Whether it should be legalized to genetically choose the feature of Research Paper - 1

Whether it should be legalized to genetically choose the feature of your own child - Research Paper Example Human rights advocates have also stepped in saying that it is unlawful for the initial genetic structure and composition of a child to be altered or interfered with in any way. Lastly, religious leaders have also come up strongly against genetic intervention basing their arguments on various religious books. Educated and experienced researchers have gone further to compile literary articles that have been used in research fields by students who have shown upending a solution to the above question interests in learning and finding the solution to the above question. This research question is very crucial as it forms the basis of comprehension and cogent reasoning of various intellects to come up with a rational conclusion. Human genetics has always raised fundamental questions across a wide range or variety of disciplines. Due to this, there has been a continuous infusion of capital, talent, and time in a bid to come up with certain important characteristics of human genetic composition. Over the past two decades, researches in various matriculation institutions, government based organizations and at individual level have been in progress with an aim of coming up with or targeting the same goal. As understood, research is not always perfect, these researchers and organizations have always centered their research on the original theses by other researchers. For instance, most of the researches that have been done in this field have been based on the findings of the Dutch Monk, Gregory Mendel’s Genetic Determinism, for instance, the law of inheritance (Edelson 28). An example of a nation that has taken the matter to a greater height compared to other countries is the US. Research reveals that its government has invested approximately $3 billion over the past one and a half decade in the Human Genome project. This project is aimed at decoding or comprehending the language of human genes. Its final aim is to come up with identification of the genetic components of

Comstat Transforms American Policing Research Paper

Comstat Transforms American Policing - Research Paper Example Quoting Director Jeff Godown again, Compstat is a â€Å"philosophy of crime control. It is less about procuring state-of-the-art equipment than about adopting a state of mind that police really do count in reducing crime.† The fact that no specialized equipment or computer software is a prerequisite for implementing the Compstat program makes it easier for different police departments across different cities to make use of it; as Godown said, it is basically just a â€Å"philosophy† that needs to be followed. Venturing further into his address on the â€Å"Compstat Process: Four Principles for Managing Crime Reduction,† it is learnt that many members of the law enforcement sector have had â€Å"the opportunity to attend training sessions and/or workshops on the principles, practices, policies, and procedures,† of Compstat, and that â€Å"the CompStat process is not a single state-of-the-art computer equipped with a special software program†; therefo re, not only is the Compstat model adept at tackling the issue of crime, it is flexible, adaptable, and can be used by any police force in any part of the country. According to HabibOzdemir in his article on â€Å"Compstat: Strategic Police Management for Effective Crime Deterrence in New York City,† the best quality of the Compstat model is the importance given to accountability.For Samuel Walker, he has expressed in his paper that â€Å"accountability is an element of American policing,† and â€Å"lawfulness and legitimacy, in turn, are essential if the police are to achieve their goals.† of reducing crime and disorder.† Returning to Ozdemir’s paper, â€Å"Compstat makes operational commanders accountable for being aware of their decisions and empirical results of

Nature of Globalisation

Nature of Globalisation Critically Consider The Nature Of Globalisation. In So Doing, Identify And Examine The Various Elements Associated With The Process Of Globalisation. It would be fair to say that globalisation had its beginnings just after the 2nd world war, in December 1945, when 15 countries entered discussions to end blind customs tariffs (World Trade Organisation). The aim of this move was to end the years or protectionism which had led up to WWII (World Trade Organisation). It was believed that the terrible economic status of countries after WWI led to WWII. It was thought that if countries trade and economies were more interlinked it would be possible to avoid war in the future (European Commission). This was the basis for creating the European Community (EC), where the aim was to create a common market economy. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was also created at about this time following a first round of negotiations. This step was a relatively small one as the agreement only affected 1/5 of the world trade (World Trade Organisation), however it was an important first step in trade liberalization. There were further discussions in an attempt to create the International Trade Organisation in conjunction with the Havana Charter; however this was not supported by the United States, spelling its end (World Trade Organisation). GATT was the only means of governing world trade until the creation of the World trade organisation. Although GATT was relatively limited in its powers, its reductions in tariffs and general trade liberalization helped to spur on world trade growth by 8% a year between 1950 and 1960 (World Trade Organisation). A good sign that this GATT was working was that trade growth continued to outpace production growth (World Trade Organisation). This means that countries were trading, not because they had a giant surplus of product but because the future benefits around economic growth were clear. However GATT was not without its problems, economic recessions between 1970-1980 caused Governments to use other methods to protect sectors facing increasing foreign investment (World Trade Organisation). With the closure of factories and an increase in unemployment, the governments of America and Western Europe set out to subsidise agriculture in order to maintain large trade (World Trade Organisation). This practice made it economically undesirable to export agricultural produce to these subsidise d countries as the price of the local goods was largely brought down by the government, meaning it would be very difficult to attract consumers to the same, more expensive product. This was effectively a barrier to world trade and would have been damaging to the GATT agreement. With increased globalisation, the limitations of the GATT started to be seen. The trade in services was not governed by the GATT, but it was increasing in importance to world economies. Loop holes were being exploited in The GATT agreements (World Trade Organisation), and this led world leaders to believe that there was a need for a more unilateral agreement. The World trade organisation was born and has become the unilateral trade governing body. The GATT was not the sole point of this global push, another organisation, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), started in 1961, with the aim to ‘Supporting sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial stability, assist other countries economic development contribute to growth in world trade (Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development). These initiatives are a summary of the political will of the time which had such a driving force on globalisation. The speed of change has been facilitated by rapid technological change. Technological change has had a number of steps. The first satellite-delivered basic cable service was called the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN); later The Family Channel was launched in 1977. From 1981 to 1985, the â€Å"big-dish† C-Band satellite market began to take off. System sales soared as hardware prices fell. The increased access that this brought around the globe allowed TV images to be transmitted to the world (Marples, 2008). This process allowed one nations culture and principles to be transmitted very quickly around the globe, therby changes in one country, typically the USA would influence changes elsewhere, where people perceived others to be living better. The demand for information and growth in telephonic communication led to a growth in the 1970s of the telecommunications network, with more ‘trunk lines linking major countries. This both facilitated and satisfied the growing need to communicate across countries (Webb Associates). IBM introduced the desktop personal computer (IBM PC) in 1981. This led to the explosive growth in the computer industry which facilitated the development of global supply chains, where computers linked together in a network could control the management of stock worldwide. The benefits of this were quickly recognised and required the infrastructure to support large data transmissions (Webb Associates). This caused a huge expansion in the 80s of fibre optic cables required for rapid data transmission. As a result many companies invested in the manufacture of this new cable (Ivan P. Kaminow, 2002), however with the sheer number of companies producing the cable its value dropped enormously, which in turn caused more of the cable to be used in networking (Ivan P. Kaminow, 2002). The next step in this chain reaction was the introduction of faster computers to deal with this massive increase in data transmission; Moores laws states that the ‘number of chips in a computer doubles every 18 months (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica). This ever increasing demand and supply of faster computers has driven the development of centralised computer facilities which in turn has promoted the use of faster broadband. This is known as the network effect which drives technology (Nordhaus, 2000). This led to the development of the World Wide Web in the early nineties which gave a further boost to rapid g lobal communications and the need for faster data transmission. The internet spawned a new generation of on-line businesses that traded across the globe, eg Amazon in 1995 (Internet Story). In order to get the most benefit from technology it is best if everyone has it. For example the social networking site Facebook, would be useless if only a few people used it. Similarly technologies such as mobile phones require a high degree of integration as the technologies become useless if limited to those who have the same handset as each other (Dix). One markets use of a given object drives another through seeing the use of it and wanting it themselves (Dix). These technological changes created greater awareness in one market of what was available in another and eventually giving direct access to it via on-line trading. This was creating what has been referred to as ‘The Global Village (Absolute Astronomy). McLuhan describes how the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time. In bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion, electric speed has heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree. Alongside this technological development was the opening up of China in 1978, with the launch of its economic reform program (Huchet, 2006). This allowed China to become the global source of manufacturing (Huchet, 2006). Many companies saw the opportunity to manufacture high value, small electrical items at a low cost. This brought down the price of technology overall, which helped to bring popular electrical items like computers to the masses. It is important to see why the opening up of China was such a large world event in the process of globalisation. China had been isolated from the international world from 1949-1979 (Woo, 2003), so 1/5th of the worlds population had not participated in world trade and investment systems (Woo, 2003), leaving a large void to be filled. This caused the massive relocation of labour intensive industries to China to take advantage of this sudden new opportunity. It is the suddenness of this opportunity which has really caused the dramatic increase in the rate of globalisation. To highlight this increasing rate of globalisation the direct financial investment of a country can be examined. In 1997 China had $44.2 billon of direct investment, in 2002 this figure had risen to $52.7 billion (Woo, 2003), this dramatic increase shows that in the space of 5 years the amount of investment entering China has increased dramatically, showing that growth is not slowing. Due to Chinas massive population, it is also responsible for a large number of world imports, with the growth in Chinese importing between 2002 and 2003 growing by 30% (Stetten, 2005). Arguably culture has been most affected by globalisation. Peoples culture is affected by what they see every day. The export of American movies has dramatically changed some cultures by the assimilation of elements of western culture (Flynn). This exposure particularly affects attitudes to women, birth control and the demand for certain products (eg Coca Cola). The exposure to global media has also caused world fads to arise through product exposure (Lechner); products such as Pokà ©mon and Tamagotchi are a good example of this. Massive increases in the amount of international travel and tourism have caused countries to learn the culture of another through greater exposure to their people (Freesun News, 2009). Immigration from one country to another has introduced one countrys culture to another, which is then passed down to subsequent generations (The University of Iowa Centre For International Finance and Development). The popularity of World sports events such as the Olympics or The Football World Cup are definitely due to increased global communication and generalised culture attracting support from around the world (Freesun News, 2009). In conclusion the process of globalisation was underpinned by the belief that to avoid future wars it was beneficial to promote sustainable economic growth and thereby boost employment and raise living standards, whilst maintaining financial stability to assist other countries economic development and thereby contribute to growth in world trade. This mindset led to the creation of world trade governing bodies, such as the World Trade Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and The European Union. These organisations set out to liberalize trade through the removal of import/export tariffs and protectionism by governments. The rapid increase in the rate of globalisation has been facilitated by the introduction of technology which has allowed fast communication and transport between geographically distant places. The admission of China into the world trade market has increased supply and demand for finished products which is further boosting industry around the world. References Dix, A. (n.d.). eBulletin. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Network Effects and Market Engineering: http://www.hiraeth.com/alan/ebulletin/network-effects/ Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. (n.d.). Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Moores Law: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/705881/Moores-law European Commission. (n.d.). EUROPA. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The history of the European Union: http://europa.eu/abc/history/index_en.htm Flynn, D. A. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Revisiting Globalisation through the movie and digital games industries: http://web.mit.edu/cms/Events/mit2/Abstracts/KerrFlynn.pdf Freesun News. (2009, 09 29). Travel Tourism: Unity through Diversity in the Age of Globalization. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Travel Tourism: Unity through Diversity in the Age of Globalization: http://www.freesun.be/news/index.php/travel-tourism-unity-through-diversity-in-the-age-of-globalization Huchet, J.-F. (2006). Social Research. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The emergence of capitalism in China: an historical perspective and its impact on the political system: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_1_73/ai_n26878471/ Ivan P. Kaminow, T. L. (2002). Optical Fiber Telecommunications IV: B. Systems and impairments. London: Academic Press. Lechner, J. B. (n.d.). Globalization and World Culture. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Globalization and World Culture: http://www.sociology.emory.edu/jboli/isb408026.pdf Nordhaus, W. D. (2000, June 13). Technology, Economic Growth, and the New Economy. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from http://www.econ.yale.edu/~nordhaus/homepage/sweden%20061300c.PDF Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development. (n.d.). About OECD. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development: http://www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_36734052_36734103_1_1_1_1_1,00.html Stetten, M. D. (2005). China and Globalisation. Intereconomics , 40 (4), 226-234. The University of Iowa Centre For International Finance and Development. (n.d.). Immigration Globalization. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Immigration Globalization: http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/issues/globalization/readingtable/immigration.shtml Woo, W. T. (2003, 12 04). The Economic Impact of Chinas Emergence as a Major Trading Nation. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The Economic Impact of Chinas Emergence as a Major Trading Nation: http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/woo/Woo.US-China%20statement.1Feb04.pdf World Trade Organisation. (n.d.). The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from World TRade Organisation: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact4_e.htm Select A Multinational Company That Has Existed For At Least 20 Years. Assess How The Process Of Globalisation Has Influenced The Development Of Your Chosen Company Unilever is one of the largest global players in the fast moving consumer goods sector with annual sales of â‚ ¬40,5bn (Company Accounts 2008). However, it started from humble beginnings in Bolton in 1886 when William Lever established a soap manufacturing company called Lever Brothers with his brother James. In this essay I will attempt to set out how the process of globalisation has influenced this company. Unilever was started in the 1890s by the Lever brothers, who introduced Sunsilk Soap to Victorian England. Within a short time Lever was selling soap throughout the UK, as well as in continental Europe, North America, Australia, and South Africa (Unilever). Lever began a tradition at this time that lasted well into the 20th centurythat of producing all its raw components. Lever Brothers, a vertically integrated company, grew to include milling operations used to crush seeds into vegetable oil for margarine as well as packaging and transporting businesses for all of its products, which then included Lux, Lifebuoy, Rinso, and Sunlight soaps. In the early 1900s, Lever was using palm oil produced in the British West African colonies. Lever was therefore an early example of a global company (Unilever). In 1914, as the German Navy began to threaten the delivery of food importsparticularly Danish butter and Dutch margarine, the British government asked Lever to produce margarine. This was eagerly accepted as the margarine business was thought to be compatible with the soap business because the products both required oils and fats as raw materials. Lever Brothers successful diversification, however, put the company in competition with Jurgens and Van den Bergh, two leading, long established Dutch margarine companies. This is an early example of global competition (Unilever). Jurgens and Van den Bergh merged to form the Margarine Unie and after two years of discussion, Lever Brothers and The Margarine Unie decided that an ‘alliance wasted less of everybodys substance than hostility and merged on September 2, 1929 and Unilever was born. This was an early example of cross border mergers. The reason for this merger being that both companies used animal fats and oils as their raw materials. The end result of the merger was a company that bought and processed more than a third of the worlds commercial oils and fats and traded more products in more places than any other company in the world an early example of global scale. The decade following World War II was a period of recovery for Unilever, culminating by the early 1950s in rapid economic growth in much of the Western world with the development of the various global trade bodies discussed earlier. Until 1955 demand in Unilevers markets continued to rise and competition was not a major issue. However as markets grew the demand sucked in global competitors, particularly from the USA and Germany and profit margins dropped and success was less assured. Unilevers strategy through this period was to use its global financial scale to acquire companies in new areas, particularly food and chemical manufacturers. Among the postwar acquisitions were U.K. frozen foods maker Birds Eye (1957) and U.S. ice cream novelty maker Good Humor (1961) (Jones). The advent of the European Economic Community created new opportunities for Unilever. Since the late 19th century, when the companies that comprised Unilever had set up manufacturing facilities they had been located in various European countries to avoid tariff restrictions and where it was most economical. Under the Common Market, many of the tariff restrictions that had spawned the multinational facilities were eliminated, giving the company an opportunity to consolidate operations and concentrate production in lower-cost countries and thereby reduce its overall costs. During the 70s Unilever progressively consolidated its manufacturing operations across Europe, taking advantage of the economies of scale of the larger European Union Market (Unilever). As the world economy expanded during the sixties and seventies Unilever set about developing new products and entering new markets. It was Unilevers management and technological capability allied to great financial strength based on its success in Europe that made it possible to enter these markets. It developed a global management structure facilitated by improved communications and the growth of air travel (Unilever). Throughout its history Unilever has grown through acquisitions, using its global financial scale to purchase local or regional companies that gave additional scale or access to new markets or adjacent markets, Ponds, Calvin Klein and Ben Jerrys to name a few. These acquisitions all represent foreign investment which without the process of globalisation would never be possible (Newinternatiomalist). As individual markets blurred and a more international view of markets was taken we can see the emergence of global brands such as Sure deodorant, known as Rexona globally. This emergence of global brands required Unilever to restructure its business to remain competitive. In the 1980s Unilever undertook a massive restructuring (Unilever). The company sold most of its service and ancillary businesses, such as transport, packaging, advertising, and other services that were readily available on the market, and went on a buying spree, snapping up some 80 companies between 1984 and 1988 (Unilever). The restructuring was designed to concentrate the company in those businesses that we properly understand, in which we have critical mass, and where we believe we have a strong, competitive future, Unilever PLC Chairman M.R. Angus told Management Today in 1988 (International Directory of Company Histories). Specifically, Unilevers core businesses were detergents, foods, toiletries, and special ty chemicals. This was followed in late 1990s by a comprehensive review of Unilevers wide-ranging businesses in an effort to focus on the strongest core areas: ice cream, margarines, tea-based beverages, detergents, personal soaps, skin care products, and prestige fragrances with several other areas identified as developing core areas: frozen foods, culinary products, hair care products, oral care products, deodorants, household care products, and industrial cleaning products (Unilever). Businesses outside of these areas were sold including its largest disposal the selling of its specialty chemicals business to Imperial Chemical Industries PLC for about US$8 billion. As the pace of globalisation increased, Unilever had to focus more on global brands and in 1999 Unilever announced that it would eliminate about 1,200 of its brands to focus on around 400 regionally or globally powerful brandsa group that accounted for almost 90 percent of 1998 revenue. This sweeping overhaul of the product portfolio was aimed at increasing annual growth rates from four percent to six to eight percent and at eventually reaping annual savings of  £1 billion. Unilever has focussed further in the 21st century on 12 â‚ ¬1bn global brands (Unilever). Like with most multinational companies Unilever manufactures many of its products away from the destination market, in order to reap the benefits of cheaper labour and increased profit margins. It operates a global supply chain and, for example, a forecast planner in the UK will control the output from factories in Germany or France and a planner in Singapore may control a plant in China. It is due to the technological synchronisation of the worlds telecommunications and broadband systems that this has become possible, coupled with the ability to send expatriate managers out to foreign countries to develop new operations and transfer management know how. International organisations also have had an effect on the development of Unilever. In 2008 Green Peace targeted Unilever for obtaining palm oil for its soap from non sustainable sources (Jones). Unilever responded by announcing it would source all palm oil from sustainable sources. It is this flow of information from geographically distant countries, facilitated by international organisation, which has undoubtedly forced Unilever to develop to remain in the public good. International competition has always been an issue for Unilever, with international competitors like Proctor and Gamble (USA), Nestle (Switzerland), Kao (Japan) to name but a few. This international pressure has shaped Unilever and its markets. This kind of international competition shows how the world is no longer working on a country level, the entire globe is seen as a single market in terms of competition and as such Unilever faces many different competitors depending on which country it is marketing a product towards. References International Directory of Company Histories. (n.d.). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Unilever PLC Unilever N.V.: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2840600220.html Jones, G. (n.d.). Working Knowledge. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Unilever—A Case Study: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3212.html Newinternatiomalist. (n.d.). Newinternatiomalist. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from History of Unilever: http://www.newint.org/issue172/simply.htm Unilever. (n.d.). History. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from http://www.unilever.com/aboutus/ourhistory/

Identify and Discuss Examples of Good/Bad Practice in the Management of

According to the UK Association of Project Management (APM) quoted in Atkinson (1999), it has produced a UK Body of Knowledge (BoK) which provides a broad definition for project management as: â€Å"The planning, organisation, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all involved to achieve the project objectives safely and within agreed time, cost and performance criteria.† The planning of the project firstly consists of identifying and clarifying the tasks and necessary resources required for completing the project; the organisation phase or scheduling then allocates how much time is needed to complete each task, and finally the monitoring tracks progress and analyses performance and quality (Spinner, 1997). Time and cost management are both the most commonly used and important project management functions and are strongly linked with the level of success of the project. These are predicted during the planning phase of the latter; time, cost and quality are so closely linked that they form what is called the â€Å"Iron Triangle† (Atkinson, 1999). This assignment will thus first shed light on the Fourth Bridge and Bath Thermae Spa case studies respectively, and will then be structured around three primary skill and managerial elements contained within the Project Management Body of Knowledge. According to Cramb (2008), renovating the bridge located near Edinburgh is a â€Å"never-ending job† due to its length, given that as soon as maintenance crews have finished renovating it, it is time to start again. In 2002, civil engineering company Balfour Beatty signed a maintenance contract of  £10 million per annum for Network Rail till the estimated end of contract in 2009 (Forth Bridges Visitor Centre Trus... ...rison, F. and Lock, D. (2004) Advanced Project Management: A Structured Approach. 4th edition. Aldershot: Gower Publishing Hendrickson, C. and Au, T. (1989) Project Management for Construction: Fundamental Concept for Owners, Engineers, Architects and Builders. 1st edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall McManus, J. (2010) ‘Keeping projects under cost control’, The Chartered Institute for IT [Online]. Available at: http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.5912 (Accessed 01 December 2010) Spinner, M. P. (1997) Project Management: Principles and Practices. London: Prentice Hall International Thermae Bath Spa (2010) Project History. Available at: http://www.thermaebathspa.com/newsandinfo/projecthistory/ (Accessed: 30 November 2010) Wikipedia (2010) Forth Bridge [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Bridge#Maintenance (Accessed: 24 November 2010)

BUGusa Inc. & WIRETIME Inc. Scenarios Essay

BUGusa Inc. is based in any state USA. The company provides critical software technology that allows eaves dropping, sound collection and more to law enforcement agencies throughout the states and federal government within the United States of America. BUGusa Inc. is looking to expand its services, expertise and software at an international level. In the course of their operations there have been some questionable behaviors concerning internal and external factors that are affecting the flow of operations and in some cases, this behavior may cause serious issues with the integrity of the software and its security. WIRETIME Inc. is a fairly new company competing against BUGusa Inc. That seeks to gain information on BUGusa Inc. by infiltrating its workforce and recruiting its best and brightest. Throughout this paper I will address some of those case scenarios and do my best to answer the questions set forth by the assignment. 1st Scenario: Has WIRETIME Inc. committed any torts? BUGusa Inc. vs. WIRETIME Inc. In this case scenario we find that WIRETIME Inc. has made an intentional negative public statement against BUGusa Inc, and more specifically against its product reliability. This behavior by WIRETIME Inc. can be seen as a gross move against BUGusa Inc. reputation, thus causing distrust in their products and services from the general public, state and federal agencies home and abroad. The behavior demonstrated by WIRETIME Inc. while not uncommon in the business world, can be seen as a defamation or libel tort, and this can give BUGusa Inc. leverage against WIRETIME Inc. in a lawsuit. BUGusa Inc. may sue for any marketing related costs it will incur to help its image rise to new and higher levels of trust within its current customers and future customers nationally and internationally; it wouldn’t  be a surprise if they also try to collect from possible damages it may have incurred from actual or potential loss of profit stemming from the ad circulated by WIRETIME Inc. and the distrust it may have already or potentially cause in the future against BUGusa Inc. WIRETIME Inc. could make the argument that its intention was not to harm BUGusa Inc. reputation because their statements were opinion based and not objective facts. In order to rebuttal the argument by WIRETIME Inc., and to build new trust, BUGusa Inc. could demonstrate that its products and services work well beyond the one-month capabilities that WIRETIME Inc. suggested on its supposedly opinion ad. By demonstrating that their software and services work beyond the one- month mark, they can surely h old their ground against their competitor and possibly create new business and stronger relationships with its consumers, and, at the same time win the lawsuit against WIRETIME Inc. 2nd Scenario: Has WIRETIME Inc. committed any torts? Janet, head of the R&D department at BUGusa Inc. has two more years in her contract with her current company. She has been offered a much lucrative opportunity to work for the competition (WIRETIME Inc.) But there is a provision in her current contract that prohibits her to work for the competition for the following two years of her contract even if she was fired before that time expires. This is called the non – compete clause. Janet disclosed this information (non – compete clause) to the head of human resources at WIRETIME Inc. when he or she offered Janet employment with their company. You would think that this information would deter any further headhunting approach from WIRETIME Inc. because of the consequences Janet’s breach of duty to BUGusa Inc. may cause her if she accepts and the liability WIRETIME Inc. picks up by performing this intervening event against the non – compete clause BUGusa Inc. has on Janet’s contract. After Janet exposed the non – compete clause, the head of human resources at WIRETIME Inc. persisted and offered to increase her pay by 10% and added a $5,000.00 signing bonus to the deal. Janet had a duty to BUGusa Inc. and she committed a breach of contract by accepting the offer from the competing company by evidence of acceptance. There was an offer, acceptance, consideration,  consent, capacity, legal purpose, and writing. While it was illegal to work for the competitor, it was not illegal for her to resign from BUGusa Inc. WIRETIME, clearly intended to have Janet violate her legal agreement and contractual restriction with BUGusa Inc. and committed the tort of interference in a contractual relationship between Janet and BUGusa Inc. 3rd Scenario: WIRETIME Inc. (Steve & Walter) Discuss BUGusa Inc. Liability for Walters’s actions. WIRETIME Inc. has made it its main mission to infiltrate its competitor and retrieve high value information from BUGusa Inc. by all means necessary. WIRETIME Inc. sends one of its employees, (STEVE) to apply for a position at BUGusa. Such is their luck that Steve, not only gets hired, but he secures a position within BUGusa Inc. research and development department. BUGusa Inc. failed to realize that Steve was an employee at WIRETIME Inc. thus placing the companies’ sensitive information at risk. While at BUGusa, Steve was picked up by an attentive security guard (Walter) who found out through the grapevine and investigation, that Steve was a spy amongst them working for the competitor. Walter decided to approach Steve and take him in to a soundproof room, and retrieve the truth from Steve through intimidating threats against his physical safety for six hours. Steve, of course fearing for his physical well being, disclosed his purpose in the company what information he has passed along and whom he truly worked for. While Walters’s frustration with Steve is understandable, his handling of the situation is totally unacceptable and carries some penalties with it. Walter created an atmosphere of stress, mentally and physically against an employee, regardless of his true intentions; BUGusa Inc. should of done its homework through background checks against Steve and probably saved itself the headache. Nevertheless, Walters’s behavior was thuggish and criminal thus creating the tort of assault. Walter could have held Steve and called the police, then followed through with charges against Steve and WIRETIME Inc. but his course of action may result in Steve goi ng after BUGusa Inc through vicarious liability. This liability holds BUGusa Inc. as responsible for Walters’s behavior and actions while performing his normal duties in the workplace. 4th Scenario: Parking lot of BUGusa Inc. Crime problem. What defense if any, may be available to BUGusa Inc.? As with all working environments, it is the legal and implied duty of any employer to provide a healthy and safe work environment for its employees, vendors and any other patrons visiting or performing work at any job site within the United States of America. Here we can see that this particular BUGusa Inc. branch that is located in Shady town USA, has been the victim of multiple attacks on its employees and its vendors and also fell pray to vandalism. This problematic issue is well known to the residents of the community where BUGusa has its building; this leads me to know that management at BUGusa Inc. must have also been aware of this problem and failed to address it properly. I do not see any available defense for BUGusa Inc. on the matter of the vendor being attacked and robbed while waiting to deliver goods at the facility mentioned above. BUGusa has a duty to its employees, vendors and any patron performing any job within its premises to provide adequate safety measures that w ill deter thief’s from braking in to cars and vandalizing company property, but most importantly from harming the people within its property at all times. Having a well lit parking lot means all lights are working properly and to their full capacity, and in this case, they had a few lights that were not operating at all. Also, well-lit areas are not enough security against a hostile environment that has in the past proven to be dangerous against employees and vendors. The company breached its duty by not upgrading its security measures after the first reported assaults against its employees, this negligence caused that the vendor become another victim of the crime wave affecting its private property. The injury to the employees and vendor are financial, mental and may well be physical if not yet. The tort that applies here is negligence on the part of BUGusa Inc. If they would have reevaluated their security stance against the rise in crime and violence on their property and its surrounding community, it could have avoided such negligence. 5th Scenario: Randy and Brian (BUGusa Inc.) What defense may be available to BUGusa Inc.? The following Scenario holds two parties as responsible for failing to perform their required duties as responsible citizens and employees. By both parties being negligent, they are both are potentially at fault; they violated personal and business duty, breached their duties to their safety and business safety, causing an accident and damages to private and business property not to mention the physical injuries if any, and obvious financial injuries to personal and business property. Both Randy and Brian were negligent in their actions, Brian, as an employee of BUGusa Inc. could have avoided the crash if he were following the speed limit or driving in accordance with road and area conditions. Randy failed to obey the yield sign and assumed the risk of being impacted by another vehicle. Here we can apply comparative or contributory negligence because they were both at fault, if BUGusa Inc. can prove that Randy had more to do with the cause of the accident then they may well win the c ase. 6th Scenario: Sally may have a successful case against BUGusa Inc. for what Tort? Just as in the actual case of General Motors, BUGusa Inc. failed to notify the consumers of the potential hazards of using their products. BUGusa tried to save money at the risk of consumer’s safety by taking shortcuts in the manufacturing and assembly process, knowing that such shortcuts may result in short circuit and in some cases harm to its product users they moved forward with its sale and fielding. Strict Product Liability Tort states that the manufacturer, distributor and seller are responsible for any harm and or injury caused by failure to inform of manufacturing defects or design defects. By designing the product without the necessary insulation, Sally was exposed to a short and suffered injuries. BUGusa Inc. is clearly in hot water and can be liable for all harm and injuries stemming from this negligent act. References Cornell University. (2014). Tort. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/tort Expert Law. (2014). Negligence / Personal Injury. Retrieved from http://www.expertlaw.com/library/personal_injury/negligence.html Hill, M. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business. A Managerial Approach: Theory to Practice. Phoenix, AZ: Copyright  © McGraw-Hill Company.

Dome of the Rock: Jeruselam

1 Jake Kelly 4/27/2012 Art History 130c Report Dome of the Rock: Jerusalem The Dome of the Rock is in an area surrounded by religious influences and not all these are Islamic. It is located on the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, which has gone through many religious changes. Religious groups have been fighting over this area for thousands of years and the fighting still continues today. Many different groups have inhabited this region, but not many have made the impact as the group responsible for the Dome of the Rock.The most dramatic change came when the Muslims took Jerusalem the Christians. When this historical event happened, the Muslims wanted to get rid of any Christian influence, and the Dome of the Rock reflects this idea. This new ruling group wanted to take the religious focus from every previous Christian piece of architecture and turn it towards the Dome of the Rock. To accomplish the construction of a building that overlooked all over Jerusalem, there needed to be a eleva ted, flat space.The location of its construction is a plateau above the holy city and is another clue to what the Muslims were trying to accomplish. The Haram had many Christian holy spots located there, including the tomb of Christ and the rotunda above it. The structure we see today, has pro Islam calligraphy on the outside walls as well as the mosaics located inside. This use of calligraphy in art work in the Dome of the Rock is one of the first used in Muslim architecture. They use the calligraphy for Qur’anic versus’ as well as explain their faith to people visiting the Dome.Even though the Muslims were trying to out do the previous 2 religion, Christian influence is seen through the octagonal shape of the structure. Along with the location and calligraphy, the nature theme of the art work inside show the religious shift that was taking place at the time of its creation. In early Islamic art that was used during this period of time, no human art forms are used. Th is was against Islamic law, and much of the Christian architecture of the region followed completely opposite guidelines with human forms. When the Islamic religion took hold of this egion, they did not integrate the Christian holy structures into a Mosque, but instead used Islamic art and architecture in the building of the Dome of the Rock to show the new Islamic dominance over the existing Christian architecture. â€Å"Tradition-Jewish, Christian and Muslim-holds that Solomon built this Temple, dedicated to the Israelite God Yahweh, in the southeast corner of what is now Jerusalem’s Old City, on a platform known to the Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). () (figure 1). The area known to the Muslims as Haram as-Sharif only because of its overlooking presence on the city of Jerusalem, was a very religious cite for the Christian religion that has ideas the Muslims do not agree with. In the Islamic faith, the follow ers believe Jesus was not the son of God. They believe Jesus was a prophet, but was not the son of God as he claimed during his life on earth. This is the major difference between the two faiths and has caused controversy among members of both religions.The single idea of whether or not Jesus is the son of God has, and will keep these two groups competing for dominance. This competition can be seen through the location the architect chose for the 3 Dome of the Rock. The Omayyad caliph ‘Abd al-Malik chose this position to draw attention from the old â€Å"center of Jerusalem† and the Christian Holy Sepulchre church and the rotunda over the tomb of Jesus, to a new Islamic architectural creation that later was caped with a golden dome. The Dome of the Rock now, dominates the Jerusalem skyline.Al-Malik’s plan worked, but was intended to do much more than just overlook old Christian structures. They wanted nothing to do with these structures and it is reflected by man y of the themes chosen for this piece of art. The design, structure, and art are all Islamic art forms intended to show the dominance of the new group over the people who previously dominated the area. â€Å"The Arabs referred to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by a different name, using a pun in Arabic. In Christian tradition the church is widely known as the Church of the Resurrection-al-Qiyama in Arabic.The Arabs changed its name to al-Qamama- church of the Dung. †()(figure 2). Disrespect to the Christian faith was the intent of this name changing, but other reasons lie below the surface. The new ruling Islamic group changed the name almost as propaganda for the people to see this beautiful church as below the new Islamic architecture. This tactic has been used time and time again throughout art history to draw attention and show dominance of the new ruling religion or group. With all this negativity towards anything Christian, the Dome of the Rock would think to have no such influence.The golden dome is the exact same inner dimensions as the Sepulchre Church and the octagonal structure was first seen in Christian architecture. With the disagreement, the Muslim builders could not deny the Christian building 4 techniques and layout when creating the Dome of the Rock. The structure may be very similar, but that is not what sets it apart from Christian architecture. The art work incorporated with the building tells an Islamic story and shows the shift from tradition Christian art to a completely different style used by the creators. A major shift also occurs with the subject matter incorporated the art.The Christians used many statues and paintings in their religious locations, but the new Islamic group now only used things like nature and calligraphy in all there art. What is seen on the outside of the structure, on the mosaics inside, and the calligraphy around the arcades tell a Muslim story that was meant to show an end to the Christian rule of the area. â€Å"It rises atop a tall cylinder of some 98 feet (30m) over the platform. Constructed of wood, it is not gilded but covered with a special alloy containing gold that provides its vaguely golden tone.The cupola is supported by a circular arcade of four piers and sixteen columns flanked by two ambulatories surrounds the cylinder and holds tight, as in a ring. The ambulatories together are 46 feet (14m) deep, and give the whole building a diameter of some 157 feet (48m). It rises to only 36 feet (11m) inside and 43 feet (13m) on the outside, strengthening the impact of the central cylinder with cupola. † () The structure of the Dome of the Rock was not huge like many other Islamic religious structures.Compared with the Mosques and other Islamic holy sites studied in art history, this is very small and shaped different, but still keeps the normal Islamic theme of the time. Islamic holy sites are usually gigantic elaborate buildings on the outside as well as the in, but this is where the Dome is different. The only real elaborate piece to the outside is the golden dome that can be noticed and recognized from far distances. This was a structure made to look like structurally like the existing Christian holy sites. The similarity between structures was intended 5 ot to mimic, but to show that their religion was the truth, through the Islamic art work and calligraphy. The least elaborate section of the building is the outside and has calligraphy that was once with Islamic based mosaics. The gold dome with a plain building is a strategic move that give the structure a very unique quality. The inside of the Dome of the Rock may be more important than the dome itself and what it stood for. There are documents inside the building telling what the calligraphy inside the building can be translated to. This calligraphy is from the Koran and is on the top of the inner and outer octagonal arcades (figure 3).The calligraphy, â€Å"These passages make three poi nts: (1) God is one; He cannot be born or give birth, a basic Muslim position in relationship to the Christians; (2) God’s messenger is Muhammad, who was brought the divine message to mankind and (3) Jesus, the son of Mary, is also a messenger who should be honored and praised because of his virtuous life and because he carried some of the signs of the divine relationship to man. † () The Muslims and Christians are two religions that have many simililarites, but disagree with who was the prophet and if Jesus was the son of god or just a messenger.As stated earlier, these differences have caused controversy between the two groups, which are meant to be brought out by the Qur’anic versus. These messages of one God, Muhammad as the prophet, and Jesus only being a messenger were inserted in the inside art work to set in stone what religion now controlled this area. They wanted to show who now had the power of the area and wanted it to be clear through the art work an d calligraphy found on the inner and outer arcades. During the time of the construction, no human forms were used in 6 the art work.This is a reason calligraphy can be seen throughout this Muslim based piece of architecture. Calligraphy is a very important piece to almost and Islamic work and always tells a religious story from the Koran or other religious works. To take this even further, the Islamic people may have been trying to flex their chest a little more by staying away from any type of Christian art forms. Whatever the intent was, the calligraphy on the inner and outer arcades comes directly out of the Koran and puts to rest the old Christian ways of the area.To go along with the Islamic calligraphy on the inside of the Dome of the Rock, the incorporation of nature mosaics shows the shift in art work of the area. The patrons and builders of this great building obvisously wanted nothing to do with the art work of the Christians, and is the reason no blending of art happened between the two at this time. When the Christians dominated the area, portraiture was very popular as well as Christian statues and stained glass portraying holy people was not uncommon. During the time period when the Muslims conquered the Christians, human images were not allowed to be subject matter in and Islamic art.The Islamic people wanted to get rid of the Christian art work that went against their faith and first started with the Dome of the Rock. One similarity between the artwork of these two groups could be the use of glass, but they each used glass in different ways. Instead of stain glass mosaics of people, the Muslim builder used small pieces of glass called tesserae to create much of the mosaics that line the walls of the Dome of the Rock. This took time, but when one sees the inside of this great building, the time taken by these artists to do the mosaics was well worth it. 7 It is easy to enumerate the components: acanthus bowls of several different shapes; scrolls made of calices fitted into one another, occasionally simplified into a single ribbon with jewels and adaptable to almost any space; supporting rods, usually artificial cominations of repeated floral or ornamental elements; trees, among which palm trees can be recognized, and tufts of grass; garlands and single leaves which, especially on the soffits, serve as background for fruits; berries, fruits, and vegetables, among which pomergranets, olives, cherries, dates, grapes, and several kinds of cucumbers can be recognized; full or empty cornucopias of many different forms; vases shells; crescents and stars; an astounding array of insignia associated with royal power, such as crowns or tiaras, and other jewelry of many kinds with no royal association; pairs of wings; and artificial combinations of several of these elements to create imaginative and fantastic compositions† () (figure 4). This quote from a book written by Oleg Grabar tells the type of art work found in and around the dome of the rock. There are absolutely no human forms in any of this art work and is not done this way solely because this was Islamic law. The creators wanted to put a completely Muslim piece of architecture in the Jerusalem skyline to let the people of the city and visitors that this was now an Islamic dominated area. †¦reasons for the building of this monument include: (1) the portrayal of the triumph of Islam, the Final Revelation, based off the opulent surface decoration throughout the building, especially the jewel-studded mosaics, precious stones, etc. , and the calligraphy of specific Qur’anic versus symbolizing holiness, wealth, and power, and (2) the commemoration of the location of the Prophet Muhammad’s ‘Night Journey’, especially of the ‘rock’ itself on top of which, according to later traditions, the Prophet stood before being led by angel Gabriel to meet God in the second part of the ‘Night Journey’ â€⠀œ the Miraj. † () Jerusalem has always been an area of religious struggle, because of its location and importance to an abundance of religions. There were Jewish strongholds as well as Christians ruling this area way before the Islamic people came into power.The struggle for power has turned the 8 area into something so sought after, that when they gained control, triumph throughout the Islamic faith began. Constructing a great piece of architecture is a tactic used time in time again throughout history to mark a change in time, and these people were trying to do just that. This building was meant to be on top of the hill looking down over the city, to maybe instill pride in people of the area, but much more than the location is put into its creation. The subject matter of the art is that of Islamic wealth and power. These refrences paint the picture of what these new people to the area were all about.They had power, backed by the Islamic law, and enough money to build pieces of architecture like this all over the area. These rulers and wealthy citizens were very good patrons to the arts and is seen through the construction and choices of art work on the inside of the structure. Patrons willing to spend vast amounts of money on art and architecture can be seen throughout the Muslim history. To take this further, the subject matter and location of the building were not the only reasons for its construction. In the first part of the night journey, Prophet Muhammad travelled all the way to Jerusalem, where he met up the angel Gabriel on the rock contained inside the Dome of the Rock. (figure 5). They then travelled to heaven, hell, and to meet God.The Islamic people take this story, as well as many other stories, very seriously and truthfully believe events like this once occurred upon this rock. This type of religious belief system has been seen around the world for centuries, and anything from something in nature or the world and turn into a relic overni ght. Patrons, as well as builders did not just pick this area because it over looked the city of Jerusalem, they wanted to use the rock as a piece of art and almost a relic to be worshipped while inside the structure. Christian churches always have some type of relic or piece of art inside the church that can be 9 the center of worship. Many times a priest or holy person will kiss this relic that is usually contained inside the alter of a Christian church.People can walk into the Dome of the Rock and be able to relate a story to the rock and Muhammad much like Christians can with the relics in there churches. This may not be your typical art object or relic used in a church, but because its sacred history this giant rock is the center piece of this beautiful piece of art. The exterior of the Dome of the Rock is almost like night and day when you relate it to the elaborate mosaics and arcades of the interior chamber. This is a building that was made to be seen from far away as someon e journeyed into the city. â€Å".. the Dome of the Rock operates as a magnetic entity from afar and breaks down into partial and repetitive elements as one draws near it. () As you approach the city of Jerusalem, towering over the skyline is this magnificent golden dome that appears to be attached to an elaborate building. When one keeps travelling and gets closer to the actual building itself, the gold domed building that once looked elaborate is now very plain. â€Å"What distinguishes the Dome of the Rock, however is that the remote impact is the same wherever one becomes aware of its presence, and nowhere does perception of the building require or invite entry, as do, for instance, the funnellike facades of Gothic cathedrals. † () The evidence is really weak on why exactly this non elaborate technique was used on the exterior part of the building and seems very weird of Muslim architecture and art.Usually the entire structure of a holy location would be covered with art to almost draw in the 10 thousands of people a day to pray. Because it was created to be seen far away and dominate the Jerusalem skyline, they did not elaborately create the outside of the structure to be similar to the inside, but instead used a golden dome to draw people in. With this contrast brings curiosity and could have easily been a motive during construction. Even though the outside, bottom section of the building, is very bland when you compare it to the golden dome or the elaborate tesserae mosaics of the interior, many people still put rank it as one of the most beautiful in the world today.The symmetrical technique, octagonal shape, and the art used in the creation of the Dome of the Rock were before their time and are still thought highly of today. With all the Islamic influence as well as the incorporation of some Christian techniques, one would think there was no more room for outside influence. â€Å"Byzantine, Persian, and Arab design and architecture are blende d in it to create a magnificent whole. The blending of the three types of art is not surprising for all three people shared in the constrction. †() With all these different influences present during construction, no wonder many attribute this piece of architecture with beauty and uniqueness. The mosque of the rock is extrodinary and beautiful. I have visited many places and beautiful buildings in India, Europe, and other parts of the world, and as far as I can remember. I have not seen as magnificent of a building as the Dome of the rock. The symmetry and the gorgeous blending of colors I have not seen in any other building. † (5) Many people around the world share this same opinion of the incredible building. Everything that went into its construction, make it one of the most unique places to visit in the entire world. 11 The Dome of The Rock in Jerusalem was a building constructed by a group of people that were new to an area and wanted to make a point.These were peopl e of the book, with lives that revolved around following the readings found in the Koran. These religious ideas are seen throughout the entire building. Everything from calligraphy, mosaics, and relics are all geared towards Islamic law and pleasing God or Alah in the Islamic faith. This religious influence was not meant to be just looked at and admired by the Muslim people who now had power of the region. The creators and patrons wanted to give the people a building that towered and naturally looked down upon the Christian architecture that was already there. This group even changed the name of a great Christian church of the region to show who now was in control.The Muslim people of this time and place used Islamic art and architecture in the building of the Dome of the Rock to show there dominance over the group who recently inhabited the region. Figure 1 12 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 13 Figure 5 Bibliography Aref, Aref El. A Brief Guide to The Dome of the Rock and Al-Haram Al-Sh arif. Jerusalem: Supreme AWQAF Council, 1959. Print. Bloom, Jonathan M. Early Islamic Art and Architecture. Aldershot [u. a. : Ashgate Variorum, 2002. Print. Grabar, Oleg. The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2006. Print. Nuseibeh, Said, and Oleg Grabar. The Dome of the Rock. New York: Rizzoli, 1996. Print.Shanks, Hershel, and Hershel Shanks. Jerusalem's Temple Mount: From Solomon to the Golden Dome. New York: Continuum, 2007. Print. I watched a National Geography Video I ordered through the library ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Shanks, Hershel. Jerusalem's Temple Mount: From Solomon to the Golden Dome. New York: Continuum, 2007. Print. [ 2 ]. Shanks, Hershel. Jerusalem's Temple Mount: From Solomon to the Golden Dome. New York: Continuum, 2007. Print. [ 3 ]. Nuseibeh, Said, and Oleg Grabar. The Dome of the Rock. New York: Rizzoli, 1996. Print [ 4 ]. Nuseibeh, Said , and Oleg Grabar. The Dome of the Rock. New York: Rizzoli, 1996. Print [ 5 ]. Grabar, Oleg.The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2002. Pg. 224 [ 6 ]. M. Anwarul Islam and Zavid F. Al-hammad. The Dome of the Rock: Origin of its Octagonal Plan. http://web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. wittenberg. edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=b061e92d-24d2-41ec-9e4c-df5ed7fce55d%40sessionmgr15=4=11 [ 7 ]. Shanks, Hershel. Jerusalem's Temple Mount: From Solomon to the Golden Dome. New York: Continuum, 2007. Print. [ 8 ]. Shanks, Hershel. Jerusalem's Temple Mount: From Solomon to the Golden Dome. New York: Continuum, 2007. Print. [ 9 ]. Aref, El Aref. A Brief Guide to The Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem: The Supreme Awqaf Council. 1959.