A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America | Book Review

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America | Book Review A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, a novel by Bill Bryson takes you through the journey of a man looking to connect with more then just his local environment, but explore nature and go where many do not dare to go. Although Bryson does not touch every single mile he wishes to, at the end of his journey he fulfills more then ever imagined. Bryson creates a sense of place in a variety of different ways. Brysons feelings towards his preparations for the Appalachian Trail give us a better understanding of the sense of place. Are you saying, Dave, that I pay $250 for a pack and it doesnt have straps and it isnt water proof? Does it have a bottom in it? (Bryce, 10). Bryce heads to his local sporting goods store to talk with an expert on the trail. Dave Mengle tells Bryce he must purchase sleeping bags, boots, tents, thermal clothing, cook sets, and packs. We can infer that the trail is not simple and requires previous preparation in order to assure ones safety. Bryce begins to realize that this task may not be as easy as he thought and must prepare for any dangerous encounters he may face with nature. We get a more clear view of the sense of place and began to see the surroundings that Bryce encounters when they enter what seems to be his favorite part of the trip so far, the Shenandoah National Park. He enjoys the lively scenery which includes grouse, deer, owls, and turkeys. Not to mention the easier terrain, this being their favorite part. However, not every animal encounter is pleasant. Bryson remarks, I think I have a right to be a trifle alarmed, pardon me. Im in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, staring at a bear, with a guy who has nothing to defend himself with but a pair of nail clippers. (Bryson, 142). Bryson becomes fearful when he hears an animal in their cam, but this quickly fades when he realizes that the bear only wishes to drink from a nearby stream. As Bryson says, It was a miracle, I swear to God. Just when I was about to lie down and give myself to the wolves and bobcats, I look up and theres a white blaze on a tree and I look down and Im standing on the AT. (Bryson, p. 266) We can conclude that towards the end of the novel a final connection was made between Bryson and Mother Nature. Although Bryson didnt complete every step of the 2,200-mile trail he realized that this is not necessary in order to get the fulfillment he desired before seen starting his journey through the Appalachian Trail. First, Bryson demonstrates human-environment interaction when he must quickly learn to adapt to his environment and knows that this is necessary in order for him to begin his hike down the Appalachian Trail. One of the more clear themes is location of the story which takes place on the Appalachian Trail. The AT is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. Brysons new location to Hanover, New Hampshire gives him the urge to begin traveling the trail after coming across part of the trail. There were many landmarks throughout Brysons journey to demonstrate place. Springer Mountain is the southern trailhead of the AT. Amicalola Falls Lodge is seven miles from their starting point at Springer Mountain in northern Georgia. While they are still in northern Georgia, the trail takes Bryson and Katz over a narrow ledge along Big Butt Mountain. Finally, Bishop Boarding House welcomes Bryson and Katz as they em erge from the Maine woods. Mrs. Bishop assures them that the woods will still be there if they decide to try again.

Todays Family :: essays research papers

Surviving in the Ross Sea   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emperor penguins and Weddell seals are the only marine predators that breath air and live year round in Antarctica Ross Sea. How these two animals are able to live among each other when there diets, hunting depths and area distribution are shared is the question. Ross Sea is called home by six emperor penguin colonies, approximately 180,000 birds, and about 50,000 Weddell seals. It is important, when considering competition between these two species to know that each share above and below water resources however it is below water prey where problems may occur. Several items can be considered to determine true competition overlap. These items include prey selection, using different hunting depths and habitat separation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fish account for most of the diet of both predators (99.3 % for seals and 89-95% for penguins). To take it one step further, Pleuragramma antarcticum, or Antarctica silverfish is the primary prey for each. Of the fish consumed, 88.6% of penguin’s fish diet and 99.3% of the seals diet consist of the Antarctic silverfish. This species of penguins and seals do not select fish of different classes despite body and mouth size difference. Seal prey is slightly larger, yet still considered juvenile as are penguin prey. Absence of larger prey in the penguin diet may be due to the fact that all samples were collected during chick rearing periods. It is possible that adult birds would capture larger fish for themselves and return with slightly smaller sizes for their young. Although seals and penguins hunt for the same size and species of fish, this does not restrict them from cohabitation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next we will consider the depth at which they hunt. Both, seal and penguins are excellent divers. In order to dive at great depths, these species move oxygen away from the lungs and into the muscles and blood. This allows them to store 3-4 times more oxygen than the average land mammal. In addition, seals and penguins use other techniques to reduce oxygen intake. Examples of this include the reduction of heart rates during long dives and an energy conserving swim pattern called burst and glide. It is known that penguins and seals have the ability to reach similar depths, however, the time below surface varies between the two animals.

Contents of the dead mans pocket :: essays research papers

In the story, â€Å"Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,† the main character is Tom Benecke. As the story progresses, he is faced with many decisions. He is forced to act quickly and because of this, many things about him change. In the story, Tom is ambitious, self-centered, and impatient. These three traits change significantly throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom is a very ambitious person when it comes to his work. He is caught up in getting a promotion from work by doing a project. Tom just focuses on the â€Å"big picture,† which is his future, rather than the â€Å"small picture,† which is what his wife is doing. This trait changes at the end when he decides to go to the movies with his wife. When the paper flew out the window for the second time, he realized that he can do the paper over again but he can never take back that one specific night he could have spent with his wife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning, Tom is very self-centered and preoccupied with his work. He finds what he wants to do more important than what his wife wants to do that night. Once faced with the reality of death, he realizes how important his wife is to him. This forces him to be strong and stay alive, for her sake. The only reason he made it back into his house was because of how much he cared for her. Tom then decides to go find her at the movies, which shows that he has become less self-centered and more aware of his wife’s feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom knows that his project can wait, but he has to have it done so his boss can read it over the weekend. The fact that his work couldn’t wait until he got back from the movies shows what an impatient person he is. When Tom is out on the ledge retrieving his paper, he is forced to be very patient and to take things one step at a time.

Russian Media as a conveyer ideology and a tool of hegemony

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, news regarding Russia’s economic and political state has been spread abroad to other countries through the work of the media. The ideas represented in the Russian media have been responsible for the perception that the acquisition of material goods is not only desirable but indispensable to life and normality. The influence of the media might be considered hegemony, which is represented by the control of one group (the media) over a larger population (the Russians). This control manifests itself in the perceptions of prosperity that are held by many Russians, largely because of the glamorization of Western culture as presented in the media. Because of the influence that this perception has had over the lives of many Russians, it is often thought on the one hand that all Russians currently live their lives in abject poverty. Because many cannot currently afford the expensive things they see Westerners enjoying, they consider themselves as living at a low standard, and this perception is also passed on to the West. On the other hand, it is also believed in some circles that the pomp that can be seen in the major Russian cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg is an accurate measure of how all Russians live. This too has stemmed from the above-mentioned media hegemony and the perception of material wealth that is passed on to the public as â€Å"normal.† The media has, therefore, been responsible for bombarding consumers with such views that promote wealth and materialism as being indispensable to any successful economic society, and this has led to inaccurate perceptions of the Russian economic situation. During the Soviet Union era, Communist ideology acted as a barrier to the entrance of Western ideas and views into the minds of the Russian public. However, with the fall of Communism and the deregulation of the media, an ideological hegemony began to arise. This hegemony has been fueled by the media. As a result, Western ideas of capitalism and materialism began to mingle freely with Russian socio-economic ideology. This ideological change is evident in the attitude of Yegor Gaidar, Acting Prime Minister of Russia following the Soviet Union’s collapse. He said, â€Å"Our main goal [is] the construction in our country of a stable and, at the same time, dynamic and prosperous Western-type society† (Diligensky & Chugrov, 2000, p. 14). This opinion was made public to the Russians through the media. Gaidar continued to explain that the main difference between the Russian and the Western civilizations at the time was the development of a market economy and the right of citizens to own property. At such a crucial period of change, this ideology held by the leader also found its way into the minds of the Russians via the media. Because of this, more and more Russians began to strive for the material possessions characteristic of the typical Western society (Diligensky & Chugrov, 2000). It is by the hegemonic efforts of the media that these and other ideas have been placed in the minds of the Russians. The effectiveness of the media in effecting this change in the Russian perception of Western civilization has been demonstrated in public opinion polls taken by Russian citizens. The citizens of the West are generally considered by Russians to have such enviable qualities as wealth, inviolable rights to property, high compensation for labor, and talent for entrepreneurship (Diligensky & Chugrov, 2000). This can even more convincingly be attributed to the effect of the media as it has been noted by Russian thinkers that the order in which these qualities are valued by Russians does not represent the true hierarchy of value given to them by Westerners. Rather, it represents the extent to which these needs are perceived as unsatisfied within the lives of the Russians. The Russian media has played the role of portraying as indispensable those Western values that correspond with areas of Russian lack, and the media has made these values â€Å"especially visible against the background of impoverishment and economic hardships in Russia† (2000, p. 19-20). Because of the sheer visibility of the way Westerners live, which is made possible by the existence of the media in all its forms, Russians have perceived it as necessary to strive for these idealistic material values. In addition, their lack of material wealth has been perceived by those who look on as evidence that the Russians live in abject poverty. The media’s hegemonic control over the minds and perceptions of Russians and Westerners alike is evident in other ways. The ideas put forth to Russians via the press (as well as via media access to programming originating in the West) have led to what has been termed the capitalist revolution. With the West as its model, Russia has evolved into a society that contains a â€Å"business elite† (Lavelle, 2004). Within this society, the rise of the business elite has led to wealthy and propertied class that has become very visible in both the Russian and Western media. These persons, who are often celebrated by the media, are seen in such personalities as business tycoon Andrei Melnichenko. He has been publicized as the person who has had a large hand in the transformation of the Moscow MDM Group into a corporation that grosses three billion dollars a year (BusinessWeek, 2002). The media broadcasts the lifestyles of these extremely wealthy Russians who have a core of senior-level employees that also enjoy the fruits of capitalism. These persons live publicly in the very affluent and expensive areas—cities, such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. These cities now boast very high costs and standards of living in a country that had been widely perceived as being filled with persons who live below the poverty line, and this is shown to the world through the media. In fact, according to a worldwide cost of living survey, St. Petersburg ranks as having the 12th highest cost of living in the world. Moscow’s reputation is even more astounding as it ranks as the world’s most expensive city, (Mercer Consulting, 2006). Despite the general Western perception of Russia as having a struggling market economy, the media is now beginning to demonstrate that Russians have been able to afford the highest living standards and costs in the world. Two major implications derive from the fact that the two major Russian cities have been ranked among the most expensive in the world. One is that the perceptions of this country generally engendered by the media are to some extent quite erroneous. Many Russians are as able to afford material goods as their Western counterparts, and poverty is not the general state of all the persons who reside in the former Soviet Union. In fact, according to business reports, Russia’s general standard of living has been on the rise in recent years. This is demonstrated by the fact that its citizens have begun to feel a higher level of security in their economic situation (BusinessWeek, 2002). While in the early 1990’s inflation rates had been in triple digit numbers, by 2002 this had fallen to a mere 17 per cent. By that time too, the stock market index had risen by 27 per cent in the year, and Russians were being reported as â€Å"starting to trust Russia [because] money is coming back† (2002, p. 13). These views are now being over-represented in Western perceptions of Russia as a way of counteracting the previous media-created perception of the poverty of Russians. However, the fact that Moscow and St. Petersburg fall among the most expensive cities hides the fact that once one leaves these highly publicized cities, one is bombarded by a stark decrease in standard of living. What is not represented now in the Western media is this exaggeration of the capitalist gap (between the very rich and the very poor). The media largely demonstrates to the Westerners the wealthy side of Russia—perhaps as a means of de-emphasizing the prevalent idea of Russians as suffering in abject poverty. The media’s hegemonic influence urges Westerners to see the affluence of the large cities without giving a wider view of the whole country. This view would demonstrate the steep decline in living standards as one leaves these economic centers. The media represents a body that to a large extent controls Russians’ and Westerners’ perceptions of how Russia’s wealth compares to that of the rest of the world. This media hegemony carries out a two-fold deception, in which all Russians were once considered by Westerners as living in abject poverty, but that now is beginning to demonstrate all Russians as being wealthy. No balance appears to have been struck between the two views, as the media fails to present an accurately proportioned view of the situation. The media also demonstrates its hegemony in its ability to coerce Russians into viewing the property of Westerners the true measure of economic success. This fact is widely considered as a reason for the biased view of the Russian situation: Russians have been found to grasp for these material things, and these possessions often hide their true areas of lack. References BusinessWeek. (2002). â€Å"Russia’s new wealth.† Business Week Online. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   on March 26, 2007 Diligensky, G. & S. Chugrov. (2000). â€Å"The West† in Russian mentality. North Atlantic Treaty   Ã‚   Organization. Retrieved on March 26, 2007 Lavelle, P. (2004). â€Å"Forbes’ Paul Klebnikov: a victim of political terrorism.† In the National   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interest. July. Retrieved on March 26, 2007 Mercer Consulting. (2006). â€Å"Moscow is the world’s most expensive city while Leipzig is the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cheapest one in Europe.† City Mayors Economics. Retrieved on March 26, 2007 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in whatever form is a direct attack upon a prestigious educational institution particularly the faculty concerned. It humiliates the integrity of the University and further, it dehumanizes the personality of the teaching personnel by insulting and injuring his individuality.According to Miami Dade College Manual of Procedures, cheating during examinations, collaboration and misrepresentation of work, com/online-plagiarism-checker/">plagiarism as well as stealing examinations or course material and falsifying records constitute the subtle â€Å"criminal† act of academic dishonesty.As such Policy IV-5 on Student Rights and Responsibilities with Statutory Reference FLORIDA STATUTE 1006.50 has been implemented by said college.Dishonest activities as mentioned above will not only demean and depreciate the values of students but may disturb them psychologically and emotionally. Somehow students may feel a tinge of guilt and maybe tension resulting to stress which could further affect their school performance and may not facilitate learning.For whatever it is worth, the student performing acts of academic dishonesty will always be at the losing end especially when caught and penalized. Worse, it may destroy his future by committing an offensive record thus limiting his opportunities to more promising careers.Submitted requirements by students must stand for the efforts they exerted in completing such. Cheating is the unauthorized use of information or study guides in any academic exercise (UCSB, 1995). It may include copying answers from others taking the same examination. Using irrelevant notes written on any material is also prohibited.In take-home examinations, sharing of answers is also a form of cheating. Tampering of examination results and taking examinations for another person and asking someone else to take your examination are also taboo in colleges and universities.And among the latest innovations of cheating is utilizing the assi stance of essay-writing companies especially those found in the Internet. The so-called â€Å"Internet revolution† provides very accessible ways of helping students finish various types of paper work while earning.Many writing jobs are open in the Internet which caters this need for papers in different academic levels — high school, undergraduate, masters and Ph.D.   Any student may find this convenient and relaxing plus a guaranteed good grade, however, learning and money are sacrificed in this method. Writing is not enhanced and may hinder the development of this skill among future academicians and degree holders.Another huge misconduct related to academic dishonesty among students, professors and researchers is plagiarism. Plagiarism is academic theft (UCSB, 1995). It is stealing and claiming the words and thoughts of another person without acknowledging it through proper citations. Thus, giving the author due credit is denied.Proper citations and documentation mus t be given in quoted lines or messages, paraphrased or summarized lines, and unique ideas, facts and data given by a particular author. Plagiarism has expanded in the advent of Internet technology.The â€Å"cut and paste† method of making papers has become frequent though some Internet programs to check paper works for plagiarism are now advocated to minimize this unethical behavior. As a consequence, penalties for plagiarism are oftentimes harsh.High school students may fail on particular subjects where they plagiarized certain papers or projects. In colleges and universities, some policies allow for failure of the subject, suspension from attending classes and worst, expulsion from the institution.In Miami Dade College, sanctions for academic dishonesty are categorized as Level I and Level II. For serious offenses, there are preliminary meetings conducted between the faculty and the student.After which, a Notice of Charge is issued by the Dean upon the recommendation from t he Department Chairperson if the sanction belongs to Level II. The hearing process follows in the presence of the Academic Hearing Committee (AHC) together with the parties involved in the case. The AHC then renders the decision as to the fate of the guilty party.Collaboration and misrepresentation of work is also common among students especially the tardy ones and overly busy types and those involved in too many extracurricular activities.Academic dishonesty in this case is hard to determine though as some professors may assign papers and projects by partners or groups, nevertheless, the pair or members of the group must work independently and do their share in making the requirement successful. Inventing data and manipulating results are also huge immoral offenses. The collaborators should give full credit to those who contributed to the work done.Each writer should remember that one mistake of academic dishonesty may cost you your name and credibility in the academe which unfortu nately is binding and irrevocable. It is difficult to regain back the respect you have earned as a student, professor, author or researcher.Asking for assistance is not bad, however, it is but wise to use this other’s help only as a basis for our work. The best papers have always been our original ideas which can be appreciated more perhaps by our readers.ReferencesMiami Dade College. (2006). Miami Dade College Manual of Procedures. Retrieved November 3, 2007, from http://mdc.edu/procedures/University of California Santa Barbara. (1995). The Academic Dishonesty Question: A Guide to an Answer through Education, Prevention, Adjudication, and Obligation Academic Dishonesty Though a rapidly grown trend not only in our higher institutions of learning but also the lower levels, cheating in the course work in any form ranging from the class work to the main examinations is a terrible breach of the rules in most institutions and the education system as a whole.In an attempt to solve the suicidal issue to the academic lives of the students, many theories dealing with the sociology around the student’s life have been used as we shall examine in the proceeding chapters of our paper.Does Cheating Really Occur?From his book (Haaland, 2006, p. 67) informs us that a recent study conducted by The Rutgers University and The University of Guelph in a sample of 15,000 university students in five provinces admitted to several dishonesty behaviors in the examination which were sampled as: 53% of them admitting to having cheated on a written project, admitting to have cheated in an exam was in 18% of the students and many other testimonies from the students which showed how much the habit is rampant in schools.The same survey also indicated that 48% of teachers and lecturers admitted to having caught students cheating in exams though they had no tangible evidence to take the issue seriously (Haaland, 2006, p. 98) by punishing the student or reporting the matter to the concerned authorities within the school.What Methods Do the Students Employ in Cheating?From our sociology, it is common knowledge that the different structures in the society we live in go a great mileage in determining the shape that our behaviors conform to (Kutscher, 2008, p. 37). It is due to this basic reason that we are going to view the methods our students use to cheat in reference to the major social theories:The Conflict TheoryAs (Kutscher, 2008, p. 73) displays the aspect in the theory, we can deduce that the various units in the society are always involved in innovations as a way of outsmarting each other in the societal ranks. To a great extent, this has resulted to students collaborating with other students with an aim of outdoing a certain group in the classroom. This ends up with the learners liaising with each other to perfume the course work hence the personal assessment is not affected. Though it heavily leans on the culture and the intellectual phenomenon of the people, postmodernism results in to innovations that seek to improve the life standards of the people. In our current educational world, modernization has come a long way in impacting positively to the system though it is to a large extent creating big loopholes for our students to maximize on for cheating.The internet as (Kutscher, 2008, p. 57) tells us has created a healthy avenue for the lazy students as with the click of the mouse, they can call an assignment or research done. Superior papers.com just to mention but one of them is a website where the students easily and at very affordable fees purchase already written essay for presentation to the teacher.Quite a highly technical method that the students use to cheat in the course of their learning in the modern world unlike those methods that were traditionally used. Although traditional, some of the methods are still used by students today like writin g answers on body parts and on pieces of cloth or paper as (Kutscher, 2008, p. 98) puts it. In an attempt to eradicate the wide spread social evil of cheating in students, identification of the contributing factors to the trend is very important as it gives us a leeway to follow. Some of the most striking reasons are inclusive of:  Conformity Social Stigma(Kutscher, 2007, p. 121) partially lays the blame of the trend on the fact that the student culture is progressively transmitted to the students either knowingly or otherwise. Students are coiled in to viewing their work as more collaborative and not individual as it used to be in the traditional times. This smoothly leads even innocent students in to the poor practice and it therefore becomes a trend that almost has to be followed.Class systemUn due pressure on the students in terms of the expectations laid on them in the classroom can also be cited as a contributing factor to the increased rate of students insincerity in the institutions of learning (Kutscher, 2007, p. 71).The limited nature of time for students to per form their duties may be an explanation to some of the cheating as they are striving to beat the deadlines that are tightly placed. (Kutscher, 2007, p. 83) adds that compromising situations in the classroom may also push the student to cheating like punishment set in the classroom due to failure may force a poor student to cheat as away of running out of the punishment.RecommendationsFrom the well-built facts in the pages above, we are able to single out one problem in the whole scenario. Concerned authorities keep on repeating to the students not to cheat yet they do not sit down with them and seriously deliberate on the matter.By doing this, the teachers can be made aware of more reason why students cheat from the students themselves. On the other hand, the students will also be officially made aware of the harms of cheating not only to their chances in the school but also their intellectual lives.Work CitedHaaland, B (2006), Sociology: A Brief Introduction: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Hi gher   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education, CanadaKutscher, M (2007), Kids in the Syndrome Mix: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Boston Kutscher, M (2008), Living Without Breaks: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Boston

Exploring Gender Conventions in Film Essay

The American melodrama film, Mildred Pierce, directed by Todd Haynes, was based on the 1941 novel, written by James Cain. Mildred Pierce explores the roles of gender and class during the economic hardships of the stock market crash and the depression. This novel is a very effective representation of the 1930’s and 1940’s turmoil. An interview with Todd Haynes titled, â€Å"Something That is Dangerous and Arousing and Transgressive,† was done by Julia Leyda; and in that interview, Todd Haynes explains that women, â€Å"struggle with their embodiment, their identity, their social positions† (Leyda). James Cain created Mildred to be a woman who expressed many different attributes that women would not normally have during this time period and with the happening of the Great Depression. In his novel, Mildred represents a lower-middle-class woman who went through a divorce. Although she is a single parent in the beginning of the book, or as her friend Lucy calls it, a â€Å"grass widow,† she has the ambition to work and help Bert provide for their family. This book touches on a different aspect of gender expectations because during this time period many of the men did not have jobs and the women were the one’s working and earning money. This is evident through her ex-husband Bert, and her new husband (later in the film), Monty. Neither of them had jobs, she refers to them as loafs, and she does all that she can to provide for them. Mildred is embarrassed by some of the job offerings she got and does not want to disappoint her self-aggrandizing daughter. As mentioned in chapter five, it is obvious that Mildred fears Veda. The novel reads: She was afraid of Veda, of her snobbery, her contempt, her unbreakable spirit. And she was afraid of something that seemed always lurking under Veda’s bland, phony toniness: a cold, cruel, coarse desire to torture her mother, to humiliate her, above everything else, to hurt her. Mildred apparently yearned for warm affection from this child[†¦ ] but all she ever got was a stagy, affected counterfeit. (Cain 86) Mildred was constantly trying to impress Veda and her dreams of becoming rich, whereas in this family’s present state, it was almost impossible. Mildred even had to break down and beat Veda because she had been so vicious toward her when all Mildred ever did was bust her ass to earn enough money for her children. And for a while, Mildred even kept work a secret so that her own children would not have to worry about their family falling apart and finding out that they were lower middle class. One really important part of this book was when Mildred stood up to Veda and said, â€Å"You may not realize it, but everything you have costs money, from the maid that you ordered to go traipsing with you to the pool, to your food, and everything else that you have† (Cain 85). Mildred has a strong will to keep her family strong, but at the same time she faces two weaknesses: sleeping with men, and having a strong devotion to please her daughter Veda, who lives in a fantasy wishing she were upper-class. It is odd because she resorts to sex when she encounters stress and her sexual life is her sense of freedom; but when it comes to her work life, she is constantly on the edge and she does not indulge in it. Work is often what causes the stress in her life. In addition, Monty has the same fantasy as Veda and in the end of the film we see Mildred being pushed away from both of them, and eventually they end up together. Throughout the whole novel, Veda and Monty represent the upper-class and Mildred admires Veda so much because she is a reminder that there is hope to get to a better state during the depression. At one point in the novel Mildred even tells Veda that everything good happens on account of her. Haynes focuses on gender and class as huge themes in this film and he states that: what’s so fascinating about Mildred as a character is the way she has all of this potential for incredible productive and sexual success: a willfulness and a sense that she deserves it. Of course, there are all kinds of things she has to overcome initially, the sense of pride, before she can go out and get a job and work her way up the ladder and discover her innate talents[†¦ ] while at the same time being so thoroughly harnessed to a whole other set of terms that have everything to do with feminine identification and subjectivity, and mothering, and class. (Leyda) After Mildred accepts the fact that she must inherit a job, she becomes very good at what she does and she takes all of her domestic attributes and converts them into the work-field through taking up a job at a restaurant. Compared to the other women and families during the time of depression, many of them lost jobs, large amounts of money, homes, family, and many other things. With these important aspects on the line, Mildred remains strong and uses her willpower to overcome the obstacles thrown her way. This touches on class a lot and Mildred does a phenomenal job at keeping her family secure through this very tough time. As a lower middle class woman stuck in the depression, Mildred was very resilient and hard working toward recovering from the stock market crash and the depression which left her and her family with almost nothing. Another film that deals a lot with gender is the 2009 spine-chilling horror film Splice, directed by Vincenzo Natali. This film features two young genetic engineering scientists, Elsa and Clive, who are trying to discover a new protein for pharmaceutical purposes. The blog post on shaviro. com about this movie reads, â€Å"Splice never departs from being a genre film; but the way it twists genre conventions is powerful and original† (Shaviro). This movie reworks some of the themes and motifs that appeared in Frankenstein and Eraserhead. Throughout the entire film, Elsa seems to be the better educated of the two, but together they create a blob-like figure in each gender, and as they are developing they will soon be presented to their team to show them reproducing. While all of this was happening, Elsa and Clive decide that since they were successful with the first part of their experiment, they would like to make it more challenging and add human DNA to the specimen (although they were told not to because of the dangers) and see what the end result is. Once again, they are successful and they have now created a new creature with human DNA in it. Clive wants to kill it – which shows his aggressive and protective side, two qualities often found in males – but Elsa becomes very attached to it and obtains motherly qualities toward it – which is evidently linked to women gender expectations. Mentioned in the blog post, â€Å"Most of the movie is taken up with Elsa’s â€Å"mothering† of Dren, with Clive as the somewhat distant father figure. And this is where any prejudice that â€Å"mothering† might be â€Å"natural,† or inherently â€Å"feminine,† or inherently hardwired in Elsa’s, or any woman’s, genes, definitively breaks down† (Shaviro). Elsa convinces Clive to keep it alive so that they can â€Å"study it closely,† when all she really wants is to protect it like her own child – it does contain her own DNA after all. She has a horrific style of parenting in that she treats Dren with respect at one moment, and then flips the complete opposite the next. From the interview, the author says that, â€Å"There is clearly something narcissistic and self-obsessed here; all the more so when we learn that Clive wants to have a child, but Elsa is reluctant† (Shaviro). Elsa decides to play it safe and instead of bearing her own child, which would take her away from her work and give her less control, she genetically creates Dren a hybrid of animal DNA as well as her own. As it grows up, they must keep it a secret because they were never authorized to do so by their company. Clive grows very attached and attracted to Dren, but later finds out that Elsa put her own DNA into the creature and he is furious with her and realizes that this is why she had become so obsessive and protective over Dren. She even gets angry with Clive when he refers to Dren as a specimen and not a â€Å"she. † As Elsa and Clive are absentmindedly worrying about their own problems as a couple, the two creatures they created in the beginning, Fred and Ginger, undergo a weird switch. Ginger switches from a male to female while they are presenting their new specimen to their research team. In this part of the film Ginger and Fred (both males at this point) brutally murder each other instead of reproducing like intended, leaving the audience in shock with blood and guts flying freely. Because Elsa and Clive were so involved in Dren and had been neglecting their real experiment, everything went wrong. This goes to show just how restricted the gender expectations are among humans. It labels males as violent and aggressive, especially toward each other, which touches on the way society sees gay men and how unacceptable it appears to be. Another few actions that represent the expectations of gender are when Elsa treats Dren like her own child and forces a motherly figure, and when Clive has sex with Dren. This scene is really disturbing because one, the creature isn’t human, and two, Dren has some of his girlfriend’s DNA in her. Toward the end of the film things get even worse. Dren also switches from female to male and attacks a few people and then kills Clive with the retractable stinger in his tail, then he rapes Elsa and Elsa gets away and kills him before he does anymore destruction. This points out that men are very inclined to sex and are almost seen as uncontrollable. It also makes women seem more vulnerable, especially with Elsa being raped by Dren later in the film. In the very last scene of the film, Elsa is pregnant with Dren’s baby and is going to have the baby and give it to the company for more experimentation and does not seem to care, even though it is very crude. The interview reads, â€Å"Splice‘s focus upon a woman instead of a man as the â€Å"mad scientist† figure whose creations ultimately lead to catastrophe has been quite a point of contention† (Shaviro) and this is a different aspect to the movie Frankenstein, which was basically the same plot with a ale scientist and no technology. In conclusion the interview claimed, â€Å"Gender roles are oddly reinforced[†¦ ] The film entirely scrambles our sense of what is natural and what is artificial† (Shaviro). Splice is very twisted and touches on a lot of weird expectations that society has made out for men and women. It paints men to be very controlling, defiant, and drawn toward sex, and it paints women to be very motherly, protective of their c hildren, and caring toward others.

Fair Value Accounting Essay

This paper attempts to answer the question: â€Å"Is it reasonable to blame fair value accounting for any of the Wall Street mess? † This paper in effect settle whether the use of fair value accounting by listed companies in the major stock exchanges in the US, particularly those found in Wall Street, which the caused fall in prices of the stocks of these companies, was required of companies without justification; hence, it should be blamed for the mess. 2. Analysis and Discussion Any mess in the Wall Street is defined for this paper as one causing the stock prices of companies list in major stock exchanges of the US to fall and that it resulted to losses to investors. To have reasonable basis to blame fair value accounting for any Wall Street mess, does not simply mean that fair value accounting was the necessary cause of fall in the prices of corporate stocks but that the requirement of fair value accounting must not be fair. The question that must be decided therefore is whether fair value accounting is fair as basis of valuing corporate assets, liabilities and equity. A situation or condition is fair if it gives what is due to a person. If the concept of fair value is used in the context of an asset purchased or liability assumed in business, fair value implies that said asset or liability must neither be overpriced nor underpriced whether perceived or otherwise. The law of economics would have fair value as one representing that market price or that equilibrium price of a product or service (Samuelson and Nordhaus, 1992) which is also the value of something from a seller that is not forced to sell or from a buyer that is not forced to buy. Investors, creditors, and other persons expect to be treated fairly as they enter into transactions in terms of value that they will give in exchange to what they will receive. To illustrate, a person or company planning to invest in stocks will appreciate what is fair if the said person or company will earn sufficient return above cost of capital in exchange for the risks being faced by such person or company (Brigham, 2002). To have what is fair, the investors must know the accurate and reliable information about of the company to guide them about their chances of gaining or losing money. These users deserve to have the opportunity to have the true or accurate value of asset, liability or equity being dealt with in a business transaction as basis for valuing the stocks that they will invest with. Financial reports prepared companies, as guided by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) accounting standard under fair value accounting, will provide these users the opportunity. Specifically, fair value accounting was made pursuant to FAS 157 as issued by US FASB for companies to reflect the accounting information on the real values of assets, liabilities and equity in the balance sheet as contrasted with presenting the information using the historical cost accounting (Meigs and Meigs, 1995). A group of analysts and portfolio managers actually formed part of those who influenced the passage of the fair value accounting for more relevant information in decision making (Chasan, 2008). Under FAS 157 defines fair value is defined as the price that would be received â€Å"to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants in a measurement date† (Sortur, 2007). If companies have restated their financial statements from historical cost accounting to fair value accounting, the purpose was laudable since in simple terms, the intention is to make the information more relevant, more accurate and more reliable for decision makers. If stockholders got affected in terms of lower price of stocks as a result of restatement of financial statements, the error was when they were made the purchase of their investments under the historical cost accounting. Since fair value accounting may also increase the value of the stocks if fair value is higher than cost, it could not be asserted that it should be blamed for the fall of prices but not praised for increased in price increase of stock prices. 3. Conclusion It can be concluded that it is not reasonable to blame fair value accounting for any of the Wall Street mess since fair value accounting is only bringing out what is fair to investors who deserved to know accurate and reliable information for making decisions. Fair value accounting is an accounting standard made by FASB that was made as a requirement from the corporation which must present truthful and reliable information for investors. As an alternative to historical value of accounting, fair value is expected to have present company more reliable information about their assets and liabilities in accordance with market prices. Its implementation may have caused companies to present their financial information and if the information presented were more truthful, the consequence of causing problems to companies should only be secondary to the purpose of providing objective and more reliable financial information. Any fall in stock prices from Wall Street may in fact have been caused by companies having to restate their financial statement pursuant to fair value accounting but the intention was to reflect to truer value of assets and liabilities of the corporations whose stocks got affected. Losers should not blame fair value accounting since the latter is just a guide to have more truthful information and they would have a change also of higher stock prices under fair value if warranted by market forces. If there was no basis for such more truthful information, then restatements of financial information using fair value would not have been made in the first place. If buyers and sellers are not being compelled to complete their transaction, fair value accounting must be held as fair and cannot be blamed for the mess. In fact, fair value accounting should have been introduced years ago for it could have saved some abuse and a lot of problems (Rees-Mogg, 2007). References: Brigham and Houston (2002), Introduction to Financial Management, Thomson-South Western, USA, 2002 Chasan, Emily (2008), Is fair value accounting really fair? {www document} URL, http://www. reuters. com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN1546484120080226, Accessed November 21, 2008 Meigs and Meigs (1995), Financial Accounting, McGraw-Hill, Inc, London, UK Rees-Mogg (2007), Why FAS 157 strikes dread into bankers, {www document} URL http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article2852547. ece, Accessed November 21, 2008. Samuelson and Nordhaus (1992), Economics, McGraw-Hill, Inc, London, UK Sortur (2007) Fair Value Measurement, The Chartered Accountant {www document} URL, http://icai. org/resource_file/96471564-1574. pdf, Accessed November 21, 2008