The Role Of Franchising Tourism Essay

The Role Of Franchising Tourism Essay What is a franchise according to the American heritage dictionary franchising means using one that is granted to use a business model in a certain area for a fee. Well it does not matter how the transaction or agreements are done whether it includes license, joint venture, consulting and supply agreement, and dealership when these terms are included in the contract, its a franchise (Grueneberg Solish, 2010). Legally franchising is viewed as contractual arrangement between the two legally independent parties where the franchisee pays the franchisor for the right to sell the franchisors product or the right to use his trademarks in a given location for a specified time period (Francine  Lafontaine Kathryn  L.  Shaw, 1999). As franchising sector is growing at rapid pace franchisor should look for expansion in international market as the home market specifically developed countries like us Canada, Europe is becoming saturated. It is vital import for a firm to have a strategic pla n to successfully establish in global economy (Richard John, 2004). The global franchising prospect seems great as said by Hoffman and Preble (1993) after their global survey of global franchise association around the world. The survey came out true as according to the United States census bureau revels that in US total franchise business accounted for 1.3 trillion and total work force of 59 million the report also showed that Limited-service restaurants, sometimes called fast food restaurants, had the highest number of franchise establishments with paid employees (124,898), followed by gas stations with convenience stores (33,991), and full-service restaurants (30,130). Thus the data revels franchise in hospitality industry is observing massive growth (U.S.CensusBureau, 2010). The massive upward growth in information and technology and simple long distance travel has made the world a small and well interconnected. Organizations should and are taking advantage of these developments and trends to pursue a global expansion. As the global market around the world are opening up and the market in developed countries are at the point of saturation companies are trying to tap into these newly opened markets for example China with one quarter of world population and high number of mid income group is considered as most under-retailed country in the world (Richard John, 2004). The concept of franchise is flexible and basically suits service sector. Given that franchise relation are influenced to an extent to which the system can be transfer and sustain in local market in terms of product acceptance, local support and service (John, 1999). Thus due to consistent economic importance of franchise we can find lots of research and literature to help us understand the concept. Franchising is a major expansion strategy for hospitality firms into a global market, especially hotels and restaurants to name a few Marriotts, Hyatt, Hilton Accor, IHG, McDonalds, KFC are a very few examples. In global markets franchising add value to the chain by enhancing and understanding the local values culture and customs. Franchising is one of the two main types of operations of which the other one owning. Franchising provides restaurants and hotels with stable franchising revenue through royalties and fees regularly according to the agreement and the time frame of the period (Koh, Lee, Boo, 2009). Unlike most other service sectors, the hotel industry is generally capital-intensive and its logistics and supply chain can be as complex and difficult to manage as those in manufacturing operations. Thus for hospitality related organization, this can be a huge complication to an equity-based expansion model in various markets, particularly in the international market. Thus, it r aises the issue of the importance of the internationalization process through franchising as a non-equity-based expansion strategy(Alon, Ni, Wang, 2012). But as a matter of fact franchising in international market delivers a scope for rapid expansion and global presence and hotels do have potential to overcome the hurdles like cultural, linguistic, technical, legal, and employment problems commonly associated with franchising internationally. Hotel industry in particular is different among another service franchisee as it requires big financial investment to establish facilities to start the business. To give a rough idea the total investment required by Choice Hotels International ranges from $2.3 to 14.6 million, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) $2-20 million, Motel 6, $1.9-2.3 million, and Hilton 53.4-90.1 million due to such huge capital requirement makes acquiring and setup a franchise hotel a complex process (Alon et al., 2012). Franchising in Australia originated in a significant way in the early 1970s under the influence of the franchised US fast food systems KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds which commenced operations here at the time. Increased intensity in business competition during the 1970s and early 1980s resulted in the failure of many small and medium sized businesses and encouraged growth in franchising. Franchising continued to grow at an accelerated rate during the 1980s. This was attributed to an increase in interest from the financial and public sectors (Frazer, 2000). Over the last two decades franchising in Australia saw a rapid growth and has developed into a highly significant and dynamic business activity The Australian franchise sector with 71000 units and 1,100 business format contributes AUD $ 61 billion to Australian economy in year 2007 thus these sector is of vital important top Australian economy (Scott, Lorelle, Jeff, 2010). Comparing the franchising sector in Australia and New Zealand is not new for years there has been a friendly rival among the two countries for title of most franchised country in the world. When the survey carried out New Zealand was more franchised than Australia with 450 franchise system and around 24000 franchise system which was 17% higher than Australia on per individual basis (Lord, 2011). Franchising in New Zealand is not taken seriously enough compared to other business due to lack of legislation and treating franchise as just a business deal. The franchise sector is substantially larger than many people realize, says Graham Billings, GM of the Franchise Association of New Zealand (FANZ). Current estimates suggest turnover of between $15 billion and $20 billion, representing between eight percent and ten percent of GDP (Moore, 2009). Taking into consideration the various hotel franchises across New Zealand and Australia gives a clear picture about the franchise investments in the market. Australia has the following well Known International hotel franchise: Swissotel * Hilton Accor * Radisson Four Seasons * Best western Hotel Sheraton * Marriott IHG * Shangri- La Hyatt * Starwoods * Choice hotels (expedia.com, 2012). These are the some of the many brands which have presence in Australian market when compared to the brands present in New Zealand which are: *IHG *Accor *Marriot *Hilton (expedia.com, 2012). Thus when compared the hotel franchise sector in both the countries Australia definitely has much mature market for franchising then New Zealand as many big hotel organization are yet to tap the New Zealand market like Hyatt, four-season, Shangri-La, Starwoods. To get a better picture of comparison between role of franchising in hotel industry in Australia and New Zealand lets compare two cities in both the countries. Instead of comparing between the cities like Sydney and Auckland will not give fair information as Sydney is far bigger Metro than Auckland. Hence we will compare the role of franchising between Auckland and Brisbane as they are equal in many aspects and also they are known as sister cities. With parks and botany gardens and population, urban area and economy almost similar to each other helps to compare the role of franchising easier and comparable to each other. Thus when searching for hotels on www.expeidia.com for hotels in Brisbane there are 145 hotels listed on web site the result for hotels in Auckland are 149, the search result shows the hospitality sector are very similar in both the cities. But when we see the ratio of number of five star category hotels the difference is more than double as Auckland has around 20 five star hotels as compared Brisbane has only 7. After comparing the brands owned by franchise as mentioned above the number shows a slight difference of Auckland having more number(9) of franchised hotels as compared to Brisbane(7). Hence if we consider the various factors like Number of visitors, density of the hospitality market and economy franchise sector in New Zealand is much denser and bigger than compared to Australia. This shows despite size and regulatory environment franchising has much in common on both the sides. Also when consider the basic hospitality franchising and various local franchised restaurants franchising in New Zealand has much denser network of franchising. It also concludes that the franchising process is market-sensitive and as a result market characteristics play an important role in affecting franchising operations. These factors may include, among others, the market segment, the degree of control, either by the hotel industry sector or by government policy, the risks and costs of entry, and similarities of cultural norms and business. In addition, other situational factors which that affect how hotel franchising is carried out in a market such as Australia and New Zealand which ar e mature and stable in both the countries, the level of technology infrastructure development in the market, and the overall economic and financial conditions in the financial market of Australia and New Zealand (Alon et al., 2012).

Global Response to Failed States

Global Response to Failed States Introduction According to Max Weber, a modern functioning sate is an institution claiming a â€Å"monopoly of legitimate use of physical force in enforcing its order within a given territory† (Garner, Robert, Peter Ferdinand, and Stephanie Lawson, 2009, 27). Therefore, a state, in broad terms, is an entity that can support itself through the use of legitimacy to enforce its rule and to provide its population with the adequate â€Å"public† goods. Based on the definition of a strong state, a weak or failed state is a political being that, within the scope of international politics, supplies the state with both scare qualities and quantities of political â€Å"public† goods and simultaneously, no longer has abundant control over violence within their given boundaries. Failed states cannot provide basic rights or needs such as education, security, or governance. (Helman and Ratner, 1992) Often this failure to provide the institutions is caused by violence or poverty in certain a reas of the state. These structurally and politically fragile institutions of government can cause internal and external problems. Internally, these governments are so weak or ineffective that they have little or no control over the majority of their territories as well as the lack of provision of â€Å"public† goods, leading to civil wars, rebellions, and full on warfare among separate factions within the state. Internationally, these areas can be both the cause and result of widespread corruption and criminality, refugees and involuntary movement of populations, sharp economic decline, and the potential of national security problems through the threat of terrorists and international criminals. However, the external threats not only come from the state but from outsiders as well. Occasionally, groups like the United Nations or a bordering state step into intervene and stop a disaster in the making (Langford, 1999). Although the intent is not to harm the states, these interna tional powers can also be the cause of the problem. This paper explores the reasons that current responses are ineffective and how global powers could better respond to failed states in that it is far better for them to be created into a non-state society rather than have them become a state that is sustained by international intervention alone. The existing response of international superpowers to the issue of failed states is based on an assumption that the state in question was once actually a state, and can become a functioning entity again. Within the spectrum of the validity of these states comes the question of sovereignty. Even strong states face challenges from outside and inside of their borders, but these failed states have no sovereignty whatsoever because they cannot control their capacity or autonomy. Their authority is questioned and they require support to remain functional and it comes to question whether the states actually had any sovereignty to begin with. Due to this, the attempt of international world powers to transform the failed state back into a successful state through use of international resources and efforts with the assumption that they will be able to function without international support is a meager counter to the problem. Legitimacy The level of a failed state is measured by the extent to which the states are susceptible to any form of challenges to its legitimacy, whether internal or external. Based on shared knowledge of values that define a state, legitimacy is the acknowledgment that a state has, or is assumed to have, a right to rule whether legally or morally. In history, a state existed was considered legitimate if it existed. Because of this definition, most states met the traditional requirements of statehood. As said by Weber, the foremost characteristics of a state was having the capacity to act internationally and to maintain a monopoly of force within their territories, but it was not limited to just that. A state was also to have defined borders, a government, and a permanent population. Although these are the criteria required to have statehood, most states gain their independence without one or more of these principles. These states are still recognized by the global community as state actors eve n though they could not fully meet the requirements that were set before them, including a percentage of their population disregarding both authority and legitimacy of the state itself. The state was presumed to be the only authority, despite whether or not the people believed it to be legitimate. Simply put, the assumption of legitimacy applied to all states by the fact that all states documented by the United Nations were believed to be legitimate. These fragile states have contributed to an incredibly dispersed world. In this world, struggles and violence are key players. Discourse has created chances for states that are more powerful to press the power held within their region. It is possible that the power stretches even further and these hegemonic states begin to exploit the weak states in order to form new types of coalitions, partnerships, and connections between different actors, both state and non-state, as well as a plethora of problematic challenges which they must struggle to fight for their future. Just as discourse creates chances, absent or declining legitimacy also creates causes for problems. Once the legitimacy of a state has been called into question, there is a rush for groups, movements, and other state entities to fight over which group will fill the void. In order to take control of the state and undermine its legitimacy, these state entities exert their power in both violent and nonviolent ways. In the ma jority of fragile states in the modern world, these battles are being lost to other actors because the weakened governments do not have the power to provide the security and core functions that the other actors can readily provide (Krasner, Stephen D., and Carlos Pascual, 2005). Once these states have entered into this conflict, the protections services within the state, such as those serving to keep the peace, have either stopped operating or have ceased to exist altogether. In other cases however, these services are being utilized for actions that they were never intended to be used for (Rotberg, 2002). Global Responses These efforts to remanufacture the failed states are clearly formed on political and economic views of the Western superpowers. The two essential areas of failed states, according to the aforementioned group, are the failure to provide political goods and the incapability to meet the plain economic essentials of the people. These hegemons seek therefore to shape and improve the state’s institutional capacity to respond to failure. The economic factors of rebuilding failed states place an emphasis on this capacity to build certain institutions, but the aims are completely different and come from a separate perspective. While political attempts to rebuild states focuses on strengthening state institutions such as the government, peacekeeping forces, the restore of rule of law, and the provision of security, the economic efforts try to diminish the government power by releasing the economy and freeing the market services. In general, the measures suggested by the groups involved in the attempts to end state fragility or failures vary in range that it compiles a rather large list of things to be done. The tasks center around economic, political, and security based things. However, the problem is that this task list runs off the assumption that these failed states can actually be revived by rebuilding them. The state in an isolated environment, as decided by Western policy makers and scholars, is the root of the problem. However, they also see it as the source to solve the problem. But the error with the opinion of the West is that it overlooks the issues of interdependence as well as any political or economic interactions (Garner, Robert, Peter Ferdinand, and Stephanie Lawson, 2009, 432). Systematic efforts have been lacking to study state fragility and failure in terms of interconnections and linkages between the West and these failed states. What drives the state building process in these areas is the occupying power and their political ideologies, values, economic interests and strategic perceptions. These are based on defective calculations and wrong policy priorities. Alternative Methods Several policy recommendations could come in handy when dealing with these problems. First, instead of focusing on state building along the Western lines, there should be a development of nation building. The idea of national identity is not just feeling making the population feel like citizens. It requires the involvement of all the separate things that make up society such as ethnic background, cultural tradition, and the different types of social or political views. All of these things need to be integrated into the society because they are the factors that make up the people who actually make the nation. In times when there is no unity in a failed state, it is hard to feel like an actual citizen, therefore there is no desire for the state to become normal again. In the throes of the clashes between the groups who feel alienated, state institutions can’t continue developing. These groups, despite the fact that the institutions are meant to improve the political and economic functions and production of goods, will eventually reject the institutions because they do not do anything for the general population because their development has ceased. Any efforts to actually rebuild the nation into any form of functionality is clearly lacking due to the internal absence of unity (King, Gary, and Langche Zeng, 2001). Just as important is the basis for the need of a domestic economic base for the failed states. There should be a change in the way the economy works, instead of laboring for political points, there should be a push for the creation of a stable base for the economy. The current strategy, although supplying enough money to certain areas, such as the social and economic bases, is ineffective. The majority of the money that is donated goes to the already urban areas, instead of the rural places where it is needed most. Some of the funding skips the government completely, leaving it nonfunctional, and goes straight to the elites, giving more room for their power to grow. The goal is to ensure that the state, without the help of any international powers, is able to grow and function on its own, at least economically. Without this, there is no way for the state to function. A move towards understanding the roots of the conflicts and the different situations they are based in as well as an attempt at communication between the opposing groups is also imperative. So far, there have been no movements to actually understand the issues that have formed in the failed states. There should be a large push for any occupying power as well as any entity funding the state to figure out the roots of conflict. Things that need to be addressed are simple: why does this conflict continue in such a manner, why do the parties involved in the conflict have such different goals, and what incentive could be used in order to bring them together to compromise on a way to end the continuous warfare. This has been lacking approach has been lacking and some of the policies placed by the occupying power exclude certain opposing parties and it exacerbates the conflicts instead of resolving them. At one point in time, a state could not be questioned on its authority, even with a temporary loss of power and authority over its territory. It was a theory accompanied by the practice of protection from violence if a state could no longer function correctly. This was international law. However, the people wanted the right to self-governance, as the basis for involvement within the global community, and it was pleaded for. This global community, or similar organization posing under the same name, understands the call for human rights. The right to govern themselves would ultimately allow the states to participate in their own internal affairs. They would be protected against any outside attacks from conquering entities, all for the sake of restoring the authority that was required by the state for a proper functioning of international ruling. Although the state has seen such as such has seen its presence justified, the issue of what methods can be used to revive the states at such l evels remains to be answered. Because the causes of the problem are generally internal in the root of the problem, it would only be proper that the very same internal services would provide assistance in the recovery process. There have been attempts, using their own practices, by the population of these failed states to build their state back over a course of time. In this manner, the voices of the people and the will of the state has the potential to rally behind a movement around various points for different purposes, such as education, local government, transportation, agriculture, or other methods and organizations, both public and private, which gives the people cause to move toward the common motivations which would further the cause of reconstructions. Equally, incomplete arrangements could also serve as a drive for enthusiasm in the creation of an inclusive public segment and institutions which serve to represent the people. In the long term, this would then allow the government, as a lone entity, to regain the legitimacy that is required of it. The things that need to be realized are two things which are essential for the formation of a legitimate state. This state, although based on tolerance, encouraged by principle, and coupled with the ability to peacefully cooperate, has to enable the people to be within a political setting as well as maintain their sense of national identity. The two things, which are the combined efforts and remedies which allow human coexistence and the will to become a state bound by unity, must be achieved. The outside influences, such as global entities with different institutions, can only move to help the formation of self-improvement. Conclusion When considering the problem of failed states, it has become evident that to some powers and viewpoints, they are happenings that are to insignificant in the scheme of things to be considered important. Within the realm of these occurrences of failed states, it is difficult to place them into the category of legal ideology because it forms essential challenges. These challenges are placed to against law, both international and constitutional. Furthermore, the inquiry that needs to be asked is whether these instances of the failing of states, however infrequent they may appear, are actually the mere beginnings of a much more intricate threat posed towards civil society as it is known. Since there is potential for the destruction and dismemberment of law and order within these politically based civilizations, the question of whether such aggression is considered to be basic human nature is called into play. The initial global responses approach the states with an attempt at equalizing the states strength as well as the power held. This is something that is incredibly generalized and is a factor in including states within the classification that is a failed state. It infers a certain dependence on the power of politics as well as a certain weakness that is permanent and cannot be changed. This theory, although efficient, give signs and examples without actually giving them any meaning whatsoever, making it incomparable to the weaker states within the area due to the vagueness of the actual meaning.

Teaching Philosophy Statement Essays -- Education Educational Educatin

Teaching Philosophy Statement Do you have a philosophy on education? I do. What I want to discuss is my personal view of education. I’m going to talk about the nature of students. I am going to talk about the nature of knowledge and whether or not it is absolute or relative. The purpose of education, the method, and the curriculum will be discussed also. We are going to look at some of my philosophical views on education and my professional development plans. When I am through you will have my philosophy of education paper. First we will look at my view on the nature of students. Like Rousseau, I believe that students are influenced by their environment. Children indeed imitate what they see or experience. I think a positive environment is crucial to a child’s learning. When kids see negative things they imitate negative things. When kids see positive things they imitate positive things. I believe there has to be a balance between both negative and positive influences. Not being in a perfect world, children are often exposed to negative influences. Rousseau took some of his students into the country away from the evils of society to teach them. When analyzing knowledge, one must ponder whether knowledge is relative or absolute. Rousseau thought that students should learn to think for themselves. I agree. They must think. Memorization is fine, however they need to be able to apply their knowledge. Students require knowledge in different ways. While some students may listen well, other students may need to see examples. It is important that the students retain the knowledge. They need correct instruction from teachers. Ultimately, the purpose of edu... ... a lot of professional development plans. I would prefer to start teaching in high school and maybe work by way up to college. I would like to be a well-rounded teacher that is respected and understood. I will probably get a job teaching and then work by way up through a couple of different degrees. I really do not want to further my education after graduation but if I have to I will. I will get more money if I do which is important. As far as professional groups go, I am undecided, I do not really know a lot although as I go through the education system I may find one that interests me. Alright, I have talked about the nature of students as well as the nature of knowledge. The purpose of education and the methods of education have been discussed as well as my curriculum. I have expressed my philosophical views and my professional development

Edwin S. Porter :: essays research papers

Edwin S. Porter was both a film pioneer and director. He was a film pioneer because he made people come back to the theaters and start watching movies. His movies also were good because they told a story by editing the move. Being a director he made some of the greatest films in 1902 and 1903. In 1902 he directed The Life of an American Fireman and in 1903 The Great Train Robbery. With these two skills he was able to direct great films and use special camera shots not know of at that present time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Porter was born on April 21st 1870 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. There was not really any information on his parents but they did his parents first named him Edward. Since he was pudgy people use to call him Betty. There was really no information on why they called him Betty but I am sure it meant something. In 1893 he joined United States Navy and changed his name. He changed his name to Edwin Stanton instead of Edward Stanton. He changed it after Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton before he went into the Navy. They did not go into any detail on why he did it but my guess is he did not like his name and changed it. In the resources that I found I could not find much information about the rest of his family. I could not even find any information on what he did in his early years. The earliest I could find was starting in 1893.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1895 he started to work for the Vitascope Marketing Company. He would use his talent of electrical engineering with the company. With Vitascope he was in the project of the first projected movie that was shown in New York. That date was April 23rd 1896. He used his skills in engineering at Edison’s Manufacturing Company’s Laboratory. He let Edison for a while and went to Eden Musee Theatre in New York where he an operator. He was in charge of getting the films and projecting them onto the screen. His duties also were kind of illegal because he took a lot of films and edited them together to make fifteen-minute films. He would also take some of Melies films and put them into the show, since he like some of Melies work. The films would range from historical Wars and news films.

Akeelah and the Bee ( Movie Analysis)

I. Tittle: Akeelah and the Bee II. Setting: Give the general place (for example; the country) and the general time (example; in what period of Akeelah’s life and student life) the story happens. Chensaw Middle School- At the start of the movie. Woodland Hires Middle School- The District Spelling Bee. Sripps National Quiz Bee- It’s in the National Spelling Bee III. Characters each incomplete sentence. 1. Akeelah Anderson- She’s the main character in the story and a good speller. She won the national spelling bee. 2. Dr. Joshua Larabee- He’s the trainer of Akeelah who help her win the contest. . Tanya Anderson- She’s the mother of Akeelah who does not support her at the first time. 4. Mr. Welch- He’s the principal in Chensaw Middle School. 5. Javier Mendez- He’s the first best friend of Akeelah in the Spelling Bee and he is also inlove with her. 6. Dylan Chui- He’s the first competitor of Akeelah. He was also the two years’ 2nd place in the Quiz Bee. 7. Kiana Anderson- She’s the elder sister of Akeelah. She saw the contestant cheating which helped Akeelah to qualify in the top 10. 8. Devon Anderson- He’s the brother of Akeelah and played as coach of Akeelah. 9.Terrence Anderson- He’s the younger brother of Akeelah. 10. Georgia- She’s the best friend of Akeelah. 11. Derrick T. – He’s the Hip Hop boy who help to coach Akeelah. 12. Mr. Chui- He’s the competitive father of Dylan. He always scold his son about winning. IV. Plot A. Exposition or Introduction- The part that Akeelah got the paper with the grade of 100% B. Development or Rising Action- When Akeelah started to join the Spelling Bees. C. Climax- It happened in the National Spelling Bee. D. Denouement or Falling Action- Akeelah and Dylan win the Spelling Bee. E. Ending-It’s where they go back to they’re place with trophy.V. Explain why the lessons in life that you learned from the mov ie about the following: A. Honesty- The moral uprightness or being being fair and truthful. B. Racial Discrimination- It is being full competitive about the fight or competition and you don’t know that your discriminating yourself or the people around you. C. Rapport and camaraderie among students- It’s being friendly to other or the mutual liking to your fellow students and a sense that they understand and shares each other’s concern and having close friendship. D. Self-Confidence- it is having confidence that you have this abilities and you can do that thing.

A Good Friday Celebration Essay

In many countries of the world that celebrate Easter, we think of dressing in our best clothes and going to church to pass our respects to Christ. If not Catholic or Christian, we think of a nice peaceful day with bunnies, Easter Egg Hunts for the kids, and a nice day to barbeque with family and friends. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in a small country made up of thousands of islands is Philippines, a country that contains a majority of uneducated religious people, mostly Catholics and Christians, whom celebrate Easter in a much more traditional sense: through crucifixion re-enactments. This annual celebration of the death of Christ merges traditions of the Catholic Church with Filipino folk superstitions. So why do Filipinos go against the church wishes to emulate the crucifixion when religion is clearly a major role in their lives? Many of the people participate for penance, others as a sign of sacrifice for their prayers to God, some to honor their vow they made to the mselves and God, and others just for the experience whilst the church objects and cry out in objections of corporal punishment. Unfortunately for the church, tradition trumps the advice of the bishop and church leaders annually. Months before the scheduled re-enactments of the crucifixion begins, many of the participants will start forging their own three-inch, stainless steel nails (as seen from the photo on the on the bottom left, above, taken in 2011). The nails appear to frame the man’s face whose eyes looked glazed over and his overall appearance to be burdened with years of suffering. The points of the nails show the sharpness of the object, exposing the man’s tolerance for physical discomfort. The photo taken by Erik de Castro, captured the devotion and the man’s grub work for his chance to show his God his faith through his own crucifixion during Good Friday. In the early morning of Good Friday, thousands of people in the Philippines get ready for the celebration by first attending church then going home to cook a feast while a few hundred people start to get ready for the parade before the crucifixion. During this time, many local and foreign tourists start lining the streets, making the religious ritual into more of a gimmick, which seems to raise tourism. At around mid-day, the participants start their journey through the towns and cities to the crucifixion site. Participants will wear white and will whip their backs (as seen in the photo on the right) for every sin they have performed throughout the year. These worshipers will not only whip themselves with bamboo and rope but wear crowns of thorns on their heads—made of barbwire, as shown in the photo below– and walk barefoot to the sacred ground where the crucifixion portrayals come alive. The photo above shows the beauty of unison through the color of pants and the contrast of the blood, the symmetrical lines the men are in, and the whips going back and forth during the infliction of pain for sins. If you look closer, one man’s back is not nearly as bloody as the rest rendering us to question if he doesnâ €™t have as many sins or if he is trying to cheat pain and scarring by not whipping himself with as much force as the others. In the course of an interview with a twenty-sixth year veteran of the ritual, Arturo Bating, a faith leader in his community, has stated that he does the annual ritual because it was â€Å"a vow [he] had made to God so that He will spare [his] family from sickness.† While another twenty-sixth year veteran, Ruben Enaje, stated that he started engaging in the crucifixion ceremony because he believes that God was watching over him when he survived after falling from a building during work. Countless other devotees participate for reasons of atoning for sins or to â€Å"pray for the sick or a better life or give thanks for what they believe were miracles.† From these veterans, we can understand how these folk superstitions ties in with the traditions of the Catholic Church. But why does the Catholic Church object to a tradition of crucifixion re-enactments? Some like Amparo Santos, meanwhile, believe: â€Å"It was not my will, it was God’s will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and cla iming â€Å"to have received ‘divine messages’ while hanging on the cross.† But many church leaders are unconvinced; which is somewhat ironic for them being men of the Church and where belief and faith in the divine supernatural is part of their job description. Church leaders like Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Pampanga encourage the meditation of Christ’s death rather than the â€Å"self-flagellation and crucifixions† expatiating that the practices â€Å"are an imperfect imitation with doubtful theological and social significance.† Bishop David also states that â€Å"most of those who get themselves crucified or those who hurt themselves are the ‘un-churched.’† In other words, the Bishop is saying that the people who are most likely to participate in emulating crucifixions are the baptized Catholic people who hardly attend church services, which seem to be an unfair way to perceive the Catholic devotees. In final consideration, nearing the end of the parade and coming to the crucifixion site, a multitude of on-lookers gasp and hold their breaths while they admire the participants go through the agonizing torture of nails through their palms and feet while wearing a crown of thorns. What we can take away from the two photos above, is that women, although quite uncommon, can too be seen participating in the traditional crucifixion. The photo on the left shows more of how the Filipino tradition is becoming more gimmicky to attract tourists by the helpers dressed in costumes as Roman soldiers, while the image on the right, shows more of the traditional ritual, where people come together to help crucify the people wanting the experience or doing it for a reason entirely their own. While church leaders continue to object, we can see that tradition will outrival the advice of the Church to end crucifixion re-enactments. Works Cited AFP. Filipino fanatics re-enact crucifixion for Good Friday. 6 April 2012. 15 January 2013 . Bernardino Balabo, Julian Labores and D’jay Lazaro. Tradition Trumps Church Teachings. 4 April 2011. 14 January 2013 . Press, Associated. â€Å"17 crucified in Philippines in Good Friday re-enactment.† 6 April 2012. Chicago Sun-Times. 15 January 2013 . Press, Assoicated. â€Å"Philippine Worshippers Endure Crucifixion for Good Friday.† 21 March 2008. Fox News. 14 January 2013 .

Vietnam War Outcome Influenced by the Media

Term 3 Paper: The Media and Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a war of mass destruction, leaving Vietnam to become bitterly divided and claiming the many lives of Vietnamese civilians as well as American soldiers. Out of all the wars in American history, the Vietnam War was the first war to be broadly televised and covered by the media. It came to be known as the first â€Å"Television War†. Journalists began to pour into Vietnam from all over the nation, to cover the lives of the American Soldiers as well as Vietnamese civilians.As television brought horrendous images of the war into American living rooms, the perception of an American solider as a hero slowly became the image of the American enemy. Thus, the media is a major factor that resulted to the Vietnamization of the conflict, following the end of the war during the fall of Saigon. Television was the main source of news for the American public, and perhaps the most influence on the public opinion of the war. A study sho wed that â€Å"In 1950, only nine percent of homes owned a television. By 1966, this rose to ninety-three percent. (McLaughlin). As television popularity rose, Americans began to depend of television as an accurate source of how they understood the war. In addition, no censorship was established to limit the amount of information being put out to the American public. In the website article, Vietnam: A Censored War, John a. Cloud states â€Å"the fact that there was no military censorship, there was still censorship among the government† (Cloud). Due to lack of censorship, journalists could follow the military into combat and report their observations without formal censorship.Therefore, journalists that experienced the violent combat were able to present the public with more graphic images that the nation has ever seen. One of the most influential journalists was Walter Cronkite, â€Å"Cronkite turned against the war and called for peace negotiations. † (NPR). As an a nchor for â€Å"CBS Evening News†, Cronkite made his statement against the war. This influenced all other journalists to follow his lead. As a result, journalists reported the actions of the soldiers negatively. Gradually, Support for the war began to decrease by the fall of 1967.One of the most turning events of the Vietnam War was the Tet Offensive in 1968. During the Tet Offensive, the media presented images of soldiers sweeping through over one-hundred southern Vietnamese cities. After the televised coverage of the Battle of Tet, majority Americans withdrew their support for the war. In the book Eyewitness Vietnam War, Admiral Grant Sharp argued â€Å"the reality of the 1968 Tet Offensive was that Hanoi had taken a big gamble and lost on the battlefield, but they won a solid physiological victory in the United States. † (Murray 18).This proves that, the media was creating false claims to provoke the people into pushing the government to stop the war. The media also portrayed the attack as a defeat for the United States, â€Å"the media, not the military confirmed the growing perception that the U. S was unable to with the war. † (McLaughlin). With this advantage, the north Viet Cong was using the media to win the sympathy of the American public, so that they would turn against their government. The anti-war movement by 1965 influenced many Americans to oppose their government’s involvement in the war.Thus, â€Å"†¦ after the Tet offensive, the number of protesters skyrocketed† (Langer 235). One example is the Kent State Massacre, which led to the death of four students. There was a significant national response to the shooting, such as the closing of schools thought the United States due to student strikes. However, the most damaging event for a U. S soldier’s reputation was the massacre of My Lai, â€Å"images of dead children, women, and families flooded newspapers and television. † (Murray 23). When the incident became public, it promoted the widespread outrage thought the world.The American solider was now portrayed as â€Å"monstrous killers with no qualms about killing Vietnamese civilians. † (Cloud). Critics of the war created accusations towards the soldiers such as: drug use, rape, and barbaric acts. This led the people to question the purpose of America’s involvement of the war. The media was also used to expose government information regarding the Vietnam War. There was a conspiracy that, an alleged attack on the U. S spy ship (USS Maddox) was purposely created to become the pretext for war in Vietnam. Also known as the â€Å"Gulf of Tonkin†, the event granted congress permission to invade Vietnam.American journalist, Nigel Sheehan exposed the documents that told the truth about the start of the war. As a  reporter  for  The New York Times,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified  Pentagon Papers  from  Daniel Ellsberg. † (Shah). Sheehan collaborated with Ellsberg (a former pentagon staff) to publish the series of articles that contained the history of the U. S involvement in the war. The official secret history of the war would reveal that â€Å"administration officials had drafted the gulf of Tonkin resolution themselves, two months before the attack of Maddox. †(Shah).This caused the people to become outraged, censuring the government for the start of the war instead of the Viet Cong. An article from Media Beat in 1994, explains that the â€Å"heavy reliance on U. S government officials as sources of information and reluctance to question official statements on national security issues, led to a lot of inaccurate media reporting† (Langer 256). Many stories about atrocities of the war were witnessed, but were initially never reported. Even if atrocities were reported, they were perceived as a tragedy because the government did not want to take the blame.For example, when the My Lai Massacre was reported on the â€Å"Newsweek† the banner headline was â€Å"An American Tragedy† (Murray). This caused sympathy for the invader and deflected from the truth about the atrocities. Above all, the atrocities were in fact, a Vietnamese tragedy. With the influence of media, the Americans failed to have public support for the war to carry on. Moreover, tensions between the news media and the Nixon administration only increased as the war dragged on. Finally, Nixon was pressured to find a resolution to end the war.As a result, on November 3, 1969, President  Richard M. Nixon  made a televised speech laying out his policy toward Vietnam, â€Å"promising to continue to support the South Vietnamese government and held out a plan for the withdrawal of American combat troops. † (Wyatt). With this he created Vietnamization to slowly withdraw troops out of Vietnam, along with plans to end the war. In brief, the media was a major factor that motivated the Am erican public to pressure the government to stop involvement of the war. As a result, the media is one of the factors that resulted in America’s cost of the war.Works cited Cloud, John A. â€Å"Vietnam: A Censored War. † Thecrimson. com. The Harvard Crimson, 9 Mar. 1991. Web. Considered, All Things. â€Å"Cronkite on Vietnam War : NPR. † NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. . Langer, Howard. The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations / Howard J. Langer. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005.Print. McLaughlin, Erin. â€Å"The Media and the Vietnam War. † The Warbird's Forum: AVG Flying Tigers, Brewster Buffaloes, Flying Wings, Japan at War, Vietnam, and Other Military History Stuff. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. ;http://www. warbirdforum. com/media. htm;. Murray, Stuart. Eyewitness Vietnam War. NY: DK Pub. , 2005. Print. Shah, Anup. â€Å"Media, Propaganda and Vietnam — Global Issues. † Global Iss ues : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All — Global Issues. 24 Oct. 2003. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. ;http://www. globalissues. rg/article/402/media-propaganda-and-vietnam;. Cloud, John A. â€Å"Vietnam: A Censored War. † Thecrimson. com. The Harvard Crimson, 9 Mar. 1991. Web. ;http://www. thecrimson. com/article/1991/3/9/vietnam-a-censored-war-pbybou-cant/; Considered, All Things. â€Å"Cronkite on Vietnam War : NPR. † NPR : National Public Radio : News ; Analysis, World, US, Music ; Arts : NPR. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. ;http://www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php? storyId=1147965;. Langer, Howard. The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations / Howard J. Langer.Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005. Print. McLaughlin, Erin. â€Å"The Media and the Vietnam War. † The Warbird's Forum: AVG Flying Tigers, Brewster Buffaloes, Flying Wings, Japan at War, Vietnam, and Other Military History Stuff. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. . Murray, Stuart. Eyewitne ss Vietnam War. NY: DK Pub. , 2005. Print. Shah, Anup. â€Å"Media, Propaganda and Vietnam — Global Issues. † Global Issues : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All — Global Issues. 24 Oct. 2003. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.