this Act. The main features of the Razak Report are; a uniform national education and centralized examination system, A Malayan oriented curriculum, one type of national Secondary school, English and Malay language compulsory and Bahasa Melayu as the main medium of instruction. While the main features Rahman Talib Report are : Free primary and universal education, automatic promotion to Form 3, Establishment of schools Inspectorate, Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction, Religious/moral education as basis for spiritual development, emphasis on teacher education . In addition, the implementation of Islamic education in National Educationtal System was also based on the reports made during Razak Report (1956) and Rahman Talib Report (1960) where it is clearly stated that in any assisted school where not less than 15 pupils profess the Muslim religion, religious instruction to them shall be provided at public expense. Instruction in other religions to other pupils may be provided so long as no additional cost falls upon public funds and provided that no child shall be required to attend classes in religious instructions without the parents consent Initially, Islamic education was taught after school hours. Starting from 1962, the Islamic religious subject was implemented and officially included in the school time table where it was taught for 120 minutes (2 hours) per week by the teachers approved by the state authority.(Education Ordinance 1957). Rosnani (1996) is of the opinion that although these recommendations were positive, in the sense that they gave importance to religious instruction in national and national-type schools, they affected all Islamic religious adversely i.e a decline in pupil enrolment because Malay parents saw many advantages in the national schools, firstly their children could learn religion whether in national and national-type English schools. Second, greater opportunities to further studies and, greater job opportunities that awaited graduates of national schools compared to religious schools.The decline in enrolment was due also to the automatic promotion until Form Three, the abolition of the Malayan Secondary School Entrance Examination and the establishment of national secondary schools. The second major consequence was the transformation of the the Madrasahs curriculum in accordance with the National Educational Policy where the Malay language replaced Arabic as the medium of language and the religious subject had to be reduced to accomodate new secular subjects i.e Malay language, English, Mathematics, Geography, History and general Science. The third major impact of the National Education Policy was the shortage of teachers in the Madrasah because qualified teachers left for better facilities and better pay offered by National schools. Madrasahs institutions also had acute financial problems and had to be rescued by state religious department. Rosnani, (1996) further claimed that these factors, in addition to changing societal values brought about the decline of Madrasah and near demise of pondok in 1960s. Paradigm shift a) The Integrated Curriculum for Primary School (ICPS) and The New Secondary School Integrated curriculum (NSSIC) It was a fact that the 70s witnessed the increase of Islamic conciousness among the Muslim throughout the Muslim World including Malaysia which subsequently contributed to educational reform. A few Islamic organizations such as ABIM, Al Arqam and Jamaat Tabligh were also formed during the 70s where their dynamic activities help to strengthen Islam in Malaysia. According to Ghazali (2000), there are many factors contributing to the Malaysian educational reform. Apart from the implementation of suggestions and report made in 1979, the changes in the political climate where people were more inclined to Islam should be considered. The influence of the Islamic movement in Iran gave a significant impact among the Muslims in Malaysia to support the Islamic party (PAS). Then, the government under the leadership of Tun Dr. Mahathir officially introduced Islamization policy in 1983. Consequently The Islamic institutions, the International Islamic University (IIUM) and the Islamic Banking were established. The philosophy of the University was inspired by the recommendations of the first World Conference on Muslim Education held in Mecca in 1977. According to this philosophy, knowledge shall be propagated in the spirit of Tawhid leading towards the recognition of Allah as the Absolute Creator and Master of mankind. Thus all disciplines of knowledge should lead towards subservience of this truth. Knowledge is a form of trust(amanah) from Allah to man, and hence man should utilize knowledge according to Allahs will in performing his role as the servant and vicegerent (khalifah) of Allah on earth. In this way the seeking of knowledge is regarded as an act of worship (Diary IIUM, 2005) Subsequently in 1982, The Ministry of Education, introduced The New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC). It was implemented nation wide in 1983. The NPSC was formulated to provide equal opportunity to students to acquire basic skills and knowledge in addition to inculcating noble moral values. The emphasis of this new curriculum is on the acquisition of the three basic skills,namely reading, writing and mathematics. With a renewed emphasis on integration, it was decided in 1993 that a change of name take place. The New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC) is now known as The Integrated Curriculum for Primary School (ICPS)(Curriculum Development Centre 1997). The New Secondary School Integrated curriculum (NSSIC) or integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KBSM) which was guided by the recommendation of the first World Conference on Muslim Education 1977, in Makkah was introduced in 1988 for lower secondary level and in 1989 the curriculum was implemented in phase up to form five level. (Hasan.L, 1993). The main focus of the curriculum is on an integrated educational approach. The approach incorporated knowledge with skills and moral values. It also combine theory with practical training. The strategy is to incorporate Moral Values into curriculum and the Malay language with curriculum (Curriculum Development Centre,1997). b) The National Educational Philosophy (NEP) The Education Act 1961 has determined Malaysias education policies for over three decades until it was repealed in 1996. The Education Act 1996 is the latest and is the most comprehensive where it stated for the first time in writing the National Educational Philosophy (Under Act 550). The official statement of NEP states as follows : Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on the firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are resilient and capable of achieving a high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the betterment of the family, society and the nation at large. Langgulung, H (1993) stated that based on this NEP, the planning of KBSM is meant to help students to develop their intellectual, spiritual, emotional as well as physical potentials in comprehensive and integrated manner. It is hoped that the comprehensive and integrated development could create student who is able to adjust himself in society and contribute to the progress and the welfare of himself in order to function effectively and productively in the national development. The Islamic educational challenge faced by Malaysia since Sept 11 To ensure that the Malaysian education system responds properly to the nation building, unity and the development of the country there were many curricula reviews and tremendous changes in Malaysia education since its independence in 1957. It is a well-known fact that the Muslim education system in the Muslim world including Indonesia and Malaysia is the extension of the Western educational system which is compartmentalised and secularized. As a consequence of the Western influence and the weaknesses of the Muslims, the religious curriculum in schools and university levels in both Malaysia and Indonesia are still compartmentalised. Rosnani ( 2004 2nd edition) claimed that the curriculum practiced in Muslim countries either borrowed wholesome or partially from the West and even the subjects and methodologies presently taught in the countries are copies of the Western. Here, it is important to note the statement made by Tan Sri Murad, the President of the social committee for the study of curriculum in national schools that the implementation of religious education at National Schools have a lot of weaknesses because there are still many students cant read Al Quran and write Jawi although they had attended six years of primary schools. (Berita Harian , 26/Feb/2003). Although there were many surveys and writings carried out for examples by Rosnani (1996), Sahari Langgulung (1999) and Abdul Hamid (2003) found several weaknesses of Islamic religious schools such as its curriculum, lack of facilities and financial and poor administration. However, one has to remember that SAR has contributed significantly to Islamic education in both Malaysia and Indonesia before their independence. Despite the weaknesses of Islamic religious schools, informal conversations and interviews with some Muslim parents revealed that they were still interested to enroll their children at this school due to a variety of reasons: i) With the high cost of living, many Muslim parents are both working full time thus they have very limited time to teach their own children and expect the schools to act on their behalf ii) Some of these Muslim parents are interested to teach their own children, unfortunately they themselves do not know how to read the Al- Quran and either have no or very limited knowledge regarding fardu Ain iii) Some parents also opt to send their children for religious classes after school hours or Sunday schools at the mosques because they feel that religious subject at the national school is not adequate or failed to meet their expectation iv) Many muslim parents are aware and worried about the moral decadence (social ills) in the society especially among the youth keep on increasing such as drug addicts, illegitimate child , bullying, gangsterism and etc. Thus it was not a surprise to learn that Peoples Religious Schools (SAR) in Malaysia mushroomed because parents were concerned about their children Islamic knowledge while the national school curriculum seemed inadequate. According to a daily newspaper, there were 500 SARs nation wide with 126,000 students receiving Islamic education in such institutions (NST, 22 Jan 2003). People Islamic religious schools (SAR) are schools mostly built, funded and owned by individuals or a group of people offering full time students Islamic religious education. These schools also use the curriculum which has been standardized by State religious department or Department for the advancement of Islam in Malaysia (JAKIM).These religious shools received the grant given by the government i.e RM 60 per year for a primary school student and RM120 for a secondary school student. However, in November 2002, the Malaysian government has stopped their state subsidy to SAR. The government gave two reasons for i.e that SAR lack of facilities which resulted students poor achievement and lack of trained teachers and thus urged parents to send their children to national schools (NST 9/10 Dec,2002). Rosnani (2004 2nd edition) raised a few important questions rega

Comparing Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres and William Shakespeares King

Comparing Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres and William Shakespeare's King Lear Jane Smiley's novel A Thousand Acres is a modern version of William Shakespeare's King Lear.   The tragic ideas brought out by King Lear are revisited in A Thousand Acres both containing universal themes in which societies from past to present can identify with.   Tragedy is a form of drama that depicts the suffering of a heroic individual who is often overcome by the very obstacles he is struggling to remove.   The novel and play each contain distinct tragic elements that lead to the development of similar characters, plot, and images but both have distinct themes.   A Thousand Acres provides a new interpretation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy allowing the reader to create a unique twist to their opinions of the Lear family. William Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear begins with the King's decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters.   He gathers them all together, and tells them he will divide up the kingdom according to whoever has the most love for him.   Goneril and Reagan, the two older daughters, make big declarations of love in order to get the shares they want of the kingdom.   The youngest daughter, Cordelia, tells Lear that she loves him, as a daughter should love a father.   Lear becomes angry and disappointed with Cordelia's response feeling she has shown a lack of devotion so he takes action and banishes her.   When Kent, a close friend of Lear, attempts to defend Cordelia, but as well he is banished by Lear.   Cordelia marries the King of France and goes to live there. The kingdom is equally divided between Goneril and Regan.   These two daughters are evil and decide if Lear becomes too much of a problem then they will take d... ... which would have prevented this tragedy.   The blinding Gloucester becomes ironic because when he is blinded he is able to see that he has judged his son Edgar wrongly and it is Edmund who is evil.   Similarly, in A Thousand Acres   Loren the loyal son is the cause of his tragedy.  Ã‚   Both Lear and Larry become mad after giving up their power too early.   When Lear turns his kingdom over to his daughters he looses respect and power which cause him to go mad.   When Larry signs his farm over to his daughters he looses control of the land and goes mad.   Works Cited and Consulted Bradley, A.C. "King Lear." 20Lh Century Interpretations of King Lear. Ed. Jane Adelman. New Jersev; Prentice-Hall, 1978. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear.   Ed. Russell Fraser.   New York: Penguin, 1998. Smiley, Jane.   A Thousand Acres.   New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1991.

The Unhealthy Diet of College Students Essay -- Expository Research Es

The Unhealthy Diet of College Students People eat food every day without thinking twice about it, because it is a necessity for us to live. How often do you think about what is in the foods that you eat? How many calories does it have? Are there any vitamins and minerals in it? Is it high in fat? For most of us and especially college students who live a busy life on the go, the answer to that question is probably no. Since becoming a recent graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania Academy of Culinary Arts, I have been more interested in food and what people are eating. Also since more young Americans are becoming obese I want to find out what they are eating and where. Going to college and seeing how students have poor eating habits I want to find out why they are eating this way. Is it because they are away from home for the first time? Or is it because that is the only food that is available for them? I also want to find out if students would eat healthier if it was provided for them? My hypothesis is that students eat unhealthy because it is more convenient for them. There is usually no time to cook a homemade meal and most college students are always in a hurry so it is easier to pick up takeout. Also most college students don’t know how to cook. I also believe that most college students don’t care if the food is unhealthy for them, as long as it tastes good. Hopefully, in the following pages I will uncover the wide world of college eating. The research methods that I used for this paper were surveys, interviews and observations. I performed a survey on ten college students in which I asked various yes and no questions and ones with various multiple-choice answers. Do you have a meal ... ...omething to go. I found out that college student’s want foods that are quick, taste good, and cheap. The limitation to my research was that I only passed out ten surveys all at the cafeteria. Perhaps if I did more or passed them out at a different location I might have gotten different results. I also only interviewed two people, and a larger sample might have changed my results. Also only observing my roommates shopping might have limited me to what I always eat, other college students might buy healthier foods when they shop. Take a minute now and think about what you eat in an average day and see if you fall into the categories of eating unhealthy with the majority of college students. Next time you buy something to eat take a second and look what’s in it and think to yourself. Should I be eating this? Or is there something healthier that I could be eating?

Luxury Goods and Jewellery in India Essay

The VERTU originally started in 1998 in Great Britain, now wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish company Nokia. The same year founder and Chief Designer, Italian Frank Nouvo began putting his ideas for Vertu on paper and the board of Nokia gave the project a green light. Frank Nuovo was a design strategist at Nokia from 1995 to 2006, when he left to become Vertu’s lead designer full time. Also in 1998 the company made it a company principle of hand making their products with â€Å"exotic, rare and naturally durable materials†. In 1999, their characteristic V form was established, and it is still highly visible across the Vertu product portfolio. In 2000 Vertu began taking shape as a company, locating their headquarters in England, and started an extensive Research and Development- project and decided on some of the parts that would go into the phones as well as some design decisions, such as the use of sapphire crystals as a design-tweak. Three years in to operations, Vertu was granted the Vertu Concierge Service as a patent and this is still one of Vertu’s edges in the luxury cell phones market. Vertu launched what they themselves call the â€Å"†¦first ever luxury mobile phone† near the Eiffel tower in Paris in 2002, the Vertu Signature. With the first phones now available on the newly created market for luxury phones, Vertu also had the opportunity to offer one of their customers help through the concierge service, with a flight from London to New York. In 2005 10. 000 concierge requests was made according to Vertu, a figure that is, and should be (due to their customers privacy), hard to confirm. In 2003 they open their 50th retail location. By 2010, Vertu had more than 90 own boutiques and was sold in over 600 locations in almost 70 countries, worldwide, according to Nokia`s financial statement for 2010. In 2007 Vertu went on a joint venture with Ferrari, creating an special edition phone marking the car company’s 60th anniversary. CONCEPT AND UNIQUENESS The concept of Vertu is to appeal to high-end customers who look for something unique in their mobile phones. Through meeting target customers standards about design, materials, price and brand Vertu has created a market for luxury mobile phones. The additional services, such as the Vertu Concierge give customers an elevated experience. â€Å"Vertu aims to enhance and enrich customers’ lives through the services and products we offer. This enrichment will now further extend to the experience in our stores with a focused, tailored approach to customer interaction. † by Perry Oosting, President of Vertu BUSINESS STRATEGY Nokia’s first idea was to create a phone that was completely contrary to the company’s mass phone distribution and enter the luxury market by creating the subsidiary company Vertu. In order to keep the luxury image and status of Vertu, the phone was not associated with Nokia’s mass mobile phones. During the recession in 2009, the CEO Perry Oosting, announced that Vertu was launching cheaper phones and accessories as a tool to keep up the market shares and survive the recession. Late 2011, the new CEO of Nokia, presented the new strategy; to use a new operating system from Microsoft for their smartphones. This resulted in a giant downfall in market shares. As mentioned above, Vertu’s flagship stores are located at the most exclusive shopping districts, amongst other Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in order to be associated with the same luxury atmosphere as the neighboring brands. Vertu also put a huge emphasis on the store layout, everything from special glass for the display cases, to the floor and lightening. For the ultimate luxury experience, they also provide high personal service with top skills. For the exclusiveness and status of the luxury phone, it was chosen to be launched in connection with fashion shows at Paris fashion week and was thereby becoming to be viewed as a fashion brand instead of a technology brand. This was a strategic move to strengthen the image if the brand. Vertu chose to launch their products in the BRIC countries, which consists of some of the most emerging markets in the world today. Additionally, the Middle East and Japan are also two extremely important markets for Vertu, partly due to the strong technology awareness in these areas. The sales in these countries are larger than in the western countries and the luxury company is exploiting the new wealth of the generations with high luxury awareness and taste. In order to gain greater market share in the British and Hong-Kong market, Vertu has numerous joint ventures and partnerships with jewelry stores, such as King Fook Jewelry in Hong-Kong and Goldsmiths in Harrods, London. â€Å"We understand communications technology. We believe now that we understand the luxury industry. It will take something for competition to match that. † – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu, 2002 MARKETING MIX Product: Vertu sells hand-made luxury phones made from fine materials like gold, platinum and sapphire. Along with every purchase the buyer receives superior service and is entitled to free ‘concierge’ service which assists users with exclusive services like restaurant and hotel reservations, priority bookings, and a global recommendation network. Price: Vertu prices range from $5,000 to over $300,000. The prices vary with the different collections and the materials that are used in them. Place: Vertu phones are selectively distributed. They are available at company-owned boutiques and at other various company-selected luxury stores like London Jewelers, Goldsmiths, Tourneau and Colette. Vertu locates its stores in luxury shopping districts of large metropolitan areas and opens relatively few stores. The stores are small, intimate and have a luxury feel more like that of a jewelry store than a cell phone store. All sale locations can be found on vertu. com. Promotion: Vertu acquires much publicity from sales to celebrities like David Beckham, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. As well Vertu has collaborated with big brands before like Ferrari, Boucheron and Audemars Piguet. Vertu releases different collections at different times and will only make a certain number of phones in order to keep a prestigious image and attract buyers. Vertu has a website for publicity which features product descriptions and photos of celebrities who own Vertu phones. POSITIONING. Vertu was a pioneer in the luxury cell phone market and has positioned itself as the top-of-the-line targeting high-net-worth individuals. Vertu accomplishes this by using only the finest materials to manufacture their products which are all handcrafted ensuring that every product is of perfect quality. Vertu will release different collections each featuring different materials and designs which make the collections unique and prestigious; their most expensive line ever was the Signature Cobra designed by Boucheron, only eight were made and they cost $310,000 each. Vertu will often collaborate with other luxury brands, like Boucheron, Audemars Piguet and Ferrari, to extend their success and name in the luxury product world. Vertu offers superior and personalized service to its clients, including a free concierge service anywhere in the world, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and loyalty. They also position themselves by showcasing the celebrities who own their products as an indication that their products are for the rich and famous. Vertu has locations all over the world in 70 countries however they open relatively few boutiques solely in luxury shopping districts of large cities and thus are considered selectively distributed. Vertu boutiques are decadent, small, intimate venues which offer personalized service to clients wishing to make a purchase; the other stores licensed to sell Vertu products are also luxury stores like Tourneau Watches and London Jewelers in the United States, Bandiera Jewelers in Canada, Colette in Paris and Ernest Jones in London. Vertu very successfully maintains a prestigious image with its ultra-luxurious products and superior service through its positioning. VERTU SERVICES VERTU brand offers services that are unique, independent and carefully customized to the particular needs and desires of their customers. All services are integrated into gadget. VERTU CONCIERGE Vertu Concierge is added directly to the customer`s handset, offering luxury assistance and enrichment. The service is offered by voice call or email, and access through a dedicated key on the cell. At the moment of VERTU phone registration and activation of VERTU Concierge service, initial â€Å"fitting† call is proposed. It can be done immediately at purchase time or later up to client`s choice. The â€Å"fitting† call gives an opportunity to have full explanation of services offered by Concierge, as well as client can express her/his needs and desires which will be matched to this service. This includes the establishment of personal preferences, the range of the service they would wish and significantly, the sort of contact they wish to receive from Vertu. The Vertu Concierge Classic service offers the client with 24/7 access to a team of lifestyle managers, situated within a network of global centers covering all the main time zones including London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Vertu Concierge also has managers on the ground in major destinations in order to create close relationships with specialist suppliers of goods and services specifically for Vertu clients. Many customers choose to use Vertu Concierge for their travel and lodging requirements as Vertu has protected exclusive opportunities for its clients. Vertu Concierge can contact the widest network of hotels, restaurants and airlines, and can as a result meet the exact preferences and expectations of their customers. Vertu Concierge clients may also ask for support with purchases ranging from small luxury items to accompaniments to their property range. Vertu Concierge is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese. Vertu Classic Concierge is included free of charge for one year from the date of purchase of a Vertu handset. VERTU CITY BRIEF. Vertu City Brief is a global digest of information covering more than 200 cities and destinations worldwide. Launched in September 2009, it is now one of Vertu’s most utilized services. Independently written for Vertu by experts in their respective fields, Vertu City Brief is available on Vertu handsets in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Refreshed and updated on a regular basis, Vertu City Brief allows the user to hit the ground running on arrival in an unfamiliar territory or to explore new or exciting opportunities in their home town. If the customer does not see anything which exactly meets their requirements, Vertu City Brief is the perfect inspiration to begin a conversation with a Vertu Concierge Lifestyle Manager. VERTU SELECT Vertu Select delivers original articles selected to inspire, inform and entertain based on a user’s region, preferences and passions. Written by carefully selected global journalists, experts and organizations, the articles appear via the handsets RSS feed once a customer has registered their phone. Vertu Select is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. VERTU. ME Introduced with the launch of Constellation Quest in October 2010, vertu. me is a service that provides the user with a Vertu email account and effortless harmonization of the device’s lifestyle and business tools. Should the customer choose, the user’s emails, contacts, calendar and task information can be automatically synchronized with Vertu’s secure servers, giving the benefit of protected back up of their data. Vertu offers the consumer complete peace of mind. Should the handset be lost, this data can be retrieved and seamlessly downloaded to a replacement phone. The system also ensures that whenever the vertu. me account is accessed, whether from the phone, a home or office computer (PC and Mac) or via the web, this information is up to date. TARGET CONSUMER The Vertu mobile is a highly luxurious product, which doubtlessly is made to fit the extremely wealthy population of this world. The main customers are rich and found in the urban areas, who are constantly searching for the extraordinary products. Furthermore, their flagship- and department stores are situated in the finest areas, in order to attract the highly rich international shoppers. â€Å"These are people who buy the best quality watches, the best quality fashion devices† – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu The special features and services of the phone such as the â€Å"Vertu Concierge†, attracts customers who are constantly traveling worldwide – jet setters. The Vertu mobile was the first phone which was able function in over 180 different countries. This fact covered many needs and made it rapidly attractive for people who were constantly traveling such as celebrities and high ranked business people. In fact, Madonna, Beckham and Gwyneth Patrol were some of Vertu’s first users when it was launched. CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID Brand Salience For Vertu achieving right brand identity involves brand salience. People generally are not still aware of VERTU because it is relatively â€Å"young† brand and promotion is quite narrow. However their target consumer for sure can recall and recognize this brand. So conclusion here is that Brand salience is more depth than breadth. This basically means that even thou there are not yet many people knowing VERTU, but those who do , they know all insights of it, can easily recall it and understands what this brand is about. Brand Performance The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, as it is the primary influence of what consumers experience with a brand, what they hear about the brand from others, and what the brand can tell customers about the brand in their communication. Brand Performance relates to the ways in which the product or service attempts to meet customers` functional needs. This is on top level for VERTU brand. It is crucial to contribute to customers` desires, wants and needs. Vertu brand highly represents all what their HNWI customers want to have for paying a high price. The product is highly durable; it has distinctive logo, premium pricing and advanced technology in gadgets. Unique services provided for customers by VERTY also attributes to brand`s performance. Brand Imagery Another variable CBBE Pyramid is second type of brand meaning which involves brand imagery. Imagery deals with such a properties of a product, which meets customers` psychological needs. It is more about what people think of it, how they see it. VERTU`s imagery is extremely individualistic and stylish. When customer is buying VERTU cell he/she buys a beauty of it as well. As of VERTU`s customer has a strong judgment of a brand as high quality luxury product. Credibility is high and customer see VERTU as superior, advantageous brand. Brand Judgments Brand judgments focus upon customers` personal opinions and evaluation with regard to brand. This involves how consumer put together all from performance and imagery association to make kind of an evaluation. VERTU`s clients evaluate this brand as a high quality luxury brand. Brand Feelings This variable shows emotional response with respect to VERTU brand. It shows what feelings are evoked by the marketing strategy for the VERTU and how does it affect feelings about themselves and relationships with others. Customer of VERU is for sure status-conscious person. Customers of VERTU have a unique and warmth feeling about the brand. It can be exciting due to special relationship of beauty and technology in brand`s products. Customer feels it is trendy and relates to special status and therefore social approval. Customer feels high security within this brand due to all advantages provided. As VERTU makes consumer feel better self-respect, pride, fulfillment and accomplishment also occurs. Brand Resonance Final variable of pyramid shows brand relationships with a customer based on Salience, Performance, Imagery, Judgments and Feelings. As for VERTU even if general awareness is low the behavioral loyalty is very high, customer want to get back to this brand, consequently repeat purchase is possible. Brand loyalty is necessary but not sufficient for resonance to occur. Within VERTU brand customer is not returning to this brand again due to, for example, scarce of substitutes. VERTU attained their main goal- strong personal attachment to brand. It goes beyond of having just a positive attitude to view brand. Another important part of Resonance is active engagement. This probably is the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty. It occurs when client is willing to invest time, energy, money in to the brand. Constantly customers of VERTU are invited to special social events created by VERTU worldwide, and they are participating. Therefore VERTU has a very strong relationship with its customer. SWOT ANALISYS FOR VETRU STRENGHT * Masterpiece of design, engineering, and craftsmanship. * Was truly innovative pioneering brand * Strong reputation (Products have established strong reputation in their field) * Global expansion (Includes significant growth over last 10 years) * Customer service * Control of Quality(As produced just in one factory in England) * London Symphony Orchestra is creating ringtones exclusively for each model of Vertu WEAKNESSES * Extremely high production price (which leads to high product price) * Limited access as distribution is exclusive and limited (Missing opportunities for new customers) * Not able to buy online (More customers now go online). * Not enough technical innovation again (Many customers claim that gadgets are beautiful but not really practical) OPPORTUNITIES * E-business (launch â€Å"buy option† online) * Emerging markets * Mix VERTU styling with Nokia (in order to increase awareness ) * Change of consumer lifestyle (growing demand from young and senior people) THREATS * Increasing Quality of Competing Products and Number of those * Importance of counterfeiting (Chinese counterfeiting factories already picked up the idea) * Newer forms of luxury and innovation are constantly changing COMPETITORS. GOLDVISH Brand established in Geneve, Switzerland in 2003. Very Haut-Couture style but extremely not practical. Cells are difficult to buy, narrow distribution channel. View itself as a pioneering brand of luxury cell phone on official website which is obvious lie. The pioneering brand was VERTU. Only 3 lines of phones are developed since 2003. The most expensive gadget is â€Å"Le Millionaire† and it costs $1,000 000. MOBIADO Canadian-based manufacturer of luxury phones with modern minimalistic design launched in 2004. It has 3 main lines –Classic, Professional and Grand Line. Mobiado actively participates in social events in North America (such as Golden Globes and Couture Fashion Week in NY). The brand is not very popular in Middle East and Europe. Still Distribution channel is not wide enough. Price range is from $1,900 to $57,000 GRESSO Gresso is Russia-based company which started its activity in 2007, so it is the newest competing brand in luxury phones field. Gresso has 5 main lines and they also provide customized phone for their clients. But mostly popular in Russia and Vietnam, Ukraine and one distributor in USA so far, however it is compensated by their option to buy products online. For Gresso products price range is from $3,000 to $42,000. RECOMMENDATIONS Focused and customized segmentation is valuable in this market, so VERTU must continuously concentrate on their customers’ needs and desires. As any luxury company which faces constant global expansion it has to pay attention to counterfeiting problem. For example, Apple Inc. now faced big problem in China where whole Apple stores are opened and being â€Å"fake†. China already produces cheap unqualified cells, abusing the brand VERTU, so losses in long-run might be significant. VERTU must work on effective anti-counterfeiting strategy in order to preserve the â€Å"face† of the brand. During this study we have discovered that general awareness of the brand is still low, therefore VERTU might collaborate with mother-company Nokia in order to produce some kind of mix and make the brand more popular and easily recognized, as for example H&M and Roberto Cavalli collaboration. Vertu is constantly launching Limited Edition lines which are sufficient in this market, because â€Å"best consumer† wants something distinctive and really exclusive, and more important, the customer is ready to pay for that. Partnership with Ferrari, Boucheron and Ermenegildo Zegna increased popularity of the brand considerably. For that reason, we suggest VERTU to collaborate more also with fashion designers, thus gaining also â€Å"fashion† group customers. REFERENCES http://us. vertu. com/world-of-vertu/history/ http://i. nokia. com/blob/view/-/263802/data/1/-/form20-f-10-pdf. pdf http://www. cpp-luxury. com/en/vertu-lanseaza-o-gama-de-produse-mai-ieftina_444. html http://www. google. fr/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=vertu%20mobile%20strategy&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CGQQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered. mcgraw-hill. com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F007710708x%2F110214%2FGucciLouisVuitton_Vertu_CaseStudy. doc&ei=_GctT_WCE8HM0QWryK2tCA&usg=AFQjCNHW6_wzn1WCQxkM_OJSMTuizfXMcQ&sig2=MWFOk5Qo1sZB17F5_23Eew&cad=rja http://www. businessweek. com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071221_951028. htm http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm https://www. iveycases.com/ ProductView. aspx? id=52373 http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-services-overview/ http://mktg. uni-svishtov. bg/ivm/resources/CustomerBasedbrandEquityModel. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/ http://www. brandchannel. com/features_profile. asp? pr_id=61 http://www. prschool. ge/img/every_day/Fashion%20Marketing. pdf#page=155 http://www. zdnet. co. uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/22/platinum-luxury-phones-have-no-competition-2107188/ http://www. goldvish. com/ http://mobiado. com/ http://www. gresso. com/ http://vertu.com/ http://www. linkedin. com/company/vertu/statistics. http://vertu. com/en/discover-vertu/history. aspx http://vertu. com/en/help-and-support/contact-vertu/where-to-buy. aspx http://money. cnn. com/popups/2006/biz2/cellphone/4. html http://www. allbusiness. com/retail-trade/apparel-accessory-stores-womens-specialty/4250840-1. html http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm http://www. unet. univie. ac. at/~a0025537/php/ABWLs/FK-Marketing/store3/Internet_Exercise_Vertu. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/.

Different Biomes

Our family always looks forward every vacation time because of so many places we visited and how we learned a lot from it.   It’s just like an educational tour.   As we traveled along we learned of different biomes in the world.   The world contains different kinds of Biomes.   Biome is a kind of large ecosystem where animals, insects, plants and human beings live in certain type of climate.   The following are some of the places we visited: 1.   Northern Alaska. In Northern Alaska, you will find their frosty biome called the Arctic Tundra.   The earth’s coldest Biome.   The Arctic tundra is a cold, vast, treeless area of low, swampy plains in the north around the Arctic Ocean.   An example of tundra is the Alpine Tundra that is at the tops of high mountains.   The type of climate affects plants and animals living on that area because of the availability of food supplies.   Examples of animals are the polar bears, arctic foxes and caribou.   Plants include the cushion plants, small shrubs and the lichen. 2.   Asia Tropical rainforests are found in Asia particularly along the equator.   It receives rains each year, approximately 70 inches.   Most of the species of plants and animals are found in this type of biome.   Many of its plants are used in medicines.   However, rainforests are considered an endangered biome because of the rapid growth of people who have cut the trees and contributed to the so called global warming.   Some of the animals of the tropical rainforest are the anteater, jaguar, brocket deer, lemur, orangutan, marmoset, macaw, parrot, sloth, and toucan. Among the many plant species are bamboo, banana trees, rubber trees, and cassava. 3.   Russia Taiga is the name of biome found in Russia.   It is a land dominated by conifers, like spruces and firs.   It has a limited variety of animals and plants compared to the temperate deciduous forest. References http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769052.html                                             

Something You Do Well on

Something that I learned to do non academic is a to play cymbals. Why cymbals you may ask? Well I was never really interested in band even though I was in it for a year. I wasn’t interested in playing a wood, horn, or drum. I never knew that my school had cymbals cause my class period there were none. The first time that I ever seen actual cymbal players was at TSU football game. I saw how they twirled and danced as they played the instruments. My cousin was in the drum line he bounced around to instrument to instrument.Then he found his last option cymbals. He told me â€Å"Keandre why you don’t play in band anymore? † I said â€Å"they don’t have any interesting instrument s†. He said â€Å"you should play cymbals†. I immediately joined again. On my first day I had to learn the three basic skills on cymbals choke chase and crash. First was the crash. Crashing the cymbals you had to hold the left or right at an angle the hit it with the othe r. I could do this step it was the easiest. I never could mess up this step. Crash, crash, crash, one after another left then right then again.Most people that first learn the cymbals this step should come naturally. Next was choke a little more complex. I had to put my hands in the a certain way then had to act as if I was clapping my hand and then move the cymbals forward. I couldn’t do this motion right, I tried and either it was wrong or wasn’t loud enough. My instructors told me that I couldn’t keep moving forward unless I learn this step. I took my pair of cymbals home the next few days. Came back and perfected it like I was one of the cymbal players.The last step is chasing, when I do a little crash to a chock, right before you do the choke you turn your cymbals towards you. I couldn’t do this difficult step. I tried to watch the others do it but couldn’t, I was thinking of quitting but that wasn’t a factor this time. This is somethin g I wanted to do. So I took my cymbals and watched an instructional video on Youtube. I found out that something difficult could be so simple. Once I got this step then I was allowed to play with the rest of the band. As time went by, I learned most of the songs. Then they taught the best part of cymbals to me.Twirling, I was already watching videos on Youtube. They said â€Å"what you got? † then they showed how to call other cymbal players out. Put my cymbals in the air and twirl them towards each other. I started to learn the call outs and soon called out everyone even though I would either get beat or win. Someone from Stafford called me out then I raised my cymbals and battled. Once I was done, he sat down. I can hear all of my fellow band members cheering behind me. Once I actually felt like I was a part of an activity. People were actually proud of me.