Abstract
This paper focuses on what it perceives as serious underlying problems for the Australian Cladding Company (ACC) in its human resources (HR) department, or lack thereof. The paper delves into the details of the HR management team, explaining that changes in leadership and company policy have left the department in need of realignment and readjustment. The paper contends that some problems have continued without resolution because management did not wish to recognize negativity within the organization. Now that the economic problems across the world have worsened, the paper adds, ACC is facing layoffs and many dissatisfied employees because the company did not keep up with changing times. The paper concludes that the company must prove that it will take a new direction and improve its focus on its greatest resource - its staff.

From the Paper
"Many employers may think that, once they have collected and agreed upon all of the ideas and plans that will go into the final document, all they have to do is put that document together. This is broadly true, but there is much more to assembling the document than they might realize. They cannot simply say "we will do x in situation y." Rather, they must look into codes, rules, laws, and ideas that belong to the community and the state (Campbell, Goold, & Alexander, 1995). A strategic plan would not be very useful if it made statements that broke laws or failed to follow approved state or local guidelines, and federal laws must also be considered. The people who run and manage ACC have to stay aware of this and make sure that any changes that they make or any of Terry Wild's suggestions that they take are addressed in such a way that they follow all laws."

Tags:labor, strategy, corporate, competition

Abstract
This paper analyzes and compares the programs and services offered to English as a Second Language (ESL) students, referred to as English Language Learners (ELLs) in California. It also looks at teacher certification - CLAD for teaching these courses. It compares what the different courses contain and how successful they are.

From the Paper
"English as a second language programs ESL vary from one school district to another but all have the goal of furnishing the student with the necessary skills in English to function successfully in the academic setting ..."

Tags:ELLS, ESL, CLAD, SDAIE, ELD

Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the necessary legal considerations unique to martial arts school operators, including civil liability. The paper explains that today, few students train to fight hand-to-hand on the battle field and only the fringe hearken back to the day of mountain-living, black-clad ninja fighting against the Shogunate over-lords. The paper emphasizes that because societal circumstances have changed so much, so too must martial arts training if it is to address the real-life issues of today. The paper concludes that martial arts training, no matter how traditional, must not set students up for failure in a real self-defense situation.

From the Paper
" This is why Martial Arts Instructors, as well as practitioners, need to be fully aware of the legal definitions of self-defense, fighting and assault (MacYoung, 1). There are specific rules that must be followed, and a myriad of circumstances may apply in any given situation. All of these elements must be interpreted and weighed by the participant before action can be taken. It is unfortunate for the Martial Artists who, in an actual physical altercation, will most likely respond in the same way that they were trained (MacYoung, 3). If they were trained to pull punches for tournaments, they will most likely do so on the street. If they were trained to respond to a grab by snapping the grabber's wrist - this is what they will do.
"In New York State, if a person comes up and pushes you, it is considered only "harassment" (Hoyer, 1). Consider the legal implications if a Martial Artist was trained to instinctively respond to this kind of aggression with physical severity? In this instance it would be the Martial Artist who would be facing civil and possibly criminal action, not the person who initiated the altercation. Likewise, when police are called to the scene of a physical dispute, they are trained to analyze the situation in terms of legal accountability. Was the situation avoidable? Did both parties contribute to the dispute? Were both willing participants in the altercation? If so, the situation would not be considered self-defense. It would be interpreted as fighting and both participants would be going to jail (MacYoung, 5). An important question for the Instructor to ask is what possible legal accountability do they have in teaching a student? Though the Instructor may not have a legal obligation in what he teaches, since passing on knowledge is not sufficient cause to be civilly liable for what that student might do (Marty, 2), don't Instructors have an ethical responsibility to inform students of their legal risks?"

Tags:liability, small business

Abstract
This paper examines John Updike's short story "A&P" and looks at how the agitated state of the environment in the US during the 1960s is depicted distinctly in the story. It discusses how John Updike's portrait of a young boy, captivated by a barely clad girl, attempts, rather successfully, challenges the readers to reconsider their own decisions and views on the pressing matters at the time.

From the Paper
"Toni Saldivar's work, "The Art of John Updike's "A & P"", juxtaposes Sammy's "Queenie" with Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus. The 15th century painting's main attraction is Venus, the Greek goddess of love, "nude and pensive, standing tall in her scallop shell as shell" (Saldivar). With Venus, are two women who seem to be attending to her needs. One figure is even welcoming her as she arrives in the shoreline seemingly to cover her with an adorned cloth just as a servant or lady-in-waiting would assist a queen. Sammy coined a name, Queenie, for his object of affection. John Updike went a little further as to solicit an imagery of boyish fervor and enjoyment for his readers. The writer's reputation for liking and fantasizing about women can somewhat be gleaned from Sammy's description of his "Queenie". "

Tags:sammy, queenie

Abstract
This paper looks at the way in which the media serves as a messenger of socio-cultural pressures and the ambivalence of gender based role changes.

From the paper:

"Today, women in the media offer us completely ambivalent images of perfection. We have warrior-babes like Xena, the Princess-Warrior, a popular t.v. series whose heroine is gorgeous, scantily clad, and who sets out to right society's wrongs without the help of men. We have another riff on the warrior-babe with the mega pop-star Britney Spears, who has the fit, sculpted body of an Amazon, but the sexy, baby blondness of a modern-day Marilyn Monroe a woman who flaunts her body and sexuality on the stage and in commercials, yet maintains that she is still a virgin."

Tags:role, changes, gender

Abstract
This paper explains the Michael Graves' drawings and buildings are notable for their manipulation of archetypal form into highly abstract, figurative compositions. The paper then points out that Graves gave up the neutral glass curtain wall of late modernism and instead uses a colorful cloak of cladding by which he reintroduces the hierarchical composition of classical buildings more characteristic of postmodernism. The paper also reports that Michael Grave's Public Service Building in Portland, Oregon has at least four distinct historical styles embedded in its design: egyptian, italian, art deco and modern.

From the Paper
"Levin agrees as well that postmodernism has derived from the ability of artists to produce works in a mass quantity, so to speak, because of new processes and products involving mass production: "By the time men were traveling to the moon, art was being assembled in factories from blueprints." While the postmodernist may see the modernist era as more scientifically oriented, it is clear that postmodernism is also influenced by scientific developments and possibilities. Levin says that modernism was highly optimistic, while postmodernism is more cynical."

Tags:archetypal, cubist, color, nostalgia, cost

Abstract
This paper examines EIFS, the generic name for a building cladding that usually consists of plastic insulation board, glass fiber reinforcing mesh, and two-coat synthetic stucco surface. It shows how EIFS have enjoyed tremendous popularity because of several advantages, among them, low cost and excellent insurance value and how architects like the design flexibility of the systems, which allow a variety of shapes and surfaces textures to be used on projects with tight budgets. It also looks at how today, the various companies are represented by a trade organization called EIFS Industry Members Association (EIMA), which publishes guideline specifications, technical notes, and other useful information about the product.

From the Paper
"The design of an EIFS clad wall must give consideration to all of the loads on the wall assembly. It is crucial for a designer to review and consider the major performance variables that will affect the wall assembly, including; climate, relative exposure of the facades, defining the plane of air tightness, vapor control, rain penetration control and the placement and amount of thermal insulation. It is also crucial to consider the durability and serviceability of the exterior facades. Beyond these decisions that may affect the design of an EIFS clad wall, there must be project-specific details that address all terminations and penetrations in the EIFS, as well as elements within the EIFS. To properly implement these details, a mock-up of the wall assembly should be constructed and reviewed prior to construction."

Tags:insulation, walls, cost, fiber, construction

Abstract
This paper explains that Adolf Loos' Michaelerplatz building in Vienna, completed in 1911, was one of the most controversial constructions of its time. The author points out that its distinctiveness is rooted in how the building reflects the fundamental dispute between its designer Loos and the prevailing economic, social and cultural powers of his time concerning the role of ornamentation in architecture. The paper reports that Loos argued that ornamentation was wasteful of wealth and labor, thus contested the sizable industries in Vienna that were dependent upon the continual renewal of the city's ersatz Baroque palaces for their livelihood. The author concludes that Loos' Michaelerplatz pointed the way towards the modernist preoccupation with functional over formal qualities that would ultimately come to shape the architecture of the twentieth century. The paper includes many quotations.

Table of Contents:
The Problem of Ornamentation
Loos' Michaelerplatz and Its Controversies
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Without the ornamentation of the window baskets, we can see that the facade of the top floors of the Michaelerplatz is remarkable for its sheer white surface. The windows are square incisions in the facade without decorative designs whatsoever. Indeed, the only things that may be considered at all "ornamental" in regard to the Michaelerplatz are the marble walls along the facade of the lower floors of the building. This marble differentiates the lower floors from the upper ones, and may be seen by some as a violation of Loos' views on ornamentation. This would be a mistake, however, for these walls are fully in keeping with Loos' overall theories on architecture and architectural materials.

Tags:waste, obsolescence, facades, radical, cladding