Violence In Sports :: essays research papers

Violence in Sports To: Mrs. Woods From: Jean-Philippe Do you think there's a connection between sports and violence? If you do, do you think it should be banned? I too think that it's connected but, unlike most people, don't think it should be banned. I have many reasons to believe so and I will state them in my essay. First I will point out that not all sports include violence. Not many actually express violence, the only ones that do contain violence are team sports. I'm not saying that I dislike team sports, au contraire I love team sports, they help build team spirits. All I'm saying is that sports like football contain lots of violence, unlike individual sports like ping pong or kayaking. Some sports are now becoming so violent that it's almost impossible to remove the violence without removing the sport itself. Lots of people protest because some sports are too violent and they're trying to take the violence away by banning them. What they don't realize is that there are billions of fans that are obsessed by those sports and by taking a sport away from them, could ruin their lives. Trying to stop the violence is almost like trying to declare world peace. There will always be someone who either picks a fight or builds an underground organization. Football, hockey, soccer, and all those other violent sports will be practiced until the end of the world. Another reason why I don't want these sports to be cut is because when you practice a sport like football it helps you release all that frustration and energy you have inside. By releasing all that pressure it helps you relax for a period of time. Getting rid of popular sports like hockey or football could put a lot more kids on the streets because they would have nowhere else to go or nothing else to do. Some people tell others to keep their kids out of team sports to avoid getting involved in a gang. What those people don't realize is that those kids that never played a team sport

Ancient Egyptian Religious Architecture :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History

Ancient Egyptian Religious Architecture One of the greatest cultural achievements of Ancient Egypt was undoubtedly in their architecture associated with religion. "Temples, tombs and pyramids - all have witnessed this earth for thousands of years. What better than to say that these architectural achievements show us that Egypt's greatest virtue lay in its architecture" (Fumeaux:11, 1964) When one travels to Egypt, what does he/she see - pyramid after temple after tomb, each standing the test of time. One stands out - they are all associated with religious beliefs, they all have stood unmoving for thousands of years, and they all involve mechanical genius- the moving of colossal stones without the use of the wheel. The finest example such mechanics is shown in the construction of the revered pyramid. These three factors, all belonging to the religious architecture of ancient Egypt, do nothing else but prove its greatness. Egypt's grand architectural design was a result of the religious values and beliefs that were in place at the time. Thousands of years ago, 'Ancient Egypt accepted the challenge of reeds and swamps, hot sands and floods, and build the 'first' nation' (Romer:75, 1982). There were few things to impress themselves upon the Egyptian mind; their psychological impact however was immense. There was the Nile itself, source of all life, there was the mysterious regularity of the Sun, Moon and stars; there was fertility and death. It was out of fear and mystery of these things that "...the Egyptians made their complex heirachy of Gods, and their strange religion. In the service of that religion they made their architecture" (Romer: 75,1982). Thus, the art and architecture of Ancient Egypt stemmed directly from their religion. Egyptian theology, with its deified pharaohs and strange animal-headed gods, was complicated, but the most important belief was that survival after death depended upon the preservation of the body. This belief would influence the architectural design of the tomb, where the corpse was ultimately sealed (Silverman:142, 1997). Immortality was only for privileged royal and priestly beings (Stierlin:54, 1983).This implies that their tombs would be somewhat prestigious and not just and ordinary burial site. At the day of resurrection the Ka or soul would re-enter the dead body; this meant that it must be there, intact, ready for that moment. It followed logically, that 'once the corpse was embalmed or mummified, it must be preserved in an impregnable tomb.

Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders Essay -- Health Violence Papers

Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders The possible relationship between sexual abuse and the development of an eating disorder has gained attention over the last few years. Researchers have attempted to clarify this potential link using a variety of population samples and research methodologies. As will be shown, the results of these investigations are rather diverse and sometimes inconclusive. In the following review of the literature, the complex relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders will be examined while also discussing the methodological limitations of the various designs. Anorexic Samples Steiger and Zanko (1990) compared rates of incestuous abuses (sexual contacts with family members) and extrafamilial abuses (sexual traumata involving other perpetrators) among eating disordered women who met DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria, women with psychiatric disturbances, and normal women. The authors’ interest in the psychological effects of abuse led them to examine psychological defenses which are believed to filter perceptions and affects. Defenses were of interest to the authors for two reasons: (1) incest victims often resort to maladaptive defenses with a self-victimizing quality, in which anger at others is expressed through self-sabotaging acts; and (2) the authors’ previous work suggests that eating disordered women use primitive defenses when compared to normal and psychiatrically disturbed women. This particular study was designed to determine the degree to which traumata like sexual abuse might have effects upon defense-sty le development. In order to compare rates across eating disorder subtypes, the eating disordered women were divided into the following groups: (1) ... ... Test: The BULIT-R. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3, 119-124. Walters, C., Smolak, L., & Sullins, E. (1987). Parent-child interactions and severity of child sexual abuse. Paper presented to the annual convention of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore. Welch, S.L., & Fairburn, C.G. (1994). Sexual Abuse and Bulimia Nervosa: Three integrated case control comparisons. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 402-407. Wonderlich, S., Donaldson, M.A., Carson, D.K., Staton, D., Gertz, L., Leach, L.R., & Johnson, M. (1996). Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 195-207. Zlotnick, C., Hohlstein, L.A., Shea, M.T., Pearlstein, T., Recupero, P., & Bidadi, K. 1996). The Relationship Between Sexual Abuse and Eating Pathology. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 20, 129-134.

English Lang and Composition Essay

The British naturalist and politician John Lubbock wrote, â€Å"Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.† This brings up the idea of nurture and nature. Although this topic has been something discussed for many years, it is the influences beyond our control that shape our character. Even though many of people’s physical traits come from their parents, the mental and emotional characteristics come from outside influences that cannot be chosen, whether it is from personal experience or the way a person was raised. People are not born with all of their characteristics. A person gains their character as he/she is growing up and experiencing new situations. When a child in kindergarten takes a crayon from a fellow peer, the teacher scolds him/her and tells the child that is not right. The teacher’s tone of voice and the negative experience of getting in trouble is an indicator to the child that what he/she did was wrong and shouldn’t be done again. Education plays an important role in building a child’s character. When children receive education, they are taught morals that will benefit them in the future, and they receive a sense of discernment. The environment a person lives in can influence his/her characteristics. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a plane filled with English schoolboys crashes on an unknown island. The boys, who were used to living in a wealthy society where their needs were always provided for, had to adopt a new, completely different lifestyle in order to survive. Because there was no one to take care over the young boys, they became like savages, unbound by rules. This eventually led to them killing wild animals and even each other. Golding’s novel connects to the difficulties of traveling to other countries. Because of the cultural diversities, it is difficult for a person to adjust to the lifestyle of another country, because he/she has been living influenced by another environment. The media and pop culture are two reasons why our society has altered drastically over the past 20 years. In modern society, being different is something that is shunned upon. If a person lives a lifestyle that is different than what is popular and accepted, he/she is considered â€Å"weird† and â€Å"unacceptable†. This is why there are numerous cliques in schools, and why bullying is such a serious issue. People are afraid of judgment, and try to change who they are in order to fit in with the people they are surrounded by. The media and pop culture is exceptional at manipulating people into believing anything. They lead people to believe through advertising that what is popular is what they should live by. Take, for example, celebrities. Their fame, wealth, and talent are appealing. People desire to be like them because of their success, and try to live like these celebrities in hopes of becoming as successful as these celebrities. Nature certainly has an effect on a person’s character. It is called nature because it serves as a person’s foundation. However, it is through experiences that people are truly made distinct.

Case: Grupo Bimbo Essay

Grupo Bimbo continuous expansion with an ambition to become one of the five-largest bakers in the world, while the company’s performance in existing foreign markets should be improved so fore made profitable and keep company away from financial hazard due to acquiring losses and lack of substantial profit from foreign markets. Almost 70% of Grupo Bimbo’s sales came from Mexico, where the company had built a 90% market share in the packaged bread segment, the business was very profitable and the company operated in growing market. However, the investments in U.S. and Latin America, where markets were highly competitive, have not been profitable. According Grupo Bimbo’s global strategy – to become one of the five-largest bakers in the world – it had launched a series of strategic initiatives to make foreign operations successful. In March/April, it had purchased the Beijing Panrico Food Processing Center that had already established operations in China. Sub-problems†¢Grupo Bimbo should adapt its distribution networks to each country’s differences (union’s pressure in U.S., inexperienced independent operators in Brazil, modifying China’s distribution structure to rely on bicycles). Because of nature of the products (fresh bread), Grupo Bimbo must service stores directly, on a daily basis. This places tremendous demands on the distribution network to guarantee uninterrupted, fresh product deliveries. The wide geographical spread of the business created by Bimbo’s rapid international expansion called for complicated logistical planning to keep the business functioning efficiently. †¢Very different markets in Mexico, the United States, Latin America and China required distinct ways of operating activities and price setting standards. While 80% of Mexico sales still were through ‘mom and pop’ stores, allowing to control where, when, how and for what price products were sold, 80% of the sales in U.S. and 70% in Latin America transpire through large supermarkets. The power of supermarkets as a main chain of the product distribution in domestic Mexica`s, as well as Brazil and Argentina markets increases their bargaining power was very high. The company should find the  best practices how to customize the relationships with these large chains in newly established market in China. †¢Differences in cultures and in markets among multinational Bimbo divisions. One of them is a cultural difference in human resource management in South America- â€Å"even basic phrases such as -I’ll do it right way- in Spanish needed to be adjusted based on individual countries†. Even in Latin America countries in addition to the language differences there are differences in their consumption of manufactured-produced bread- â€Å"Artisanal bread is king, with neighborhood bakeries making baguettes and French bread†. In U.S. very important difference in bread consumption is based on popularity the fad and low- carbohydrates diets. Grupo Bimbo should adapt its product assortment to these differences through new products launches, favorable and efficient sales mix and strong volumes. â€Å"In Mexico, our company has been very successful, and success typically leads to rigidity and makes it difficult to see changes in the environment. We should reflect on our current situation while keeping everything open for change.†Three Dimensions of Distance:Three Dimensions of Distance according Bimbo’s operations in Chinese market:†¢Cultural Distance – The Chinese language is a very important issue what should be taken into account. The different local needs and tastes of Chinese’s customers. Grupo Bimbo should develop products for local tastes. Bimbo has very successful product position- tortillas, which is not chosen by Chinese experts for Chinese markets. Grupo Bimbo saw promise in the Chinese market for ongoing expansion of its packaged breads, buns, croissants, and sweet rolls, using store promotion and university and school road shows. The way of doing business – focus on achieving trust with people, including how you can be trusted by them. However, the two years studies of China in the pre-acquisition research phase was done by hired team of Chinese immigrants living in Mexico, but not local Chinese residents. It could result in the wrong understanding off Chinese market. †¢Geographic Distance – China is geographically far from Mexico, what could influence such business sides: control and strategic business development.  Different infrastructure approaches, for example employees in China were riding bicycles to transport the products and manage the shelf space, for example, in the America products were transported by trucks. Speaking about the size of the market – The Grupo Bimbo overestimated the size of the market, as says in the case, the large proximate market the company could serve. The size doesn’t’ guarantee the prognoses sales. †¢Economic Distance – diverse work organization approaches. Human resources side, the 775 employees acquired with the purchase of Beijing Panrico, their different work style. Bimbo successes in improving the manufacturing productivity – they made the operational upgrades in standards. Economic Distances: Chinese Bimbo Company served a regional area of 40 million people, its 186 routes were linked by a combination of trucks and bicycles and all that is maintained by only 775 employees. It was able to access over 4000 points of sale, what was too small figure for the served population number. Grupo Bimbo should expand the distribution network and improve efficiencies. Previously the Chinese plant’s company had left the local employees â€Å"largely on their own†. Grupo Bimbo should improve productivity of the plant by operational changes. If Grupo Bimbo would like to become a leader in Chinese market, the priority should be Cultural Distances. As the company acquired the plant in order to make the production process locally and already established changes in production process to make it more efficient- that’s mean The Grupo Bimbo goes for Multi-domestic strategy (low costs, high localization). As we see from the Exhibit 7, the Panrico Group, bought by Grupo Bimbo, market share was only 0,1%. But in the same time the artisanal bread has 53,8% of market share. Such a high figure shows us that Chinese do not like the industrial- manufacturing bread. It is similar to people preference in South America. To realize this strategy successfully, it has to set the priority for dealing with cultural differences due to it is most important as it served the bases for choosing the right products based on the Chinese consumer demands and  tastes, as well as language barriers according local employees and suppliers. REFERENCES: harward business school. by jordan siegel march 23 2007

Ethical Decision on Smoking Policy Essay

A town council serves as a settlement court in the areas that cover their jurisdiction. I It is their job to hear the complaints and problems of their constituents and try to develop ethical decisions that will resolve the issues or complaints brought before them. One of the most common ethical issues brought before them is the right of an individual to smoke in public. Smokers also have human rights that are protected by the constitution. One of these is the freedom to choose. If they choose to smoke, we cannot stop them. But, what we can do is limit the exposure of non smokers to the smoking population in order to accommodate the health concerns of the latter. But what ethical decisions can we make regarding restaurants and buildings where both parties freely mingle? I have a few suggestions that may help ease the growing tension and often times violent encounters of the two parties. Restaurants must accommodate both smokers and non smokers without adding to the already building tension regarding smoker’s rights. It may sound like a return to segregation but the only solution to this problem would be to require restaurants, bars, and other public dining or drinking areas to have al fresco dining areas with tent covers for the snow or rain seasons, which will be assigned as the sole smoking area of the restaurant. All non smokers must be seated in the air conditioned area indoors wherein smoking will be strictly prohibited. In offices where there is a mixture of non smoking and smoking employees, there must be full compliance of the non smoking in enclosed spaces rules. The office should however, designate smoking areas to accommodate the smokers. This area may be the rooftop of the building that must be designed as some sort of garden where live plants must be planted in order to absorb the toxic smoke and provide the area with fresh air for the people staying there to enjoy a smoke. Smokers may not believe they need protection from their habits but we have to do our part in protecting them from themselves. The town council ruling regarding smoking in public places is not a perfect law, it should be open to revisions and addendums as complaints arise to be dealt with. The town council must also acknowledge that maybe the smokers may have some ideas that will benefit or indulge their habit without damaging the non smokers in public places. So the town council should set up an office or a desk that will accept suggestions from both smokers and non smokers in the hope of accommodating the rights of both parties. As such, the town council should be open to amending the non smoking in private places ruling using the suggestions from the parties concerned. In the end, there is no need to alienate either the non smokers or smokers. Even though there have been countless medical studies, results, and warnings aimed towards the public regarding the hazards of both first hand and second hand smoke, smoking has become a legalized addiction that we have to learn to tolerate or, as the case may be, accommodate. There are a number of ways wherein we can accommodate smokers and non-smokers needs provided that both parties are open to cooperating with each other. The Town Council must to its part as the mediator between the two parties and help them to come to terms and agreements that will be beneficial to all concerned.

Control of the Corporation, Mergers and Acquisitions

The Agency Problem and Control of the Corporation, Mergers and Acquisitions The Agency Problem and Control of the Corporation Corporate managers are the agents of shareholders. This relation creates a problem for shareholders who must find ways to induce managers to pursue shareholders interests. Financial managers do act in the best interest of the shareholders by taking action to increase the stock value. However, in large corporations ownership can be spread over a huge number of stockholders. It has been mentioned that this agency problem arises whenever a manager owns less than 100 percent of the firm’s shares. Because the manager bears only a fraction of the cost when his behavior reduces the firm value, he is unlikely to act in the shareholders’ best interest. Let’s just say that management and stockholder interests might differ, imagine that the firm is considering a new investment, and the investment is expected to favorably impact the share value, but is relatively a risky venture. Owners of the firm will then wish to take the investment because the stock will rise, but management may not with the fear of there jobs being lost. One obvious mechanism that can work to reduce the agency problem is increased manager insider shareholding. But, even where managerial wealth permits this is costly since it precludes efficient risk bearing. Other mechanisms are also available. More concentrated shareholdings by outsiders can induce increased monitoring by these outsiders and so improve performance by a firm’s own managers. Similarly, greater outside representation on corporate boards can result in more effective monitoring of managers, and the market for managers also can improve managerial performance by causing managers to become concerned with their reputation among prospective employers. The available theory and evidence are consistent with the view that stockholders control the firm and that stockholder wealth maximization is the relevant goal of the corporation. The stockholders elect the board of directors, who, in turn, hire and fire management. Even so, there will undoubtedly be times when management goals are pursued at the expense of the stockholders, at least temporarily. Mergers and Acquisitions An acquisition, also known as a takeover or a buyout or â€Å"merger†, is the buying of one company (the ‘target’) by another. An acquisition may be friendly or hostile. In the former case, the companies cooperate in negotiations; in the latter case, the takeover target is unwilling to be bought or the target's board has no prior knowledge of the offer. Acquisition usually refers to a purchase of a smaller firm by a larger one. Sometimes, however, a smaller firm will acquire management control of a larger or longer established company and keep its name for the combined entity. This is known as a reverse takeover. Another type of acquisition is reverse merger a deal that enables a private company to get publicly listed in a short time period. A reverse merger occurs when a private company that has strong prospects and is eager to raise financing buys a publicly listed shell company, usually one with no business and limited assets. Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult, while various studies have shown that 50% of acquisitions were unsuccessful. The acquisition process is very complex, with many dimensions influencing its outcome Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were synonymous, the terms merger and acquisition mean slightly different things. When one company takes over another and clearly establishes itself as the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the target company ceases to exist, the buyer â€Å"swallows† the business and the buyer's stock continues to be traded. In the pure sense of the term, a merger happens when two firms agree to go forward as a single new company rather than remain separately owned and operated. This kind of action is more precisely referred to as a â€Å"merger of equals†. The firms are often of about the same size. Both companies' stocks are surrendered and new company stock is issued in its place. For example, in the 1999 merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, both firms ceased to exist when they merged, and a new company, GlaxoSmithKline, was created. †¢In practice, however, actual mergers of equals don't happen very often. Usually, one company will buy another and, as part of the deal's terms, simply allow the acquired firm to proclaim that the action is a merger of equals, even if it is technically an acquisition. Being bought out often carries negative connotations, therefore, by describing the deal euphemistically as a merger, deal makers and top managers try to make the takeover more palatable. An example of this would be the takeover of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz in 1999 which was widely referred to in the time, and is still now, as a merger of the two corporations. The buyer buys the shares, and therefore control, of the target company being purchased. Ownership control of the company in turn conveys effective control over the assets of the company, but since the company is acquired intact as a going concern, this form of transaction carries with it all of the liabilities accrued by that business over its past and all of the risks that company faces in its commercial environment. †¢The buyer buys the assets of the target company. The cash the target receives from the sell-off is paid back to its shareholders by dividend or through liquidation. This type of transaction leaves the target company as an empty shell, if the buyer buys out the entire assets. A buyer often structures the transaction as an asset purchase to â€Å"cherry-pick† the assets that it wants and leave out the assets and liabilities that it does not. This can be particularly important where foreseeable liabilities may include future, unquantified damage awards such as those that could arise from litigation over defective products, employee benefits or terminations, or environmental damage. A disadvantage of this structure is the tax that many jurisdictions, particularly outside the United States, impose on transfers of the individual assets, whereas stock transactions can frequently be structured as like-kind exchanges or other arrangements that are tax-free or tax-neutral, both to the buyer and to the seller's shareholders A purchase deal will also be called a merger when both CEOs agree that joining together is in the best interest of both of their companies. But when the deal is unfriendly that is, when the target company does not want to be purchased it is always regarded as an acquisition. Whether a purchase is considered a merger or an acquisition really depends on whether the purchase is friendly or hostile and how it is announced. In other words, the real difference lies in how the purchase is communicated to and received by the target company's board of directors, employees and shareholders. It is quite normal though for M deal communications to take place in a so called ‘confidentiality bubble' whereby information flows are restricted due to