Sir Arthur Conan Doyle :: Biographies Bio Biography

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was more than just an author. He was a knight, a soldier, a spiritualist, a whaler, a doctor, a journalist, and most of all, he was an adventurer. He was not the quiet type of person, and he thoroughly enjoyed expressing himself. Arthur Conan Doyle was born on the 22nd of May 1859 in Picardy Place, Edinburgh. The second child of Charles Altamont and Mary Foley, he was thought to have been named after the legendary medieval king, Arthur of the Round Table. Doyle was also named after his granduncle, Michael Edward Conan. He was of Irish descent, and was of the Roman Catholic religion. Doyle had a grandfather, John Doyle. He was political cartoonist who financially supported the family. Doyle had a pretty rough home life because his father was an alcoholic. As he grew up, Doyle had to take more of the responsibilities around the house into his own hands, because his father was either too sick or drunk to fulfill his daily work at home. Doyle's mother, Mary Foley, was a homemaker who took care of her son Arthur and his brothers and sisters, and also worked and cleaned the house everyday. Doyle's early education started when he was about seven years old. His mother spent lots of time reading with him and tutoring him, because this is what she thought he needed to become a cultured gentleman. When Doyle was ten years old he left home and went to the Jesuit Preparatory school named Hodder House. This was a boarding school for young boys. Arthur hated this school. Doyle once stated that Hodder House "was a little more pleasant than being confined in a prison." While attending Hodder House, he studied chemistry, poetry, geometry, arithmetic, and grammar. After his experiences at Jesuit Preparatory school, he left and applied for Stonyhurst Academy. Doyle was accepted for enrollment into Stonyhurst and remained there for about five more years. While at Stonyhurst, Doyle, who excelled in cricket, demonstrated some very early signs of literary talent. At the academy, he became quite good at telling stories and reading aloud. His favorite childhood writer was Mayne Reid, who wrote The Scalp Hunters. This was his favorite book while he was progressing through life. During his last year before attending medical school, Doyle went to Feldkirch, a school in Austria. While attending Feldkirch, he began to question his faith in the Roman Catholic religion.

Vonnegut versus Strindberg :: essays research papers

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the preeminent writers of the later half of the twentieth century. His works are all windows to his mind, a literary psychoanalysis. The play â€Å"Miss Julie†, by August Strindberg, has two subordinates, a daughter and a servant, who are subject to eachother’s authority. Julie is Jeans superior in terms of class, jean is julies superior in terms of morality, because Jean is a man and Julie is a â€Å"degenerate† woman. These class differences structure most of both the plays actions. The plays are conservative in sentiment. They keep these superior and inferior positions in place and ultimately submits both characters to the total authority of the count. An uncountable number of power reversals occurring along class and gender lines throughout the plays. The difference between Jean and Julie is central to their attraction. Whereas Julie expresses a desire to fall from her social position, Jean expresses an idle desire to climb up from his social position. Jean hopes to better his social status by sleeping with Julie, when he discovers that she is penniless, he abandons his plans. By sleeping with Jean, Julie degrades herself and places herself beneath Jeans level. The power shifts again, however, when Julie reasserts her superior class, mocking Jean’s name and family line. In Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Who am I This Time,† Harry Nash is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theatre production, he becomes the part completely. Helene is new in town, a lonely internant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Miss Julie. Before anyone realizes the problem, she falls madly in love with Jean not knowing what the real man is like. In both plays the people fall for each other, not knowing who they are really falling in love with.

Case Brief Essay

Facts: Billie J. Rodman, Appellant was employed by Presbyterian Hospital as a unit secretary for eight years when, on Feb 17, 1987, she was terminated under hospital personnel policies following a â€Å"third corrective action† notice. Prior restrictions had been placed on Rodman’s conduct due to personal problems adversely impacting upon her place of work. Rodman was reprimanded in June 1986 for receiving an inordinate number of personal telephone calls and visitors at her work station, which was disruptive to her own work and to her co-workers. Rodman was to have no personal telephone calls during work hours outside of a designated break or dinner time, in which event they were to occur in an area not visible to patients, physicians, or other department staff. When leaving the department for dinner, Rodman was to report to her immediate supervisor and was not to leave the hospital. Rodman was to make every effort to resolve the matters in her personal life that were causing problems at work. Nevertheless, according to the testimony of her supervisor, extremely disruptive telephone calls continued. The doctors were beginning to comment on it. The staff was getting more distressed. According to her supervisor, â€Å"[A]gain we talked about the visits, the behavior at the desk. When it got pretty bad with the phone calls, Billie would slam charts, push chairs and be a little abrupt with the people she worked with.† Another written reprimand in November of 1986 warned Rodman that her job was in jeopardy if the disruptive behavior continued. The supervisor established restrictions prohibiting the claimant from having visitors at the department and instructed her to notify security if there was a potential problem. On February 15, 1987, Rodman began work at 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon. She had spoken to her boyfriend’s mother earlier  in the day to tell her that she did not want him to use her car as she had broken off their relationship. The boyfriend’s mother called her at work and told her the boyfriend had her car keys. Rodman told the mother to h ave the boyfriend call her at work. When he did, she informed him that she could not talk to him at her duty station, and he hung up on her. He called her back and left a number where he could be reached. She left the work area and went to the break room to call him. After returning to her duty station, Rodman got another telephone call from her boyfriend who told her to go downstairs to the lobby to meet him and pick up the keys. When she refused, he told her that if she did not come down he would come up to her department. Claimant left the department to confront her boyfriend, and, because her supervisor was at lunch in the hospital cafeteria, Rodman notified a co-worker, a registered nurse, that she was leaving. Rodman testified, â€Å"I didn’t want any kind of confrontation at the desk, so I went downstairs.† Before she left her desk, Rodman called the employer’s security guard and asked him to meet her in the lobby because she anticipated that a problem could develop. When Rodman got to the lobby, her boyfriend started yelling and forced her outside. In doing so, he tore her shirt. At this point the security guard arrived and observed them arguing. Rodman was in the passenger seat of her car. The security guard instructed the boyfriend to return the keys, but the boyfriend jumped into the driver’s seat, locked the doors and drove off. About thirty-five minutes later, Rodman returned to her work station, after having changed her torn shirt. She resumed working, but, as the shift progressed, more telephone calls were received for her in the department. The supervisor became frustrated with the volume of calls and the behavior of Rodman. It was determined that Rodman should be sent home. Thereafter she was terminated. Issue: At Issue is whether the misconduct which warranted termination from unemployment rose to the level of misconduct which would warrant denial of unemployment compensation under NMSA 1978, section 51-1-7 of the Unemployment Compensation Law. Whether the events of a third party constituted the â€Å"last straw doctrine.† Rule: â€Å"[M]isconduct† * * * is limited to conduct evincing such wilful or wanton disregard of an employer’s interests as is found in deliberate violations or disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee, or in carelessness or negligence of such degree or recurrence as to manifest equal culpability * * *. [M]ere inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, failure in good performance as the result of inability or incapacity, inadvertencies or ordinary negligence in isolated instances, or good faith errors in judgment or discretion are not to be deemed â€Å"misconduct† within the meaning of the statute. Application: Rodman had a history of wanton or wilful disregard for the employer’s interest and was discharged for the accumulation of those events, including the precipitating event. Rodman’s conduct on February 15, considered in light of totality of circumstances including her previous history or personal phone calls and unauthorized visitors, showed a—willful or wanton disregard for her employer’s interests–. Rodman did not comply with her previous restriction put on her by her employer which was ground’s enough for termination and denial of unemployment benefits. The last straw was applied in this case due to Ms. Rodman’s totality of circumstances. Conclusion: Decision was affirmed by the courts in light that Ms. Rodman’s actions on February 15, which when it was considered in light of restrictions that where upon her previous failure to comply with those restrictions, demonstrated a willful disregard for her employer’s interests.

Joy Luck Club Essay

Based on a book of the same name published by Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club tells the stories of four Chinese women and their daughters who were raised in America. While the film focuses a great deal on the relationships between the mothers and daughters and how their stories intertwine, as well as the history of each person and the trials they went through both in China and America, it also showcases some Chinese cultural and religious beliefs. Religion, folktales, culture, and superstition were all prevalent in much of the daily lives of the women, shaping how they interacted with and raised their individual children as well as how they viewed themselves. In this paper, I will be focusing on how the different beliefs and customs were displayed in the film and how their lives were formed around and changes by them. Some of the major stylistic elements of the movie were the presence of jade jewelry on most of the women and the bright red color that was frequently worn on clothes or decorating rooms. Red stands as a symbol of fortune and joy in China, and is fitting for The Joy Luck Club, and reflects the ingrained superstition in the society. Jade in Chinese culture has a long history dating back to 5000 B. C. Confucius claimed that there are eleven virtues in jade, and that â€Å"The wise have likened jade to virtue. For them, its polish and brilliancy represent the whole of purity; its perfect compactness and extreme hardness represent the sureness of intelligence; its angles, which do not cut, although they seem sharp, represent justice; the pure and prolonged sound, which it gives forth when one strikes it, represents music. Its color represents loyalty; its interior flaws, always showing themselves through the transparency, call to mind sincerity; its iridescent brightness represents heaven; its admirable substance, born of mountain and of water, represents the earth. Used alone without ornamentation it represents chastity. The price that the entire world attaches to it represents the truth. To support these comparisons, the Book of Verse says: â€Å"When I think of a wise man, his merits appear to be like jade. † In addition, there is a Chinese saying that states â€Å"Gold has a value; jade is invaluable. † Jade also symbolizes purity, grace, and beauty, and sometimes denoted power in historical times as well as being the title for the Jade Emperor, who was the Supreme Deity of Taoism. In a pivotal moment of the movie, daughter June is given a jade necklace that has been passed down generations by her mother Suyuan. This symbolizes both her mother’s love and belief in her and shows how highly valued familial ties are in Chinese culture. The ties that bind family together in Chinese society can be seen very strongly throughout The Joy Luck Club. There were some conflicting values seen between the women raised in China and their daughters raised in America. This dichotomy helped to show how even though they were in America, the mothers expected the girls to understand and obey them following the rules of Chinese requirements. For example, as a child Waverly gets into an argument with her mother in which her mother states, â€Å"There are only two kinds of children: those who are obedient, and those with own mind. And only one kind of child live in this house. Obedient kind. † Waverly sees this as an unfair imposition upon who she is as an individual, while her mother simply accepts this as a fact of how life and family is. Even through the disagreements and understandings, the girls exhibit strong traits of their mothers’, which are not just hinged on how they are raised. Rather than just focusing on the nurture aspect, the mothers believed powerfully in spirits and curses, and their daughters followed them to some extent. Waverly believes that words her mother said to her cursed her as a child because she allowed them to undermine her own individual beliefs in herself. This is something that I found very interesting, as the majority of the Western world would explain that away with psychology while the East appeared to believe that she might actually be cursed, but the curse wasn’t permanent. In another case, Ying-Ying believes that her daughter is emotionally weak because she had no spirit of her own to give Lena when she was born, and this leads her to make many of the mistakes that Ying-Ying did. This belief also seen in An-Mei’s mother, who committed suicide to protect her daughter and believed that the remnants of her own weak soul would pass to her daughter and make her stronger. The superstitions of the family she was wed into were detailed, as the husband believed that An-Mei’s mother may return to haunt him, and thus An-Mei was protected by her ancestors. I found the parallels between Western and Chinese culture here to be very interesting, as the younger girls tried to separate themselves and integrate their upbringing with their mothers’ expectations. Tradition and ancestor veneration was clearly represented in several cases, the most obvious of which being the case of Lindo’s marriage. Trapped and unable to properly conceive a child, she tricks her husband’s family into believing that the matchmaker had made a mistake by assaying that the ancestor appeared to her and threatened her because another girl in the household was pregnant with his â€Å"spiritual† child, and was fated by the ancestors to marry Lindo’s own husband. Through the arousal of duty to the ancestors, Lindo is able to escape her marriage. An-Mei’s mother fell subject to the belief of tradition – she tried to save her own mother in turn by feeding her soup with her own flesh in it, because in the cultural context sacrificing the â€Å"pain of her flesh† was the honorable thing to do, even though she had been disowned by her family. This scene made me wonder why the sense of duty only seemed to run from the current generation to their own ancestors, rather than from the older family towards the younger generations. The importance of tradition led the mothers to try and teach their children to â€Å"desire nothing†¦swallow pain and eat [their] bowl of bitterness†, even as they attempted to provide their daughters with the means to break out of the cycle while still honoring beliefs. There was so much amazing symbolism and cultural representation, both Chinese and American, in The Joy Luck Club. The hopes that each of the women had resting on their children, the religious and cultural beliefs that they carried with them, and the strength exhibited by each of the women astounded me, and I hope to learn more about Chinese faith in the future.

Case Study Irs and Datawarehousing

Interactive Session: Organizations: The Internal Revenue Service Uncovers Tax Fraud with a Data Warehouse Case Study Questions: 1. Why was it so difficult for the IRS to analyze the taxpayer data it had collected? Initially, IRS data were stored in legacy systems designed to process tax return forms efficiently and organized in many different formats, including hierarchical mainframe databases, Oracle relational databases, and non-database â€Å"flat† files.The data in the older style hierarchical databases and â€Å"flat† files were nearly impossible to query and analyze and could not easily be combined with the relational data. 2. What kind of challenges did the IRS encounter when implementing its CDW? What management, organization, and technology issues had to be addressed? The challenges the IRS encountered when it implemented its CDW include: Management: Convincing the organization to undergo a sweeping upgrade like a data warehouse implementation was not easy, sin ce government agencies are normally risk-adverse and resist changes.Data warehouses require extensive effort to keep up-to-date. Organization: The structure of data wasn’t consistent because of tax law changes through the years. This made integration of the data a complicated process. The sheer amount of data that the CDW was slated to manage was far more than anything the IRS had previously handled. Data warehouses tend to require extensive amounts of money to keep up-to-date. Technology: The CDW has grown in capacity from three terabytes at its creation in the late 1990s to approximately 150 terabytes of data.The most important feature of the data warehouse was that it be sufficiently large to accommodate multiple terabytes of data, but also accessible enough to allow queries of its data using many different tools. The components that the IRS selected allowed CDW to do that. Conversion of the legacy data to the new system was not a uniform process. 3. How did the CDW improv e decision making and operations at the IRS? Are there benefits to taxpayers? The CDW enables highly flexible queries against one of the largest databases in the world.IRS researchers can now search and analyze hundreds of millions or even billions of records at one time using a centralized source of accurate and consistent data instead of having to reconcile information from multiple inconsistent sources. The CDW allows the agency to recoup many billions of dollars in tax revenue that was lost under the old system. In 2006 the IRS collected $59. 2 billion in additional revenue via 1. 4 million audits of taxpayers questioned for underreporting taxes. Using the data warehouse, analysts are able to determine patterns in groups of people most likely to cheat on their taxes.The data warehouse reduced the time it takes to trace mistakes in claims and analyze data from six to eight months to only a few hours. The CDW is more secure than the old legacy system storage tapes, thereby better protecting taxpayer data. 4. Do you think data warehouses could be useful in other areas of the federal sector? Which ones? Why or why not? Other federal agencies that might find data warehouses useful include: †¢ Department of Defense: maintain all personnel data from all four branches of the military including active duty, Guard, Reserve, and retired people.During times of war or national emergencies the data warehouse could supply information on people most qualified and available to respond to the emergency. All kinds of information and analyses could be performed if the data were consistent and complete. †¢ Federal Trade Commission: could combine data on consumer-related activities into one data warehouse that would be available to all branches of government and private organizations. Data could help analyze economic situations and factors so that businesses and governments could make faster and better decisions.

My Expectation of Women Role

Throughout the centuries, a woman's role in the society has been dictated by the needs of the then more powerful male gender. The male dictated role of women centered around the predominant needs of the men in the society such as needing a woman to keep house, prepare their meals, and continue the blood line of the males. Women in those times where not allowed to have any lofty dreams and ambition that leaned towards their self learning and fulfillment as an individual with their own rights and needs.This is not to say that all women of today are career oriented. There are still those who wish to become regular housewives and fall into the traditional definition of a married woman. Then, there are those who would rather have a career or a career and a family. Clearly, the expectation men and society now have of the females have continued to evolve and become something that is now acceptable to most men. It has been proven by the period of time known as Women's Suffrage, that women ha ve always wanted to be in an equal partnership with men and they were willing to fight tooth and nail, endure embarrassment, ridicule and jail time, in order to win that acceptance and rights. Now, women clearly work alongside men as an equal in all aspects of society. This, they accomplish even while maintaining their traditional role as homemakers.Forbes Magazine recently came out with their list of the richest and most powerful women in the world. That magazine issue is a testament to how the expectations of women in today's world have changed dramatically. Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, are all but a few of the women today who wield extra ordinary power in the boardroom. Women have proven their worth in all fields of business, research, music, and other various fields. No longer are the descriptions; President and CEO reserved for powerful men. It has become a non-sexist term to define who calls the shots in the company.Oprah Winfrey and Martha Ste wart are self made billionaires and millionaires who worked long and hard to reach the pinnacles of their successful careers. Let us not forget there are also markets where only a woman can be expected to deliver the business needs of the company. The cosmetics field is a major area where only women can be expected to deliver the goods. Pioneering women knew how to succeed in a business area that men had no idea how to penetrate. Fashion and cosmetic companies such as Liz Claiborne, Donna Karan, and Mary Kay were all founded by visionary women of the times they lived in.These women have proven that with the help of dreams, ambitions, a go-getter attitude, and the will to succeed, nothing can stop a woman from achieving a successful career. As such, the women also become important contributors to the development of society at large. A solid example of this concept is the way the Mary Kay Cosmetics company came into being.Founded by Mary Kay Ash, she took ideas she had learned from me n and employed ordinary housewives who evolved into successful businesswomen. Their trademark prize for successful employees, the Pink Cadillac was the status symbol of its time. It signified an independent and successful woman. The Mary Kay agents showed the world that women could use their own ability for successful careers and become important assets to companies.Obviously, human resources also continue to increase by using skilled female labor, a notion much realized in both government and private sectors. Taking advantage of certain abilities brought by women allows achievements on a much more efficient and diverse progression in societal development. These also help in dispelling the old sexist norms that the male thinking of the past put into place. People become more open minded, escaping the trap of ignorance and prejudice. This change in gender roles can also be seen as a reaction to previous and existing economic conditions.This development of the woman’s work ethi c and role is seen as a way for women to break free of the old traditions women were forced to endure in the past because men controlled the world. Women are no longer repressed and have found their voice to declare their freedom and independence. Women now have the choice to be plain housewives or career-housewives. Being at home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is no longer the way to judge the capabilities of wives and mothers.Career wives and mothers have successfully blended their work and home needs seamlessly and have proven that with proper time management, a woman can do what is needed from her. Women are now the examples of their families. They are the examples that their daughters emulate and the training ground for their sons to learn how to treat women when they grow up.   Daughters now have a chance to realize what they have to do in their future, and motivate themselves.If the wife stays with her traditional household position, it could possibly perpetuate the sexist n otion that a woman’s place is limited. For example, in poor family, the wife must also work hard with her husband to support their families. If the children are at a mature age, they can notice their household’s economy and parental support easily. At some point they will understand the tired look on their parent’s faces after a long day of work, and relate their heavy school loads.To some children this motivates them to want to pick up their slack and chip in to help by getting a part time job. Getting a better education not because their parents want them to, but because by that point they are mature enough to see that even when their parents had to lay down the law for their own good to get higher salary job, that at that point not only it was for themselves but for the better of mankind and perhaps to take care of them when they grow old and need that help in return.Every child always wants their parents to be happy. Next example, if the mother is a great ex ecutive person and works in company, it would inspire her children. One of purpose of our lives is to go over our parent’s position. That’s why I believe that they give positive image to children.I foresee that women's roles in the future will be even further enhanced. The differences that used to be in place, as set by man shall be torn down and men and women will continue to compete for jobs and places in society on ever equaling grounds. . This mentality will surely create a better society by setting positive examples for future generations. Women such as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nancy Pellosi have given a strong voice of motivation and representation to many that are still victims of ignorance. They and many others show, without a doubt in mind, that this trend towards equality is hard earned, yet worth it in the end.Work CitedDaily M., Catherine. † The Evolution of the American Woman – R – Equality in the Workplace – Women in Businessà ¢â‚¬ .   Business Horizons. March-April, 1993

How do you envision the city of the future Scholarship Essay

How do you envision the city of the future - Scholarship Essay Example This stress and strain is because of a surge in the population of the current cities that has been experienced over the past two decades. About 70% of the public amenities that are currently being used were budgeted and planned for far less populations that they are currently handling. I envision that a city of the future will have architectural structures and designs that will be spacious enough to accommodate populations without feeling the need of expansion. This includes improved road networks and other modes of transport. These buildings and amenities for the future should be built using designs that aim at sustaining and conserving the environment. This is by having enough supply of efficient and clean energy. Building designs should see to it that natural light and natural ventilation is adapted to the fullest so as to eliminate over dependence on electricity. This will cut down immensely the electricity bills as a result water towers and catchment areas will be restored and reserved. Electricity used in these buildings should be generated from greener technologies such as wind and solar energy (Davis, 2009). The material used in constructing these buildings should also be environment friendly ad should include recycled material. This will stop the constructors from going back to destroy natural habitat. Another expectation of the city of the future is minimal if not total elimination of the use of fossil fuels. This can only be achieved by adopting technologies that avoid carbon emission as their waste. One such technology that I envisage is the complete adoption of electricity powered vehicles. Automobiles contribute immensely to the emission of carbon to the atmosphere. By cutting down on these emissions, the atmosphere will be very clean and hence the quality of the air will be more healthy for human beings and