Saturday, December 28, 2019

Water Is A Necessity For The Existence Of Human Beings

Water is a necessity for the existence of human beings and approximately 71 % of the earth is water and it exists in many different forms. Water is constantly moving from one place to the other and from one state to the other and this process is known as the water cycle. As water evaporates, vapors rise and condense into clouds. The clouds move over the land, and precipitation falls in the form of rain, ice or snow. The water fills streams and rivers, and eventually flows back into the oceans where evaporation starts the process anew. Although water continuously changes states, from solid to liquid to gas, the amount of water on Earth remains constant. There is as much water now as there were hundreds of millions of years ago (Project, 1995). The most considerable impacts humans make on the water cycle include urbanization, storage of water in reservoirs, groundwater mining, irrigation, pollution, combustion deforestation and wetlands. Urbanization Impervious surfaces associated with urbanization alter the natural amount of water that takes each route. Increased impervious cover associated with urbanization alters the natural cycling of water. Changes in the shape and size of urban streams, followed by decreased water quality, are the most visible effects of increased imperviousness. Greater frequency and severity of flooding, channel erosion, and destruction of aquatic habitat commonly follow watershed urbanization. Alterations in the aquatic environment associated withShow MoreRelatedCreation Myths Essay504 Words   |  3 PagesCreation Myths Who made who? Did God create humans or did humans create god? At first thought one would of course say God created humans. Man cannot create god! What fool would dare say such a thing! After all the definition of God says that it is the supreme being and the divine creator, not the divine creation. So of course God created man, right? Or shall we dig a little deeper into this question and examine it from the other side? Is God just a figment of mansRead MoreHuman Themes in Rango1713 Words   |  7 PagesHuman Themes in Rango Nickelodeon’s movie, Rango, creates a microcosm society intended to parallel many different characteristics of human society through the use of animals. This movie shows how lack of resources in one area can affect humans. With limited resources humans will need to adapt to their surroundings and take full advantage of them for survival, and so everyone’s best efforts are contributed a government is made. A government can give its people a sense of their identity, but whenRead MoreDifferent Interpretations Of The Word919 Words   |  4 Pagesbut can encompass peace of mind, human companionship, feeling as if you need a material item, bare necessities, or feeling like you’re in control of your health and mind. Need can be influenced by the culture a person grew up in, how they were raised to be by their parents (or lack of), and society’s view of how a person should be. All of the definitions of the word â€Å"need† interconnect with one another to form a much broader definition. Peace of mind is a human need, regardless of whether peopleRead MoreA Brief Analysis of Saint Thomas Aquinas Essay example1285 Words   |  6 PagesAll human beings develop at different rates, both physically and mentally. Furthermore, there are some special individuals that gain the ability to flourish in which they acquire a deeper understanding of life. This is usually is a result of one’s profound religious beliefs. Throughout history there has been scientific reasoning that has brought humanity to a higher domain of knowledge. Saint Thomas was born in 1225 and he came from a noble family from Naples, Italy. His work caused extreme controversiallyRead MoreIs Subsistence A Basic Right?899 Words   |  4 PagesSabren Abdulwahab Professor Gardner Bovingdon Human Rights in World Politics 25 September 2015 Is Subsistence a Basic Right? Subsistence is a basic right. However, it is often neglected when countries compose and declare laws and rights for their people. For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written by the countries of United Nations in 1948, does not mention the rights to necessities of existence such as: food, water, shelter, etc (â€Å"The Universal Declaration†). Basic rightsRead MoreThe Effects Of Overpopulation On The Human Population1532 Words   |  7 Pagesurbanization escalating, overcrowding has concerned many scientists, researchers, and the human populace as a whole. Overpopulation, the condition where an area holds more people than in which the area can properly function, is a serious issue which has many adverse effects on the well-being of a healthy human population. A growing seven billion people live on Earth and factors such as pollution, and human well being may all be affected by overpopulation, and continued growth in population will causeRead More Perv asive Computing: IBMs Autonomic System and the Cautions Necessary1185 Words   |  5 PagesPervasive Computing: IBMs Autonomic System and the Cautions Necessary Pervasive computing is here. It is being integrated into our society in as many ways that can be thought up. Chips are popping up in everyday objects. Cars, planes, ships, phones, PDA’s, refrigerators, and soon a person’s hat, shoes, and clothing. This is all well and good, the advancement of technology is something that has always and will always be a constant in our culture. The need for more interconnectivityRead MoreFour Groups of Microalgae1165 Words   |  5 Pagesof single-celled or simple multi-cell microorganisms.They are aquatic organisms that survive in fresh water and marine environments. They are classifed in four groups (red, green, brown and diatoms microalgae).Microalgae are one of mainly significant plant in plants kingdom, it has high photosynthetic process. So, algae can be developed very fastly andits rate of reproduction is very high. Human can be used the algae in different fields of life such as energy source, food, fertilizers, CosmeticsRe ad More True Freedom in Lawrences Aaron’s Rod Essay1367 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"They had got outside the castle of so-called human life. Outside the horrible, stinking castle of human life. A bit of true, limpid freedom.† ~ Florence, Aarons Rod) Aaron’s Rod concludes the central theme that D. H. Lawrence took up in The White Peacock, The Trespasser, The Lost Girl, and Mr. Noon: the idea of true human freedom. What makes Aaron’s Rod exceptional is the way it transforms the notion of love, regarded as the savior of human soul from the tyranny of social obligationsRead MoreAristotle s Five Ways Of The Existence Of God1354 Words   |  6 Pages The existence of God, or a divine being, has been a metaphysical subject that has been contemplated since thousands of years by ancient philosophers such as Thales, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and many more. Medieval philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, who is most famously known for combining principles of faith and reason into a philosophy known as Thomism. The â€Å"five ways† of proofing the existence of God, which is Article three, of Question 2, of part I, of his â€Å"Summa Theologià ¦Ã¢â‚¬ , gives five different

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Theology Of The Holy Spirit And The Implications For...

Spirit-Led Preaching is a niche book. It is rare to find a work that so concisely captures the theology of the Holy Spirit and the implications for expository preaching. Heisler answers the dilemma that today’s typical evangelical â€Å"Spirit-shy Christians† face. Many contemporary preachers may fear being labeled â€Å"unbiblical† for considering the need to surrender to the control of the Spirit because of how the church has attributed crazy experiences to the ministry of the Spirit in preaching. Heisler values expository preaching as that which â€Å"holds the powerful combination of Word and Spirit together†. While Heisler acknowledges the â€Å"subjective aspect† found in Spirit-led preaching, he affirms it is â€Å"governed by the grammatical-historical method†. Heisler emphasizes this point throughout his work by marking the â€Å"benefits of the revealing ministry of the Holy Spirit† that come from preaching â€Å"within the bounds of the biblical text†. Heisler’s definition of illumination is the theological thread that ties together his emphasis of Word and Spirit in both preparation and delivery. He writes, â€Å"What is bright light in the study will be white hot in the sanctuary†. For Heisler, this plays practically into what the preacher chooses to edit out or keep in his sermon notes, and how he animates his preaching points and biblical narratives . With this doctrine Heisler challenges preachers to practice the spiritual disciplines as part of their sermon preparation. Citing Paul’s example, heShow MoreRelatedBiblical Models of Servant Leadership13223 Words   |  53 Pagesthat calls our attention to examine him as a model of servant leadership with emphasis on the price he had to pay to earn God’s commendation; â€Å"a man after my own heart† (Acts 13:22), and â€Å"the apple of {My} eye† (Psalm 17:8). This is captured in A Theology of Church Leadership; Servanthood is a high and special calling that involves a covenantal relationship with God. It is not a forced obedience to a thoughtless master. There is instead a willing commitment by the servant to a Master who fully

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Clark Atlanta University free essay sample

Clark Atlanta University After touring colleges and attending a college fairs for a whole weekend the last day was rainy and windy but we still had two colleges to visit. I was sleep but when the bus stopped, I woke up and saw a beautiful college. We were at Clark Atlanta University. We didn’t get to tour the college because of the weather, but we got off the bus and went into their auditorium to listen to an alumni tell us about the history of the school and requirements. He gave us wonderful information on how to apply and what our test scores need to be, and also how we can apply for scholarships. Clark Atlanta is a private university so the tuition is the same inner and outer state. I learned a lot by the information he gave us such as something I never knew of school a broad and if the university/college that you attend doesn’t have your major you can go to other colleges/universities to study it for no cost. We will write a custom essay sample on Clark Atlanta University or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Clark Atlanta doesnt have my major but I can go to Spelman or Morehouse to study and take my classes. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people. Freshmen receive more freedom, at Clark Atlanta you are able to have a car, no curfew just visiting hours. It is also a coed school and it has become one of my choices for colleges/universities While being on the campus I imagined myself going to class, hanging with friends and studying for exams. Not only do I love the people that are around to help or the atmosphere some of my favorite movies where filmed on that campus. Clark Atlanta University truly caught my eye and gave me a look at so many more opportunities that I didnt know about. I enjoyed visiting that school it was a fantastic experience.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Memoirs of Frank McCourts Childhood Essay Example For Students

Memoirs of Frank McCourts Childhood Essay What is the meaning of life? I always asked myself this very same question every day because I often wonder what is the reason for my existence in this world. I have never learned to appreciate all the things I enjoy in life, such as health, friendship, and love. I have always taken them for granted. I have constantly wanted more out of life as though I am not satisfied with what I have. I even wonder why my life is so dull when I havent even encountered those who lead an even more horrible life than I do. Frank McCourt, is one of the millions in this world who leads a life that is a total awakening to me. When he looks back on his childhood he wondered how he survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Born during the Depression era, Frank McCourt, along with his brothers, Malachy, Michael, and Alphonsus, is raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Since birth, Frank and his brothers endure poverty, a shiftless loquacious alcoholic father, a pious dejected mother, pompous priests, bullying schoolmasters and the despised English. Frank becomes very matured at an early age because he has to take on the responsibilities of his alcoholic father, Malachy, who often drinks his wages or his dole leaving the family penniless and starving at home. Since his father is unable is maintain a regular basic income, they depend on charity from the government welfare system and the church societies and the amount was barely enough to sustain the family. During desperate times, his mother, Angela, is forced to go begging for food in order to keep her children from starving or to pick up pieces of coal dropped on the ground to prevent the children from freezing to death. During Franks early childhoo d he witnesses the death of three of his siblings, and the utter helplessness of his mother. In spite of their hardship there is a feeling of togetherness of the entire extended family. Relatives often help out in times of need. They also have a sense of humour to help their survival. In order to escape their misery, the family believe that if they think of Italy, it could make them forget about the cold damp weather of Ireland; thus, the McCourts decide to name the upper floor of their tiny apartment Italy, and Ireland, is on the bottom floor because it is always flooded during the winter. In contrast to his miserable existence in the lanes of Limerick, Frank, in his early teens has his first taste of paradise. He contracts the typhoid fever and stays in the hospital for fourteen weeks. There, he has the attention of the nursing Sisters, a clean bed to himself, regular meals and a proper toilet. During his stay in the hospital, he receives his first introduction to a whole new world of literature through his contact with a fellow-patient and a hospital orderly.Although Frank enjoys his stay at the hospital reading books of poetry and Shakespeare, he is very eager and excited to return to his humble home because there is deep bond of love that holds him to his family. Franks introduction to literature exposes him to a whole new horizon of knowledge; his ability to write creatively improves, and this gives him the courage to write a composition in school on Jesus and the Weather. This essay is naive, honest and entertaining and earns him a promotion to a higher class. Th is is one event that is on the up side. On the downside, Franks most regretful event takes place on the night before his sixteenth birthday. That night he tastes his first pint and goes home drunk and hits his mother. Frank knows that if he does not leave Limerick, he would soon end up like his father. Consequently, he sails for the United States in search of a new life and a better future. .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .postImageUrl , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:hover , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:visited , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:active { border:0!important; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:active , .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80 .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9c6924c5fb352f96269881937eabef80:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Importance of being Earnest - Characters EssayHe has to admit his sin in his weekly confession. His first sexual encounter with a sick girl leads to his most soul searching and disturbing experience, because, after his encounters with the consumptive young lady, she dies. He is haunted by guilt and struggles with his conscience and finds it most difficult to make his confession to the priests. In his late teens, Frank cherishes a dream of returning to America someday, to the land of hope and opportunities. Frank begins to save for his fare back to America by working as a telegram boy at the post office. His Aunt kindly buys him a new suit of clothes so that he can make a good impression and to help him get the job. Since he is desperate to leave Limerick, he, later on, accepts the job of writing threatening letters for Mrs. Finucane, a moneylender. The sudden death of Mrs. Finucane gives him the chance to gather more money from her left over cash, and this added wealth makes it possible for him to fulfil him dream of going to New York. I am grateful to the librarian for recommending this book to me. It has proven to be an excellent recommendation. Through reading the memoir, Angelas Ashes, I have learnt that the 1930s was a very difficult time with high unemployment in Ireland. The catholic religion played a very important part in the lives of the Irish people. Most people attended church every week, went to confession, and children took religious studies at school. They considered Limerick to be the holiest city in the world because everybody attended church on rainy days in order to stay dry. They also carried with them a strong bias against the Protestants and a strong patriotism for Ireland. They resent the English for their domination. In the memoir, the newspaper distributor regarded The Irish Times, as the English filth, and said that if a good Irish catholic were to read it, he would lose his faith and his eye sight as well. They believed strongly in the teachings of the catholic church against contraception, so that an advertisement in a magazine for birth control devices was torn out from every copy before distribution. Apart from showing the bias that the Catholics have against the Protestants, Frank is also bias towards his mother. Although never says directly that he loves his mother, but by the way he describes every single little detai l of his mothers suffering, her begging for food and her profound sadness over the death of her children, he shows great sympathy for her. The fact that he chose the title Angelas Ashes for his memoirs indicates that he empathises with her sadness over the death of her very young daughter and twins. The book is as much about his early life as it is about his mother. Although his father is an alcoholic, he tries to help his family but fails, yet Frank does not condemn him. Frank is tolerant and understands that it is circumstance that has caused his fathers depression and had driven him to drink and to his ruinHaving read the memoir of Frank McCourt, I have learnt to appreciate, and to be grateful for everything in life and never to take things for granted. I realize that I am very lucky when compared to others who are less fortunate.Angelas Ashes, is the memoir of a young boy who experiences all kinds of hardship during his childhood but is able to overcome them and emerge a wiser a nd more confident young man. This is the most touching story I have ever read. This is a story that teaches one to appreciate everything in life, to be tolerant, to love, and to forgive. .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .postImageUrl , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:hover , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:visited , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:active { border:0!important; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:active , .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua50d5dbb832033a50f0282843a5b649e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Honky Book Report EssayI would strongly recommend this book to anyone of any age and gender. It is easy reading, and very sad in most parts. However, there are some light hearted moments as in Franks composition on Jesus and the Weather. The book will make us pause to think on how fortunate we are to be living in our time and to have all the opportunities opened to us. For your amusements!Jesus and the Weatherby Frank McCourtI dont think Jesus Who is Our Lord would have liked the weather in Limerick because its always raining and the Shannon keeps the whole city damp. My father says the Shannon is a killer river because it killed my two brothers. When you look at pictures of Jesus Hes always wandering around ancient Israel in a sheet. It never rains there and you never hear of anyone coughing or getting consumption or anything like that and no one has a job there because all they do is stand around and eat manna and shake their fists and go to crucifixions. Anytime Jesus got hungry all He had to do was walk up the road to a fig tree or an orange tree and have His fill. If He wanted a pint He could wave His hand over a big glass and there was the pint. Or He could visit Mary Magdalene and her sister, Martha, and theyd give Him His dinner no questions asked and Hed get his feet washed and dried with Mary Magdalenes hair while Martha washed the dishes, which I dont think is fair. Why should she have to wash the dishes while her sister sits out there chatting away with Our Lord? Its a good thing Jesus decided to be born Jewish in that warm place because if he was born in Limerick hed catch the consumption and be dead in a month and there wouldnt be any Catholic Church and there wouldnt be any Communion or Confirmation and we wouldnt have to learn the catechism and write compositions about Him. The End.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Stigma on Mental Illness Essay Sample free essay sample

Stigma is a really formal quandary for people who have a mental unwellness. Based on stereotypes. stigma is a negative judgement based on a personal trait – in this instance. holding a mental unwellness. It was one time before a common perceptual experience that holding a mental unwellness was due to some of personal failing. After farther geographic expeditions it is now known that mental unwellnesss have a biological footing and can be treated like any other wellness status. Even so we as wellness attention professionals have a long manner to travel to get the better of the many misconception. frights. and biases that many people hold sing mental wellness and mental wellness unwellnesss and the stigma these attitudes create. Stigmas may be evident and direct. in which person chooses to do negative comments about another person’s mental unwellness and intervention. In the article the writers propose that there are three sorts of stigmas that may move as barriers to personal aspirations: public stigma. We will write a custom essay sample on Stigma on Mental Illness Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page self-stigma and label turning away ( JPON 2008 ) . The writers suggest that it would be indispensable to dispute the mental unwellness stigma to assist persons accomplish recovery-related ends. A basic societal cognitive theoretical account was derived to demo the obvious Markss. hidden Markss and the prejudice/discrimination that is formed from them. I agree that strategically if we as wellness attention professionals and consumers should recommend for persons with mental wellness unwellnesss and protest against televised negative stigmas. We can make so by boycotting patrons and webs that portray mental unwellness as outrageously unnatural. Besides consciousness and instruction is the key to eliminating such stigmas and favoritism. One restriction that I noticed in the article was the minimum attending given to the interplay between stigma. bias. and favoritism. Small attending is given. for illustration. to the development of prejudiced attitudes or prejudiced behaviours as a consequence of stigma. The focal point on stigma entirely creates a sense that the job is chiefly one of a misunderstanding and does non associate it to the much more detrimental experience of bias and favoritism. Discrimination. after all. is responsible for decreased entree to employment chances. inappropriate captivity for symptom-related behaviours. and unequal entree to wellness insurance benefits for individuals with serious mental unwellness. We as wellness attention professionals know that mental wellness unwellness is a serious job. It is our duty non merely to handle persons with mental unwellness but besides to rectify the misperceptions that are associated with the mental unwellness and associate the harm caused by stigma. bias. unfairness and favoritism amongst these persons. Mention: Corrigan. P. and Wasssel. A. ( 2008 ) Understanding and Influencing the Stigma of Mental Illness. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing Vol. 46 No. 1. 2008 pg 42-48.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Daughter, in Girl essays

The Relationship Between the Mother/Daughter, in Girl essays The relationship between the mother/daughter, in Girl, and father/son, in Reunion, are very different. In what way are they different? They are different because in the Girl, the mother is teaching her daughter the right way to live, the way to act. She is teaching her daughter morals, at a very young age. For example, the mother tells her daughter how to do laundry, wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the colored clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry. And she is teaching her how to iron a shirt, how to set the table for tea or dinner. How to make medicine for a cold, or to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. Also what she should do when she goes shopping for groceries, always squeeze the bread to make sure that its fresh. And the only thing the girl can answer is, what if the baker wont let me feel the bread? shes probably young and she doesnt fully grasp all that her mother is teaching her now. The reason why the mother is teaching her daughter at a young age so that when she grows up, she will come away with something. And people wont look at her like she has no moral values or they will look at her mother in a bad way, that she didnt teach her daughter anything. In the Reunion, the father is just a drunk who doesnt care about what people think of him. He says and does whatever he wants without a care in the world who he hurts or embarrasses. For example, when they went to a newsstand to get a newspaper, his father started talking to the clerk in a very rude manner, kind sir will you be good enough to favor me with one of your no good ten-cent afternoon papers? The clerk didnt want to deal with him so he just turned away, but Charlies father kept insisting on getting what...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How does the profession of Dental Hygiene impact today's society Essay

How does the profession of Dental Hygiene impact today's society - Essay Example Dental hygienists sensitize members of the society on the importance of maintaining oral hygiene (DeLong and Burkhart 4). Research has showed that dental hygiene profession has aided in reducing the number of oral health complications reported every year. The dental hygienists have fought tirelessly in ensuring that all members of the society are aware of the various oral diseases, the causes of those diseases and how to prevent them. The dental hygiene profession has helped the members of the society to save a lot of money. Dental hygienists give certain oral hygiene guidelines to patients. Such practices aid in reducing the number of new infections and controlling the spread of oral diseases. For this reason, money that would have been used for dental care is saved or used for other productive purposes. In summary, the importance of dental hygiene profession in the society cannot be ignored. The profession has aided in reducing oral diseases in the society. The problem of oral diseases in the society is continually diminishing due to the assistance offered by dental hygienist. The society should always work in collaboration with the dental hygiene professionals in order to fully eliminate oral

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

HSBC E-Business Challenges and Mitigation Essay

HSBC E-Business Challenges and Mitigation - Essay Example As the paper highlights that the basic derivation of such nature is spread in the form of various Malwares and intentional programs which result in harmful activities for a particular business or internet community at large. The various security concerns are dependent on the technologies in use like Ajax and other majority of technologies used. The composite feature of the security concerns are as follows: This paper outlines that the largest threat is content exploitation and the various implications of duplicating a wrong site to the transacting parties. It is quite often seen in practice wherein the content is misrepresented with wrong and misleading information about the subject. Often the content which is uploaded and saved by users are not properly referenced like Wikipedia and are nor taken as valid sources for fetching content in many universities. The various objectives which are desired to be achieved would be quite misleading in such cases and make sure that all the various thoughts are achieved to its maximum limit. The security still remains the primary issue for any online activity and when it comes to online transaction the threats increase multifold. Transfer of funds and various online trading activities would meet with severe access control for fetching a secured manner for access and security control. The online operations are still facing the worst dangers from secu rity and fraud and continue the traditional process of fetching the business. The better security mechanisms would enable to enrich businesses and would contribute largely to the faith of online transactions are would enable to reach customers base for better catering of products and services.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Can one argue that we live in an all-inclusive Information Society Essay

Can one argue that we live in an all-inclusive Information Society Illustrate your answer by offering examples from the media a - Essay Example ICT has proven its worth for providing economic developments, improving the quality of living, opening employment opportunities, and linking people no matter where they may be located in the world. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not one can argue that people live in an all-inclusive Information Society. Hence, it will dig into details such as the background of the network society, the definition and facts about all-inclusive information society, some issues that surround it, the influence of media and other communications industries, and the arguments, advantages, and disadvantages of the issue in focus. Background of All-inclusive Information Society The e-inclusion policy of Europe aims to lessen disparities when it comes to ICT usage among every single person despite social status. This policy wishes to create an all-inclusive information society, also known as the network society wherein everyone can create their own opportunities in business, education, and e mployment by being able to access reliable information through the different tools and services provided by ICT easily (International Telecommunication Union 2012). Manuel Castells (cited in Glass 2005, p. 9) once postulated that ‘in a new network economy, information becomes a key factor in economic productivity.’ For example, the flow of stocks in the market is based on relevant information regarding businesses and finances, as well as social and technological trends. Hence, information is made known through ICT and the relevant information is being used to improve businesses and increase economies. The all-inclusive information society is needed in order to balance development in a nation—both the urban and rural areas. The ICT tools and services must be fairly accessible and convenient to all citizens so that they will access information equally relevant for the improvement of their quality of living for all types of people including the disabled, old, and th ose living in remote areas where there used to be difficulties in finding good signals to access the net (European Commission 2007). In the advent of technology, only few people were able to make use of the internet especially the educated ones. These days, almost everyone can use and access ICT tools and services—even children can go online and be able to do e-learning. However, despite these advancements, studies have shown that factors such as education, age, employment, culture, and language may impede the e-inclusion policy because these are major drawbacks in the effective usage of information and communication technologies (Webster 2006). Solutions to these have constantly been researched and studied in order to realise the policy fully. Countries like Europe have implemented this and are close to around 80% of success in the e-inclusion. They still need to do a lot of work, though, and they are aware of it. Other countries, especially those belonging to the third worl d country will find this a difficult task because first and foremost the availability and affordability percentage of people in using ICT tools and services is quite low, but the positive side is that there are more and more people becoming more literate to these technologies little by little (European Communities 2006). In an all-inclusive network society, every ICT user will be able to express his or her opinion, which is a great way to make

Friday, November 15, 2019

Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Sarbanes-Oxley Act In the aftermath of the post-boom financial scandals in the U.S., Congress revised significantly federal securities laws and ratified the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 (SOX). As noted by Coffee (2006, p. 16), the intent of the new legislation was to â€Å"protect the integrity of financial reporting by redesigning the network of institutions and intermediaries who served investors in order that the capital markets would not be systematically deceived again.† SOX imposes several changes to the governance and regulatory environment in the U.S. including, (1) heightened disclosure, (2) separation of analysts from underwriters, (3) requiring attorneys to report crimes or fraud without delay, and (4) requiring senior management to personally certify their corporations’ quarterly financial results. In addition, audit committees were given enhanced powers, with a new quasi-public self-regulatory system put in place. Some observers have concluded that the overall impact of SOX is beneficial as a consequence of improved transparency and disclosure, with heightened monitoring providing better control of agency costs. Indeed, a governance metrics international survey (GMI) claims that U.S. companies have gone up to the top of an international comparison of corporate governance standards, leave behind the U.K. The report suggests due to SOX and similar reforms, the performance of large U.S. increased by over 10%. However, opponents of SOX have argued that the costs of compliance are excessive. For example, a survey of corporate board members by Korn/Ferry International estimates that the costs of compliance average $5.1 million, while Parsons Consulting estimates that costs average $12.28 million for 70 British headquartered businesses. (Lorne N. Switze, 2007)The annual survey of Foley Lardner LLP suggests that the costs associated with SOX are particularly onerous for small and medium-sized companies, with smaller firms lacking the requisite compliance infrastructure. Adherence to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 (Management Assessment of Internal Controls) is deemed in their survey to be the most problematic, with estimated compliance costs ranging from $350,000 to $1 million to assess and document the scope, adequacy, and overall effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures. According to the most recent Foley Lardner survey, since the enactment of SOX the average cost of comp liance for companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue has increased more than $1.8 million to approximately $2.9 million, representing a 174% overall increase. (Lorne N. Switze, 2007)The U.S. Government Accountability Office also has suggested that small businesses’ costs for implementing the disclosure requirements of SOX rules are disproportionately higher than large firms. Recently, the high costs of compliance have been alleged to the impetus for several international companies to delist from U.S. exchanges. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the single most significant piece of legislation embracing corporate governance since the U.S. securities laws of the 1930s. At the forefront of this legislation, is the intent to restore public confidence and interest at a time when there was an avalanche of corporate scandals. The cost and financial cost of implementing the act will, no doubt, be significant. Two-thirds of IT executives surveyed explain that future investment in financial technologies is targeted to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Strempel, 2004). A recent study indicated the average cost of being publicly traded for a company with less than $1 billion in annual revenue shot up $1.6 million due to this act. There is ground swell of objections to the acts implementation. However, the effort to restore public confidence and interest is priceless. Of interest is that despite the swelling of complaints by companies concerning the burden imposed by the act, 56% of a recent survey explained that they do not track and report internally on the costs of Sarbanes-Oxley and other compliance programs (Sri Forum Limited, 2003). The act is an attempt to restore public confidence that corporations have squandered away. A responsibility of public research is to inform the public to the diverse issues that surface. The advantages and disadvantages need to be discussed at length. A significant impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to make the board of directors more inquisitive of various items that are presented to them for approval. (Joseph J. Riotto, 2007)Historically, items presented to board of directors might have been a simple â€Å"rubber stamp.† Now, board of directors need to be aware of the ramifications of their approval. Recently, the percentage of chief executive officers who were forced out by their boards rose significantly. In fact, on average, directors are now spending 50% more time each month than before on their responsibilities (Prentice, 2005). In short, it raises the visibility of procedures for corporate accountability. There is mounting speculation that the act has decelerated corp orate mergers and acquisitions. One rationale is that the due diligence process for acquisitions could conceivably be lengthened because of the directors taking their responsibility more seriously. In addition, an effective compliance program can mitigate the amount of a criminal fine imposed under the acts guidelines; improve processes to eliminate criminal opportunities; establish requirement for corporate adherence to the act; and promote good corporate citizenship. As far as the state and local government sector is concerned, it might be in their best interests to further investigate and be proactive. Balancing the needs and expectations in this area is ideally done before it becomes a strict requirement. Compliance to the act is costing firms significant amounts of time, professional fees, and other resources (Beasley and Hermanson, 2004). Congress determined that the public interest is best protected by, not less regulation, but more regulation of corporate policy and governance. From the governments viewpoint, success is not measured solely by the bottom line, but by the optimization of public interest. A centralized corporate governance approach has been emphasized. The act has endorsed the Commission to promulgate such rules and regulations, as may be necessary or suitable in the public interest or for the safety of investors, and in furtherance of this act. The passage of time might be the true test of the effectiveness of the act. Corpor ate fraud is essentially the product of the morality and ethics of management. (Joseph J. Riotto, 2007) To Conclude, One of the criticisms of SOX is that it overly burdens small-cap firms. The net benefits of SOX in the form of increased accountability of managers to act in shareholders’ interest outweigh the costs of increased disclosure and compliance. On the whole, the SOX support the substitutability of governance mechanisms for small-cap firms. Some sub-optimal deployment of the endogenous governance mechanisms is observed. Firm leverage is inversely related to performance. Laws are implemented so that they are followed; however, there will always be those that look to circumvent the law. In short, the act is recognized as a dynamic document in the sense that additional rules can be implemented for the betterment of the public interest. References Beasley and Dana R. Hermanson, Effective Compliance Programs in the Aftermath of Corporate Megascandals. Insights: the Corporate and Securities Laws Advisor, Englewood Cliffs NY 18 (5) (2004), pp. 12–18. Coffee, 2006 J. Coffee, Gatekeepers: the professions and corporate governance, Oxford University Press, New York (2006). Joseph J. Riotto, Understanding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act next term—A valued added approach for public interest, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, September 2007 Lorne N. Switze, Corporate governance, Sarbanes-Oxley, and small-cap firm performance, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Volume 47, Issue 5, December 2007, Pages 651-666 Prentice, 2005 R. Prentice, Student guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Thomson Publishing (2005). SriForum Limited, 2003 Sri Forum Limited. â€Å"Sarbanes-Oxley almost integrated into corporate governance strategy† NY. July 2003. Strempel, 2004 D. Strempel, Companies pay price for Sarbanes-Oxley, Fairfield County Bus J 43 (June 24) (2004), p. 11.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essentialism and Social Reconstructionism Essay -- Education Teaching

Essentialism and Social Reconstructionism The field of study that I chose to go into is Elementary Education. For the past two summers, I have participated in the AmeriCorps Energy Express program and I can honestly say the experiences I have with this program are very enlightening and valuable to my ideas and conceptions about being an educator. Through Energy Express, I came up with my own theory. Any mind seeks to always place its limits and boundaries around that which they do not fully understand. It seems that all concepts and ideas must be placed in this little box for all others to comprehend and follow. The same holds true for philosophies of education. There are countless numbers of ways that educators go about teaching their students, however, six have been singled out and dissected to death. Along with most other education majors pertaining to their philosophies, I too cannot seem to find one single one to encompass all of my beliefs and desires that I hold for teaching my future students. However, ho lding true to my assigned task, it appears that of the six major philosophies, I more closely agree with and can relate to those of Essentialism and Social Reconstructionism. The traditional family as we know it, over the years, has taken numerous setbacks resulting in many children and young adults entering life and school with a very â€Å"unstable foundation†. People ask, â€Å"By whose morals and values are you going to teach these students?† Despite today’s beliefs, there are necessary morals and values out there that everyone should observe. Whether people are offended or not, the qualities that I will teach have in the past and still today proven worthy by building strong families, communities,... ...ssibilities, because I do not want to hold back or restrict any opportunities that may come my way. Once I have settled into my teaching career, I plan to further my education by going for my master’s degree in education. The only reason I see myself going for my master’s degree is the increased competition, many educators have already or are in the process of getting theirs. I believe that once I set my standards for teaching, I will let no further education make me feel as if I am above my students. In order for them to learn, I can never be above them. Teaching is the simple task of transmitting one’s knowledge to another. What I can do as a teacher is to help my students to leave knowing that anything can be learned, and anything can be accomplished. If the desire to learn and work for something is evident, any task can be challenged and overcome.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Back to the Dreamtime

â€Å"Back to the Dreamtime† wrote by H. Q. Mitchell showed that a teenage Aboriginal boy, Richard, who was a boy raised in white Australian society, however he never forget to claim himself as an Aboriginal. Therefore, he never give up to find his father’s burial ground. Richard, his brother, and his best friend on a journey of self-discovery, mystery and adventure through the Australian outback. In this novel â€Å"Back to the Dreamtime†, there are several main characters, but I would like to choose Richard and Tom to show the relationship between two of them in this novel.Richard and Tom are full of respect, they do a lot of things together, adventurous, reluctant to separate with families, and also helpful and obedient children. Richard and Tom are same ages brother, even though Richard was adopted by Tom’s parents, that’s means that they are not natural brother. They showed their respect to each other in this novel. Tom respect Richard and trea ts Richard as his biological brother. He also respects Richard as an Aboriginal and accepted him. Richard respects Joe and Sonya, even though they are only their adoptive parents.Besides, Richard and Tom do a lot of thing together. For an example, they were playing cricket together in the backyard and cleaned the attic together, so that they found the aboriginal carving on the attic. The most important is Tom went together with Richard to find his father’s burial ground. This showed that they prefer do a lot of thing together. Furthermore, both of them are adventurous. They are courageous to find Richard’s father’s burial ground without bring along with their parents.This showed that they have the spirit to adventure. Moreover, they brave to face the challenges and do not fear anything that may be will happened on them. In addition, they reluctant to separate with families. After Richard had found his father’s burial ground, he should leave with Tom and B radley, however Richard decided to stay at Hermannsburg Mission to help with odd jobs around. Tom showed his reluctant to leave his brother Richard. Richard also reluctant to leave his families so he asked Tom to take care himself hen he was waved goodbye to him. Last but not least, Richard and Tom are helpful and obedient children. Tom showed his helpful when he helped Richard to find his father’s burial ground at Uluru. It can be proved by when Richard said to Tom â€Å" I couldn’t have done this without your help. Thank you for your support. † They are obedient children because they listened to their parents when their parents asked them to clean the attic, they cleaned the attic without any objection. This showed they are obedient.In conclusion, I learned a lot of moral value between Richard and Tom. They are same ages brother but they don’t have many argument. In this condition, they showed love to each other. Moreover, Tom helped Richard to find his father’s burial ground with his sincere heart. Richard also get along very well with his adoptive families. The theme I learn in this novel is love is powerful. Richard’s parents, Sonya and Joe was worried about Richard. But they still allowed him to go to Alice Springs because they know it is important for him.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Tour Operators Influence on Hotels in Mallorca

Tour Operators Influence on Hotels in Mallorca Introduction Tourism is rooted in the history of ancient civilisations. Over the years, the industry has grown to become one of the most lucrative sectors for the generation of foreign revenues in many nations. Franscesco Frangialli, the WTO secretary-general, posits, Tourism at the turn of the century is growing faster than even our most optimistic predictions, which continuously simulate its development worldwide (Rita, 2010, p.435).Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Tour Operators Influence on Hotels in Mallorca specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The economic development of the Balearic Islands is strongly dependent on the inflow of tourists. Mallorca stands out as one of the biggest islands among the Balearic Islands in Spain with many three-star and five-star hotels. At present, governmental organisations and private companies attempt to find ways of attracting people from foreign countries to the Balearic Is lands. Amongst these organisations, tour operators organisations influence the nature and magnitude of inflow of tourists into the Balearic Islands. Literatures on factors affecting tourism attractions mainly focus on infrastructural development, the presence of natural or cultural sites, and the development of the tourism industry among others factors, thus leaving out the roles of travel agencies insufficiently addressed. For instance, some studies highlight why a certain place can attract the attention of travel agencies without showing the impacts of the agencies on the hospitality facilities such as hotels. This challenge is aggravated by the inadequate or even lack of data showing how these organisations shape the development of tourist destinations. This study seeks to close this gap by restricting its concerns to the impacts of tour travel operators on hotels in Mallorca. Consequently, this study examines how the power of tour operators influences various hotels in Mallorca. This interrogative presents practical implications. Precisely, the determination of influence of the power of tourists travel on hotels in Mallorca is important in the development of strategic plans, which are consistent with the considerations addressed by various tour travel operators in recommending various accommodation facilities for their clients. Aims and objectives The inflow of tourists within a given geographical region is influenced by factors such as political, state of economic development, and even social factors. One important factor that is not significantly studied, which guides the objective for conducting this research, is the power of tour travel operators. Researchers in the hospitality industry focus on the mechanisms of increasing the popularity of certain tourist destinations. Indeed, several studies have aimed at examining the factors that affect the development of the tourism industry (Izquierdo-Yusta MartÄ ±nez-Ruiz, 2011, p.77). While appreciating the significance of these factors in influencing hotels in Mallorca, the main aim of the current research is examining the influence of travel agencies on various hotels in Mallorca.Advertising Looking for dissertation on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This study has two main objectives, viz. To use primary data to demonstrate the impacts and influences of tour travel operators on hotel bookings in Mallorca. To study positive and negative impacts of the above influences coupled with how they affect anticipated service value by clients seeking hotel bookings. Research questions Research questions help in setting the stage for a study. They act as guides into what qualitative and quantitative research seeks to achieve (Cohen Crabtree, 2008, p.332). Two research questions consistent with the objectives of this research are investigated in this study as follows: Do tour travel operators in Mallorc a help in the creation of preconception and anticipations about the quality of services offered at hotels? What factors, specific and unspecific to hotels, do tour travel operators consider when recommending a hotel facility to a tourist? Literature Review Travel operators are involved in direct communication with potential hotels clients in various tourists attractions sites. The first section of this literature review offers a discussion of the likely impacts of such communication on the quality of services anticipated by clients on arrival at Mallorca. In the second part, disparate literatures on selection of destination sites for promotion by tour travel agencies are considered since this element also influences the places where tourists seek accommodation and other related services. The principle focus of the research rests on the roles of tour travel operators on hotel branding a term coined from the wider contribution of tour travel agencies in destination branding (Jalilva nd, Esfahani Samiei, 2010, p. 235). In the third section, literature gap prompting the necessity for conducting the proposed research is discussed coupled with the practical implication of the research sealing such gaps. Examination of the past research on the influence of tour operators on hotels seeks to identify the impacts of the operators on specific tourists destinations. Consequently, in the identification of the literature gaps, a discussion of appropriateness of selection of Mallorca as a research geographical segment is also considered. Tour travel agencies take part in the formation of the clients perceptions and attitudes toward a certain tourist site, recreational, or hospitality facilities. In many cases, buyers pay attention to the reputation of a travel agency (Ferencov, 2012, p. 309). Consequently, they can significantly increase the popularity of a hospitality facility (Denvir McMahon, 2009). This assertion suggests that tour travel agencies contribute to the rat e of inflow of tourists into a given hospitality industry within a given tourist destination geographical region. Stemming from their mode of operation, tour travel operators are service companies acting as an intermediary between tourists and other hospitality institutions such as hotels, airlines, restaurants, or cruise liners.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Tour Operators Influence on Hotels in Mallorca specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These organisations provide information to clients about particular tourist destinations. Therefore, they are responsible for the Mallorca destination branding. This aspect implies that they take active roles in the development and communication of the value that a certain tourist destination can bring to a client (Tsiotsou Goldsmith, 2012, p. 52). The power of tour travel in influencing hotels and destinations selection Tour travel operators make considerations on various factors while selecting tourist destinations for promotion. These factors include the presence of natural or cultural sites, climate, and service industry in a particular region, infrastructure, and security (PrebeÃ… ¾ac Mikulić, 2008, p. 170; Blzquez, Molina, Esteban, 2012, p. 167). This observation suggests that tour travel operators are incredibly interested in destinations that would satisfy clients in terms of both desired comforts and perceptions of security. Mariutti, de MouraEngraciaGiraldi, and Crescitelli (2013, p.17) note that the governments of developing countries are extremely concerned about the attitudes of travel agencies as they can influence the decisions of customers. In this context, tour travel operators help clients in learning more about various characteristics of a tourist destination. Where perceptions of insecurity are high, hospitality facilities such as hotels located in such destinations are also likely to receive low number of bookings (Holloway , 2008). A study conducted by Mihajlović (2012) suggests that tour travel operators have the capacity to affect the choices of consumers profoundly by highlighting the advantages of going to particular destinations. One of such issues encompasses the provision of complete guides on various hotels coupled with services offered in them. This move aids clients in making informed decisions or making prior psychological preparations on what to expect. In a bid to avail information on the services offered at the hospitality facilities located in various tourists destination within a nation, tour travel operators conduct an evaluation of the service industry in a certain destination (Budeanu, 2012, p.15). In this sense, Denvir and McMahon (2009) argue that these organisations are the major intermediaries between customers and service providers. Budeanu (2012) adds that clients are likely to put trust in the recommendations or assessments offered by travel agencies. Therefore, their con tribution in influencing the clients perceptions at Mallorca hotels is inevitable for consideration by any hotels management and strategic decision makers. Research conducted by Buhalist (2000) found out that distribution channels, especially travel agencies, affect the performance of many hospitality organisations. The study suggests the hospitality organisations need to accept the power of travel agencies in influencing their operations. In fact, tour travel agencies, through their assessment reports on hospitality organisations in tourists destinations, reduce the perceived risk expected by clients (Buhalist, 2000, p.115).Advertising Looking for dissertation on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This argument agrees with Budeanus (2012) assertion that tour travel operators facilitate communication between customers and service suppliers in the tourists destinations. If this link is absent, a client is not likely to go to a certain tourist destination. Buhalist (2000, p. 136) notes that the competitive positioning of a hotel depends on its cooperation with tour operators. This role of the tour operators in influencing the clientele in the hospitality facilities in the tourists attraction destinations becomes important in the information age. Many consumers rely on the Internet to acquire information about various resorts, tourist sites, or airlines (Mihajlović, 2012, p. 153). Very often, clients use the websites of travel agencies. The information provided on the travel agencies websites is instrumental in influencing the clients hotel selection and bookings. The Mallorca Island is located in the Mediterranean Sea. Studies on factors influencing choices for tourists wish ing to travel in the region are also important in the development of strategic decision making by hoteliers in the region. In one such researches, Izquierdo-Yusta and MartÄ ±nez-Ruiz (2011, p. 78) note that tour travel operators facilitate the clients search for information. They help customers and suppliers in establishing mutual trust (Izquierdo-Yusta MartÄ ±nez-Ruiz, 2011, p. 80). In addition, tourist destinations in the Mediterranean region are not likely to enjoy popularity when travel agents fail to pay attention to them in their promotional strategies. Tour-travel operator organisations can demonstrate that certain hospitality organisations are suitable for various types of clients differing in terms of income level, marital status, interest, and values among other tastes and preferences. Therefore, tour travel operators can increase performance of hotels located in a particular tourist destination. Tour operators can increase or decrease hotels services demand. Irrespecti ve of the industry in which an organisation operates, increased performance ensures longer existence of an organisation in a competitive market. Therefore, in the hotels sub-sector of the hospitality industry, performance is an essential tool for the evaluation of the ability of an organisation to remain in business in both short-term and long-term. According to Beechler and Woodward (2010, p.275), profit-making organisations deploy profitability levels as measures of their performance. In this extent, profitability encompasses a desired organisational output, which can be affected by the tour operators through their recommendations on hospitality organisations meeting tastes and preferences of specific clients. In Mallorca, it is desirable that hotels indentify all factors that may affect their profitability. One of such factors may encompass the reduction in service demand levels. Indeed, the lower the demand for services offered by a hotel, the lower the sales levels. Hence, the capacity to offset costs is reduced. Arguably, any variable or factor increasing demand for services offered by organisations in the hospitality organisations operating in tourism destinations may be positively received by hotels in Mallorca. As argued before, tour operators may influence the demand of services offered by different hotels in Mallorca with overall implication of affecting the performance of the hospitality industry. This assertion suggests that tour operators affect tourism destination hotels aspects defining their organisational performance. These aspects are financial performance (profits, return on assets and return on investment), product market performance (sales and market share), and shareholder return (total shareholder return and economic value added (Devinney Yip, 2009, p.529). In this sense, the standard approach of measuring performance in hotels entails setting targets for the desired outputs and then measuring the actual outputs against the targets. Ho tels can only set targets on a certain number of anticipated customers seeking accommodation and other services over given period. For reliable targets, the capacity of tour operators to influence the clientele in the hotels implies that the hotels need to establish good relationships with customers to increase their probability for promotion. Tour travel operators interact with various types of companies located in a particular tourist destination and in this process of interactions, they can increase international awareness about a certain destination. While interacting with hotels, they can increase inflow of travellers and higher number of rooms reservation by directing clients to the suitable hotels (Navickas Malakauskaite, 2009). Depending on the service satisfaction of a client visiting a hotel for the first time, service loyalty may develop. The client may also recommend another person to stay in a particular hotel or even consider seeking hospitality services from the hote l during his or her subsequent visits. This argument implies that tour travel operators may be pivotal in branding hotels in various travel sites including Mallorca. Research shows that the development of tourism is directly dependent on the degree to which tour operators are aware about a tourist destination and hospitality facilities. For instance, Ferencov (2012) indicates that in various European countries, at least 20 percent of the population relies on travel agencies while selecting a place for holidays (p. 311). The case of Balkan as discussed by Mulec and Wise (2012, pp.182-183) perhaps explains the roles played by tour travel operators in fostering inflow of clientele in the hospitality organisations located within a given tourist destination site. Balkan boasts many natural and cultural sites. However, these sites do not attract a great number of foreign tourists as tour operators and travel agents are not familiar with them (Mulec Wise, 2012). Hotels in different geogra phical regions compete to increase their market share. This aspect also applies to hotels in the Mediterranean islands, including Mallorca. Considering the roles played by tour travel agencies in influencing the performance of hotels located in various tourism destination sites, it may create the impression that only travel agencies affect their performance. Patsouratis et al. (2005, p. 1865) disputes this position by arguing that the exchange rate can be a powerful factor that shapes the purchasing decisions of clients. Burgess et al. (2011) maintain that the competiveness of the tourism industry depends on the ability of various organisations to make use of information technology to create consumer awareness (p. 221). This assertion suggests that despite relying on tour travel operators to create awareness of the services offered by hotels and other hospitality facilities within tourists attractions destinations, hotels can also deploy information technology tools to induce custom er awareness directly without depending on the tour travel operators. Roles of tour travel agencies in shaping hotel clients perceptions of service quality The literature review in the previous section indicates that tour travel operators play important roles in inducing service quality anticipations by potential clients to hotels within tourism destinations. In a bid to study the impacts of the information availed to customers on hotels and other hospitality facilities in any destinations including Mallorca, it is important to investigate scholarly evidence on impacts of customer-service satisfaction anticipations on hotels. Parasuraman et al. (1988) attempt to investigate perceptions of customer satisfaction anticipations coupled with hotel attributes. The research argues, Intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability of services degrees of customer satisfactions depend on their perceptions of service attributes and facilities (Parasuraman et al., 1988, p.31). In c onsideration of the attractiveness of a hotel for tourists, its attributes should then come first. They include quality of rooms, hotel reputation, and classification such as five-star or three-star, and the nature of service delivery to the customers (LeBlanck Nguyen, 1996). Tour travel operators mainly focus on ensuring that they direct their clients to the best facilities to enhance their reputations in comparison to other competing travel operators. Consequently, they prefer to associate themselves with the best hotels within a given tourism destination (Lew McKercher, 2006). This argument suggests that when selecting hotels to recommend clients, tour travel agencies are interested in the degree of satisfaction of customers while eating and accommodated in a hotel. Consistent with this assertion, Konecnik and Gartner (2007) believe that the performance of hotels is well conducted when evaluated by examination of their attributes. Gooroochurn and Sugiyarto (2009) also find this approach important. They conducted an extensive review of studies done between 1984 and 2000 on the attributes of hotels coupled with how the indentified attributes induce customer satisfaction. In the 173 hotels studied by 21 researches investigated by Gooroochurn and Sugiyarto (2009), hotel image, nature of rooms, nature of beverages, and foods influenced the customers satisfaction. Therefore, tour travel operators are more likely to engage in promoting hotels with these attributes as they help in associating the agencies with offering best services and satisfaction. Hudson and Miller (2011) indicate that the quality of communication between clients and hotels employees affects the satisfaction of clients in the hospitality industry. Indeed, organisations collaborating with hotels in tourism destinations only prefer establishing relationships with hotels appreciating and investing in good interpersonal communication between the hotels operators and clients. Customer satisfaction in the service industry is a function of the speed of service delivery. Employees in any organisation attend to customers. The nature and quality of service and products delivered determine the employees contribution in enhancing the competitive advantage of the organisations (Rust, Zeithaml Lemon, 2008; Philport Arbittier, 2010). This argument implies that organisations in the hospitality industry such as hotels may determine their preference rates or recommendations probability by tour travel operators through the degree of reported customer satisfaction with their services and products. Yelkur (2013) contends with this argument by adding that in the service sector organisations, quality is enhanced through the deployment of strategies for enhancing customer satisfaction with services, the utility of the service, and the speed of service delivery (p.110). Through their researches, tour travel operators have adequate information on various services attributes for any given hospit ality organisation in a given tourist destination. They deploy this information to rate different hotels and then base their accommodation advisories on the acquired data. The above discussion associates travel operators closely with the determination of hotels selected by clients well before the actual visit. However, there exists scholarly research suggesting that tour travel operators do not possess the principle power to determine the customers preferences for hotels within tourist attractions sites. For instance, Kau and Lim (2012, p.236) argue that leisure travellers served by hotels are more interested in the actual quality of service offered as opposed to the perceived quality as communicated to them by other parties such as tour travel operators. Wuest, Tas, and Emenheiser (2009) argue that leisure travellers consider clean, comfortable, well -maintained rooms, convenient location, prompt and courteous service, and safe and secure environment important when selecting a hote l for the first time (p.77). Although actual assessments on these factors may form strong motivation or de-motivation for seeking repeated services in a hotel, arguably, clients are not likely to try hotels without preconceived perception about the hotels likelihood to offer the best services. Choi and Raymond (2001) maintain that demonstrated courtesy, cleanness, security, and offering services commensurate to the service charges are important factors in determining the selection of hotels by tourists. This aspect is perhaps incredibly important for the Mallorca hotels and motels. Most clients for these two groups of organisations are mainly leisure travellers as evidenced by statistics from Datamonitor (2011) indicating that the Spanish hotels and motels industry had total revenues of $19,195.4 million in 2010, representing a compound annual rate of change (CARC) of 1% between 2006 and 2010 (p.9). The leisure segments accounted for US$17, 238.4 million in the entire hotels and mot el industrys value. If tour operators play roles in positively influencing the selection of the tourists destinations, then the hotels and motel industry in Spain will continue to contribute significantly to the national GDP. This argument makes sense considering that the performance of the industry is forecast to accelerate with an anticipated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% for the five-year period 2010-2015, which is expected to drive the industry to a value of $22,430.1 million by the end of 2015 (Datamonitor, 2011, p.9). However, despite the ability of tour operators to create more awareness on the services and satisfactions of customers in the Mallorca destinations, it is also possible for the first-time experiences of the currently visiting tourists to foster this expected growth in the future by presenting good publicity about the services offered at the Spains motel and hotel industry. Although the arguments that the capacity of first experience with services off ered at a hotel can induce repeated booking may be convincing, awareness for existence of a hotel in the first place is important. Such awareness may emanate from a hotel or from collaborating agents such as tour travel organisations. Arguably, where the information is communicated in both ways, it is readily likely to convince potential clients to seek booking in such a hotel. Where tour travel operators back up brand positioning efforts of the hospitality organisations within a given tourist destination, the agency acts as an essential link between service producer (the hotels) and service consumers (tourists). Selwyn (2008) supports this assertion by claiming that tour operators constitute one of the most influential players in the hospitality industry. Data derived from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in year 2000 indicated that for over 663 million people who travelled abroad in 1999 spending US $453 billion on various tourism travel products and services, 80% of the trips used services of a tour operator (Budeanu, 2012, p.3). This realisation suggests that the tour operators also offered guides on the hospitality facilities to the largest proportion of people consuming tourist products coupled with services. Stemming from the above arguments, the dependency of international travellers on services offered by tour travel operators highlights the importance of consideration of their impacts on hotels in Mallorca. In this context, it also becomes important to examine whether tour operators are wholesalers of tourism services or producers of travel package (Budeanu, 2012, p.6). Although there is no scholarly agreement on this debate, tour operators take bulk information on available hospitality facilities and present it to clients. This way, they function as wholesalers while hotels operate as producers of services and products. With the emergence of two-way communication platforms permitting organisation to contact their customers directly, the roles of tour operators in the hotel industry is seemingly dwindling. In fact, according to Tapscott and Williams (2010) web 2.0 applications permit clients across the globe to make a hotel booking without seeking assistance from an intermediary organisation. However, arguably, tour operators cannot lose relevance in the hotels industry. Budeanu (2012) Support this line of thought by asserting, By buying in bulk, the operator takes from the producer the burden of selling products and absorbs the risk of having unsold products (p.7). For instance, where several hotels operate in one area, and are promoted by one tour operator, customers may consider all the hotels as offering state-of-art services simply by association with their trusted tour operator. This aspect minimises the degree of rivalry between organisations for fair distribution of hotel bookings. Tour operators minimise the time required by clients to track accommodation facilities to determine their appropriateness to meet the de sired comfort and utility. Denvir and McMahon (2009) note that tour operators offer various services including flight followed by transfer services such as offering guide on hotels bookings. This aspect implies that tour operators act as the link between a service producer, such as hotels, and the service consumer like tourists. The services offered by tour operators are incredible in helping clients to save valuable time and energy. Additionally, by buying in bulk, the tour operator gets better deals from the direct producers, which allows them to offer low prices for the entire packages, which are very hard to obtain by individual customer (Budeanu, 2012, p.6). Consequently, for reasons related to time coupled with price, the services of tour operators are inevitable in the hospitality industry. Effective functionality of the hospitality industry is dependent on the good fit between organisations operating in the industry and the tour operators. Budeanu (2012) amplifies this argu ment by adding that tour operators are important for both consumers of tourism products and services coupled with their producers. This importance emanates from contributions of tour operators in influencing decisions made by tourism products and service producers, which affects the process of evolution of hospitality markets (Budeanu, 2009). By engaging in the promotion of certain tourism attractions sites, tour operators can stir up the hospitality organisations promotional campaigns and positive customer perceptions about the quality of services offered in various hotels located within different tourism destinations. This way, tour operators function as means of placing products and services offered in the hospitality industry to their potential consumers. Stemming from the above discussion, tour operators are evidently distribution networks for tourism services and products. In the words of Lew and McKercher (2006), they are the main information channel through which the custome rs preferences reach producers and services reach markets (p.416). In the execution of this role, they can indentify levels and patterns of hotel demand coupled with supply, and influence the equilibrium through influencing the customer decision-making processes, especially on the most preferred destinations hotel selections. Hudson and Miller (2011) posit that the degree and threshold of influence provided by tour operators on processes of the decision-making process for hospitality service producer are amplified in transactional tourism (p.309). Mallorca hotel organisations belong to this category. Scholarly gaps in literature on the influence of tour operators in hotels Tour operators play significant roles in influencing the performance of organisations operating in the hospitality industry. However, no scholarly research focuses on specific roles played by operators in influencing the operations of hotels in the Mallorca Island. Nevertheless, in understanding the development an d growth pattern of the Mallorcas hospitality industry, the work of Datamonitor (2011) and Buswell (2011) are incredibly important. Datamonitor (2011) provides statistics on the expected growth in the hospitality industry with particular focus on the hotels and motel industry sub-sector. The statistics indicate that over 85 percent of the hotel and motels incomes are derived from leisure travellers with business travellers only making a contribution of less than paltry 15 percent (Datamonitor, 2011). However, Datamonitor (2011) does not provide any statistics on the percentage of incomes earned by hotels and motels in Spain through contributions of tour operators in drawing clientele into the hotel and motels. A scholarly gap emerges via the search of scholarly works on how tour operators affect the operations of hotels in Mallorca. The work of Buswell (2011) mainly focuses on the historical development of hotels in Spain. Research is constrained by various resources such as money a nd time. Consequently, it is important to restrain research to a small, but reliable geographical research segment. While studying the influence of tour operators in Spanish hotels, Mallorca is the most preferred geographical research, as about a quarter of all Spanish hotels are located in the Balearic island with three quarters of these hotels being situated in Mallorca (Buswell, 2011, p.140). Furthermore, Buswell (2011) notes that Mallorca has a persistent preference of three-star hotels despite recognition of the benefits accruing from economies of scale. He states that for Mallorca, by 2001, 55.2% of hotels were three-star, with 60.2% of all hotels places, by 2008, these figures were 52.8 percent and 58.2% respectively, showing that in this century this category has lost some ground (Buswell, 2011, p.140). Five-star hotels also emerged in 1988 in Mallorca and they received unparalleled public attention. Considering arguments developed before in the literature review, tour opera tors are likely to associate themselves with and promote hotels offering splendid services. This aspect may help in inducing customer satisfaction, thus leading to better rating for a given tour operator organisation. The continued persistence of the three-star hotels in Mallorca as stated by Buswell (2011) raises questions whether tour operators consider promoting hotels based on perceived customer service quality and value or actual service quality and value. In Mallorca, five-star hotels only accounted for 3.6 hotels market share by 2008 (Buswell, 2011, p.140). If tour operators promote collaboration of organisations, does it mean that in Mallorca they prefer promoting three-star hotels opposed to five-star hotels. Is the star rating for a hotel not a criterion for promotion? What specific factors do they consider when recommending a hotel in Mallorca for tourists? Apart from sealing the scholarly gap in the hotels industry studies in Mallorca defined by the needs to respond to t hese interrogatives, research is also necessary to determine the influence of tour operators in both three-star and five-star hotels in Mallorca. Sealing this gap has practical implications on the development of strategic plans for increasing performance of hotels operating in the Mallorca tourists destination. References Beechler, S., Woodward, C. (2010). The Global ‘War for Talent. Journal of International Management, 15(7), 273–285. Blzquez, J., Molina, A., Esteban, . (2012). Key quality attributes according to the tourist product. European Journal of Tourism Research, 5(2), 166-170. Budeanu, A. (2009). A Tour to Sustainability. Lund, Sweden: International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics. Budeanu, A. (2012). Impacts and Responsibilities for Sustainable Tourism: a Tour Operator’s Perspective. Lund, Sweden: International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics. Buhalist, D. (2000). Relationships in the Distribution Channel of Tourism: Conflicts between Hoteliers and Tour Operators in the Mediterranean Region. Global Alliances in Tourism Hospitality Management, 1(1), 113-139. Burgess, S., Sellitto, C., Cox, C., Buultjens, J. (2011). Trust perceptions of online travel information by different content creators: Some social and legal implications. Information Systems Frontiers, 13(2), 221-235. Buswell, J. (2011). Mallorca and Tourism: History, Economy, and Environment. New York, NY: Channel View Publications. Choi, T., Raymond, K. (2001). Determinants of Hotel Guests’ Satisfaction and Repeat Patronage in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry. Journal of Hospitality Management, 20(5), 277-297. Cohen, D., Crabtree, B. (2008). Evaluative Criteria for Qualitative Research. Criteria for Qualitative Research, 6(4), 331-339.  Datamonitor: Hotels and Motels in Spain. (2011). New York, NY: Data Monitor USA. Denvir, A., McMahon, F. (2009). Influence of Tour travel agencies on London hotels.  International Journal of Ho spitality Management, 11(2), 143-154. Devinney, R., Yip, J. (2009). Measuring business-unit level: Integrating administrative mechanisms with strategy. Academy of Management Journal, 31(4), 826-853. Ferencov, M. (2012). Travel Agency and its Image: Factor Influencing the Attitude of Tourism Client towards the Choice of a Holiday Package. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(19), 309-316. Gooroochurn, N., Sugiyarto, G. (2009). Competitiveness indicators in the travel and tourism industry. Tourism Economics 11(1): 25-43. Holloway, C. (2008). The Business of Tourism. Essex, UK: Addison Wesley Longman. Hudson, P., Miller, A. (2011). The measurement of service quality in the tour-operating sector: a methodological comparison. Journal of Travel Research, 4(2), 305-312. Izquierdo-Yusta, A., MartÄ ±nez-Ruiz, M. (2011). Assessing the consumer’s choice of purchase channel in the tourism sector: Evidence from Spain. Euro Med Journal of Business, 6(1), 1450-2194. Ja lilvand, M., Esfahani, S., Samiei, N. (2010). Destination Branding and Tourists Attitudes (The Case of Isfahan as a Tourism Destination in Iran). International Journal of Marketing Studies, 2(2), 235-244. Kau, K., Lim, P. (2012). Clustering of Chinese tourists to Singapore: an analysis of their motivations, values, and satisfaction. International Journal of Tourism Research 7(5), 231-248. Konecnik, M., Gartner, W. (2007). Customer-based brand equity for a destination. Annals of Tourism Research, 34(2), 400-421. LeBlanc, G. (1996). Factors affecting customer evaluation of service quality in travel agencies: An investigation of customer perceptions. Journal of Travel Research, 30(4), 10-16. Lew, A, McKercher B. (2006). Modelling Tourist movements. Annals of Tourism Research 33(2), 403–425. Mariutti, F., de MouraEngraciaGiraldi, J., Crescitelli, E. (2013). The Image of Brazil as a Tourism Destination: An Exploratory Study of the American Market. International Journal of Busin ess Administration, 4(1), 13-22. Mihajlović, I. (2012). The Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a Key Factor of Tourism Development: Croatian Travel Agencies. International Journal Of Business Social Science, 3(24), 151-159. Mulec, I., Wise, N. (2012). Foreign Tour Operators and Travel Agents Knowledge of a Potential Tourism Destination: The Vojvodina Region of Serbia. Managing Global Transitions: International Research Journal, 10(2), 171-187. Navickas, V., Malakauskaite, A. (2009). The possibilities for the identification and evaluation of tourism sector competitiveness factors. Engineering Economics, 61(1), 37-44. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., Berry, L. (1988). â€Å"SERVQUAL: A multiple- item scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality†. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12-37. Patsouratis, V., Frangouli, Z., Anastasopoulos, G. (2005). Competition in Tourism among the Mediterranean Countries. Applied Economics, 37(16), 1865-187 0. Philport, J., Arbittier, J. (2010). Advertising: Brand communications styles in established media and the Internet. Journal of Advertising Research, 37(2), 68-76. PrebeÃ… ¾ac, D., Mikulić, J. (2008). Destination image and key drivers of perceived destination attractiveness. Marketing, 20(2), 163-178. Rita, P. (2010). Tourism in the European Union. International Journal of Contemporarily Hospitality Management, 12(7), 434-436. Rust, T., Zeithaml, A., Lemon, N. (2008). Customer centred brand management. Harvard Business Review, 82(4), 110-118. Selwyn, T. (2008).Tourism and the Environment in the Mediterranean. Suomen Anthropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, 33(4), 91-95. Tapscott, D., Williams, A. (2010). Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World. Westminster, UK: Portfolio Hardcover. Tsiotsou, R., Goldsmith, R. (2012). Strategic marketing in Tourism Services. New York, NY: Emerald Group Publishing. Wuest, E., Tas, F., Emenheiser, D. (2009). W hat do mature travellers perceive as important hotel customer service? Hospitality Research Journal, 20(2), 77 -93. Yelkur, R. (2013). Customer satisfaction and service marketing mix. Journal of professional services marketing, 21(1), 105-115.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Major General John F. Reynolds in the Civil War

Major General John F. Reynolds in the Civil War Major General John F. Reynolds was a noted commander in the Union Army during the Civil War. A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from West Point in 1841 and distinguished himself during the Mexican-American War. With the beginning of the Civil War, Reynolds quickly moved up through the ranks of the Army of the Potomac and proved to be one its finest field commanders. Despite his battlefield record, he was frequently frustrated by the political restraints placed on the army and likely turned down command of it in 1863. Reynolds was lost on July 1, 1863, when he was killed leading his men onto the field during the opening stages of the Battle of Gettysburg. Early Life The son  of John and Lydia Reynolds, John Fulton Reynolds was born at Lancaster, PA on September 20, 1820. Initially educated in nearby Lititz, he later attended the Lancaster County Academy. Electing to pursue a military career like his older brother William who had entered the US Navy, Reynolds sought an appointment to West Point. Working with a family friend, (future president) Senator James Buchanan, he was able to obtain admission and reported to the academy in 1837. While at West Point, Reynolds classmates included Horatio G. Wright, Albion P. Howe, Nathaniel Lyon, and Don Carlos Buell. An average student, he graduated in 1841 ranked twenty-sixth in a class of fifty. Assigned to the 3rd US Artillery at Fort McHenry, Reynolds time in Baltimore proved brief as he received orders for Fort Augustine, FL the following year. Arriving at the end of the Second Seminole War, Reynolds spent the next three years at Fort Augustine and Fort Moultrie, SC. Mexican-American War With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846 following Brigadier General Zachary Taylors victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Reynolds was instructed to travel to Texas. Joining Taylors army at Corpus Christi, he took part in the campaign against Monterrey that fall. For his role in the citys fall, he received a brevet promotion to captain. Following the victory, the bulk of Taylors army was transferred for Major General Winfield Scotts operation against Veracruz. Remaining with Taylor, Reynolds artillery battery played a key role in holding the American left at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. In the fighting, Taylors army succeeded in holding off a larger Mexican force commanded by General  Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna. In recognition of his efforts, Reynolds was brevetted to major. While in Mexico, he befriended Winfield Scott Hancock and Lewis A. Armistead. Antebellum Years Returning north after the war, Reynolds spent the next several years in garrison duty in Maine (Fort Preble), New York (Fort Lafayette), and New Orleans. Ordered west to Fort Orford, Oregon in 1855, he took part in the Rogue River Wars. With the end of hostilities, the Native Americans in the Rogue River Valley were moved to the Coast Indian Reservation. Ordered south a year later, Reynolds joined Brigadier General Albert S. Johnstons forces during the Utah War of 1857-1858. Fast Facts: Major General John F. Reynolds Rank: Major GeneralService: US/Union ArmyBorn: September 20, 1820 in Lancaster, PADied: July 1, 1863 in Gettysburg, PAParents: John and Lydia ReynoldsConflicts: Mexican-American War, Civil WarKnown For: Second Battle of Manassas, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, and Battle of Gettysburg. The Civil War Begins In September 1860, Reynolds returned to West Point to serve as Commandant of Cadets and an instructor. While there, he became engaged to Katherine May Hewitt. As Reynolds was a Protestant and Hewitt a Catholic, the engagement was kept secret from their families. Remaining for the academic year, he was at the academy during the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the resulting Secession Crisis. With the beginning of the Civil War, Reynolds initially was offered a post as an aide-de-camp to Scott, the general-in-chief of the US Army. Declining this offer, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 14th US Infantry but received a commission as a brigadier general of volunteers (August 20, 1861) before he could assume this post. Directed to newly-captured Cape Hatteras Inlet, NC, Reynolds was en route when Major General George B. McClellan instead requested that he join the newly-formed Army of the Potomac near Washington, DC. Reporting for duty, he first served on a board that assessed volunteer officers before receiving command of a brigade in the Pennsylvania Reserves. This term was used to refer to regiments raised in Pennsylvania that were in excess of the number originally requested of the state by Lincoln in April 1861. To the Peninsula Commanding the 1st Brigade of Brigadier General George McCalls Second Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), I Corps, Reynolds first moved south into Virginia and captured Fredericksburg. On June 14, the division was transferred to Major General Fitz John Porters V Corps which was taking part in McClellans Peninsula Campaign against Richmond. Joining Porter, the division played a key role in the successful Union defense at the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek on June 26. As the Seven Days Battles continued, Reynolds and his men were assaulted by General Robert E. Lees forces again the next day at the Battle of Gaines Mill. Having not slept in two days, an exhausted Reynolds was captured by Major General D.H. Hills men after the battle while resting in Boatswains Swamp. Taken to Richmond, he was briefly held at Libby Prison before being exchanged on August 15 for Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman who had been captured at Fort Henry. Returning to the Army of the Potomac, Reynolds assumed command of the Pennsylvania Reserves as McCall had also been captured. In this role, he took part in the Second Battle of Manassas at the end of the month. Late in the battle, he aided in making a stand on Henry House Hill which assisted in covering the armys retreat from the battlefield. A Rising Star As Lee moved north to invade Maryland, Reynolds was detached from the army at the request of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain. Ordered to his home state, the governor tasked him with organizing and leading the state militia should Lee cross the Mason-Dixon Line. Reynolds assignment proved unpopular with McClellan and other senior Union leaders as it deprived the army of one of its best field commanders. As a result, he missed the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam where the division was led by fellow Pennsylvanian Brigadier General George G. Meade. Returning to the army in late September, Reynolds received command of I Corps as its leader, Major General Joseph Hooker, had been wounded at Antietam. That December, he led the corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg where his men achieved the only Union success of the day. Penetrating the Confederate lines, troops, led by Meade, opened a gap but a confusion of orders prevented the opportunity from being exploited. Chancellorsville For his actions at Fredericksburg, Reynolds was promoted to major general with a date of November 29, 1862. In the wake of the defeat, he was one of several officers who called for the removal of army commander Major General Ambrose Burnside. In doing so, Reynolds expressed his frustration at the political influence that Washington exerted on the armys activities. These efforts were successful and Hooker replaced Burnside on January 26, 1863. That May, Hooker sought to swing around Fredericksburg to the west. To hold Lee in place, Reynolds corps and Major General John Sedgwicks VI Corps were to remain opposite the city. As the Battle of Chancellorsville commenced, Hooker summoned I Corps on May 2 and directed Reynolds to hold the Union right. With the battle going poorly, Reynolds and the other corps commanders urged offensive action but were overruled by Hooker who decided to retreat. As a result of Hookers indecision, I Corps was only lightly engaged in the battle and suffered just 300 casualties. Political Frustration As in the past, Reynolds joined his compatriots in calling for a new commander who could operate decisively and free from political constraints. Well-respected by Lincoln, who referred to him as â€Å"our gallant and brave friend, Reynolds met with the president on June 2. During their conversation, it is believed that Reynolds was offered command of the Army of the Potomac. Insisting that he be free to lead independent of political influence, Reynolds declined when Lincoln could not make such an assurance. With Lee again moving north, Lincoln instead turned to Meade who accepted command and replaced Hooker on June 28. Riding north with his men, Reynolds was given operational control of I, III, and XI Corps as well as Brigadier General John Bufords cavalry division. Death of Major General John F. Reynolds at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.   Library of Congress Death at Gettysburg Riding into Gettysburg on June 30, Buford realized that the high ground south of the town would be key in a battle fought in the area. Aware that any combat involving his division would be a delaying action, he dismounted and posted his troopers on the low ridges north and northwest of town with the goal of buying time for the army to come up and occupy the heights. Attacked the next morning by Confederate forces in the opening phases of the Battle of Gettysburg, he alerted Reynolds and asked him to bring up support. Moving towards Gettysburg with I and XI Corps, Reynolds informed Meade that he would defend â€Å"inch by inch, and if driven into the town I will barricade the streets and hold him back as long as possible.† Arriving on the battlefield, Reynolds met with Buford advanced his lead brigade to relieve the hard-pressed cavalry. As he directed troops into the fighting near Herbst Woods, Reynolds was shot in the neck or head. Falling from his horse, he was killed instantly. With Reynolds death, command of I Corps passed to Major General Abner Doubleday. Though overwhelmed later in the day, I and XI Corps succeeded in buying time for Meade to arrive with the bulk of the army. As the fighting raged, Reynolds body was taken from the field, first to Taneytown, MD and then back to Lancaster where he was buried on July 4. A blow to the Army of the Potomac, Reynolds death cost Meade one of the armys best commanders. Adored by his men, one of the general aides commented, I do not think the love of any commander was ever felt more deeply or sincerely than his. Reynolds was also described by another officer as â€Å"a superb looking man†¦and sat on his horse like a Centaur, tall, straight and graceful, the ideal soldier.†