Boston forced busing :: essays research papers

â€Å"Boston Against Busing: Race, Class and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s† The book â€Å"Boston Against Busing: Race, Class and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s† written by Ronald P. Formisano examines the opposition of court-ordered desegregation through forced busing. The author comes to the conclusion that the issue surrounding integration is a far more complex issue than just racism that enveloped the southern half of the country during this time period. Formisano argues that there were broader elements including a class struggle, white backlash and â€Å"reactionary populism† that contributed to the emotions of those involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Formisano is persuasive in his arguments that the Boston anti-busing movement was a led by â€Å"grass-root insurgents† from the dominate Irish-Catholic working-class neighborhoods in South Boston. These protesters felt that their tight knit existence was being threatened by the rich, suburban liberals whose children were not effected by the enforcement of the busing. The author points out that it was an issue of â€Å"white resistance† rather than racism that played a role in the violence of the protests. I believe that this is a contradictory statement. What Formisano calls â€Å"white resistance† is the violent reaction to the Page 2 movement of African American students into predominantly white neighborhood schools and the mixing of two separate but legally equal peoples. Is the rock throwing at buses carrying elementary age children, stabbings at South Boston High School and riots on the streets outside the schools affected by the integration any different from the U.S. Army escorting nine African American students into school in Little Rock, Arkansas?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author skirts around the central issue of racism by calling it a â€Å"class struggle† within the white population of Boston during the 1960s and 1970s. Formisano discuses the phenomenon known as â€Å"white flight†, where great numbers of white families left the cities for the suburbs. This was not only for a better lifestyle, but a way to distance themselves from the African Americans, who settled in northern urban areas following the second Great Migration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the text Formisano ignores the voices of who I believe play a key role in the forced busing era: the students involved and the African Americans from West Roxbury. His primary focus is on the Irish of South Boston, the school committee members including the most vocal opponent Louise Day Hicks and the white politicians and judges who enforced the busing. This leaves the work a bit unbalanced and does not give first hand accounts of what the students felt.

Personal Reward and Stimulation

Assessment task 4 : project 1 Ground rules for how a team will operate: Current level: We treat each other with respect. We intend to develop personal relationships to enhance trust and open communication. We value constructive feedback. We will avoid being defensive and give feedback in a constructive manner. We strive to recognize and celebrate individual and team accomplishments. As team members, we will pitch in to help where necessary to help solve problems and catch-up on behind schedule work Team member opinion: Team members can speak freely and in turn and all participants will have a sayNo one person will be allowed to dominate the discussion Team members will not speak on behalf of anyone else Team members will say what they think and not what they think someone else wants to hear Strengths and weaknesses Strengths: More friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing personal problems; discussion of the team’s dynamics A sense of team cohesion, a common spirit an d goals Establishing and maintain team methods and boundaries Weaknesses: Arguing among members even when they agree on the real issues Defensiveness and competition; factions and â€Å"choosing sides†Establishing unrealistic goals Expressing concern about excessive work My Recommendations: Discuss team expectations Communicate; make sure everybody stay in the loop. Use organizational tools. 2 COMUNICATING RESPONSABILITIES. Current level By communicating responsabilities, you will be able to obtain desired results/outcomes, improve an employee's performance, and develop new skills. When you do meet to discuss these expectations, standards, and goals, meet in a quiet place without interruptions and have the job description and objectives in hand.Be sure to discuss the expectations with the employee and confirm that the employee understands the tasks and responsibilities of the position. Meet in a quiet place without interruptions 1. Have the employee's position description as well as unit's business plan and/or objectives at the meeting 2. Talk with employee about expectations, 3. Confirm that employee understands the tasks, responsibilities of the position 4. Ask the employee for comments, suggestions on performance standards 5. Finalize performance standards with employee, confirm the employee's understanding 6.Define performance standards at each level of performance, e. g. , meets expectations, exceeds expectations. Team member opinion Communication is one of the keys to running a successful business. And no one in a business should be exempt from workplace communication responsibilities. All employees and management of all companies no matter what size must learn proper business communications to insure excellence and productivity in the workplace Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Skilled communicators recognize that effective communication takes forethought.For example, smart managers first evaluate their intended audience to gauge such factors as the current mood, audience education level and the context of the situation, and they frame their message accordingly. Effective communicators also evaluate all the possible channels available for communicating, such as face-to- face, over the phone and via email, and they choose the channel best suited for that particular message and audience. Also key to communicating effectively is learning to engage in actively listening: It takes two people — a sender and a receiver — to communicate.Effective communicators avoid distractions and focus on more than just the spoken word. They evaluate body language and tone of voice for clues to gauge whether their intended audience comprehends the message. Skilled communicators in the workplace also encourage open feedback, recognizing that communication is a constant process. Weaknesses: Typical weaknesses in communication include failure to adequately consider the needs of the audience. For example, rushed employees trying to me et deadlines often overload their audience with information, losing important details in the process.Additionally, many communicators inadequately evaluate their audience and ignore the impact of such crucial details as cultural background or education level on the communication process. For instance, industry experts who speak only in jargon will lose members of a general audience lacking experience with those terms. Ineffective communicators also underestimate the affect of physical distractions and emotional interference on their audience. Audiences often discount a speaker’s message if she uses bad grammar, appears sloppy or lacks enthusiasm for the topic.My Recommendation Smart business managers encourage communication strengths in the workplace by modeling superior communication skills with their own messages. Effective communicators educate themselves on the their employees’ individual frames of reference and adapt their messages accordingly. They recognize that meaning exists not in words, but in the people who use those words, and they use language that their audience will understand, avoiding slang, jargon or colloquial expressions.Most important, however, smart business managers actively listen to their audience, ask questions and encourage feedback to ensure that both the intended information and meaning of a message are understood. 3 Share tasks and activities Current level A Task is an activity that needs to be accomplished within a defined period of time or by a deadline. A task can be broken down into assignments which should also have a defined start and end date or a deadline for completion. One or more assignments on a task puts the task under execution.Completion of all assignments on a specific task normally renders the task completed. Tasks can be linked together to create dependencies. Strengths and weaknesses Strength Leaders communicate where they want to take their companies. They also organize groups for particular task s and ensure that group members have a clear understanding of their individual roles. The task- oriented is well suited to structured work environments, such as law enforcement and manufacturing assembly lines, in which repeating well-defined processes usually results in consistently high levels of productivity and quality.Weaknesses In most projects, tasks may suffer one of two major drawbacks: Task dependency: Which is normal as most tasks rely on others to get done. However, this can lead to the stagnation of a project when many tasks cannot get started unless others are finished. Unclear understanding of the term complete: For example, if a task is 90% complete, does this mean that it will take only 1/9 of the time already spent on this task to finish it? Although this is mathematically sound, it is rarely the case when it comes to practice 4 Planing and schedule activities Current level

Home Depot Supply Chain Management

Supply chain has never been Home Depot’s key strategic priorities in the past. Instead, the Atlanta-based home improvement’s management had always been focusing on expanding its stores. At the time, the company’s emphasis on expansion was appropriate considering the history of massive growth. What originally helped Home Depot’s growth was a decentralized business model where stores were populated with highly knowledgeable sales persons with backgrounds in various building trades. Regional and store-level managers, those closest to the customer, were empowered with decisions of merchandising and inventory mix instead of the people at the head quarters. IT also played a significant role. Home Depot relied heavily on home grown systems. By building its own applications, it didn't get bogged down in customizing off-the-shelf software and didn't invest time and money in endless enterprise wide implementations. In addition, a standard database design and an application architecture that reused software components allowed the IT staff to develop applications, such as the company's mobile ordering system (a cart equipped with a computer and printer that clerks could wheel around the store to reorder products and change prices). Average store revenues in prime geographical markets were roughly $60-$80 million, which could justify high levels of de-centralization. The direct-to-store model made sense to Home Depot in the past because of its high sales in each store. With network expansion and competition, per store sales dropped and a decentralized ordering model caused high inventory problems for Home Depot. The majority of supplier shipments flowed directly to the stores and resulted in the Home Depot being the single largest less-than-truckload shipper in the United States, since about 80% of goods were flowing direct to store on half-empty trucks, which was inefficient, lead to poor inventory turns, poor in-stock and high logistics cost. Meanwhile, most retailers, such as rival Lowe’s and discount powerhouse Wal-Mart, ship to distribution centers that can serve up to 100 stores. There, they break down larger shipments into smaller ones that are parceled out to stores. Home Depot’s individual stores were their own stocking centers and store associates had to spend more time in unloading trucks than serving customers. The business model became compromised as to who had the most stores in the most locations vs. superior customer service. After 30 years in business — and taking pride in towering shelves of in-stock items — Home Depot is taking the largest initiatives to move to a more traditional supply chain. In 2006, Home Depot hired Mark Holifield, formerly with Office Depot, as senior vice president of supply chain to modernize the company's supple chain. Part of this new initiative is to get the forklifts out of stores and reduce the amount of inventory piled up in stores. The move to centralized ordering means suppliers now have just one order to process instead of a hundred POs from individual stores. In addition, suppliers now ship their products in truckload quantities to the RDCs instead of sending LTL shipments to individual stores. The combined savings have enabled Home Depot to negotiate better prices with its vendors, which further reduced overall costs. Although all of these changes have helped streamline its supply chain operations, Holifield emphasizes that the overarching goal is to make Home Depot a better place to shop. The whole network is about is providing on-time and accurate service to individual stores so that they can focus on the customers.

Free Essays on Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra The Queen of Egypt "Life of Cleopatra" by Craig T. Staunton Cleopatra VII's family had been ruling Egypt since 305 B.C., when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemy family was of Macedonian decent, not of Egyptian. The capital city which they ruled from, Alexandria, had been established by Alexander and is a port city on the Mediterranean and Nile River. This made Alexandria very important commercially, and it also became an intellectually and artistically important city as well. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos "Auletes", who began his rule of Egypt in 80 B.C. He was not well respected and thought weak, as is exhibited by his popular nickname "Auletes", which means "flute-player" in Greek. Cleopatra VII's mother could possibly be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 B.C., right after Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She also had two y! ounger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. In 58 B.C. Berenice IV (and perhaps Cleopatra VI) took over the kingdom, forcing Ptolemy XII "Auletes" to flee to Rome. Berenice IV ruled the kingdom until Ptolemy XII "Auletes" regained the throne in 55 B.C. Berenice IV was beheaded, and Cleopatra VI disappeared in the intervening time between 58 and 55 B.C. Ptolemy XII "Auletes" then ruled until his death in 51 B.C. His will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII as heirs to the throne. Leaders in Rome were named as guardians and were to uphold the choice of Ptolemy XII for the two to marry and jointly rule Egypt. These brother-sister marriages had been established as custom by Ptolemy II when he married his sister Arsinoe II. (From now on Cleopatra VII will be referred to simply as Cleopatra unless otherwise indicated) Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly and did marry, thou... Free Essays on Cleopatra Free Essays on Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Cleopatra The Queen of Egypt "Life of Cleopatra" by Craig T. Staunton Cleopatra VII's family had been ruling Egypt since 305 B.C., when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemy family was of Macedonian decent, not of Egyptian. The capital city which they ruled from, Alexandria, had been established by Alexander and is a port city on the Mediterranean and Nile River. This made Alexandria very important commercially, and it also became an intellectually and artistically important city as well. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos "Auletes", who began his rule of Egypt in 80 B.C. He was not well respected and thought weak, as is exhibited by his popular nickname "Auletes", which means "flute-player" in Greek. Cleopatra VII's mother could possibly be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 B.C., right after Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She also had two y! ounger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. In 58 B.C. Berenice IV (and perhaps Cleopatra VI) took over the kingdom, forcing Ptolemy XII "Auletes" to flee to Rome. Berenice IV ruled the kingdom until Ptolemy XII "Auletes" regained the throne in 55 B.C. Berenice IV was beheaded, and Cleopatra VI disappeared in the intervening time between 58 and 55 B.C. Ptolemy XII "Auletes" then ruled until his death in 51 B.C. His will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII as heirs to the throne. Leaders in Rome were named as guardians and were to uphold the choice of Ptolemy XII for the two to marry and jointly rule Egypt. These brother-sister marriages had been established as custom by Ptolemy II when he married his sister Arsinoe II. (From now on Cleopatra VII will be referred to simply as Cleopatra unless otherwise indicated) Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly and did marry, thou... Free Essays on Cleopatra According to Theophile Gautier ," Cleopatra is a person to be wondered at (†¦) whom dreamers find always at the end of their dreams." The story of Cleopatra’s life has been told in many different forms. Cleopatra in all forms was a woman of mystery, power, sin, and eroticism. When you think of the name Cleopatra what comes to mind? Many people may think that she was a saint for not just reason and that she committed suicide in the face of adversity. Other people may think that she was a deceiving, power hungry killer that had an obsession with men. In the two thousand years since Cleopatra’s death the vision of her has changed immensely (Hughes-Hallet 1). According to Lucy Hughes –Hallett, â€Å"the vision of Cleopatra has been recreated over and over again, each time in a form that fits the prejudices and fantasies of the age that produced it â€Å"(1). For example, Cecil B. Demille created a movie about her life making her â€Å"the wickedest woman in history â€Å" (1). According to George Bernhard Shaw she was an emotionally disturbed sex kitten; to the painters of the Renaissance she was a helpless victim; to the poets of Romanticism she was a terrifying femme fatale, and to Arabic historian Al- Masudi she was a scholar and a sag e (1). Cleopatra’s personality was one of the things about her that people liked in ancient Egypt, and as of today. In ancient Egypt women were often not considered intelligent and didn’t participate in the arts. Cleopatra, however, was an exception to the old tradition (Thomas 4). According to historian Henry Thomas, Cleopatra was very intelligent and often read literature with scholars in the palace library. She could have intelligent conversations about painting, sculpture, poetry, theology, statecraft, philosophy and religion with some of the most looked up to men of her time (4). Above all of Cleopatra’s sought -after traits her hunger for power overruled. She had a marvelous passion for the g... Free Essays on Cleopatra Cleopatra VII’s life has been proven to be very interesting, but also weird. The Ptolemy’s and Cleopatra were very clever at manipulating people. Cleopatra also had many affairs with men such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Cleopatra was born in the capitol of Egypt, Alexandria in 69 BC. Cleopatra was the daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt, Ptolemy XII, who was also nicknamed Auletes, and his Queen, Cleopatra V Tryphaena. Cleopatra V was Auletes’ sister but it was perfectly normal for those of the Ptolemaic dynasty to marry their siblings. Many people may think it is very gross and wrong, but what they don’t understand is that they were in a whole different time; in their day and time it was just normal. Cleopatra’s father wasn’t a strong ruler at all; he was actually pretty weak. He was also proven to be a heartless ruler. That is why in 58 BC he had been overthrown by the Plebeians. In 55 BC he had regained his thrown and had his daughter, Berenice and her husband beheaded since they had taken over after he was overthrown and then ran off to Rome. Cleopatra had five sibilings. She had two younger brothers named Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. She had two older sisters named Cleopatra VI, Berenice, and one younger sister named Arsinoe. Cleopatra VI had died of anonymous reasons that we do not know. Arsinoe died at Cleopatra’s request. She made a deal with Mark Antony, a man that became her husband and true love, she would finance his attack on Parthia and he would help to fight off her enemies and kill her sister Arisnoe. He did come back to her later too, to ask her to feed his men and round him up a fleet. She did this in exchange for Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII inherited the throne in 51 BC after their father died. Cleopatra was just about around 18 years old when she married brother, Ptolemy XIII who was about 12 years old, but it was just a marriage of convenienc...

Improving yourself without climbing the corporate ladder

Improving yourself without climbing the corporate ladder Many of us who enter the workforce come strapped with a host of preconceived notions about how our career journeys will ultimately pan out- the steps we’ll take as we climb the ladder to success, the positions we’ll hold, the salaries and benefits we’ll acquire along the way, and the timelines for making it all happen. Sure, we can spend all our time planning every step of our careers- from our first jobs until the day we retire- but the truth is, it’s almost impossible to predict precisely how it’ll all go. After all, a fair amount of variables that are often out of our direct control, like luck and being at the right place at the right time, factor into the professional mix along with our skill, effort, and good intentions. That said, you don’t need to climb the corporate ladder to grow and evolve. There are ways to make improvements and achieve success that doesn’t involve reaching the next rung. Also, freeing yourself from the cons tant stress and anxiety of having to hit some arbitrary career milestone may be one of the best things you do for yourself. Whether you’re at a career inflection point or want to explore new ways to effect positive professional change that doesn’t include chasing a promotion, keep reading and consider the following strategies for self-improvement.Learn a new skillThese days, too many of us are blindly focused on racing up the corporate ladder and avoid or overlook making the most of opportunities available at our current positions. However, if we slow down and take stock of where we’re currently at in our career trajectories, chances are we’ll see that there are a collection of new skills we can focus on acquiring at our current levels- which will not only benefit us now, but will also likely set us up for greater success in the long term.Consider stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new at work, or maybe even taking a class or pursuing advanced certification. What’s better, many companies are aware of the benefits of having a highly-trained staff and are willing and eager to provide and fund training opportunities for employers. It’s a total win-win situation for all!Explore your industryAre you up on all the latest and greatest developments in your industry? Or are you so focused on climbing the corporate ladder that you’re allowing yourself to fall behind when it comes to current events? Instead of constantly looking upward at your career growth, consider spending some time looking all around you and getting reacquainted with industry news and trends. This can include attending industry events and joining online groups devoted to your specific field. Not only can you come away with a whole host of knowledge and new contacts, it also might help guide and refocus the direction your career takes.Spark positive change at your companyIf all of your focus is on yourself and your career path, you m ay be missing out on opportunities to help improve things at your company. Instead of thinking solely about the next step on the ladder to success, spend some time thinking about workflow and processes in your team, department, and company. How can you share and implement ideas that can help enhance productivity and efficiency? Not only can this help your company, it can also help improve your work life, impress the higher-ups, and lead to bigger and better things in your professional future.When it comes to your career, ambition can absolutely be a good thing- but focusing all of your time and energy on climbing the corporate ladder isn’t the only way to improve yourself. Consider the strategies and advice presented here to effect positive and lasting change in new and meaningful ways.

Natural Law the Prevailing Theory in the United States Today Research Paper

Natural Law the Prevailing Theory in the United States Today - Research Paper Example Natural Law is the of knowing of right from wrong instinctively and the ability to make moral decisions based upon those instincts. This is not just a theory formulated years ago and withered with time it is a theory built into the our very being and since the days of Adam and Eve has been the law we have lived our lives by and build our criminology around. Many Christians believe that Natural Law is the will of God and the Ten Commandments certainly reflects that cause.†They Believe That The Nature of Man And The World Reflects The Will of God† (Donald, James A,) and the Ten Commandments encompass all facets of the human instincts toward right and wrong and the formation of our current day laws and how they are enacted. You do not have to believe in God or even consider yourself christian to be inherent to Natural Law, it is not a spiritual entity but an outcome of nature. Natural Law is not something that was invented or created and it existed long before Aristotle and his cronies came up with their theories. In modern day America our entire law revolves around Natural Law, not theories or ideas, and we never have and do not now need legislation to tell us that it is wrong to steal or to kill or even to treat another human being badly. We certainly dont need to visit a lawyer before committing murder or robbing a bank to ascertain if its the right or legal thing to do and the purpose of legal legislation is to give society the right to punish those who are unable to conform with Natural Law and even the perpetrators of acts against Natural Law expect the penalties they receive, if caught, because it is built into their nature to know that they are being immoral and wrong. The right to bear arms in protection of ourselves and our property has always been an inherent part of Natural Law and even now in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution it is not clear on that law.â€Å"There is considerable

TOXOPLASNOSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TOXOPLASNOSIS - Essay Example The disease is caused by the protozoan parasites known as Toxoplasma gondii (Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, 2013). The parasite has been found in various parts of the world, in many species. Most of the species includes carnivorous and herbivorous mammals and birds. Moreover, the disease is prevalent in all human population. However, the carrier of the parasite is usually the cat and is primarily associated with the transmission of parasites in all human population (David et al., n.d.). The infection is usually reported having spread in human by eating contaminated meat especially pork and lamb (David et al., n.d.). On the other hand, the parasite has been shown to be prevalent in women of childbearing age usually 15 to 44 years of age (David et al., n.d.). As a result, the parasite has attracted attention of healthcare provider in pregnant women. The parasite is transmitted in various ways. The major form of transmission is through food (Centres for Disease Contr ol and Prevention (CDC), 2013). Most, the tissue form of parasites is transmitted to human through the food. The transmission occurs through eating undercooked or contaminated meat, failure to wash hand after handling contaminated meat, and eating food on utensils that had contact with raw contaminated meat (CDC, 2013). Secondly, transmission may occur from animal to human. Usually cats are infected by eating infected animals (CDC, 2013). Consequently, the parasite is shed in cat faeces as oocyst. As a result, people are infected in various ways. The infection may occur through ingestion of oocyst after cleaning a cat’s litter box, ingestion of oocyst after touching or ingesting anything in proximity with cats faeces, or drinking water that have parasites from a cat’s faeces (CDC, 2013). Moreover, infection can be passed from mother to unborn child. The infection occurs during pregnancy where parasites pass to the unborn child (CDC, 2013). Additionally, the parasites m ay be passed through organ transplant. The recipient may get parasites if the donor has already been infected by the parasite (CDC, 2013). However, it is rare for the parasite to be passed through blood donation. In most cases, the parasite affects people without being noticed. In fact, the infection is asymptomatic in 80% of people (Department of Health, 2007). However, the most common sign in individuals infected with the parasite is enlarged lymph nodes usually around the neck (Department of Health, 2007). The other symptoms include muscle pain, intermittent fever and malaise (Department of Health, 2007). The infection arising after birth mostly leads to mild illness. On the other hand, dominant infection may occur in a lifetime. However, the symptoms may reactivate once an individual immune system is compromised. In immune suppressed patients, the disease may develop with serious complications such as in the heart, brain, and pneumonia (Department of Health, 2007). Most of the c omplications lead to death. In individuals with AIDS, cerebral toxoplasmosis is frequent form of complication (Department of Health, 2007). On the other hand, severe toxoplasmosis during pregnancy may affect the unborn child (Department of Health, 2007). The infection leads to serious complications such as brain damage, liver damage, and spleen and eye disorders. Moreover, infection during pregnancy leads to severe complications for the foetus. The