Womens Struggle for Equality Essay Example for Free

Womens Struggle for Equality Essay Both Mary Oliver and Lucille Clifton are feminist women who fight for gender equality. By reading their poems the fight for women to be considered equals to men is evident. Both poems â€Å"Singapore† and â€Å"wishes for sons† were written in 1990-1991. During this time period women were fighting for equal rights in the world. They wanted men to see them as their equal rather than lesser. In â€Å"Singapore† Oliver reveals how difficult a woman’s job can be. In â€Å"wishes for sons† Clifton shows her strong desire for men to experience the embarrassments and difficulties that women face every day. In the poem â€Å"Singapore† Oliver writes about a woman who walks into a public restroom and finds a lady knelt over a toilet cleaning it. â€Å"A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl† (Oliver, 1990, line 5). The lady is at first disgusted with what she sees, but then as the lady turns to face her she sees the beauty in her. She realizes that even though this lady has a very disgusting job she is still a human and deserves to be happy. Oliver is showing that despite life’s difficulties women can find the strength to be happy and live a great life. She wants the reader to know that women can have the most disgusting jobs and still be beautiful on the inside and outside â€Å"the light that can shine out of a life† (Oliver, 1990, line 35). In the poem â€Å"wishes for sons† Clifton writes about her strong desire for men to experience the difficulties and embarrassments that women face. Clifton expresses her anger about the way women are viewed as the lesser of the two genders. She wants men to experience what women have to face regularly. â€Å"I wish them cramps†¦I wish them a strange town†¦and the last tampon† (Clifton, 1991, lines 1-3). She wants men to experience these difficulties in an embarrassing manner. Clifton is writing about all the physical things that women have to face. She desperately wants men to see how difficult it is to be a woman. While it is impossible for a man to actually have to go through these things Clifton wants them to realize what women face and to treat them as equals. Mary Oliver’s poem â€Å"Singapore† alluded a lot to nature. â€Å"Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees†¦A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling† (Oliver, 1990, line 10). The symbols of nature go hand in hand with women’s nature and beauty. Lucille Clifton’s poem â€Å"wishes for sons† was a more straightforward approach. She wrote about a woman’s menstrual cycle and how unpleasant it is. Both of these poems hit on the theme of gender equality. In both poems the authors write about a woman’s role in a man’s world, the nature of women, gender equality, and the relationships between a man and a woman. Both of these poems reveal the struggle that women faced when trying to win the battle of equality with men. They fought so hard to show men that they were equal. During this time period women had rights but not the same rights as men. Women were expected to stay at home and take care of the house. Since they were the ones cleaning at home the type of jobs they could get involved cleaning. Women were not happy with the way they were treated in this time period. Men were the ones who went out and worked in the business world.. These two poems showed the type of hardships that women face. From the type of jobs women were given to the physical things they had to deal with. All women wanted were to be treated as equals of men.

Linux :: essays research papers

I want to get people's opinion on Linux - from a Windows user perspective. I want to do is to establish if the "Linux is too difficult" mantra is actually true in people's experience. My personal experience was that it was about the same amount of hassles than installing Win98 & apps. Of course, Linux does not fall over like Win98, and I can do all my work that I used to do under Windows, so I am a happy chappie ;-) Thanks! If you have been using Windows and have also installed Linux, please be so kind as to fill in the questionnaire below and post it on the board. I will collate all the responses and (hopefully) publish these in an article. Thanks Questionnaire: Installing and using Linux from a Windows perspective. This questionnaire is intended to gather opinions on how easy or difficult it was for users to install Linux and application software, and how functional they found the Linux desktop compared to the Windows desktop environment. Your participation is appreciated. Firstly, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "very weak" and 5 meaning "very strong", rate your technical PC skills? Next, in the table below, indicate your choice with an X. TABLE 1: General Distribution and version of Linux: Debian Slackware Red Hat Mandrake SuSeE Other: please specify Linux GUI used: Gnome KDE Other: please specify TABLE 2: Applications used - please amend Windows applications as appropriate, and indicate the Linux equivalent you use: Word processing: MS Word Spreadsheet: Excel Presentation software: Powerpoint Database: Access Email: Outlook Calendar: Outlook File manager: Windows Explorer Internet browsing: Internet Explorer Internet firewall: ZoneAlarm Graphics editing: PaintShop Pro Graphics slide shows: ACDSee File Compression: Winzip, PDF reader: Acrobat Reader CD writer: Nero Other - please specify In the table below, indicate your choice, using: 1 = Much more difficult 2 = More difficult 3 = About the same 4 = Easier 5 = Much easier 0 = N/A TABLE 3 - Installation. Linux Compared to Windows Setting up peripherals (such as printers, video cards etc.) under Linux is: Setting up and configuring the GUI under Linux is: The functionality of applications running under Linux is: The stability of applications running under Linux is: Running applications (ease of use) under Linux is: Setting up Internet access under Linux is: Upgrading the OS (Linux) is: Setting up a small/home office network under Linux is: Installing patches under Linux is: TABLE 4.

Peppercorn Issues Essay

How will you analyze the data collected? How will you make sense of the situation at Peppercorn? This should probably take a majority of the class period, since how the consultants see the organizational issues will, in part, determine how the feedback process will be designed. Choosing a diagnostic/analytic model is no small issue. There is no evidence in the case that a particular diagnostic model is driving the data collection process (a potential problem), and there are at least two models that would work. First, the consultants could use an individual based model – such as the one described in Chapter 6. For each job at Peppercorn, the consultants could ask what their data reveals about task identity, skill variety, task significance, autonomy, and feedback in the context of Peppercorn’s structure. But this is a more limited perspective and not as good a choice. Second, and perhaps more relevant in this case, would be an organization-level diagnostic model such as the one presented in Chapter 5. Inputs: Based on their initial discussion with Drew as well as data from the interviews, we can see that the labor market has gotten very tight. It is more and more difficult to find workers and in particular student workers. This tightened market has forced the dining services unit and Peppercorn to increase the pay rates twice (although with little apparent effect). In a related category, we also know that a union represents full-time employees. It is this labor shortage that is driving many of the dynamics of the case. The primary customer, students with meal plans, suggests that there is little likelihood that price increases can be used to offset the labor scarcity. On a more general level, we know from data in the interviews that the food-service industry is known for its low wage levels and long and odd hours. Design Components. The observation and interview data provides some information on each feature of organization design. In some cases, there is much data of high quality while in other cases the amount of data (and its credibility) is thin. Strategy: The mission and goals for the university’s dining unit lays out their purpose and operating goals. There appears to be a broad interest in providing nutritious food, creating a good social and aesthetic atmosphere, and serving the economic needs of the university. The goals reflect this broad interest by addressing customer satisfaction, facilities quality, management excellence, financial management, alignment with the university’s mission, and industry leadership. There is little in the case suggesting that Peppercorn’s strategy is any different. Peppercorn, according to Drew, is trying address the difficult labor market by providing an enjoyable place to work although the consultants note a certain disconnect between what is said (decentralized and participative) and what is practiced (more centralized, less participative) based on their observations and interview data. Technology: The overall transformation process is moderately interdependent and fairly low on uncertainty. The key workflow issue seems to be the supply system. Supplies, in the form of food, aprons, cookware, and so on, are ordered through a computer system that isn’t working very well and resulting in frequent outages of different items. Since this process sits at the front end of the transformation process, its ineffectiveness is a key source of problems for the kitchen and service staff. In some way, the whole of Peppercorn is held hostage by this computer system. Once the raw materials have arrived, food is prepared – sometimes as much as a day in advance – according to meal plans and recipes that are well understood. [Although some of the cooks seem proud of their recipes and interested in creating new ones, do you really want people to be very innovative in this situation? In some ways, this conflicts with the situation.] The prepared meals are transferred to the serving line where customers (students) are provided with their food. One of the consultants notes that there was no portion control at this stage and that a considerable amount of â€Å"customization† existed as workers gave students a little more of some things or accommodated specific requests. After the meal, the leftovers, utensils and plates, and trash are fed into the dish room where plates and utensils are cleaned and recycled for use. Other processes also exist but are also relatively low in interdependence and uncertainty, including order taking, cash exchange, hiring and staffing, and grievance handling. Structure: A formal organization chart for both the university dining services and Peppercorn are presented in the case. Drew’s role is interesting because he leads two organizations – Peppercorn as well as the Salt Mill – and has a professional supervisor (Larry) that is assigned from the university dining organization. Larry’s relationship with the different employees draws some attention from the consultants and there is a mostly negative perception of Larry and his skills. The case also points out a rather complex set of employee relationships. There are full time employees (union- represented), full-time temporary employees (a non-union position that has been added to accommodate the problems associated with the declining numbers of student workers), and student labor. The students have their own management structure and supervise themselves as well as the full-time temporary employees (although these employees receive their training from the permanent staff) which has been the point of some contention. At best, it suggests that there may be two standards of work performance at play. At worst, there could be some very divisive resentment over preferential treatment. Measurement Systems: There is no information presented about how employee work is measured (goals set, performance monitored and feedback), there appears to be no portion control on food served, and no financial information is presented. There is mention of a grievance process, but no indication of grievance activity levels. If the computer system problems are added into this category, there would appear to be a pretty big hole in the sophistication of this system. Human Resource Systems: The interview data reveals a number of complexities in the way employees are paid through the union contract and the motivational aspects of that system. In the initial interview between the consultants and Drew, he describes how some workers can actually be incented to call in sick, for example. The case also mentions that wage rates have been increased twice in recent months to address the lack of student issues. Alignment and Effectiveness: Roger reports that customer satisfaction is consistently positive with the one complaint being the heat inside the facility – an apparent artifact of the dining room being built over the heating plant. There is no financial data presented, so we cannot comment on the profitability of the unit. There is, however, considerable data on employee satisfaction. There is a fairly consistent downward trend across many of the employees interviewed, although there is a high degree of tenure among many of the full-time employees. There is also fairly consistent data with respect to tensions between the different types of employees. Within that effectiveness assessment, can we make any inferences with respect to alignment among the organization design features? The presenting problem in the initial conversation between Drew and the consultants was a â€Å"hiring problem† and that has certainly been confirmed, the question is â€Å"why?† First, the strategy for Peppercorn does not seem clear. Other than some sense of â€Å"doing the best we can with what we have,† there are no clear goals for the restaurant and no clear sense of why people come there other than they have a meal plan. They are a fairly captive audience and there’s not much in the way of competition for Peppercorn. Does this suggest a lack of external pressure that translates into all the â€Å"things seemed pretty relaxed† comments in the case? Second, the computer system is a big problem, and probably not under Peppercorn’s control. The University dining unit probably programs and maintains the system. There is a potential big black hole here since we don’t know how the system works. The one potential issue here is that it may not be the system; it may be Larry, so that has to be confirmed. Third, how much of the tension in the restaurant is the result of the structure where students supervise adults. Understanding the rationale for this approach and what the alternatives are would be a fruitful conversation. Fourth, and related to the strategy– There appears to be very few measurement systems. How do employees know if they are doing well or poorly?

How the Louisana Purchase Was Aganist the Constitution...

Through the Louisiana Purchase a lot of problems with how Thomas Jefferson dealt with the Constitution can be found. Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. Even though he believes in a strict interpretation of the Constitution his actions during the Louisiana Purchase violates this avowed Constitutional principle of his and it also went against his principal of low government spending. Jefferson believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. In â€Å"Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank† Jefferson says, â€Å"all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦Other than this there was nothing about the purchase of new territory in the Constitution. Jefferson had to use implied powers again to justify the purchase. Jefferson in his second inaugural addre ss said, â€Å"I know that the acquisition of Louisiana had been disapproved by some from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger its union. But who can limit the extent to which the federative principle may operate effectively?† Jefferson basically said that there are some cases in which to keep the federal government operating effectively some rules need to be broken when necessary. He abuses the fact that the Constitution isn’t clear about the purchase of new lands to buy Louisiana and doing so he goes against his strict view of the Constitution. There is one last major way that Jefferson violates his Constitutional Principals, and that is by going against his principal of low government spending. Jefferson, in the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, wrote, â€Å"I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt.† Jefferson believed in spend ing as little money as possible to keep the national debt low. For the most part he keeps true to this, but the Louisiana Purchase shows once again how he goes against his principals. In transcription of the Louisiana Purchase it says, â€Å"The Government