Chaucer’s Humor

Chaucer has been acclaimed as the first realist, the first humorist, the first narrative artist, the first great character-painter, and the first great metrical artist in English literature. But it is powerful and ubiquitous presence of Chaucer’s humour that makes him distinct among others writers and poets of English Literature hitherto. Chaucer perpetually observes or perceives the humorous side of any facade of human life. His humor is not constrained to his emotions but it encircles all of his interests, his beliefs, his whole being and his everything.If he manifests his knowledge and information about a wide variety of things, he also mocks, creates caricatures, parodies with the help of same knowledge. It seems that manifestation of knowledge in this way, he tries to relieve himself. For example, he shows his interest in astronomy and manifests its knowledge here and there in Canterbury Tales; he also utilizes his extensive and intensive knowledge of astrology as satiric al and mocking frequently. He has an unparalleled sense of humor.The main reason for this outstanding achievement is that his use of humor has an outstanding multiplicity and variety. Unlike most humorists, he does employ the tone of hyperbole and fantasy. He concentrates on the traits and aims at providing the real mirror images. Additionally, his least-cynical observation of realities of life and traits of human beings enables him to produced unparalleled humor. When this effort mingles with his in-depth knowledge of things and his witticism, humorist effect is created.He achieves humor through a variety of elements including plot, characterization, language, pace, and timing,. Fir example in ‘The Merchants Tale’, he does juxtaposes genre of courtly love and religion against each other and mocks them. Different precepts of courtly love are satirized by characterization and are undermined to an extent by effective utilization of images, descriptions and tone that it se ems comical and illogical.So there is no reason to deny the fact that a great deal of liveliness and reality in Chaucer’s poetry is due to his all-pervasive humor and he is unsurpassable in this art of creating humorous sketches and verbal renderings that represent a probably every facet of the contemporary life. Kemp Malone and Albert Croll Baugh observation that ‘Chaucer is sometimes denied the rank of a great poet, on the ground that he lacked higher seriousness, that his poetry is without great themes nobly conceived’ is true to some extent but not utterly.The assumption that his poetry is devoid of great themes is based on misconception. His major contribution towards the content of poetry is in his advocacy of and strict adherence to realism. His Canterbury Tales embodies a new effort in the history of literature, as it strictly deals with real men, manners, and life. He realized, to adopt Pope’s famous couplet (with a little change): Know then thyse lf: presume not dreams to scan, The proper study of mankind is man. And the product of this realization was The Canterbury Tales.This poem, as it were, holds a mirror to the life of Chaucer’s age and shows it manners and morals completely, â€Å"not in fragments†. Chaucer replaces effectively the shadowy delineations of the old romantic and allegorical school with the vivid and pulsating pictures of contemporary life. ( Brewer, 1978) Chaucer’s tone as a poet is wonderfully instinct with geniality, tolerance, humor, and freshness which are absent from that of his contemporaries and predecessors who are too dreamy or too serious to be interesting. References Brewer, Derek. Chaucer and his world. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1978.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

A Reflection on â€Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner† Rebeca Espirito Santo The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner â€Å"From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze Six miles from the earth, loosed from its dream of life I woke to black flack and the nightmare fighters When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. † Randall Jarrell â€Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner†, by Randall Jarrell, is a surprisingly simple and brief poem; nevertheless it is extensive in content.Due to carefully chosen words, with great descriptive power and an appeal to symbolism, Jarrell skillfully accomplishes the task of providing readers with detailed images and feelings of the turret gunner’s situation, yet leaves plenty of space for the reader’s imagination, interpretation and critique. While reading this poem, one can be encouraged to question the image we have of our soldiers – those w ho have no fear – while not questioning their bravery. War can produce gruesome situations that can cause even the bravest men to face their fears.The poem’s incisiveness is demonstrated by the fact that if the reader doesn’t see the title, or if one isn’t familiar with what a ball turret is, it becomes very challenging to even know what the poem is about. Once the reader forms a clear image of a B-17 â€Å"Flying Fortress† or a B-24 â€Å"Liberator†, with it’s small Plexiglas ball turrets located in the bottom fuselage, it becomes extremely easy to visualize the soldier’s situation. From the first half of the second line – â€Å"And I hunched in its belly† – of the poem it is possible to picture how uncomfortable, lonely and vulnerable the gunner was in the bottom of the airplane.Then, in the second half of the same line – â€Å"till my wet fur froze† – one is able to envision the sold ier’s distress due to his nervous sweat and the cold, thin air. The gunner was in an extremely vulnerable position. Even if he was spared another gunner’s bullet at the end of the mission, he knew he was still not safe. In the case of a forced landing, he knew he would be sacrificed. On the third line – â€Å"Six miles from the earth, loosed from its dream of life† – one can observe his acknowledgment of this surreal reality.This leads the character to the understanding of not only his physical distance from earth, but also from earthly life and the odds against him going back to that life. He was already preparing himself for the worst and suppressing his hopes of survival. Through the distress of a single man, Jarrell is able to depict the fears of a lonely soldier in an extremely vulnerable position, and invites us into the heinous reality of war which forces us to question our impressions of soldiers having no fear yet not questioning their bra very.War can produce gruesome situations that can cause even the bravest men to face their fears, but it is how they deal with this fear that is the important part. Ball turret gunners were courageous warriors. They were fully aware of how susceptible to death they were, nevertheless, they would continue to fight time after time. WWII was a dreadful episode in human history that killed millions of people, and its bloodshed is described by the UN Charter as a scourge that â€Å"has brought untold sorrow to mankind†.Jarrell had served in the military himself, thus he knew – at least to some extent – what he was trying to address. The most fascinating aspect of this poem is the paradoxical relationship between its physical briefness and its vast evocative power. His words are so carefully chosen and descriptive that it grants the reader with greatly detailed images and feelings of the turret gunner’s situation and the broader issue that he represents. The us e of more words becomes unnecessary; hence, Jarrell masterfully proves that length isn’t as important as depth and power.This piece’s paradox and theme struck me. As already discussed, Jarrell’s capability to evoke so much with so little is quite amazing. It depicts an issue of my personal and academic interest. As a Political Science major with a background in International Relations, war and its causes, consequences and issues intrigues me. The grievance caused by war is something that affects me quite deeply. This poem shows a very personal, crucial moment in a soldier’s life.They truly believe they are going to war to fight for their nation with an ideology that has been forced into their head that they are willing to give up their lives for. At the end of the day, unfortunately, the gravity of these soldier’s personal sacrifices are often lost – converted to a statistic – among the many thousands of sacrifices that occur during w ar. This poem seemingly parallels this situation in that it is a small and relatively simple poem – lost in a sea of countless other poems – yet upon further investigation reveals something much more meaningful.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria. His parents were Alois Hitler and Klara Polzl. Adolf was the fourth child out of six. Three years after he was born, the family relocated from Austria to Germany. Typically, Adolf Hitler and his father did not agree; the fine arts fascinated Adolf, but his father disapproved of it. Adolf Hitler was profoundly affected by the death of his younger brother, Edmund. Adolf Hitler also displayed a curiosity in German nationalism at a young age. His mother permitted him to quit school two years following his father’s death in 1903. After he abandoned school, he moved to Vienna. Adolf was an aspiring watercolor painter in Vienna. He applied two times to the Academy of Fine Arts and was rejected both times. Hitler served in the German military during World War I. Although Adolf was an Austrian citizen, he was still authorized to serve in the German army. He received the Iron Cross First Class and the Blac k Wound Badge after World War I. Adolf Hitler did not take likeness to the fact that the Germans had capitulated in 1918 during the First World War. Adolf Hitler began to adopt various anti-Semitic, nationalist, and anti-Marxist ideas whilst being an associate of the German Worker’s Party. While being involved with the German Worker’s Party, Adolf Hitler created the notorious swastika. Adolf Hitler started to compose speeches opposed to the Treaty of Versailles, Jews, and additional groups. An abundant amount of the history of Germany is revolved around Hitler and the Nazi Party, but it is not the respectable kind of history. The Nazi Party was primarily designated as the â€Å"German Workers’ Party† which was established via Anton Drexter and Karl Harrer. The party was to support nationalism in Germany; they additionally believed the Treaty of Versailles was a liability to Germany. The war could have been resolved without the treaty, but the party was not on the radar of anyone until Hitler joined it. He was an extremely charismatic man, and he brought numerous new members in with his speeches. The Jews were the reason the war was lost, or at least this is what Hitler said. Since the Jews were only an insignificant part of the population, this gained him several supporters. Quickly the party was renamed the â€Å"Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party†. This name is frequently abbreviated to the Nazi Party. As time went by, Hitler got m ore admired and more popular, and as he got recognized, so did the Nazi Party. The country was in a fragile state and needed a dependable leader like they assumed Hitler was, and he acquired leadership of the Nazi party in July of 1921. This party was everything Hitler needed to grab the publics’ attention, and he began ascending the political ladder very quickly. The Nazi Party tried to achieve power of Germany resulting in Hitler getting five years in prison; this is where he composed his autobiography. In elections for leadership over Germany, the Nazi Party didn’t do extremely well, and their greatest percent of the ballots was 37.3%. The reason that the Nazis had considerably supplementary dominance was because of their muscle power, but they didn’t have as many supporters as certain other parties might have had. Instead of coming to power by the right technique, they forced their way to the top. Hitler had constantly been a little different, but nobody would have ever supposed it would lead to what transpires in the conclusion. When Hitler and the Nazi party gained power over Germany on January 30th, 1933, they didn’t have complete control, but he would obtain it by March. The speed at which he gained control over the entire country was impractical. Hitler’s military training assisted him a lot in the campaigning process, and his communication with the public won over much of the population. His conventions for his campaign were more like military processions than anything else because they were prearranged, coordinated, and proficient. When he communicated to the citizens, he spoke with passion and authority in every sentence. One of the main significant part of his party was the SA; also identified as the Stormtroopers. They were an assembly of men, usually discharged from the military, that functioned to protect Hitler. Instead of doing just this, they seemed to disrupt many of the other parties’ gatherings, but there was nothing the other parties could do about it. They were being a ttacked by Hitler and the Stormtroopers, but they were far stronger than additional parties. For instance, Hitler was sent to prison for his part in a mob occurrence on additional political subject in September of 1921. Germany, being in such a weak state, needed a strong, dependable leader, and they understood was Hitler. The Stormtroopers were just a single fragment of Hitler’s party that disrupted the harmony, but it was probably the ultimate one. The SA were comparable to a gang of individuals that terrorized additional political parties and inhabitants. They started out as predominantly veterans, but quickly there were more and more ferocious thugs in the assortment with them. Hitler was trying to accomplish being chancellor by intimidating several of the other parties, and I suppose it operated somewhat. The single reason Hitler gained control over the country was because of the Jews, and without them, he would have never been chancellor. After the war, the people of Germany desired somebody to blame for the devastation of their country. Instead of accusing themselves, they listened to Hitler and blamed the Jews, but in honesty, the Jews had nothing to do with it. They were the minority of the population, and they received the blame. When the Nazis came to power, the Holocaust started along with the downfall and the introduction to the most fatal battle in human history. The word Holocaust originally meant sacrificial offers burned on an altar, but since 1945, the term has taken on a horrific new meaning. The Holocaust entailed the genocide of 6 million Jews and other minority groups by the German Nazis throughout the Second World War. The Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler saw Jews as racially inferior and a threat to the German purity, although his reasoning and roots of his ideas are unclear. One of the leading causes of World War II is the Holocaust. After centuries of anti-Judaism which led to anti-Semitism, the Holocaust officially started when Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. The first of the concentration camps opened in Dachau in March 1933. Within four months, an estimated 27,000 people were held in custody in the camps. Many concentrations camps were built and followed therefore after, with a total of 20,000 German camps established. By this time, Jews comprised one percent of the overall German population. Throughout the following six years, the Nazis began controlling and rejecting non-Aryans from civil service, disbanding Jewish owned businesses and organizations. A set of rules called the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, established Jews and German blood and forbade marriage between the two. The Jews then became targets and objectives for persecution. This climaxed in Kristallnacht in November 1938, where Jewish buildings were ransacked and demolished. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, ghettos were established in numerous Polish cities. The ghettos integrated the Jews and effectively imprisoned them. The living circumstances in the restricted ghettos were atrocious, and illness, hunger and congestion killed the majority. The Germans expelled Jews from all over Europe to these ghettos. Meanwhile, opening in the autumn of 1939, Nazi officials chose approximately 70,000 Germans institutionalized with mental illness or debilities to be gassed to death in the Euthanasia Program. After important German spiritual leaders protested, Hitler ended the program in August 1941. Killings of the disabled persisted in secrecy, and by only four years around 275,000 people deemed handicapped had been exterminated. In retrospection, the Euthanasia Program operated as a pilot for the Holocaust. Beginning in 1941, all Jews in German territory were distinguished with a yellow star badge. As more Jews were deported to camps, experimentations with mass destruction had been continuing at the concentration camp of Auschwitz, near Krakow. The first of the mass gassings began near Lublin at the camp of Belzec. Gassing processes by vans and chambers became popular after the Einsatzgruppe members made complaints of agony after shooting large numbers of women and children, plus it was cheaper. These mobile killings entities, Einsatzgruppen, gassed mostly Jews, Roma, and the mentally ill. Zyklon B is infamous for its use in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other camps. At Auschwitz only, more than 2 million people were slaughtered, and as many as 12,000 Jews were killed daily. The majority of the world was affected by World War II, especially the West. The war began September 1, 1939, and the concluding date from World War II was September 2, 1945. During these years an overwhelming multitude of actions happened in the West. Throughout the duration of the war, the world was divided between the axis powers, which were Germany, Italy, and Japan. Many nations fought against the axis power such as, Lebanon, San Marino, Belgium, Egypt, Liberia, Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, El Salvador, Luxembourg, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia, Mexico, Soviet Union, Canada, France, Mongolian People\’s Republic, Syria, Chile, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. Whilst these nations fought against the axis powers a plethora of events were occurring in the Middle East during World War II. Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine all had a role during this duration of time and were all affected by the events that the war brought about. Although there was much fighting in other parts of the world, the Middle East countries during World War II were busy being pro axis or neutral. This meant that the countries were either coinciding with the axis powers or they had been taken over by a higher power. For example, Egypt was pro axis before the war, but became neutral due to King Farouk conceding to British command over Egypt’s government. Like Egypt, Iraq was pro axis, and their pro axis sentiment was tied to anti-British. This did not sit well with the British and they invaded Iraq and occupied it until 1947. Since the British were occupying Iraq, their army could station and transit troops through Iraq, which was an exceptionally, outstanding advantage to have during the war. Syria, on the other hand, was governed by the Vichy forces after the fall of France. Once France became free, Syria and Lebanon were supposed to be free too, due to an arrangement that had been made. It was hard to accomplish freeing Syria and Lebanon. The power to carry off such a reoccupation was difficult for France, so the independence of Syria and Lebanon was not recognized till the end of the war. Meanwhile in Palestine, Jews were arriving in waves in the hope of fleeing the Nazis. Military organizations such as Haganah, IZL, and Stern Gang were very active in the region. Illegal immigrations of Jews into Palestine were often carried out with these military organizations’ assistance. Immigration restrictions on the White Paper of 1939 were violated due to the wave of Jews arriving illegally in Palestine. The move of the Jews paved the way for the creation of Israel. Palestine was then set up to become a battlefield due to the immigration of the Jews. Not only were places in the Middle East being occupied, but locations around the region of the West began to be occupied by Germans. Austria, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and parts of the Soviet Union were only a few of the places in the West occupied by the Germans during World War II. The occupation of these countries was a horrid time, but the liberation and end of these occupations was an occasion that would be forever remembered in history to come. On March 12, 1938, Austria became the first nation that was annexed by Nazi Germany. Austrian Nazis conspired several times to capture the Austrian government and connect with Nazi Germany. Austria’s Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg met with Adolf Hitler with hopes of confirming Austria’s independence, but returned with Austrian Nazis added to his cabinet. Schuschnigg called for a vote on annexation, but before anything could take place, Schuschnigg gave in to the pressure and resigned shortly after. He pleaded for his country not to resist any German advances into the country. The following day, German troops accompanied by Hitler entered Austria. Hitler allotted a Nazi government to rule and the annexation was proclaimed. Austria continued as a federal state of Germany until the conclusion of the War; the Allies declared the Anschluss void and reinstated Austria. By the summer of the same year of annexation, the Mauthausen camp was established, it was the main Nazi camp in the country. The Germans entitled the camp a category III camp, representing the harsh regimen and punishment. Thousands of prisoners were worked to death because of the harsh punishments including forced labor work like carrying heavy solid stone slabs up 186 steps near the camp. On November 1938, Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass, began when synagogues in the capital were destroyed and burned. Jewish buildings and businesses were ravaged and vandalized, and then the Jews were taken to the Dachau or Buchenwald camps. The reaction external to Germany on Kristallnacht was astonishment and outrage, making a storm of negative publicity in tabloids and among radio reporters that attended to isolate Hitler\’s Germany from the civilized nations and deteriorate any pro-Nazi attitudes in those countries. Following Kristallnacht, the United States withdrew its ambassador permanently. Another of the countries mentioned that was occupied by Germany was Poland. Poland had many difficulties withstanding their country because so many of their neighboring countries had succumbed to war. With their weak economy, Poland was unable to protect their country from invaders. Germany and the Soviet Union had a non-aggression treaty towards each other, but the countries became divided in 1939. After this happened, Germany attacked the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941 in order to become the sole occupier of Poland. Many people want to blame Germany for their cruelty towards the Polish Jews and other citizens, but the Soviet Union also was involved in abusing the citizens of Poland, who they were occupying over at this time. Although many Jews were killed in concentration camps, there were also many casualties that resulted from the horrible mentality of the Germans and Soviets. About 5.7 million Polish citizens were killed by the German occupiers, and only one hundred and fifty thousand Polish were murdered by the Soviet Union during their few years as occupiers. Clearly, the Germans were extremely more abusive than the Soviets, but any death is worthy of punishment. The Polish showed their resistance by organizing uprisings and riots to show their imprisoners that they were tired of being abused emotionally and physically. These uprisings include the ones in Warsaw where both the Ghetto citizens and the non-Jewish people rose up against their oppressors. The uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto began on April 19, 1943 when the inhabitants refused to obey their orders, and in retaliation, police commander SS-Brigadefà ¼hrer Jà ¼rgen Stroop ordered the burning of the entire Ghetto. The last German troops were expelled from Poland thanks to the Red Army in March 1945, weeks before the final allied victory over Europe. France was another area occupied by Nazi Germany. The end of their occupation would not come until the summer of 1944. France was liberated b y the successful allied operations called Overlord and Dragoon. Czechoslovakia was another country that became occupied by Germany in World War II, but the country was actually handed over to Germany peacefully. The Munich Pact was signed by, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. The Munich Pact was an agreement that handed over a portion of Czechoslovakia that contained voluminous amounts of German speakers, and this section of Czechoslovakia is what the German military began occupying in 1938. In March of 1938, the complete and total conquest of Czechoslovakia became Hitler’s next ambition. During late March, Czechoslovakia succumbed to German occupation because they were weak after the annexation of the German part of the country called the Sudetenland. The Germans rule would come to an end following the March 1945 Rhine Rivers crossing that precipitated the U.S. Army’s involvement with Czech oslovakia. Finally, the Czechoslovakians were freed after six long years of occupation in April of 1945. In 1938, France joined Great Britain in an attempt to appease Nazi aggression. France signed the Munich Pact and helped give Germany â€Å"permission† to invade the Sudeten territories of Czechoslovakia. It was soon clear that this attempt at appeasement failed. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France declared war. France\’s war against Germany did not last long. On June 22, 1940, France surrendered to Germany. France was occupied by the Germans until 1944. June 6 of that year was D-day. A massive Allied force invaded the beaches of Normandy. D-Day, also referred to as â€Å"The Invasion of Normandy†, is considered by some to be the turning point of the twentieth century. D-Day occurred on June 6, 1944 when troops of mostly American, British, and Canadian origin landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. Originally, D-Day was set for June 5, but had to be postponed because of inclement weather. In the military, the phrase â€Å"D-Day† simply represents a day of which an operation or combat attack is intended to transpire; however, the most acclaimed D-Day would be the Invasion of Normandy. The Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy with the intent of liberating France and the rest of northwest Europe from German occupation. There were 156,000 soldiers who landed on the coastline, but by the end of the invasion ten thousand soldiers were either killed, wounded, or decl ared missing. D-Day was and continues to be the largest amphibious assault in all of history-virtually flooding the coast of Normandy with ships. An amphibious assault is an offensive military operation using naval ships to deliver the troops to the hostile shore or landing beach. The codename for this invasion of France was â€Å"Operation Overlord†. The overall commander for this operation was American General Dwight Eisenhower. Fifty miles of coastline in Normandy, France were used for this assault with the coastline on which the soldiers landed divided into five sections. The code names for these sectors of coastline were: Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Sword Beach, Juno Beach, and Gold Beach. Many lives were lost on these beaches, over three thousand fatalities at Omaha beach alone. Operation Overlord ended on August 19, 1944 when the Allies crossed the River Seine. In total, 425,000 troops, Allied and German were either killed, wounded, or missing by the end of D-day invasion . Another country that became occupied by Germans was Denmark. Denmark was conquered by Germany on April 9, 1940, although Hitler was not interested in the country itself but more so for control and its air bases for future attacks on Norway. Also, Denmark was to be together with Germany to prevent an Allied invasion. Denmark was relatively easy to take over and was not a challenge, considering the soldiers’ defense lasting only a few hours and then quickly surrendered. Denmark’s government negotiated with the German invasion forces on easy terms. Because the Danish were easy to cooperate with and Germany\’s absence of interest in Denmark, the occupation went quite serenely at first. The administration stayed in office and government remained mainly in Danish hands, although the police were obliged to accommodate with the Germans. Although Denmark’s population was obviously against the occupation, there was a need to handle the condition in a pragmatic manner. This era, branded the â€Å"politics of cooperation†, continued until 1943. One of the great successes out of the peaceful collaboration was that the Danish Jews were not mistreated or wronged throughout this time. By 1943, Denmark had become dissatisfied with the Germans and turned to strikes. The Germans in response tried to impose the death penalty but failed when the Danish government refused. On August 28, the cooperation between the two countries ended, and by October all the Jews were to be deported. This was ultimately prevented when the Jewish populations were transported to Sweden, where they were safe. When the statement of freedom was broadcasted on the radio on May 4, 1945, people everywhere assembled into the streets waving their countries’ flags. Denmark was liberated by the British forces by the following day, but shortly after, the island of Bornholm was occupied by the Russian Army and not liberated until 1946. Austria was occupied by Soviet and American forces during April and May 1945. The Holocaust lasted until 1945, where liberations of the camps slowly removed Hitler from authority. By the culmination of the War, there were an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 survivors who lived in occupied Europe. Since many survivors saw it impossible to return home, the Allies powers created what is present day Israel as a permanent homeland for Jewish survivors in 1948. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, or U.S.S.R. for short, became involved in World War II when it was invaded by Nazi Germany on June 22,1941. Ironically, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had signed a peace agreement in 1939 promising to avoid conflict. In this pact, called the German-Soviet Nonagression Pact, they agreed to not attack each other when World War II began and for the next ten years. Articles have stated that the reason Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed the Nonagression Pact was to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, and in addition, give his country time to make its military larger and more powerful. Adolf Hitler signed this pact for the Germans because he wanted to assure that the Germans could invade Poland unopposed. The pact was broken in June of 1941 when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. This secret military offensive, known by the codename Operation Barbarossa, covered a distance of two thousand miles. The Germans had a strong, reliable, a nd vast army for this invasion and they were extremely confident they could defeat the Soviets with ease. However, they were proven wrong. The inability of the Germans to defeat the Soviet Union in this invasion marked a critical juncture in World War II, as the Soviet triumph weakened the German military effort and rallied the Allies. In July of 1942, the Soviet Union was yet again invaded by Nazi Germany in the Battle of Stalingrad. The Russians were determined to defend the city of Stalingrad because it served as a vital industrial and transportation center. This battle stopped the German advancement into the Soviet Union, and was a catalyst that turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allied forces. This battle was one of the bloodiest in Russian history, and is regarded as one of that country’s greatest military victories. Belgium was also an additional country that became occupied by Nazi Germany. With all the suffering that transpired in World War I, King Leopold III and the citizens of Belgium desired to be left out of World War II. Belgium was unbiased until the Germans captured their country. On May 10, 1940, Belgium was imprisoned by the Nazis. The citizens of Belgium resisted confinement; they were inexorably defeated. The Jews began to be persecuted in Belgium due to the invasion of Germans. Belgium was captured to be a location for the Germans to operate. Since Belgium borders France, Germany assumed that being situated in Belgium would provide an improved opportunity to invade. Saboteurs destroyed major railways that led from Germany to France. Belgium had a colony in the Congo of Africa where it had access to masses of uranium. Belgium gave a quantity of this uranium to the United States for the manufacturing of an atomic bomb. In 1944, Belgium was liberated from the Germans. The imprisonmen t by the Germans traumatized Belgium as a country along with the residents. Germany halted exports of coke to the Luxembourg steel industry which made Luxembourg slightly hostile. Although Luxembourg was impartial, the country was captured by the Nazis on May 10, 1940. Germany captured Luxembourg to have an additional base to maneuver off of; this would enable a better opportunity to attack France. The royal family and the government evacuated to Canada, so Gustav Simon took control over the government in Luxembourg. He ridded the Luxembourg citizens of anything that was French. Citizens were informed to not use French greetings any longer. People were not permitted to wear French berets. Several Jews were extradited to Spain and France, but those countries rejected them too. Other Jews were relocated to concentration camps. The Germans cleared all Jews out of Luxembourg. The additional non-Jewish citizens went about their daily existence. They sustained their routines and anticipated every day to be liberated. Luxembourg was liberated on September 10, 1944. The citizens and the country were overwhelmed by the Germans capture and interrogation. Switzerland was a neutral nation for both World War I and World War II. This allowed them to concern themselves with protecting their own country and inhabitants, while also serving as a neutral territory. Several historians claim that Switzerland remains prodigious because they allowed their country to be a safe haven for refugees, but in truth, the Swiss government laid out many restrictions towards the refugees and a countless amount were turned away. A person could not find refuge in Switzerland unless they were under personal threat because of their political activities; refugees could not enter Switzerland if they were escaping discrimination over their race, religion, or ethnicity, but eventually, Switzerland gave 300,000 refugees access to their designated refugee areas. They accepted about 27,000 Jews, and this act saved numerous lives. It seems much happened in the West during World War II. The Middle East had a wide assortment of conflicts and the end of many occupations in the West took place. In Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, many exploits occurred. The end of occupations in countries inhabiting the West had a lot of fighting, killing, and freedoms. Without everything that occurred in the West, history today would be forever changed. Hitler became chairman of the German Worker’s Party in 1921. Adolf Hitler and a Nazi paramilitary organization stormed a communal conference in a beer hall announcing that a novel government was emergent. In conclusion of his actions, Hitler was apprehended afterwards and placed in a penitentiary for a year where he composed the earliest volume of his book, Mein Kampf. This book illustrates Hitler’s strategies to convert Germany into a one race nation. In 1932, Hitler competed for presidency two times. He lost both times to Paul von Hindenburg. After coming in second place, Hitler was designated chancellor. By the uprisings, Hitler and his organization had performed, the other parties were completely intimidated, and on July 14, 1933, Hitler’s Nazi Party was the only officially permitted political party in Germany. An original decree was established stating that the presidential powers were now coalesced with the chancellor powers, so when Hindenburg died, Hitler obtained unmitigated power. The Night of the Long Knives occurred on June 30, 1934 which was the assassination of people that Hitler considered would be a threat in the future. Adolf Hitler endorsed anti-smoking campaigns. He believed in eating healthy; people’s bodies should remain unpolluted. He did not imbibe alcohol or consume meat. Adolf commenced segregating people by constructing innovative regulations where Jews could not marry non-Jews. Persecutions and exterminations transpired throughout the Holocaust if an individual happened to be Jewish, Polish, a communist, a homosexual, a Jehovah’s Witness, or a trade unionist. There are rumors about Hitler’s religion. Some people state he had Jewish or African background. One of the stories was that his father was the illegitimate child of a woman that was a maid for a wealthy Jewish man. In 1939, Germans attempted the blitzkrieg against Poland first. They corroborated it would succeed; then it was executed on Belgium, the Netherlands, and France in 1940. The residents in Germany during World War II had grocery allowances. With the provisions being rationed, various people had more victuals during rationing than they had previously. There was a scarcity of petroleum in Germany. People were permitted to utilize warm water twice a week to manage the quantity of fuel depleted. Soap was an additional article that was limited; furthermore, there was no toilet paper. The black market thrived during World War II, since denizens were exchanging regulated merchandise. In September 1940, children were advised to evacuate Berlin, but the majority did not vacate. Germans wanted women to have more children, so the population could proliferate. Additionally, Germans exhorted women to labor more, but the Germans were ineffective. After World War II, the nation and the populace of Germany were devastated. It took an extensive period for Germany to recuperate from the downfall of the nation. Hitler did not only ensue devastation upon the regions that were occupied by German forces. He has done many horrifying things to countries that were never taken over by his army. One of the wickedest things Hitler accomplished was the bombing of London, but there are many other things as well. Not only did he plunge a bomb down on London, he dropped thousands of them, and the first penetration was on September 7, 1940 when about 350 German bombers appeared above London being accompanied by 650 fighters. This bombing alone devastated London, but there was far worse to come in the future. In the first attack alone, over 450 inhabitants were slaughtered and 1,300 were sincerely injured, and while London was still picking up the pieces from the night before, Hitler and his men struck again. They did the same precise thing every single night for two whole months, and the people of London assumed it would never end. On December 29, nineteen churches were demolished; furthermore, this was a Sunday. Overall, around 30,000 bombs were dropped on London, and the first thirty days 6,000 people were killed. This overwhelmed London for a long time, but the occurrences ultimately ceased in May of 1941. Now London had to pick up what was left of their population or attempt to, but it would prove to take an extremely extensive period to get to where they were. Hitler supposed that defeating London from the air would devastate them, but they awaited patiently for it to stop and took it as it. Hitler did some horrifying things to many countries and their inhabitants, and some people blame it on his childhood. Evil was inside of him the day he was born, and the day he killed himself. The North African Campaign began in June of 1940, the campaign lasted for three years, ending during May of 1943. When the North African Campaign commenced, The Axis and Allied powers were fighting nonstop, back and forth in northern Africa. The region that is considered to be North Africa included Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Morocco, and parts of the Sahara Desert. The North African Campaign was comprised of three phases, the Western Desert Campaign, Operation Torch, and the Tunisia Campaign. The Western Desert Campaign was the opening conflict. The Axis and Allied powers fought during this campaign in the countries of Libya and Egypt. This battle was launched when Italian General Rodolfo Graziani invaded Egypt. The Western Campaign was consisted of constant battling between the Axis powers and the Allied powers. The next phase following the Western Campaign was Operation Torch. Operation Torch involved the British and United States military forces launching an amphibious maneuver in French North Africa. The French retained control over two territories, Algeria and Morocco. These territories were the location for the landing of this operation. This battle had the code name â€Å"Torch†, this name was the result of many long arguments between the American and British strategists. These planners struggled to make a decision about the future course of action for the Allies. These arguments were ultimately settled by President Franklin Roosevelt with the decision to in vade North Africa. President Roosevelt worked together with British Prime Minister Winston Church Hill during this operation. Torch’s impact was important to the outcome of the war and was later recognized as one of the most significant strategic decision the Allied leaders would make. The next phase of the North African Campaign was the Tunisia Campaign. The Allies began this assault with another amphibious landing in eastern Tunisia in January, 1943. The German General, Erwin Rommel was cut off from his supply bases by the Americans and the British during his attempt to stall them with his defensive operations. The Axis powers were outgunned and outnumbered. The Allies made steady advances by forcing the Axis troops into a pocket along the northern Tunisian coast. The Allies captured the last remaining Axis port and six days after this occurred the Axis army surrendered. This left 267,000 German and Italian soldiers as prisoners of war. During the entire North African Campaign, 220,00 British and American soldiers were lost, while the German and Italians suffered 620,000 casualties. This Allied victory was critically important to the course of this War. The win in North Africa removed the Axis threat to middle eastern oil fields and also their threat to the Briti sh supply lines into Asia and Africa. The reign of Nazi Germany must have certainly felt like an eternity to the groups of people who were negatively affected by its power, but the power and control that the Nazis had accumulated did eventually wean. There were many factors to the fall of Nazi Germany, including attacks made against Germany as the government was growing weaker and the death of Hitler. The Battle of Berlin was the last major offensive of World War II leading up to Hitler’s suicide. During the Battle of Berlin, which began on April 16, 1945 and ended on May 2, 1945, Hitler assimilated himself into an underground bunker that was fifty feet below the Nazi headquarters in Berlin. The Red Army fought forces containing the German Army for control of the capital city of Nazi Germany. He married Eva Braun, whilst inside the bunker, on April 29, 1945. Multiple families of important Nazi officials joined the couple in the bunker. One of the families elected to have their children killed by cyanide. Hitler instigated the testing of cyanide pills on the family dog and its puppies. Both the doctor and Hitler desired that the pills would not fail if needed to commit suicide. When Hitler inquired the opinion of the doctor on the proper way to commit suicide, the doctor advocated a cyanide pill and gunshot at the same time. On April 30, 1945, after Soviet troops overcame the street-to-street combat in Berlin Hitler nad Braun committed suicide in the bunker. Eyewitness accounts claim that only one gunshot was heard from the room where Hitler and Eva planned to kill themselves in. A few minutes after the shot was heard, a few people, who were living in the bunker at this time, decided to open the door and see if Hitler and his wife were dead. There were no pictures taken at the site of Hitler and Eva’s death. Historians must believe the written accounts of spectators because there is no real evidence of Hitler’s death. Witnesses claimed to have seen Hitler, with his head on a table, holding a gun in his hand, and Eva sitting in a chair facing Hitler with a cyanide pill coursing through her body. Adolf and Eva Hitler were known as dead throughout the world, but their companions in the bunker seized their bodies and burned them upon request by Hitler. The Russians were ordered to find the body of Hitler in order to be sure he was dead, but the bodies were not discovered until May of 1945. From the 4th through the 8th of May, most of the remaining German armed forces in Europe surrendered which led to the end of World War II. The surrender document was signed on the 7th of May, 1945 in a Reims, France schoolhouse, which was being used as General Dwight Eisenhower’s temporary headquarters. The document was signed by Alfred Jodl, who was representing Admiral Doenitz at the meeting. The document was required to be printed out in the following four different languages: English, French, German, and Russian. Copies of the document had to be sent to London, Paris, and Moscow for approval. Press attended the meeting and took many pictures and took note of things that were said. It was noted that after Alfred Jodl signed the document, he addressed the crowd in the room and said, â€Å"I want to say a word. With this signature the German people and the German armed forces are for better or worse delivered into the victor’s hands. In this war, which has lasted more than five years, they both have achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. In this hour I can only express the hope that the victor will treat them with generosity.† No one in the crowd had a response, and most of the Germans quietly left the room. After World War II in Europe was over, the impression that the war left on many of the Europeans who were affected by it remained intact, and the horrifying aftermath was a reminder of how hard life really was during the war. 54 million people as a result of the Holocaust. Another 60 million were uprooted from their homes. There were 11 million displaced persons, and there were more civilians killed than troops. 100,000 Jewish people were left to roam, and many of them travelled back to their home country. â€Å"Hitlerism† still lingered throughout Europe, and West Germany and East Germany were separated. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of 13 trials in Nuremberg, Germany. Starting on November 20, 1945 and ending on October 1, 1946. These trials were brought about so that the Nazi war criminals would face justice and be punished for the crimes they have committed against humanity. The defendants included Nazi Party officers, lawyers, and doctors. They were indicted on crimes against humanity and peace. Since Hitler was an important political leader, he had multiple decoys to insure his safety, but this can cause problems when looking for the real body of Hitler. Many historians believe that Hitler escaped Germany and fled to Argentina. There is a large Nazi presence in the small villages of Argentina. There are photographs were the Nazi flag can be seen being flown at many small schools. The Nazi Youth was a big organization, and it held a large manifestation in South Ameri

Technology in Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology in Education - Research Paper Example PDAs vs. hard form books: Portable digital document devices are part of schools, colleges, universities, libraries. People sit in cafes, parks, travel in metros and have this digital device that contains many books in them. It has added to the economy aspect as well, for example large number of books are available online now which were not in past and people had to pay for it or go to markets to get them, with so many books available online, mere download enables books in your digital device, and they don’t even cost anything in terms of the digital memory, being thin on resources in terms of digital consumption, these books consume merely a few kilobytes or megabytes of space which has become an irrelevant term in modern times considering how much of space and capacity has been created in the computers in present day. Diplomas, certifications and courses are conducted online. Video conferencing is a gift of technology and is largely used in educational sector, not just in the domain of students but also for the organizers and top heads of educational departments all over. The manner in which education is being spread has also changed as a result of technology. More than hard form of educational resources, it is the soft form of educational content that is in practice and business. E- Libraries have over taken the conventional libraries. Note books have been replaced by the digital note books. Tablets, laptops, mini computers, desktops, mobile phones, portable readers, electronic readers, all are depictive of the digital sources which are used for educational purposes. For example specially designated and designed digital equipment has been introduced for a specific purpose of educational imparting. This device comes in form of a... It is stated that the mankind has explored many ways for its comfort. It has been a continuous process and it has been achieved in steps with improvement from one phase to another. Technology has changed the outlook of our entire life, the entire pattern of how we go about things, how things are perceived, how they are adopted and accepted. Communication is being performed through it, which is an essential tool of technology. This tool has been put into effect in different disciplines of life, and education is one of them. Technology and communication, that were both analyzed in this essay have been brought together to facilitate the purpose of modern and quality education and it has been put to good effect in many zones. While education has been a continuous quest, and it is through education that these changes and developments have been made, yet education too has undergone the modes in which it can be acquired. In conclusion, the researcher states that technology is bound to incre ase the spread of education in times ahead, at the same time it would open more dimensions of educational ease and spread in all parts of the world. It is also mentioned that although libraries look more deserted now, yet it is the omnipresence of technology that is more dominant. With every day advancements in informational technological field, one can only guess what would be the future outlook, but one can for sure say that it is the betterment of education that will come along it as the technology and science proceed.

The Internet and the E-Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Internet and the E-Business - Assignment Example The best atmosphere to start electronic education could be suited in the library where most of the students go for extra studies. Here, students can gradually be able to adapt to E- learning and effectively be able to work with e-learning in computer science and business. Apparently, e- business at the University of Libya will ensure transactions takes place electronically. The internet and e-business will be used in the institution for four main purposes; to give strategy and direction with regard to e-business, to maintain cordial relationship between the stakeholders, and the institution’s community as a whole, to improve communication and information in learning, and other interactions, and to maintain process and culture of e-business for a good gain (Canzer 7). The kind of business transactions that are found at the University of Libya include; Business-to –Business (B-to-B), Business-to- Consumer (B-to-C), and Consumer-to-Consumer (C-to C). Through these business transactions, there is clear identification of business partners at hand (Canzer 20). Question 2 _ Advantages and Obstacles on Electronic Education The internet and the e-business are supposed to improve and enrich learning in the institution through electronic education. In essence, the e-business will serve the University with a digitized international platform which allows self-marketing in terms of services especially to the target market entailing local students who want to pursue various courses. Additionally, e-business will assist the institution in providing more information on its website and updates at all times. There will be reduced operational costs particularly in creating, processing and retrieving paper based information that is mostly used in learning. Moreover, communication between stake holders and the institution fraternity is reduced for cheaper and faster procurements. In light of this, business in the institution will be available and accessible to concerned parties at all times. Hence, there will be increased online students and learning processes raising the bar in terms of methods of delivery, conten t, and the quality of material (Canzer 11). Contrary to this, the e-business puts the institution at risk in terms of security due to lack of sufficient systems for security, and the increase rate of internet hacking being witnessed all over the world. The migration to digitals technology is very expensive especially in maintenance of technology, which keeps advancing constantly. Needless to mention that, stakeholders must be conversant with computers to fit in the world of technology. In general, internet and e-business tends to convert the institution into a ‘slave’ of technology as it must rely on the internet for every transaction (Canzer 11). Question 3 _ Security and Legislative Issues with Electronic Education The decision of the University of Libya to start E-Learning in the form of online learning facilities for local students is a bold step towards embracing the internet, and technology in full. Even so, it is important to note that the internet is one of the places where much security is needed due to continuous hacking that is been witnessed. In light of this, it is crucial that while transacting online, the identity of business partners and clients should be verified.

Media Log 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media Log 4 - Essay Example At an encounter with her therapist, she also confessed to behaving in similar manner for a very long time in her life as she has always wanted to please all people around her. Her rationale for doing this was that her own people did not understand her. Indeed, this is an exemplification of how distant modern family members are even though they may all live together in the same house. It had to take Claire going to Alex’s school to experience a similar situation where she was made to solve a mathematical problem to realise how distressing it could be for anyone to be put under pressure or put him or herself under pressure with the goal be pleasing others. From the episode, one is forced to ask if members of today’s modern family really live independent lives. This is because if Alex had learnt the act of living independently, she would not have probably worried herself about the need to put herself under pressure to please others. But then there the real issue could be t hat the family expects so much from its

Electroanalytical Technique (Voltammetric techniques) critical review Literature

Electroanalytical Technique (Voltammetric techniques) critical - Literature review Example When compared to methods such as chromatography which uses relatively large amounts of sample with low sensitivity, voltammetry techniques will require few amounts of sample while affording high sensitivity. In addition, wide range of concentration can be used in voltammetry. Voltammetric techniques reduces ions at the electrodes which are usually three the working electrode, auxiliary electrode and reference electrode. Given such wide capabilities, voltametric techniques have been amenable to use in biochemical analyses, environmental studies, plating analysis, pharmaceuticals as well as waste water analyses among other useful applications. Instrumentation In voltammetry basic instruments include the electrochemical cell composed of a three electrodes configuration; a voltamperomeric analyser formed by the potentiostat coupled to a computer system. Working electrode provides the response of the analyte response due to the applied potential. Examples of electrode include mercury electrodes such as Hanging drop mercury electrode (HDME), static drop mercury electrode (DME) and rotating disk electrodes (RDE).Auxiliary electrode is tasked with completing the circuit between the potentiostat and working electrode and examples include platinum and glassy carbon electrodes. Reference potential to the auxiliary and working electrodes is provided by the reference electrodes e.g. Ag/AgCl in KCl and Hg/HgCl in KCl(l). Drugs analysis applies various separation-based techniques such as chromatography and electrophoresis. These techniques are important when following-up metabolism of the drug in complex samples such as urine. However, electroanalytical methods such as voltammetry become vital when samples being analysed contain a single physiologically active component such as the active ingredient in a particular drug. Electroanalytical methods offer advantages such as simple handling of the procedures, high sensitivity, better accuracy and faster speed relative to separation techniques – chromatography and electrophoresis. They also utilise cheaper instrumentation and low cost chemicals. Two electroanalytical techniques exist with the first one being where the surfaces of electrodes are continuously renewed for instance in the dropping mercury electrode. Techniques employing this type of electrode are called polarography and they mainly differ in the approach of application of voltage to the dropping mercury electrode (DME). The second class of techniques belong to techniques which use electrodes whose surfaces are not renewed. Common electrodes in this group include the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). Techniques that record current-voltage curves with these electrodes are referred to voltammetry. Voltammetric Techniques Voltammetric methods have been used in the determination of trace levels of platinum group metals which have traditional employed spectroscopic methods in their determination (Locateli, 2007). Such metals include Osmium, Ruthenium and Iridium. One of the approaches used in determination of these metals is the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The electrodic processes associated with platinum group metals (PGMs); however, present challenges such as the low reversibility degree thereby limiting detection of these trace metals (Kritsotakis et al., 1985). Presented with such challenge of detection limits, some methods have been worked out to con centrate these trace metals onto the working electrode. One technique which has been developed is the adsorptive

Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Assignment - Research Paper Example Privacy, security, ethical and legal challenges associated with the use of Smartphones and social media in the healthcare industry are significant. Based on the scenario presented, this paper examines some of the key benefits and costs of using Smartphones and social media by healthcare professionals. There are many applications on Smartphones that can be used by both patients and clinicians to improve the services offered. First, patient health records can be stored electronically, allowing for easy access using Smartphones. Such records allow clinicians to track the health performance of patients, and at the same time allow for easy sharing of such information. Just as illustrated in the present case, electronic records can easily be shared through social media. This may allow healthcare providers to share information relating to patients in order to enhance the service of care provided. Secondly, social media and Smartphones are an important source of information for healthcare providers. With the large volumes of information on the internet, having a smartphone allows a physician to access different forms of information that help to enhance his/her knowledge in a given field. For example, physicians are able to conduct researches online, thereby making the process of acquiring knowledge easy, fast and cost effective (Soyer, 2012). Social media allows physicians to share knowledge on a given subject. Through social media, online communities of healthcare professionals can be created, and these act as rich sources of information and knowledge. Thirdly, Smartphones have been used in the healthcare sector as reference tools. Considering that the provision of care is an information intensive activity, physicians use these devices to look for information in order to make the relevant decisions at the point of care (Sarasohn-Kahn, 2010). For example, the Epocrates is one example of an online company that provides such information to

Alignment of HRM and Business Strategies Research Paper

Alignment of HRM and Business Strategies - Research Paper Example Managers can also find ways of enabling hotel employees to see how their improved actions impact on the hotel’s well-being. For instance, if the hotel’s training program is centered on the importance of decreasing accidents that take place in the workplace, the management could ensure that the workers are shown how average costs can be saved in their training programs through factors such as reduced medical expenses, employee compensation, and even legal expenses (Cho, Woods, Jang, & Erdem, 2006). Another way to ensure that HR functions are aligned with business objectives is by ensuring that the hotel’s management body is in support of all proposed programs, and generates partnerships with the team entrusted with dispensing the training programs. To determine the effectiveness of training programs, hotels can create engagement surveys that allow workers to offer feedback on the programs. The hotel could also conduct culture surveys as well as employee satisfaction surveys in order to collect important feedback that functions as an indicator of the impact being had by the program. Other factors that can be used to assess the performance of HR programs include productivity rates, the rate of turnover, and even profitability of the hotel (Davidson, Guilding, & Timo, 2006). The HR jobs included in the Marriott’s HR department include bell persons, door persons, vacation planners, front desk agents and room controllers, bell captains, supervisors, front desk managers, front office managers, room operations directors, service agents, runners and supervisors, reservation agents and group coordinators, sales and public relations coordinators, house keeping persons and administrative clerks, housekeeping managers, the director of services, loss prevention officers and drivers, casino compliance and supervisor agents, recreation attendants,

The History of the Viola Essay Example for Free

The History of the Viola Essay The viola is not the best known instrument in the violin family. In fact, ask anyone you know that is not involved with orchestra what it is and they would blink dumbly at you. In reality, even though the violin is better known in todays society, it is possible that violas appeared before violins because the Italian word for violin, violino, is derived from the word viola, although no one knows who invented it or when it was invented. To answer anyones question on what exactly a viola is, a viola is the alto in the violin family, which evolved from the viol, an instrument with many strings that is bowed and held across the knees. They used to be called the alto-tenor violin. The viola we know today is the result of the gradual merging of the alto and tenor violas over three centuries. Most musicians did not like to play the tenor viola because it was so large in size and difficult to play because of this. So, gradually, luthiers stopped making the tenor viola. The alto violas neck was too short to play the music that was getting more difficult by the 16th century. So luthiers lengthened the neck of the alto viola in order for musicians to play a wider range of notes. The modern-day viola is about 1-3.5 inches longer than a violin, making them around 16 to 18 inches long. Today they are the only instruments that use the alto clef. Violas are not nearly as famous as the violin or cello, and they probably never will be. There are very, very, few solo violists, especially compared to the amount of solo violinists. In the ordinary orchestra, there are about three violins to every viola, and sometimes more. Composers sometimes wouldnt even bother writing a viola part. Violas would end up playing the bass part. It wasnt until the opera Orfeo, written in 1607, that violas began to become more important. Gradually, violas earned their own parts, and even get very important parts in pieces. Violas took a secondary role in the 17th and 18th centuries, even though musicians such as Mozart and Bach were both accomplished violists. It resurged with compositions like Harold in Italy in 1834 by French composer Hector Berlioz. Johnannes Brahms and Hector Schumann also wrote important pieces for violas

Theory of Competitive Advantage Value Chain Analysis

Theory of Competitive Advantage Value Chain Analysis The initial theory regarding relative advantages was related to comparative advantages of regions or nations. It included land, location, labor, natural resources and local population size. But it is not true always as rise of some the most advanced industrial nations have proved that the above factors have less influence in their course of development. For example, Japan had disadvantage regarding availability of raw materials, abundant space and even access to other lands. But still the Japanese companies have prospered and rose to be among the best in the world. Again Japan also has disadvantage in terms of population size available. But that could not stop Japan from being a leader in business. Also economic hardship can really fuel growth in a nation. It has been seen both in case if both Japan and Germany. Both these nations were under severe economic trouble after World War II, but still they grew to be industry major countries in the world. The reason for such behavior of nations or organizations in particular can be understood from The theory of competitive advantage which says that there are other critical factors that determine the industry leadership. As per Michael Porter, the renowned Harvard business school professor sustainable industrial growth is hardly dependent on the above inherited factors. But it depends on groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in certain locations and termed them as clusters. These clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field. They grow on locations where enough resources and competences amass and reach a critical threshold, giving it a key position in a given economic branch of activity, with a decisive sustainable competitive advantage over others places, or even a world supremacy in that field. Porter says clusters can influence competition in three ways: They can increase the productivity of the companies in the cluster. They can drive innovation in the field. They can stimulate new businesses in the field. The competitive advantage of any industry or organization is determined by five forces of Porter. These five forces help the managers to focus on competitive forces that prevail in the industry and the possible threats to their organizations. Diagrammatic view of Porters five forces These are: Existing competitive rivalry among organizations in industry: The more that companies compete against one another for customers, ex- by lowering the prices of their products or by increasing advertising the lower is the level of industry profits. So this is a threat to the companies. Hence in order to sustain the companies may come up with new strategies and innovations in their technologies as well as business processes. Thus competition fuels growth in the industry as well as leads to innovations. Threat of new market entrants: The easier it is for companies to enter the industry, because for ex- barriers to entry, such as brand loyalty are low, more the likely it is for industry prices and hence the industry profits to be low. In the wake of such a situation the companies might go for further innovations or even differentiations in their products or businesses. Thus it helps in the evolution process of the companies. Bargaining power of buyers: It depends on the size of the customers. The bargaining powers of the customers come if they are large in size. So they can bargain to drive down the price of that output. As a result the industry producers might encounter low profits. So the bargaining power of buyers also decides the competitive advantage of the industry. Power of suppliers: The suppliers also have important role in deciding the competitive advantage of firms. If there are only few large suppliers of an important input, then suppliers can drive up the price of that input and expensive inputs result in lower profits for profits for companies in an industry. Threat of substitute products (including technology change): Often the output of one industry is a substitute for the output of another industry. Ex- plastic may be substitute for steel in some industry. When this type of substitutes exists in the industry companies cannot demand very high prices for it or customers will switch to the substitute and this constraint keeps their profits low. Again the above all factors lead the managers to take decisions in four business level strategies to gain competitive advantage. These are: Low cost strategy: It is the strategy where the company focuses all its energies to lower its costs in all the departments. As a result it can sell its products in lower costs than its rivals. Here though the companies are selling the products at low prices but since the production costs are low the company still makes profits. Ex- BIC competes Gillette with this strategy in razor blade industry. Focused low cost strategy: In such a strategy managers focus to serve only a segment of overall market and tries to be lowest cost organization in that segment. Differentiation strategy: It is the strategy where organizations products can be distinguished from the products of other organizations on factors like product design, quality, service, or after sales service. Here the process of differentiation may be unique and expensive. Coca cola, PepsiCo, PG practice such strategies. Focused differentiation strategy: it is the strategy that tries to serve only one segment of the overall market and aims to be the most differentiated organization serving that segment. For ex, BMW focuses on this strategy. The theory of competitive advantage can be also easily extended to the position of various nations. Here four factors have taken into consideration to nalayze the competitive position of the nations. Germany and Japan are most apt examples of such a competitive advantage. These are discussed as follows: Four factors for competitive advantage: The strategy, structure and rivalry of firms: As there is high competition among the firms, this competitive environment leads the firms to work harder for increase in productivity and innovation. The Japanese companies are cooperative at certain levels but they are also fiercely competitive. Thus it is the strategy and structure and rivalry of the firms that gives rise to excellence to the firms in terms of efficiency. Demand conditions: If the firms face challenging and demanding customers then they constantly face pressure to improve their competiveness by innovative products, high quality etc. Related supporting industry: A company prospers when supporting companies are located in the same area. Presence of supporting companies in the vicinity gives the firm added advantage in terms of gaining technological support and expertise. Factor conditions: Specialized factors of production are skilled labor, capital and infrastructure. Non-key factors or general use factors, such as unskilled labor and raw materials, can be obtained by any company and, hence, do not generate sustained competitive advantage. However, specialized factors involve heavy, sustained investment. They are more difficult to duplicate. This creates a competitive advantage, because if other firms cannot easily duplicate these factors, they are valuable. VALUE CHAIN Value Chain is a model that helps to analyze specific activities through which firms can create value and competitive advantage. A value chain is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. The business unit is the appropriate level for construction of a value chain, not the divisional level or corporate level. Products pass through all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of the independent activitys value. It is important not to mix the concept of the value chain with the costs occurring throughout the activities. A diamond cutter, as a profession, can be used to illustrate the difference of cost and the value chain. The cutting activity may have a low cost, but the activity adds much of the value to the end product, since a rough diamond is significantly less valuable than a cut diamond.Value Chain framework model Value Chain Model of Porter THE ACTIVITIES OF THE VALUE CHAIN Primary activities (line functions) Inbound Logistics. Includes receiving, storing, inventory control, transportation planning. Operations. Includes machining, packaging, assembly, equipment maintenance, testing and all other value-creating activities that transform the inputs into the final product. Outbound Logistics. The activities required to get the finished product at the customers: warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation, distribution management. Marketing and Sales. The activities associated with getting buyers to purchase the product, including: channel selection, advertising, promotion, selling, pricing, retail management, etc. Service. The activities that maintain and enhance the products value, including: customer support, repair services, installation, training, spare parts management, upgrading, etc. Support activities (Staff functions, overhead) Procurement. Procurement of raw materials, servicing, spare parts, buildings, machines, etc. Technology Development. Includes technology development to support the value chain activities. Such as: Research and Development, Process automation, design, redesign. Human Resource Management. The activities associated with recruiting, development (education), retention and compensation of employees and managers. Firm Infrastructure. Includes general management, planning management, legal, finance, accounting, public affairs, quality management, etc. A COST ADVANTAGE BASED ON THE VALUE CHAIN A firm may create a cost advantage: by reducing the cost of individual value chain activities, or by reconfiguring the value chain. Note that a cost advantage can be created by reducing the costs of the primary activities, but also by reducing the costs of the support activities. Recently there have been many companies that achieved a cost advantage by the clever use of Information Technology. Once the value chain has been defined, a cost analysis can be performed by assigning costs to the value chain activities. Porter identified 10 cost drivers related to value chain activities: Economies of scale. Learning. Capacity utilization. Linkages among activities. Interrelationships among business units. Degree of vertical integration. Timing of market entry. Firms policy of cost or differentiation. Geographic location. Institutional factors (regulation, union activity, taxes, etc.). A firm develops a cost advantage by controlling these drivers better than its competitors do. A cost advantage also can be pursued by Reconfiguring the value chain. Reconfiguration means structural changes such as: a new production process, new distribution channels, or a different sales approach. DIFFERENTIATION AND VALUE CHAIN A differentiation advantage can arise from any part of the value chain. For example, procurement of inputs that are unique and not widely available to competitors can create differentiation, as can distribution channels that offer high service levels. Differentiation stems from uniqueness. A differentiation advantage may be achieved either by changing individual value chain activities to increase uniqueness in the final product or by reconfiguring the value chain. Porter identified several drivers of uniqueness: Policies and decisions Linkages among activities Timing Location Interrelationships Learning Integration Scale (e.g. better service as a result of large scale) Institutional factors Many of these also serve as cost drivers. Differentiation often results in greater costs, resulting in tradeoffs between cost and differentiation. There are several ways in which a firm can reconfigure its value chain in order to create uniqueness. It can forward integrate in order to perform functions that once were performed by its customers. It can backward integrate in order to have more control over its inputs. It may implement new process technologies or utilize new distribution channels. Ultimately, the firm may need to be creative in order to develop a novel value chain configuration that increases product differentiation. TECHNOLOGY AND VALUE CHAIN Because technology is employed to some degree in every value creating activity, changes in technology can impact competitive advantage by incrementally changing the activities themselves or by making possible new configurations of the value chain. Various technologies are used in both primary value activities and support activities: Inbound Logistics Technologies Transportation Material handling Material storage Communications Testing Information systems Operations Technologies Process Materials Machine tools Material handling Packaging Maintenance Testing Building design operation Information systems Outbound Logistics Technologies Transportation Material handling Packaging Communications Information systems Marketing Sales Technologies Media Audio/video Communications Information systems Service Technologies Testing Communications Information systems Note that many of these technologies are used across the value chain. For example, information systems are seen in every activity. Similar technologies are used in support activities. In addition, technologies related to training, computer-aided design, and software development frequently are employed in support activities. To the extent that these technologies affect cost drivers or uniqueness, they can lead to a competitive advantage. LINKAGES BETWEEN VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES Value chain activities are not isolated from one another. Rather, one value chain activity often affects the cost or performance of other ones. Linkages may exist between primary activities and also between primary and support activities. Consider the case in which the design of a product is changed in order to reduce manufacturing costs. Suppose that inadvertently the new product design results in increased service costs; the cost reduction could be less than anticipated and even worse, there could be a net cost increase. Sometimes however, the firm may be able to reduce cost in one activity and consequently enjoy a cost reduction in another, such as when a design change simultaneously reduces manufacturing costs and improves reliability so that the service costs also are reduced. Through such improvements the firm has the potential to develop a competitive advantage. ANALYZING BUSINESS UNIT INTERRELATIONSHIPS Interrelationships among business units form the basis for a horizontal strategy. Such business unit interrelationships can be identified by a value chain analysis. Tangible interrelationships offer direct opportunities to create a synergy among business units. For example, if multiple business units require a particular raw material, the procurement of that material can be shared among the business units. This sharing of the procurement activity can result in cost reduction. Such interrelationships may exist simultaneously in multiple value chain activities. Unfortunately, attempts to achieve synergy from the interrelationships among different business units often fall short of expectations due to unanticipated drawbacks. The cost of coordination, the cost of reduced flexibility, and organizational practicalities should be analyzed when devising a strategy to reap the benefits of the synergies. OUTSOURCING VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES A firm may specialize in one or more value chain activities and outsource the rest. The extent to which a firm performs upstream and downstream activities is described by its degree of vertical integration. A thorough value chain analysis can illuminate the business system to facilitate outsourcing decisions. To decide which activities to outsource, managers must understand the firms strengths and weaknesses in each activity, both in terms of cost and ability to differentiate. Managers may consider the following when selecting activities to outsource: Whether the activity can be performed cheaper or better by suppliers. Whether the activity is one of the firms core competencies from which stems a cost advantage or product differentiation? The risk of performing the activity in-house. If the activity relies on fast-changing technology or the product is sold in a rapidly-changing market, it may be advantageous to outsource the activity in order to maintain flexibility and avoid the risk of investing in specialized assets. Whether the outsourcing of an activity can result in business process improvements such as reduced lead time, higher flexibility, reduced inventory, etc. Thus we can see that every aspect of an organization can be rightly explained in light of value chain analysis to judge the competitive position of the organization. Normally, the Value Chain of a company is connected to other Value Chains and is part of a larger Value Chain. Hence, developing a competitive advantage depends on how efficiently we can analyze and manage the entire Value Chain.

Chemistry Of Natural Water :: essays research papers

The purpose of this experiment is to explore the hardness of the water on campus. Hard water has been a problem for hundreds of years. One of the earliest references to the hardness or softness of water is in Hippocrates discourse on water quality in Fifth century B.C. Hard water causes many problems in both in the household and in the industrial world. One of the largest problems with hard water is that it tends to leave a residue when it evaporates. Aside from being aesthetically unpleasing to look at, the build up of hard water residue can result in the clogging of valves, drains and piping. This build up is merely the accumulation of the minerals dissolved in natural water and is commonly called scale. Other than clogging plumbing, the build up of scale poses a large problem in the industrial world. Many things that are heated are often cooled by water running thru piping. The build up of scale in these pipes can greatly reduce the amount of heat the cooling unit can draw away from the source it is trying to heat. This poses a potentially dangerous situation. The build up of excess heat can do a lot of damage; boilers can explode, containers can melt etc. On the flip side of the coin, a build up of scale on an object being heated, a kettle for example, can greatly reduce the heat efficiency of the kettle. Because of this, it takes much more energy to heat the kettle to the necessary temperature. In the industrial world, this could amount to large sums of money being thrown into wasted heat. In addition to clogging plumbing and reducing heating efficiency, the build up of hard water also adversely affects the efficiency of many soaps and cleansers. The reason for this is because hard water contains many divalent or sometimes even polyvalent ions. These ions react with the soap and although they do not form precipitates, they prevent the soap from doing it's job. When the polyvalent ions react with the soap, they form an insoluble soap scum. This is once again quite unpleasing to look at and stains many surfaces. The sole reason for all these problems arising from hard water is because hard water tends to have higher than normal concentrations of these minerals, and hence it leaves a considerable amount more residue than normal water. The concentration of these minerals is what is known as the water's Total Dissolved Solids or TDS for short. This is merely a way of expressing how many particles are dissolved in water. The TDS vary from waters of different sources, however they are present in at least some quantity in all

Essay example --

INTRODUCTION Bluetooth is a wireless LAN technology designed to connect devices of different functions such as telephones, notebooks, computers (desktop and laptop), cameras, printers, and coffee makers. A Bluetooth LAN is an ad hoc network, which means that the network is formed spontaneously but sometimes it called gadgets and make a network called a piconet. The cable-free, or wireless, technology was initially conceived by Ericson in 1994, when the company began a study to investigate the feasibility of a low-power, low-cost radio interface between mobile phones and their accessories. The company’s goal was to eliminate the need for cables. Bluetooth technology was intended to hasten the convergence of voice and data to handheld devices, such as cellular telephones and portable computers. Through the efforts of its developers and the members of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), it is now emerging with features and applications that not only remain true to its original intent, but also provide for broader uses of its technology. The word Bluetooth is taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Bluetooth. King Bluetooth had been influential in uniting Scandinavian Europe during an era when the region was torn apart by wars and feuding clans. Nowadays, Bluetooth technology is the implementation of a protocol defined by the IEEE 802.15 standard. The standard defines a wireless personal-area network (PAN) operable in an area the size of a room or a hall. APPLICATIONS 1 Bluetooth Components 1.1. Element of a complete bluetooth †¢ an RF portion for receiving and transmitting data †¢ a module with a baseband microprocessor †¢ memory †¢ an interface to the host device (mobile phone) 1.2. The RF por... ...example, allowing their phones to be operated only by their Bluetooth hands-free headset and no-one else's. This is called device-level security. They can also restrict the things that different Bluetooth can do with other devices using what's called service-level security. Conclusion As you can see, the Bluetooth specification is definitely real and is being widely adopted by industry leaders. The possibilities for new applications is very exciting with this versatile technology. Hopefully this article has provided a basic understanding of the Bluetooth architecture so that you can delve into the 1082 page Bluetooth specification or some of our future, more detailed articles on the Wireless Developer Network. Reference 1) http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Low-Energy.aspx 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

The Positive Impact of Legalizing Marijuana Essay -- Drugs Legalize Le

The Positive Impact of Legalizing Marijuana For many years, the United States government has prohibited drugs such as marijuana from sale in the marketplace. Yet, with prohibition, marijuana use has decreased only minimally. Because of prohibition, the media has publicized only the bad aspects of marijuana use. What many people do not realize are the many positive aspects of marijuana legalization, including new medical cures, cleaner and more efficient industry, and reduced marijuana usage. Marijuana, as most people commonly know it, is really a plant called hemp, or 'cannabis sativa'. There are other plants called hemp, but cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. 'Hemp' is any durable plant used since prehistory for many purposes. Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it produces the toughest cloth, named 'canvass'. The cannabis plant also produces three other very important products that other plants do not (in usable form): seed, pulp, and medicine. To understand why hemp is illegal, it is necessar y that we take a look at the law prohibiting hemp today. The law that prohibits hemp is called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970". The Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-513) overhauled the nation's drug regulation apparatus. Title II of the law, known as the Controlled Substances Act, established criteria for determining which drugs should be controlled, mechanisms for reducing the availability of controlled drugs, and a structure of penalties for illegal distribution and possession of controlled drugs. Marijuana, hashish, and THC are listed in Schedule I, the most restrictive classification. We also have to understand the reasons why marijuana, the drug,... ...dystonia can also attest to benefits derived from smoking marijuana. In 1981, it was reported that patients with idiopathic dystonia improved when they smoked marijuana. This is a group of disorders characterized by abnormal movements and postures resulting from prolonged spasms or muscle contractions. Animal studies confirmed that cannabinoids might have antidysotonic properties, and scientists undertook another human experiment in 1986 that showed the same results. There are many uses for marijuana, and many are unexplored. Actually, some are explored in depth because of interest, and others are left behind. There are probably many other uses that have not been found because of the lack of experimentation on the drug as a whole. If the drug is legalized, there will be much more research done on the drug, and hopefully the drug will begin to be approved for use.

Indian Health Service: Creating a Climate for Change Essay

IHS is a very complex organization that serves the American Indian and Alaskan Native population. Effective health services for American Indians and Alaskan Natives had to integrate the philosophies of the tribes with those of the medical community. Because not all tribes signed treaties with the United States some people with Indian heritage were not eligible to participate with the federal government programs. Eligible people with Indian heritage were provided various services throughout the IHS programs; however, some IHS locations did not have the necessary equipment or facilities to provide comprehensive services. With the changing external environment and new demands, increasing need for services and shifting political picture, IHS must change internally to increase efficiency, effectiveness and accountability. IHS is very dedicated to respecting the local traditions and beliefs of tribes. IHS has not developed an adequate third-party payor system, has difficulty recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals and the population IHS serves has health status below the rest of the US. IHS must focus on implementing the Indian self-determination in order to increase the health status of the population to gain continued congressional funding and support. IHS wants to put healthcare back into the hands of the tribes. This is difficult because each tribe has different concepts of health and it is difficult to accommodate such a wide variety. Because of the scarce resources it will be difficult to determine which decisions and services should be centralized rather than decentralized. In order to implement the change, IHS should provide honest and open communication about the changes and how they will affect each tribe individually. IHS should also be responsive to criticisms and the individual traditions of each tribe. IHS should evaluate tribal satisfaction and health status outcomes to monitor the progress of the change. Key Issues 1. Why is the balancing of centralization and decentralization a major challenge faced by Dr. Trujillo? 2. What factors could impede changes to the Indian Health System? 3. How can Dr. Trujillo overcome some of the resistance to change? Situational Analysis Strengths Improved health status and decreased mortality in tribes 62% of healthcare workers were of American Indian or Alaska Native heritage Expansion of services provided to tribes Established scholarship and loan payback programs to increase the number of Indian healthcare professionals Weaknesses No third party payor billing system Recruitment and retention of professional staff Population’s health status is below the rest of the US Complicated organizational structure Limited equipment or facilities in certain areas Not collecting co-payments or deductibles Opportunities Increase the health status of the IHS population to gain continued congressional funding Indian self-determination Integrating the philosophies of the tribes with those of the medical community Federal recognition of tribes Strategic business plan to focus of revenue, cost control internal business improvements Threats No after-inflation increase in budget allocation Providing additional health services with little resources Tribes asking for more control over healthcare services Increasing funding for tribal contracts and compacts Stakeholders calling for major changes Organizational Strategy/Implementation Strategy 1. Why is the balancing of centralization and decentralization a major challenge faced by Dr. Trujillo? Stakeholders in IHS are calling for major changes while there is an evident need for new and innovative ways for funding. Balancing the centralization and decentralization will be a major challenge for Dr. Trujillo. A major challenge will be to determine how to shift the responsibility and accountability to the tribes. Dr. Trujillo will have to determine who will be responsible for supervision of these responsibilities and if adequate resources are available for the shift. It  is Dr. Trujillo’s hopes that this will increase tribal participation in IHS programs. It is often difficult to monitor and gather information in decentralized healthcare. It is also difficult to compare centralized and decentralized data. With the very different interpretations of healthcare in each tribe, it will also be a challenge to determine which services to centralize and decentralize. Financi al resources will have to be considered in the evaluation of centralized and decentralized services. It is important that tribes be able to fund their specific health programs but must also be able to stay within the allotted budget determined by IHS. This will also place an administrative burden on the tribes. It is important that the IHS determine the decisions and services most beneficial to the tribe to be decentralized in order to be efficient and effective in those communities. 2. What factors could impede changes to the Indian Health System? Lack of resources in certain areas and different tribal concepts of health could impede changes to the IHS. Without the resources necessary to transfer responsibility of health services over to tribes, the acceptance of tribal healthcare will be difficult. If resources are not available, tribes will not be responsive to the services offered. Determining the differing concepts in tribes could become conflicting with resources at times. The IHS has already tremendously improved the health status of its current population therefore, if tribal concept of health could be individually identified, IHS could reallocate resources and continue to provide primary care and education programs to those areas that would be most responsive. No increase in funding is another factor that could impede changes to the IHS. As tribes are continuing to sign treaties to be recognized by the federal government the service population is increas ing. Without sufficient funding it will be difficult to transfer the responsibility of services into the tribes. The shift in disease patterns and increase in elderly populations will only contribute to the increasing financial costs. Funding of IHS services also makes it difficult to recruit healthcare personnel. IHS could generate more revenue if the concerns about billing and collections were addressed properly. Proper training and controls would have to be implemented to adequately establish these services. The complicated organizational structure of IHS could also impede changes. The responsibilities of the IHS are interrelated and spread over  several organizations. It may become difficult to determine responsibilities in formal and less formal relationships especially if these responsibilities will expand into the tribes. 3. How can Dr. Trujillo overcome some of the resistance to change? A strategic business plan is already in process of being developed by a workgroup of tribal leaders, IHS personnel and private sector consultants. In order to overcome the resistance to change Dr. Trujillo must provide open communication between all stakeholders. Opening communication between all stakeholders will enable all concerns to be brought forward and addressed in the business plan. The goals of the new business plan should be communicated to each tribe efficiently with an explanation of how the plan will affect each tribe in meeting their individual goals. Regular meetings should be held to discuss the impact the business plan is having on the individual tribes and what concern or progresses the tribes are making. Opening communication can help reorganizing the current structure. IHS will be able to learn what concerns tribes have, how to train employees and the best way to implement the new changes. IHS shou ld be very observant during the change and respond to the tribe’s complaints while also praising their accomplishments. Starting out with pilot groups for certain services or ideas can be a great way to demonstrate how new services can be effective. This will influence other tribes to actually observe how a change may be able to work for them while also giving them a model to follow. Select individuals in each tribe should be identified and invited as a key member to participate in meetings to help lead the implementation of key strategies and health improvements. These individuals will be able to connect with members of their own tribes and communicate change in a way that honors the traditions and values of their tribe. Benchmarks for Success IHS will want to determine if their plans for change are successful. Below are multiple milestones that IHS should evaluate to monitor and determine if the implemented changes are successful: Are tribal culture, values, religion and traditions are respected when delivering health services Are proper resources being utilized to meet the individual tribe’s needs Are healthcare services being delivered more efficiently Are the changes meeting the health needs of the individual tribe Are billings and collections being captured accurately.  Is health status improving in different areas in different tribes Is health status improving in comparison to the rest of the US.