Discuss Chinese cosmology and its meanings and implications in early Essay

Discuss Chinese cosmology and its meanings and implications in early Chinese political culture - Essay Example These phases also refer to the different applications of reality, including the five directions, the five tastes, smells, colours, viscera and the five classifications of flora and fauna (Faure, 2005). Such general theme applies a suspension of thought with everything having its place and each place having a corresponding value. In effect, to find something means discovering and controlling it. These elements of cosmology will be discussed based on its meanings and implications in early Chinese political culture. A general background of Chinese cosmology will first be established, and then followed by more specific discussions on political culture during the early Chinese period. Body Chinese cosmology is based on the concept of cosmic order, which is the foundation of all existence, and also the primary rule in all cosmic relations and developments. The universe is therefore considered a self-contained and dynamic object operating based on its basic pattern. Such pattern has often b een considered as Dao by Chinese philosophers (Liu, 2006). This Dao has various interrelated elements. The term â€Å"way† has been related to â€Å"path† or â€Å"road† (Liu, 2006). Way is therefore related to the proper or the right way of acting or doing something or in another sense, the proper order which emanates in doing something right. Dao implies an all encompassing entelechy, a life-sustaining force supporting the creation of various things (Liu, 2006). Dao in effect, covers the whole cosmos from its birth or creation. Moreover, Dao refers to cosmic order and in some ways, is considered the truth or reality. Within the holistic cosmic understanding, this cosmic order covers majority of human relations and affairs (Liu, 2006). In effect, Dao includes a moral implication, being the proper way of states taking part in the human world. As Dao is considered the â€Å"right way,† it also represents the way which should be taken by individuals. In the more overreaching sense, Dao represents the highest moral standard for humans. Qi is also another element of Chinese cosmology, very much relating to the concept of Dao. There is no definite English translation for qi, but in general it is understood as something referring to energy, life-flows, and spirit (Liu, 2006). Chinese cosmology considers qi as a precursor to matter with the elemental breaking up of qi forming matter. All matters are made up of qi and levels of purity often indicate the different degrees of existence (Liu, 2006). Humans are perceived as possessing the purest qi with lower animals having less pure qi. Qi breaks down, however it is never consumed or diminished (Ames, 2005). Qi covers the universe with the universe representing the totality of qi being constantly mobilized and changed. The cosmos is therefore perceived as inclusive of qi without having a will or mind of its own (Ames, 2005). Such force covers most aspects of the cosmos, with all matters being connected as a strong organic whole. Chinese cosmology has been considered correlative with cosmologies being understood as frameworks of ideas which manage the universe as an ordered tool, evaluating it in relation to space, time, and motion, and populating it with humans, spirits, gods, and demons (Wang, 2000). Chinese cosmology therefore includes a comprehensive system of connected networks, supported by interlinked pairs (based on Yin-Yang), fours (based on the four directions), fives, (based on five phrases or Wuxing), and

Admitted to hospital Essay Example for Free

Admitted to hospital Essay As the days passed, Mr. Glen succeeded. Now he started to teach her how to use a typewriter. She picked up his instructions very quickly. In some days she became able to write ten words in one minute. Unfortunately she failed in her exams. She cried a lot because she thought that her work was totally dark but Mr. Glen tried to give her understanding that you could try again. He told her Your work wasnt dark. It was very psychedelic. Dont lose hope. You will get success someday. Near eight O clock in the evening suddenly they made a plan to go out to eat ice cream. When they reached the ice cream shop, Mr. Glen asked Lorraine to sit on the bench and he would be back with the ice cream. She agreed and Mr. Glen went towards the ice cream shop but at once he forgot every thing even about himself: who he was and why he come there. He went back to home but unfortunately Lorraine was waiting for him. Propitiously the teacher at Lorraines university was passing that street where Lorraine was sitting. He took Lorraine with him and dropped her in her home. Lorraine opened the door of her room; Mr.  Glen was sat there. Lorraine asked her why you left me there and return home? . Mr. Glen didnt reply because he didnt know what was going on. He started to forget every thing even Lorraine because of his old age. Lorraine got frightened that if her teacher forget every thing what would happen with her future. Her parents were able to understand her sign language so she spoke to her father about her teachers health. So Mr. Callam decided that he needed doctors treatment so he got admitted to hospital. Every evening Lorraine went to the hospital to meet her teacher. She had a hope that he would be cured eventually. Chapter 4 Now Lorraine is fourty years old. She had a graduation day at her university. The principal of her university announced that Lorraine is the pride of his university. He asked her to come on the stage to get an award by him for achieving graduation. At last she fulfilled the dream of her teacher Mr. Glen. Her principal told her to express her feelings. Her parents were also present there so her mother translated her signs for other people. She said I got this level just because of my honorable teacher Mr. Glen. He worked very hard and he spends his whole life towards making my future. He taught me manners, how to spend my life. Because of him, I learnt how to eat. He taught me all the things that were impossible. He taught me dark is not black. It is the colour of achievement, colour of knowledge. She told the audience that she wanted her teacher Mr. Glen to come there and look at her with her precious award but unfortunately he couldnt come. She said, If he came here I am sure that he would be happier than me because today I have completed his dream. Then Lorraine went to the hospital to show her award to Mr. Glen. She said to him Look at this award which you have wanted for fourty years. Today I have completed your dream. Unfortunately, he didnt remember anything. Now she started trying her best to give him his memorial. She thought that Mr. Glen was the best teacher in the whole world who taught her to achieve what was impossible. Moral: Nothing is impossible if we work hard!

Static And Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Computer Science Essay

Static And Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Computer Science Essay As the requirements of the wireless services keep growing, the number of variant wireless standards increases, which consequently imposes increasing stress on the fixed and limited radio spectrum. However, extensive measurements reported indicate that large part of licensed bands is in low utilization, as show in Figure 2.1. Spectrum utilization is strongly depended on place and time. Fixed spectrum allocation wastes resources. [1] Figure .1 Spectrum Utilization Nowadays applications require more bandwidth for better services. Electromagnetic spectrum, however, is a kind of limited natural resource as well as water and crude oil. Recent studies noted the poor utilization of traditional exclusive spectrum assignment. An intuitional way to improve the sparse usage is to allow an unlicensed user to access the resource during idle time. We can improve efficiency by allowing unlicensed users to exploit spectrum whenever it would not cause interference to licensed users. 2.2 Spectrum Assignment Policy: Why A fixed spectrum fraction is assigned to licensed holders on a long term basis for large geographical regions. Figure 2.2 show fixed spectrum assignment to different standards. Figure 2.2 Spectrum Assignment policy According to Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this exclusive assignment limits the usage and results in many spectrum holes, also called white space. It shows most traffic over wireless network concentrates on particular frequency, in particular region, at particular time while a significant amount of the spectrum remains unused. Throughout the whole spectra, utilization varies from 15% to 85% in frequency, time and geographic domains. Much worse is that, 90% of the time, certain portions of licensed bands are unoccupied. As users demand for better quality of services and higher data rate, efficient spectrum usage is becoming a critical issue. [2] 2.3 Static and Dynamic Spectrum Allocation: There has been numerous protocol standards on the wireless spectrum that rely on a static spectrum allocation policy under which each licensed spectrum band is statically assigned to the specific licensed service and its users. Once a spectrum band is assigned to a certain service, its allocation is not allowed to change. However, a new concept of dynamic spectrum allocation has become necessary to overcome critical limitations of the traditional static al location scheme. Recent studies have shown that the use of static spectrum allocation has degraded spectral efficiency significantly. Moreover, current standards cannot guarantee the prevention of unexpected interruptions by wireless network users. To alleviate these problems, FCC has recently suggested a new concept of cognitive radio networks (CRNs) that serves as a framework in realizing dynamic spectrum allocation. It requires the enhancement of current PHY and MAC protocols to adopt spectrum-agile features. The basic idea of s pectrum agility is to allow secondary users (SUs) or unlicensed users to access licensed spectrum bands as far as they do not produce undesirable interference with the licensed users. To achieve this goal, SUs must monitor each channelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s usage pattern by its PUs to identify spectrum holes or opportunities to exploit. Whenever SUs find a channel that can be utilized without interfering with its PUs, it can be assigned to and will be shared by the SUs. The SUs are also responsible for monitoring returning PUs on the channel they are currently using so as to promptly vacate the channel in such a case. [3] 2.4 Unlicensed Spectrum: There are two major advantages of using unlicensed spectrum. First, there is no requirement to register for using the spectrum and its deployment is very fast and cost effective as well. Second major advantage of using unlicensed spectrum is that it is shared among users which is indeed useful for wireless systems in which devices can dynamically change its position like notebooks, cell phones, etc. It would not be practical to require the owners of a portable device to acquire a license that covers every place they may ever wish the system to operate. Fixed applications that transmit sporadically or at fluctuating rates can also make more efficient use of unlicensed spectrum; when one is not transmitting, another can. It has been shown that cellular systems could carry significantly more traffic if they shared spectrum dynamically, provided that competing firms are willing to adopt cooperative strategies that serve their common interest. Metropolitan area networks carrying bursty da ta traffic could expect even greater efficiency gains, if competing networks can be motivated to adopt such techniques. [11] 2.4.1 ISM band: The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands were originally reserved internationally for the use of RF electromagnetic fields for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications. Figure 2.3 shows spectrum of ISM band. [13] Figure 2.3: ISM Band There are many factors which raises interest for using these bands such as time consuming standardization. Also, there is no requirement of registering the users using these bands, no particular restrictions on users for their usage and users can use the products anywhere at any place. There is no license fee for this band and the devices using these bands are cost effective. Many wireless communication standards are aimed to use unlicensed ISM band because it is easier to coexist with existing wireless networks than to assign a new separate empty spectrum. Currently most of spectrums for wireless communication are saturated. There are heavy interference and competition in ISM band because many wireless devices flow into this frequency area. On the contrary, spectrums of TV broadcasting, digital TV and wireless microphone tend to inactive depend on devicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ location or time. In TV broadcasting, the spectrum is busy in TV broadcasting hours, but no one can use the spe ctrum when broadcasting signs off. Also TV spectrum is changed in compliance with localization. The 2.4 GHz ISM band has become particularly popular in last few years such as household and virtually all commercial buildings are likely to have equipment that operates in this band. Applications include wireless LANs, Bluetooth and infrared devices for short range communication and for Advanced Traveler Information and Management Systems like door openers for garage, home audio system, cordless phones, remote control, etc. 2.5 Wireless Regional Area Network (IEEE 802.22): IEEE 802.22 Working Group came in to being in November 2004 with a purpose of making a standard for wireless regional area network (WRAN) capable of using cognitive radio technology. According to its technical specifications, 802.22 WRAN systems will operate on the VHF/UHF TV bands ranging from 54 MHz to 862 MHz. The target of WRAN is to provide wireless broadband access with the average coverage radius of 33 km and can go up to 100km. The main target is to make unlicensed access to unused TV spectrum. In particular, 802.22 WRAN systems will be able to sense the spectrum, identify unused TV channels, and utilize these channels to provide broadband services for fixed wireless subscribers. While doing so, they must make sure that there is no undesirable interference with licensed users. Figure 2.4 shows the WRAN standards and application.[8] Figure 2.4: WRAN IEEE 802.22 is a standard for Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) which uses unused spectrum (spectrum whole) in the TV frequency spectrum on a non-interference basis. This standard is developed with the intent to give broadband internet coverage in rural areas with acceptable performance comparing with performance of DSL and cable modems. The television spectrum was selected for this application due to its propagation characteristics. Cognitive radios will reuse TV spectrum in an opportunistic way by detecting if the channel is occupied before using it. 2.6 Summary: Due to the rapid growth of wireless services, various wireless standards have been developed which are becoming a cause of major stress in fixed and limited spectrum. However fixed spectrum results in low utilization of spectrum resources as per the spectrum assignment policy. Now days, applications require more spectrum for efficient services. The fixed spectrum is not convenient for these services. Therefore, this problem can be improved efficiently by allowing unlicensed users to exploit spectrum whenever it would not cause interference to licensed users. The fixed spectrum policy that relies on a static spectrum allocation policy under which each licensed spectrum band is statically assigned to the specific licensed service and its users and its allocation is not allowed to change. In order to solve this issue a new concept of dynamic spectrum allocation also known as unlicensed spectrum policy has become necessary to overcome critical limitations of the traditional static allocation scheme. To make this concept more efficient, a new technology called cognitive radio technology has been developed. The basic idea behind this technology is to allow secondary users (SUs) to access licensed spectrum bands as far as they do not cause any harmful interference with the primary users (PUs). The unlicensed spectrum has two major advantages i.e., one is they are fast and cheap in deployment and other is unlicensed spectrum is shared. As sharing is essential for wireless networks, many wireless communication standards are aimed to use unlicensed ISM band because of complete absence of user restrictions and it is easier to coexist with existing wireless networks than to allocate new empty spectrum. Cognitive radio technology is being used in WRAN developed by IEEE 802.22 working group give broadband services in rural areas having the performance statistics comparable to DSL and cable modems by utilizing white spaces on non-interference basis.

Narcolepsy Essay -- Disorder Sleep Sleepy Health Essays

Narcolepsy Sleepiness, whether due to sleep apnea, heavy snoring, idiopathic hypersomnolence, narcolepsy or insomnia from any number of sleep-related disorders, threatens millions of Americans' health and economic security (1). Perhaps somewhat most concerning of these disorders are those that allow sleep without having any control over when it happens-idiopathic hypersomnolence and narcolepsy. The two are closely related in that both cause individuals to fall asleep without such control, yet narcolepsy occurs without any dreaming during naps (2). For years, narcoleptic people have been falling asleep in corners, concerned, as they have given numerous attempts to try to stay focused and awake. But besides the excessive fatigue that people experience, there surely must be more that can be associated with causing such sleepiness among people at an uncontrolled level. There might especially not be a reason involving the I-function of the brain, as people are not aware of when necessarily they will fall into their deep sleep. Narcolepsy has been clinically defined as a chronic neurological disorder that involves the body's central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is basically like a "highway" of nerves that carries messages from the brain to other parts of the body. Thus, for people with narcolepsy, the messages about when to sleep and when to be awake sometimes hit roadblocks or detours and arrive in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why someone who has narcolepsy, not managed by medications, may fall asleep while eating dinner or engaged in social activities-or even at times when they are so focused on being awake, yet they cannot be due to their narcoleptic nature. In many cases, however, diagnosis... ...r personal grief. Works Cited: 1)Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Narcolepsy, Insomnia and Other Causes of Daytime Fatigue http://members.tripod.com/~sleephealth/sleepdisorderssleepapnea.html 2)Better Sleep Now! http://www.dreamdoctor.com/better/narcolepsy/6.shtml 3)Center for Narcolepsy: Symptoms and Diagnosis http://www.med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy/symptoms.html 4)Living With Narcolepsy http://www.sleepfoundation.org/publications/livingnarcolepsy.html 5)Sleepnet.com Apnea Forum http://www.sleepnet.com/apnea18/messages/434.html 6)Seratonin: The chemistry of Well-Being http://www.angelfire.com/hi/TheSeer/seratonin.html 7)Sleep Channel: Narcolepsy http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/narcolepsy/treatment.shtml 8)Sleep: Alternative and Integral Therapies http://www.holistic-online.com/Remedies/Sleep/sleep_ins_food-and-diet.htm

History of Scrapbooking Essay

During the Mid 1800’s, companies such as London based W&H Rock began producing leather albums that contained preprinted pages devoted to various themes. These albums were embellished with flowers and birds. Some early albums were printed with pockets to put photos in and other albums had sketching pages to draw or do water color art on. Mark Twain{the famous author who wrote Huckleberry Finn} had his own invention, Mark Twain’s Adhesive Scrapbook that included prepasted pages. This was one of Twain’s most popular books. Printed pages of stationery and embellished writing were used as decorative elements in scrapbooks. In 1825, a serial called â€Å"The Scrapbook† was issued. It included ideas on how to fill a blank book with pictures and clippings. In 1832, Fisher’s Drawing Room Scrapbook was a published volume that encouraged the art of scrapbooking. There were a series of these and they were decorated with pretty gift decorations on the covers, front and back. They became coffeee table books that were displayed. Queen Victoria had a scrapbook that she displayed in the Royal Palace. Thomas Jefferson had a scrapbook of news clippings, drawings, dried leaves and other items. . There were also friendship albums that were created and given as gifts. Young women in the Victorian period often created memory books or visitor’s albums filled with signatures, scrap, cards, hair, handwriting, poetry, and even photographs of their family and friends. Again, these were a way of sharing with others, and of preserving memories. Mark Twain was an avid scrapbooker. He devoted entire Sundays to this hobby and then sold his books through Montgomery Ward. Thomas Jefferson kept leather-bound books filled with news clippings, drawings, dried leaves and other memorabilia. In the 1970’s â€Å"Roots† was introduced by Alex Haley, and a huge interest in genealogy was born. This interest in genealogy led to people wanting to capture their heritage. In the 80’s and 90’s scrapbooking began to get more and more popular, and today we have a wide variety of scrapbooking choices, with color choices, embellishment choices and even tool choices. These days we have variety of pages to fit every theme available in scrapbook stores. Rubber stamps, ink, paint, stickers, ribbons, buttons and other items are available to embellish pages. I like the new Disney pewter clips of Mickey Mouse ears and Mickey that just came out. Look for them in your local scrapbook store. Scrapbooking has become a big part of our lives. We want to tell our stories and preserve our memories for future generations.

Wyndor Glass Co. Research Paper

18 Chapter Two Linear Programming: Basic Concepts 2. 1 A CASE STUDY: THE WYNDOR GLASS CO. PRODUCT-MIX PROBLEM Jim Baker is excited. The group he heads has really hit the jackpot this time. They have had some notable successes in the past, but he feels that this one will be really special. He can hardly wait for the reaction after his memorandum reaches top management. Jim has had an excellent track record during his seven years as manager of new product development for the Wyndor Glass Company.Although the company is a small one, it has been experiencing considerable growth largely because of the innovative new products developed by Jim’s group. Wyndor’s president, John Hill, has often acknowledged publicly the key role that Jim has played in the recent success of the company. Therefore, John felt considerable confidence six months ago in asking Jim’s group to develop the following new products: †¢ An 8-foot glass door with aluminum framing. †¢ A 4-foot 6-foot double-hung, wood-framed window.Although several other companies already had products meeting these specifications, John felt that Jim would be able to work his usual magic in introducing exciting new features that would establish new industry standards. Now, Jim can’t remove the smile from his face. They have done it. Background The Wyndor Glass Co. produces high-quality glass products, including windows and glass doors that feature handcrafting and the finest workmanship. Although the products are expensive, they fill a market niche by providing the highest quality available in the industry for the most discriminating buyers. The company has three plants.Plant 1 produces aluminum frames and hardware. Plant 2 produces wood frames. Plant 3 produces the glass and assembles the windows and doors. Because of declining sales for certain products, top management has decided to revamp the company’s product line. Unprofitable products are being discontinued, releasing production capacity to launch the two new products developed by Jim Baker’s group if management approves their release. The 8-foot glass door requires some of the production capacity in Plants 1 and 3, but not Plant 2. The 4-foot 6-foot double-hung window needs only Plants 2 and 3. Management now needs to address two issues: 1.Should the company go ahead with launching these two new products? 2. If so, what should be the product mix—the number of units of each produced per week— for the two new products? Management’s Discussion of the Issues Having received Jim Baker’s memorandum describing the two new products, John Hill now has called a meeting to discuss the current issues. In addition to John and Jim, the meeting includes Bill Tasto, vice president for manufacturing, and Ann Lester, vice president for marketing. Let’s eavesdrop on the meeting. John Hill (president): Bill, we will want to rev up to start production of these products as s oon as we can.About how much production output do you think we can achieve? Bill Tasto (vice president for manufacturing): We do have a little available production capacity, because of the products we are discontinuing, but not a lot. We should be able to achieve a production rate of a few units per week for each of these two products. John: Is that all? Bill: Yes. These are complicated products requiring careful crafting. And, as I said, we don’t have much production capacity available. An Application Vignette Swift & Company is a diversified protein-producing business based in Greeley, Colorado.With annual sales of over $8 billion, beef and related products are by far the largest portion of the company’s business. To improve the company’s sales and manufacturing performance, upper management concluded that it needed to achieve three major objectives. One was to enable the company’s customer service representatives to talk to their more than 8,000 custom ers with accurate information about the availability of current and future inventory while considering requested delivery dates and maximum product age upon delivery. A second was to produce an efficient shift-level schedule for each plant over a 28-day horizon.A third was to accurately determine whether a plant can ship a requested order-line-item quantity on the requested date and time given the availability of cattle and constraints on the plant’s capacity. To meet these three challenges, a management science team developed an integrated system of 45 linear programming models based on three model formulations to dynamically schedule its beef-fabrication operations at five plants in real time as it receives orders. The total audited benefits realized in the first year of operation of this system were $12. 74 million, including $12 million due to optimizing the product mix.Other benefits include a reduction in orders lost, a reduction in price discounting, and better on-time delivery. Source: A. Bixby, B. Downs, and M. Self, â€Å"A Scheduling and Capable-to-Promise Application for Swift & Company, Interfaces 36, no. 1 (January–February 2006), pp. 69–86. The issue is to find the most profitable mix of the two new products. John: Ann, will we be able to sell several of each per week? Ann Lester (vice president for marketing): Easily. John: OK, good. I would like to set the launch date for these products in six weeks. Bill and Ann, is that feasible? Bill: Yes.Ann: We’ll have to scramble to give these products a proper marketing launch that soon. But we can do it. John: Good. Now there’s one more issue to resolve. With this limited production capacity, we need to decide how to split it between the two products. Do we want to produce the same number of both products? Or mostly one of them? Or even just produce as much as we can of one and postpone launching the other one for a little while? Jim Baker (manager of new product dev elopment): It would be dangerous to hold one of the products back and give our competition a chance to scoop us. Ann: I agree.Furthermore, launching them together has some advantages from a marketing standpoint. Since they share a lot of the same special features, we can combine the advertising for the two products. This is going to make a big splash. John: OK. But which mixture of the two products is going to be most profitable for the company? Bill: I have a suggestion. John: What’s that? Bill: A couple times in the past, our Management Science Group has helped us with these same kinds of product-mix decisions, and they’ve done a good job. They ferret out all the relevant data and then dig into some detailed analysis of the issue.I’ve found their input very helpful. And this is right down their alley. John: Yes, you’re right. That’s a good idea. Let’s get our Management Science Group working on this issue. Bill, will you coordinate with th em? The meeting ends. The Management Science Group Begins Its Work At the outset, the Management Science Group spends considerable time with Bill Tasto to clarify the general problem and specific issues that management wants addressed. A particular concern is to ascertain the appropriate objective for the problem from management’s viewpoint.Bill points out that John Hill posed the issue as determining which mixture of the two products is going to be most profitable for the company. 19 20 Chapter Two Linear Programming: Basic Concepts Therefore, with Bill’s concurrence, the group defines the key issue to be addressed as follows. Question: Which combination of production rates (the number of units produced per week) for the two new products would maximize the total profit from both of them? The group also concludes that it should consider all possible combinations of production rates of both new products permitted by the available production capacities in the three plant s.For example, one alternative (despite Jim Baker’s and Ann Lester’s objections) is to forgo producing one of the products for now (thereby setting its production rate equal to zero) in order to produce as much as possible of the other product. (We must not neglect the possibility that maximum profit from both products might be attained by producing none of one and as much as possible of the other. ) The Management Science Group next identifies the information it needs to gather to conduct this study: 1. Available production capacity in each of the plants. 2.How much of the production capacity in each plant would be needed by each product. 3. Profitability of each product. Concrete data are not available for any of these quantities, so estimates have to be made. Estimating these quantities requires enlisting the help of key personnel in other units of the company. Bill Tasto’s staff develops the estimates that involve production capacities. Specifically, the sta ff estimates that the production facilities in Plant 1 needed for the new kind of doors will be available approximately four hours per week. (The rest of the time Plant 1 will continue with current products. The production facilities in Plant 2 will be available for the new kind of windows about 12 hours per week. The facilities needed for both products in Plant 3 will be available approximately 18 hours per week. The amount of each plant’s production capacity actually used by each product depends on its production rate. It is estimated that each door will require one hour of production time in Plant 1 and three hours in Plant 3. For each window, about two hours will be needed in Plant 2 and two hours in Plant 3. By analyzing the cost data and the pricing decision, the Accounting Department estimates the profit from the two products.The projection is that the profit per unit will be $300 for the doors and $500 for the windows. Table 2. 1 summarizes the data now gathered. The Management Science Group recognizes this as being a classic product-mix problem. Therefore, the next step is to develop a mathematical model—that is, a linear programming model—to represent the problem so that it can be solved mathematically. The next four sections focus on how to develop this model and then how to solve it to find the most profitable mix between the two products, assuming the estimates in Table 2. 1 are accurate.Review Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is the market niche being filled by the Wyndor Glass Co.? What were the two issues addressed by management? The Management Science Group was asked to help analyze which of these issues? How did this group define the key issue to be addressed? What information did the group need to gather to conduct its study? TABLE 2. 1 Data for the Wyndor Glass Co. Product-Mix Problem Plant 1 2 3 Unit profit Production Time Used for Each Unit Produced Doors 1 hour 0 3 hours $300 Windows 0 2 hours 2 hours $500 Available per Week 4 hours 12 hours 18 hours

Dorothy Parker Essay

Dorothy Parker was an extraordinary woman. Extraordinary in her writings and extraordinary in what she achieved with her writings. Her books of poems and her short stories were bestsellers and her columns in The New Yorker were extremely popular. She was one of the only women and a central figure of the Algonquin Hotel Round Table, where all the great literary geniuses of her time would eat their lunch. Newspaper columnists qouted her and two Broadway plays were written about her. Briefly,she was one of the most talked about woman of her time. What is striking is that her fame came from her writings. So much fame for a woman’s writings is unusual nowadays but let aside in her time. And besides that she was not a minor writer but her literary output in the end was quite small: two volumes of short stories and three of poetry. The last decade of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth was a time of large scale political movements and social changes among women. A new generation of women writers emerged with Dorothy Parker as their most famous one. More oppurtunities for writers existed before the dominance of radio film and television. The newspapers and magazines flourished and only the area of New York City alone published 25 daily newspapers. The â€Å"New Women† as they were labeled were worried with winning women’s rights: the vote, education, economic freedom, acces to a career and a public voice. These women were educated and progressive and wanted a break with the conservative past. Women writers of the era did not see marrying and having children as their ultimate goal in life. They rejected the traditional women’s sphere and claimed a the territory of arts that had been a complete male territory before. Many feared to be thought of as â€Å"women writers†. Dorothy Parker said that her most fervent prayer had been â€Å"Please, God, don’t let me write like a woman†. Parker’s writings on the other hand were for the most part confined to women and to what is important to them. What made Parker so succesfull? What made that era crave her writings? In order to understand Parker’s succes we need to view her works in the context of the time they were written. Dorothy Parker was born in 1893. The most striking evidence of change of the role of women in society at that time was the emergence of the college educated and self supporting new woman. By 1870 there were eleven thousand women students enrolled in higher education (21 procent of all students) and a decade later there were forty thousand women students enrolled in higher education (32 procent of all students). After they graduated they had to choose between a traditional role of domesticity and young marriage or a career of paid work. On August 26, 1920 women officially earn the right to vote by the 19th Amendment. Although women did not become a strong political force right after that the Amendment did increase the power of women to effect change. Another important aspect of the changes in women’s postion in society these years was the first world war. Although the United States participated in the war for a relatively short time and did people not really have a clue about what was going on in Europe the war did change American culture significantly. More than four million American men were were mobilized and sent off to Europe. One of the outcomes of this was that women entered the workforce in increasing numbers. Working not in only jobs that were particulary feminine jobs like nursing but also in offices and factories, in stores and governmental agencies and more. Women found themselves working in previously male-dominated fields and they were earning higher wages than in the past. These changes gave women a new notion of indepedence and self-confidence. In 1920 23.6% of the workforce was female with 8.6 million females, ages 15 and up, working outside the home. In 1920, for the first time in American history more people (54.3 million) live in cities than rural areas (51.4). As people became to move into the cities their lifesty les changed. Cities have more activities like going to the theater and nightclubs. Women in the cities were more likely to work in restaurants or offices and other locations that took them away from home. All these factors together created an environment of freedom that women had never seen in the past. One of the most visble outcomes of this freedom was the emergence of the Flapper girl. The breakdown of the Victorian sexual norms was a gradual process but slowely the American society was ready for newer ideas about sexual norms. The young working class woman had been known for her flamboyant dresses and love of nightlife and dancing. .They were relatively economically autonomous and freed either by work or school from intense familial supervision, and began to find a more individualistic culture for themselves. Women’s appearance changed to a slender and smaller silhouette no longer restricted by petticoats and corsets.When the war began women started to favor more practical, shirtwaist-style dresses. These dresses gave more freedom of movement and a greater exposure of skin. First they inched up to calf length then up to knee length. Flappers didn’t show their feminime curves, cut their hair short and wore dark eyeshadow. As the United States was becoming more and more urban, industrial production increased by 60 percent during this decade while population growth was 15%. Mass production requires mass consumption. Advertising became more important tempting people to purchase the latest fashions and newest cars and spend money on nightclubs and restaurants in the cities. For women this industrial production meant that they were more likey to have vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigarators and other household appliances that lightened their household work. This increased their leisure time. Advertisements targeted women in the 1920’s. Women seemed to have more economic power than before and seemed to be in charge of the households money. However these advertisements still reflected traditional thinking of the women’s role in society. These advertisements stressed domesticity and pleasing men over any message of independence. Dorothy Parker was born at the very start of this period of the â€Å"modern woman†. While men and women were now equal under the law, discrimination against women still persisted. Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s women were still struggling against restrictions. For example, in several states women were denied to serve on juries till 1940. The economic advances for women, too, were minimal. There was still a strong sexual division of labor. Discrimiantion in family responsibilities, education, salaries and promotions remained plentiful. During the depression women lost the gains made in the career world during the 1920s. And a renewed emphasis on the woman at home crushed the recently gained hopes for equality. More and more a stereoype emerged that women during the 1920s were sexually active (the Flapper) but politically apathetic. Parker’s work points a sharp finger at that stereotype and defies is. She keenly points out the ongoing struggles for women to break free. Parker began her professional life in 1915 when she went to work as a caption writer for Vogue at a salary of ten dollar a week. By 1917 she transferred to Vanity Fair and worked for editor Frank Crowninshield until 1920. From 1919 to 1923 Parker wrote poems, sketches, essays and columnd for more than thirty-five different literary journals and magazines. Parker’s first poem â€Å"Any porch† pubished in Vanity Fair in september 1915 presents nine different female voices who discuss various topics as the vote for women, a game of bridge, someones new haircut and the war in France. In 1916 she wrote a series of â€Å"hate songs†, satiric descriptions of husbands and wives, actors and actresses, relatvies and so on. These â€Å"hate songs† made Parker very popular. She soon began to build a reputation as a sophisticated young writer with a witty message. In 1926 her first collection of poems was published. Parker soon played a distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women. This distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women was not out there in a way the feminist movements of that era were calling for it. This voice was hidden between the lines of her poems and stories. â€Å"The Waltz† was published in The New Yorker in september 1933. The story reflects the thoughts and conversation of a girl who is dancing a waltz with a man who dances very badly. He steps al over her feet and kicks her in the shin every so often. She keeps saying that she’s not tired, that it didn’t hurt when he kicked her and when she gets past all feeling, the orchestra finally comes to a stop. When it does, she tells him that she wishes he’d tell them to play the same thing. She said that she would simply adore to go on waltzing even though she hates it. The two voices in this short story reflect the contrast between a polite public voice and a witty and angry private voice. These two voices reflect a clear statement of the w oman’s outward conformity and inward rebellion. In this way the two voices in â€Å"The Waltz† are metaphoric for the woman’s powerlessness. Right from the start of the story it is clear that the woman does not want to dance with this man. She does not want to dance at all but definitely not with this man. But still she gets up and dances with him. Parker is trying to point out that there is not that many young women out there who say what they think. There is not really an alternative for the woman in this story, how can she be rude? She can’t be rude to a man who asks her to dance. Women after all were supposed to please men. Parker does not judge the woman in this story for not saying what she thinks. She is not trying to bring young women who act like that down. She just simply wrote down how things like this work in a woman’s head and letting the world know that woman do not always smile from the inside when they smile from the outside. In 1929 Parker published another short story with an hidden message about gender roles. In â€Å"Big Blonde† Parker tells the story of a talented woman, Hazel Morse. Men seem to like her and as Parker wrote â€Å"Men liked her, and she took it for granted that the liking of men was a desirable thing†. Hazel Morse wants men to like her and â€Å"she never pondered if she might not be occupied doing something else†. She had been working for a couple years untill she met her husband. They got married and in the beginning everything seems fine. As the story goes on it becomes clear that Hazel Morse’s life revolves around pleasing her husband while she is so bored and unhappy at home. She gets divoced and gets married again a couple times but in the end in all her marriages and in the rest of her life she is never occupied with anything else than a desire for men to like her. One other desire Hazel Morse has is a desire for nice furniture and clothing. With every men that comes in to her life Parker describes wheter he is rich or not and what he buys for Hazel Morse. All this stuff does not make her happy either. At the end of the story Hazal Morse tries to commit suicide. What Parker tried to point out here is that women like Hazal Morse are only occupied by a desire for men to like them. This constant desire in the end makes women unhappy because they do not ask themselves what they want for themselves. She also targeted the new american consuming culture in this story. Parker stated that nice clothes and nice furniture are not going to make women happy in the end. Again, just as in â€Å"The Waltz† Parker does not judge Hazal Morse for her actions. But she does make very clear that the life of women who never ponder if they might be occupied with something else than pleasing men is not going to end well. In her stories on gender relations Parker did not criticize women directly but she does have short stories and poems in where she criticized women directly. In one of her early poems (1916) called â€Å"Women: A Hate song† she writes in the first paragraph of the poem how much she hates domestic women. She thought they were â€Å"the worst†. In her poem she groupes them together, there are no individual housewives they are all just as worse. They claim to all be always happy in Parkers view and all they do is hurry home to provide dinner for her family. The rest of their days are filled with making dresses and trying out recipes. Parker, by saying that she hates â€Å"the domestic ones† the most of all made a clear statement about the traditional role of women in society. She hated it. She hated the idea of women staying at home their whole lifes to take care of their families. Interesting is that she did not only criticize housewives but she also became known fo r her condemnation of the flapper. In her poem, â€Å"The Flapper† written in 1922 she starts her poem of by saying that flappers are innocent. Then she continues to say that flappers are not â€Å"what grandma used to be†. Women wanted to break from the traditions from the generations before them but in the way Parker said it in this poem it is not meant as a compliment. She also says that flappers are â€Å"girlish†. By saying this it becomes clear that Parker did not take them serious. They were not serious and grown up women but they were all young girls. She then continues to say that there is no more harm in them â€Å"than in a submarine†. Which clearly means that Parker thought they were capable of doing damage to the whole society. She also writes that the flapper girl is not â€Å"in control† and that people only focus on their pranks. They are only noticed for their unruly behaviour and not for any good that they do. She ends this poem by saying that the Flapper girls are young and that the life the live is a rough one. This poem makes clear that Parker did not agree with the way the Fl apper girls were trying to break with the past. The way the Flapper girls were trying to challenge the norm was not the best or most productive in Parker’s eyes. â€Å"Men seldom make passes, at girls who wear glasses† is one of Parkers most famous quotes. The quote was not actually written as a quote but as a poem in 1926 under the title â€Å"News Item†. In one line Parker was able to describe that men were usually not charmed by the smart women in society. (Since glasses are associated with intelligence or education). The modern woman had achieved more equality in education but as Parker describes men did not seemed to like these educated women. The major themes in Parkers writings are a lack of communication between women and men, disintegration of relationships, motherhood, women’s emotional dependency upon men, the selfishness of the wealthy and the danger of empitness in women’s lives. Her audience was broad. She managed to write for men and women of different social classes. The purpose of a writer was in Parkers opinion â€Å"to say what he feels and sees†. â€Å"Those who write fantasies† she did not consider artists. This nation of â€Å"to say what he feels and sees† made her stories extremely recognizable. In one of her short stories â€Å"A telephone call† Parker describes a woman waiting for a man to call her. The man had promised to call her at 5 and at 7 he still has not called. Parker described what goes through the woman’s mind. Anyone who has ever waited on a wanted telephone call knows exactely what the woman in the story goes trough because Parker sets out t he woman’s thoughts in so much detail. Her writings are satiric, which makes them fun and easy to read but behind and between the lines there is a clear message. A lot of the times this message were convictions on the existing gender relations in society. From her writings it becomes clear that Parker was a feminist. Later in her life she was quoted saying â€Å"I’m a feminist and God knows I’m loyal to my sex, and you must remember that from my very early days, when this city was scarcely safe from buffaloes, I was in the struggle for equal rights for women.† She did however never join one of the organized feminists movements. The feminist movements of her time convicted the gender relations in a more serious and less humourous way. Her talent to convict these gender relations in a humourous way are undoubtly one of the reasons of her succes. The majority of the people was not interested in reading serious and bitter comments on the gender relations. In her â€Å"New Item† poem she could have said: â€Å"Men are sexist pigs who want to hold women in the kitchen were they belong.† Instead of that she wrote a brilliantly witty poem that everyone knows untill today. Dorothy Parker might have been a feminist secretely fighting for women’s rights, she did not wanted to be associated with any sort of woman. In her short story â€Å"Women: a hate song† she basically stated that she hates every sort of woman. From the housewives to the Flappers. Parker wanted women to take advantage of the rights they had attained and she did not feel like enough women were doing that. What she rejected most of all were the standards for female writing and thinking. One of her biographers Marion Maede wrote that Parker did not presented herself so much â€Å"as a bad girl† but as a â€Å"bad boy, a firecracker who was agressively proud of being tough, quirky, feisty.† Parker’s writings satisfied a craving for comments on this â€Å"modern women† and the new gender relations that were a part of that. Women in American society on the one hand were happy on the one hand with their new achievements of equality between men and women. On the other hand, they were dissapointed in the actual changes. Not only were the achievements in equality by law, in economic advances and education not what they had hoped for, they were also dissapointed in the new image of a stereotype women who was sexually liberated but in every way was the minor in relationships between woman and man. These dissapointments and discriminations of the modern women were not out on the surface. No one would have probably even been able to explain at that time what these dissapointments and discriminations exactly were. Dorothy Parker could see the friction underneath the surface of a sophistication-thirsty, consumer-obsessed American society. In her short stories and her poems she was able to point a sharp finger at all these dissapointments and discriminations. She was able to do that in a humourous satiric way. Not in bold statements, but in a subtile way behind and between the lines of her writings. Her greatest achievement was that her writings were attractive to read for women and men. Popular writing for both sexes would be a great achievement nowadays but even more in that era in which the tensions between gender relations were at its sharpest. All these things combined made Parker succesfull in making her readers observe modern culture in a different way, and they all loved reading it. Bunkers, Suzanne L. Dorothy Parker as Feminist and Social Critic (1987). Evans, Sara M. Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989). Keats, John. You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970). Keyser, Catherine. Girls who wear glasses. In A New Literaty History of America edited by Wernes Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012). Parker, Dorothy. Complete Poems (1999). Parker, Dorothy. Here Lies. The Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker (New York 1933). Sagert, Kelly Boyer. Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture (2010). ——————————————– [ 1 ]. John Keats, You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970) 9. [ 2 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 3 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 4 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 5 ]. Sara M. Evans, Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989) 147. [ 6 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 7 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 8 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 9 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 10 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 15. [ 11 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 20. [ 12 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxv. [ 13 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 14 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 15 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 16 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 17 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 18 ]. Catherine Keyser, Girls who wear glasses, in A New Literary History of America, edited by Werner Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012).