The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment Essay Example For Students

The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment Essay One of the most talked-about issues of the past few years has been the issue of sexual harassment, and it supposed prevalence in all workplaces. Pushed to the national spotlight by the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, in which Ms. Hill accused her boss Justice Thomas of sexual harassment, it has become popular belief that sexual harassment occurs in all workplaces, and that the vast majority of female office -workers have been sexually harassed. Feminist groups have taken in upon themselves to interject in many offices, leading sensitivity training sessions on sexual harassment, and promoting the cause of those who charge others with sexual harassment. Despite the claims of feminist groups about merely educating and sensitizing people on sexual harassment, the new state guidelines have only succeeded in trivializing the issue, and are actually very detrimental to powerful women. We will write a custom essay on The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now According to a pamphlet by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, one of the legally defined situations of sexual harassment involves such verbal conduct as making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, and jokes. While such examples of speech may be considered offensive or crude behavior, it is not the role of the federal, state, or county government to legislate what people can say, and where they can say these things. By adopting verbal comments as part of the state guidelines on sexual harassment, the state of California is actually encouraging stifling free speech, which should be considered unconstitutional. If a woman walks in on a conversation between co-workers in an office, in which sexual jokes and lewd comments are featured, this does not constitute sexual harassment. Katie Roiphe, author of The Morning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism, states it best when she proclaims that feminists.. .seem to have forgotten childhoods words of wisdom: sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me (101). If a woman or man finds particular speech, jokes, or comments offensive, they should speak up, and voice their opposition, instead of crying harassment and calling their lawyer. As renegade feminist professor and society critic Camille Paglia proclaimed, in her book Vamps and Tramps, If someone offends you by speech you must learn to defend yourself by speech and not beg for outside help to curtail your opponents free movement (51). Sexual Harassment is Forbidden by Law continues its definition of sexual harassment, by proclaiming that verbal sexual advances or propositions are considered sexual harassment in California. While many people may consider this sexual harassment, this should be looked at as more about every day, normal behavior being considered criminal. If one finds another person attractive, regardless of position of power or status, a proposition is generally issued for a date, dinner, or cocktails. Asking your secretary out on a date is not sexual harassment, just as it would not be sexual harassment if the secretary asked the boss or co-worker out on a date. It should not be considered sexual harassment unless work-related advancement is denied to whomever refused the date offer. Author Katie Roiphe contends that a proposition for a date is normal, healthy behavior between a man and a woman. To find wanted sexual attention, you have to give and receive a certain amount of unwanted sexual attention. Clearly, the truth is that if no one was ever allowed to risk offering unsolicited sexual attention, we would all be solitary creatures (Roiphe 87). None of us would exist if no one ever risked unwanted sexual advances. The criminalization of innocent date propositions is another example of the trivialization of sexual harassment. By focusing on this type of proposition as typical of sexual harassment, feminists are demonstrating that their objective is not stamping out sexual harassment, but stamping out innocent heterosexual behavior. .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .postImageUrl , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:hover , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:visited , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:active { border:0!important; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:active , .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u80e6fea15c8f7b3262424fb773dcfacb:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Trail of tears Essay One final example of the extreme nature of the sexual harassment guidelines is its characterization of such visual conduct as leering, making sexual gestures, displaying of sexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons or posters as sexual harassment. It astounds me that anyone could support such a Stalinesque proposal. The banning of sexually suggestive objects or posters is a clear violation of our constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression. As Camille Paglia once wrote, we can never fully legislate the human psyche (Vamps and Tramps, 47). Who is to determine what constitutes leering? This is, as Katie Roiphe wrote, an ominous, not to mention difficult, prospect (91). Our courts will be even more inundated with frivolous claims of sexual harassment, charging some man walking down the hall . The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment Essay Example For Students The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment Essay One of the most talked-about issues of the past few years has been the issue ofsexual harassment, and it supposed prevalence in all workplaces. Pushed to the nationalspotlight by the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, in which Ms. Hill accused her bossJustice Thomas of sexual harassment, it has become popular belief that sexual harassmentoccurs in all workplaces, and that the vast majority of female office -workers have beensexually harassed. Feminist groups have taken in upon themselves to interject in manyoffices, leading sensitivity training sessions on sexual harassment, and promoting thecause of those who charge others with sexual harassment. Despite the claims of feministgroups about merely educating and sensitizing people on sexual harassment, the newstate guidelines have only succeeded in trivializing the issue, and are actually verydetrimental to powerful women. According to a pamphlet by the California Department of Fair Employment andHousing, one of the legally defined s ituations of sexual harassment involves such verbalconduct as making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, and jokes. While suchexamples of speech may be considered offensive or crude behavior, it is not the role ofthe federal, state, or county government to legislate what people can say, and where theycan say these things. By adopting verbal comments as part of the state guidelines onsexual harassment, the state of California is actually encouraging stifling free speech,which should be considered unconstitutional. If a woman walks in on a conversationbetween co-workers in an office, in which sexual jokes and lewd comments are featured,this does not constitute sexual harassment. Katie Roiphe, author of The Morning After:Sex, Fear, and Feminism, states it best when she proclaims that feministsseem to haveforgotten childhoods words of wisdom: sticks and stones may break my bones, but nameswill never harm me (101). If a woman or man finds particular speech, jokes, orcomments o ffensive, they should speak up, and voice their opposition, instead of cryingharassment and calling their lawyer. As renegade feminist professor and society criticCamille Paglia proclaimed, in her book Vamps and Tramps, If someone offends you byspeech you must learn to defend yourself by speechand not beg for outside help tocurtail your opponents free movement (51). Sexual Harassment is Forbidden by Law continues its definition of sexualharassment, by proclaiming that verbal sexual advances or propositions are consideredsexual harassment in California. While many people may consider this sexual harassment,this should be looked at as more about every day, normal behavior being consideredcriminal. If one finds another person attractive, regardless of position of power or status, aproposition is generally issued for a date, dinner, or cocktails. Asking your secretary outon a date is not sexual harassment, just as it would not be sexual harassment if thesecretary asked the boss or co-wo rker out on a date. It should not be considered sexualharassment unless work-related advancement is denied to whomever refused the dateoffer. Author Katie Roiphe contends that a proposition for a date is normal, healthybehavior between a man and a woman. To find wanted sexual attention, you have to giveand receive a certain amount of unwanted sexual attention. Clearly, the truth is that if noone was ever allowed to risk offering unsolicited sexual attention, we would all besolitary creatures (Roiphe 87). None of us would exist if no one ever risked unwantedsexual advances. The criminalization of innocent date propositions is another example ofthe trivialization of sexual harassment. By focusing on this type of proposition as typicalof sexual harassment, feminists are demonstrating that their objective is not stamping outsexual harassment, but stamping out innocent heterosexual behavior. We will write a custom essay on The Myth of the Plague of Sexual Harassment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now One final example of the extreme nature of the sexual harassment guidelines is itscharacterization of such visual conduct as leering, making sexual gestures, displaying ofsexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons or posters as sexual harassment. Itastounds me that anyone could support such a Stalinesque proposal. The banning ofsexually suggestive objects or posters is a clear violation of our constitutional rights offreedom of speech and expression. As Camille Paglia once wrote, we can never fullylegislate the human psyche (Vamps and Tramps, 47). Who is to determine whatconstitutes leering? This is, as Katie Roiphe wrote, an ominous, not to mention difficult,prospect (91). Our courts will be even more inundated with frivolous claims of sexualharassment, charging some man walking down the hall with harassment because hestared at her, or undressed her with his eyes. Imagine what such threats will do thesupposed team office environment. Instead of concentrating on producing the bestproduct possible, or in the best customer service, our offices will be focusing onmonitoring who watches what or whom, when, and how. If leering were a crime, then allof us would probably be in jail, charged with sexual harassment. As to the banning ofsexually suggestive posters or objects in the office, it astounds me that anyone would feelharassed by some little sexual toy on someones desk, or a pin-up photo on the lockerroom door. The last time I checked, the women who are complaining about such pin-upphotos or sexual toys cannot legally be prevented from putting up their own pin-ups orsexual toys. Apart from that, this part of the sexual harassment guidelines will lead tomuch absurdity and trouble, such as female students feeling sexually harassed byaphoto ofa graduate student bikini-clad wife (Paglia 50). While women who are reallybeing harassed see no action on their case, the women who are supposedly harassed by asexually explicit picture of a wife or girlfriend see immed iate action. This is anotherexample of the absurdity and ill feelings that such guidelines will bring to the officeenvironment. Many other issues related to sexual harassment demonstrate the extremes andabsurdities that advocates of the new sexual harassment guidelines are willing to advance,such as the wide use of sensitivity training in many offices, coporations, and agencies. .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .postImageUrl , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:hover , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:visited , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:active { border:0!important; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:active , .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39 .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3d8968e71f953b2f3f3be138e5512c39:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Biotechnology EssaySensitivity training, which emerged as a widely used technique out of the ClarenceThomas-Anita Hill case, supposedly sensitizes men to the plight women face by sexualharassment. Yet, instead of legitimate education, sensitivity training becomes a way ofseeing the world, rather than a way of targeting specific contemptible behaviors (Roiphe100). Sensitivity training often includes role-playing exercises, such as that in the FAAexercise, in which men were pressured to walk through a line of female controllers whofondled their private parts and rated their sexual attributes (Men Sue FAA, A12). Christina Hoff -Sommers, author of the best-selling book, Who Stole Feminism, wasquoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying that most men and women in a workplaceenvironment can usually agree on core behavior they view as unacceptablebut some(sensitivity) trainers take the most thin-skinned, chronically offended person in a groupas the norm' (Olson A13). How does this type of indoctrination help to sensitize men orcondemn sexually harassing behavior? By choosing a thin-skinned person or theaverage man as a typical harasser, the feminists running these sensitivity trainingprograms are merely relaying stereotypes and propaganda to their predominantly maleaudiences, not realistic examples or helpful information. Instead of having a healthydialogue on what constitutes sexual harassment, or each persons perception ofharassment, these sensitivity training programs often result in an intolerance of diversityof points of view, leaving the audience not really want(ing) to object (Olson A13). Innot allowing an open debate on sexual harassment, feminists are merely just relaying theirview own, broadly defined of sexual harassment, regardless of reality. An open debate onsexual harassment in these sessions would be healthy, since all points of view would bewelcome, and all would get a better understanding of the issues and feelings. Thus, opendebate would actually sensitize people to the plight of victims of sexual harassment. Allof us would agree that harassment is horrid and must be condemned and halted. Giving afeminist a bully pulpit to sprout stereotypes about harassers, subjecting their students tooffensive language, situations and examples, does not do anything to educate aboutharassment, and actually introduces more tension, and lack of cohesion in the officeenvironment. Another issue related to sexual harassment is the view that women are sopowerless that they cannot withstand the advances of even subordinates without legalaction. Anita Hill, the darling of the f eminist-sexual harassment movement of the early1990s, proclaimed in a speech that women who report harassment often blamethemselves, a factor she attribute(s) to powerlessness' (Decker B6). This statementseems extremely degrading to women to assume that they are so weak and powerless thatthey cannot even reject innocent advances from their students, co-workers, or bosses. Camille Paglia put it best, when she stated that women are being returned to their oldstatus of delicate flowers who must be protected from assault by male lechers(and, thus)it is anti-feminist to ask for special treatment for women (Sex, Art, 47). Women havemade historical advances over the past twenty-five years, requiring them to have strongcharacter, will power, and great courage. For the feminist movement, which has been thesupposed champion of the advancement of all women, to proclaim that women are sodelicate and weak that they need special protection to repel these innocent advancesseems to go against everything the feminist movement has stood for. Great faith must beplaced in working women that they are strong and tough enough to repel date or sexualpropositions from their co-workers or students. Aside from that, women do have aresponsibility to define what (they) will and will not tolerate (Sex, Art, 47). If theperson who proposes is not given a clear signal that this behav ior is unacceptable,unwanted, or undesirable, how is that person to know to halt the behavior? Sexual harassment is widely viewed by many feminists as a national crisis, inwhich a majority of women have been supposedly been sexually harassed. Yet, thefeminist statisticians on sexual harassment report widely conflicting views of theprevalence of sexual harassment. The New York Times reported that 40 to 70 percent ofworking women have experienced some form of sexual harassment,but only 50 suitswere filed in fiscal year 1996 (Lewin, A18). Katie Roiphe writes of 88 percent ofPrincetons female students experiencing some form of sexual harassment(yet)Catherine MacKinnon (states) that only 7.8% of women in the United States are notsexually assaulted or harassed in their lifetimes (99-100). The wide variety in statisticsproves that feminists view what most consider innocent, everyday behavior as sexualharassment, even when consent is involved. If you consider leering, or lewd verbalcomments as elements of sexual harassment, then most of us have probably been sexuallyharassed at one point in our lifetime. Catherine MacKinnon has stated that feminismstresses the indistinguishability of prostitution, marriage, and sexual harassment (Brock385). Considering this statement, its easy to see how many leading feminists can come upwith the view that over eighty percent of women in this nation have been sexuallyharassed. Women leading normal lives, who tolerate or participate in telling lewd jokes orsexual conversations are considered to be sexually harassed, according to people like Ms. .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .postImageUrl , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:hover , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:visited , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:active { border:0!important; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:active , .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648 .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0525045edb5e495615da11b285657648:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Modest Proposal: The Environment EssayMacKinnon. It would be interesting to see what Ms. MacKinnon would do whensomeone actually is assaulted, raped, or denied advancement as a result of sexual matters. That person would probably be ignored. Those in favor of the new sexual harassment guidelines, are creating an officeenvironment that is much more hostile to men than women, and may actually beencouraging reverse sexual harassment. Feminists always consider men potentialoppressors, and that given a chance, men will always sexually harass a woman, accordingto feminist definitions of sexual harassment. As a result, men are afraid to speak up in theoffice, or disagree with any woman, for fear of being labeled a sexual harasser. NationalReview best described the current situation the new sexual harassment guidelines haveimposed on many offices. Men are doubly penalized by the current alarm about sexual harassment. On theone hand, they are weakened to any office encounter with a woman because shealways holds the harassment trump card. On the other hand, the current interpretation of harassment law gives women license to say and do things in theworkplace to which men cannot respond in kind. There is an open hostility towardmen in many workplaces, and no one is rushing to document or change it (59).It sounds as if these new sexual harassment guidelines are encouraging reverseharassment on the part of women against men. Where is the call for sensitivity training ofwomen? Where are the calls for legislation outlawing looking at men, or saying anythingprovocative or unsolicited to them? This is clearly an example of a movement that hasgotten out of hand into an anti-male frenzy, ignoring any evidence contrary to theirposition. The movement for new guidelines on sexual harassment is detrimental to officecohesion, degrades the adva ncement of women, assuming their lack of power. Leaders ofthis movement assume that all males are potential harassers, and that they will harassinnocent females given a chance, according to their definitions. Instead of legislatingunconstitutional measures that stifles free speech and free expression, feminist leadersshould encourage an open forum on sexual harassment in many offices, which is the onlytrue way for all to gain and understanding of the issue at hand, and truly becomesensitized. Works Cited1. Brock, David. The Real Anita Hill. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 2. California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Sexual Harassment isForbidden By Law. Pamphlet, Dec. 1998. 3. Decker, Cathleen. We Believe You, 900 Women Tell Anita Hill at Convention. LosAngeles Times 16 Nov. 1991: B6. 4. Lewin, Tamar. A Case Study of Sexual Harassment. New York Times 11 Nov. 1997:A18. 5. Luthar, Harsh and Anthony Townsend. Man Handling. National Review 6 Feb. 1997:58-60. 6. Men Sue FAA, Say They Were Groped. Los Angeles Times 8 Sep. 1994: A12. 7. Olson, Walter. When Sensitivity Training Is the Law. Wall Street Journal 20 Jan. 1993: A13. 8. Paglia, Camille. Sex, Art, and American Culture. New York: Vintage Press, 1992. 9. Paglia, Camille. Vamps and Tramps. New York: Vintage Press, 1994. 10. Roiphe, Katie. The Morning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism. Boston: Little, Brown Company, 1993.

buy custom The Condition of African Nations Fifty Years after Independence essay

buy custom The Condition of African Nations Fifty Years after Independence essay More than 60 years since the independence of several African states, they are still seen as relying on its former colonies. It is worth noting that several African countries have been depending on their former colonies. Statistics illustrates that this has been caused by the increasing levels of poverty in most African States. Furthermore, many see the rise of African dictators as an indication that they are making themselves wealthy at the expense of their unsuspecting citizens. This has made the living conditions in the given countries more unbearable as the gap between the rich and the poor continue worsening. The following paper will look into an in-depth analysis on the reasons that causes several African countries to rely on their former colonies. Despite most countries trying to rely on their domestic production, the increasing level of poverty, corruption within the government and bad leadership has made its citizens to look unto the West as a sign of hope towards restoring t he already worsening conditions. This paper will look on three major issues of disease, bad governance and disease as the reason why Africa is still depending on former colonies. Three major causes of over dependence on former colonies a)Diseases There is great concern over the increasing rate of disease in Africa. The geographic condition of Africa makes it more vulnerable to disease as compared to other continents which experience colder climates. Malaria is one great illness that is proving to kill several people and in a bid to control its spread, several African countries are turning to former colonies with a bid to seeking the essential assistance so as to its spread (Obeng et al, 2002). Furthermore, the increasing rate of poverty in these countries leaves little option for the pharmaceutical companies to invest in the country. As a result, most of this countries approach former colonies that are well established to come back and invest on pharmaceuticals that have the ability to offer more medical attention to diseases like malaria. The several diseases is what causes a health care burden to different governments who in turn suffer from lack of ways to approach the given situation. They usually see a way forward as turning to the Western countries who are already established and who have the economic prowess to steer the several challenges. Over the last twenty years, HIV/AIDS have taken Africa by storm, claiming the life of several people (Mwakikagile, 2006). Many have argued that the rate of poverty i Africa has increased the rate of HIV/AIDS and countries like South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland which were showing signs of development now have to cope with initiatives to stop this pandemic from spreading. So how do they do this? They engage in enlisting the help of countries that have advanced technolo gy with the ready technical tools to control the disease. HIV/AIDS is feared as being one dangerous disease that is likely to kill majority of the working population in a developing country. Furthermore the working population will greatly impact on the countrys economy as well as taking away a great portion of human labour. In order for a country to counter the effects of disease spread in Africa, and owning to the lack of the necessary technology, they well enlist the assistance of former colonies that are well placed with the already established entities (Smith, 1993). It is through this orientation that governments also seek the importation of anti-retroviral drugs from former colonies and being that they cannot do so continually, they have to ask for help in purchasing the drugs. This can only be achieved by seeking foreign aids from former colonies. b)Colonialism Soon after several African countries became independent, there relative wealth was in the public limelight to be seen. However, the economic prosperity of African Nations started slowing down as soon as the colonizers started departing. As a result, the government in place saw that in order for economic prosperity to be realized, and then they had to continue with the link between them and former colonial powers. However, the link had been destabilized with African countries attaining independence (Garcia et al, 2003). It was widely viewed that the exit of colonial powers from Africa was beginning of the nation down fall being that they were more experienced in several fields like agriculture and planning. In the various administrative levels of government, Africa leaders were faced with lack of the necessary professionals to run the various sectors. European administrators had been vibrant in realizing that African countries had made a stride towards economic progress. However, independence meant their services were no longer needed, a fact that left the government more vulnerable. Government leaders then had to enlist the help of former colonial powers in giving the training as well as the necessary education needed to operate the government that they had inherited from the colonial masters (Cooper, 2002). The Congo Free State is a perfect exampple of ideas of the Europeans which were never implemented and which left the country poorer. The people in this region believe that were they to implement the policies of Leopold II, then they were likely to have made considerable progress. Colonialism can therefore be noted as having led to great progress on the African continent. However, the exit of the colonial masters was an indication that this progress was going to be affected. The government was going to lack the professional expertise and the establish economy was to be back to ruins. In order to ensure that this decline does not occur, it was vital that the governments in several African countries remain in contact with the colonies so as to boost their chances of survival. It was a case of retaining the European way of thinking so as to have an effective economy. c)Bad Governance The political condition of African countries has resulted to the increasing state of poverty. The state of democracy in several African countries has never been successful. There have been successful African leaders who have tried to maintain the prosperous leadership of former colonies while others have taken power unto their hands and ruled with animosity resulting in increasing levels of poverty of African states. Leaders of oppositions have tried to enlist the help of former colonies to bring in foreign assistance in terms of persuading the bad leadership out of power. Exporting the already processed goods can never be successful unless they link with former colonies that will encourage their citizens to buy. This shows that Africans still need the colonies in order to market their products abroad (African Timeline, 2010). On the other hand, the presence of dictatorial leaders have indicated that African will never progress because leaders are after enriching themselves by the ac cumulation of more wealth hence neglecting the common people. Conclusion The paper has illustrates the fact that African nations, despite 60 years after attaining independence, have remained in the dark age of underdevelopment. For instance, several nations still depend on their former colonial powers. This is because they have to enlist the help of colonial masters to help them in the development of medicine that can limit disease like malaria and HIV/AIDS. On the other hand African countries are left with the option of relying on former colonies as a result of bad leadership and colonialism. All the three factors have been outlined through an in-depth analysis. Buy custom The Condition of African Nations Fifty Years after Independence essay

What Is Statistical Significance How Is It Calculated

What Is Statistical Significance How Is It Calculated SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've ever read a wild headline like, "Study Shows Chewing Rocks Prevents Cancer," you've probably wondered how that could be possible. If you look closer at this type of article you may find that the sample size for the study was a mere handful of people. If one person in a group of five chewed rocks and didn't get cancer, does that mean chewing rocks prevented cancer? Definitely not. The study for such a conclusion doesn't have statistical significance- though the study was performed, its conclusions don't really mean anything because the sample size was small. So what is statistical significance, and how do you calculate it? In this article, we'll cover what it is, when it's used, and go step-by-step through the process of determining if an experiment is statistically significant on your own. What Is Statistical Significance? As I mentioned above, the fake study about chewing rocks isn't statistically significant. What that means is that the conclusion reached in it isn't valid, because there's not enough evidence that what happened was not random chance. A statistically significant result would be one where, after rigorous testing, you reach a certain degree of confidence in the results. We call that degree of confidence our confidence level, which demonstrates how sure we are that our data was not skewed by random chance. More specifically, the confidence level is the likelihood that an interval will contain values for the parameter we're testing. There are three major ways of determining statistical significance: If you run an experiment and your p-value is less than your alpha (significance) level, your test is statistically significant If your confidence interval doesn't contain your null hypothesis value, your test is statistically significant If your p-value is less than your alpha, your confidence interval will not contain your null hypothesis value, and will therefore be statistically significant This info probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you're not already acquainted with the terms involved in calculating statistical significance, so let's take a look at what it means in practice. Say, for example, that we want to determine the average typing speed of 12-year-olds in America. We'll confirm our results using the second method, our confidence interval, as it's the simplest to explain quickly. First, we'll need to set our p-value, which tells us the probability of our results being at least as extreme as they were in our sample data if our null hypothesis (a statement that there is no difference between tested information), such as that all 12-year-old students type at the same speed) is true. A typical p-value is 5 percent, or 0.05, which is appropriate for many situations but can be adjusted for more sensitive experiments, such as in building airplanes. For our experiment, 5 percent is fine. If our p-value is 5 percent, our confidence level is 95 percent- it's always the inverse of your p-value. Our confidence level expresses how sure we are that, if we were to repeat our experiment with another sample, we would get the same averages- it is not a representation of the likelihood that the entire population will fall within this range. Testing the typing speed of every 12-year-old in America is unfeasible, so we'll take a sample- 100 12-year-olds from a variety of places and backgrounds within the US. Once we average all that data, we determine the average typing speed of our sample is 45 words per minute, with a standard deviation of five words per minute. From there, we can extrapolate that the average typing speed of 12-year-olds in America is somewhere between $45 - 5z$ words per minute and $45 + 5z$ words per minute. That's our confidence interval- a range of numbers we can be confident contain our true value, in this case the real average of the typing speed of 12-year-old Americans. Our z-score, ‘z,' is determined by our confidence value. In our case, given our confidence value, that would look like $45 - 5(1.96)$ and $45 + 5(1.96)$, making our confidence interval 35.2 to 54.8. A wider confidence interval, say with a standard deviation of 15 words per minute, would give us more confidence that the true average of the entire population would fall in that range ($45Â ± \bo{15}(1.96)$), but would be less accurate. More importantly for our purposes, if your confidence interval doesn't include the null hypothesis, your result is statistically significant. Since our results demonstrate that not all 12-year-olds type the same speed, our results are significant. One reason you might set your confidence rating lower is if you are concerned about sampling errors. A sampling error, which is a common cause for skewed data, is what happens when your study is based on flawed data. For example, if you polled a group of people at McDonald's about their favorite foods, you'd probably get a good amount of people saying hamburgers. If you polled the people at a vegan restaurant, you'd be unlikely to get the same results, so if your conclusion from the first study is that most peoples' favorite food is hamburgers, you're relying on a sampling error. It's important to remember that statistical significance is not necessarily a guarantee that something is objectively true. Statistical significance can be strong or weak, and researchers can factor in bias or variances to figure out how valid the conclusion is. Any rigorous study will have numerous phases of testing- one person chewing rocks and not getting cancer is not a rigorous study. Essentially, statistical significance tells you that your hypothesis has basis and is worth studying further. For example, say you have a suspicion that a quarter might be weighted unevenly. If you flip it 100 times and get 75 heads and 25 tails, that might suggest that the coin is rigged. That result, which deviates from expectations by over 5 percent, is statistically significant. Because each coin flip has a 50/50 chance of being heads or tails, these results would tell you to look deeper into it, not that your coin is definitely rigged to flip heads over tails. The results are statistically significant in that there is a clear tendency to flip heads over tails, but that itself is not an indication that the coin is flawed. What Is Statistical Significance Used For? Statistical significance is important in a variety of fields- any time you need to test whether something is effective, statistical significance plays a role. This can be very simple, like determining whether the dice produced for a tabletop role-playing game are well-balanced, or it can be very complex, like determining whether a new medicine that sometimes causes an unpleasant side effect is still worth releasing. Statistical significance is also frequently used in business to determine whether one thing is more effective than another. This is called A/B testing- two variants, one A and one B, are tested to see which is more successful. In school, you're most likely to learn about statistical significance in a science or statistics context, but it can be applied in a great number of fields. Any time you need to determine whether something is demonstrably true or just up to chance, you can use statistical significance! How to Calculate Statistical Significance Calculating statistical significance is complex- most people use calculators rather than try to solve equations by hand. Z-test calculators and t-test calculators are two ways you can drastically slim down the amount of work you have to do. However, learning how to calculate statistical significance by hand is a great way to ensure you really understand how each piece works. Let's go through the process step by step! Step 1: Set a Null Hypothesis To set up calculating statistical significance, first designate your null hypothesis, or H0. Your null hypothesis should state that there is no difference between your data sets. For example, let's say we're testing the effectiveness of a fertilizer by taking half of a group of 20 plants and treating half of them with fertilizer. Our null hypothesis will be something like, "This fertilizer will have no effect on the plant's growth." Step 2: Set an Alternative Hypothesis Next, you need an alternative hypothesis, Ha. Your alternative hypothesis is generally the opposite of your null hypothesis, so in this case it would be something like, "This fertilizer will cause the plants who get treated with it to grow faster." Step 3: Determine Your Alpha Third, you'll want to set the significance level, also known as alpha, or ÃŽ ±. The alpha is the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis when that hypothesis is true. In the case of our fertilizer example, the alpha is the probability of concluding that the fertilizer does make plants treated with it grow more when the fertilizer does not actually have an effect. An alpha of 0.05, or 5 percent, is standard, but if you're running a particularly sensitive experiment, such as testing a medicine or building an airplane, 0.01 may be more appropriate. For our fertilizer experiment, a 0.05 alpha is fine. Your confidence level is $1 - ÃŽ ±(100%)$, so if your alpha is 0.05, that makes your confidence level 95%. Again, your alpha can be changed depending on the sensitivity of the experiment, but most will use 0.05. Step 4: One- or Two-Tailed Test Fourth, you'll need to decide whether a one- or two-tailed test is more appropriate. One-tailed tests examine the relationship between two things in one direction, such as if the fertilizer makes the plant grow. A two-tailed test measures in two directions, such as if the fertilizer makes the plant grow or shrink. Since in our example we don't want to know if the plant shrinks, we'd choose a one-tailed test. But if we were testing something more complex, like whether a particular ad placement made customers more likely to click on it or less likely to click on it, a two-tailed test would be more appropriate. A two-tailed test is also appropriate if you're not sure which direction the results will go, just that you think there will be an effect. For example, if you wanted to test whether or not adding salt to boiling water while making pasta made a difference to taste, but weren't sure if it would have a positive or negative effect, you'd probably want to go with a two-tailed test. Step 5: Sample Size Next, determine your sample size. To do so, you'll conduct a power analysis, which gives you the probability of seeing your hypothesis demonstrated given a particular sample size. Statistical power tells us the probability of us accepting an alternative, true hypothesis over the null hypothesis. A higher statistical power gives lowers our probability of getting a false negative response for our experiment. In the case of our fertilizer experiment, a higher statistical power means that we will be less likely to accept that there is no effect from fertilizer when there is, in fact, an effect. A power analysis consists of four major pieces: The effect size, which tells us the magnitude of a result within the population The sample size, which tells us how many observations we have within the sample The significance level, which is our alpha The statistical power, which is the probability that we accept an alternative hypothesis if it is true Many experiments are run with a typical power, or ÃŽ ², of 80 percent. Because these calculations are complex, it's not recommended to try to calculate them by hand- instead, most people will use a calculator like this one to figure out their sample size. Conducting a power analysis lets you know how big of a sample size you'll need to determine statistical significance. If you only test on a handful of samples, you may end up with a result that's inaccurate- it may give you a false positive or a false negative. Doing an accurate power analysis helps ensure that your results are legitimate. Step 6: Find Standard Deviation Sixth, you'll be calculating the standard deviation, $s$ (also sometimes written as $ÏÆ'$). This is where the formula gets particularly complex, as this tells you how spread out your data is. The formula for standard deviation of a sample is: $$s = √{{∑(x_i – Â µ)^2}/(N – 1)}$$ In this equation, $s$ is the standard deviation $∑$ tells you to sum all the data you collected $x_i$ is each individual data $Â µ$ is the mean of your data for each group $N$ is your total sample So, to work this out, let's go with our preliminary fertilizer test on ten plants, which might give us data something like this: Plant Growth (inches) 1 2 2 1 3 4 4 5 5 3 6 1 7 5 8 4 9 4 10 4 We need to average that data, so we add it all together and divide by the total sample number. $(2 + 1 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 1 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 4) / 10 = 3.3$ Next, we subtract each sample from the average $(x_i – Â µ)$, which will look like this: Plant Growth (inches) $x_i – Â µ$ 1 2 1.3 2 1 2.3 3 4 -0.7 4 5 -1.7 5 3 0.3 6 1 2.3 7 5 -1.7 8 4 -0.7 9 4 -0.7 10 4 -0.7 Now we square all of those numbers and add them together. $1.32 + 2.32 + -0.72 + -1.72 + 0.32 + 2.32 + -1.72 + -0.72 + -0.72 + -0.72 = 20.1$ Next, we'll divide that number by the total sample number, N, minus 1. $20.1/9 = 2.23$ And finally, to find the standard deviation, we'll take the square root of that number. $√2.23=1.4933184523$ But that's not the end. We also need to calculate the variance between sample groups, if we have more than one sample group. In our case, let's say that we did a second experiment where we didn't add fertilizer so we could see what the growth looked like on its own, and these were our results: Plant Growth (inches) 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 1 5 3 6 1 7 1 8 2 9 1 10 1 So let's run through the standard deviation calculation again. #1: Average Data $1 + 1 + 2+ 1 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 14$ $14/10 = 1.4$ #2: Subtract each sample from the average $(x_i – Â µ)$. $0.4 + 0.4 + (-0.4) + 0.4 + (-1.6) + 0.4 + 0.4 + (-0.4) + 0.4 + 0.4 = 0.4$ #3: Divide the last number by the total sample number, N, minus 1. $0.4/9=0.0444$ #4: Take the square root of the previous number. $√0.0444 = 0.2107130751$ Step 7: Run Standard Error Formula Okay, now we have our two standard deviations (one for the group with fertilizer, one for the group without). Next, we need to run through the standard error formula, which is: $$s_d = √((s_1/N_1) + (s_2/N_2))$$ In this equation: $s_d$ is the standard error $s_1$ is the standard deviation of group one $N_1$ is the sample size of group one $s_2$ is the standard deviation of group two $N_2$ is the sample size of group two So let's work through this. First, let's figure out $s_1/N_1$. With our numbers, that becomes $1.4933184523/10$, or 0.14933184523. Next, let's do $s_2/N_2$. With our numbers, that becomes $0.2107130751/10$, or 0.02107130751. Next, we need to add those two numbers together. $0.14933184523 + 0.02107130751 = 0.17040315274$ And finally, we'll take the square root: $√0.17040315274 = 0.41279916756$ So our standard error $s_d$, is 0.41279916756. Step 8: Find t-Score But we're still not done! Now you're probably seeing why most people use a calculator for this. Next up: t-score. Your t-score is what allows you to compare your data to other data, which tells you the probability of the two groups being significantly different. The formula for t-score is $$t = (Â µ_1 – Â µ_2)/s_d$$ where: $t$ is the t-score $Â µ_1$ is the average of group one $Â µ_2$ is the average of group two $s_d$ is the standard error So for our numbers, this equation would look like: $t = (3.3 - 1.4)/0.41279916756$ $t = 4.60272246001$ Step 9: Find Degrees of Freedom We're almost there! Next, we'll find our degrees of freedom ($df$), which tells you how many values in a calculation can vary acceptably. To calculate this, we add the number of samples in each group and subtract two. In our case, that looks like this: $$(10 + 10) - 2 = 18$$ Step 10: Use a T-Table to Find Statistical Significance And now we'll use a t-table to figure out whether our conclusions are significant. To use the t-table, we first look on the left-hand side for our $df$, which in this case is 18. Next, scan along that row of variances until you find ours, which we'll round to 4.603. Whoa! We're off the chart! Scan upward until you see the p-values at the top of the chart and you'll find that our p-value is something smaller than 0.0005, which is well below our significance level. So is our study on whether our fertilizer makes plants grow taller valid? The final stage of determining statistical significance is comparing your p-value to your alpha. In this case, our alpha is 0.05, and our p-value is well below 0.05. Since one of the methods of determining statistical significance is to demonstrate that your p-value is less than your alpha level, we've succeeded! The data seems to suggest that our fertilizer does make plants grow, and with a p-value of 0.0005 at a significance level of 0.05, it's definitely significant! Now, if we're doing a rigorous study, we should test again on a larger scale to verify that the results can be replicated and that there weren't any other variables at work to make the plants taller. Tools to Use For Statistical Significance Calculators make calculating statistical significance a lot easier. Most people will do their calculations this way instead of by hand, as doing them without tools is more likely to introduce errors in an already sensitive process. To get you started, here are some calculators you can use to make your work simpler: How to Calculate T-Score on a TI-83 Find Sample Size and Confidence Interval T-Test Calculator T-Test Formula for Excel Find P-Value with Excel What's Next? Need to brush up on AP Stats? These free AP Statistics practice tests are exactly what you need! If you're struggling with statistics on the SAT Math section, check out this guide to strategies for mean, median, and mode! This formula sheet for AP Statistics covers all the formulas you'll need to know for a great score on your AP test!

Protagoras' Denial Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Protagoras' Denial - Essay Example Lee noted that Aristotle criticized that this is where the principle of non-contradiction has been used as a critical accentuation to what Protagoras imposed (57). This could be due to the observation of Aristotle that the good and bad virtues, justice and injustices of Protagoras were found to be so much relative that it would already make the learners wonder which sides could be considered as true or false. Protagoras, indeed, has a unique way of teaching his own philosophy. However, his study could have been criticized because of time before where access of information is not the same with the modern technology. This would mean that philosophers before would depend on their insights and elaborative knowledge based on experience and observational skills. With this, Protagoras could be considered as intellectually smart because his assumptions that were previously criticized are now orthodoxically used as means of how people should be virtually wise in terms of knowing how to listen and accept

Walmart. Final project Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Walmart. Final project - Lab Report Example SWOT analysis refers to the evaluation of an organization strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis offers an insight into an organization management strategy and the potential for success. Wal-Mart is an international company that provides home-based products at affordable prices. The company utilizes its strength in each of the market distributed worldwide, to meet the demands of their international and regional consumers. This paper seeks to provide a strategic insight of the company and a detailed SWOT analysis. Wal-Mart is a large wholesale distributor in the world that can afford modern construction technologies. For instance, during the year 2011, the company was ranked position one by Fortune 500 (Morse & Glassman, 30-40). Its operations are distributed worldwide and there is no worthy rival. Owing to its large influence on the market, Wal-Mart has the potential to replicate its best architectural techniques in all its stalls across the world (Roberts & Berg, 40). Wal-Mart uses variety of construction materials such as red bricks, steel-iron alloys, and coagulated tiles. In addition, it can suit its construction model with its retail products that cover cuts across different categories including apparels, domestic wares, and grocery. Wal-Mart’s dominant position allows it to benefit from high sales volume. In general, Wal-Mart’s strength includes international operations, scale of operations, wide range of products and cost leadership strategy (Hicks, 20-25). Wal-Mart is large supplier of domestic products and operates vast centers that require large construction space. This acts as a disadvantage as the company limit cannot expand beyond urban areas due to space. Research has shown that Wal-Mart has experienced loss in its store sales for the last eight years due to limited space (Kneer, 24). As such, Wal-Mart is required to develop new stores to accommodate fully its strengths concentrated in urban areas. This is

Influence of the Modernist Ideal City

Influence of the Modernist Ideal City The influence of the modernist ideal city, on urban design and master planning Introduction This essay will focus on the influence of Modernist Ideal City movement. At first showing that understanding of social, political and economic background is necessary, along with contemporary technological influences. Secondly, the purpose, principles and results of the movement will be illustrated. Then using the case study-Brasilia demonstrates the influence of the modernist ideal city. Finally, a critical view of historic and future of the movement will be provided. Background At the age of Early 20th, in most of western countries, the industrial revolution was dropping towards the end. With the development of technology and the increase of the social wealth, the population of 1800 1880 1910 Pars 647,000 2,200,000 3,000,000 London 800,000 3,800,000 7,200,000 Berlin 182,000 1,840,000 3,400,000 New York 60,000 2,800,000 4,500,000 Europe dramatically raised (figure 1). The contemporary cities could not stand the pressure of the population boom. A series of problem appeared, chaos, overcrowding, low efficiency, serious pollution, high density, narrow streets and lack of sunlight all threaten peoples life quality especially for lower class people. (Greed 1996, 70) Social conflict liked a time bomb hanging on the sky of the city. As Le Corbusier saidif we cannot suit to the situation of the new trend, the cities cannot meet the requirements of modern lifestyle (Corbusier 1987, 84). At this time, after the World War 1 (WW1), the Europe returned to peace. A great rebuilding process began buildings, and whole cities needed to be rebuilt. At this time, technology was vital to speed up this usually slow process. Express train and car speeded up the travel; telephone and radio reduce the commuting time and skyscrapers increased the city density. On the other hand, the modernist principles already were put forward. Both the real situation backed up and influenced by the theory basic gave people the opportunity to rethink the city of tomorrow. Finally,urban utopias emerged as the time requires, and Le Corbusier’s modernist ideal city is one of the most crucial parts (Hall 2011, 11-18, 28). The form of the modernist ideal city aimed to improve health of citizens, reduce commuting times, create more open space and get more sunlight, this way le Corbusier wanted to solve the social conflict (Greed 1996, 101-102). In 1914, Le Corbusier stated the Dom-ino House (figure 2). It is made of reinforce concrete and it reject the traditional load bearing wall. The frame structure frees the internal space which can be divided freely. low-cost, convenient, uniformity and standardisation all those figures show why He believed the Dom-ino system can meet the people’s requirements after WW1 (Frampton 2001, 21-22). In 1922, Le Corbusier published a blueprint of a contemporary city with 3,000,000 residents. And it was the first time for Le Corbusier to describe a whole ideal city. He searched a pure mechanism order. In his eyes, humanity would lost from chaos but revive from the pure order. In order to express the order, pure forms was used by le Corbusier. All the elements of city such as houses, roads, industries, offices even human were classified by function (Corbusier 1987, 15). The whole city was planned by clear hierarchy of class; people were divided into three parts, citizens, suburban dwellers and the mixed sort people. Roughly 400,000 to 600,000 citizens who were treated as urban elites lived in the 24 60-storey skyscrapers in the city centre. In Corbusier’s opinion these skyscrapers were vertical streets, which contain shops, hotels, etc. Furthermore, they only covered about 15% area of the entire city, which dramatically increase the density. At the same time, considered the environment pollution and human needs, the rest 85% of ground should be free for green lands. The working class (about 2,000,000) was planned to live in the garden city, which was influence by the garden city movement (Corbusier 1987, 163-176). On the other hand, fast traffic played an important role in the city. He (Corbusier 1987, 191) pointed out â€Å"that the city which can achieve speed will achieves success-and this is an obvious truth.† The whole city was connected by transportation system. And planner used symmetrical grid of streets to replace traditional â€Å"corridor street†. Two great arterial highways ran north and south, and east and west intersecting at the exact centre of the city (Corbusier 1987, 163-176). In general, the whole city worked as a huge machine. In 1932, Le Corbusier showed a more daring blueprint-The Radiant City that was more authoritarian and more libertarian than the Plan Voisin. The principle of design is existenzminimum (Corbusier 1976, 6-7). Every building would be strictly designed on the human scale. Furthermore, the radiant city has no class divisions. All of the people live in high-rise apartment blocks â€Å"Unità ©s†. Each block intended for 2,700 people and included individual service and public facilities such as shops, restaurant, swimming pools and gymnasiums (Corbusier 1967, 162). In order to avoid waste of space, the size of the apartment was decided by the family’s needs not class. Buildings raised on pilotis free the ground land and would be benefit to fast traffic and green land. Symmetrical grid of highway connected the whole anti-street city (Frampton 2001, 51). Same as the Dom-ino house, the radiant city from a single room to an entire city applies low cost and mass production techniqu es. In addition, these blocks only covered about 12% land. The rest area 100% ground area plus 12% top area of buildings were made up the green city. South facing glass wall, roof terraces and big open space made the city more radiant (Corbusier 1976, 44, 163). At the following years, Four Unità © d’Habitations were built in UK including Park Hill, Sheffield, Alton West, Roehampton, Barbican, London, and South Acton Estate, London. In general, the modernist ideal city could be described an order city; a functional city; a machine city; a high-rise city; a green city; a radiant city and a fast-traffic city. Case study There is no other cities can completely show Corbusier’s ideas liked Brasilia, although he wasn’t involved in the design (Hall 2002, 230).From 1956 to 1960, in order to narrow the gap between rich and poor and strengthen the development of interior area, a new capital-Brasilia that was designed by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyerhas been built. (Epstein 1973, 9) Brasilia as a totally new capital, without historical context, embodies a symbol of the modern movement (Hall 2002, 232). It means that costa got the best chance to seek to a pure order liked Corbusier. This order can be shown that the whole plan was axisymmetric and was divided different area by its function and residential area, working area and leisure area was linked by fast traffic (Evenson 1973, 146-153). In details dragonfly, bird, airplane, body and fuselage always are used to describe and plan the Brasilia. Roughly 10 kilometres monumental axis link east and west. From east to west, respectively, were gov ernmental buildings, uniform office blocks and train station. The uniformrectangle residential districtthat included shops, apartments etc. were located at both sides of the wind shape north-south axis. And the connection of the two axes was called rodoviaria that was designed as a centre of commerce, culture and entertainment. In addition, artificial lakes were surrounded north, east and south, zoo and serial small factories were near to train station (Issitt 2014). In general we can say, under the influence of modernist ideal city, Brasilia is an order, functional, green jet very motorised city. However,same as the theory of modernist ideal city, critics of Brasilia never stop from the first day of it built. With the development of city, a great deal of problems emerges. In fact, people are not willing to live in Brasilia. In 2000, the population of Brasilia was above stunning 2,000,000 citizens which was 4 times more than origin plan. Yet about 75% lived in outside of planning area, which, implement low density of population. Because of Brasilia being so motorised, and extensively large, it is almost impossible to travel the city by foot. In addition due to the rigid functional zone, human behaviour was strongly ruled (Evenson 1973, 118). Conclusion In my opinion, the modernist ideal city movement was the product of era. And the design of Brasilia was a great experiment, which successfully proved that the theory of modernist ideal city cannot totally suit to a real world. The fact proved that the modernist ideal city is good-looking but not practical. Personally, Le Corbusier was contradictory, he rationally planned the whole city but perceptually wanted to destroy the original city; he rationally ruled behaviours of human but perceptually thought that everyone has the same requirements; he rationally treated house as a machine but perceptually treated human as a machine too. Furthermore, the most controversial point is that the modernist ideal city is an autocratic city that does not leave any space to other possibilities. It is a unique answer for le Corbusier (Marshall 2009, 38). However, no one can ignore the worldwide influence of the movement especially in post-war time, we can still find the shadow of Le Corbusier in many modern cities such as London, Canberra, shanghai, etc. With time goes by, various movements of urban deign emerged. People, nowadays, reach a consensus that we need to find a balance point between economy, environment and social well-being and build a sustainable city. References Clara H. Greed, Introducing town planning (Harlow: Longman, 1996), 70. David G. Epstein, Brasilia, Plan and Reality (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973), 9. Kenneth Frampton, Le Corbusier (London: Thames Hudson, 2001), 21-22, 51. Le Corbusier, The city of to-morrow and its planning (New York: Dover, 1987), 15, 84, 163-176, 191. Le Corbusier, The radiant city: elements of a doctrine of urbanism to be used as the basis of our machine-age civilization (New York: Orion Press, 1967), 6-7, 44, 162-163. Micah L. Issitt, â€Å"Brasà ­lia, Brazil,† Salem Press Encyclopedia, January, 2014. Norma Evenson, Two Brazilian capitals: architecture and urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasà ­lia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973), 118, 146-153. Peter Hall, Cities of tomorrow: an intellectual history of urban planning and design in the twentieth century (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002), 230, 232. Peter Hall, Urban and regional planning (London: Routledge, 2011), 11-18, 28. Stephen Marshall, Cities, Design Evolution (Routledge, 2009), 38.

My Community Service Award Essay

Every individual desires to be recognized. It is a nice feeling that people around you are happy to what you are doing and even give a recognition that will definitely make the awardee motivated to do better in every endeavor that he is going to do in the future. This kind of once in a lifetime recognition has come to my life unexpectedly. It is truly a great experience that cannot be bought by money. This event is so close to my heart that until I become old, I will not stop telling my grandkids about the honor which the community coalition has given me. Each year, community coalition called Building a Better Bensalem Together has a luncheon and I was given Bensalem’s community service award of the year in 2007. My heart pounds very fast as I receive the award and I do not know at that time where to put the happiness that I feel. It is indeed a surprise because I really lend my hand without any expectations to be recognized because all I want to do is to help. The award I received was from the Mayor of my township Bensalem, PA. As a recognized awardee, it makes me really feel fulfilled and happy. I am glad that people see my worth as a volunteer in our community coalition. Although I have experienced tough times during the service that makes me down sometimes yet it paves away when I see everything is in place. Moreover, as a young individual, I tend to see myself helping my community. In my point of view, lending a hand is a good act of love to others. It is a great feeling that you make other people happy. I never withhold myself in serving my community because for me it is a privilege that not all people are given the chance to do so. In addition, I have been volunteering for our community coalition called Building a Better Bensalem Together for 7 years. Throughout those years of serving, I learned to communicate and deal with various kinds of people from different walks of life. Although at the start it was a bit difficult because I have to adjust with different personalities and characters yet these make me more dedicated to learn the crop. I started to love this kind of service of our community coalition and never tired of doing good to others. Thus, this opportunity developed my patience and concern for the betterment of my community. Another thing I learned from volunteering is that, it develops my leadership as an individual. When I worked with the community coalition, I have the chance to make decisions for the betterment of the community and conducted some activities and projects that were also successful and have contributed to the progress and development of my community. In addition, as I search myself, I discovered that my growth in leadership have improved my common sense especially when making decisions for the community. Well, many people might laugh of what I say but that is the fact. Even though how good a person is in leading people but without common sense in performing the activities, it is still nothing. Common sense is very important in leading people because it is a practical intelligence and tact in behavior. Common sense is a product of individual experience gained through contact with practical problems of life and through lessons derived from success and failure. Furthermore, every time I deal with people, I always remind myself to be kind and polite and take things easy. If ever we encounter some dilemmas in the community coalition, I always welcome suggestions from my co-workers and then present my options of what to do however I never impose my ideas to them because I want to see one by one working hand-in-hand for the benefit of everyone. In conclusion, I would I say that giving your time and effort in helping others is a noble and right thing to do. I am happy that I have undergone this kind of experience because it makes me a better person and a chance to experience of receiving an award from honorable Mayor of PA. Everyone dreams of it I guess and I am fortunate and blessed enough to be chosen as one.