The Philosophy of Groundhog Day Essay Example For Students

The Philosophy of Groundhog Day Essay Who said that movies couldnt be a reference for education? Yeah movies may be funny, scary, heartbreaking etc. , but they always find a way to allow us to make connections. For instance, Groundhog Day serves as a great visual interpretation of Platos teaching discussed in The Phaedo?. The main teachings that are showcases in this comedy are; recollection, opposites, indestructibility, reincarnation, and the cave. By illustrating Platos teaching in the movie, we are able to see what being human is all about. Although some may argue that Aristotle embodies the idea of what being human is all about, Groundhog Day uses more of Platos teaching that Aristotles. The first argument that Plato introduced is recollection. This argument allows us understand how to process of learning works in humans. This same concept is seen through the main character; Phil. Phil uses recollection in many ways throughout the movie. Some examples are when he asks Nancy where she went to school and who her teacher was. The following day he walks up to her and recollecting the knowledge he acquired the day before he pretends he knows her. We will write a custom essay on The Philosophy of Groundhog Day specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Another example is when day after day Phil keeps stepping into the puddle as he makes his way to the parade. On the third day he remembers that there is a puddle and just as he is about to walk into it he stops, waits for someone else to step on it, and calmly jumps over it. Now what exactly does Plato say recollection means? Recollection is most commonly a process of recovering what has been already forgotten through time and inattention ?. (Plato 12). Since Phil is constantly reliving the same he begins to remember everything that happened the day before ?. After repeating the same day over and over again it is kind of hard to forget what happened. So he begins using this to his advantage. He walks over the puddle, he remembers who Nancy was, he gets to know Rita, etc. Without interpretation it is hard to understand what Plato means through recollection. Thanks to Groundhog Day we can see how we as humans use recollection from prior experiences to make sure we dont make the same mistakes. Much like Phil did to walk over the puddle and avoid getting his foot soaked. Phil also demonstrated the argument of indestructibility very well in the movie. After repeatedly failing to pass on to February 3rd Phil becomes desperate. He looks for any way possible to get out of this curse. At his lowest point he decides to turn to suicide. Time after time Phil continues to wake up in his bed on February 2nd. How does this show indestructibility? Well in Platos argument he states, The soul is very like the divine and immortal and intellectual and uniform and incorruptible and unchangeable, while the body is very like the human and mortal and unintellectual and multiform and corruptible and changeable ? (Plato 16). Phils physical being his body changes over time. If you pay close attention you can see Phil look more and more tired as the days go by while his soul remains the same. Now one might have to disagree with this example of indestructibility and favor Aristotles philosophy. Aristotle states, separate existence is impossible ? (Aristotle 56). Aristotle states that once the body dies the soul dies as well. One could easily say that the soul and the body died together because there is no clear image of the soul living on its own after Phils various suicides. Although this counterargument is very valid as to why Plato is wrong. .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .postImageUrl , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:hover , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:visited , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:active { border:0!important; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 { 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; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:active , .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .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; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28 .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf58ed99d4cade84ad9977defd9f34e28:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Beowulf v. Star Wars Compare The Phaedo ?. Every time Phil attempts suicide you can say that he succeeds. We arent so sure what happened to his body when he dies and we dont know what happens to his soul. The only thing we do know is that he reincarnates back to his original body. Therefore his soul must have been alive after his suicide and before his reincarnation proving that the soul is immortal. Next, Phil at one point or another strives to be the opposite of what he was in the beginning. He went from being and arrogant, self-centered news caster to being a man for others. Now this whole opposite thing displayed in the movie somewhat manages to compare to what Plato tries to say while answering what a human is. Plato states, Are not all things generated from there opposites? ? (pg 11). According to the movie this is true; he goes from self-center and caring about himself, to caring about others. Plato also states, If generation were a straight line  ¦then you know that all things would have the same form and pass into the same state ? (pg. 12). What Plato is trying to say by this is that if there was no sort of cycle of opposites; good to bad and bad to good, then everything would either be bad or good. If everything were this way than there would be no way to learn. For example, the whole point of Phil repeating his day was for him to do the opposite he did before; to be good. If there was no opposites or if he were to have never repeated his day than he would have never learned from his mistakes and he would have continued to be bad. Thanks to this idea of opposites, we know that the whole purpose of being human is to try and turn the bad that we did the day before to good. Finally, the last connection to be made from Groundhog Day to Plato would have to be the Allegory of the Cave ?. The Allegory of the Cave ? mentions many different things. One thing that really connects to this film is when Plato says, At first hed see shadows most easily, then images of men and other things in the water, then the things themselves ? (188). Plato tries to explain the process in which humans learn; through a process called progressive learning. We see this method of learning quite a few times th roughout Groundhog Day. For example the first day Phil and Rita are at the bar he looks at it as a shadow because he learns what she like to drink. The second day he comes in and confidently says, Tequila with lime, gold if youve got it ?, but he messes it up by saying to the grounghog! ? because Rita usually prays for world peace. This day is like him looking at a reflection of what happened the day before. The third day he nails it, He orders the same exact drink and immediately toast to world peace ?. The third day can be seen as him looking at the object itself. Another reference that can be made to the Allegory of the Cave ? is how it mentions that the sun  ¦is in some way the cause of all things that he used to see ? (188). The sun is what caused us to see and it is the source of everything good. The movie symbolically shows this idea of the sun being the source of all good. If you pay close attention you can see that throughout the movie as Phil repeats the same day over and over again. Those days are always dark and gloomy. Suddenly when he finally breaks free of this curse and moves on the February 3rd we see the sun come out and shine through the windows and on the snow. This symbolically shows that Phil has found the good ? which Plato tends to label as everyones goal in life: to reach the good. .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .postImageUrl , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:hover , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:visited , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:active { border:0!important; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 { 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; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:active , .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .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; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55 .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u42e5c56a121b17c5284f32799faffb55:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Film and Text - V for Vendetta EssaySo as you can see there are many parallels that can be made from Groundhog Day to Platos teaching. Groundhog Day uses Platos teachings of recollection, opposites, indestructibility and the cave to visually interprets and answer the question on everyones mind: What does it mean to be a human? Although Aristotle does make many great points, they werent as strong as Platos. Platos teaching in The Phaedo ? and in The Allegory of the Cave ? serve as two of the best sources in answering what it means to be Human.

Free Essays on “The Questions That Liberate New Life”

â€Å"The Questions that Liberate New Life† We are moving away from the traditions of the past, and are focusing more on our values of the present. Our issues of today and social, political, religious faith, medical ethics, human rights, etc. This differs from the past by being more in tune with today’s actual events. A lot of people of strong, deeply embedded faith for traditions of the church (or their religious beliefs) are concerned that issues of today are being focused on too much as opposed to those having been taught by generations prior or thousands of years prior. â€Å"The new generations of theologians, theologizes around the perennial questions of our time: human rights, ecology and environment, medical ethics, third way, politics, economics for justice, liberation from all forms of oppression, and the furtherance of right relationships at every level of life.† (O’Murchu, 79) According to this statement in quotations, I would have to say that I agree with how society and the church are more concerned about the issues of today. From my own experience, in church, during the pastors sermon, he sometimes brings up issues of today’s society. If there was an issue such as abortion and the politics of it, he would discuss it. There are pro-life and pro-choice issues and the politics of whether they should make abortion become legalized or illegalized in the United States. I guess I would have to say that it should be a women’s choice to have a child or to terminate this child. If it were me in the situation, I would have this child because I couldn’t see myself terminating a part of me and my life. There are many different aspects that faith and society today can get involved in. Discussion Questions: First of all, I should ask how everyone feels if this was a positive or negative thing to happen to churches? I feel it was a positive thing to have develop in churches around the world. People are able to help ea... Free Essays on â€Å"The Questions That Liberate New Life† Free Essays on â€Å"The Questions That Liberate New Life† â€Å"The Questions that Liberate New Life† We are moving away from the traditions of the past, and are focusing more on our values of the present. Our issues of today and social, political, religious faith, medical ethics, human rights, etc. This differs from the past by being more in tune with today’s actual events. A lot of people of strong, deeply embedded faith for traditions of the church (or their religious beliefs) are concerned that issues of today are being focused on too much as opposed to those having been taught by generations prior or thousands of years prior. â€Å"The new generations of theologians, theologizes around the perennial questions of our time: human rights, ecology and environment, medical ethics, third way, politics, economics for justice, liberation from all forms of oppression, and the furtherance of right relationships at every level of life.† (O’Murchu, 79) According to this statement in quotations, I would have to say that I agree with how society and the church are more concerned about the issues of today. From my own experience, in church, during the pastors sermon, he sometimes brings up issues of today’s society. If there was an issue such as abortion and the politics of it, he would discuss it. There are pro-life and pro-choice issues and the politics of whether they should make abortion become legalized or illegalized in the United States. I guess I would have to say that it should be a women’s choice to have a child or to terminate this child. If it were me in the situation, I would have this child because I couldn’t see myself terminating a part of me and my life. There are many different aspects that faith and society today can get involved in. Discussion Questions: First of all, I should ask how everyone feels if this was a positive or negative thing to happen to churches? I feel it was a positive thing to have develop in churches around the world. People are able to help ea...

A Conversation About Self Knowledge Essay Plato, Knowledge, Understan

In Alcibiades I, Socrates argues that a person’s self is their soul and their bodies just protect it. Socrates and Alcibiades came to the conclusion that â€Å"What was said just now in pretty much these terms, that first the self itself must be investigated. Now instead of it we were investigating what each individual is. And perhaps this will suffice. For there’s nothing, I suppose that we would say is more authoritative over us than the soul,† (48d). Humans need to firs self and the oracle was that it was to my advantage to be as I am,† (22e). This angered many people because he challenged the idea that â€Å"†¦human wisdom is worth little or nothing†¦,† (23a). Human wisdom is essential to living a life of excellence because if a person does not truly know themselves, what is the point? There is a friend of mine that has self-knowledge but she is aware that sometimes people may not agree because they may not have that same knowledge she has. She also knows when she does not know about something. That is when she either seeks help from others or discovers it herself. Socrates argues in the Apology that not doing philosophy is unjust in the sense that people are living a life unexamined and are going through the motions. Self-knowledge is an essential part of a person’s life because living a life unexamined may lead to an unfulfilling life.

Leadership Profile second stage (Qaide azam Mohmad Ali Jinah) Essay

Leadership Profile second stage (Qaide azam Mohmad Ali Jinah) - Essay Example (Wolpert, 1984, p. 182) Adair, (2002, p. 3) concludes that no communities are identified that do not have leadership in several characteristics of their communal life, though numerous may not have a particular overall leader to make and execute decisions. National practicability depends in some measure on effective leadership. Successful leaders participate in both professional leadership activities (e.g. setting a chore, creating a process for attaining ambitions, lining up methods and routes) and personal leadership activities (e.g. building confidence, gentle for people, acting with integrity). Great suggestions proposed by the right being in the wrong situation, or to the immoral audience, or at the badly chosen time are meant to fail. Great leaders are those who employ and focus the appropriate combination of elements on the dot to impact their world in impressive ways. This idealism, combined with his feeling, dating back to the London days, that there was a role for him on Indias political stage, le d him to join the Indian National Congress in 1906 and, three years later, to make a bid, which proved successful, to enter the Imperial Legislative Council as the nominee of the Muslims of Bombay. At Congresss 1906 session, Jinnah acted as private secretary to the president, Dadabhai Naoroji. It was a landmark session: for the first time Congress asked, through its president, for "Swaraj," using the Hindi word for self-rule. Later, when Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Poona, famed for his assertion, "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it," was prosecuted by the Raj, Jinnah served as one of the Brahmin defendants lawyers. Remarkably, the majority of what we know about leadership derives from the observation of how folks relate to their immediate heads. Nonetheless, probing individual opinions of â€Å"leadership† at the national level is a striking intention (Meigs, 2001, p. 4).

Management Consultant Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management Consultant Industry - Essay Example There has been a lot of criticism of consultants, consulting companies as well as consulting as a profession. This also spurred a large number of jokes and sarcastic comments being made on consultants, one of them being ‘All that management consultants do is to borrow their clients' watches and tell them the time, then send in a huge bill’. Many articles have also been penned on various unethical practices being carried out by consultants especially in big consulting firms (Kitay & Wright 2004, Pinault 2000). While some amount of criticism is valid and makes sense, a large part is also exaggerated. This essay aims to critically analyze both sides of the picture before arriving at the do’s and don’ts for a successful marriage between business and consulting. Criticism against Consultants (Stage 3- Root Definition) Consulting by nature is a service industry and hence its deliverables are highly intangible and subjective (Lemann 1999). Therefore, different bus iness organizations have different evaluation of work done by consultants for them. Consultants generally charge a very high fee. Many times, their recommendations actually lead to worsening of conditions. Moreover, consultants have the inclination to implement or suggest certain standard solutions which have developed in their own organizations or are generally used best practices in the industry. Hence, they don’t make it a point to customize the solution for a particular organization or come up with a new solution. (Pringle 1998). Consultants are often seen focusing on latest management fads in the market or using fashionable business jargon to impress the clients but which may have no implications on the output (Clark & Salaman 1998, Pinault 2000). A large number of consulting projects have simply failed to deliver the results while many others lost touch with reality mid-way and had to be scrapped (Klenter & Mollgard 2006, Seidl & Mohe 2007). In many cases, implementatio n of the consultants’ advice has produced disastrous circumstances for an organization (Byrne 2002). Ferdinand Piech, former CEO of Volkswagen, even went to the extent of saying that â€Å"If you want to ruin a company, you only have to try fixing it with the help of external consultants† (Seidl & Mohe 2007). Analysis of Client- Consultant interaction through CATWOE approach Let us understand the client consultant relationship through CATWOE approach proposed by Checkland (Williams 2005). a. Customers: The customers here would be the end consumers the client caters to. For example, for a steel manufacturer people buying utensils may be the customer. The impact of the client consultant relationship on the customers may occur in the medium to long term. b. Actors: Actors would be the consultants or consulting firm who enable the transformation. The role of consultants is the most significant for the success of this relationship. Now days, consultants work in teams which comprise members of the client side as well. Therefore, in such cases certain client side employees are also actors. c. Transformation: The transformation is the conversion from an unsolved problem to a well laid out solution. The solution may be a suggestion, recommendation, documentation, model or an end to end implementation depending upon the nature and scope of work. d. Weltanschauung: The compensation of the consu

Afghan-war prisoners Essay Example for Free

Afghan-war prisoners Essay Some insurgents failed attempt on an US military convoy was provocation enough for them to gun down 16 civilians, leaving another 25 severely wounded. The groups – dead and alive, contained woman and children. It is an event of March 4, 2007, took place in Iraq, on the Jalalabad highway in eastern Nangarhar province. The day next US army again responded the terrorist attack by 2000-pound aerial bombing in the civilian area, killing five women and three children. This happened at the Kapisa outpost. These are regular features in Iraq; between January 2006 till date, more than thousands of civilians were killed by US attack. Back home, US authorities are no less active under the anti-terrorism movement. Ahmed Alenany, an Egyptian physician, was picked up from the road of New York City and was detained for five months, charged with overstaying, in spite of his valid ground of filing for its extension well before the expiry. His fault was that the police found two pictures of WTO in his car and he held a roadmap when arrested. That was one bubble on the sea. The United States securely took away 650 Afghan-war prisoners to their military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they are reportedly passing their days in small single-person cells. India: On July 2005, four Kashmiri youths went to attend a wedding in Vilgam, Kupwara, and while out in the open at night for smoking away from the disapproving adults, three of them were gunned down by the Indian army all on a sudden. Later army admitted its mistake and wanted to compensate, though there was enough effort to suppress this news. India is also experiencing zero tolerance in counter-terrorism, especially after the militant attack on its parliament on December, 2001. They have even created a special law, POTA , which is capable of detaining anyone under the slightest suspicion on any ground of terrorism, that would later arrest 131 Muslims for the Godhra carnage of Hindus in 2002, who later retaliated with the killings of 2000 Muslims throughout the Gujrat state, were mostly able to slip past this law. China: Charged for crimes of terror and incitement to separatism, the popular religious leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested in Sichuan on a night in December 2002 and sentenced to death. He was linked to the series of bombings. Same fate met his co-defendant Lobsang Dhondup, even quicker as he was executed. Now the open secret was that the authorities were up against his activities all the time, as he was a known supporter of the Dalai Lama. Egypt: This country has a track record of arresting hundreds of people either for their proximity to the Muslims, or for possessing suspicious literature. In a known case, 94 such victims, allegedly belonging to an Islamic Group though none heard about its name), were arrested in May, 2001. It was before the September 11 attack and after the attack, they were charged additionally for plotting to kill the government officials! The hapless victims belong to almost all rank and file – Doctors, engineers, professors, to name a few. They were dragged into the military courts whose norms, understandably conform to the trial standards set internationally. Accordingly, 51 were convicted! Georgia: Armed by the US support Georgian authorities have targeted the Chechens at Pankisi Gorge, a place which Russia also labelled as a haven for the terrorists. Here the governmental approach to the human rights violations is indicative of non-caring, as it is echoed by the words of its President Eduard Shevarnadze, who, right after extraditing five Chechens to Russia (October 5, 2002) without holding any court, said, International human rights commitments might become pale in comparison with the importance of the anti-terrorist campaign

Role of Doctors Under Nazis :: essays research papers fc

Role of Doctors in Nazis Racial Hygiene Germany was out to establish a new utopian world order where everything worked in harmony. They wanted to become a healthy and vibrant organism of healthy Aryans. The German doctors were mobilized to create this new world. The German bureaucrats believed all their social burdens were brought on by the handicapped, incurables and homosexuals as well as the Jews and gypsies. The physicians were to use all their medical knowledge and scientific expertise in the treatment for their new world. The doctors had been led to believe in a brave new world, a biological superstate and committed their heinous crimes in its name. They were on a slippery slope that began of genetic perfectibility and ended with German superiority. How could this have happened in a society revered for its sophisticated culture and technological advances? The medical professionals of the early 20th century Weimar Republic were the best in the world. The Germans were pioneers in the areas of the medical field making technological strides and radical discoveries that significantly advanced the area of medicine. Aspiring medical scholars from the United States would routinely visit the University of Leipzig or the University of Berlin to study medicine in Germany and then go back to the United States to apply for study at Harvard. The medical pioneers also suffered from the effects of race, eugenics and euthanasia. Germany’s racial theories, often tainted with anti-Semitism, did not take place in a vacuum nor did they arise the moment the National Socialist Party took power. The work of many SS and Nazi doctors found support within the German medical community. This was especially true of those working in the field of eugenics or racial hygiene. At the turn of the century social Darwinism offered the hope of designing a new society where the fittest would survive and the weakest eliminated. Sound health, productivity and achievement would be the norms of developing this society. The science of eugenics was designed to improve the human race by controlling hereditary factors. Eugenicists firmly believed that through their discipline violence, crime, feeble-mindedness, genetic disease and other genetic illnesses could be removed from society. This could be done by cleansing the population of inferior racial traits by artificial selection, especially through sterilization. In the early part of the 20th century eugenics prospered in approximately 30 countries, notably America, England, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Germany.

Toys for Tots

Toys For Tots Take a seat, and think back to the very first Christmas morning you recall. How much it meant to receive that special toy you’ve been waiting for all year. Every child deserves to have that same tingly feeling of joy and excitement, but not every kid gets to. The Toys for Tots Foundation is an organization that aims to fix that, but they cannot do it alone. They can always use all the support they can. It is run by the United States Marine Core and they work to be the change.I support this noble mission by contributing toys to my community’s campaign. In the fall of 1947, with a hand crafted Raggedy Ann doll, the wife of Marine Reserve Major Bill Hendricks made this doll and asked her husband if he would â€Å"deliver it to an organization that would put it in the hands of a needy child on Christmas Day†. ( ) Unfortunately, Mr. Hendricks could find no such agency to provide this service. To fill that void, Major Hendricks’ wife told him he sh ould start one and indeed he did.That same year, Major Bill Hendricks, USCR, and a group of Marine Reservists collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The scheme was so successful that it was expanded into a nationwide campaign after the Marine Corps adopted Toys For Tots in 1948. They have conducted successful campaigns nationwide each year since then. The hallmark that remains the initial objective of the program today is to â€Å"bring the joy of Christmas to America’s needy children. This renowned charity foundation is nationwide and their goal is to send â€Å"a message of hope to less fortunate children that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens. †( ) All their main donations are toddler oriented unwrapped toys. They accept a wide variety of items, and they receive many donations every year. They are open year round but have strict constraints on their deadlines for all contributions. This is to ensure ample time to round up all the donations across the nation and distribute them.The deadline is always early December to make sure all the less fortunate kids get a toy to unwrap for Christmas. Their mission is to â€Å"play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources – our children; to reunite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign and to contribute to better communities in the future. † (www. ToysForTots. rg) With multiple funding and aiding organizations, Toys for Tots is able to get its job done every single year. Organizations like the Department of Health and Human Services aid the foundation in raising awareness (Toys). With allies such as these; the foundation has a far reach to accomplish its goal of good will. Fundraising groups like SaveWealth aid the foundation by raising money so the foundation has more resources to accomplish its tasks. With more resources, more kids have a smile on their face for the holidays.It’s not only big companies that are involved though; the little guy makes a huge difference as well. I contribute to this noble organization by simply donating as many toys as I possibly can to my communities local Toys For Tots campaign. There are many other ways to support them as well though. You could also donate your time to assist your local campaign. If you’re a company/business owner, allow the Marines to place a toy collection box there. All other donations made to Toys For Toys are tax deductible and you can send them via mail, on-line, or CFC.Although you may not be able to show your support by donating time, space, or financially; demonstrating how to be a model citizen and have integrity, honesty, a positive attitude will give children a role model to look up to. Be a passive mentor . You’ll be helping the children and your community. Everyone has a choice of one of two paths to the future. You can either leave the responsibility up to someone else in hopes that they do it, or you can pitch in to support an organization that’s out to provide the proper steering and improve the development for Americas needy children.I challenge you to be a participator, not a spectator. Toys For Tots is Americas premier Community Action program. The Marines are definitely the unchallenged leaders in looking after all the needy children at Christmas for over half a century now, although, they could not have done it alone. Everyone’s support is needed and appreciated. Toys For Tots not only helps children, but also has a positive impact on communities. Most people want to make a difference. So help them â€Å"be the change. †

Targeted Advertisement

Targeted advertisement through data mining and privacy issue. Introduction A computer user sits in front of a screen and starts browsing their favourite website while their child similarly does the same. While this peaceful pastime activity is being enjoyed, however, they are unaware of the hidden pathways through which every detail about them is being disclosed. Because of these pathways, there are people that can get hold of the users’ names, phone numbers, IP addresses of the computers and their households.They have access to information about any users’ income, medical history, gender and age, not to mention what they searched on search-engines and which websites the users visited. They can even learn which online shopping purchases were performed by the users on any recent website. They, who know every detail of users, are not the Big Brothers of â€Å"1984† nor are they hackers; they are online advertisers who deliver advertisement on the Internet. The comp uter user is vulnerable to online advertising companies that value that specific personal data.The focus of this paper is to convince advertising companies that they should enforce regulation by providing an opt-out mechanism and practice permission based data mining in order to protect consumer’s privacy. Moreover, notifying and protecting users before distributing and taking advantage of their personal information is significant to company’s accountability and furthermore allow establishing a long term relationship with customers. I will explore the issue from consumer and also an advertiser’s perspective. As a design student who has been designed companies’ logos, it is significant to gain valuable insight from this topic.By gaining the necessary information in this issue, I can navigate the internet in a more safe and secure manner as a consumer. Background of Data Mining Online advertising is a growing industry that is based upon the traffic from onl ine views. â€Å"Fifty-six of the top hundred websites based on page views in February 2008 presented advertising† (Evan, 2009, p37). For every activity a consumer performs on the internet such as making a purchase, visiting a website or searching on search engines is collected (Charters, 2002).This information is processed and stored automatically through data mining practices and becomes a significant source of revenue for online advertisers without the granted permission or any notification to the customer. Data mining is an â€Å"overall process of preparing data, discovering patterns in data, and analyzing that data into useful knowledge† (Tavani, 1999, p137). According to Murphy, â€Å"the right to privacy involves the ability of individuals to decide for themselves, how much they are willing to share about their lives, thoughts, and feelings† (Murphy et al. , 2009).As personal and behavioural data are collected, stored and sold for more effective advertis ement, â€Å"loss of control† and â€Å"loss of identity† become issues (Drumwright et al. , 2009). Moreover, all the information we expect to be remained confidential, such as health insurance numbers and medical records, also become commodities for sale. Internet users have been paying for the â€Å"free† online services with their private and personal information (Goldfarb et al. , 2011). Effects of Data Mining Firstly, data mining is based on the Internet and affects the uninformed users by the loss of control over their personal information and right to privacy.Individuals are unaware that the data about them are collected and that they â€Å"have no say in how the information about them is used† (Tavani, 1999, p141). For example, search-engine providers summarize and store the entire search history categorically that â€Å"enables them to identify the individual IP address† (Evans, 2008, p55). While there is no warning to the consumers prior to collection and storage of their data, users are unaware of the fact that data mining is being conducted every time they click something on the websites.Although, Google has reduced the storing data period from two years to nine months (BBC News, 2008), the sale of data collection to online advertisers is still in progress. The transaction of information causes the loss of control over their right to privacy. Moreover, advertisers have an access to the â€Å"cookies†, which track the websites visited and every activity an individual does on the internet. Again, this becomes a privacy issue as advertising companies’ access this information without any granted permission. The privacy issue associates with the unawareness of this invisible phenomenon of data mining.Granting more control over their personal information to the users is critical. Thus, the usage of data mining without the consent of the user is an invasion of privacy. The user needs to have more authority over their information and prevent unwanted usage of their personal information. Secondly, data mining is more than just a personal and behavioural analysis. Every time the Internet client provides private information, such as medical records, all the information is being collected and saved (Buchholz & Rosenthal, 2002).The information we expect to remain confidential and anonymous becomes a source of profit to advertisers. There is a difference of scale between revealing one’s favourite color and revealing one’s social insurance number to the advertisers. For example, Google Gmail, which provides 7GB of free space, scans and records the content of emails while displaying targeted advertisements on the side that result from Google’s ability to examine the content of the emails (Evans, 2008). The vast amount of the provided space was not really â€Å"free† and users been paying it with their private information.Revealing personally identifiable data or pri vate information such as social insurance number through these services has potential risk of misuse. Consumers may concern more if they know â€Å"search engine provider is selling the data to another vendor that has figured out a way to associate the user’s IP with other personal information including name, address, and telephone number† (Evans, 2008, p57). Google’s company’s goal is to â€Å"organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful†(Google, 2011).Yet, our information also counts toward world’s information. We should be concerned if these companies with these types of mission statements can protect the users’ privacy; users should not be blindsided to the potential risks of misuse of our private information. Targeted Advertising and Consumer Relationships Regardless of the privacy concern associated with data mining and targeted advertisement, the reason why online advertising is still on the rise and is central to the e-commerce economy is because of its effectiveness on consumers (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2008). Detailed individual data can create more efficient advertisements, compared to traditional newspaper advertisements or old banners on the websites. For example, European Union practices privacy regulation on advertisers. The responses of â€Å"3. 3 million survey takers who had been randomly exposed to 9,596 online display banner advertising campaigns,† reveal that this government restriction reduces the effectiveness of advertising by 65% on average (Figure 1. ) in terms of changing stated purchasing intent (Goldfarb et al. , 2011), Therefore, regulation means a â€Å"trade-off between the benefits of consumer privacy and the benefits to consumers of a potentially broader, less obtrusive advertising-supported Internet† (Goldfarb et al. , 2011, p50). In addition, advertisers argue that â€Å"unauthorized secondary use of data† is f ound to be insignificant and consumers are used to this way of business in terms of traditional forms of advertising (Brown & Muchira, 2004).Although targeted advertising is an effective way to advertise to consumers, reflecting too much knowledge about consumers in their advertisements may offend the users (Evan, 2009). Often, the users may use internet to search or purchase what they do not wish to share or talk about with others. Online advertisements may do what is opposite of this wish. For instance, purchasing a self-help book online to treat depression does not mean you wish to sign up for an advertisement that shows lists of other books about depression.Moreover, since computers are shared online with other users, this purchase may be unintentionally revealed to the public. Advertisers should be advised of the precautions of data mining, which tracks every piece of information about consumers for effective and smart advertisement, could drive potential consumers away instead . Targeted advertisements are only effective if they respect the consumer’s privacy and use their information only when users are aware of the situation and give their permission. The foundation of strong relationships with consumers requires trust of both the website and usage of personal information.Lack of trust leads to privacy concerns and the users unaware what websites are legitimate. Resolving such privacy dilemma is, therefore, crucial to â€Å"creating stable and ultimately profitable customer relationships† (Brown & Muchira, 2004). The major factor that can weaken the relationship is â€Å"invasion† of the privacy (Attaran, 2000). It involves â€Å"contacting consumers who have not requested such contact and is often done repeatedly† (Brown & Muchira, 2004). Also, receiving unwanted junk mail and promotions from advertisers could irritate consumers (Korgaonkar & Wolin, 1999).The result of a survey that Brown and Muchira conducted indicates that consumers who have experienced online invasion of privacy are less likely to purchase products via the Internet. In other words, the ability to handle personal information is significant to advertisers to maintain a strong relationship with consumers. Advertisers should view the protecting privacy as an opportunity to establish long term relationships with consumers. Conclusion Government regulation is practiced in some European countries to resolve the privacy issues in online advertising.Nevertheless, government regulations that may be proposed to protect right to privacy, may end up violating â€Å"the principle of respect for individual† and create another invasion of privacy (Charters, 2002). Instead of government intervention to deal with privacy issue, online advertising companies should enforce regulation by providing opt-out mechanisms, and practice permission based data mining in order to protect consumer’s privacy. Advertising businesses need to store and s ell consumer’s private information with their permission of consent and a notification.Consumers may agree with giving their information about them if they can trust whom they are providing it to. That way, advertisers do not lose the opportunity to provide targeted advertisement to consumers, which is much more effective than providing non-targeted ones. Consumers also will benefit from receiving relevant advertisements against the cost of losing privacy. The balance between advertisers and consumers can be achieved through permission based practice. The computer user sits in front of a computer and starts browsing again.This time, the website asks for permission to collect the user’s information for online marketing and advertising business. The user has the ability to opt-out, and considers that this website is indeed secure. This website creates a transparency between by the Advertising contacts and the consumers. The user is informed, given options, and protected. Figure 1. 1 – Before and after the regulation by EU References Attaran, M. (2000), â€Å"Managing Legal Liability of the Net: a Ten Step Guide for IT Managers†, Information Management and Computer Security, 8(2)2.Brown, M. & Muchira, R. (2004). Investigating the Relationship between Internet Privacy Concerns and Online Purchase Behavior. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 5(1),62- 71 Buchholz A. , and Rosenthal B. S. (2002), Internet Privacy: Individual Rights and the Common Good. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 67 (Winter), 34–40. Charters, D. (2002). Electronic Monitoring and Privacy Issues in Business-Marketing: The Ethics of the DoubleClick Experience. Journal of Business Ethics, 35 (February), 243– 254. Drumwright, E. M. , Murphy, P. E. , (2009).The current state of advertising ethics: industry and academic perspectives. Journal of Advertising. 38(1), 83-108 Evans, S. D. (2009). The Online Advertising Industry: Economics, Evolution, and Privac y. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(3), 37-60. Goldfarb, A. & Tucker C. E. (2011). Privacy regulation and online advertising. Management Science, 57(1). Korgaonkar, P & Wolin, L. (1999), â€Å"A Multivariate Analysis of Web Usage†, Journal of Advertising Research, 39(2), 53-70. Tavani, H. T. (1999) Informational privacy, data mining, and the Internet. Ethics and Information Technology. 1: 137–145.

Scotland Independance essay Essays

Scotland Independance essay Essays Scotland Independance essay Essay Scotland Independance essay Essay Scotland Independance essay BY coler777 Scotland Independence Debate Scotland has developed into a troubled country in which people have become indecisive on whether Scotlands independence would affect the country in a positive or negative way. There has been evidence of acts to create Scotland independent since its Joining of I-JK in 1707. Now, people are arguing on whether separation would create a better country as a whole, through economics, basic rights, and political statuses. Independence of Scotland could represent a good thing for the countrys tatus, but no one will ever know the effect it can have on the countrys economic situation. There are many individual groups fghting for and against independence, which are classified into either pro-independence, or unionists. The separation of Scotland would result in destructive long term effects on their economy, such as their large oil industry. Although, if Scotland became independent, it would give the country full control over the foundations, and mainly the protected role of human rights. Both groups have certain disadvantages and advantages, but no matter what, here will always be a sort of cause-and-effect relationship between the two. The increasing popularity of the Union, shift of political, social, and economical viewpoints, including important perspectives on the countrys history, are huge factors for people desiring independence. For political, Scottish people have unfair voting, and the whole country has no say in the world council. Also, the people would like the right to self-govern, and be able to adopt their own legal system. If the country did separate, Scotland would destroy most, if not all nuclear weapons located n Scotland which are causing disputes between the foreign countries and citizens. Any sort of nuclear technology would destroy the environment by causing large amounts of pollution around the country. Under economic factors, the country would have control over their own resources, imports, and exports which all include oil, therefore producing immense amounts of income. Most people who are unionists are more concerned for the functional ability of the country which include mainly social and economic factors. If Scotland chooses to separate, then they would lose all he financial benefits that they receive from the I-JK. Not only that, but Scotland would lose all the security and defense structures they currently have in effect. I-JK plays a huge role for Scotland, they provide us with protection, and are a necessity for running what little control over the government that Scotland has. Once separated, the country would lose all global trade, and would have to start from scratch pretty much. The country already has no debt now, and its easily capable of supporting itself Just the way it is. The independence of Scotland is a growing issue today, and as expressed above, both sides share the same equality in their perspectives. Most people are more lenient to certain factors that actually are very important when it comes to the success of a country. This could result in a damaged country, with too much people trying to fix one problem, when in reality there are hundreds more. Eventually many deciding factors will contribute into the final decision of Scotland Independence, but no matter which way they go, they will always lose something

Public Relations Campaign Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Relations Campaign - Assignment Example Our target public in this case is students, adults through teachers and parents. This will enable Sonic Drive-In to realize its target of increasing its market share substantially in the competitive American market (LEtang, 32). In this campaign, Sonic Drive-In has an opportunity to increase market share in the fast food market. In addition, this will make Sonic Drive-In more visible in the market and increase its strength as a household brand name. This will encourage the purchase of products by Sonic Drive-In by the current customers and attract new ones to their product range. It will also show the company is sensitive to matters affecting the community and that it is empathic to the problems its consumers face. It will also boost its prominence around the country hence increasing the company’s chance for future growth (Henslowe, 68). Problems that might be faced during this exercise in order to reach our target public include the following. Firstly, it will be difficult and time consuming in covering schools, in the whole country. This will prove to be an enormous undertaking. It will also be difficult to come up with a schedule that will accommodate all the schools in the country. Finding a schedule that will suit them all will be a big challenge. Since we cannot go school by school, we will have to pick strategic locations for this event that will attract the largest group of our public. This will be a challenge since the success of this campaign relies on numbers. We will have to deliberate carefully to identify the most suitable venues for this event. The main opportunity created in this campaign for Sonic Drive-In will be to increase its share in the fast food market in the United States. It will increase its customer base through its target public. This campaign will also make the brand more attractive to consumers through our efforts in advertisements through the various media campaigns we plan

Executive Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Executive Summary - Assignment Example This initiative seeks to establish a customer support service within the outpatient section of the hospital to ensure that some services which were previously not being provided to the clients are made available to them (Wolper, 2011). Therefore, it is evident that many hospitals across the state lack personalised one on one interaction services to their clients whereby critical issues that affect them on the daily basis are discussed and relevant advice be given to them to ensure they stand a better position tackling those problems effectively (Cleverley, Cleverley & Song, 2011). This customer support service will be basically based on offering valuable information and advice to the clients of the hospital on crucial issues that include; the importance and use of contraceptives, cancer awareness, HIV/AIDS counselling and other home care information that the clients may seek to be enlightened on (Weese & Tucholka, 2007). The program will be a sensitization initiative that will be providing support services to clients on issues affecting them daily in their health life. According to a research that was conducted recently by the university of Liverpool it indicated many people who end up suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and other immune depressing ailments do so as a result of lack of adequate information on way od leading health lifestyles that will free them from the risk of contracting those disease (Guah, 2011). Basically the customer support service will be offering information to the clients on how to lead healthy lifestyles this will involve information on the types of food and physical activities that people need to take, consultation on the use of contraceptives and also advice on how to manage diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes etc. (Cleverley, Cleverley & Song, 2011). The customer support service that we intend to roll out