Contribution of Bette Davis as an Actor and Her Role as a Female in her Time Period Essay

Larger than life she was – with a career spanning six decades, including Broadway, film and the small screen; having made more than a hundred films and receiving ten Best Actress nominations and being the first woman to be honored with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award– and equally larger in death, was Bette Davis. Fearless, ambitious and daring, her strong-mindedness won her a few friends and many enemies in her lifetime, but continues to draw audiences to her appeal and aspiring actresses everywhere look up to her as a role-model. In this report, I will focus on Bette Davis’s contribution as an actor and her role as a female icon of her time. Contribution of Bette Davis as an Actor and Her Role as a Female in her Time Period One of the most talented and the biggest stars of the thirties was Bette Davis. Her strong personality off-screen often found its way into the characters she played. She made her wide range of roles realistic, from a sixty-year old queen in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex to a young beauty in Jezebal. Olivia de Havilland called Bette Davis â€Å"a basically benevolent volcano. † Jack Warner described her as â€Å"an explosive little girl with a sharp left. † Bette ruffled a few feathers in her career, but looking back, any trouble she caused was usually for the betterment of her films rather than from her merely playing the prima donna. Off-screen, her life was filled with as much drama as any role she played, having weathered a broken home, four failed marriages, literary revenge brought forth by her daughter and frail health in her later years (Bubbeo, 2001, p. 43 – 51). In this report, I will highlight the important contributions as well as this screen diva’s achievements in a male-dominated industry, and how her success paved the way for many other women, who emulated her example to carve a niche for themselves in the traditionally male-dominant world. Bette Davis once joked that her epitaph should read, â€Å"Here lies Ruth Elizabeth Davis – She did it the hard way† (Ware, 1993, p. 180). An actress first and a star second – and in no way a conventional beauty- she invented a jagged, sincere, many-sided style of film acting that continues to reverberate through the generations. At her best, Bette Davis put complicated, conflicted women on the screen at a time when most screen characters were still melodramatic simplifications. A small (five foot three) blue-eyed blonde, she was unfazed by the cant of her era that considered screen acting inferior to acting on the stage. An actress first and a star second – and in no way a conventional beauty- she invented a jagged, sincere, many-sided style of film acting that continues to reverberate through the generations. Born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts, she was the elder of two daughters of Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent lawyer from a Yankee family of long standing, and Ruth Favor, a homemaker of French Huguenot descent. The couple, incompatible almost from the start, divorced when Bette was ten. As a result, she and her younger sister, Barbara, were educated in a patchwork of public and private schools in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts- wherever Ruth Davis could find work as a professional photographer. Popular and active as child, Betty changed the spelling of her name in imitation of Balzac’s La Cousine Bette and finally graduated from Cushing Academy, a boarding school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, in 1926. Broadway By 1927, a nineteen-year-old Bette Davis was attending the John Murray Anderson-Robert Milton School of Theatre and Dance in New York. Bette was temperamentally restless and eager to earn a living. She left school before her first year was over, rushing headlong into professional engagements on and off Broadway on tour, and with numerous stock companies, among them George Cukor’s repertory theatre in Rochester, New York. Bette Davis in Hollywood After opening on Broadway in Solid South (1930), she received her first offer from a Hollywood film studio. With a few exceptions – most notably Cabin in the Cotton (1932) – Davis’s first years in Hollywood produced nothing extraordinary. Then, in 1934, after a long campaign, she convinced Warners to loan her to RKO, an American film production and distribution company, to play the sociopathic cockney Mildred Rogers in their adaption of Of Human Bondage, and got her first star-making notices. The next year she won an Oscar for Best Actress for Dangerous (1935), in which she played an alcoholic actress patterned on the Broadway legend Jeanne Eagels. Contribution to the Media Industry In 1936, Warners had to sue to prevent her from violating her contract and making a film in England for the Italian producer Ludovico Toeplitz. When she returned to Warners, however, she was treated generously, starring next in Jezebel (1938), a finely wrought study of the anger and ambivalence of a southern belle. The performance brought her a second Oscar, as best actress of 1938. The next year she played the role that she sometimes referred to as her favorite, Judith Traherne, the mortally ill heroine of Dark Victory (1939). After Dark Victory, Bette Davis starred in an unbroken string of sixteen box-office successes, playing everything from genteel novelists to murderous housewives to self-hateful spinsters to a sexagenarian Queen Elizabeth I. her most memorable films from this remarkably productive period included The Old Maid (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), Watch on the Rhine (1943), and The Corn is Green (1945). In 1932, she married her high school sweetheart, Harmon Nelson, a freelance musician. But the marriage was as rocky as her parent’s and in 1938 ended in a divorce. She married again in 1940, to New England hotelier Arthur Farnsworth; he died in 1943 from a skull fracture. The war years were Bette Davis’s prime, and not only on screen. In 1941 she became the first woman president of the Academy of Motion picture of Arts and Sciences, quitting when she realized she was little more than a figurehead. In 1942, with John Garfield, she co-founded the Hollywood Canteen. Totally committed to her role as the organizations president, she danced, ate, and clowned almost nightly with the servicemen passing through Los Angeles. After the war, her career began to sink, with terrible films such as Beyond the Forest (1949). Released from her Warners contract, she freelanced. At 42, she believed her career was over, until her performance in All about Eve (1950), where she played an explosive theatrical prima donna who was terrified of aging. For her performance as Margo Channing, New York Film Critics named her the year’s best actress. In 1962, no longer a box-office name, she took a role in an offbeat, low-budget psychological thriller, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , poignantly playing a homicidally demented middle aged former child star. The film was a megahit, brining Davis her tenth, and, final, Oscar nomination. In the new era of made for TV films and miniseries, worthwhile roles came to her, including a part as a pathetic recluse in Strangers (1979), which won her a best actress Emmy. In 1977, the American Film Institute bestowed on her its Life Achievement Award; she was the first woman to receive it. Almost more prominent than she had been in her zenith, she now found herself hailed by a new generation of film critics who were seeing her classic films for the first time, and new stars praised her warmly as an influence and a role model. In 1983, she suffered breast cancer and a stroke. Despite permanent damage to her speech and gait, she continued making films. In 1985, Davis was shattered when her daughter B. D. Hyman, published a contemptuous family memoir, My Mother’s Keeper. She feebly tried to respond in her own book, This ‘n That (1987). Then looking dismayingly frail, she played a scrappy octogenarian in The Whales of August (1987), a sensitive study of old age. She died of cancer in Paris in 1989, having gone to Europe to accept an award at a Spanish film festival. Eighty-one at the time of her death, she left behind on film a brilliant constellation of contrasting and vibrant figures, the legacy of sixty years of hard work and dedication to what she liked to call total realism on the screen. Bette Davis- the Independent Female Bette Davis, outspoken, direct, and totally concentrated on her career, was a shrewd businessperson who expected good scripts and demanded the best in production support and working conditions. She was one of the few actresses able to take on unsympathetic roles, such as Mildred in Of Human Bondage (1934) and Julie Marsden in Jezebel (1938) (Ware, 1993, p. 180). Being a fighter, Bette was no stranger to bad times, and she knew how to keep going even when everything seemed to be against her. In 1962, when work became scarce, Bette took out an advertisement in Variety and other trade papers: MOTHER OF THREE – 10, 11 & 15 – DIVORCEE. AMERICAN. THIRTY YEARS EXPERIENCE AS AN ACTRESS IN MOTION PICTURES. MOBILE STILL AND MORE AFFABLE THAN RUMOR WOULD HAVE IT. WANTS STEADY EMPLOYMENT IN HOLLYWOOD (HAS HAD BROADWAY. ) Bette Davis, c/o Martin Baum, G. A. C. REFERENCES UPON REQUEST This was Davis at her best, and demonstrated her no-nonsense approach to her career and life in general. She knew that only she could improve her situation; no one else would do it for her (Moseley, 1989, p. 148). She was an over-achiever and the advertisement is who she was : bold, fearless and focused – some would say obsessed about her career. She wouldn’t take no for an answer and got her way more often than not in the ruthless world of Hollywood politics. She was a success story, due to her single-minded purpose of succeeding. The highly competitive Davis explained, â€Å"I always had the will to win. I felt it baking cookies. They had to be the best cookies anyone baked. † She was demanding, temperamental, and self-indulgent. By the early 1940s, she had become the First Land of the Screen (Parish, 2007, p. 49). Bette Davis married four times, but claimed her matrimonial choices had been ill-considered because her mates were unable to stand up to her or, as an alternative, congenially sank into the background as Mr. Davis. Ironically, while she failed on the matrimonial front, she found great success as a woman in a man’s world. She is thought to be the first- and finest- presentation of an independent woman on celluloid (Brabazon, 2002, p. 85). ? Conclusion Contemporary feminism needs a Bette Davis, a firebrand woman who is tough, resolute, and passionate. She worked hard, thought deeply and spoke out while post-war masculinity congealed around her (Brabazon, 2002, p. 85). Almost to the day she died, Bette never stopped working. Work was her life and her passion and she embraced it like no other actress before or since. In 1972 Bette said, â€Å"I’ll never make the mistake of saying I’m retired. You do that and you’re finished. You just have to make sure you play older and older parts. Hell, I could do a million of those character roles. But I’m stubborn about playing the lead. I’d like to go out with my name above the title. † She kept her word. Works Cited Brabazon, T. (2002). Ladies who Lunge: Celebrating Difficult Women. Sydney: UNSW Press. Bubbeo, D. (2001). The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies : with Filmographies for each. Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland. Moseley, R. (1989). Bette Davis: An Intimate Memoir. New York: D. I. Fine. Parish, J. R. (2007). The Hollywood Book of Extravagance: The Totally Infamous, Mostly Disastrous, and Always Compelling Excesses of America’s Film and TV idols. Hoboken, N. J. : John Wiley. Ware, S. , & Braukman, S. L. (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press. Ware, S. (1993). Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism. New York: W. W. Norton.

Using Waste Cooking Oil as Feedstock and Candida Antarctica

Production of Biodiesel by Enzymatic Transesterification: using Waste Cooking Oil as feedstock and Candida Antarctica Lipase B as Biocatalyst. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTON The high cost of bio-diesel, compared to petroleum-based diesel, is a major barrier to its commercialization. It has been reported that 60-90% of bio-diesel cost arises from the cost of the feedstock oil (C. C. Lai et al. , 2005). Studies showed the potential of waste-cooking oil (WCO) as a material for biodiesel production (Sulaiman Al-Zuhair, 2008).Therefore, the use of WCO should greatly reduce the cost of bio-diesel. In addition to the choice of lipase employed, factors which make the transesterification process feasible and ready for commercialization are: enzyme modification, the selection of feedstock and alcohol, use of common solvents, pretreatment of the lipase , alcohol to oil molar ratio, water activity/content and reaction temperature. Optimization of these parameters is necessary in order to reduce the cost of biodiesel production.Use of no/low cost waste materials such as the WCO will have double environmental benefits by reducing the environmental pollution potential of the wastes and producing an environmentally friendly fuel. In addition, production of bio-diesel from WCO is considered an important step in reducing and recycling waste. A fresh vegetable oil and its waste differ significantly in water and free fatty acids (FFAs) contents, which are around 2000 ppm and 10-15%, respectively (C. C. Lai et al. , 2005; Y. Zhang et al. , 2003). Because of this the traditional alkaline-catalyzed biodiesel production is unsuitable (Zhang et al. 2003). The use of the enzyme lipase as a biocatalyst for the transesterification reaction step in biodiesel production has been extensively investigated. Lipase is produced by all living organisms and can be used intracellularly or extracellularly. In order to design an economically and environmentally sustainable biodiesel production process, a prop er understanding of the factors affecting the process and their relative importance of enzyme-catalyzed biodiesel production is necessary. A general equation for transesterification (where group R is a fatty acid, R’ is the ength of the acyl acceptor and R† is the rest of the triglyercide molecule) is as follows: Methanol is the most popular alcohol used in the transesterification process because of its relatively cheaper price compared to other alcohols. When methanol is used in the process, the reaction is known as methanolysis as shown in the following equation: Lipases from microorganisms (bacterial and fungal) are the most used as biocatalysts in biotechnological applications and organic chemistry. Fungal – source lipases have been found to produce high yields of lipases compare to the animal and plants.Because their bulk production is easier, commercialization of microbial lipases and their involvement in enzymatic biodiesel production are more common than animal and plant ones (Hasan et al. , 2006;Akoh et al. , 2007; Antczak et al. , 2009). The lipase to be employed as the biocatalyst is Candida Antarctica lipase B (Novozyme CABL L), one of the most common fungal lipase used for the production of biodiesel (Vasudevan and Briggs, 2008). Lipases are capable of converting all the triglycerides derive from the feed stocks into their respective fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs).They act on the ester bonds of carboxylic acids allowing them to carry out their primary reaction of hydrolyzing fats (Joseph et al. , 2008). Enzyme immobilization is an important approach that could be used as a tool to improve and optimize operation stability, activity and selectivity which allows the enzyme to study under harsher environmental condition and also provides their separation from the reaction mixture without filtration in case of packed bed reactor (Fernandez-Lafuente et al. , 1998; Bhushan et al. , 2009; Gao et al. 2006) and, hence, could lead to m ore favorable economical benefits. The cost of lipase makes up 90% of the total cost of enzymatic biodiesel production. A significant portion of that is associated with the use of expensive carrier or support materials (Dizge et al. , 2009a). Search for cheaper support materials has been ongoing in order to reduce the overall cost of enzymatic biodiesel production (Robles et al. , 2009). Thus it is important to immobilize lipase, to be able to recover and reuse it repeatedly ( D. S. Clark,1994;D.Cowan, 1996). Immobilization of lipase is the attachment of the enzyme onto a solid support or the confinement of the enzyme in a region of space (Jegannathan et al. , 2008). When proper strategy for the lipase immobilization technology is employed , it provides a number of important benefits including: (a)enzyme reuse, (b) easy of separation of product from enzyme and (c) the potential to run continuous processes via packed-bed reactors (Peilow and Misbah, 2001). Methods of immobilization i nclude chemical and physical means.Among these, the physical immobilization by way of entrapment is the most widely-used method, in which enzymes are entrapped within the sol-gel matrix prepared by hydrolysis and polycondensation of precursors (Ko Woon Lee, et al. 2010). Tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) is a widely used precursor for sol-gel immobilization of the enzyme. However, CALB is unstable and shows low catalytic efficiency in the reaction media contains high concentration of methanol and the lipase is also inhibited by the by-product of glycerol.To overcome this, an amphiphilic matrix is developed to immobilize the lipase ((Ko Woon Lee, et al. 2010). The use of solvent in the transesterification process is also considered. Solvents are used to protect the enzyme from denaturation by alcohol by increasing alcohol solubility (Kumari et al. , 2009). The solvent can also increase the solubility of glycerol which is beneficial since the byproduct can coat the enzyme and inhibit it s performance (Royon etal. , 2007 ).The use of a common solvent for the reactants and products not only reduces enzyme inhibition but also ensures a homogeneous reaction mixture, reduces the reaction mixture viscosity and stabilizes the immobilized enzyme (Ranganathan et al. , 2008;Fjerbaek et al. , 2009). This is beneficial because homogeneous reaction mixture decreases problems associated with a multiple phase reaction mixture and a reduced viscosity reduces mass transfer problems around the enzyme (Fjerbaek et al. , 2009). The use of solvents significantly increases the reaction rate in comparison to solvent free systems (Vasudevan and Briggs, 2008).Some study also showed that methanolysis conversion using Candida antarctica was increased when tert-butanol was added to the system (Royon et al. , 2007). This serve as the basis for the choice of tert-butyl to be the solvent use in the system, in order to reduce the inhibition cause of the use of a lower chain alcohol, in this case, the methanol. OBJECTIVES This study aims to produce economical source of feedstocks such as waste-cooking oil for the production of biodiesel and the use of enzyme Candida Antarctica Lipase B, to catalyze to transterification reaction.To be able to determine the yield biodiesel through Gas Chromatographic Analysis (Chrompack CP 9001, Holland). SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Oil is one of the most commonly reported types of water pollution, causing nearly a quarter of all pollution incidents. Careless disposal of oil into drainage systems, onto land or to watercourses is an offense. It can harm river birds, fish and other wildlife. Because of the way oil spreads, even a small quantity can cause a lot of harm.It is estimated that UK caterers produce between 50 – 90 million litres of waste cooking oil each year. If this is not disposed of correctly the effects of oil pollution on the environment could be quite devastating. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), esti mates that over 200 million gallons of used oil ends up in the trash, and poured into the water each year. This study aims to promote conventional and economic source for the production of biodiesel by using home waste material such as waste cooking oil.Thus, resolving high cost of biodiesel production making it commercially producible and reduce devastation of environment due to high consumption of crude oils from fossil sources. This study will be a significant endeavour in promoting the social needs and to resolve the high prices of the gasoline which is the major economical crisis face in the present society. The advantages of using lipases in biodiesel production are: (a) ability to work in very different media which include biphasic systems, monophasic system (in the presence of hydrophilic or hydrophobic (Am.J. Biochem. & Biotech. , 6 (2): 54-76, 2010), (b) they are robust and versatile enzymes that can be produce in bulk because of their extracellular nature in most producin g system, (c) many lipases show considerable activity to catalyze transesterification with long or branched chain alcohols, which can hardly be converted to fatty acid esters in the presence of conventional alkaline catalysts, (d) products and byproduct separation in downstream process are xtremely easier, (e) the immobilization of lipases on a carrier has facilitated the repeated use of enzymes after removal from the reaction mixture and when the lipase is in a packed bed reactor, no separation is necessary after transesterification and (f) higher thermostability and short-chain alcohol-tolerant capabilities of lipase make it very convenient for use in biodiesel production (Bacovsky et al. , 2007; Kato et al. , 2007; Robles et al. ,2009). SCOPE AND LIMITATION Like any method for enzymatic biodiesel production, the cost of the lipase to be used is one of great consideration .The limitations of using lipases in biodiesel production include (a) initial activity may be lost because of volume of the oil molecule (Marchetti et al. , 2008; Robles et al. , 2009), (b) the use of solvent does not guarantee the complete protection of enzyme from the inhibitory effect of low chain alcohol, methanol (c) Although lipase is not affected by the high content of FFAs in WCO, the high water content remains a problem (d) the lipase in the biodiesel production is limited on a specific feedstock to be used because of the regioselectivity of the enzyme lipase.CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Biodiesel has shown its ability tomeet the energy demand of the world in the transportation, agriculture, commercial and industrial sectors of the economy (Akoh et al. , 2007; Basha et al. , 2009; Shafiee and Topal, 2009; Robles et al. , 2009). The annual world consumption of diesel is approximately 934 million tons, of which Canada and the United States consume 2. 14 and 19. 06%, respectively (Marchetti et al. , 2008).As a green renewable and potentially unlimited, biodiesel has recently come out as the superlative alternative fuel which can be used in compression ignition engines with minor or no modifications (Xu and Wu, 2003; Vasudevan and Briggs, 2008; Robles et al. , 2009; Leung et al. , 2010). The concept of biofuel is not new. Rudolph Diesel was the first to use a vegetable oil (peanut oil) in a diesel engine in 1911 (Akoh et al. , 2007; Antczak et al. ,2009). The use of biofuels in place of conventional fuels would slow the rogression of global warming by reducing sulfur and carbon oxides and hydrocarbon emissions (Fjerbaek et al. , 2009). Because of economic benefits and more power output, biodiesel is often blended with diesel fuel in ratios of 2, 5 and 20% (Vasudevan and Briggs, 2008). The higher the ratio of biodiesel to diesel the lower the carbon dioxide emission (Fukuda et al. , 2001; Harding et al. , 2007). Using a mixture containing 20% biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide net emissions by 15. 66% (Fukuda et al. 2001) while using pure biodiesel makes t he net emission of carbon dioxide zero (Vasudevan and Briggs, 2008). The simplest and most efficient route for biodiesel production in large quantities, against less ecofriendly, costly and eventual low yield methods is transesterification. One of the classic organic reactions (transesterification) is the step wise reversible reactions of a triglyceride (fat/oil) with an alcohol to form esters and glycerol. Little excess of alcohol is used to shift the equilibrium towards the formation of esters.Transesterification using an alcohol is a sequence of three reversible consecutive steps. In the first step, triglycerides are converted to diglycerides. In thesecond step, diglycerides are converted to monoglycerides. In the third step, monoglycerides are converted to glycerin molecules (Freedman et al. , 1984; Noureddini and Zhu, 1997; Marchetti et al. , 2008). Each conversion step yields one FAAE molecule, giving a total of three FAAEs per triglyceride molecule as described by the followi ng equations (Murugesan et al. , 2009). 1. Conversion of triglycerides to diglycerides . Conversion of diglycerides to monoglycerides 3. Conversion of monoglycerides tto glycerin molecules In order for the transesterification reaction to be applicable for biodiesel production, the process must be accelerated by the use of catalyst which may be alkaline, acids or enzymes (Bacovsky et al. , 2007; Murugesan et al. ,2009; et al. , 2010). The catalyst employed directly effects the purity of the feedstock required, the reaction rate and the extent of post reaction processing needed (McNeff et al. , 2008). To speed up the reaction, heat is also applied.However, this process is very energy intensive and inefficient since FAAE yield below 350 °C is very low and temperatures above 400 °C degrade the ester bonds (Ranganathan et al. , 2008). Generally, the reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol (71-72 °C) to speed up the reaction. The variables known to affect th e reaction are: temperature, alcohol to oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration and mixing intensity (Marchetti et al. ,2007). Transesterification catalysts: The transesterification process is catalyzed by alkalis, acids or enzymes.However, the use of alkali catalysts is 100% in commercial sector. The most common alkaline catalysts are sodium hydroxide (NaOH) METHODOLOGY * LIPASE CABL ( Novozyme CABL L) can be purchased from Novozyme (Denmark). All other chemicals can be purchased from Sigma- Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Grown in the  laboratory,  Candida  appears as large, round, white or cream (albicans  is from  Latin  meaning ‘whitish') colonies with a yeasty odor on  agar plates  at room temperature. IMMOBILIZATION OF LIPASE Sol – gel immobilization in an amphiphilic matrix was shown in figure below; mL of CABL (8. 2 mg/ml) is to be placed in a 50-ml Falcon tube with 1-mL of 0. 2 M phosphate buffer (pH 7). As a catalyst, 50 microliter of 1M sodium fluoride is to be added and the mixture is to be shaken with a vortex mixer. Then, TMOS (2 mM) and the following hydrophobic alkylsilanes (8 mM) is added; methyltrimethoxysilanes (MTMS), ethyltrimethoxysilane (ETMS), propyltrimethoxysilanes (PTMS), and iso-butyltrimethoxysilane (iso-BTMS). Gelation is usually observed within a few minutes while a reaction vessel is gently shaken.Following complete polymerization for 12 hours in a closed Falcon tube, the gel was dried for 24 hours in an open Falcon tube. The gel is to washed with 10 mL of distilled water, 10 mL of 99. 8% iso-propanol, and 10 mL of 95% n-hexane respectively. The immobilized CALB is to be filtered using filter paper, dried at 30 for oC for 36 hours and then ground with mortar and pestle. The particles were sorted using 500 and 300 micrometer sieves and stored at 4 oC until use. ENZYME SOLUTION Immobilized P. cepacia lipase solution is prepare by adding 0. g of lipase to 1 ml of distilled water and soak in water for 30 minutes, prior to being used. This step is found experimentally essential to activate the enzymes. WASTE-COOKING OIL PREPARATION In order to ensure consistency, waste cooking oil is simulated from the commercially available palm oil by heating 1 L of palm oil on a hot plate (Stuart, U. K. ), set at its maximum heating power for two hours. The oil is then allowed to cool to room temperature and then 5 ml of water (around 5000 ppm) is to be added. The sample is shelved for two weeks before being used.Fresh WCO samples were prepared every two weeks. Bio-Diesel Production in tert-butyl Solvent System Using C. Antarctica Lipase The experiment will be conducted in a specially designed 150 ml capacity jacketed reactor cell. The cell will be kept on a magnetic stirrer (Velp Scientifica, Italy) to facilitate the agitation of the mixture. Water from a temperature controlled water bath (Grant Instruments, UK) circulated through the jacket and will be set to maintain the temperature of the reac tion media constant at 45 oC.The temperature used was that presented in the literature to be the optimum(M. M. Soumanou,et al, 2003; H. Fukuda,et al, 2001 ) and an agitation speed was chosen to provide suitable mixing without affecting the activity of the enzyme. In this part, the working volume at the beginning of each experiment was 50 ml, consisting of 5 g of WCO, different volumes of methanol, in the range of 0. 4 to 0. 8 ml (correspond to 0. 57 to 1. 14 molar equivalents of ester bonds in the triglyceride chain), and tert-butyl solution to make up the total volume.The cell is to be covered tightly throughout the progress of the experiments to prevent evaporation. After thermal equilibrium is ensured, 1 ml of enzyme solution containing 0. 4% g of C. Antarctica lipase per g oil is added to initiate the reaction. At suitable intervals, 1. 5 ml samples are withdrawn into a capped vial, immediately immersed in boiling water for at least 5 minutes to denature the enzyme and stop the reaction, and then send for analysis. The amounts of FAMEs in the samples are to be determine by using Gas Chromatograph (Chrompack CP 9001, Holland).

Human Health and Environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Health and Environment - Assignment Example In 1793, more than 5000 Americans died as a result of the yellow fever epidemic which started in Philadelphia. (Murphy, J., 2003) There are an estimated 200,000 cases of yellow fever, causing 30,000 deaths, worldwide each year. (Yellow Fever, 2009) On the other hand, The World Health Organization’s Guidelines for the treatment of malaria (2010) has reported an estimated 863,000 deaths in 2008 due to malaria. Still another similar factor yellow fever and malaria share is that they almost have the same symptoms. Both diseases make the victim feel feverish and body ache. Conversely, yellow fever can be different from malaria, too. Firstly, where malaria has a cure thanks to the medicine quinine (Agosta, W., 1997), there is only a vaccine for yellow fever and a cure dependent on the resulting illness manifested by the patient. (Hayes, J.J., 1858) The said vaccine was discovered by Max Theiler in 1937. (Monath, T., 2010) Secondly, the incubation fever for yellow fever is only for 3-4 days, malaria victims only show signs of the symptoms after 7 to 30 days. (WHO, 2010) Last but not the least, while yellow fever has mostly affected people in Africa and Latin America, deaths and cases of malaria are in sub-Saharan Africa. (WHO, 2010) 1.b) A mosquito’s bite causes malaria and yellow fever. Since North America goes through the winter season, egg production stops and there is no drive for the female mosquito to take blood meals. (Humphreys, M., 2001) Because there is no need to bite humans for blood, these diseases are not threats in North America. 1.c.) No single country in sub-Saharan African has shown a substantial decline in malaria, according to WHO’s Africa Malaria Report 2004 (Crowe, S., 2003) This can be attributed to two things: Africa is a tropical country and a poor one at that. Tropical countries only have two seasons: sunny and rainy. Inasmuch, the climate in tropical countries can be warm, humid or cool.

Management accounting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management accounting - Research Paper Example $120 + $6.50 = $126.50 * 500 = $63,250 (Total cost) Total sales for purchased hard drives = 500 * $154.00 = $77,000 Total profit generated from purchased hard drives = $77,000 - $63,250 = $13,750 If Malibu Systems Inc. concentrates on the ZEON hard drives market, it could make an annual profit of ($13,750 + $216,125) $229,875. By producing manufacture memory chips, Malibu Systems Inc. can sell up to 3,500 memory chips per year at a price of $65.00. Annual sales - $227,500. Production costs – $62.25 * 3,500 = $217,875 Profit generated from production and sales of memory chips – ($227,500 – $217,875) = $9,625 Production of memory chips for Malibu Systems Inc. is not a brilliant idea to invest in because it gives lower profit margins than production of Zeon hard drives. Part 2: Contribution Margin per Unit for; Purchased ZEON hard drives Contribution The formula for determining contribution is the sale price minus variable costs (Eisen 2007, 35). Selling price for e ach ZEON hard drive that has been purchased $154.00 per hard drive The variable cost incurred $0.85 per hard drive Contribution margin ($154 – $0.85) = $153.15 Manufactured ZEON hard drives Contribution Selling price for

Should battered women be sent to prison for killing their abusers Research Proposal

Should battered women be sent to prison for killing their abusers - Research Proposal Example Therefore, the entire structure of the justice system changed and â€Å"police  officers,  prosecutors,  health  workers and  judges were encouraged to take action against intimate  abuse† (Dutton, 105). The changes in the justice system also gave rise to several challenges and here, a question arose that how battered women should be treated in the eyes of the law after killing their assaulters. The aim of this paper is to analyze the issue of battered women and sending them to prison if they murder their abusers. In order to understand the circumstances in which battered women kill their abusers, it is essential to understand the main features of a crime. In order to prove a crime, it is essential that the court determines whether the act was atrocious, against the law and illegitimate and was committed by the accused willingly, which would make him or her guilty (Jackson, 207). Research suggests that battered women develop mental disorders because of the abuse they experience. According to Jackson (221) , stress, depression, fear, anxiety and hopelessness are the most common psychological disorders found in these women. Furthermore, these women are most likely to experience chronic depression, which makes feel guilty (Dutton & Painter, 615). Furthermore, research suggests that sixty percent of these women remain with their abusive boyfriends or husbands and are unable to take any action because of their unstable mental condition. Research also suggests that these women are suicidal. Gillesp ie (100) suggests that more forty five percent of battered women are most likely to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As mentioned earlier, battered women are subjected to domestic violence and hence, they are most likely to suffer from psychological disorders, which may compel them to skill their assaulters after experiencing the abuse for a very long time. In order to define the psychological condition of battered women, the term

Information Technology assignment unit 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information Technology assignment unit 4 - Essay Example The speed is not a great concern so I have chosen a medium speed for printing b. In this scenario we have a firm that uses computer only for word processing. The biggest application occupies 24 MB, so we do not require a system with huge capacity drives and processing power. The hardware configuration selected for this firm is given: c. In this type of firm we need systems that have extreme processing power and clock speed power. Here we have to process at high speed because scientific applications require more processing power, so configuration of the system is given below; d. In this scenario we need a better printing power and this can only be achieved through enhanced memory. Because the printing current pages are stored in the RAM so we need better RAM as compared to processing power. Here we need a printer that can print the pages at higher speed. We also need big data travel drive. a. Magnetic tapes: In this scenario we need to store thousands of employee records for several years. This storage is only for backup procedure. Here we do not require processing of records. So we will choose the magnetic tapes those provide large storage capacity at less expenses. b. Magnetic hard disks: Air line reservation requires fast and large record processing. Here in this scenario we require systems that provide high storage and fast processing speed. The selection of magnetic hard disks is the best choice for such areas of working. c. Recordable optical discs (CD-R: write once, read many): the maintenance manual facility is effectively provided through CR-Rom technology. Main reasons of this technology selection are the less cost and appropriate capacity of medium for the maintenance manual storage. d. Flash memory USB drives: when we want to take any digital data from one place to another then the flash memory USB drives are the best choice. These are high speed data travel

Comparison and contrast between lasagna and a pizza Essay

Comparison and contrast between lasagna and a pizza - Essay Example Lasagna and pizza are two of the most popular foods made traditionally in oven. While there are other ways to make both lasagna and pizza that obviate the use of oven, yet the best results are achieved only with the use of oven. Although they are lasagna has many layers while pizza has only one layer unless there is a special kind of pizza. Layers of lasagna are repetitive. The basic form of lasagna has tomato sauce at the base of the dish over which lasagna strips are laid. They serve as a bed for the meat over which white sauce is drizzled. These layers are repeated till almost the top of the dish is reached. Lastly, grated cheese is laid on the top. On the other hand, a pizza is not made with such repetitive layers of ingredients. In the case of a pizza, there is a base that is known as crust. The sauce is poured over the base, and different sorts of toppings are laid over it. Like lasagna, a pizza is also topped with cheese. The purpose of cheese on the top both in the case of a lasagna and a pizza is to develop a thick and crunchy crust after the dish is grilled. The fundamental element that differentiates between lasagna and pizza is the basic white flour bread. The thickness of that base, its texture, and taste greatly differs when the two dishes are compared. While lasagna strips are only few millimeters in thickness i.e. normally 5 mm each, pizza crust is anywhere from 1 to 2 cm. The thickness of lasagna strips is mostly standard and varies only by 1 or 2 mm., there exists a great variety of thicknesses of pizza crust e.g. there are thin-crust pizzas and thick-crust pizzas. Most people use factory made lasagna strips because the machine used in making that uniform thickness is not used in most homes. In contrast to that, most people make pizza crusts at home by kneading white flour with yeast. Lasagne strips and pizza base also differ in that lasagna strips are cooked once they are boiled before the dish is placed in the oven whereas pizza crust is raw outside and only gets baked once the pizza has been placed inside the oven. On one hand , lasagne strips are like compact sheets of white flour and have no pores in them. On the other hand, pizza

Summary In Your Own Words Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary In Your Own Words - Essay Example The music and instrument were used to pass the beliefs, traditions, and customs of a society from generation to another. Moreover, the different type of music genre were associated to different social group and relayed important messages pertaining such group. The artists that used to play music instrument in the early days had a thorough knowledge of the instruments that defined each geographic characterises, such as African music, Asia and European music. The Procortesian music, for example, was classified into different ways; these includes ritual, war, and hunting religious and imitative music. The way the flute play in Asia was different as was done in Africa though using the same instrument. The dancing also was unique and differed during different occasions (Music Pre-Cuauhtemoc Era). Music in the ancient time was not for everyone as it has a divine and spiritual origin. Chroniclers who talk about music says that those who engaged in it behaved well and had great discipline of their native language and customs. In conclusion, the indigenous music had its important characteristics which include the use of interludes and introductions, music started with a tune before beginning, there was thematic unity, melodic variety and the use of different and antiphonal (Music Pre-Cuauhtemoc

Ethical Dilemma paper-second moral language Essay

Ethical Dilemma paper-second moral language - Essay Example odel of the Second Moral Language, in which he has described the ethical dilemma and moral conflict arising in man’s mind as an outcome of his moral values and ethical principles. I also had to undergo the same situation during my studies at university. I also had to undergo such a precarious situation last year at university, which could be stated as the ethical dilemma, where there was serious conflict in respect of taking a bold decision on the basis of moral duties. I was the student of English Literature, and loved Milton’s Paradise Lost and the moral lessons it conveyed. Besides, I had studied theology including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the noble characters of the holy personalities i.e. Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Zachariah, John, Christ, Muhammad, Ali, Hassan and Hussein (peace and blessings of Almighty God be upon them all). In the same way, I got acquaintance with ancient and modern western philosophers including Seven Sages, Thales, Socrates, Descartes, Machiavelli, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Rousseau, Voltaire, Hobbes and others, all of which always preached morality, impartiality, forgiveness, charity and goodness of heart and mind. Hence, truth, justic e, fair play and politeness were the principles that developed my personality, which I tried to apply in my everyday life at university. But it was not the case in real practical life. On the other hand, fairness and morality used to be taken as synonymous to foolishness and perhaps ignorance too in this world of bitter realities. Due to my politeness, intelligence and impartiality, my class-mates elected me as their class-representative and spokesman during the first year at university. It was really a token of regard as well as the gesture of goodwill and their unflinching trust in my person. I decided to run the affairs of the whole class as well as the department and staff, with complete consensus and co-operation without

Love in Kamala Dass Poetry Essay Example for Free

Love in Kamala Dass Poetry Essay Love and sex in her poetry become a paradigm for fractured realities encountered by the poetess. Essentially she speaks for a woman who is in search of love. She challenges the very idea of phallocentric tradition and asserts in poem after poem that the subaltern can speak. Post colonialism consists primarily in the contestation of power structures and social hierarchies. For Kamala Das a woman’s predicament as a daughter , a wife, or a lover reflects a victimization in relationships. Kamala Das revolts against a constructed notion of relationship. Women are not the self-sacrficial model of virtue or promiscuity. The hitherto premises of male hegemony are violently shaken by Kamala Das who can defy the conventional ideological discourse of sexism and love. She herself became a victim of a young man’s carnal hunger . In ‘The Freaks’, a remarkable lyric which was published in Summer in Calcutta contains a picture of love that is full of dirt and filth as the man ensconced in sexual intercourse turned his ‘sun-stained / Cheek to me , his mouth , a dark /Cavern, where stalacities of /Uneven teeth gleam , his right / Hand on my knee, while our minds/ Are willed to race towards love ; / But they only wander, tripping / Idly over puddles of desire† . The focus on the ‘puddles of desire’ refers to her unfulfilled sexual desire as her heart remains ‘ an empty cistern’. Kamala Das describes in ‘The Freaks’a man and a woman persona are described as capriciously and whimsically behaving in unexpected manner. The poem celebrates the mood of transitory triumph over the defeat of love : My glass , like a bride’s Nervous smile , and meet My lips. Dear , forgive This moment’s lull in Wanting you, the blur In memory. Elsewhere in the poem Kamala Das describes the ambience : The April sun , squeezed Like an orange in My glass? I sip the Fire , I drink,and drink Again, I am drunk. We get a poignant verbal drama in the expression. The graphic details of drinking and the April heat. The poem focuses on the inborn passivity of the male partner and yet it ends with the assertion : â€Å"I am freak†. This is the identity crisis of an Indian woman who fails to flaunt ‘ a grand flamboyant lust’ in spite of the dissatisfaction. Here the poetess highlight the notion of vehemence and impetuosity with which the poet appropriates and internalizes the vocabulary for mapping out the terrain for the post colonial women in social terms. She secures the first significant step toward the explosion of the myth of male supremacy propagated by patriarchy. This is in itself automatically presupposes the awareness of a shared fate of injustice. In The subjection of Women John Stuart Mill argues that the principle of servitude in marriage is a monstrous antithesis to all the principles of the modern world. For Mill the most liberating aspect is that human beings are no longer born to their place in life. Kamala Das has shown and is very loud in violently showing that to be born as a woman is to lose the capacity to transcend that place in life already determined by patriarchy. Here Kamala Das decides to empower herself as a woman. In ‘Forest Fire’ the poetess minces no word in recording her innate desire to consume all sorts of experiences in this world: Of late I have begun to feel a hunger To take in with greed , like a forest-fire that Consumes , and, with each killing gains a wilder Brighter charm,all that comes my way. A little later the fury of passions gets the most of her : My eyes lick at you like flames , my nerves Consume. This is not a refusal to acknowledge the tenets of valorization in masculine terms. We encounter in these lines paradigms of transgressions in the discourse, the female playing the male role . The readers are more directly taken into a woman’s quest for identity when the poetess can say in ‘The Looking Glass’ : Getting a man to love you is easy Only be honest about your wants as Woman. Kamala Das does not describe how man loves a woman, she is more interested in telling how a woman can get the love of a man: Stand nude before the glass with him So that he sees himself the stronger one And believes it so, and you so much more Softer , younger, lovelier†¦. Admit your Admiration. This is not urge for female hegemony but the quest for identity in a female mind. Surrendering is an image in the poetry of Kamala Das : Gift him what makes you woman The woman here knows that she will be left alone if the lover forsakes her. A lustful woman rarely succeeds. Getting a man to love is easy but afterward without the man it is a living without life. Joan Chittister writes : In the end women like other minorities who have been taught their natural limitations by the dominant culture in which they live, turn their anger against themselves†¦They know that women can not do what men can do, and they resent and scold and criticize any woman who tries to do it. They become the instruments of the system, its perfect product, its most important achievement. 156) Simultaneously, in a poem like ‘My Grandmother’s House’ published in Summer in Calcutta , there is a note of nostalgia in the depiction of the care-free days of childhood : â€Å" There is a house now far away where once / I received love †¦. That woman died†. In this poem the poetess felt â€Å" My blood turned cold like the moon†. The moon is a romantic image. But Kamala Das used it so realistically to reveal her broken heart and lost love. Bedroom door is like ‘a brooding dog’. The poetess peers through ‘ blind eyes of windows’. The polyphonic text about identities with the autobiographical voice multiply itself into myriad selves. K. R. S Iyengar characterizes some of Kamala Das’s poems as ‘confessional’. Devinder Kohli calls her poems â€Å" candid and witty piece of self-revelation’ In the confession, Kamala Das poignantly tries to straddle both worlds – the secret world of her desire and the world defined by the male chauvinists. But she is left with no option but to conform to the stereotype of the sexual –patriarchal man even when it outlines a mandate of a society that loathes any challenge coming from the females. The poetess tries to negotiate sexual difference, but the importance lies rather in the way it showcases male chauvinism in a patriarchal ideology constructing patterns of fixated behaviours exalting them as normal. Individuals in this quest of identity socialized themselves into a locus of role specificity which in the case of a female disrupts the orientations. It is the crisis of the role that sustains the split between the role the character plays in Kamala Das’ poems. ‘Spoiling the Name’ presents effectively one of Kamala Das’ central insights, as Devinder Kohli points out , the commitment of her poetic self to experience. The sighs are ‘metallic’ , limbs are curled at the ‘touch of air’ (‘A Relationship’)and ‘nudity on sheets of weeklies’( ‘Loud Posters’ ). Kamala Das mocks her ‘feminine integrity’ ( Sarkar Jaydip:84) when she finds in a shamefully helpless situation as in ‘The Freaks’ with the lover whose mouth is a dark Cavern where stalacities of Uneven teeth gleam It is not that the subversion is apparent everywhere. Women also gravitate from aspiring to be transgressive social agents to artitculating their muted histories, finally pointing up the truth that they were forced to suppress. In the poem ‘Love’ there is a ‘celebration of happiness and contentment in love â€Å" My life lies, content / in you† (Sarkar Jaydip: 86). The poetess was committed to the sensual world , true, but in her life partner she tried to achieve the shared identity . She sought a life beautifying force of love which might be equated with physical relationship. Sterility and vacant ecstasy were all that Kamala Das abhorred and herein she had her disillusionment. Love that is extra marital was not Kamala Das’ angst , rather her inner self created for herself a tiny world in which the trauma of love and marriage were distant cries, hardly heard of. In the ‘Sunshine Cat’she depicted the picture of ‘a cold and half dead woman’ who was of no use to her. The cat might be her own feminine self as well. In ‘Winter’ , the celebration of sex was a theme,but it was more a desperate attempt of her soul for groping for roots in his body(Sarkar Jaydip: 85). As a singer of feminine sensibility she protests against restraints of society , and simultaneously she shakes off the rigid gender roles , determination triggered by situational factors. In 1948, Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in which sexual orientation was placed on ‘a graduated continuum’ ( Kinsey: 638). Kinsey advocated a re-appraisal of the treatment meted out to queer beings by way of isolation and rehabilitation. The hypocrisy latent in marriage is due to societal pressures. In most occasions , the victims in such marriage of convenience is the wife, that Kamala herself was and who wanted to express the oppressive anguish of her own life. Thus on the one hand, the poems of Kamala Das are visualizations of her own pains, but at the same time they are the demeaning perceptions galvanizing the concomitant negativity into a motive for further exploration of female psyche. The fantastically confessional poem ‘The Old Playhouse’ reveals this agony of the mind of the poetess: It was not to gather Knowledge Of yet another man that I came to you but to Learn What I was and by learning to learn to grow †¦(K. S. Ramamurti:151) This is what we mean by ‘pathei mathos’,wisdom consisting in suffering, the poetess gradually learning to cope up with demands of the more realistic world and compromising with her dreams as the potential abilities of the human body got stunted by the sterility of the man she loved. We may safely surmise that the poems do not become an erotic world in spite of all the sexual replenishments for the starving soul of a woman. Nor the poems become an articulation of a muted feminine consciousness. Kamala Das exploded the stigma of vulnerability and gained a critical consciousness to stand up to the deforming norms of the conventional intercourses in marital life or love life,whatever it is. It was not in her capacity to reorder the chaotic world into a cosmos. At best she could suggest some therapeutic rehabilitation of a trauma-ridden woman who survives the psychological abuses, manipulation and a dreariness of emotional desert. The poems serve for such a starving soul as a rallying point. K. R. S. Iyengar rightly remarks : â€Å" Kamala Das is a fiercely feminine sensibility that dares without inhibitions to articulate that the hurts it has received in an insensitive largely man-made world. † ( Iyengar: 667) . Reading List Works cited Das Kamala , Summer in Calcutta, New Delhi: Everest Press, 1965. The Old Playhouse and Other Poems. Madras: Orient Longman, 1973. My Story , New Delhi, Sterling Publishers, , 1976. - Tonight , This Savage Rite: The Love Poems of Kamala Das Pritish Nandy. New Delhi: Arnold- Heinemann (India) 1979. Only the Soul Knows How to Sing. Kottayam: DC Books, 1996. Primary Sources . 1. Lal. P. Ed. Modern Indian Poetry in English : An Anthology and a Credo, Calcutta: Writer’s Workshop, 1969. 2. Kotoky , P. C. Indo English Poetry, Gauhati: Gauhati University, 1969. 3. James ,Vinson (ed. ) Contemporary Poets,New York: St. Martin Press,1975. 4. Abidi, S. Z . H. Studies in Indo Anglian Poetry, Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 1979. . Parthasarathi, R. Ed. Ten Twentieth –Century Indian Poets. New Delhi: OUP. 2nd Ed. 1980 6. Shahane, Vasant A. and Sivaram Krishna, M. (eds. ) Indian Poetry in English : A Critical Assessment . Delhi: Macmillan, 1980. 7. Rahman ,Anisur. Expressive Form in the Poetry of Kamala Das. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1981. 8. Stella ,Samdahl. ‘South Asian Literature: A Linguistic Perspective’, A Meeting of Streams. (ed). M. G. Vassanji,,Toronto: TSAR,1985. 9. Chindhade ,Shirish. Five Indian English Poets , New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 1996. 10. De Souza , Eunice. Nine Indian Women Poets : An Anthology. New Delhi: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997. 11. Mitapalli Rajeswar et. al. Kamala Das: A Critical Spectrum. New Delhi: Atlantic,2001. 12. Gokak, V. K. (ed. ) The Golden Treasury of Indo Anglian Poetry. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2004. . Secondary Sources: 1. Kohli ,Devinder. Virgin Whiteness: The Poetry of Kamala Das. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1968. 2. K. R. S. Iyengar, Indian Writing in English , New Delhi Allied Publishers,1962; 2nd ed. , 1973. 3. King ,Bruce . Modern Poetry in English, Delhi, Oxford University Press. 1987. 4. Joan D. Chittister, Heart of Flesh: A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men Cambridge and Ontario : WmB. Eerdsmans Publishing Company, 1998. 5. Alfred C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior in lthe Human Male. Philadelphia: W. B Saunders: Bloomington, Indian U Press, 1948 2nd Ed. ,1998. 5. Banerjee,Benoy Kumar ; Bakshi, Kaustav. Studies in Indian Poetry in English, Kolkata: Books Way, 2008 6. Ahmed, Irshad Gulam , Kamala Das : The Poetic Pilgrimage. New Delhi: Creative Books,2005. 7. Ramamurti, K. S. Ed. Twenty-Five Indian Poets In English , Kolkata: Macmillan India Ltd. , 2008. 8. Sarkar ,Jaydip (ed. ) Kamala Das and Her Poetry , Kolkata: Books Way,2009. - .

A Study On British Airways And Iberia Management Essay

A Study On British Airways And Iberia Management Essay The learning point behind this assignment is to assess the financial consequences of the merger of British Airways and Iberia. In this activity I have studied the importance of Merger activities and how does the merger of BA Iberia will benefit the stakeholders. In short words I have execute a strategic analysis of the merger plan between the two organisations with the help of various strategic tools and models. 2. Introduction: 2.1 Merger and Acquisition In the contemporary world Merger and Acquisition is an inevitable tool for the organisations willing to expand and make a mark in the highly globalised market. In the first half of 2007, there appeared no end in vision to the unprecedented global boom in Merger and Acquisition, it even outstripped the dot.com era of the late 90s. But things appeared rather difficult with the so-called sub-prime credit crunch making credit availability scarce and expensive towards the end of 2007. There is no suspicion to the fact that at the multi-billion dollar deal end of the market, credit crunch did build a brick wall to the Merger Acquisition activity for the financial buyers. There are still plenty of strategic investors looking to expand in spite of the doom and gloom of the credit market. Merger and acquisition will still be required to fill up the growth gaps that organic growth cannot fill. [The European Consulting MA Report 2008, Equiteq p12] 2.2 History of British Airways British Airways was formed in 1974 by the merger of two British government owned airlines the BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corp.) and the BEA (British European Airways). BOAC operated long hauled international routes whereas; BEA operated Short hauled European routes. BA was floated on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 1987, when it acquired the competitor British Caledonian. In 1992 BA acquired Dan-Air. In the drive to make itself more competitive BA introduced the oneworld alliance in the 1990s. BA airways acquired 9% share in Iberia in March 2000 for  £155m (Ptas 41 billion). Today, BA is the UKs largest international airline flying to 148 destinations and fleet of 245 aircrafts in service. [www.ba.com/history] 2.3 History of Iberia Iberia was founded on June 28, 1927 by Horacio Echeberrieta. It was not only Spains first airline, but also the first to fly between Europe and South America (as of 1946), the first to establish a walk-on air shuttle service (between Madrid and Barcelona), and the first in Europe to offer an international frequent flyers customer loyalty programme (Iberia Plus).Today Iberia is an international transport group operating in around 100 airports. It is a member of one of the most important airline alliances, oneworld, and is renowned for its corporate social responsibility. Iberia is a Leader in Spain and in the Europe Latin America market. It flies to more than 100  destinations  all over the world. It has Europes most modern fleets. [www.iberia.com/uk] 2.4 Research objectives As the title of my Research and Analysis project suggests the main objective of research was to study the drivers and the financial and operational consequences of a merger between the renowned BA and Iberia. Research Questions and Objectives: Strategic analysis of the Merger decision The first objective of this assignment was to analyse the strategic decision of merger. How did the Environmental Variables affect the decision of the merger and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the decision? What would be the effect of the culture of both the organisations on the decision? How would the resultant organisation benefit from the merger? How will the decision fulfil the expectations and aspirations of the stakeholders? Identify the stakeholders and analyse how will the merger affect them? What are the views of the stakeholders on the merger decision? How will the fears and resistance of the employees and other stakeholders resolved? What were the Financial and Operational Consequences of the merger? After the above questions were answered, I wanted to find out what will be the financial and operational consequences of the merger, to what extent will these organizations be successful to maintain and acquire their merger objectives. What will be the ultimate effect of the whole event on the resultant organisations constitution, its management and the financial report? 2.5 Research Approach/Methodology: The Research was started with the collection of background information on Merger and Acquisition and the basic information on BA and Iberia. The main objective of this was to gain the understanding of the topic area and the acquaintance with the organizations in concern. After the general background information the preliminary research was conducted to outline the research methods to be used, and the sources for information to be collected. The research is mainly based on the qualitative and quantitative information collected from the secondary data sources like books, case study materials, annual reports, magazines, news paper articles and online search engines. The information gathered is analyzed using The Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (JSW) model of strategic management. It consists of three elements Analysis, Choice and Implementation as explained below: The Strategic position/analysis Strategic Choices Strategy into action (implementation). [ACCA Paper P3 Business Analysis The Complete Text 2007/08 p10] 3. Literature Review 3.1 Merger and its types A merger is a complete absorption of one company by another, wherein the acquiring firm retains its identity and the acquired firm ceases to exist as a separate entity. [Corporate Finance Fundamentals by Ross, Westerfield Jordan, Eighth Edition Chapter 25 p816] Acquisition by merger results in a combination of assets and liabilities of the acquired and acquiring firms. 3.1.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of using a merger to acquire a firm: Advantages A primary advantage is that a merger is legally simple and does not cost as much as other forms of acquisition. The reason is that the firms simply agree to combine their entire operations. Revenue Enhancement is one of the important reasons for an acquisition. The combined firm may generate greater revenues than two separate firms. Increased revenue come from marketing gains, strategic benefits and increase in the market share and reduced competition. The driving force behind many mergers is the concept of synergy. The synergy of two like companies joining forces can often increase revenues drastically. One of the other important reasons to merge is that a combined firm may operate more efficiently than two separate firms. Operational efficiency increases through economies of scale and complementary resources (missing ingredient of success). All firms must invest in working capital and fixed assets to sustain an efficient level of operating activity. A merger may reduce the combined investment needed by the two firms. Disadvantages A primary disadvantage is that a merger must be approved by a vote of the shareholders of each firm. Obtaining necessary votes can be time-consuming and difficult. Furthermore the cooperation of target firms existing management is almost a necessity for a merger. This cooperation may not be easily or cheaply obtained. 3.1.2 Types of merger Mergers may be broadly classified in Congeneric Merger Congeneric merger occur where two merging firms are in the same general industry, but they have no mutual buyer/customer or supplier relationship. Congeneric mergers are of two types (a) Horizontal merger: In this case both the companies are in the same stage of production and also in the same industry e.g., a car manufacturer merger with a car manufacturer (b) Vertical merger: Two companies selling different but related products in the same market e.g., a cone supplier merging with an ice cream maker. Conglomerate. A conglomerate is a combination of two companies engaged in entirely different businesses together into one overarching company. There are two types of mergers that are distinguished by how the merger is financed. Purchase mergers As the name suggests, this kind of merger occurs when one company purchases another. The purchase is made with cash or through the issue of some kind of debt instrument. Consolidation mergers With this merger, a brand new company is formed and both companies are bought and combined under the new entity. 4. Analysis 4.1 Strategic Analysis of the merger decision The study of the Environmental Variables using the PESTEL and SWOT analysis was conducted at this stage of the research to evaluate the points for the merger of the BA and Iberia. The Analysis of these factors affecting the decision is detailed as follows: 4.1.1 PESTEL Analysis Political Factors: One of the preconditions for the merger deal is getting appropriate confirmations from the UK and Spanish Civil Aviation Authorities as to the suitability of the UK and Spanish bodies and as to the implementation of the structure. Economic Factors: Merger is expected to generate annual synergies of approximately à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬400 million. The new group will combine the leading positions of both the companies, attain EOS and substantially increase the market share, thus enhancing their presence in international longhaul markets. Social Factors: Merger is expected to bring significant customer benefit. BA customers will gain access to 59 and Iberia customers will gain access to 98 new destinations with better frequencies, connections and reduced prices. Technological Factors: BA customers will benefit from modern fleet of aircrafts of Iberia airlines. Legal Factors: Merger cannot go ahead without appropriate antitrust and other regulations clearance. Iberia reserves the right to terminate the agreement if the outcome between BAand its pension trustees on the deficit is not satisfactory. 4.1.2 SWOT Analysis Strengths The new group will save some à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬400m annually by cutting overlapping routes, and by combining maintenance, office functions and business-class lounges. The pair may also have more muscle when it comes to negotiations to buy new planes from Boeing and Airbus.   The BA/Iberia merger will increase BAs dominance at Heathrow with 44% of take-off and landing slots this winter. It is impossible for any other airline to replicate their scale. There is a compelling strategic rationale for the transaction, which is expected to generate annual synergies of approximately 400 million Euros, and benefit both companies shareholders, customers and employees, Weaknesses Iberias cabin crew have just finished one round of strikes and are promising more in a dispute over changes to their jobs. BAs attempts to cut cabin crew and freeze pay could also result in strikes. Ground staff and pilots are equally willing to use industrial action to get their way. The attempt to keep two separate brands alive, with separate corporate operations could eat into some of the advantages of the merger and even prove to be a potential diseconomy of scale. Opportunities This enhanced scale and ability to compete with other major airlines and will enable BA-Iberia to participate in future industry consolidation opening the door for BAs long-held ambition to forge a partnership with American Airlines. The merger will create a strong European airline well able to compete in the 21st century. Threats The credit crunch has hammered ticket sales (especially of premium priced Business class tickets) and fuel has been expensive.  The International Air Transport Association, an industry body, estimates that total losses for the worlds airlines this year will be some $11 billion. 4.2 Expectations and Aspirations of the Stakeholders of the organisations A stakeholder can be defined as someone who has an interest in the well-being of the organisation ACCA course notes from Kaplan financial for Paper P3 Business Analysis In this context, the stakeholders can be identified as the shareholders, managers, employees and suppliers of BA and Iberia and the customers, government, locality and society at large. Success in the strategic decisions can not be achieved without regard to the stakeholders. Shareholders: Shareholders are the owners of the organisations; it is the duty of the organisations to act in the best interest of its shareholders and to maximise their wealth. The benefits of the merger to the SHs can be listed as follows: The anticipated annual revenue of the combined group estimated to be 15 billion euros. Expected cost saving of about 400 million euros a year. The combined group will be the third largest airline. Increased market share and dominance. Suppliers: The merger is set to create the third largest airline and hence bound to reduce the bargaining power of the suppliers. Managers employees: Employees play a vital role in the success of the organisation. Thus the organisation has a duty towards its workforce. According to the recent updates merger is unlikely to bring any benefits to its staff, on the contrary both the organisations have ambitious plans to cut costs by way of redundancy and pay cuts. The unite union has asked for assurances to avoid compulsory redundancies. Customers: According to the sources, the customers of the combined grouped are said to benefit from; Better frequencies More connections Competitive prices Access to more VIP lounges Enhance frequent flyer benefits Government: The government are interested in taxes from the revenue, higher the revenue more the tax. Furthermore it is interested in maintaining healthy competition and abiding of the antitrust law. The deal is expected to improve the future revenue and requires clearance from antitrust and other regulatory organisations, thus it is not threat to the governments interests. Locality and society at large: Locality and society expect the combined group to maintain and improve its CSR policies. The organisations are responsible to the surroundings and the environment in which they operate. 4.3 Financial Consequences The graph reflects the loss making position on BA. There has been an increase in revenue for the year 2009 as compared to 2008. The loss thus can be attributed to the high operating expenses which increased to  £9,212 million in 2009 from  £7,880 million in 2008. However the Operating income increased just to  £8,992 million in 2009 from  £8,758 million in 2008. Key Performance Indicators/Key Growth Indicators The KPIs and KGIs can be used to compare the performance of the organisations. Kpis indicate the improvement in performance, while Kgis indicate the growth of the organisation. The KPI in this scenario can be noted as: Liquidity Ratio The liquidity ratio shows the companys ability to pay its debt. Hence higher the ratio better the performance of the organisation. Earnings per Share (EPS) The performance can be measured based on the return to the shareholders. The increase in EPS reflects the efficiency in performance Number of passengers per year The figures show that the number of passenger carried per year will substantially increase after the merger and thus making TopCo a leading airline in terms of passenger. This is reflected in the figures shown below. Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 5. Conclusion Objective 1 The strategic analysis showed that the merger is bound to bring various benefits to the consolidated group. The merger will help the companies to reduce the costs and hence reduce the loss to a certain extent. The merger will increase the market share of TopCo and make it the third largest airline company given benefits to its customers and shareholders. There are certain weaknesses which can be overcome and the merger opens up various opportunities and synergies for the future growth. Objective 2 The analysis shows that the shareholders and customers are bound to benefit from the merger decision. However, there is a considerable amount of risk of redundancies and pay cuts due to heavy cost cuts by both the organisations. Objective 3 The financial analysis reflects the need to substantially reduce the operating costs. The merger plan is set to set to save 400 million euro a year from reduced costs. Hence the merger decision can be beneficial in driving the organisations through the economic crisis.

The Battle of King Philip II Augustus of France Essay -- Ancient Hist

King Philip II Augustus of France wasn’t by any means a physically strong individual, but his strengths lay in his grasp of both political and military strategy. He was almost constantly involved in wars from 1180 to 1215. He was fighting his vassals, other kings, both of them together, it didn’t matter; Philip would use political treachery and military tactics to defeat his opponents. When one looks at Philip’s life they notice almost instantly that Philip was constantly fighting someone from the day he became King, to the day he died. Philip was born in Gonesse on August 21st of 1165, his father Louis was determined to have Philip succeed him on the throne; as such Philip was raised with all the training necessary to become a king, he was taught in the ways of politics and war (Smedley 52). All was going to plan until Philip turned thirteen, on a royal hunt; he was separated from his companions and became lost in a forest. He spent hours attempting to find a way out, until he was exhausted by the cold and hunger. Eventually a peasant found him; but this event had caused him to become extremely ill, he contracted a dangerously high fever. His father Louis VII distraught by his son’s illness undertook a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket, in order to pray for his son’s recovery (Smedley 55). He was told that his son had finally recovered, and began his journey back to Paris. On the return journey he suffered a terrible stroke; this began the decline of his health, and eventually leads to hi s death (Smedley 55). Knowing that his health was declining and that he would not be able to lead for much longer, he understood that if he wanted to have Philip succeed him he must act quickly as there were parties at play that w... ...cture, but to anticipate future moves. He deviated from the traditional methods of viewing war as a game of chess, but understood that more elements could be utilized. Through his military history we see wonderful examples of him using rebellions and political means to destabilize military operations of his opponents. He was truly a master of psychological, political, and traditional warfare, and quite possible one of the finest political and military strategists of the Middle Ages. Works Cited The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007. Print. Rees, Simon. "King Richard I of England Versus King Philip II Augustus." Military History Magazine Sept. 2006: 1-5. Print. Smedley, Edward. The History of France, from the Final Partition of the Empire of Charlemagne to the Peace of Cambray. London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1836. Print. The Battle of King Philip II Augustus of France Essay -- Ancient Hist King Philip II Augustus of France wasn’t by any means a physically strong individual, but his strengths lay in his grasp of both political and military strategy. He was almost constantly involved in wars from 1180 to 1215. He was fighting his vassals, other kings, both of them together, it didn’t matter; Philip would use political treachery and military tactics to defeat his opponents. When one looks at Philip’s life they notice almost instantly that Philip was constantly fighting someone from the day he became King, to the day he died. Philip was born in Gonesse on August 21st of 1165, his father Louis was determined to have Philip succeed him on the throne; as such Philip was raised with all the training necessary to become a king, he was taught in the ways of politics and war (Smedley 52). All was going to plan until Philip turned thirteen, on a royal hunt; he was separated from his companions and became lost in a forest. He spent hours attempting to find a way out, until he was exhausted by the cold and hunger. Eventually a peasant found him; but this event had caused him to become extremely ill, he contracted a dangerously high fever. His father Louis VII distraught by his son’s illness undertook a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket, in order to pray for his son’s recovery (Smedley 55). He was told that his son had finally recovered, and began his journey back to Paris. On the return journey he suffered a terrible stroke; this began the decline of his health, and eventually leads to hi s death (Smedley 55). Knowing that his health was declining and that he would not be able to lead for much longer, he understood that if he wanted to have Philip succeed him he must act quickly as there were parties at play that w... ...cture, but to anticipate future moves. He deviated from the traditional methods of viewing war as a game of chess, but understood that more elements could be utilized. Through his military history we see wonderful examples of him using rebellions and political means to destabilize military operations of his opponents. He was truly a master of psychological, political, and traditional warfare, and quite possible one of the finest political and military strategists of the Middle Ages. Works Cited The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007. Print. Rees, Simon. "King Richard I of England Versus King Philip II Augustus." Military History Magazine Sept. 2006: 1-5. Print. Smedley, Edward. The History of France, from the Final Partition of the Empire of Charlemagne to the Peace of Cambray. London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1836. Print.

Swipping IDs can be dangerous :: essays research papers

ABOUT 10,000 people a week go to The Rack, a bar in Boston favored by sports stars, including members of the New England Patriots. One by one, they hand over their driver's licenses to a doorman, who swipes them through a sleek black machine. If a license is valid and its holder is over 21, a red light blinks and the patron is waved through. But most of the customers are not aware that it also pulls up the name, address, birth date and other personal details from a data strip on the back of the license. Even height, eye color and sometimes Social Security number are registered. "You swipe the license, and all of a sudden someone's whole life as we know it pops up in front of you," said Paul Barclay, the bar's owner. "It's almost voyeuristic." Mr. Barclay bought the machine to keep out underage drinkers who use fake ID's. But he soon found that he could build a database of personal information, providing an intimate perspective on his clientele that can be useful in marketing. "It's not just an ID check," he said. "It's a tool." Now, for any given night or hour, he can break down his clientele by sex, age, ZIP code or other characteristics. If he wanted to, he could find out how many blond women named Karen over 5 feet 2 inches came in over a weekend, or how many of his customers have the middle initial M. More practically, he can build mailing lists based on all that data — and keep track of who comes back. Bar codes and other tracking mechanisms have become one of the most powerful forces in automating and analyzing product inventory and sales over the last three decades. Now, in a trend that alarms privacy advocates, the approach is being applied to people through the simple driver's license, carried by more than 90 percent of American adults. Already, about 40 states issue driver's licenses with bar codes or magnetic stripes that carry standardized data, and most of the others plan to issue them within the next few years. Scanners that can read the licenses are slowly proliferating across the country. So far the machines have been most popular with bars and convenience stores, which use them to thwart underage purchasers of alcohol and cigarettes. In response to the terrorist attacks last year, scanners are now also being installed as security devices in airports, hospitals and government buildings.

A fence should not be built on the U.S. – Mexican Border

The U.S. should build a wall between itself and Mexico, topped with razor wire. This is about toughening immigration laws and the strict enforcement of laws already widely discussed.The building is a two thousand-mile-long fence would cost about 680 (m) million dollars, and it would slow border crossings. It is for the idea of candidates running for president to have clear and aggressive plans for dealing with immigration.It also gives the idea of doing something that might actually work to stop illegal aliens from flooding into the United States is actually drawing great interest. It won't go away. Illegal immigration is not just impacting the Border States. Illegal aliens are showing up everywhere. Constitutionally it is a Federal responsibility to protect the 50 states from invasion and as a practical matter it is impacting all of us.Background:â€Å"For those people who do not live in the U.S. of America or have not heard about it, U.S.A. government has decided to construct a wa ll along the border of Mexico to attempt to keep out illegal and MS13 clan members. The MS13 is a dangerous clan that specializes in smuggling drugs and people across borders and has made their way from Columbia to Northern Mexico and intend to get into The U.S. of America.Also, there have been reports of the AL Qaida attempting to get the MS13 to smuggle THEMSELVES into the U.S. of A. so they can continue their reign of terror. The Mexican government feels that it is unnecessary that there is building a wall and have started comparing President Bush to Hitler because of the Berlin wall.Personally think that the wall should be built to protect American from the MS13 and to control the amount of illegally migrating to the U.S. of America (â€Å"All to Protect the Innocent†.Tue January 24 2006 20:02. http://forums.ubi.com)†.Immigrant or a refugee rights groups across the country are now moving in the direction of putting immigration in the context of a global economy, glo balization, and people on the move escaping poverty, hunger, civil war, and persecution. NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) kicked off that trend.When it was testified at the NAFTA hearings that Mexican and Aliens complained of why they weren’t including immigration in the context of a financial free trade agreement. Why were they focusing on the free movement of merchandise but not on the free movement of people? Basically it's a labor issue.California has always been impacted tremendously by immigration, not just by people from Mexico. It’s now estimated even by the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) that there are at least five million immigrants in the U.S. who are undocumented. California usually comes in with at least half of those immigrants, not only because of its juxtaposition to Baja California, but also it's a place where people can blend into cities like L.A. and San Francisco. There's about nine million in these cities and about a t hird are immigrants and refugees.It is important that it begins addressing immigration within the context of a global economy. Globalization affects the United States because investments in other countries have impacts such as people leaving that country, the displacement of jobs, jobs moving in and out of a country.Primarily focuses on human rights and nowhere is human rights more impacted than on the U.S.-Mexico border. These have really been a hateful time for Americans especially with the shooting incident by the military.Right after that, other military operations were exposed, including here inCalifornia where National Guard troops have been out in camouflage, hiding in the brush on the pretext of looking for drugs and immigrants. In addition, there has been introduced legislation in the House to send 10,000 military troops in to California.This is in addition to 5,000 Border Patrol agents approved by Congress. That's going to interrupt a lot of movement. It could eventually i nterfere with free trade because how long will Mexico put up with this confrontation by the military on the border.Going back to history, the U.S. contracted with Mexicans to come to work here in the '30s and '40s and '50s. Then the xenophobia started, the scapegoat, and you had massive raids and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans. U.S. citizens and legal residents as well as undocumented were all sent to Mexico in the '30s and '40s and '50s.During '50s, operation wetback, and even though I'm a fifth generation U.S. citizen, right on these streets around here I used to be stopped on the way home from school, or visiting my girlfriend, or going downtown. The police used to smack me up against the wall and call the Border Patrol. They get used to do in at least every other week. They used to take out of jobs, after school jobs, in restaurants, hotels by among Mexicans

Mass Crime Lab Case

Former Massachusetts State Crime Lab chemist, Annie Dookhan, has been indicted on twenty-seven counts of tampering with evidence, perjury, and obstruction of justice after a legal fallout that has jeopardized thousands of drug cases (Smith). Dookhan admitted to â€Å"dry-labbing† (distinguishing a sample is a narcotic based on appearance instead of actually testing), altering test results, and â€Å"deliberately turned a negative sample into a positive for narcotics a few times†. Another way in which she tampered with the testing samples was by exaggerating the weight of seized drugs in order to cause the accused party to receive harsher penalties. As a result of the chemist’s actions, many innocent people have served jail time, while deserving criminals were let off the hook. Even though her coworkers and supervisors were suspicious on several occasions throughout the course of several years, she was not caught until 2011 when she admitted to forging a colleague’s signature on paperwork. It was not until this action, that she was finally suspended from her duties (The Living Case). The next thought that occurs to someone reading this story is â€Å"Why†. What would possess someone to risk his or her job and credentials? It is hard to understand what exactly would motivate Annie Dookhan to commit this type of crime considering that her life was not directly impacted by the fates of the defendants her samples belonged to. Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, also known as the two-factor theory, could be applied in this case. Lab executives leadership style Crime labs would be better served if they were operated privately and contracted by states rather than run by a police department. There is cause for concern when a state prosecutor has intrinsic ties to the people testing the evidence he or she needs to convict a felon. It is an absolute conflict of interest to have a crime lab under the control of the police. Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed said, â€Å"There are often implicit pressures [on crime lab technicians] to help out prosecutors – to testify in cases in a way that supports their perceived colleagues in law enforcement† (The Living Case). As a result of the outcome of the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case, chemists are now required to be present at the trial of the substance they tested in order to be cross-examined on their testimony (Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts). Bearing in mind that their testimony carries a lot of weight in a trial, chemists should remain separate so that issues of prejudice or bias arise. Aside from that issue, being run be the state police produces problems in relation to the management of the crime lab reporting any errors in testing that may occur. The leaders may feel that exposing problems would only increase a backlog of paperwork and further testing as a result of an internal investigation. In this case, it does not seem that the leadership was affected by police involvement as the lab was run by the Department of Public Health during the period of the incidents. Sources: * I was unsure how to cite the case given to us as most of my information is derived from there, and I did not see where Kirkman provided source information. * http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-591.pdf * http://www.npr.org/2013/03/14/174269211/mass-crime-lab-scandal-reverberates-across-state

How Effective is “The F Word”?

When having a baby one of the most difficult parts of the process is deciding on a name for the little one. Parents want to be careful in choosing, no one wants there child picked on or treated unfairly because of a name they have chosen. In the article â€Å"The F Word† the author, Firoozeh Dumas expresses her thoughts and feelings about coming from Abadan, Iran to America with her native name. She explains how her name that has much meaning in her country was nothing but a hindrance for her trying to get established in this country.In the â€Å"F Word† the author uses contrast between names in America and names in her home land to show the effectiveness of this article. â€Å"How could our parents have ever imagined that someday we would end up in a country were monosyllabic names reign supreme, a land where â€Å"William† is shorten to â€Å"Bill†, where â€Å"Susan† becomes â€Å"Sue†, and â€Å"Richard† somehow evolves into †Å"Dick† ( Dumas751). Here the author uses logos to make the reader think, why is it that we call â€Å"William† by the short name of â€Å"Bill†? It’s a logical question, the audience may want to know the answer to.It makes one wonder, do the names in this country have any meaning or are we just trying to make things as simple as possible. If simple is what we, as Americans are after, is that why we don’t like to pick acentric names for our children? In terms of ethos, the author effectively tells how she researched her idea by adopting a new simpler name â€Å"Julie†. â€Å"People actually remembered my name, which was an entirely refreshing new sensation. All was well until the Iranian Revolution, when I found myself with a new set of problems.Because I spoke English without an accent and was known as Julie, people assumed I was American . This meant that was often privy to those real feelings about those, damn Iranians† (Dumas 753). The authors says later she went back to using her native name because she felt like a fake. Eventually, Firoozeh went back to the name Julie after college when she could not obtain a job. This is where the author begins to use emotional appeal to her argument. Dumas says, â€Å"Once I changed my name on my resume call it coincidence, but the job offers started coming in.Perhaps it’s the same kind of coincidence that stops an African American from getting a cab in New York† (Dumas 753). That’s very strong statement on the authors part because most people associate African Americans not being able to hale a cab as a racial issue. That is an issue that would make a lot of people upset and generates plenty of emotion, thus this is a very effective use of pathos. This article was written for an audience of Americans. In the author’s argument it was her name that really caused her a problem when she came to America.She did a good job of adding the pathos, etho s, and logos in her article to draw the audience in to how life was for her in a new country with such a unique name. The article also tells the audience how something as simple as a name could be viewed as a form of racism. Americans’ should show enough respect and courtesy to try and understand ones heritage. Everyone knows at least one person who has been discriminated against. The author now uses her native name and is comfortable in doing so.

The Courtesans of Bollywood

The media – whether in print, television, or the cinema – has portrayed women in all sorts of images. These images reflect how a certain society perceive women and what roles do they portray in reality. Women in Indian cinema have been variously depicted with different images which represent the division within the Indian society. Just like in any parts of the world, the classification between men and women has been distinct throughout history. Even in modern time, such classifications which further divide both sexes still exist in media because of the stereotypes that have been established.The Indian film industry, famously called as Bollywood, has effectively created films which encompassed the different faces of women in their nation. There are films that attributed them with Hindu goddesses and as well as portraying them as traditional and modern women from all division of the caste. The films that are made depicting women reflected India’s thoughts and behav ior towards sexuality and social norms. The media – despite of its tendency for exaggeration and sensationalism – draws its inspiration from real life’s circumstances, no matter how fictitious the story becomes.No matter how the characters of women are formed, their roles in the film say a lot about the current social perception of Indian Women. Two notable films in Bollywood will be the central discussion of this essay. Pakeezah (1972) and Devdas (2002) became well-known for the romantic plots amidst the struggles within social taboos combined with cinematic intensity and songs aptly made for the film. From these films, the heroines that will be given concentration belong to that level of society which is usually judged derogatively.Sahibjaan of Pakeezah and Chandramukhi from Devdas share the same profession of courtesans, and played major roles in the films showing how Indian courtesans are being personified. The discussion for the two female protagonists will revolve around their being courtesans and they symbolized India’s perception and direction of their views regarding sexuality and how their norms and social evolvement are shaped by these views. Courtesans, as seen from the films, cater to the public eye, predominantly of male audience. Their profession has been criticized by society as immoral and these women are usually isolated from the realm of an ideal woman.By exploring the two films, it will be argued how the views of courtesans are still relevant in the modern Indian society. To be able to convey the contents of the arguments for the established thesis statement, a brief background or summary of each movie will be provided. This is for the intent of giving a foundation or an origin where the standpoints will be derived. Second, there will be an attempt to categorize Indian courtesans which is distinct from courtesans of other countries. This will be connected to how the character of a courtesan became an embodiment o f India’s assumption towards sexuality.From this, Sahibjaan and Chandramukhi from the films will be subjected to analysis, comparing the differences of their roles as courtesans on the films. The essay will be concluded by gathering all the insights that have been discussed and as well as its implications on Indian society. The plot of both films is set in the conservative India where traditional elements are highly emphasized. One of the two films has been derived from a 1917 novella called Devdas. This film has many versions in different languages and the one directed by Sanjay Bhansali in 2002, is the latest and the first full colored version of the film.Devdas can be said as a classic love triangle story with the lives of the main characters closely intertwined with each other. The male protagonist Devdas came back from London to reconcile with his long-time childhood beloved Paro. The two has been arranged for marriage however, when the Paro’s maternal ancestry as dancers is revealed, her humiliated mother decided to arrange a marriage for Paro to another man. From that aspect the tragedy of the heart-broken Devdas ensues, as his college friend introduced him to the world of alcohol and carnal desires.The brothel where his friend brought him became his emotional solace or more of an emotional escapism. As Devdas began to indulge in alcoholism, he met the most famous courtesan named Chandramukhi. Her beauty and exquisite charm which made Chandramukhi as a renowned courtesan became an irresistible pull for Devdas to become close to her. On the other hand, his vulnerabilities as a man shown by his weakened state by the alcohol and the discovery of his supposed love story became the reason why Chandramukhi fell in love with him.The story takes its turn with Devdas being devoured by his alcoholic addiction and Chandramukhi’s love for him brought her to Paro to convince him to stop his self-destruction and subsequently formed a friendship w ith her. Though he did not listen, Devdas promised to see her before his death. Eventually, he confessed his love for Chandramukhi however shortly after that; he expressed his goodbye to her because of his intent to move out of the country. On his journey and with the last drink of wine, he became extremely sick. Feeling himself on the verge of death, he went to fulfill his promise to Paro to see her.Paro ran to meet him but her husband prohibited her and as Devdas dies in front of their gates, his last image is Paro trying to reach for him and screaming his name. It is a clear tragic story for the three characters as all of them are not able to achieve the happiness they wanted out of love. The dynamism of the story is presented by the diverse social upbringing of the characters. Devdas is born from the upper landowning class, while Paro came from an ordinary family whose lineage is from dancers, and Chandramukhi being a courtesan is judged by the society as immoral.The three main characters attempted to go beyond their social status as the purpose of love became their main source of strength to defy the social norms. The second film which similarly tackled defying social classifications in the name of love is, Pakeezah. Released in 1972, this film took 14 years to be completed due to personal issues between the main cast and the director. An original work of Kamal Amrohi, Pakeezah is a classic Indian courtesan movie. This film is a story about a woman who dreams of escaping a world where she felt worthless and soulless.Sahibjaan shared the same fate that her mother did, a profession which eventually led to the rejection of her father’s family. After her mother’s death, her aunt Nawabjaan adopted her and brought Sahibjaan to her brothel where she practiced dancing and singing. She became famous as a courtesan when she grew up, however, her aunt felt the need to get Sahibjaan out of the brothel when her father came searching for her. On the train ride out of the city Sahibjaan found a note that has been slipped between her toes where a stranger wrote about the beauty of her feet and not to soil it.This note became her hope to find rescue from the environment she desperately wants to escape. It also became her only evidence that this particular stranger is the only one who can love her truly and the note is her first real communication with someone who has a pure intention towards her. She was able to meet the stranger who is a forest ranger named Salim, and because of her fear that he might reject her, Sahibjaan kept her true identity. Salim brought her to his family however as men recognized Sahibjaan as the courtesan, Salim’s family disapproved.Despite of Sahibjaan’s confession about her work, Salim’s feelings did not change and both of them ran away together. He eventually decided to marry her, renaming Sahibjaan as Pakeezah meaning ‘the pure one. ’ However, her shame and fear as being a courtesan dominated her, and not wanting to ruin Salim’s reputation Sahibjaan fled from him and called off the marriage. Her decision has left Salim hurting and as a way of retaliation and coping with the pain, Salim decided to marry another woman and invited Sahibjaan for his wedding. In this part of the film, she danced on broken glasses practically symbolizing the pain that both of them share.A revelation has been made when Salim’s uncle, Shahabuddin, learns that Sahibjaan is his long-lost daughter and it resulted to a happy-ending for Sahibjaan, knowing that her father will save her from the world she wanted to get away from, and as well as a possibility for her love for Salim to be reconsidered. Just like the film Devdas, Pakeezah tells about a romantic story of a courtesan with a heart. Someone like Sahibjaan does not desire to be a courtesan forever and wanted to become a real woman by meeting her future husband and be a wife.There is also the familiar pattern of the characters disregarding their social status to be able to experience a relationship with one another. It leaves the impression of Indian movies such as these that the division of the caste system in reality is strictly followed. Pakeezah and Devdas are two classic Bollywood films which portrays the kind of women often degraded by the society. These films presented the courtesans with such humanity which goes beyond their profession of enticing and engaging their audience towards them.Courtesans can be said to have prominently existed way before the times of the monarchy. Indian courtesans are said to be â€Å"sexually liberated and educated women who dance in the temples and at public ceremonies and the only women who are allowed to learn to read, sing, and dance† (Feldman & Gordon, 2006, p. 161). Just like other courtesans in general, they are meant to entertain and offer their company to men. Their difference from prostitutes is that sexual intercourse is just one of their services. They engage in discussions, in festivals, and in the arts. Simone de Beauvoir further differentiates the two:Prostitutes need two kinds of men, client and protector. In her environment man is superior to woman, and this setting apart favors a kind of love-religion which explains the abnegation of certain prostitutes. For the courtesans, beauty and charm or sex appeal are necessary but not enough, she must be recognize as a person. Her pride, her independence, and her money mean that she will never be ‘taken’ – no man will be her absoluter master. † (cited in Kazmi, 1994, p. 237) From the two films, as courtesans their bodies became the attraction to be able to play the part.The dances and mujras by Sahibjaan and Chandramukhi are utilized to emphasize their body part and allure to entice men. As in Indian cinema, women are placed in the cast for the purpose of having something ‘pleasurable in the eyes’ on the screen. â€Å"In t heir traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness† (Kazmi , 1994, p. 234). Since their roles are courtesans, they are always under the scrutiny of their male clients.Their publicized sexuality makes them a property of the society. However, from the films, it can be seen that the courtesans fell in love with the male protagonists both coming from noble families. This love makes them as the hero’s property, thus, losing their â€Å"generalized sexuality and showgirl connotations† and their erotic charms are for the male protagonists alone (Kazmi, 1994, p. 234). That sense of property has not been made official since Sahibjaan and Chandramukhi are not seen married under traditional ceremonies.This gives the impression that India may not view courtesans as an ideal wife, no matter how the circumstances of falling in love may occur. In Devdas, Chandramukhi is seen as a feisty woman who holds her dignity as a courtesan. Despite of the numerous males gawking at her performance and by the harsh judgments which society throws at her, she never did want to become someone else or want anything other than Devdas. She has a strong image of a courtesan portrayed in the film. Chandramukhi can be classified as the classic courtesan who has lived by her destiny to please the public, though she is condemned by it.By the time that she became too attached with Devdas, her duty of pleasing many people has been devoted to please Devdas so he could ease his sufferings. Chandramukhi’s sacrifice of letting Devdas go symbolized her gratitude for him the moment he confessed that he loves her as well. Because that love is rarely given to a courtesan like her and the fact Devdas see her as a normal woman worthy of it, she devoted her life taking care of him and letting go of him in the end even if it entails her happiness (Nair, 2002, p. 86). On the other hand, Sahibjaan is portrayed as a courtesan struggling for an escape from the world she grew up with.Unlike Chandramukhi, Sahibjaan is a courtesan who wished to change her life and get out of her profession. However, the history of her mother’s life haunts her, encapsulating her in fear that she might never achieve the normal life that she wanted. A courtesan who pleases out of duty, the film focused on making her worthy of marriage. The scene where Salim renamed her as Pakeezah provided her the status that she is still worthy of being a wife despite of being a courtesan. She can be said as someone who subsequently gives in to the cruel prejudices of society.By refusing Salim’s offer of marriage, Sahibjaan continues to be a possession of the public, denying herself the happiness that she wanted to be rescued by the one man she loves. Nonetheless, both women have exuded strength when it comes to making choices. Though the y have been portrayed as weak for love and for rescue, they have made decisions which in their knowledge can deprive them of the happiness that they want. In society, since courtesans are made to please the world, sacrificing their own personal interests is a part of their duty.Thus, their role as a public commodity strips them off the right to be part of the private sphere, which includes the family. The courtesans of Indian cinema maybe considered as the origin of independent women in Indian society. A courtesan is said to have â€Å"the courage to confront society, established morality, and the powers that be† (Kazmi, 1994, p. 231). That the courtesans in these films are the early embodiments of empowering women’s sexuality when it comes to breaking social norms, since in the conservative Indian nation courtesans or good women alike, are considered marginalized.Courtesans can be viewed as the mortal goddesses of the Indian society who can personify evil and goodness in how sexuality is perceived. References Feldman, M. , & Gordon, B. (2006). The Courtesan’s Art. New York: Oxford University Press. Kazmi, F. (1994). Muslim Socials and the Female Protagonist: Seeing a Dominant Discourse at Work. In Forging Identities: Gender, Communities, and the State, (pp. 226-243). Zoya, H. (Ed. ). New Delhi: Kali for Women. Nair, P. K. (2002). â€Å"The Devdas Syndrome in Indian Cinema. † Cinemaya 56/57, Autumn/Winter : 827.