The Taming of the Shrew Essay Example for Free

The Taming of the Shrew Essay Michael Billington, theatre critic for the Guardian, asked whether there is any reason to revive a play which seems totally offensive to our age and society (6 May 1978). With particular reference to the final scenes of the play, explore the ways in which a modern audience can respond to Shakespeares presentation of the relationship between Kate and Petruchio  To many desultory observers The Taming of the Shrew may be conjectured as being profoundly misogynistic, an intolerable illustration of female subjugation in 16TH Century England. However in my opinion this is a far too superficial and perfunctory observation. The Taming of the Shrew displays enough ambiguity in its readings to support differing interpretations of its meaning and demonstrates its relevance to modern society. It is clear that ones own evaluation of the plight of Kate is an integral part of whether one finds the play offensive or not. On face value the shrewish Kate is tamed by the cruel, exploitative Petruchio who uses her fathers wealth as his only reason to embark on their marriage; a marriage she despairingly tries and fails to resist. He embarrasses and degrades her, culminating in the final scene where Kate openly relinquishes her independence; grovellingly placing her hand under Petruchios foot and lectures the other women about what should be their traditional servant role within marriage. However such superficial interpretations fail to consider the strong possibility of the presence of dramatic irony in Shakespeares writing, that their marriage is in fact one of partnership. Fiona Shaw, a contemporary Shakespearean actor, offers this interpretation by commenting her vision coincides with his Kate and Petruchio were rebels and would remain rebels forever1. Indeed it has been argued that Kate actually tames Petruchio by seemingly bowing to his requests: Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,  Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee (ACT V SCENE II 145-6) Superficially this may seem a submission, but it is possible to see the irony in Kates words. After all, at the time of writing, the head of state or the sovereign was Elizabeth I, therefore the aforementioned quotation symbolises a direct ironic attack against the patriarchal concept that Kate seems to be urging. Kates final speech could be categorised as a capitulation if its reader was without any idea or contextual knowledge about Kates complex character because much of its content is derived from sources used in the Elizabethan Church such as the Book of Homilies and The Instruction of Christian Women. However, it is certainly conceivable that it could be interpreted as a subversive manifesto. Kates flattering of Petruchio through her references to his brave naval background seems to appease him, yet it is she with the soft and smooth body. Petruchio maybe stronger in the physical sense, but it is he who has had to work harder in life and will work harder in marriage if Kate has her way. H.G. Goddards comment that everyone knows that the woman can lord it over the man as long as she allows him to think hes lording it over her supports this view, even if this comment is as equally facile as Kates taming a tribute to the ambiguity of the play. Textual evidence also configures with the doubt over whether Kates plight parallels with the doctrines of the Renaissance writers who fundamentally endorsed a patriarchal social hierarchy with the female subject to the orders of their husband or father. Lucentios final line Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so emphasises the notion of scepticism over her sudden changed behaviour and that indeed she may have colluded with Petruchio in order to win the wager. The short time-scale of the play casts doubt over whether such a character as strong as Kate could really be tamed so emphatically. Indeed the feminist critic Germaine Greer has argued that the play is not a knockabout farce of wife-battering, but the cunning adaptation of a folk-motif to show the forging of a partnership between equals2, emphasised by Petruchio in the final scene finally acknowledging their alliance -well be to bed we thee are married, but you two are sped. It is Kate who is indeed shrewd enough to realise that she must appease Petruchio if she is to be able to forge a happy marriage with him. This is after Hortensio reminds Kate say as he says, or we shall never go a clue about the possible consequences if she continues her resistance. This is not a submission, but a clever ploy by Kate who realises that if her marriage is to progress from a state of extreme discomfort she must forge a partnership.

Education is the key to development

Education is the key to development Introduction Education is the key to development. Since independence, successive governments accorded importance to education and endeavored to improve the low indicators but progress has been slow. In recent years, governments approach towards planning and delivery of education has been guided by overall reforms of the system. The federal and provincial governments clearly see their role shifting from being sole provider of education services to also acting as facilitator and financier of the private sector including the non-profit providers. The government fully realizes that it cannot achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) alone without the help of other providers of education. the governments recognition of the role of the private sector and civil society organizations (SCOS) is explicitly expressed through the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), education sector reform (ESR) action plan, education policy, and education for all documents, and establishment of education foundatio ns at the national and provincial levels. The corporate sector is emerging as an important player in supporting social development causes, specially education and health. However, the business sector is wary of entering into partnership with government due to the absence of a clearly defined and mutually agreed framework for cooperation and partnership. Public Private Partnerships (3ps) have been expanding over time and have taken various forms. the most common 3ps programmes being delivered by CBOs, NGOs, private sector, education foundations, corporate sector and other providers that are scaling up include: (a) community schools; (b) fellowship schools; (c) adopt-a-school; (d) grant-in-aid to the private sector; (e) school management by NGOs; (f) teachers training; and (g) individuals donating in several ways to schools at local levels. It has been estimated that the private sector is contributing 0.7 % of GNP in education. This includes largely the for profit institutions. Backdrop and Rationale Of Public Private Partnerships In Education Present Scenario Of Education Sector In Pakistan Education is the prime catalyst to national development. Despite high importance attached to education by successive governments reflected through multitude of policy packages, the state of affairs is far from desirable. At the time of independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited only 8000 schools which increased to 1, 70,000 in 2003. Gross enrolment in primary schools increased 40 times (from 0.77 million in 1947 to 20 million in 2003) and literacy rate increased from 16% in 1951 to 51.6% in 2003 but a lot still needs to be done. The federal and provincial governments policies, planning and delivery of education has been under constant review and revision according to the changing needs over time, particularly in the last decade. The government fully realizes that public sector alone cannot meet the myriad challenges to provide necessary resources, services and expertise to effectively address educational issues. There has been a clear realization on part of the government of shifting i ts role from being the sole provider of resources and education delivery to also acting as a facilitator of the private sector and of civil societys efforts in Pakistan. Need For Public Private Partnerships Emergence of Corporate Sector in 3Ps: The governments recognition of the role of the private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) has explicitly been expressed through the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Education Sector Reform (ESR) Action Plan, Education Policy, education for all documents, and establishment of Education Foundations at the Federal and Provincial level. Recent years have witnessed the Education Foundations restructuring to enhance their efficiency and impact. Public Private Partnerships (3Ps) have been expanding over time and it has been estimated that the private sector including non-profit organizations contribute about 0.7 per cent of GNP in education. There is an increasing acceptance of the Adopt-a-School Programme (ASP) and recognition of the leading role of civil society organizations such as Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) and Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) in motivating the corporate sector, which is emerging as an important player in supporting public sector institutions through private providers, especially through the ASP modality. There are several other organizations mobilizing the corporate sector to support direct education provision, total school management, professional development of teachers, scholarships etc. The corporate sector on its own initiative is also engaging with public sector such as the partnership between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the City/ District Government for monitoring and school improvement. Structural Forms Of Public Private Partnership There are various manifestations and forms of 3Ps in the country. The most common 3Ps programmes being delivered by Education Foundations, NGOs, CBOs, the private sector, the corporate sector and other providers. These include: Contracted management of public schools by NGOs Afternoon institutions System: Up gradation of Institutions through Community Participation Programme (CPP) in Punjab and Public-Private Collaboration (PPC) in NWFP Adopt a School / School Improvement Programme (SEF, PCP) Community Schools Capacity Building of School Management Committees (SMCs) / Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) / School Councils Community Learning /Literacy centers (using school premises and facilities) Volunteer teachers or other individuals sharing skills, donating time etc Individuals donating funds to provide missing infrastructure and educational material In 2001, the share of private sector in education in Pakistan was 21%. In 2005, the ratio of public schools in Pakistan was 67% and in Punjab it was 58%. The share of private sector schools in Pakistan is 33% and in Punjab it is 42%. If the pattern continues, the expenditure on education in private sector will exceed the total expenditure in public sector in the next five years.The policy makers are sanguine now that only conscientious, coordinated and concerted efforts of all stakeholders in Public -private Partnership (PPP) could be a viable option. Government alone will not be able to accomplish the gigantic task of attaining the goal of sustainable quality education and meet the targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA). Pakistan like many other developing countries is facing myriad challenges for improving access, equity and quality of education. The country has a population of 160 million people more than 33% mired in abject poverty, living below the poverty line. The overall literacy rate is 55% whereas it is 36% for females. Pakistan has 6.5 million children out of school and 80% of them have never been enrolled in a school. 40% students drop-out before they reach grade IV and 77% of the total enrolled children drop out while climbing the ladder and reaching X grade. Pakistan is at serious risk of not attaining MDG and EFA targets by 2015. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Pakistan (0.73) is one of the lowest in the world. Keeping in view one of the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) indicators, there is an urgent need to have a system of affordable quality education, socially acceptable to all stakeholders. The Punjab Education Foundation The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) was established through Punjab Education Foundation Act, 1991, by Punjab Assembly. Under the enactment, PEF advanced loans and grants to private entrepreneurs, for the construction of schools, for the promotion of education from 1991 to 2004. PEF was restructured through an Act by Punjab Assembly in 2004 for promotion of education, specifically encouraging and supporting the efforts of the private sector in providing education to the poor. The major difference of the two enactments in 1991 and 2004 is primarily a paradigm shift in policy formulation and implementation to encourage the private sector and involve all stakeholders for access, equity and quality in education. While PEF Act 1991 empowered the Government through the bureaucratic control over the affairs of the Foundation with Chief Minister of the province as a Chairman of PEF and a senior bureaucrat as its Managing Director, the PEF Act 2004 conferred the entire management and control of the Foundation to the Board of Directors. Under PEF Act 2004, the Board appoints Managing Director/Chief Executive and other employees of the Foundation and determines the terms and conditions of their employment. Functions Of Punjab Education Foundation Section 4 of the PEF Act, 2004 assigned the following functions to the restructured Foundation: 1. Provide financial assistance for the establishment, expansion, improvement, and management of educational institutions and allied projects; 2. Provide incentives to students, teachers, and educational institutions; 3. Promote public-private partnerships relating to education; 4. Provide technical assistance to educational institutions for testing policy interventions and innovative programs for replication; 5. Rank private educational institutions based on educational standards; 6. Raise funds through donations, grants, contributions, subscriptions etc.; 7. Assist educational institutions in capacity building, including training of teachers; 8. Undertake any other function as may be assigned to it by the Board with the approval of the Government. The Rules and Regulations Are Annexed as ‘A Strategy Of Punjab Education Foundation The Board of Directors formulated the strategy for the PEF and adopted a flexible approach. They decided to provide better quality education through private sector to low income households and provide technical assistance in the form of teacher training and professional development for privately managed schools for less affluent sections of society. It was decided to support schools in less affluent areas and preference for female education. It was decided to introduce instruments for financial assistance on per child enrolled basis and education vouchers for households in slums to enhance enrolment and impart quality education. The strategy looked at selecting institutions with good track record and results to be considered for monetary rewards and financial assistance in terms of quality education and enrolment. PEF Budget The budgetary support to PEF programs is being provided by the Government of Punjab as an integral part of Annual Development Program (ADP) as one-line budget. The budget profile is given as annexture ‘B 1 and 2. Programs Of Punjab Education Foundation The following initiatives of PEF are aimed at ensuring access, equity and quality of education, enabling the poorest of the poor and less advantaged sections of society. 1) Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) Program 2) Continuous Professional Development Program – CPDP 3) Education Voucher Scheme – EVS 4) Teaching in Clusters by Subjects Specialists – TICSS Program Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) Program The Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) is the flagship program of the PEF to encourage and promote access and improve the quality of education by providing financial assistance at the rate of Rs.350 per child per month to private schools on per child enrolled basis. FAS Policy Instrument And Selection Criterion Through FAS intervention, the PEF has demonstrated: a) That whereas it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that all school going children should get free education, that the state should fund it, it should not necessarily provide the service i.e. there is a need to separate the financing of the service from its provision; b) That through Public -private Partnerships, better quality education can be provided at a cost significantly less than incurred by the Government of Punjab to educate a child in the public schooling system. c) That the financial assistance on per child enrolled basis through FAS program is driven by considerations of equity, quality and access to all. Selection criterion is given as annex ‘C FAS Program Statistics FAS Program was launched as pilot project in 54 schools in 2005 in five districts of Punjab i.e. Chakwal, Khushab, Bahawalpur, Lahore and Sialkot. The districts were representative of all the 36 districts of Punjab in terms of levels of literacy and human development index categorized in Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS, 2004). The schools were selected on the basis of criteria mentioned in annex ‘C ‘. In 2006, the scale of pilot was increased to 184 schools, covering 10 districts. In 2007, the Program was evaluated by the Planning and Development Department and was rated as a successful intervention so far as enrolment, retention and quality learning outcomes of the students were concerned. During a presentation to Chief Minster Punjab, it was decided that FAS should concentrate the Southern Punjab districts having the lowest literacy rate and highest concentration of out-of-school children in Punjab i.e. Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Multan, Bahawalna gar, Bahawalpur and Lodhran. FAS program focused these seven districts since 2007. More than 90% of the total strength of students in FAS program belong to the seven districts of Punjab. Progression of schools and the number of students (Male and Female) in FAS program from 2005 to 2009 is given as annex ‘D As a result of financial and administrative empowerment and autonomous academic leadership at school level through Public -private Partnership (PPP), the following statistically significant landmarks have been achieved: PEF empowered private sector schools in providing quality education to 529210 students in 1337 schools to the less privileged and disenfranchised sections of society in Public -private Partnership. The parents have been relieved from payment of fee with increase in disposable income. The managements of private schools have been relieved from financial hardships. The school management now exclusively concentrates on quality education and are relieved from collection of fee from poor parents, which often they used to delay for months. In case of drop-out of the child, the schools were previously deprived of fee amount, before their partnership with PEF. The private sector schools have invested heavily in physical infrastructure to accommodate more students, thus enhancing their revenues because in FAS model, the money follows the child and not the school. In order to enhance quality standards, the private schools hired better and qualified teachers in addition to the existing faculty thus impacting not only the learning outcomes of the students but also the peers and associates in the partner institution. The salaries of teachers before introduction of FAS model were Rs.2500 per month approximately and enhanced to Rs. 6500 in 2008 and are now being enhanced to Rs.8500. In Pakistan, more than 40% students are dropped and are out of school by the time they reach grade IV but in FAS partnership model, drop-out rate is zero. In case of absence or truancy of a student, the private school management follows the students due to their pecuniary interests attached with the child because the payment by PEF is made on the basis of surprise physical verification of the students in the classroom by monitoring and evaluation teams and QAT by third parties engaged by PEF. Through reward mechanism by PEF and better salary structure the teachers are motivated, resilient and diligent. The schools have complete administrative, managerial and financial empowerment with impeccable academic leadership. Impact Of FAS Program On The Learning Outcomes Of Students And Capacity Of Schools The following achievements have been verified over a period of four years (2006-2009) in FAS partner schools: During a period of four years (2005-2009), the mean average of students in terms of learning outcomes in FAS partner schools was raised from 63 % to79%. The results of 200 schools in the band of 80%-90% have been analysed. They have qualified Mathematics and Science teachers. The schools falling below the threshold of 40% have another important nexus. None of the teachers of these schools has been imparted pre-service training. The girls performed very well in the QATs and excelled over boys. The high performing schools have a very high concentration of post-graduate teachers. More than 95% of teachers in these educational institutions are either graduates or post-graduates. The Continuous Professional Development Program (CPDP) discussed as PEF intervention helped the teachers of the FAS partner schools to enhance their secure understanding of the didactic resource base and improve their pedagogical skills PEF through CPDP trained 86027 teachers of FAS partner schools and non-partner low cost private schools. There is continuous improvement in the percentage of students getting more than 90% marks. In QAT 1 in 2006, 0.96% students secured more than 90% marks whereas in QAT 2 in 2007, the percentage rose to 1.26. In QAT 3 in 2008 it rose to 16.64% and in QAT 4 it jumped to 17.63%. There was a constant decrease in the percentage of students getting less than 40% marks. From 21.55% students getting less than 40% marks in 2006, it gradually decreased to 16.53% in 2007, 4.32% in 2008 and 4.26% in 2009. The students in the cohort of 80% to 90%, 70% to 80%, 60% to 70% and 50% to 60% showed respectable improvement in a period of four years. FAS Achievements In Public-Private Partnership PEF is promoting affordable quality education in 1337 schools in the province of Punjab. The numbers of students benefitting from FAS program are 529210. The number of male students is 267107 (50.47%) and female is 262103 (49.52%). Through FAS highest priority has been accorded to female education. Fortunately the drop-out rate is zero since the schools follow the students in case of absence and truancy for the pecuniary reasons since PEF funding follows the student and not the school. Continuous Professional Development Program – CPDP It is not possible to raise the standard of education without qualified, satisfied and competent teachers. The development of human didactic resource base is a very time-consuming, slow, gradual and consistent process. To ensure the quality education, there has to be a nice mix of institutional and governance arrangements both in public and private sectors dovetailed with quality mentoring in an enabling teaching-learning environment with objectively verifiable indicators. The quality education is assured primarily because of quality mentoring, quality curriculum, resilient management, conducive, congenial and enabling teaching learning environment, good governance, transparent processes, rigorous and candid monitoring and evaluation, evaluative scrutiny and integration of the lessons learnt into the system for continuous improvement The premier academic institutions in Punjab i.e. Punjab University-Institute of Education and Research (IER), Government College University (GCU), Beacon house National University (BNU), FC College University were engaged to impart training to the teachers of private schools. The lead Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the field of professional development and capacity building were selected through an open and transparent competition. The mentors engaged by the NGOs were selected through a special selection board constituted by PEF. School Leadership Development Program (SLDP) More than 80% of the participants reported that the school management was not allowing them to apply the new methodologies of teaching based on comprehension. Instead, the schools were interested in rote learning, so that their students score high marks in the examinations conducted by Punjab Examination Commission and the respective Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education in the province of Punjab. It was proposed by the participants of CBT in their feedback that the leadership of the partner schools should be sensitized about the importance of secure understanding of the content knowledge by the students instead cramming and rote learning. In this background, it was considered necessary to start a School Leadership Development Program (SLDP) for the Principals and Vice Principals of the FAS partner schools and Non-FAS schools. SLDP met a huge success since the Principals and Vice-Principals of the educational institutions allowed their teachers to apply and practices learned by them in CBT. Education Voucher Scheme – EVS Concept: To ensure educational justice and avoid educational apartheid in society, the poorest of the poor and disenfranchised sections of the society must get equal opportunity and access to quality education enabling the future generations to get out of the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation. For the people on the brink of society, education is the only conduit to develop capabilities of the less privileged people in urban and rural slums Modality: Through EVS, education voucher have been delivered to all households in the urban slums for the children in the age cohorts of 5 to 13. The slums were surveyed and it was established that all the households in the locality were living below poverty line, At a pilot stage, 1053 households were given an opportunity with freedom of choice to access the quality school of their choice for their children. The voucher is redeemable against payment of fee in the educational institutions. EVS is meant to ensure the freedom of choice, productive efficiency, equity and social cohesion. The EVS makes the schools accountable to the parents instead of government functionaries of education department. In FAS, the private school entrepreneur has the choice to admit a student or not. In EVS, the choice to select a school remains with the parents because they are carrying the education voucher issued by PEF. The partner schools are subject to periodical review dependent on the results of their student s, additional private investment and improvement in working conditions for the teachers. The data of schools and students during the years 2006-2009 is annexed as ‘G Selection Criteria of EVS Partner Schools EVS provides incentive to parents to send their children to school. The Scheme became a source of competition for private schools of the area. The following selection uniform criterion has been applied across the board: 1. The fee paid by PEF to the partner EVS school will be Rs. 300/= per child per month. The schools charging higher fee can also apply but they will not paid higher than Rs.300/= and will not be entitled to charge from the students. The enrolment should be between 100 and 500. The school should have respectable infrastructure and enabling teaching learning environment. The partner schools should lie within  ½ kilometer radius of the selected area/beneficiaries of the vouchers. However, if the parents desire to select a school at a larger distance, PEF will have no objection, provided the school fulfills the selection criteria of PEF. 2. PEF advertises in print media to solicit interest from prospective partner schools and preliminary test of selected subjects is held in short-listed schools. Physical inspection of the school is also carried out. 3. PEF Project offices display list of all partner schools at their office and parents are free to choose a school of their choice. 4. It is mandatory under the EVS policy that a household shall admit both the boys and girls in the age cohort of 5-13 years. In case a household does not admit a girl through a voucher in EVS, the voucher for boys shall not be valid. The conditionality coupled with awareness campaign persuaded the parents to send the boys and girls to school together. The EVS policy instrument significantly reduced the child labour in the area since the boys employed in workshops and hotels and girls employed in the household chores in the neighbourhood joined the EVS schools. EVS Achievements in Public-Private Partnership Through EVS, PEF is providing free quality education to 31053 students in 167 schools. 15138 (48.74%) male students and 15915 (51.25%) female students are the beneficiaries of the program. The parity of male and female students was ensured through the policy instrument of EVS. It is mandatory under the EVS policy that a household shall admit both the boys and girls in the age cohort of 5-13 years. In case a household does not admit a girl through a voucher in EVS, the voucher for boys shall not be valid. The conditionality coupled with awareness campaign persuaded the parents to send the boys and girls to school together. The EVS policy instrument significantly reduced the child labour in the area since the boys employed in workshops and hotels and girls employed in the household chores in the neighbourhood joined the EVS schools. Teaching In Clusters By Subjects Specialists – TICSS Program The entrepreneurs of the low cost educational institutions in rural and urban areas cannot afford quality mentors because the people of eminence and erudition with professional integrity of performance with higher academic qualifications demand higher salaries, which they cannot afford. It is almost a truism that the quality in education turns on the axle of interaction between the teacher and the student. Without quality instruction in the low cost schools, there is a remote possibility of better learning outcomes of the students. Resultantly the low cost schools in remote rural areas, peri-urban areas and slums could not improve the quality of instruction. PEF launched TICSS program, engaging people of outstanding academic excellence at the market salary, graduating from the best academic institutions in the province and deputed them to the low cost educational institutions in urban and rural areas of the province. The subject specialists engaged under the auspices of TICSS program not only impacted the learning outcomes of the students in terms of concept clarity and secure understanding of the subject knowledge but also impacted the peers and associates, engaged by the low cast schools. The Subject Specialist (SS) with high grade post-graduate degree could be hired within a salary range of Rs 30,000 —35,000 for a low cost school which pays its teachers a meagre average salary of Rs 3500—Rs 6000. TICSS demonstrated that Subject Specialist deputed to the low cost schools played a catalytic role in uplifting the educational standards and bringing innovations in a number of spheres in the schools academic and social milieu. SS is visiting 2-3 schools in a week and teaching the students in actual class room theatrics. SS impacted the learning outcomes of the students and the mean average of the students increased from 33% to 55% in a period of three years. Subject Specialist influenced the teaching and communication practices of the peers and assoc iates. TICSS model proved to be cost effective, economical and beneficial. Policy matrix is annexed as ‘F The Subject Specialists under auspices of TICSS are an extended arm of the Academic Development Unit (ADU). They teach in the cluster of three schools in core content subject knowledge i.e. Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. They help ADU team to design tests for the assessment and examination of the Foundation assisted schools under FAS and carry out tours to ensure the accuracy of information in terms of enrolment in the FAS Program. They are part of assessment and examination teams constituted by PEF and liaise with the other leading experts engaged in teachers training and professional development in public and private sector and share experiences for the promotion of quality education in private sector. They are also tasked to develop a resource base for pedagogy and core content subject knowledge base for the benefit of teachers of the private educational institutions. TICSS Achievements In Public-Private Partnership TICSS program has been widely acclaimed and appreciated by all the stakeholders in education. There is incessant demand from low cost private schools for vertical and horizontal expansion of the program in the larger public interest PEF selected and deputed 180 Subject Specialists, 95 (52.77%) male and 85 females (47.22%) to 24 districts of the province of Punjab. 162000 students benefitted from the expertise of the Subject Specialists in an academic year. Way Forward For Public-Private Partnership Initiatives Of PEF The Public-private Partnership programs of PEF have the secure potential to promote quality education at affordable cost to the less-affluent and disenfranchised sections of society at a much lower cost in Public Private Partnership. The consistency and continuity of the systems according to the statutory requirements of PEF Act 2004 is the only viable, workable and sustainable solution. The enactment discourages the bureaucratization and compartmentalization of the programs and envisaged transparency, accountability through institutional and constitutional mechanism. The programs of PEF are replicable, cost effective and competitive. The partnerships work for a win win situation for both public and private sectors, ensuring outreach of the programs, to the far-off rural areas and urban slums, often neglected due to variety of reasons. The programs of PEF have already been replicated in the federal territories by the national government and four provincial governments by slightly cha nging the methodology to accommodate indigenous and local requirements. The incessant demand, affordability and social acceptability by the general public, elected representatives, district governments, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, print and electronic media and private educational institutions is hanging heavy on the political leadership of the province. The popularity of the PEF programs in Public-private Partnership and the extreme public pressure of the stakeholders in the form of teachers, students, parents and communities is the sure and secure hope for the continuity of the programs. The government has no option but to continue funding the PEF initiatives. How to win the lost confidence of international donors and agencies remains a myriad challenge for the leadership at PEF. Overall Outcome Analysis Of The PEF Initiatives It has been successfully demonstrated that the PEF programs in Public-private Partnership are cost effective, economical and efficient in terms of service delivery mechanism. The synergy of forging Public -private Partnership has started paying dividends, at a socially acceptable and affordable cost. The private educational institutions providing quality education in less privileged urban, suburban and remote rural areas were hard pressed for financial support. During the quality assurance tests, the students of Foundation assisted schools have shown remarkable performance. PEF has introduced performance based financial incentives by awarding cash prizes to the teachers of the best performing schools for their integrity of performance and quality service delivery. The Public-private Partnership programs are promoting affordable quality educati

Education and Racial Inequality: Analysis of Crash

Education and Racial Inequality: Analysis of Crash EDUCATION AND RACIAL (IN)-EQUALITY Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist, once stated that â€Å"small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.†[1] People tend to scrutinize the external world with their internal prejudice, observing people under their own presumptions about race; the majority of people tend to also think with their eyes, as claimed by Einstein above, and assume that a person’s insides correspond with how they look on the outside. One stops doing so when one has an experience that contradicts one’s presumptions and stereotypes. Prejudice leads to stereotypical attitudes and behaviors in people. However, when those stereotypes are disproved by experiences, individuals are forced to re-evaluate their prejudicial attitudes. Therefore, prejudicial attitudes can be overcome when people are forced to juxtapose a reality that disproves their stereotypical attitudes. Many examples of such instances are exhibited in the movie Crash, directe d by Paul Haggis. Prejudicial beliefs lead people to stereotype others based on their race. Vincent Parrillo defines cognitive level of prejudice as an â€Å"encompass[ment of] a person’s beliefs and perceptions of a group a threating or nonthreatening, inferior or equal, seclusive or intrusive, impulse gratifying, acquisitive, or possessing other positive or negative characteristics† (Parrillo 505). Stereotyping is a form of cognitive level of prejudice as it is acquired through experience and impressions. Hence, stereotypes are external expressions of inner prejudices. In Crash, Jean Cabot and her husband is seen walking down a street in a wealthy neighborhood at night. Jean Cabot visibly holds on to her husband’s arm tighter while passing Anthony and Peter, who are of African descent. This action, caused by Jean’s presumption that the two black males were gangsters, is a clear epitome of prejudice on the cognitive level, as explained by Parrillo. Jean holds these beliefs as result of exposure to the media, and lack thereof to real people of racial minorities. Her lack of exposure to minorities comes from her predominantly white and wealthy residence and background. Nevertheless, this presumption of hers against people of certain color is fueled when the two black males hijack her vehicle. Her bigotry—and her expression of prejudice—is further illustrated in the subsequent scene, wherein she vehemently opposes the locksmith changing her locks due to her perception that the locksmith, a Hispanic man, has â€Å"prison† tattoos. She groundlessly worries that the locksmith will â€Å"sell [their] keys to one of his gang banger friends the moment he is outside of [their] door† (Crash). It can be easily inferred from the scene that although the locksmith—who is uninvolved in the couple’s affairs—has done no wrong, Jean’s false notion of who he is dictates her attitudes and opinions towards the Hispan ic man. According to Parrillo, Jean is using the locksmith as a scapegoat, as her prejudice reaches a level of emotional, action orientated and self-justified level. She considers acting maliciously towards the Hispanic man appropriate due to her criticism of his race as a whole: an act of self-justification. ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ In yet another scene, a clerk at a gun shop refuses service towards an old American citizen of Middle Eastern descent, as the clerk malevolently mocks the customer and lets it be known that he opposes anyone related to the Middle East, insinuating that Middle Easterners are terrorists who â€Å"fly 747† (Crash) and â€Å"incinerate† (Crash) civilians. Parrillo would describe this as an â€Å"action-orientated level of prejudice† (Parrillo 505). The clerk indisputably displays strong contempt against Middle Easterners, (or who he perceives to be Middle Easterners) stereotyping them to be harmful to the American society, and refusing to sell them ammunition. Unfortunately, due to this traumatic experience, Farhad develops a prejudice against fellow Americans of different descent, who he thinks are ought to â€Å"cheat† (Crash) him. Farhad’s newfound prejudice is depicted when he feels that the locksmith is cheating him by refusing to fix his door, despite having a valid reason to do so. In the case of Jean Cabot, we can see how one’s own prejudice can form stereotypes that direct one’s antagonistic behavior against an uninvolved third party. In the case of Farhad, we can see how an act of prejudice and hatred can reversely instigate a prejudice against the prejudicial party and any deemed associates, superfluously continuing the chain of intolerance. Racial stereotypes are oftentimes disproven by their victims, forcing the oppressor to reevaluate his or her own prejudgments. In the movie Crash, when Jean suffers an injury due to her fall, and her friend Carol is nowhere to be found, her housemaid Maria takes her to the emergency room. Maria, a Hispanic woman, shows great care and compassion towards Jean, disproving her stereotype. This leads Jean to abandon her earlier prejudices against different races. The movie further depicts the refutation stereotypes with the scene wherein Peter, a black male, is seen hitchhiking at nighttime. Officer Hanson, upon seeing Peter, offers him a ride in his personal vehicle. They converse awkwardly until Peter sees the St. Christopher statue on the car dashboard. Upon seeing the statue, Peter motions to show his own statue of St. Christopher to Officer Hanson. However, Officer Hanson’s prejudice makes him reason that a black male hitchhiking at this time of the night is up to no good. Hen ce, Hanson says, â€Å"Get your hands out of your pocket† (Crash). Peter does not catch his tone, and Hanson authoritatively orders Peter to â€Å"put [his] hands where [Hanson] can see them† (Crash). Consequently, Peter reaches for his St. Christopher statue while Officer Hanson reaches for his revolver and shoots Peter. Peter’s hand unfolds, showing the St. Christopher medal inside the palm. Hanson reacts with horror as he comes to realization that his stereotyping had been disproven and he had committed manslaughter without provocation. These scenes in the movie Crash show that the world must realize that there lies a soul, a heart and a human being under someone’s skin, no matter what color. When oppressors are forced to reevaluate their prejudices, as mentioned above, they are bound to make changes to their attitudes and behaviors. Jean’s prejudices against Hispanic people dissipates after the incident involving Maria’s care. Later, in the scene in which Maria brings tea to Jean, Jean suddenly embraces Maria, and does not let go. Jean shows affection by saying, â€Å"Do you want to hear something funny? You’re the best friend I’ve got† (Crash). Jean’s glistening eyes, and the melodious soundtrack playing in the background alludes to Jean’s redemption of her past wrongful ways. This sharply contrasts the earlier scene, in which Jean frowns, leers, and blatantly asks deriding and rhetorical questions such as â€Å"Is this clean or is this dirty?† (Crash) On killing Peter, Officer Hanson has a horrified expression on his face, as he sees Peter’s dead gaze. He pushes the body out of the car, gets out, and kneels slowly over the dead body in disbelief of what he has done. He realizes that Peter was not going to hold him hostage with a gun but instead was reaching for his St. Christopher statue. In both the cases, stereotypes were proven wrong and the holders of the stereotypes feel guilty once they were proven wrong. Before this incident, Hanson portrayed himself as an individual who did not believe in stereotypes; but after this incident, he finds out that his prejudice is more deeply rooted than his conscious egalitarian actions because of his socialization process. He is not alone put through this socialization process, all individuals with constant access to media are put through this process. Media holds a strong footings in dispersal of prejudice. The movie Crash, a form of media, also forces the audience to reevaluate their prejudices that they do not believe they possess, but subconsciously does. In the movie Crash, Anthony is assumed at first to be a heartless gangster who steals from the innocent for a quick buck. Nevertheless, in the scene wherein Anthony delivers his stolen vehicle to the owner of the chop shop, he refuses to sell the refugees found in the van to the owner of the chop shop, even though the sale of refugees would have brought him immense earnings. With this act, Anthony breaks down the barriers of his stereotype set upon him by the audience. Furthermore, he displays a random act of kindness by giving forty dollars to the refugees who were visibly in need. In the following scene, he sits in the van, introspects, and cannot refrain from smiling due to his altruism, which he had not previously exhibited in the slightest. The audience can infer from Anthony’s reaction that breaking one’s own neg ative stereotypes by acts of benevolence can have a heartwarming effect. The audience is made to feel like an oppressor for holding a stereotype against Anthony; when he disproves it, the audience is also made to reconsider their own stereotypes in reality. The movie brings the detriments of prejudice out into the open and makes one realize how it is a major societal illness. Through the movie Crash, the audience can learn that although prejudices exist and dominate the inner workings of society, it can also be shattered by positive interactions with the oppressors and the oppressed. Once they are broken, the once prejudiced party gets an opportunity to cleanse their minds of such presumptions, and see the world around them with a new light. Work Cited Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Perf. Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillippe, Jennifer Esposito, Christopher Brian Bridges, Michael Pena, Larenz Tate and Shaun Toub. Lionsgate, 2004. Film. Vincent N. Parrillo â€Å"Causes of Prejudice.† Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2013. 504-517. Print. 1 [1] â€Å"Quotations about Prejudice†, The Quote Garden: A Harvest of Quotations for Word Lovers. Web. 16 July. 2011

Essay examples --

Most startups that raise money do it more than once. A typical trajectory might be (1) to get started with a few tens of thousands from something like Y Combinator or individual angels, then (2) raise a few hundred thousand to a few million to build the company, and then (3) once the company is clearly succeeding, raise one or more later rounds to accelerate growth. Reality can be messier. Some companies raise money twice in phase 2. Others skip phase 1 and go straight to phase 2. And at Y Combinator we get an increasing number of companies that have already raised amounts in the hundreds of thousands. But the three phase path is at least the one about which individual startups' paths oscillate. This essay focuses on phase 2 fundraising. That's the type the startups we fund are doing on Demo Day, and this essay is the advice we give them. Forces Fundraising is hard in both senses: hard like lifting a heavy weight, and hard like solving a puzzle. It's hard like lifting a weight because it's intrinsically hard to convince people to part with large sums of money. That problem is irreducible; it should be hard. But much of the other kind of difficulty can be eliminated. Fundraising only seems a puzzle because it's an alien world to most founders, and I hope to fix that by supplying a map through it. To founders, the behavior of investors is often opaque—partly because their motivations are obscure, but partly because they deliberately mislead you. And the misleading ways of investors combine horribly with the wishful thinking of inexperienced founders. At YC we're always warning founders about this danger, and investors are probably more circumspect with YC startups than with other companies they talk to, and even so we witness a... ... the way their sites are organized that they don't really want startups to approach them directly. Intros vary greatly in effectiveness. The best type of intro is from a well-known investor who has just invested in you. So when you get an investor to commit, ask them to introduce you to other investors they respect. [7] The next best type of intro is from a founder of a company they've funded. You can also get intros from other people in the startup community, like lawyers and reporters. There are now sites like AngelList, FundersClub, and WeFunder that can introduce you to investors. We recommend startups treat them as auxiliary sources of money. Raise money first from leads you get yourself. Those will on average be better investors. Plus you'll have an easier time raising money on these sites once you can say you've already raised some from well-known investors.

Sin City Essay -- Personal Narrative Las Vegas Gambling Essays

Sin City Two years ago my husband, myself and another couple visited Las Vegas, which is better known as sin city. Las Vegas is the biggest city in Nevada. Neon glittered hotels make up the general landscaping, which is otherwise a flat valley with a mountaintop background. The city is quite compact for tourism purposes, even though according to Frommer’s, Vegas is considered one of the fastest growing cities in America. Gambling is the central focus of Vegas, and casinos are abundant, but if gambling is not your thing there are plenty of other attractions to do and see. Vegas is made up of two distinct areas the â€Å"Strip,† and â€Å"Downtown.† The â€Å"Strip,† is considered the most famous four-mile stretch of highway in the nation. It contains most of the big name hotels and entertainment. Most of our time was spent on the Strip. Downtown is located on Fremont Street and was the first area to develop hotels and casinos. It has an old time Vegas feel to it. The streets are narrow and a balcony over head displays a must see light show. The light show is free so it can be enjoyed if you lose all of your money gambling. Flying into Vegas the first things visible are the giant hotels and casinos. We arrived during the day so unfortunately did not see the majestic effect of the lights. However, this did not downplay the grandness of the hotels. A short bus ride took us to our home for the week, the Imperial Palace. It was very budget friendly, with an ideal location, smack dab in the middle of the strip. The Imperial Palace pales in comparison to its glamorous neighbors. At first glance the casino is very dark and reminiscent of old Vegas, but for the price and location it is a steal. The rooms are clean, and it is one of the few h... ...strip so it is away from the hustle and bustle of everything. The drinks are small, but for only a buck well worth it. Not only did the price of the drinks rank high on our list, I also won sixty dollars there. They had an excellent band playing which was free and if you look closely you may even spot a few prostitutes hanging around. This may sound a little scary, but it really wasn’t. Vegas is a great place to visit if you want to see and do a lot of different things. It is a gamblers haven, yet it also offers many other things to do. It is fairly inexpensive depending where you stay and travel agencies always have different packages available to fit your needs. Whether you are a gambler or a sightseer, have a lot of money or a tight budget, Vegas is the place for you. Remember it is nicknamed â€Å"sin city† for a reason so be prepared to see and do the unexpected.

The Representation of Race in Mass-Media

Race as a discourse, has emerged from society romanticizing the idea of biological and psychological differences existing between various ethnic groups. To comprehend and analyze the phenomenon of this racial dilemma, one must have a complete understanding of how culture and identity work hand-in-hand within our society. By controlling most of the social institutions, such as mass communication, politics and corporations; the dominant culture methodically overpowers and exploits the ethnic minority groups, in order to establish its own cultural identity. One such institution is mass media- an industry that not only historically oppresses ethnic minority groups such as African-Americans, but also diminishes their societal status to that of a second-class citizen through the use of stereotypical representations. Because, it is controlled predominantly by the white liberal elites- an autocratic, financially driven organization, whose main objective is to protect the integrity of white culture; mass media industry is therefore, forced to reject all moral conventions, in order to present ethnic minorities as antagonists. The ideas of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Stuart Hall accurately represent the century-old exploitative and oppressive nature of mass media- an industry that has perpetually employed racialized discourse and racist expressions against ethnic minorities such as African-Americans, in order to portray them as subordinate. Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist and sociologist from the United Kingdom, suggests that humanity should simply not just study the theme of culture, but also view it as a primary source of social interactions (Proctor 16). Because culture is a site of an ongoing struggle of power between different ethnic groups, what Hall is suggesting is that, one should only study it with the mindset of exposing each and every one its negative consequences on humanity. According to Hall, in American culture, the mass media industry is one of the main reasons why such a power struggle continues to exist within our society. He describes mass media as an industry that not only generates and influences the beliefs of mankind, but also produces â€Å"representations of the social world, images, descriptions, explanations, and frames for understanding how the world is and why it works as it is said and shown to work† (Hall, â€Å"The Whites† 19). Since the beginning of time, race has played a vital role in the transformation of human consciousness. Therefore, as long as this notion exists in our society, mass media will continue to exploit it for financial profits. During the eighteenth-century, racial stereotyping was so widespread in the United States that any illustrator could pick up a pen and draw minorities based on the two themes of their lack of culture and innate laziness (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 249). These caricaturists and cartoonists degraded the African-American community by exaggerating their physical characteristics: big noses, frizzy hair, wide faces, dark complexion, thick lips and hips, etc (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 249). Hall describes such a form of ethnic discrimination as a â€Å"racialized regime of representation†, a phenomenon that continues to exist, even in the twenty-first century (Hall, â€Å"The Whites† 26). Throughout history, African-Americans have always been presented as a race that is juvenile, one-dimensional, and greedy for money and sex, and perpetrators of violence and crime (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 272). The uneven distribution of power in American culture has allowed the white population to characterize the lives of African-Americans as inferior, an objectification that has been frozen in time and space. Popular representations of racial stereotypes against African-Americans can be examined in the American cinema of the mid-twentieth-century. Donald Bogle’s 1973 critical study titled, Toms, Coons, Mulattos, Mammies, And Bucks: an interpretive history of blacks in African films analyzed the five main stereotypes that were prevalent in Hollywood films of the fifties and sixties: Toms- the good Negros, who were always â€Å"chased, harassed, hounded, flogged, enslaved, and insulted† (Bogle 6). Coons- a black child who was â€Å"unreliable, crazy, lazy, subhuman creatures good for nothing than eating watermelons, stealing chickens, shooting crap, or butchering the English language† (Bogle 7). The Tragic Mulatto- a fair skinned, mixed-race woman, with whom the viewers sympathized, because she was refused entry into the white community because of her â€Å"tainted† blood (Bogle 9). Mammies- the predominant black female servant who was big, loud, bossy, obese and self-sufficient (Bogle 9). Finally the Bad Bucks- physically strong characters, who were always â€Å"big, badddd niggers, over-sexed and savage, violent and frenzied as they lust for white flesh† (Bogle 10). According to Hall, the feature-length film that gave birth to such African-American characteristics was David Llewelyn Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, released in 1915 (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 271). The silent film provoked great controversy, because not only did it promote white supremacy, but also depict the Ku Klux Klan positively as heroes- a secret white society that was destined to lead humanity to salvation. Griffith, a firm believer in anti-miscegenation laws and white supremacy, portrayed the African-Americans as negative characters who were a threat to white integrity; hence they had to be eliminated. Therefore, as the film demonstrates, white supremacy is upheld, and the good (whites) triumphs over evil (blacks) when the Ku Klux Klan physically assault the African-Americans, burn their houses down and lynch them in public (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 252). Karl Heinrich Marx, a renowned German philosopher, political theorist and sociologist argues that society is comprised of two classes: the exploited and the exploiters (Balkaran 1). He suggests that in any given society, one class will eventually conquer the other and exploit it thereafter, through any means necessary (Balkaran 1). Looking back at the American society of the nineteenth-century, it is evident that there was an existence of such class system, one in which the white population overpowered the African-Americans, and forced them to be slaves (Balkaran 1). Even in present day, such a form of exploitation can be discovered in the racial stereotyping of ethnic minority groups. According to Stuart Hall, the uneven distribution of power between the exploited and the exploiters can not only lead to economic profiteering, but also physical violence (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 259). This power has such a strong influence that it can allow one to represent the other in any form desirable: positive or negative. Hall describes such a form of objectification as a â€Å"racialized regime of representation†, a phenomenon that has negatively influenced the lives of African-Americans for centuries (Hall, â€Å"The Whites† 26). In the eighteenth-century, American culture granted an extraordinary power to the white population- the authority over African-Americans; forcing them to be slaves, hindering their success and confining them to lives to subordination. The white owners overpowered the black male slaves physically and emotionally by illustrating them as a gender, which did not have the apacity to own land or provide adequately for their families (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 262). As a result of the denial of these male attributes, black slaves were portrayed to the rest of the world as adolescents, who could neither take care of themselves or their families- a stereotype that is prevent, even in present day. Such stereotypes are only a reference to what has been conceptua lized in fantasy by the ones who hold most of the power (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 262). By representing the African-American slaves as lazy and incompetent, the elites are corrupting the minds of and perceptions of the general public. For Hall, racial stereotypes only present one-half of the story, the other half is where the deeper meaning lies (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 263). What he is referring to is the notion of a single racial stereotype leading to two different and independent human perceptions. This idea of a double meaning existing in a single stereotype can be examined in Antoine Fuqua’s 2001 motion picture Training Day. In the film, whenever Denzel Washington’s character, Detective Alonzo Harris acts ‘macho’, he negatively portrays the African-American community as perpetrators of violence, in addition to promoting the stereotypical black childlike behavior. However, in accordance with Hall’s notion of an implicit meaning existing in every stereotype, one can see that the ‘macho’ behavior is validating a much more disturbing and complicated white fantasy- that African-Americans are in fact aggressive, better endowed than their white counterparts, over-sexed and superspade (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 263). Henry Louis Gates Junior, an eloquent commentator on issues of multiculturalism and racism argues that the direct correlation between race and racism can be disputed. What he is suggesting is that discrimination against ethnic groups is linked more to the phenomenon of power relations than any biological assimilation (Daley 1). He believes that the notion of race is simply a fabrication, one with no real purpose with the exception of formal discussions, because: ‘races', put simply, do not exist, and to claim that they do, for whatever misguided reason, is to stand on dangerous ground†¦ For, if we believe that races exist as things, as categories of being already ‘there,' we cannot escape the danger of generalizing about observed differences between human beings as if the differences were consistent and determined, a priori (Gates 402). He is arguing that the notion of race has simply been etched in humanity’s consciousness with one goal in mind- to confine ethnic minorities to lives of subordination. Throughout the nineteenth-century, the Iroquois in Canada and the blacks in America were being forced into the so called ‘civilized’ white Christian society, because the bodies of these ethnic minorities were deemed inferior. Therefore, Gates believes that the portrayal of minorities was due to the wrongful employment of racial characterization, a process in which: one generalizes about the attributes of an individual (and treats him or her accordingly). Such generalizations are based upon a predetermined set of causes or effects thought to be shared by all members of a physically defined group who are also assumed to share certain ‘metaphysical' characteristics†¦ can have rather little to do with aggression or contempt in intent, even if the effect is contemptible (but often ‘well-intentioned') (Gates 403). According to Gates, not only does this form of representation lead to a ‘racist’ benevolence, paternalism and sexual attraction towards African-Americans, but also a romanticizing of black culture (Daley 2). This form of racial representation was condescending to the African-Americans, because it depicted them as having instinctual physical, structural, and biological characteristics of greed and violence. Through the use of mass media, white supremacists represented black culture as being an entity that was separate from the African-Americans (Daley 2). Mass media at time of the twentieth-century played a vital role in forming and reflecting public opinion on the issues of racial representation and discrimination. As a result of media, the word ‘Negro’ began to be associated with the balance of power in society. It became a metaphor of the conflict between good and evil, educated and barbaric, master and servant- a fight for the control of power; a struggle that was etched into the consciousness of all Americans (Daley 2). By negatively representing the African-Americans, mass-media had caused a division between the ‘blacks’ and the ‘whites’- a rift that is still evident in twenty-first-century; not only in the United States, but all over the world (Daley 2). One can argue that not only has this gap dictated every discussion related to race and racial bias of our time, but that it will continue to do so for centuries to come with no end in sight. Media will continue to depict African-Americans as individuals who perpetrate violence, and are only motivated by greed and ex, because this approach allows the industry to gain a mass audience- a predominant white population that believes in white supremacy and wants to see the black race oppressed and destroyed. Linking back to Gates view on minority groups being confined to lives of subordination in the eighteenth-century, one can see that mass-media in present day carries out the same form of oppression. Because the industry is dr iven by monetary profits, it employs racial prejudice in its broadcasts, and enforces certain negative stereotypes against minorities, in order to confine them to deteriorated lifestyles. The American cinema of the mid-twentieth-century is regarded by many cultural sociologists as an era that promoted the positive representation of African-Americans for the first time. Motion pictures released in the early fifties enlightened the general public of the sensitive issues of race and stereotypes. In spite of the industry being controlled predominantly by the elite class of White-Americans, the films that were generated, characterized the black community as positive role models. A clear-cut example of such positive racial representation in mass media can be found in Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones, a 1958 cult classic, in which the character of Noah Cullen portrayed by Sidney Poitier disregards the notion of differences in race; instead assisting a white prisoner escape from jail. Not only did the portrayal of Noah Cullen allow Poitier to score a BAFTA award for best actor in a lead role; it also secured his admission into mainstream Hollywood films. Following the success of The Defiant Ones, Poitier’s on screen roles now exemplified everything that the stereotypical African-American figure was not (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 253). Even though the white elites controlled American cinema, they continued to construct characters for Poitier in such a way so as to positively portray the African-American community. His film characters were widely accepted by the white population as one of their own, because the morals, and behavior that he exhibited, met the standards of the mass audience (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 253). Poitier’s characters represented the quintessential Caucasian male: one who was fluent in English, well-educated, smart and had proper table etiquette (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 253). History had repeated itself in the case of Sidney Poitier, because by portraying the role of a reformed African-American male, he relinquished the very little power that he had, to the white elites. In the eighteenth-century, the White-American population established its identity by means of absorbing ethnic minorities into their so-called ‘civilized’ Christian body. Because white elites had transformed Poitier’s African-American character, from an un-cooperative, over-sexed, savage beast into a sexless, docile and sterile ‘civilized’ gentleman; he no longer posed a threat to the integrity and dignity of white culture (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 253). In the late sixties and early seventies, American cinema implemented different strategy, in order to financially exploit the African-American community. The industry introduced a new class of African-American heroes- individuals who challenged the notion of white culture as superior to all others. Case in point, Gordon Parks’ 1971 box office success, Shaft, in which the main character- a black detective disputes the very existence of white patriarchal power in American society (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 271). To attain maximum pleasure in his ‘mythic’ life, John Shaft resorts to violence, drugs, illegal money and sexual relations with white and black women (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 271). The stereotypical notion of an African-American’s child-like dependency on the white community that had been prevalent since the eighteenth-century could no longer be applied to John Shaft, because he was confident and self-sufficient. Because, his elegance and charisma appealed to the African-American audiences, they were susceptible to the exploitation of the film industry. Black viewers were able to identify with characters such as John Shaft, because they represented a â€Å"mythic† life- one which was glorious and heroic (Hall, â€Å"Representation† 271). They flocked to theatres by the thousands, in order to watch films that depicted the triumph of ‘black’ over ‘white’, but what they failed to recognize was that such movies were only produced so that they could be financially exploited. Word Cited: Balkaran, Stephen. â€Å"Mass Media and Racism. † Yale University. Oct. 1999. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. http://www. yale. edu/ypq/articles/oct99/oct99b. html#fn1. Gates, Henry L. â€Å"Race,† writing, and difference. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1986. Hall, Stuart. Representation cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage Publications Ltd. , 1997. Hall, Stuart. The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media. London: Silver Linings, 1995. Bogle, David. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. New York: Viking, 1973. â€Å"Mike Daley: The representation of ‘race' in mass media. † Mikedaley. net. York University. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. http://www. mikedaley. net/essay_raceinmassmedia. htm. Procter, James. Stuart Hall. London: Routledge, 2004. Balkaran, Stephen. â€Å"Mass Media and Racism. † Yale University. Oct. 1999. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. http://www. yale. edu/ypq/articles/oct99/oct99b. html#fn1.

Mankiw Chapter 1 Solution

The answers to the Quick Quizzes can also be found near the end of the textbook. 1. The four principles of economic decision making are: (1) people face trade-offs; (2) the cost of something is what you give up to get it; (3) rational people think at the margin; and (4) people respond to incentives. People face trade-offs because to get one thing that they like, they usually have to give up another thing that they like. The cost of something is what you give up to get it, not just in terms of monetary costs but all opportunity costs.Rational people think at the margin by taking an action if and only if the marginal benefit exceeds the marginal cost. People respond to incentives because they choose activities by comparing benefits to costs; therefore, a change in these benefits or costs may cause their behavior to change. The three principles concerning people’s economic interactions are: (1) trade can make everyone better off; (2) markets are usually a good way to organize eco nomic activity; and (3) governments can sometimes improve market outcomes.Trade can make everyone better off because it allows countries to specialize in what they do best and to enjoy a wider variety of goods and services. Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity because the invisible hand leads markets to desirable outcomes. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes because markets may fail to allocate resources efficiently due to an externality or market power.The three principles that describe how the economy as a whole works are: (1) a country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services; (2) prices rise when the government prints too much money; and (3) society faces a shortrun trade-off between inflation and unemployment. A country’s standard of living depends largely on the productivity of its workers, which in turn depends on the education of its workers and the access its workers have to the necessary t ools and technology. Prices rise when the government prints too much money because more money in circulation reduces the value of money, causing inflation.Society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment that is only temporary. Policymakers have some short-term ability to exploit this relationship using various policy instruments. 2. 3. Questions for Review 1. Examples of trade-offs include time trade-offs (such as studying one subject over another or studying at all compared to engaging in social activities) and spending tradeoffs (such as whether to use your last 15 dollars to purchase a pizza or to buy a study guide for that tough economics course).The opportunity cost of seeing a movie includes the monetary cost of admission plus the time cost of going to the theater and attending the show. The time cost depends on what else you might do with that time; if it is staying home and watching TV, the time cost may be small, but if it is working an extra three ho urs at your job, the time cost is the money you could have earned. The marginal benefit of a glass of water depends on your circumstances. If you have just 2. 3. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics 2 un a marathon or you have been walking in the desert sun for three hours, the marginal benefit is very high. But if you have been drinking a lot of liquids recently, the marginal benefit is quite low. The point is that even the necessities of life, like water, do not always have large marginal benefits. 4. Policymakers need to think about incentives so they can understand how people will respond to the policies they put in place. The text's example of seat belt laws shows that policy actions can have unintended consequences.If incentives matter a lot, they may lead to a very different type of policy; for example, some economists have suggested putting knives in steering columns so that people will drive much more carefully! While this suggestion is silly, it highlights the importance of incentives. Trade among countries is not a game with some losers and some winners because trade can make everyone better off. By allowing specialization, trade between people and trade between countries can improve everyone's welfare.The â€Å"invisible hand† of the marketplace represents the idea that even though individuals and firms are all acting in their own self-interest, prices and the marketplace guide them to do what is good for society as a whole. The two main causes of market failure are externalities and market power. An externality is the impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander, such as from pollution or the creation of knowledge. Market power refers to the ability of a single person (or small group of people) to unduly influence market prices, such as in a town with only one well or only one cable television company.In addition, a market economy also leads to an unequal distribution of income. Productivity is important because a country's standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. The greater a country's productivity (the amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time), the greater its standard of living will be. Inflation is an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy. Inflation is caused by increases in the quantity of a nation's money.Inflation and unemployment are negatively related in the short run. Thus, reducing inflation entails costs to society in the form of higher unemployment in the short run. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Problems and Applications 1. a. A family deciding whether to buy a new car faces a trade-off between the cost of the car and other things they might want to buy. For example, buying the car might mean they must give up going on vacation for the next two years. So the real cost of the car is the family's opportunity cost in terms of what they must give up.For a member of Congress deciding whether to increase spending on national parks, the trade-off is between parks and other spending items or tax cuts. If more money goes into the park system, that may mean less spending on national defense or on the police force. Or, instead of spending more money on the park system, taxes could be reduced. b. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics c. 3 When a company president decides whether to open a new factory, the decision is based on whether the new factory will increase the firm's profits compared to other alternatives.For example, the company could upgrade existing equipment or expand existing factories. The bottom line is: Which method of expanding production will increase profit the most? In deciding how much to prepare for class, a professor faces a trade-off between the value of improving the quality of the lecture compared to other things she could do with her time, such as working on additional research. d. 2. When the benefits of something are psychological, such as going on a vacation, it is not e asy to compare benefits to costs to determine if it is worth doing.But there are two ways to think about the benefits. One is to compare the vacation with what you would do in its place. If you did not go on vacation, would you buy something like a new set of golf clubs? Then you can decide if you would rather have the new clubs or the vacation. A second way is to think about how hard you had to work to earn the money to pay for the vacation. You can then decide if the psychological benefits of the vacation were worth the psychological cost of working.If you are thinking of going skiing instead of working at your part-time job, the cost of skiing includes its monetary and time costs, which includes the opportunity cost of the wages you are giving up by not working. If the choice is between skiing and going to the library to study, then the cost of skiing is its monetary and time costs including the cost of getting lower grades in your courses. If you spend $100 now instead of saving it for a year and earning 5 percent interest, you are giving up the opportunity to spend $105 a year from now.The fact that you have already sunk $5 million is not relevant to your decision anymore, because that money is gone. What matters now is the chance to earn profits at the margin. If you spend another $1 million and can generate sales of $3 million, you'll earn $2 million in marginal profit, so you should do so. You are right to think that the project has lost a total of $3 million ($6 million in costs and only $3 million in revenue) and you should not have started it. That is true, but if you do not spend the additional $1 million, you will not have any sales and your losses will be $5 million.So what matters is not the total profit, but the profit you can earn at the margin. In fact, you wouldd pay up to $3 million to complete development; any more than that, and you will not be increasing profit at the margin. Harry suggests looking at whether productivity would rise or f all. Productivity is certainly important, since the more productive workers are, the lower the cost per gallon of potion. Ron wants to look at average cost. But both Harry and Ron are missing the other side of the equation? revenue. A firm wants to maximize its profits, so it needs to examine both costs and revenues.Thus, Hermione is right? it is best to examine whether the extra revenue would exceed the extra costs. Hermione is the only one who is thinking at the margin. a. The provision of Social Security benefits lowers an individual’s incentive to save for retirement. The benefits provide some level of income to the individual when he or she retires. This means that the individual is not entirely dependent on savings to support consumption through the years in retirement. Since a person gets fewer after-tax Social Security benefits the greater his or her 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. b.Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics earnings are, there is an incentive not to work (or not work as much) after age 65. The more you work, the lower your after-tax Social Security benefits will be. Thus, the taxation of Social Security benefits discourages work effort after age 65. 8. a. b. When welfare recipients have their benefits cut off after two years, they have a greater incentive to find jobs than if their benefits were to last forever. 4 The loss of benefits means that someone who cannot find a job will get no income at all, so the distribution of income will become less equal.But the economy will be more efficient, because welfare recipients have a greater incentive to find jobs. Thus, the change in the law is one that increases efficiency but reduces equity. 9. By specializing in each task, you and your roommate can finish the chores more quickly. If you divided each task equally, it would take you more time to cook than it would take your roommate, and it would take him more time to clean than it would take you. By specializing, you reduce the total time spent on chore s. Similarly, countries can specialize and trade, making both better off.For example, suppose it takes Spanish workers less time to make clothes than French workers, and French workers can make wine more efficiently than Spanish workers. Then Spain and France can both benefit if Spanish workers produce all the clothes and French workers produce all the wine, and they exchange wine for clothes. 10. a. To produce the right number of CDs by the right artists and deliver them to the right people requires an enormous amount of information. You need to know about production techniques and costs in the CD industry. You need to know each person's musical tastes and which artists they want to hear.If you make the wrong decisions, you will be producing too many CDs by artists that people do not want to hear, and not enough by others. Your decisions about CDs will carry over to other decisions. You have to make the right number of CD players for people to use. If you make too many CDs and not enough cassette tapes, people with cassette players will be stuck with CDs they cannot play. The probability of making mistakes is very high. You will also be faced with tough choices about the music industry compared to other parts of the economy.If you produce more sports equipment, you will have fewer resources for making CDs. So all decisions about the economy influence your decisions about CD production. b. 11. Countries that have corrupt police and court systems do not enforce individual property rights, including the rights over the goods and services produced by households and firms. Firms will not choose to produce products and individuals will choose not to work if there is no guarantee that they will receive payment for their efforts. Therefore, these countries end up with a lower standard of living. . b. c. d. e. Efficiency: The market failure comes from the market power of the cable TV firm. Equity Efficiency: An externality arises because secondhand smoke harms nonsmok ers. Efficiency: The market failure occurs because of Standard Oil's market power. Equity 12. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics f. 13. a. 5 Efficiency: There is an externality because of accidents caused by drunk drivers. If everyone were guaranteed the best health care possible, much more of our nation's output would be devoted to medical care than is now the case.Would that be efficient? If you believe that doctors have market power and restrict health care to keep their incomes high, you might think efficiency would increase by providing more health care. But more likely, if the government mandated increased spending on health care, the economy would be less efficient because it would give people more health care than they would choose to pay for. From the point of view of equity, if poor people are less likely to have adequate health care, providing more health care would represent an improvement.Each person would have a more even slice of the economic pie, though the pie wo uld consist of more health care and less of other goods. When workers are laid off, equity considerations argue for the unemployment benefits system to provide them with some income until they can find new jobs. After all, no one plans to be laid off, so unemployment benefits are a form of insurance. But there is an efficiency problem? why work if you can get income for doing nothing? The economy is not operating efficiently if people remain unemployed for a long time, and unemployment benefits encourage unemployment.Thus, there is a trade-off between equity and efficiency. The more generous unemployment benefits are, the less income is lost by an unemployed person, but the more that person is encouraged to remain unemployed. So greater equity reduces efficiency. b. 14. Because average income in the United States has roughly doubled every 35 years, we are likely to have a better standard of living than our parents, and a much better standard of living than our grandparents. This is mainly the result of increased productivity, so that an hour of work produces more goods and services than it used to.Thus, incomes have continuously risen over time, as has the standard of living. If Americans save more and it leads to more spending on factories, there will be an increase in production and productivity, because the same number of workers will have more equipment to work with. The benefits from higher productivity will go to both the workers, who will get paid more because they are producing more, and the factory owners, who will get a return on their investments. There is no such thing as a free lunch, however, because when people save more, they are giving up spending. They get higher incomes at the cost of buying fewer goods.To make an intelligent decision about whether to reduce inflation, a policymaker would need to know what causes inflation and unemployment, as well as what determines the trade-off between them. This means that the policymaker needs to unders tand how households and firms will adjust to a decrease in the money supply. How much will spending decline? How much will firms lower output? Any attempt to reduce inflation will likely lead to higher unemployment in the short run. A policymaker thus faces a trade-off between the benefits of lower inflation compared to the cost of higher unemployment. Answers will vary. 15. 16. 17.