Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great. ALEXANDER THE GREATAlexander the Great was seen as a genius and the greatest conqueror of the classical times. He played many parts and was able to distinguish between those in everyday life. There is a wide variety of components involved with this leader but will focus on his background, cultural contributions, social conflicts, and the claim that he is a genius.Alexander was born in 356 B.C.E., the son of Phillip II and Olympias of Macedon. He was crowned Prince when he was being tutored by Aristotle, who trained him in rhetoric and literature that stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. Alexander was first married to Roxanne in 327 B.C.E. and second to Barsine in 324 B.C.E., he bore no children with either wife. After his father was assassinated in 336 B.C.E., he became the King of Macedon and later the King of Asia. Alexander also founded Alexandria, after completely defeating the Persians at the battle of Arbela in 331 B.C.E.Alexander Muir Public School, To ronto, 1902 [OHQ-P...slaves. Alexander's next attempt was to defeat Persia. He could never be the dominantforce in his area as long as the Persian ruler Darius was still living. After beating Persiathe second and final time in 332, Darius, who managed to survive, fled to the mountains.He died in the mountains when one of his own noblemen killed him. With Darius dead,Alexander was crowned King of Persia and became known as the king of all Asia.Babylon surrendered after Gaugamela, and the city of Susa with its enormous treasureswas soon conquered. Then, in midwinter, Alexander forced his way to Persepolis, thePersian capital. After plundering the royal treasuries and taking other rich booty, heburned the city during a drunken binge and thus completed the destruction of the ancientPersian Empire. His domain now extended along and beyond the southern shores of...

Supreme Court Expands the Power of Eminent Domain

Supreme Court Expands the Power of Eminent Domain First Published: July 5, 2005 In its 5-4 decision in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important, if very controversial, interpretation of the governments power of eminent domain, or the power of the government to take land from property owners. The power of eminent domain is granted to governmental bodies federal, state and local by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, under the simple phrase, ...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. In simple terms, the government can take privately owned land, as long as the land will be used by the public and the owner is paid a fair price for the land, what the amendment calls, just compensation. Before Kelo v. City of New London, cities typically exercised their power of eminent domain to acquire property for facilities clearly intended for use by the public, like schools, freeways or bridges. While such eminent domain actions are often viewed as distasteful, they are generally accepted because of their overall benefit to the public. The case of Kelo v. City of New London, however, involved a new trend among cities to use eminent domain to acquire land for the redevelopment or revitalization of depressed areas. Basically, the use of eminent domain for economic, rather than public purposes. The city of New London, Connecticut developed a redevelopment plan city fathers hoped would create jobs and revive downtown areas by generating increased tax revenues. Property owner Kelo, even after an offer of just compensation, challenged the action, claiming that the citys plan for her land did not constitute public use under the Fifth Amendment. In its decision in favor of New London, the Supreme Court further established its tendency to interpret public use as the much broader term, public purpose. The Court further held that the use of eminent domain to promote economic development is constitutionally acceptable under the Fifth Amendment. Even after the Supreme Courts decision in Kelo, the vast majority of eminent domain actions will, as they historically have, involve land to be used for purely public uses. Typical Eminent Domain Process While the exact details of acquiring property by eminent domain vary from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction, the process generally works like this: The property owner is notified by mail and will soon be visited by a government employee, often a right-of-way agent, who will further explain why the owners property is needed.The government will appoint an independent appraiser to evaluate the land and come up with fair price to pay the land owner for his or her land the just compensation.The property owner and the government may negotiate to come up with a final price to be paid the property owner. In some cases, a judge or a court-appointed arbitrator will be called in to oversee the negotiation.The owner is paid the agreed price and ownership of the property is transferred to the government.

Construction suveyour to have done layout Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Construction suveyour to have done layout - Essay Example This kind of surveying is known as an â€Å"as-built† survey and is one of the five major elements of construction surveying (Irvine & Maclennan 145). The other major elements include checking conditions prior to commencing a construction job for example, topography and existing infrastructure. The other aspect is to mark and create reference points followed by verification of the location of structures during construction. When the construction surveyor was designing the layout for a municipal street intersection in Murfreesboro area, he must have put all the factors into consideration. There was a wide range of factors that were taken into consideration, some were basic whereas others were quite complex in regards to the design and construction. First and foremost, he had to consider the type of road to be constructed. In addition, the roadway allowances. These factors determine the amount of space to be allocated for the project and the general parameters in road construction. The surveyor had to consider the safety aspect of constructing the road where it is located rather than somewhere else. This is because in road construction, the topography is a factor of the essence to determine the design of the road as well as, the flow of runoff (Irvine & Maclennan145). Another factor that may seem obvious is the availability of other infrastructure that is. the pre-existing infrastructure and the proximity to the road. Some things like electricity lines, water, and sewer lines may have affected substantially the surveyor’s decision to position the road as it is now in Murfreesboro. Simple as it may seem, things like the power lines affect profoundly the lighting of the road in that the proximity of the power lines do not determine the availability of the street lights. There are the less obvious considered factors and that still count in choosing the methodology of choosing the design. These include the likes of expected traffic on the road. The amount of

Homosexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homosexuality - Essay Example In order to understand homosexuality in a better way, we must understand the cause of homosexuality. Love between the members of any specific gender is the cause of homosexuality. Feelings of love and care are not gender specific. It is not necessary that these feelings always arise between the individuals belonging to opposite genders. Sometimes the feelings of love and care also arise between the individuals belonging to the same gender. Those feelings become the reason for any two individuals from the same gender to get involved in a relationship between each other, which is often referred as homosexuality. â€Å"Homosexuality involves our underlying bisexuality at play when we naturally feel more attracted to the same rather than the opposite sex† (Roy). Homosexuality also gives rise to another critical issue, which is same sex marriage. The government of the United States of America does not allow same sex marriages. The government of America believes that marriage is a sacred relationship, which should always involve individuals from opposite sexes whereas gay or lesbian marriages result in destroying the basic sprit of the relationship of marriage. However, in some states of America, courts have allowed people for same sex marriages. Some of those states include Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut. The courts of these states declared that marriage is a civil right, so gays and lesbians also possess this right (Cahill 4). In these states, although people belonging to same sexes are allowed to get tied in marital relationships with each other, yet their marriages or living status as a couple is not regarded by the majority of the US population. Homosexual couples face many problems in any specific society. One of the major problems, which homosexual couples face, is the discouraging behavior of the people who know them. If we talk about homosexual marriages, we can say that majority of people usually do not encourage homosexual marriages because they think that such marriages are just for the fulfillment of sexual desires instead of making a sacred relationship. People believe that gay and lesbian couples adversely affect the norms and values of a society. People also look suspiciously towards gay and lesbian couples and do not respect them as traditional couples. Therefore, such couples undergo a hard struggle in order to be accepted by the society in which they live. Another issue, which homosexual couples face, is opposition from the supporters of traditional family systems. Traditional family supporters believe that family system is essential for the existence of a society. They firmly believe that men are made for wome n and women are made for men. They think that gay and lesbian couples weaken the foundations of a family system because neither they can give birth to babies nor they can completely fulfill the sexual desires of each other. Traditional family supporters also think that such marriages or relationships result in decreasing the work force of the country because of their inability to give birth to babies. The viewpoint of homosexual couples is different from the traditionalists. They believe that same sex marriages do not violate the family values as they also have the feelings of love

Challenges of a Community College Student Personal Statement

Challenges of a Community College Student - Personal Statement Example I registered for 12 credits this semester, which includes 2 English classes and 1 Math. I think I doing good on my Math subject, great so far, even though it's hard to keep up in this 4 hour class. Then again, I try my very best with the help of energy drinks and coffee. My English classes require too much time, but I still manage to do it, even with procrastination. My son goes to the daycare 5 times a week, from 6am to 7pm. He is basically spending his whole day there. Daycare is not a place for a child to grow up. I see family reunions, birthdays; religious celebrations pass by without me. I am never there. I always have the same reason, that I am at school or I have to work to do. Because I have to work long hours, this becomes a conflict with the time I use up for my school. Giving time for my family and friends gets tougher, when I have to work on an 8 to 9 hour job basis and then spend about half of the day at school. Although school and work drives me nuts, the biggest challenge for is not having enough time for my family and friends. My work schedule is Sundays thru Thursdays, from 10pm till 7am. Not only do I have an impossible schedule, but the quantity of work that I perform every night. I work for logistics at Target. Every night I help with the truck unload procedure by scanning 2,500 to 3,000 boxes per truck.

Total Quality Management Techniques

Total Quality Management Techniques Total quality management (TQM) principles and techniques are now a days well accepted part of almost every managers tool kit (Dow et al., 1999). According to Powell (1995), most large firms have adopted TQM in some form, and official quality awards are a badge of honour whether a company is operating in Japan, the USA, Europe, or Australia. Implementing TQM is a major organizational change that requires a transformation in the organizations culture, processes, strategic priorities, and beliefs, among others. Quality: Different people have different definitions of quality but they all have the same central theme. According to (Text book), Quality is consistent conformance to customers expectations. Some refer to quality as fitness for use and other calls it as conformance of requirement. According to American Society for Quality, Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. However, quality doesnt have a single perspective and is different for the customers of any product and service and for the producers of that good or service. In the Operations view, targeting quality is to undertake operations to produce outcomes which are in line with the specifications defined through processes that are designed and controlled to maintain consistency in the specified production and above all, that the Customers Expectations are met through the produced good or service. In customers view, quality has no single definition for all customers. It depends on how they perceive it. Hence, quality is referred to as customers perception and expectation about different values of a single product or service. Following are the different dimensions of any product or service: Performance Main characteristics of a product/service Special Features Extra characteristics Conformance How well a product/service corresponds to the customers expectation Reliability Consistency of performance Durability Useful life of a product/service Perceived Quality Indirect evaluation of quality (e.g. reputation) After Sales Service Handling of complaints and requests for information THE DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY (Stevenson, 1999) The Quality Costs The cost of quality is a balance of the cost of assurance of quality against the costs associated with shortcomings resulting in the lack of quality. An attempt to minimize the total quality costs is mere balancing of the four components of quality cost: prevention: incurred to prevent quality problems, appraisal: associated with controlling quality to check whether problems have occurred or not, internal failures: associated with errors dealt with inside of operations and external failures: associated with errors or problems going out of the operation to a customer.(Text Book) The variations within the individual quality cost categories are secondary in importance compared to their combined effect on the overall total quality cost. The quality cost concept is an effective tool that can be used to express the value of the quality aspects of the operation in terms of money so that monitoring and analysis of investments and savings in that area can be readily evaluated using the language of business: money. (George P. Laszlo) Prevention is the important influence more than inspection, according to a rule of thumb, for every dollar spent in prevention; a company can save $10 in failure and appraisal costs. (Chase, Aquilano and Jacobs, 1998) Consequences of Poor Quality Quality has been recognised as the key ingredient for success in business and has been focused upon intensely so as to match the pace of the contemporary market growth and the subsequent competition in it. Production of good or service with the required quality is possible only through properly managed production process, whose vital part is to ensure the satisfactory quality assurance. However, in case this vital part fails to contribute its role effectively, processes produce outcomes with poor quality. Poor quality products may disappoint the buyer and result in the customer migration. Buying a product and finding it below expectations will make buyer not to buy the same product again. In fact, the chances that the buyer will buy any other product from the company are also low. Poor quality affects the overall costs associated with that product. The failure cost increases as poor quality product is repaired, replaced or made new. The cost associated with the reimbursements and waste materials increases the overall variable production costs and hence profit margins and contribution. As a consequence of the cost increase, companies alter the price levels. ( Begg Ward) However, spending enough prevention cost at first place, the economic turbulence in the market can be avoided. More than all, poor quality damages the image and reputation of the company among the customer base. The famous example of Mercedes, launching A-class car without noticing its faulty design, showed the sensitivity of the relation between reputation of a company with the quality of its products. ( Topfer,1997) As the repairs or rectification of any faulty product demands for more efforts, the overall productivity of the firm is also affected by the poor quality outcomes. Also, the Consumer and Product Safety Act of 1972 makes firms liable for damages caused by the products or services, which do not fulfil the standards set and enforced by the act. (Heizer and Render, 2000) What is TQM? The concept of TQM (Total Quality Management) is generally understood, and often also described, as some form of management philosophy based in a number of core values, such as customer focus, continuous improvement, process orientation, everybodys commitment, fast response, result orientation and learn from others. (Ulrika Hellsten and Bengt Klefsjo, emerald). All these core values collectively are nothing but quality improvement. Hence, TQM is best thought of as a philosophy of how to approach the organization of quality improvement. (Text Book) TQM philosophy stresses the Total of TQM. Putting quality or improvement at the heart of everything and including all activities within an operation, TQM aims at participation of all the members in organization targeting long-run success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society. TQM and the Quality Gurus Although the quality gurus seem to be recommending different solutions to bringing about improvement, they are all talking the same language but they use different dialects.(Text book). Each Guru stressed a different set of issues, which catalysed the transition from TQM concept to operations improvement. It is believed that Japanese were the first to introduce the concept and implemented it on a wide scale and subsequently popularized the term Total Quality Management. Few of the popular contributors and their philosophies about TQM are briefly described. A. Feigenbaum stressed on the integration of quality development, quality maintenance and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow for full customer satisfaction.( Text book) W.E.Demings basic philosophy is that quality and productivity increase as process variability (the unpredictability of the process) decreases. In his 14 points for quality improvement, he emphasizes the need for statistical control methods, participation, education, openness and purposeful improvement.(Text book) J.M. Juran was concerned about management responsibility for quality and he focussed on user based approach in defining the specifications of the products. TQM as an extension of previous practice. Quality is explained with a different perspective in contemporary organizations in comparison to traditional organizations. The new perspective suggests that from narrow, manufacturing-based discipline, quality has transited to a corporate emphasis and is applicable to each business function and every employee with broader implications for management. The evolution of quality management has reached a point where quality is being viewed as a basis for competition. Total quality management can be viewed as a natural extension of earlier approaches to quality Management. Earlier quality was achieved by inspection and screening out defects before they were noticed by customers. The quality control (QC) concept introduced the concept of treating the quality problems. Quality assurance (QA) widened the responsibility for quality to include functions other than direct operations and made use of statistical quality techniques. TQM added few more factors or themes into it. The first and the key element of TQM is that organizations should see the product or its value and quality from customers point of view in a process of setting its specifications, designing and actual production. In these days, rapidly changing trends, technologies and preferences are collectively making the process of realizing customers expectations a critical, time taking and expensive process for contemporary organizations. Another powerful aspect of TQM is the concept of Internal and External customers which suggests the inclusion of all the parts of organization. Delivering the goods and services with a level of quality within the organization considering everyone as customer ensures the delivery of the final product to the external customer to be of required level of expectations and quality. Several companies are adopting the internal customer concept in their operations. Hewlett-Packard, the information systems company, was one of the first to make a success of the internal-customer concept in its operations. (Text Book) The concept of never ending improvement makes TQM an even better tool for improvement. The reputation and business of any company runs on quality of its product. However, with increasing pace of advancement and research, one level of quality doesnt reflect the same value to customers in very short time. So, implementing continuous improvement concept keeps the organization in the competition. Quality programs like zero-defects, which aims at performing right at the first time, and six sigma, which is intended to keep the error rate of about 3 defectives per million units, are also used to describe the continuous improvement efforts. (Stevenson, 1996 Blackboard) TQM Cost Model Quality Systems and Procedures Very often people are prevented from making improvements by the organizations systems and procedures. Indeed, there is a belief that direct operators can correct, at the most, only 15 per cent of quality problems; the other 85 per cent are managements responsibility because they are due to the system or the lack of one. (Text Book) This calls for a properly defined Quality management system which should cover all facets of the organizations operations. ISO 9000 series is a set of worldwide standards that draws the common requirements for quality management systems for all organization and provides a framework for quality assurance. The registration process involves a third party evaluation and regular audits to ensure the system doesnt deteriorate. (Text Book). ISO 9000 registration is an effective element for organizations to have an edge over those which doesnt hold the registration. Customers, these days, are very well aware of these standards and gain confidence, in terms of assured quality, in any company if it is ISO 9000 recommended. Surely, organizations and customers, both are benefitted. However, on the other hand, those contemporary organizations which still havent achieved the ISO 9000 have to somehow, undertake the time and cost consuming implementation of these set of quality measures to sustain in the highly competitive era. Implementation of TQM While implementing TQM, organizations should not forget that firms will have different needs and thus TQM must be specially customised to the circumstances of the organization. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston; 2001). Also, TQM involves all aspects of the firm and unless its significance is fully understood by everybody, its implementation will fail. (N.N., 2000b Blackboard). The successful implementation of TQM should focus on following factors. Factor 1: Top management commitment: The degree of visibility and support that management takes in implementing a total quality environment is critical to the success of TQM implementation (Deming, 1982; Juran and Gryna 1980). Management should plan to reduce traditionally structured operational levels and unnecessary positions. For example, spot checking can be implemented instead of hiring a supervisor for this job. Simplifying the organization will lead to the establishment of an infrastructure of integrated business functions participating as a team and supporting the strategic vision of the company. (Jaideep Motwani) Factor 2: Quality measurement and benchmarking: Most authors endorse a zero defect and a do it right the first time attitude towards the quality program. Measurement techniques should include monitoring supplier quality levels, utilizing SPC (Statistical Process Control) to reduce process variability, and calculating the cost of quality (Ahire et al., 1996; Powell, 1995; Hardie, 1998). Factor 3: Process management: This factor emphasizes adding value to processes, increasing quality levels, and raising productivity per employee. The concept of Continuous improvement discussed earlier, has to be implemented for assurance. The other tactics can be reducing the operator material handling duties, achieving a compact process flow or implementation of quality circles. Factor 4: Product design: The study of quality performance commence from the product design stage, when everything is in flux. A range of possibilities exist at this stage about the material to be used, specifications, vendors etc. Hence, at this critical point, customers expectations should be clear. Factor 5: Employee training: Employees should be trained and oriented to the overall gaols of the company, the commitments to successfully utilizing the TQM methodology and to be an effective team member. There are techniques for staff to learn as well, of course, but the purpose of the techniques is solely to work towards the basic objective the elimination of errors. (Text Book) Factor 7: Customer involvement and satisfaction: When considering customers, internal and external customers are addressed. Internal customers should undertake timely and dependable deliveries, continuously improve and self-implement solutions. An external customer service program should include providing customers with timely information and quick responsiveness to complaints, and maintaining a corporate goal to reduce the quantity of questions or complaints while recognizing all successful efforts by employees in providing outstanding service (Kasul and Motwani, 1995b). Reasons of TQM failure: Organizations often do not understand the depth of implementing TQM. The weak commitment results in ineffective value setting in the organization. A blind pursuit of TQM, which doesnt integrate quality into strategy, will draw an organisations attention away from the real important issues like customer focus and never ending improvement and thus TQM, considered a short-term investment, will certainly fail. (Reid and Sanders, 2002 and Stevenson, 1999). At the same time, expecting a radical change or a quick fix by mere implementing it results in the failures. Managers take issues for granted after implementing TQM; creating an absence of good decision making skills which leads to the TQM failures. Another reason is the ambiguity in the roles for making change, undertaking quality measures and eliminating errors in an organisation after implementing TQM. Top management may believe that identification and eliminations of errors has to be processed at operations level, however, operation workers may not take extra responsibility and can develop a perception that improvement measures are burdening them which can lead to lack in belief and commitment and eventual failure. Lack Employees Commitment As discussed earlier, training is an important part of the TQM implementation process. Training the employees doesnt only points to the operations training but also the attitude training as well. Absence or lack of employee training can be a reason of failure. TQM demands for the complete awareness and participation at every level of the organization.(Text Book) Unless, employees develop a commitment level at which they perceive organizational goals as their own, they cannot work to their full potential. However, spending adequate amount on conducting trainings can be a key for the desired outcome. Lack of organizations communication system and function is also a cause for the failure of TQM in an organization. The varied information regarding TQM as a result of lack of co-ordination between different departments may not satisfy the questions of workforce and hence create a loss of ideas which may have developed with proper information in the flow. Absence of proper review technique to check the effectiveness of the quality system is a major cause for failure. Organizations fail to find the cause for defects in products or procedures on implementation of TQM. It may be due to the wrong techniques being used to review or ineffective business process adopted.

The Franco-Prussian War Essay -- Papers

The Franco-Prussian War During the first half of the nineteenth century, Germany was made up of more than 30 small states, the largest and most dominant of which was Prussia. Prussia had decided that all of the states should all be united to create a bigger and better country, Germany. By the end of 1870 it had forced all of the German states to accept its authority and create the German Empire with the King of Prussia at its head (the Hohenzollen's). Everything was going to plan as Chancellor Prince Otto Von Bismarck (person who was behind the unification of Germany) had anticipated apart from the four large states in southern Germany who remained independent. Bismarck now needed a way to unite these states with the German Empire that he was creating, so he decided that in order to do this he believed that it was necessary to defeat France. The French Emperor Napoleon III was the main obstacle in the way of Bismarck as Napoleon distrusted Bismarck and believed that he was trying to dominate Europe. Luckily Bismarck had already motivated wars against Denmark and Austria (1864 and 1866), managing to provoke his enemies declaring war against Prussia. So in the eyes of other countries Prussia was innocent and Denmark and Austria seemed like the perpetrators. Meanwhile in Spain, 1868, there had been a revolution, the outcome of this was that Queen Isabella had been overthrown and now there was a vacancy for the throne of Spain. They reduced this problem by asking Leopold of Hollenzollern (the King of Prussia's nephew) to step in for them, if Leopold accepted then there would be a link between Spain and Prussia, isolating France. .. ...ellor was secured, the four independent states in the South agreed to join the German Empire, Germany was now the most powerful country in Europe, and the German Army had proved itself invincible and the German Economy began to quickly dominate Europe. But what Bismarck feared the most was the French desire for revenge, and planned to keep France isolated. However the effects of the War and the Treaty on France were completely different. Their pride for their army and country was shattered, and the treaty was treated with disgust and rage. As a consequence of this Napoleon III left the country to live in exile in Britain and a republic was set up. The loss of Alsace and Lorraine ashamed France, and was a national disgrace. The French were seething at the Germans for humiliating them and secretly dreamed of revenge.