Abstract This paper discusses the problems of ethnocentricity and cultural baggage in anthropology using the huge difference in Mead and Freeman's research on adolescence in Samoa as an example.
From the Paper "One of the cornerstones of anthropological thinking is the idea that in studying a society it is important not to judge it by our own standards but to try to understand it from its members? cultural viewpoint. By avoiding ethnocentricity we see the irrelevance of comparing or, even worse, ranking societies by how "westernised" they are (for example GNP, cars per capita, literacy rates etc). However, even if we can get past the "we are right, they are wrong" view of other societies, it is impossible to completely put aside our own cultural upbringing and preconceptions. Geertz (1988) states that, however much one tries, it is impossible for an anthropologist's writing to escape the influence of his/her social and educational background. This "cultural baggage" may not be obvious to an audience with a similar background but as the author's own society changes it becomes more obvious. Evans-Pritchard, in his work with the Azande, was one of the first anthropologists to make a deliberate effort to understand the validity of his subjects? beliefs and practices from their cultural viewpoint but to a modern reader his colonial era attitudes and prejudices are clear. Even something as fundamental as language forms part of our cultural baggage."
Abstract This paper examines how a primary theme of "The Things They Carried" is baggage and burdens - both physical and mental in nature. It looks at how the things that the characters carry in the story function in both a literal and figurative nature. While all of the characters carry heavy physical loads during the war, they also carry heavy emotional loads, such as love, sadness, longing, and of course, fear. It also discusses how the physical loads that the characters carry throughout the story have certain significance to the emotional baggage that each character carries.
From the Paper "The characters in "The Things They Carried" possessed emotional baggage from the start of the war, as was evident in the letters that Jimmy Cross carried, and the New Testament that Kiowa carried, which connected to their pre-war lives. However, with war came emotional baggage that occurred during the war, on top of the previous burdens that the characters may have experienced. Jimmy Cross was a leader of a group of men at war, however when Tim Lavender, a young, scared soldier who embodied the fear that all of the soldiers shared, died, Jimmy Cross felt a great amount of responsibility for it. Cross felt that his longing for love and his obsession with Martha's letters got in the way of him being able to do his job correctly, and the fact that Lavender's death was preventable (which also displayed how expendable lives are in war), made Cross change forever. "
Abstract This paper examines how for many years, ships were the only means of travel between many parts of the world and therefore, were a major means of transportation. Today, air travel has become the preferred means of travel, especially when there is a need to travel long distances and one is short of time. It looks at how point-to-point steamship travel may connect one to one's destination, but this mode of transport is by no means as popular as is sailing purely for pleasure, on a cruise. Cruise travel is usually a round trip and is considered as a total unit, while point-to-point steamship travel is undertaken between two or more ports.
Outline
Introduction
Then and Now
Air Travel or Ship Cruise?
Booking and Overbooking
Delayed and Cancelled Flights
Check-In
Baggage Cost
Frequent Flyer Programs
Customer Satisfaction
The Cabin
Seating for Dinner
Food
Entertainment, Fun and Games
Massage and Beauty Parlors
Shore Excursions
Safety
Health
Travel Insurance
From the Paper "Today, the scene has changed, and cruise lines are bringing their ships nearer home. Cruises of short duration are now to be had for the asking, are more affordable than ever before, and cater largely to the younger crowd. Some lines cater to the singles groups, some to honeymooners, and some to families with reduced rates. Nearly 40% of all first-time passengers are under 34, and 62% are under 55. Plenty of ships now sail out from ports like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Los Angeles, as well as from New Orleans, Tampa, Galveston and San Diego. The addition of many new departure points from the U.S. mean that your ports of call are almost unlimited, and that one can drive up to a cruise, altogether eliminating the hassles of air travel such as airport queues, foreign airports and immigration lines. This is especially relevant, given the implementation of new and often frustrating airport security checks."
Abstract This paper critiques two air cargo related articles, "Best and the Brightest" by William DeCota, and "U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Approves Telair International Blast-Resistant Baggage Container" by Teleflex Incorporated. It looks at how the first article argues that containers have helped the air cargo industry grow, and the second article discusses new container technology. It explores how, although the aviation industry is very well-known for transporting people, the air cargo service is becoming more attractive to shippers as aircraft's capacity, frequency of lifts, handling facilities, and number of service locations increases.
From the Paper "Containerization protected the cargo on both the ground and while in flight from things like shift damage, theft, and weather. But, because containers put the entire cargo in one centralized canister, containerization actually made it easier for thieves to steal an entire cargo as opposed to if the shipment were split and most container damage occurs because of overcrowded conditions that force cargo to be stacked above recommended heights or re-positioned frequently. Nonetheless, the industry has been able to standardize air cargo and from the invention of containers the cargo industry has grown."
Abstract An attempted character analysis of this very evasive character of the book. Even though the book is named for her, the character only appears a third of the way through the book. A look at many critical evaluations of this complex character with heavy emotional baggage and a disturbed family history. Sula's character lets us see both the realities of a black woman's life and reflections of the possibilities of the meanings of divinity that exist within all our lives.
From the Paper "Toni Morrison does not give us easy answers as we attempt to analyze the character of Sula. Sula is the title character in the novel Sula and yet she only appears in about the middle third of the book. Sula is a black woman, very much a character who is aware of her self and her own process, which is continually in motion. It is perhaps easier to say what she isn"t than what she is. She is not a static predictable character. She does not meet with the approval of the community and she does not care. She cannot be called a good, or caring or giving person. Sula is neither passive nor innocent. She is active, involved in life and though she is amoral, she doesn"t fit into dualistic categories of good or evil. In fact her contradictions make us realize that we must look beyond our dualistic perceptions to understand her. She is much more concerned about her self than about anybody else, yet she is very much aware of herself in relation, or more often non-relation, to others. As others analyze her character, she serves as a catalyst for leading her fellow humans, both inside and outside the novel to analyze themselves."
Abstract This paper looks at the emotional undercurrent in the plot of this novel. The book focuses on the gift of a young boy to see dead people and foretell events. It compares the gift of this boy to the problems his psychiatrist has. The writer analyzes these characters and the special bond formed between them as they share their emotional baggage.
From the Paper "?I see dead people,? says Cole. This "problem" forms the crux of the book The Sixth Sense. The tale is a simple ghost story in many ways. It tells the story of a young boy who lives under difficult and unusual circumstances because he possesses a kind of gift of extrasensory perceptions. The is the child of a single mother and is ostracized at school. He begins seeing a child psychologist, a Dr. Malcolm Crowe, because the boy's visions are assumed, by the unknowing world to be a manifestation of psychological difficulties."
Abstract This paper reviews the Vietnam War novel "The Things They Carried" by Tim Obrien, which analyzes the emotional baggage carried by the grunts. The paper points out that, in addition to physical objects, the soldiers carried madness, delusions, hallucinations, grudges. The author feel that whether the stories comprising the novel are literally true is irrelevant, because the emotions behind them are true.
From the Paper "The baggage the soldiers discarded and acquired in country is as significant as the baggage they brought with them. Once again, in "The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong"?the greenies are the antithesis of John Wayne's Green Berets. Those green berets were clean-shaven men. Men who slept in pajamas, on mattresses. Men who adopted dirty faced orphans with puppies and baseball caps. Men who protected the indigenous elderly, weak and infirm. Men who died almost soundlessly , bloodlessly, and always valiantly and never stupidly. Those recruiting poster green berets carried with them every western value ascribed to a fighting man by their countrymen from truth, justice and the American Way to baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet."
Abstract This paper looks at how Harriet Beecher Stowe, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" effectively portray the ugliness and evil of slavery by comparing and contrasting the two works.
From the Paper "Both Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass have revealed to the world the true evils of slavery; however, they do so in different ways. In Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, it is not her voice that tells the reader just how evil slavery is; rather, she allows the reader to deduce this on his or her own through the stories of slaves in Kentucky. Stowe uses the characters in her novel to express her opinions on slavery. For instance, in Chapter XII, Stowe describes a scene on a boat on which the trader Haley is transporting his slaves (or as he refers to them, his "merchandise") (1822). In the cabin above, a young boy remarks about the "negro trader on board" and his "four or five slaves" who have "got chains on" (1822). A lady then comments: ?What a shame to our country that such sights are to be seen!? (1822). Stowe expresses this sentiment through the voice of a white woman, perhaps because she believes that is the only way she will be heard."
Abstract This paper explores how children with gender dysphoria, who will, as adolescents and adults, form what is known as the sexual minority group, represent a particularly needy segment of the minority population. It explains that, unlike many other minorities, this one is partly defined by problems with the developmental process. It argues that, in itself, this might not be such a problem if the surrounding society did not heap additional baggage upon the young, who are just beginning to express themselves and their place within this minority group.
From the Paper "One might originally think it odd to approach a question about the experienced childhood development of minorities by opening a discussion of the children who will grow to be sexual and gender-identity minorities. Unlike most other minorities, these children are not generally being raised in a minority culture and family, and do not have the immediate support of their own race or culture about them to help prepare them for life as a minority. So in some ways, this is actually the ideal place to start such a discussion, because in this area one has unmitigated access to the experience of being a minority on the child's development, without the sheltering environment that surrounds other minorities. These children will, a majority of the time, emerge from the crucible of childhood as homosexual or possibly bisexual adults. A few more will go on to actually have their gender physically altered. (Ceglie) Gender Dysphoric children experience many of the developmental difficulties of other minorities, in addition to (obviously) specific developmental problems regarding gender roles and body image, they also experience setbacks in other areas: attachment and social development, aggression and victimization, unique problems with their parents, and general social dysfunctions."
Abstract This paper presents a thorough analysis of the business practices and policies of Southwest Airlines and why they have made the company so successful. The paper discusses the leadership skills of Southwest Airline's CEO, labor relations in the company, its business strategy and operations, its safety and security policies, and its fleet management methods. It relates how these attributes have made the company the success it is today.
Reasons for Success
Current Status
History
Management Style
Operations
Routes and Planning
Fleet
Safety and Security
Strategy
Financials
Competition
Labor Relations
The Future
From the Paper "Southwest Airlines is ?free to move about the country,? and it does so more than most. In fact, it is ranked as the fourth largest airline in the nation, despite that fact that it is the low-fare leader and doesn"t actually land at all the major airports nationwide, as other major airlines and/or their partners do. In fact, it won"t even transfer passenger luggage, not even on its own flights. And it doesn"t participate in the online booking services"Expedia, Travelocity, etc."relying completely on its own system to serve passengers. Its ground crew and flight attendants don"t wear imitation military uniforms; they wear khakis and polo shirts."
Abstract "The Things They Carried by Tim O"Brien" is a collection of short stories that emphasizes the psychological effects of war. This paper examines how, through his unique style, O"Brien captures the personal experiences of the soldiers in Vietnam, which helps us see the devastating effects of war, one soldier at a time. It points out that, through the literary techniques of narration, style, and imagery, O?Brien successfully achieves the task of telling a war story.
From the Paper "The narration of the novel is very personal, which allows us to experience not only what the narrator experiences but what the other soldiers experience as well. The narrator does not try to make the war and his fellow soldiers sound glorious. Rather, he is able to touch on aspects of their experiences that reveal their humanity. For example, in the story, ?The Things They Carried,? O?Brien is sure to tell us about the emotional baggage that the soldiers had to carry every day."
Abstract This paper describes a fictitious adventure, which starts with a classified ad saying that the job would have travel opportunities, but never in the author's wildest dreams did he imagine that he would get to fly to Seoul, South Korea. The author's character carries a suitcase, which appears to have a few movies tapes, bootlegged fresh off the streets of New York,but the tapes and cassettes were suspicious looking, with cheap masking tape displaying the title in thick black sharpie. The police put a tape into a TV/VCR combo, and instead of "The Little Mermaid," there was a man standing in front of a group of 15 people with a North Korean flag behind drawing a map of the DMZ and of tunnels running throughout it. The story concludes that the day after the invasion was supposed to happen, the character was able to reach the American Embassy and get a plane home.
From the Paper "The reason I was so worried about the way my bag was handled was because it held very important...well, items, that I was to transport for my new job. The thing was that I wasn't allowed to know what items I was taking back and forth, so I couldn't risk even the smallest possibility of harming them. Sure, the job sounded a little shady at first, but once I learned I would be making $10,000 a week, plus free flight and hotel accommodations, I couldn't pass it up. Not to mention the hefty sum of student loans I still needed to pay off."
Abstract This paper explains that San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is proposing a runway reconfiguration plan, which would fill more than two square miles of the Bay to allow simultaneous landings in poor weather; however, poor weather accounts for less than 20 percent of the delays at SFO. The author points out that the vast majority of delays are caused by airlines operations such as aggressive scheduling by airlines and slow passenger loading and unloading, aircraft refueling and baggage handling. The paper recommends that SFO can better reduce delays in all weather conditions by spreading arrivals and departures more evenly, using larger planes to reduce the total number of flights and reducing the number of commuter flights.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Objectives for Runway Program
Traffic Impacts
Effects on Environment
Alternatives to Runway Expansion
Adverse Impact on Leisure
Reducing Delays by Cutting Arrival Rates
Implement Modern Technology
Disperse Flight Arrival
Use Other Capacity
Promote Balanced Service
Alternative Transportation
Conclusion
From the Paper "SFO's runway construction plans include up to two square miles of bay fill. The largest substitute calls for filling 1,332 acres of the bay. By comparison, only 400 acres of the bay have been lost to fill during the last 35 years. The largest runway configurations would also restrict the tidal flow to another 5-6 square miles of bay that would be bounded on three sides. An area of the bay that was likewise enclosed by the existing runways was transformed into mud flats. In all, 8 square miles of bay could be lost to fill, but the impacts on the circulation of the bay may be even inferior. The proposed runways extend far offshore and will impede the tidal flows that flush contaminants from the South Bay. SFO's Science Panel found that with the new runways, "changes in the tidal and sedimentation supply regimes could severely affect the form and ecological function of intertidal habitats throughout the subregion.""
The goal of this well-researched paper is to stress the importance of recognizing and removing potential safety hazards in both the airline industry and the military.
Abstract This paper details the standard safety guidelines that must be followed by both the airline industry and the military, as set forth by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The writer examines the goals of OSHA and the FAA which is to ensure the safety and well-being of America's workers by regulating and enforcing specific standards, providing training and education while also encouraging constant improvements of safety standards in the workplace. This paper discusses the various areas of employment in the aviation industry including baggage handlers, forklift drivers and general ground crews. This paper also details the types of safety and health risks in the industry which include: Dangerous carbon dioxide levels, electrocution, vehicle injuries, ramp operation incidents as well as disruptive passengers. This paper discusses an incident in which two general ground workers died due to carbon monoxide poisoning, while refueling their vehicles. This paper also examines the various differences in the safety guidelines between the military and the airline industry as well as the logic behind the differences.
From the Paper "Baggage handling can cause back injuries. Many times employees lift heavy baggage, which can eventually take its toll on airline workers. In addition, electrocution can occur on the flight line. For example, one man got electrocuted while he repaired airport runway lights. He was a 54-year old certified electrician of an electrical contracting company. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), SARS is a viral respiratory illness caused by a corona virus, called SARS-associated corona virus (SARS-CoV). SARS was first reported in Asia in 2003. Over the next few months the illness spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, before the SARS global outbreak of 2003 was contained (CDC, 2005). This disease is important for airline employees to become aware of and to learn proper safety measures to assist in avoiding such a disease from occurring, as it can be fatal."
Abstract This paper analyzes the contributions of queuing theory, economic order quantities (EOQ) and the redefining of core business processes based on the strategic objectives of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. It analyzes how the airport was able to become the leading airport in the U.S. in common user self service (CUSS), radio frequency identification devices (RFID) and service-oriented architectures (SOA)-based implementations. The paper then analyzes McCarran's strategic objectives and accomplishments as they relate to unifying and making more efficient services operations.
Table of Contents:
McCarran International Airport Las Vegas, Nevada
Executive Summary
Introduction
Analysis
Redefining Processes First, Systems Later
Queuing Process Redefinition for Common User Self Service (CUSS)
Combining Check-in and Retail Processes
Luggage and Baggage Process Improvements
Service-oriented Architectures Synchronize Service
Conclusions
Recommendations
From the Paper "The top recommendations are to continually apply queuing theory in conjunction with RFID to gain the greatest potential business impact, relying primarily on queuing methodologies to further increase performance. The use of CDM-based approaches and the build-out of a broader single version of the truth in terms of Customer Data Management need to be the second priority, followed by the growth of CUSS for PDAs and online check-in. It is imperative that the continued synchronization of services at McCarran be built on an IT infrastructure that can be agile enough to respond to the specific needs of services organizations' growth due to advances in queuing theories and demands of customers on the one hand, and the need for creating a sustainable analytics, reporting and CDM-based infrastructure on the other."
