The Cultural Diversity and its Impact on the Organization Case Study - 1

The Cultural Diversity and its Impact on the Organization - Case Study Example Additionally, each organization had developed its cultural practices, but now they have to make amendments that will make them compatible. This means that the human resource management ought to be firm in managing the culture of the company. Most importantly, the department must determine the culture and study that culture (Symes 2011, 47). Moreover, there are cultural differences between the merging and the acquired company. This could be issues like how each organization measures or defines their success, working terms, insurance, benefits for the employees, form or mode of management, the attitude of the employees, how they handled the problems and the functions conducted by the managers as they operated the company’s functions (Symes 2011, 48). Therefore, this paper focuses on indicating that human resource has a role to manage the culture of organizations that merge or in the acquisition. It is known that when the merger or acquisition of an organization fails, the blame is usually placed on the culture. Interestingly, culture shock could lead to failure where there is lack of effective human resource management (Gitelson et al. 2000, 105). It even gets worse when the merge includes two or more organizations from different countries. Arguably, the conflicts arise many times when the purchasing organization that made the initial move make deals and offers around finances. Additionally, the human resource department forms the larger company acquire some benefits that will help establish the problem. For example, insurance covers and pension plans that will cause a significant amount on the organization. Besides, the company needs to know or agree on the offers it will make after the merger or acquisition. However, when the major issues are to be addressed wisely, the combination can lead to an effective organization.  

Letter to Mayor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter to Mayor - Assignment Example I believe that the escalating crime rate is primarily because of the social inequity both in terms of socio-economic disparity amongst the diverse social fabric and the increasing rate of dropout adolescent population. I would like to take up the cause of school dropouts who have been excluded from the mainstream population. 12 week pilot study would be undertaken in the Afro American community where adolescent population is more inclined to foray into the area of crime. The discontent of the youngsters and the government’s inability to understand the demands of the changing time has become the bane of the general public. The racial profiling has added to the woes of the black community who are increasingly getting marginalized. The program would primarily study the problem of the youth in the designated community and would involve them into developing action groups which would work towards developmental goals. The program would be carried out as follow: Help create ‘self help group’ within the communities that would form linkages with the local authority, media, education institutes and social workers to promote awareness regarding government initiatives to resolve the problems of the community and help them to integrate within the mainstream population. Involve adolescents in productive activities like skill development, theatre, environment conservation activities etc. and ensure that their contribution is publicly acknowledged. This would motivate them to become more proactive towards development issue and thereby help them to develop into responsible adult. The social problems have direct impact on the policing and the law. The growing numbers of juvenile delinquents are not merely law and order problem but the wider implications of such cases pose serious threat to the future of the state itself. The need to create congenial environment to understand the problems of the youth has become the need of the hour. It is imperative that all the agencies

European Union’s Democratic Deficit: A Critical Assessment

European Union’s Democratic Deficit: A Critical Assessment Introduction The European Union is in a middle of a crisis. The worst part of its economic crisis has passed but it still faces even more severe issue: a trust crisis. People do not feel represented by the European Union and have turned their support towards populist and radical movements. What is the basis of this crisis? Some authors incline to say it is the EU’s democratic deficit. Thus, since there is a wide gap between what EU citizens want from their politicians and how the EU bureaucrats and institutions act. This leads to a situation where the public’s opinion and desires are not taking into account by the body that should represent them[1]. Yet, first we need to analyse in detail what a democratic deficit means to then address this problem. Democratic deficit is a tricky issue as it does not have a widely accepted definition between politics and law scholars. Depending on the author and its background, the term can be used with different connotations and meanings; hence, the results of the analysis tend to depend on the notion of democratic deficit the author uses[2]. Therefore, first, we shall develop our own democratic deficit conceptual approximation. Then, we will be able to lead a critical assessment on representation and participatory actual problems of the European Union. Afterwards, we will have all the tools necessary to address in detail if there is a true democratic deficit problem in the European Union and to propose some possible alternatives to solve it. The European Union and Democratic Deficit If a hyperbole is permitted, democratic deficit may have as many meanings as authors have discussed it. It is not an easy issue to address or to encompass in a single-simple definition. First of all, especially because, even though we can agree on some basis for democracy, in wide terms it is an ambiguous subject. So, what an author considers a democratic deficit will be highly influenced by what he considers to be a democracy. One of the first scholars to use this term was British David Marquand. He used it to define the democratic legitimacy faintness of –then- European Community. He suggested direct elections for representatives before the European Parliament. When this was adopted, the issue around European Community democratic legitimacy arose even further, as for the European Parliament represented the voice of the European Community citizens but the Community was not ready to give more powers to the Parliament, causing more tension. After the approval of the Maastricht treaty, the problem grew. Two pillars were added to the Union (common Foreign and Security Policy and Home Affairs), and in none of them the Parliament had any control[3]. Other authors propose the democratic deficit problem in the terms of a backwards Hume’s is/ought as they consider there is a discrepancy between is and ought/ should in the European Union[4] institutions and democracy as the transfer of substantial amounts of political decision-making towards the supranational level on non-elected institutions has diminished the democratic influence and the basic control the citizens have on their political institutions. It is obvious that at the first stages of the European Community it was reasonable and necessary to keep citizens away from decision-making as it was initially designed to be an economic community and not a political institution[5], but its goals mutated in time. The Community passed from a purely economic institution to a political one. As it was a community formed by democratic countries, one could expect that the supranational body they formed would also have democratic and participatory channels. Nonetheless, European Union turned into a bureaucratic and political giant that has slowly diminished the national entities and directly-elected supranational bodies -European Parliament- and passed it to its hands. Yet, other approaches[6] suggest that, even though the democratic deficit issue is real, it has to be attributed to the Union’s member states, rather than the Union itself. Integration between European states was responding to a series of already-existing democratic legitimacy issues within the states. They argue that the Union is not democratic enough because the member states have not been able to democratise their integration. The issue of the lack of democracy within European Union institutions is not considered as the cause of the problem, but the natural consequence of the democratic deficit of European Union members. This perspective must be necessarily rebuked. Even with their flaws, most of the European Union members have developed and stable democracies. If an institution poses itself as the supranational ruler of a continent and its legitimate representative, it must follow the same form of government that those national units it intends to rule, which is democracy. Where could European Union legitimacy come if not from its citizens? The Union’s decisions directly impact its citizens, as much as a national government decision, or even more. It also breaks citizens’ capacity to rely on the regular channels of influence –voting- to ensure they are being listened and to participate in political process[7]. The lack of democracy of the Union and is tightness to evolve and accept citizens demands only causes further disgust and loss of legitimacy. European Union is a sui generis institution, as it is not a state but it represents them and takes decisions in their name, therefore it should be held accountable for its decisions in direct elections. One cannot fail to notice that there is a deep democratic deficit in the European Union from the turnout in its elections. Ever since legislative powers were transferred to the Council of Ministers of the European Union from the national governments, the setup of the European Union shifted from that of an economic block to that of a political one. The lack of democracy in the Union has been evident in the voter turnout. From the first vote in 1979, the turnout has been going lower and lower with the 2014 election having a disappointing turnout of 42.54%. Compared to the individual member nations where the average voter turnout is 68%, this is a sign that the members of the European Parliament have noted something wrong with the setup and are thus silently revolting. This has led to the debate as to what ought to be done to get the Union back on track. While one side states that reforms are enough to make the Union serve its needs, others think the European Union should be simply debunked. The fact that the European Union has a lot of benefits for its member states and the world in general, however, means that its abolishment is not the best solution. To get the best solution for the case, therefore, requires an in-depth analysis of how the Union works and where it is failing. The Origin of the Democratic Deficit of the European Union Looking at the origins of the European Union, it is easy to make the conclusion that it was primarily meant to be purely economic and the introduction of the political aspects only complicated issues. The Treaty of Paris in 1951 saw to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) which was meant to provide a trading bloc for coal and steel in Europe as suggested by its name. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome saw to the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC’s original members were known as the European Communities. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty would see to the establishment of the European Union. With the European Union came the introduction of European citizenship. The latest of the treaties in this regard is the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon. While a lot has changed in the structure and function of the European Union to the present moment, some of the problems that plague the Union are the same.   The Manifesto for the Young European Federalists by Richard Corbett first raised the issue of the lack of democracy in the European Union in 1977 where the term democratic deficit was first used. David Marquand would later use the term in reference to the workings of the European Economic Community. The coining of the term primarily focused on the European Parliament, which was previously referred to as the European Assembly, and why it had a deficit of democracy. The primary argument behind this assertion is that the Parliament was made up of members who had not been directly elected by the citizens of the European Union. As such, the European Union was not serving the needs of its citizens but those of a few people. Effectively, the European Union is thus not democratic enough given that it does not meet the definition of a democracy where there is a government for the majority. The fact that the majority is not represented through free and fair elections of the members of the European Parliament is one point to the fact that there is a deficiency of democracy in the Union. The European Constitution The European Union prides itself in democratic legitimacy through various aspects of the constitution. The first of these aspects is the European Parliament. The Parliament is subject to the electorates of the member states. The other organs are the Council of the European Union also called the Council of Ministers, and the European Council made up of the heads of national governments of the member states. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union appoint the European Commission members. This system of making decisions is supposed to give the European Union democratic legitimacy in the same way the US House of Representatives and the US Senate give democratic legitimacy to the United States. Decisions are thus to be reached by both bodies agreeing, and a third organ in this case the European Commission. The intended democratic legitimacy has, however, not been entirely attained by the European Union. The construction of the Union itself has occasioned what the German Constitutional Court called a structural democratic deficit in the Union. This court established that the process of making decisions for the European Union was primarily those of an international organisation rather than those of a government. The difference is that, as an international organisation, the European Union based its democracy on the equality of the member nations rather than the citizens of these countries. It is thus difficult to reconcile the needs of the citizens and those of the member nations of the European Union provided its operation as an international organisation rather than a government. Similarly, the British Electoral Reform Society filed a report in 2014 to the same issue of the EU constitution having a structure which focused on the needs of the member states rather than the citizens. The r eport stated that, while the European Union has focused on upholding the principles of democratic engagement, accountability and representativeness, there is the need to focus on the needs of the minority in any democracy. The European Union, being mostly made up of minorities, thus needs to have a focus on serving the needs of the citizens rather than those of the member governments[8]. Democratic Deficit and the European Commission One of the main structures put in place by the European Union in support of democracy is the European Commission. First, there has been criticism concerning the legitimacy of the European Commission and its role in the initiation of legislation in the European Union. However, this criticism does not have the backing of facts as similar bodies within national governments have yielded similarly poor results. However, its position as a body that legitimises the European Union and its take on democracy has failed by a large extent. The main weakness with such a body, as also noted in the case of the United States government, is that the regulations may be so detailed that the member states have little freedom in making their decisions on legislation[9]. While the issue of a democratic deficit was noted as far back as the 1970s when the idea of a united Europe was still in development, democratic legitimacy has always been an issue the Union has been dealing with ever since. When the Treaty of Lisbon was put in place, its primary aim was to provide room for better democracy in the region. The Treaty of Lisbon required that the President of the European Commission ought to take account of the results of the European Union parliamentary elections. This simply means that the President of the European Commission should be nominated by the   most dominant group in the parliament. This step effectively makes the European Union a political body rather than the economic one meant for the over watch of the economic activities of Europe. In fact, the European Union, owing to this kind of structure, has become partly a federation and also an international organisation[10]. The President of the European Commission would thus be partly elected and partly appointed. This position gives the president less power than is needed to win the confidence of the population, and too much power to earn the trust of the governments of the member nations. The resulting model is one where little democracy is accorded to the citizens of the European Union and their governments as well. The European Parliament and Democratic Deficit When the European Parliament was set up, a lot of people were ready to voice its weaknesses in seeing to the implementation of legislation. However, political scientists would come to the rescue of this organ by stating that, first, the European Parliament is different from the parliaments of single countries due to various factors such as the lack of a divide between the government and the opposition, the presence of a divide between the executive and the legislature, the presence of political parties that are decentralised, bipartisan voting, and the roles of the various committees. For this reason, the European Parliament has been compared to the US House of Representatives but with the advantage of not having a governing body over it like the latter house. The fact that the majorities in the European Parliament have to be built each time while depending on negotiations, persuasions, and explanations ought to make it better in function than the US House of Representatives. This is true given that the lack of interference between the executive and the legislature has made the European Commission and the European Parliament more effective. For instance, the member states of the European Union have less than 15% of their legislative initiatives becoming the law. This is largely due to the lack of support from the executive. The executive bodies, on the other hand, rarely require the input of the legislature in the same nations to pass amendments. The role of the European Parliament is the propositioned amendments to the existing laws. The success rate of these amendments is as high as 80% with the lowest levels recorded (mostly for the hotly contested topics) is at 30%. To an extent, however, the structure of the European Parliament allows for a level of lack of accountability and weakness when it is compared to parliaments with an overwatch body like the case of the US House of Representatives. Voter Turnout in European Elections and the Impact on Democratic Deficit With any democracy, the legitimacy of the leaders in power heavily relies upon the turnout of the voters during elections. The European Parliament has had some of the lowest levels of elections voter turnout hence the reduction in its democratic legitimacy. This is based on the fact that the turnout of the European Parliament elections has been declining consistently since its formation. However, the President of the European Union, Pat Cox, said that the 1999 European Parliament elections and a far much better turnout than the presidential elections in the United States. Compared, the voter turnout for the presidential elections in the United States in 1996 was 49%. However, the voter turnout in the European Parliament elections for 1999 was at 49.51 percent. For both types of elections, this turnout was among the very lowest. While both are at their lowest, it is difficult to use this as an excuse for the lack of democracy in the European Union. As a matter of fact, the case of the United States is very different from that of the European Union and the reasons for the low voter turnouts. For the European Union, the people have an option of whether to belong to the Union or not. And the way they can show their willingness to belong or not belong to the Union is through participating (or not participating) in its activities such as elections. The social aspect of the European Union, that of being accepted or rejected by the people, has been observed in the way the people have turned out in low numbers at each European Parliament vote[11]. The massive lack of knowledge for the common citizen of the European Union has led to the lack of participation by the voters. On the other hand, the United States electorate can have a low voter turnout for many other reasons none (or very little) of which is being against the union that is the United States. As it is, the European Union is not a very effective and efficient democracy given that its workings are not in line even with the developing democracies of the world. First, it is torn between being a government, and an international organisation. Secondly, the citizens, having seen that the democracy of the Union does not work (and it is too complex to understand), are increasingly ceasing to buy into the idea of the European Union being there to improve their lives through fostering democracy. Democratic Deficit and the Council of the European Union Another organ of the European Union is the Council of the European Union. This Council is also part of the efforts of the union to foster democracy among the member states. Its primary role is acting as the voice of the member governments of the EU while adopting the laws European Union and coordinating the polices of the union as well. Depending on the policies of the union, the government ministers of the members states are the members or the Council of the European Union. The presidency of the Council is held on a rotating basis (among the states) with each president holding the office for 6 months only. The Council carries out voting on legislation and discussions with both exercises being held in public. The decisions are based on a qualified majority whereby at least 55% of the countries (which is about 65% of the total population of the European Union) are required. In blocking a decision, 4 nations are needed (being the equivalent of 35% of the European Union population). For issues that are of an administrative and procedural nature require a simple majority while a unanimous vote is needed for the very sensitive topics such as taxation and foreign policy. While the structure of the Council of the European Union seems to read democracy all through it, the same weaknesses that plague the European Parliament plague it hence it is just another example of democratic deficit in the EU. For one, own-initiative reports from either the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union do not have legal consequences as such to the member states. Also, both bodies cannot play major roles in the amendment and repealing of legislation that is already in place. Lastly, and most importantly, the bodies do not address the needs of the citizens of the member nations. Looking at the structure of the European Union, it is easy to conclude that the reason it has not met the needs of the citizens is because there is too much bureaucracy between the top organs of the Union and the common citizens for the member states. The organs are too separated from the citizens in that the decision made take a very long route to reach the citizen. The representatives also have to make decisions which serve the needs of the Union and those of their respective countries; an issue which often introduces a conflict of interest. What the European Union has Done to Better Democratic Legitimacy All the concerns expressed here about the democratic legitimacy of the European Union have been expressed before by various persons and bodies and they have been heard by the people at the helm of the Union. For this reason, the Union has put in place various changes to the constitution with the focus being on doing away with the noted weaknesses in the laws and constitution of the Union in general. Among the changes made include the introduction of the Maastricht Treaty. This was a landmark treaty which is credited with the introduction of citizenship of the European Union. This citizenship would grant EU citizens voting rights to the European Parliament in each of their countries. Even municipal elections of the European Union were also included in the treaty. The treaty would also introduce co-decision procedure in which the European Parliament was given powers that gave it an equal footing to the Council of the European Union in making legislative decisions[12]. These steps would make the European Parliament much more functional and powerful but not powerful enough to overcome the issues of being a purely democratic entity.   The other change made to the constitution of the European Union is the Treaty of Lisbon. Becoming effective from the 1st of December 2009, the treaty saw to better representation of the EU citizens both directly in the European Parliament and indirectly through the Council of the European Union. This was meant to foster democracy and representation. The treaty would also see to the implementation and acceptance of the co-decision procedure as the primary procedure for the legislative dealings of the Union. The Treaty of Lisbon is also credited with tremendously increasing the powers of the European Parliament by a large extent[13]. One of the main areas in which the Treaty of Lisbon helped focus on the EU citizens was in giving the citizens the right to make petitions to the European Parliament concerning any matters of material effect[14]. This increased the powers of the citizen and their levels of participating in the making of decisions. Further on, the treaty would ensure th at Council of the European Union meetings which discussed public matters are made public for all to see. In this way, the citizens can better understand the debates and the workings of the European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon also receives credit for improving on the role played by the national parliaments of the member nations in putting in place the laws and legislations of the Union[15]. Lastly, the Treaty of Lisbon is credited with giving the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union full legal effect. This meant that various steps taken by the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament would have full legal effect in areas where they apply[16]. Conclusion The workings of the European Union in seeking democracy have been so far ineffective on various levels as observed above. While there is intention from the leaders of the European Union to remedy these weaknesses in the workings of the Union, the fundamental reason why there have been low levels of success when it comes to attaining democracy for all citizens is its structure. It aims to operate like a government yet at its basic form it is an amalgamation of governments. Each of these governments have different needs, goals, histories and fundamental principles. The rest is that the leaders of each country first take care of their countries’ needs before those of the European Union. Also, its structure makes it difficult to make laws that will lead to better governance as each piece of legislation needs to have the needs of the many member states at heart. With time, it can be hoped that better legislation will be enabled for all the democracy to be attained. References Avbelj, M. 2005. Can the New European Constitution Remedy the EU Democratic Deficit?. EUMAP.org Campbell, M (2012) The Democratic Deficit of the European Union. Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union, p. 25. Castro, C. (2015). Assessing the Democratic Deficit in the EU: towards a Participatory Approach. RIPS, 14 (1), p. 63. Craig, P; Grainne De; P. P. Craig (2007). Chapter 11 Human rights in the EU. EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 379. Dilek, K. (2011). The Problem of â€Å"Democratic Deficit† in the European Union. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1 (5) p. 244. Electoral Reform Society — Close the Gap — Tackling Europes democratic deficit. European Parliament: Relations with National Parliaments. Innerarity, D (2015). The Inter-Democratic Deficit of the European Union: The Governance of Europes Economic, Political and Legal Transformation. Pp. 173-174. Kelemen, R. (2012). The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond. Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22. Milev, M. (2004) A ‘Democratic Deficit’ in the European Union? Master Thesis, I.H.E.I. p. 10. Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. [1] Castro, C. (2015). Assessing the Democratic Deficit in the EU: towards a Participatory Approach. RIPS, 14 (1), p. 63. [2] Milev, M. (2004) A ‘Democratic Deficit’ in the European Union? Master Thesis, I.H.E.I. p. 10 [3] Milev (2004), pp. 11-12. [4] Dilek, K. (2011). The Problem of â€Å"Democratic Deficit† in the European Union. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1 (5) p. 244 [5] Castro, C. (2005), p. 66. [6] Innerarity, D (2015). The Inter-Democratic Deficit of the European Union: The Governance of Europes Economic, Political and Legal Transformation. Pp. 173-174 [7] Campbell, M (2012) The Democratic Deficit of the European Union. Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union, p. 25. [8] Electoral Reform Society — Close the Gap — Tackling Europes democratic deficit. [9] Kelemen, R. (2012). The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond. Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22. [10] Charlemagne. 2013. A democratic nightmare: Seeking to confront the rise of Eurosceptics and fill the democratic deficit. The Economist. [11] Avbelj, M. 2005. Can the New European Constitution Remedy the EU Democratic Deficit?. EUMAP.org [12] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–32. [13] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–44 [14] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. [15] European Parliament: Relations with National Parliaments. [16] Craig, P; Grainne De Burca; P. P. Craig (2007). Chapter 11 Human rights in the EU. EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 379.

The Merchant Of Venice :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

The Merchant Of Venice Act 1 In the fist act, Antonio is introduced as the Merchant of Venice. A friend of him, Bassanio, desperately needs money because all of his money is on his ships and he wants to go to Belmont to visit the woman of his dreams, Portia. Therefore he goes to Antonio to ask if he is willing to go to Shylock and ask him if he can have 3000 ducats. Antonio agrees and goes to Shylock and explains that he has to pay it back within 3 months. If he doesn't do this, he may cut one pound of his fair flesh... Act 2 In Belmont, the casket bond proceeds: with two already rejected, news comes that Bassanio is at Portia's gate. Meanwhile, Shylock is left bewailing the loss of his ducats and his daughter that has run away with Lorenzo and the treasure. Shylock doesn't like this at all because he really doens't like the Christians and Lorenzo is a Christian Act 3 Jessica is now together with Lorenzo. She is a Jew and he's a Christian. Jessica is embarrassed to be a Jew is planning to change religion for Lorenzo. Shylock is still looking for them and is very mad when he finds out that she has sold a ring, that was given to Shylock by his wife, for a monkey. Meanwhile Bassanio is picking one of the caskets and takes the correct one; the leaden casket. He may now marry Portia. Because Antonio hasn't paid back the 3000 ducats he had lend from Shylock, Shylock may have one pound of his fair flesh. Shylock takes it to court... Act 4 Still in the court of law, Portia and Nerissa have disguised themselves as doctor and clerk. Shylock wants his revenge on the Christians because they treat him like a dog and spit on him. He wants his bond and the one pound of the flesh of Antonio. Portia very smartly knows how to trick him by saying that it doesn't say in the bond that any blood can be spilt and that he has to take exactly one pound of the flesh. No more and no less. Shylock has to give up because he can't deny this. Antonio is safe! Bassanio has given the ring that he had got from Portia to the doctor and Gratiano has given the ring that he had got from Nerissa to the clerk... They had said to their women that they would never give the rings away.

Edward Steichen’s Commercial Photography

Edward Steichen was a brilliant and lithe artist, capable of continually transforming photography along with the changes marked by modernity and liberalism during his time. Steichen’s inclinations that revolutionized photography and realized its purpose as an art form made him an icon that art enthusiasts, as well as aspiring photographers and artists should look up to. Moreover, Steichen’s determination to stand out in various fields of artistic backgrounds such as art critiquing, to commercial photography, and from painting, to being a museum curator, became an inspiration to artists and non-artists alike to surmount various fields or industries that interests us, and dedicate ourselves to things that we love most. (Morrison, 2007) The remainder of the text will discuss specific roles and contributions that Steichen has made throughout the years that gave photography its uniqueness and significance. Steichen’s life has made a tremendous influence on how he became an imaginative force of nature to photography so the most significant parts of his life will be recounted not only to pay tribute to him but also to illustrate how his existence merged with the subsistence of the field of photography. Edward Steichen’s Commercial Photography Edward Steichen was born on March 27, 1879 in Luxembourg. However, most of life was spent in the United States as his family moved to the country while he was still young. His interest in pursuing a career in arts and photography was apparent when he reached the age of sixteen. â€Å"Edward Steichen,† 2008) Steichen underwent training in lithography which allowed him to obtain necessary knowledge and skills in printing colored shapes and figures on plates that became instrumental in his practical understanding of photography and the artistic formation of various images in color through painting. Although painting interested him as much as photography, he chose to reinforce his obtained knowledge and skills on the latter as his way of taking the field of photography seriously – something that was taken lightly beforehand. His perceptions of serious photography were fueled by his persistence in melding the artistry in the field, as well as with commercialism. (Morrison, 2007) His unique and earnest take of photography led him to meet and become partners with Alfred Steigletz. Together, they established Photo Secession, which mainly reproduced the pictorialist style of photographic art. This style was exceptional in its form as photographs taken were made to look like products of painting artistry and ingenue. Since the opening of Photo Secession, Steichen has focused on redefining photography. He wanted to bring in something fresh to the artistry scene so he created many photo exhibitions that presented various foreign works, particularly the renowned works of French photographers such as Henry Matisse. (Mitchell, 2008) He moved on to studying and developing aerial photography. His interest in this type of photography was intensified by the learned possibility of producing images that are clear-cut, in focus, and well-designed. Schueth) During this time, Steichen was all about characterizing photography as something meaningful, significant, and most importantly beautiful, as opposed to it being taken for granted in the past just like a mere tool for leisure pursuit and such. Steichen’s life after World War I was the most distinguished part of his artistic career in commercial and fashion photography as it was during this time that he was hired as the chief photographer of Conde Nast which managed Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines. Hobson, 2001) Although Steichen’s move to be part of fashion and commercial photography was entirely different from his previous artistic points of views and aims of what photography really meant to him, he still continued to accept projects and shoots for advertising and fashion photography purposes. Despite the disagreement of Steiglitz in his chosen career path (Hobson, 2001), Steichen considered the prospect of working on commercial and fashion photography as a challenge and a means to expand the limits of the field of photography. Through this experience, Steichen was able to formulate new and various techniques in photography which helped in realizing his purpose of allowing photography to be the vehicle for aesthetic materialism. (Zurich, 2008) Some of Steichen’s remarkable works with commercial photography includes his past projects for Welch, Jergen’s, and Kodak. His enthusiasm for meaningful and straightforward photography was reflected in his commercial works as he utilized real-life situations as subjects for illustrating various products advertised by business organizations. His photographs for Eastman Kodak showed how people were seen forthrightly while utilizing this particular product. As time went on, after a variety of commercial photography sessions, Steichen was able to realize the connection between photography and advertising. At this point, Steichen succeeded in bringing out the momentous nature of photography, not only as a means that exuded aesthetics but also as it was related to every human being which influenced their way of thinking and behavior. This point of view, he applied in the Welch Juice magazine photographs drawing out the elegant and upscale nature of the product. (Hobson, 2001) His technique in utilizing photography to appeal to varying degrees of social positions and points of view earned him a rise in Vogue magazine sales following its release. Perhaps, his ability to meld photography with multiple disciplines led to his success in commercial photography. It was primarily attributed to his intellectual faculties that made photography a tool for realizing the purpose of marketing and advertising. Steichen saw the potential of photography to sway the minds of the people into something desired by him or business organizations who produce various products for the benefit of the market population. His views about advertising in commercial photography were fueled by the things and situations he experienced during World War I. During that time, he worked for the Photographic Section of the Army Air Service in France and he was trained to reproduce copies of photographs that met identified needs and requirements to maintain patronage among the people and industries to the army. The militaristic perspective in utilizing photographs was adapted by Steichen in his works, and allowed him to look at explicit and constructive angles of products or subjects that would gain the confidence and attention of its viewers. (Johnson, 2000) Contributing to his successes in commercial photography was his positive nature and characteristics that drew people toward him and gained trust for his artistic capabilities. He was open to working with other people in the industry, collaborating with various art directors and clients to obtain insights and share knowledge and information that improved his craft. Moreover, he studied the trends in advertising and worked on adjusting his photographic styles to current strategies and techniques in marketing. Through his research, he was able to develop his most successful technique in commercial photography that is realism. He realized the importance of emotional responses as a means to establish connection with his audience or viewers. His ability to take pieces of his viewers’ realities and transform it into meaningful messages within his photographs while incorporating the dimensions of marketing and advertising subconsciously earned him the trust of business organizations and marketing industries. He veered away from the hostile and uncomfortable dynamics of aggressive and direct advertising and transformed this particular marketing strategy to adapt rationalism, realism, and gentle persuasion. (Johnson, 2002) Overall, his strategy in commercial photography not only influenced the field of photography but also transformed business and marketing as separate industries. For one, he was able to make his subjects household names, meeting the needs, requirements, and demands of business organizations and marketing industries. He satisfied not only the audience, viewers, or consumers, but also the corporations behind his photographic subjects. His views of realism as an important force in photography and marketing allowed to become a part of business strategies being implemented not only in the past but until present time. However, it was not only his career in commercial photography that determined his successful career. It was also his elegant and modern works on fashion spreads that revealed his range, from pictorialist to aerial, and commercial to fashion photography. Steichen’s photographic contributions to fashion were dubbed as his celebrity aesthetic approach to photography. (Riding, 2007) He shot various stars and celebrities for Vanity Fair and Vogue covers in style, as he aimed to perfect their public figures by taking pictures of them representative of their beauty, grace, and alluring persona. For Steichen’s fashion shoots, every angle and every shot was all about capturing the essence of beauty and power. (Richard, 2008) His sense of fashion photography may be summed up in two words – elegance and modernity – despite the classic and conventional influences. Picardie, 2008) Conclusion Steichen’s brilliance as an artist was fueled by his ability to transform the face of photography by incorporating various techniques and approaches which redefined and added to what photography can do aside from its obvious practical purpose of reproducing images for leisure purposes. In addition, Steichen was able to take the classic and conventional features of photography and develop new techniques that allow it to change with the demands and requirements of modern and liberal times. Aside from Steichen’s ability to wander from one artistic background to another as a measure of this ingenuity and excellence in the field, his capacity to take photography under the context of other disciplines established his exceptionality as a photographer during his time. Steichen did not take his craft lightly and looked for various ways on how it will be improved that furthered his aims of making it a means to reproduce the reality in beauty that may be captured in photographs.   

Week final assignment

For each article, address the following: a. Create a bibliographic citation in PAP format for each article b. Summarize the article, addressing the following questions: I. Who? I. What was done? Iii. How was it done? Iv. What were the findings? V. What contributions has this research made? C. Describe in a meaningful way, how the article contributed to your knowledge and understanding about your selected research topic. D. Critique the article: I. Is this article well-written and well-researched? Ii. Did it/does it lead to new ideas and findings in the selected researched area? E.Synthesize your understanding of the article with what you have learned throughout the course to describe the new learning that took place as a result of reading and thinking critically about the article. A. ADD. (1997, Par 06). Dayton Daily News. Retrieved from http://search. Prostitutes/ This article was published in the Dayton Daily News. The main focus of this article was the simple definition of what At tention deficit hyperactivity disorder is. It explained that it individuals with this disorder are unable to pay attention and are very impulsive. It states that children with this disorder often do not do well in school.No matter what their intelligence level is, they still will not do well in school. The article listed many symptoms that include having short attention spans, forgetful, do not meme to listen well, do not pay attention to details and individuals also fail to finish things they Start. This article listed many symptoms that I were not aware were part of it. At the same time many of the symptoms seem to describe many children in preschool and kindergarten age. Which it surprised me that the article stated that children need to be diagnosed before the age of 7.But I was glad to see that some of the symptoms have to create a real hardship in the lives before the individual can be diagnosed. This article was helpful in the sense that it was very simple and straight to the point. It loud be good to have as a reference in order to maybe talk to parents if problems become apparent with a child. B. Sorrows, K. F. (2009). ADD: urban teachers' knowledge, beliefs and classroom practice. (Order No. 3361083, University of Massachusetts Boston). Prosiest Dissertations and Theses, , 234-n/a. Retrieved from http://search. Prosiest. Mom/ deceive/305140059? Cacao anti=32521. (305140059). This article was written by Karen Sorrows in 2009. This article talked about the importance of teacher intervention with students that have ADD. These students were from the urban area where medical intervention is less likely to append. The article also discusses how a teacher may juggle the needs of students with ADD and the others students who do not have the disorder. It talks about the interrelationships between urban elementary school teachers use and effectiveness of research based interventions for ADD.The study showed teachers' knowledge of ADD and the support they recei ve from the school districts. This was a very useful article in the way that it showed that there are support groups and other teachers deal with students with ADD. It allows a community for a teacher to go to and get any idea and or help if they deed it. It helps put in perspective that there are many families and children that are affected by this disorder that are unable to seek medical help and it is up to the teacher to try to make the best of the situation for the children sake. C. Dovish, S, van, d. O.. Wires, R.W. , print, P. J. , & M. (2013). What part of working memory is not working in ADD? Short-term memory, the central executive and effects of reinforcement. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41 901-17. Did:http://DXL. Did. Rover. MM 0802-013-9729-9 This article was written by several authors that included Dovish, Van, Wires, ND Primps. This article talks about the defects in the working memory that are common with ADD. In children that have ADD their working memory is what is affected the most. Both cognitive and motivational deficits are aberrant working memory performance.This is a good article in the sense that it helps individuals understand the inside working of the mind of a child who has ADD. It helps show the memory that it affects and controls. From the visual to the short term memory, there is more to ADD then we know. I found this article very interesting and it is very informative on the details of he workings of the brain of an individual with ADD. 5. Summarize the overall findings of your research including the summary, description, critique, and synthesis completed for each individual article. A.In the article that I read I found that there are fewer children that are affected with ADD than prior thought. It is said that only 5% of children are affected with ADD. It also gave me some insight on what some of the symptoms are. Even though some seem very extreme, the symptoms are very treatable. Most children with ADD are able to b ecome functioning parts of society once they become adults. It is said that all children no matter what their intelligence level maybe still have problems academically in one way or another. I also learned that many parents blame the school systems for their child's ADD problems.They blame the teachers for not being able to â€Å"teach† properly or looking for a way out of teaching their children. ADD is a genetic disorder that runs throughout the family. 6. Describe two applications this research and your deepened understanding of this educational psychology topic have to the following: a. Academic goals I. My research has really opened my eyes on how children with ADD feel and hat they may go through. It is a very sad and yet very challenging. Plan to try to keep up on all the information that I can in order to make sure that each student gets the best education possible.I know that some children with ADD can be difficult in the classroom and with other students, but it is my job as an educator to stay current with all that is happening and any new teaching techniques. Taking extra classes and helping parents as much as I can is always an option. I will also learn to distinguish the difference between a child acting out and a child who may have ADD b. Personal goals I. I know that what have researched will help in my future teaching career. I plan on teaching middle school history and children at that age can be very trying at times.I can only hope that the proper steps were taken in prior years through possible academic assessments and other symptoms to get children the medical help that they need in order to do well through the middle school years. Can only hope that if by chance I do encounter a child with ADD I have learned the proper tools in order to give the child the best education I can. C. Current role I. In my current role as a mother, wife and a full time employee I can see that I eave seen many individuals with many (but not all and not c onsecutively) symptoms of ADD and to be honest it can be very frustrating at times.