Discussion board week 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion board week 2 - Assignment Example gists who keep abreast with the emerging technology trends to remain flexible and to take advantage of unforeseen developments in technology (Steers, 2010). Innovation is another problem facing most organizations today. In order to meet customer needs and specifications organizations today need to invest in innovation (Barret, 2005). They are eager to create advanced cultures in innovation. The management may analyze competition and use innovation processes to satisfy customers while maintaining the company’s mission, goals, and objectives. Uncertainty in supply driven by the changes in commodity prices, disruptions in weather changes, increased costs of raw materials and competition makes supply planning more challenging (Stecher, 2004). The solution to this problem is having proper pricing strategies and developing a supply chain strategy that minimizes supply of commodities and that which ensures the lowest costs. Globalization is another challenge that organizations face. It is important to understand foreign cultures to penetrate new markets. In addition, organizations need to penetrate new markets with existing products and designing products and services for customers who are new (Galliers, 2003). Have proper channel designs that ensure that products are available for consumption. Organizations need to understand new markets and cultures by effective planning, and managing cultural differences in order to be successful globally. Organizations face challenges from government policies and regulations from different countries. Increased costs due to the payment of taxes that are ever changing. Some governments have put barriers on some products, therefore making it difficult to conduct business. Managers need to understand the policies put by the government before conducting

Evolution and Education :: Science Teaching Argumentative Essays

Evolution and Education Whenever various debates have taken place in parts of the country regarding whether evolution should be taught in schools, I have always observed the situation with a degree of incredulousness; neither the parochial education I received in elementary and middle school nor the public education I received for high school ever attempted to dissuade us from learning about evolution, and while none of my classes ever taught evolution with as much depth as Ernst Mayr attempted to convey in What Evolution Is, both systems taught it as a fact – one that we took for granted. The debate on the use of the word "evolution" in the Georgia school system initially appeared to me to be a manifestation of more anti-evolution tendencies, although Superintendent Kathy Cox has not commented on the theory of evolution itself; "the unfortunate truth," stated Cox as her rationale, "is that 'evolution' has become a controversial buzzword that could prevent some from reading the proposed biology curriculum" (Gross A10). Whatever her own beliefs on the subject are, however, the elimin ation of the term "evolution" may provide cool comfort to the theory's detractors, but its overall effect is merely to hamper the student's understanding of what evolution entails. In place of "evolution," Georgia's proposed replacement is "biological changes over time"; it hopes to convey the meaning behind the word without using the word itself (Gross A10). Mayr's own definition seems to be rather similar when he states, "Evolution is change in the properties of populations of organisms over time," but a word expresses more than what a clipped dictionary definition can allow (Mayr 8). When "evolution" is used in daily parlance in a non-biological context, adaption is often an unspoken yet important component of it. If one speaks of "evolving as a person" or "evolving in his role as team captain," there is a sense that one is moving from a less-adapted state to becoming better suited for whatever it is one does. It implies that there is a development of certain qualities to be better suited for the environment an individual may find him- or herself in, not simply "changes over time" for the sake of change; while there is indeed a degree of randomness in how a species may evolve (or come to destruction, as the well-adapted dinosaurs did when a meteor struck and indelibly altered the environment), for the most part the changes are not entirely due to chance.

Love of country? Essay

Frederick Douglass’s speech â€Å"If I Had A Country, I Should Be A Patriot† delivers a blasting reproach on the discrimination of the African American and why he feels indignant about his country and being unwilling to call himself a patriot. Similar to Langston Hughes’s â€Å"I, Too, Sing America† , both employ a chord informative structure and a canting tone simple enough for the audience to incite a reaction from the audience to plead for freedom in America. Both authors though in different times face the challenges of racism and being an African American in the â€Å"Republic† of America. Douglass explains that even under natural rights there is no spot sacred in America that can secure his right of liberty. He orates â€Å"This is your land of the free†, your â€Å"home of the brave† to symbolize the ambivalence and optimism for freedom being an African American in America at that juncture and that America must be envisioned as the sentimental identity of the African American slave. â€Å"I never knew what freedom was till I got beyond the limits of the American eagle†. Douglass tries to explain that the idea of being a patriot in America differs from the reality currently going on in his time persuading his listeners to acknowledge the humanity in dehumanizing the institution of slavery. In Langston Hughes’s poem his first stanza details how he is treated unequally. â€Å"I am the darker brother; they send me to eat in the kitchen, when company comes but I laugh and eat well and grow strong.† He demonstrates that the nation he considers himself to belong under the constitution does not treat him as a superior but an inferior. The sentiment of this quote internally depicts that he feels equal to the other race. Unlike Douglass who is encouraging the people to realize their rights, Hughes is waiting for the opportune moment to rebel. The last four lines of Hughes’s poem â€Å"Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed – I, too, am America† corresponds with Douglass’s insight of hope and using inequality to unmask inequality in America and orating that his race integral to the very existence of America. Hughes orates that he will endure the racial despair with hopefulness in the American promise of justice for all. Douglass and Hughes are judging that there’s no greater danger to the advancement of the African American than the country and its spirit of alienation. This will always steer up to a revolution in a country. America should be a land true to natural love of liberty and its moral humanity and guide its united people to a moral progress. They found a reason to love and identify with this country despite injustices their people had suffered continued to suffer in their days as they waited for the alternate solution.

Why You Should Avoid Racist Halloween Costumes

Once upon a time, Halloween costumes were simple. Witches, princesses, and ghosts surfaced as the most popular get-ups. Not so anymore. In recent decades, the public has taken a fancy to costumes that make a statement. Unfortunately, these costumes sometimes make statements viewed as racist or anti-Semitic, such as when Englands Prince Harry donned a Nazi outfit to a party. Want to make a splash with your Halloween costume but not one that’s racially offensive? Then avoid the following get-ups. Ghetto Person/Black Person Rappers introduced the term â€Å"ghetto fabulous† into the American lexicon in the 1990s. The term refers to the flamboyant fashions that arise from the streets of inner cities. Who knew in the ’90s that college kids nationwide would throw parties in the new millennium with â€Å"ghetto fab† themes? Guests at such parties sport lots of â€Å"bling,† or ostentatious jewelry. Some might cover their teeth with fake gold or platinum caps and their heads with do-rags. Women might wear huge hoop earrings, fake fingernails and the scanty clothing that rap video vixens wear. Men might style their hair in cornrows or don Afro wigs. The problem with these ghetto fab costumes is that they invoke stereotypical images of African Americans as low-class, gauche, thuggish and sexually provocative, among others. These costumes tend to be classist and racist, impelling black college students who become aware of â€Å"ghetto fab† parties to have disciplinary action taken against party organizers for creating a racially hostile environment on campus. Redneck The flipside of the ghetto fab costume is the redneck or hillbilly Halloween costume, which is also both racist and classist. Those opting for such a costume might wear a mullet wig, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, along with jeans and a plaid shirt. Such costumes promote the stereotype that poor whites are ignorant and worthy of ridicule. They suggest that poor and working-class whites are inherently inferior to their more affluent counterparts. Geisha Girl Oddly enough, the geisha girl costume is popular among girls and women, alike. Considering that geishas are perceived to be high-end prostitutes in many circles, that’s cause for concern. Also troubling is that, along with the dragon lady, china doll, and lotus blossom, geisha girl is a racial and sexual stereotype thrust upon Asian women. The geisha stereotype is one that paints Asian women as submissive, doll-like and existing only to sexually gratify others. A contributor to Racialicous.com who goes by the name Atlasien poignantly spelled out why she objects to the appropriation of the geisha image. â€Å"Geisha are not very relevant in modern-day Japan. They’re a fossilized archetype, almost like a ninja,† she remarked. â€Å"But a lot of people, especially white people, are invested in defending geisha, in putting them on a pedestal. And when they do that, it does harm to Japanese-American women and to all Asian-American women.† Muslim The 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon not only put Arab and Muslim Americans under additional scrutiny in the U.S., but they also resulted in a rise in costumes related to Islamic fundamentalism. Want to wear a burqa for Halloween? There’s a costume for it. How about a Muslim suicide bomber? That costume’s available as well. The question is why would you want to wear one of these costumes? They’re far more likely to offend people you encounter than to make them laugh. To boot, they raise the worst stereotypes about Muslim Americans, the overwhelming majority of whom are peaceful and law-abiding citizens. American Indians (With or Without Cowboys) Considering the backlash against Native American mascots in sports, it should be no surprise that donning an American Indian costume is likely to rub some the wrong way. Whether you’re a kid dressing up as an Indian during a Thanksgiving play or an adult rooting for your favorite sports team while wearing faux war paint and a headdress, you’re likely to get a reaction because these costumes typically paint Native Americans as cartoonish and savage. Throwing cowboys into the mix only adds insult to injury. When European â€Å"cowboys† settled the Americas, they not only set out to appropriate Native lands but to decimate or neutralize the indigenous population. â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties make light of the atrocities committed in the name of manifest destiny. A January 2009 editorial written by college student Tefari Abel Casas Fuchs reveals how emotionally damaging â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties can be to Native American students. In addition to these issues, the sexy Pocahontas costumes on the market for women are racially offensive as well. Not only do they sexualize Pocahontas, a young adolescent girl, but Native American women generally. All too often, the sexual relationships Native American women had with European settlers were exploitative or abusive, with Native women regarded as the derogatory term â€Å"squaw.† Gypsy Gypsy getups frequently make the rounds at Halloween functions. Like Native American costumes, however, these costumes typically paint Gypsies, more appropriately called Roma, in cartoonish terms. â€Å"The romanticized image of the ‘Gypsy’ is alive and well in song lyrics, novels, costume parties, musical groups, and other forms of cultural imagery: ‘They are exotic women in colorful skirts, dancing in sensual swirls....’ They dance by campfires, travel in caravans, tell fortunes with crystal balls or Tarot cards,† notes advocacy group Voice of Roma. In addition to this, the Roma are stereotyped as being beggars, pickpockets, and con-artists. A case in point is that one can use the expressions â€Å"I got conned† and â€Å"I got gypped† interchangeably. Rather than counteract such stereotypes, Gypsy costumes promote them, ignoring the fact that the Roma have long been persecuted and continue to face virulent discrimination throughout Europe. During the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million Roma were exterminated. In the present, Roma are denied their rights to housing, employment, healthcare, and education, according to Amnesty International. The agency also reports that Roma are often victims of forced evictions, racist attacks, and police brutality. How stiff is bias against the Roma? When Madonna asked for Roma discrimination to stop during a concert in Bucharest in August 2009, the crowd reportedly jeered. Wrapping Up When choosing Halloween costumes with a racial bent, err on the side of caution. You’ll be less likely to offend if you dress up as a specific person rather than an anonymous member of a racial group. In other words, consider going as Barack Obama for Halloween rather than a black guy, any black guy. And be sure to avoid changing your features in a way that’s offensive. This means not wearing blackface to be President Obama or taping your eyes so that they slant if you’re dressing up as Bruce Lee. Plenty of Obama masks are available in Halloween stores, and a black wig, fake scratches on the face and a martial arts outfit might be all you need to be Bruce Lee.