Responses to the Boasian School of Anthropology Essay

The Boasian school of anthropology, headed by Franz Boas, was among those that pioneered modern concepts in anthropology. The Boasian school was critical of overgeneralizing perspectives or theories in the sciences, including the cultural evolutionary school in anthropology, choosing instead to adopt rigorous empiricism in its approach. The Boasian school believed in the world having distinct cultures and that cross-cultural generalizing often made in the natural sciences are not possible in anthropology. The school today uses the â€Å"four field approach† that divides the field into socio-cultural, biological, linguistic and prehistoric anthropology. While Leslie White was educated in the Boasian school of anthropology, he later began to question the anti-evolutionary views of his early education. He developed and advocated an anthropological, ethical and political view of the world almost targeted against the Boasian school. Leslie White embraced two contradictory models of culture: the sut generts conceptions from his Boasian education and the materialist-utilitarian framework developed out of his concern with cultural evolutionism. White never reconciled the two but he definitely gave stress to the Boasian-based sut generts in case of conflicts. White feared that the Boasian school’s concept of cultural determinism represented an emasculation of anthropology and instead advocated science and evolution, particularly 19th Boasian School 1 century theories. White regarded culture as superorganic made up of the technology, social organization and ideology levels. It should be noted, however, that White still held on to the Boasian-based sut generts and that he still tended to downgrade the impact made by the natural environment on culture and society. Julian Steward was a fellow evolutionist with Leslie White. Differing slightly from White, Julian steward’s concepts of evolution and progress was not limited to 19th century concepts. Steward, who was a pluralist in terms of openness to other views, never sharply broke up with the Boasian school. But he did find anomalies in the historical particularism paradigm of the Boasian school. Steward viewed evolution as ‘recurrent forms, processes, and functions’, in opposition to Boasian’s repudiation of evolution and regularity in culture. He also perceived culture as superorganic, similar to a limited extent to White’s culturology. Steward’s multi-linear evolution aspect of his approach to anthropology differed from the extreme particularism of the Boasian school but without adopting the antithetically unilinear evolution concept of White. Boasian School 1 References (December 2006). The Paradoxical Anthropology of Leslie White. Retrieved from the American Anthropological Association Website http://www. aaanet. org/gad/history/088white2. pdf. Leslie White. (2006, July 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:16, December 4, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Leslie_White&oldid=65691607. (May 2006). ESP/ANT 133. University of California Davishttp://www. des. ucdavis. edu/ esp133/133-08l. htm.

Organizational Control

Organizational control is the systematic process through which managers regulate organizational activities to make them consistent with expectations established in plans, targets and standards of performance (Kuratko, 2001). These organizational expectations are a collection of goals and accountabilities represented in the budget, which help establish performance metrics, document actual performances, allow comparison between the estimated and actual performance, and allow for corrective actions (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Measures of financial performance are those ratios against which actual performance can be meaningfully measured against the expectations of the budget. These measures are objective measures of performance, and a careful analysis of a combination of these ratios may help dis ¬tinguish between firms that will eventually fail and those that will continue to survive, sometimes as early as five years before a firm fails trouble can be detected from the value of these financial ratios (Keating). These performance ratios measure profit, liquidity, leverage and activity and the combination tell a significant story as to the overall health of an organization. Profitability ratios demonstrate the efficiency of the use of resources to generate profits from organizational inputs of materials to value added activities (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). These are Return on investment and Gross Profit Margin. ROI, or â€Å"return on investment,† measures competitive advantage because it allows managers to compare performance against other similar organizations. Although firms will differ on how that calculation is reached internally and what activities are considered profit drivers. For instance, in her 2010 book Open Leadership, Charlene Li argues that a social media campaign goes beyond marketing in that it reduces other costs by not only building affinity but can reduce other costs using Ford Motor Company and Comcast as an example (Li, 2010). Gross Profit Margin is the difference between the amount of revenue generated from the product and the resources used to produce the product. For the current quarter, Apple Computer is projecting an increase in GPM from their expectations of 36% to 37% with further expectation that will increase to 38% next quarter (Barrons, 2011). The iPad generated $4. 4-Billion in revenue last quarter with 80% of the Fortune 100 deploying the computer (Goldman, 2011). With strong business acceptance and revenue performance for a market that didn’t exist a year ago, the GPM associated ith such a product increases far more quickly. Real Networks, on the other hand, has had significant difficulty maintaining its gross profit margin indicating it either cannot control costs or that it has been forced to lower prices (Phillips, 2011). Apple has had no downward price pressure and costs have been kept under control (Hadhazy, 2010). Liquidity ratios measure the overall organizational preparedness to meet the short-term obligations of the organization. The higher the ratio, the greater the organizational ability to cover short-term debts, but a high liquidity ratio also indicates a significant proportion of assets are being used in non-productive ways (Yahoo Finance). Two common liquidity measures are the current ratio and the quick ratio. The current ratio is the difference between current assets and current liabilities and it speaks to the question of whether there are enough assets to pay claims on short-term debts without selling inventory. The ratio expression indicates how much money is available versus how much short term debt is outstanding. A ratio of 2:1 indicates $2 in assets for every $1 in debt. The Motley Fool dissects Real Networks stock performance while determining whether or not to sell the stock. One positive sign for the company is a high current ratio – 3. 13 (Phillips, 2011). However, while the company has â€Å"miniscule† debt, the company’s equity has been shrinking over the past 5-years, so a question to ask is do they have too high a current ratio, bearing in mind that represents non-productive assets? There are enough assets to pay short-term claims, but the stock performance lags the S&P by almost 2/3 – raising the question in my mind if they have too much non-performing assets on hand which need to be reevaluated. The quick ratio answers the question of whether an organization can pay claims without selling inventory. Inventory is not necessarily worth the amount represented on the books, and removing it from this calculation gives a better view of whether or not an organization has liquid assets available. If a company has too much of its liquidity tied up in inventory, it will be dependent on selling that inventory to finance its operations and will have a low quick ratio (Motley Fool). Leverage ratios measure the use of debt or equity to finance operations, with the use of debt becoming problematic if profits cannot cover the interest on the debt (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Two common such ratios are debt-to-assets ratio and times-covered ratio. Debt to assets shows to what extent the organization is financed with debt, with a lower number being more favorable. With a low number, an organization and its investors can be more confident a company can weather difficult times. Real Networks, as discussed earlier, has a debt to equity ratio close to zero, largely because there is close to no debt – this is a company which can weather some difficult times, however while the debt remains low, the equity is decreasing as well signaling there may be some continuing difficult times (Phillips, 2011). The times-covered ratio measures the extent to which a company's can meet its current debt obligations with available net income. If the times-covered ratio declines to less than 1, then the company is unable to meet its interest costs and is technically insolvent (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Activity ratios are a measure of an organizations utilization of resources to create value. For a company to be profitable, it must be able to manage its inventory, because it is money invested that does not earn a return. So, inventory turnover measures how well a company is moving its inventory so the assets are not carried as non-performing assets and days sales outstanding measures how quickly that inventory is converted to payment on what it owed. I worked for a small printing company which was dependent on its ability to collect on outstanding projects – age of account was an important measure of the company’s health and much effort was placed on collecting. Inventory was not an option as each job was unique to the client and was good only for that client. These measures help direct the activities of the organization and help set the goals of the organization. The indicate the health of the company, by measuring the management effectiveness in meeting the organizational goals.

Role of Music in Computer Games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Role of Music in Computer Games - Essay Example Computer or video game music involves the use of soundtracks that accompany the game while it is being played. Early games used YMO melodies and beats. They used simple sounds and there was little distinction between 'noise' and 'music', or 'sound' and 'music'. At the time, little concentration was given to the possibility of incorporating music into games. Numerical developments in storage capacity increased over time. Long ago, the 1983-87 era employed '8-bit' systems, the 1987-1993 era used '16-bit' systems (Donkey Kong Country 2), '32-bit' systems occurred during 1993-2003 and the '64-bit' has been used since 2003-present. More space in the memory has been focused on with more detail being added (images, sounds and music). The first commercially produced games were by Computer Space (Nutting Associates 1971). The first game produced that had a 'musical dimension' was Space Invaders in 1978. It employed the rise and fall of bass notes that looped and sped up when the 'aliens' got nearer –a popular cinematic technique. Super Mario Brothers was the first video game produced in 1985 that went on to achieve worldwide success. The first dynamic use of 8-bit music was in a game’s plot titled Duck Tales in 1989. The first time songs were incorporated into video games was in 2005 in the computer game, ‘Still Alive’ in ‘Portal’. The development of the popularity of games was acknowledged which led to the creation of arcade games. At present, it is reported that video game composers employ advanced tools and instruments to make these exceptionally high quality sound tracks. These soundtracks rival the quality of production and musical sources that are distinctive with films. The central connection that exists between films and videogames is that they both rely heavily on the use of aural cues and visual cues as well to express a sense of constant diegesis or game world. The role played by music in these video games has advanced from once being a mere ringing sound to symphonic orchestral sounds and hip-hop playlists that can be customized. At present, music in computer games has evolved the whole experience one derives from these games when compared to the past. This fact has caused competitors within the game console industry to revolutionize their products. Music is used to express a particular mood when the visuals are accompanied with it. Onekey function among the extensive video game music functions sis that the sound aids in engaging the discernment of a spatial digress by the audience. Diegetic and Extra diegetic music is usually combined with the video game sounds to generate a particular captivating mood. Diegetic music is the kind of music assumed to be perceptible to the characters in the narrative on the screen. Musical cues and sound effects usually impart the objects with even an extra life than they possess when they simply make appearances as figures in motion. Use of music in computer game s makes the illusion portrayed in computer games compelling. Use of music in film Musical cues and sound effects have always been part of film from inception of the film began. Early exhibitions of films were characteristically incorporated the use of a piano. Silent films were complemented by a range of musical instruments such as the solo piano to larger musical instruments depending on the kind of film. Music in films was intended to spark interest in audiences.Originally, films had no music andthis caused audiences to seek other sounds (such as ambient noises) that fulfilledfunctions usually achieved by musical cues.Use of musical cues in film applieshigher influence on the subject of the film than it would have if there was no accompaniment of music.Music divides the emotive content of the filmand considerably impactson the understanding of thetheatrical plot by the audience (Collins, 2008).Music within films influences memoryof the scenes in the film. Through the musical cues, one is able to remember what was

Fundamentals of Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fundamentals of Contract Law - Essay Example This letter also stipulated the precedence of MSC company terms and provision was made for an increase in price. Therefore Betty has not agreed to the original terms of Able’s contract, she has only accepted conditionally1. Therefore, this is a counter offer which is in effect a rejection of the original offer that Able has made. Therefore, it is now Betty’s offer that is up for negotiation and Able has indicated his acceptance of Betty’s offer by signing on the tear off slip that is attached to her company’s order form. Since there is no further communication from Betty, this would be deemed to be the final agreement between the two parties with Able having consented to Betty’s terms. A valid contract between two parties may be said to exist only when the parties â€Å"assent to the same thing in the same sense, and their minds meet as to all terms.†2 Able was free to reject Betty’s counter offer, since a counter offer in effect, free s the offerer Able from any liability.3 But he signed on Betty’s order form, which means he has accepted the terms of Betty’s counter offer and the original offer has been rejected. However, this raises the issue of the clause that he has entered in the tear off slip that he has signed, which states that the offer was accepted based on the terms of the original offer. This belies the agreement implied through Abel’s signature on the tear off slip, because in indicates that Able is still not ready to accede to Betty’s terms but is intent on enforcing the original terms.  

3d character modeling Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

3d character modeling - Research Proposal Example These animated fictional characters impress a considerable size of audience and they want more! Some of the recent movies which are known for their attractive animation are Shrek (Part 1 to 3), Happy Feet, Lion King, and Star Wars, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - and the list goes on and on. People enjoy watching animation but what they might not know is that a lot of work is involved to create that animation. This research paper is concerned with 3D Modeling, its definition, features, and the industry in the past and at present. The aim of the research is to use 3D modeling to create fictional characters which can later be taken and usable for different purposes, and to gain knowledge of creating high quality 3D characters. The paper also speaks about the analysis of the production stages, character development, the methodology used and the research tools. 3D modeling refers to the creation of three-dimensional objects that are defined mathematically and geometrically (i.e. a circle extruded to a certain value to create a cylinder defined by its location, radius and length). 3D modeling can be aided by the use of scan data. (n.d Common 3D Scanning Industry Terms) The classic hand-animated Disney film ‘Snow White’ was released in the year 1937. This year was called the beginning of the ‘golden age’ for animation. Since then Disney has released a lot of hand- animated films that are enjoyed by people of all ages, right from small children to adults. However, today, with the advancement of 3D technology, everything is done with the computer. All you need to have is an eye for art and creativity. The computer takes care of the rest! (The 3D Debate, n.d) The multimedia industry has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Today, the 3D technology is used in a lot of areas like education, entertainment, and so on. Lessons are taught in schools and colleges using 3D animated

Heriot-Watt Programme Mandate Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Heriot-Watt Programme Mandate - Assignment Example Moving into the twenty-first century Heriot-Watt developed Focus on the Future: Heriot-Watt University, 2008 a policy document to guide the institution's future development. Its overall goal is made clear in the introduction to the document, â€Å"Our vision for the next decade is to become a world-leading university – a university which will produce the next generation of global leaders in business and technology.† The following programme mandate document outlines a program that is directed towards meeting those goals in the framework of the energy sector. Of necessity, considering the global business environment and the inherent nature of the energy industry, there is considerable emphasis placed on environmental issues. Regardless, this is an energy programme mandate proposal first and foremost. Its adoption would address pressing needs in the energy sector in emerging technologies while also recognizing the political and philosophical framework that the energy sector operates within. This means that the proposed programme will appeal to partners in the industry, potential academic and institutional partners, and students considering Heriot-Watt who are interested in a cutting-edge program in terms of technology and the wider social environment that they will be practising their chosen discipline in. Therefore, it will contribute to Heriot-Watts intention to remain a leader in technological and scientific research and also attract students, meeting the goal of â€Å"growing our academic base by 50% in ten years.† Furthermore, the Ethical Energy Programme will enhance the reputation of the university and offer its students a broader-based understanding of energy issues than traditional programmes. First, the programme components will be presented in two sections. The hard components of the programme are the actual directions that research will take in scientific and technological avenues.

Democracy promotion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Democracy promotion - Term Paper Example The spread of liberal democracy and freedom in the world facilitates the betterment of the people that live in the countries that exercise this conception through the promotion of individual liberty. For instance, democracy allows for the development of the freedom of expression, the freedom and right to own properties, and the aspect of conscience. It is inherent for the world superpowers to promote the democracy of the developing and other nations to ensure greater individual liberties to numerous people. Democratized countries provide maximum human rights to their citizenry through their involvement in the decisions that concern their lives. As studies illustrate, even the illiberal and imperfect democracies tend to allow liberty as opposed to the autocracies. Further, the increased levels of individual liberty improve the realization of full potential amongst the humans benefiting the humankind. For example, when a government utilizes autocratic leadership, more lives are in dang er. The situation is so because those who fight for their freedom get killed while the developed nations may withdraw their support to such nations posing more challenges to the citizens (Cho, 2015). If there is a promotion of democracy, there will be a mutual decision-making hence better lives to the people in the country. The United States need to spread the idea of liberal democracy to the nations in the attempt to stop the people from facing violence from their home governments. Most countries that do not implement the ideology of liberal democracy find themselves triggering civil unrest in their regimes causing deaths to their people. For example, apparently, there is civil unrest in Burundi due to the autocratic leadership of the incumbent president. In this case, more lives have been lost due to the forceful nature of the president to vie for a third term. Moreover,

Employability & Personal Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Employability & Personal Development - Essay Example The experience of attending a social gathering in London was a pleasurable and enjoyable one. The American culture and social norms are very divergent from those prevalent in the English community. The American social rules permit certain level of disorganization and less formality (Maureen & Sandra 2013). The essence of American community is embedded in the need for allowing people to express themselves and their feelings and emotions. The American culture is developed with the help of submerging different cultural and national identities and therefore, the society is exhibiting various colors of different cultures and societies. The English nation on the other hand, is famous for having its roots in formalization. The English are more than happy to uphold their family names and honors. The societal norms are designed to fulfill the abovementioned need. The historical context must be taken into account in order to understand the marked differences in both of the featured societies. The social occasions are identified as an effective and efficient measure of understanding cultural outlook of the community. I have observed while attending a party in London that youngsters were heavily guarded from socializing with strangers. The behaviors of the juniors were also strictly regulated and monitored by elders. The youngsters are also encouraged to exchange pleasantries with close family friends with passing on physical clues such as raising an eyebrow for pointing out a behavioral flaw (Jin & Li 2013). The youngsters’ conversations were interrupted by elders on more than one occasion as they were heading in the wrong direction. The humans are always noticed to seek legitimization of their actions from the society. However, in the case of English community, the need for acceptability is much higher than that in the American one (Muntaner 2013). The American parties are more rocking in style and therefore, the groupings form naturally. The participants from the same age groups hang out together. The individual behaviors are not guided intensively. The historical need and want of American society to accommodate people from number of cultures is being consistently translated in accommodative societal and normative behaviors and attitudes. The American society’s ability to produce artists and scholars is supported and enhanced by relaxed societal norms (Sousa, Martins, & Fernandesa 2013). The concept and idea of participative and open book management grew out of American culture because of its tendency to give everyone the basic and fundamental right of self-representation and freedom of speech. The English corporate culture is recognized as more rigid and due to this reason, the companies operating in the country are observed to follow a machine metaphor towards organizational existence and culture. The country is therefore, plagued with tall organizations with high formalization. The England in the view modern social scientists is b eing run in the light of old and outdated managerial concepts and therefore, its poor performance as a nation is understandable. The personal freedoms are denied in the name of culture and norms. The people are not allowed to speak their mind. They are being herded like mindless animals. The elders feel proud and take credit for training the next generation to be civilized. Nevertheless, the senior citizens are not aware of the fact that they are

Analysis of drama with critical approaches to literature Essay

Analysis of drama with critical approaches to literature - Essay Example In such cases each party in the court is totally involved, like the judge who has to pronounce the judgment, the lawyers arguing the case, the accused and his family members, the family members of the other party, the reporters of the print and electronic media etc. An agonizing and tension ridden atmosphere prevails in the courtroom. In â€Å"Oedipus the King† by Sophocles, Apollo prophesied Oedipus’ fate and communicated this knowledge by the time of his conception. As such, throughout his life the single-pointed aim of Oedipus was to challenge fate to undo the prophecy to save his life and in the process he destroyed/killed anyone who tried to obstruct him and finally ended his own life. Sophocles has succeeded in creating such an atmosphere throughout the play in â€Å"Oedipus the King,† that demands total involvement of the viewers. One of the important God-given boons to a human being is the power of discrimination. On the other hand he is also the owner of his collective destinies. It is the bounden duty of the human being to go on doing actions, without intermission, as per one’s choices authorized by the power of discrimination. Once that is done, the outcome may be good, bad or worst. At the same time one is also constantly affected by the choices others make, with whom one has interactions. That was the case with Oedipus and as such he was the victim of the choices made for him by others. This happened right from the womb to the tomb and from the cradle to the grave and as such his actions were controlled by others, in addition to his own doings. Whether Oedipus is a man of swift action or rash action is a matter of conjecture. For good or bad, he is a man of great insight. If his life is compared to a magnificent orchestra, he is also destined to carry a muffled drum along with him. He is a ruler par excellence who does in advance what his subjects need. He has the elements of devotion and destruction ingrained in his