Comparing How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration Essay

How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration    The phrase, "small Midwestern towns," often brings to mind an unfortunate stereotype in the minds of big-city urbanites: mundane, backward people in a socially unappealing and legally archaic setting. Small Midwestern towns, however, are not all the hovels of provincial intellect that they are so frequently made out to be. The idiosyncrasies each of them possesses are lost on those who have never taken more than a passing glance at them. After living in two small towns, I have developed an appreciation for their unique respective qualities. Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana are no exception to this rule of singularity. In addition to their specific identities, these towns have the added variable of two distinct and sizable immigrant populations, Wausau's immigrants being largely Ming, Goshen's immigrants being largely Mexican. While Wausau and Goshen may seem similar on a map of size, population, and non-immigrant demographics, they share little in their economic makeup, positional character, or active response to immigration. These differences of identity shape their attitudes towards immigration. Wausau's identity is supple and accommodates the redefinition that immigration demands. Goshen's identity is taut and rejects the redefinition. One reason for Goshen's comparatively negative attitude towards immigration is the perceived threat to job security. There is a large population of blue-collar factory workers and there are numerous factories in the Goshen area. Indeed, one can hardly go anywhere within the Goshen municipality and be out of eyesight of some factory or industry-related structure. (My personal favorite o... ...ograms in place to protect immigrants are more effective and broadly supported. The political identities of these two towns shape their ability to respond effectively to immigration. Restricted by employment fears, a sense of urban expendability and relative political conservativism, Goshen's identity has little room for the challenge of immigration. Wausau's less industrial economy, stronger sense of urban importance and comparatively liberal politics create a more flexible and malleable identity. Once examined beyond the traditional barometers of population, region and size, Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana actually have little in common. Certainly neither town is in any way definable as, "mundane, backward or legally archaic," but rather each is striving, in their own singular ways, to achieve a balance between stable identity and unavoidable change.

How is Benedick presented in the scenes leading up to this point?

In these two extracts, Shakespeare provides two very different presentations of Benedick. The first: misogynistic, marriage-fearing Benedick which he projects to his audience. Second: the warm-hearted, love-sick Benedick who, despite his fiery demeanour, is very much in love with Beatrice. In the first part, Benedick soliloquises about the man who â€Å"dedicates his behaviours to love† is a fool, and the irony of becoming the â€Å"argument of his own scorn.† This pre-empts the drastic change in Benedick's behaviour later in the scene. Already we see a confident flurry of long, complex declaratives, signalling a kind of gusto to Benedick's emotions: he clearly feels strongly about this issue. However, the fact that he must say these things to himself may serve to highlight his insecurity with himself. It is quite obvious from earlier points in the play that Benedick is wholly uncomfortable with his feelings towards Beatrice and tries (unsuccessfully) to hide these feelings. In the next few lines, Benedick contrasts battle imagery such as â€Å"good armour† with softer, more romantic objects, such as a â€Å"new doublet.† This serves to illustrate his contempt for Claudio's utter turnaround. His tripling in this section further emphasises both Benedick's views, and indeed his own issues. The fact that he must use persuasive techniques such as parallelism suggests that he himself cannot truly bring himself to believe his apparent viewpoint. Benedick ends with a long list of characteristics which he wishes to see in his dream woman. Although utterly fantastic in terms of realistic prospects, it nevertheless contrasts with Benedick's view earlier in the narrative, where he insists that he will â€Å"die a bachelor.† His dogmatic disposition is obviously being broken down in small steps. The comment suggests that Benedick is not as opposed to the notion of taking a woman as he may be trying to convey; it is more a reluctance to settle for less, as it were. As we shall see, Beatrice proves to be this catalyst for his transformation. The second extract follows the planting of the idea that Beatrice is in love with Benedick into his mind, by Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato. Once again, Benedick launches into an excitable monologues, consisting of a few very long declaratives. This certainly displays a lot of excitement on his part, and the fact that he uses an interrogative, a rhetorical question (â€Å"love me?†), shows a disbelieving sense of glee and does much to counteract the pessimistic Benedick from a few lines earlier. In conjunction with his earlier soliloquy, Benedick attempts to dismiss his earlier ideas, stating that â€Å"a man loves the meat in his youth, that he cannot endure in his age.† He seems to think that it is acceptable that he can change his views drastically over the space of a few minutes without any sort of continual repercussions. His metaphor serves as a hyperbolic piece of irony, the imagery not befitting the very short space of time that Benedick is describing. As Beatrice enters, we see Benedick misinterpreting her words in a very optimistic manner. He believes that her words truly confirm her feelings for him and fails to see the absurdity of his thoughts. The transformation, if you will, is complete. Benedick even goes so far as to recite some of the qualities listed and how they are apparent in Beatrice. Again, the use of tripling is effective, but here instead to show a rush of revelationary excitement that his slim hopes have been realised. Overall, the second extract serves to prove the insecurity conveyed in the first. Shakespeare presents Benedick as unsure and unnecessarily dogmatic, and this is confirmed by his behaviour in the second part. In the scenes leading up to this, we see the establishment of Benedick as the witty cynic, at odds with traditional values. I believe that Shakespeare's initial presentation of Benedick goes in stark contrast to his true character. In the first scene, he is called â€Å"a good soldier.† The later war of wits with Beatrice, and his misogynistic advice to Claudio and Don Pedro very much establishes Benedick as a â€Å"man's man,† if such a thing existed in Elizabethan times. However, I believe that this is merely a faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade, and that he does have a pretty clear motive. It seems to me like the reason for Benedick's disposition is, put simply, Beatrice. He is confused and frustrated at his feelings towards Beatrice, and attempts to counteract them through his words of scorn. Quite clearly, the other characters see through this, and this is what leads them to trick him later. Another aspect of Benedick's personality, his insecurity, also seems to stem from Beatrice. At the party scene, he shows exasperation at her description of him as a â€Å"jester† and â€Å"dull as a great thaw.† Benedick clearly cares about Beatrice's opinion of him, no matter what his exterior may suggest. His short monologue at the end of that scene is once again one where interrogatives are used in order for Benedick to reassure himself. Benedick is seen to have a sharp-tongued speaking style interspersed with witty metaphors and riddles. This singles Benedick out of someone with a high level of intelligence, but it also immediately identifies him as a counterpart to Beatrice. His militant anti-marriage stance is mirrored by hers, and his words of advice to Claudio convey his emotions in flowery prose, perhaps suggesting a reluctance to disclose any true information about himself. Overall, Benedick is presented as someone who is heavily influenced by Beatrice, and it seems that it is her actions that shape his personality, and define him as a character. Obviously, this is consistent with the narrative, and goes a long way to explain Benedick's sudden change of heart in Act 2 Scene 3.

Maid Abuse in Malaysia

Maid abuse is no longer a new issue in Malaysia. What is maid abuse? It is known as an assault and coercive behaviour, which mainly includes physical, psychological and at times sexual too, by employer or household members of employer against a person hired as a domestic help. Malaysia is one of wealthiest countries in South East Asia and therefore acts as magnet for migrants fleeing here to work. In Malaysia, majority of the domestic workers are full time workers and most of them come from neighbouring poor countries. There are various factors that lead to maid abuse in Malaysia. The unfortunate thing is that maid abuse does not only cause both mental and physical injuries to the maids, but it also jeopardize our international friendship with countries involved. Hence, there is an urgent need to solve this social issue. One of the major causes of maid abuse over here in Malaysia is the lack of comprehensive national policies for maid protection by our Malaysian Government. As pointed out by D’Cruz (2009), foreign domestic workers here are vulnerable as they lack of legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit. There is also no specific law in Malaysia on violence against domestic workers (wao. com. my). As stated by Lourdes (2008), maids are stuck in a Catch -22 situation because the second they seek for help from the authorities, their employers or agents will lodge reports against them. The Employment Act provides them the right to redress but the Immigration Acts removes it by making them illegals living here. According to Dass (2008) in Lourdes (2008), the employers will be informed by the agents that maids who misbehave would be given counselling but this counselling turns up to be filled with punishing and abusing. Maids are being told that if they repeat their mistakes, they will be sold into prostitution. Other than that, they are slapped and beaten in beaten in front of others so that the rest will feel threatened. In addition, the maids’ very own attitude too, contributed to the many cases of maid abuse. They are not serious in their work and as an example, according to Ho, his maid washed one bucket of the family’s clothes and hid the other behind the house under a shed below the mango tree. There are maids who also tend to take advantage of their employers by stealing things and using stuff without permission. Based on Ho’s statement, many of his family’s belonging including his underwear have been stolen by his maid before. This is just a real life example of what may lead to why employers lash out all their temper by abusing the maids. The abusive mindsets and attitudes towards maids too, contribute to maid abuse. Many Malaysians have negative perceptions of migrant domestic workers which contributes to the frequency and severity of abuse. They are often viewed as culturally inferior, sometimes â€Å"less than human†, and not considered as deserving of the same respect and consideration given to other human beings (wao. com. my). Adiwara stated that Malaysians have the tendency to look down on Indonesians because of the economic gap between the two neighbouring countries. Employers misjudge the performance of the maids and scold them unnecessarily and this may be due to some shortcomings in the employers themselves. There are certain employers who are concerned that there might be a rift between the child and parent when the children are culturally influenced by the maids (wao. com. my). Another party that should be put to blame for is the involvement of non-professional maid recruitment services, or more generally known as the maid agencies. According to Wong (2008) in Azizan (2009), a lot of money will be charged by the maid agencies and in order to meet the market demand, a few of the agencies will hunt for girls from the village, get them cleaned up and will send them right away to their respective clients without any training. This issue of untrained maids is supported by the Malaysian Association of Foreign Mai Agencies (PAPA) president Alwi Bavutty as he admits that PAPA is hold responsible for the maids. Throughout so many years, there are quite a number of negative effects that are being identified which are caused from maid abuse and many people are reatly affected by all these consequences. One of the major negative effects and is usually published in local newspapers are that the victims suffer both mentally and physically from maid abuse. As stated by D’Cruz (2009), the types of physical abuse are they are beaten, raped or tortured with hot boiling water. To make matters worse, there are several maid abuse cases where babies are born from the result of rape. Besides that, nearly all maid abuse victims have been treated like slaves. According to D’Cruz (2009), they are given only plain rice, several occasions with non-halal food even for those who are Muslims. Lourdes (2008) too, states that permanent working hour, termination benefits, sick leave, rest days, public holidays, overtime and every other benefit that a normal employee is entitled to are not provided to them. To further add on, as mentioned by D’Cruz (2009), the victims are not paid wages for months or even years of tiring work. All of the above clearly violates basic human rights and the employers need to be taken into action legally. Negative effect is also present during the legal process to claim their rights as it is mentally damaging for the victims as stated by D’Cruz (2009). It is hard for them to avoid depression as they are forced to put their lives on hold while reliving the trauma of the abusive days. Referring to Earth Times (2009), the economy and lifestyle of the community will be disturbed due to maid abuse. For example, Malaysia maid agencies are predicted to suffer massive losses due to Indonesian’s indefinite ban on sending maids over. This will somehow affect the productivity of Malaysia’s economy since because a large amount of domestic help comes from Indonesia. Apart from that, lifestyle of the community will be disturbed as tens of thousands of household would face difficulties due to the delay in the arrival of their maids and this would lead to a larger obstacle in the long run as families will have a hard time coping with work and family without any extra hands. Subsequently, relationship between countries involved will be jeopardized. As emphasized by The Star (2009), In Malaysia, when maid abuse became a hot topic among both Indonesians and Malaysians, it resulted in causing Indonesia taking a serious action of threatening to temporarily stop sending heir people to work in Malaysia. This has caused the political relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia to become awkward and it took a lot of effort to restore the friendship between the two countries. The maid abuse cases which were made known internationally have indirectly portray Malaysia as a cruel country. Every problem has its’ own solution and this goes to maid abuse too. This problem can be curbed through the roles of government and community. Both have to perform their roles in order to overcome this issue. The government can tackle issues related to the interest and welfare of maids. For instance, the government may to resort into measures like conducting random checks on homes. Through this, the early signs of mistreatment can be detected which will prevent this issue from getting worse. Referring to Boo (2010), there are no simple solutions in solving the issue of maid abuse. The solutions in the end lead to the importance of education and enforcement. An agency responsible in managing the welfare of maids should be set up as a channel for the maids to know who to contact and how to report against their bosses who abuse their rights. However, education on their rights needs to be supplied to the maids first. Cooperation between Malaysian government and related countries such as Indonesia government is important in curbing this problem. As stated by Malaysian Digest (2010), there are several cases involving the abuse of Indonesian maids had been solved through the close cooperation between Malaysian and Indonesian officer It shows that this issue can be solves peacefully as long as both countries are willing to cooperate. Based on Malaysian Digest, (2010), our government and Indonesian government has taken a smart action by signed a Letter of Intent on the sending of Indonesian maids to Malaysia. This letter requires Malaysian employers to give one day off in a week to their Indonesian workers and their passports be kept by the workers themselves unless agreed upon by both sides that the passport be kept by the employers which occurs in certain cases. This had prevented misunderstanding between the maids and the employers regarding the maids’ day off and passport matters. As suggested by Hariani Azizan (2009), another solution to this problem is through the roles of community. There are quite a number of ways on how the community can help the government to overcome this issue. For example, authorities can organize a weekly meeting among its community and invite the officers who are experts in the field of the maid’s rights to speak to the maids as well as provide check-ups and counselling for the maids without invading people’s privacy. Another alternative solution is to actually build shelter homes for the maid abuse victims. According to Malaysian Digest (2010), â€Å"Rumah Kita†, a shelter home that was launched to provide temporary accommodation and food for Indonesian female migrant workers who are faced with difficulties such as being cheated by employment agencies or abused by their employers. It is more effective when everyone in their respective neighbourhood take on the role of looking out for any abuse in their community and report them to the authorities. To conclude, there is an urgent need for maid abuse to be curbed as it brings negative impacts to many parties, especially to Malaysia as a whole. Therefore, everyone including the maid themselves must come together as a unit and cooperate to demolish this issue.

Tourism has a great impact on environments, communities and economies

According to publicity, the holiday complex at Carlyon Bay will be â€Å"a dazzling jewel, likely to become one of Europe's most glamorous seaside destinations†. The proposed site at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall, near Fowey would bring new jobs, businesses and more people to the area, leading to the multiplier effect, yet would destroy a fragile environment and beautiful scenery. The planned site would consist of 500 holiday homes, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants to the already popular holiday destination. Local council people are concerned the development will put too much pressure on local roads, amenities and would prove a severe loss of a well-liked mile long beach. Peter Browning, spokesman for the Carlyon Bay Watch, opposing the development said, † The development is just wholly inappropriate for the area. Not only will it damage the environment it will double the size of the community and put huge stress on the infrastructure. One person's dream house is another person's nightmare.† The planning permission for the 511 homes was granted in the late 1980s and the Ampersand Group bought the site, which stretches from the top of the cliffs high watermark, last year. Ampersand claim the project will be â€Å"ecologically imaginative† and have a â€Å"flowing design†, it is also said to â€Å"blend in†. Cornwall wildlife trust wants an environmental impact assessment to be carried out as the site has rare plants – heath milkwort, bell heather and eye bright yet Anderson argues it bought the planning permission before this was necessary. Although Ampersand claim the project would be beneficial to the area, creating 600 jobs, the area is already high in employment and the planned development could discourage some people from visiting as it would ruin the serenity of the area. One local resident was reported to say â€Å"these types of development have more in common with third world countries where there are secure enclaves for the rich, with little or no benefit for the local population- there will come a time when we will only be able to walk along the coastal footpath and look down on the beach from afar†. Carlyon Bay is also a 1995 Seaside Award Winner, winning points for its cleanliness on land and sea, and for its excellent facilities, coupled together with safe bathing, water sports, and trouble-free leisure, it is already a popular and amply developed site in many eyes. Clive Kessel vice chairman of the Restormel regeneration partnership said the development could bring money into an area that has suffered economic hardship. He denied that the development would harm the environment and dismissed concerns about access, he conceded that it would have an impact on local infrastructures but said work would be done to improve local roads and people would be encouraged to use public transport to get there. Other developments of tourism in the UK have been successful. In Bournemouth for example, where the tourism development have been very successful. Bournemouth's economy has been built upon tourism and with nearly two million staying visitors and over four and a half million day visitors every year, Bournemouth is a top international resort and the tourist industry is vital to the towns economy. In 1995 tourism generated à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½479 million of expenditure directly and also indirectly therefore supporting 16400 jobs. Direct tourism spent in Bournemouth accounts for 11% of that for the entire southern region. Tourism has also had a multiplier effect in Bournemouth bringing in retail, leisure and entertainment industries. Although this type of industry is appealing to Carlyon Bay, it is unrealistic. Carlyon Bay is not the same size as Bournemouth and does not have the same accessibility. It also has a very seasonal tourist industry. Although many people in Cornwall are against the development, Malcolm Bell, Executive chair of the local tourist board, southwest tourism, said it would create jobs and hopefully bring in tourists all year although he didn't want to see similar developments springing up on other Cornish beaches. The council are pushing for the development to go through as they have already sold 150 of the houses planned to be built, it is financially and in the long term economically a positive thing for the council. In conclusion, Carlyon Bay has been successful and popular up to this day, if the area has managed to sustain itself until now, we must ask whether this development is really necessary. The stretch of coastline planned to be developed is extremely beautiful and a popular site with walkers, holidaymakers, families and local residents. The development of this area may discourage these people from returning. I feel the development would not be a good idea as environmentalists and residents agree, the area has a fragile ecosystem and attracts many tourists anyway, the development would attract different people and the site could easily become â€Å"trashy and unpopular†. On the other hand the development of Carlyon Bay would bring in more jobs and the multiplier effect would bring a better economy and trade for smaller businesses, yet they have managed so far and the development would have other consequences too. Roads, amenities and other services would become very busy, good for the businesses yet this would lead to worse quality of service for the local residents as more cafes and other amenities place their emphasis on the tourists. Carlyon Bay won the 1995 Seaside Award and so is obviously already a gorgeous area, would the development of houses, entertainment facilities and restaurants really improve it? I think not.

Mobile phone addiction Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Mobile phone addiction - Literature review Example The use of mobile phones have also become a constant feature for many people, most especially teenagers who always find the need to stay in touch with each other. As a result, mobile phone addiction has become a significant issue among users. Studies on this problem have been carried out, seeking to establish its causes, manifestations, and remedies. This literature review shall review four peer-reviewed articles on mobile phone addiction. A literature search would first be carried out via an internet search using the following search words and similar combinations of these words: mobile phone addiction, cell phone addiction, causes of cell phone addiction, impact of cell phone addiction. Relevant studies shall be set aside for further analysis. Studies carried out in the last 10 years shall be included in this topic, and shall mostly cover teenage addiction to mobile phones. Studies which cover other forms of addiction (i.e. internet or video game addiction) will not be included in this review. Only peer-reviewed articles carried out by credible authors will be included in this literature review. Studies which cover texting addiction only shall not be included as mobile phone addiction may also include the use of calls in the phones. Text addiction is only a part of mobile phone addiction. ... Not many students manifest extreme addiction to mobile phone use and majority of the respondents to not manifest any addictive mobile phone use patterns (Ahmed, et.al., 2011). In effect, the respondents for this study are able to use their cell phones reasonably and do not manifest extreme addictive behaviours in their cell phone use (Ahmed, et.al., 2011). The results of this study imply that although mobile phone addiction is a reality in the current widespread availability and usage of mobile phones, it can be a controllable and manageable phenomenon. This study also indicates that mobile phone addiction can be a manageable phenomenon and that users are not as prone to addiction as seems to be expected by society. It is possible for users to control their mobile phone usage to cover only their essential mobile phone needs. The topic of the study is very much relevant in the current context where mobile phone use has become very much rampant, especially among the younger population (Garcia-Montes, et.al., 2006. The study deals with a specific issue, mostly on the establishment of mobile phone use and whether or not it has become a necessity or an addiction. The discussion seeks to specifically evaluate cell phone usage among the younger generation, assessing whether or not its use has reached addictive proportions. The study is a theoretical study, as it seeks to dissect the manifestation of respondent’s behaviour in relation to addiction and necessity (Flyvbjerg, 2006). The concepts of addiction and necessity are used in order to evaluate behaviour, using specific qualities for each concept in order to fully understand the respondent behaviour and mobile phone usage (Biel,

A Report of European Central Bank Bond-Buying Program Essay

A Report of European Central Bank Bond-Buying Program - Essay Example 850). This report brings out a clear picture of the issues pointed out as relevant to the European central bank bond-buying program. These aspects are appointment, inflation, growth, financial stability, fiscal policy and politics. Each of them plays a significant role in this context and influences the program from different angles. The program is strongly advocating for the protection of the euro, this is according to ECBs president Mario Draghi well this has received a lot of backing from euro-zone governments (De, P. 849). The ECB bond-buying program is entirely an economic program, but it has faced political interruptions influencing its performance. The program is toiling to ensure that Europe remains relevant economically a midst the looming economic crisis in the world. There is a balance between inflation, growth, financial stability, creation of fiscal policy and politics. If we look at politics first of all the euro-zone governments back the ECB bond buying program to the extent of out voting the Bundesbank by the other 22 members. The case after being heard by a German court on allegations that the program went beyond its mandate clearly brought out the skeptism. On the other hand after the case was forwarded to the European court the judgment was in favor of the program. The levels of inflation raise concern across the European economy as it is questionably low. According to comments from Janet Yellen (Fed chair) that the central bank could raise its rates has sparked worries across the region. The members prefer that another method is used to improve on the economy other than the former the speculation is that ECB is moving to quantitative easing. Economies are recovering and growing at the same time, but the process is as slow to the extent of insignificance. At the moment the euro zone has concentrated on deflation other than allowing the ECB to establish a stimulus for the recovery of the European economy (De, P. 845). In

Marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing communication - Essay Example their feedback for the services and extent of their satisfaction etc, being collected from various reliable sources so that communication channels and methods can be planned effectively. Defining target audience includes knowing the behavior, attitude and individual tastes of each customer or various sub groups in the target groups in order to facilitate playful environment and joyful natural sceneries. Defining the target market also includes giving the prospective customers a compelling as well as logical reason to go out of competitors’ way and to spend their money for your goods or services (Harper, 2003, p. 75). Viejas Outlet Centre considers this as virtual point that can pave a way to marketing success for the next one year. Money spenders and Childs will be communicated regarding what makes Viejas different from other outlet centers and thus to attract them to the joyful environment provided by Viejas. Sales promotion will be a key ingredient in the marketing and communication campaign of Viejas. According to Martin (2008), sales promotion is a marketing process that provides extra value to the sales force, distributors and final consumers in order to stimulate immediate sale (p. 124). Viejas basically consider this material fact that customers must be provided extra value through various methods of promotion. In order to do so, Viejas proposes both loyalty or store card facility and golf carts services and therefore sales and total revenue can be stimulated. Both loyalty cards and golf carts will definitely promote the sales from the targeted audience. Linked with store card system, Viejas plans to provide offers and lucky draw program in order to attract more children apart from free parking. Children will be highly motivated towards offers and lucky draw to get rewards and appreciation and thus they may find more times to spend in the Outlet