Integratron and Giant Rock, Mojave Desert, California

If you stand directly under the hole in the center of the room and say something the sound reverberates through your head and body and sounds like peaking to a large outdoor or indoor audience with lots of echoes and large speakers. Very strange no doubt. If you whisper from one side of the room, people on the opposite side can hear you clearly, which Is why I got strange looks when I said my watch was running backwards from the electrical effects. There was a presentation that covered some of the history of the builder and the bulging.When they got to the part about aliens I sort of lost interest. Everyone was Invited to take a blanket and lay out on the floor for meditation and a sound massage session with sounds provided by vibrations from crystal bowls and goblets. Remember how you can run your finger around the rim of a crystal goblet and get a nice humming sound? Well here in the Integration it really is magnified and enhanced creating a peaceful and relaxing interlude while la ying on the blankets. I however sat in a plastic chair. Several fell asleep based on snoring sounds.Founded in 1954 by aeronautical engineer and biologist George Van Tassel, the Integration offers something called a â€Å"sound bath†, and though we were not quite sure what a â€Å"sound bath† would entail, we were pleasantly surprised to find that while the energy vortex may not have been subjugating our poor abused livers, the experience was Indeed quite relaxing. For 30 minutes, our host â€Å"Torn† played varying tones on a set of quartz crystal slaying bowls as we meditated, listened to each other breathe, cough, and In some cases, nap.As It turns out, Van Tassel was not your run-of-the-mill OF;chasing desert eccentric. An aeronautical engineer and test pilot who worked for both Lockheed and alongside Howard Hughes at Hughes Aviation, he moved to the Mojave Desert in 1947 to operate an airport and inn. It was there that he claimed to be contacted ellipticall y by the Venusians, who were entrusting to him the secrets of cell rejuvenation. Acting on these instructions, Van Tassel began building the Integration, a 38 Ft. High dome inspired by Moses' Tabernacle and the writings of Tests.While not the rejuvenation center and time machine that Van Tassel had intended, it Is does serve as the only all-wood, acoustically perfect sound chamber in the U. S. According to Van Tassel, the site of the Integration Is actually a magnetic vortex, an Intersection of geometric forces that would amplify energy required for human cell rejuvenation ND healing. All that was needed to harness this great gift to the human race was a parabolic dome was designed to focus that energy, much like it focuses sound, toward the center with it's spherical shape.Not meeting the standards of life-saving rejuvenation chamber Just yet, the Integration still serves a purpose as a meditation spot, event location, and unusual desert stop to feel closer to our Venusians friends in the stars. Outside of the dome itself there is a dry garden with a clump of hammocks serving as â€Å"Hammock Village†, and tons of interesting folk art and alien-themed knick- knacks such as the â€Å"Alien Clings to Rock† piece you see here. To enjoy our sound bath, we found a blanket or yoga mat and claimed a spot in the circle, feet facing out.Our host described how the sound chamber works, and demonstrated how if we heard someone breathing or coughing as if they were right next to our ear, it was actually the person directly across from us on the other side of the dome. After a unusually long and stern warning regarding snoring during the bath, we closed our eyes as our host played the singing bowls. Bending the sound in ways that made it feel like it was owing in and out of our heads in waves, the intense sound was both soothing and unsettling.There was surprisingly a lot of snoring, and the earlier warning no longer seemed frivolous. After 30 minutes of hypn otic sound, we felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of our desert adventure. Recently honored with a dedication and historical monument by the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clamp's Vitas, Billy Holcomb Chapter, the Integration today receives many visitors drawn to experience the Integration's enhanced energy fields. An overnight stay at the Integration is said o result in waves of peace, heightened awareness, and relaxation of the mind and body.

Beowulf’s Fame, Fate and Destiny in His Life

Beowulf was really a man who wanted to achieve a long lasting fame. The last words of the Anglo Saxon epic showed much tribute to his fame as it stated that he was the most enthusiastic man for praise. This is evidence that Beowulf did not only want to achieve fame but also he ensured that the fame is of adulatory kind. He struggled to achieve fame by engaging himself in extraordinary exploits which were much daring in contest and other heroic deeds. Hrothgar beheld the enormous arm of Grendel hanging from the steep roof of his great wall and praised Beowulf. Through this action, Beowulf earned fame throughout his kinship.Beowulf did everything that was possible to achieve fame. For instance, Beowulf was only looking for fame as he leaped into battle. He engaged himself in risk moments such as battles with the dragon with an aim of only gaining fame. He continually fought to gain more fame in his life. Despite the fact that Beowulf had fame, he kept fighting fruitfully in order to pr otect and keep his fame. He gave up his life only to receive fame for that particular minute. Nevertheless, during the fight with the dragon, Beowulf’s men ran away but he does not give up fighting and he remains alone (Breeden, 1).However, Beowulf died but his fame still remains up to date. Fame was highly desired and valued for the needs of the Anglo-Saxon’s crave to live forever. Beowulf was known as a very famous warrior and he achieved his fame when he sailed to the Danes to kill a monster who was murdering their people. During his fight with the dragon, he managed to kill Grendal, Grendal’s mother and a dragon. Every moment, he receives more fame and more glory. Fate in a person’s life occurs when that particular individual is often involved in a series of events that can lead to predictable death at some point or another.The main character in the poem Beowulf is very much moved by fate and it is this drive that they acknowledge his mortality as hum an a being. Despite the fact that the people had Christian or Pagans beliefs that may have been related to their individual view on fate, Beowulf seemed not to have any comportment on his conviction in fate. It is evidenced throughout the poem that, Beowulf fought evil demons with an aim of protecting his people (Breeden, 2). This generates a form of safety that would not have existed were it not for his great potency and audacity.In struggle to achieve fate as one main purpose in his life, Beowulf is involved in villainous dragon fight . This hero identified the fact that many of his actions are strongly ruled by his belief in fate and whatever might happen was meant to happen in his life. He controlled every move throughout his subjugations and victories. Beowulf predicted a likeness of himself in the warriors who have died in the wrath of the dragons. This is clearly evidenced during his speech with Hrothgar where he says that it is better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in b ereavement.He says that although his time may come to an end someday, his life will have been spent wisely fighting in battles, proclaiming his courage and living each day to his fullest latent. Beowulf achieved his fate when in a great fight is killed by the dragon and remained to be one of the greatest heroes. He dedicated his last breadth with an aim of saving his people from the ravages of a deadly monster. Beowulf lived in a feudal society as a warrior-king figure and he valued loyalty, strength and courage.Despite the fact that Beowulf never new the outcome of the fight with Grendel, he stated that fate goes ever fate and he had to fight with full strength to see the outcome. Additionally, he believed in the inevitability of fate. Beowulf’s society was ruled by kings and noblemen and therefore destiny was the most common indication of greatness in the society. It was mainly measured by investigating the heritage of a young man or a soldier. Beowulf’s fight with t he dragons and his dying words demonstrates his desire and much effort to achieve destiny as one of his main purpose in life.Beowulf was destined to take part in great acts of heroic magnitudes. The King Hrothgar recognized him as a man who was destined to be a great warrior in Denmark by the fact that the king knew his father (Breeden, 4). Therefore, Beowulf’s destiny is partly determined by his father’s accomplishment and bequest. The songs in the poem literally foreshadowed Beowulf’s predestined fate in life and battle. His dying words and wishes, for instance â€Å"fate swept us away, / sent my whole brave high-born clan/to their final doom/ now I must follow them† clearly show and explain how he was committed in the battle to achieve his destiny.His participation in the fight with the dragons shows how he believed his life is destined and fated to die during the fight so as to leave the terrestrial world and join the monarchy of the eternal. The grea t warrior always spoke of his death as his destiny. In the final moments of Beowulf’s life, there is a transition between the livings and finally eternal worlds transpire in the conqueror. Works Cited Breeden D. Beowulf. nd. Viewed, August 13 2010 from

Against racism Essay

Racism dates back thousands and thousands of years back to the caveman times. In the short story â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Kate Chopin shows how discrimination by skin color can affect people. Desiree was abandoned and raised by Madame Valmonde. Armand, the father of the baby, was a member of the most notable families in Louisiana. He falls in love with Desiree and marries her. After they have a baby, their relationship quickly corrodes. A few months later, Armand realizes the baby’s skin has a darker tint than usual. He accuses Desiree of being black. Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave so Desiree takes the baby and â€Å"disappears among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou† (Chopin 91) and never returns. Armand finds out that Desiree is black when he reads a letter that her mother sent her that read â€Å"she belongs to the race which is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin 92). The story†™s ironic ending has a connection with the story’s setting, imagery, and Chopin’s use of similies. The setting has a major role to the ironic ending because it takes place in antembellum South where blacks are not treated equally to whites. There are several hints at where and when the story takes place. First, Armand’s last name, Aubigny, was â€Å"one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana† (Chopin 89) which tells us it takes place in Louisiana. Also, Chopin says that Armand owns a plantation and many slaves which wouldn’t have been possible after the Civil War times showing that the story takes place during the antebellum period. The name of Armand’s plantation, L’Abri, is also ironic because it means â€Å"the shelter† in French which is ironic for Desiree because it is a bad place for her not a good place. Chopin explains how â€Å"there was something in the air menacing her peace†. The story wouldn’t take place in any other time period or location because if it did, Desiree wouldn’t be discriminated for being black, therefore wouldn’t of run of into the bayou along with the baby. Chopin’s use of imagery leads up to the irony at the end of the story the greatest because Chopin contrasts black and white skin colors. First, Chopin explains how Armand’s plantation is all full of dark colors. â€Å"The roof came down steep and black†¦branches shadowed it like a pall† (Chopin 89). This initial imagery shows Armand’s control. When Armand’s father ran the plantation, he was very nice to the slaves and treated them humanly, but when Armand took the plantation over he was very harsh and cruel, â€Å"under it, his negroes had forgotten how to be gay† (Chopin 89). Armand has a â€Å"dark, handsome face† (Chopin 90). This symbolizes Armand’s hatred and is a foreshadow to the end when it turns out Armand is black. Desiree, on the other hand, is always surrounded by light colors. For example, when she is leaving the plantation towards her death, she was still wearing a thin, white garment, and, â€Å"her hair was uncovered and the sun’s rays brought a golden glean from its brown meshes† (Chopin 91). The colors they are surrounded by also illustrate their personalities. While Desiree, who is â€Å"beautiful and gentle, af fectionate and sincere† (Chopin 88) is surrounded by light, Armand, is â€Å"imperious and exacting† (Chopin 90) is surrounded by dark. The similes that Chopin uses also leads up to support the ironic ending by showing Armand’s emotional changes and Desiree’s feelings of rejection. Most of the similes to describe Armand’s actions happen when he falls in love with Desiree. Even though they knew each other since he was eight years old, he didn’t fall in love with her until they were in their twenties. Chopin explains that sudden love, â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot† (Chopin 88) was the way everyone in Armand’s family fell in love. Two similes that explain Desiree’s shock add to the ironic twist at the end of the story. First, Desiree realizes her baby is not white and her blood, â€Å"turned like ice in her veins† (Chopin 90). Later, Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave and Desiree turns away â€Å"like o ne stunned by a blow† (Chopin 91). This is how Chopin’s use of similes connect to the ironic ending. The main conflict in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is ultimately race. This story’s use of similes and imagery, along with the setitng, make for a good ironic ending in which Armand is really black not Desiree. Therefore, racism kills. Racism dates back thousands and thousands of years back to the caveman times. In the short story â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Kate Chopin shows how discrimination by skin color can affect people. Desiree was abandoned and raised by Madame Valmonde. Armand, the father of the baby, was a member of the most notable families in Louisiana. He falls in love with Desiree and marries her. After they have a baby, their relationship quickly corrodes. A few months later, Armand realizes the baby’s skin has a darker tint than usual. He accuses Desiree of being black. Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave so Desiree takes the baby and â€Å"disappears among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou† (Chopin 91) and never returns. Armand finds out that Desiree is black when he reads a letter that her mother sent her that read â€Å"she belongs to the race which is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin 92). The story’s ironic ending has a connection with the story’s setting, imagery, and Chopin’s use of similies. The setting has a major role to the ironic ending because it takes place in antembellum South where blacks are not treated equally to whites. There are several hints at where and when the story takes place. First, Armand’s last name, Aubigny, was â€Å"one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana† (Chopin 89) which tells us it takes place in Louisiana. Also, Chopin says that Armand owns a plantation and many sl aves which wouldn’t have been possible after the Civil War times showing that the story takes place during the antebellum period. The name of Armand’s plantation, L’Abri, is also ironic because it means â€Å"the shelter† in French which is ironic for Desiree because it is a bad place for her not a good place. Chopin explains how â€Å"there was something in the air menacing her peace†. The story wouldn’t take place in any other time period or location because if it did, Desiree wouldn’t be discriminated for being black, therefore wouldn’t of run of into the bayou along with the baby. Chopin’s use of imagery leads up to the irony at the end of the story the greatest because Chopin contrasts black and white skin colors. First, Chopin explains how Armand’s plantation is all full of dark colors. â€Å"The roof came down steep and black†¦branches shadowed it like a pall† (Chopin 89). This initial imagery s hows Armand’s control. When Armand’s father ran the plantation, he was very nice to the slaves and treated them humanly, but when Armand took the plantation over he was very harsh and cruel, â€Å"under it, his negroes had forgotten how to be gay† (Chopin 89). Armand has a â€Å"dark, handsome face† (Chopin 90). This symbolizes Armand’s hatred and is a foreshadow to the end when it turns out Armand is black. Desiree, on the other hand, is always surrounded by light colors. For example, when she is leaving the plantation towards her death, she was still wearing a thin, white garment, and, â€Å"her hair was uncovered and the sun’s rays brought a golden glean from its brown meshes† (Chopin 91). The colors they are surrounded by also illustrate their personalities. While Desiree, who is â€Å"beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere† (Chopin 88) is surrounded by light, Armand, is â€Å"imperious and exacting† (Chopin 90) is surrounded by dark. The similes that Chopin uses also leads up to support the ironic ending by showing Armand’s emotional changes and Desiree’s feelings of rejection. Most of the similes to describe Armand’s actions happen when he falls in love with Desir ee. Even though they knew each other since he was eight years old, he didn’t fall in love with her until they were in their twenties. Chopin explains that sudden love, â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot† (Chopin 88) was the way everyone in Armand’s family fell in love. Two similes that explain Desiree’s shock add to the ironic twist at the end of the story. First, Desiree realizes her baby is not white and her blood, â€Å"turned like ice in her veins† (Chopin 90). Later, Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave and Desiree turns away â€Å"like one stunned by a blow† (Chopin 91). This is how Chopin’s use of similes connect to the ironic ending. The main conflict in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is ultimately race. This story’s use of similes and imagery, along with the setitng, make for a good ironic ending in which Armand is really black not Desiree. Therefore, racism kills.

Comparison of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine Coursework

Comparison of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine - Coursework Example In traditional medicine, the traditional healers consider a person healthy when the body and the mind are healthy that is the treatment of a disease cannot be done in different body parts. The benefit of using the traditional medicine is that they use natural methods of treatment (Gevitz, 2004). The demerit of using the method is the treatment based on beliefs that may cause treatment of the wrong disease. Allopathic medicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of human disease in parts. It is used to refer to conventional health care systems of treatment using surgery and prescription medications. The major advantage of using the allopathic medicine is that its fast healing while its disadvantage is that it may cause death or severe side effects when drugs are excessively consumed. On the other hand, osteopathic medicine is based on mind-body treatment in that the body is made up of organs that combine to make a unit. This unit is capable of regulating itself and maintaining its health. The body system structure of as well as its function are reciprocally related, and treatment of the body is based on the principles of body unity, self-regulation as well as the relationship of the organ structure along with functions. The merit is; it encourages the body to heal itself by increasing circulation and reduce blood pressure (Gevitz, 2004). On the other hand, it causes headaches and

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Compare and contrast - Essay Example This has prompted students to design ways of â€Å"surviving the cut† through developing unique architectural designs and concepts that will sell in the market. This starts with the student developing a well outlined thesis topic then developing that thesis to good and sellable project. The paper, therefore, focuses on comparing and contrasting two theses for architectural designs. The major similarities that the two theses designs exhibit are the separation of concerns and locality. The designs separate independent parts of the system and avoid redundant representation of the information. That is, a critical look of the two designs; you can easily tell what they are presenting if you have the architectural skills and knowledge. Both the models provide ways to decompose the system into one or more parts that localize decisions that are vital to the art of model development. In addition, these two models share the same concept in that they are all object-oriented designs. This is because they focus on real world entities as opposed to focusing on internal relation or operation sequencing. The locality of these two designs hides the decision most likely to be changed. Finally, interpretation also exhibits the similarities between the two models. That is, the models cannot be directly interpreted but rather indirectly interpreted. 2. Communicating process. Communication is a vital role that models play in conveying the message carried out by the resultant system. Therefore, it is easier to interpret the message of a simple model as compared to a complex model. Communication process characterizes the difference in the two models. Thesis 7A exhibit implicit invocation. This is because it carries a collection of components that are part of operation that forms the part of the ultimate system. It is worth noting that the components of the thesis 7A

Free Trade during Colonialism vs. Free Trade during Globalization Essay

Free Trade during Colonialism vs. Free Trade during Globalization - Essay Example This paper analyses the major similarities and differences between free trade during colonialism and free trade during globalization. Free trade: Colonialism vs. globalization An unexpected transformation occurred in the aftermath of the economic downturn or depression which began in 1873 in Europe and North America. With barriers to trade rising, production standing still, and new competitors such as Germany and the United States industrializing, the search for new markets and sources of raw materials intensified in the direction of colonial expansion (Saul, n.d.). Colonial powers tried to safeguard their business interests during nineteenth and twentieth centuries rather than thinking too much about the rights of the nations under their control. The concept of free trade was another mechanism for them to exploit the resources of nations under their control. The current free trade which is the concept of globalization promotes neo-colonialism which is sharp in contrast with the prin ciples of free trade implemented by the colonial powers in the past. It should be noted that neo-colonialism is a practice of promoting capitalism, globalization and cultural co-operation between countries. In other words, current free trade has the ability to contribute heavily to the vast sectors of global population whereas the free trade during colonialism was confined within the boundaries of the nations under colonial rule. Current free trade helped â€Å"the globalization of a free market economy, the standardization and homogenization of production and the fixing of world prices in economies which are at unequal stages of economic and technological development† (In Opposition to Free Market Globalization and Neo Colonialism, We Say: No to APEC, 2004) Former Nobel Prize winner and renowned American economist Paul Krugman argued that free trade developed as a result of globalization has brought many opportunities to this world. In his opinion, â€Å"the view that free trade is the best of all possible policies is part of the general case for laissez-faire in a market economy and rests on the proposition that markets are efficient (Krugman, 1987, p.134). On the other hand, trade scenarios during colonialism were entirely different from the current trade scenario. Current market is extremely efficient and heavily competitive compared to the market in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Instead of conflict, co-operation seems to be the principle undertaken by the free trade of modern era. In other words, free trade of globalization is perceived as helpful to all countries irrespective of their socioeconomic conditions. On the other hand, free trade during colonialism suited only to the interests of the colonial powers. Theory of comparative advantage was promoted by free trade of globalization era whereas free trade policies during colonialism were revolved around the interests of the colonial powers. The theory of comparative advantage promotes the view that good of natural environment and industrial abilities of each country should be exported. It also cites that free market is another ideologically based intervention in ways that maintain the economic and political status quo (Gonzalez, 2006, p.65). Free trade evolved out of globalization, helps countries to sell their products in global markets where the

CHILDHOOD OBESITY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CHILDHOOD OBESITY - Research Paper Example I. Parents fear the intervening in their child’s life regarding food and eating would result in their losing their child’s love and appreciation. A. Parents need to realize that their child’s health issue needs to be identified and confronted. B. This intervention should be done by the parents since they are the ones whom the child can trust and gain support from. II. Some parents feel that their overweight children will grow out of their weight problems as the years go by. A. Children normally gain weight throughout their early years of childhood because it is a necessary part of the growth process. B. However we cannot depend on the child’s routine growth spurts to compensate for the child’s weight problem. III. Some parents feel that their child may seem overweight based on growth charts but it is not really a weight problem since everyone in their family is ‘big boned’. A. Focus should be on the growth and body mass index charts. B. One cannot rationalize the overweight issue of a child. IV. Parents are responsible to adapt healthy meals and exercise routines to help their children to lead healthy lifestyles. Parents should therefore lead by example. Childhood obesity is one of the leading healthcare issues facing children and adolescents in America today. Nearly 10% of children below 2 years and 21% of children between the ages of 2 and 5 years are classified as being overweight for his or her age and height (Ogden et. al., 242). Childhood obesity has been found to be more prevalent among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic preschool-aged children compared to non-Hispanic white children (Anderson et. al., 344). The extra pounds in children often lead to health issues that were once common among adults like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self esteem and depression in children. Although a lot has been blamed on television food advertising (Mehta, 535), sp ending too much time in front of the T.V. or computer, lack of exercise and proper nutrition, one cannot ignore the fact that parents are ultimately responsible for the health of their child and they need to set examples and encourage their children to choose a healthier lifestyle. Some parents do not agree with this idea because they maintain that their children should grow up being independent and have the freedom to choose what they want to eat or what they want to do. They claim that if they intervene in their child’s life regarding food and eating, it could make matters worse or lose their child’s love and appreciation (Natenshon, 2). They also fear that they may interfere with their child’s privacy and developing autonomy by stepping in to rectify an eating problem in the making. However, parents need to recognize that their child’s health issue cannot be resolved unless and until it is identified and confronted. And who better to do it than someone whom they can trust and gain support from – the parents! In fact, some health care professionals also believe that parents should not be involved in their child’s treatment for eating disorders. They express concern about the issues of separation/individuation and the need for protecting the child’s privacy. But this stance too frequently blinds them to the need to educate and guide parents through family therapy, where they become mentors to their child and provide a supportive environment to their child to assist in the recovery process. These professionals must understand that the most successful separation takes place through healthy bonding between parents and children. Studies have shown that working with parents to prevent obesity in the early years can place young children on a lifelong trajectory toward

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Case study - Essay Example Firstly it is necessary to say that towards the end of the twentieth century frozen desserts and ice creams have become the most favorite products in the United Kingdom. Ice cream is told to appear in the country in the early beginning of the century and quickly won the popularity. With the sales of more than $3 billion in the end of the 20th, ice cream was making come back as the most preferable product in UK. With other desserts such as ice milk, frozen yogurts, sherbets, and miscellaneous products the total revenue was about billions per year. (Kay 1995) The company â€Å"Fancy Ices and Desserts† is nowadays a division of a huge corporate manufacture Food and Beverage. It deals with supplying the products through the corporate supply chain. The company prefers to take any new product which is offered. The company is busy with selling desserts and fancy ice creams for the Cash-&-Carry markets. The products are not recognized consumer brands yet. The division also sells bulk product dispensed like the dispensing machines. The main distribution networks are Cash&Carry, Wholesale frozen distribution, bulk direct. The company has salesmen, who are territory based, but they work directly for regional directors and their responsibility is â€Å"dotted† line. The company has nowadays to increase the capital equipment, because there is an increase in bulk products sales. The negative moment is that present equipment requires maintenance and sometime it operates not on the highest level. Concerning competitors the company has main three rivals in the market place. For example in the sector cash&carry the company’s competitor is a branded rival with a marked standard. But the rival has very few specialists who are aware of current market trends in comparison to â€Å"Fancy Ices†. But the company has less money to spend on promotions in comparison to branded

Factors that Influence Consumer Behavior Patterns, when Purchasing Essay

Factors that Influence Consumer Behavior Patterns, when Purchasing Fashion Items - Essay Example This study reveals a number of factors that do influence the consumer behavior when making the buying decision for fashion goods. There are a number of factors that have such influence. Culture is one of those factors. There is a number of such factors such as the subculture, the stage of life, age demographics, the personality and perception and so on. This research will identify those factors and exploring their impact on the buying decision of the consumers for fashion goods. Cultural influences are powerful ones and if a company does not understand the culture in which a particular market operates, it cannot hope to develop products and market them successfully in that market. Culture affects consumer behavior in a variety of ways. It relates to customs and beliefs that are learned from the society in which an individual grows up. Culture is a huge area of study that often has unclear boundaries and fluctuates in degree of influencing consumers. Cultural elements that influence c onsumer behavior can also be said to be environmental influences. A sub-culture could be defined as a group of individuals whose beliefs, values and behavior differ from that of the predominant culture. ‘Sub-culture plays an important part to marketers because of their influence on brands and types of product and services demanded by their members.’ This culture is rebelling away from long working hours and heavy television watching lifestyle. In this alternative culture the interest and participation of extreme sports has merged with music and clothing.

A Philosophical Review of Nature's and Animal Rights Essay

A Philosophical Review of Nature's and Animal Rights - Essay Example In contrast, Tom Regan disputes that there is a difference between ‘having an interest in something’ and ‘taking an interest in it’ (Varner, 1998, 55), which then implies that domestic species, being mindless species, have innate biological interests. Regan thus defined biological interest in this way: â€Å"the two senses really are logically distinct: A being can be interested in something that is not in his interests, and something may be in a being’s interest despite the fact that he is not interested in† (Varner, 1998, 55). This means that domestic species, having no conscious desires in any way, have biological interest of their own. Regan added that plants and objects can reasonably be thought to have biological interests, since both have intrinsic values in their own breed. On the other hand, Gary Varner (1994) argues that if all living things have biological interests, then it is implausible to prevent spoiling countless biological int erests of others. Varner cited John Passmore’s passage to define biological interest: â€Å"the Jainist principle [of avoiding harm to all living things]†¦ is far too strong. This is the more obvious now that we are aware of the minute living organisms which everywhere surround us. In breathing, in drinking, in eating, in excreting, we kill. We kill by remaining alive† (as cited in Varner, 1998, 77). This implies that nonhuman animals and plants have biological interests of their own, but lose these biological interests when confronted with the biological interests of human beings. However, if domestic species do not have biological interests, it is still possible that they have inherent or intrinsic worth as shown by the arguments of Paul Taylor, Tom Regan, and Peter Singer. First, according to Taylor (1981), to argue that a nonhuman animal has inherent worth is to assume that its interests [Taylor believes that domestic species have biological interests] merit t he respect and thought of every moral agent. Moreover, the recognition of its interests has intrinsic value, to be realized as an objective and on behalf of the being whose interest it is. Taylor further argues that inherent worth is â€Å"not some mysterious sort of objective property belonging to living things that can be discovered by empirical observation or scientific investigation† (Taylor, 1981, 204). Hence, to say that a domestic species, which would not exist without human interference, have no inherent worth is wrong since, according to Taylor, inherent worth cannot be determined by inductive reasoning or sense perception. Ultimately, Taylor (1981) believes that inherent worth is a â€Å"value that is ascribed to nonhuman animals and plants themselves, independently of their relationship to what humans judge to be conducive to their own good† (p. 204). Hence, with or without human interference, domestic species have inherent worth. Similarly, Tom Regan states that â€Å"the presence of inherent value in a natural object is independent of any awareness, interest, or appreciation of it by any conscious being† (Varner, 1994, 26). Domestic species have inherent value, and it is equal to that of human beings. The lack of intellect or reason is not a justification to say that nonhuman animals do not possess inherent value. Likewise, Peter Singer claim that if a nonhuman animal has a particular feature, like biological inter

US Soldiers During and After the Vietnam War Essay Example for Free

US Soldiers During and After the Vietnam War Essay The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina war, was the battle between the South Vietnam Government supported by the United States of America against the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the North Vietnamese (Atwood Brigham, 2005). The US had to come to the scene when they felt that there was a need to prevent the â€Å"domino theory† (Atwood Brigham, 2005). With the advice of the US policymakers, they sent their US troops to Vietnam in 1965 to start the prevention of the spread of Communism in Vietnam (Atwood Brigham, 2005). They had this belief, as in congruence with their â€Å"domino theory† that if Communism enters Vietnam, it would most likely spread throughout Southeast Asia (Atwood % Brigham, 2005). As reinforcement to the Southern Vietnamese Government, the US soldiers had to make sure that this non-Communist government does not disintegrate. With this, the US soldiers had several difficulties during and after the war. First, a lot of people, Cambodians, Lao, Vietnamese, and American Soldiers died during the war. The numbers show that during the war, there were 3. 2 million Vietnamese, 1. 5 million to 2 million Lao and Cambodians, and 58,000 Americans (Atwood Brigham, 2005). It is sad to note that some of these died fighting for their principles while some died without them knowing it. Those who died with the latter group were mostly the civilians who were just caught with the war. As can be seen from the statistics shown above, the highest number of deaths came from the Vietnamese. This is a sad part for the US soldiers who had to watch civilians die amidst the war and never got the chance to see it come to an end. Apparently, there were alleged war crimes committed in the duration of the war by the American soldiers. However, it could still be noted that at the very least, some soldiers never wanted to be there and watch people die. Among the thousands of soldiers sent there, there would be a considerable, yet unsure, amount of soldiers who never wanted people to die when they were not supposed to do so. In addition to this, it is very hard for the soldiers to see the souls of their fellow soldiers fall one by one from their team. They had to move on with the battle they have started and just hope that it would soon come to an end. In addition to deaths of US soldiers in the battlefield, there were also deaths that were caused by other factors (Atwood Brigham, 2005). A table below shows the statistical breakdown for the deaths that occurred during the war in the side of the American soldiers. This table also includes the statistics of the incidence of nonfatal wounds that the American soldiers had. During this kind of war, where they had to fight against the Viet Congs, they constantly had to look out for each and everyone else’s safety, sometimes just their own. Nobody would know when there would be an attack or if someone shoots out during their sleep. The fear they had to go through had effects on the emotional and mental health of the soldiers. The presence of the dead bodies around them also had affected their hopes and diminished it to a certain extent as they had to trudge down dead bodies, wondering if they would have the same faith or see this war to an end. Second, some of the US soldiers inflicted several illnesses, one of them is malaria. More specifically, one of the diseases is cerebral malaria which some of them carried on even after the end of the war. A Vietnam War veteran who has inflicted such disease is Jim Manuel (Lloyd, n. d. ). The effects of such disease has affected their brain and even resulted in, as in the case of Jim Manuel, deterioration in his level of IQ (Lloyd, n. d. ). Fourth, there were Prisoners of War (POWs) who had suffered greatly in the war, many of whom never had the chance to step back into their motherland, America (O’Neill Corsi, 2004, p. 118). Fortunately, there were several of them who had the chance to go back to America and tell the tales of their captivity in Vietnam. They served as the shield of the Viet Congs against an intensive defense strategy of the Americans with the North Vietnamese group. Third, after the long efforts and lives lost during the war, the American soldiers have failed from preventing the Communism in Vietnam. They withdrew their troops as US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) signed into the Treaty of Paris in January 27, 1972 (Atwood Brigham, 2005). The conditions set forth in the agreement were the release of all American prisoners of war from North Vietnam; the withdrawal of all U. S. forces from South Vietnam; the end of all foreign military operations in Laos and Cambodia; a cease-fire between North and South Vietnam; the formation of a National Council of Reconciliation to help South Vietnam form a new government; and continued U. S. military and economic aid to South Vietnam, [and a] $3. 25 billion in reparations for the postwar reconstruction of North Vietnam. (Atwood Brigham, 2005). After their withdrawal, the US soldiers still had to deal with another battle as they got back into their own country. During and on to the end of the war, there were campaigns rising for the war crimes and atrocities engaged into by the soldiers (Vistica, 2003, p. 233). This created a very negative impact even for those who had been fighting as anti-Vietnam War protests suddenly sprang up in America putting questions of doubt in the morality of the US military involvement in the Vietnam War (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Every strategic defense acted upon and carried out by the US soldiers has contributed to the intensity of the sentiments against the US soldiers by even the American protesters (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Another impact on the soldiers is the trauma they felt because of the war. Most, if not nearly all, of them showed different degrees of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Atwood Brigham, 2005). This mental disorder had symptoms of anxiety and depression (Atwood Brigham, 2005). What is more, over 20,000 of the Vietnam Veterans committed suicide and the incidents of veteran imprisonment rose (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Those who continued to live on still had the memory of their lost brother as they remember them during the hardest years of their lives (Atwood Brigham, 2005). There are surely a lot of ifs and buts questions going into their mind as soon as they got home. Sometimes, one could just wonder how they cope up after a situation similar to throwing oneself into a pool of sharks. The situations that the US soldiers went through during and after the Vietnam War contributed to making a double battle for them. They had to fight for a lot of reasons and against a lot of factors. While seeking for their main purpose as directed by their homeland, they had to fight for their own personal reasons and for their own life. The Vietnam War was never a simple war and will never be. The battle alone in mind has proved that these Vietnam Veterans are worth the salute and honor.Despite everything, the mere fact that they kept on going has made everything hard for them and for everyone else, too. References Brigham, Robert K. , and Atwood, Paul. Vietnam War. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. Lloyd, S. (n. d. ). U. S. Vietnam war soldiers and malaria. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from http://www. historynet. com/wars_conflicts/vietnam_war/3038271. html. O’Neill, J. E. Corsi, J. R. (2004). Unfit for command. USA: Regnery Publishing, Inc. Vistica, G. (2003). The education of Lieutenant Kerrey. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

Review Answers On Contemporary Drama Essay Example for Free

Review Answers On Contemporary Drama Essay With the many plays present and available, the tile of this particular contemporary play caught me since it was very unusual, and I wanted to know whether it was alluding to a deeper metaphorical meaning or just a play with a different contextual meaning—like a satire of some sort as to what George Orwell did in Animal Farm. Moreover, the title seems intriguing—this is brought on by the visual impact of the Dead Rats since it is both gory and gruesome. 2) Review the playwright’s literary elements: a. Provide a plot summary. The summary of the play is unusual since it itself does not seem to follow a normal plot pattern or any plot at all. The play instead is in the format of a â€Å"stream of consciousness† wherein there is a jumping of characters, themes, and motif. Just as the plot was making sense or beginning to make a point, it shifts to different characters and stories. But I believe that that is mainly the point or summary of the plot—the voices or the many characters in the mind of a person which shifts immediately and suddenly without warning. There seem to be so many characters, but they have no common factor, and yet they are connected somehow. b. Identify the genre. How do you know? It is hard to identify the genre of the play, but it can be considered as a psychological contemporary play. This is for the reason that the play seems to happen inside the mind and yet not entirely in it. There are allusions of the psychological treatment from the very start of the play—from the voices which the man is hearing to the presence of Dr. Green or School Master Green who is treating a patient by the name of Mary or Marie with multiple personalities or multiple interpretations of reality and fantasy. The entire play itself is confusing since it keeps shifting and turning with the characters and the mention of either the mentally disturbed or the dead. c. What is the theme? The theme is most exemplified at the end of the play wherein the dead character by the name of Ann tells the audience that â€Å"she continues†: Everything continues, and I will continue. I can see right through your silence, right through into your mind, deep inside behind your face, way back, where you really think, and I know just how hard it is, how hard the pain hits you, but look at me, hear me. I continue. After the lights go down, I continue. (Knag, 2009, n. p. ) The whole play is about the inner realms of thinking and of the mind; that is to say, just because someone is dead or not there anymore does not mean they cease to exist—because everyone continues. d. Is there spectacle present in the play? If so, how did it affect your reading of the play? There are a lot of spectacles present in the play, like the outbursts of the emotions of the characters or the killing of the Little Waif character also known as Marie or Mary. These so-called spectacles made me more interested with the play and made me want to find out what is happening and what was going on. 3) If you could change any part of the plot in your selected play, what would you amend? I think the author, Paul Knag, already did a fine job with the play. Even if the play is very confusing, startling, and gruesome, it was very well-written and intriguing to the point that the reader is made breathless with the drama and action going on. However, there are some points which I would want to change. For instance, it seems that are too many scene changes and props needed. The practicality of producing such contemporary play should be considered since the play itself is quite simple. Hence, there is no need for theatrical displays of props and settings since in my opinion, the psychological beauty and seriousness of the play can still come out if there are simpler props and settings included. For example, instead of traveling from one place to another to determine the shift from train station to the actual destination, there can be a play with light, darkness, and space as to pertain to the shift. Reference

Digital Composite in Special Effects

Digital Composite in Special Effects INTRODUCTION A massive spacecraft hovers over New York, throwing the entire city into shadow. A pair of lizards, sitting in the middle of a swamp, discusses their favourite beer. Dinosaurs, long extinct, live and breathe again, and the Titanic, submerged for decades, sails once more. Usually the credit of all these fantastic visuals given to CGI (computer generated imagery) or computer graphics. Computer graphics techniques, in conjunction with a myriad of other disciplines, are commonly used for the creation of visual effects in feature films. Digital compositing is an essential part of visual effects that are everywhere in the entertainment industry today: In feature films, television commercials, and many TV shows, and its growing. Even a non effects film will have visual effects. Whatever will be the genre of the movie there will always be something that needs to be added or removed from the picture to tell the story. It is the short description of what visual effect are all about adding elements to a picture that is not there, or removing something that you dont want to be there. Digital composite plays a key role in all visual effects. It is the digital compositor who takes these disparate elements, no matter how they were created, and blends them together artistically into a seamless, photorealistic whole. The digital compositors mission is to make them appear as if they were all shot together at the same time, under the same lights with the same camera, then give the shots a final artistic polish with superb color correction. I mentioned earlier that digital compositing is growing. There are two primary reasons for this. First is the steady increase in the use of CGI for visual effects, and every CGI element needs to be composited. The second reason for the increase in digital compositing is that the compositing software and hardware technologies are also advancing on their own track, separate from CGI. This means that visual effects shots can be done faster, more cost effectively, and with higher quality. There has also been a general rise in the awareness of the film-makers in what can be done with digital compositing, which makes them more sophisticated users. STRUCTRURE Introduction Phase I will deal with the history and introduction of compositing. Olden compositing techniques such as optical compositing, in camera effect, background projection, hanging miniatures etc. Apart from all that I will focus on how they were creating ground breaking effects during optical era. What are the advantage and disadvantage of optical compositing? Information hub Phase I will deal with the core concept of live action and Multipass composting with a brief introduction of stereoscopic composting. Under live action compositing I will discuss the basics and core concept of live action compositing such as rotoscopy, retouching, motion tracking with more emphasis on keying. Inside multipass compositing section simply I will focus on core concept of passes, different types of passes, use of passes. Finally a brief introduction of Stereoscopic compositing an emerging technology in the world of computer graphics. Incredible masters Phase I will discuss upon the contribution of pioneers of this sector to develop it up to this extent and also give a brief introduction of the new technologies being used and developed. Case study Phase which is also the last segment of my dissertation proposal I will discuss on the ground breaking effect techniques used in the Hollywood blockbusters such as Terminator, Golden compass and Finding Nemo etc. History of compositing In the summer of 1857, the Swedish-born photographer Oscar G. Rejlander set out to create what would prove to be the most technically complicated photograph that had ever been produced. Working at his studio in England, Rejlander selectively combined the imagery from 32 different glass negatives to produce a single, massive print. It is one of the earliest examples of what came to be known as a combination print. Motion picture photography came about in the late 1800s, and the desire to be able to continue this sort of image combination drove the development of specialized hardware to expedite the process. Optical printers were built that could selectively combine multiple pieces of film, and optical compositing was born. Introduction of Optical compositing Not to be confused with laboratory effects done on an optical printer these use optical attachments which go in front of the lens. The intention of such apparatus is to modify the light path between subject and lens. There are many such accessories available for hire or purchase but frequently they will be constructed for a particular shot. Techniques of Optical compositing Glass Shot Otherwise known as the glass painting, Hall Process or (erroneously) glass matte or matte painting, the glass shot takes the mask painted on a sheet of glass to its logical conclusion. The next stage of complexity is to make these additions to the frame representational instead of purely graphic. For example, lets say that we have a wide shot of a farm with fields stretching off into the distance and require a silhouetted fence in the foreground. If the camera is focused on the distant hills then, with a sheet of glass positioned at the hyper focal distance (near point still in focus when focused on infinity), we can actually paint the piece of fence on to the glass. This is made possible by the two-dimensional quality of motion pictures. So long as nothing passes between the glass and the lens, and the glass is in focus, then an object painted to be the correct size for the scene when viewed through the lens will appear to be actually in that scene. Thus the silhouette of a fence pa inted on the glass will appear totally believable, even if a cowboy and his horse pass by in the scene beyond. This minor change actually represents a fundamental leap in our effects capability, for now our mask has become a modification to the picture content itself rather than just an external decoration. However, once we have made this philosophical leap it is a small step to move on to creating photorealistic additions to the scene. The next stage is to light the camera side of our glass and paint details into the image thereon. In the example of the fence we now paint in the texture of the wood and expose it as required to blend in with the scene. Glass painting is a fundamental technique of VFX and can be applied to the latest digital equipment just as easily as it was to film prior to the First World War. Basically, if opaque paints are used (or are painted over an opaque base paint) what one is effectively doing is covering over detail in the real image with imaginary additions. This is a replacement technique and is the first of many in the VFX arsenal which permits falsification of real images. Rotoscopy Frequently, it comes to pass that a character or object that was not shot on bluescreen needs to be isolated for some reason, perhaps to composite something behind it or maybe give it a special color correction or other treatment. This situation requires the creation of a matte without the benefit of a bluescreen, so the matte must be rotoscoped, which means it is drawn by hand, frame by frame. This is a slow and labor-intensive solution, but is often the only solution. Even a bluescreen shot will sometimes require rotoscoping if it was not photographed well and a good matte cannot be extracted. Virtually all compositing programs have some kind of rotoscoping capability, but some are more capable than others. There are also programs available that specialize in just rotoscoping. Each frame of the picture is put up on the monitor and the roto artist traces an outline around the characters outer edge. These outlines are then fi lled in with white to create the familiar white matte on a black background, like the example in Figure 1-12. Large visual effects studios will have a dedicated roto department, and being a roto artist is often an entry-level position for budding new digital compositors. There has even been a recent trend to use rotoscoping rather than bluescreen shots for isolating characters for compositing in big-effects fi lms. I say big-effects films because it is much more labor-intensive, and therefore, expensive to rotoscope a shot than to pull a bluescreen matte. The big creative advantage is that the director and cinematographer can shoot their scenes on the set and on location naturally, rather than having to shoot a separate bluescreen shot with the talent isolated on a bluescreen insert stage. This allows the movies creators to focus more on the story and cinematography rather than the special effects. But again, this is a very expensive approach. Rotoscoping is the process of drawing a matte frame-by-frame over live action footage. Starting around the year 50 B.C. (Before Computers), the technique back then was to rear project a frame of fi lm onto a sheet of frosted glass, then trace around the target object. The process got its name from the machine that was used to do the work, called a rotoscope. Things have improved somewhat since then, and today we use computers to draw shapes using the splines we saw in Chapter 5. The difference between drawing a single shape and rotoscoping is the addition of animation. Rotoscoping entails drawing a series of shapes that follow the target object through a sequence of frames. Rotoscoping is extremely pervasive in the world of digital compositing and is used in many visual effects shots. It is also labor intensive because it can take a great deal of time to carefully draw moving shapes around a moving target frame by frame. It is often an entry-level position in the trade and many a digital compositor has started out as a roto artist. There are some artists who fi nd rotoscoping rewarding and elect to become roto kings (or queens) in their own right. A talented roto artist is always a valued member of the visual effects team. In this chapter, we will see how rotoscoping works and develop an under standing of the entire process. We will see how the spline-based shapes are controlled frame-by-frame to create outlines that exactly match the edges of the target object, as well as how shapes can be grouped into hierarchies to improve productivity and the quality of the animation. The sections on interpolation and keyframing describe how to get the computer to do more of the work for you, and then fi nally the solutions to the classic problems of motion blur and semi-transparency are revealed. ABOUT ROTOSCOPING Today, rotoscoping means drawing an animated spline-based shape over a series of digitized fi lm (or video) frames. The computer then renders the shape frame-byframe as a black and white matte, which is used for compositing or to isolate the target object for some special treatment such as color correction. The virtue of roto is that it can be used to create a matte for any arbitrary object on any arbitrary background. It does not need to be shot on a bluescreen. In fact, roto is the last line of defense for poorly shot bluescreens in which a good matte cannot be created with a keyer. Compositing a character that was shot on an uncontrolled background is illustrated beginning with Figure 6-4. The bonny lass was shot on location with the original background. A roto was drawn (Figure 6-5) and used to composite the woman over a completely new background (Figure 6-7). No bluescreen was required. There are three main downsides to roto. First, it is labor intensive. It can take hours to roto a simple shot such as the one illustrated in Figure 6-4, even assuming it is a short shot. More complex rotos and longer shots can take days, even weeks. This is hard on both schedules and budgets. The second downside to roto is that it can be diffi cult to get a high quality, convincing matte with a stable outline. If the roto artist is not careful, the edges of the roto can wobble in and out in a most unnatural, eye-catching way. The third issue is that rotos do not capture the subtle edge and transparency nuances that a well-done bluescreen shot does using a fi ne digital keyer. If the target object has a lot of very fi ne edge detail like a frizzy head of hair, the task can be downright hopeless. SPLINES In Chapter 5, we fi rst met the spline during the discussion of shapes. We saw how a spline was a series of curved lines connected by control points that could be used to adjust the curvature of those lines. We also used the metaphor of a piano wire to describe the stiffness and smooth curvature of the spline. Here we will take a closer look at those splines and how they are used to create outlines that can fi t any curved surface. We will also push the piano wire metaphor to the breaking point. A spline is a mathematically generated line in which the shape is controlled by adjustable control points. While there are a variety of mathematical equations that have been devised that will draw slightly different kinds of splines, they all work in the same general way. Figure 6-8 reviews the key components of a spline that we saw in Chapter 5, which consisted of the control point, the resulting spline line, and the handles that are used to adjust its shape. In Figure 6-8, the slope of the spline at the control point is being adjusted by changing the slope of the handles from position 1 to position 2 to position 3. For clarity, each of the three spline slopes is shown in a different color. The handles can also adjust a second attribute of the spline called tension, which is shown in Figure 6-9. As the handles are shortened from position 1 to 2 to 3, the piano wire loses stiffness and bends more sharply around the control point. A third attribute of a spline is the angle where the two line segments meet at the control point. The angle can be an exact 180 degrees, or fl at, as shown in Figure 6-8 and Figure 6-9, which makes it a continuous line. However, a break in the line can be introduced like that in Figure 6-10, putting a kink in our piano wire. Figure 6-10 Adjusting angle. Figure 6-11 Translation. Figure 6-12 Mr. Tibbs. Figure 6-13 Roto spline. Figure 6-14 Finished roto. In addition to adjusting the slope, tension, and angle at each control point, the entire shape can be picked up and moved as a unit. It can be translated (moved, scaled, and rotated), taking all the control points with it. This is very useful if the target has moved in the frame, such as with a cam era pan, but has not actually changed shape. Of course, in the real world it will have both moved and changed shape, so after the spline is translated to the new position, it will also have to be adjusted to the new shape. Now lets pull together all that we have learned about splines and how to adjust them to see how the process works over an actual picture. Our target will be the insufferable Mr. Tibbs, as shown in Figure 6-12, which provides a moving target that also changes shape frame-by-frame. Figure 6-13 shows the completed shape composed of splines with the many control points adjusted for slope, tension, and angle. The fi nished roto is shown in Figure 6-14. One very important guideline when drawing a shape around a target object is to use as few control points as possible that will maintain the curvatures you need. This is illustrated by the shape used to roto the dapper hat in Figure 6-15, which uses an excessive number of control points. The additional points increase the amount of time it takes to create each keyframe because there are more points to adjust each frame. They also increase the chances of introducing chatter or wobble to the edges. ARTICULATED ROTOS Things can get messy when rotoscoping a complex moving object such as a person walking. Trying to encompass an entire character with crossing legs and swinging arms into a single shape like the one used for the cat in Figure 6-13 quickly becomes unmanageable. A better strategy is to break the roto into several separate shapes, which can then be moved and reshaped independently. Many compositing programs also allow these separate shapes to be linked into hierarchical groups where one shape is the child of another. When the parent shape is moved, the child shape moves with it. This creates a skeleton with moveable joints and segments rather like the target object. This is more effi cient than dragging every single control point individually to redefi ne the outline of the target. When the roto is a collection of jointed shapes like this, it is referred to as an articulated roto. Figure 6-17 through Figure 6-19 illustrates a classic hierarchical setup. The shirt and lantern are separate shapes. The left and right leg shapes are children of the shirt, so they move when the shirt is moved. The left and right feet are children of their respective legs. The light blue lines inside the shapes show the skeleton of the hierarchy. To create frame 2 (Figure 6-18), the shirt was shifted a bit, which took both of the legs and feet with it. The leg shapes were then rotated at the knee to reposition them back over the legs, and then the individual control points were touched up to complete the fi t. Similarly, each foot was rotated to its new position and the control points touched up. As a result, frame 2 was made in a fraction of the time it took to create frame 1. Frame 3 was similarly created from frame 2 by shifting and rotating the parent shape, followed by repositioning the child shapes, then touching up control points only where needed. This workfl ow essentially allows much of the work invested in the previous frame to be recycled into the next with just minor modifi cations. There is a second, less obvious advantage to the hierarchical animation of shapes, and that is it results in a smoother and more realistic motion in the fi nished roto. If each and every control point is manually adjusted, small variations become unavoidable from frame to frame. After all, we are only human. When the animation is played at speed, the spline edges will invariably wobulate (wobble and fl uctuate). By translating (moving) the entire shape as a unit, the spline edges have a much smoother and more uniform motion from frame to frame. INTERPOLATION Time to talk temporal. Temporal, of course, refers to time. Since rotos are a frameby- frame animation, time and timing are very important. One of the breakthroughs that computers brought to rotoscoping, as we have seen, is the use of splines to defi ne a shape. How infi nitely fi ner to adjust a few control points to create a smooth line that contours perfectly around a curved edge, rather than to draw it by hand with a pencil or ink pen. The second, even bigger breakthrough is the ability of the computer to interpolate the shapes, where the shape is only defi ned on selected keyframes, and then the computer calculates the in-between (interpolated) shapes for you. A neat example of keyframe interpolation is illustrated in Figure 6-20. For these fi ve frames, only the fi rst and last are keyframes, while the three in-between frames are interpolated by the computer. The computer compares the location of each control point in the two keyframes, then calculates a new position for them at each in-between frame so they will move smoothly from keyframe 1 to keyframe There are two very big advantages to this interpolation process. First, the number of keyframes that the artist must create is often less than half the total number of frames in the shot. This dramatically cuts down on the labor that is required for what is a very labor-intensive job. Second, and perhaps even more important, is that when the computer interpolates between two shapes, it does so smoothly. It has none of the jitters and wobbles that a clumsy humanoid would have introduced when repositioning control points on every frame. Bottom line, computer interpolation saves time and looks better. In fact, when rotoscoping a typical character it is normal to keyframe every other frame. The interpolated frames are then checked, and only an occasional control point touch-up is applied to the in-between frames as needed. KEYFRAMES In the previous discussion about shape interpolation, the concept of the keyframe was introduced. There are many keyframing strategies one may use, and choosing the right one can save time and improve the quality of the fi nished roto. What follows is a description of various keyframe strategies with tips on how you might choose the right one for a given shot. On 2s A classic and oft used keyframe strategy is to keyframe on 2s, which means to make a keyframe at every other frame—that is, frame 1, 3, 5, 7, and so forth. The labor is cut in half and the computer smoothes the roto animation by interpolating nicely in between each keyframe. Of course, each interpolated frame has to be inspected and any off-target control points must be nudged into position. The type of target where keyframing on 2s works best would be something like a walking character shown in the example in Figure 6-21. The action is fairly regular, and there are constant shape changes, so frequent keyframes are required. Figure 6-21 Keyframe on 2s. On shots where the action is regular but slower, it is often fruitful to try keyframing on 4s (1, 5, 9, 13, etc.), or even 8s (1, 9, 17, 25, etc.). The idea is to keep the keyframes on a binary number (on 2s, on 4s, on 8s, etc.) for the simple reason that it ensures you will always have room for a new keyframe exactly halfway between any two existing keyframes. If you keyframe on 3s (1, 4, 7, etc.) for example, and need to put a new keyframe between 1 and 4, the only choice is frame 2 or 3, neither of which is exactly halfway between them. If animating on 4s (1, 5, 9, etc.) and you need to put a new keyframe between 5 and 9, frame 7 is exactly halfway between them. Figure 6-22 shows the sequence of operations for keyframing a shot on 2s in two passes by fi rst setting keyframes on 4s, then in-betweening those on 2s. Pass 1 sets a keyframe at frames 1, 5, and 9, then on a second pass the keyframes are set for frames 3 and 7. The work invested in creating keyframes 1 and 5 is partially recovered when creating the keyframe at frame 3, plus frame 3 will be smoother and more natural because the control points will be very close to where they should be and only need to be moved a small amount. Bifurcation Another keyframing strategy is bifurcation, which simply means to fork or divide into two. The idea is to create a keyframe at the fi rst and last frames of a shot, then go to the middle of the shot and create a keyframe halfway between them. You thengo mid-way between the fi rst keyframe and the middle keyframe and create a new keyframe there, then repeat that for the last frame and middle frame, and keep subdividing the shot by placing keyframes midway between the others until there are enough keyframes to keep the roto on target. The situation where bifurcation makes sense is when the motion is regular and the object is not changing its shape very radically such as the sequence in Figure 6- 23. If a keyframe were fi rst placed at frame 1 and frame 10, then the roto checked mid-way at frame 5 (or frame 6, since neither one is exactly mid-way), the roto would not be very far off. Touch up a few control points there, and then jump midway between frames 1 and 5 and check frame 3. Touch up the control points and jump to frame 8, which is (approximately) mid-way between the keyframes at frame 5 and frame 10. Figure 6-24 illustrates the pattern for bifurcation keyframing. While you may end up with keyframes every couple of frames or so, bifurcation is more effi cient than simply starting a frame 1 and keyframing on 2s, that is, assuming the target object is suitable for this approach. This is because the computer is interpolating the frames for you, which not only puts your shapes control points close to the target to begin with, but it also moves and pre-positions the control points for you in a way that the resulting animation will be smoother than if you tried to keyframe it yourself on 2s. This strategy effi ciently recycles the work invested in each keyframe into the new in-between keyframe. Extremes Very often the motion is smooth but not regular, such as the gyrating airplane in Figure 6-28, which is bobbing up and down as well as banking. In this situation, a good strategy is to keyframe on the extremes of the motion. To see why, consider the airplane path plotted in Figure 6-25. The large dots on the path represent the airplanes location at each frame of the shot. The change in spacing between the dots refl ects the change in the speed of the airplane as it maneuvers. In Figure 6-26, keyframes were thoughtlessly placed at the fi rst, middle, and last frames, represented by the large red dots. The small dots on the thin red line represent where the computer would have interpolated the rotos using those keyframes. As you can see, the interpolated frames are way off the true path of the airplane. However, in Figure 6-27, keyframes were placed on the frames where the motion extremes occurred. Now the interpolated frames (small red dots) are much closer to the true path of the airplane. The closer the interpolation is to the target, the less work you have to do and the better the results. To fi nd the extremes of a shot, play it in a viewer so you can scrub back and forth to make a list of the frames that contain the extremes. Those frames are then used as the keyframes on the fi rst roto pass. The remainder of the shot is keyframed by using bifurcation. Referring to a real motion sequence in Figure 6-28, the fi rst and last frames are obviously going to be extremes so they go on our list of keyframes. While looking at the airplanes vertical motion, it appears to reach its vertical extreme on frame 3. By placing keyframes on frame 1, 3, and 10, we stand a good chance of getting a pretty close fi t when we check the interpolation at frame 7 (see Figure 6-29). If the keyframe were placed at the midpoint on frame 5 or 6, instead of the motion extreme at frame 3, the roto would be way off when the computer interpolates it at frame 3. Final Inspection Regardless of the keyframe strategy chosen, when the roto is completed it is time for inspection and touch-up. The basic approach is to use the matte created by the roto to set up an inspection version of the shot that highlights any discrepancies in the roto, then go back in and touch up those frames. After the touch-up pass, one fi nal inspection pass is made to confi rm all is well. Figure 6-30 through Figure 6-32 illustrates a typical inspection method. The roto in Figure 6-31 was used as a mask to composite a semi-transparent red layer over the fi lm frame in Figure 6-32 to highlight any discrepancies in the roto. It shows that the roto falls short on the white bonnet at the top of the head and overshoots on the side of the face. The roto for this frame is then touched up and the inspection version is made again for one last inspection to confi rm all the fi xes and that there are no new problems. Using this red composite for inspection will probably not work well when rotoscoping a red fi re engine in front of a brick building. Feel free to modify the process and invent other inspection setups based on the color content of your personal shots. MOTION BLUR One of the historical shortcomings of the roto process has been the lack of motion blur. A roto naturally produces clean sharp edges as in all the examples we have seen so far, but in the real world, moving objects have some degree of motion blur where their movement has smeared their image on the fi lm or in the video. Figure 6-33 shows a rolling ball of yarn with heavy motion blur. The solution is an inner and outer spline that defi nes an inside edge that is 100% solid, and an outside edge that is 100% transparent as shown in the example in Figure 6-34. The roto program then renders the matte as 100% white from the inner spline graduating off to black at the outer spline. This produces a motion-blurred roto such as the one shown in Figure 6-35. Even if there is no apparent motion blur in the image, it is often benefi cial to gently blur the rotos before using them in a composite to soften their edges a bit, especially in fi lm work. One problem that these inner and outer splines introduce, of course, is that they add a whole second set of spline control points to animate which increases the labor of an already labor intensive process. However, when the target object is motion blurred, there is no choice but to introduce motion blur in the roto as well. A related issue is depth of fi eld, where all or part of the target may be out of focus. The bonny lass in Figure 6-4, for example, actually has a shallow depth of fi eld so her head and her near shoulder are in focus, but her far shoulder is noticeably out of focus. One virtue of the inner and outer spline technique is that edge softness can be introduced only and exactly where it is needed so the entire roto does not need to be blurred. This was done for her roto in Figure 6-5. SEMI-TRANSPARENCY Another diffi cult area for rotoscoping is a semi-transparent object. The main difficulty with semi-transparent objects is that their transparency is not uniform as some areas are denser than others. The different levels of transparency in the target mean that a separate roto is required for each level. This creates two problems. The fi rst is that some method must be devised for reliably identifying each level of transparency in the target so it may be rotoscoped individually, without omission or overlap with the other regions. Second, the roto for each level of transparency must be made unique from the others in order to be useful to the compositor. A good example of these issues is the lantern being carried by our greenscreen boy. A close-up is shown in Figure 6-36. When a matte is created using a high quality digital keyer (Figure 6-37), the variable transparency of the frosted glass becomes apparent. If this object needed to be rotoscoped to preserve its transparency, we would n eed to create many separate roto layers, each representing a different degree of transparency. This is usually done y making each roto a different brightness; a dark gray roto for the very transparent regions, medium brightness for the medium transparency, and a bright roto for the nearly solid transparency. While it is a hideous task, I have seen it done successfully. Motion tracking and Stabilizing MOTION TRACKING One of the truly wondrous things that a computer can do with moving pictures is motion tracking. The computer is pointed to a spot in the picture and then is released to track that spot frame after frame for the length of the shot. This produces tracking data that can then be used to lock another image onto that same spot and move with it. The ability to do motion tracking is endlessly useful in digital compositing and you can be assured of getting to use it often. Motion tracking can be used to track a move, a rotate, a scale, or any combination of the three. It can even track four points to be used with a corner pin. One frequent application of motion tracking is to track a mask over a moving target. Say you have created a mask for a target object that does not move, but there is a camera move. You can draw the mask around the target on frame 1, then motion track the shot to keep the mask following the target throughout the camera move. This is much faster and is of higher quality than rotoscoping the thing. Wire and rig removal is another very big use for motion tracking. A clean piece of the background can be motion tracked to cover up wires or a rig. Another important application is monitor screen replacement, where the four

Women for Women International - Fighting for Women’s Rights Around the World :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Women for Women International - Fighting for Women’s Rights Around the World Women for Women International is an operation that aides women survivors of war, civil conflict, and injustices, and helps them to become self sufficient and educate them on rights awareness. They promote stability, peace, and self sufficiency through matching programs, donations and micro credit loans (WomenforWomen). I chose to write about this organization because I had just finished the book â€Å"Honour Lost† by Norma Khouri. This is a love story in modern day Jordan between a Muslim woman and a Christian man; and though all they did was spend time together talking, the woman was killed by her father for disgracing her family. Her murder was classified as an honour killing and her father faced minimal to no punishment. Women for Women International addresses the problem of honour killings and tries to educate people of the tragic issue through their website. Under the â€Å"Women in the World Today† link on the top of their homepage there is a column of issu es, and you click on the issue of your interest. â€Å"Honor killing is a practice in which men kill female relatives for activities where the female dishonors the family reputation, including†¦ rape. Thousands of girls and women all over the world are murdered by their families each year in the name of family honor†¦flirting, being a victim of rape, or even failing to serve a meal on time can all be perceived as disgracing the family's honor†¦women are killed on the basis of a mere suspicion and are never given an opportunity to contest†¦In one extreme case, a man's dream of his wife's adultery was enough to elicit lethal violence (WomenforWomen).† The organization was started in the early 1990’s by Zainab Salbi and Amjad Attallah who were moved by the plight of women in Yugoslavia that had been forced into and survived the rape and concentration camps. Under the â€Å"Our Heritage† link found at the top of the homepage you learn that Zainab and Amjad were disappointed to be unable to find an organization that helped these women and they joined The All Souls Unitarian Church traveling and providing aid in Croatia. After their trip they returned to the United States and decided to form their organization. They started off small and have grown to connect over 40,000 women worldwide (WomenforWomen).

Compare and Contrast the two poems, London and Composed Upon Westminste

Compare and Contrast the two poems, London and Composed Upon Westminster Bridge Both of the poets write about London in their poems. There is one big difference between the form and the structure ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’ is written in the form of a sonnet where as the ‘London’ poem is just a four verse poem, each verse having four lines. Comparing the poems with one another I first picked up that they are equally written from first person perspectives which helps to express that these are the writer’s real thoughts and feelings of the great city. Blake doesn’t concentrate on the general scene: Like the buildings or the natural landscapes, He sees beyond all this and he thinks of the people who live there. He explains how everyone is sad and hopelessly depressed, he points out the prostitutes have no other means of earning money than to sell themselves and how the soldiers have to put their lives on the line whenever the king decides. He makes it interesting as he uses a lot of repetition in each stanza to emphasize his views, ‘‘in every cry of every man...

Real Time Article :: essays research papers

The term's misuse creates misunderstanding both inside organizations and out in the market. Real time is expensive. Creating and managing technology applications that operate in real time require a lot of infrastructure, people, and processing power. These are unnecessary if you don't mind if an action occurs "just in time" or "some time later on." A few examples: Â · Real-time analytics and reporting. Does it matter? Depends on the use. For people only concerned with strategy insights, such as paths different visitors types take, or those focused on use of different navigation tools, real time is meaningless. If no action you can take in real time changes the user experience, then time and money spent to get information faster is overkill. The extra information is probably a distraction. If you're an editor and constantly adjust stories and headlines to respond to audience interest, then real-time data can make a difference. It may be a worthwhile investment. Bottom line, real-time analytics are good for tactical applications, overkill for strategic ones. Â · Real-time actionability. As with the above example, this matters if the desired action is tactical. Would very fresh information help someone or something take an action at the same time? If resulting actions are strategic only and not intended to be taken at the same instant the information is created, then real time is wasted technology. You don't need real-time audience information if you only use it at a weekly meeting to discuss behavior trends. Â · Real-time personalization. In personalization, real time is essential. If you want to personalize content for individual visitors, such as weather or commerce recommendations, you must do it in real time. You can't wait minutes or hours to update pages. Visitors won't be there anymore. You can't personalize content without recognizing users and changing content the moment they arrive. Of course, this can be quite expensive. Those with content management systems with personalization have a special appreciation for the processing and data management costs associated with real-time actions at scale. Â · Real-time ad segmentation and targeting. Another example of where real time can really matter. Ad targeting is a very frontline, tactical operation. If you want to deliver a specific ad to a specific type of person, you must identify the person and deliver the ad in real time. To deliver automotive ads to people who viewed automotive content, no matter where they go on the site, you must target as soon as they visit automotive content.

Leningrad Cemetry, Winter of 1941

Explication of ‘Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941' This poem is about the World War ? especially in Leningard(1941. 09. 08~1944. 01. 18) in winter of 1941. Leningrad which is now St. Petersburg is once former capital of Russia and Russian Revolution so it was strategically important place for Hitler to have war with. German army siege this city almost 900 days and over 650,000 people are dead from this war because of starvation, exposure, disease and so on. However, Leningrad did not surrender against the enemy and bear all hardships and difficulties, later called ‘city of hero'.How extremely difficult and severe situation it was in World war ? is depicted in this poem. There are a lot of dead bodies needed to be buried but impossible because ground is frozen and grave digger became weak from hunger. Also coffin could not be made because there was lack of fuel to heat and wood should be used for fuel. Instead of coffin they put the corpse on the child's sled and take it to the cemetery. Child sled is the symbol of joy and happiness in winter snow but in the war time that kind of joy is disappeared but only degenerated to tool of moving the dead body.There are some analogies with the dead. First they are metaphored as ‘tree's ball of roots when it waits to be planted' and cocoons that will split down the center when the new life inside is prepared'. Those are very similar to appearance of the dead and characteristics such as stiffness however it also contains the meaning of life and prosperity. In contrast, the expression of ‘pale gauze, tapered shapes' make us think of mummies. Writer tried to mummify and dehumanize the dead.Furthermore, ‘naked calves hard as corded wood spilling' means piled corpses like stiff, dry wood with no life. Contrast in the metaphors tells us that the dead once having had vibrant life and had desire to restore vitality inevitably became very cold, rigid, abandoned dead body. ‘From under a cloak, a hand reaching out' means that they are not ready to die and want to live more. Speaker of this poem is third person narrator so hard to know the dead's mind exactly however we could analogize their thoughts on their death.They would want to come back to life even if they have to eat the bread made of glue and sawdust and live in the severe cold and siege. ‘Bread made of glue and sawdust' is nonsense but it means stale bread that is so dry and hard to eat. Narrator says having a life is better than death even if it becomes hard or difficult. It shows us that they really didn't want to die in the war and life is so precious itself. It is composed of only one stanza. It makes reader to be focused on the situation that writer explain with tension.Omniscient third person narrator speaks in the poem so we could not hear their direct voice but relying on what speaker says. Thesedays, there are still many threats on war outbreaks but as a generation not experiencing war yet, we have t endency to consider war as relatively light event and are not so alert or worrying compared to old generation. This poem reminds us with extreme hardships stealing a lot of innocent people's lives that war can bear and arouse our attention again on the war.

Human Resources Internship Essay

I applied for the Human Resources internship at Maryville Academy-Scott Nolan Center through the website indeed. com. During my internship with Maryville Academy-Scott Nolan Center, I supported the HR department and organizational initiatives. My responsibilities with recruiting initiatives included initial resume screening and on-boarding. Positions I screened for included but were not limited to mental health counselor, staff nurse, utility manager and receptionist. I also supported administrative aspects such as filing, data entry, and HRIS maintenance. Since the Scott Nolan Center is in a transitional period, I helped develop several job descriptions. From the human resources perspective, I did payroll and disciplinary action forms, as well as legal documents such as FMLA. I completed 432 hours of the Maryville Human Resources Internship Program. Expectations Prior to Internship Before the internship started, I had an interview with my Human Resources manager to discuss my expectations as well as her expectations for this internship. I expected to get involved with daily Human Resources functions. I expected to be working in a fast-paced organization. Also, I expected a certain amount of training since I did not have any relevant experience prior to the internship. One other thing I was concerned with was that there might be a difference when recruiting for non-profit organizations compared to for-profit organizations. I thought recruiters would pay attention to some unique personalities or rules when they screened qualified applicants. For instance, some for-profit organizations might focus on people who have the required skills, such as sales skills, customer service skills and presentation skills. For this particular non-profit organization, I would pay more attention to personality traits, such as openness and agreeableness. Beyond My Expectations Beyond my expectations, I learned that every organization has its unique culture. It does not matter if it is profit or non-profit. Some organizations focus on employees’ training and development, while other organizations focus on select candidates who have certain minimum skills before they can be hired. These employees require little training and development. The organization I worked for is a children’s psychiatric hospital. Its patients are youths who are suicidal or suffered from sexual and physical abuse in their family. These patients are very sensitive. Thus, they are looking for employees to be energetic, positive and have professional nursing or therapy skills. They want their employees to not only care about the patient physically, but also mentally. During the recruiting process, I considered not only whether candidates had the essential KSAs to finish tasks, but also whether their personality would fit the organization. My expectations about this internship mainly focused on recruiting, as well as maintaining the employee database, such as workers’ compensations and payroll. Since the hospital was expanding, several new positions were created. Beyond my expectations, I had to update and develop several job descriptions. On the legal aspect, I was not expecting to get very involved. However, I had a chance to follow a FMLA case and to issue disciplinary action forms to employees who violated organizational policy. These legal documents made me realize the importance of legal documents in uman resources management. Selection Process General Process A significant portion of my internship responsibility was recruiting. These responsibilities ranged from screening candidates’ resumes to interviewing and preparing hiring documents. I would screen resumes from our database and select whom I believed would fit in the position. Then, I would conduct a phone interview with the applicant. After the phone interview, if I still felt the individual fit the organization, I would schedule an in person interview with our Human Resources Manager for the applicant. Our manager would make the final decision after the interview. If our manager decided to hire this individual, I would start preparing hiring paperwork including background check, reference check and medical record. My responsibilities would be all the above-mentioned tasks, which concluded with filing all the documents and sending it to the orientation group in order to prepare new-hire orientation documents. Screening Resume Before the internship, I read an article by Applicants (2009). He gave me several tips I kept in mind during the resume screening process. First of all, I was aware of potential adverse impact during the screening process. I should not focus on screening applicants from particular race or gender group. Companies have significant discretion in defining the basic qualifications for each position that they fill so long as those qualifications are defined by the outset of the hiring process for the position. When I selected qualified applicants for phone interviews, I chose candidates who met the minimum qualifications. Then, we chose whoever had best matched our skill requirements to continue to the next phase, which is an in person interview. These minimum requirements were determined by job descriptions. The job description helped us identify which candidate was able to perform the job, such as develop policy and communicate with patients. Thus, developing a job description was very important. After screening resumes for minimum qualifications, phone interviews were conducted. Importance of determine personality traits and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs) during selection process We wanted to select employees who we believed would be successful in the job. According o Barrick and Mount (1991), the â€Å"Big Five† personality dimensions are related to job performance. Their study indicated that Conscientiousness, which is a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutiful, and aim for achievement against measures or outside expectations showed consistent relations with job proficiency. Extraversion, which is characterized by positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek out stimulation and the company of others, was a valid predictor for occupations involving social interaction. The other three factors- Openness, Agreeableness and Neuroticism had small correlation score. Since most of the positions involved interacting with children, Extraversion would be the factor I needed to pay attention to. From this article, I understood the importance of using personality traits during the selection process. To help me determine useful personality traits for different positions, Raymark, Schmit and Guion (2006) talked about identifying potentially useful personality constructs for employee selection. They created the Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF), which was a job analysis form to be used in making hypotheses about personality predictors of job performance. People predicted job performance by identifying whether the candidate’s personality matched the dimensions they determined in the job analysis. For example, the author conducted a job analysis and hypothesized that several dimensions were essential to perform the job efficiently, such as leadership, sensitivity to interests of others, cooperative or collaborative work tendency and general trustworthiness. Then, authors linked candidates’ personality with these dimensions to identify who fit the position best. I did not get a chance to use the actual form due to the limited resources and budget at work; however, I learned from it. Before screening for every position, I read the job description in our database and analyzed potential personalities that would fit the particular position. I also discussed these personalities with my manager for suggestions. When I screened resumes and interviewed, I would look for the specific personalities to match required skill sets as well as the organization’s culture. Employees in the organizations are always helpful. They are very easy to talk to. Everybody worked together and helped each other out. I talked to my manager about our organizational culture and she said that we are helpful, energetic and team-orientated. It was difficult to draw personality traits simply from the resume, so I looked at the format of the resume to determine if the candidate was detail-oriented or not. If the format of the resume was disorganized, there was a greater chance that the candidate was not careful, as opposed to one with an organized resume. If a potential employee was careless when editing their resume, I would conclude that they would not try their best at work. If the candidate passed the resume phase it meant a chance for a phone interview. This was the phase where we could get a general sense of the candidate’s personality. I talked to my manager before conducting phone interviews to discuss traits I should look for. For example, I would look for people who are energetic and outgoing; and people who were patient and easy to talk to. Their tones on the phone and language they used would be a big part of the determination process. We were looking for candidates who had positive tones and good communication skills. Even though there was no list of personality traits to look for, I tried to analyze the job description. I discussed the jobs with my coworkers and drew a list of personality traits in my mind when I phone interviewed candidates. When they responded to our questions, we were looking for people who answer calmly and respectfully. Other than personality traits, OCB was another important factor I paid attention to when I conducted the phone interview. OCB is the â€Å"performance that supports the social and psychological environment in which task performance takes places† (Organ, 1997). Research results showed OCB has significant relationships with important organizational outcomes such as productivity, efficiency, and turnover (Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Blume, 2009). With minimum qualifications, I wanted to select candidates who showed OCBs in their phone interview. Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Mishra (2010) also talked about the effects of OCBs on selection decision in employment interviews. The article reports on an experiment examning the effects of job candidates’ propensity to exhibit OCBs on selection decisions made in the context of a job interview. The result showed that candidates who exhibited higher levels of OCBs were generally rated as more competent, received higher overall evaluations, and received higher salary recommendations than candidates who exhibited lower levels of OCBs. When I asked job candidates questions, I was looking for people who showed higher levels of helping, voice, and loyalty behaviors in their answers. I believe employees who love to help others, who would express their feelings to improve rather than criticize, and who showed loyalty to their employers would work well in our organization. I talked to my manager about these factors and she agreed with me. For example, for the receptionist position, when I asked the candidate about their past working experience, I would like to hear examples of them voluntarily helping their co-workers, or solving conflicts between co-workers. Also, I would want to hear them talk about what did they achieved at the past job, like what did they do to improve the company or themselves. Another thing I would ask them is why were they looking for a new job? Candidates’ responses and attitudes toward their old employer would give me an idea of their loyalty if they were work for our organization. If these personality traits and OCBs showed during the phone interview, I would invite candidates to come in for an in-person interview. The reason for conducting a walk-in interview after a phone interview was because by meeting with the individual, it helped us to know the individual better. Our organization required employees to have an in-house observation to give them a chance to get in touch with patients and observe their reactions. I was not able to participate in the in-house observations; however, I tried my best to select potential candidates from the first two rounds of interviews. Selection Decisions Dalessio and Imada (1984) talked about relationships between interview selection decisions and perceptions of applicant similarity. The study had shown that interviewers’ final decisions were related to: [a] the degree of similarity between the interviewers’ perception of the ideal employee and the applicant, and [b] the degree of similarity between the interviewers’ self-perception and the applicant. This was a useful tip when I interviewed. I sat in several interviews before personally conducting one. I observed the communication between applicants and my Human Resources Manager. Since all these candidates passed the minimum qualification, my manager looked for someone who best fit the organization. â€Å"Fit† is the word we use in our selection process. Many applicants had the minimum qualifications for the job; however, we wanted someone who fit in the organization. Garcia, Posthuma, & Colella (2008) talked about how interviewers construct fit perceptions about applicants. Their results showed that performance expectation had a direct effect on fit perceptions. Unanimously with the study, our manager wanted to select people who she thought would perform well in the organization. She had an idea of what an ideal applicant would look like in her mind. For example, when we hired nurses, my manager looked to see if the applicant was careful, sensitive, caring and good at teamwork. If the applicant used to work in teams and got along with his or her team members, she would be able to determine if this applicant fit our organization. This person should have high Agreeableness. If we were hiring for a receptionist, we would want to look for candidates who love to help others. From these observations, I learned to study the interview questions and pay attention to personality traits and OCBs that we were looking for in an ideal employee. Each time, I would read these different interview questions for different positions and rehearse the questions in my mind. Also, I identified personality traits and OCBs that were related to the position. Combined with the PPRF I mentioned earlier, I discussed with my manager about our expectations for an ideal candidate before the interview. What were the essential skills and personalities that fit in the organization? After I identified those aspects, I would start the interview process. The more the individual matched our requirements, the more likely this individual would be hired. Each position requires different personality traits; unfortunately, I am not able to list them out specifically due to the confidentiality policy of the organization. Difficulties Encountered Unavoidably, we chose some overqualified candidates to pursue to the next step, which are the background check and drug-screen test. We chose these candidates because they would be quick studies and help others develop. However, our compensation was not the most attractive in the industry. We lost several over-qualified candidates right before orientation. Some left due to compensation limitations; some left due to lack of potential opportunities. We lost both time and money due to the unexpected losses. I discussed these issues with my manager. She told me that they lost more than 70% of over-qualified individuals among all over-qualified individuals during the recruiting process in the past. Even though the turnover is high, they have better potential compared to individuals who have minimum skills only. Her ways to avoid the situation was to not interview over-qualified individuals if they required much higher compensation than what we could offer. I disagreed with her opinion. Compensation definitely matters to jobseekers, however, it is not the only thing that matters. I believed more factors should be considered before we decided if an interview should be conducted, such as potential growth, training and development, as well as a benefit package. According to Wells (2004), there are pros and cons of hiring overqualified candidates. The potential advantages include they might be able to pick up tomorrow’s leaders today at below-market prices. If they were hired, they could help employees meet their goals sooner and potentially contribute a lot more to the company. However, there were disadvantages as well. Overqualified candidates were often too expensive. If we didn’t give them a better compensation package, situations similar in our organizations would be likely to happen again. Also, Wells mentioned that they were likely to intimidate others. Hiring a person who is far more experienced than his or her peers or immediate supervisor could create upside-down reporting relationships and authority tensions. Careful assessment was required when intending to hire overqualified candidates. From the article, I learned that I should decide how to define over-qualification. I brought up the topic at one of our intern meetings. We agreed that being at the wrong level and salary expectation was one of the most important factors. It looked kind of like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943). He used the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence need to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through. When primary needs were satisfied, people seek for higher level needs. I think over-qualified employees do the same. Compensation is a primary need for job seekers. However, it is not the only factor that matters. If we provide fair amount of compensation, they look for other factors such as personal growth. However, if the compensation level is much lower than the average, they seek for other companies. Our organization does not have to have the most attractive compensation, however, it should be the average in the industry. We provided minimum pay at the phone interview. Also, there was a pay expectation on the job application. Comparing our minimum pay and candidates’ expectations, we would be able to draw a picture of the possibility of follow through the hiring process with the over qualified candidates. For example, we would give applicants a realistic preview of what the job would be. During the phone screen process, I told them the salary for the position and paid attention to their response. If the candidate hesitated, they most likely would not continue the process. We would not follow up with this candidate. The next step was to ask if we could do something to position the job opportunity to better take advantage of the applicant’s experience. For instance, if the applicant’s past experience was specialized in child care, we would transfer the applicant to the childcare facilities within the organization. Or, if the applicant obviously had more skills and experience, we would offer a higher-level position instead of an entry-level position. Also, we arranged in-house observations for applicants to give them a preview of certain responsibilities of the job and observe their reaction in the real work environment. Lastly, we assessed what career stage the person was in. We would like to know if they had ambitious goals and wanted fast growth. As a result, we looked at three predictors of candidate’s success on the job: the ability to do the work, the ability to work well with others and motivation. Motivation factors include, career growth like promotion opportunities and personnel growth, such as education reimbursement. Following these assessment steps, we successfully decreased the drop off rate for overqualified candidates. During my internship period, we made efforts to hire seven over-qualified candidates, half of them went through the whole process, which is much better than before. Job Description Development Beyond my expectations, I had a chance to develop several job descriptions during my internship due to organization transformation and expansion. Brannick and Levine (2002) mentioned that the structure of the job description should include identifiers, a summary section, duties and tasks, and other information. They suggest using a KSA modeling approach and critical incident technique to structure the job description. Due to the limited time I was given, I was not able to analyze these KSAs and critical incidents. However, I followed their format, which made the job description easier to read. Since the organization had their own format for job descriptions, which didn’t include a summary section, I discussed with my manager the benefit of adding a summary section for each position and edited all of our job descriptions. The summary section gave applicants and mployees a clear idea of what their responsibilities were and linked with tasks and skill sets required. I believe the summary gave employees a better idea of what their daily functions looked like. During my internship, I developed job description for utility manager, staff development specialist, and executive assistant. Also, my coworkers and I revised all of our job descriptions in the database by adding a summary section. After the format was decided, I planned to start to draft the job description. Part of the job description was minimum qualifications. Levine, Maye, Ulm, and Gordon (1997) provided a step-by-step account of the methodology and described the means by which validated minimum qualifications (MQ) were obtained. The authors indicated that MQs were created for education, experience, and closely related personalities needed to perform a job satisfactorily. In our organization, a closely related personality for nurse would be Agreeableness. We looked for people who would follow the policy and work with others. MQs are often used as screening devices in personnel selection. Our organization used MQs to screen out applicants as well. Levine, et al (1997) mentioned that in order to determine minimum qualifications, a job analysis needed to be conducted. Its descriptors or components were both behavioral and cognitive in nature. Tasks, the behavioral aspects and KSAs, and the cognitive aspects were determined. Scales were developed to evaluate tasks and KSAs for their impact and relevance in establishing MQs. The authors indicated that this job analysis established a basis for the development of MQs, and defined domains against which to evaluate the MQs for content validity. Preliminary research and observation by human resources specialists, including review of the dictionary of occupational titles, also helped to lead to the preparation of draft lists of tasks and KSAs. Interviews with current employees should be conducted to review relevant tasks and responsibilities required at their job. The authors also suggested a meeting with SMEs to determine the final task and KSA list. Using the list, people should be able to prepare a set of MQ profiles. According to the study, this methodology proved to have high inter- rater reliability.