World In The 20Th Century Essays - Genocides, Khmer Rouge

World In The 20Th Century The 20th century has been a period that has seen things such as great political and social change, great advancements, and great catastrophe as well. From the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903, through the beginnings of the nuclear age in the 1940's, to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the century has been full of major and influential occurrences that have strongly affected our global society as a whole. The century has seen dreadful things such genocide, two full-scale global wars, and a series of smaller wars to go along with great changes in governments, ideals, and society, as well as great industrial and societal advancements. Unfortunately the theme of Genocide has been an all to frequent occurrence throughout the 20th century. From some of the most talked about genocide such as the Holocaust of the Jews (1933-1945), and the Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979), to some of the lesser-talked about genocide this has been an underlying theme of evil throughout the century. The Holocaust is arguably the most talked about genocide in history. The Holocaust being the methodic extermination of five to six million Jews by means of forced labor, shootings, and gassings. This was undoubtedly a catastrophe on an enormous scale. Hitler Germany's leader at the time used the Jews as scapegoats for many of Germany's problems claiming they were corrupt and predatory materialists, devoid of patriotism and feelings for others.?(Totten 139) The Jews were deprived of their civil rights and forced into extermination camps were they were more than likely headed for death. Bruno Bettelheim a rare survivor of the Holocaust describes his experiences in the concentration camps of Dachau and Buchenwald: ?Physical punishment consisted of whipping, frequent kicking, slaps in the face, shooting or wounding with the bayonet. These alternated with attempts to produce extreme exhaustion. For instance, prisoners were forced to stare for hours into glaring lights, to kneel for hours, and so on. From time to time a prisoner got killed This shows an example of how demoralizing and horrible the experience of the Holocaust was to millions of Jews. The Holocaust made many realize the horror that humans can put each other through. This was by no means the only or last horror of its kind, The Cambodian Genocide beginning in 1975 shows that we as humans did not learn or did not care for our mistakes of the Holocaust. Mere weeks after Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot in 1975, the nation's cities were evacuated, hospitals emptied, schools closed, factories deserted, and money and wages abolished. Freedom of the press, worship, organization, and association all completely disappeared for four years. A whole nation was captured and beleaguered from within. Democratic Kampuchea was a whole state of a prison camp that lasted for four years. Of its 8 million prisoners over 1.5 million of them were brutally worked, starved, and beaten to death. Pol Pot set out to eliminate Buddhism from Cambodia as well as all the minorities present in the Cambodian population. ?Since 1979 it has not been possible to find a Vietnamese resident who had survived the Pol Pot years 0there.?(Totten 341) The Pol Pot regime claimed that they totaled only 1 percent of the total population but just by looking at the numbers and the harsh reality they are easily written off. Things that can not be written off are the numerous numbers of other genocides that occurred throughout the century, throughout the world. Events such as the Genocide of the Hereros in South-West Africa (1904) to the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) through the Rwanda Genocide (1994) towards the end of the century, have plagued us throughout the past one hundred or so years. Another horror that has been all to frequent throughout the last century has been that of war. Our world has seen two global scale wars as well as several smaller scale wars to go along with them. In the early 1900's the world was completely dominated by European countries such as Germany, Austria, Britain, France, and Italy. These countries had great amounts of land throughout the world carved up into colonies. By 1914 Europe was divided into two combinations of great powers originally formed by

Courses to Consider When Applying to Law School

Courses to Consider When Applying to Law School If you are considering applying to law school it might be a relief to know that, generally speaking, there are no required courses for admission to law school. Law students come with a variety of different majors, but admissions officers want to see well-rounded applicants who have a broad range of knowledge. Choose a major and courses that are challenging and interesting to you- and do well. Below are some courses that will help you develop into a well-rounded applicant and prepare you to succeed in law school. History, Government, and Politics: The Backbone of Law The study of history, government and politics are interwoven with the field of law. Therefore it is imperative in applying to law school that you are able to showcase some demonstratable knowledge of the government and history of the law schools country of origin. So, if you plan to apply to school within the United States, it is recommended that you take an undergrad course in United States History, or for a broader sense of how the countrys laws fit in with the rest of the globe, consider taking a World History course. Similarly, Economics and Government courses would benefit your displayable knowledge in the basic function of laws within a country. Typically these courses are prerequisites for graduation anyway, but you should also seek out some not on core curriculum.   If you plan on pursuing a career in immigration law, for instance, it might behoove you to take a course in Immigration Law (if offered) or a specific history course pertaining to the country of origin from which immigrants you wish to help come. Jurisprudence, Taxation Law, and Family Law courses also offer specifics into politics and government and would look great if you were applying to programs that heavily focus on those pursuits. Writing, Thinking, and Public Speaking: Expressing the Law A career as a lawyer is all about  critical thinking, writing and speaking. It is therefore important to also consider taking classes that offer opportunities for extensively critiqued writing, debate and speaking publicly. These courses will immerse the student in a curriculum that challenges him or her to think outside the box. Almost all law students take debate before entering grad school, which provides ample experience of critical applying the students understanding of laws and policy in a public forum. In doing so, students are afforded the chance to truly test their applicable understanding of basic policies in an environment akin to a courtroom. English, Literature, Public Policy and Speaking, and Creative Writing can also influence the students ability to debate and eventually to take to the courtroom. Enrolling in these classes will show admissions officers that you, the student, possess the drive to understand the basic fundaments of being a lawyer. But it doesnt end with simply taking courses that speak directly to being a lawyer. Hopeful law students should also enroll in courses that examine the vastly interesting dynamics of human behavior- which much of law is concerned with. Anthropology, Sociology and even Religious Studies can go to influence what a future law student will be able to comprehend in regards to how their laws and policies affect the global, national and local population. Similarly, Criminology and Sociology can help to show admissions officers that the student has a complete understanding of how the law works from a societal standpoint. It is important to remember that you pay for college and should be garnering an experience that suits your wants and needs.  Most of these courses form the backbone of a solid undergraduate liberal arts education. Choose challenging courses that fit your interests and aspirations. Equally important though is to show admissions officers that you are a rounded student with multiple interests that all (or mostly) lead back to the pursuit of a career in law.

THE DEVILS BRIGADE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

THE DEVILS BRIGADE - Research Paper Example One of the major milestones in this journey was the establishment of the First Special Service, otherwise called the Devil’s Brigade or the Black Devils’ Brigade. The special unit among the United States forces was formed in the course of the World War II. Initially, the plan was to incorporate Canada and Norway in establishing a special elite force that would help in the activities of the war. However, Norwegian forces withdrew leading to collaboration between the United States Forces and Canada1. The conception of the idea to establish a special elite unit in the Army and the subsequent implementation took place between March and July 1942. This period was characterized by extensive research by a British scientist and extensive analysis by United States commanders. The special unit started their training in Montana at Fort William Henry Harrison before moving to other areas such as Camp Bradford and Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. The forces lasted for the period between July 1942 and December 1944.1 The unit had three battalions made up of Canadian and American volunteers who engaged in intensive training in skiing, parachuting, amphibian warfare, mountain and demolition operations among other specialized skills. The elite forces were distinct, from their bi-national uniform to their specialized fighting skills. The soldiers engaged with war in Italy and Southern France before their disbandment late 19441. History The historical perspective of the First Special Service dates back in March 1942. The United States forces were allied to the British forces. A British Combined Forces Scientist, Geoffrey Pyke conceived the idea of establishing a special unit that would be capable of among other fighting activities engages enemies under harsh weather conditions in winter. Pyke’s proposed Plough Project involved the creation of traceable vehicles, designed to carry the soldiers and their war paraphernalia across the surface filled with snow. He pre sented the idea to the chief of the Combined Forces, Lord Louis Mountbatten and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill both of whom admired the idea. Pyke’s idea was sold to the United States Chief of Staff, General George Marshall due to several constrains by the combined forces and Britain. The Canadian Department of Munitions and supply came up with a vehicle called ‘the penguin’ while United States engaged its automobile manufactures through the National Research council in developing a vehicle that was named ‘Weasel’2. In embracing the idea, the United States decided to collaborate with Canadian and Norwegian Forces in establishing the Unit. Unfortunately, the Norweian forces failed to participate. The recruitment for the soldiers in was done on voluntary basis, advertisements were rolled calling on young people between ages 21 and 35 years with special preference given to the hunters, lumberjacks, rangers, game wardens among others2. Cana dian commitment was declared on 26th June, 1942 after which the Minister of National Defence of Canada authorized a battalion of six hundred and ninety seven Canadian soldiers for training in the United States on July 14th, 1942. The project was scheduled to start in

Religion and Culture Intertwined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Religion and Culture Intertwined - Essay Example Like language, religious practices can vary through time, as they reflect the needs of the people, may it be on the intellectual level or spiritual level. Culture, as in arts, politics, economics, and gender norms, also change to reflect the needs of the people. Not only that, religion as a unit of culture greatly affects those other units since religion is a very powerful force. In fact, religion is the major force in major changes in humanity, as faith usually guides most people’s decisions (Neihardt, 2000), like in politics and economy, even if they say it’s completely logical. Thus, one cannot say that religion is separate, or bigger than culture; no one can either say that culture is independent and greater than religion. They are both interrelated and they both affect each other, as demonstrated in this paper. Culture is generally defined as a total of learned, socially transmitted behavior. A society also means a large group of people living in the same territory , independent of other people and having a common culture. Sometimes, societies resist ideas that seem to be threatening to their own values. It’s impossible for societies to be all the same, but there are cultural universals that help societies interact with each other. These universal are modified means to meet the basic need for food, shelter, clothing and reproduction. Examples of cultural universals are marriage, laws, sexual restrictions, folklore, dancing, etc. These actions are understood in almost all kinds of societies, although they are expressed in a variety of ways. Religion is also a cultural universal. 86% of the world population belongs to a certain religion. Religion has been found long ago, over 100,000 years, as soon as civilization started, to provide explanations about origin, purpose and deaths of humans. Religion is a â€Å"societal glue†. It gives a society ultimate values that make up a social system that hold the people together and integrate people as well. The integrative function of religion is especially apparent in preindustrial societies. In these societies, relationships, harvesting of crops, leadership are all governed by religious laws. For example, crops would be blessed by God, sacrificing is done to please the Gods so that the harvest would be plentiful (Neihardt, 2000). These activities rule people’s behavior too, making religion a veritable aspect of culture. This is very evident in Native American culture. Their society was preindustrial. Although it was preindustrial, their culture was quite developed. They have integrated social structures at the time and they also have sophisticated technology. When discussing Native Americans, people have this notion that they are savages. This is untrue; the whole notion developed because the history books were written by the European conquistadors who had that opinion. Native Americans inhabited the Americas before the Europeans came and colonized it. There we re various tribes scattered across America and these tribes have specialties that help them in their activities, like hunting and farming (Neihardt, 2000). They are very diverse. Native American religions bind them together, and although they have many different tribes, their religions are quite similar. The common aspect is dualism. They have one God for their creation story, which is the Creator; and they have different gods per tribe. This creator guides them on how to live their lives, teaches how to behave according to their culture, etc. Other characters in their religion are the deities. These are spirits that control the

Quantitative Determination of Atrazine

Quantitative Determination of Atrazine The objective of this study is to develop a simple and economic spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of atrazine. This method is based on the complexation of atrazine derivatization (dechlorinated atrazine [DA]) with a mixture of formaldehyde and ketone compound, as described by Mannich reaction. The complex was determined by UV-Vis absorption measurement and the ketone compound used was the uranine due to its high coefficient absorption. The UV spectrum of the complex shows maxima of absorption at 207 nm and at 227 nm. An internal standard was used to quantify the atrazine. There is a good linearity between the absorbance and the concentration in the range of 0.1 10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 of atrazine. The recovery value was 97 % and the limit of detection was 0.01 µg.mL-1. Real samples collected from irrigation local area were analyzed using this method and the estimated concentration of atrazine found in the mentioned river is 0.29  ± 0.011 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1. Keywords: Atrazine, dechlorination by zero valent iron, Mannich reaction, Spectrophotometer, quantification, internal standard, real samples measurements. Introduction Atrazine are widely used in agriculture, and their heavy use has resulted in the environmental pollution. Their persistent presence had been a serious problem, especially in surface and ground water systems. Atrazine herbicides were often used especially in Europe and the United States (1, 2), as important atrazine and simazine have been greatly used in maize cultivation and forestry. Their solubility in soil is low, and then can migrate along the food chains, and their intense use and presence in the environment have created a health threat to human beings. Recently, they have been considered as a group to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (3). The European Union Drinking Water Directive sets official regulations on the maximum admissible concentrations in drinking water as 0.1 mg.L-1 for an individual herbicide and 0.5 mg L-1 for total pesticides (4) whereas in surface water the alert and alarm threshold values are typically 1 and 3 mg.L-1 (5). Hence, the development of sensitive a nd economic analytical methods is very crucial for screening the presence and amounts of atrazine and preventing toxicological risks. In general, gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are the techniques popularly used for the determination of atrazine and simazine (6-9). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), amperometric immunosensor, and adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination were developed for the analysis of atrazine and simazine, (10-13). In general, these techniques are expensive and involve time-consuming separation steps. These methods are unsuitable for field testing, for continuous monitoring or for screening high numbers of samples as required in mapping pesticide pollution in time and space. The objective of this work is to analyse the atrazine by a economic and rapid method. The proposed method in this work is based on the dechlorination of atrazine [DA] by zero valent iron powder (ZVIP), according to the reference fourteen (14) and using the [ DA] obtained in the Mannich reaction in order to give rise a by product having an extinction coefficient absorption more intense than atrazine compound. Materials and methods Chemicals and reagents All chemicals and solvents used were of analytical grade or of a higher grade when available. Formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid were purchased from Fisher, (MA, USA). Atrazine was purchased from Rodel-dehein, zero valent iron powder (350 mesh) was purchased from Sigma Aldrich Ultra pure water was prepared using a multi-Q filter system (Millipore, MA, USA). Instruments The UV absorption measurements were performed on a Shimadzu UV- 1650 PC. With 10 mm quartz cells were used for spectrophotometric measurements. The pH values are measured using METTLER TOLEDO pH-meter. Standard Solutions Stock solution of atrazine was prepared into a volumetric flask at a concentration of 10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1, 10 mL of this solution were mixed with 20 mL of acidified di-ionized water (pH = 4) and transferred into a flask of 100 mL. 2.5 g of zero valent iron powder were also added into the flask and shacked for 15 minutes. A complete dechlorinatation of atrazine must be achieved according to the previous work (14). This solution was in the Mannich reaction. Calibration Curves Samples for analysis were prepared by mixing uranine , formaldehyde and dechlorinated atrazine solutions. De-ionized water was transferred into each sample to reach a final volume of 10 mL. Calibration curves were built for quantitative measurements using the samples prepared according the table 1. Composition of samples used to build regression curve of the absorbance of the complex obtained by Mannich reaction and atrazine dechlorinated [DA] Internal standard curve addition and Recovery Atrazine dechlorinated was added as an internal standard for the calibration of the measurement, according to the method described in (Muel and Lacroix, 1960; Rima, Lamotte and Joussot-Dubien, 1982) (16, 17). Determination of the pH was done using a Mettler Toledo (OH, USA) pH-meter. Samples for analysis were prepared by mixing 0.5 ml of uranine (10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1), 1mL of pure formaldehyde and different volumes of dechlorinated atrazine stock solutions diluted to [0.75 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1] (1-1.5 -2- 2.5 and 3 mL). De-ionized water was transferred to each sample to reach a final volume of 5 mL. Table 2 describes the preparation of the standard curve. Recovery experiments were performed by standard addition method: 0.15 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 of Atrazine dechlorinated was added to samples and percentage of recovery (R%) was calculated as follows: R% = [(Cr-Cf)/Cr] 100 Cr = Real concentration of atrazine in the fortified samples Cf = Concentration of atrazine obtained by the internal standard addition curve River water analysis The water analyzed was collected from River in the north of Lebanon.[agricultural area] 100mL of the polluted water were treated by zero valent iron powder according to the protocol mentioned above. The samples were fortified by solutions of dechlorinated atrazine having an initial concentration of 0.75 ÃŽ ¼g.ml-1 in order to build the internal standard curve. Table 3 summarizes the volumes of different solutions used in the mixtures. Results and Discussion Mechanism of the dechlorination of atrazine Most halogenated hydrocarbons, RX, can be reduced by iron metal. The overall reaction (Equation 1) results in dehalogenation of RX. Three general pathways by which this process may occur have been proposed (Matheson and tratnyek,) (18). The first involves direct reaction of the metal surface, in which case equation (A) alone adequately represents the pathway of reduction. The other two possible pathways do not involve the metal surface directly. Instead, Fe2+ and H2, which are products of corrosion by water, serve as the reductants that are directly responsible for dehalogenation of RX equation B and C. Fe0 + RX + H+ ↔ Fe2+ + RH + X- A 2Fe2+ + RX + H+ ↔ 2Fe3+ + RH + X- B H2 + RX ↔ RH + H+ + X- C More specifically the atrazine can be written as RX ( X = Cl ). With zero valent iron powder in the acidic aqueous solution the chlorine can be replaced by the hydrogen. According the following reaction: Effect of the dechlorination of atrazine on its extinction coefficient absorption. UV absorption spectra of atrazine in aqueous solution (1.5ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1) were recorded and compared to the spectra of the by-product obtained by the treatment of atrazine as shown in figure 1. Atrazine was dechlorination by zero valent iron powder according to the method described by Matheson, L.J et al (18). The extinction coefficient of the atrazine at the 220 nm (maximum of absorption) was estimated the value of 35200 M-1.L; whereas the extinction coefficient of the dechlorinated atrazine which give a maximum at 210 nm was found equal to 169000 M-1.L. Figure 1. The experimental observations revealed that by the removal of the chlorine atoms an hyperchromic and hypsochromic effects were observed. An increasing of the extinction coefficient and a blue shift from 220 nm to 210 nm of the maximum of absorption were detected. According to the table 4 , the proton that accompanies the formation of the free amine in Equilibrium 1 is available to protonate other reactants in the solution (Equilibria 2 and 3). Addition of the free amine to a protonated molecule of formaldehyde leads to the formation of the iminium ion shown at the right of (Equilibria 4). The enol of acetone then adds to the carbon atom of the iminium ion in (Equilibrium 5). In the equilibrium 1 as shown in the table 1, the nitrogen is enriched by electrons of the CH3 group and this nitrogen will react with H+ as base/acid reaction. However, when the electrons of the nitrogen, are deprived under the influence of the electron affinity of chlorine, this nitrogen will lose its basic character, then the à ©quilibre1 should be disturbed .In the other hand the nitrogen of the Equilibrium 4 play a nucleophilic role and ,if this nitrogen is disadvantaged by a chlorine attractive effect; it will lose the nucleophilic characteristics and the reaction with the carbon of the aldehyde in the Equilibrium 4. cannot be obtained In the case of atrazine it well known that the chlorine plays the role of the electrons donor to the nitrogen of the cycle and the electrons attractive of the aliphatic nitrogen. Since the Mannich reaction must take place at the aliphatic nitrogen not at the aromatic nitrogen and when the chlorine was removed by dechlorination process, the electrons at the aliphatic nitrogen become more dense and then it will be more able to play the role of nucleophilic atoms as mentioned in Mannich reation. In conclusion when the chlorine is removed from atrazine, the Mannich reaction can be observed as we demonstrated experimentally. Identification of the complex obtained in the mixture atrazine dechlorinated-formaldehyd and uranine The Mannich reaction is an organic reaction which consists of an amino alkylation of an acidic proton placed next to a carbonyl functional group with formaldehyde and ammonia or any primary or secondary amine. The final product is a ÃŽ ²-amino-carbonyl compound also known as a Mannich base. Reactions between aldimines and ÃŽ ±-methylene carbonyls are also considered Mannich reactions because these imines form between amines and aldehydes. Equation D (15). We hypothesized that the reaction between uranine, formaldehyde and dechlorinated atrazine must be similar to reaction E. The mechanism of the reaction is the following: Equation E Atrazine compound presents a UV spectrum with a maximum absorbance at 220 nm whereas dechlorinated atrazine presents a maximum of absorption at 210 nm Spectra of atrazine and dechlorinated atrazine are presented in Figure 1. The mixture of dechlorinated atrazine, formaldehyde and uranine give rise to the formation of a complex described by the Mannich reaction. It is obviously that formaldehyde does not have any UV spectrum. The UV spectra of the complex give rise to a spectrum with two maxima at at 207 nm and 227 nm respectively. Figure 2 presents the spectra of atrazine. dechlorinted atrazine and the complex obtained by Mannich reaction. Atrazine 2 ÃŽ ¼g.ml-1 (A) (DA  : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder), (DA+ H2CO : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder with formaldehyde) (DA+ H2CO + uranine : : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder with formaldehyde) Regression curve between the complex formation A calibration curve of the complex was built to examine the linearity of the complex absorbance and atrazine concentrations. The least square method was used to calculate the regression equation. A strong linear correlation was obtained between the absorbance of the complex and the concentrations of atrazine. Figure 4 shows the regression curve of complex absorbance in function of atrazine concentrations. Correlation coefficients were higher than 0.99 in a concentration range of 0.15 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 to 0.75ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1.The precision of the method was evaluated with relative standard deviations (RSD) of atrazine determination in five samples. RSD was 3 %. The limit of detection of the method was 0.01 µg.mL-1 as defined by a signal-to-noise ration of 3:1 (19). Spectrophotometric method for quantification of atrazine e using the internal standard addition model A spectrophotometric method using the internal standard addition was examined to quantitatively determine melamine concentrations in samples. A calibration curve was described by the following equation: A*= aC + b, which is equivalent to A* = (A0* /C0) x Cadd + A0*, with A* = (A/ A0) normalized absorbance intensity (arbitrary values), is equal to the ratio of the absorbance intensity after adding the internal standard A to the absorbance intensity before adding the internal standard (A0) C0: solute concentration to be estimated. C0 is determined by the negative intercept of the curve with the abscissa axis (16, 17). A0*: normalized absorbance intensity of the starting solution Cadd: known added concentrations. The plot of A* vs. Cadd is shown in Figure 5. The internal standard used in this method was the atrazine that we would like to determine (C0). To this initial solution, different known concentrations (Cadd) were added. The average recovery for five samples spiked with melamine as described above in Table 1 was estimated to be 97%  ± 3. Table 5 summarizes the validation parameters of this method. Spectrophotometric method for the quantification of atrazine in a sample taken from an agricultural zone, using the internal standard method. Samples taken from a water source contaminated with atrazine, are processed by zero valent iron powder for the dechlorination of atrazine molecules. A definite volume of this solution is mixed with the same concentrations of formaldehyde and uranine. Different volumes of standard solution of dechlorinated atrazine were added to the solutions to be analyzed. The composition of these solutions are summarized in Table 3. The UV-Vis spectra of the solutions were recorded to follow the evolution of the complex obtained after the mixture called Mannich mixture. Using the evolution of UV-Vis spectra, an internal standard curve could be constructed and the intersection of this curve with the axis of abscises gives the concentration of atrazine in the waters of Agriculture . The concentration of atrazine in these waters is estimated at 0.29 ± 0.011 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 (n = 5). Conclusion The spectrophotometric method used to analyse the atrazine in agriculture water was based on Mannich reaction .This new method is a specific and simple method for the quantitative determination of atrazine in the contaminated water. Often the determination of atrazine is measured by sophisticated and expensive methods like HPLC, GC/MS. However the proposed method is easy to use, rapid and economic and it showed high accuracy, but it was restricted by the potentiality of the spectrophotometer which reaches a limit of detection of 0.01 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 as described in the manuscript.

Qutans Case Study Essay

Qantas is an Australian icon. Australia’s national airline has enjoyed a long history as a profitable business, a respected brand name and has a deserved reputation for safe and reliable travel. For a small country of 23 million people, the Australian domestic airline industry is significant. The high level of urbanization of Australia’s population, the long distances between major urban centres, the lack of high speed trains and the importance of Australia’s tourism industry all spurred growth in air travel in Australia. Qantas has always been the dominant player in the industry. In the years prior to 1990, Qantas operated within a duopolistic industry with Ansett Airlines. After 1990, a variety of short lived challengers entered the Australian market, but none until Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia) survived. A few days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Ansett also went bankrupt, leaving Qantas the dominant Australian airline largely untroubled by a much smaller Virgin Blue and a number of insignificant competitors. The years after 2001 were relatively good for Qantas. Its dominance of local airports and landing ‘slots’ made it difficult for Virgin and new entrants to assail its dominant position. For example, when Tiger Airways sought to fly to and from Melbourne, it was required to use a converted shed at Tullamarine Airport as its base. Qantas’ profits between 2001 and 2008 were good. Unlike most of the world’s airlines, Qantas made substantial profits in the years after the 2001 attacks. This was largely because of its dominance of the lucrative Australian domestic market, and most especially its effectively monopoly on domestic business class travel within Australia. In recent years, however, the company has encountered turbulent times. Like all airlines, the global financial crisis of 2008 severely dented demand for Qantas travel, especially leisure travel. The stubbornly high value of the Australian dollar also made Australia a relatively less place to travel for international tourists and students. The airline industry in Australia has become significantly more competitive. After the collapse of Ansett, Virgin Blue had around 10% of the Australian domestic market, while in 2013 in exceeded 30%. Importantly, Virgin has introduced its own business class services domestically while also reducing their fares in this segment. The international airline industry has seen the fall of a number of well-known airlines and the rise of a number of new carriers. The vision of the Qantas group is to be one of Australia’s great businesses and among the world’s great airline groups. However, in the 2012/13 environment, Qantas faced a number of setbacks to this vision. In 2013 Qantas is struggling on two fronts. The first front was the declining profitability of international operations. This problem culminated with Qantas reporting a $257 million dollar loss for the year ending on 30th June, 2012. This was the first loss for the airline since it was fully privatized in 1995. Internationally, Qantas faced tough challenges. New entrants on the Pacific route to the US and the ‘Kangaroo Route’ to Europe constrained fares. The entrance of highly subisidised middle-Eastern carriers like Emirates, Ethihad and Gulf Air also placed pressure on the profit margins on European routes. The emergence of low cost carriers in Asia (like, for example, Air Asia) also brought new capacity to Australia and lowered the market price of economy flights to cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The airline is, however, profitable in the domestic market, maintaining a 65% market share and keeping its commanding lead over Virgin Australian in the highly profitable domestic business class market. The most profitable activity for Qantas is flying business class passengers. Flying economy between Sydney and Melbourne, for example, can often be less than $100 return. A business class, return flight on this route costs more than $1300 on Qantas. Domestic business class travel thus has very high profit margins, and these premium travelers generally don’t pay for their tickets (this being a perk of senior managerial jobs in many organisations). Qantas has been keen to develop loyalty among this group, investing extensively in lounges and loyalty programs to keep this key customer group content. In an ominous way, John Borghetti (the Virgin Australia CEO, and former Qantas executive) signaled a strong intention to pursue Qantas’ customers in this key segment in 2012 and launched a full-service, business class offering at a 25% discount to Qantas on key routes. Qantas explained the 2011/12 loss in the context of record high fuel costs of $4. 3 billion for the 2011/12 financial year. The airline’s fuel bill was $645 million greater than the previous financial year. In the annual report, the airline also announced a one-off cost of $398 million for a turnaround plan for the airline’s international network. The high Australian dollar and global economic uncertainty also played a role in the airlines woes. Qantas had been a key purchaser of new aircraft from the major manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, being one of the first customers for Airbus’ A380 and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. As one of the few profitable airlines post September 11, 2001, Qantas was able to build its fleet while negotiating strong discounts on new planes. These purchases had improved Qantas’ fleet efficiency and image in the marketplace, but had also driven an escalation in the company’s fixed costs. The second front where Qantas was struggling was continuing industrial action that culminated in the airline locking out some employees and then grounding the entire Qantas fleet on 29 October 2011. Qantas has traditionally been highly unionized – especially in comparison to its new competitors like Virgin Australia and Tiger Airways. Qantas locked out engineers, pilots and baggage handlers from their place of employment. Aircraft were immediately grounded when the lockout announcement was made, and passengers who on board aircraft were ordered to disembark. Some aircraft turned around while they were taxiing for take-off, however aircraft in the air continued on to their destination and were then grounded. This specific industrial action stemmed from difficulties with negotiations commencing in 2010 on a new enterprise bargaining agreement, however the relationship between Qantas and its unions had been troubled for many years. The aircraft grounding ended on the 31st of October when Fair Work Australia ordered the cessation of all industrial action taken by Qantas and the relevant trade unions. A number of issues prompted the industrial action, including the airline’s plans to establish Jetstar Japan, a low-cost subsidiary based in Tokyo. The airline also announced plans to establish Jetstar Hong Kong in partnership with China Eastern Airlines. When announcing Jetstar Japan, the airline also announced the loss of 1000 positions, and so the strategic moves were linked to job losses in Australia. This announcement influenced employees in deciding to take the industrial action that led to the employee lockout. The airline justified its move to establish new bases in Asia as part of its strategy to become more competitive internationally. The strategic moves followed earlier, successful initiatives in establishing Jetstar Asia based in Singapore and Jetstar Pacific Airlines based in Vietnam. In 2012, Qantas has a minority shareholding in both of these airlines. The damage to the Qantas brand by the airline lockout and subsequent grounding of the fleet is difficult to ully quantify. Understandably, there was widespread anger amongst passengers, despite the airline offering refunds and reimbursement for additional passenger accommodation costs. In their annual report for 2011/ 2012, Qantas states that the grounding and industrial action cost the airline $194 million. The impact on staff morale is difficult to quantify. During the period 2011/12 in the industry environment, Qantas faced challenging competition from foreign government backed airlines and the rise of successful middle eastern airlines such as Emirates. The airline industry can also be characterized as a battle of rival world hubs, with Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries vying for supremacy in the East Asian region. The hub battle, however, is one that Australia cannot win on home soil as it is ‘at the end of the line’ in terms of airline route geography. In recent years the industry has also been characterized by the rise of the low cost carriers such as Air Asia and RyanAir. The Australian domestic market, however, has been relatively positive for the airline, with Australia’s economic strength and the growth of the resources sector in the country providing a solid revenue base. The airline is also positioned in the high growth region of Asia, and the related opportunities for the company in this region are numerous. In countering these environmental challenges, Qantas has successfully developed a multi-brand model of operations. The model operates with the Qantas premium brand is the flagship, QantasLink for regional operations, Qantas freight (for freight) and Jetstar as the low cost carrier. In addition, Qantas has a relatively effective frequent flyer program and a relatively dominant domestic market position with corporate clients and business travelers. The company’s codeshare arrangement with airlines in the Oneworld alliance has helped it to overcome the limitations of Australia’s geographical position. On the 6th of September 2012, Qantas announced a new major deal linking its international operations with Emirates and moving away from their previous arrangements with British Airways. This 10-year deal provides Qantas with better access to Europe and Africa, and moves some flights away from Singapore as a stop-over hub for flights to Europe. Dubai would be the new hub for Europe. However Qantas flights to Asia are expected to increase as the move will allow Qantas to focus on Asian airports as destinations rather than as stop-overs. Basically the deal will reduce travel times for passengers on many flights and provide more one-stop destinations for Qantas. It remains to be seen, however, if these initiatives can help to repair the apparent damage to the Qantas brand following the fleet grounding in 2011. In theory, the potential operational efficiencies from the deal should help Qantas to return its international operations towards profitability; however the move comes at a time when there is a degree of political instability in many of the countries near to Dubai. Whatever the outcome, the flying kangaroo of Qantas is likely to continue to retain its dominant position in the Australian aviation market, regardless of the performance of the international division.

Naturalism in Miss Julie Essay

†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Naturalism developed in France in the 19th Century as an extreme form of realism. It was inspired in part by the scientific determinism of Charles Darwin, an Englishman, and the economic determinism of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, both Germans. Four Frenchmen—Hippolyte Taine, Edmond and Jules Goncourt, and Emile Zola—applied the principles of scientific and economic determinism to literature to create literary naturalism. According to its followers, literary naturalism has the following basic tenets: (1) Heredity and environment are the major forces that shape human beings. In other words, like lower animals, humans respond mainly to inborn instincts that influence behavior in concert with—and sometimes in opposition to—environmental influences, including economic, social, cultural, and familial influences. Miss Julie, for example, responds partly to her inborn female instinct for male companionship and partly to her environmentally induced hatred of men. Consequently, she both desires and despises Jean, causing her deep internal conflict. (2) Human beings have no free will, or very little of it, because heredity and environment are so powerful in determining the course of human action. (3) Human beings, like lower animals, have no soul. Religion and morality are irrelevant. (Strindberg, an atheist when he wrote Miss Julie, later converted to Christianity under the influence of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. ) (4) A literary work should present life exactly as it is, without preachment, judgment, or embellishment. In this respect, naturalism is akin to realism. However, naturalism goes further than realism in that it presents a more detailed picture of everyday life. Whereas the realist writer omits insignificant details when depicting a particular scene, a naturalist writer generally includes them. He wants the scene to be as â€Å"natural† as possible. The naturalist writer also attempts to be painstakingly objective and detached. Rather than manipulating characters as if they were puppets, the naturalist writer prefers to observe the characters as if they were animals in the wild and then report on their activity. Finally, naturalism attempts to present dialogue as spoken in everyday life. Rather than putting â€Å"unnatural† wording in the mouth of a character, the naturalist writer attempts to reproduce the speech patterns of people in a particular time and place. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Naturalist writers generally achieve only limited success in adhering to Tenet 4. The main problem is that it is next to impossible for a writer to remain objective and detached, like a scientist in a laboratory. After all, a scientist analyzes existing natural objects and phenomena. A naturalist writer, on the other hand, analyzes characters he created; they may be based on real people, but they themselves are not real. Thus, in bringing these characters to the stage or the printed page, the naturalist writer brings a part of himself—a subjective part. Also, in their use of literary devices—such as Strindberg’s use of symbols in Miss Julie to support his theme–naturalist writers again inject their subjective selves into the play. In real life, would Miss Julie own a dog that mates with a pug, symbolizing and foreshadowing her brief sexual encounter with Jean? Would she force her fiance to jump over a horsewhip that symbolizes her effort to dominate him?.