Families need fathers Essay

The debate, â€Å"Families need fathers† is one in which there are many issues that need to be considered when looking at the question. Family poverty, domestic violence, the effect on children and family stereotypes by society all need to be considered in the debate. Recent surveys have shown that fathers also need families and therefore making the matter more complicated. Fathers still remain important in our society because family poverty is still largely prevented by the existence of a male, full time worker’s wage in a household. Due to the patriarchal nature of our society, women find it difficult to obtain appropriate work to fit in with custody of children. In a Social Trends survey the rise in mothers working part time form 49 percent in 1973 to 64 percent in 1994. This often means working in low paid, part time jobs with little chance that mothers’ earnings alone will be able to cover the cost of subsistence for themselves, never mind there children. Those who do work full time do not necessarily escape from economic dependence, choosing to work and pay for childcare may well prove uneconomic for large numbers of the working class. There is very little publicly provided care which fits the needs of working mothers: most pre school care is part time and infused with the ideology of education, rather then care and education. A large proportion of their income is spent on childcare and as childcare in Britain is the most expensive in Europe, lack of affordable childcare prevents the lone mother entering the labour market emphasising the need for fathers, or a male wage in the family. â€Å"Married men work harder, earn more and are more likely to have a job then other men†, according to Rowthorn and Ormerod, therefore preventing family poverty, although the modern woman is striking back. Nowadays it is easier to be a single mother. Welfare benefits, job opportunities, and the support of nurseries, playgroups and schools make it easier for single mothers to provide for their families alone. The Family Futures Report conducted by Graeme Leach predicts that by the year 2020 women will have become the main earners in at least half of all households. The feminisation of the work place will force companies to create a â€Å"mother-track† career as many companies will prefer the work of women to men meaning that affordable childcare will become available and the 20 percent pay gap will have disappeared. Even now, women’s contributions through earnings are important in reducing the family’s vulnerability to poverty. Families with 1 or 2 children were at the greatest risk of poverty without the earnings of the wife. In 1990, for example, people in households where the husband worked but the wife did not, had a 4 to 6 times higher risk of being in the bottom income quintile then those where both parents were working. Gittins (1993) states that more divorced men remarry showing that women have more independence and less need for a relationship, the family does not need a father or male figure to survive. The effect on children growing up without a father is one of the main focuses on the debate as there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that this has an enormous impact on the emotional and physical health of the child. Dennis and Erdos (1993) argued that research into the effect of fatherless families showed that † unless a child is brought up in the constant atmosphere of human beings negotiating, co-operating, controlling their anger, affecting reconciliation’s, he (sic) cannot learn what it is to be an effective member of a social group†¦ for this he needs the presence of two adults in close interaction constantly in his immediate environment. † Fatherless families are seen as contributing to the rise of educational failure, welfare dependency, and involvement in crime and drug abuse among young people, especially young boys from council estates. Indeed, only a quarter of persistent young offenders lived with two parents and that included step parents and mother’s boyfriends, 4 out of 5 children going into care have lone parents and on American and British council estates it was found that the higher the percentage of lone parent households, the higher the percentage of crime and burglary. These statistics show that it is not just families that need fathers; society also needs them as well. The concern for the effect of divorce on children is being researched more and more as divorce rates are becoming higher, one in three marriages now end in divorce and the effect on children is being examined closely. Rowthorn and Ormerod state that â€Å"on every measure of achievement and emotional condition, children living with their married parents usually do better then other children† although it is often hard to distinguish between the effects of marriage and divorce and other factors such as poverty and racism. Nevertheless, divorce often means poor exam results, damaged health and stress and four times the risk of needing psychiatric help as a child. Dr Richards took 17,000 children from the National Child Development Survey and monitored their lives at intervals until they were 35. He discovered that children, whose parents had divorced before they were 16, were on average less emotionally stable, left home earlier, and divorced or separated more frequently. However, this study was concerned with children of the middle class in 1958, and from then till now, social attitudes have changed as divorce is much more acceptable then it was in the fifties and therefore children are less affected by it, but most studies show the more involved the father; the better developed the child intellectually and socially. This view that children are affected by the absence of a father in the family is one to be contested. The latest research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that the absence of one or other parent figure from a household is not the aspect of separation which most effects the child’s development. Children are not necessarily harmed by divorce providing the parents split in an amicable fashion and good regular contact with the absent father can reduce some of the ill effects of divorce.

Marshal Mcluhan Essay

What he means with the phrase â€Å"the medium is the message† is simply that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, because the medium influences how the message is perceived and creates a symbiotic relationship between the two.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mass media†media itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study. He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself. McLuhan believed that print media was the greatest influence in society. It took us from a primarily oral society, where the only means of spreading news or information was through verbal interaction with another person. When print media came about, this all changed. Suddenly information and news was printed, and all that needed to be done, was read. As print media heightened our visual senses, our verbal communication and interaction declined, leaving people far more private. This caused individualism to blossom, as social skills declined. With the introduction of the electronic age, we were acquainted with an audiovisual environment and given the opportunity to interpret the information in more than one way. With this, McLuhan then stated that different medium provoke different levels of participation from the individuals who consume it. He coined these differences as Hot and Cool Media. According to McLuhan, technology is an extension of the body. It improves, and helps us perform at a better rate, and does what the body cannot do on its own, be it some means of transport that is an improvement on walking, or something as primitive as a shovel too help us dig. Every extension is based on one before, and is normally seen as an improvement on its predecessor. However, when technology is over-extended, and starts to tip the scale more in a negative favour, it is referred to as an amputation. McLuhan comprised a tetrad of questions that, when asked, helps decide if the technology is merely an extension or if it is in fact an amputation. Hot and Cool Media In Understanding the Media, McLuhan stated that different media encourage different levels of participation. If you look at a photograph for example, very little participation is needed from the viewer in order to complete the photographer’s point of view or message. Because we single out one sense, and stimulate it above all the other, we would refer to this as â€Å"HOT† Media. In contrast to this, McLuhan used the example of a Comic, which gives us very little information, and encourages the reader’s participation to fill out the blanks in order to actually fully understand and enjoy the content. This is known as â€Å"COOL† Media Because Hot Media does not encourage as much participation, McLuhan states that more could be learned from Cool Media. He used the difference between a Lecture and a Seminar as another example. Seminars and Workshops normally encourage participation from its attendees, where a lecture is simple based on a classroom environment where there is a â€Å"teacher† and â€Å"students†. According to McLuhan, we are leading more and more into a society dominated by â€Å"HOT† media because the extensions of technology are becoming more independent of human operation and interaction. Many of these extensions aid in our everyday life in order to make it easier for us. However, are we at the point where technology almost does not ‘need’ US anymore? This is where McLuhan’s Tetrad comes into play. Many of our day-to-day activities have now been replaced with virtual and interactive counterparts. Shopping, for example, has now become as simple as going online and selecting what you need from a list, and the company delivers your purchases to your front door. We are now able to go on virtual tours through existing buildings as well as those that are yet to be built. The most common and accessible of these interactive replacements is the Nintendo Wii. The Wii is a gaming console that has reached the point where is has wireless operation and reacts to and with human motion. Its games range from common play station gaming like world of warcrafts and tactical gaming, to fitness and sport orientated games and programs with which you can play virtual matches or have simple workouts. Marshall’s Tetrad If you take something like the Wii gaming console, you can explain what he means by this in far simpler way. The questions are: What does the Technology extend? The Wii is developed on the same principle as of an Xbox and other gaming consoles. A form of interactive media that has extended to the point where it now has virtual exercise and sporting games you can play in your living room. With means of a wireless â€Å"power plate† and hand held cordless remote, Nintendo has virtually compiled almost every sport or physical activity one can do. So what does it extend? The Wii and its programs have been developed to stimulate its users physically and mentally, therefore it extends the entire body. Nintendo also have Learning games, which can help improve your memory, general knowledge and other literacy skills. What does it make obsolete? Instead of doing physical sport outside or in a more social environment like a gym, people can now exercise in the comfort of their own home. And for those that didn’t do sports or any general form of exercise due to embarrassment, inconvenience of any other reason now have the opportunity to get active. It has also changed video gaming in a huge way. Players now actually needs to physically get involved in the game when playing, and the cordless remote makes movement easier and gives the player more freedom. With the educational games, Wii has made learning easier, and more entertaining. By making it rewarding, people are more eager to actually know the information and get the answers right. They start asking questions like what they would get if they actually have the right answer, which misses the whole point of purely being educated. What is retrieved that use to be obsolete? The Wii encourages fitness, interaction and participation. With the digital era, fewer people are as active as they use to be a few years prior. We depend more on technology than ever, and seem to do fewer and fewer things for ourselves. Games like the Wii fit encourages physical activities for some that would not normally do it out of their own, by rewarding them for what they do. The educational and general knowledge games challenge people mentally, which general society doesn’t do as frequently as it use to, due to the fact that technology does most of our work for us. What does the medium reverse into when over-extended? This gaming console encourages more interaction than most. The most logical progression would be virtual interactive gaming, where player â€Å"step into a world† in which they play. They will be entirely involved in the dynamics and progression of the game. It will create a hyperreality that mimics a â€Å"real word†. The educational system could also lapse over into a media based development, where children learn via virtual tutors. Only problem is that they are constantly stimulated and entertained, and in the end, this could simply lead to shorter concentration spans rather than just more accessible knowledge. Conclusion Therefore, if one looks at the Wii, many will argue that it is a step forward in technology and that it is needed to keep up with our ever-changing world. It teaches us skills that are needed in everyday life, as everyday life is becoming more and more technologically dependant, and that this is our future in its simplest form. Others might argue that we are become less and less self-efficient and more and more dependable on the technology around us. We cannot function without computers and cellular phones anymore, and because of this, we have become more vulnerable without even realizing it. Technology has become such a great extension in our lives, that is has actually become our lives and our reality.

The Beguines: The Brave, Religious Women of the Middle Ages

Women were expected to be two things in the Middles Ages, they either live under the charge of a husband in the household or dedicated herself to the Church in a convent as a nun. However, something unfamiliar happened in the late 12th century in parts of Europe, especially the Lowlands, Germany and Italy.Women who were called â€Å"beguines† gained prominence as they questioned those stereotyped concepts of being women and lived outside of those boundaries. During the Middle Ages, women who entered Beguinages (Beguine houses or convents) were not bound by permanent vows, in contrast to women who entered convents.It would seem that these women responded spontaneously to the work of the Holy Spirit to live a simple communal life of prayer, to care for the poor, the sick, lepers and orphaned, to teach, make lace, garden and anything else which enables them to be economically free in their respective communities. They also read and taught the Scriptures in the vernacular. The beg uines had a very special devotion to the Eucharist and to the Passion of Christ. The beguines were ordinary women who were in a certain world, but not really part of it.They are pious women whose devotional ardor often surpassed that of cloistered nuns. Like them, they dedicated their lives to God in a disciplined lifestyle, but unlike them they did not professed religious vows. In sum, it was the lifestyle of the early beguines, a lifestyle founded on intense spirituality, which differentiated them on the one hand from other laywomen and on the other from nuns. Women could enter beguinages having already been married and they could leave the beguinages to marry. Some women even entered the beguinages with children.Various debates exist with regards to their origins, but around 1150, groups of women, eventually called beguines, began living together for the purposes of economic self-sufficiency and a religious vocation. The attitudes of the clerics towards blossoming beguine movemen t were ambivalent at first. They deemed that these were groups of religious women who were dedicated to chastity and charity, which could not be condemned in any way. The fact that they existed and existed without men, except for priests and confessors to lead them, was suspect to the ecclesiastical hierarchy.For this and many other reasons, many beguines came to be known as heretics and were brutally persecuted. Though they were never an approved religious order, at one point they were granted special privileges and exemptions customary for approved orders. The Church, however, did not approve of their lack permanent vows. Women were not supposed to have that much freedom. What is particularly interesting about the Beguines was that, unlike most of those considered heretics, most of them considered themselves orthodox, but still beguines.Some strongly identified themselves as such and while in court testified to that effect, demonstrating self-identification with the group. Yet, th e group was diverse and is hard to define. This diversity was due in part to the geographical distribution as well as to the individual autonomy of each community. However, the beguines’ great devotion to the Eucharist emphasized the real presence of the incarnated Lord. At the height of the beguine movement the Feast of Corpus Christi was decreed by Pope Urban IV in 1264, and there is no doubt that the Eucharistic piety of the beguines attributed to the keeping of this feast.Indeed, the beguines wanted to imitate their Lord and to live as the Spirit inspired them. The first beguines were not subject to a rule of life, neither did the beguine have to make a life-time commitment. She was free to leave or to marry. Such a way of life was very attractive to the devout woman, and it is not surprising that their numbers grew swiftly. It was a welcome alternative to the cloister or marriage, although for women to live without the protection of the convent or a husband was quite rev olutionary in the early medieval period.Undoubtedly, the beguines had become an important fragment not only in the history of women’s movement, but also the development of the Catholic faith. Origins of the Beguines Two important movements in the 12th century had their impact on those who became known as beguines. The Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090- 1153), especially from his writings on The Song of Songs emphasized the importance of a personal relationship between the soul and the Lord. He allegorized this relationship as being similar to that of the bride and the heavenly Bridegroom.This union between the beloved and the lover was a foundation upon which the feminist mystics, including beguines, developed an intimate spirituality with their Lord. Of course the receiving of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament was the outward act of this union. Closely associated with this nuptial image of Bernard was the â€Å"reasonable mystic† and â€Å"learned lover† of his friend, William of St. Thierry (1085-1148), who happened to live in Liege, the birthplace of the beguine movement.He appealed to the soul to know God in perfect love, which also appealed to these mystics (McNichols, 2002). Another factor contributing to the birth of the beguine movement was the vita apostolica, which St. Francis of Assisi had preached by returning to the ideals that our Lord had preached to His disciples: poverty, simplicity and a burning desire to preach the Gospel. The acceptance of this Franciscan preaching and mendicant order in 1215, even though no new orders were supposed to be have founded, gave inspiration to like-minded souls (McNichols, 2002).In the early twelfth century a new order, Premonstratensains, was founded in Liege by Norbert of Xanten who allowed religious women to be â€Å"attached† and to do charity work in the world. However his successor reversed this role and all nuns were expelled from the order by the end of the century. In a way, these sisters were the forerunners of the beguines (McNichols, 2002). In addition, when the church structures were becoming increasingly inaccessible to women in the 13th century; where convents were overcrowded and entrance dowries were expensive; women's orders were scarce and subject to male oversight.At this time in Liege and Antwerp, on the peripheries of urban centers, self-supporting communities of women began to appear. They lived by the work of their hands, often caring for the poor, the sick and the dying, and carried on regular devotional practices. They sought â€Å"an unstructured, nonhierarchical spiritual life that was both active (in the sense of ministering to the needs of others) and contemplative (in the sense that meditation and visionary experience were highly valued and developed)† (Petroff 1994, p. 51-52). This was the seed of what would become the beguinages.More elaborately, Walter Simons explained in the preface to Cities of Ladies Beguine Co mmunities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565 (2001) that the most widely held scholarly opinions about the origins of the beguines both have their source in medieval materials. James of Vitry's second Sermon to Virgins, written sometime between 1229 and 1240, provides Joseph Greven with his argument that the beguines were â€Å"nuns manquees, women who became beguines because they could not be nuns† (p. x). Similarly a statement on the origins of the beguines made by a clerical committee who visited the beguinage of St.Elizabeth of Ghent in 1328 became the basis for Karl Bucher's argument that the beguine movement was the result of a â€Å"surplus of women† in the urban areas of the Southern Low Countries and other parts of northern Europe. As Simons summarized that the two materials of James of Vitry and the bishop's men at Ghent agreed on several points: they argued that large numbers of young women of the best families, in their desire to live chastely, attemp ted to join a nunnery, but that many of them could not find a convent that would accept them: there were simply too many candidates.The Ghent report added that women could not afford the entrance gift, the dos, required in most monasteries – an obstacle to their entry that James tactfully omitted. It further differed from James in its assessment of the primary motive that drove women to the convent: it was the inability to conclude a suitable marriage that prompted these women to the monastic life; when the latter proved impossible, they joined the beguinage (p. xi).Seen from the perspective of the committee at Ghent, particularly as reread by Bucher and others, the beguines were driven primarily by economic and social forces and beguinages were â€Å"thus just female versions of guild organizations† (p. xi). Grundmann, as Simon noted, was the first to write about a â€Å"religious movement by women† (â€Å"religisen Frauenbewegung†) and to understand the specifically religious motivations behind the beguine life style, particularly their emphasis on poverty and labor in the pursuit of the apostolic life.Grundmann goes on, however, to describe in detail the complex negotiations between the papal curia, the mendicant orders, and the women's religious communities whereby the mendicants were eventually persuaded-sometimes pressured-into taking over the â€Å"care of souls† and often institutional responsibility for women's houses (Grundmann's most detailed examples of this process involve communities that became Dominican convents).Implicit within the narrative of Religious Movements in the Middle Ages, then, lies the argument that orderly communities of beguines desired and ultimately succeeded in becoming more traditional convents, most often within the mendicant orders. Beguines were forced to give up ideals of individual poverty and self-support and to possess sufficient corporately owned property to maintain a community of enclosed nuns.Hence ecclesial concerns for women's chastity and religious propriety required that women's religious ideals be transformed. As Grundmann argues, the result is the spiritualization of poverty within the writings of the thirteenth-century beguines and their heirs among both male and female Dominican authors. Without directly contesting Grundmann's arguments, which for the most part pertain to Germany, Simons presents a significantly new picture of the development of beguine communities in the Southern Low Countries.Simons divides the history of the movement into two periods: the first, from 1190-1230, saw the emergence of laywomen living alone or together in â€Å"loose communities without institutional attachments† (p. 36). The primary sources pertaining to this period are eleven hagiographies devoted to individual holy women involved with the movement from 1190-1250. Often written shortly after their death and in each case by male clerics or monks interested in promoting cults around the holy women, none of these women were ever canonized nor did they all maintain the beguine lifestyle.In fact, as Simons points out, hagiographers from the period and region seemed particularly interested in women who moved from the beguinal milieu into more traditional forms of monastic life (p. 92). Groups of women outside convents, like the beguines, had to steer a narrow course in order to avoid â€Å"the shoals of anticlericalism and heresy that always threatened the spiritual creativity of women† (McNamara 1990, p. 237). The success and spread of the beguine movement would suggest it did answer a need felt among women for an independent expression of their own religious creativity.It is also important to note that beguines fall under the more general designation of mulieres religiosae (religious women), an umbrella term which included nuns, recluses, and virgins living at home or in small groups. The appearance of the mulieres religiosae, who f lourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was a major religious development, possibly connected with factors like the Crusades, priestly celibacy and harsh physical labor, which resulted in women outnumbering men in Western Europe.Religious motives, however, were perhaps even more important than socio-economic ones (DeGanck 1991, p. 2-3). Development of the Beguine Movement Scholars trace the development of the beguine movement through several stages, beginning with individual women (beguinae singulariter in saeculo manentes) living in towns but observing the evangelical principles as well as they could. These individuals eventually came together in the beguinages (congregationes beguinarum disciplinatarum) that are the main focus of this chapter.Later, some of the communities took the form of cloistered communities (beguinae clausae); finally, some communities were reconstituted as autonomous parishes (Little 1978, p. 130). Around 1230, these loose communities of widows, v irgins, and chaste wives began to acquire property, to draw up regulations governing the life of the group, and to present â€Å"themselves to the outside world as religious institutions, either in the form of small ‘convents,' or as larger architectural complexes segregated in some manner from the surrounding urban community, the so-called court beguinages† (Simons 2001, p.36). Simons therefore convincingly demonstrates that up to and through the Catholic Reformation the beguine movement in the Southern Low Countries remains a lay urban movement characterized by the preponderance of women from a range of social classes who participated within it (p. 91-117). In addition, Simons provides invaluable information about the beguines' work in the textile industry (p. 85-87), with the sick and dying (76-80), and-perhaps most importantly for the study of spirituality-in teaching (p.80-85). Grundmann's early argument for the centrality of the beguines' lay status to the develop ment of vernacular religious literature here finds crucial support. Not only did the beguines themselves read and write in the vernacular, but they were also engaged in the education of girls and women who then in turn constituted an audience for vernacular religious writing. The development of the beguinages demonstrated an outgrowth of the lay religious awakening of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.It also reflected the social background of the era. Although much more positive than simply a stand against clerical mediocrity and Western feudalism, the growth of the beguinages did, nevertheless, provide alternatives to both. The beguinages represented a new way of giving religious significance to women's ordinary lives (Bynum 1987, p. 17). It was characteristic of the beguinage to combine the vita contemplativa and appropriate devotional exercises with the practical solution of daily problems.The beguines customarily engaged in weaving, spinning, carding, charitable activity, se wing, and the education of children. So religious impetus and economic factors were intertwined in a beguine's life (McDonnell 1954, p. 146). Theologically, medieval women were faced with contradictory doctrines which placed them either on a pedestal or in a bottomless pit: the virgin or the temptress. In the Christian view of sacred history, the greatest source of blessing for humanity after Christ was his mother, Mary; the greatest source of grief was also a woman Eve, the mother of us all.Clearly, Christian tradition saw women as both the greatest and the weakest (Power 1962, p. 401-403). Thus, the beguines were bound to change these by shaping their own religious experience in lay communities, where female charisms served as alternative to the male emphasis on the power of office, the beguines paralleled other women who were emerging from the feudal system and becoming economically independent through small crafts, shops, and businesses in new towns (Bynum 1987, p. 22).Also, it has been suggested that the strength of the beguines lay in their unique combination of traditional spirituality with their freedom from the restrictions of the cloister, a combination which allowed them to experiment and break new ground. Beguines adopted a chaste way of life and dressed simply, but they were not separated from the world, nor were they bound to any ecclesiastical authority. To wit, The beguine movement differed substantially from all earlier important movements within the western church.

Financial services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial services - Essay Example Their qualifications are monitored and approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which is a regulatory body for the UK financial services sector. There are over four hundred financial advisors in the UK financial services industry, guiding the clients regarding investments in the FTSE, stocks bonds, mutual funds, derivatives and other financial products. However, currently in UK the financial advisors are disappointing their clients by not providing the appropriate advice in the tough times of stock market volatility and economic slowdown. The times when people need their advice the most they are reported not fulfilling their duties promptly. â€Å"Not many people are the fans of the financial advisory industry in its current state in the UK, as most advisors are, when it comes down to it, just salespeople on commission.† (Dunwiddle 2008) Every individual in UK gets investment allowance and they need these advisors to help them with their investment decisions. However , the general impression shows that these advisors increase their wealth based on their clients’ money. Retail banks on UK are technology and service oriented offering customers with greater protection, more choices and competitive rates. The Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, RBS and Barclays are some of the major names in the UK retail banking. Currently UK is witnessing a decrease in the retail banks’ branches and the increase in the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). â€Å"To operate in the retail markets banks have traditionally required an extensive branch network. However, technological developments in particular the growth of automatic teller machines (ATM) networks, phone/internet banking, mobile phones and interactive digital television has enabled a new type of bank that does not need branches to conduct business. In UK the pioneer was First Direct, which began its telephone bank in 1989 and is an operation of HSBC.† (Buckle and Thompson 2004) Thus these bank s involve advancement of loans, and acceptance of deposits, customer credit services through credit cards and overdrafts etc and many other financial services. As per the requirement of the Bank of England they maintain their required cash ratios and other requirements. They are key players in regulating the money supply and providing customer with a protected, competitive and reliable financial services network in the United Kingdom. b. Customer Expectations v/s Financial Advisors & Retail Banks The financial advisors, who always face the risk of furnishing rosy pictures of investments to their clients, need to put extensive efforts to gain and maintain customer expectations and meet customer expectations. Recently, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been working on Treating Customer Fairly (TCF) and its outcomes and requiring all firms to present correct and proper information. The financial advisors try and validate the information provided to their clients through report s and researches. The appreciation of customer expectation for a financial advisor is difficult because the advice of the advisor does not guarantee success as other factors market and economic are responsible for the outcome of the investment. â€Å"One problem in the investment service industry is that the outcomes of investment decisions are largely beyond the control of investment advisors and investment managers.† (Redhead 2008) Thus in orders to appreciate the customer expectat

Multivariate Techniques Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Multivariate Techniques - Research Paper Example In view of the possible incoherence due to the management restructuring at Company W, retraining of Company W’s top management in key departments such as sales, marketing, and production is vital. In addition, the top management at WidgeCorp needs statistically verifiable conclusions on issues and recommendations resulting from broad management restructuring agenda. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of factor analysis as a statistical data analysis technique, highlight some of its real life applications, and demonstrate its applicability to company W. Keywords: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) Factor Analysis Introduction Acquisition is a corporate strategy in wide use by organizations that seek to increase their market presence, lower operation costs, or retain profitability in unfavorable economic conditions. One of the major challenges facing mergers and acquisitions, which accounts for many failures associated with the pro cess, is lack of coherence and incompatibility in the management teams of the corporate entities involved. A disconcerting 50% of merger and acquisition deals fail due to a number of factors, one of which is the inability to reconcile the management cultures of the companies involved (Monahan, 2000). Therefore, a successful acquisition does not end with the formalization of the acquisition process, but with retraining and restructuring to ensure retention of harmony in the management structures of the two companies. The integration process is delicate, and needs careful deliberation and planning by the top management so that it does not defeat the purpose of the acquisition. This summary seeks to explain the effects of implementation of factor analysis in Company W. Admittedly, subjective judgment and experience present glaring limitations as decision-making techniques (Monahan, 2000). Despite the proven effectiveness of multivariate statistical analysis techniques such as factor an alysis techniques, WidgeCorp should not undermine the possible benefits that traditional methods used at Company W might offer the new corporate conglomerate. The management should aim to bring the best practices from either side of the management landscape to benefit from the synergies appropriately (Monahan, 2000). The transition to a common management approach should be as smoothly as possible, and should aim to win the cooperation of the employees the changes will affect the most. What is Factor Analysis? Factor analysis is a statistical analysis technique that explains the variation and correlation of variables with the use of uncorrelated, unobserved variables known as factors (DeCoster, 1998). Statistical researchers hail Charles Spearman, a psychologist, as the pioneer in the practical application of factor analysis. Factor analysis is highly applicable to social sciences and in business in areas such as marketing, production, and sales (DeCoster, 1998). The technique is hig hly effective in areas that involve the processing of very large quantities of data. The overriding premise of factor analysis is that factors that have high correlation share the same driving factors and vice versa. Factor analysis assumes two forms: exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analy

Book report on hiroshima by john hersey. the full edition Essay

Book report on hiroshima by john hersey. the full edition - Essay Example Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a youthful clerk, fractured her legs in the explosion. Her wound deteriorated due to the infection, and she got no medical assistance for weeks following the explosion. The blast kills over half the physicians in Hiroshima and hurt a large number of the remaining doctors. For instance, Dr. Masakazu Fujii becomes incapable of helping others. Therefore, he only manages to maintain himself. On the contrary, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki remained the only uninjured medical practitioner amongst Red Cross Hospital. Weeks after the bombing, Mrs. Hatsuyo is a widow bringing up her young children. She is caring and dependable, and a committed statesperson. As side from that, Nakamura is an obedient person. Luckily, she and her offspring survived the explosion with no bodily harm. However, Nakamura and her daughter fall victims of a radiation sickness and struggle with the problem for years. Consequently, Nakamura succumb to poverty since the war causes a destruction of her properties. In the narrative, Nakamura is an ordinary casualty of an extraordinary occurrence. Surprisingly, she holds no vengeance for the Americans in spite of the agony they caused to him. Interestingly, she secures a job that leads to her financial liberation. Dr. Sasaki is a twenty-three years old surgeon working at Red Cross Hospital in Japan. Additionally, he is hardworking, ingenious, ambitious and selfless. His kindness comes into play after he risks penalties for attending to ill patients in the villages before getting permission. Sasaki ends up treating thousand if victims since he is the only available doctor in the hospital. Consequently, after the bombing Sasaki makes an advancement in the treatment and studies of radiation illness. Therefore, Dr. Terufumi spent his post-bombing years in attempting to remove Keloid. Later, he leaves the city for a far area in order to stay away from the gruesome

The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan Research Paper

The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan - Research Paper Example Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan Before the Taliban 3 The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan During the Taliban 4 The Treatment of Women In Afghanistan After the Taliban 5 How Afghanistan is Still Not Where It Needs to be in Respect to Women’s Rights 6 Conclusion 8 Works cited 9 The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan Before the Taliban The treatment of women in Afghanistan before the Taliban is seen to have been relatively quite fair. The Afghan women’s right to freely choose their possession and work is seen to have been written into the 1980 Afghanistan constitution when Afghanistan signed both the UN Convention on the elimination of Discrimination Against Women as well as the International bill of rights for women that had been issued by the UN in 1979 (Verdirame 176). Under the convention, the right to work is considered as being an inalienable right of all human beings and when Afghanistan become a signatory nation, women in the country were seen to quickly emerge as key participants in the country’s economy and held key positions as farmers, teachers, doctors, equal partners in the country’s civil service and engineers. In a 2001, US congress report, it was pointed out that before the Taliban; women were treated in a affair manner that saw them emerge as active leaders in both politics and public life. This is exemplified by the fact that women teachers in the country essentially represented an impressive 70% of the teachers in the country, in addition to their also accounting for an estimated 40% of the doctors as well as a vast majority of the health workers’. Of note also is that, over half of the university students in Afghanistan were women. In fact, in 1977 women were seen to essentially make up an estimated over 15 percent of the country’s highest legislative branch; a percentage that is notably higher than the 14 percent of women that served in the United States con gress as at the time when the report was being presented in 2001 (US Congress 21276). The freedom that women enjoyed before the Taliban was also seen to allow those living in cities to wear western-style clothing and makeup (Banting 23). The Treatment of Women in Afghanistan During the Taliban When the severely repressive Taliban regime first came into power, its treatment of women is seen to have been quite biased an unfair. The Taliban repressed the women’s right to education by issuing an edict in 1997 that sought to try and enforce a nationwide ban on access to public education for all girls and women in the country and transformed most of girls’ schools that were being run by the former state into all-male institutions (Linschoten and Kuehn 108). When determined Afghani attempted to still educating their children while complying with the law by setting up numerous private educational institutions, the Taliban responded by issuing another repressive edict that stip ulated that all private funded education in the country be limited to only those girls that happened to be under the age of eight years in addition to this education being limited to the study of the Koran only. In 1997, the Taliban issued an edict that banned all women from engaging in any work in public places (Crews and Tarzi 98). Although this edict affected all the different sectors of the economy across the country, the health sector is seen to have been most severely affected primarily as a result of the large number of

Communication in professional contexts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communication in professional contexts - Essay Example Clarity enhances consistency in conveying written information. Consistency leads to the writing of effective sentences as the words therein are interlinked and well planned. Consistency in writing avoids the use of unnecessary phrases and presents precise ideas. A consistent sentence has positive effects on the reader since its simple and has a clear meaning. Writing clearly promotes conciseness in the sentences written and the brevity presents one’s wit. Clear, concise and consistent work reduces unnecessary correspondence from the reader; as such, Smith-Worthington& Jefferson (2011) argued that all correspondence, which is brief, gets the goodwill of the reader and creates admiration. According to Sant (2008), the success of a firm is based on ability to communicate effectively to other stakeholders and this is promoted by clarity in writing. To enhance one’s ability to write clearly one should avoid using unnecessary words and lengthy statements lacking a clear meaning, and they should express a single idea in each sentence. Additionally, the words in the sentences should be arranged logically, the writer should avoid the use of passive voice and use only active since it is easy to understand and finally ambiguous sentences should not be used as they limit the clarity (Tyagi & Misra, 2011). In conclusion, a writer should give much attention to ensure clarity of his work as it contributes to consistency, conciseness and good flow of logic. This in turns promotes admiration and goodwill to the reader. Very often, an employee’s personal beliefs are at odds with the ethics at the work place and attention should be given on the best solution when such situations arise. Work ethics are because of the agreed professional codes of organizations while the personal beliefs and opinions are a blend of the upbringing in the family environment, one’s

How Western Civilization is shaped by what historians call 'others', Essay

How Western Civilization is shaped by what historians call 'others', - Essay Example Conquering new regions necessitated the formulation of new ways to hold the vast empires together. Machiavelli expounded upon how the rulers should incorporate the newly acquitted territories comprising of people belonging to distinct regions, usually having high expectations from the new ruler. According to Machiavelli’s views, newly acquired territories and foreign states can be regarded as the ‘other’. Machiavelli states that these states can be divided between principalities and republics and in ‘The Prince’, he elaborates on principalities. According to him, principalities can be divided between hereditary principalities and new principalities, with the former being the ones formerly ruled by the ruler’s ancestors, while the new being the new ones acquired or added to current state by the ruler.1He further states that it is easier to rule hereditary principalities because the society is already accustomed to the rule. However, in case of a new principality, the ruler has to be shrewd so that the people do not revolt against him, when he fails to fulfill all their expectations as a new ruler. Machiavelli proposes that a ruler should suppress such a revolt and then punish the conspirators severely in order to set an example and inhibit future revolts2. Machiavelli regards the upholding of a new principality as more difficult because if a ruler is unable to fully conform to their expectation, then people take up arms against him. It is much easier to rule a new principality, if people share the same language, culture and customs. The prince could assassinate the old ruler’s family and introduce new taxes and if he ensure that society’s prevalent customs and norms are upheld, people will not revolt. In new territories with strong linguistic and cultural differences, a ruler must live there to ensure the local rulers don’t revolt and foster close ties with the subjects. He could also form colonies whi ch would be cheaper than to have a widespread military existence, which may induce a revolt as well. However, it would negatively affect the poor and distant populations, but because they are unable to revolt, they should be crushed. Consequently, most people would ally with the prince and the rest will fear him. To support his argument, he gives the example of Louis X113. In order to maintain his presence in a foreign region, a prince must not only subjugate the people, but remain the strongest one and ensure no neighboring power takes over. He must suppress the strong powers and by default the weaker ones would ally with him and his will remain the most dominant state in the region. Princes must also be wary of new problems that could turn into a serious issue and must undertake preemptive measures.4 In newly acquired territories that were previously free, it is better for a prince to completely destroy, so that no threat of revolt remains, as otherwise traditional ties due to sha red history of freedom will propel them to revolt5. However, in a territory that was previously ruled by a prince, once the old ruler is killed, there is no threat of revolt as people are accustomed to blindly obey the ruler. In addition, a new ruler must strive to depend on his own prowess, rather than passively relying on fortune. Such a ruler is more successful in maintain order and introducing a new set of rules, as he uses force and accomplishes his goals6. According to Machiavelli, a prince chosen by nobles or people must strive to foster

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials - Essay Example Although the hospitals have their emergency rules as well as total accord privacy to the woman especially since she is in labor-men would feel that they are left out that most laws favor women. Another instance of pathos occurs when the author empathizes with the estranged ex-fiancà ©e, arguing that it would be embarrassing to have a man with whom they have separated being forced to watch her as she goes through the pain of childbirth. Not only would this embarrass her, but it would also remind her of their intimate moments before they broke up. Reference to intimacy is another use of pathos (emotional appeal of the reader). Use of ethos occurs since the guest blogger works for a reputable publisher-the Los Angeles Times. The news agency is a reputable newsroom and people would easily believe the credibility and accuracy of the publications (Behrens & Leonard 27). This makes the whole story believable and very appealing to the readership. Use of logos occurs when the author mentions that devoid of emotions and blame-game, it is always the right of hospital management to reserve the right of entry into hospitals. Fathers are always required to wait outside, not to be in the maternity room. Common sense demands that hospital patients’ feelings are respected. Logic would require that as a father, Plotnick is present during birth because he is the father of the unborn baby (Behrens & Leonard 81). This is an example of logos. Use of logos occur when the author argues that the case should have been dismissed; that in fact, there was no need to file a case since the laws are clear: hospital privacy laws deal with communications and records and gives the patient an upper hand (in this case the pregnant woman) as regards their absolute privacy.

Regulation of Solicitors' Trust Accounts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Regulation of Solicitors' Trust Accounts - Essay Example Summary of the Acts Section 3.3of both the Acts deals with â€Å"trust money and trust accounts†. This session involves several regulatory measures that would secure consumers’ interests in the legal service market. The Acts contain the provision for suspending stated operations associated with the solicitors’ trust accounts. They require solicitors to maintain a general trust account and accurate trust records, and present them before an eternal examiner for cross checking. The main intention of this provision is to increase the reliability of trust accounts and thereby secure consumer confidence. The Acts have also defined a set of condition for closing a general trust account. As per the provision, a law practitioner has the responsibility to deposit the trust money in the general trust account at the earliest possibility. The Legal Professional Act 2007 clearly states that disbursement of trust money must be under the direction given by the particular person. This provision will ensure that trust money is safe under the custody of solicitor until the time of disbursement. The Legal Profession Regulation Act 2007 The Legal Profession Regulation Act 2007 describes different aspects of keeping trust account receipts and payments book. This Act specifically directs solicitors to keep separate trust accounts receipts cash book and trust accounts payment cash book. Part 3.3(29) of the Legal Profession Regulation Act 2007 has clearly defined trust record copies to be printed at the end of particular periods. Mainly receipts and payments cash book, reconciliation statements, and trust ledger accounts and their balances have to be printed. In addition, section 37 of this Act holds provisions for secure withdrawal of trust money from a general trust account. This provision also adds value to consumer confidence, because it prevents deceitful withdrawal of trust money (Legal Profession Regulation Act 2007). Similarly, section 38 deals with payment of trust money through electronic fund transfer. It is one of the major provisions of the Act that secures consumer confidence to a great extent because probability of fraud is higher in electronic fund transfer. Section 42 directs solicitors to systematically record various transactions in trust ledger accounts as this method will be effective to distinguish between trust accounts of different clients. The Regulation Act also specifies journal transfer principles regarding transfer of trust money from a general trust account to another. It also insists to provide necessary and timely notifications to concerned beneficiaries. In addition, it is mandatory to issue trust account statements to the beneficiaries of the trust money. This type of provision helps consumers to keep in frequent touch with their account transactions. The regulation of solicitors’ trust account would assist consumers to ensure that their money is not misused for the benefit of third parties. According to the perception of Queensland Law Society (n.d), the strict regulation measure would prevent any type of unfair practice related with trust accounts. The most attractive feature of these Acts is that consumers are allowed to get informed of their account status. The Legal Profession Act 2007 The Legal Profession Act 2007 specifically states that the trust accounts should not be used for paying off any type of debt. This

Evolution of New Media Essay Example for Free

Evolution of New Media Essay The advancement of technology has transformed dramatically in the 21st centaury and affects every aspect of our everyday lives. With the comparison of a South African example of traditional and new media products, in the form of the print and the on-line news providers of the Mail Guardian news product, this essay seeks to evaluate the implications of the development of new media, and its affects on the likes of traditional news products. Before delving into the issue of the impact that new media has on traditional media, it is important to define these two terms. Traditional media is commonly seen in the form of radio, television and print (newspapers). Each are separate entities and are independent of each other. They do not rely on each other for existence and do not influence each other in any way. As the term, traditional media, is an incredibly broad term, it is difficult to give a precise definition for it. Rather, it is in contrast to the concept of new media that a fitting definition for the term traditional media is formed. Print media, in the form of the Mail Guardian newspaper, is a South African example of traditional media. The term new media refers to the forms of media content that combine and integrate data, text, sound and images of all kinds(Flew, 2003: 10). The on-line news provider, Mail Guardian, is a South African example of new media. The website incorporates images, texts and sounds-all of which are separate medium-and brings them together under one roof. This bringing together of various medium to form one entity is known as convergence (Dessaucer, 2004: 123). It is this idea of convergence of various media, which defines the term new media. Unlike the print edition of the Mail Guardian, the on-line version offers a broad range of modifications to its traditional counterpart. Rather than being printed on paper, news articles of the on-line news provider are presented in digital form. This is a seemingly obvious observation, however, it highlights the evolution of traditional media into the more popular form of new media. There is also a noticeable difference between traditional and new media in that rather then flipping through pages of undesirable texts and articles, the reader of on-line news sites actively selects the articles that they wish to read by effortlessly clicking a mouse. Furthermore, on-line news providers provide more than merely news articles. Through features called hyperlinks, readers can be transported to various other websites such as sports, music sites and even virtual gambling (Flew, 2003). Hence on-line news providers extend beyond the realms of merely providing news, but rather as technology co ntinues to develop, and the boundaries of one website and another become blurred, they begin to assume a more all-rounded focus. Online news services allow the reader the luxury of setting a specific section of the news as the front page, opposed to traditional media, where the content of the front page, is dictated by the editor. Among the many other advantages generated by new media is that it allows for articles to be reported in real time and updated often (Dessaucer, 2004: 123). Most print media are usually printed twice a day. In the case of the print form of the Mail Guardian, it is only printed once a week. Hence, if a news story breaks after the paper has been printed, readers are required to wait a full week to get its take on the matter. In the case of a reader missing a weeks edition of the newspaper, they will find much difficulty in trying to retrieve it. With the advancement of technology, the Mail Guardian online caters for issues such as these. New media allows for storage of information without causing cluttering-as would be found in the storing of old newspapers. By creating archives where readers can actually retrieve past information, the issue of loosing out on a weeks worth of news is eliminated. The Mail Guardian online, has the ability, unlike that of traditional print media, to upd ated and edit its stories as often as required. So, readers of online news services are kept up to date on breaking news, in real time, as opposed to the readers of the print version of the Mail Guardian, who receive breaking news a week after it actually occurs. Here again the advantages of new media are highlighted. The likes of traditional print media are also limited by space, resulting in the actual content to be limited. Thus in traditional print media, only selected articles feature in the news. On the other hand, new media, in the form of on-line articles, tend to contain more in-depth articles, as well as provide additional information on related topics in the form of layered journalism (Dessaucer, 2004: 125). This idea of layered journalism, utilizes the feature of hyperlinks (Flew, 2003: 15). As explained earlier, hyperlinks provide the reader with links to other related information, including past stories, multimedia features and links to other websites that offer primary source information on a specific subject (Dessaucer, 2004: 124). The advantage of this is that the reader is provided insight into specific topics, without much effort and without actively having to search for it. Limitations to traditional media are found in the area of interactivity. Person-to-person interactivity in traditional media is extremely limited in comparison to that of new media forms, which both facilitates and stimulates interactivity on all levels. Internet usage involves person-to-person communications, group communicationthrough electronic mail (email), news groups, chat rooms, mailing lists and the World Wide Web (Flew, 2003: 12). This increased interactivity, stimulated by new media, allows the reader to assume a more active role rather than a passive one. New media benefits the journalist as much as it does the reader. New media and the idea of convergence, allows for a journalist to film a news event, interview people, write an article on the event and send it to his/her editor, who will post the article on-line, all in a matter of minute and all with the same instrument. Again this emphasises the idea of real-time journalism, opposed to traditional media, where a journal ist first has to film an event, then they have to interview people and only then can they write their article. Furthermore, if the event is a far distant from the place where the article will be published, it will take a considerable amount of time for the article to reach the editors. Only after this whole procedure, can the article be published, by which time the then breaking news would have already been forgotten by the public. It is this slow, relentless pace that sets traditional media light-years apart from new media. It is estimated that by 2005, approximately 194 million people will be on-line in the U.S. alone. Research shows that from 1996-2000, the number of people on-line had increased by a staggering 149% (Dessaucer, 2004: 124). With new medias increasing popularity, it is not surprising that that newspaper readerships have been declining worldwide (Flew, 2003: 101). As reading of newspapers is becoming a less popular activity, it is surprising to note that on-line news providers are not yet the dominant news source (Dessaucer, 2004: 124). One only wonders how long it will take for on-line news services to be the service of choice, considering all its advantages, as well as the staggering growth rate of new media users. Although losing popularity worldwide, there is still a market for traditional media in the form of the poorer third world communities. In order to utilise new media, one is required to have the necessary knowledge, facilities and infrastructures readily at hand. This poses problems for poor third world communities, as all these essentials are incredibly expensive to orchestrate and implement. These communities barely have money for food let alone unnecessary luxuries in the form of advanced technology. Other issues which surface when dealing with new media is the idea of ownership and funding. As technology advances into the 21st century along this information highway, it is those companies who are active on the global stage, across different media such as the likes of the South African company, Johncom, that actually own and fund these online services (Steemers, 1999: 232). As these companies are usually based in the west, it is the western style democracies, which have traditionally influenced broadcasting policy (Steemers, 1999: 233). Hence, issues of plurality and cultural diversity arise, as these companies usually neglect to consider the views and styles preferred by other communities (Steemers, 1999). Furthermore, The idea of converge nce, in new media, which allows for a person to read the news, receive the latest sports updates, check his/her shares on the stock exchange while talking to his loved ones overseas depositing money into his bank account and listening to the radio all at the same time raises the issue to attention. The fact that the reader is partaking in various activities at once highlights the fact that the focus of attention has the tendency to move at an alarming rate (Steemers, 1999: 233). Conclusion: As technology continues to advance and new media continues to assume an ever-increasing influence in the media industry, it seems inevitable that traditional media will slowly be phased out of existence and in fact evolves into what is known as new media. However, in as much as new media is seemingly the way of the future and provides seemingly endless opportunities for its users, it only focuses on a niche market, leaving behind the poorer third world communities. Until such a time that access, infrastructure and education about new media are made affordable and available to these poorer communities worldwide, print media and traditional media, it seems, will continue to exist. Rather than suffocating it into extinction, it is likely that traditional media and new media will exist side by side for a long time to come. REFERENCE LIST * Dessaucer, C. 2004. New Media, Internet News and News Habit. In Howard, P and Jones, S (ed), Society Online, London: Sage, 121-136. * Flew, T.2003. New Media: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Steemers, J. 1999. Broadcasting is dead. Long live digital choice. In Mackay, H and OSullivan, T (ed), The Media Reader. London: Sage, 231-249.

Involved In Knowing A Word

Involved In Knowing A Word Word knowledge plays an important role in language teaching, it provides the basis for learners to grasp four language skills listening, speaking, reading and writing. Without a certain amount of words, learners cannot expect to understand fully the content of listening and reading and express their meaning clearly in the process of speaking and writing. Lexical competence is one of components of communicative competence (Meara 1996).however, knowing a word is complicated and it involves knowing its form, meaning and use (Nation,2001) .e.g. spelling, pronunciation, grammar, denotative and connotative meaning, word associations, frequency, collocation and register. For English Learners in China, due to limited exposure to the target language, they have got difficulties with collocations and collocation errors are often found in their writing and speaking. In order to achieve a high level of competence in English, it is better for students to know more collocations. Nowadays in China, collocation has become one of the most important issues in English language teaching and learning. In this paper, firstly, the author attempts to explain and exemplify the question of what is involved in knowing a word, and some aspects of word knowledge are discussed. Secondly, collocation as one aspect of word knowledge is chosen to discuss in more detail, then some issues with respect to collocation are discussed, including the definition of collocation, the classification of collocations and the significant of collocation,. Finally, it deals with the classroom practice, as an English language teacher, some suggestions are given on the teaching of collocation in the classroom. What is involved in knowing a word? In the L1 acquisition, it is very common that learners may know how to speak one word in mother tongue but they do not know how to spell this word, while in L2 acquisition, learners may know the written form of word, but they do not know how to pronounce it clearly, or learners may know one meaning of a word, however, they do not know other meanings of this word in different contexts. Even learners may know both form and meaning of a word, but they do not know how to use this word appropriately in different contexts. Therefore, knowing a word is quite a complex cognitive process, and knowing a word involves understanding many aspects of word knowledge. Nation (2001:23) points out that words are not isolated units of language. Therefore, the question of what is involved in knowing a word has attracted considerable attention in the field of vocabulary acquisition. Researchers have identified different types of word knowledge. Richards (1976) and Nation (1990, 2001) list different aspec ts of word knowledge which learners needs to know about a word. I will use Nations classification of word knowledge as the basis for my discussion. More information, see the appendix 2. In recent decades, Nation is one of the worlds leading authorities on vocabulary acquisition. Based on the earlier word framework (Nation, 1990), Nation (2001:27) points out that knowing a word involves knowing its form, meaning and use, and each category is broken down into receptive and productive knowledge. Each of these three categories can be found in the discussion brief below. More details please see appendix two. Word form Knowing one word form includes spoken form, written form and word parts (Nation, 2001). Spoke and written form are essential word knowledge which helps learners to move forward to literacy. The knowledge of phonics, word reorganization and spelling provides a basis for learners to decode word meaning and use the word appropriately in different context. Knowing the spoken form means being able to understand the spoken form in hearing this word, this is receptive knowledge, as well as being able to pronounce the word clearly and make other people understood in the conversation, this is productive knowledge. Knowing the written form means being able to recognize the written form when reading, this is receptive knowledge; in the meantime, knowing the written form means being able to spell correctly the written form in writing, this is productive knowledge (Schmitt, 2000).Schmitt points out that the more similar between the second language and first language in spelling and pronunciation, the easier learners to attain these knowledge in second language. For example, it is easier for Spanish to learn the spoken and written form of English than to learn Chinese and Japanese, due to different orthographic and pronunciation systems (ibid). In terms of word parts, it involves knowing the prefix, suffix and stem that make up a word as well as knowing the word family (Nation 2001). It is possible to decode the meaning of unknown word when knowing the prefix, suffix or stem of this word. Take the word unbelievable, for an example. Prefix un means not, opposite, believe means trust something, -able means can be, worthy of, therefore the meaning of unbelievable is Not to be believed. In addition, Nation (2001) point out that knowing a word involves knowing the members of word family that will increase as proficiency develops. For example, knowing the word able, learners may know unable, disable, in the beginning, then they will know enable, ability, abilities, disabled disability. Normally, the knowledge of phonics, word reorganization and spelling are learnt by explicit instruction, such as repeat exercises, drills and rote memorization. Although this explicit instruction helps learners to acquire this knowledge to some extent, however, too much depending on exercises and rote memorization leads to boredom and decrease motivation. The best way to develop the phonics, word reorganization and spelling skill is to provide more opportunities to engage in meaningful reading and writing in the particular context. In addition, Learners can be trained and encouraged to use learning strategies. Such as finding analogies, cover and recall, focusing on difficult parts and setting regular learning goals (Nation: 2001:46). 2.2 Word meaning: Nation (2001) points out that knowing the meaning of a word includes connecting form and meaning, concept and referents, and word associations. Normally the word form and meaning are learned together. it means that when learners hear and see the word form, the meaning of this word will retrieved, in the meantime, when they want to express the meaning of word, the form of this word will retrieved as well. Daulton (1998) points out that the same form in the target language and first language makes learning the word meanings burden light. For example, English has some loan words from Japan; this helps Japanese learn some English words easier. In terms of concepts and referents, each word has got a core concept, while other meanings vary. It means a word has got a lot of meanings depending on the different contexts. Aitcheson (1987) also points out that there is a fuzzy boundary in the meanings of a word. One of the main reasons is that schema is different in the different contexts (Schm itt, 2000). In addition, Richards (1976:81) claims that words do not exist in isolation .Knowing a word involves knowing word association. Word associations are the links that words are related to each other in peoples mind. One word is given to a learner; some other that are similar or opposite, and related words easily come to mind. e.g. Accident-car, blood, hospital. School- chair, table, classroom, students, teachers; Home- kitchen, dish, food. 2.3 Word use Nation (2001) points out that knowing how to use a word involves knowing the word grammatical functions, collocations and being aware of constraints on use due to many factors, such as register, frequency and different cultures. Grammatical function is one of the most important linguistic constraints in choosing a word to use, and grammatical function refers to word classes and what grammatical patterns one word can fit into (ibid).e.g. we can say I know a lot, I eat a lot, I read a lot, however we cannot say I knowledge a lot, I eaten a lot, I reading a lot. Register and frequency are other particular types of word constrains on use. Register is considered as the stylistic constraints that make each word more or less appropriate for certain language situations or language purposes (Schmitt, 2000:31). In terms of word frequency, High frequency words (laugh) are heard and seen and used more frequently than low frequency words (guffaw, giggle, and chuckle). Generally speaking, low frequency words are used in the particular discipline, e.g. medicine, law, engineering, literature and so on). Therefore, High frequency words are more easily recognized and recalled than low frequency words. Therefore, knowing the use of a word should be aware of constrains on use of a word. In this section, word form, word meaning and word use are discussed. Next I will select collocation as one type of word knowledge (collocation) to discuss in more detail.Firstly, I will explore the definition of collocation, the types of collocation, and then I suggest that the knowledge of collocations is essential for learners, lastly, some advice on teaching and learning collocations in the classroom are given. The definition and clarification of collocation Collocation is defined in different way by researchers. collocation refers to items whose meaning is not obvious from their parts (Palm 1933 in Firth 1957, summarised in Nation, 2001:317).e.g., blonde hair, shrug his shoulders, fizzy drink, bite the dust. According to Schmittà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 2000:76à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °,collocation is described as the tendency of two or more words to co-occur in discourse. Here co-occurrence is the main characteristic of collocation. Similar to Schmitt, Lewis (2000:132) describes it in another way as collocation is the way in which words co-occur in natural text in statistically significant ways, in this definition, the way words naturally co-occur is emphasized. It implies that people cannot put two or more words together arbitrarily, because words co-occur naturally. In fact, it is very common that some learners in foreign and second language context tend to put two or more words together arbitrarily because of the first language interference. For example, d o a decision instead of make a decision, big rain instead of heavy rain. Nation (2001:371) defines collocation asany generally accepted grouping of words into phrases or clauses. This definition reflects the two criteria of collocation which are frequency occur together and have some degree of semantic unpredictability (ibid). The above definitions indicate that words co-occur naturally, it is not easy for learners to get the meaning of collocation form its components, and as a result, it may cause problems for learners to acquire the knowledge of collocations. The definition of collocation leads to the shift to explore the types of collocation. Collocations are divided into two basic types: grammatical/syntactic collocations and Semantic/lexical collocations (Schmitt.2000). The former refers to one word combines with other words with the grammatical rule. E.g. get used to, be good at .the latter means multi words co-occur to contribute the meaning. E.g. make a mistake, catch a bus. Lewis (2000) lists different types of collocation, such as verb+noun, noun+noun, adjective + noun, verb+adjective, fixed phrase, part of proverb, binomial, trinomial and so on. The significance of learning collocations 4.1 The underlying rule of organization of lexicon Sinclair (1991) advances two principles (the open-choice principle and the idiom principle) to explain the organization of the texts. The open-choice principle suggests that you can put any word in the slot to make texts as long as you follow the grammar rule. It is known as slot-and-filler model. However, this principle cannot explain the collocation constrains. The idiom principle highlights that there are some regularities when two or more words combine together, and Sinclair claims that there are some constrains on the choices words in discourse(ibid), in other words, the way words co-occur are not random. Hill (2000) also agrees with the idea that the lexicon is not arbitrary. E.g. commit. A relatively fixed set of words can co-occur with it. E.g. suicide, crime, murder, sin. But not promise, advice, plan. 4.2 The size of collocation Groups of words or phrases are used very frequently to express meaning in the oral and written texts. Hill (2000) claims that two or more than two words collocations make up a huge percentage in the text. It is estimated that up to 70% of everything we use in oral and written texts are fixed expression. This widely used collocation implies that if non-native learners have got a huge amount of collocation, it will be helpful for them to achieve native-like fluency in the target language. Nation (2001) also points out that knowing the collocation knowledge of a word is one of the most important aspects of knowing a word. 4.3 Native-like fluency Learning collocation helps learners to speak and write English in a more natural and accurate way (Dell and McCarthy, 2008).if learners store a huge number of collocations, this allows them to retrieve ready-made language, think more quickly and produce language efficiently (Hill 2000).in addition, they do not need to make sentences word by word to express themselves, and this assists them in using English not only naturally but accurately. According to my experience of teaching English in China, due to the first language interference, the direct translate are used to produce language, the inaccurate use of collocation is very common in the essay writing, and this is one of the main causes which lead to the emergence of Chinglish, e.g. eat medicine, make exercise, receive the telephone e, open/close the radio, look TV instead of take medicine, do exercise, answer the telephone, turn on/turn off radio, watch TV. 4.4 language acquisition Learning collocation enhances language acquisition (Hill, 2000). Nation (2001) points out that collocation helps learners to store knowledge quickly. If learners have got a huge number of collocations in mind, it is easier for them to retrieve ready-made language from their mental lexicon and think more quickly because they can recognize big chunks of language when reading and listening, and this is very helpful for them to understand the meaning in the speed of speech and the long reading texts. In contrast, if learners decode the meaning of speech and texts word by word, maybe they know the meaning of each word, however, they do not know the meaning of collocation or chunks in the long discourse. It may be difficult for them to get the accurate meaning of the speech and texts. Based on my teaching experiences as a high school English teacher, I found that most of the students in my class have got difficulty understanding the meaning of the entire paragraph due to lack of collocatio n competence. Hill (2000) also agree with this explanation that one of the main reason for having difficulty in reading or listening is due to lack of collocation competence, rather than the load of new words. E.g. as far as I know, the old sheep comes up with the idea that he will give up on his dream to look after little sheep, however, he cannot make this decision due to other people. This makes him keep crying all the time. Even though students know the meaning of each word in the above paragraph, it is still very hard for them to understand the entire paragraph because they are not familiar with some collocations inside. In the above two sections, the definition, types of collocation and the significance of collocation were discussed. In the next section, I would like to give some suggestions on teaching and learning collocations in the classroom. 5. Teaching collocations in the classroom Here are some suggestions and activities for English language teachers that will help students to acquire the knowledge of collocations in the classroom. 5.1 Raising awareness of collocation in classroom Woolard (2000) points out that raising learners awareness of the importance of collocations is a good way to help them notice them. Teachers should explain the rationale for collocation, the significance of learning collocation in language acquisition, and then make learners know that words are not used in isolation, knowing one word also means knowing which word is likely to co-occur with it, Teachers can emphasize in the classroom instruction that knowing collocations not only helps them to receive (reading and listening) and store language quickly but also produce language naturally and accurately. E.g. When teaching reading, it is an effective way to ask learners to identify collocations in the texts and let them make a list of collocations. When teaching speaking, teachers can ask learners to predict the collocations of the word. If teachers encourage learners to notice collocations in input and output teaching activities, this practice will help learners develop an ability to n otice and use collocations. It also helps learners to develop learner autonomy, when they read newspaper, listen to radio, watch TV and talk to other people in English. They will notice the existence of collocations in spoken and written texts. 5.2 Increasing language input and providing output opportunities Using the authentic reading texts is an effective way to teach collocations. In the classroom, Lewis (2000) also suggests that teachers should choose the right kind of texts which includes different types of collocations. These texts can be used in the intensive reading practice. However, this is not enough to acquire the knowledge of collocations. Krashen(1985 )points out that enough comprehensible input is a source of language acquisition. Collocations are used in different types of texts, such as newspaper, magazine, and story books. It is good for learners to do extensive reading to encounter collocations in these authentic texts and remember them in the notebooks. In addition, extensive reading provides learners with context to make the understanding of the meaning of collocation easier and deeper, therefore. Extensive reading not only helps them to know how native speakers use the collocations in the natural way, but also moves learning collocations from short to long-term memo ry. However, Swain (1995) claims that despite the fact that learners are given a rich source of comprehensible input in the French immersion programmes in Canada. It is still hard for learners to produce the native-like language proficiency. Teaching collocations also needs to provide opportunities to learners to practice how to use collocations. These activities can be some communicative activities in terms of writing and speaking. Hill, Lewis and Lewis (2000) suggest that teachers can ask learners to find the collocations in the reading texts, and then use these collocations to reconstruct the content. Some collocation errors can be found. Teachers need to write down these errors in the blackboard and make learners to analyse them. The same activities can be done by listening to tapes or stories and then ask learners to speak out the collocations. Some exercises are used to help learners acquire collocations (Dell and McCarthy, 2008). Such as Fill in blanks, Match games True/False. 5.3 Using resources: Collocation Dictionaries and corpora and concordances It is a good way to get learners use collocation dictionaries to know more about collocations. e.g. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for students of English. In addition, with the development of internet, the innovative corpora and concordances are becoming the effective way for learners to check collocations online. They provide great texts to check collocations and grow dramatically with the update texts. Corpus has brought great insights into linguistics, especially into the study of collocations. A corpus collects the written or spoken texts and stores them in the computer. It is very helpful and efficient way to use the corpus to check how the people use collocations in written or spoken texts .Sinclair (1991:32) defines a concordance is a collection of the occurrences of a word-form, each in its own textual environment. Compared to collocation dictionary, concordance allows us view more collocation lists in the corpus. However, I think it is necessary for teachers to provide learners with some training to help them use it well, this also encourage learner autonomy. 6. Conclusion In this paper, I have explained and exemplified the question what is involved knowing a word. Word form, word meaning and word use were discussed briefly. Such as spelling, pronunciation, word parts, word meanings, word associations, grammatical functions, register, collocations, frequency and so on. In these many aspects of word knowledge, collocation as one type of word knowledge was chosen to explore. First, the definition and classification of collocation were discussed, and then the reason for choosing collocations was explained. Next, this author proceeded to explore how to teach collocations in the classroom. Lastly, this paper offers some suggestions on how to help learners acquire the knowledge of collocations in the classroom. Appendix 1: The meaning of knowing a word(Richards,1976), 1 The native speaker of a language continues to expand his vocabulary in adulthood, whereas there is comparatively little development of syntax in adult life. 2 Knowing a word means knowing the degree of probability of encountering that word in speech or print. For many words we also know the sort of words most likely to be found associated with the word 3 Knowing a word implies knowing the limitations imposed on the use of the word according to variations of function and situation. 4 Knowing a word means knowing the syntactic behavior associated with that word. 5 Knowing a word entails knowledge of the underlying form of a word and the derivations that can be made from it. 6 Knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of associations between that word and other words in language. 7 Knowing a word means knowing the semantic value of a word. 8 Knowing a word means knowing many of the different meanings associated with the word. Appendix 2: What is involved in knowing a word? (Nation, 2001) Form spoken R P What does the word sound like? How is the word pronounced? written R P What does the word look like? How is the word written and spelled? word parts R P What parts are recognizable in this word? What word parts are needed to express the meaning? Meaning Form and meaning R P What meaning does this word form signal? What word form can be used to express this meaning? Concept and referents R P What is included in the concept? What items can the concept refer to? associations R P What other words does this make us think of? What other words could we use instead of this one? Use grammatical functions R P In what patterns does the word occur? In what patterns must we use this word? collocations R P What words or types of words occur with this one? What words or types of words must we use with this one? constraints on use (register, frequency ) R P Where, when, and how often would we expect to meet this word? Where, when, and how often can we use this word?

Suicide In Pop Music Culture Media Essay

Suicide In Pop Music Culture Media Essay Growing up is hard enough for most teenagers and music has always acted as is an important crutch for them to turn to when times are hard. Music plays a vital role in youth culture and has also become a question of morality when it comes to specific music genres that may be deemed inappropriate because of the content and message their music gives out (Zillmann and Gan, 1997; Ter Bogt, 1997). Some believe particular genres of music are potentially dangerous to young people and the music and its performers are professed as encouraging and propagating adolescent substance use, violating the law for glorification, delinquency (Christenson and Roberts, 1998). Genres which are included in this bracket are heavy metal and rap, having a particularly negative image in the media. In past and current years, the artists of these genres have felt the heat from the authorities that deem their musical content inappropriate material for the younger generation to listen to, believing it is responsible for teen suicides and other negative behavioral (Binder, 1993; Fried, 2003). The Questions Suicide is a popular theme in sub-cultural styles of music. There have been many articles in the press about artists and bands that have been blamed and targeted for the supposed responsibility of teenage fans committing suicide after listening to their music. But is it fair to be so blasà © and blame these artists because their music contains suicidal references? Should the finger be so starkly pointed at these artists? Is it justifiable and fair? If not, who is to blame? The parents? Our education system? The media? All these points will be addressed in this article and concluded thoughtfully after cross-examination and circumstantial evidence presented. The Beginning-Elvis starts it The beginning of this debate started when Rock and Roll, a new genre of music, exploded into the media in the 1950s. Elvis Presley was the forefather and the voice of this generation. He created a new of type of music that people had never heard before; a style of music the younger generation connected with. This voice represented their drive for life, their sexuality and belief in living their lives in the way they wanted, not their parents. This new way was rejected and considered by the authorities as a danger to the youth as they tried to repress this new artist by implementing bans and censorships. Perhaps one of the most famous incidents of censorship was when Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast with Presley only being filmed from the waist up, as his gyratory hip movements were deemed too obscene to air. The older generation shouted about their intense abhorrence and that they regarded this type of behavior to be damaging to the teen generation. They believed that it would create an epidemic and it needed to be stopped. Yet with all this press attention focused on Presley, all this actually did was to swell the desire in the fans for him and his music. This did exactly the opposite to what the authorities wanted and propelled him to fame. They made him into the bad-boy superstar that sold millions of records worldwide by giving him his free publicity. This was the beginning of the extremism of politics in music that would occur in the future. The 70s; a precursor to 1990s accusations In 1972, Gilbert OSullivan spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard charts with the song Alone Again. In this song, OSullivan contemplated throwing himself off a nearby tower because he had been betrayed by everyone. Leonard Cohen threatened to slit his wrists in Dress Rehearsal Rag (1971) for similar reasons. Yet because OSullivans appealed to the conservative Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences society, musical threats of suicide did not provoke anything neighboring on a moral panic in those years. The theme of suicide was incorporated into mainstream pop culture in a thoroughly romantic fashion, just as it had been in romance novels and tragic opera where suicide was common place, yet deemed acceptable in this period. MTV and radio split 1981 was a turning point for dividing the younger and older generations in musical appropriateness. On August 1st, MTV began transmission. It is fair to say that music television has assumed radios responsibility for breaking new acts (Shuker 1994, ch. 7). Radio and MTV became divided down the middle on this generation gap. Radio broadcasts the old, the familiar and the reassuring, while music television assumes responsibility for the new, the unfamiliar and the shocking. FMs audience does not seem to change its tastes or look for the thrill of the new. FMs audience listened to the Eagles in the 1970s on its record players, it tuned into FM in the 1980s so it could listen to the Eagles on its car radios, and now it is the 1990s and it still wants to listen to the Eagles perhaps so it can remember the 1970s. (Turner 1993, p. 145) Commercial radio has emerged since the 1970s as one of the most evidently sites of cultural struggle. This is especially between the baby boom generations, for whom rock radio has become a predictable asylum from the anxieties of life. Yet their children for whom hip-hop, alternative and metal stand for nothing less than the manifestation of their status as musical outsiders. Types of music to blame and court cases Rock critics no longer judge music worth on grounds of composition but instead spew careless stereotypes. Heavy metal is widely generalized to be perceived as dark, depressing music to listen to. Many of the songs are reflective of the artists I-dont-give-a-damn attitude, in visual appearance and dark lyrical content. Heavy metal is the most recent target that is attracting extremist accusations that it induces its listeners to experience occultism and Satanism ranging through to sexism and racism to murderous and suicidal tendencies. (Shuker 1994, pp.260-2). Metal evolved in the 1970s out of mainstream album-oriented rock, typified by bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple which, in turn, had their roots in the blues-based hard rock of 1960s acts like Cream and Jimi Hendrix. But because they were hardening musically at precisely the moment when radio and its coveted baby boomer demographic were softening into adult-oriented formats, metal bands were driven underground, promoting their records by means of relentless touring and by word of mouth. There is no hard evidence to support that heavy metal music is actually instructing its listeners to do bad things, just peoples perceiving this music in this way because it is not happy, bouncy music. A 1993 study showed heavy metal inspired happy feelings in most fans, with the small number of those who reported feeling worse more likely to already suffering mental health problems. Many people feel that it is a cathartic way of venting and getting rid of their frustrations. Is it right to expect the artist to take responsibility when a teen does commit suicide after obsessively listening to their music? Is there any just cause in blaming them because their lyrics contain depressive material? Some people seem to think so. The 80s saw an influx of court cases against artists and it was also the decade that introduced the Parental Advisory stickers. In 1985, Parental Advisory stickers were affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to audio and video recordings in the United States containing offensive language and/or content. Albums began to be labeled for explicit lyrics, after pressure from the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). It has become known as the Tipper sticker because of Tipper Gores visible role in the PMRC. 1985 saw British heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne making his first court appearance on charges that the song Suicide Solution had caused nineteen-year-old John McCullom to attempt suicide, regardless of Osbournes repeated claims that Suicide Solution was written about the death of AC/DCs Bon Scott and that, therefore, it carried a positive anti-suicide message. The case was dismissed on the grounds that song lyrics are protected speech under the First Amendment. Another court case was brought against Judas Priest in 1990, in which the song Better By You, Better Than Me was alleged to have caused the suicide of Raymond Belnap and the attempted suicide of his friend James Vance. What was different about this case was the fact that this case pivoted on the allegation that the band had hidden subliminal messages, buried into their recordings. The attorney for the accusation claimed that satanic messages could be heard when playing the music is backwards. Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead ruled explicitly at the beginning that the court was not interested in the unconcealed lyrical content of rock songs because it was protected by the First Amendment; only the so-called subliminal messages were in question, he ruled, because they did not constitute an open exchange of information. The leading sound expert for the prosecution, attempted to persuade the court that he had expose the backwards words Do it in the song and that this was a clear provocation fo r its listeners to commit suicide. This case was thrown out of court when Judas Priest, defending themselves, chose a section of the song and told the jury that they would hear a certain silly phrase when they played that particular part backwards. Sure enough, this silly phrase is what they heard and the case was thrown out of court.>> This proved that if you are listening hard enough, you can hear anything you want to hear making this claim incongruous. This case, and others like it, went a long way towards legitimizing the once-preposterous claim that subliminal messages are frequent in heavy metal music and that they exert an almost hypnotic power (Billard 1990; Henry 1990, p. 65). Lead singer, Rob Halford, noted in the aftermath of the trial, What we went through . . . we considered that simply an attack on our artistic expression. It was nothing to do with real subliminals.'(Burns 1990, pp. 100-14) The 1980s saw the biggest increase in teen suicides. Lawrence Grossbergs definitive study of American culture under neo-conservatism, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, has woven its political agenda into the mainstream of North American life, where it now manifests itself both as a moral panic. A vote from this book states: In 1940, the major problems were listed as: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothing, not putting paper in waste baskets. Forty years on in 1982: rape, robbery, assault, burglary, arson, bombings, murder, suicide, absenteeism, vandalism, extortion, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gang warfare, pregnancy, abortion, and venereal disease (Grossberg 1992, pp. 185-8). Teen suicide had reached truly epidemic proportions, and has continued to escalate. The study concludes: Individuals born in the latter part of the twentieth century, are at far greater risk [than their predecessors] for developing [suicide-related] mood disorders and these disorders are manifesting themselves at a younger age (Birmaher et al. 1996, pp. 1,428-30). While it is easy for the conservatives to blame this epidemic on rock music, it is nothing but speculation and there is no hard evidence to back up their ideological views. A 1997 AACAP study entitled Precipitating factors and life events in serious suicide attempts among youths aged 13 through 24 years concluded that the most common occurrence of serious suicide attempts were relationship breakdowns, other personal problems, and financial difficulties. (Beautrais et al. 1997, pp. 1,543-51) Dr Barry Goldfinkel of the University of Minnesota Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, insists: Ninety out of 100 kids who kill themselves meet a psychiatric diagnosis. Kids dont commit suicide just because theyve been treated harshly or lifes dealt them a bad hand. Its the internal process going on, not merely the fact of ones horrible existence. (Wartik 1995, p. 23) Marilyn Manson In the late 90s, Goth-rocker Marilyn Manson arrived on the scene. He was one of the biggest stars that rose through MTV and one of the most controversial to date. He stormed to the top of the charts, catapulting to worldwide fame. Manson was not your average artist. His image has been described as a brickolage of jack boots, leather, lingerie, black lipstick, eerie contact lenses and cadaverous face paint (Hebdige 1979, pp. 102-4; Thigpen 1997, p. 68). He has been arrested for exposing himself on stage and criticized for his indulgence in self-mutilation. His music was inexorably tangled up with criticism of his appearance and the visual content of his videos and he was the next scapegoat for the PMRC to target. In his opening remarks as host of the 1998 Grammy Award Show, sitcom actor, substance abuser and convicted drunk driver Kelsey Grammer promised that Marilyn Mansons skinny white ass would not be appearing on the show. It was a truly extraordinary moment. Referring explicitly to his own teenage daughter, Spencer, Grammer couched this slur in the form of an inside joke for the baby boomer parents of children with seemingly inexplicable musical tastes. In so doing, he affirmed not only the intractable conservatism of the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences but also the arrogant hegemony of his own generation within mainstream musical culture. The show proceeded to reward Bob Dylan with Album of the Year, James Taylor with Best Pop Album and Elton John with Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, while lavishing unbridled approbation upon the newest crop of corporate hit-makers, including Babyface, LeAnn Rimes, Hanson and the ubiquitous Spice Girls. Mitch Miller could not have orchestrated a more thoroughgoing tribute to the pop music status quo in America. The influence of music-based subcultures on suicide has been the subject of debate for many years. The above quote goes to show the hypocrisy and the neo-conservatism attitude that has settled in society,just like the text in Grossbergs book, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. When the Columbine High School massacre happened, it was exposed that the teenagers responsible listened to Marilyn Manson. When two girls raped a nun with a crucifix and tortured her to death, it was discovered that they too, listened to Marilyn Manson. Gesticulations were made and the finger pointed at Manson for being responsible for poisoning their minds and making them commits these murders and suicides, through his music. Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman called him perhaps the sickest artist ever promoted by a mainstream record company (Jeffrey 1996, p. 3) and put enormous pressure on his label, Interscope to cease selling his records. This was at the height of Mansons third album Antichrist Superstar. The album had reached Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at Number 3 and Manson had become the perfect scapegoat for the ethical guardians. Much like what had happened with Presley, history was repeating itself and by his position in the charts, it is obvious to see that this press was helping sell more records than ever. It is clear from his autobiography that Manson takes himself and his music very seriously, that his analysis of organized religion is both personal and ideological, and that his music is not intended to induce self-destructive behaviour but to inspire strength and independence. He told a panel for discussion on MuchMusic (Canadas music video network): I see what I do as a positive thing. I try to bring people closer to themselves. That may be further away from God but thats closer to themselves. I think thats a good thing. I think that makes people stronger. . . Im trying to tell people to believe in themselves because thats all that they have to believe in. I think thats a positive thing. (MuchMusic 1996) It seems that Manson is not just a guy with a burning ambition to be an adored Rock star. He is a man that is trying to get people to open their eyes to the conformist ideals of the neo-conservative army which he believes have been trying to brain wash a nation, into believing it needs shelter and protection from themselves. He has fought back against the machine and made his messages loud and clear. A tee-shirt for sale at his concerts summarizes his agenda concisely: Warning, the music of Marilyn Manson contains messages that will Kill God In your impressionable teenage mind, as a result you could be convinced to Kill your mom and dad And eventually in an act of hopeless Rock and Roll behavior you will Kill yourself. Please burn your records while there is still hope. Manson published an open letter on the Columbine killings in Rolling Stone in which he reiterated the critique of American society that has been so forcefully articulated in his music: When it comes down to whos to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and youll hit someone whos guilty. Were the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and were the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them. I think its terrible when anyone dies, especially if its someone you know and love . . . This kind of controversy does not help me sell records or tickets, and I wouldnt want it to. Im a controversial artist, one who dares to have an opinion and bothers to create music and videos that challenge peoples ideas in a world that is watered-down and hollow. In my work I examine the America we live in, and Ive always tried to show people that the devil we blame out atrocities on is really just each one of us. So dont expect the end of the world to come one day out of the blue its been happening every day for a long time. (Manson 1999) The Answer In the wake of the Columbine tragedy, the authorities are franticly trying to find short term answers to the problem of teen suicides and the bloody massacres that occur along side this. This is a problem that has not been identified and many feel that they are searching for answers in the wrong place. For example, after Columbine, the teenagers were considered to be the enemy when schools in America installed metal detectors at the entrances to stop children bringing guns into school. A short term answer to a continuing problem, surely the education and up-bringing of the child are key factors, (not the tools society hands to them on a plate, ironically)? Tipper Gores Parents Music Resource Center, feels that certain music groups are to blame for the suicides and have attacked the music industry. They professed to say that because one suburban teen had written down the lyrics to Fade to Black before taking her life that this was evidence and Proof that this music was responsible and encouraged the teen to kill themselves. In the year 2007, the next new wave of music has arrived and instead of heavily metal being targeted, emo and hip hop are now seemingly liable. Over a decade on, have we learnt from our past mistakes in teaching our misguided youth? It seems not. Just weeks ago, the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred when another troubled teen went on a rampage, killing his classmates and school teachers and then turned the gun on himself. Parents and schools have renounced their responsibility to these teens. In their absence, a psychiatric empire has been created to provide easy answers through medication. A host of psychiatric drugs provided the easy solution to teen suicide. In the absence of parents and teachers who care, todays suburban teens can pharmaceutically control their feelings. But, t what price? Teen suicides may have declined, but, it seems that these medications have helped some teens externalize their depression, erupting into rage. Of course, blaming the medication for the violence is as wrong as blaming the guns, the music or the violent video games and movies. It is not what teens hear in their music or see in the movies or video games that causes the rage. Its the teens inability to handle their feelings of abandonment. But perhaps people in the public eye should take some responsibility if they are communicating with people on such grand scales, as Rock stars do. Beto Cuevas, the lead singer of La Ley, felt he had to do something when he discovered a fan had committed suicide after finding out she could not meet her idols. This was the last straw in her tragic ending but Cuevas felt he had to do something and thought, that through music, he could write a song that would reach his fans. In many ways its about people helping people, Ive talked to fans who said the song has left them thinking about options. Its a problem we have in our daily lives. Sometimes its as simple as listening to someone, your children. Troubled youths have taken comfort in the darker forms of rock music- just as music lovers of all ages find consolation in the music that seems to articulate their losses, their pain and their grief. The problem lies in lacking parent and community supports. In the wake of two Australian teenage suicides, Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, has called on parents to support their children more. I think the greatest thing that has to be said about this is that parental responsibility in the end is the key to behavior by children. Government cant educate parents if they dont have an instinct for responsibility. And while there are things the Government can do, there is a limit before you start running up against freedom of speech.