Grapes of Wrath :: essays research papers

Migrant workers went through a lot of struggles. They went through life and death situations, prejudice, and one of the most important things of all they had to keep their family and people together and keep believing that they would make it to a better life. The things they go through while immigrating change their views on life forever. Some for the good some for the bad. â€Å"They said, these god dammed okies are dirty and ignorant. They’re degenerate, sexual maniacs. They’ll steal anything. They’ve got no sense of property rights† (Steinbeck 363). One of the hardest things that immigrants went through was prejudice. Cops and towns men where always after the okies because they where dirty and didn’t have a stable home. The immigrants from Mexico experienced the same hardships. The farm owners hated them. They just wanted them to do their job and leave. The farm owners didn’t care that they had a family to feed, they wanted to screw them over and pay them as less money as they could. It’s weird how the same prejudice is still around. No matter how nice a person is if they don’t dress the same or have the same interests they are disliked. â€Å"As usual there had been violent incidents on the picket line. A union member had been run over† (Del Castillo, Garcia 84). People everyday that went on strikes put their lives on the line. They knew there was a threat when they protested. It was a life and death situation. Fight for your rights, or keep working for the minimal amount and not be able to support your family. Every immigrant has tough choices to make. In the early days they had to make life and death choices. In both stories they have strikes to give the immigrants what they deserve. In the grapes of wrath as well as Cesar Chavez, somebody dies from a strike. â€Å"The heavy club crashed into the side of his head with a dull crunch of bone, and Casy fell sideways out of the light† (Steinbeck 495). Casy died because he protested against how much money people should earn. The men came after him and the rest of the protesters. They killed them in fear of having to raise the prices. Casy was tired of working for 2 cents an hour. He could live off that. The only choice he had was to protest.

Zoe’s Tale PART III Chapter Twenty-Three

Something was nudging me awake. I swatted at it. â€Å"Die,† I said. â€Å"Zoe,† Hickory said. â€Å"You have a visitor.† I blinked up at Hickory, who was framed as a silhouette by the light coming from the corridor. â€Å"What are you talking about?† I said. â€Å"General Gau,† Hickory said. â€Å"He is here. Now. And wishes to speak to you.† I sat up. â€Å"You have got to be kidding me,† I said. I picked up my PDA and looked at the time. We had arrived in Conclave space fourteen hours earlier, popping into existence a thousand klicks out from the space station that General Gau had made the administrative headquarters of the Conclave. He said he hadn't wanted to favor one planet over another. The space station was ringed with hundreds of ships from all over Conclave space, and even more shuttles and cargo transports, going between ships and back and forth from the station. Phoenix Station, the largest human space station and so big I've heard that it actually affected tides on the planet Phoenix (by amounts measurable only by sensitive instruments, but still), would have fit into a corner of the Conclave HQ. We had arrived and announced ourselves and sent an encrypted message to General Gau requesting an audience. We had been given parking coordinates and then willfully ignored. After ten hours of that, I finally went to sleep. â€Å"You know I do not kid,† Hickory said. It walked back to the doorway and turned up the lights in my stateroom. I winced. â€Å"Now, please,† Hickory said. â€Å"Come to meet him.† Five minutes later I was dressed in something I hoped would be presentable and walking somewhat unsteadily down the corridor. After a minute of walking I said, â€Å"Oh, crap,† and ran back to my stateroom, leaving Hickory standing in the corridor. A minute later I was back, bearing a shirt with something wrapped in it. â€Å"What is that?† Hickory asked. â€Å"A gift,† I said. We continued our trip through the corridor. A minute later I was standing in a hastily arranged conference room with General Gau. He stood to one side of a table surrounded by Obin-style seats, which were not really well designed either for his physiology or mine. I stood on the other, shirt in my hand. â€Å"I will wait outside,† Hickory said, after it delivered me. â€Å"Thank you, Hickory,† I said. It left. I turned and faced the general. â€Å"Hi,† I said, somewhat lamely. â€Å"You are Zoe,† General Gau said. â€Å"The human who has the Obin to do her bidding.† His words were in a language I didn't understand; they were translated through a communicator device that hung from his neck. â€Å"That's me,† I said. I heard my words translated into his language. â€Å"I am interested in how a human girl is able to commandeer an Obin transport ship to take her to see me,† General Gau said. â€Å"It's a long story,† I said. â€Å"Give me the short version,† Gau said. â€Å"My father created special machines that gave the Obin consciousness. The Obin revere me as the only surviving link to my father. They do what I ask them to,† I said. â€Å"It must be nice to have an entire race at your beck and call,† Gau said. â€Å"You should know,† I said. â€Å"You have four hundred races at yours. Sir.† General Gau did something with his head that I was going to hope was meant to be a smile. â€Å"That's a matter of some debate at this point, I'm afraid,† he said. â€Å"But I am confused. I was under the impression that you are the daughter of John Perry, administrator of the Roanoke Colony.† â€Å"I am,† I said. â€Å"He and his wife Jane Sagan adopted me after my father died. My birth mother had died some time before that. It is on my adopted parents' account that I am here now. Although I apologize† – I motioned to myself, and my state of unreadiness – â€Å"I didn't expect to meet you here, now. I thought we would come to you, and I would have time to prepare.† â€Å"When I heard that the Obin were ferrying a human to see me, and one from Roanoke, I was curious enough not to want to wait,† Gau said. â€Å"I also find value in making my opposition wonder what I am up to. My coming to visit an Obin ship rather than waiting to receive their embassy will make some wonder who you are, and what I know that they don't.† â€Å"I hope I'm worth the trip,† I said. â€Å"If you're not, I'll still have made them nervous,† Gau said. â€Å"But considering how far you've come, I hope for both our sakes the trip has been worth it. Are you completely dressed?† â€Å"What?† I said. Of the many questions I might have been expecting, this wasn't one of them. The general pointed to my hand. â€Å"You have a shirt in your hands,† he said. â€Å"Oh,† I said, and put the shirt on the table between us. â€Å"It's a gift. Not the shirt. There's something wrapped in the shirt. That's the gift. I was hoping to find something else to put it in before I gave it to you, but you sort of surprised me. I'm going to shut up now and let you just have that.† The general gave me what I think was a strange look, and then reached out and unwrapped what was in the shirt. It was the stone knife given to me by the werewolf. He held it up and examined it in the light. â€Å"This is a very interesting gift,† he said, and began moving it in his hand, testing it, I guessed, for weight and balance. â€Å"And quite a nicely designed knife.† â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"Not precisely modern weaponry,† he said. â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"Figured that a general must have an interest in archaic weapons?† Gau asked. â€Å"Actually there's a story behind it,† I said. â€Å"There's a native race of intelligent beings on Roanoke. We didn't know about them before we landed. Not too long ago we met up with them for the first time, and things went badly. Some of them died, and some of us died. But then one of them and one of us met and decided not to try to kill each other, and exchanged gifts instead. That knife was one of those gifts. It's yours now.† â€Å"That's an interesting story,† Gau said. â€Å"And I think I'm correct in supposing that this story has some implication for why you're here.† â€Å"It's up to you, sir,† I said. â€Å"You might just decide it's a nice stone knife.† â€Å"I don't think so,† Gau said. â€Å"Administrator Perry is a man who plays with subtext. It's not lost on me what it means that he has sent his daughter to deliver a message. But then to offer this particular gift, with its particular story. He's a man of some subtlety.† â€Å"I think so, too,† I said. â€Å"But the knife is not from my dad. It's from me.† â€Å"Indeed,† Gau said, surprised. â€Å"That's even more interesting. Administrator Perry didn't suggest it?† â€Å"He doesn't know I had the knife,† I said. â€Å"And he doesn't know how I got it.† â€Å"But you did intend to send me a message with it,† Gau said. â€Å"One to complement your adopted father's.† â€Å"I hoped you'd see it that way,† I said. Gau set the knife down. â€Å"Tell me what Administrator Perry has to tell me,† he said. â€Å"You're going to be assassinated,† I said. â€Å"Someone is going to try, anyway. It's someone close to you. Someone in your trusted circle of advisors. Dad doesn't know when or how, but he knows that it's planned to happen soon. He wanted you to know so you could protect yourself.† â€Å"Why?† General Gau asked. â€Å"Your adopted father is an official of the Colonial Union. He was part of the plan that destroyed the Conclave fleet and has threatened everything I have worked for, for longer than you have been alive, young human. Why should I trust the word of my enemy?† â€Å"The Colonial Union is your enemy, not my dad,† I said. â€Å"Your dad helped kill tens of thousands,† Gau said. â€Å"Every ship in my fleet was destroyed but my own.† â€Å"He begged you not to call your ships to Roanoke,† I said. â€Å"This was a place where he was all too subtle,† Gau said. â€Å"He never explained how the trap had been set. He merely asked me not to call my fleet. A little more information would have kept thousands alive.† â€Å"He did what he could,† I said. â€Å"You were there to destroy our colony. He wasn't allowed to surrender it to you. You know he didn't have many options. And as it was he was recalled by the Colonial Union and put on trial for even hinting to you that something might happen. He could have been sent to prison for the simple act of speaking to you, General. He did what he could.† â€Å"How do I know he's not just being used again?† Gau asked. â€Å"You said you knew what it meant that he sent me to give you a message,† I said. â€Å"I'm the proof that he's telling you the truth.† â€Å"You're the proof he believes he's telling me the truth,† Gau said. â€Å"It's not to say that it is the truth. Your adopted father was used once. Why couldn't he be used again?† I flared at this. â€Å"Begging your pardon, General,† I said. â€Å"But you should know that by sending me to send you this warning, both my dad and my mom are absolutely assured of being labeled as traitors by the Colonial Union. They are both going to prison. You should know that as part of the deal to get the Obin to bring me to you, I can't go back to Roanoke. I have to stay with them. Because they believe that it's only a matter of time before Roanoke is destroyed, if not by you then by some part of the Conclave you don't have any control over anymore. My parents and I have risked everything to give you this warning. It's possible I'll never see them or anyone else on Roanoke again, because I am giving you this warning. Now, General, do you think any of us would do any of this if we were not absolutely certain about what we are telling you? Do you?† General Gau said nothing for a moment. Then, â€Å"I am sorry you have all had to risk so much,† he said. â€Å"Then do my dad the honor of believing him,† I said. â€Å"You're in danger, General. And that danger is closer than you think.† â€Å"Tell me, Zoe,† Gau said, â€Å"what does Administrator Perry hope to get from telling me this? What does he want from me?† â€Å"He wants you to stay alive,† I said. â€Å"You promised him that as long as you were running the Conclave, you wouldn't attack Roanoke again. The longer you stay alive, the longer we stay alive.† â€Å"But there's the irony,† Gau said. â€Å"Thanks to what happened at Roanoke, I'm not in as much control as I was. My time now is spent keeping others in line. And there are those who are looking at Roanoke as a way to take control from me. I'm sure you don't know about Nerbros Eser – â€Å" â€Å"Sure I do,† I said. â€Å"Your main opposition right now. He's trying to convince people to follow him. Wants to destroy the Colonial Union.† â€Å"I apologize,† Gau said. â€Å"I forgot you're not just a messenger girl.† â€Å"It's all right,† I said. â€Å"Nerbros Eser is planning to attack Roanoke,† Gau said. â€Å"I have been getting the Conclave back under my control – too slowly – but enough races support Eser that he has been able to fund an expedition to take Roanoke. He knows the Colonial Union is too weak to put up a defense of the colony, and he knows that at the moment I am in no position to stop him. If he can take Roanoke where I could not, more Conclave races could side with him. Enough that they would attack the Colonial Union directly.† â€Å"You can't help us, then,† I said. â€Å"Other than to tell you what I just have, no,† Gau said. â€Å"Eser is going to attack Roanoke. But in part because Administrator Perry helped to destroy my fleet, there is no way I can do much to stop him now. And I doubt very much that your Colonial Union will do much to stop him.† â€Å"Why do you say that?† I asked. â€Å"Because you are here,† General Gau said. â€Å"Make no mistake, Zoe, I do appreciate your family's warning. But Administrator Perry is not so kind that he would have warned me out of his own simple goodness. As you've noted, the cost is too high for that. You are here because you have nowhere else to turn.† â€Å"But you believe Dad,† I said. â€Å"Yes,† Gau said. â€Å"Unfortunately. Someone in my position is always a target. But now of all times I know that even some of those who I've trusted with my life and friendship are calculating the costs and deciding that I'm worth more to them dead than alive. And it makes sense for someone to try for me before Eser attacks Roanoke. If I'm dead and Eser takes revenge on your colony, no one else will even try to challenge him for control of the Conclave. Administrator Perry isn't telling me anything I don't know. He's only confirming what I do know.† â€Å"Then I've been no use to you,† I said. And you've been no use to me, I thought but did not say. â€Å"I wouldn't say that,† Gau said. â€Å"One of the reasons I am here now is so that I could hear what you had to say to me without anyone else involved. To find out what I could do with the information you might have. To see if it has use to me. To see if you are of use to me.† â€Å"You already knew what I told you,† I said. â€Å"This is true,† Gau said. â€Å"However, no one else knows how much you know. Not here, in any event.† He reached over and picked up the stone knife and looked at it again. â€Å"And the truth of the matter is that I'm getting tired of not knowing, of those whom I trust, which is planning to stab me in the heart. Whoever is planning to assassinate me is going to be in league with Nerbros Eser. They are likely to know when he plans to attack Roanoke, and with how large a force. And perhaps working together we can find out both of these things.† â€Å"How?† I asked. General Gau looked at me again, and did that I-hope-it's-a-smile thing with his head. â€Å"By doing a bit of political theater. By making them think we know what they do. By making them act because of it.† I smiled back at Gau. â€Å"‘The play is the thing in which I shall catch the conscience of the king,'† I said. â€Å"Precisely,† Gau said. â€Å"Although it will be a traitor we catch, not a king.† â€Å"In that quote he was both,† I said. â€Å"Interesting,† Gau said. â€Å"I'm afraid I don't know the reference.† â€Å"It's from a play called Hamlet,† I said. â€Å"I had a friend who liked the playwright.† â€Å"I like the quote,† Gau said. â€Å"And your friend.† â€Å"Thanks,† I said. â€Å"I do too.† â€Å"One of you in this chamber is a traitor,† General Gau said. â€Å"And I know which one of you it is.† Wow, I thought. The general sure knows how to start a meeting. We were in the general's official advisors' chamber, an ornate room, which, the general told me beforehand, he never used except to receive foreign dignitaries with some semblance of pomp and circumstance. Since he was technically receiving me for this particular meeting, I felt special. But more to the point, the room featured a small raised platform with steps, on which sat a large chair. Dignitaries, advisors and their staff all approached it like it was a throne. This was going to be useful for what General Gau had in mind for today. In front of the platform, the room opened up into a semicircle. Around the perimeter stood a curving bar, largely of standing height for most sentient species in the Conclave. This is where advisors' and dignitaries' staff stood, calling up documents and data when needed and whispering (or whatever) into small microphones that fed into earpieces (or whatever) worn by their bosses. Their bosses – the advisors and dignitaries – filed into the area between the bar and the platform. Usually, I was told, they would have benches or chairs (or whatever suited their body shape best) offered to them so they could rest as they did their business. Today, they were all standing. As for me, I was standing to the left and just in front of the general, who was seated in his big chair. On the opposite side of the chair was a small table, on which lay the stone knife, which I had just (and for the second time) presented to the general. This time it was delivered in packaging more formal than a shirt. The general had taken it out of the box I had found, admired it, and set it on the table. Back along with the staff stood Hickory and Dickory, who were not happy with the plan the general had come up with. With them were three of the general's security detail, who were likewise not very pleased at all. Well, now that we were doing it, I'm not sure I was entirely thrilled with it either. â€Å"I thought we were here to hear a request from this young human,† said one of the advisors, a tall Lalan (that is, tall even for a Lalan) named Hafte Sorvalh. Her voice was translated by the earpiece I had been given by the Obin. â€Å"It was a pretense,† Gau said. â€Å"The human has no petition, but information pertaining to which one of you intends to assassinate me.† This naturally got a stir in the chamber. â€Å"It is a human!† said Wert Ninung, a Dwaer. â€Å"No disrespect, General, but the humans recently destroyed the entire Conclave fleet. Any information they would share with you should be regarded as highly suspect, to say the least.† â€Å"I agree with this entirely, Ninung,† Gau said. â€Å"Which is why when it was provided to me I did what any sensible person would have done and had my security people check the information thoroughly. I regret to say that the information was good. And now I must deal with the fact that one of my advisors – someone who was privy to all my plans for the Conclave – has conspired against me.† â€Å"I don't understand,† said a Ghlagh whose name, if I could remember correctly, was Lernin Il. I wasn't entirely sure, however; Gau's security people had given me dossiers on Gau's circle of advisors only a few hours before the meeting, and given everything else I needed to do to prepare, I had barely had time to skim. â€Å"What don't you understand, Lernin?† asked General Gau. â€Å"If you know which of us is the traitor, why hasn't your security detail already dealt with them?† Il asked. â€Å"This could be done without exposing you to an unnecessary risk. Given your position you don't need to take any more risks than are absolutely necessary.† â€Å"We are not talking about some random killer, Il,† the general said. â€Å"Look around you. How long have we known each other? How hard have each of us worked to create this great Conclave of races? We have seen more of each other over time than we have seen of our spouses and children. Would any of you have accepted it if I were to make one of you disappear over a vague charge of treason? Would that not seem to each of you that I was losing my grip and creating scapegoats? No, Il. We have come too far and done too much for that. Even this would-be assassin deserves better courtesy than that.† â€Å"What do you intend to do, then?† asked Il. â€Å"I will ask the traitor in this room to come forward,† he said. â€Å"It's not too late to right this wrong.† â€Å"Are you offering this assassin amnesty?† asked some creature whose name I just did not remember (or, given how it spoke, I suspect I could not actually pronounce, even if I did remember it). â€Å"No,† Gau said. â€Å"This person is not acting alone. They are part of a conspiracy that threatens what all of us have worked for.† Gau gestured to me. â€Å"My human friend here has given me a few names, but that is not enough. For the security of the Conclave we need to know more. And to show all the members of the Conclave that treason cannot be tolerated, my assassin must answer for what they have done to this point. What I do offer is this: That they will be treated fairly and with dignity. That they will serve their term of punishment with some measure of comfort. That their family and loved ones will not be punished or held responsible, unless they themselves are conspirators. And that their crime will not be made known publicly. Every one outside this room will know only that this conspirator has retired from service. There will be punishment. There must be punishment. But there will not be the punishment of history.† â€Å"I want to know where this human got its information,† said Wert Ninung. Gau nodded to me. â€Å"This information ultimately comes from the Colonial Union's Special Forces division,† I said. â€Å"The same group that spearheaded the destruction of the Conclave fleet,† Wert said. â€Å"Not especially trustworthy.† â€Å"Councilor Wert,† I said, â€Å"how do you think the Special Forces were able to locate every one of the ships of your fleet? The only time it assembles is when it removes a colony. Locating four hundred ships among the tens of thousands that each race alone has at its disposal was an unheard of feat of military intelligence. After that, do you doubt that the Special Forces had difficulty coming up with a single name?† Wert actually growled at me. I thought that was rude. â€Å"I have already told you that I have had the information checked out,† General Gau said. â€Å"There is no doubt it is accurate. That is not under discussion. What is under discussion is how the assassin will choose to be discovered. I repeat: The assassin is in this room, right now, among us. If they will come forward now, and share information on their other conspirators, their treatment will be generous, light and secret. The offer is in front of you now. I beg you, as an old friend, to take it. Come forward now.† No one in the room moved. General Gau stared at each of his advisors, directly and in the eye, for several seconds each. None of them took so much as a step forward. â€Å"Very well,† General Gau said. â€Å"We do this the hard way, then.† â€Å"What will you do now, General?† asked Sorvalh. â€Å"Simple,† Gau said. â€Å"I will call up each of you in turn. You will bow to me and swear your allegiance to me as the leader of the Conclave. Those of you who I know are truthful, I will offer you my thanks. The one of you who is a traitor, I will reveal you in front of those you have worked alongside for so long, and have you arrested. Your punishment will be severe. And it will be most definitely public. And it will end with your death.† â€Å"This is not like you, General,† Sorvalh said. â€Å"You created the Conclave with the idea that there would be no dictators, no demands of personal allegiance. There is only allegiance to the Conclave. To its ideals.† â€Å"The Conclave is near collapse, Hafte,† Gau said. â€Å"And you know as well as I do that Nerbros Eser and his sort will run the Conclave like a personal fiefdom. One among you has already decided that Eser's dictatorship is preferable to a Conclave where every race has a voice. It's clear to me that I must ask for the allegiance I once only held in trust. I am sorry it has come to this. But it has.† â€Å"What if we will not swear allegiance?† Sorvalh said. â€Å"Then you will be arrested as a traitor,† Gau said. â€Å"Along with the one who I know to be the assassin.† â€Å"You are wrong to do this,† Sorvalh said. â€Å"You are going against your own vision for the Conclave to ask for this allegiance. I want you to know I believe this in my soul.† â€Å"Noted,† Gau said. â€Å"Very well,† Sorvalh said, and stepped forward to the platform and knelt. â€Å"General Tarsem Gau, I offer you my allegiance as the leader of the Conclave.† Gau looked at me. This was my cue. I shook my head at him, clearly enough that everyone in the room could see that he was waiting for my verification. â€Å"Thank you, Hafte,† Gau said. â€Å"You may step back. Wert Ninung, please step forward.† Ninung did. As did the next six advisors. There were three left. I was beginning to get very nervous. Gau and I had already agreed that we would not carry the act so far as to accuse someone who wasn't actually guilty. But if we got to the end without a traitor, then we both would have a lot to answer for. â€Å"Lernin Il,† General Gau said. â€Å"Please step forward.† Il nodded and smoothly moved forward and when he got to me, viciously shoved me to the floor and lunged for the stone knife Gau had left on the table next to him. I hit the floor so hard I bounced my skull on it. I heard screaming and honks of alarm from the other advisors. I rolled and looked up as Il raised the knife and prepared to plunge it into the general. The knife was left out and within easy reach for a reason. Gau had already said he intended to reveal the traitor; he said he knew without a doubt who it was; he said the punishment for the traitor would include death. The traitor would already be convinced he would have nothing to lose by attempting the assassination then and there. But Gau's advisors didn't usually carry around killing implements on their person; they were bureaucrats and didn't carry anything more dangerous than a writing stylus. But a nice sharp stone knife carelessly left lying around would be just the thing to convince a desperate would-be assassin to take a chance. This was also one reason why the general's guards (and Hickory and Dickory) were stationed at the perimeter of the room instead of near the general; we had to give the illusion to the assassin that he could get in a stab or two before the guards got him. The general wasn't stupid, of course; he was wearing body armor that protected most of the parts of his body susceptible to stab wounds. But the general's head and neck were still vulnerable. The general thought it was worth the risk, but now as I watched the general trying to move to protect himself, I came to the conclusion that the weakest part of our plan was the one where the general presumably avoids being stabbed to death. Il was bringing down the knife. None of the general's guards or Hickory or Dickory was going to get there in time. Hickory and Dickory had trained me how to disarm an opponent; the problem was I was on the ground and not in any position to block the knife blow. And anyway the Ghlagh were a Conclave race; I hadn't spent any time learning any of their weak points. But then something occurred to me, as I lay there on my back, staring up at Il. I may not know much about the Ghlagh, but I sure know what a knee looks like. I braced myself on the floor, pushed, and drove the heel of my foot hard into the side of Lernin Il's most available knee. It gave way with a sickly twist and I thought I could feel something in his leg go snap, which made me feel sick. Il squealed in pain and grabbed at his leg, dropping the knife. I scrambled away as quickly as I could. General Gau launched himself out of his chair and took Il all the rest of the way down. Hickory and Dickory were suddenly by me, dragging me off the riser. Gau shouted something to his guards, who were racing toward the general. â€Å"His staff!† Gau said. â€Å"Stop his staff!† I looked over to the bar and saw three Ghlagh lunging at their equipment. Il's people were clearly in on the assassination and were now trying to signal their conspirators that they'd been discovered. Gau's men skidded to a stop and reversed themselves, leaping over the bar to get at Il's staff. They knocked away their equipment, but not before at least one of them had gotten a message through. We knew that because all through the Conclave headquarters, alarms began stuttering to life. The space station was under attack. About a minute after Il had made his clumsy attack on General Gau, an Impo battle cruiser named the Farre launched six missiles into the portion of the Conclave space station where Gau's offices were. The Farre was commanded by an Impo named Ealt Ruml. Ruml, it turns out, had reached an agreement with Nerbros Eser and Lernin Il to take command of a new Conclave fleet after Gau was assassinated. Ruml would then take the entire fleet to Phoenix Station, destroy it and start working down the list of human worlds. In exchange all Ruml had to do was be prepared to do a little flagrant bombing of Gau's offices and flagship when signaled, as part of a larger, orchestrated coup attempt, which would feature Gau's assassination as the main event and the destruction of key battle ships from races loyal to Gau. When Gau revealed to his advisors that he knew one of them was a traitor, one of Il's staffers sent a coded message to Ruml, informing him that everything was about to go sideways. Ruml in turn sent coded messages of his own to three other battle cruisers near the Conclave station, each captained by someone Ruml had converted to the cause. All four ships began warming up their weapons systems and selecting targets: Ruml targeted Gau's offices while the other traitors targeted Gau's flagship Gentle Star and other craft. If everything went as planned, Ruml and his conspirators would have disabled the ships most likely to come to Gau's aid – not that it would matter, because Ruml would have opened up Gau's offices to space, sucking anyone in them (including, at the time, me) into cold, airless vacuum. Minutes later, when Il's staff sent a confirmation note just before getting their equipment kicked out of their paws, Ruml launched his missiles and readied another set to go. And was, I imagine, entirely surprised when the Farre was struck broadside almost simultaneously by three missiles fired from the Gentle Star. The Star and six other trusted ships had been put on alert by Gau to watch for any ships that began warming up their weapons systems. The Star had spotted the Farre warming up its missile batteries and had quietly targeted the ship and prepared its own defense. Gau had forbidden any action until someone else's missiles flew, but the instant the Farre launched, the Star did the same, and then began antimissile defenses against the two missiles targeting it, sent by the Arrisian cruiser Vut-Roy. The Star destroyed one of the missiles and took light damage from the second. The Farre, which had not been expecting a counterattack, took heavy damage from the Star's missiles and even more damage when its engine ruptured, destroying half of the ship and killing hundreds on board, including Ealt Ruml and his bridge crew. Five of the six missiles fired by the Farre were disabled by the space station's defenses; the sixth hit the station, blowing a hole in the station compartment next to Gau's offices. The station's system of airtight doors sealed off the damage in minutes; forty-four people were killed. All of this happened in the space of less than two minutes, because the battle happened at incredibly close range. Unlike space battles in entertainment shows, real battles between spaceships take place over huge distances. In this battle, however, all the ships were in orbit around the station. Some of the ships involved were just a few klicks away from each other. That's pretty much the starship equivalent of going after each other with knives. Or so I'm told. I'm going by what others tell me of the battle, because at the time what I was doing was being dragged out of General Gau's advisor chamber by Hickory and Dickory. The last thing I saw was Gau pinning down Lernin Il while at the same time trying to keep his other advisors from beating the living crap out of him. There was too much noise for my translation device to work anymore, but I suspected that Gau was trying to tell the rest of them that he needed Il alive. What can you say. No one likes a traitor. I'm also told that the battle outside of the space station would have gone on longer than it did except that shortly after the first salvo of missiles a funny thing happened: An Obin cruiser skipped into existence unsettlingly close to the Conclave space station, setting off a series of proximity alarms to go with the attack alarms already in progress. That was unusual, but what really got everyone's attention was the other ships that appeared about thirty seconds afterward. It took the station a few minutes to identify these. And at that point everyone who had been fighting each other realized they now had something bigger to worry about. I didn't know about any of this right away. Hickory and Dickory had dragged me to the conference room some distance away from the advisor chamber and were keeping it secure when the alarms suddenly stopped. â€Å"Well, I finally used that training,† I said, to Hickory. I was amped up on leftover adrenaline from the assassination attempt and paced up and down in the room. Hickory said nothing to this and continued to scan the corridor for threats. I sighed and waited until it signaled that it was safe to move. Ten minutes later, Hickory clicked something to Dickory, who went to the door. Hickory went into the corridor and out of sight. Shortly after that I heard what sounded like Hickory arguing with someone. Hickory returned, followed by six very serious-looking guards and General Gau. â€Å"What happened?† I asked. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"What do you have to do with the Consu?† General Gau asked me, ignoring my question. â€Å"The Consu?† I said. â€Å"Nothing. I had asked the Obin to try to contact them on my behalf, to see if they could help me save Roanoke. That was a few days ago. I haven't heard from the Obin about it since.† â€Å"I think you have an answer,† Gau said. â€Å"They're here. And they're asking to see you.† â€Å"There's a Consu ship here now?† I said. â€Å"Actually, the Consu asking for you is on an Obin ship,† Gau said. â€Å"Which doesn't make any sense to me at all, but never mind that. There were Consu ships following the Obin ship.† â€Å"Ships,† I said. â€Å"How many?† â€Å"So far?† Gau said. â€Å"About six hundred.† â€Å"Excuse me?† I said. My adrenaline spiked again. â€Å"There are still more coming in,† Gau said. â€Å"Please don't take this the wrong way, Zoe, but if you've done something to anger the Consu, I hope they choose to take it out on you, not us.† I turned and looked at Hickory, disbelieving. â€Å"You said you required help,† Hickory said.

Marketing and Strategy †Organic Food Essay

One of the most significant forces in changing consumer needs that current marketers face are the ever increasing environmental issues that people are becoming aware of. Consumers are interested in how goods are produced,especially in the food market where there is the increasing issue of labour exploitation and genetic modification. This has gained a lot of momentum in recent years with the growth of the Organic sector and ? Fair Trade’ products. In 2004, the retail market for organic products in the UK was worth an estimated ? 1. 213 billion, and 11% increase on 2003, (Soil Association’s Organic Market Report, 2005). This notion is backed up by Mintel, â€Å"In most of the consumer research we carry out around a quarter of consumers are concerned about green matters, seek out fair trade products or healthy ranges of foods. That is a substantial proportion of the customer base of any food retailer and so cannot be ignored† (UK retail briefing-Household goods focus, 2006). Genetically Modified & Organic Food A genetically modified (GM) food is a food product that has been developed by having specific genes inserted into it to gain a desirable quality. The first GM food to hit the shelves were GM tomatoes which appeared in 1996 in British supermarkets, however, it was not until 1999 that the public scare hit. In a recent survey, one third of people said they would never buy any food that had been genetically modified. This figure is up by four percent in three years, quite a significant amount (attitudes toward ethical foods UK- Mintel, 2006). This provides an opportunity for marketers operating in the food sector, for example a business could promote itself as environmentally aware by claiming they sell only non-GM produce. This would give them the advantage of reassuring worried consumers whilst providing them with the upper hand against firms who do sell GM foods. Another benefit is that there are a large proportion of middle and upper class consumers who are generally aware about the issues related to genetic modification and organic food. This perhaps opens opportunities to price products at the more expensive end of the market, as they are likely to pay more if the food meets their expectations. Organic food products are becoming increasingly popular due to the ever-increasing awareness of health issues, media campaigns from the large supermarket chains and endorsements from celebrity chefs. To meet these changes in consumer needs, all of the leading supermarket chains have introduced organic ranges in their stores. There is also the fear in the UK for the future of the ? fast food games console’ children, (P. Tailor, http://www. learnmarketing. net/environment. htm) which provides a direct market opportunity for healthier food products. If a firm specialises only in selling organic produce they would be able to advantage of these opportunities. A recent example of this is innocent drinks, selling the innocent brand of ?smoothies’. They began with a simple investment of ? 500, selling freshly made smoothies at a music festival and now command a 30% slice of a market with a retail value of about ? 50m, (Market Researchers AC Nielsen, 2003). A problem is that these organisations need to aim their products at the right market. Traditionally it has been consumers in the middle and upper classes who have been buying organic food, however there is â€Å"an encouraging widening of the appeal? with over half those in lower income groups now saying they buy some organic products† (Soil Association Press Release, 2005). This implies that there could be an opportunity at trying to offer cheaper organic produce marketed towards the lower end of the income scale. Even if the price is similar to other organic goods, it could be advertised to show the direct benefits of the food to help consumers justify spending more money for organic produce. ?Fair Trade’ Products Fair trade is a relatively new, organized social movement that promotes equal standards for international labour, environmentalism and social policy in the areas related to the production of ? Fair Trade’ goods. This is another rapidly growing section of the food market that is providing a good opportunity for marketers, reporting a massive increase of around 20% a year (FINE, 2005) and now standing at a market value of ? 660 million. The movement has also benefited from increasing media interest, which means that any unethical behaviour or employee exploitation could lead to a massive amount of bad publicity. It is clear that to promote a good brand image in today’s food market, an organisation should look to be aware to fair trade issues. The possible opportunity here lies in the current range of fair trade products that are on the market. At the moment the main products in fair trade ranges are goods such as fruit, nut products, chocolate and coffee; this means there could be a demand for products in other categories, like meat products or even fair trade drinks. This wider range of fair trade products could give a business a unique selling point, as well as providing them with a strong ethical stance. Perhaps there would even be a chance to use the pressure groups or charities that are involved with fair trade to the organisation’s advantage. Marketers could combine the selling of fair trade goods with holding events to raise awareness of unfair trade issues. If they could gain the backing of charities such as Oxfam or trade networks like the European Fair Trade Association, there would be loots of opportunities to raise their brand awareness, thus increasing sales. Local Produce Environmentally aware consumers are increasingly favouring local produce. Over 100 years ago nearly all the food we ate come from within 20 miles of our homes but now we would struggle to find a handful of locally produced goods in our supermarkets (Inside Out ?East, January 2003). This may not seem as an obvious environmental issue but the problem lies within the transport that must take place to move food products around the UK and the world. A massive 25% of trucks on the UK roads are carrying food products; this means that almost as much greenhouse gas is caused by moving food than by all power stations in the UK (Inside Out ? East, January 2003). Importing products from overseas also causes pollution issues, a large proportion of lamb sold in the UK comes from New Zealand and the same is true for potatoes from Israel. Perhaps there is an opportunity for UK organisations to source their food products locally. A business doing this would be able to promote their policies in pollution reduction whilst also promoting an investment in local farmers. This should help massively in obtaining local market share but it may not be possible to source many food products in certain areas, however, any attempt to reduce the massive pollution caused by transport would offer a strong selling point. It is important to note for firms looking to take advantage of the increasing consumer awareness that there can be problems. Shops focusing on only selling Organic, Fair trade and local produce are generally small in size and very specialist. If they are seen to have a very successful idea it is highly likely that the major supermarket chains will try and imitate it with their greater resources. This would be very serious competition and should be considered if a business is considering in solely selling goods to the environmentally aware consumers. There is also the chance of certain barriers to enter into these specialist markets; one of these is the established competitor. Organisations like the Co-op have already been long-term supporters of fair trade. Another likely problem is the increased scrutiny that a business will face when ? announcing’ themselves to be environmentally aware. If a business declares to be environmentally aware and is then seen to be doing damage, it would most likely cause significant financial damage. How can Marketing help in ethical terms? The most obvious way in which marketers can help in ethical terms is by increasing consumer awareness in the issues that are troubling the food market today. A way to do this would be to create simple promotion campaigns where the benefits of organic food or local produce are shown clearly to the consumer. An example of this could be Sainsbury’s TV advertising campaign fronted by Jamie Oliver showing the re-launched ? Taste the Difference’ range. They have removed all artificial flavours or colourings, stopped using hydrogenated fats and only using free-range eggs and UK-sourced meat, (The Guardian, October 2006) combined with the links Jamie Oliver has to health awareness and has lead to a very effective campaign. Another way that marketers can help consumers is to make sure that the packaging of a product follows environmental awareness and ethical issues. Firstly the packaging of a product should be recyclable and reduced to a minimum, in fact there should be ? reminder to recycle’ on all products that have recyclable packaging. Secondly the labelling of products needs to display the relevant health and environmental information clearly. Tesco have implemented the traffic light system to show the qualities of a product at a quick glance. Customers can see by the colour of the light whether or not the product is considered healthy, which is determined by the fat, calorie and salt content. Likewise it could be possible to put small sections of information on fair trade products to show the benefits to the producers that fair trade has. If there was a greater knowledge by the average consumer it might lead fair trade food products to become standard, opposed to the current niche that they are filling, providing social benefits like reducing the global poverty gap. It is also important for the labelling and packaging on a product to not be misleading. If a food product clearly meets organic food standards then it should be labelled as organic; likewise anything that is not produced locally or is not organic should be labelled correctly. Recently there have been reports of Supermarkets putting pressure on organic food watchdogs to lower standards so they can fully exploit the industry, (The Guardian, October 2006). It has been stated â€Å"there are lots of loopholes in the regulations and in practice these are being heavily exploited† and that â€Å"Organics is increasingly becoming industrialised and the consumer will one day wake up and see this stuff is not what they think it is†, (L. Woodward, former head of The Soil Association). It is clear that marketers need to stay fair and honest to ensure that the supermarkets are unable to lobby together and reduce the standards. Perhaps a stance could be taken by one of the supermarket chains to actually support the stricter guidelines, even if it might close the exploitative opportunities. A possible way to encourage people further to buy organic or fair trade products would be to offer promotions involved with the purchase of these goods. Supermarkets could easily offer their customers a larger number of store reward points when the sale takes place, or even try to focus BOGOF deals and price reductions to these product ranges. I would recommend that promotions where the customer gets one fair trade product for half price when two organic products are purchased should be implemented. Linking the product ranges might help encapsulate some of the organic aware consumers into purchasing fair trade products or locally sourced goods and vice versa. A new concept that has been introduced to counter the issue of transportation pollution is food miles; the basis of this revolves around a label on food products stating how far the product had to be transported to reach the supermarket. Marketers could use this function to show customers that products are contributing heavier to pollution. It would also aid in educating consumers into seeing which products should be purchased at seasonal times to minimise transport. If you were looking to purchase strawberries in the winter they would have travelled a long distance to reach the UK, possibly highlighting this fact would teach some consumers to eat more ? seasonally’. The new more socially aware consumer is presenting big opportunities to the major food retailers due to the growing markets in organic food. These opportunities can conflict with what would be considered ethically considerable, especially the issue with organic food appealing to the higher end of the market thus leading to the possibility of keeping prices high. Of course it is best for environment and consumers if the prices are kept lower on organic food so everyone can eat healthier. Perhaps the supermarkets should consider lowering their margins on organic food and making it back on more price inelastic goods such as alcohol or cigarettes. It is clear however that organisations should be careful in deciding which opportunities to take advantage of as their actions could possibly have negative repercussions like consumer cynicism, leading to consumer cynicism. Although if marketers are able to promote these ethical issues and increase public awareness whilst still maintaining profit growth, the potential benefits for everyone are great. Bibliography ?Soil Association (2005) â€Å"Organic Market Report 2005† ?Soil Association (2005) â€Å"Soil Association Press Release†? FINE (2005) â€Å"Fair Trade in Europe 2005: Facts and Figures on Fair Trade in 25 European countries† ? Mintel (2006) â€Å"UK retail briefing – Household goods focus ? Mintel (2006) â€Å"Attitudes toward ethical foods in the UK† ?P. Tailor, Learnmarketing. net/environment. htm ?AC Nielsen (2003) Market Research ?BBC. co. uk/insideout/east/series2/local_produce_organic_healthy_eating. shtml ? Laville. S & Vidal. J (2006) â€Å"Supermarkets accused over organic foods†, The Guardian, October 5th.

Warhorse

WarHorse -Based on the novel by Michael Morgue, Adapted by Nick Stafford, in association with the Handspring Puppet Company Based on the novel by Michael Morgue but adapted by Nick Stafford, there powerful, dramatic WarHorse' tells the story of a Horse that goes to battle and gets passed through many different owners, and how the Horse lives though the First World War.Everything is spoken apart from the song women narrates the story as it goes along by singing. On arrival in the theatre forum, the first thing that my eyes were drawn to was the minimalist, bare stage where there what looks like a ripped paper strip all the way across the top of the stage, looking like a banner which is a breaching technique. To include there was also a simple box on stage, which was centre stage right.Then what caught my attention next was the lighting, which had freezer and flood lights on at that point in time which gave Off bright white light, giving the whole theatre neutral atmosphere until play Is about to start. The floor of the stage looked Like tarmac/concrete Glenn It a hard solid feel, making the stage look and feel cold, dull and bare. The whole stage made everyone In the audience wonder hat was going on and guess for what was going to happen on stage when the play starts.When Joey the horse first came on stage, the lights up with a bright white light, Joey seen as a foul, with three small women controlling the puppet, Joey was moving around like he was in a field, making all the necessary noises to make the puppet seem real, when he did Just walk around on stage it made me feel so happy that he was happy and that I could feel what he was feeling through the sense of body movement which was jumpy and moving about everywhere making him and yeses feel free, you could also tell that Joey was happy and young because he was only small puppet to start with but when his ears moved around listening to what going on In the field, that created a feeling that he was young and t hat he was enthusiastic about the way of life on the field. Even the actors who where controlling Joey had the same body language and facial expressions as Joey to make the puppet more life like. This made the atmosphere bright, happy and enthusiastic about Joey.This linked in with the characterization throughout the play which made you feel like oh were part of the story and all main characters had very strong characterization, but one moment that shone through the others for characterization was when the awful moment of Joey in the stable and Albertan drunk father grabs the whip and starts whipping Joey, he starts to make the squealing noises and his body language is all tight and quivery and then he bucks for me this was a very emotional part for me because of the characterization of Joey, Just sitting there watching him get hurt and all the facial expressions and body language and noises that comes out of him make he audience want to leap out there seats and come to save Joey fr om getting hurt. But as soon as Joey started to whelp, Albert and his mother, from their facial expressions you could see how much It meant to them, and how they could feel Joeys pain, which also got brought into the audience, the audience really felt the emotions good characterization through this because of this part being so emotional and the whole audience feeling the pain for Joey and how Albertan dad was acting so foolishly. The lighting at this point was blue which was to suggest that it was cold, dark and at eight, this made the atmosphere for the audience even more tense, and kept everyone on the edge of there seat!There was nothing much on stage, very bare apart from three men dressed in old fashion military, thick material grey and dull uniform, holding these rigid poles to create the effect of a pen/stable which I thought you could clearly understand and kept you interest in the performance. Every now and again the song women (narrator) would enter on stage and sing part of a song to express what was going on but I felt like it didn't really work and when the story was eating to an emotional part and the song women would burst in and start to sing, for me this broke the emotion and body language from the moving story to the women that sung, it ruined that part of the performance.The movement of Joey in warhorse alone was amazing the whole way through, this amazing puppet, I thought was really life like which made the story even more like you were there and it was realistic, Joey had three people controlling him from the person controlling his Hines legs to the person controlling front legs and the most effective person I though that created the allies of Joey was the person controlling his head, every single movement was different, from moving his head in different directions to his tail swaying in different directions all the time made Joey seem really real to me, with his ears twitching at certain points and his head points straight into the air you can tell he's trying to listen or be wear of something, also with the movement it gives off really good body language and lets the audience no what he is doing or thinking.Vocal and movement – not sure what bit to write about Too include there was part in the story when I felt the communication was really throng and powerful and created a relationship, it was when Albert was in the army with a mate in the army too and they sat up stage centre, legs hanging off the stage and staring into the horizon and they were laughing, Joking and insulting each other but Albertan mate was making fun of him abut him and Joey his horse before his dad sold him to the army. I think that that is really good communication through the use of laughter, it was really funny and shows how there friendship is still growing and how powerful it is even though they are in the middle of a war! A me

The Impact of Rennie Harris

Katherine Baker Dance Appreciation (Online) 27 April 2011 The Impact of Rennie Harris When one imagines the dance style of Hip-Hop, what most likely comes to mind is either a group of young men and women gathered in an alley, forming a circle and watching someone move their body to the beats of fast spoken rap lyrics, or one might envision the scenes of a 50 Cent music video with young women shaking their derriere in the camera. Rennie Harris, known by many as the ambassador of hip-hop community brings something very different to the table. Rennie Harris is more than a hip-hop artist.He is the interpreter of hip-hop as a cultural ritual, one that celebrates his community’s core values and heritage, and invokes its innate spirit, says scholar and dance critic Suzanne Carbonneau. In 1992 Harris founded Rennie Harris Puremovement, in his hometown of Philadelphia. Harris uses his style, referred to on RHPM’s website asâ€Å"hip-hop dance theatre,† to be an activist i n the community and promote dance, particularly hip-hop, to all ethnicities as an outlet for human expression, attempting to cleanse the genre of its stigma in todays society.One thing that is truly impressive of Harris’ work is that he has created, perfected, and maintained a style, that continues to rise above the negative stereotype hip-hop is sometimes painted with in the media. In doing this he is maintaining the sophistication of the art of dance. As mentioned on his organization’s website, In a society where hip-hop is often portrayed as a violent, undisciplined counterculture, RHPM deconstructs popular perception of this medium, expanding and challenging the boundaries and definitions of hip-hop in general.As hip-hop continues to be chosen as the modern generation’s medium of expression, RHPM works to honor its history, explore its ideas, and further its contributions to the surrounding community. (RHPM. org) The notion that this art form is being preser ved is having a huge impact on the dance world. Harris has won numerous awards including, but not limited to, three Bessie Awards, a Herb Alpert Award, and an Alvin Ailey Award. These prestigious honors are just a few recognitions of Harris and RPHM’s impact on the community.Along with choreography, classes, and performances RHPM also offers lectures and demonstrations created with a â€Å"vision for sharing an appreciation for diversity and is dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture† (RHPM. org). Harris is also very involved in education. Taking dance to new level in the classroom. Focusing mainly on education systems in New Jersey, Florida, California, New York, and of course, Pennsylvania, Harris provides lecture/demonstrations and zestful way to grasp the attention of students. One of their most popular lecture. demonstrations is entitled â€Å"History of Hip-hop. An interesting lesson that comes along with this is the lesson of theatre etiquette , teachers are sent an informative packet illustration the rules and proper behavior in a theatre to hare with their students. Phrases like â€Å"The performers on stage show respect for their art form and for the audience by doing their very best work. The audience shows respect for the performers by watching attentively† (CueSheet 4) This is passing along the enjoyment of art and proper manners to students even if they are not physically dancing. This creates a very educational experience for the students.The work that has been done by Rennie Harris is admirable to say the least. Dedication and passion like his are unmatched in other hip-hop choreographers of our time. This is a genre that is only going to continue to grow and become more popular, and thankfully there are groups like RHPM to continue to educate people on the unique artistic values of the hip-hop dance style. From encouraging people in the community to stay fit to taking urban street performers and turning t hem into refined performers of the fine art of dance, Rennie Harris has truly impacted not only the hip-hop community, but the dance community, as well.Works Cited Fellow, Rose. â€Å"Rennie Harris – Profile – United States Artists – Great Art Forms Here. † United States Artists – Great Art Forms Here – Artist Fundraising & Advocacy. 2007. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. . Rennie Harris Puremovement. â€Å"Rennie Harris Puremovement: History of Hip-hop. † Letter to Teachers: Wells Fargo Schools. 10 Oct. 2003. MS. â€Å"Rennie Harris Puremovement. † Stanford Lively Arts. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. . RHPM – Rennie Harris Puremovement. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .

Importance of society based on evidence from the media Essay

The media plays a very important part in the modern world. Media is any form or channel of communication that reaches out to large numbers of people. For instance, television, radio, newspapers, magazines and journals which circulate news and entertainment. Recent developments in technology have given rise to more sophisticated forms of media. In a growing society consisting of all age groups and people with different needs and interests, each mode of news would be received according to the individual receiving and understanding capacity. The attitudes and interests of an individual influence what he or she is willing to hear. Society is an entity that embodies a lot of aspects. Every human being has the need to belong to a certain society. No one can live alone and it is the nature of human beings to stay together. No one is an island and the sense of belonging is derived from being part of a society. Each society has its own values and these are respected by the society members. Communication is valued by the members of society because that is the way messages are passed from one person to the other. Given the current state where the world has become a global village, the need to receive and send information has become inevitable. Education and obtaining of new ideas is also seen as integral to the growth of any organization. This is where media comes in . Television offers information in many fields for example news, entertainment and advertising. It gives news on various occurrences and channels like Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, National Geographic, Discovery channel deliver entertainment to children and adults alike and develop learning skills for children. Television in this fast pace technology times is an effective mode of communication for multinational companies to big advertisements in order to increase sales and it is evident that people get motivated by new products. For instance a new flavor of tomato sauce, a new laptop of Acer, or a new Hollywood movie entertainment. Catching a clip of advertisement juggles the memory and motivates consumers to purchase. Radios, magazines and journals also play a huge role in advertising. Especially newspapers because they are more widely spread. Television media is a source of â€Å"All in one† which means, advertisement, entertainment, education and news are available with cable connection or dish antennae. Television is looked upon as a home entertainment box which is why television companies such as Panasonic, LG, Samsung are releasing televisions with wider and flat screens and almost every middle class home has a television to have access to entertainment and news. On one hand, television regulates business stocks, nation index and sensex, product advertisements, sales promotion, education and entertainment for children, access to global news for public and on the other hand, it is difficult to control TV channels that are transmitted. This aspect of media has a negative impact because this means that even little children can have access to unsuitable channels that show programs which are way above their level of mind. For example soap operas that promote infidelity or have explicit content certainly causes harm to young minds. Some programs also show violence and hostility which might poison young minds. In this way the media downplays the society’s attempts to uphold good morals. These negative challenges can only be prevented through certain guidelines and rules of Television and Media regulations which have to be promulgated regionally in every state keeping the view of younger generation. Apart from the above, an awareness about positive and negative impact of television must be brought before civil society, as to what messages should be accepted and messages that are to be unaccepted must be made clear. For instance, emotionally disturbing family serials or violent destructive play shows leave a deep impact on people, whose mindset would begin to change and might lead to another line of negative thinking. A healthy and upright message should be transmitted, which is seldom found in present times. It is the absolute responsibility of parents to guard children from watching any morally deviating channels or programs or better yet the TV stations should issue parental advisories before the beginning of every program. Apart from the television there are other mass media forms that can transmit negative literature. For example magazines and journals that are substandard and publish lies. This can cause uprisings in the society and disrupt the otherwise peaceful environment. Journalists should take great care to write and publish the truth only. The media has a key role in every society and if this position is misused it can work in against the society. The media should always try to work in such a way that they can uphold peace in the society and complement the society’s efforts to maintain peace and morals. According to (Perse 78), media affects how children can be more accepting of violence and anti-social behavior. It can also cultivate social attitudes and stereotypes. Thus media as an entity should be handled carefully. According to (New York Times 20) music is an integral part of the young people’s lives and the rapper Nas’ lyrics with his strong messages would definitely have an effect on the young people. Though media can also help to impart helpful and good morals to a society. For instance there are programs on the radio and television that uphold peace and unity in the community. The newspapers and briefs also produce news items that serve to bring people together. The media sometimes organizes campaigns to spread awareness. For example Youth campaigns against drug abuse, campaigns to create awareness on HIV/AIDS and promote responsible behavior. In this way the media plays an important role in uplifting the morals of the society. This is because the media can generate interest and cause debates or discussions about most social problems. So it is evident that despite the adverse aspects of the media, society cannot survive without it. Society plays a large role in influencing the media because it chooses what to promote in the media. For instance the kind of entertainment provided by media stations are tailor-made and designed to meet the needs of a particular audience. People play a great part in determining what the media shows. â€Å"It is human agency that both maintains and alters social structures. † (Croteau 22). A survey carried out to determine how much people rely on the media for news and advertising information. 8 out of 10 people get their news daily. 2 out of 10 people have subscribed to a magazine or newspaper. 7 out of 10 read or watch advertisements. 8 out of 10 have been interested to buy something they saw in an advertisement. 8 out of 10 say that it is not best to use advertisement to choose a product. Most people get news from the TV 5 out of 10 read only the headlines when they get news on the internet. 50% do not trust the news they get. The above research shows that media does play an integral role in transmitting information to the members of a society. Though half the people do not believe the news they hear, we still have to acknowledge the role the media plays in creating commonness and unity within a society. The positive effect it has on society surpasses the negative attributes. Works Cited Crouteau, David and Haynes, William. Media Society. Industries, Images and Audiences. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press. 2000 Fleming, Rockey A. New Rage Music: Do explicit Lyrics Corrupt Moral Values of Children. New York Times 12 January 2003. Perse, Elizabeth M. Media Effects and Society. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2001.

Finance and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Finance and Management - Essay Example This involves the value of raw materials, the work in progress and the finished goods ready for sale. It is the work of the cost accountants to place all costs under consideration so that they are able to determine the value of all inventories (Martin & Wolf, 2008). Cost accounting system has a function of bringing maximum efficiency in an organization. Cost efficiency would ensure that direct material costs, labor and manufacturing are identified and cost controls performed well. This is done by calculating all these costs, adding them up and calculating the cost per unit. Cost accounting systems also facilitates the decision-making systems in any form of organization. The decisions made are both long-term strategic and short-term decisions. In decision making estimated costs are compared to the actual costs and this is only applicable in organizations, which undertake budgeting as one of their strategic objectives (Martin & Wolf, 2008). Product costs are major components of any pro duct manufacturing system. Product costs are traced all the way from the costs of manufacturing up to the point when production is complete. When the company uses the throughput method costs are traced from the least cost methods all the way to the product cost, on the contrary the activity-based method would trace the cost of the product from the highest amount to the least product cost. There are four major costing methods:- Throughput method, direct costing method, full absorption costing method and the activity based costing method (Martin & Wolf, 2008). Throughput method was developed to complement the constraint theory, the method only charges direct material costs to the product cost with the other remaining costs being expensed in the process. The method is simple since it involves the subtraction of direct costs from the sales and there we have our product costs. This method is not recognized for external reporting since it does not provide proper matching as defined by the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), this is despite the fact that it provides rich data for internal reporting (Martin & Wolf, 2008). The other method is the Direct or variable method. Here capitalization if done on only variable manufacturing costs with the other costs being expensed in the period when they are incurred. This method is not also recommended for external reporting since like the throughput method it does not follow the matching principle as per the GAAP. Full absorption method also referred to as the full costing method applies all the manufacturing costs to the product hence the costs do not become expenses until all the goods are sold and therefore the method adheres to the GAAP principles in a bigger way. This method is therefore useful for external reporting by most companies. It is frequently used for internal reporting as well (Martin & Wolf, 2008). Activity based costing is the most modern approach and it is used mainly in product costing. This p roduct cost method was devised to help in the determination of accurate product costs a challenge that is rampant in the operations of most companies. This method quantifies the costs by firstly tracing the costs to their respective activities and thereafter in the second phase, the costs are traced to the products that use the activities. This method is based on the fundamental claims that activities in normal occurrences consume resources and the