michigansciencecenter_prod

My experience with the Beatles has likely been very different than that of most people, especially avid Beatles enthusiasts I have met this semester. John, Paul, George, and Ringofirst arrived in the United States on February 7, 1964. Since the moment they landed at JFK Airport, they began feeling the love from fans eagerly awaiting their arrival. The stage was set for "Beatle-mania" to take hold in the U.S., and it sure did. The Beatles were embraced by the entire country, and the rest is history. Just five years prior to the band's arrival in New York City, however, communist dictator Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista's administration and took power in Cuba. He established thefirst communist regime in the Western hemisphere, and under his rule thousands of Cubans were removed from their homes and held as political prisoners for speaking out against his oppressive system. My grandparents were among these oppressed citizens, and right around the time that the Beatles arrived in New York, my grandparents left Cuba and fled to the United States. They knew nothing of the Beatles, and they barely spoke English as it was. By the time they were able to establish themselves in the United States and have kids, it was the 70's.As a result, my parents were more influenced by artists of the 80's like Madonna and Prince while they were growing up. Of course they had heard of the Beatles, but the British band was for the most part before their time.In turn, the Beatles also had very little influence in my life, and I didn't even hear about them until I was in high school.
By the time I started my freshman year at the University of Florida, I was well aware of the fact that the Beatles were one of the greatest and most influential bands in history. I just didn't understand why. I had listened to a few of their songs here and there, but I couldn't see what made them so great and so famo…

Mead, an alcoholic liquor made by fermenting a mixture of honey and water, is a word that has been inherited from the Germanic culture. The Anglo-Saxons saw mead as a status of wealth and power. From this one word, many derivatives have been created through the years, from Old English to modern day. The earliest text with mead in it is found in 66 C. E. in a riddle, aptly named Riddle 20 with an unknown author, "Cyningne wyrne? wordlofes, wisan m?ne? mine for mengo, ??r hy meodu drinca?." The use of the term can be found in all forms of literary genres, from Beowulf in 604 C. E. to an autobiography of Mary Delany in 1747.
While studying the history of the use of the word, etymologist we’re able to see how mead was not only a safe beverage to drink but also how it informed us of the intricacies of Anglo-Saxon culture, through poetry, stories, and riddles. A medu-burh was what they called their community or village and it would be a place famous for those who would come and drink mead. The warrior would visit the meduheall (mead-hall) or meduseld (mead-house) ; which was a building in which mead was produced, kind of like are modern day bars. They would get there by traversing along a medustig (path to the mead-hall) through the meduwang (land surrounding the meadhall).
There was even a mead vocabulary once you entered the mead-hall. The place to sit was called a medubenc (mead-bench) though this turn of phrase is only used in reference to the early Middle Ages in Western Europe. Once you sat down you could engage in medudrinc (mead-drinking) with a meduscenc (mead-cup). After drinking a significant amount of mead you would become happy with medudr;am (mead-joy, but drinking too much mead would leave you meduw;rig (drunk on mead). Mead began to die off as the drink of choice in the Middle Ages when the aristocrats and royalty began to drink wine, delegating mead as a drink for those who were n…

Growing up, my little sister was terrified of the dark. Every night, she would sob and sob until one of my parents checked underneath the bed and behind the armoire for monsters. Now, I was her big sister, three whole years older, and I wasn't afraid of silly things like monsters; at least, that is what I told her. In all reality, I was terrified of monsters too, but I refused to even ponder about the existence of monsters and indulge my fear. Surely something as terrible as a monster could not exist in real life.
Plato once said that we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. In Elie Wiesel's Night, there are numerous times where the Jews of Sighet are forwarded of about the atrocities committed by the Nazi's or mention in passing Hitler's extreme hatred of the Jews – the tales of Poland told by Moishe, the account from a villager of the anti-Semitism rampant in Berlin, Germany's capital city, the closing of the synagogues and the covert gatherings in community leader’s houses, the mandate that all Jews must wear a Star of David on their clothing, and, finally, the separation of Jews into ghettos. Throughout all of this, Elie;s father and community was calm and passive, smug even. Although all signs pointed toward Hitler;s ultimate plan of exterminating the Jews or at the very least making their lives as awful as possible, the Jews of Sighet displayed ;blindness as they confronted a destiny from which they would have still had time to flee; because how could something as atrocious as soldiers using babies as target practice be true? How could someone think he could exterminate an entire race of people in the twentieth century? Surely nothing that terrible could happen in a time of airplanes, automobiles, and wireless radios.
The Jews of Sighet didn;t believe it- who would want to? And even if they indul…

After the chaotic years of the Middle Ages, the Reformation and of the Thirty Years’ War, humanity was brightened from the dark by a new era, called Enlightenment, one of the most important stages in the development of modern thought. This cultural, intellectual, philosophical and social movement spread through France, England, Germany, and other regions of Europe, even America, in the 1700s. Enabled by the Scientific Revolution, in the Enlightenment the spheres of education, politics, and religion were now subject to investigation, to bring changes where possible. Knowledge, science and rational thought, such as freedom and universal justice, were the cornerstones of the mentality of the age, while religion and superstition were denied. This age is called, in fact, the Age of Reason, and embrace the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change. The American and French Revolutions were inspired by Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality. ?
Thanks to the development of those ideas, women started gradually to change their role into society. Before that, from the Renaissance to the eighteenth-century , the representation of women was restrictive and oppressive, and they were expected to be subordinate to men in every way. Their role in society was primarily domestic and they were used only for the benefits of men. Wives should take care of the family and the house, do the cleanings and produce children just to carry on the family name; daughters should help the family thanks to an advantageous marriage. The behavior of women was a sort of indication of the reputation of their families, and for this reason sexuality was a subject related only to marriage. During the Protestant Reformation, the concept of patriarchy put men central in every kind of social structure, and from the middle of the sixteenth, tens of thousands of women were accused of witchcraft, and killed. Over 40,000-60,000 women were executed throug…

Defined as'a commitment to improved well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate resources' (Kotler & Lee, 2005); Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly prominent element of today's global business world. As noted in a report in The Economist,'doing well by doing good' has become an admired way of doing business – where organisations satisfy the interests of both society and shareholders ("Doing Good by Doing Well," 2015b). The pressure on organisations to exert a positive effort towards CSR and consequently contribute to sustainable development is mounting (Kolk & van Tulder, 2010). This is especially the case for multinational enterprises (MNEs), who are globally influential through their role in international activities in their home and host countries, in which a range of CSR issues are often met. In recent years, the shift in focus from social and environmental impacts of international business (IB), to more global concerns such as poverty and climate change (Kolk & van Tulder, 2010) has resulted in interest in the contribution of MNEs to resolve, or at least accommodate these international discrepancies. Thus, it is important to question the benefits of adopting and managing a CSR strategy for international business practitioners and MNEs.
This report will begin by conducting a review highlighting relevant literature, outlining the history and initial CSR conceptual development. Contemporary CSR theory will then be assessed about Corporate Social Performance (CSP), corporate citizenship and corporate philanthropy. Secondly, this report will detail the theoretical perspectives relating to strategic management and CSR of MNEs. The shortcomings of a resource and industry-based view are evaluated before the benefits of stakeholder theory discussed. Following this, an analysis will be conducted. Firstly, the benefits of adopting an…

?Joseph McCarthy became a United States Senator for the State of Wisconsin, in January of 1947. After losing popularity within the Senate, McCarthy utilized a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia to announce a communist plot that he had discovered within the United States Government. Given the situation with the Soviet Union and the Cold War, his accusations brought him to prominence, as he became the leader of the McCarthyism movement that swept the nation. McCarthyism ruined many lives, from government officials to actors, until the unsubstantiated accusations were investigated and found to be false. The author of this paper will focus on the effects McCarthyism had throughout the country, while exploring its methods and outcomes. This paper will also illustrate that Senator McCarthy initiated this witch-hunt in order to expand his own power within the Senate, while utilizing that influence in the campaigns of fellow Republicans and securing a second term for himself as well.
Joseph Raymond McCarthy Was born on November 14, 1908 in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. He graduated with a Law degree from Marquette University in 1935. In 1942, after a relatively brief career as a lawyer and judge, McCarthy joined the United States Marine Corps. He believed that distinguished military service in the Marines would be a benefit for his upcoming political career. McCarthy saw limited action during World War II and was discharged after thirty months of service.1 During his last few months on active duty, McCarthy unsuccessfully ran for a Senate position in Wisconsin. When that failed, he returned to his position as a circuit court judge, with the hopes of better preparing himself for a Senate campaign in 1946.While campaigning for the Republican Senate nomination, McCarthy consistently smeared current three-term Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. McCarthy utilized his brief stint in the military as an advantage over La Follette, who had not enlisted …

Karl Marx was a philosopher, social scientist, revolutionary historian, and an influential socialist thinker of the 19th century. He was born in the comfortable and middle-class family. He enrolled for law studies at age17, at the University of Bonn. He later attended the University of Berlin where he stayed for four years. During his days in school, Marx was interested in Romantic literature and Saint Saint-Simonian politics. However, he later abandoned romanticism for the Hegelianism. Even though much of his ideologies were largely ignored by other scholars of the time, his economic, political and social philosophies have been significantly recognized and accepted in the socialist movements and teachings. It is important to understand that he is the father of the present-day Marxist. In fact, the original ideas of Marx have been tailored and meaning adapted to explain some of the renown political concepts.
Karl Marx's philosophies have had a significant contribution to the study of sociology today. For instance, the idea of dialectical materialism has helped to understand and explain how political and historical events are influenced by the social forces, as well as formulate solutions for the problems. Marx believed that the progress of the society was as a result of the struggle between the social classes (Shah). Besides, he was among thefirst pioneers of the sociological impacts of economics in defining the social classes. In his research and studies, he investigated the relationship between the capitalist systems and its implications on the lives of the industrial workers (Schaefer). More so, his ideologies seek to define the relationship that exists between culture and social inequality.
Karl Marx had a humanistic perception of the future. The economic rhetoric and its effect on the human interactions were the fundamentals of his thoughts. Moreover, he was a very compa
…

The third UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) specifically aims to "promote gender equality and empower women" (United Nations, 2010), primarily through gender parity in education.However, both the rhetoric and implementation of MDG 3, which is primarily grounded in the Women in Development (WID) approach, demonstrate particular understandings of gender equality and women's empowerment that have come under criticism for being far too narrow.It is crucial that we rethink the theoretical basis of MDG 3 to allow for a more complex and comprehensive approach to gender equality and empowerment.In this literature review, Ifirst discuss the WID approach in order to establish a solid understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and limitations of MDG 3.Next, I explore alternative frameworks – namely Gender and Development (GAD), Postmodernism and Development (PAD), and human development (specifically, the capability approach).I identify and synthesize aspects in each of these frameworks that could contribute to the construction of a more holistic approach to gender equality and empowerment that involves more nuanced understandings of education and development.
Education, Equality, and Empowerment
Rethinking the third Millennium Development Goal
Since their inception in September 2000, the second and third United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), often referred to as the education MDGs, have played a major role in influencing international policy making and implementation concerning gender, education, and development (North, 2010).The establishment of these MDGs was the culmination of several conferences in Jomtien, Beijing, and Dakar,1 which collectively have signaled an emerging global commitment to gender equality, women's empowerment, and education for all.However, the second and third MDGs are much more abbreviated versions of the goals and commitments laid out in Jomtien,…

This paper explores the ongoing situation of the diminishing natural soundscape at the Grand Canyon National Park caused by overflight tours. Overflight tours of small airplanes and helicopters over the Grand Canyon are causing excessive noise pollution. Excessive noise from these aircraft negatively impact the millions of ground visitors, wildlife, and archeological sites in the National Park. Many Acts have been put into place in an attempt to regulate the noise pollution from overflights but none have been able to restore the park to a state of natural quiet. Several suggestions are made to reduce and regulate the noise pollution in order to preserve the natural soundscape of the Grand Canyon. Numerous articles were used in the research for the paper and information from the National Park Service website was used.
Keywords:noise pollution, air tours, soundscape
Within this massive world, there are only seven landmarks considered to be magnificent enough to protect and labeled as a natural wonder.One of these seven natural wonders of the world is the Grand Canyon.When being such an amazing natural wonder, millions of people from around the world come to experience the Grand Canyons beauty every year.With over 4 million visitors to the Grand Canyon every year, many tour companies have formed to provide multiple ways for tourists to experience the natural wonder of the world.Different types of tours are offered by multiple companies. A few of these tours consist of, hiking, mule rides, rafting, jeep, ATV, and air tours.The air tours by plane and helicopters has become an issue of debate for many agencies that have an invested interested in the Grand Canyon National Park.The noise from these air tours is considered a pollutant to the park and ruining the natural soundscape.The National Park Service considers the natural soundscape a vital resource to the park that is being eradicated by the air tours happening in, ar…

The United States introduced criminal justice reform with the objective of correcting errors made during criminal justice processes. The goals of the reforms are to reduce the number of incarcerated prisoners and prison sentences. In addition, the reforms aim at doing away with mandatory minimum sentences for people involved in drug trafficking. The original objectives were for a liberal cause, but the politicians, particularly from the Republican Party, came in to offer more support. The Democrats too agree that the country criminal justice reforms. Many of the Politicians argue there are too many Americans in incarceration causing the taxpayers billions of dollars. The paper will look at criminal justice reform system in the courts, policing, prison system and rehabilitation. The criminal justice should be meaningful making it cost-effective, smarter and fairer. The system must allow the law enforcers to keep the community safe.
The United States is home to 5 percent of world’s population, yet it has over 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. There are an estimated 2.2 million inmates in the US (Koenig, 2006). The vast number of people in prisons costs the nation an estimated 50, 000 dollars per inmate annually. The cost includes health care, court costs, probation and other direct costs associated with imprisonment. Similarly, the prisoners are not productive leaving their families poor. Incarceration rates need to reduce and save over 800 billion dollars every year (Koenig, 2006). The reforms need to make prisoners more productive while in incarceration to earn the government some hundreds of billions of dollars while serving their sentences. A large number of imprisonments are due to crimes that are non-violent such as fraud (Berman & Fox, 2016). Other ways can be employed to deal with such offenses. There are more than half of the prisoners convicted of low-level property and drug related habit. Th
…