John G Roberts

John Roberts By: Juan Castillo Rm. 309 John Glover Roberts Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 27, 1955, the son of Rosemary and John Glover Jack Roberts, Sr. (1928–2008). When Roberts was in fourth grade, his family moved to the beachside town of  Long Beach, Indiana. He grew up with three sisters: Kathy, Peggy, and Barbara. Roberts attended Notre Dame Elementary School, a Roman Catholic grade school in Long Beach, and then  La Lumiere School, a Roman Catholic boarding school in  La Porte, Indiana. , He studied five years of Latin,  some French, and was known generally for his devotion to his studies.He was captain of the football team, and was a regional champion in wrestling. He attended  Harvard College, graduating with an  A. B. summa cum laude  in history in three years. He then attended  Harvard Law School  where he was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated from law school with a  J. D. magna cum  in laude 1979. Afte r graduating from law school, Roberts served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for one year. From 1980 to 1981, he clerked for then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist on the United States Supreme Court.From 1981 to 1982, he served in the Reagan administration as a Special Assistant to U. S. Attorney General William French Smith. From 1982 to 1986, Roberts served as Associate Counsel to the President under White House Counsel Fred Fielding. Roberts entered private law practice in 1986 as an associate at the Washington, D. C. -based law firm of Hogan & Hartson. As part of Hogan & Hartson's pro bono work, he worked behind the scenes for gay rights advocates, reviewing filings and preparing arguments for the Supreme Court case Romer v.Evans (1996), which has been described as as well as arguing on behalf of the homeless. Roberts left Hogan ; Hartson to serve in the George H. W. Bush administration as Principal Deputy Solicitor General from 1 989 to 1993 and as Acting Solicitor General for the purposes of at least one case when Ken Starr had a conflict. In 1992, George H. W. Bush nominated Roberts to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but no Senate vote was held, and Roberts's nomination expired at the end of the 102nd Congress. John Roberts argued 36 cases and prevailed 25 of them.On July 19, 2005, President Bush nominated Roberts to the U. S. Supreme Court to fill a vacancy that would be created by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Roberts was the first Supreme Court nominee since Stephen Breyer in 1994. On September 5, Bush withdrew Roberts's nomination as O'Connor's successor and announced Roberts's new nomination to the position of Chief Justice. Bush asked the Senate to expedite Roberts's confirmation hearings to fill the vacancy by the beginning of the Supreme Court's session in early October.

Mapp vs. Ohio Cort Case

Mapp V Ohio â€Å"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,† Mapp V. Ohio (1961) dealt with that very sentence of the constitution. Were the officers at fault or Mapp? This complex question has a complex answer one that puzzled the Supreme Court and led to a change in criminal procedure. The verdict was a strict interpretation of the constitution. The fourth amendment was relevant because the fourteenth amendment grunted due process. It was a very good decision, it protected the black minority who at the time were being routinely harassed and convicted for no reasons. This decision certainly did not stop that but it made it harder for the police to seize evidence unlawfully and put a stop to bad practice of law at the state level. The land mark Supreme Court ruling on Mapp v Ohio changed the way people thought of the fourth amendment and how it could be applied to protect the individual form unlawful search and seizure. Previously the law surrounding the fourth amendment’s protection from unjust searches was extremely enigmatic. Its application varied form case to case until the Weeks rule was enacted in 1914. The Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained via an illegal search and seizure was not admissible in federal court. However the Supreme Court did not make the states adopt the Weeks rule. The legal loop hole it created made it legal for states to present and prosecute with evidence detained in an unconstitutional tactic. In Mapp v Ohio a case that brought all the questions into the spotlight. On May 23, 1957, three Cleveland police officers arrived at appellant's residence in that city perusing information that â€Å"a person [was] hiding out in the home, who was wanted for questioning in connection with a recent bombing, and that there was a large amount of policy paraphernalia being hidden in the home. † Ms. Mapp was living with her daughter when the police officers arrived and demanded entrance to her home. After consulting her attorney she did not allow them in without a warrant. The officer’s left leaving one man to watch the house. Three hours later the police came back with more officers. After breaking down the door they brandished a piece of paper they claimed to be a warrant. Mapp snatched the piece of paper and stuffed it down her shirt. After a short altercation the â€Å"warrant† was retrieved. Immediately following the confrontation the officers’ embarked on a top to bottom search of the Mapp residence. They found no evidence of the gambling equipment or the suspect in the recent bombing. Frustrated with the fruitless search the police focused on a suitcase they found tucked under a bed. Inside the suitcase were a small collection of pornographic pictures and magazines. In Cleveland it is illegal to possess obscene materials. She was tried and convicted of possession of obscene materials. The constitutional question is whether or not the rights of the fourth amendment are viable in state courts. The fourth amendment gives the people the right to privacy and protects them from unlawful searches and seizures. When the Warren court ruled in favor of Mapp, Justice Clark cited two constitutional amendments that protected Ms. Mapp. â€Å"Since the Fourth Amendment's right of privacy has been declared enforceable against the States through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth, it is enforceable against them by the same sanction of exclusion as is used against the Federal Government. He reasoned that because the states had to abide by the fourth amendment’s right to privacy then the exclusionary rule should also be applied to state courts. Clark also addressed the concern of letting a criminal go when he or she is legally not guilty because of the excusatory rule, â€Å"it is the law that sets him free† and that â€Å"nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws. † The law must be observed in all instances where it is viable. In the case of Mapp v Ohio the Warren court overturned her conviction by a vote of 6-3. Justice Clark wrote the decision and argued because the fourteenth amendment guaranteed protection in state court then the fourth amendment excusatory rule was clearly enforceable in state court. Clark cited the fat that 26 states had already adopted the excusatory rule. The Supreme Court could no longer trust the state courts to manage themselves. With discrimination and ill practice extensively practiced throughout the states the population was becoming tired of it. The bulk of society was ready for this ruling years before it occurred. Justice Clark had a history of dealing with fourth amendment cases ruling in favor of the defendant in United States v. Jeffers. The counter argument to the verdict was described by commentators as â€Å"the most significant limitation ever imposed on state criminal procedure by the Supreme Court in a single judgment. † Clamming that â€Å"justice would be obstructed and limited by procedure† The court’s decision to find Mapp innocent was a liberal ruling. When the ruling was made many police officers did not respect blacks. Mapp was a black women and that was a big part of the case. In that time it was acceptable to search and seize Negros belongings without a warrant and it was done on a regular basis. It was liberal because it protected the minority taking power away from state governments and greatly limiting the ability for the police to gather evidence in unlawful ways. When the verdict came to fruition many of the states fighting this verdict were also heavily opposed to the Brown vs. Board of Education case. The connection being that these racist states were worried blacks would gain rights and they would no longer be able to seize their belongings unlawfully. Once again this law took power away from these racist state governments and gave power to the blacks who were regularly- being harassed and having there belongings searched and seized. Illegal search and seizure has been an issue that plagued the court system for years. Flurries of cases were brought to the Supreme Court before and after Mapp vs. Ohio case. Many cases were decided in favor of illegal evidence being applicable in court. Such as Carroll v. United States 267 U. S. 132 (1925) a case that denied the suppression of evidence because it was illegally seized. George Carroll and John Kiro were arrested for the transportation of alcohol in violation of the Volstead Act (national alcohol prohibition) and subsequently convicted. The Supreme Court upheld the decision by a vote of 6-2. Weeks v. United States 232 U. S. 383 (1914) created the excusatory rule and was the first trial where evidence was deemed to be not viable in court because of the way it was gathered. The excusatory rule has been dumbed down a lot from its original scope and applications, several cases have limited the fourth amendment in court. United States v. Calandra, 414 U. S. 338 (1974) limited the rule by allowing evidence to be used to convict a man who was a loan shark. They had a warrant to search and seize gambling paraphilia, when an officer discovered and seized several documents relating to a loan shark operation. When he was being tried for this offense Calandra attempted to suppress the evidence because it was not specified in the warrant. The Supreme Court ruled that it was appropriate for use in the court. Justice Powel mad the decision, Powell limited the scope of the exclusionary rule in holding that it did not limit the government's ability to use illegally seized evidence in â€Å"all proceedings or against all persons†. Holding that the duties of a grand jury would be substantially hindered by allowing a witness to invoke the exclusionary rule while offering only a minimal limiting effect on police misconduct. Although no cases completely overturned the Mapp v. Ohio ruling several more cases did limit the power of the rule in favor of the greater good and not allowing criminals to walk because of a procedural issue. The overall impact of Mapp v. Ohio is immeasurable. The American people won a victory for privacy and seriously limited police’s ability to gather evidence. This was a good interpretation of the constitution. The fourteenth amendment clearly states that everyone is entitled to the due process of law, â€Å"nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. † Thus making the fourth amendment applicable in state courts.

Google †PESTEL & Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Essay

1.0 Introduction Google Inc, a global technology company, founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is the most popular search engine in the world. Google provides numerous free services and products such as Google search, YouTube, Google Maps, and has transformed how people use and share information. Google’s business spans from advertising, data analytics, operating systems to technologically advanced devices such as Google Glass, Driverless cars, Solar-powered drones, and was recently named â€Å"The World’s Most Valuable Brand† due to consumers perception of Google being a forward-looking company focused on innovation (Bloomberg, 2014). As of 2013, Google has 43,862 employees working in more than 70 offices in over 40 countries around the world with their headquarters located in Mountain View, California, USA. (2014). For the purpose of this study, I will be basing my analysis of Google in Singapore, its Southeast Asia headquarters which opened in 2007. The following sections will analyse the various factors that will influence Google’s operations in Singapore, and conclude with recommendations of how Google should further improve to boost its competitive edge. 2.0 PESTEL Analysis 2.1 Political Though little political restrictions affect Google’s operations due to the nature of its business, government stability is a major aspect in Google’s strategic planning. Singapore had been rated Asia’s most politically stable country (Berdzenadze, 2013), and Asia’s most competitive economy in the Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum (2013). When the market of operations has political and economic stability,  businesses will thrive and in turn advertise more, thus increasing business opportunities for Google. 2.2 Economic Google was hailed as being â€Å"Recession-Proof† when they continued to post solid earnings through the economic downturn (Quittner, 2008). It is well positioned to weather the downturn, as its services are free to consumers, and advertisers substituted traditional media advertising with online advertising to cut costs. Regardless, Singapore is widely acknowledged as having one of the best business environments in the world. Ranked as the world’s easiest place to do business (The World Bank Group, 2014) and city with the best investment potential (as cited by Economic Development Board, 2014), Singapore with its sound monetary and fiscal policy attracts many investors. The more investment dollars pour into a business, the more they are willing to spend on advertisements, which increases business opportunities for Google. 2.3 Social In Singapore where there is high internet penetration rate of 87% and mobile penetration rate of 156% (IDA, 2014), consumers comfortable with technology often see the internet as the first source of product research before making their final purchase, making Google a very important part of the process. To increase the number of users accessing Google’s services from their mobile device, Google released its own Android mobile operating system which now holds 55.8% of the mobile device market share (comScore, 2014). It is thus increasingly important for marketers to influence consumer’s final purchasing decisions by advertising in this space. However, Google’s infrastructure created to customise and personalise each user’s search experience by storing their personal information has been  received with mixed reactions as some find Google’s sale of such information a violation of their privacy. As people’s attitude and concern towards protecting their private data change, Google’s business may face a threat. 2.4 Technological Beyond a search engine, Google constantly innovates and develop its wide range of free products aimed at strengthening user engagement. Technology rapidly advances, and Google actively takes measures to ensure they do not fall behind. According to Bloomberg data, Google has acquired 127 companies in the past three years (as cited by Farzad, 2014). Besides buying companies, such as Waze, a GPS navigation software, and Admeld, an advertising optimisation platform, in a smart defensive play to acquire companies that poses a threat to its business, Google has been acquiring a wide range of technological companies from Humanoid robots to Airborne wind turbines to Home automation devices. In a bid to strengthen its business, Google is increasingly moving into developing hardware technology that has a tangible presence in consumer’s homes and offices. 2.5 Environmental It is estimated that Google runs over a million servers in data centres worldwide, with its first Southeast Asia data centre in Singapore operating since 2013, and consumes a huge amount of electricity. Every time someone makes a search or sends an email, they contributes to the electricity bill at Google’s data centre (Tan, 2014). However, Google argues that they have made the world a greener place considering the electricity consumption for a search in lieu of a drive down to the library. Above all, unlike other companies, Google builds most of their own data centres down to the energy-saving chips it uses, and custom-designs its servers for efficient energy use (Glanz, 2011). Its  facility in Singapore uses recycled water for its cooling system. Although Google is a high carbon footprint business, it has adopted a proactive strategy to hold itself up as a 3ly responsible company by making its facilities environmentally-friendly through generating its own renewable energy from solar panels, wind farms and purchasing carbon offsets by funding green efforts. 2.6 Legal From the perspective of law and regulation, the internet is inherently transgressive and difficult to govern since it is global, and information can be instantly transferred at anytime, anywhere. Google’s products collects a lot of personally identifiable information on its users – DoubleClick cookies tracking online footprints, Google wallet storing name, credit card details, and thus how this information is compiled, used or stored are a natural concern. Google’s data centre in Singapore serves users around the region, and Singapore’s business-friendly approach with the privacy law on international transfers of data that does not restricts transfers to specific countries on their approved list, but instead puts the onus on the company to put in place measures to ensure personal data is transferred to locations with comparable standard of protection, makes compliance issues less complicated than that of Europe’s (Bratby, 2013). In general, Singapore is a relatively late adopter of privacy laws (The Register, 2014), and is largely reactive rather than transformative. As such, legal issues that may arise in Singapore are likely to be those that Google already has measures or policies in place. 3.0 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 3.1 Threat of New Entrants Although the internet has traditionally been viewed as a â€Å"low barrier to entry† marketplace, the barriers to entry in the internet search market are high, as it would take a giant step in innovation, and a mammoth starting capital to build a network infrastructure that could compete with all of Google’s services and products. The scale of Google’s businesses has become a significant barrier to entry. Nevertheless, companies focusing solely on developing a single product or service that Google offers could potentially usurp Google’s dominance in that area, as seen with the Rubicon Project, an advertising start-up which surpassed Google’s Ad Network reach by over 6 million unique visitors (Thomas, 2012). 3.2 Threat of Substitution Some of Google’s products and services could potentially be substituted, such as users choosing GPS instead of Google Maps, but Google’s primary business is their online search engine, which is difficult to substitute. Everyday, an average of 5.9 billion Google searches are made (Statistic Brain, 2014). Although there are alternative sources of information such as newspapers, books, television, or radio, the internet is the preferred source for people to retrieve information as it provides information on demand. As of now, the threat of substitution is low as there are no foreseeable substitutions for online search. 3.3 Supplier Power Google owns its search platform and advertising services tool, thus it has very limited exposure to suppliers. Due to the advertising system used to generate revenue, both the advertiser and search engine user are Google’s customers. However, websites that have given inventory to Google for sale can be considered their supplier. As websites frequently have their inventory  listed across multiple ad exchanges, Google will have to return both quantity of sales and quality of pricing of their buys to maintain the impressions given to them for sale by web publishers. So long as Google maintains strong market dominance, supplier bargaining will remain low. 3.4 Buyer Power Although internet users are free to switch to alternative platforms, most of Google’s products and services that they use are at no cost to them. Whereas in the case where the buyer is the advertiser, buyer power is low as there are limited vendors they could spend with. A key feature of Google’s ad buying platform, DoubleClick, is that advertisers can buy ads on 300 different websites with a few clicks instead of making 300 calls or meetings to get the ads on all the websites. The scale of modern online media buying is staggering as Google provides access to millions of possible sites for advertising. Although Google’s products are not unique, they are at scale, and can make competition difficult for start-up and smaller competitors. 3.5 Industry Rivalry Google is known for being the best search engine with high relevance within its searches, thus its position as the market leader in the search market with about 80% market share (Nguyen,2012). Though competitors have caught up, and substitution of Google search in favour of Yahoo or Microsoft’s Bing is certainly possible, ‘Googling’ has now been ingrained in people’s mind, and is largely a habit instead of being driven by significant product differentiation. When Google introduced the Android operating system, they have placed themselves in direct competition with Apple. Though Android phones currently has larger market share than iOS phones, Apple will not easily give in in the battle of mobile operating systems. Google’s strategy is all about scale and interoperability. With advertising making up over 90% of its total revenue (Google Inc, 2014), it is critical for Google to protect its space, thus its entrance into the browser and mobile operating system market. When one owns the platform, one has the stage. Google tries to own as much of the overall ecosystem as they can so as to lock in its users and keep out competitors. In doing so, it does not need considerable advertising expense to stay and remain on top. 4.0 Conclusion & Recommendations In terms of PESTEL analysis, I recommend that Google venture into new markets around the region. Singapore is a mature market, thus opportunities to grow further are rather limited due to its market saturation and small population. In essence, it is difficult to justify large advertising spend when it can never attract large reciprocal sales as it simply does not have the population to support it. However, expansion into emerging markets in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia or Philippines will help its revenue growth. To illustrate, Indonesia has internet penetration at 24% (Statista, 2014), which translate to 60 million users. That is 12 times Singapore’s population. The propensity of growth there is phenomenon. In terms of Porter’s Five Forces analysis, I recommend that Google diversify into other ventures that helps generates income as it is not healthy for the company to rely almost entirely on one source of revenue. With its wide range of free products and services, Google could select a few of its products to further develop as alternative revenue sources such as its VOIP business, or licensing fees for its products. Google will also need to ensure that it maintains its momentum in the research and development of its search engine to ensure that it is ahead of its competitor. With Microsoft and Yahoo search’s merger, the convergence of technologies will improve their search engines, and possibly catapult Yahoo’s more successful products such as Yahoo Finance and Flickr. As long as Google’s continue to innovate and stay ahead of its game, they will remain the market leader in the industry. 5.0 References Bloomberg. (2014, May 21). Google Overtakes Apple as Most Valuable Brand [Video file]. Retrieved 13 June 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/video/google-overtakes-apple-as-most-valuable-brand-PgHrIgIsQMuzLZA4CxRJSg.html Bratby, R. (2013) Singapore takes business-friendly approach in data protection guidelines. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://www.zdnet.com/sg/singapore-takes-business-friendly-approach-in-data-protection-guidelines-7000021091/ comScore. (2014). comScore Device Essentials – Singapore & Hong Kong 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from https://www.comscore.com/content/download/23711/1282705/version/1/file/ singapore-vs-hongkong-mobile-usage.pdf Berdzenadze, I. (2013) Singapore: Asia’s Leading Business Hub. CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-953461 Economic Development Board. (2014). About Singapore – Facts and Rankings. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/why-singapore/about-singapore/facts-and-rankings/rankings.html Farzad, R. (2014). Google at $400 Billion: A New No. 2 in Market Cap. Business Week. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-12/google-at-400-billion-a-new-no-dot-2-in-market-cap Glanz, J. (2011, Sep 9). Google Details, and Defends, Its Use of Electricity. The New York Times, pp. B1. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/technology/google-details-and-defends-its-use-of-electricity.html Google Inc. (2014) Google Annual Report 2013. (pp. 26). Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://investor.google.com/proxy.html Google Inc. (2014) Company – Google locations. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/locations/ Google Inc. (2014) Investor Relations – 2014 Financial Tables. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from https://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Google breaks ground for Singapore data centre. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/blog/insg/in-the-news/google-breaks-ground-for-singapore-data-centre/ Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore. (2014). Infocomm Landscape – Facts and Figures. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures Quittner. J. (2008, 16 Oct). Behold! The Recession-Proof Google!. Time. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1851286,00.html Statisticbrain. (2014). Google Annual Search Statistics | Statistic Brain. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ Tan, H. (2011, 21 Dec). Rainfall to cool Google’s data centre here. The Straits Times, pp. 21. Retrieved June 23, 2014 from http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action? documentId=nica_ST_2011_22596292&year=2011&month=12&date=21 The Register. (2014). Singapore lures big biz with mega data protection regime. Retrieved 24 June 2014, from

The Iranian Carpet Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Iranian Carpet Industry - Essay Example Therefore, all of these factors are interconnect in a very unique manner. It is also important to know the overall position of Persian rugs in the world in general and Europe (as it the major importer of Persian rugs) in specific. This also mentions the threats (in the form of international competitors) that Iran has to face. The present situation analysis of the Iranian carpet industry is given, as well as future investigation of what needs to be done to revive the industry as well as the pros and cons of each factor are provided. According to the Iranian (March 04, 1998), "There are a number of carpets manufacturing countries in the world, and it is a very volatile market. In 1980 Iran captured 40% of the market. In 1985, with political difficulties at home, Iran had only a 16% share, with India taking the lead. In 1992 Iran maintained 28.6% of the market. If Iranian production falls, the slack will be taken up by other nations. Particularly threatening are hand woven carpets from China. While Persian carpets still carry a mystique, the underutilized labour potential of China, India and Pakistan could over whelm Iranian products. Europe is the largest single market for carpets, importing about 1.2 billion dollars of rugs, with some 62% from Iran. The current embargo prevents an accurate assessment of how many Iranian carpets are imported into the United States, buy some rug dealers continue to sell new Iranian carpets. Many Iranian firms based both in Iran and Europe offer to ship Iranian rugs to America wit h false tags that give a different country of origin. Some Iranian rugs are imported in to the United States from Canada. Most American dealers, unwilling to risk their businesses, rely upon Chinese or Turkish made hand rugs. 3. The Present Situation of the Persian Carpet Industry As mentioned above competitors have taken over the carpet industry. According to an e newspaper, Iran Mania (17th June, 2005), Pakistan has taken over much of the market share by weaving "Persian carpets" in their country and selling them under the name of famous Iranian brands, such as, Haris, Afshar, Kashan, Kerman etc. At the time of the Iranian revolution, the government shunned the carpet industry. Carpet production in many areas was halted and was discouraged in other regions of the country. However, the government quickly came to realize the economic benefits of the industry. Upon comprehension, the government established schemes and incorporated carpet weaving into a number of regional developmental schemes. Another main target of the carpet industry is to raise the standard of living of the people. One of the main problems that the Iranian government has to face is the influx of the population in to the urban areas of the country from the rural (Lloyd 1993) Therefore, in order to handle the growth in population; the Iranian government transformed itself from an agricultural society to an urban one. According to the news magazine Iran Mania (17th June, 2005) in the future, unless the carpet weavers of Iran learn to work in an organized

Strategic plan for one of the companies listed on Forbes International Essay

Strategic plan for one of the companies listed on Forbes International Top Ten list - Essay Example In today’s modern era, every company strives to dominate its market. In order to gain any market segment, a company must have a business strategic plan implemented to achieve its goals. Each year Forbes.com comes with a list of top corporations that are excelling in their market. One of the firms that have made a dramatic impact in its industry is Toyota. Toyota is one of the few companies that has the honor to claim itself as â€Å"not only the best automaker in the world, but also maybe the best corporation†. This paper will discuss the strategic management of Toyota and its quest to become the market leader in its industry. One of the most unique strategic planning that Toyota has implemented is to employee top management positions from Japan. Although this move might not work for every corporation, Toyota has the reputation to preserve its brand reputation. From design to corporate decisions, all operations take place in Tokyo[2]. The reason for this is clearly expl ained by John Paul MacDuffee, a professor at local university as he states, â€Å"This is about a greater maturity about globalizing and transferring knowledge that Toyota certainly has at this point.†[2]. In addition, these executives decided to ask their suppliers to reduce their cost by 30%. Management understood that every little step taken by them will influence the company in the long-run. By building a solid environment of knowledge and design, Toyota is able to utilize mass production methods[1]. How is this achieved? Well, the company is a firm believer in the Just-in-time â€Å"lean production.† Toyota’s lean manufacturing system is a critical for its strategic planning by enhancing the flow of work [1]. In addition, it focuses to reduce the organization’s waste, which dramatically increases customer value. Moreover, it levels of production level which eliminates unevenness in its manufacturing system. Just-in-time improves organization's return on investment, quality, and efficiency[1]. Undoubtedly, much of the success that Toyota has enjoyed is due to this model that is collaborated and implemented through planning and executive models. The current strategic planning for Toyota is to introduce a new line of hybrid cars. As humanity progresses to the 21st century, society has becoming more environmental friendly. Hence, Toyota saw this as an opportunity to expand its line of cars. Hence, it decided to invest heavily in research and development in order to build hybrid-electric vehicles [3]. Toyota’s ability to fund in development was critical as it poured millions of dollars without hurting its capital budget. After years of researching, Toyota decided to aggressively showcase its new hybrid Camry and Highlander, two cars that are known for quality and durability [3]. However, it was met by a tough rival as Ford introduced its newest S.U.V at the same time where Toyota showcased its news Prius. While other companyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s struggled to design hybrid cars that produced revenue, Toyota was already enjoying decent profits. Interestingly enough, the company never attempts to make any bold of false promises as other companies. Toyota executives acknowledged the fact that gas prices will continue to rise as oil becomes scarce. Furthermore, it was clear that creating an automobile that was â€Å"environmental friendly† is clearly going to be the future of the industry[3]. Hence, by carefully forecasting the

DB5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DB5 - Essay Example In some ways it is a reaction against the previous period, known as Classicism, which was much cooler, more regulated, and backward looking towards ancient Greek and Roman models and ideas. Romanticism is not necessarily concerned with romantic love, but this theme occurred quite frequently because this is one of the strongest feelings known to man. In music, Romanticism is closely linked with the books and plays which were popular at that time. The Erlkà ¶nig, for example, picks up on an emerging cultural awareness of Germanic folklore, and it is part of Schubert’s large repertoire of Lieder (songs). The words were written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, probably Germany’s greatest author of all time, and the music is very dramatic. There are a lot of emotions in the music, from the fast drumming of the horses’ hooves, to the high pitched cries of the son, the deep reassuring voice of the father, and the eerie, sneaky voice of the Erlkà ¶nig. These differences in tone and pitch transform the music from the original strictly uniform line and verse structure of a ballad and take it to a new Lied form much more like a short story with a beginning, a middle and an end. The Erlkà ¶nig has an instrument only introduction, rising tension in the voices, and a big silence towards the end, followed by a slump in which it is clear that the boy is dead. This playing around with structure is a big feature of Romantic music, and it shows an adventurous attitude towards the conventions of the time. The Berlioz piece is orchestral, and so there is not the advantage of voice to convey details of a dramatic narrative. The subtitle of the piece â€Å"March to the Scaffold† however, reveals the tragic scenario that Berlioz has in mind. There is in this piece also a rising tension, almost to an unbearable level, before there is a sudden climax, which reminds the listener of the falling of the guillotine on the poor victim’s neck. The instrumentation is also characteristic

Corporate Governance Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate Governance Issues - Essay Example Part 1: Governance and Family-owned Firms This first part is a critical discussion of the following statement: â€Å"Corporate governance is not applicable to family owned firms, only to widely held large corporations†. The discussion begins with a definition of the key terms Corporate Governance and Family-Owned firms and proceeds with a determination of the connection, if any, between these two terms. Looking at the available literature on the topic of Corporate Governance would give a multitude of definitions that not all the dissertations in the world would be able to contain. It is standard practice, however, to accept the definition of the term provided by the Cadbury Report (1995,  §2.5): â€Å"Corporate governance is the system by which businesses are directed and controlled.† And although the term is related to business management and corporate responsibility, it is distinct and different and encompasses these two, which form but two parts of the more comprehensive nature of governance. According to the Corporate Governance Codes extant in the European Union, there are three broad themes that if taken together provide a clearer idea of what the term really signifies: control of the company, corporate management, or of company and managerial conduct;

Photography Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Photography - Research Paper Example Part 3 Digital photography has changed the way we see the world around us. It has opened up the world of photography to anyone with the ability to peer through a viewfinder and push a button. It has made it possible for us to easily pull images into our computers and change the captured reality. For this reason, it has become a concern that digital photography has changed the face of photography forever. We can no longer look at an image and assume that it is depicting what really happened at the time the photograph was taken. Many people remain suspicious about digital photography because of the ease with which photos can be manipulated, but this aspect of photography hasn't really changed since its earliest days. Part 3 Digital photography has changed the way we see the world around us. It has opened up the world of photography to anyone with the ability to peer through a viewfinder and push a button. It has made it possible for us to easily pull images into our computers and chang e the captured reality. For this reason, it has become a concern that digital photography has changed the face of photography forever. We can no longer look at an image and assume that it is depicting what really happened at the time the photograph was taken. Many people remain suspicious about digital photography because of the ease with which photos can be manipulated, but this aspect of photography hasn't really changed since its earliest days. By looking at the history of photography and how it has been affected by digital technology, I plan to show that manipulation of photos is something that has been a part of photography for as long as cameras existed. To do this, I will show how the function of the digital camera is not really that different from the function of the traditional film camera and then show how each method is easily manipulated to create an impression of reality. The only true difference is our realization that this is possible. Digital Technology Has Not Chang ed Photography Student name Course name Instructor name Date Student name Instructor name Course name Date Digital Technology Has Not Changed Photography The world as we see it today is mostly shaped by what is captured in the form of digital photography. Film cameras are almost non-existent as more and more people have found the ease and cost-convenience of digital to far outweigh the hassles of film for most applications. Because of its widespread use, we are all now much more aware of just how easy it is to manipulate photographs to change what we think we see. While most of us embrace the ease of digital photography for ourselves, there is a group of individuals who are outraged at the idea that news photographers are also able to use digital technologies in reporting the news. These people feel that the only way we can get an accurate representation of what's happening in other parts of the world is through the use of film cameras, which produce images that are not as easy to m anipulate. My role in the following research is to investigate how film cameras and digital cameras operate to see if there are any differences in the actual capturing of an image and then to compare how images are processed, again with the purpose of comparing techniques and the level to which they can be manipulated. In conducting this research, I bring my own experience as a film and digital amateur photographer as well as someone interested in how the media works to shape our understanding of the world. I have studied how images are used in print ads, video

Running the business from the palm of your hand Essay

Running the business from the palm of your hand - Essay Example In this context the mobile digital platform is gaining significance nowadays. Now people are using their mobile as a means not only to call, chat or message, but to carry out their business functions as well since mobile is one thing they always carry with them. With the introduction of Mobile OS like iPhone OS, Android, Windows OS people are developing apps which caters to everyday needs right from their home to business. Hence application making companies like GP Apps, IndiaNIC, Grapple, SourceBits etc are coming out with apps which cater to everyday business needs. Mobile application is software developed to serve a specific need of individuals, business organization etc. Business Functions are basically operations that need to be carried out by an organization. Like for a Software company the key operations are writing codes, testing, maintenance etc. For a Bank it is accepting deposits, giving loans etc. In TCHO Chocolate, which creates unique flavors of chocolate uses iPhone applications that helps his business process function smoothly. It enables the owner Timothy Childs to remotely control the Flavor Machine, control the time, temperatures, and turn on and off whenever he needs. Through the app Childs can remotely view several video cameras and thus know the status of the factory. General Electric Mobile has their own Mobile center of excellence which develops apps which caters to their business needs. For GE’s Sales and marketing personnel it acts as a great boon as they can share business information and presentation with their colleagues and customers. They also use Transformer Monitoring app which manages their gas turbine inventory and electric transformers in the whole world. Along with it their PDS Movement planner helps monitor railway tracks and diagnose the locomotives. In Dow Corning, the employees use a Roambi Visualizer app which helps them to view the business data including sales figures, their trends and projections in real time basis and analyze them. Their Analytics App for iPhone monitors the Web site traffic along with the online sales for their XIAMETER brand. Using these executives monitors globally what contents are useful for them. Sunbelt Rentals uses Mobile SalesPro app which integrates several databases and systems for the sal es team. Hence this helps the sales team to stay up breast with the latest information on rental rates and availability of equipment. Answer 2 Operational efficiency is the ratio between the input that a business needs and the output which a business delivers. Inputs can be people, money or time. Outputs are new customers, money, innovation, speed, customer loyalty etc. (Kenneth, 2010, p.81). There are several reasons as to why a business should invest in information systems. 1. Operational excellence: Information helps managers to achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency in business operations. For example Wal-Mart uses a RetailLink system, which links their suppliers to all Wal-Mart's stores. When a customer purchases an item, the supplier knows that he has to ship a

Elizabethan society Essay Example for Free

Elizabethan society Essay At the end of the novel there can be seen to be a change of attitude of society towards Grenouille. Due to his amazing gift, Grenouille is able to create a scent that powerfully manipulates human emotion through preserving the aroma of the 25 virgin girls. At Grenouilles execution he reveals this scent and the whole town is overwhelmed by emotion. It is at this point in time that the townsfolk admire Grenouilles gift and because of their state of delirium, disregard Grenouilles crimes. It is here when Grenouille can be seen to be accepted into society. However, regardless of this Grenouille still perceives himself as an outsider. Grenouille believes that he is not loved for himself but for the perfume he created, he states; I have always found gratification in hatred, in hating and being hated, not love. He then decides to return to Paris upon finding that the satisfaction that he initially felt has transformed itself into self-hatred and disgust. In comparison to Othello the novel Perfume can be seen to be both similar and different in their representations of the Outsider. Like Grenouille, Othello is seen as an outsider because of his background. He is outcaste because of his race and his differing values due to past experiences. Grenouille can be seen to reflect this idea, as he is an outsider initially because of his background that challenges the norm of society at the time the novel was set. Another similarity that can be made between these two texts is that the perception of the outsider is perceived from society and also from within the outsider itself. Othello, even though quite underestimating at times, believes that he is inferior to the Venetians, he states; Happily for I am black and do not possess the soft parts of conversation chamberers have. Grenouille also perceives himself as an outsider and is aware of the unwelcoming presence he bestows upon others. The fact that Grenouille devotes his life to creating a scent that will make him accepted and valued in society shows how he is aware if this. Another likeness between Othello and Grenouille is that both characters share a differing attitude to women that makes them outsiders in society. They are both somewhat oblivious to women as a sexual commodity, or do not show the affiliation to what would be expected of them. Othello shows an unusually lack of affection or infatuation towards his wife Desdemona. Othello has just been married to a young, and beautiful woman but does not seem to be besotted with her at all. This can be compared to Grenouilles differing attitude to women. Although Grenouille does not have a rightful relationship towards the women he comes across, he is still obsessed with them, unlike Othello. The way Grenouille expresses this obsession or feeling, however, is still different to what would be expected of most adolescent men. Grenouille is not attracted physically to the women but is enthralled by them because of their scent. Grenouille can also be compared to Iago in the play Othello, as both are dismissive towards the values and ideologies of their context. Loyalty, love, reputation and honesty were all values of great importance in Elizabethan society. Iagos actions, however, derive from hate, vengeance and deceit. Yet Iago is still considered an insider in Venice and only chooses to disregard the values of society. Grenouille on the other hand is completely isolated from society and struggles for any kind of acceptance. His brutal actions that go against the values of 18th century France may be partially influenced by the fact that he was not introduced to the morals of society in the first place, due to this isolation. Grenouille, having seen no human affection or experienced any of the values we inherit from human interaction such as love and compassion, find it difficult to distinguish right from wrong in his actions. Another text that has enhanced my understanding of how the concept of the outsider can be portrayed is the short film The Story of Bubbleboy. The film was produced in 2006 for the annual Australian tropfest short film festival. It was directed by Sean Ashcroft, produced by Kristy Fransen and stars Andrew Supanz. The Story of Bubbleboy is a film about a man named Bubbleboy who is trapped in the past and redeemed by the future. Bubbleboy is a sad outsider who lives alone due to a fanatic phobia of pointed and sharp objects. He is so afraid that he results to wrapping everything, including himself, in bubble-wrap. He never ventures from his house because the outside world is too terrifying and he cannot comprehend his fears. The film tells the story of his self-imposed exile from the world and how one day, driven by dwindling supplies he ventures out. Bubbleboy, while growing more confident as his adventure draws to an end, is ironically stabbed in an ally way. However, having been stripped from his protective bubbles in his last moments, Bubbleboy finds salvation and feels connected with the world. Because of Bubbleboys fear and self imposed isolation, he is regarded as an outsider by society. He completely avoids human contact and is scorned by the community. Bubbleboy longs for belonging but cannot comprehend his fears. A particular scene in the novel that conveys this idea is the beginning segment where we are introduced to Bubbleboys way of life and how it differs greatly from that of society. Here, filming techniques are used to show that Bubbleboy is an outsider. A flashing mirage of everyday pointy items is shown while a narrator explains Bubbleboys situation. There is then a long shot of Bubbleboy wrapped from head to toe in bubble-wrap huddling in a corner of his home. This initiates the idea that he is definitely an outsider and is uncomfortable with his surroundings. Close-ups are used to show the trepidation on Bubbleboys face to emphasize this point. A panning shot is then used to show how every household item has been covered in bubble-wrap, emphasizing the intensity of the problem. A birds eye view is also used here of Bubbleboy moving uncomfortably through his home; this suggests that he is a victim and is clearly suffering from his phobia. To show how Bubbleboys fears cause him to be perceived as an outsider by the community is the use of dramatic contrast between the outside world and his own. A view from the inside of the house looking out into the street brings a striking contrast of lively colors. When this is compared to the insides of Bubbleboys house, which is mostly colored in grays, the fact that he is an outsider is emphasized. Two young girls ride past the house and stop mocking Bubbleboys strange appearance from the window. Bubble boy then shuts his curtain and disappears. The use of the window here also symbolizes the physical barrier between himself and society. Contrast is used in a further scene in the film when illustrating the differences of Bubbleboys lifestyle to that of people his own age. Here, Bubbleboy is seen looking longingly into the window of a house where a lively and entertaining dinner party is taking place. A camera angle is used to show how Bubbleboy is looking up into the scene creating a sense of his inferiority and isolation. There are then a series of flashing images back and forth between the vibrant and colorful party life, with Bubbleboys lonesome isolation, again reinforcing this idea. When Bubbleboy finally faces his fears and leaves the house, more techniques are used to show how new and trepidating this is for him due to his experience as an outsider. For example when he opens the door into the outside world, a blinding and foggy light is emitted suggesting the unknown. Once outside the house, Bubbleboy again contrasts greatly with his surroundings as his general appearance is confronting and obviously very odd. Close-ups are used to show the looks of mockery and confusion on the towns peoples faces to convey this idea. The attitudes towards Bubbleboy as an outsider may be seen to change towards the end of the film. When he is ironically stabbed on his way home from his healing journey his is stripped of his bubble-wrap protection. It is here when society can accept him as his true self is revealed. This is shown by a woman rushing to the aid of injured Bubbleboy, truly concerned for his wellbeing. Bubbleboys perceptions of himself as an outsider can also be seen to change. A narrators voice is used to explain that at that point, Bubbleboy finds salvation, and for the first time feels connected to the world once outside his shell. There are not many similarities to the play Othello as the short film is such a vastly different text. Though it is clear that both characters; Bubbleboy and Othello are perceived as outsiders by society. However, it is Othellos unforeseen and irrational actions that confirm his status as an outsider. While it is Bubbleboys out of the ordinary actions that enable him to be accepted into society. Also, Bubbleboy is portrayed to be a victim of the imposing views of society, as he is a lonely and lost character, but on the other hand Othello victimizes society itself when he undergoes the actions that make him an outsider. Evidently, the three texts; Othello, Perfume and The Story of Bubbleboy have all increased my understanding of the outsider as they illustrate a vast use of techniques and concepts that make a person an outsider in society.

Importance of Stakeholders in Curriculum Development

Importance of Stakeholders in Curriculum Development Curriculum development requires the input of different stakeholders such as teachers, school heads, parents, community members, students, district administrators and school boards. The role of the teachers involves defining different course components that are considered relevant, in line with the latest technological development in the education sector. In addition to developing the curriculum, teachers help in executing the curriculum development findings. Teachers continuously contribute to the development of school curriculums by developing periodic course teaching plans and giving consideration to the special needs of the students (Dillon, 2009). Therefore, having a good curriculum without the input of teachers cannot help in achieving the learning objectives and goals. Although modern technology is quickly finding its root into the education system, teachers still remain at the center of the students learning progress. In other words technology must be integrated into the curri culum but it cannot provide a perfect substitute for the roles played by teachers in curriculum development and the general learning process. The other important group of stakeholders is the school administrators. Their role in curriculum implementation cannot be underestimated since they are the people that monitor the implementation of the curriculum. In addition, they employ teachers (in the case of private schools). Furthermore, they are responsible for purchasing learning materials which is an essential requirement in curriculum implementation. In other words, school administrators may influence the extent to which the school curriculum is implemented by regulating the release of the necessary learning resources. The school administrators may get information from teachers, students and even the community regarding the success of the curriculum implementation process. In addition, they can also employ the services of professional to evaluate the performance of the curriculum. The parents on the other hand support and influence the implementation of the curriculum through financial resources, that is, payment of school fees. In addition, the parents may help in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the curriculum by keeping a close check at the lessons learnt in school and monitoring the childs home assignments (homework). Moreover, the parent may stand in the gap between the child and school administration by providing the student with resources that may be required in the curriculum but are not available in school. Furthermore, the parents may help teachers to monitor the behavior and social development of the child, especially for children with special education needs. The parents can get reliable information on curriculum development by enquiring from their children or by enquiring from the teachers or school administrators. In addition, professionals such as psychologists and social workers may offer contribution on the various ways of dealing with students with special needs. For instance, professional counselors may provide various useful options of dealing with student of foreign origin or those with disabilities. Community members can assist the school administration in the implementation of the curriculum by co-operating and providing the necessary resources that may not be available in the school setting but are found within the community setting. In addition, the community members can also volunteer and act as school board members. Other stake holders in the curriculum development include the government and the professional regulation commission that provides license to graduates of different colleges and universities. Professionals and community members can source information on curriculum development and progress from government reports on the performance of schools or by enquiring from teacher s, students and school administrators. Organization of Various Curriculum Development Stake Holders The parents are usually organized into parent association. All parents are required to register with the relevant parents association where they are required to democratically elect their leaders. The parents, through this association, give their views regarding the curriculum development to the district curriculum development team. The relevant professional body such as the district association of professional counselors and psychologists, through their advisory boards, also provides their recommendations and suggestions in the curriculum development process. On the other hand, teachers have organized themselves into curriculum drafting and evaluation teams. Such teams are usually charged with the responsibility of drafting, evaluating and amending the curriculum in line with the latest technological development in the education sector. In addition, the teachers curriculum teams are also involved in the evaluation of the output of the curriculum. The various groups work well because there exists a systematic way of engaging every stake holder in the curriculum development process. First and fore most, the teachers and the curriculum development leaders provide guidance and opinions regarding what should form the content of the curriculum. Because students spend most of their learning hours with the teachers, it is assumed that teachers understand the unique academic and social needs of the students better. The teachers start by analyzing the current curriculum, that is, the strengths and weaknesses and possible areas that needs to be amended. Thereafter, opinions from the parents, community leaders and other stake holders are considered before a final draft of the curriculum is compiled. The parents curriculum development team consists of all the members of the parents association teams. However, such parents are required to register with the district curriculum development committee before their views could be considered as valid. The members of the parents team are given the mandate to choose their leadership. Through the parents leadership team, their opinions are sought and taken into consideration by the district curriculum development team. Similarly, the professional counselors association is given the mandate to elect their leaders. However, the leadership of the professional bodies supporting the curriculum development process must be approved by the district curriculum development committee. This is because professional bodies acts as advisory agents on major policy issues related to curriculum development in schools. Therefore, the district curriculum development team must ensure that such professional bodies are led by a credible team. In addition, such professional bodies work closely with the teachers and curriculum development leaders during the evaluation of the curriculum and academic performance. Other community members such as community administrators and religious leaders are also answerable to the district curriculum development team. Such community leaders must however be registered for their concerns to be given attention by the curriculum development team. They are also required to elect their leaders through which their contributions are channeled to the district curriculum development team. In addition to the reports obtained from the various groups of stakeholders in the curriculum development process, the district curriculum development team organizes a curriculum development forum every year where all members of the public are welcome to participate. Such a forum is aimed at collecting information and concerns that may not have been handled by the existing and participating curriculum development stakeholders. In addition, the district curriculum development team has put in place structures that ensure that information flows from the various stake holders to the district curriculum team in an orderly manner. Although the development of the curriculum is the responsibility of all the stake holder (the parents, teachers, community members, members of professional bodies and the school administration), the execution or implementation of the curriculum is often left to the district curriculum development team, headed by the district director of curriculum, in collaborati on with teachers and school administration. Designing a Structure for Stakeholder Involvement In Curriculum Work The designing of a comprehensive structure for stakeholder involvement in curriculum work entails a careful consideration of various factors that contributes to effective learning process both inside and outside the classrooms. Because the size of my district is considerably large with a student population of 13,000, the curriculum development team must considerably be large in order to effectively represent the big student population. The leader of the district curriculum development team would be the district curriculum director who will be charged with the responsibility of chairing all the curriculum development committees as well as providing general direction and leadership in the curriculum development process in the district. In addition, there would be a curriculum director who shall deputize the district curriculum director and would help him/her in discharging his/her duties. The district curriculum development team would also comprise other curriculum development specialists in every subject area such as mathematics and science. Such curriculum specialists would help the district curriculum director in making important decisions during the curriculum development process. The district curriculum development team would seek information and fully engage professionals, parents, the community and other relevant stakeholders when designing the school curriculum. The district curriculum development team would organize for a curriculum development research week every year in which a continuous data collection and evaluation of curriculum in schools would be evaluated. Interview Questions The planned interview with the district curriculum director made the day unique. The interview, as scheduled, commenced at noon and took about three hours, ending at around three oclock in the afternoon. The material day for the interview was 2nd January, 2013. As the chief academic researcher in the district, responsible for careers and student development in high schools, the information from the interviewee, the district curriculum director and the findings of the interview would be very important in helping me to understand the role of different stakeholders in the curriculum development process. The first question of the interview was about the defining elements of a good curriculum. I found that putting focus on the academic development of the student was a key element in developing an effective student centered curriculum. The district curriculum director explained that all the stake holders including teachers, school heads and other professionals in the curriculum development process must put the student at the center of every step in curriculum development. In addition the curriculum director explained the importance of having in place a comprehensive curriculum leadership for a successful execution and implementation of the curriculum objectives. The director mentioned two main types of curriculum leadership, that is, static or managerial curriculum leadership and a dynamic kind of curriculum leadership. He went further to explain that static curriculum leaders try to produce a certain level of predictability and routine in the day to day operations of the school. On the other hand, a dynamic kind of curriculum leadership entails a continuous process of integrating critical thinking and modern technology in the development of a visionary and goal oriented curriculum. However, the director was quick to emphasize on the need to continuously focus on aligning the curriculum to suit the modern technologically advanced world, that is, employing the dynamic kind of curriculum leadership for the realization of a learner centered and progress oriented curriculum. He explained that although teachers and school heads enjoy independence in disseminating knowledge, they must remain conscious to the dynamic work place environments and information communication technology so that the learners may be effectively packaged to adapt to the technological dynamics of the modern world. The second question of the interview session was about which groups of people or stakeholders should be involved in the curriculum development process. The director stated that a good school curriculum should cover all aspects of learning, including academic, social and physical aspects. Therefore, all relevant groups of professionals and stakeholders should be involved in the development of a curriculum that meets the expectation of both the students and the community. He added that parents, teachers, school heads, social workers, psychologists and the community should all be involved in the curriculum development process. In addition, he pointed out the need to address the interest of students with special needs when developing the curriculum. For instance, students of foreign origin or those with disability must be accorded special consideration and care in their learning endeavor. However, the director noted that the curriculum development leader must be competent when coordinating and organizing various ideas into a comprehensive curriculum development policy statement. The other question of the interview was about how to gauge the effectiveness of a good school curriculum, that is, how to assess whether the curriculum is centered on the needs of the learner. Achieving a fruitful learning experience, he posed, should be the main objective of any curriculum developer or curriculum leader. In other words, the strength of a good curriculum development does not lie in the number of policy statements it contains but it does lie in the ultimate classroom experience gained by the learner. In response to the question that was seeking a clarification on the best method to engage the input of all teachers in the curriculum development process, the district curriculum director explained that a new method of training some teachers to be curriculum development leaders is quickly gaining acceptance. Such an approach ensures that those teachers who have undergone such training shares the skills with their colleagues hence effectively disseminating curriculum devel opment skills to all teachers. The findings of the interview were found to be in line with the class readings. For instance, Wiles (2008), explains the importance of curriculum development leadership in the development of a good curriculum. He further pointed out that static curriculum leadership entails the maintenance of all the programs that are already in place. In addition, he emphasized that curriculum leadership should target the impartation of specific, knowledge, attitude and behaviors for students and at the same time help in engineering the school programs to achieve all important aspects of the learning process. Wiles added that curriculum developers should embrace change as an essential variable in the curriculum development process. In other words, curriculum development should be the principle guide to all other activities carried out in the school program. As pointed out in the interview, a more advanced approach to curriculum development where some teachers pursue special training in curriculum development and thereafter work closely with colleagues is gaining momentum. Such an approach is more effective since the curriculum leaders work both as teachers and curriculum developers (Wiles, 2008). In addition, a good curriculum development team must include teachers, community leaders and parents as analyzed during the interview. Furthermore, for the curriculum to be managed effectively there must be a detailed plan showing the time periods within which various curriculum targets are to be achieved and the roles of every participant in the curriculum development and management process. Tallerico (2012) emphasizes on the need of curriculum development leaders to provide direction .Furthermore, the curriculum leader must continuously monitor and review the outcome of the curriculum management and where possible draw up a control program. In general, the interview findings informed me on the importance of an effective curriculum in the execution of learning objectives. In addition, a dynamic approach to curriculum development is more suitable for a learner centered curriculum development because such an approach takes into account the modern technological advancement when developing the curriculum (Dillon, 2009). Furthermore, the interview informed me of the need to involve parents, teachers, school heads, the community and all other stakeholders in the curriculum development process. In addition, the interview findings further stressed on the need to have a continuous evaluation framework that helps in analyzing the success of the developed school curriculum in satisfying the learners needs.

Analysis On Bharati Mukherjee English Literature Essay

Analysis On Bharati Mukherjee English Literature Essay In turn, Mukherjee lays claim to an America that is both constantly transforming, and transformed by, the new immigrant. As the title of her short stories collection The Middle Man and Other Stories (1988) suggests, each protagonist from a different part of the world functions as a mediator of cultures, negotiating the two-way transformation (Mukherjee, AUP 141) of either an expatriate or immigrant experience in America. That the collection won the National Book Critics Circle Award undeniably affirms the appeal of such a Maximalist narrative strategy professing to give an equal voice to each immigrant group. On further analysis, however, it is clear that Mukherjees representation of a fluid American (trans)national identity influenced by diversity is ultimately predicated on the foregrounding of differences. Despite Mukherjees call for America to go beyond multiculturalism in its treatment of new immigrants, her own postcolonial immigrant subjectivity-inevitably shaped by her elite British and American educational background-remains aligned with white hegemony, which continues to hierarchize its immigrants on the bases of ethnicity, class and gender. After all, Mukherjee specifically reveals in Jasmine that [e]ducated people are interested in difference (33). Keeping Mukherjees explicitly stated literary agendas in mind, this chapter will attempt to examine the ironies in Mukherjees postcolonial subjectivity in the novel Jasmine and the two short stories A Wifes Story and The Tenant, both from The Middleman and Other Stories collection. Radical alterity of India From the vantage point of a successful female intellectual in America, Mukherjee disavows India precisely because its repressive patriarchy severely limits womens opportunities in life, insofar as the sanctity of womens lives is largely disregarded and constantly endangered. However, feudal compliance was [precisely] what still kept India an unhealthy and backward nation (Mukherjee, Jasmine 77). This necessitates that Mukherjees heroines break the vicious cycle of being locked into arranged marriages that technically seal their fates with violent subjugation. In Mukherjees short story The Tenant, Mayas claim that [a]ll Indian men are wife beaters (99) may be an exaggeration, but the more disturbing revelation is that the grooms mother was absolute tyrant of the household (Mukherjee, Jasmine 147) in India. Indeed, generations of Indian women have also been physically abusing female subordinates deemed to have transgressed patriarchal norms. Yet, when meted out to any woman who defends or is interested in the pursuit of an education, such domestic violence is clearly a violation of basic human rights, unjustified to an America that champions the inalienable rights of every individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In Jasmine, Jyotis mother suffers strikes from her husband because she supports Jyotis aspiration to continue her studies and become a doctor. In the short story A Wifes Story, Pannas mother is beaten by her illiterate mother-in-law because she enrolled in French class at the Alliance Franà §aise. The fact that even these Brahmin wives are not spared the rod underscores that physical violence against women cuts across the entire caste system, denying all women personal and professional progress. These scenarios emphatically portray the radical alterity of India, insofar as it becomes utterly incomprehensible to Americans who privilege individualism and gender egalitarianism. Aligned with these values, Mukherjee attempts to consolidate her status approval from the American market by positioning herself not as [an] advantaged inside[r] of Asian culture but as similarly disadvantaged as [her] Anglo readers in finding that Asian component bizarre, distasteful, and difficult to comprehend (Shirley Lim, AG 161) as well. As Mukherjee reveals, it is necessary to give Jasmine a society that was so regressive, traditional, so caste-bound, genderist, that she could discard it (IMC 19) in exchange for a rebirth in America. In exposing the oppression inherent in Indias patriarchal structure, Mukherjee situates her decolonizing impulse as one that embraces emancipation in America, a land that seemingly affords women endless opportunities to attain self-actualization. Beyond pervasive domestic violence, even sectarian violence in post-independence India is targeted at women at some levels. In Jasmine, the Khalsa Lions are a Sikh fundamentalist group that conflates political and religious agendas to commit terrorist attacks against its detractors. Because Prakash does not believe that the sovereignty of modern India should be jeopardized by religious differences, and because Jasmine is deemed whorish (Mukherjee, Jasmine 65) for being Prakashs modern Hindu wife, they both become victims of the Khalsa Lions bombing. The death of Prakash, a progressive Indian man who serves as Mukherjees mouthpiece for rejecting feudalism, is significant. It convinces Jasmine that there is nothing else redeeming about strife-ridden and regressive India, and that her only alternative is to go alone to America, without job, husband, or papers (Mukherjee, Jasmine 97) to complete Prakashs mission. Jasmines conception of this mission is to commit sati, the traditional but now illegal Hindu ritual of widow self-immolation, at the Florida International Institute of Technology where Prakash had earned a place to study. However, Gurleen Grewal points out that despite Jasmines apparent antipathy toward Indian cultural life, her commitment to the extreme practice of sati ironically suggests otherwise (Born Again American 189). This contradiction is unfathomable even to Indian readers, let alone American ones. After all, Prakashs respectful and relatively egalitarian treatment of Jasmine does not necessitate that she make such a violent sacrifice. This calls into question Mukherjees purpose for narrativizing Jasmines single-minded resolve to commit sati and make America the place [she] had chosen to die, on the first day if possible (Jasmine 120). Compared to mere domestic violence against Indian women, sati symbolizes a classic instance of Orientalism that depicts Indian cultural inscrutability in a more sensationalistic manner to justify Mukherjees disavo wal of the old country. Jasmines intended transplantation of this archaic practice to modern America is thus a powerful juxtaposition that exposes the cultural incongruity in her nascent immigrant subjectivity. In order to effectively negotiate the crossing over from India to America, this incongruity undeniably requires ironing out. Violence in America Ironically, rape marks Jasmines entry into America, indicating that violence is never far from the threshold of the postcolonials consciousness (Dayal 78) regardless of her physical location. In terms of identity politics, the rapist Half-Face, a Vietnam War veteran, represents a masculine America whose aggression toward a feminized Asia presupposes the latters passive submission. Yet, Jasmines incarnation as Kali-a Hindu goddess possessing destructive violence-to murder Half-Face epitomizes the paradigm, as Rita DasGupta Sherma notes, that the female subjects alignment with a powerful goddess can serve to subvert conventional power structures (cited in Kafka 94). Importantly, that Jasmine decidedly aborts the mission of self-immolation only after she kills Half-Face is Mukherjees narrative strategy to reinforce the necessity of annihilating disempowering cultural practices associated with the old country in order to remake oneself (Jasmine 29) in the new world. With the killing of H alf-Face, as Timothy Ruppel argues, Jasmine passes from innocence and enacts a radical break, suggesting a form of resistance that is contingent, disruptive, and strategic (187). Indeed, this violent initiation rite has effectively bestowed upon Jasmine an assertive self-agency and self-reliance necessary for survival in America. Recalling that back in India Jasmine could only beseech the policeman to kill Prakashs murderer, her phenomenal capability to kill the perpetrator of her rape in America is an irrevocable transformation. In the end, Jasmine only executes a symbolic sati, burning the suitcase containing Prakashs suit and her own white widow sari in the trash bin. The completion of this ritual signifies Jasmines desire of traveling light in America, in spite of its apparent violence, to wholeheartedly attune herself to the speed of transformation, the fluidity of American character and the American landscape (Mukherjee, Jasmine 121, 138). American Orientalism Although the Orientalism that Edward Said posits does not deal with an Other situated in the West, Yasuko Kase suggests that the Asian American functions as the Other in what she calls American Orientalism (795). Mukherjee also portrays her female protagonists as Asian objects (of desire) subjected to the white gaze, although each of them responds to this exoticization differently. In A Wifes Story, Panna Patels immediate reaction to the line-[Patel women] look like theyve just been fucked by a dead cat (26)-in David Mamets play Glengarry Glen Ross is to leave and write the playwright a letter. With her people and, in particular, her gender made the butt of a racist joke in America, Panna confronts the ambivalence of her visible minority status: Its the tyranny of the American dream that scares me. First, you dont exist. Then youre invisible. Then youre funny. Then youre disgusting. Insult, my American friends will tell me, is a kind of acceptance. No instant dignity here. A play like this, back home, would cause riots. Communal, racist, and antisocial. The actors wouldnt make it off stage. (Mukherjee, AWS 26) Recognizing that she is an Asian female, Panna understands that American Orientalism manifested in cultural productions, even at its crudest, is best taken with a pinch of salt. In comparison, the violent intolerance expected in India toward such derogatory remarks seems to reflect a Third World barbarism and lack of restraint. Having successfully, albeit only temporarily, broken free from the oppressions in India to pursue a doctorate degree in America, Panna assumes that postcolonialism has made her the[] referee (Mukherjee, AWS 27) of both worlds because of her transnational mobility. However, to believe that this is an achievement great enough for David Mamet to be a little afraid (Mukherjee, AWS 29) of South Asians in America, instead of being condescending in his Orientalist representation of the latter, is overly delusional on Pannas part. Mukherjee is evidently being ironic here, but it is perhaps necessary for Panna to dismiss American Orientalism in order to recuperate the dignity of her Indian identity, considering that she is only an expatriate for whom the return to India remains a very real possibility. However, Jasmine, the illegal immigrant in the novel Jasmine, responds to the hegemonic exertion of American Orientalism in a strikingly different manner. To be sure, Yasuko Kase suggests that critics should not be too quick to accuse Asian American writers who appear to accommodate American Orientalism of being unauthentic or selling out (797, 797) without first evaluating how this may be a survival strategy for minority groups. Significantly, Jasmine realizes that Orientalist binaries deployed to stereotype her are assets, rather than liabilities, that facilitate her transition into American life: Bud courts me because I am alien. I am darkness, mystery, inscrutability. The East plugs me into instant vitality and wisdom (Mukherjee, Jasmine 200). Empowered by her exotic sexuality that successfully mesmerizes the white American male, Jasmine quickly gains entry into the American middle class. Jasmines foreign femininity serves to domesticate racial difference (Bow, Betrayal 30) in th e Ripplemeyer household, where the wheelchair-bound Bud is physically and emotionally reliant on her, inasmuch as Jasmine astutely panders to Buds desires by facilely switching her role between caregiver and temptress (Mukherjee, Jasmine 36). Indeed, Gurleen Grewal highlights that Jasmine readily complies as the exotic Other [because] this compliance is her ticket to the American Dream (Born Again American 191). More importantly, however, this compliance entails the conscious silencing of aspects of the old country that unsettle the American. As a quick stud[y] (Mukherjee, Jasmine 29) of the process of assimilation, Jasmine recognizes that America ultimately has the upper hand in deciding what it finds fascinatingly or frighteningly exotic about the Asian female, in turn dictating which fragments of her Indian identity she should discard. While this (re)affirms the hegemony of the metropolitan center in which Jasmine now finds herself, it is also Mukherjees means of asserting unapologetically that any form of lingering entanglement with the old world is tantamount to the immigrants betrayal of America. Effectively, then, Mukherjee strategically resorts to Orientalism to prove how un-Oriental she is (Ma 14) and how the immigrant ought to embrace America wholeheartedly. Just as Bud and Mrs. Ripplemeyer are uncomfortable with Jasmines stories of poverty and backwardness in India, so Jasmine also remains uncritical of Bud assuming the white mans burden-originally the Wests rationalization for colonizing and civilizing the backwaters of the East-to save Asia. It is ironic that Jasmine seems genuinely unaware of Buds Orientalist impulse in adopting Du, a Vietnamese refugee. If Bud symbolizes an American nation whose foreign policy is indicative of its positioning as the current imperium of the world, then his interventionist act clearly enacts the extension of Americas neocolonial grasp to an Asia-as represented by Du-that is in need of social uplift by American standards. This is evident from Bud feeling gratified, but not that impressed (Mukherjee, Jasmine 155) when Du exhibits a creative affinity with the American technology made available to him. However, Jasmines idealistic naÃÆ' ¯vetà © leads her to believe that it is [e]xtravagant love tugging at Buds conscience to atone (Mukherjee, Jasmine 228) for his comfortable American life that Asia is deprived of. Jasmine romanticizes Buds altruism in part because her tumultuous immigrant experience makes her envy the straightforwardness of Buds middle-class life. Nevertheless, Rajini Srikanth is perplexed that Mukherjee finds it necessary for American writers to probe into the severity of global injustices simply because she is complacently confident that American institutions can effectively redress these injustices (211). This idealistic view of America explains why Mukherjee ultimately skirts around the political implications of Buds humanitarian deeds, leaving Jasmine to celebrate the impacted glories of individual consciousness (Mukherjee, OBAW) instead. Consequently, Mukherjees unquestioning appropriation of (American) Orientalism reveals her complicit alignment with an i mperialist attitude that continues to view the West and the East in the Manichean allegory of binaristic oppositions. Further, through deploying the trope of abject suffering in the old country to accentuate the validity of the Asian immigrants self-actualization in the United States, Mukherjee over-valorizes the recuperative and salvific modernity (Walter Lim 10) of America. In A Wifes Story, Charity Chins uncle is a first-generation Chinese American who escapes the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 into the safety of America. Yet, the ellipses between his initial arrival and his eventual success as a gift store owner in New York can hardly be satisfactorily accounted for by Pannas reductive evaluation that though he doesnt speak much English, he seems to have done well (Mukherjee, AWS 31). Just as Amy Tan has elided the first-generation Chinese American mothers adaptation in America in the novel The Joy Luck Club, Mukherjee is also silent about the conditions of successful assimilations (Grewal, Indian-American Literature 100) in her portrayal of some Asian immigrants. It seems that Mukherjees idealization of the American Dream supersedes any critical need to examine how the underclass immigrant without the relevant symbolic and cultural capital copes with the demands of America. Similarly, Jasmines explanation that Dus doing well [in America] because he has always trained with live ammo, without a net, with no multiple choice [in Vietnam] (Mukherjee, Jasmine 214) also postulates an assumed cultural superiority that the First World abundance of America is a panacea for Third World deprivations. Yet, Mukherjee fails to address how suffering in the Third World, in effect, transnationally translates into the form of racial discrimination in America. Rather, Jasmines claim that prior suffering must count for something (Mukherjee, Jasmine 32) seems to imply that suffering is a prerequisite for the immigrants civic legitimacy in America. While Rajini Srikanth contends that this is a dangerous and morally untenable position of endorsing discriminatory practices as aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rite of pa ssage to share in the nations founding ideals (212-3), the trope of abject suffering in the Third World helps Mukherjee ratify the narrative of Asian immigrant desire that America offers salvation and unlimited opportunities for the Third World immigrant seeking liberation. Repudiating Purity of Culture In her short story Two ways to Belong in America published in the New York Times in 1996, Mukherjee highlights the crucial difference between herself and her sister Mira. While both of them have lived in America for decades, Miras retention of Indian citizenship is a clear sign that she is in America to maintain an identity, not to transform it (Mukherjee, TWBA). Mukherjees quarrel with such resistance toward assimilation finds vivid expression in Jasmine through her portrayal of the Vadhera household, Jasmines initial host family in the Punjabi ghetto of Flushing, Queens. The self-sufficient ethnic enclave constructs an artificially maintained Indianness for the immigrant to comfortably bunker oneself inside nostalgia (Mukherjee, Jasmine 145, 85) in order to safeguard Indian culture. Such conscious alienation illustrates a coping strategy to mitigate the underlying difficulty of immigrant life in ethnic ghettoes that Mukherjee, however, chooses to overlook in favor of foregrounding Jasmines transformations in America. Significantly, the revelation that Devinder Vadhera, once Prakashs professor in India, now depends on the menial labor of sorting imported human hair for a living elicits not sympathy, but shame, from Jasmine. It convinces Jasmine all the more that the green card is her passport to the pursuit of happiness, and that if she remains stuck in this neighborhood, she will be doomed to die from unnamed, unfulfilled wants (Mukherjee, Jasmine 148). Here, the allusion to Betty Friedans 1963 social commentary The Feminine Mystique, in which she diagnoses the sense of emptiness and entrapment felt by suburban housewives across postwar America as [the] problem that has no name (20), is clear. By conflating Jasmines underclass predicament with that of middle-class American women, Mukherjee seems to suggest that Jasmine, at this point just a newly arrived illegal immigrant, possesses the same sensibility that stands her in good stead to achieve the kind of lib eration that her American sisters have enjoyed since the success of the womens movement. Jasmines decision to leave the Vadheras conveniently eschews any serious debunking of the American Dream, which discriminates on the basis of social class. Jasmines dramatic elevation from a village girl to a professional (Mukherjee, Jasmine 175) caregiver is unquestioningly celebrated as the miracle of the American Dream. In stark contrast, Mukherjees representation of the Vadheras bears no empathetic critique of the grim reality of deprofessionalization plaguing many South Asian immigrants, whose professional credentials acquired back home are either not translatable to or devaluated in the American context. Instead, Mukherjees disavowal of India is fleshed out equally, if not more strongly through her dismal portrayal of the Vadheras as cowardly Indian immigrants resistant to change. Effectively, then, the Vadheras are scapegoats for Mukherjee to emphasize that honorable survival requires res ilience, curiosity, and compassion, a letting go of rigid ideas about the purity of inherited culture (BM 456), harkening back to her conviction that immigrants ought to embrace their American identity. On the other hand, living on the cutting edge of suburbia (103) but similarly bunkered inside nostalgia are the Chatterjis in Mukherjees short story The Tenant. Immune to the deprofessionalization which debases Devinda Vadheras American life, Rab Chatterji is a Physics professor while his wifes nephew Poltoo is a postgraduate student at Iowa State University. Their personal success makes them Americas model minority from which other lesser minority groups are expected to learn, but Grewal points out that [a]mong the insidious effects of this pronouncement are the stereotyping of an Asian character' (Indian-American Literature 98) that, I posit, does not extend beyond the Asian immigrants economic value, or the lack thereof, to America. The notion of model minority already presupposes the hyphenated identity of the Indian immigrant, even if s/he is already a naturalized American. This clearly runs counter to Mukherjees identification of herself as an American without hyphens (Mukherje e, BM 460). For this reason, Mukherjee satirically exposes all the Chatterjis Indian traits that make them undeserving American citizens. Mukherjee first repudiates Dr. Chatterji, who only wants to live and work in America but give back nothing except taxes (Mukherjee, TT 106). Dr. Chatterjis valorization of Indian Standard Time and criticism of Americans constant race against time further exemplifies an absurd sense of Indian superiority that puts him on a pedestal of three thousand years plus civilization, sophistication, moral virtue, over people born [in America] (Mukherjee, TT 102). In line with Mukherjees own distaste for the uneasy aggregate of antagonistic them and us' (Mukherjee, BM 459), Maya, the female protagonist, cannot relate to Dr. Chatterjis ridiculous rhetoric. In turn, the Chatterjis retention of Brahmin demeanor precludes them from embracing American multiculturalism and hybridity at any meaningful level. Although they live in a middle-class neighborhood accommodating people of different colors (Mukherjee, TT 103), the only sign of multicultural interaction is Mrs. Chatterji perfunctorily playing ball with a Korean or Cambodian child next door at best. Beyond that, the Chatterjis have neither the open-mindedness nor desire for any more intimate interethnic mingling. That Poltoo is contemplating marriage outside the Brahminic pale-to a Negro Muslim (Mukherjee, TT 103, 106) at that-thus threatens to contaminate the purity of the lineage. Mrs. Chatterji is counting on divine intervention to avert this disaster, while leaving the locked-up Poltoo feeling crazy, thwarted, [and] lost (Mukherjee, TT 105). The perverse repression of Poltoos desires is both antithetical to the American ideal of free will and anachronistic in the American modernity of progress. Mukherjees representation of how this so-called model minority functions in America thus easily makes the Chatterjis a more dishonorable bunch of Indian immigrants than the Vadheras, at the same time that it makes a highly charged statement of her own rejection of a hyphenated American identity. Beyond Multiculturalism Moving beyond her harsh critique of Indian immigrants who resist assimilation, Mukherjee attempts to consolidate her status as an America writer by strategically expanding the scope of her literary project to wage a crusade against multiculturalism. Rather than encouraging unhyphenated assimilation, multiculturalism, as Mukherjee argues, emphasizes differences between racial heritages (Mukherjee, BM 459) and discounts how the experiences of new Americans from non-traditional immigrant countries (Mukherjee, IW 28) also constantly contribute to the American socio-cultural fabric. The ambition to create a postethnic America culminates in Mukherjees assertion: To reject hyphenization is to demand that the nation deliver the promises of the American Dream and the American Constitution to all its citizens. I want nothing less than to invent a new vocabulary that demands, and obtains, an equitable power-sharing for all members of the American community. (BM 460) There is, first and foremost, no question about Mukherjees representation of the United States as the ultimate end of Asian immigrant desire. Yet, despite Mukherjees high-flown rhetoric of eradicating multiculturalism, her literary representation of immigrants who are not of South Asian origins only further reinforces this hegemonic structure and reaffirms the existence of an immigrant hierarchy where differences are emphasized and [identities are] fixed into a static notion of alterity (Ponzanesi 47). This jarring discrepancy is vividly highlighted in Jasmine when Jasmine is quick to set her own Americanization apart from Dus, in spite of their common desire to assimilate. Jasmine claims that [her] transformation has been genetic; Dus was hyphenated (Mukherjee, Jasmine 222), as though this is validated just because she is pregnant with Bud Ripplemeyers child, whereas Du is merely an adopted Vietnamese refugee. More importantly, it implies Jasmines identification with the hegemonic Orientalist inclination to be so full of wonder at how fast [Du] became American, only to marginalize him as a hybrid (Mukherjee, Jasmine 222, 222) whose assimilation into American society can never legitimately be considered full-fledged. As Verhoeven posits, the politics of ethnic representation is ultimately no more and no less than the privileging of the ethnic self over the ethnic other (n. pag.). Given that Mukherjees immigrant subjectivity is inextricably tied to her own elite background as a Brah min and as an intellectual in American academe, it is perhaps inescapable that ethnocentricity also features in her depiction of immigrants who are not from South Asia. At the expense of Du, then, Jasmine gets away as a very special case (Mukherjee, Jasmine 135), considering that other characters readily validate her full assimilation. The unqualified relegation of Du to the peripheries as a Vietnamese-American underscores Mukherjees double standard in the treatment of both characters. By simply using the word hyphenated (Mukherjee, Jasmine 222) to conclude the formation of Dus American identity and by referring to Chinese Americans as Orientals (Mukherjee, AWS 29) in her short stories, Mukherjee thus posit[s] a system of easily recognizable forms of identity and difference' (Roy 129) that precisely reflects and endorses the exclusionary underpinnings of multiculturalism. Indeed, such a position from which Mukherjee entertains the immigrant issues of class and ethnicity renders her quest for an equitable power-sharing for all members of the American community (Mukherjee, BM 460) untenable. Ultimately, then, Mukherjees Maximalist approach toward the immigrant experience in American literature is self-defeating. The difficulty undeniably involved in representing all immigrant groups accurately and authentically makes the credibility of Mukherjees following claim suspect: Perhaps it is [my] history-mandated training in seeing myself as the other that now heaps on me a fluid set of identities denied to most of my mainstream American counterparts. That training, in our ethnic- and gender-fractured world of contemporary fiction, allows me without difficulty to enter lives, fictionally, that are manifestly not my own. Chameleon-skinned, I discover my material over and across the country, and up and down the social ladder. (IW 29) Albeit apparently inclusionary, Mukherkees Maximalist credo merely inherits the exclusionary connotations (Chanadry 434, 434) of multiculturalism as far as her literary representation of non-South Asian immigrants is concerned. Even with the best of intentions to propose an alternative model to multiculturalism, Mukherjee, by virtue of her own elite immigrant status, is not exempt from the tendency to reinscribe the minority group immigrant back into the hegemonic rhetoric of difference and otherness. Conclusion Finally, the spotlight is ultimately focused on the individuality of the Indian immigrant in fashioning her own life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the free country' (Mukherjee, Jasmine 239). The immigrant subjectivity that each female protagonist advantageously adopts is aptly encapsulated by Jasmines declaration: I am not choosing between men. I am caught between the promise of America and old-world dutifulness (Mukherjee, Jasmine 240). While Mukherjee justifies the disavowal of the old world by means of the Manichean allegory that juxtaposes India and America in binaristic oppositions, the more important revelation is that the postcolonial immigrant is also free to reject aspects of America exemplifying failed idealism (Mukherjee, TT 108). If the female immigrants search for a fluid yet empowering American (trans)national identity depends partly on the (white) male with whom she is romantically involved, then wheelchair-bound Bud and armless Fred symbolize a freak (Mukh erjee, TT 112) America that must be abandoned as well. Maya is sure that Freds world will not end with her departure, while Jasmine feels potent (Mukherjee, Jasmine 12) in saving Bud by not marrying him. Through this reversal of power, Mukherjee aligns her female protagonists with a sense of hegemonic benevolence toward the inferior. With Jasmine choosing Taylor for his world, its ease, its careless confidence and graceful self-absorption (Mukherjee, Jasmine 171) and Maya choosing Ashoke Mehta for his adoration of idealism and abhorrence of smugness, passivity, caste system (Mukherjee, TT 109, 109), it is evident that Mukherjees literary agenda is ultimately underwritten by her inclination to embrace and valorize an ideal America that is capacious of fulfilling the immigrants desires. (4682words, excluding subheadings (18))