The Fall of the Roman Empire by Arther Ferrill (1986) provides well written and interesting reading for the non-historian. While Ferrill breaks down many areas of the Roman Empire and it's decline, there are other areas where the author's description of some important details remains sketchy and leaves the reader wanting more information. Ferrill breezes over some very important explanations concerning why the Eastern Empire survived despite the Eastern army suffering the two major defeats of Adrianople and Julian's failed Persian campaign. Ferrill also does not support the argument that the Fall of Rome was the result of a successful conquest of barbarism and religion. He instead maintains that uncomplicated military failures contributed to Rome's decline. The case he presents supports that these were created by political blunders and that enough of the blunders created the misfortune that resulted in the decline of the Roman public spirit. Ferrill's descriptions of the Roman way of

As today's society focuses more and more on sports, the educational world is evolving to keep up with the pace. As a result, today's student athletes have even more opportunities and options available to them than they did just a decade ago. In addition to more scholarships in both high school and college education, student today are offered the opportunity to receive part of the credit required to graduate by actively participating in sports. There is also the new partial athletic scholarship offered by the Chrysler Car Dealership, which is being marketed to all student athletes. It's magazine ad features Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan spiraling through the air as she reads from a textbook. While these opportunities are wonderful for athletes, one must wonder where this emphasis on sports leaves those who are not athletically gifted. Many people argue that athletic scholarships and credit grants have gone too far. They believe that these opportunities provide an

One doesn't have to look beyond the first line on the first page of Kate Chopin's The Awakening to understand that art, music, beauty and poetry are about to come up hard against traditional values which are so firmly planted that nothing can move them. But it is because of this very obvious crash of values that Edna Pontellier finds herself, and sets herself free from the mundane in the end, and in a highly symbolic and poetic manner. In the opening scene, Mr. Pontellier is annoyed by a bright and attractive parrot that says, over and over, "Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!" Simply, the bird opens the book by telling anyone listening to "move on." The one who apparently moves on is Mr. Pontellier, so he can continue reading his paper, a mundane and traditional activity. Indeed, that noise and all the other noises in the resort area where he has taken his family bother him. Clearly, Mr. Pontellier is moved only to anger by w

In the United States any person or organization can patent an invention or original concept for a period of 17 years during which time the idea or the product cannot be duplicated, manufactured or sold by anybody else other than the patent holder. Patenting has been sorely abused as many drug manufacturers have literally monopolized the market by obtaining patents for important life saving drugs. Patenting creates a monopolistic market scenario in which the patentee who enjoys a competition free market dictates the price of the drugs. Invariably these drugs are priced very high and it is the consumers who are affected the most. While we cannot neglect the fact that the patentee has spent millions of dollars in research and development of the drug we cannot totally ignore the consequences for the consumers as well. The swellin

Historical Background At one time, Austria was at the helm of the powerful Austro-Hungarian empire. However, after defeating World War I, this center of power was reduced to a small republic. In 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and then was subsequently occupied by the victorious allies in 1945, which pushed Austria into an unclear political status that lasted a decade. 1955 marked the signing of a State Treaty that ended the occupation and recognized Austria's independence. It also prohibited unification with Germany. In that same year, constitutional law was passed that declared "perpetual neutrality" for Austria. This law was brought forth as a condition for the withdrawal of the Soviet military from Austria. Neutrality became part of the cultural identity experienced by Austrian, and in the past two decades has increasingly come into question due to the the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the entry of Austria into the European Union (EU) in 1995. On the whole, A

Although for the religious person death can be viewed as a joyful passing from this natural life to an eternal spiritual existence, the subject of death is still not easy to address. Our lives hold so many hopes, dreams, and plans, and when death comes, it means a sure end to all that we had hoped to accomplish, and all that we have done. Relationships will no longer enrich us, and the loved one, although believing to pass on into eternal bliss, often passes through a gateway of pain or disease before finding their eternal rest. When we experience a major loss, grief is the normal and natural way our mind and body react. Although everyone grieves differently, a common pattern has been identified of 5 specific stages of the grieving process. Someone experiencing grief moves through this series of emotional stages which include shock, numbness, guilt, anger and denial. Physical responses can accompany these steps in the grieving process. They can include: sl

Till recently, the community I live in was primarily a residential, middle class neighborhood that enjoyed a feeling of peace and security in what was seen as a safe district. Today, that same community is increasingly worried about a growing problem of juvenile delinquency caused by the commercial and low cost residential developments in next-door areas. While the community is concerned about juvenile delinquency leading to a higher crime rate, there is also worry over negative influences impacting younger members given the inevitable intermingling of children in schools and recreational areas. The signs of juvenile delinquency first manifested itself in the appearance of graffiti in what was earlier a green, pristinely clean neighborhood; the seemingly aimless loitering of congregations of youth (youth gangs) at street corners, in malls and parks; and stray incidents of reported burglaries. At first, the tendency was to i

Ms-Tique Corporation must introduce aerosol packaging because it has distinct advantages when compared with tube packaging. For one it has already entered the market which means competitors have taken a step into this direction and Ms-Tique might be felt behind if it fails to capture this market. Secondly, it has also been noticed that aerosol cans are more convenient and since demand for this brand is high, the company need not worry about the impact of new packaging on sales. A popular British magazine Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics (1996) shows that aerosol cans are high in demand: "The aerosol remains a firm favorite with consumers and is often a vehicle for sophisticated design. For manufacturers it is a cost-competitive product, standardized on a limited range of heights and diameters. Public relations manager at the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association (BAMA), Sarah Ross says: "People are buying more and more. Aerosols are convenient, effective and offer c

Porter's five forces are a structured expansion of the SWOT analysis. By using Porters forces and breaking down the SWOT categories into smaller information sectors, a business can gain a strategic advantage over their organizations direction and competitive positioning in the market place. The first of Porters forces is a measurement of existing rivalry amongst competition in the marketplace. This force exerts pressure on the organization by limiting or enabling the organization to make positive gains in the market place. The following specific qualifiers affect the Target Corporation. 1) The degree of seller concentration is high in the retail department store, and retail discount department store industry. Target has positions itself in the seam between discount mass merchants and higher end traditional department stores. For their niche, there are no other large scale competitors. However the market seam which they target is small, and Target faces encroachment into their demographics from the discount retailers and the higher end departm

Practitioners of justice, sociologists, and philosophers have long propounded the theory that the ultimate form of justice is the absence of injustice in society. Viewed from this stand point, the main argument of Retentionists for capital punishment that it acts as an effective deterrent in the prevention of crime and the protection of society from the evils of crime, seems a tenable one. But does it really' A review of the effects of capital punishment as a deterrent not only fails to corroborate the theory of Retentionists, it also raises questions on whether capital punishment violates the very concept of ultimate justice since there is a prima facie case to argue that, the practice of capital punishment may, in itself, actually amount to a form of social injustice. But first, it would be of importance to actually discuss the role, if any, of capital punishment in acting as a deterrent to crime. The Retentionists argue that the threat of capital punishment will: prevent cri

There is a single problem common to Uncle Tom's Cabin and All Quiet on the Western Front, despite the works' having been created in different centuries on different continents and nominally about different subjects. The single, common problem is this: the valuation of one group of human beings by another, with that valuation coming in lower for the group being valued. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, the group being valued as less worthy than others is the population of slaves. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the group being valued at lessâ€"devaluedâ€"is the group of young men sent to the trenches in World War I to fight for the old order's continued existence in Western Europe. Each novel uses different means to achieve its end, but the end is the same: sacrificing one group of people for the good of anotherâ€"in short, exploiting themâ€"is reprehensible. Each novel also uses the language a

This paper is an overview and discussion of the department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue. Its history, management, target markets and other factors will be discussed.

On December 11th, it was the time for a quiet 70th birthday held at a local Boston restaurant for Aaron Feuerstein, the CEO of Malden Mills. The evening turned out to be much more dramatic than was anticipated, as at the same time a boiler at his factory exploded and started a devastating fire. (Overcoming the Regulatory Hurdles) The fire injured 33 employees and destroyed three buildings in the factory. This was a personal loss for Aaron Feuerstein, as the factory was privately owned. The factory also had a very important social role as it was situated in a small Massachusetts town of Methuen, which was in an economically depressed area and an important employer there with 300 people. In the present day business logic, this should have been the end of the mill and its future. Instead of looking at his own financial and economic advantages, Aaron Feuerstein looked at the good of the community.

A 1999 article by James L. Pirkle and John T. Bernert entitled "Evaluation of Four Maternal Smoking Questions" used a survey method for research. The purpose of this paper is to examine this survey instrument with regards to its validity and reliability, as well as its appropriateness for the task at hand. The data collection method the authors used and the levels of data measurement for variables will also be discussed in order to fully understand the research that was done and whether it was completed in such a way as to be statistically significant and valid. Analysis of the survey instrument would indicate that it is valid and reliable. There is always some question as to reliability in any given survey instrument, simply because there is no way to guarantee that the people answering the questions are telling the truth. Because of this, the final data could be affected, but the likelihood is that the lies told on the survey, if any, are of a small enou

The Dead Sea Scrolls have certainly been one of the most, if not the most, important discoveries of ancient documents in the last 100 years. Certainly, it has been the most contentious of all discoveries and an entire flood of criticism, whether scholarly, evangelical, skeptical, or conspiratorial, has developed around the issue of the scrolls themselves. Given all of the hype of their discovery and the resulting hubbub, however, what is the real effect of the Dead Sea Scrolls on our understanding of biblical scholarship' One of the most common errors regarding the scrolls is to think that they have some sort of effect on the New Testamentâ€"they do not and do not contain any references to Jesus whatsoever, as they were actually composed before his birth: The body of literature known as the Dead Sea Scrolls predates the tim

Semiotics is the study of people and their culture by evaluating the signs and symbols which the culture holds as important. If it is possible to conceive of science that studies the role of signs as part of social life, and interprets the meaning of those symbols to the life of the community or culture itself, then semiotics is that course of study. Much like the process of interpreting paintings on cave walls in order to understand pre-historic man, semiotics looks at the cave paintings of a modern society and interprets some of the underlying thoughts, beliefs and values within that culture. Semiotics is derived from part of social psychology, and hence of general psychology. From the Greek semeon, 'sign', semiotics investigates the nature of signs of a culture, and the laws governing them. Linguistics is one branch of this general science that contributes to semiotics, as does sociology, history, and cultural psychology. The laws that semiotics will discover will be laws applicabl

The International Labor Office (ILO) suggests that every year two million lives are affected due to accidents and illnesses related to work. Work-related injuries also cost the world economy around $1.25 trillion which is equal to $1,250,000 million US dollars. (Safety Culture at Work. Safety in numbers - Pointers for a global safety culture at work, 2003). In USA every year there are several people who are affected as a result of work-related injuries. And among them it is the teenage population who account for the highest numbers of work-related injuries. The teenagers are usually affected as a result of burns, falls and other accidents in most of the work-related injuries. Workplace chemicals can also affect them. There have been growing concerns that teenagers who are exposed to chemicals during work would generate reproductive disorders in their later life. It has been found by scientists that reproductive organs coul

Criminal justice in the United States is an expensive business. It is the only country in the west that routinely sentences offenders to prison terms longer than two years: 39 percent of state prisoners in 1991 had been sentenced to ten years or longer. It is also the only country in the west that, on an average day, holds more than 125 per 100,000 of its residents in jail or prison: on a typical day in 1998, nearly 700 per 100,000 Americans were behind bars. (Hallett & Polumbo, xiii) Yet according to many, the US criminal justice system is doing far less than enough; according to the US National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, "There is a criminal justice process through which each offender passes from the police, to the courts, and back unto the streets. The inefficiency, fall-out, and failure of purpose during this process is notorious." (Hallett & Polumbo, xiii) Contemporary policies concerning crime and punishment are not only am

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson has two main characters, a housewife named Tessie Hutchinson, who is the person who wins the lottery at the end, and Mr. Summers, the man who organizes the lottery. Mr. Summers had brought the black box for the drawing with all the little white pieces of paper in it and he calls everyone up to pick them out. Tessie Hutchinson argues about how the lottery isn't fair and how her husband didn't have enough time to pick a piece of paper. All of the other characters in this story all play a significant role by just saying a few words and by helping throw the stones at Tessie. The story begins with a description of the beautiful day it is outside. The very first thing Shirley Jackson tells the reader is what time of day it is and what time of year the story takes place. The time of day is set at ten o'clock in the morning and the time of year is an ear

We were completely lost in the maze of cobblestone streets. The Spanish street signs meant nothing, and our map of Seville didn't show enough detail to help us navigate our way back to the hotel. My brother and I had been walking in circles for hours, and the two of us were tired, hungry, and cranky. This was our first day in Spain and the trip was off to a stressful start. We split off from our parents hours ago to explore the town and although it had been a great day, we were anxious and worried that we would not make it back to the pension on time to meet our parents for dinner. If we were very late, they would probably be worried, and worse, they would never let us alone again. I began to curse everything around me and wondered why we couldn't just hail a taxi. To make matters worse, none of the people we asked had heard of the small pension we were lodging at. Instead, we were answered by confused stares and shoulder shrugs. We decided to give up on our poor navigational sk

Is blood thicker (or heavier) than water - or, put another way, "does blood run deeper than love'" In most cases, family members will always back other family members in a dispute with mere friends or outsiders. One example of how universal the sanctity of family is: the moral crime of incest. It's an anthropologically provable fact, that the one most universally observed (enforced) taboo within all of the world's known societies is incest. Having sex with a member of one's nuclear family is taboo, always; but on the oth

"When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of "get acquainted" period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well." [1] Jackson Pollock was a revolutionary artist of his times. His vision of painting brought a revolution in the world of art. In this paper I will delve into the life of the great artist and throw light on his achievements as perceived through the society. Pollock's work is highly distinctive from other artists of his times due to the technique described as action paintings'. His critics describe his work of art as the distribution of color and shapes that create undifferentiated symmetry making hi

First of all, let us define the term "institution" to enable us to understand more on how and why the church acts like an institution. In terms of religion, an "institution" is the preservation of religious traditions and relationship with God that we inherited from the communities of previous generations. Then, how and why does the church act like an institution' Allow me first to answer the question "why'" We have embraced our religious symbolisms and manner of relationship with God from the ea

The origins of religion, no matter how old, can be traced to the fundamental premise of good versus evilâ€"with good triumphing, eventually. Religions like Buddhism rely on the inherent goodness of man. Other religions, however seek a higher power; an almighty that epitomizes the good and strives to fight for his (her) believers against any force of evil. Hinduism is a unique religion in that it is pantheisticâ€"belief in many Gods and their reincarnations, each God representing different facets of the human personality and also with varying levels of power. The Ramayana is one such epic. (Tandon and Giri, 1982) It depicts a classic struggle of good over evil with Ram as the center of the struggle. Ranchor Prime has condensed this six volume (originally penned by the sageâ€"and one time criminalâ€"Valmiki (Ray Choudhury, 1930)) into an enjoyable read

The film Prince of Egypt did a wonderful job at filling in the details of Moses' life. While many scenes were added to the biblical narrative, the film's poetic license needed to create some of the interaction between Joseph and his older brother Ramses in order for the characters to find flesh and blood on the silver screen. Even in animated form, the additional scenes helped the viewer understand that these characters were not just flannel graph images which played out a predetermined and stoic destiny. One of these scenes depicts Joseph and Ramses racing through the city streets on their chariots. The competition between the older and younger brothers gave character depth and dimension to the film. Ramses, as the oldest, would have been more ridged, focused on pleasing his father and ultimately replacing pharaoh with all the force and responsibility that his task would require of him. Joseph, on the other hand, could afford to play, and prod his older