Saturday, November 30, 2019

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay Example

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay At three in the morning on December 7, 1948, after two months of over 80 meetings, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created. The final obstacle for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was approval from the United Nation General assembly. In order for the document to be approved it required two-thirds of the vote. On December 10, 1948, the document was adopted. l The United Nation has not been successful at enforcing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because the underlying values in the document are not actually universal. Different states have different values about human rights. Even though some states signed the document, they did only to appear humane to others and hidden Human right violations continue. In the aftermath of World War II, the United Nations created UDHR for the purpose of preventing the next generation from devastation of international conflict, such as World War II. The last good war was an unprecedented global devastation. The levels of severity of the crimes of Adolf Hitler and his military could not have been predicted by Europe. Before the outbreak of World War II in March 1938, Austria was annexed under Hitler, which led international crises of human rights abuse. 2 Patrakis 2 We will write a custom essay sample on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When Hitlers military invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, this invasion would ignite the largest crimes against humanity the global community ever experienced. Once Hitler invaded Poland, war was declared by France, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand on Germany. This began the outbreak of World War 11. 3 Throughout World War II, Hitler launched attacks on the following countries: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. The impact Hitler and his military had on the occupied countries and the global community was a horror that not been experienced until Hitler become Germanys chancellor. The lasting effect of World War II was the Holocaust where six million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany. 5 The manner that was conducted to murder the Jews and other racial, ethic, and disabled populations would involve a variety of methods. 6 The gas chamber would involve weak inmates who were unable to work in the labor camps. 7 There were cases of gas vans and mass shootings. 8 Around 5,000 children of various ages were included in the mass murders. The methods used to murdered children were starvation and overdoses of medicines. 9 The victims of the Holocaust were from thousands of locations in Europe. Winston explains, Second World War is the greatest crime in recorded history, committed on human and geographical scale which far Patrakis 3 surpasses that of other acts of genocide. 10 During the Second World War, Human rights did not exist in terms of international laws. As a result of the mass murders of innocent women, children, and men this was an indication to the world leaders to process of drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the idea of universalism of rights which would be applied to different types of people. McGuinness explain, social and cultural contexts against pragmatic and realist ccount of resolving armed conflicts. 11 The drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a difficult process. 12 The process of the declaration would begin once the United Nations was established in 1945. 13 Shortly after, there was tremendous pressure to pass an international bill of rights placed on the Charter of the United Nations. In 1946, the United Nation created the Commission on Human Rights. 14 The Commission was responsible for the draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The draft committee includes the following: public fgures Dr. Charles Malik of Lebanon, Alexandre Bogomolov of USSR, Dr. Peng-chun Chang of China, Ren? © Cassin of France Eleanor Roosevelt of United States, Charles Dukes of United Kingdom, William Hodgson of Australia Hernan Santa Cruz of Chile, and John P. Humphrey of Canada. 15 Patrakis 4 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was shaped by seven different stages. In January and February of 1947, the first stage began with the First Session of the committee meeting. As the delegates discussed the content for the internal bill of rights draft, there was an issue about trusting a committee or the secretary with the drafting of the Declaration. The decision was for the Commission Human rights Chairman, Vice-chairman, Rapporteur and the Secretariat to develop the international bill of human rights draft. The second was the First Session of the Drafting Committee. This involved the process of drafting the document. 16 The third stage was Second Session of the full Commission. In December 1947, the Second Session took place. During this session, the different types of organization attend this include seventeen different groups for example American Federation of Labor, International Federation of Christian Trade Union, and Inter-parliamentary Union to name a few. These organization opinions were not viewed as important and were sent to the Commission by the Secretariat in forms of pr? ©cis. 17 The Second Session of the Drafting Committee started in May 1948. This was about discussing an agreement due to the delegates who were holding out on the adoption of declaration and the agreement of the inter bill of rights. The Third Session of the Commission discussion was intense due to the Commission wanting to shorten the burdensome of the draft. The sixth and seventh stages were about The Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Plenary Session of the 1948 Assembly. During the Plenary Session, there debate about Third General Assembly that had led to the approval of the Declaration. 18 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights symbolizes an agreement on different types of human rights for the first time between different nations. However, this declaration is not a legally Patraksi 5 binding treaty. 9 Floor explains, Authority for the United Nations efforts to implement human rights standards is found either in the text of the Charter or in subsequent internal agreement. 20 The issues of human right abuses such as discrimination, torture, child rights and treaties such as Social and Culture Rights are The member states are for the community in the issues allocated with Charter. For example, Article One expresses that the United Nations purpose is to protect human rights. 22 The countries voted for the document but have not been successful in applying those rights to their countries. Flood states, Even if some government do not accept human rights as good in themselves, most government want to be seen as civilized and humane by their peers and by the publics of countries whose cooperation is important to them. 23 In some cases countries will not defend the reasons for abusing citizens and instead will hide the violations. Floods explain, governments are willing to ignore the global community and violate the international human rights laws at the cost of an external relationship. Another effect of not applying to the UDHR Floor explains, political psychological, sometimes it directly affects material interest 24 Contemporary states must understand the consequences when determining internal policies; The United Nations human rights system now constitutes an external factor that any government must take into account in determining policies that affect practical observance of human rights25. Patrakis 6 The Universal Declaration Human Rights document is not actually u niversal. Roberts and Kingsbury explain, It remains the case, that, despite the existence of many purportedly definitive agreements on the subject, different societies have very different conceptions of the content and important of human rights. Due to the diverse concepts about human rights, there are different practices for these nations, and the changes will not occur quickly26. The most influential and powerful countries in Europe have demonstrated violations of the Universal Declaration Human Rights, despite having voted at General Assembly in 1948. 7 These countries include: the United Kingdom, France, and Turkey. The violations these countries have in common are torture and other ill-treatment. The torture and ill-treatment that has occurred in these counties involve law enforcement. In the United Kingdom, there were cases of ill-treatment against detainees in that intelligence officers were allegedly involved. For example, there was involvement of torture and other ill- treatment in the first case of unnamed individual. There have been other allegations of the United Kingdom participation in human rights violations towards detainees individuals detained. 8 Amnesty International a watch dog group, states that in France, The Criminal Code continued to lack a definition of torture in line with the UN Convention against Torture. There was a lack of prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. 29 For example, Lamba Soukouna alleged ill-treatment by police officers. In his statement, he explained, They hit me on the forehead with the butt of a flash-ball gun and started kicking me. I tried to tell them Take it easy. Im sick, Im sick. What have I done to deserve this? They didnt listen and Patrakis 7 kept going. 30 Soukouna said he was on his way home when the police in riot gear charging at a group of people. Soukouna entered his home and police ran inside and grabbed him from behind and pushed him against the wall and beat him severely31. In Turkey, torture and other ill-treatment cases have occurred in police transfer and prison continued. For example, Amnesty International states, two boys held at subject them to abuse including sexual abuse. 32 Under the Universal Declaration Human Rights United Kingdom, France, and Turkey have violated Article five under the document. The Article five states, No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment33. Article five demonstrates how these countries are not following the UDHR. This results in poor treatment and abuse. These examples show that countries are failing to follow UDHR due to this document not being a legally treaty. Therefore, countries are selecting seriate articles to follow under the Universal Declaration Human Rights. Another case of human rights violation in the United Kingdom involv es a legal and policy development that goes against the Declaration. The Justice and Security Bill were published by the United Kingdom government. The Bill expensed closed material procedures to civil cases,34 which the government claimed that such measures were necessary for purposes connected with protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism. 35 The government would be allowed to use secret Patrakis 8 evidence presented to the court behind closed doors. This would exclude the plaintiff, lawyer and the public. 36 The Bill is allowing sensitive information to be disclosed to and this contains information pertaining to alleged human rights violations, which would assist individuals in a case against a third party. 7 There are concerns that the Bill challenged ethics of equality and open Justice. Amnesty International states, the effort made for victims of human rights violations setback due to secure disclosure of material related to those violations before the courts. 38 The government perceptive of the Bill claim was Judges would have more hearings of national security cases. 39 The Justice and Security Bill viol ates Article ten of the Universal Declaration Human Rights. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his ights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. 40 The Justice and Security Bill can affect the outcome of a fair trial. The Bill will allow secret evidence in court only to certain individuals as a result plaintiff and his or her laws are excluded for the evidence which could result in an unfair trial. For example, evidence could be manipulated from being withheld or allowed which could cause the plaintiff being deprived from a fair trial. Under the Universal Declaration Human Rights Article seven states, All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. 41 However, in France there have been numerous counts of discrimination such as Patrakis 9 disability 56 percent,42 religion or beliefs 55 percent,43 and sexual orientation 61 percent. 44 For example, there have been cases of Muslim women and girls discriminated against. For Muslim women they are denied of a Job and for young girls, they are prevented from attending classes because of headscarf. Marco Perolini expressed, Wearing religious and cultural symbols and dress is part of the right of reedom of expression. It is part of the right to freedom of religion or belief and eighteen Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. 46 The evidence Perolini reveals that France government is not supporting or applying Article eighteen. The reason political parties and public officials are not opposing the ban on headscarf or reventing additionally discrimination Muslim communities are up against is there need pursuit for votes for the population. This reveals how little power the Universal Declaration Human Rig hts have in the aspects in government. When political parties or government officials are running for re-election or preparing to run they are willing to stop at nothing to gains support or votes. As a consequences legation will not be enforced unless it is poplar issue. Patrakis 10 The Universal Declaration Human Rights states, in Article four No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their orms. 47 Unfortunately, in Turkey, Article four has been broken due to modern day slavery where women, children and men are entrapped in some form of slavery. In some cases people are kidnapped and forced into the sex industries. The most common form of slavery is women. According to Sharma and Atria, Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a multibillion dollar shadow market. The value of the global trade in women as commodities for sex industries is estimated to be between seven and twelve billion dollar annually. 48 The amounts of money these smugglers can reactive demonstrate the reason for eighty percent of omen and girls being victims of sex slavery and thirty-nine point seven percent from Turkey. 49 The preferred location for trafficking women is Turkey based on geographic location bordering and bridging. 0 Due to the high percent of women and children are trafficked and the easy access and McGarre explain, Turkey is developing protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking. Turkey has endorsed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. In eighty-one cities in Turkey are accordance in accepted the international definition. However, and McGarre state, operationalization of human traffickin g as a rime is not quite as straight forward as in other type of crimes because of the small number of cases of human trafficking in most cities. In fifty-eight cities, there were no cases and in twenty-three cities there were one or more cases on human Patrakis 11 tracking during that year. 51 Even though, the Turkey government is anti-traffcking and is trying to improvements in its efforts to convict and smugglers there is still gaps in their system. Human rights violation still continues throughout the international communities even though, the Universal Declaration Human Rights has been adopted. The reason this document was created was to prevent the next generation from devastation of international conflict. The document has no legally binding effect because it is not a legal treaty. Therefore, the document can only be that had voted for the Universal Declaration Human Rights have violated those rights. The United Kingdom, Turkey and France have demonstrated different types of violations against the document. As a result of these countries not supporting certain articles in the document, this demonstrates that the United Nations has not been successful at enforcing UDHR. Bibliography Trafficking: a Historical Cohort Study. BMC Psychiatry 13, no. 1 (September 2013): 1-11 . Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October21 , 2013). Amnesty International. In Amnesty International Report 2013. London: Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House, 2013. Amnesty International. Left in the Dark The Use of Secret Evidence in the United Kingdom. London: Amnesty International, 2012. Bukey, Evan B. Hitlers Hometown under Nazi Rule: Linz, Austria, 1938-45. Central European History (Brill Academic Publishers) 16, no. 2 Oune 1983): 171 . Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 21, 2013). DarraJ, Susan M. In The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Overcoming Hurdles. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2010. European Commission, Discrimination in the EU 2012, by TNS OPINION SOCIAL, ZA5613. arussels, Belgium, 2012. Flood, Patrick J. In The Effectiveness of UN Human Rights Institutions. Westport: Praeger, 1998. Gudmundur Alfredsson, AsbJrn Eide, Nasire RizaJ,Naim Osman, and Martti Koskenniemi. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement. Hague: Martinus NiJhoff, 1999. Haywood, John. In Concise Atlas of World History: World War II in Europe 1939-1942. Abingdon: Andromeda,1997. Immell, Myra. World War II: In Why Britain Had to Fight. San Diego: Green haven press, 2001. ?–nder and Edmund F. McGarrellE. F, Association between migrant prostitution, trafficking in women and serious crime in Turkey, International Journal of Security and Terrorism, , accessed October 23,2013. Marco Perolini, Muslims discriminated against for demonstrating their faith, Amnesty International. April 23, 2012, accessed October 10, 2013, http:// www. amnesty. org/en/news/muslims-discriminated-against-demonstrating-their- faith-2012-04-23 Mcguinness, Margaret E. Peace v. Justice: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights nd the Modern Origins of the Debate. Diplomatic History 35, no. 5 (November 2011): 749-768. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 21, 2013). Patrakis 13 Morsink, Johannes. In The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, Salman, Salman M. , and Siobh? ¤n Lankford. The human right to water legal and policy dimensions. Distract Colombia: World Bank, 2004. Sharma, ManoJ, and Ashutosh Atri . Essentials of International Health. Sudbury: Bartlett Publishers,2010. Soukouna, LambaFrance. Interview. Police ill-treatment in France: Lamba Soukouna. Amnesty International, Europe, September 12, 2009. Sreenivasan, Jyotsna. In Poverty and the Government in America: a Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Toktas, Sule, and Hande Selimoglu. Smuggling and Trafficking in Turkey: An Analysis of Ell-Turkey Cooperation in Combating Transnational Organized Crime. Journal Of Balkan Near Eastern Studies 14, no. 1 (March 2012): 135-150. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October21 , 2013). United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th Anniversary Special Edition, 1948-2008. New York: united Nations, 2008. Winstone, Martin. In The Holocaust Sites of Europe an Historical Guide. London: Taurus, 2010.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Anne Frank Summary Essay Example

Anne Frank Summary Essay Example Anne Frank Summary Paper Anne Frank Summary Paper Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to a Jewish family, on June 12, 1929. Her father, Otto Frank, was a businessman. Anne and her older sister Margot grew up surrounded by loving parents and relatives, and received a good education. One day, Nazi police sent a call-up notice for Anne’s father and for her sister, Margot for their transportation to a concentration camp. They flee to their hiding place, the Secret Annex the following day. Another family, the Van Daans with their son Peter, arrive and later, take in another person, Mr. Dussel. Anne writes about a day in the Annex, describing many of the activities and personalities of the people in the Secret Annex. Anne is so affected by the tension that at times she goes to bed crying. She wants to live a normal life. She needs fresh air, and wishes that the darkness and cruelty of the war would go away so that they can go back to a regular life. Anne hears on the radio that they will be making a collection of diaries and letters after the war, and she wants to publish her diary. She continues writing in her diary and revises it to hopefully get it published after the war. Anne celebrates her fifteenth birthday in the Annex. She wishes she could look at nature more often, and not through a dirty window. Many cities have fallen to the allies, and the mood is positive. Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, for on that day, the Secret Annex was raided and the Frank family was taken away to German and Dutch concentration camps.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Biography of Ted Bundy, Serial Killer

Biography of Ted Bundy, Serial Killer Theodore Robert Bundy  (November 24, 1946–January 24, 1989) was one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history, who confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering 30 women throughout seven states during the 1970s, although the actual count of the people he murdered remains a mystery.   Fast Facts: Ted Bundy Known For: Confessed serial murder of 30 peopleBorn: November 24, 1946 in Burlington, VermontParents: Eleanor â€Å"Louise† Cowell, Johnnie Culpepper Bundy (adoptive father)  Died: January 24, 1989 in Raiford, FloridaEducation: Woodrow Wilson High School, University of Puget Sound, University of Washington (BA Psychology, 1972), Temple University, University of UtahSpouse: Carol Ann Boone (m. 1980)Children: Rose, by Carol Ann Boone From the time of his capture, up until his death in the electric chair became imminent, he proclaimed his innocence and then began confessing to some of his crimes to delay his execution. The actual count of how many people he murdered remains a mystery. Early Life Ted Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946, at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont. Ted’s mother Eleanor â€Å"Louise† Cowell returned to Philadelphia to live with her parents and raise her new son. In the 1950s, being an unwed mother was scandalous and illegitimate children were often teased and treated as outcasts. To avoid having Ted suffer, Louises parents, Samuel and Eleanor  Cowell, took on the role of being Ted’s parents. For several years of his life, Ted thought his grandparents were his parents, and his mother was his sister. He never had any contact with his birth father, whose identity remains unknown. According to relatives, the environment in the Cowell home was volatile. Samuel Cowell was known for being an outspoken bigot who would go into loud rants about his dislike of various minority and religious groups. He physically abused his wife and children and brutalized the family dog. He suffered hallucinations and would sometimes talk or argue with people who were not there. Eleanor  was submissive and fearful of her husband. She suffered from agoraphobia and depression. She periodically received electric shock therapy, a popular treatment for even the mildest cases of mental illness during that time. Tacoma, Washington   In 1951, Louise packed up and, with Ted in tow, moved to Tacoma, Washington to live with her cousins. For unknown reasons, she changed her surname from Cowell to Nelson. While there, she met and married Johnnie Culpepper Bundy. Bundy was an ex-military cook who was working as a hospital cook. Johnnie adopted Ted and changed his surname from Cowell to Bundy. Ted was a quiet and well-behaved child although some people found his behavior unsettling. Unlike other children who seem to thrive on parental attention and affection, Bundy preferred isolation and disconnection from family and friends. As time went on, Louise and Johnnie had four more children, and Ted had to adjust to not being an only child. The Bundy home was small, cramped, and tense. Money was scarce and Louise was left taking care of the children without any additional help. Because Ted was always quiet, he was often left alone and ignored while his parents dealt with their more demanding children. Ted’s extreme introversion and any developmental issues went unnoticed or were explained as a characteristic based on his shyness. Education Despite the circumstances at home, Bundy grew into an attractive teenager who got along with his peers and  who performed well in school. He graduated from  Woodrow Wilson High School  in 1965. According to Bundy, it was during his high school years that he began breaking into cars and homes. Bundy said the motivation behind becoming a petty thief was partially due to his desire to go downhill skiing. It was the only sport he was good at, but it was expensive. He used the money he made off of stolen goods to help pay for skis and ski passes. Although his police record was expunged at the age of 18, it is known that Bundy was arrested twice on suspicion of burglary and auto theft. After high school, Bundy entered the University of Puget Sound. There he scored high academically but failed socially. He continued to suffer from acute shyness, which resulted in social awkwardness. While he did manage to develop some friendships, he was never comfortable with participating in most of the social activities that others were doing. He rarely dated and kept to himself. Bundy later attributed his social problems to the fact that most of his peers at Puget Sound came from wealthy backgrounds- a world that he envied.  Unable to escape his growing inferiority complex, Bundy decided to transfer to the University of  Washington in his sophomore year in 1966. At first, the change did not help Bundy’s inability to socially blend, but in 1967 Bundy met the woman of his dreams. She was pretty, wealthy, and sophisticated. They both shared a skill and passion for skiing and spent many weekends on the ski slopes. First Love Ted fell in love with his new girlfriend and tried hard to impress her to the point of grossly exaggerating his accomplishments. He downplayed the fact that he was working part-time bagging groceries and instead tried to gain her approval by boasting about a summer scholarship that he won to Stamford University. Working, attending college, and having a girlfriend was too much for Bundy, and in 1969, he dropped out of college and began working at various minimum-wage jobs. He devoted his spare time to doing volunteer work for  Nelson Rockefellers presidential campaign and even worked as a Rockefeller delegate at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. Unimpressed with Bundy’s lack of ambition, his girlfriend decided that he was not husband material and she ended the relationship and moved back to her parent’s home in California. According to Bundy, the break up broke his heart and he obsessed over her for years. At this same time, whispers about Bundy being a petty thief began to spread among those who were close to him. Stuck in a deep depression, Bundy decided to do some traveling and headed to Colorado then on to Arkansas and Philadelphia. There, he enrolled at Temple University where he completed a semester then returned to Washington in the fall of 1969. It was before his return to Washington that he learned about his true parentage.  How Bundy dealt with the information is not known, but it was obvious to those that knew Ted that he had experienced some kind of transformation. Gone was the shy, introverted Ted Bundy. The man that returned was outgoing and confident to the point of being seen as an extraverted braggart. He returned to University of  Washington, excelled in his major, and earned a bachelors degree in psychology in 1972. Life Gets Better for Bundy In 1969, Bundy became involved with another woman, Elizabeth Kendall (the pseudonym she used when she wrote  The Phantom Prince My Life With Ted Bundy. She  was a divorcee with a young daughter. She fell deeply in love with Bundy, and despite her suspicions that  he  was seeing other women, her devotion toward him continued. Bundy was not receptive to the idea of marriage but allowed the relationship to continue even after reuniting with his first love who had become attracted to the new, more confident, Ted Bundy. He worked on the reelection campaign of Washingtons Republican Governor Dan Evans. Evans was elected and appointed Bundy to the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee. Bundys  political future seemed secure when in 1973 he became the assistant to Ross Davis, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party. It was a good time in  his  life. He had a girlfriend, his old girlfriend was once again in love with him, and his footing in the political arena was strong. Missing Women and a Man Called Ted In 1974, young women began vanishing from college campuses around Washington and Oregon. Lynda Ann Healy, a 21-year-old radio announcer, was among those who went  missing. In July 1974, two women were approached at a Seattle state park by an attractive man who introduced himself as Ted. He asked them to help him with his sailboat, but they refused. Later that day, two other women were seen going off with him and they were never seen alive again. Bundy Moves to Utah In the fall of 1974, Bundy enrolled in law school at the University of Utah and moved to Salt Lake City. In November Carol DaRonch was attacked at a Utah mall by a man dressed as a police officer. She managed to escape and she provided police with a description of the man, the Volkswagen he was driving, and a sample of his blood that got on her jacket during their struggle. Within a few hours after DaRonch was attacked, 17-year-old Debbie Kent disappeared. Around this time, hikers discovered a graveyard of bones in a Washington forest, later identified as belonging to missing women from both Washington and Utah. Investigators from both states communicated together and came up with a profile and composite sketch of the man named Ted who approached women for help, sometimes appearing helpless with a cast on his arm or crutches. They also had the description of his tan Volkswagen and his blood type, which was type-O. Authorities compared the similarities of the women who had disappeared. They were all white, thin, and single and had long hair that was parted in the middle. They also vanished during the evening hours. The bodies of the dead women found in Utah had all been hit with a blunt object to the head, raped, and sodomized. Authorities knew they were dealing with a serial killer who had the capability to travel from state to state. Murders in Colorado On January 12, 1975, Caryn Campbell vanished from a ski resort in Colorado while on vacation with her fiancà © and his two children. A month later, Caryns nude body was found lying a short distance from the road. An  examination of her remains  determined she had received violent blows to her skull. Over the next few months, five more women were found dead in Colorado with similar contusions to their head, possibly a result of being hit with a crowbar. Ted Bundys First Arrest In August 1975, police attempted to stop Bundy for a driving violation. He aroused suspicion when he tried to get away by turning his car lights off and speeding through stop signs. When he was finally stopped his Volkswagen was searched, and police found handcuffs, an ice pick, a crowbar, pantyhose with eye holes cut out, and other questionable items. They also saw that the front seat on the passenger side of his car was missing. Police arrested Ted Bundy on suspicion of burglary. Police compared the things found in Bundys car to those DaRonch described seeing in her attackers car. The handcuffs that had been placed on one of her wrists were the same make as those in Bundys possession. Once DaRonch picked Bundy out of a line-up, the police felt they had enough evidence to charge him with attempted kidnapping. The authorities also felt confident they had the person responsible for the tri-state murder spree that had gone on for more than a year. Bundy Escapes Twice Bundy went to trial for attempted kidnapping DaRonch in February 1976 and after waiving his right to a jury trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. During this time, police were investigating links to Bundy and the Colorado murders. According to his credit card statements, he was in the area where several women vanished in early 1975. In October 1976, Bundy was charged with the murder of Caryn Campbell. Bundy was extradited from the Utah prison to Colorado for the trial. Serving as his own lawyer allowed him to appear in court without leg irons, plus it gave him an opportunity to move freely from the courtroom to the law library inside the courthouse. In an interview, while in the role as his own attorney, Bundy said, More than ever, I am convinced of my own innocence. In June 1977 during a pre-trial hearing, he escaped by jumping out of the law library window. He was captured a week later. On Dec. 30, 1977, Bundy escaped from prison and made his way to Tallahassee, Florida, where he rented an apartment near Florida State University under the name Chris Hagen. College life was something Bundy was familiar with and one he enjoyed. He managed to buy food and pay his way at local college bars with stolen credit cards. When bored, he would duck into lecture halls and listen to the speakers. It was just a matter of time before the monster inside Bundy would resurface. The Sorority House Murders On Saturday, Jan. 14, 1978, Bundy broke into Florida State Universitys Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled to death two women, raping one of them and brutally biting her on her buttocks and one nipple. He beat two others over the head with a log. They survived, which investigators attributed to their roommate Nita Neary, who came home and interrupted Bundy before he was able to kill the other two victims. Nita Neary came home around 3 a.m. and noticed the front door to the house was ajar. As she entered, she heard hurried footsteps above going toward the stairway. She hid in a doorway and watched as a man wearing a blue cap and carrying a log left the house. Upstairs, she found her roommates. Two were dead, two others severely wounded. That same night another woman was attacked, and the police found a mask on her floor identical to one found later in Bundys car. Arrested Again On February 9, 1978, Bundy killed again. This time it was 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, who he kidnapped and then mutilated. Within a week of Kimberlys disappearance, Bundy was arrested in Pensacola for driving a stolen vehicle. Investigators had eyewitnesses who identified Bundy at the dorm and Kimberlys school. They also had physical evidence that linked him to the three murders, including a mold of the bite marks on the flesh of the sorority house victim. Bundy, still thinking he could beat a guilty verdict, turned down a plea bargain whereby he would plead guilty to killing the two sorority women and Kimberly LaFouche in exchange for three 25-year sentences. The End of Ted Bundy Bundy went on trial in Florida on June 25, 1979, for the murders of the sorority women. The trial was televised, and Bundy played up to the media when on occasion he acted as his attorney. Bundy was found guilty on both murder charges and given two death sentences by means of the electric chair. On January 7, 1980, Bundy went on trial for killing Kimberly Leach. This time he allowed his attorneys to represent him. They decided on an insanity plea, the only defense possible with the amount of evidence the state had against him. Bundys behavior was much different during this trial than the previous one. He displayed fits of anger, slouched in his chair, and his collegiate look was sometimes replaced with a haunting glare. Bundy was found guilty and received a third death sentence. During the sentencing phase, Bundy surprised everyone by calling Carol Boone as a character witness and marrying her while she was on the witness stand. Boone was convinced of Bundys innocence. She later gave birth to Bundys child, a little girl who he adored. In time, Boone divorced Bundy after realizing he was guilty of the horrific crimes he had been charged with. Death After endless appeals, Bundys last stay of execution was on Jan. 17, 1989. Before being put to death, Bundy gave the details of more than 50 women he had murdered to Washington State Attorney Generals chief investigator, Dr. Bob Keppel. He also confessed to keeping the heads of some of his victims at his home and to engaging in necrophilia with some of his victims. In his final interview, he blamed his exposure to pornography at an impressionable age as being the stimulant behind his murderous obsessions. Many of those directly involved with Bundy believed he murdered at least 100 women. The electrocution of Ted Bundy went as scheduled amid a carnival-like atmosphere outside the prison. It was reported that he spent the night crying and praying and that when he was led to the death chamber, his face was sullen and gray. Any hint of the old charismatic Bundy was gone. As he was moved into the death chamber, his eyes searched across the 42 witnesses. Once strapped into the electric chair he began mumbling. When asked by Supt. Tom Barton if he had any last words, Bundys voice broke as he said,  Jim and Fred, Id like you to give my love to my family and friends. Jim Coleman, who was one of his lawyers, nodded, as did Fred Lawrence, the Methodist minister who prayed with Bundy throughout the night. Bundys head bowed as he was prepared for electrocution. Once prepared, two thousand volts of electricity surged through his body. His hands and body tightened up and smoke could be seen coming from his right leg. Then the machine turned off and Bundy was checked over by a doctor one last time. On January 24, 1989, Theodore Bundy, one of the most notorious killers of all time, died at 7:16 a.m. as crowds outside cheered,  Burn, Bundy, burn! Sources Berlinger, Joe (director). Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. Netflix, 2019.Janos, Adam. Ted Bundys Many Faces: How the Serial Killer Was Able to Change His Appearance So Easily. AE Real Crime, February 21, 2019.Kendall, Elizabeth. The Phantom Prince My Life with Ted Bundy. 1981.  Michaud, Stephen G. and Hugh Aynesworth. Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer. Irving Texas: AuthorLink Press, 2000.Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me. Seattle: Planet Ann Rule, 2017.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The doctrine of Parliamentary privilege has no place in a modern Essay

The doctrine of Parliamentary privilege has no place in a modern democratic society. Discuss - Essay Example To understand the magnitude of the doctrine in the modern political establishment, parliamentary privilege can be illustrated to be synonymous with parliamentary system. Even if debate for its review and in extreme debates its abolition persist, it is an issue that cannot be abandoned just in the heat of the arguments. The following discourse explores the possibilities of abandoning the doctrine based on some of its principles, in light of their appropriateness in a modern democracy. Parliamentary privilege and it purpose Parliamentary privilege according to legal experts is the immunity accorded some legislators whereby the legislators enjoy legal protection against criminal or civil liability in the course of performing their legislative duties (BBC2 para 7)1. Essentially, the privilege makes it possible also for parliament to debate or question issues that could interfere with court ongoing judicial proceedings in a case, expose state secrets, undermine national security, scour fo reign relations, and slander individuals – whether parliamentarians or not. The concept of parliamentary privilege has its roots in the Westminster system and is widely applied across the world. The privilege emerged as a direct result of the contentions that hundreds of years ago existed between the courts the Crown, and the House of Commons2 (Attorney General’s Department para 4). Some of the countries that apply the privilege to parliament other than Britain include Australia, the United Sates of America, Canada, and Kenya, in Africa. In the UK for example, such privileges allow members of the two Houses (House of Commons and House of Lords) to freely deliberate in their participation in parliament without fearing legal action based on claims of contravening the Official Secrets Act, contempt of court or slander. This privilege also assures parliamentarian that they are immune from civil arrests in matters undertaken within the precincts of parliament, in this case the Palace of Westminister3 according to the BBC1 (para 2). However this is conditional in that the members of parliament only enjoy this privilege if their statements are uttered as part of parliamentary proceeding. One such event that reinforces the application of parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom is with respect to the Zircon affair as it threatened to reveal national secrets. Protection of the parliament against any form of interference while handling legislative obligations is by far a genuine reason for the existence of such freedom as accorded to parliamentarians (Limon 34). However, abuse of the privileges appears to be inseparable from the process of their enjoyment. The purpose of the privilege accorded to parliament rests within the context of legislative duties but other contingent intricacies of interpretation have always made efforts futile to identify balance the genuine purposes. Parliament has failed to implement the appropriate balance and checks that w ould facilitate the relevant procedures to be applied in determining parliamentary privilege usage as genuine or not. Democratic institutions need such control as would be necessary for their independence on one hand while their abuse is clearly identified and dealt with amicably on the other hand. Arguments against Parliamentary Privilege The basic rule that parliamentary privilege is intended to achieve is resolve issues bearing a matter that is of public interest

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Cask of Amontillado Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Cask of Amontillado - Essay Example The narrator aptly uses this weakness of Fortunato to lure him into his evil plot for revenge and retribution. Poe effectively illustrates the theme of confinement leading to death through the repeated use of wine, specifically Amontillado, symbolizing entrapment and doom. The mention of wine in the very beginning of the story is symbolic of the narrator’s evil motives of enticing and trapping Fortunato. The narrator is keenly aware of the fact that Fortunato isn’t serious about anything except Italian vintages because â€Å"he pride[s] himself on his connoisseurship in wine† (Poe). He subtly lures Fortunato into his trap by arousing his curiosity and evoking his pride. For example, the narrator tells him that he has bought the full Amontillado without asking him first but will now consult Luchesi, Fortunato’s supposed competitor, about it. The half drunken Fortunato is immediately intrigued, setting the plot in motion and preparing the road to his own entrapment. After tantalizingly repeating the words Amontillado several times, Fortunato himself mentions going into the narrator’s vaults to taste the prized wine. His intoxicated mind further enraged by pride, is unwilling to recognize the deception and danger he is e nsnaring himself in. The stage is now set for their journey underground, into the bowels of the Montresors’s tomb where death eventually awaits Fortunato. Once they start traveling to the vaults, Poe again employs the use of wine to further illustrate the idea of confinement. As the two travel deeper into the tomb, the nitre â€Å"hang[ing] like moss upon the vaults† and the dampness rampage Fortunato with frequent coughs. Already confined in the dark passageway of the catacomb and dependent on the narrator to guide him, he resorts to drinking Medoc to alleviate the coughing. This not only helps to clear his throat but also increases his resolve to reach the Amontillado. Fortunato does not realize that such determination is actually leading him to trap himself further. For, each step he now takes is bringing him closer to his ultimate confinement and death. Also, as they travel, Poe repeatedly refers to Fortunato’s drunken eyes symbolizing not only his physical entrapment within the vault but also the intoxicating dullness and confinement of his mind. For example, Fortunato looks at the narrator â€Å"with two filmy orbs that distill the rheum of intoxication†. Again after going down a little more into the crypt, he asks for some more wine, this time gulping down the entire flagon of De Grave making â€Å"his eyes flash with a fierce light†. His mind has become senseless and trapped, only thinking of the cherished Amontillado lying somewhere in the recesses of the tomb drawing and luring him closer to his demise. Finally, as they arrive at the end of the crypt lined with human bones and succumbed in darkness, Fortuno’s desire for Amontillado results in his final entrapment and doom. Anyone in their right mind would take one look at the sight of death and decay and run from there, seeking the freshness of the air and life above. Poe meticulously describes the recess prepared by the narrator having a â€Å"depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven†. This image is nothing less than a grave. Even the flaming torch’s attempt to shine a light in to th e darkness is feeble, but Fortunato persists forward, drawn by the thought of the Amontillado. As he sets his foot into the prepared tomb, Fortunato seals his fate and traps

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Touch Interfaces Essay Example for Free

Touch Interfaces Essay Introduction Pointing at an object is the most basic human interaction, which is very important in human-machine interfaces. Similarly, creating gestures such as using ones hand and arm can provide information. For instance, pointing to a chair indicates asking for permission to sit down or pointing to indicate directions. The main goal of all the research done on touch interface and gesture recognition is to develop a system that can identify specific human gestures using human touch and use them to interact with Software application. Humans habitually use gesture to interact with other humans. Gestures can be used for everything such as pointing at an object for attention to conveying information about space and temporal characteristics [1]. Biologists define gesture, as the notion of gesture is to embrace all kinds of instances where an individual engages in movements whose communicative intent is paramount, manifest, and openly acknowledged [2]. Gestures that are related with speech are called gesticulation and gestures that are independent from speech are called autonomous gesture. Autonomous gestures have its own communicative language such as American Sign Language (ASL) as well as motion commands. There are many other types of gestures such as Semiotic – communicating meaning, Ergotic – manipulating objects and Epistemic – groping. There are six types of semiotic gestures and they are Symbolic (arbitrary), Deictic (pointing), Iconic (descriptive), Pantomimic (use of invisible objects), Beat (indicating flow of speech) and Cohesive (marker indicating related topics) [3]. Symbolic or Arbitrary gestures are gestures that can be learned but are not common in a culture setting and can be very useful because they can be specifically created for use of device control. An example is the set of gestures used for airport plane control. Deictic gestures are used to point at important objects and these gestures can be specific that refers to one object, in general that refers to class of object, or functions that symbolize intentions. An example is a simple hand gestures such as pointing to ones mouth when he or she is hungry. Related Technologies Today, there exist many image-based or device-based hardware techniques, which can be used as touch interface. For example, an image-based technique can detect gesture by capturing pictures of users hand motions gesture via camera. The captured image is then sent to Computer-vision software, which tracks the image and identifies the gesture. For instance, television sets that can be controlled by hand gesture instead of a remote control have been developed [4] [5] [6]. Basically, to turn the TV on, the user raises his open hand and the computer recognizes the gesture, which in return turns the TV on. Device-based techniques such as instrumented gloves, stylus and other position trackers have been developed, which recognize the movements and send the signals so that the system can understand the gesture. For example, Dexterous Handmaster [7] developed in 1987, initially used to control robot hand, which was very accurate but was not suitable for rapid movement. Power Glove [7] developed in 1989 by Mattel, which was resistive ink sensors for finger position, plus ultrasonic tracking and the Space Glove [7] developed in 1991, which was a plastic rings around fingers. Other gloves such as 5DT Data GloveTM [7], SuperGlove [7], Pinch Gloves [7] and CyberGlove [7]. However, the latest in computer technology is the G-Speak Gestural Technology System [8], a glove which is faster and easier to use compared to mouse and keyboard and using it one can move anything anywhere on the screen. At present, there exist many products, which are closely related with the hypothesis of this thesis. For example, the GyroPoint is a product of Gyration, Inc. in Saratoga, CA [9] [10]. The device can operate in two different modes. First, it can operate as a regular mouse and second, it can operate in the air (3D). Another example, the Bluewand, [11] which is a small pen-like device used to control Bluetooth enabled devices by hand-movements. Basically, a 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope system detects devices full direction and movement in space. Bluewand can be used with verity of applications such as remote control for TV-set, cell-phone, MP3-player, etc. Overview of the Technology (Touch Interfaces) The ability to touch a computer screen and manipulate objects or control is a advance way of communication between human and computers and due to this advancement many types of touch system is developed such as point-of-sale systems, to information kiosks, to electronic whiteboards, iPod, iPhone etc. However, these systems have different ways of implementation in different applications. For example, using a desktop display for touch input as well as pen input, recognizing finger for touch on the screen. Other ways of implementation are such as Gesture recognition is a process through which a computer can recognize human gesture. Such interaction can make interface with computer more accessible and expressive for both the physically impaired and for young children who might find this type of interaction more natural. Gestures can be used in applications such as word processing, hand sign language, games, entertainment and educational approaches. There are other forms of gesture recognition than hand gestures. For example, finger pointing a way to select or move objects around, face tracking, eye motion and lip reading, etc. Technology that implements gestures has the ability to change the way humans interact with computers by eliminating input devices such as joysticks, mice and keyboards. Lots of conventional whole-hand input devices creates interface using non-contact methods or through some physical medium and such interfaces often needs contact of the hands and fingers with a hard, firm surface. As displays get larger, multi-user interaction is important as well as the ability to recognize two or more simultaneous inputs. As a result, wall-size touch displays became important for users as it enables to work with computer application and in the future human-body sized interfaces will become a natural way of interaction with the multiple users. Other related system is â€Å"A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays† [13] developed by Gerald D. Morrison. Basically, the system contains smart camera in the corners of a 17-foot-wide wall display to determine the location of an object in front of, or in contact with, the display. The main object the user’s finger and the collected image are processed in such a way that it can recognize various attributes of the object’s, such as location relative to the display in three dimensional space. The information sent back to computer which generates the display, enabling touch control. Advantages of such system Many companies have established research centers all over the world to conduct research in developing new technologies. They emphasizes on managing its process in order to deliver product that are cheap and fast maintaining a good Information Management strategy. Manipulation of information using different applications and technologies became a potential information overload for many similar companies. Hence taking advantage of the new advance technologies to manage and maintain the information overload. Other advantages are such as having to interact with software application more closely compared t traditional ways of interactions. The term software was used in the early days of the software engineering field. It was used to describe how the rapid increase in computational power and the complexity of problems which now could be tackled. It refers to the difficulty of writing correct, understandable and variable computer programs. Having touch interface will help developer to interact with developing tools to developed advance software application. Today in the 21st century software is every where imaginable, when you check out at the grocery store, using a credit card, driving your car or listening to music in your new MP3 player just to name a few. Software development has undergone a change from its early days, the awareness of the software crisis has forced engineers to address the problems by various processes and methodologies and the industry are realizing that changing to more efficient ways of communicate with computers lead to better products with higher quality and reduced costs. However, there is always a problem that the tools and techniques invented today will need time to mature, to be introduced into industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The security implications of the system will be strong in order to assure safety for both the user and the system using finer print recognition. The main security issue such as data access must be implemented in such a way that the privilege given to the user is controlled and manipulated. Controlling the web-browsing habit such as browsing illegal or unwanted web sites need also to be controlled, hence providing user access to email, web sites using password and encryptions is essential. Keeping off the malicious users from accessing valuable company information and other external information that can be used against the company stuff and the company authorities needs to be taken under consideration. Sending emails and other attachments must be allowed according to hierarchy of access permissions. Other issues that need to be taken under consideration are such as the network password and security tokens needs to be changed constantly and most off all securing the connection to local devices that are connected to the network such as print servers and touch screen connected printers. Routers and switches should be organize and installed as securely as possible and web based configuration should be disabled as well as network access to the devices should be limited to the Grenada networks. To have a perfectly feasible operation and conduct the most proper ethical business functions is the first priority for most companies and businesses. The most critical issue related with IT is IT security where the objective is to take effective measures to decrease the threats exist today in IT related business such as e-commerce. Today, most companies prefer electronic information over traditional ways of storing and manipulation of information. Data are stored in huge database and process using different front-end software’s form anywhere in the world. IT security is made up of three main categories and they are Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. Confidentiality is when company or an organization has sensitive information and does not want to disclose such information to anyone outside the company. Integrity is when companies want to update the system to adapt to future needs. As for availability, it is when a business implements a system it needs to make sure the system is up and running when needed. Threats such as customer’s information can be disclosed which can affect the credibility of any company; company’s information can be hacked by illegally, etc. There are many ways to improve the correct securities such as protecting data and information using different sophisticated firewall software, understanding threats and its impact in order to be protected forms it, calculating risk and deciding how to eradicate such risk. There are two basic ways to improve security and they are Bottom Up and Top Down. Bottom Up approach is not that precise but in order to implement such approach it is advisable to properly understand company policies, network topology and companies operating procedure. Top Down approach is methodical and more precise compared to Bottom Up approach but is slow and expensive. The main advantages of the touch interface are that it is centralized where it can access its information from using human touch. Therefore, if there are any security issues it can be dealt with using by tracking the finger-print. It is also flexible and scalable enough for new technologies to integrate with the system. Many flexible system and architecture can be designed so that it can be interoperable making all components work together in a synchronized fashion. This system can be used to backup critical information which is vital for both the system and the end-user. Conclusion As the information age advanced the need for computers became a daily part of human life. Computers have emerged from early abacus, papyrus and ENIAC to today’s main frame computer and super computers that can manipulate huge amount of information across the globe. The use of Touch screen was discovered by military in order to share information and after the first dial up connection; the use of touch screen became popular amongst local public. Today, computers are the most essential part of human life starting from basic calculators to storing and manipulating of terabits of information. Use of Touch screen is mostly possible if one uses computers or other devices such as mobiles. Need for speedy information has become an important issue in today’s business. Using such devices Touch screen caused a revolution in our society. Peoples shopping style is also changing because of Touch screen. Selling products over the touch screen is cheap, fast and easy for both the company and the customer. Hence issues such as privacy and ethics are most important and needs to be concentrated on by the governments and education institute. Many of the ethical issues involve privacy. For example, privacy concerning e-mail uses by the employees, head office of a company and individuals. System such as malleable surface interface [12] can be used in applications that require physically touching the screen and its objects performed by the human hands or finger, such as sculpting and massage. Even though, many touch technology systems are suitable for small displays such as iPod, iPhone, the system can be also used in big screen such TV, or directly interacting with the pc monitor. This way of communication is very attractive because they are more versatile than other input devices as well as can be made inexpensively. While touch sensing is very common but having multi user interaction has become more essential. Having to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops. Many researchers experimenting with a wide variety of application scenarios and communication modalities that utilize multi-touch input. It is a rich area for research, and has potential for advances in efficiency, usability, and intuitiveness of the future UI designed. Today there exist mobiles with touch screen and stroke interfaces as compared to those with button, thumbwheel, trackballs, and stylus etc interfaces. The traditional ways of interaction for example using buttons, and cognitively arbitrated by the need to roll a wheel to scroll the cursor focus kept us distance with the technology invented. Hence, to touch something would be to minimize the distance between human and the computer. Using gesture similar to Nintendo Wii, is a breakthrough in advancement of GUI. Other devices such as LG Prada, HTC phone and Apple iPhone help us to use our fingers to feel the system rather just using the system. The touch system is already been used in wireless devices successfully. Wireless communications offer organizations and users many benefits such as portability, flexibility and lower installation costs. Wireless technologies cover a broad range of capabilities toward different uses and needs. Wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, for instance, allow users to move their laptops from place to place within their offices and homes without the need for wires and without losing network connectivity. However, risks are natural in any wireless technology. The most significant source of risks in wireless networks is that the technology’s underlying communications medium such as the airwave, is open to intruders. Having touch screen developers and interact and develop application using advance GUI’s. Today, touch screen technology is used everywhere to cut down cost as well as speed up the development process by keeping the quality of the application insured. Touch screen based development helps to build software applications by connecting multiple components together which are produced independently. In order for this communication to take place we must have an interface between the components in such a way that is helps to develop the overall application as well as implementing it in the future applications. However, it is the compatibility between connected component interfaces that determines the success of the implementation of the components. To be precise, an interface is made of number of operations which can be manipulated by the user. The operations play a vast role in implementing the interface and use of the interface by the client or the user. Today, Internet is a good way of doing business and use of internet is constantly increasing. Improving the GUI and converting to touch screen will become very important in the future for the use of World Wide Web because it helps to communicate globally and deliver products to customers who can not purchase the products. It also helps to increases advertising and by providing one to one marketing. E-commerce is a very easy way of gathering information form its customers or potential customers. One of the biggest advantages of using the internet is its efficient ways of reducing warehousing and inventory. A Company needs a network that provides fast and efficient way to manipulate its information. Compared to its traditional manual filing system accessing, touch screen will provide information with speed, accuracy, and accessibility. A sophisticated design of the system will allow access from anywhere in the world which helps to manipulate and send information through the world. Hence, the touch screen is reliable in assuring speed, data reliability, cheap and strong security. However, it is extremely reliable and main important thing is that no extra input device is needed. Touch screen gives fast and superior performance which is sufficient for file sharing, gaming, and high-speed access. As for security, touch screen will have software application that recognizes finger print. Traditional GUI and access can be three or four times expensive compared to touch screen. A both traditional ways and touch screen can be a good option for any company depending on the difficulty of accessing the information the company. However, touch screen is easier to install, more reliable and mobility is excellent where as traditional is more difficult to install with limited mobility. Reference [1].  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Brief Overview of Gesture Recognition by Charles Cohen. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jean-Luc Nespoulous, Paul Perron, and Andre Roch Lecours. The Biological Foundations of Gestures: Motor and Semiotic Aspects. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, MJ, 1986. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [3].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GESTURE BASED INTERACTION; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [4]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Interaction SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics magazine, November 1999 W. T. Freeman, P. A. Beardsley, H. Kage, K. Tanaka, K. Kyuma, C. D. Weissman. Also available as MERL-TR99-36. [5]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Interactive Computer Graphics; IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 18, No. 3, May-June 1998; W. T. Freeman, D. B. Anderson, P. A. Beardsley, C. N. Dodge, M. Roth, C. D. Weissman, W. S. Yerazunis, H. Kage, K. Kyuma, Y. Miyake, and K. Tanaka. Also available as MERL-TR99-02. [6]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Games In 2nd International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, Killington, VT, USA. IEEE. W. T. Freeman, K. Tanaka, J. Ohta, K. Kyuma . Also available as MERL-TR96-35. [7]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Based Interaction; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [8]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Glove Not Science Fiction;   LOS ANGLEES, Aug. 23, 2005; http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/23/eveningnews/main792311.shtml; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [9]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An Evaluation of Two Input Devices for Remote Pointing; Scott MacKenzie and Shaidah Jusoh; http://www.yorku.ca/mack/ehci2001.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [10]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gyration, Inc., Saratoga, California. http://www.gyration.com/ ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [11]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bluewand. A versatile remote control and pointing device; Thomas Fuhrmann , Markus Klein, and Manuel Odendahl; http://i30www.ira.uka.de/research/documents/p2p/2003/fuhrmann03bluewand-KiVS.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [12]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Florian Vogt, Timothy Chen, Reynald Hoskinson, Sidney Fels; A Malleable Surface Touch Interface; Human Communication Technologies Laboratory; The University of British Columbia; http://hct.ece.ubc.ca/publications/pdf/vogt-chen-hoskinsin-fels-SIGGRAPH2004.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [13]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gerald D. Morrison; A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays; SMART Technologies Inc., 1207 – 11 Ave. SW, Suite 300, Calgary, AB, Canada T3C 0M5; http://ubicomp.algoritmi.uminho.pt/perdisplay/docs/Morrison-Camera%20Touch_SV_Rev1.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007;

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Comparing Power in Browning’s My Last Duchess and Cheever’s The Five-Forty-Eight :: comparison compare contrast essays

Power in Browning’s My Last Duchess and Cheever’s The Five-Forty-Eight  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   "That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall," begins Robert Browning’s "My Last Duchess" (594). The Duke of Ferrara, Italy makes a dramatic monologue to the count’s representative in poetic form. The count, being a friend of the Duke’s, has offered to provide the Duke’s next wife. The Duke informs the representative of all the habits he found annoying in his former Duchess as an instruction of the customs his next wife should and should not do; or she will find the same fate as his previous wife. He found these habits so annoying that he had her killed. The power that the Duke has starkly contrasts with the helplessness Miss Dent feels in John Cheever’s "The Five-Forty-Eight." Blake hires Miss Dent as his secretary, after she has been in the hospital for eight months. She is very grateful to Blake for giving her the position because she has had a difficult time finding a job due to her prolonged stay in the hospital. Miss Dent fo rms an affection for Blake, who uses her vulnerability to carry on a one-night stand with her. The next day he has her fired while she is at lunch and he then takes the afternoon off from work. Miss Dent tries to contact Blake every day for the next few weeks, but he avoids her until she finally confronts him in hostility. The presence or absence of power in Miss Dent’s or the Duke’s lives is the impacting factor in their personalities, "love lives," and the concluding results each of them gains. Power, or the lack of it, forms the Duke’s and Miss Dent’s personalities. The Duke achieves his initial power from his materialistic strengths. A few of these are emphasized in lines 27-29 at which point he states "The bough of cherries some officious fool/ Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule/ She rode with round the terrace" (594). His home life includes an assemblage of servants and maids, whom he passingly refers to as "officious fool[s]." He has an enormous house that extends onto a terrace, where the Duchess rides her white mule, and then on into an array of gardens, from these orchards her cherries are picked. Not so fortunate is Miss Dent who lives in "a room that seem[s]...like a closet" (81). Comparing Power in Browning’s My Last Duchess and Cheever’s The Five-Forty-Eight :: comparison compare contrast essays Power in Browning’s My Last Duchess and Cheever’s The Five-Forty-Eight  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   "That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall," begins Robert Browning’s "My Last Duchess" (594). The Duke of Ferrara, Italy makes a dramatic monologue to the count’s representative in poetic form. The count, being a friend of the Duke’s, has offered to provide the Duke’s next wife. The Duke informs the representative of all the habits he found annoying in his former Duchess as an instruction of the customs his next wife should and should not do; or she will find the same fate as his previous wife. He found these habits so annoying that he had her killed. The power that the Duke has starkly contrasts with the helplessness Miss Dent feels in John Cheever’s "The Five-Forty-Eight." Blake hires Miss Dent as his secretary, after she has been in the hospital for eight months. She is very grateful to Blake for giving her the position because she has had a difficult time finding a job due to her prolonged stay in the hospital. Miss Dent fo rms an affection for Blake, who uses her vulnerability to carry on a one-night stand with her. The next day he has her fired while she is at lunch and he then takes the afternoon off from work. Miss Dent tries to contact Blake every day for the next few weeks, but he avoids her until she finally confronts him in hostility. The presence or absence of power in Miss Dent’s or the Duke’s lives is the impacting factor in their personalities, "love lives," and the concluding results each of them gains. Power, or the lack of it, forms the Duke’s and Miss Dent’s personalities. The Duke achieves his initial power from his materialistic strengths. A few of these are emphasized in lines 27-29 at which point he states "The bough of cherries some officious fool/ Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule/ She rode with round the terrace" (594). His home life includes an assemblage of servants and maids, whom he passingly refers to as "officious fool[s]." He has an enormous house that extends onto a terrace, where the Duchess rides her white mule, and then on into an array of gardens, from these orchards her cherries are picked. Not so fortunate is Miss Dent who lives in "a room that seem[s]...like a closet" (81).

Monday, November 11, 2019

Historically speaking Essay

Globalization is one of the most recent phenomenons ever to strike humanity upon its entrance to the 21st century. Historically speaking, globalization itself has been around for decades long before it was conceived as a field of study of international trade. Some economists and historians contend that the concepts of globalization have been prevalent even during time when the Silk Road started in China up to the Roman Empire. Some, however, argue that globalization began during the 19th century; when the prevalence of the Industrial Age was at its fastest and that trade between Europe, their colonies and the Americas were growing steadily. Major advances in technology, especially during the 20th century, eventually led countries to lower trading costs; hence, highlighting the inevitability of the expansion of trade within the International Community. Still, globalization, as a term, was never used by economists; at least not until the early 1980’s. Furthermore, all its concepts and ideas were never really fully understood by the academic community until the early 1990’s. Fortunately, after seven years into the 21st century, much of the world is already aware of its contexts and aspects – from outsourcing to currency trading via wireless applications. Still, despite our knowledge of globalization, we cannot deny the fact that we know less about its implications for the future. Globalization, as a field of study, is a volatile subject that, even with the assistance of factual data and information, is almost ultimately unpredictable. Despite the existence of a myriad of books, journals and articles pertaining to the topic of Globalization, we cannot deny that we have yet to fully understand its future trends. Indeed, a major advancement brought by sophisticated technology can ultimately change, once again, the face of the International Community; thus, affecting international trade and ultimately affecting the â€Å"globalization† of the world. On a further note, third world countries that would eventually become first world countries in the future may end up shifting the international balance of trade and commerce for first world countries. As such, it is very tempting to imagine what the International Community would be like if, for some infinitesimal chance, the African Continent booms like Asia. If such an event occurs, will globalization be the cause for it? Alternatively, will globalization even allow such an event to occur? People who are against the advancements of globalization argue that globalization only benefits the rich north and detriments the poor south. This is evident from the fact that countries in the northern hemisphere tend to play in a neo-imperialist fashion among the countries in the southern hemisphere. Anti-globalization movements insist that the prevalence of globalization only means the prevalence of multinational corporations (MNC’s). They contend that these corporations, while providing employment for the local population, only encourage more poverty in the country. Multinational corporations, upon entering a country, immediately eliminates local competitors; thus, destroying the balance of power between local and foreign. As such, the country becomes subject to the influence of foreign countries that originally holds these multinational corporations. This automatically becomes a sort of leverage for foreign countries (which are, most of the time, rich countries coming from the north) against the country holding their MNC’s. On the other hand, people that are for the advancements of globalization argues that free trade – the main tool of globalization – encourages more growth for developing economies compared to protectionism. Primarily, globalization allows several countries access to several goods and services that they could never produce or emulate from other countries. Furthermore, they contend that globalization encourages competition among local and foreign businesses. Though unfair at times, supporters of globalization claim that encouraging competition allows small businesses to grow, to become more efficient and to become more versatile. The arguments of both sides are truly credible. Indeed, globalization, as a concept, is considered by many as a double-edged sword – though benefiting the user, it can, if careless enough, harm him/her as well. Globalization has many facets. As such, it has many implications – some we are aware of and some aren’t. But according to one scholar, Thomas Friedman, globalization has one important implication that has been very prevalent over the past couple of years but has only recently gained attention. In 2005, Thomas Friedman – a columnist of Foreign Affairs and the New York Times – published a book entitled The World is Flat. According to Mr. Friedman, the world is becoming smaller and that the competition between countries in different parts of the world is becoming or â€Å"being leveled†. One example that he noted was that the economies of India and China, two emerging economic superpowers in the eastern hemisphere, are now becoming so becoming so advanced that they can now compete with the economic powerhouses of the west. He further claimed that, ironically, much of the west, most especially the Americans, weren’t ready for such events unfolding. Indeed, the unexpected booms of India and China have made the Asian continent an attractive place for foreign investment. Another important point is that both countries’ huge populations have played a vital role in the labor market – both in manual labor (i. e. manufacturing) and professional labor (i. e. information technology). Not only do these two countries outshine the United States in terms of cheap labor, but they also outdo the American population in terms of efficiency and productivity. Simply said, employers are getting the same level of productivity and efficiency from both Chinese and Indian workers, but at a lower cost. This, according to scholars, has proved very detrimental to Americans. Not only does this threaten the employment of future American workers, but it also threatens the economy of the United States on the long run. As such, how can one defend himself from such negative advancements to one’s own country? On a more general level, how can the populace protect itself from such a deadly competition? As an American Citizen and as a soon-to-be professional entering the world of competitive employment, I can indeed come up with several answers to that question. First, as a country, the United States must make huge investments on education. Improving the workforce of the country is imperative if we are to face foreign competition. One important thing that we can put into consideration is the introduction of language classes in our academic system. Learning the language of foreign countries can surely make our general workforce a seemingly good investment for foreign companies. Yet another note is the introduction of new laws which will, in some way, discourage young students from dropping out of school. An example of these laws is the prohibition of issuing driver’s licenses to adolescents who have dropped out of school for no particular reason. By doing so, the general workforce of the country will remain efficient and highly educated. Despite the rapid growths of China and India, it cannot be denied that much of their population remains below the poverty line. As such, this problem becomes a drain on their economy (for the simple reason that the government has to continuously spend huge sums of money on anti-poverty programs and such). Ironically, this could play both a huge disadvantage and an advantage at the same time for the United States. For one, since people live in very poor conditions, corporations can take advantage of them by paying them low salaries; which, for the population, could seem very high. On the other hand, the good living conditions of the American population can imply the demand for high-paying jobs; which, of course, corporations would not prefer. Alternatively, this could also serve as an advantage for the United States since the American workforce – compared to the cheap yet impoverished populace of India and China – are more efficient and educated; thus, implying more productivity and growth for the corporation. Education is one thing. But as a person who’s about to enter into the competitive world of employment, how can I prepare myself against the competitive nature of foreign workers that will most likely ensue?

Saturday, November 9, 2019

It’s easy to become a football hooligan!

With reference to football hooliganism in Britain and the latest theories and research, state your views to agree or disagree with the statement? Who are hooligans and why do they do it? Discuss the latest theories. Football hooligans are noisy, violent people who want to make trouble. Evidence suggests that most of these hooligans are in their late teens or early 20's. And also that they come from mainly working class backgrounds. It is also suggested that generally hooligans are from low-income occupations- some are unemployed or are working in a poor economy. Hooliganism is actually non-violent. Hooliganism involves verbally abusing rival fans, threatening them with attack and most of the time they aim to have a laugh. Although seem of them do seem more interested in fighting rival groups who are, like themselves, looking for trouble. What is the motivation of the hooligans? There are many theories for this. The main reason is said to be the risk and excitement involved in hooliganism drives people (esp. them who are in their late teens or early 20's). For example, the British sociologist Paul Willis (sociologist analytical theory) talks about the tension involved in the fight situations and the risk in these attractive situations is what makes them do it. The sociological approach also states that male hooligans are formed because young men are expected to be able to look after themselves. Fights can be prepared for and enjoyed, not only because of the risk in it but also because of how these fights make the hooligans feel cool and masculine (i.e. manly). Young men like these defend their own, their gang's, and their town's reputation against similar rivals who are aimed at playing against their hosts. Most of this engagement is about insulting and verbally abusing opposing fans, but core hooligans also enjoy a f ight when they can get one. Not only this, but the rewards involved in such activities like the loyalty and the entertainment you get from hooligan involvement is very valuable for these young men whose opportunities for status and excitement from other ways are very limited. Heavy drinking, for example, is often considered having a good day out. Hence hooligans do this to get status and loyalty in the society also. The sociological approach also states that hooligans behave in this manner to act cool and to show-off (i.e. get attention). For example hooligans come wearing very fashionable casuals and try to compete with their hooligan rivals on the means of stylish and expensive clothing. The socialist approach also tells us to read the act of hooliganism as a form of resistance to the intrusion of more middle class sensibilities1 into sport and local cultures. The anthropology approach is more bent towards the theory that hooliganism is performed because of its attractions as social drama and the opportunity it provides for a sense of belonging, for competition and risk, achieving honor and throwing shame on rivals. Another approach/theory is the social-psycological one, which is based more on the meaning of the activity itself than on the social background of those involved. They see hooliganism as an example of the search for a peak experience, which is an intense, emotional experience not usually, encountered in everyday life. Peak experiences allow for an open expression of collective emotionality: an outpouring of joy or sadness, and a strengthening of a common social identity via suporting a team. Hooligans, like other fans, seek peak experiences through their involvement in football. These were the three theories for why do hooligans do what they do. All of these theories are convincing though we still do not have all the data required to agree or disagree with the statement. Do only the English Produce Hooligans? No. There have been many cases of hooligan violence in other countries- even the more serious ones. Some examples would be: * In December 2000 a match between Strasbourg and Metz in the French First Division was abandoned because an assistant referee was injured by a firecracker. * In Italy, hooligan groups known as ‘ultra's' clashed with rival firms and the police. * In Greece, AEK Athens were banned from playing in their own stadium for four matches after their fans threw missiles and invaded the pitch during a Greek Cup tie with Olympiakos. * Perhaps the most serious football-crowd disorder takes place in Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and South America where serious crowd rioting is much more common place than in the U.K. So it is not only UK who suffers from these troublemakers. Most of the world does. Is their hooliganism in other sports? Yes. Certainly there is. Hooliganism at sports like boxing, rugby league and cricket provoke very regular panics about the behavior of spectators. There have been disturbances even at horseracing competitions. But the difference is that hooliganism at football gets lots of newspaper coverage while the others don't. And nor are these problems as routinised as they seem to be at football. I have seen hooliganism in Cricket myself in a match between England and India in India where some people started throwing water bottles (known as water missiles) and other stuff on the English cricket players. As we have read from the theories, the main of hooligan-like behavior is to get loyalties, be honored, and be involved in risk. Though the difference was that since it was an International match in India- there was no hooligan in the rivalry. Hooliganism is not tied to a sport as I said. Hooligans disturb matches because of the many reasons I have explained from the three different theories. Why is hooliganism linked to football? Well, I think that hooliganism is related to football simply because of the explanation given by the social theory and the others. The socail-pyschological theory tells us that these football fans have a passion for football. Hooliganism is a way to search for a peak experience, which is an intense, emotional experience not usually encountered in everyday life. Peak experiences allow for an open expression of collective emotionality: an outpouring of joy or sadness, and a strengthening of a common social identity via suporting a team. And since football is the world's most popular and one of the most intense sports it has got more advertisement in that manner. Hooliganism in football would hence be the easiest and best way to get loyalties, raise your status, have a peak experience and have risks. This is what I believe. Does drink have a part? Yes, but not all the time. In the English society, drinking heavily is considered being manly. Males of all social classes are often encouraged to celebrate special occasions with their male friends by drinking to excess. Football trips abroad seem regularly to involve male fans drinking heavily together in situations where drink is cheap and easily available. On occasions like this, situations can get out of control because Englishmen placed in an unfamiliar, and perhaps threatening culture have had too much to drink. This may increase the chances of serious hooliganism. However, it cannot be said that drink is the cause of hooliganism- yes, it can make it worse. Are political groups involved? There is no real evidence that such organizations are actively and effectively controlling hooliganism in England or anywhere else. Though yes, there are rumors, which cannot be, carried true until and unless evidence is provided. What is the role of the media? It is true that newspapers report on football using the language which seems to derive more from the world of war than it does from sport. Maybe this helps to heighten rivalries between opposing fan groups. And my sources also inform me that so do the predictions newspapers sometimes used to make that trouble is likely to occur between rival fans. Media coverage of hooligan activities worked at promoting if not causing hooliganism. The main reason for this which comes to my mind is that since the hooligans are doing this to get honored and be involved in risk (using the theories) media coverage will amplify and multiply the effects and its significance. After answering these questions I can discuss a lot on whether I agree or disagree with the statement that â€Å"It's easy to become a football hooligan!† Well, it is not easy to become a football hooligan- (from the theories we have) the situations and mental conditions of a person have to be very in a particular way to be a hooligan. In the below paragraphs (and some of the paragraphs I have already written) you will get to know from me that I do agree with the statement and I don't also. It is easy to become a football hooligan only if the situations are perfect i.e. you are mentally down, you want to be entertained- to be noticed, to be involved in risk, you want loyalties, you want to act cool or you deeply love your football club (which is the least chance for a person to become a hooligan). Also it depends upon which nationality or culture you are from. For example the Indian culture doesn't encourage us to drink (which may make situations worse) nor does it encourage us to get involved into fights of some kind. Generally it is very rare for Asians (i.e. Eastern hemisphere) to get involved in these hooligan fights. Not only this, but it depends upon the stable mentality of the person- if you are not mentally stable and are looking for attention- hooligan behavior might be the answer for your prayers. Also it matters what your status is in the society. If you are at a high post- fights and verbal abuses including so much life risk would not be the thing you would want to do- this may hurt your reputation. It is generally found that youths (late teens and early twenties) are the ones involved in such activity. This is because of the mental imbalances going on in their mind and how they react to what they see in the society. If you live in an environment where there is some existence of shame and security, a person would not get involved in such activities, (which is again found widely in the Eastern Hemisphere). If you looked at what the sociological theory is closely: The rewards involved in such activities like the loyalty and the entertainment you get from hooligan involvement is very valuable for these young men whose opportunities for status and excitement from other ways are very limited. Now, if you get opportunities and excitement and the involvement in risk (if required) from other ways (excelling in studies, participating in state or club teams and gaining reputation etc.) these activities will not at all be necessary to do. There is some affect of how you are brought up and what environment you live in. Peer pressure comes into play. And so do so many other factors. What I mean to say is that it depends upon how you are suppressed under the factors i.e. are all the factors positive to say that your requirements are of one to become a hooligan. It is very hard to answer this question that why some young men, rather than others, might find this sort of activity attractive and rewarding. Nor is it clear why, at particular times and in particular kinds of societies or in particular places, hooliganism of this kind should become so attractive. What my opinion is that things should match with those in the theories to give us some sense of realization that this person might be a hooligan because of these reasons. It is not easy to become a hooligan but it is not hard also.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Ecco Market Analysis Research Paper Example

Ecco Market Analysis Research Paper Example Ecco Market Analysis Paper Ecco Market Analysis Paper EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ECCO is a Danish shoemaking and retailing company that was founded by Karl Toosbuy in Bredebro, Denmark in 1963. The company’s vision is to be the ‘most wanted brand within innovation and comfort footwear’ – which they intend to attain by constantly and courageously researching new paths, investing in employees, in core competencies of product development and production technology. While trends in the market with regards to fashion and elegance are deemed important, usability has been ECCO’s highest design priority. By 2004, ECCO had its main markets in the US, Germany and Japan and worked constantly on creation of new markets with emphasis on regions like Asia, Central and Eastern Europe. The financial ownership was kept within the company and ECCO refrained from issuing Initial Public Offerings despite financial constraints in the beginning of the 21st century as the company believed that that would inhibit their risk taking abilities. ECCO’s production strategy has been unique in that 80% of the production was in-house. The company regarded their ‘direct injected’ technology as a key asset and believed it gave them an edge over the competitors. A decade of more than satisfactory growth later, ECCO ventured towards internationalizing its operations by establishing its upper production unit in Brazil in 1974. Since then, the chief drivers of internationalization have been i) creation of new markets ii) leveraging the relatively cheap cost of labour. By May 2004, ECCO was finalizing its plans to set up production in China. The Report has covered Situational Analysis for ECCO’s present day operations and market presence. It has covered Competitor Analysis taking into account its main rivals in the international market. The report also contains valuable recommendations for future growth strategies. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:3 Products and Markets:4 The Global Value Chain4 Advantages of the Global Value Chain6 Drawbacks of the Global Value Chain6 Competitor Analysis6 RECOMMENDATIONS7 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS: The internationalization program was taken up to optimize various activities associated with the value chain. Having already established operations in Portugal, Slovakia, Indonesia, Thailand ECCO was gearing up to set up shop in China as part of the internationalization of the value chain. By doing so it intended to utilize the cheap labour costs, use China as a launching pad to export finished goods to the market the world over. ECCO had one tannery located in Netherlands, and two others next to factories in Indonesia and Thailand. While the complete ownership of tanneries meant ECCO could exercise sufficient quality control over the leather used, it also means added overheads and incurring maintenance costs. Products and Markets: The ECCO group produces footwear for men, ladies and children in the casual, outdoor and semi-sport shoes categories for two different seasons – spring/ summer and autumn/winter. The distribution of sales in 2004 across the categories was as follows. Bulk of the share fell to ladies at 47%, followed by men at 30% and 11% and 12% for children and sport respectively. The year also saw the ECCO group introducing the range of golf shoes which was met with outstanding success as market research showed the brand being preferred by more than 90% of the golfers. The chief markets for ECCO were the US, Germany and Japan, accounting for more than 90% of the exports. The US remained the most important market with the shoes selling for a high price. The US market accounted for 26% of the total sales in 2004. The Global Value Chain Inbound Logistics ECCO retained a close control of the entire value chain right from procuring the leather to packaging of the shoes. ECCO had one tannery located in Netherlands, and two others next to factories in Indonesia and Thailand. The Netherlands facility handled prototyping, laboratory and ramp-up production f leather, while those in Indonesia and Thailand performed full-scale production of leather. These tanneries supplied leather to all the production units across the world. The bulk of the raw hides originated from Germany, France, Denmark and Finland. ECCO’s production strategy was well-differentiated from its competitors in that ECCO handled 80% of the production of shoes on its own (which was in k eeping with its focus of close control) whereas most of its competitors had outsourced most of the production, concentrating more on design and marketing of their products instead. The company employed a technology that they termed ‘direct injection technology’ which accounted for 80% of the total production. Because it was hard to imitate and gave them a competitive edge, the company was averse to outsource production. The remaining 20% was outsourced as these did not benefit from the direct injection method. ECCO began internationalizing operations in 1974 since it established an upper production unit in Brazil. Portugal ECCO set up its first full-scale production unit in Portugal in 1984. Initially Portugal had a significant share in both production of the uppers and shoe assembly. However, with rising labour costs, the numbers came down, as production shifted to Indonesia and Thailand. ECCO consequently reduced the number of employees and invested into technology to make the unit more high-tech. Indonesia Opened in 1991, the Indonesian production unit handled shoe uppers, accounting for 40 to 50 per cent of the demand. A distinct drawback was that obtaining raw material could take up to eight weeks and shipping the finished goods to the distribution centres upto five weeks. Thailand The Thai unit encompassed both tannery and assembling operations. This unit was a success story in terms of output, employee satisfaction and size. Employee turnover was low and the number increased progressively every year. Also, ECCO discovered that the Thais were good at observing minute details and exhibited high level of skill. Consequently, ECCO focussed production of golf and advanced trekking boots here. Slovakia Set up in 1998, the unit in Slovakia was mainly concerned with assembly and to a smaller degree, shoe uppers. In addition to providing lower cost labour, the unit had the advantage of being located close to the important markets of Poland and Russia. The facility would act as a backup to possible political upheavals in Asia and mitigate the uncertainties arising from unforeseen interruptions. China Although not established by 2004, production facilities had been finalized and planned to be set up in China. ECCO had chosen a site at Xiamen, just North of Guangdong which was supposedly a small yet vibrant community which showed promise and potential. Full scale units supported by an advanced tannery was what ECCO had planned for. The units would serve exports as well as cater to the local markets. Why ECCO should start production in China: * China had recently gained entry into the WTO which allowed for 100% foreign ownership of operations. This was in keeping with their core focus of in-house production and would still allow ECCO to leverage cheap and efficient labour * Chinese markets were growing steadily. Close proximity to the huge market would boost revenues while reducing distribution costs. * It could leverage the established partnership with Aibu and by enhancing the network approach could win the loyalty of Chinese customers. Possible pitfalls and challenges: There was no shortage of local manufacturers trying to copy the ECCO design. ECCO would have to constantly monitor the market scene and spend money on attorneys and litigation to ensure its design is protected against imitation. * Traditionally, ECCO had not spent much on marketing its products. However, to gain share in the competitive Chinese market it would have to aggressively market its brand to carve a nic he for itself. * Since ECCO would be partnering with Aibu for establishing market presence, Aibu would be in a position to wield a certain degree of bargaining power. Advantages of the Global Value Chain Complete ownership of the tanneries enables ECCO to exert stringent quality control on the leather to be used for the shoes. * The tanneries in Netherlands being an important research centre as well, allows access to quality expertise and technical know-how about tanning. * Also, the research facility allows ECCO to explore less polluting tanning processes which would safeguard it against future laws that might restrict polluting practices. * Held-close-to-chest technology and in-house production has given ECCO the competitive edge and allowed huge market share especially for golf shoes. Globalized operations have allowed ECCO to leverage reduced labour costs and proximity to promising markets. * Internationalization has also allowed ECCO to mitigate risk of production interruptions . Drawbacks of the Global Value Chain * ECCO has traditionally not been big on marketing its products, while the competitors thrive on a model driven by marketing. With the changing world environment, this could be risky. * With operations and procurement spread to different parts in the world it takes time to complete the manufacturing process. This leads to an increase in the time to market and could cause depletion in market share. * Bulk of the finished goods are distributed through Denmark, while Denmark accounts for only 6 to 9 % of the sales. Thus the overall cost of distribution would go up. Competitor Analysis Geox Geox owed its success to the perforated rubber soles that included a special waterproof membrane that allowed the moisture to vaporize yet preventing water from entering the shoe. The technology was different from that of ECCO’s and as such allowed Geox its own market share. The production is a mix of in-house and out-sourced while that for ECCO’s is mostly in-house. While the sales were mostly in Italy for Geox, it was increasingly registering growth in the international market. ECCO had a market share of US$ 115 million while the figures for Geox were US$14 million. However, ECCO had only posted a growth of 4. 5 per cent while Geox showed a growth of 250 per cent. Also Geox has decided to lessen its risks by venturing into apparel market. Clarks Clarks was the biggest player in the casual footwear category and displayed a better growth rate than ECCO in 2004 (10. % v/s 4. 5%). Established much earlier than ECCO, Clarks quickly became a global player. Clarks relies heavily on out-sourced production which gives it access to a variety of technologies. However, unlike ECCO, controlling quality of products and material is a significant task for Clarks. Also, this lends a lot of bargaining power to the suppliers. This also implies that Clarks has a pr edominantly marketing based business model as opposed to ECCO that relies chiefly on production of quality goods. Timberland Timberland was a late entrant in the international market. However, with products as diverse as clothing and accessories, Timberland, in 2003, was twice the size of ECCO in terms of product sales. Unlike ECCO, Timberland’s focus is on marketing and has outsourced most of its production. This has led to Timberland having ceded a lot of bargaining power to the suppliers. It lost a lot of margin to the suppliers in the process and was forced to negotiate constantly with the suppliers to achieve normalcy in the cost of goods. RECOMMENDATIONS ECCO has to improve its focus on marketing as well as on branding as with the changing business landscape, it cannot rely solely on the quality of goods especially when international competition is so fierce * Since US is the most lucrative market, ECCO should consider opening up operations in Mexico as the region is close to the US; this would help reduce shipping costs as well as time to market. * ECCO should also look into diversifying into selling accessories and clothing which its competitors have already announced their arrival in.