Bilingual Education For Deaf Children - 914 Words

English is an interesting language ,English is comprised of many different words from different languages all mashed up and mixed together. English is a very hard language to learn, especially if you can’t hear it. How easy would it be to confuse a â€Å"B† with a â€Å"P† they sound similar and when trying to lip read how can you tell the difference? I feel that young Deaf/hard of hearing students should be taught by a Deaf teacher or a child of a Deaf adult (C.O.D.A) teacher is important because ASL is the first step to learning English and becoming bilingual. According to the article Why Schools for Deaf Children Should Hire Deaf Teachers: A Preschool Issue By Courtney Shantie and Robert Hoffmeister, the authors state â€Å"This paper will focus on the theories and facts behind why bilingual education for Deaf children is the best option† (Shantie and Hoffmeister, 2003). I feel that the topic of if Deaf/hard of hearing students being taught by Deaf/C. O.D.A teachers is very important because it is the best way to help students succeed. The article talks about why Deaf students’ teachers should be a C.O.D.A or be Deaf. A C.O.D.A or child of a Deaf adult is someone who grew up with one or both parents being Deaf and is a hearing person. Deaf/hard of hearing students being taught by a Deaf/C.O.D.A teacher is important because when teaching Deaf students, a language model is needed. Without a language model who would the students have to look up to for help not only with ASL but withShow MoreRelatedPre Lingual Hearing Loss, Or Deafness1420 Words   |  6 Pageslingual hearing loss, or deafness — â€Å"that is, severe to profound hearing impairment that prevents infants and young children from acquiring normally the capacity for intelligible speech† — affects tens of thousands of Americans (Murray, 1997). Accordingly, for this population of infants who were born severely or profoundly deaf and young child ren who became severely or profoundly deaf prior to developing any sort of communication, it is imperative that the child’s appointed professionals and caregiversRead MoreThe Quality Of Language Input And Early Onset Effects On Linguistic And Sub Linguistic Mechanisms1398 Words   |  6 Pageslater sign language skills in deaf education program settings. In spoken languages, the quality and quantity of language input is predictive of a child’s later linguistic abilities (Cartmill et al., 2013). However, most deaf children entering education have hearing parents, creating a barrier to language development. Many deaf programs support bilingual philosophies in which the basis of English is also taught in order to facilitate communication between the deaf and non-deaf communities (Murphy-SwillerRead More Teachers Options Essay1716 Words   |  7 PagesTeachers Options There are many options open to teachers of deaf children in a variety of situations. In teaching deaf and hard of hearing children there is such a wide range of children, each with their own abilities. Each child also has a different family situation to take into account. Some children come from deaf families, some they are the only deaf family member, and some have no support from their families because they are deaf. There are also students that have family members that makeRead MoreCsd 269 Study Guide Week 6 Essay2836 Words   |  12 PagesStudy Guides for Deaf People and Journey Text Readings Week 6 People Chapter 5 1. What kinds of parent-child interactions lead to language learning in babies? pointing, eye gazing, smiles, vocalizations, and engagement in games, nursery rhymes, and songs, family stories, and picture books 2. What categories do children’s first words usually fall into? names of animals, foods, toys, actions adjectives and social words (please, thank you, no, yes) 3. How does a sight-wordRead MoreThe Creativity Of Bicultural Bilingual People2058 Words   |  9 Pagesbiculturalism are also bilingual. Which is very true to some extent but biculturalism and bilingualism are two different things. According to dictionary the word biculturalism is defined as â€Å"the presence of two different cultures in the same country and region†( dictionary), where as the word bilingualism is defind as â€Å"the ability to speak two languages fluently , the habitual use of two languages† (dictionary). This paper consists three different aspects of biculural bilingual people. Such as describingRead MoreDeaf : Deaf And Deaf886 Words   |  4 Pages(2010) defines Deaf Studies as â€Å"interdisciplinary approaches to the exploration of Deaf individuals, communities, and cultures as they have evolved within a larger context of power and ideology† (p. 210). In other words, Deaf Studies refer to a specific academic field that studies deaf individuals and their unique communities and culture and may include constructs from anthropology, linguistics, bilingual education, disability, audiology, etc. Within the context of Deaf Studies, deaf individuals areRead MoreBi-Bi: A Better Way to Educate the Deaf2307 Words   |  10 Pagesa mono-linguistic focus on the spoken and written forms of the majority (English here) language, approach to educating our deaf children. We adopted this methodology for teaching the deaf because of the Milan Conference held in 1880. This conference was an excuse for those in favor of oralism to gain the support they needed to outlaw the use of signed language in education. Their plot succeeded; the conference decided that signed language was inferior to spoken languages and was not capable ofRead MoreThe Importance Of Learning A Second Language Essay973 Words   |  4 PagesHello. Nin Hao. Hallo. Ðâ€"Ð ´Ã'€Ð °Ã ²Ã µÃ ¹Ã'‚Ð µ. The art of language is intricate and useful in many aspects of life. The Encyclopedia of Education states â€Å"†¦between 60-75% of the world is bilingual.† When it comes to bilingual education most countries require students to learn their home language and English. The United States only requires two years of foreign language to graduate. This is due to the English language being considered as the universal language. Schools should require students to learn a secondRead More Deaf Culture Essay1564 Words   |  7 PagesDeaf Culture In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people. (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Kellers world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for real communicationRead MoreDeaf Culture1589 Words   |  7 PagesDeaf Culture In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people. (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Kellers world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for real communication

The Development and Applications of Critical Incident...

Debriefing after stressful incidences is a practice that has been practiced for many years. Psychological debriefing was used during World War I to reduce psychological distress and boost moral in solders. (Wei, Szumilas, Kutcher, 2010) This style of debriefing is still used today to help decrease the chances of soldiers developing PTSD, due to traumatic events that they may experience during their deployment times. Pender and Prichard (2009) described the historical use of stress debriefing primarily for emergency responders after they had been exposed to graphic calls or experienced the loss of a coworker. This is an important role of stress debriefing, and has emerged from these emergency responders only to also assisting both primary and secondary responders. Pack (2012) describes the benefits of CISD and how its overall design of being multicomponent makes it beneficial in the use with emergency service workers. CISD arose from this need of debriefing for emergency respon ders after a traumatic incident. Jeffery Michell, a firefighter, developed CIDS in 1983, since than it has been thought of as the â€Å"best practice† when working with emergency respondents to assist them in processing stress related to traumatic events. (D’Andrea, Abney, Swinney, Ganyon, 2004) CISD has emerged from assisting front line emergency response personnel cope with traumatic events, or loss that they experienced first hand, to helping those who experience the trauma second hand, or forShow MoreRelatedThe Performance Of A Dysfunctional Team912 Words   |  4 Pagesthe surgeon and junior, that she may need to take over. This allowed the junior nurse to be prepared for such an incident, and feel reassured that she does have support, which helped increase her performance (Appendix One, Post 2). Therefore, teamwork and communication is vital in enhancing and maintaining patient safety and providing optimum care. Training and debriefing are also critical non-t echnical skills, which aid in achieving optimum patient care. Surgery is an unpredictable practice withRead MoreStress And Its Effects On The Mind, Body, And Environment8594 Words   |  35 PagesStress can be defined in a number of ways and is experienced differently by each individual. Stress is natural, a physiological response involving a complex interaction between the mind, body, and environment. Stress is not fundamentally negative, people need a certain amount in their everyday lives to maintain function. An optimal level of stress stimulates an individual to stay alert and perform at a desired level. Ideally, stress enables us to take action by stimulating our sympathetic nervousRead MoreIdentify Prevent and Report Workplace Emergencies11906 Words   |  48 PagesIdentify, prevent and report potential workplace emergency situations UNIT NAME Identify, prevent and report potential workplace emergency situations PUAWER001A This unit covers the competency required to identify and prevent the development of workplace emergency situations, or to minimise their consequences, and to report if emergency protection systems, emergency control equipment and evacuation systems are compromised. For this unit the term workplace is defined as the area encompassedRead More Preventing Workplace Violence Essay4918 Words   |  20 Pagesservice field people come into those offices or stores because they need help or a particular service. When various â€Å"stress factors are combined, a person may commit, or threaten to commit, violence. Unless these emotional, angry, or frustrated individuals are handled properly, they may harm you, themselves, or other customers. Sometimes even coworkers—perhaps under a great deal of stress because of problems at work or home—may become threatening or violent†¦ Many experts believ e that there is no sureRead MoreThe Difference between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal24271 Words   |  98 Pages10 Briefly discuss the differences between evaluative performance reviews and developmental performance reviews 8.11 Define the following terms: Performance management Performance appraisal Motivation Traits Behaviors Results Critical incidents method Management by Objectives (MBO) method Narrative method or form Graphic rating scale form Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) form Ranking method 360 ° evaluation Bias Stereotyping Electronic Performance MonitoringRead MoreSSD2 Module 3 Notes22142 Words   |  89 Pagesï » ¿MODUEL 3 TRAINING AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The Army provides combatant commanders with trained and ready units, leaders, and individuals. Army expeditionary forces are prepared to conduct unified land operations in support of unified action. The Army accomplishes this by conducting tough, realistic, standards-based, performance-oriented training, which is based on eleven principles of training and seven principles of leader development. As a leader you must understand these principles. UnderstandingRead MoreHrm Duties and Responsibilities2992 Words   |  12 PagesRECRUITMENT PROFILE Profile: Human Resources Major Duties and Responsibilities 1. Responsible for the interpretation and application of the Staff Rules, regulations and procedures ensuring uniform application in accordance with guidelines from Headquarters. 2. Provides advice to staff members on specific entitlements, taking action locally as appropriate, or submitting recommendations for exceptions to DHRM; 3. Ascertains human resource requirements for the office ensuring the timely advertisementRead MoreWhy I Am A Professor Essay4077 Words   |  17 Pagesthe unexpected, unpredictable, and sometimes unsuccessful episodes in my academic career that have inspired my current pursuit of research and my goal to become a professor. As the daughter of two professors, I have always had an appreciation for critical thinking and the scientific method. One of my earliest experiences in scientific research was inspired by a television documentary on ants. Learning that ants communicate through chemical scents emitted onto the ground, I immediately ran outsideRead More Nfpa 100630569 Words   |  123 Pages11, 2007, with an effective date of December 31, 2007, and supersedes all previous editions. This edition of NFPA 1006 was approved as an American National Standard on December 31, 2007. Origin and Development of NFPA 1006 In 1994, the NFPA Standards Council, after receipt of a request for the development of a standard for the professional qualifications of rescue technicians, approved the establishment of a technical committee on Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications under the ProfessionalRead MoreNfpa 100630576 Words   |  123 Pages11, 2007, with an effective date of December 31, 2007, and supersedes all previous editions. This edition of NFPA 1006 was approved as an American National Standard on December 31, 2007. Origin and Development of NFPA 1006 In 1994, the NFPA Standards Council, after receipt of a request for the development of a standard for the professional qualifications of rescue technicians, approved the establishment of a technical committee on Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications under the Professional

Home Depot Analysis Free Essays

string(21) " end of fiscal 2009\." Home Depot – 2010 Financial Report For fiscal year ended January  30, 2011 (â€Å"fiscal 2010†), Home Depot reported Net Earnings of $3. 3  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share of $2. 01 compared to Net Earnings of $2. We will write a custom essay sample on Home Depot Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now 7  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share of $1. 57 for fiscal year ended January  31, 2010 (â€Å"fiscal 2009†). The results for fiscal 2010 included a $51 million pretax charge related to the extension of our guarantee of a senior secured loan of HD Supply, Inc. (the â€Å"HD Supply Guarantee Extension†). The results for fiscal 2009 reflected the impact of several strategic actions initiated in fiscal 2008. These strategic actions resulted in store rationalization charges related to the closing of 15 underperforming U. S. stores and the removal of approximately 50 stores from their new store pipeline, business rationalization charges related to the exit of our EXPO, THD Design Center, Yard birds and HD Bath businesses (the â€Å"Exited Businesses†) and charges related to the restructuring of support functions (collectively, the â€Å"Rationalization Charges†). These actions resulted in pretax Rationalization Charges of $146 million for fiscal 2009. The results for fiscal 2009 also included a pretax charge of $163 million to write-down our investment in HD Supply, Inc. Additionally, fiscal 2009 included earnings of $41 million from discontinued operations, net of tax, for the settlement of working capital matters arising from the sale of HD Supply. Home Depot reported Earnings from Continuing Operations of $3. 3  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $2. 01 for fiscal 2010 compared to Earnings from Continuing Operations of $2. 6  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $1. 5 for fiscal 2009. Excluding the HD Supply Guarantee Extension charge from their fiscal 2010 results, and the Rationalization Charges and the write-down of their investment in HD Supply from their fiscal 2009 results, Earnings from Continuing Operations were $3. 4 billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations were $2. 03 for fiscal 2010 compared to Earnings from Continuing Oper ations of $2. 8 billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $1. 66 for fiscal 2009. Net Sales increased 2. 8% to $68. 0  billion for fiscal 2010 from $66.   billion for fiscal 2009. Home Depot’s comparable store sales increased 2. 9% in fiscal 2010, driven by a 2. 4% increase in their comparable store customer transactions and a 0. 5% increase in their comparable store average ticket to $51. 93. Comparable store sales for their U. S. stores increased 2. 5% in fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2010, Home Depot focused on the following four key initiatives: Customer Service: Home Depot’s focus on customer service is anchored on the principles of taking care of their associates, putting customers first and simplifying the business. The roll out of their Customers FIRST training to all store associates and support staff in fiscal 2009 has brought simplification and focus across the business, and they repeated and refreshed the Customers FIRST training during fiscal 2010. The Customers FIRST program is part of their ongoing commitment to improve customer service levels in their stores, and they continued to see the benefit of this training in improved customer service ratings for fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2009. Also in fiscal 2010, Home Depot completed the deployment of their FIRST Phone, a new hand held device that provides multiple functions such as inventory management, product location and mobile checkout. The core purpose of this new device is to reduce tasking time for their store associates to allow them more time to focus on customer service. Home Depot ended fiscal 2010 with more than half of their store payroll allocated to customer facing activities rather than tasking activities. They have a customer facing store payroll target of 60%, and they believe they will achieve that by 2013. Product Authority: Our focus on product authority is facilitated by our merchandising transformation and portfolio strategy, including innovation, assortment and value. In fiscal 2010, we made significant progress on our merchandising tools in the U. S. that helped us manage markdown and clearance activity and better control inventory. Our inventory turnover ratio was 4. 13 times at the end of fiscal 2010 compared to 4. 06 times at the end of fiscal 2009. You read "Home Depot Analysis" in category "Papers" Additionally, we continued to form strategic alliances and relationships with selected suppliers to bring a number of proprietary and xclusive brands across a wide range of departments. Productivity and Efficiency: Home Depot’s approach to driving productivity and efficiency starts with disciplined capital allocation focused on building best-in-class competitive advantages in information technology and supply chain, as well as building shareholder value through higher return s on invested capital and total value returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. At the end of fiscal 2010, they completed the roll out of their Rapid Deployment Centers (â€Å"RDCs†) and now have 19 RDCs that serve 100% of their U. S. stores. Also during fiscal 2010, they repurchased 80. 9  million shares for $2. 6 billion, and on February  22, 2011 Home depot announced a six percent increase in their quarterly cash dividend to 25 cents per share. Interconnected Retail: Home Depot’s focus on interconnected retail is based on the view that providing a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels will be a critical enabler for future success. Their multiple channel focus is allowing them to greatly expand their assortment of merchandise, and they are making the investment to build these capabilities, including the roll out of â€Å"buy on-line, pick-up in store† next year. Home depot is committed to having a best-in-class website, and during fiscal 2010 their site was named as a Most Improved Website for customer satisfaction by Foresee, a leading customer satisfaction analytics firm. Home Depot opened eight new stores in fiscal 2010, including one relocation, and closed three stores, bringing our total store count at the end of fiscal 2010 to 2,248. As of the end of fiscal 2010, a total of 272 of these stores, or 12. 1%, were located in Canada, Mexico and China compared to 268 stores, or 11. 9%, at the end of fiscal 2009. Home Depot generated approximately $4.   billion of cash flow from operations in fiscal 2010. They used this cash flow along with cash on hand to fund $2. 6 billion of share repurchases, pay $1. 6  billion of dividends and fund $1. 1 billion in capital expenditures. At the end of fiscal 2010, Home Depot’s long-term debt-to-equity ratio was 46. 1% compared to 44. 7% at the end of fiscal 2009. Their return on invested capita l for continuing operations (computed on net operating profit after tax for the trailing twelve months and the average of beginning and ending long-term debt and equity) was 12. 8% for fiscal 2010 compared to 10. % for fiscal 2009. This increase reflects the impact of the Rationalization Charges which they included in their operating profit for fiscal 2009. Excluding the Rationalization Charges, their return on invested capital for continuing operations was 12. 7% for fiscal 2010 compared to 11. 1% for fiscal 2009. Week 2 Activity Ratios of Home Depot vs. Lowe’s One key to profitability is how well a company manages and utilizes its assets. Some ratios are design to evaluate a company’s effectectiveness in managing assets. Of particular interest is the activity, or turnover ratios, of certain assets. The greater the number of times an asset turns over, the higher the ratio the fewer assets are required to maintain a given level of activity (revenue). Given that a company incurs costs to finance its assets with debt (paying interest) or equity (paying dividends), high turnovers are usually attractive. |Receivable Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |68. |63. 9 |53. 9 | |Lowe’s |0. 0 |0. 0 |0. 0 | Receivable Turnover ratio is calculated by dividing a period’s net credit sales by the average net accounts receivables. The receivables turnover ratio provides an indication of a company’s efficiency in collecting receivables. The ratio shows the number of times during a period that the averages accounts receivable balance is collected. The higher the ratio, the shorter the average time between credit sales and cash collection. As we can see above, Lowe’s has zero receivables, which can be translated to no credit sales. |Inventory Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |4. 21 |4.. 19 |4. 34 | |Lowe’s |4. 0 |3. 72 |3. 63 | Inventory Turnover is an important measure for a merchandising company. The ratio shows the number of times the average inventory balance is sold during reporting period. It indicates how quickly inventory is sold. The more frequently a business is able to sell, or turn over, its inventory, the lower its investment in inventory must be for a given level of sales. The ratio is computed by dividing the period’s costs of goods sold by the average inventory balance. The denominator, average inventory, is determined by adding beginning and ending inventory and dividing by two. A relatively high ratio, as in the case of Home Depot compare to Lowe’s, usually is desirable. A high ratio indicates comparative strength, perhaps caused by a company’s superior sales force or maybe a successful advertising campaign. However, it might also be caused by a relatively low inventory level, which could mean either very efficient inventory measurement or stock outs or lost sales in the future. Comparing the two industries, we can conclude than Home Depot turns over their inventory a bit faster than Lowe’s. Asset Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |1. 73 |1. 62 |1. 73 | |Lowe’s |1. 48 |1. 43 |1. 41 | Asset Turnover is a broad measure of asset efficiency. The ratio is computed by dividing a company’s net sales or revenue by the average total assets available for use during a period. The denominator, average assets, is determined by adding beginning and ending total assets and dividing by two. The asset turnover ratio provides an indication of how efficiency a company utilizes all of its assets to generate revenue. Also, it shows how many sales dollars are generated for every dollar invested in the company’s assets. Lowe’s had relatively lower asset turnover than Home Depot because their recent investment in PPE has not yet reached their potentials. Home Depot is a financially sound company and performs well when compared to its competitors. Based on current business conditions and the potential growth opportunity facing Home Depot, we feel that the bottom line will continue to grow at a healthy rate above the competition in the near future. We believe that the relatively low levels of debt, slightly wider margins, and lower costs make Home Depot an attractive investment for the long run. Shares of Home Depot are currently trading at $33. 92 to what we believe is gaining momentum in the market. This increase is possibly derived from the market’s belief that better than predicted growth will be seen from expansion into foreign markets, specifically China. Week 4 Home Depot – Accounting Policies The retail industry, in general, presents a very competitive market with high price competition and low product differentiation. Although almost any retailer, from supermarkets to superstores, can offer home improvement items at a competitive price, the home improvement industry currently provides a great opportunity for differentiation in regards to the types of services home improvement retailers offer. To successfully maximize sales and increase revenues in the home improvement industry, retailers such as Home Depot must successfully combine product variety, quality and price and specialized services. As discussed earlier, Home Depot has adopted a business strategy based on these key factors. Consequently, as we look at Home Depot’s overall financial results, it is necessary to focus on key accounting policies adopted by the company to measure critical factors and risks. In the â€Å"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition† of The Home Depot, Inc 2011 Annual Report (www. omedepot. com), management identified three major areas as areas of critical accounting policy and discussed the adoption of four different accounting pronouncements. In addition to the four recently adopted accounting pronouncements identified in the management’s discussion, The Home Depot identified four other major accounting policy change s in it’s â€Å"Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements†. Specifically, The Home Depot adopted four different accounting pronouncements in regards to service revenue recognition, vendor allowances, goodwill amortization and stock based compensation. The three critical accounting policies, as identified by The Home Depot management refer to the treatment of merchandise inventories, self insurance and revenue recognition. Merchandise Inventory policy is specifically addressed by The Home Depot management in â€Å"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition† and is assessed in two different ways. Approximately 93% of total inventory is valued at the lower of cost or market utilizing FIFO under the retail inventory method with the other 7% valued under the cost method. The Notes section of the Financial Statements accounts for the two different methods. According to the Notes, the 7% of inventory valued under the cost method was due to inventory policy of certain subsidiaries and distribution centers. In addition, The Home Depot, Inc. takes a physical inventory count on a regular basis at each store to verify that inventory amounts in the merchandise inventory section of the Consolidated Financial Statements are accurate. Lastly, in regards to merchandise inventory, the company does account for possible inventory shrinkage or swell based on historical results and industry trends. Self Insurance accounting policy for Home Depot addresses it’s treatment of â€Å"losses related to general liability, product liability, workers’ compensation and medical claims†. The total liability is estimated on the total cost incurred as of the specific balance sheet date and is not discounted. The estimate is based on â€Å"historical data and actuarial estimates†. The company also explains in it’s Management Discussion that they ensure estimates of liability are as accurate as possible by having both management and third-party actuaries review the estimates on a quarterly basis. Revenue Recognition is the third critical accounting policy identified by The Home Depot management. Revenue recognition at the Home Depot follows the industry norm of recognizing revenue when the customer takes possession of the merchandise or, if a customer makes payment prior to take ownership of the merchandise, Home Depot records the sale as Deferred Revenue on the balance sheet until the sale is finalized when the customer takes possession of the paid merchandise. Additionally, because The Home Depot also provides a variety of services through their installation and home maintenance programs, they also recognize service revenue at the time when the service is completed and also record any customer pre-paid service revenue as Deferred Revenue on the balance sheet. Week 5 Internet The internet has completely changed the way companies communicate and market to their prospects. Home improvement businesses in the U. S report that the ways they have traditionally generated leads (i. . yellows pages, direct mail, print media, tv and radio) aren’t working like they use to. In fact, 85% of all products and service inquiries now start online and 97% of U. S internet users gather shopping information online and of those more than half characterize their behavior as ‘Shop Online, Purchase Offline. ’ The convenience of online shopping and the ability to make price comparisons on the internet has completely changed retail trends in the p ast decades. Even though most people tend to shop for building materials by visiting physical locations, still Home Depot cannot ignore e-commerce because people increasing buy items of nearly any kind online. Home depot being the largest home improvement retailer is expanding in the online channel aggressively and targeting it as a major growth opportunity. Home depot made it’s biggest e-commerce investment over the last two years since it started internet sales in 2001. According to research, 45% 0f the 9. million consumers who visited Home Depot’s website on average in any given week said their next step was a trip to a Home Depot store, which translates to about 225 customers a day per location. However, e-commerce for the home improvement industry is an underleveraged opportunity. A lot of people think of home Depot as a place you go on a Saturday, or when you do window treatment or carpeting. As such, they can do a better job online for things like branded power tools and repl enishable items and also offer delivering services for those items. Home Depot’s operating cost will decrease if customers interacted through the use of the internet due to the folllowing: †¢ Online customers are used to doing their own shopping without any salesperson assistance; therefore the cost of the salesperson would be eliminated as such. †¢ The range of products that can be offered through the website can be far greater than what one could find at Home Depot’s location, thereby giving customers a clear reason to prefer the internet. These are all advantages that Home Depot can benefit from as a result of the internet. As with the advantages, there are also disadvantages (issues) that Home Depot needs to put into consideration and work diligently to address them. The foremost of these issues are lack of site maintenance and lack of integration between the e-commerce site and the corporate back-office systems. As such, Home Depot must work through these issues in detail in order to arrive at the true cost-benefit for an e-commerce. How to cite Home Depot Analysis, Papers

Corporate Responsibility and Management

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Responsibility and Management. Answer: Introduction: In the present business environment, maintenance of ethics has emerged as one of the most significant factors. Utilization of proper corporate social responsibility and ethics can actually help organizations to develop strong reputation that eventually will create positive impact on the on the businesses. British Petroleum (BP) is regarded as one of the largest integrated energy organizations. The organization includes activities like exploring, refining, producing, distributing and marketing oil and gas products in the world market. BP also has focuses on the renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. BP produced almost 4 million natural oil and crude oil every day. The company has it presence in more than 100 countries (www.bp.com, 2016). In the essay, the focus will be on the issues of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has created huge amount of impact on the maintenance of ethics in the operational process of the British Petroleum. In 2010, BP has experienced an explosion in the drilling platform in the Gulf Mexico area. This has caused the biggest oil spill catastrophe in the history of the oil and gas industry. The essay will focus on all the major ethical factors that the incident has induced BP to consider for the effective operational process. Main Body: As per the article by Brennan (2013) BP oil spill explosion has caused death of the 11 working employee and 17 employee has suffered serious injury. Furthermore, around 150 thousand barrels of crude oil are wasted in the sea on a daily basis for the period of 5 months. As a result, the wasted oil has covered around 68 thousand square miles. Investigation has identified many problems in the explosion rig that has made major contribution to the accident. It has been identified that BP has continued the installation process of the drilling rig with utilization of cheaper design that has increased the amount of risk in the operational process (Michel et al., 2013). Thus, it raises questions over the appropriateness of the operational process of the British Petroleum. In the present business context, environmental protection has come up as one of the prime factors for maintaining ethics in the businesses. However, the disaster has created major impact on the environment of Mexico. Particularly, tourism and seafood industry has been affected heavily by this disaster. The oil spill scandal of BP has killed fish. Therefore, it increases the prices of seafood in the Mexican market (Ritchie et al., 2013). The oil spill scandal has also increases the job insecurity of the workers. As a result, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has raised questions over the ethical behavior of the organization. It has been identified that BPs cost saving strategy has made huge amount of contribution in the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf Mexico. However, the incident has created ethical dilemma for the BP between meeting criteria of the safety in terms of providing huge number of facilities at the platform rig and the saving costs by taking unnecessary risks in the operational process (Kleinnijenhuis et al., 2013). Since, utilization of cost effective strategy can actually enhance the profit level of the organization. On the other hand, it increases the health safety issues for the workers, environmental issue and legal issues that BP has to face in order to utilize its operational process in an appropriate manner. Thus, corporate social responsibility and ethical behavior of the organization will have to be utilized in such a way so that it can able to cover both the factors in an effective manner. However, catastrophe in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has highlighted that BP has un able to include all the factors in their CSR responsibility effectively (Bond, 2013). As a result, BP has able to get the opportunity of implementing risky technique for performing the operational process. As per the Utilitariantheory, organizational actions should be based on the moral rules. It defines whether an action is morally relevant or not. Thus, it highlighted the fact that BP has to put more focus on the environmental and health safety factor (Issacharoff Rave, 2013). Thus, it actually affected the CSR maintenance of the organization. The Utilitariantheory also mentioned that organizations have to sacrifice some of their profit in order to gain larger future benefits. However, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlighted that BP is not focusing too much on their ethical behavior of providing proper working atmosphere for the employees. On the other hand, individualistic business theory highlighted the fact that every organization only has to focus on making profit. In fact, the theory highlighted that organizations have to do whatever it takes in order to enhance the profit level as long as it is in the legal boundaries. In this oil spill case, it has been identified that me chanical failure at the rig has caused the accident. Therefore, it highlighted that BP has not done any illegal for the utilization of the operational process (Barrage, Chyn Hastings, 2014). For that reason, individualistic business theory induces BP to maintain its present cost effective operational procedure. As per the Kantian theory, organizations have to respect people, make rational decision and make decision based on the goodwill. The above disaster highlighted the fact that BP has to focus on these factors in order to operate properly. Therefore, it does create question mark on the ethical maintenance procedure of the organization. Thus, it is important for BP to include moral aspect in the business processes so that it can able to maintain its CSR responsibility in appropriate way. For instance, BP has to focus on the emission reduction program so that it can create positive impact on the environment as well. The demand for natural oil product is increasing every day (Horowitz, 2014). As a result, it is polluting the environment in a huge way. Thus, BPs CSR maintenance will have to focus on the emission of greenhouse gases so that its oil exploration process cannot able to impact too much on the environmental condition. CSR responsibility of BP can initiate support policies that will focus on the efficiency of the production process so that it requires less energy. BP also has to participate on the international debates, which focuses on the climate change. This will help the organization to improve the knowledge about different factors so that the organization can able to maintain ethics in a proper way. BP a lso has to understand the fact that stakeholders are becoming more concern about the toxic emissions (Boopathy, Shields Nunna, 2012). Therefore, BPs ethical behavior has to ensure that all the rigs have the required amount of capability so that it can able to deal with the mechanical failure in a much more effective way. BP also has to invest more on the health and safety process of the workers in order to reduce the possibility of life risk at the workplace. For instance, BP has to focus on the construction standards of the drilling rigs. Since, a well-prepared structure will reduce the probability of such kind of oil spill catastrophe. Conclusion: The above discussion highlighted that ethics play crucial role in the operational process of the organizations. The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has also induces BP to make several changes on the operational processes so that it can reduce the possibility of such kind of disaster and also maintain the moral aspects of the business. BP has to focus on the maintenance of meeting all the criteria, as it will help the organization to develop a strong image in the world market. References: Barrage, L., Chyn, E., Hastings, J. (2014).Advertising, reputation, and environmental stewardship: Evidence from the bp oil spill(No. w19838). National Bureau of Economic Research. Bond, D. (2013). Governing disaster: the political life of the environment during the BP oil spill.Cultural anthropology,28(4), 694-715. Boopathy, R., Shields, S., Nunna, S. (2012). Biodegradation of crude oil from the BP oil spill in the marsh sediments of southeast Louisiana, USA.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology,167(6), 1560-1568. Brennan, L. C. (2013).Gulf Oil Spill. ABDO Publishing Company. Horowitz, A. (2014). The BP oil spill and the end of empire, Louisiana.Southern Cultures,20(3), 6-23. Issacharoff, S., Rave, D. T. (2013). The BP Oil Spill Settlement and the Paradox of Public Litigation. Kleinnijenhuis, J., Schultz, F., Utz, S., Oegema, D. (2013). The mediating role of the news in the BP oil spill crisis 2010: How US news is influenced by public relations and in turn influences public awareness, foreign news, and the share price.Communication Research, 0093650213510940. Michel, J., Owens, E. H., Zengel, S., Graham, A., Nixon, Z., Allard, T., ... Rutherford, N. (2013). Extent and degree of shoreline oiling: Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, USA.PloS one,8(6), e65087. Ritchie, B. W., Crotts, J. C., Zehrer, A., Volsky, G. T. (2013). Understanding the effects of a tourism crisis: the impact of the BP oil spill on regional lodging demand.Journal of Travel Research, 0047287513482775. www.bp.com (2016). Retrieved 16 August 2016, from https://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to...gulf.../deepwater-horizon-accident.html

Philosophical Hobbes Intentions

Political debates and thoughts have been inevitable both in the past and in the present. Out of these debates, hundreds of philosophical thinkers have emerged. Among these philosophers are Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Karl Marx, Machiavelli, and Thomas Hobbes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Philosophical Hobbes’ Intentions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These philosophers have explored the nature and character of political activities. As depicted in these philosophers’ studies, political thoughts aim at tackling issues related to political life. As such, political thoughts focus on several social issues such as social standards, moral codes, and principles. This paper focuses on Hobbes’ intentions. Initially, the paper will draw attention to Hobbes’ intentions as a means of putting moral and political philosophy onto scientific basis. Secondly, the paper will focus on Hobbesà ¢â‚¬â„¢ intentions as a means of establishing civic peace and disposing of humankind toward fulfilling their civic duty. Thomas Hobbes was born in the year 1588 in Malnesbury (Morgan 576). To date, the English philosopher has become famous for his contribution to the social contract theory. On the other hand, the philosopher became infamous for asserting that individuals should surrender to the authority of total sovereign power. His contributions have influenced the advancement of political philosophy and the expansion of additional logical philosophical positions. His contributions towards moral philosophy have not been influential compared to his contributions towards political philosophy. Notably, his theories of moral philosophy have been ambiguous to most individuals. This ambiguity results from the discrepancies that emerge when analyzing the application of his laws of nature. Hobbes’ intentions as a means of putting moral and political philosophy onto scientific basis Before the 17th century, moral philosophy and political philosophy were thought to be independent of natural sciences. It was believed that the two fields of philosophy were not related to any natural science but rather on human experiences. However, after reading through Hobbes’s works it became apparent that the philosopher intended to put moral and political philosophy onto scientific basis. Through our everyday activities, we discover the principles of the two fields of psychology. Equally, I noted that proofs in political philosophy are related to the proofs exhibited in the natural sciences. In this regard, it is clear that Hobbes’s intentions were towards putting moral and political philosophy onto scientific basis.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In his works, the philosopher believes that moral philosophy is part of motion of science. Through this argument, th e philosopher states that moral philosophy studies motions of the mind just in the same way physics focuses on activity of physical entities. I believe that through this argument, the philosopher was trying to substantiate the validity of his moral principles from a scientific basis. It is true that our minds exist in different states such as jealousy, greed, and self-centeredness. By relating these changes to the science of motion, the philosopher managed to associate moral philosophy with sciences of motion. In his analysis of moral philosophy, the philosopher emphasizes that political philosophy is all about the study of persons and motion of their parts. According to Leviathan, the philosopher claims that the motions of external physical objects have an effect on our sense organs (Morgan 580). Through this theory, he claims that our mental experiences resulting from these effects. Hobbes characterized these effects as appetites and aversions. As such, an appetite is described as an undertaking that causes an individual to search for a specific entity. On the contrary, an aversion is an undertaking that causes an individual to keep away from a particular entity. In addition, I believe that Hobbes intended to put moral and political philosophy onto the scientific basis to attain knowledge and to illustrate his findings to others. Before him, philosophy never drew conclusions based on scientific facts but rather on everyday experiences. Being a pioneer, Hobbes exploited is scientific knowledge about coming up with philosophical conclusions. Similarly, after analyzing his work I believe that Hobbes achievements in political philosophy became a success because of him putting this field of philosophy onto scientific methods. In agreement with these methods, he referred to as resolutive-compositive, I believe that the philosopher was able to affirm all disputable conception of politics as political facts. Through scientific knowledge, the philosopher was able to reduce these disputes into elements. Thereafter, the philosopher reconstructed these disputes. For instance, he was able to break the commonwealth into its primary parts in the same way the motion of the mind was done (Morgan 582). Thereafter, he was able to reconstruct commonwealth by allowing it to be in its original state prior to its formation. By studying the behavior of individuals in this state, the philosopher was able to identify the causes of the commonwealth. Similarly, through this approach, he was able to affirm that moral philosophy was part of physics. Similarly, I believe that through this approach, the philosopher was able to come up with basic ethical principles that enabled us to deduce philosophical conclusions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Philosophical Hobbes’ Intentions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Contribution to the establishment of civic peace and disposing of humankind to ward fulfilling their civic duty After analyzing Hobbes’ studies, I believe that his intentions were also geared towards the establishment of civic peace and disposing of humankind toward fulfilling their civic duty. As such, he argues in the social contract theory that earlier philosophers with the exception of Machiavelli had failed because they founded their political philosophies on humankind’s ambitions. By opposing earlier philosophers’ thoughts, he was able to come up with a code that bonded and determined the purpose of the society. Hobbes argues that in the state of nature, institutions such as the government and the armed forces are not in existence. In this state, all individuals have equal needs. Despite the fact that some individuals are more powerful than others are, less powerful individuals can gang up to subdue the stronger individual. In addition, the state of nature allows individuals to have competing interests. Therefore, in the bid to preve nt conflicts from escalating, Hobbes urged economic and political organizations to use every means to ensure that the society is held together. For this to be achieved, the philosopher stated that the citizens must be ready to surrender equal rights as they expect other individuals to surrender. Equally, through this approach, the philosopher argued that citizens must be able to form a social contract. According to the philosopher, the social contract was not to be signed between the citizens and the elites but among the citizens. In the contract, citizens were to sign a contract accepting to be ruled by a centralized government. Through this approach, the minority was supposed to accept the majority decision. Based on the above analysis, it is apparent that Hobbes believed that without the state individuals would be at war with each other due to the differences of interests. Therefore, through his studies he aimed at illustrating to the masses the importance of civic peace. Notably , during his era the theory of social contract was underdeveloped. In this regard, I believe that the society then exhibited some of the traits he described in the state of nature. Therefore, due to the need to uphold civic peace he formulated the social contract theory. In general, Hobbes’ arguments about the state of nature affirm his intentions. In the sate on nature’s laws, the philosopher argues that everyone should seek peace with other individuals unless these individuals are not willing to make peace. I believe that through these arguments Hobbes was after instilling peace in his audience. In the first part of the law of nature, he argues that if individuals uphold the state of peace they will meet their yearning for self-preservation. However, it should be noted that peace could only be attained through the agreement of two or more parties. If the other parties refused to seek peace, the philosopher in the second part of the law of the state of nature argues t hat individuals are free to resort to violence.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If people seek peace through the means argued above, it is apparent that they will ultimately be disposed towards fulfilling their civic rights. To escape the situations illustrated in the state of nature, individuals will be required to give up some of their liberties. These liberties may include liberty to steal, liberty to assault, and many more. Thereafter, social institutions will be required to enforce the social contract. By enforcing the social contract, these institutions will ensure that any individual who will go against the contract is punished in accordance with the existing laws. Since Hobbes envisioned these situations in his works, it is obvious that he intended that through his works human beings could be disposed toward fulfilling their civic rights. I believe that the governments and other social institutions have fulfilled Hobbes’ forecasts. As such, in the modern society we have submitted to be governed by the existing governments. This implies that as ci tizens we have signed a social contract with our fellow citizens to uphold peace for the benefit of everyone. Equally, I believe that citizens have several roles to play both in the government and in the civic life. These roles are categorized into social roles, economic roles, and political roles. By approving to play the above roles, we have all agreed to be governed by the existing states. In response, the governments have ensured that we all co-exist peacefully among ourselves by ensuring that any individual who compromises on the peaceful co-existence is charged accordingly. In conclusion, it should be noted that Hobbes’ contribution to philosophy is immense. He became the first philosopher to put moral and political philosophy onto scientific basis. Through this, he was able to substantiate his theories. Equally, I believe that compared to other philosophers Hobbes contributed most to the development of social contract theory, which is now exhibited in the social instit utions. To date, his theories are still applicable in our political systems. This implies that his intention of establishing civic peace and disposing of humankind toward fulfilling their civic duty has been achieved. Bibliography Morgan, Michael L.. Classics of moral and political theory. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1992 . Print. This essay on Philosophical Hobbes’ Intentions was written and submitted by user ScarletWitch to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Nation of Immigrants essays

Nation of Immigrants essays America is a nation of people from all over the world who want to live in a country where they can live in freedom and pave the way for their children. This nation was created on the foundation of freedom and liberty. I believe that the leaders who created this nation were well aware that they were building a nation where immigrants would choose to live. The leaders of America created a nation so that different nationalities of different religions can live in a country together in peace. The United States of America is a nation of immigrants because it was created by immigrants and for immigrants. It is not by consequence that the government was based on democratic values but it is by deliberate actions by our leaders to create a nation where people can have freedom and liberty no matter what race they are or what they believe in. The United States of America has a greater responsibility than any other nation in the world because it provides a home for many different nationalities and many different religions and therefore it must understand the morals and values that shape the American society. Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, The New Colossus, in which she wrote, Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free(212). I believe that America does not have a responsibility to accept huddled masses yearning to breath free, but it has a responsibility as a world power and the strongest democratic institution to improve some conditions of the world and to protect the values that have been the foundation of this nation for more than two centuries. The American people must understand that the immigrants who choose to leave their homeland and live in America do so because they want to live in a democratic nation where they will have opportunities to make a good life for themselves. In the b eginning of the 1900s immigration increased because population was small compared to ...

Clinical Health Psychology Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Clinical Health Psychology Assignment - Essay Example Limitations of the current research are discussed. The cognitive and emotional experience of cancer is associated with a broad range of reactions, from fear and anger to reconciliation and hope. Throughout the development of psychology science, cancer had always been one of the most problematic and challenging aspects of psychological strategies. Based on what the current research tells us, it is at least ridiculous to believe that psychologists can prevent cancer: they can either effectively alleviate the emotional and cognitive difficulties that necessarily emerge the moment the individual is being diagnosed with cancer, or contribute to the development of rational self-assessment and medical evaluation behaviors, which will help individuals, especially those with the genetic predisposition to cancer, to reduce the risks of being diagnosed with cancer when it is too late. The question of whether psychologists can prevent cancer is actually a question of whether psychology and individuals’ mental health are the basic predictors of cancer in various groups of patients. Postmodern medical science displays the tendency toward recognizing mental health conditions and complications as important contributors to other complex health states like asthma, diabetes, and even peptic ulcers (Nevid, 2008). Stress is cited among the most widely spread chronic health conditions that add their share of complexity to coronary heart disease and regular headaches (Nevid, 2008). For this reason, psychologists could provide individuals with effective support and reduce the risks of asthma and cardiovascular diseases associated with stress. Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to the question of whether cancer is the result of psychological influences. The extensive body of research proves psychology counseling to be an effective instrument of alleviating

Web Services Technology and Information Systems Essay

Web Services Technology and Information Systems - Essay Example The paper offer comprehensive analyses of a profit-making web services software development scheme within the services sector to explain this issue. By means of premise study, an explanatory hypothetical outline of the structure development procedure, facilitated by web services is originated. Its major discovery is the recognition of the primary enabling function of the â€Å"Web services technology on system development†. Actually, Web services technology, being supported by XML, is confirmed to be differentiated by extensible series, which is consecutively proven the basic facilitator of innovative practices within systems study. In addition, results have shown it to be facilitator within systems realization as well about the part of related components, for instance, the target business along with its atmosphere, the project group as well as application software customs. The web services system development practices examined here appear within the possible capacity to assem ble intricate systems during a smaller, economical as well as additionally flexible method as compared to conventional system development ways.Apart from organizational development along with infrastructural development, a ‘third-order’ of motives could chip in to modify traditional practices for information systems development: the accessibility of innovative software technologies as well as structural designs, and mainly the rising Web services principles and implements. This study explains how the accessibility of Web services principles and tools is revealing fresh techniques of creating information systems.... The web services system development practices examined here appear within the possible capacity to assemble intricate systems during a smaller, economical as well as additionally flexible method as compared to conventional system development ways (Cordiero and Filpe, 2010, p. 55). Apart from organizational development along with infrastructural development, a ‘third-order’ of motives could chip in to modify traditional practices for information systems development: the accessibility of innovative software technologies as well as structural designs, and mainly the rising Web services principles and implements. This study explains how the accessibility of Web services principles and tools is revealing fresh techniques of creating information systems. This sort of argument may appear relatively old-fashioned and somehow immature. Specially, it may seem to look a lot like the ‘technically vital’ view of the primary pragmatic efforts within the field. However, th e explanatory hypothetical agenda formed here, supports the basic facilitating part of technology itself within software improvement practices. In fact, the underlying link is neither simple nor exclusive: Web services technology is an essential, although not adequate fundamental aspect of alteration in practices for information services development (Alkhatib and Rine, 2008, p. 87). This study explains how, apart from technology, additional elementary aspects are engaged, together with software venture market’s atmosphere, civilizing aspects, and achievement pace, software value as well as associated risk factors. ‘Web services’ is a component-supported software

Canon Law & 8th Amendment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Canon Law & 8th Amendment - Essay Example Since the fourth century, the Roman Catholic Church has been developing regulations that have had some influence on secular (non-church-related) legal procedures. These regulations are called canons and are codified in the Code of Canon Law (in Latin, Codex juris canonici). Canon law has its origins in ancient church writings, decisions made by the general councils of local bishops, and rulings issued by the pope. An Italian law teacher, Gratian, organized these ideas in the mid-twelfth century. He sorted the collection into religious law, penal law, sacramental law, and other categories. Along with a set of decisions by the pope called Decretals of Gregory IX, Gratian's work formed the main body of canon law for nearly eight hundred years. In 1917, Pope Benedict XV recodified (revised) the canons. Pope John Paul II reissued the Code of Canon Law in 1983-authorizing increased participation of laity in the church, recognizing the needs of disabled people, and making other changes. A related text, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, was reissued by the Holy See (the seat of papal government) in 1990. In the middle Ages, canon law was used in ecclesiastical (church) courts to decide many types of cases that in modern times are decided by civil courts, including criminal offenses. Crimes that were tried by the church included adultery, blasphemy, slander, heresy (opposition to official religious views), money lending, and gambling. -Of-faith cases concerning contracts, as well as inheritance and marriage-related cases. Criminal trial procedures in medieval church courts were the source of some features that found their way into common law. Although witnesses were considered the best source of proof of a crime under canon law, suspected offenders could also be tried because of public fame (suspicion in the community that they had committed a crime). An inquest made up of twelve men-a forerunner of royal courts' grand juries-said under oath whether public suspicion existed. If none did, then a judge had no authority to proceed. After establishing public fame, the court's next step was canonical purgation, in which the accused person swore an oath that she or he was innocent. Proof of innocence was accomplished by compurgation, in which several oath helpers would swear that they believed the oath was true. People who objected to the purgation of an accused person had the chance to prove their accusation of guilt. The use of canon law in governmental decisions is not well documented. In the early fifteenth century, commissions of the English Parliament made use of canonical procedures and canon law experts to decide issues involving laws of war, diplomacy, and other questions. For example, Parliament's justification for deposing King Richard II seems to have been based on papal bulls (decrees). In modern times, the creation, interpretation, and use of the canons closely resemble those of secular law. The Episcopal Conference of Local Bishops and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops are voting bodies that set policy for the church. When policy has been codified, it is used by judges in Catholic tribunals in determining whether certain practices or requests are acceptable according to the canons. (Catholic tribunals make up the Church's own court system, which interprets canonical policy to resolve questions of church practice.) Case law (previous

Women in the Renaissance Era

Women in the Renaissance Era Renaissance Humanism: The Feminine Voice The Renaissance Humanism, albeit a movement headed by males who agreed with the misogynist insights in ancient texts opened the door to the review of the misogynist tradition making it possible for the female humanists like Isotta Nogarola, Cassandra Fedele, Laura Cereta, and Olimpia Morata et al to write about the woman question, and thus changing the notion of Humanism from it earlier misogynist approach to re-evaluation of womens nature by putting household issues at the heart of academic concern and regenerating the relevant classical texts (Cereta, 1997). The triumph of women in Western Europe and the United States originates from a movement about six hundred years ago in the era of Renaissance. This was the time when the other voice, meaning the feminine voice, was first heard against the background of a three-thousand-year history of misogyny rooted in western culture, whether Hebrew, Greek, Roman or Christian. The hatred against women in these traditions suffused the intellec tual, medical, legal, religious and social systems that grew during the European Middle Ages. Concurrent with a general reformation of European culture in this early modern or Renaissance days (roughly during 1300 to 1700) issues related to female equality and opening emerged out that still echo and are still unanswered. This paper deals with the misogynistic tradition defeated by early modern Europeans and the new institution that suppressed the other voice called to defy the ruling theories and conjectures about women as lesser to the male in mind and body. The long-established Misogyny in European culture broke down to take to pieces when the modern period began hard task, no doubt. The progress started as part of a huge cultural movement involving a serious review of ideas received from the antiquated and medieval past—an attempt initiated by the humanists. The Renaissance, as the name suggests, was something new, according to some. The contenders hold that it fundamentally pursued medieval models revising them — an idea that gets more confused with the added fact that the Renaissance in Italy was at variance from the Renaissance in other places. The Renaissance started in Italy around 1300. The first and foremost name associated with this movement was Dante Alighieri, the deeply religious author of spiritual parables, a dedicated catholic who used academic philosophy and was often adverse to the political set-up of the Italian church. One can easily sense from his Divine Comedy that he basically belonged to the Middle Ages except that, as distinct most lofty intellectuals, he wrote mostly in Italian rather than Latin. After him comes the named of Giovanni Boccaccio in the fourteenth century, who wrote the extremely sensational Decameron, written in Italian too. Goeffrey Chaucer in England also wrote the lewd The Canterbury Tales , most likely, which like the Decameron, was a true account of how medieval people acted. But the classic successor of Dante was Francesco Petrarch who wrote both in Italian and Latin about secular themes, even though he was deeply religious often bothering that his secular writings were a diversion from mans only right goal, that is, deliverance (Stearns, 1977). Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch put very much in to the unearthing and safeguarding of classical works. Humanist values were powerfully articulate by another Italian scholar, Pico della Mirandola, in his Oration on the dignity of man. Hamlet’s well-known speech: â€Å"What a piece of work is a man? How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god—the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!†is directly influenced Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man. The humanist movement was supplemented by the entry of Byzantine scholars to Italy after the collapse of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 and also by the founding of the Platonic Academy in Florence. The academy established by the 15th-century Florentine statesman and sponsor of the arts Cosimo de Medici, revitalized Platonism and changing the literature, painting, and architecture of the period. The compilation and translation of classical texts among the higher clergy and nobles, the invention of printing with variable types around the mid-15th century gave fuelled humanism to progress more through the distribution of editions of the classics in Italy though literature and art, in central Europe through theology and education—a primary basis of the Reformation. One of the most significant scholars in humanism in France was the Dutch cleric Desiderius Erasmus, who also played crucial role to spread the movement into England, firstly at the University. By the middle of the 16th century humanism had won wide acceptance as an educational system. Oxford by classical scholars like William Grocyn (1446-1519) and Thomas Linacre, and at the University of Cambridge by Erasmus and the English prelate John Fisher (1459-1535) to ultimately all through English society thus making the way for the thriving of Elizabethan literature and culture (Witt, 1978). The Humanists reverence for the academic philosophy of medieval universities effected a literary flare-up consisting of works by both men and women, in Latin and in lingua francaworks detailing the attainments of prominent women, works confuting the main allegations made against women, works contending for the equal education of men and women, works labeling and reclassifying womens appropriate role in the family, at court, and in public and works depicting womens lives and experiences. The proto-feminism of these other voices represents an important aspect of the literary effects of the Renaissance. Around 1365, Boccaccio whose Corbaccio made the typical attacks against female nature wrote Concerning Famous Women, a humanist discourse based on classical texts eulogizing distinguished women from pagan Greek, Roman ancient times, and from the religious and cultural tradition since the olden times making all readers conscious of a sex usually damned or forgot ten. However, in it, Bocca ccios position was typically misogynist. The book only honored those women who maintained the conventional female â€Å"qualities† like virginity, quiet, and compliance. Socially active women, for example, sovereigns and fighters, were portrayed as enduring appalling penalties for infringing into male-domain. Even if Boccacio chose women as his theme, he maintained his male chauvinistic attitude although in the book. Christine de Pizans Book of the City of Ladies contains a second catalogue of famous women, as a reaction to Boccaccios. Where Boccaccio’s book shows feminine virtue as extraordinary, her book describes it as common. Many women in history were leaders, visionaries and valiant sufferers for a cause or stayed pure in spite of the lecherous advances from men. The work of Boccaccio enthused a run of such catalogues of famous women of the biblical, classical, Christian, and indigenous past: works by Alvaro de Luna, Jacopo Filippo Foresti , Brantà ´me, Pierre Le Moyne, PietroPaolo de Ribera (who recorded 845 names), and many others. Whatever prejudices these catalogues contained, these catalogues illustrated the public the prospect of female superiority. Yet simultaneously, questions surfaced: Could a woman be moral? Could she act strikingly? Could she be as equal as a man? These questions were argued over four centuries, in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English, by male and female authors, among Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, in tedious volumes and gusty booklets, the debate being referre d as the querelle des femmes, the Woman Question. The opening torrent of this war took place in the first years of the fifteenth century, in a literary debate generated by Christine de Pizan. Humanism provided the materials for a positive counter concept to the misogyny embedded in scholastic philosophy and law, and inherited from the Greek, Roman, and Christian pasts. A series of humanist treatises on marriage and family, on education and deportment, and on the nature of women helped construct these new perspectives. There were, of course, views opinions by women that went against women’s emerging new roles, the works by Francesco Barbaro and Leon Battista Alberti, respectively On Marriage ( 1415) and On the Family ( 1434-37), reaffirmed womens duties to look after children and supervise house hold maintenance while being submissive, virtuous, and quiet. Even then, that served the purpose of pondering over the â€Å"question women† by placing household matters at the focus of academia and reviving the relevant classical texts. In addition, Barbaro stressed the importance of a wifes religious and rational virtues for the happiness of the family, topics that came back in later humanist works on marriage and the education of women by Juan Luis Vives and Erasmus who were fairly sensitive to the condition of women, without taking it too far. A more constructive stance towards women was seen in the virtually unknown work In Praise of Women (ca. 1487), a catalogue of famous women, by the Italian humanist Bartolommeo Goggio where he contended that male and female are essentially the same, and that women are in fact better. Almost similarly, the Italian humanist Mario Equicola stressed the sacred equality of men and women in On Women. An outlook more favorable to women characterizes the nearly unknown work In Praise of Women (ca. 1487) by the Italian humanist Bartolommeo Goggio. In addition to providing a catalogue of illustrious women, Goggio contended hat male and female are essentially the same and that women are in fact better. Similarly, the Italian humanist Mario Equicola stressed the divine equality of men and women in On Women ( 1501). In 1525, Galeazzo Flavio Capra (or Capella) published his work On the Excellence and Dignity of Women. This humanist tradition of discourses guarding the value of women ended in the wo rk of Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, On the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex, an incomparable attempt by a male humanist to concisely or openly present the case for female self-respect. Works written on the womens question had an extra point in the sense that volumes of them were written by women. A woman writing was in herself a declaration of womens assertion to self-respect. Only a handful of women wrote anything before the the early modern era, for three reasonsfirst, they hardly ever had the culture that facilitated them to write, second, they were not let in to have public roles-as officer, civil servant, lawyer or attorney, university professor where they might attain information about matters worth writing about and lastly , the male-dominated culture suppressed the voice of women with the hidden social dictate that considered speaking her mind as a unchaste. Under such condition it was amazing for those who did write before the fourteenth century. Women writes mostly were nuns or spiritual women whose secluded life made their assertion more tolerable. From the fourteenth century on, the number increased rapidly, women went on writing devotional literature, even though not always as secluded nuns. They also wrote journals, often having it in mind as mementos for their children; guides to their children; letters to family members and friends; and family memoirs that could as well be considered as histories of some sorts. A few women wrote works directly related to the woman question, and some of these, were well trained. While women’s rights were a novel idea, educated women concentrated on another aspect of women, which is witch-hunting. There was a distinctive hostility against witches and a number of booklets and pamphlets on instructions to protect them against witches, who were considered essentially women. The most notorious witch-hunting manual was The Hammer of Witches ( 1486), by two Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Krà ¤mer and Jacob Sprenger. Witches were often accused of exaggerated deeds as well as deceitful and lust-ridden. Hence, women were equated with the devil who held unholy powers. Of course, rational men, protested such opinion but the most believed in these. For example, the German Ulrich Molitur, the Frenchman Nicolas Rà ©my, the Italian Stefano Guazzo described sinister orgies with the devil and the celebrated French jurist, historian, and political philosopher Jean Bodin often suspended regular legal routine in order to try women charged with exceptional crime. Thus, the early Renaissance involved misogynists. Even when they followed new norms in all matters of society and philosophy, these did not include women. It was up to the women themselves to make their new rules. They formed their own literature and culture whiles the men, even rational otherwise, had distinctive hostility. But the women slowly broke down the barriers gradually as women who were otherwise cocooned within the arena of women began to write and express themselves. Yet, the Renaissance did help women to find their own voice. Even as they have faced new challenges over the years, they have continued to struggle to make their own place up to now. Bibliography Primary sources: Cereta, Laura. Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist. edited by Diana Robin. University Of Chicago Press. Chicago, 1997. dePizan, Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies. trans. Earl Jeffrey Richards; Foreword Marina Warner. New York. 1982 Thomson, Melissa (2005). Women of the Renaissance. Lucent Books. San Diego. Zophy, Jonathon W. A Short History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe: Dances over Fire and Water. Prentice Hall; 2 edition., 1998 Secondary sources: Elton, G. R. (1963). Renaissance and Reformation. 1300-1648. Hale, J.R. (1993-1995). The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance. Simon andm Shuster. New York. Letts, Rosa Maria (1981). The Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. New York. Stearns , Peter N. The Face of Europe. Forum Press: St. Louis, MO, 1977. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet: edited by David Bevington: Bantam, 1988.

Through My Eyes :: essays papers

Through My Eyes Part One: I decided to adopt the voice of an African American male to gain a different perspective of my society. Every day I live my life as a white female and perform everyday activities without a second thought. Never do I stop to think what it would be like to be black or disabled in my surroundings. Ever since I was young, I was taught not to discriminate against minorities and not to judge the handicapped. But, never was I taught what it was actually like to be a minority, be homosexual, or be disabled. I can honestly say I am not a racist and that I’m sensitive to the needs of others. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I know what it is like to be a minority or struggle with a disability everyday of my life. This assignment opened my eyes to the wide variety of people within my society and helped me try to understand another person’s perspective in life. To better understand the voice of an African American male, I searched the web for information, interviewed someone with my voice, and pretended to think and act like that voice for one day. The first web site that impacted my previous white female notions was a site entitled BlackFamilies.com. The site contained information pertaining to African American families like current news, family issues, and other happenings. One item that I found particularly interesting was the baby name page. Here, one could view the list of black baby names and even submit their own favorites. As a white female, I have only browsed through â€Å"white† baby name books. I’m aware that many black Americans have names unique to their culture, but I never saw a name book designed specifically for them. Once again, I was only viewing the world through my own eyes and experiences. I’ve always wondered how Blacks â€Å"find† the names of their children since they are usually so unique and different from what I am used to. I also enjoyed reading the names and trying to pronounce them on my own. There were many other links to sights similar to this one, including more black baby names! Secondly, I talked to an African American male who is a student at La Salle University. We discussed what it was like to be a black male on our campus and within the city.

Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

Marriage: The Foundation of Happiness or Misery In today’s world, 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Although the other 50 percent of marriages don’t end in divorce, not all those marriages are considered an ideal marriage. The concept of an ideal marriage has changed as time has progressed. An ideal marriage in our time is a marriage based on love and family. Most societies have always had the same perspective of an ideal marriage during their time periods. However, in Jane Austen’ Pride and Prejudice, the author defies the view of the ideal marriage of her society by giving her own perspective on an ideal marriage.In the time period of Pride and Prejudice, society viewed ideal marriage as one based on financial stability and social equality. Although Jane Austen’s view of an ideal marriage includes financial and social stability, love was a major factor as well. In the novel, Jane Austen writes about suitable marriages and unsuitable marriages. Alth ough the marriages based on wealth and social class seems suitable through society’s eyes, Jane Austen suggests those marriages to be unsuitable because of their lack of love and happiness.In the novel, many of the marriages reflect society’s view of marriage as a business affair and these marriages are quite unsuitable. Although Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have been married for 23 years, there is no mutual affection between them. Mr. Bennet married Mrs. Bennet because he was â€Å"captivated by [her] youth and beauty†¦ he married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her† (202). Mr. Bennet practically never communicates with his wife and when he does, he teases her for his own enjoyment.Their marriage was solely based on physical attraction which has now faded away. Both of these characters were mismatched in personality and in social class. However, this couple isn’t the on ly unsuitable marriage through Austen’s eyes. Mr. Collins and Charlotte are a couple that exhibits everything Jane Austen is against, which is a marriage solely based on financial and social security. Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas married each other just for their own personal gain. When Mr. Collins proposed, â€Å"Miss Lucas, accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment† (106).Charlotte was 27 and single, her future didn’t look great so marrying Mr. Collins was the best thing that could have happened. She is now set â€Å"considering Mr. Collins’ character, connection and situation in life, [she was] convinced that [her] chance of happiness with him [was] as fair as most can boast on entering the marriage state† (109). Mr. and Mrs. Collins aren’t really a couple based on love and happiness which is what Jane Austen considered suitable. She marries a man who is richer and socially higher than her. Although Mr. and Mrs.Collins’ marriage was considered ideal by society, Jane Austen thought it to be unsuitable. Jane Austen’s ideal marriage is a marriage based on love and happiness but also the aspects of society’s ideal marriage which includes financial and social stability. Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy all exhibit the qualities of marriage that are considered suitable by Jane Austen. Mr. Bingley is an extremely wealthy modest man who never judges anyone and Jane is a quiet gentle woman who never thinks badly of anyone.Both these characters are matched perfectly and are one of the rare couples in the novel who genuinely love each other though their love seems very superficial. Although Jane and Mr. Bingley exhibit an ideal marriage, their love has no depth. Mr. Bingley doesn’t seem to care about marrying a woman based on her social class or wealth. He believes love is more important than the match of social class in a marriag e. This is seen when Mr. Darcy convinces Mr. Bingley that Jane doesn’t actually love him and Bingley abandons Jane.Since love matters he doesn’t want to be with someone who doesn’t love him back. However, they had an instant connection: â€Å"it was generally evident whenever they met he did admire her; and to her it was equally evident that Jane was yielding to the preference which she had begun to entertain for him from the first, and was in a way to be very much in love†(16). They are both in love, both happy, and are both financially secure, exhibiting an ideal marriage for Jane Austen. However there was a couple that was more ideal through Jane Austen’s eyes.Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet epitomize the ideal marriage for Jane Austen. At first, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth disliked each other and had no initial attraction towards one another. However, as the novel progresses, their attraction for each other grows and soon they fall in love. Elizabet h isn’t a woman who doesn’t want to marry just for financial security or to be higher within the social class. Her view of marriage is different than her friends; Elizabeth â€Å"had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like er own, but she could not have supposed it possible that when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage† (110). Charlotte represents society’s view of marriage in her time period which regarded marriage as a business affair. However, Elizabeth is one of the few characters to believe that marriage is based on love. Mr. Darcy is the wealthiest man in the novel and with that kind of wealth, he could marry anyone.However, he chooses Elizabeth who is part of a lower class than him proving that he wants to marry Elizabeth because he is in love with her. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are both physically attractive, intelligent, and they both love each other dearly. T hey are the ideal couple in Jane Austen’s eyes. Jane Austen suggests the marriages that are based on social class and wealth to be unsuitable although they seem ideal through society’s eyes. Austen believed that a suitable marriage had to include love and happiness on top of financial security and social class.However, through society’s eyes â€Å"happiness in marriage [was] entirely a matter of chance† (18). Although in today’s world there are arranged marriages based on social class and wealth, most people in today’s society believe marriage to be based on a foundation of love which links back to Austen’s belief of marriage. Although Jane believed that a suitable marriage had to include love, financial security and physical attraction, today’s society believes a suitable marriage can be solely based on love for one another.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 5

Got Nothin' but Love for Ya Dr. Patel's secretary turns off the radio as soon as she sees me walk into the waiting room, which makes me laugh because she tries to do it casually, as if I won't notice. She looks scared, turning the knob so gingerly – the way people do things after they have seen one of my episodes, as if I am no longer human, but some wild hulking animal. After a brief wait, I meet with Cliff for my second session, like I will every Friday for the foreseeable future. I pick brown this time, and we sit in his leather recliners among the clouds, talking about how much we like women and â€Å"kicking it like we do,† which is another one of Danny's sayings. Cliff asks me if I like my new meds, and I tell him I do, even though I really have not noticed any effects at all and have only taken about half the pills my mother gave me last week – hiding a few under my tongue and spitting them into the toilet when she leaves me alone. He asks me if I have experienced any unwanted side effects – shortness of breath, loss of appetite, drowsiness, suicidal feelings, homicidal feelings, loss of virility, anxiety, itchiness, diarrhea – and I tell him I haven't. â€Å"What about hallucinations?† he says, and then leans forward a little, squinting. â€Å"Hallucinations?† I ask. â€Å"Hallucinations.† I shrug, say I don't think I have hallucinated, and he tells me I would know if I had. â€Å"Tell your mother if you see anything bizarre or horrifying,† he says, â€Å"but don't worry, because you probably will not hallucinate. Only a very small percentage of people hallucinate while taking this combination of meds.† I nod and promise I will report any hallucinations to my mother, but I do not really believe I will hallucinate no matter what type of drugs he gives me, especially since I know he will not be giving me LSD or anything like that. I figure weaker people probably complain about their drugs, but I am not weak and can control my mind pretty well. I am in the basement doing shots of water, taking my three-minute break between crunches on the Stomach Master 6000 and leg lifts on the weight bench, when I smell the unmistakable buttery flavor of my mother's crabby snacks and I start to salivate unmercifully. Because I love crabby snacks, I leave the basement, enter the kitchen, and see that my mother is not only baking crabby snacks, which are buttered crabmeat and orange cheese on English muffins, but she is also making her homemade three-meats pizza – hamburger, sausage, and chicken – and those buffalo wings she gets from Big Foods. â€Å"Why are you cooking crabby snacks?† I ask hopefully, because I know from past experience that she only cooks crabby snacks when we are having company. Nikki loves crabby snacks and will eat a whole plate if you set it in front of her, and then she will complain later on the ride home, saying she is feeling fat because she has eaten too much. Back when I was emotionally abusive, I used to tell her that I did not want to hear her complaints every time she ate too much. But the next time Nikki eats too many crabby snacks, I am going to tell her she did not eat too much and that she looks too skinny anyway; I'll say she needs to gain a few pounds because I like my women looking like women and not like â€Å"Ms. Six O'Clock – straight up, straight down,† which is another term I learned from Danny. And I do hope my mother's making crabby snacks signifies that apart time is over because Nikki is on her way to my parents' house, which seems like the best coming-home surprise my mother could cook up – and as Mom is always trying to do nice things for me and my brother, I mentally prepare myself to be reunited with Nikki. My heart pounds at least fifty times during the few seconds it takes for my mother to answer my question. â€Å"The Eagles are playing the Steelers tonight in a preseason exhibition game,† my mother says, which is weird because Mom has always hated sports and barely knows that football season is in the fall, let alone what teams are playing on a given day. â€Å"Your brother is coming over to watch the game with you and your father.† My heart starts beating even faster because I have not seen my brother since shortly after apart time began, and like my father, he said some really awful things about Nikki the last time we talked. â€Å"Jake is looking forward to seeing you, and you know how much your father loves the Eagles. I can't wait to have all three of my men gathered around the couch again, just like old times.† My mother smiles at me so hard I think she is going to break out in tears again, so I turn around and go back into the basement to do knuckle push-ups until my pecs burn and I can no longer feel my knuckles. Knowing that I will probably not be allowed to go for my run later, because we are having a family night, I put on a trash bag and run early, passing my high school friends' homes; passing St. Joseph's, which is the Catholic church I used to attend; passing Collingswood High School (class of 89 rules!) and the house my grandparents used to own by the park before they died. My old best friend sees me when I run past his new house on Virginia Avenue. Ronnie is just getting home from work, walking from his car to his front door, when I pass him on the sidewalk. He looks me in the eyes, and after I have passed, he yells, â€Å"Pat Peoples? Is that you? Pat! Hey!† I run even harder, because my brother, Jake, is coming to talk to me; Jake does not believe in happy endings, and I do not have the emotional wherewithal to deal with Ronnie right now, because he never once came to visit Nikki and me in Baltimore, although he promised so many times. Nikki used to call Ronnie â€Å"whipped,† saying that his wife, Veronica, â€Å"keeps Ronnie's social calendar where she keeps his balls – in her purse.† Nikki told me that Ronnie would never visit me in Baltimore, and she was right. He never visited me in the bad place either, but he used to write me letters about how great his daughter, Emily, was and I guess is, although I have not yet met Emily to verify the letters. When I return home, Jake's car is there – a fancy silver BMW, which sort of implies that my brother is doing well now when it comes to â€Å"pockets getting fatter,† as Danny says. So I sneak in the back door and run up the steps to the shower. After I wash and put on clean clothes, I take a deep breath and follow the sound of conversation to the living room. Jake stands when he sees me. He has on fancy pants, lined with charcoal pinstripes, and a robin's-egg blue polo shirt that is formfitting enough to show that he is still pretty fit. He is also wearing a watch with diamonds all over the face, which Danny would call Jake's bling-bling. My brother's hair has thinned a little too, but his head is gelled and looks swanky. â€Å"Pat?† he says. â€Å"Didn't I say you wouldn't recognize him?† Mom says. â€Å"You look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.† He feels my bicep, which I absolutely hate because I don't like to be touched by anyone except Nikki. Since he's my brother, I don't say anything. â€Å"You're frickin' ripped,† he adds. I look at the floor, because I remember what he said about Nikki – I am still mad about that – and yet I am also happy to see my brother after not seeing him for what feels like forever. â€Å"Listen, Pat. I should have come to see you more in Baltimore, but those places freak me out and I †¦ I †¦ I just couldn't see you like that, okay? Are you mad at me?† I am sort of still mad at Jake, but suddenly I remember another one of Danny's lines that is too appropriate to leave unsaid, so I say, â€Å"Got nothin' but love for ya.† Jake looks at me for a second as if I had punched him in the gut. He blinks a few times almost as if he is going to cry, and then he hugs me with both arms. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he says, and holds me for longer than I like, which isn't very long – unless it's Nikki hugging me. When he lets go, Jake says, â€Å"I got a present for you.† He pulls an Eagles jersey out of a plastic bag and tosses it to me. I hold it up and see it's number 84, which I recognize as a wide receiver's number, but I do not know the name. Isn't that young receiver Freddie Mitchell number 84? I think but do not say, because I don't want to insult my brother, who was nice enough to buy me a present. â€Å"Who's Baskett?† I ask, which is the name on the jersey. â€Å"Undrafted rookie sensation Hank Baskett? He's the preseason story. These jerseys are hot on the streets of Philadelphia. And now you have one to wear to the games this year.† â€Å"Wear to the games?† â€Å"Now that you're home, you're gonna want your old seat back, right?† â€Å"At the Vet?† â€Å"The Vet?† Jake laughs and looks at my mother. My mother looks scared. â€Å"No – at Lincoln Financial Field.† â€Å"What's Lincoln Financial Field?† â€Å"Didn't they let you watch TV in that place? It's the home of the Eagles, the stadium your team's played three seasons in now.† I know Jake is lying to me, but I don't say anything. â€Å"Anyway, you got a seat right next to mine and Scott's. Season tickets, bro. Are you psyched, or what?† â€Å"I don't have any money for season tickets,† I say, because I let Nikki have the house and the cars and the bank accounts when apart time began. â€Å"I got your back.† Jake punches me in the arm. â€Å"I might not have been a good brother for the past few years, but I'm gonna make up for all that now that you're home.† I thank my brother, and then Mom starts crying again. She cries so hard that she has to leave the room, which is weird, since Jake and I are making up and season tickets to the Eagles are quite a nice present – not to mention the jersey. â€Å"Put on your Baskett jersey, bro.† I put it on, and it feels good to be wearing Eagles green, especially a jersey that Jake picked out special for me. â€Å"You wait and see how good your boy Baskett is going to be this year,† Jake says in a strange way, as if my future were somehow linked to the Eagles' rookie wide receiver – Hank Baskett.