Veteran's Affair Services Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Veteran's Affair Services - Research Paper Example Veteran’s Affair Services When one hears the term ‘veteran’, a perception of its meaning encompasses regular definitions found in the dictionaries, to wit: â€Å"a person who is long experienced or practiced in an activity or capacity† (The Free Dictionary, 2011, par. 1); â€Å"an old soldier of long service or a former member of the armed forces† (Merriam-Webster, 2011, par. 1). In contrast, the Federal definition the term is explicitly stated as â€Å"any person, who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States† (Veterans’ Agent, 2011, par. 1). These definitions confer that a veteran is a person who has rendered particularly long service, as honorably classified, in the armed forces, not only in the United States, but in other governments as well. ... In this regard, the main purpose of the research is to proffer a study of how Veteran's services affects criminal justice in the United States. Particularly, the objectives of the research are as follows: (1) to present a detailed history of the creation of Veteran’s Affair; (2) to provide a presentation of the mission statement of the social agency; (3) to present financial reports or summaries of the operations of the social agency; (4) to proffer a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the social agency, which includes, but is not limited to: details on how the specific agency interacts with the Criminal Justice System, the services provided, the training of critical personnel, and the motivation of the agency to provide services; (5) to present a commentary on ways in which the social agency could improve its effectiveness towards its social goals; and finally, (6) to provide a prediction concerning the future of the social agency and its impact on the criminal justice system. Historical Background The history of Veterans Affairs (VA) in the US was traced in the year 1636 when a war existed between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were at war with the Pequot Indians and a law was enacted by the Pilgrims indicating the support pledged to disabled soldiers (US Dept. of Veterans Affairs: History, 2010, par. 1). The following historical details are presented in tabular form for concise structural arrangement, and sourced from the Dept of VA: History (2010): DATE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1776 During the Revolutionary War, Continental Congress encouraged enlistment of soldiers through the provision of pensions to disabled soldiers. 1811 The Federal Government authorized the first domiciliary

Women of Race in the Late 19th Century Essay Example for Free

Women of Race in the Late 19th Century Essay During the American Civil War all the free white men of the southern confederacy had left their homes to fight the war. While the white male southerners were out fighting battles they left their family and homes with their slaves. During that time period there were no incidents of rape rather the slaves provided protection for their families. When the war ended all the slaves were free and became citizens of the United States. The white southerners did not take to this lightly. To maintain white supremacy in the south white southerners would make false accusations against Afro-Americans of rape, murder, burglary, etc. With the extra-legal laws still intact, by public opinion an enraged mob would lynch Afro-American that have been accused of a crime. This law was only exercised towards the Afro-American population of the south during the late 19th century, mainly towards Afro-Americans men, to maintain white supremacy in the south. The gender norms of the south were that white women married white men. There was a law that prohibited interracial marriage. The law even prohibited intimate interracial relations. Gender ideology of the time was still Victorian, women would stay at home and men would provide for their families. The role of the women was to take care of home and be the moral compass for the family. The man was supposed to work to provide income for his family and home. Sometimes the man of the house would lose sight of his virtues and would rely on his wife to guide him. The core virtues were religious and mainly Christian. There is a reason why the woman is supposed to be the moral compass for her family. Southern women of the late 19th century were to be pious and pure. Seeking for an intellectual life and a career was frowned upon heavily. Men of the late 19th century were not expected to be pure because of their nature but they were encouraged to seek a pious life. Men were seen as impulsive creatures that would make mistakes in his life and would learn from them. Women on the other hand were expected to pure because o f their nature. Women were seen as gentle caring beings. White women of the south during the late 19th century, like I wrote before, are to be pious and pure. This gender norm was highly ritualized among white southerners during the time period. The miscegenation law made it so that Afro-American men would not have intimate relations with a white woman. Afro-Americans were seen as impure and vile. They were seen as lesser race in the eyes of white southerners during the late 19th century. Much of the ways that Afro-Americans were treated while enslavement were not gone. White southerners still treated them with a dehumanizing respect. When a white woman and Afro-American man had a relationship beyond friendship, the white southern citizens would be enraged and form mobs. These mobs would lynch the suspected â€Å"rapist†. In almost all the alleged cases of rape the Afro-American man did receive the consent of the white woman. There was a case in Elyria, Ohio of a white woman married to a minister who accused an Afro-American man of rape. â€Å"She told her husband that during his absence in 1888 the man forced his way in the house and insulted her. She did not know the man but she pointed out William Offett, a married man, who was arrested and, being in Ohio, was granted a trial. He prisoner vehemently denied the charge of rape. He was found guilty. The womans remorse led her to confess to her husband that the man was innocent† (Wells, Southern Horrors, pg6). This proves the accusations of rape were commonly mistaken because the woman was not willing to admit her intimacy with an Afro-American man. That did not change anything, if an Afro-American man had intimate relations with a white woman it did not matter, the Afro-American man was going to be hurt if any white southerner were to find out. There are many situations like these but in some the white lady would admit her intimacy. That would not stop an enraged mob to lynch. The ideology of pure was used to subsidize the degradation of Afro-Americans and to fuel the fire of white supremacists of the late 19th century. There is no doubt that white southern women were attracted to the Afro-American but the southern presses were deeming Afro-Americans as rapists and desperados. Southern media had a huge impact on what the rest of the country perceived Afro-Americans. In Memphis the â€Å"Daily Commercial† and the â€Å"Evening Scimitar† newspapers would claim that that Afro-Americans would prey on a white southerners family at night waiting for an opportunity (Wells, Southern Horrors, pg13). Memphis media would use this propaganda to justify the lynching of Afro-Americans even though there was no outcry of rape by the white women in the Memphis area. Rape was one the most common conviction against Afro-American men. The Memphis newspapers are claiming Afro-Americans are preying on innocent white women and therefore Afro-Americans deserve to be lynched. There are also cases of Afro-American girls being mistreated by white men and these white men do not receive nearly as harsh punishment as the Afro-American man does. These are situations where the white male is completely guilty with evidence to back it. Where as with Afro-American men they are accused of rape without any evidence to back the claim and are still convicted. â€Å"In Nashville, Tenn., there is a white man, Pat Hanifan, who outraged a little Afro-American girl, and, from the physical injuries received, she has been ruined for life. He was jailed for six months, discharged, and is now a detective in that cit y†(Wells, Southern Horror, pg10). There is an obvious trend, white southern men were doing what they want and southern Afro-American men were suffering from social inequality. In the year 1892 there were alleged 28 Afro-Americans that were lynched in Tennessee alone. In the same year there were a total of 241 Afro-Americans lynched in America but mainly in the southern states. White supremacy saw the Afro-Americans as an economic threat and a threat against white women. The threat against white women was not in any physical way rather it was a threat against their purity. It was obvious that white southern women were attracted to southern Afro-American men and vice versa. It was the ideology of pure that white supremacists used against Afro-American men because they believed that Afro-American men were impure and the white woman was pure. They used extra-legal laws for selfish use. White supremacists were afraid of losing power over Afro-Americans and they were willing to do anything to maintain their power that they once had.

what happened at Kmart :: essays research papers

Kmart, once the leader in the discount store industry, has found itself surpassed by Wal-Mart and Target in recent years and is now facing the possibility of closing its doors. The differences among the companies’ successes can be seen in their business models and strategies. Wal-Mart focused on decreasing expenses and Target established its market placement as a high-quality low-cost discount store. In contrast, Kmart used a promotions-driven business model. Because of this, Kmart focused on trying to generate sales from promotions, rather than trying to cut expenses to increase their profits Management contributed greatly to Kmart’s problems by not paying attention to their business environment. As their competitors worked at lowering costs and improving customer service, Kmart continued with its strategy to carry as many products as possible and offer promotion after promotion. Even after Charles Conaway took over, he continued expanding the products carried rather than focusing on those products that were most profitable. In all respects management failed to embrace technology as a means of improving the business. It was not until 1987, that Kmart began to put money into its information infrastructure. However, management rejected any use of technology that could benefit them. For example, while Kmart had the capability to collect data for forecasting, it did not. Rather management still developed the forecasts themselves. Additionally, a proposal to integrate computer systems in distribution was rejected because management thought it too costly. The technology lag in the distribution centers was so bad that reorders were often based on hand tracking. Kmart’s supply chain management contributed to their problems. The company did not have a strong relationship with suppliers. Unlike Wal-Mart where the supplier relationship focused on establishing strong sales of individual products, Kmart’s suppliers pushed them to sell as many products as possible. Because of the push of products into the system, Kmart continued using the promotion-based model. The promotion-based approach in turn led to inconsistent demand for products that made it difficult for Kmart to forecast and maintain optimal inventory levels. Also contributing to the supply chain problems was the organizational structure. The majority of shipping was planned centrally, rather than at the local level causing store inventories to be either in excess or short. Particularly in cases where inventory was in excess, stores ran into problems with warehousing and shrinkage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The effort to rebuild the supply chain management systems was a step in the right direction.

Animism and the Alphabet: David Abram

Edward Chiang Professor Shaffer ENC1102 12 September 2011 Summary Assignment In â€Å"Animism and the Alphabet†, David Abram, a journalist in the Environmental Ethics and a founder of the Alliance for Wild Ethics (AWE), asserts that through the evolution of the human language, there is a widening gap in the relationship between humanity and nature. Through the examples of pictographic systems and hieroglyphics, Abram suggests that our earliest forms of writing stemmed off of our ecological origins and â€Å"remained tied to the mysteries of a more-than-human world† (30). As a result of these primitive methods of expression, Abram then describes humanity’s need to convey and define other terms that cannot be expressed through pictures: The development of phonetic script. This was the transfer of sounds and the speaking voice rather than a simple picture that depicts meaning through vision. This innovation came with the creation of the Semitic aleph-beth, later to evolve into our modern-day alphabet, which created a new detachment between human culture and the rest of nature. Abram believes that the major turning point in our connection with nature lies in the Greek’s lasting contributions to the written world allowing for the â€Å"indebtedness of human language to the more-than-human perceptual field†¦preserved in the names and shapes of the Semitic letters† (34) to be forgotten. Abram states that the Homeric epics ballads and songs in Greek culture supported the idea that men interact with the non-human world. These original â€Å"oral texts† (36) were first memorized through a series of formulas and then performed with the poets own creativity and improvisation; however, when these songs became the first large written texts, Iliad and the Odyssey obtained a timeless quality, remaining forever preserved on paper. Abram believes that it is through this alphabetic technology that â€Å"language was beginning to separate itself from the animate flux of the world† (38). Occurring†¦

Death on Pine street Essay

In this essay I will be comparing two detective stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story ‘The Speckled Band’ was written in the 1890’s and set in England. It follows Sherlock Holmes as he investigates the unusual death of a young woman. Through clever logic he manages to solve the case entirely by simply investigating the scene of the crime. ‘Death on Pine Street’ was written in the 1930’s and set in America. The detective in this is a more â€Å"street-wise† roughed up detective, investigating the murder of a woman’s husband. His sly and even dishonest methods of investigation solve the case, however there are a few complexities. Both stories are first person narratives. In ‘The Speckled Band’ Dr. Watson is the narrator but in ‘Death on Pine Street’, the Op himself tells us the story. This means that in the Holmes story the reader is kept in the dark about what is happening because we only know what Watson knows and, therefore, have to wait to the end of the story for Holmes to explain how he solved the crime to Watson. In the other story, because the Op is the narrator we know what he is thinking and what is happening to him. This different style works well, because although we know what he is thinking, we still have to wait to the end for the Op to explain how he solved the crime to the police; this way it doesn’t ruin the element of interest that keeps the reader going on. The detectives in the two stories, Sherlock Holmes and the Continental Op, have some things in common, but are also very different characters. This is due to the very different places and times in which the stories are set. Both are private detectives solving crimes for money. They are both loners with no wives, families or girlfriends. They are both quick thinking, clever and observant – they see clues and evidence that nobody else can see. They are both brave and strong, and can use weapons and know how to defend themselves. These are important factors in a good detective, which I think is why they share these traits whilst being from such different places and times. Sherlock Holmes was the first fictional detective ever, so it is probable that some of the inspiration for the Continental Op came from him. However they differ in many ways. Holmes is a more upper-class, well spoken and well-educated man. The Continental Op is more of a slang-talking, lower-class working man. He works for a company, and has to travel to meet clients. Holmes works from home; Miss Stoner comes to see him. He seems to do detective work simply for enjoyment, he tells Miss Stoner she need not pay him. Holmes seems more calm and collected, he doesn’t carry a firearm or get into fisticuffs – the Continental Op does both of these. Since Watson is narrating ‘The Speckled Band’, we get a good description of Holmes; the Continental Op does not describe himself at all – infact the only description of him is given by the Tenant, referring to him as â€Å"our little fat friend†. The Continental Op is always skulking around bad areas and apartments, Holmes usually takes a safe journey to the scene of the crime (in this case a mansion). It is the difference in location and time that plays an integral part in shaping these completely different characters that share similar and almost universal traits. ‘Death on Pine Street’ is set in America in the 1930’s; this was during the Great Depression when times were very hard on people. Unemployment was high, many people could barely afford to live and so naturally people were more highstrung or ill-tempered, and crime rose. It was this kind of tough way of life that forms the environment and the character in ‘Death on Pine Street’. ‘The Speckled Band’ is set in England, in the 1890’s, a fine period for upper-class people. Holmes would have been raised comfortably, and it would not have been a necessity for him to be â€Å"tough† like the Continental Op. He does not deal in the same way as the Continental Op; he quietly investigates a single place, and works without any interrogations or interviews. This greatly seperates the feel of the story from ‘Death on Pine Street’, as the Continental Op interracts far more, with many more characters.