Abstract "The Rain God" is a tale of desert and rain, of blooming plants and dying people. This paper questions how all of these ideas and images relate.It shows how the three images have to be considered as one, because all represent the continuance of the cycle of life. A blooming and flourishing garden represents life as much as death, just as the desert and rain represent both. The paper explains that the correlation between life and death is best explained by examining the many images of the desert and water presented in the work.
From the Paper "In the book rain and desert are present as symbols synonymous with life and death, and the earth and gardens that grow from it represent the same. The desert is present throughout the story as a metaphor for pain and suffering. In many instances throughout the novel Islas expresses human emotion and behavior, particularly the negative and painful aspects of life, through earth imagery. The desert in many chapters represents the pain of life felt by primary characters and the pain inflicted on characters that results from family sins. Many people within the novel try to escape "the desert", or pain and suffering, but become injured or die while attempting this feat."
Abstract This paper discusses ways of coping with loneliness, in reference to Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the Rain" as well as the writer's personal experience.
This paper examines the implications for the future of forest management on non-industrial private forest (NIPF) lands as well as the dwindling timber supply on these parcels of land.
Abstract This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal pattern of Alabama's forested landscape as well as the implications for the future of forest management on NIPF lands. This paper defines forested land as a parcel of land that is producing or capable of producing more than 20 cubic feet/acre/year of industrial wood and is land not withdrawn from timber production. Much of this land is held by private landowners not involved directly in the timber industry. Extensive studies have been conducted in the southern states concerning the motivation behind usage of NIPF land, its impact on the regional economy and environmental factors. The counties chosen for this particular study are those which had the highest reported income from forest products. The six counties chosen were Clarke, Marengo, Pickens, Monroe, Hale and Wilcox. These counties are located in highly forested areas and have a high amount of NIPF land. According to several surveys, the areas of greatest softwood shortage are those located near large paper and pulp mills. This paper discusses the impending shortage in economic timber that the U.S. will be facing by the year 2020. The writer of this paper examines the various strategies available to halt the dwindling timber supply which include changing the manner in which NIPF lands are managed as well as stricter government regulations which would deter the conversion of native grasslands and wetlands into croplands.
From the Paper "To determine if timber production is likely to be able to meet future needs, the ratio of growth to removal is measured. Timber inventories give an indication of how much timber is currently available. Using this model, it was found that only one state had a positive ratio, North Carolina at 1.15. Alabama's ratio was 0.91. Softwood removal rates consistently exceed growth rates. Hardwood removal ratios faired slightly better at above 1.3. Timber inventories increased from the 1960s through the 1970s, but leveled off in the 1990s. According to SERTS, softwood supplies are expected to decrease 30% by the year 2020. According to an FIA survey, the areas of greatest softwood shortage are located near large paper and pulp mills (Cubbage and Abt, 1998a). According to the SERTS model the southern US will be facing an economic timber shortage by the year 2020."
Abstract This paper discusses the issue of land degradation in the Arab region over the past 70 years. This paper reviews the various reasons and causes of this land degradation, focusing on the increase in population who require water for human consumption and agriculture, land for agriculture and land for their livestock.
From the Paper "Land degradation in the Arab region is primarily the result of a surge in the population growth in the past several decades. As the population had increased within the Arab region the need for water for human consumption, grazing land, and agriculture has risen. In an area that was already dry and naturally scarce in water supplies this added requirement for water has led to severe issues concerning the natural water sources and their ability to sustain the Arab civilization over time. Furthermore, cultivation of marginal land, as well as deforestation has created a situation in which natural trees and foliage have been depleted from the land surface, adding to the landmasses that are dry. As these dry land masses, or deserts are increased in the Arab lands the water is absorbed into the ground and the loss of foliage eventually leads to a loss of water."
Abstract In this paper the author questions the right of the "white" Europeans to take over and destroy the good soil of Australia.He questions the actions of the white Australians and highlights the history and rights of the Aborigines to his land, quoting many sources. The paper concludes that the Aborigines know the land better and he justifies their right to look after the land and not let it be destroyed.
From the Paper " The problem with those of us who consider ourselves "civilized" and "up to date" is that we specialize, first in genocide, then in the rape of nature, and then create new specialties to repair the damage. Before the Europeans came, the Aborigines had no worries about the Ozone layer, or mastering a driver's test. Cricket, to them, was the sound of Nature at work, not some distant test match."
Abstract This paper examines the Aborigines of Australia who are said to have arrived on the continent over 50,000 years ago, blending into the already existent population and thus creating perhaps the most physically diverse population in the world. This paper details the differences in conceptions of land ownership between the Australian Aborigines and European colonists. The writer of this paper describes how the Aborigines had developed their own society, culture and rules for land ownership which were inexcusably overlooked by the European invaders. When Europe began to encroach upon the territories of the Aborigines, the latter group simply adapted resourcefully and made new claims. This paper explores the various countries and nations that laid claim to Australia, including the Dutch, British and Spain While the Aborigines claimed Australia through ancestral travels, the Dutch and British justified their possession by initial landing rights and the Spanish laid their claim based on religious doctrine. The British extended their claim to the entire continent by 1826 with the stroke of a legislative pen. This writer of this paper describes how the conflict was furthermore exacerbated by the fact that Aborigines and Europeans had differing conceptions of private property.
From the Paper "Although the Aborigines lived according to such ancient beliefs for thousands of years, their fate would soon be doomed according to a very different system of territorial claims formulated 10000 miles away, in Europe. While the Aborigines justifiably had divided Australian lands into their own territories, the newly 'discovered' continent would soon come into a three-way struggle for possession as Britain, Holland, and Spain each claimed Australia separately, none of these claims based on right of ancestors, but on religious, economic, and political rationales. The Spanish and Portuguese, in search of southern trade routes and the legendary Terra Australis, had touched on the continent of Australia."
Abstract This paper looks at how the colonizing forces of North America, specifically the US government has continually been in conflict with the native peoples for the last four hundred years, focusing on land rights and usage. Issues discussed are relocation to polluted and toxic land, mining on native lands and re-appropriation of reservations for resources.
From the Paper "One of the major issues, and there are many, facing Native American Indians today is that of land usage and availability in many parts of the US. From the first contact with colonial explorers and settlers, the native peoples of the Americas have been fighting a losing battle with the white forces of power. What seems to be a simple negotiation of land and space is actually a complex series of issues that ultimately decide who has a right to live and in what way. These issues are in no way limited to European colonialism of the Americas, but for this paper, the writer focuses on the problems inherent in land rights in what is now the United States."
The use of technological machinery, the secular nature of Earthworks, and the celebration of the individual artist's viewpoint are the ties that bind land art to modernism.
Abstract This essay first examines the modern art movement known as ?land art? or Earthworks. After explaining the philosophy and techniques used by all Earthwork artists, the essay concludes by evaluating the meaning and significance of the famous Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson. This 1500 foot coil of earth, salt crystal, and rock that extends into the Great Salt Lake is the most famous work of land artist and has multiple meanings and associations that are analyzed in the paper.
From the Paper "Earthworks, sometimes referred to as ?land art,? are a more recent development of modernist art, although they have their roots in thousands of years of cultural activity throughout the world. In that respect Earthworks differs from modern art movements like Impressionism and Expressionism. Stonehenge in England is an example of an ancient form of land art, and in most other nations can be found human alterations of the natural environment for symbolic or religious reasons. The Earthworks movement of the late 1960s and beyond was not the result of religious fervor or mystical devotion, but rather a grand response to art consumerism and insubstantial conceptual art (Hughes 384). Artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Hizer wanted to create huge and timeless rearrangements of the landscape that no one could ignore due to their overwhelming physical presence in the world. That is the nature of the Earthwork movement."
Tags: art, earthworks, jetty, land, robert, smithson, spiral, modern, Salt, Lake, Great
Abstract This paper explains that Leo Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is set in Russia; however, the story reflects the nature of the Americans and how they took advantage of their native Indians. The author points out that the story has four characters: The younger sister and her greedy husband Pahom, who are peasants and represent the Americans; the older sister, who is the European relative, visiting her younger sister and boasting of the high class lifestyle of Europeans and, of course, the Devil, who is greed itself. The paper relates that Tolstoy ends the story by stating that, when a person dies, he takes nothing with himself and his final abode is in a land, which is not hundreds of acres but only "six feet from his head to his heels."
From the Paper "One day a peasant from beyond the Volga came to Pahom and was given food and a place to stay at Pahom's house. He told Pahom about the land from where he has come and the immense opportunities that are present there. People were getting 25 acres of land for joining the commune. Tolstoy described the height of rye to be "as high as a horse" to show the temptation that Pahom was facing as he heard this. The temptation is best described by Tolstoy with the words "Pahom's heart kindled with desire." "
Abstract The paper examines land claims disputes and related issues. The paper begins with the history of
the oppression and subjugation of the native people and discusses how the governments' of North America established control over the indigenous Canadians and Native Americans. The paper further reveals how the nature and history of the European colonization and settlement of North America are paramount to the conflicts, issues and challenges, especially concerning claims to the land, that were presented at the time.
From the Paper "Beginning in the early eighteenth-century, native peoples in both Canada and the United States were subjugated and oppressed for more than two-hundred years as the Canadian and American governments established political, economic, social, and cultural dominance over native tribes and their lands. Comparing issues related to land claims, conflicts involving indigenous Canadians and Native Americans, and majority culture governments reveals that indigenous peoples face many similar challenges due to the nature and history of the European colonization and settlement of North America. While both indigenous Canadians and Native Americans have legitimate land claims and a host of other justified grievances, historians are in general agreement that American.."
Abstract 'Waste' can mean both a dry, infertile, inhospitable place, or the failure to make productive use of one's resources. This paper examines how T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Waste Land", embodies both of each seemingly diametrically opposed concepts to describe the social, cultural and spiritual dislocation in Europe following the First World War. Although modern life and culture may be seen to suffer from exile in a land of waste, such eras may be cyclical, and his brilliant use of fragmentary allusions suggests that the best of the past may foreshadow a brighter future.
From the Paper "By setting 'Waste' off as a separate word from 'Land', Eliot suggests to the reader that the various meanings of the term are key to an understanding of his message. Rather than referring to a wasteland (in the conventional sense of "desert"), the poem instead centers on the concept of a land both of desolation and of conspicuous, indiscriminate consumption, a land whose resources are not utilized but rather discarded on a purulent cultural garbage dump. The rich allusions within the poem both contrast and relate these seemingly opposed concepts. The first segment, 'Burial of the Dead', introduces the theme of the turning of the seasons, and more importantly, the theme of cyclical regeneration. In nature, waste is irrelevant. Although death occurs in all forms of life, the bodies of the dead furnish the hope of renewal to other living creatures. "
Abstract This paper briefly discusses the history of the Kruger National Park which is considered to be an international icon and represents the heritage of South Africa. The paper also explains that thousands of people had to suffer so that the park could grow and flourish, and thousands of people have been displaced because of the bureaucratic decisions made by officials.The paper also emphasis that the park has a dark history of a war over land as there were land claims from the tribes that once populated the park.
From the Paper ''The establishment of game reserves in the Transvaal in 1889 before the park was founded as well as more recently is still an issue surrounded by controversy today. Game reserves are considered undemocratic by many due to the fact that the land is closed to the public and only available for use by certain privileged individuals. The governing of game reserves in the Transvaal was not well established at the time, which made it difficult to even define what constituted a game reserve. Those who took part in the establishment of these reserves believed it was a novel idea, and that they should be given credit this new and modern institution, however in actuality, game reserves had a long history going back many centuries. After the South African War from 1899-1902, the already existing game reserves were inherited by the new British government in place, and looked upon as a method of wildlife protection. No real function of these game reserves was ever announced during the life of the Transvaal Republic Government, and this was straightened out during the colonial Transvaal period. It was stated that game reserves were for sportsman, and that they would eventually contribute to the government after the antelope population returned to an adequate number and the reserves would then be open to the public who would pay to hunt. In addition to the colonial citizens, African residents also opposed game reserves because they alienated land and made it impossible to defend themselves from dangerous animals since Africans were not allowed to have weapons. In addition to this, many Africans were evicted from their homes and forced to live on native reserves or "locations", in addition to the fact that they were not allowed access to game as a means of subsistence. Africans were commonly arrested for "being in possession under suspicious circumstances of game meat".
Abstract This paper is an analysis of the international operations at Lands' End. It gives a detailed description of the company and it's history as well as the process of their global expansion. It also details the company's product distribution methods in foreign markets and pricing strategy. It lays out their store formats and locations and discusses all of the successful promotion strategies used in order to market internationally. Finally, it includes some future projections including e-commerce and marketing through the internet.
From the Paper "Lands? End, Inc. is a direct merchant of traditionally styled casual clothing for men, women, children, accessories, shoes, soft luggage, and home products [www.landsend.com, Investor Relations Home Profile, 2002]. The company offers its products through multiple selling channels. It sells through a series of general and specialty catalogs, mailed directly to its customers. It sells through the Internet, its international businesses and outlet stores. The company has three operating segments, consisting of core, specialty, and international. [Yahoo.com, 2002] Lands? End was one of the first major retailers on the Internet. Its website www. Landsend.com was launched in 1995, and now accounts for approximately 10% of its yearly sales. [Yahoo.com, 2002]"
Tags:Lands, End, international, marketing, pricing, startegies, global, internet
Abstract This essay demonstrates the erratic history of indigenous land claims in Australia, from the colonial period to advancements made under legislative modernisation today. The paper begins with a quote by Mudrooroo, to show just how frustrating the situation is. The paper concludes that Indigenous Australians are finally being recognised as the original owners of this country, although much needs to be done before the struggle is over.
From the Paper "In 1788, the Indigenous people were violently deprived of their land rights. Their struggle for the return of these rights has proved a tumultuous journey through the history of Australia, often exposing fundamentally racist beliefs and laws. Recent legislation has paved the way for greater victories for Indigenous Australians, although the extent to which even these are just remains questionable."
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses the book, 'The Land of Little Rain' by Mary Austin. According to the paper, Austin's book is an observer's unique tale of deserts, plains and mountains in California. The paper further discusses how the author talks about the Country of Lost Borders and Ute, Paiute, Mojave, and Shoshone that lie on its frontiers.
From the Paper "Some of the lines are indeed useful and informative. If I am a reader who is actually interested in visiting the place myself, then the chapter includes bits of wisdom and information that I might find highly useful. When the author explains why deaths are common in this place, she writes about illusions that desert creates and the effect it has on a thirsty traveler. Austin observes: "There are many areas in the desert where drinkable water lies within a few feet of the surface, indicated by the mesquite and the bunch grass (Sporobolus airoides). It is this nearness of unimagined help that makes the tragedy of desert deaths....To underestimate one's thirst, to pass a given landmark to the right or left, to find a dry spring where one looked for running water--there is no help for any of these things." This is a vital piece of information and might help an aspiring traveler in his desire to come back from the place unscathed."
Tags: deserts, plains, mountains, lifelessness, death, water, California
