Russia's Afghan War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Russia's Afghan War - Essay Example About 1,500 military advisers who worked in the country sabotaged equipment Afghan army and discouraged any kind of resistance by Afghan troops and officers (Hill, p.5). Discussion Preparation for Attack On Christmas Eve of 1979, the usually quiet airport in the Afghan capital resembles  Kabul  said a European metropolis.  The large machines with Soviet insignia, landing every three minutes, but have no regular passengers on board, but well-equipped soldiers, armored vehicles, weapons and ammunition. Observers suggested earlier, the company had long been part of the usual military support from  Moscow.  Two days later, on the evening of 27  December, a storm troop towards the city center is on the march, headed by units of the Soviet secret service  KGB  responsible under the leadership of Colonel GI Bojarinow, the head of the training center for special operations of the infamous Pay Department of the KGB, which stands for "wet stuff" (mokryje dela) is for assassinat ions and sabotage.  The military vehicles carry the Afghan national emblem, the soldiers hidden behind the closed hatches, Afghan uniforms.  First destination is the telegraph office, which can blow Bojarinow.  After then, the radio station has been occupied, the column continues to Darulaman Palace on the outskirts.  Despite fierce opposition from the guard of storm troopers penetrates rapidly.  In the top-floor bar the invaders find the one man they are looking for: President Hafisullah Amine, together with his mistress.  Both were shot in the melee. As far as the look, Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordiewsky KGB in her book - the story of its foreign operations from Lenin to  Gorbachev  give.  The work is based to a large extent on the information and detailed knowledge of a party: Gordiewsky was KGB man in London, and in 1985 changed sides.  His report following prisoners were not made, there would be no witnesses.  Bojarinow also came at the storming of the palace killed. Presumably he was confused because of the Afghan Uniform and shot by his own people (Grau, p.129-145). Warfare and Combat This Hollywood mature coup began in December 1979, the war in  Afghanistan. From the point of view of the Kremlin, there had been a few good reasons for intervention in the Hindu Kush.  As they were aware that the country had been skeptical from the beginning, due to this they had discouraged the war which was a right act.  However, the war proved to be futile, it seriously damaged the reputation of Moscow and accelerated the implosion of the  Soviet Union.  Afghanistan had become "Moscow's Vietnam". Always the policy of the Kremlin had aimed to closely to tie the southern neighboring country itself.  A non-aggression and neutrality pact in 1926 was followed in the fifties and sixties, a broad-based policy support.  The Soviet Union gave large loans, sent millions of business and technology consultants, built roads to the north and b ought generously export goods.  They Willingly trained the officer corps of the Afghan army by the Soviet Army, so that Kabul fell into complete dependence on Moscow (Grau, p.129-145). After King Zahir Shah was deposed in 1973, the coalition process was continued and Prince Mohammed Daoud initially led a coalition with the Pro-Moscow

Sophomore change Essay Example for Free

Sophomore change Essay A major event that has changed my life forever is high school. It has affected my life both negatively and positively. I never expected it to go the way it has gone. I can honestly say that if I could re-do high school all over again, I would. It has been a bumpy road and I wish I had done it completely different. The small events within it have made me realize who my true friends are, look forward the future, and make the best decisions for myself. High school started out a mystery. I had no idea what I was in for. I came into it in a relationship that lasted half of my high school years. I would not have changed that as a whole, just some of the parts in between. I consider myself as being very naive in the beginning. Freshman year was confusing for everyone. No one knew who his or her real friends were yet. It changed for most everyone. Sophomore year was basically the same, just older. Cliques started forming and more friends were made. I made a lot of mistakes in this time of my life that I would change if possible. I should have been a lot of things but I definitely should have been more considerate. Junior year was pretty much the same. I started defining who I was. I became more aware of situations and started making better decisions. I feel as if I grew up pretty fast. My parents started trusting me more and letting me experience life a little more freely. Junior year was a learning period of high school for sure. Senior year has been the most challenging year. I started realizing life is starting to get real. Everything counts now. College applications were a hard task. Realizing where you want to spend the next chapter in your life is really mind-altering. It is confusing yet exciting. This has changed my life drastically. My mind kept changing and changing over again. This was the year I began to realize who my real friends are. A lot of my friends came and went but I have really started to realize that family is what counts the most. High school has changed my life forever. I have lost people that I love and I have gained a great amount of knowledge. I still have no idea where my life will take me but I know that with the right support system, I will get where I am supposed to be. Family will always be there and friends are sometimes temporary. As these years have passed by, I’ve learned a lot about growing up and taking my life more seriously. I wish I had stepped up and applied myself like I know I could have. I should have taken school more seriously so I would have more options for my future. High school has had its ups and downs. It was the biggest life-changer I have had. I look forward to seeing where the next chapter in my life goes. These past few years have definitely changed my life forever.

Greek and Roman Mythology :: essays research papers

The ancient Greek and ancient Roman religion was the belief in gods. They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time. They believed in something called polytheism. It is the belief of many gods, each given a personality and purpose. And was the subject of many myths and legends that would be told for many generations to come. They were to become the basis for a religion that would last for hundreds of years and would yield thousands of followers to believe in the made stories of these enchanted people or gods as they were called. The Roman mythology was to consist of twelve to thirteen main gods. Each having a function in the life of the everyday Roman, that would require some sort of worshipping. The Roman gods were taken from the beliefs of the Greek gods. They are directly descended from their neighboring religion. The Roman mythology consisted of the high god Jupiter, his wife and sister Juno, son Vulcan, son Mercury, daughter Diana, daughter Venus, son Mars, daughter Minerva, son Apollo, sister Vesta, brother Pluto, brother Neptune, and Janus.(Classical Mythology) Jupiter was the ruler of the gods. He is also known as Zeus to the Greeks. The King of Gods in Greek Mythology Zeus was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. He was the child of Cronus and Rhea. As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening.(Ruck,Carl and Staples, Danny, pg 19) Neptune was the god of the sea. He was worshipped mostly by seaman. Greek and Roman Mythology :: essays research papers The ancient Greek and ancient Roman religion was the belief in gods. They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time. They believed in something called polytheism. It is the belief of many gods, each given a personality and purpose. And was the subject of many myths and legends that would be told for many generations to come. They were to become the basis for a religion that would last for hundreds of years and would yield thousands of followers to believe in the made stories of these enchanted people or gods as they were called. The Roman mythology was to consist of twelve to thirteen main gods. Each having a function in the life of the everyday Roman, that would require some sort of worshipping. The Roman gods were taken from the beliefs of the Greek gods. They are directly descended from their neighboring religion. The Roman mythology consisted of the high god Jupiter, his wife and sister Juno, son Vulcan, son Mercury, daughter Diana, daughter Venus, son Mars, daughter Minerva, son Apollo, sister Vesta, brother Pluto, brother Neptune, and Janus.(Classical Mythology) Jupiter was the ruler of the gods. He is also known as Zeus to the Greeks. The King of Gods in Greek Mythology Zeus was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. He was the child of Cronus and Rhea. As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening.(Ruck,Carl and Staples, Danny, pg 19) Neptune was the god of the sea. He was worshipped mostly by seaman.

Giligan Oakmont Country Club Case

Gilligan oOakmont Country Club 1 Thomas W. Gilligan University of Southern California I t is the summer of 1996 and management must decide whether or not to alter the process used to trade the club’s 450 memberships. The current fixed price system, in which management sets the transfer fee for club memberships, offers some degree of financial certainty for existing and prospective members as well as for the club’s financial planners. However, the fixed price system promotes chronic imbalances between the number of members wishing to leave the club and the number of eligible candidates wanting to enter the club.These imbalances create frustrations for eligible candidates, hardships for long-time club members, difficulties in developing suitable new members and problems for club planners. Management is considering several alternatives. THE CLUB Oakmont Country Club is a private golf and social club located along the Arroyo Verdugo in northern Glendale, California. Establi shed in 1922, Oakmont has long provided the kind of relaxed social life prized by many Southern California families. Oakmont’s mission statement reveals the club’s goals and orientation. . . to provide its members with a premium golf and country club experience that includes a well maintained, highly respected and competitive golf course; an attractively designed and efficiently operated clubhouse that meets the membership’s requirements for excellent service, top-quality food and beverages and ample meeting and banquet facilities; and the maintenance of the Club’s unique atmosphere of a strong and friendly family orientation. All contemporary management issues at Oakmont are evaluated through the lens of this mission statement.This case was prepared by Thomas W. Gilligan, University of Southern California, as a basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.Oakmont’s challenging 18-hole, 6,736-yard golf course is a tough test for golfers of any ability. The course was designed by Max Behr, architect of many local courses including the one at Lakeside Country Club, and modified by William Bell, Sr. , creator of courses at the Riviera and Bel Air Country Clubs. Oakmont’s course is currently the site of an annual Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament and over the years has hosted many important professional and amateur events. Among the notable winners of golf tournaments held at Oakmont are Ben Hogan and Al Geiberger.Oakmont’s clubhouse, which was renovated in 1995, is a 42,000 square foot, single-story structure characterized by an elegant reception area, formal dining room, private meeting and banquet rooms, a member’s grill, a casual dining room and a terrace grill for indoor and outdoor eating. In addition, there is a fully equipped state-of-the-art exercise room and men’s and women’s locker rooms. A competitive short course pool, with toddler swimming area, is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day each year. Oakmont’s assets are valued at nearly $13 million while its annual operating expenses are more than $3 million.Tables 1 and 2 are statements of the financial position and activities of Oakmont Country Club for fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Oakmont is organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the state of California. According to its bylaws, Oakmont’s membership is fixed at 450 regular members each with an equal proprietary interest in the club’s assets (Oakmont also has several non-equity membership categories). Regular members govern Oakmont through the election of a Board of Directors (the Board), the chief policy-making body of the club. The Board appoints members o standing and special committees and, together with the club’s General Manager and senior staff, supervise the daily operations of Oakmont. Regular members also vote on the adoption of new articles or amendments to Oakmont’s bylaws.THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESSMost of Oakmont’s regular members are professionals, entrepreneurs or corporate leaders who reside in Glendale and the neighboring communities of La Crescenta, La Canada-Flintridge and Pasadena. Some are executives or high-ranking managers in the entertainment industries that permeate the Los Angeles basin.Many current members are children of long-time Oakmont members. Surveys conducted by the club indicate that many members consider other clubs before joining Oakmont. Three nearby clubs – Annandale Country Club in Pasadena, San Gabriel Country Club in San Gabriel, and Lakeside Country Club in Burbank – compete directly with Oakmont for new members. Indeed, the need to provide competitive club characteristics and amenities was a major motivation for the recent renovation of Oakmont’s Clubhouse. Regular members wishing to leave Oakmont do so for a varie ty of reasons.Some have moved or are planning to move to locations that would limit or preclude their use of Oakmont. Others wish to give up their golfing privileges but continue their association with Oakmont as social members. Some find that due to changing life circumstances (e. g. , the death of a spouse), their club usage has declined and it is no longer sensible to continue to pay the monthly membership dues, which can approach $500 even with little or no use of the club. And some are no longer economically able to cover the cost of membership. Historically, roughly two members leave the club each month.The process of becoming a member at Oakmont is typical of private country and social clubs in Southern California. Prospective members are invited to join Oakmont by two current members (a â€Å"proposer† and â€Å"seconder†) and endorsed by five additional regular members. These prospects are then interviewed by the club’s Membership Committee and evaluate d by the Board.Eligible candidates become members of Oakmont by remitting an entrance fee to the club’s business office. Part of the entrance fee, the transfer fee, is used to defray the current expenses of the club. Table 2 illustrates that the transfer fee is an important revenue source, constituting roughly 14 and 19 percent of the club’s operating revenues in 1996 and 1995, respectively. The balance of the entrance fee, the member’s equity, is paid to the resigning member. Currently, the entrance fee, transfer fee and member’s equity are set by Oakmont’s Board.This so-called fixed price membership system is typical of social and country clubs like Oakmont and has several desirable features. The fixed price system allows the Board to reliably budget transfer fees. The fixed price system also appears to provide some certainty about the costs of joining Oakmont to prospective members and the value of member’s equity for members planning to resign. Since the fee structure adopted under the fixed price system is at the discretion of the Board, it permits some flexibility in adjusting to relevant changing circumstances.For example, the vicissitudes of the Southern California economy have a large bearing on the number of members wishing to resign from or join Oakmont. During the economic boom of the late 1980s and prior to the recession of the early 1990s, the Board increased the entrance fee by almost 50 percent (from $34,000 in May 1989 to $50,000 in March 1992). After the recession of the early 1990s, the Board reduced the entrance fee by nearly a quarter (from $50,000 in March 1992 to $39,000 in June 1993).Changes in the entrance fee also reflect the financial requirements of construction or acquisition of new assets. Also in June 1993, the Board increased the entrance fee by $6,700, an amount equal to the assessment levied on all current Oakmont members to cover the costs of the Clubhouse renovation (note that the ol d entrance fee plus assessment yields the new entrance fee of $45,700). Table 3 reports the entrance fee, transfer fee, and member’s equity for October of each year from 1989 to 1995, as well as for August of 1996.THE PROBLEMSThe fixed price membership system used at Oakmont is associated with at least one potentially undesirable feature; a chronic imbalance between the number of members wishing to resign and the number of eligible candidates wishing to join the club. The last column of Table 3 reports the number of people waiting to join (in parenthesis) or resign from Oakmont for several months during the 1989 to 1996 period. In October of 1991, there were 11 eligible candidates for membership to the club who, due to the paucity of members wishing to resign, remained eligible candidates for at least one month.Inspection of Table 3 indicates that the number of eligible candidates waiting to join Oakmont at the end of October of 1990 and 1989 was even greater; 42 and 27, resp ectively. Indeed, some members who paid Oakmont’s highest historical entrance fee late in 1991 or early in 1992 had waited over two years to join the club. A long waiting list of eligible candidates wishing to enter Oakmont had its good and bad points. Some members viewed a long queue of eligible candidates as indicative of the value and exclusivity of the club.After all, it is traditionally difficult to get into a desirable social club; why should Oakmont be any different? Others, however, were troubled by the impact of this lengthy wait on eligible candidates. All of the eligible candidates had been asked to join by current Oakmont members. Many of these members were embarrassed and frustrated by the lengthy wait that accompanied their invitations. In addition, some felt that the long waiting list to enter Oakmont generated â€Å"speculative† eligible members; individuals that declined to exercise their option to become a member when they reached the top of the list. While these two membership categories addressed some of the problems associated with the long waiting list to join Oakmont, they also created some new issues and abuses, as well. During 1992, the imbalance between the number of members wishing to resign or join Oakmont continued unabated.Paradoxically, the relationship that existed during the late 1980s and early 1990s reversed itself; there were now more members wishing to resign than to join. The factors behind this new trend were evident. The weakening national and, especially, Southern California economy shrank the number of individuals with the discretionary income necessary to belong to a country club. Changes in the tax law in the early 1990s that reduced allowable deductions for club dues and entertainment further limited the number of prospective members.Moreover, the average age of Oakmont members, a good predictor of the number of members wishing to resign, had increased from 55 years in 1971 to 62 years in 1996. As Table 3 reports, at the end of October of 1992 there were 10 members who wished to leave Oakmont but could not because there were no eligible candidates waiting to enter. By the end of August of 1996, this number was now 41 and the member at the top of the list to sell his membership had waited since June of 1994. Club management soon discovered that there is nothing good about a long list of members waiting to leave Oakmont.By the second half of 1994, those waiting to leave were quite bitter. These resigning members had endured the physical disruptions of the Clubhouse renovation, which still had a year to go and was at the time 50 percent over budget. The resigning members who had left the area thought it unfair that they be required to continue to pay monthly dues. Management tried to accommodate these individuals by establishing another membership category – inactive member – with reduced monthly fees in exchange for the surrender of club privileges.This plan placated f ew resigning members. And the general negativity of the current situation accelerated the number of members wishing to resign and diminished further still the number of prospective members wishing to enter Oakmont. Indeed, during several months in 1994 and 1995, few prospective members made inquiries and no eligible members were admitted to the club. Ironically, by the middle of 1996 the national and regional economy had recovered with a vengeance. Real estate prices, the stock market, and national and regional employment were all rising dramatically.The Clubhouse renovation had been completed and, by all accounts, greatly increased the utility and desirability of Oakmont. Yet, the number of members wishing to resign from Oakmont continued to accumulate. All of the long-term fundamentals for a strong and popular club were now in place. Where were the prospective members that a modern club and healthy economy and stock market should help create? Could the allure of country club livin g have declined in contemporary Southern California? Or might savvy prospective members have anticipated a better deal around the corner?THE ALTERNATIVESDuring 1996 the Board contemplated possible solutions to the membership problem. One possibility was to promote the club more effectively among prospective members. In the 1990s the Board had adopted a variety of plans to generate eligible candidates, such as offering existing members prizes for successful referrals (e. g. , vacations to Hawaii, free dues for three months). These plans had been judged to be only moderately successful and created a backlash among members who felt that such promotions were in poor taste and counter to the Club’s recruitment goals.Some current members felt that new members should be those who fit well within the club’s niche, not those simply financially able to be Oakmont members. The renovation of CaseNet ®  ©South-Western College Publishing Oakmont Country Club 5 the Clubhouse help ed generate new members, as well. Following its completion there was an initial surge of interest. Some Board members felt that an aggressive promotional plan coupled with some minor improvements in the Club’s physical plant (e. . , the pool) would go far towards alleviating the membership imbalance. Many of these same Board members believed that the strengthening economy would naturally solve the current problem. Another alternative the Board considered was to reduce the entrance fee, as was done in 1992. This simple solution, which was favored by some of the Board’s members, was consistent with the long-time practices of the club and would require few if any changes to the administrative procedures governing the membership process.Other Board members felt that it was unfair to members wishing to leave the club to force them to sell their memberships at a discounted fixed price. And even if the Board reduced the club’s entrance fee, what should the new fee be? Should the fee be set to generate a waiting list of eligible members, as had existed prior to 1991? If so, what was the right length waiting list? Some Board members felt that, under the current circumstances, any change in the entrance fee would have to be modified in the near future and, depending on the volatility of several factors, on a periodic basis.A third alternative considered by the Board was to abandon the fixed price membership system altogether and adopt the so-called float method to determine the entrance fee, transfer fee and member’s equity of Oakmont memberships. This method had been adopted at some neighboring clubs (e. g. , San Gabriel Country Club and Lakeside Country Club) with varying success. Generally, the float method permits the entrance fee to change monthly as a function of the number of members wishing to enter and leave the club and the value that these members place on membership in Oakmont.Board members who favored the float method felt it wou ld alleviate the imbalance between the number of individuals wishing to leave and enter Oakmont. They also felt that the float method would get club management out of the business of trying to guess the value of club memberships and addressing, on an ad hoc basis, the problems that might arise from lengthy waiting lists to enter or leave the club. Some Board members opposed the plan because they felt it would interject uncertainty in budgeting for transfer fee income.Others opposed the plan because they felt that membership in Oakmont was not like a piece of real estate to be transacted on the open market. These members felt memberships should be allocated by the Board, with consultation from the Membership Committee, to prospective members who would help further Oakmont’s values and mission.THE DECISIONIn late September of 1996, the Board abandoned the fixed price membership system and adopted a float method to determine the entrance fee, transfer fee, and member’s eq uity of Oakmont memberships.Under the float method, a resigning member offers to sell his membership at any price he wishes. At the end of each month the Board presents these offers, from lowest to highest, to eligible candidates. Priority is given to eligible candidates based on the submission date of their membership application. If an eligible candidate accepts the offer, the candidate remits a check in the amount of the offer to Oakmont’s business office. The transfer fee is half of the offer price or $15,000, whichever is greater, with the remainder constituting the resigning member’s equity.If an eligible candidate declines the offer, he assumes the lowest priority in the following month’s membership sale. A candidate can decline three offers before losing his eligibility. The highest selling price, the number of memberships transacted, and the number of remaining eligible candidates is reported each month to Oakmont members, eligible candidates and prospe ctive members.Smith and Mr. Jones, both long-time Oakmont members, submit offers to sell at $35,000 and $40,000, respectively. Currently, Mr. Brown, Mr. Black and Mr. White are the only eligible candidates. Based on the timing of their membership applications, an offer will be presented first to Mr. Brown, then to Mr. Black, and finally to Mr. White. The Board presents Mr. Smith’s $35,000 offer to Mr. Brown. Since Mr. Brown declines the offer, he is placed on the bottom of next month’s eligible candidate’s list and Mr. Black is presented with Mr.Smith’s offer. Mr. Black accepts, remitting a check for $35,000 to Oakmont, $17,500 of which goes to the operating budget of the club as transfer fee and $17,500 of which goes to Mr. Smith as member’s equity. Mr. Jones’ $40,000 offer is now presented to Mr. White, who declines and goes to the bottom of next month’s eligible candidate’s list behind Mr. Brown. Mr. Jones’ $40,000 of fer stands unless he advises the Board that he wishes to either withdraw or alter his offer. The Board would report that one membership changed hands at $35,000.If more than one membership had been traded, the Board would report the highest price only. Table 1 reports the monthly history of the float method at Oakmont Country Club from October of 1996 through January of 1999. This table catalogs the number of members waiting to sell their membership, the number making offers to sell, the number of offers accepted by eligible candidates, and the highest selling price. In Oakmont’s 1997 Annual Report, President Charles J. Gelhaar offered the following summary. The success of our â€Å"float† process continued in 1997.Our waiting-out list has [been] reduced from 43 to 0. We sold 34 regular [memberships]. The last membership sold for $57,750. Oakmont’s President in 1998, David A. Werbelow, provided the following assessment. [The] Membership Committee continued the p ositive turnaround which began in . . . October, 1996, with the introduction of the â€Å"float† system. This year, every offer to sell was accepted by a buying new member – the 1998 average selling price of just over $60,000 was $12,000 higher than the average of the prior year.The average age of incoming members is more than 20 years younger than retiring members, and Oakmont Country Club has firmly established a niche in Southern California as a family club. The History of Oakmont Country Club, published on the club’s 75 th Anniversary in 1997, provides a more theatrical description of the events surrounding the adoption of the float method. . . . it was now time to tackle another pressing problem: the membership. The recession that damaged Southern California had impacted Oakmont as well. The average age of golf members had climbed to 61, and there were some 40 members waiting to get out.Unfortunately, new members were coming in at a snail’s pace. At one point, only one new member applied in a three-month period. Spearheaded by 1996 Club President Olaf Falkenhagen, the idea of a floating membership fee was implemented in October, 1996. Other clubs in the area had tried it with varying success; and after considerable debate at the Board level, it was time for Oakmont to try it. It was an instant success. Five new members applied immediately. Thirty five members applied in six months.A high of $60,000 was reached in May, 1997, and a waiting list to join seems a real possibility for the first time in years. The float method developed at Oakmont, referred to as the Oakmont Float, is now used by a variety of equity-based golf and social clubs in the Southern California and Las Vegas areas.

Our National Duties

Once Martin Luther King said, â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly†. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says that, â€Å"In this new era, people’s actions constantly-if often unwittingly-affect the lives of others living far away. Globalization offers great opportunities, but at present its benefits are very unevenly distributed while its costs are born by all. He emphasizes six shared values, which are of particular relevance to the new century: freedom, equity and solidarity, tolerance, non-violence, respect for nature and shared responsibility. The modern world is becoming smaller, highly integrated and technologically more advanced. It is also becoming highly fragmented, less peaceful and unsafe for both present and future generations. Spectacular advances in science and technology over the last five decades have revolutionized the entire world. Investments in research and development have resulted in innovations and inventions in both product and factor markets. The benefits of these advancements however, have yet to reach the poor living in many countries across the world. Poverty is on the increase and we are sitting on millions of human landmines. The world today is passing through an environment full of tensions, violence, declining values, injustice, reduced tolerance and respect for human rights. The gun culture has already taken a dominant position in most of the developing countries, threatening the future of the youth who deserve a peaceful and better quality of life. There is a greater need to create a culture of Youth Leadership in society through an active participation of youth in civic activities. Adult leaders, parliamentarians and policymakers at community, municipality, state, national and international levels should agree that they are responsible for ensuring that the 21st century is characterized as a century of Youth Leadership. The world today is indeed in search of a new culture and a common system of values and new behavioral patterns for individuals, groups and nations, because, without them, the major problems of international and internal peace cannot be solved. The replacement of the existing culture of violence by a culture of peace can only be achieved in a longer perspective. In a period of transition and accelerated change marked by the expression of intolerance, manifestation of racial and ethnic hatred, violence towards those regarded as â€Å"others† and the growing disparities between the rich and the poor. Action strategies must aim at ensuring fundamental freedom, peace, human rights, and democracy and at promoting sustainable and equitable economic and social development all of which have an essential part to play in building a culture of peace. What do we expect from the youth with the creation of the culture of peace? The youth with their new ideas, new energy and neutral background, can contribute to peace development. They are ready to participate in community work. Youth should be treated as partners-partnership by youth in all social activities, of governance, community activities-should start in an active manner with the entry of the child into the golden age phase of 15 to 25 years. Youth should realize that they should not wait for the inheritance of the world; they must realize they have already inherited the world while entering into the golden age. Development of youth as productive citizens and peace workers could be a starting point for developing the peace culture. In the world today, one person in five is between the ages of 15 to 25, which is an accepted UN definition of the age that defines youth. There are altogether more than one billion youth, constituting a formidable force. About 85 percent live in developing countries with 60 percent in Asia, or about 800 million youth in the Asian region. Moreover, two thirds of these youth are growing in countries, which have extremely low per capita incomes (PCIs), below the PCI of $700 per annum. The needs and aspirations of young people are still mostly unmet. The youth employment and livelihood problem is particularly acute and growing in the developing countries while the bulk of corporate resources are controlled by developed countries. Moreover, action on youth employment and livelihood remain poorly defined. Poverty breeds an environment, which encourages social deviations like drug-addiction, excessive smoking, alcoholism, and tendencies towards suicide. Most problems among youth in developing countries are nurtured by their perception of an uncertain and unstable future. However, one thing is clear among all youth: that they want to make something of them, and to sustain the value of family solidarity. Today’s youth are often skeptical about adult leaders and they may express the desire to participate in society through volunteer work but not in politics. Alienated youth, particularly when they form a large proportion of the population, will turn their energy to drugs, crime, violence and even revolution. Unengaged youth represent a wasted economic resource. Youth of today is in search of its identity. They are less inclined towards conflicts and wars unless external forces compel them to do so. International studies clearly indicate that today’s youth are concerned about issues relating to family, education and employment. The youth express their need for a sense of independence, competence and participation in the mainstreams of society. They should be perceived as key agents for social change, including peace development, economic development and technological innovation. The paradox is that even as they represent societies’ greatest hope, they are a group who risk an uncertain and unstable future. How to involve these young men and women in building and designing their future, and the future of coming generations, is the key issue confronting the progress of our societies. The world today stands at a crossroad. However, the path of peace ahead remains clear for the world if we pursue three goals: firstly, a common vision of our future society anchored on peace; secondly, the core of shared values that animate our desires and preferences, grounds for peace which is acceptable to all religions, peoples, nations, families and communities, and hirdly, the power for united venture that brings people-empowered action for the attainment of a peace vision guided by the values we cherish. The peace factor must be used to resolve prime issues such as: (i) the persistent poverty of people, especially those in rural areas, (ii) the social injustice that continues to prevail in our societies and then often divisive and counter-productive ways of governance. The index to development, theref ore, must be human in dimension, content and lifestyle anchored on peace. In the case of the National Peace Development Policy for Youth, we must deviate from tradition and formulate policy with active participation of the youth. In this case, policy definition and strategy have to be applied flexibly by involving and energizing the youth right from the very start. It should not begin with elders and senior policy-makers and leaders, but take grassroots hold with the youth from day one. The youth must be empowered to find their own niche and roles in the totality of national development, and be the major force for peace development. All steps in the exercise should be taken in consultation with the different levels of participating youth from the national down to the state, district, municipal and village levels. Youth constitutes the richest wealth of a country. They develop quality of personal integrity, personal discipline and open mindedness. It is enriched further when they develop an open attitude and universal outlook. As youth is a period of passions, emotions, activity and vigor, they should be trained to combine enthusiasm with patience. Youth should develop an open attitude and universal outlook. This is the real empowerment of youth. Empowering or enabling is like a process similar to teaching and fishing. For preserving peace, youth must play a decisive role. Youth should be exposed to merit of tolerance and nonviolence. Youth should realize the importance of living together and should be responsible to defend the frontiers of peace and non-violence. This warrants the promotion of a new culture and thus a different mindset. Hence, a comprehensive rethinking is required in all walks of life with a total commitment to the issues of youth development. Educational experiences should be provided to youth with an objective to enhance their tolerance level and help them understand the merits of tolerance and respect for â€Å"otherness†. â€Å"Respecting the others† goes much farther than tolerance. Education must promote an aptitude of free inquiry, frank and vigorous discussion and willingness to work in teams. Education should teach the youth not only to tolerate differences but also to respect differences. In spiritual development, the youth can form a new phalanx of peace missionaries building up volunteers and NGO networks at the grassroots, concentrating on values education and spiritual renewal among children, women and the youth to reverse the process of family values in which traditionally, it is the elders who impose on the youth; this time it will be the young helping shape family values through dedicated youth peace missionaries. In the area of ethnic development, the youth of different ethnic groups can forge links between cultural minorities and popularize shared values, shared religious values, and shared cultures and traditions handed down from generation to generation. In political development, youth can be trained to form the cadre of youth animators to expose the rural poor to democratic processes and institutions, to consensus building and voting mechanics, to party and government platforms. In socio-economic development, the youth can join internship/training programs with agricultural, manufacturing, and service industries, sharpen their skills to become the forward-looking manpower needed by their countries to help their economies compete favorably against international competition. In political/government development, the youth can engage in internships in the parliamentary institutions, join in political awareness-building, reform political parties and remove the ugliness of partisan politics, and at the same time force reforms in the bureaucracy to ensure good governance, accountability, transparency, and citizenry participation. E-government strategy can effectively support such programs. In military affairs, the youth can become the country’s elite guards dedicated to patriotism, protection of children, women, oppressed and poor, and through collective vigilance and closeness with the people, provide the moral counterpart to the abuses of ambitious generals and military demagogues. Finally, in regional and international development, the youth can become peace ambassadors of their respective countries, promoting exchange programs in education, culture, science and echnology, sports and games, and in tourism promotions, to link all the youth of the region and the world in the pursuit and maintenance of peace and democracy. Youth Leadership activities cannot be confined to schools. They should be exposed to the real socio-political environment. That is missing today. In addition to peace development, these youth forums should, from time to time, include planning and implementation of environmental programs, family planning, information technology, health and sani tation, etc. Forum participants should focus on the benefits of peace, non-violence to strengthen tolerance through participation in community affairs, anniversaries in which all can participate thereby fostering a culture of peace and tolerance through a system of community education in order to promote respect and mutual understanding. The new millennium offers the world’s people a unique opportunity to reflect on their common destiny, at a moment when they find themselves interconnected as never before. In this New World, groups and individuals interact directly across frontiers more often, without involving the state. This also has its dangers in terms of crime, narcotics, terrorism, weapons, refugees and migrants; all move back and forth faster and in greater numbers than in the past. But new technologies also create opportunities for mutual understanding and common action. If we are to get the best out of globalization and modern technologies as well as avoid the worst, we must learn to govern better with emphasis on good governance and strengthening of civil society, and how to govern better together. People are looking to their leaders to identify and act on the challenges ahead. There is no denying the fact that youth are important asset of any nation, making up 800 million of Asia’s population. They should be the primary concern of political leaders, religious leaders, policy makers, planners, administrators and others interested in development including peace development. The youth are creative and innovative. They are in a better position to introduce new dimensions contributing to the current socio-political and economic dialogue, particularly in the area of peace development. Hence, the national governments should give priority to the UN declarations of National Peace Policies and Action Programs. Nations are underdeveloped for many reasons, but certainly the major reasons are inadequate leadership, and absence of youth participation. We must now look to the youth. The modern electronic media have an essential role to play in the preparation of youth in a spirit of peace, justice, freedom, mutual respect and understanding, in order to promote human rights, equality of rights between all human beings and all nations, and economic and social progress. Equally, they have an important role to play in making known the views and aspirations of the youth with special focus on good governance, transparency, tolerance and democracy. In the ultimate analysis, my dear fellow participants and youth leaders, I am sure that together we can lay the foundations of our shared future, together we can build bridges of love and tryst; and together we can help translate the dreams and visions espoused at hundreds of such conferences before this one. With hope, faith and courage, soon we shall be able to tell our elders that yes when given the chance to deliver, we have done and done it in style. At least, we would leave this world as a much better place to live than we had inherited. Times cry for action and action here and now. Mark Twain said this for you, me and all of us: â€Å"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the thing you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover†¦! †

The Culture and Civilization tradition Essay Example

The Culture and Civilization tradition Essay Example The Culture and Civilization tradition Paper The Culture and Civilization tradition Paper He also sees society as a whole possessing a common basis of human nature (11) however he seams to think that the Barbarians and Philistines have a better developed basis of human nature than the Populace. As john Storey says, Arnold seems to be suggesting that the aristocracy and middle classes are further along the evolutionary continuum than the working class (12) This follows through that everyone has a place in society and that all should look to their betters for guidance. So Arnold, although being the pioneer of modern cultural thinking, seems to have been restricted by tradition and his place in society. Therefore his outlook on todays popular culture simply could not work without some adaptation. He appears to have a fear of the working class and really doesnt try to understand their culture other than from the view that it must be controlled to some extent. If their culture was left to develop alone it would be unchanging; the mass of mankind will never have an ardent zeal (to better themselves), very inadequate ideas will always satisfy them (13) Arnolds view lasted for nearly a century until the 1930s when F. R. Leavis and his wife Queeny Leavis picked up the baton with their publications Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture and Fiction and the reading public. Their ideas were developed in the period between the wars, a time in which they had seen the Wall Street crash in America, along with the building up through the press of movies and film stars, and to some extent American subcultures. This contrasted with the disillusionment of the British public with their government over the handling of the war. There was a general, mainly in the middle classes, worry of society falling into chaos. The public was dissatisfied with the upper classes and religion because of their involvement and leadership during the war a style of command that resulted in many lower class men loosing their lives in the trenches. It was this at time that great developments were made in democracy and a move was made away from the direct rule of the monarchy. It wasnt so much that the working classes were able to get into authority or government, but they did have more of a say over proceedings. Leavisism is based on the idea, created by Arnold that the ruling class minority of society dictates the rituals of the masses. Since the Industrial revolution a wish and an ability of the lower classes to follow their own desires had eroded this dictation. Leavisism believed that steps must be taken to bring them back into the fold. Where Arnold is remorseful of the falling of the feudal system, Queeny is nostalgic for the time when the masses exhibited an unquestioning ascent to authority. (14) She and her husband believed that Arnolds feared anarchy had already come to pass and that through education the lower classes should be instructed out of their subversive culture. Their suggestions for this education included the reading of adverts in terms of them and us, the masses and the educated respectively. F. R. Leavis promoted his own form of education and examination in popular culture with reference to media. He suggested that pupils in the final years before higher education looked at adverts in terms of questions, some of which would be relevant and helpful today, as well as some questions that confirm the status of the elitism. Questions such as What do you think his attitude would be towards us, how would he behave in situations where mob passions run high? (With reference to a Tobacco advert and the subject therein). (15) Q. D. Leavis believed that products of popular culture such as Films and trash novels have an almost hypnotic effect over their audience that people became de-educated by them. They evolve an under culture which detracts from high culture. She therefore sees the modern media as an enemy to the idealist vision of a national culture, where the only option of theatre provided a unilateral version of culture. Leavisism could be said to be anti-capitalist as it dislikes the commercial interests of the 19th and 20th centuries where the rising middle classes were attempting to use the working classes wish to escape by selling them dreams in the form of cultural products. Leavisism tapped into a train of thought of the time which was nostalgic for a more settled time before the rising up of commercial interests, when the working classes were directly answerable to the their land owners. The culture and civilization tradition was a way of looking at the changing world and trying to put it back to how it was. The Culture and Civilization tradition was used as a tool for a nai ve community to try and understand how the media effected society. Arnold developed his theory to explain societies social order and authority, and the importance of cultural subordination to the maintenance of this. Leavisism used is it to explain how media products were contributing to an unsettled system of authority. This way of looking at media studies died out during the 1950s when society as whole changed with wider expectance of new things and the evolution of thought towards individuality. (1) John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: an introduction (third edition), Pearson Education, 2001, p. 17 (2) Mathew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, London: Cambridge University Press, 1960, p. 6 (3) John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: an introduction (third edition), Pearson Education, 2001, p. 18. (4) Mathew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, p. 42 (5) Ibid. p. 89 (6) Ibid. p. 179 (7) Ibid. p. 163 (8) Ibid. p. 164 (9) John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, p. 19 (10) Ibid. (11) Mathew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, p. 105 (12) John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, p. 19 (13) Matthew Arnold, poetry and prose, London: Robert Hart Davis, 1954 p. 364 (14) Mathew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, p. 23 (15) Leavis and Thompson, Culture and Environment Greenwood press, 1977, p. 17.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters -Stock Valuation Critique Essays

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters -Stock Valuation Critique Essays Green Mountain Coffee Roasters -Stock Valuation Critique Essay Green Mountain Coffee Roasters -Stock Valuation Critique Essay Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Stock Valuation Critique Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Has implemented many strategies over its business life span, some that have contributed, and some that have reduced its value. As we commenced the stock valuation critique, we examined Smogs earnings for the past twelve months. Their earnings appear to have doubled from the previous year. This seems to be substantially successful for a coffee business industry, especially with the tendency of variations in sales and earnings. However earnings lone do not account for a companys entire worth. Solely looking at the actual stock price of the company will not give an accurate value due to other factors such as the size of the company. We compared the price per earnings ratio for CACM to many of its competitors and the industry average. As of August 6, 2012 their PIE ratio was 9. 90 compared to the industry of coffee manufacturing and packaging goods which was 47. 60. This is significantly low which drew parallel to its competitor comparison. Pets PIE ratio was 69. 18 and Struck fell in at 25. :