Pepe Jeans Case Essay

The main advantage of Pepe not carrying inventory is obviously the cost savings, as it is usually not efficient or cost effective for that matter, to carry excess inventory. The downside is not having enough pairs of jeans on hand to ship to stores when demand is high. An inventory would help alleviate this. The six month lead time is both an advantage and disadvantage for Pepe. The long lead time is positive in that once a retailer places an order, they only have a week to cancel the order. Pepe is able to realize a profit after only ten days rather than months later. The contract locked retailers in immediately and keeps them from reneging on the deal. The downside is that many stores may be turned off by the long lead. It was mentioned in the article that most manufacturers have lead times of a few months or less. The independent stores also tended to order less volume due to the inflexible order system, and the trouble with fashion is that items typically have a short wearable life before they go out of style. Corporate purchasers were worried that the jeans they ordered may go out of style before they even arrive. If I were the manager of Pepe, I would assure my retail partners that every reasonable action was currently being taken to help reduce the current lead time. I would mention the options being considered and thank them for their partnership. I would then sit down with the CFO as well as the best analysts in the company and run reports to forecast the most efficient method of reducing lead time. The case mentions two alternatives to reduce lead time: working with a Hong Kong sourcing agent or building a finishing operation in the UK. Without seeing the company’s financials, it is difficult to say which would be a better choice. The article does mention that Pepe has no long term debt and appears to have plenty of cash on hand. If that is truly the case, then the better option may be to invest in the finishing factory. There would be a large investment up front, but lead time could be cut in half while reducing costs by up to ten percent as well. On the other hand, the sourcing agent could possibly reduce lead time down to as little as six weeks. The problem with this option is that costs to soar by as much as thirty percent.

Freedman’s Bureau

Freedmen’s Bureau is also known as â€Å"the Ex-Slave’s Friend† was created on March 4th of 1865 during the Reconstruction era by the U.S. government as a federal agency and a part of the United States Department of War to help the newly released and freed slavery which is also known as freedmen and southern white refugees transition to freedom in the Southern States and the District of Columbia. The Bill was created by President Abraham Lincoln and was originally intended to last for one year to help the freedmen but instead it lasted until 1872 and President Ulysses S. Grant broke it up. To distinguish it from being known as just a welfare agency, the agency’s employees also helped ex-slaves find employment, investigated unfair treatment complaint, and also help negotiated labor contracts for the slaves. After the Civil War, Freedmen’s Bureau is the only federal agency that help protects the civil rights of the former slaves and the only place that enable them to seek help when their rights were violated thus creating a hostility among the White Southerners. Although the bureau was setup to help distribute food, housing, medical aid, and clothing to the freed slaves and the Southern white refugees, the bureau most well known successes were in education. During that period of 1865 – 1872 there were more than 1000 Negro schools built and was taught by well- qualified instructors and had educated more than 250,000 African Americans. Most of the black colleges around the United States were founded with the help of the agency and a lot of them still exist today. The successes of the Bureau in its education goals were marred by the failure of its land redistribution. At first the Bureau had gave 850,000 acres to the freedmen but President Andrew Johnson later took it back and the land in turn were given to the Confederate landowners giving the blacks no choice and forcing them to work in the plantations. At first the white landowners wanted to restore gang labor but the freedmen wanted to maintain their freedom refused to sign the contract ultimately forcing the white owner to come up with sharecropping as some sort of compromise. Under sharecropping, the land was divided into a 20 to 50 acres parcel that allowed a single family to farm it. The deal is usually half of the crop to be given to the landlord in exchange for the land, housing and supplies. The Bureau one and only commissioner is Major General Oliver Otis Howard. General Howard was the provider of â€Å"moral purpose, an ideological framework and a vision for the bureau†. He was once warned by his friend, General William Sherman after hearing about his new assignment and the task given to him that this is a â€Å"Hercules† of a task. After accepting his new assignment, General Howard was given very little help from the Congress and most of it is from some sort of â€Å"hand me down† from the Department of War in the form of personnel and what left of the army funds and relied heavily on the few private relief, missionary and educational associations of the North. In his autobiography, General Howard expressed his frustration on how the Congress disbanded his Bureau by sending him on a temporary mission to deal with the Indian affairs in the west and upon his return he found out that the Bureau and all its activities had been suspended. Howard University in Washington D.C. which is founded by General Howard is a well known and it is a predominantly black university and he was the third president of the university. In conclusion the Bureau did not accomplished all that it is set up to do. Its role in Reconstruction in the South had created a huge debate on if the bureau had done enough to help the freedmen and the refugees but given that they were working on a limited resources one cannot fault the bureau completely and most historian agreed that whatever â€Å"the bureau did not do† was â€Å"because it could not† References http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6257/Freedmen-s-Bureau.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Refugees,_Freedmen_and_Abandoned_Lands

Unicef’s Efficiency in the World’s Global Struggles

UNICEF is a world-renowned organization that strives to give a voice to those who go unheard: the children of the world. UNICEF or the United Nations International Emergency Fund was originally created in 1946, following World War II, in an effort to provide assistance to the European children who faced starvation and disease. It was through these efforts that UNICEF began to present itself as one of the nations leading advocacy groups for children’s rights. Then, in 1953, UNICEF was given permanent status by the General Assembly. UNICEF made its mark by assisting the U. N.Commission on Human Rights in the creation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1959, which ensured a child’s right to shelter, education, healthcare, and protection. In 1965, UNICEF added to their ever-growing list of accolades with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for â€Å"the promotion of brotherhood among nations. † Following this, the organization began to devote its time to promo ting proper medication and sanitation for children worldwide. These efforts included encouraging women to breastfeed their children, promoting a breast milk substitute, and helping children obtain proper vaccinations.Throughout their years of service, UNICEF has grown to serve over 190 countries and has developed focus areas to ensure child survival and development, basic education and gender equality, child protection, and HIV/AIDS prevention in children. Each country’s UNICEF office carries out the organizations missions and objectives with help from its government, with its regional offices offering assistance whenever it is needed. The head management of UNICEF and its overall administration reside in the organizations main office in New York.UNICEF has 36 National Committees, which promote the rights of children throughout the world and raises national awareness of issues related to the protection of human rights for children. The Committees also collects funds and devel ops partnerships and affiliations of UNICEF with other organizations and institutions around the world. All the work and programs of UNICEF are monitored by a 36 member Executive Board. The Executive Board ultimately controls the financial basis of the organization, and reviews its policies and procedures.The Board is elected by members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and primarily serve three terms. UNICEF focuses on making sure children survive their adolescent years and develop into young adults. This is an extremely difficult task due to all the diseases that effect children in less developed countries. While diseases such as malaria and pneumonia will kill millions and millions of young children, these diseases are preventable. Over half of the millions of children that die from these diseases are preventable.UNICEF is using its research and funding to develop low cost innovative technologies to produce vaccines and antibiotics to these developing cou ntries to ensure children can live a full and healthy life. In addition, UNICEF tries to ensure that children have access to basic education so that children can learn about these preventable diseases, along with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Just implementing organizations which channel basic information to these children can be a successful tool in ensuring that these young children live a healthier and safer life.Education is a human right which every child should be given the right to, and UNICEF is making strides toward achieving this goal. Not only does UNICEF work to facilitate children’s knowledge and learning, but it also works to develop a protective environment for children as well. Hundreds of children in the world face exploitation and are subject to violence. Whether it be exploitation from the labor force or institutions, to brutality and abuse from conflict within communities, children need some form of protection in society.Children have the right to survival and de velopment, and UNICEF advocates for protective measures in governments to provide a safe environment for children. Responses taken by UNICEF towards the fight against child protection include the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Millennium Declaration. These responses taken by UNICEF use legal systems and a given set of standards that governments must respect with regards to the human rights of its children and citizens. The governments and individuals of states cannot take away or violate the rights of its people.The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important measure towards UNICEF’s fight against child protection. The principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are legally binding, making it unlawful if a state does not adhere to its protocols. â€Å"The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights. † Governments of states have now taken respo nsibility to guarantee and protect children’s rights.National governments are obligated to implement all the policies and standards of the convention, and must be accountable for their actions if there are cases of children’s rights being disregarded. The convention covers all the basic human rights from the right to survival and protection from violence to the right of a child to grow and develop. UNICEF makes sure that there are standards being met with regards to education, health care and other legal and social services, and that governments are committing to these efforts.UNICEF makes it clear that violence against children is not justifiable, and states must implement and uphold policies and programs to insure the safety and nonviolence among children. This reassures the binding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which acknowledges that states have the obligation to ensure accountability in all cases of violence. The UNICEF’s worldwid e efforts and initiative to elevate the status of children and give them a voice is a detrimental part of improving the world as a whole.Children are the key to the future. The children of today are going to be tomorrow’s leaders and important figures. Also, in order to fight and reduce the conditions of poverty in the world, children should be looked upon as the first step. Poverty is the root cause of children being denied their rights as a human. Poverty leads to a less protective childhood environment, and less resources for education and health concerns. It hinders the ability of a child to grow and develop.In the end, â€Å"poverty is transmitted from one generation to the next. If there are any intentions of breaking the increasing sequence of poverty, then investments by governments and other private sectors must spent towards children’s health, education and overall development. Investing in the health and safety of the worlds youth can lead to great returns in the future. In the end, the decline of world poverty starts by implementing standards and institutions for the well being of the nations youth.The tasks and goals of UNICEF cover an enormous focus ranging from child education and equality, to child protection and development. These issues entail many programs and much funding, which is why UNICEF is closely connected to many other organizations. Other organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the International Labour Organization are some of the many organizations which are closely connected to UNICEF.These organizations all come together to tackle numerous issues such as disease control, better education and nutritional practices, implementing children welfare services, providing food and health to areas in the developing world and many other functions. UNICEF teams up with numerous other organizations to offer humanitarian aid and development to assist children in impoverished countries. UNICEF also works with the International Red Cross on emergency relief assignments in places like Cambodia which has experienced a domestic upheaval , as well as working to make child rights constitutional in Brazil.UNICEF partners with United Nation agencies and governments to provide support and assistance to children during emergency conditions. During the first weeks of crisis, UNICEF works to assess the situation that children and women are experiencing, provide necessary immunizations and nutrition, support mother-child feeding and monitoring, provide sanitary and safe drinking water, prevent sexual abuse and exploitation, and resume education. In order to facilitate proper assistance, UNICEF has set up an Office of Emergency Programmes (EMPOS), which coordinates UNICEF’s partnership with other agencies, and provides staff support.Within the EMPOS resides UNICEF’s Operations Cent re which serves as a 24-7 information gathering center in order supervise staff, monitor world events, and insure safety of all UNICEF members. UNICEF has successfully provided humanitarian aid and helped improve the welfare of children all around the world. For instance, UNICEF has helped keep peace in Sri Lanka while educating the youth. While Sri Lanka suffered civil war and violence for over a decade, the UNICEF helped to educate children non-violent ways to resolve conflicts and disputes by launching the Education for Conflict Resolution.UNICEF trained principles, teachers and pupils to use innovative techniques to emphasize passivity and nonviolence. In addition, UNICEF aided in achieving community-based health care in Indonesia. In 1973, Indonesia suffered from more than 10 million of its children under five years-old being undernourished. UNICEF countered this epidemic by supplying Indonesia with nutritional first aid packages for the villages, which provided scales to weigh babies as well as rehydration salts and iron supplements. A network of village health posts were formed, here mother could bring their infants for nourishment or go to meetings and receive important information regarding the health of their children. This is much like Mother Centres, which were created under UNICEF in Central and Eastern Europe. This provides woman with a social network to communicate and deal with issues such as poverty. It also provided education to girls and mothers regarding health concerns and gender discrimination. However, UNICEF has also encountered efforts that proved to be unsuccessful.For example, while providing humanitarian aid to the people of Sudan during the civil war, the agency poorly managed the aid operation. UNICEF offered aid to the Sudan people, but failed to make sure the aid was distributed to the Sudan population. As a result, corrupt officials were taking most of the aid, leaving the people and children with little to no resources. Weak m anagement of this massive relief operation led to an unsuccessful distribution of aid for the citizens of Sudan.With all the focus and aid the UNICEF provided among its universal operations, sufficient funding was a key component to its success. The budget of UNICEF was provided primarily through government contributions and donations, along with private donations from numerous interest groups. However, without U. S. involvement and funding, UNICEF would not be as successful as it is today. The United States generous contributions to UNICEF portrays the United State’s worldwide investment in children.Within the last fiscal year (2009), the United States Congress voluntarily contributed 130 million to UNICEF, which is critical to UNICEF’s budget. The U. S. fund for UNICEF consisted of just about a million individual donors along with other organizations and well-know businesses providing contributions to the fund. With the United State’s advocacy and large fundin g of UNICEF, it allows the organization improve its measures of child survival and development internationally throughout the world.Since its conception in 1946 UNICEF has consistently ranked among the world’s strongest charitable organizations. Over these past decades UNICEF has established one of the top charitable business models. In 2008 UNICEF reported total revenues at $453,900,000 yet its administrative and fundraising expenses were less than $42,000,000 thus allowing UNICEF to spend over $400,000,000 on its various international relief efforts. Unlike other charities that face administrative and technical walls, UNICEF is able to use $. 90 of every dollar raised on the world’s most desperate children.In addition to its preeminent business model UNICEF has also perfected its fundraising techniques spending only six cents per every dollar raised. As a result of its successful fundraising and financial planning UNICEF received top ratings for its efficiency and or ganization. While UNICEF maintains itself as a top charity its greatest strength lies within its ability to change. Unfortunately the disasters of the world rarely come with a warning thus requiring organizations to create effective and rapid response programs for such things as natural disasters and wars.Emergency response has become one of UNICEF’s greatest strengths and it has become a world leader in the development of newer, more effective response strategies. UNICEF has also been able to successfully change with the tide of power throughout the world’s hotspots; which tend to be the most desperate. UNICEF, because of its connection with the United Nations, has been able to maintain regional offices and treatment centers throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Southeastern Asia. Since 1946 UNICEF has been a constant light for the children of the world.It has established itself as on the top international charities. As a result of its concrete business model, effic ient fundraising, and ability to change UNICEF will undoubtedly continue to provide relief for all children in need. UNICEF’s success has also created some drawbacks that should be expected with an ever-growing organization. UNICEF’s success has led it towards a results-based management style. Results-based management can be inefficient for it only cares about the bottom line and not necessarily about the means to get the bottom line.This can lead to such inefficiencies as over-spending and a lack of precision in order to get things done quicker. In addition, due to UNICEF’s size, it has become a victim of the bureaucracy and the complexities of a large corporation. Time and money is frequently wasted on simple internal processes that become complex due to a drawn out power structure. UNICEF’s weaknesses lie within its ability to grow. Like any private or government institution UNICEF must continue to adapt and evolve to the constant changes occurring in the 21st century.While conditions are improving for children, there are still millions of children dying each day, especially in areas of the world where there is insufficient leaderships. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the worlds worst catastrophe, and some feel that UNICEF has done enough work to help the countries in Africa that are greatly effect by it. Wendy McElroy, who believes UNICEF’s focus is all wrong, contributes some of its failures to the fact that UNICEF leaders always tend to be American.This, she states, tends to result in the organization to convey and lean towards American interest. However, UNICEF’s strong organization and track record will undoubtedly aid itself in correcting its flaws in the coming years. UNICEF has agencies in more than 150 developing countries with the goal of helping children survive and reach their adolescent years. It looks to implement programs and policies to overcome the everyday obstacles that children is the world strug gle to overcome, ranging from discrimination, violence, inequality, poverty and disease.UNICEF has made fundamental strides in child survival and development with the use of low cost health programs, resulting in child deaths being reduced by 20 percent in the last three years. Also, UNICEF is â€Å"the world leader in vaccine supply and immunization,† helping to protect the world’s youth from preventable diseases. This alone has helped to prevent the deaths of more than 2 million children in the world each year. The promotion of basic education is also a detrimental aspect of UNICEF.UNICEF has helped Afghanistan build more than three thousand schools to educate more than 140,000 children. These are just a few examples of UNICEF’s policies that have helped save millions of children’s lives. However, even with UNICEF’s aid and successes, more than an estimated 9. 2 million children will die this year, many due to preventable diseases. UNICEF has tak en significant measures to shed light upon the issues that effect not only children, but many others throughout the world. This alone has brought about change to millions who suffer in the world today.Protecting the world’s youth who do not have the ability to help themselves is a key step in maintaining a bright and prosperous future, since today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. The vision and goals of UNICEF have stayed consistent since its formation in 1946, always striving towards helping reduce hunger, increase vaccinations and treatments, and ultimately protect the rights of children. UNICEF is in no way a perfect organization, but its policies and programs have constructed a world in which children can further develop into the leaders of tomorrow.

Reparations in The United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reparations in The United States - Essay Example According to the study  the life challenges the African American are facing today are because of slavery, and the life they underwent during slavery.  This is because they were taken from their homes in Africa, and abused in America by a regularity that ruined the structure of their families, as well as destroying the individual. When the American decided to end slavery,   the African   American were left with nothing, denied education, segregated making them experience a lot of economic challenges. Compared to the Europeans, the African American remained disadvantaged in the society, and it is said that they are likely to remain like that until the government compensates them.From this essay it is clear that the provided welfare and affirmative action, as well as other effort established to address socio economic challenges of the African Americans have been too small.These efforts have failed because the society has failed to tackle the main challenge affecting the African American people. This is because of racism and discrimination they present to the African American people.  To some extent the social welfare programs were established   for good intentions. However, have largely contributed to the isolation of the African American people, and further destroyed the African American society. Furthermore, the established programs only benefited other people leaving out the African Americans.   Ã‚  ... Compared to the Europeans, the African American remained disadvantaged in the society, and it is said that they are likely to remain like that until the government compensates them.7 3 The provided welfare and affirmative action, as well as other effort established to address socio economic challenges of the African Americans have been too small.8 These efforts have failed because the society has failed to tackle the main challenge affecting the African American people. This is because of racism and discrimination they present to the African American people.9 To some extent the social welfare programs were established for good intentions. However, have largely contributed to the isolation of the African American people, and further destroyed the African American society. Furthermore, the established programs only benefited other people leaving out the African Americans.4 Supporters for reparations noted that, reparations were not going to promote dependence. However, they were going to offer the African American people an opportunity to develop their own economic foundation and become independent.10 According to McCarthy, reparations were meant to restore past injustices, to amend the harms imposed, and to socialize their victims. This is because several existing African Americans went to isolated schools that had limited resources. In other circumstances where they went for higher education, then it was upon them to choose a black collage or not attend college at all.11 The African Americans experienced discrimination in job appointments, and they experienced poor access of information. They were categorized as second class citizens in the United States. McCarthy noted that this reparation took two forms the collective compensation and collective

Rethinking Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rethinking Construction - Essay Example As a result of our research, the conclusion we have reached, with some notable exceptions, is that there was merit in John Regan's task force findings and that, in general, it has improved the performance of the construction industry. However, we have also concluded that in certain areas of the industry in general, and despite the incentives and organizations set up2, the implementation of the proposal is taking longer than had been envisaged. The main thrust of the "Rethinking Construction" report was for the partnering approach to form the central focus of construction projects. Such a system has been successfully implemented in many other industries as part of an integrated supply chain procedure. The report went on to suggest that if the construction industry executed the initiatives recommended, there could be anticipated significant annual improvements and savings in a number of key industry areas. These included: - The intention was to show the industry a way forward and help it to revitalize and refocus itself after a period of stagnation and poor productivity and profitability. It was also seen as a foundation stone in the rebuilding of the industry's less than perfect reputation, resulting from its propensity to deliver projects late, over-budget and not to the highest quality. In 1998 the report suggested to the industry guidelines in respect of the timescale for change, warning of the possible repercussions if the need for such change was not taken on board and treated seriously. In an effort to show the way and prove to the industry in general the value that the "Rethinking Construction", the task force called upon the government and construction industry leaders to put together a number of demonstration development projects, which would act as models for evaluation purposes. It asked for 500 millions worth of such projects. In the event, some 6 billion's worth were forthcoming. Positive Results There have been some notable successes where the task force recommendations have been fully implemented. The following, (figure 1) shows how the joint government / industry pilot schemes fared in the year 2001. It can be clearly seen from this table the results on a number of the KPI's3 set down by the task force have exceeded expectations. The most notable of these have been in safety, design time predictability and defects, which the original report had suggested should be targeted for 20% per annum improvement. There have also been some notable successes in partnering within the private sector. L.T. Deeprose Ltd, based in Guildford in Surrey, is a case in point. This company has embraced both the spirit and the physical aspect of "Rethinking Construction". The company concentrate on two aspects of the industry, development and contracting. On the development side they have built up working relationships with property advisor and estate agents, contracting Clients, specialized sub-contractors and consultants, including architects. By building a long term relationship with all of these organizations and involving them at all stages of a project, the company is able to meet, and continues to meet, the majority of the benefits that the report suggested would be

Material Handling in KIZAD, UAE Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Material Handling in KIZAD, UAE - Article Example Receiving of raw materials to the factory is also part of material handling. It is to ensure the correct goods come to the organization and also leave the organization to the customer. The essay will expand on the role and benefits of KIZAD. The primary focus will be on material handling in KIZAD. The Middle East is a world-class logistics hub due to its geographical location. This region has had significant developments in terms of material handling and warehousing. There has been much development in the logistic infrastructure part of UAE. Countries like Abu Dhabi have significant economic development due to the number of businesses that go through the country. There are materials that go through Abu Dhabi before they move to other regions in the world. It is a central point of moving goods across the world. It is, therefore, important that Abu Dhabi develops world class warehouses where the materials being transported are in safe hands. The warehousing business is now a significant part of the economy that has always been dominated by oil and gas. The material handling business in KIZAD has helped the economy grow by 6% every year thus making it enable vision 2030. Abu Dhabi has a fast growth  pace and the manufacturing industries at KIZAD are growing. The need to have warehouses where the materials have a safe handle is increasing on a daily basis. There is not enough knowledge concerning the fast growth of the economy, hence the need for more warehouses in Abu Dhabi. There have however been many warehouses cropping up due to the increase in demand and opening of the port last year. Lessons on how to handle this business are in need so as the goods remain protected and not get damaged during storage. It is important to understand the kind of goods one is handling, as different products require different attention.

Mercy, Witness, and Imelda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mercy, Witness, and Imelda - Essay Example While in â€Å"Mercy† the mother and the old woman in the essay considers the death of the patient as a jewel to them, the family members of the patients in â€Å"Witness," and â€Å"Imelda" are epitomes of human compassion and love. This paper seeks to explore how doctors and family members deal with the consequences of their decisions that may or may not be based on love. One can understand that the doctor in all the three essays is moved by compassion and love towards the patients as well as their family members; there is no doubt that this has added more charm to his personal and medical profession. In both â€Å"Mercy† and â€Å"Witness† the doctor displays immense amount of compassion and love towards the patients whereas in â€Å"Imelda" the professor undergoes considerable transformation after Imelda is dead. In â€Å"Mercy†, the doctor observes that there is no uncertainty for the flies when it comes to death whereas humans lack such fraternity and everyone is left alone to suffer. The doctor in the essay is totally compassionate towards the 42 year old patient who suffers from a cancer of the pancreas in the abdomen. The doctor desperately promises that he will not let the patient suffer and will get him out of the pain. However, the doctor at this juncture knows for certain that â€Å"there is no way to kill the pain w ithout killing the man who owns it† (Selzer 71). Finally, at the instigation of the women, he decides to put an end to the life of the patient by pressing on the larynx (windpipe) of the patient. However, he is moved by his medical ethics and compassion towards the patient that he realises soon that he is not supposed to do the cruel deed. Similarly, in â€Å"Witness† one can experience the compassionate attitude of the doctor towards the patient and his loving father. The doctor is extremely moved by the six year old patient who suffers from tumour. He knows that â€Å"the baby

Human Rights in International Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Rights in International Law - Essay Example Other than these methods, other international human rights instruments also exist that are not legally binding but have an effect on the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights laws. These sources of law have been recognised to have a political obligation1. International human rights laws are enforceable on the domestic, regional and international levels. Any states that are involved in human rights treaties undertake a voluntary obligation to respect the rights recognised in the respective treaties. Furthermore, it is the duty of the state to ensure compliance of domestic laws with the conditions laid down in treaties so that domestic and international law is compatible. Although the primary mechanism of human rights protection and the ensuing legal framework are mostly domestic in nature but the bereaved party may resort to regional or international legal mechanisms to redress concerns. Alternatively, regional or international legal mechanisms ma y enforce themselves on domestic situations in order to deal with human rights abuses. Human rights are protected internationally through the use of two parallel legal mechanisms namely the international human rights laws and the international humanitarian laws. ... For general cases, human rights are taken to regulate the relationship existing between individuals and the state within the context of an ordinary life. In contrast, humanitarian laws are taken to regulate the relationship between a belligerent state and any parties it comes into contact with. These parties could be hostile or neutral when seen in the context of an armed conflict2. This paper will concern itself with the implementation of human rights laws alone on the domestic, regional and international levels. 2. International Law on Human Rights In the post World War Two scenario, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the watershed of international human rights law. The United Nations General Assembly adopted this declaration in 1948 and can be seen as a reaction to the experiences of the Second World War. In itself, this declaration is the first global expression of rights that all human beings are entitled to3. The importance of this declaration stems from the fact that its articles have been used subsequently in international treaties, national constitutions, domestic laws and regional human rights instruments. The declaration is not a treaty in itself but has been adopted explicitly in order to define the words â€Å"human rights† and â€Å"fundamental freedoms† that are listed in the United Nations Charter. In turn, the United Nations Charter is binding on all member states and so the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive document for the United Nations. A large body of international lawyers holds that the Declaration is part of customary international law. This position implies that the Declaration is an

The goal of an artist is to express his vision regardless of the Essay

The goal of an artist is to express his vision regardless of the publics reaction - Essay Example The first point that comes to mind is that the purpose of art is to give pleasure. At this juncture, a look in to ‘The nature of Art’ by Cothey will be useful. According to Cothey (21), a commonly used analogy is that ‘art is the food for the mind’. Now, one has to read the explanation provided by Tolstoy, the greatest artist of all times. In ‘What is Art?’, he says that ‘the satisfaction of our taste cannot serve as a basis for our definition of the merits of the food†¦. In the same way, beauty, or that which pleases us, can in no sense serve as a basis for the definition of art’. (Cothey, 21 ). Now, it becomes easy to have a clear idea about the purpose of art. It is evident that the quality of art cannot be measured by the extent to which it is pleasing to the general public. Instead, its nutritional value might lie somewhere else. To illustrate, the work â€Å"Loose Lips Sink Ships† by Peter Langenbach portrays forme r President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky in a bathtub. It is an admitted fact that neither Clinton nor his admirers would be able to enjoy the art though the artist hugely succeeded in creating humor, having both aesthetic and nutritional value. At this juncture, it seems beneficial to incorporate the Aristotle view that tragedy can result in a catharsis of emotions. Now, if someone analyses the controversial art works of the past, one can identify the fact that each of them, though presented in the most erratic, insane and inhuman way, has a social reality to say, either presented in a direct way or indicating to the issue subtly. To illustrate, Renee Cox, in â€Å"Yo Mama’s Last Supper† presented a nude African-American portraying Jesus. Though many find this highly offensive, for the sake of argument, one can say that the artist wanted to show the attractiveness of the Church, the alluring nature of Jesus, and so on. In other words, the beauty of art really lies in the eyes of the beholder. One cannot forget how Leonardo da Vinci still creates confusion in the ‘Last Supper’ through the presence of Mary Magdalene and how Dan Brown wrote ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Now, it seems evident that the beauty of art lies in vivid imagination that knows no boundaries. Erecting barriers in the name of social norms, religion, culture and ethics can only kill the essence of art. In other words, had there been strict imposition of rules on art, many of the masterpieces of the history would not have been developed. They all had their birth because of the intellectual freedom enjoyed by the artists. As V. S. Ramachandran and William Hirstein observe, â€Å"all art is caricature† (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 18). Their study points towards the purpose of art, according Hindu view, as conveying ‘rasa’ or ‘essence’ (17). To achieve this purpose, the artists often amplify the features they observe. As an exam ple, the researchers point out how artists amplify the feminine features of a female while portraying a female, and how they overemphasize the masculine features of a male to convey ‘essence’. In addition, the researchers point out the fact that if the purpose of art is to merely present a reality directly, it could be more easily done using a camera (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 16). Thus, the essence of art lies in enhancing, transcending, and even distorting reality. Artists, throughout history, were well

Higher education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Higher education - Essay Example Unfortunately, within the confines of a probationary period at colleges or universities, the institutions can choose not to renew faculty contracts and terminate faculty without any reason or cause because they are classed as at will employees. Throughout the probationary period, senior professors and administrators evaluate the work of new faculty-teaching, research and service before deciding whether or not to recommend tenure. This would be managed by having the students fill out a questionnaire at the end of the year to let the administrators and senior professors know how a particular instructor taught that year what are the strengths and weaknesses in a particular area. The administrators do not only focus on what the students say about the instructor they base how to become tenure not only on the questionnaire that the students fill out but how the instructor does as a whole. The instructors have a portfolio that they assemble in mid year probably around April and they turn it in to the Department Head of that particular department. The most recent survey of American faculty shows that, in a typical year, about one in five probationary faculty members was denied tenure and lost his or her job. According to the NEA and a paper titled The Truth About Tenure in Higher Education the faculty members of any institution are accountable even after the achievement of tenure. Evaluations of tenured faculty occur periodically for promotion, salary increases and even for merit increases. There is routine review of articles for publication and for grant applications based on merit by faculty peers. "If basic academic tenets and due process rights are observed, this kind of accountability is wholly appropriate. A finding of incompetence or unprofessional conduct can still result in firing". (1.http://www2.nea.org/he/truth.html) Universities manage to force diversity into a much broader societal discovery process. The meaning derived from this would be that faculty tenure would be based on the principles of intellectual autonomy and free inquiry. Together, these very principles would also manage describing a much less favorable track considered as accountability lacking. A tenured faculty member simply is not very accountable to deans and department chairs.Lack of accountability comes under heavy criticism, and yet tenure itself remains part of the virtue of the university.It is the mission of a university to work utilizing novel and independent principles whereby generating and evaluating ideas accordingly relative to the remainder of society. There would be direct commercial considerations which would drive most idea sources including research and development in corporate circles, commercial culture, celebrity culture and advertising. The university functions as both an alternative and complementary mechan ism for the production and evaluation of social ideas.Direct commercial pressures insulate professors in the university environment; at least this is true in theory.For the most part, academic rewards would be determined by a peer evaluation. In a process that depends on intellectual or creative superstars, tenure and non-accountability work especially well within