Tessellation Patterns Essay Example for Free

Tessellation Patterns Essay A tessellation is â€Å"the filling of a plane with repetitions of figures in such a way that no figures overlap and that there are no gaps† (Billstein, Libeskind, Lott, 2010) . Tessellations can be created with a variety of figures, including triangles, squares, trapezoids, parallelograms, or hexagons. Tessellations use forms of transformations to show the repetitions of the figures. The transformations can includes translations, rotations, reflections or glided reflections. Any student would be able to create their own original tessellation by piecing together a variety of geometric shapes in a repetitive pattern by a transformation, either by hand or on a computer. The tessellation that I have created includes hexagons, squares, and triangles. I placed the squares and triangles around the hexagon to fill in the open spaces; this is to ensure that it is a complete tessellation. I did that because I found it to be very eye catching and adding the colors makes it a visually stimulating piece. This tessellation has the transformation of translation. Each shape is moved from one point to another in a straight line. The line can either be up or down, left to right, or even diagonally, but the shape itself is a copy of the original. The different colors of the hexagons allow you to see where the repetition occurs. Tessellations have been found in real-life. Soccer balls, plaid clothing, honey combs, and brick lying are examples of tessellations. One of my favorite things as a child was a kaleidoscope. This was a toy the when you held it the light showed a tessellation and if you rotated the scope, the tessellation would change. It was a fascinating toy for a child and it introduced them to the idea of a tessellation without knowing about them. Tessellations are a visual stimulate and cause many of happy days in my childhood and hopefully will be that way for my children as well. Reference Billstein, R., Libeskind, S., Lott, J. (2010). A problem solving approach to mathematics for elementary school teachers (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Addison Wesley..

Consumer Analysis of Restaurant Industry

Consumer Analysis of Restaurant Industry Abstract The aim of the study was to examine customers definition of quality when it comes to restaurant services and the preferences and opinions in restaurants choice. The study was also to find out if the customers have idea of the existence of the ABC restaurant in specific. The study was specifically carried out in a restaurant called the ABC restaurant in the city Chennai in India. Chennai is a city in the Southern coast of India. ABC is an adult person restaurant and thus a self administered questionnaire was filled in by willing customer. This study was a qualitative study, whose focus was to determine the preferences of Restaurant industry customers in Chennai city, India. These are the factors that contribute to the customers satisfaction in restaurants, it only through knows the customers need that can make it better to enhance better services. The study utilized questionnaires, which were easy to understand and respond to. The researchers hypothesized that there existed customers values and preferences in the larger Chennai area, which affects the Restaurant industries and the affinity of customers to new ideas and technologies within the Restaurants industry. This study was a qualitative study, whose focus was to determine the preferences of Restaurant industry customers in Chennai city, India. The study utilized questionnaires, which were easy to understand and respond to. The study focused on a number of variables as described in the variable description table. The restaurants clients at all have times got a direct personal consideration at a very reasonable price. The customers also obtain the maximum quality of client service available. The employees to the company have undergone an extensive and quality training, a good work place, and incentives in order to build trust in them and thus encourage them to work to achieve not only their goals, but those of the company and the customers. This, in turn, is expected to build customer trust and thus retain t hem as return customers The target population was thus set at 384, and was taken as a representative of the total customers in the city, whose totals could not be established. Analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Across group comparisons of medians was determined using Kruskal-Wallis tests, while Chi-square analyses was used to examine differences between proportions. Mann-Whitney U tests was used for pair wise comparisons. Multivariate logistic regression, controlling for the confounders was used to examine the association between the different responses given by customers. The reference group was dependent on each other between those who agreed to a situation, those who disagreed and those who were undecided and remained neutral giving no response or not knowing a response to give. Statistical significance was defined as p  £ 0.05. Introduction Eating habits differs from one region to the other, eating in restaurants or away from homes eating is currently a common phenomenon that is embraced in many communities. Eating in restaurant has evolved from a long way; it goes way from just the mere thought of getting ones fill to a form of recreation. People have always gone out to the restaurants and eating places to quench their hunger and desire for food, in the process they always expect to derive pleasure get satisfaction from it all. Restaurants and like forms of investments continuously change the face of the business to catch up with the constantly dynamic customers demands (Olsen Connolly, 2000). Restaurant owners or managers have always had to make intensive changes that are customer preference oriented. In such a dynamic industry, factors such as quality and technology are very important issues to consider in order staying up put in the very competitive dynamic environment. In the town of Chennai town alone, 459,000 re staurants locations nationally, the direct sale of these restaurants sums up to $32 billion a year and more than $ 0.98 billion a day (Jinsoo Hwang 2010). The restaurant industry has contributed to a great impact to the Indian economy, contributing an average of 1 billion in one year (Tam 2000). Fine dining is a type of restaurant that offers the finest foods, services and atmospheres within the hospitality industry. The major characteristic with this type of restaurant is its operation price that escalates above any other type of restaurant. The fine dining offers fine menus, fine customer service, fine atmosphere to dine in, thus making it one of the best dining places for the restaurants. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Family restaurants are types of restaurants with that have mixed menus and their prices are often fixed. Meals are offered with the dinners seated communally at a table with bench seats. Just like their names, the family restaurants are mostly run by families. One good example is the Brennan family restaurants that are run by family members from Louisiana and New Orleans, with the name, Owen Brennan (â€Å"Brennans New Orleans†, 2010). Other than in Orleans where the children of Brennan operate the restaurant, the rest are operated by the Brennan descendants. The restaurants have opportunities for expansion since just like Brennan the restaurants are operated by family members making it a continuous business entity even with the demise of the founders. The restaurants develop with each generation of new managers and this increases the opportunities for growth. The managers and restaurant owners have to find a great deal in the marketing strategy in order to stay in the competitive market, considering customers satisfaction a basic factor in the success in the industry by maintaining their status in the market. Customers service satisfaction has been the major factor in determining the success of failure in the industry. Thus customer satisfaction has always been the crossroad in determination of the success in the industry. Generally customer satisfaction is a crucial factor that is directly proportional to the quality services in the industry. It is common to everyone to get quality services for their spent money. A reputable high quality restaurants or any other kind of business will always. In the studies conducted by the U.S. department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure survey, the sum up cost of food constitutes one third of all expenses, while half of the food expenses is spent in food away from home. Creativity and innovations is the major determinant and influential factors that determines the success and growth of the management of the service industry hence leading to a significant increase in the economic growth. Creativity has always been the back bone secret in the restaurant business and this can always be determined by the direct proportion relation to the sale output. The more the creative offers the more the sales output experienced in the restaurants. It thus very important to identify the quality perceived factors that will have a strong effect on the customers satisfaction or dissatisfaction as well. The aim of this research is to find out the factors that customers consider for their restaurant preference choices. The study was also to find out customers opinions and definition of quality services in the restaurants industry. The study was specifically carried out in a restaurant called the ABC restaurant in the city Chennai in India. Chennai is a city in the Southern coast of India. India is a country with many various religious groups as well besides the ethnic groups. The religion differentiation is also a major determinant in the food patterns in the country. The Hindu which is the dominant religion, do not allow the followers to take meat. As far as I know cows are considered sacred and are worshiped among the Hindu religion. The high castle Hindu is strict vegetarians and they dont feed on meat products as far as eggs. The lower castle is not very strict and could feed on meat but not beef. Pork is not also any part of their meal as pigs are considered unholy and are always reared in very dirty environment. The Islam community in India does not feed on pork due to religious issues. The rest of the population which comprises of the Christians, Jews, Sikh and the Pagans do not have such religious regulations and they feed on meat and its products. Rice is a staple food in India for more than half of the population, and the rice is served with almost every meal. The rest of the populations rely on wheat, which they use to make the famous Indian chapatti. The others staple food is maize, millet and sea foods for those in the southern of India. It is thus evidenced that the Indian food habits depends on the climate, geographical distribution and location and majorly religion plays a major part in food habit patterns in India. The major differentiation is the two groups of feeders, the vegetarians and those who feed on meat. Indian foods are famous for their delicacies and have an international recognition, the Indian foods are now being incorporated in the international cuisines, and they can as well be found into other ethnic restaurants. The Indian food market is always characterized by a specific trend in their food habits. India is a large continental country with more than one billion people constituting its population. There are over 17 ethnic groups with more than 30 different spoken languages. This calls for a very wide range of cultures and believes as well as eating habits. Chennai town has undergone urbanization as well as westernization, and like the major urban centers, there are many restaurants and fast foods joints that are a common trend in the homogenized global etiquette. It has been observed that the mainland of Chennai still holds a unique traditional Indian etiquette. The towns food industry has grown immensely and there are many investors such as; pizza restaurants, Thai restaurants, multicuisine restaurants Mediterranean restaurants, Japanese restaurants and many other foreign restaurants. Eating away from home has then become an increasingly ingrained in the culture of the Chennai dwellers (2003 Restaurant Industry Forecast). It is thus worth having a research study that determines the consumer behavior in the food and service industry in this town. The study was designed to try to determine if the customers or the consumers preference on restaurants choices was based on the quality services offered in the restaurants, and any other factors that affect customers relations to a restaurant service provider. This study also was to try to reveal the kind of information sources that act as influential factors in customers choices of restaurants. ABC restaurant is a start up business organization that was aimed at providing, catering services for the vegetarian at the Chennai town; Chennai town has developed from a slumbering fishing town, to the current prestigious city. Being a budget rather than a luxury restaurant, ABC was aimed at providing the services to people in low and middle-income people throughout the Chennai, as they come to the city. Restaurant business is an old industry within the entire Indian subcontinent, but which is highly competitive yet profitable industry. This shall illustrate the markets segments of ABC restaurant and the strategies to be employed to target, attract and retain customers in order to create a solid stream of annual revenue within the business scope. The Restaurant shall not be just like any other common Restaurant within the city and beyond. Its unique focus of creating quality and affordable services with a new preference in the market shall give the company an added competitive adva ntage over the competitors. This is to be affected by providing the customers with a new outlet that is both highly affordable compared to other existing Restaurants, quality foodstuffs in addition to other services not common in budget Restaurants in the area (Brotherton, 2009). This shall fill a long-standing need in the area, where customers have for a long time been seeking for quality services at affordable prices (Baum, 2010). Traditionally, this area has been having only three competitors, all of whom provide their services at extremely high prices, yet their services are not of high quality. The restaurant has always aimed at targeting the people who normally want to get these services yet they cannot due to high prices charged by the existing Restaurants in the area (Baum, 2010). This study paper is to discuss about the South Indians relation to factors that affect value in a restaurant business through the management strategies and logistics. As such, the paper will dwell on product distribution and implementation of marketing strategy as well as include a plan for the implementation and launching of these restaurant services and products. After this, the paper will dwell on the development of measurements and control metrics that is to help the organization after its launch. All these aspects of management represent the last phase of management for the company and as such all the management and operational goals for the company will be realized. Literature review India is famous for its delicacies, and its image has already been approved internationally. The people of India love fine food not limited to local foods. The acceptability to foreign cuisine is very high. The more important thing is that one study found that the general consumers comprising 75% of general consumers in ethnic restaurants, (Crimm, 2000). The hospitality industry boasts as one of the highest revenue earners due to its diverse affiliation with many other industries in the both local and international market. Tourist attraction and entertainment sites couple with hotels availability to elevate the returns from the sector. Hotel industry entails various subdivisions, all which contribute to the growth and definition of the processes in the industry. One of the sectors in the hotel industry is the restaurant, which encompasses sub-sectors like fine-dining restaurants, on-site food services, and family restaurants among others. The other is the lodging sector that includes resort properties, conference hotels, and luxury hotels among others. The travel and tourism field encompasses cruise lines, destination management firms, and airlines among others. Clubs, leisure and gaming industries are also inclusive to the hospitality industry with their sub-sectors being the casinos, country clubs and theme parks among others. Ethnic restaurants offer dishes that are not familiar in a particular locality. India is a large sub continental country with more than one billion people constituting its population. There are nearly 100 5-star Restaurants in India. These are state-of-art Restaurants which offer world-class services to the revelers. In addition, there are over 100 other 4-star Restaurants in the city. These hotels are strategically positioned in areas within easy reach by the revelers. The 5-star Restaurant in the coast of India is considered as the most prestigious Restaurant in the sub continent. This therefore makes the Restaurant to be a favorite spot for the wealthy people from around the world. Executive business meetings are also held in this Restaurant. Therefore, the tourists who frequent Chennai town in search of luxurious services find many pleasant places to get good quality services. The most plausible characteristic that influences the buyers are price, quality and pleasant aspects of the goods being purchased. Luxury visits to restaurants is therefore an issue that has been on the rise especially from among the western countries. Privacy, recreation and health issues are other considerations that are made by the tourists. The individuals who frequent the country are after prestigious goods restaurants. There are many venues that are frequented by tourists in India. Age and marital status are other issues that are influence the rate with tourists frequent the city. India is mostly frequented by married individuals and older persons. The younger people frequent the city less often due to the issue of income. The older people seem to have more income than the younger people and this causes the significant gap between the numbers of people frequenting the city. Currently there are several categories of hotels within the catering and hospitality industry in India. For instance Fine dining is a type of restaurant that offers the finest foods, services and atmospheres within the hospitality industry. The major characteristic with this type of restaurant is its operation price that escalates above any other type of restaurant. The fine dining offers fine menus, fine customer service, fine atmosphere to dine in, thus making it one of the best dining places for the restaurants. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Family restaurants are types of restaurants with that have mixed menus and their prices are often fixed. Meals are offered with the dinners seated communally at a table with bench seats. Just like their names, the family restaurants are mostly run by families. One good example is the Brennan family restaurants that are run by family members from Louisiana and New Orleans, with the name, Owen Brennan (â€Å"Brennans New Orleans†, 2010). Other than in Orleans where the children of Brennan operate the restaurant, the rest are operated by the Brennan descendants. The restaurants have opportunities for expansion since just like Brennan the restaurants are operated by family members making it a continuous business entity even with the demise of the founders. The restaurants develop with each generation of new managers and this increases the opportunities for growth. There are over 17 ethnic groups with more than 30 different spoken languages. This calls for a very wide range of cultures and believes as well as eating habits. Hindu believes and cultures have played a significant role in influencing the food trends in India. A sub continental interaction of various cultures such as the Mongols and the Britain has also played a significant role in blending in the Indian cuisines. (Zee-Yuu, 2010). A significant blend of European cooking and foods was introduced into the Indian cuisines during the colonial period. The spice trade between India and Europe has seen a significant blend of the Indian and European foods. There is a distinctive difference in the in the Indian foods compared to the rest of the world, this is exhibited in their different cooking methods and taste, which is contributed by a vast blend of different cultures and over a period of time of years. Cultures have always fallen victims of civilization; food is no exception to this circumstance. The Indian food has been influenced by various forms of civilization which have lead to their current form and overall development. Indian foods have always been characterized by the extensive use of spices. From the Northern to the extensive Southern coast of India, spices have always formed a generous part of their food. The spices used have always been attributed to their healing and medicinal abilities and properties as well as their nutritional properties. The traditional Indian foods are always characterized by one main course. Instead of a variety of courses, the meals are always served around one main course meal which is rice or wheat product bread which is served with a variety of savory dishes. Indians love cottage cheese. This is always a common delicacy which is usually prepared with gravy, fried and added over pilafs. Most of the Indian foods are prepared in vegetable oils like sunflower oil, mustard oil and groundnut oil. According to other studies, Indian restaurants serve approximately 2.5 million customers every week, and the popularity of the Indian delicacy ha lead to researches that found that there are two Indian restaurants to ever one Chinese restaurant (Saren, 2007). Indian foods have always been characterized largely by their geographical location. In the Coastal region, this is the South India, fish and coconuts products have been their food components. The southern Indian foods of Tamil Nadu, application of tamarind is used to distinct and impact the sourness to the foods. Sea foods form the staple food for the residents of Andaman and Nicobar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Before the venture by investors into the southern India, the area was inhabited by indigenous tribes, due to their little interaction by other tribes, fish, fruits and vegetables were their diets. Currently, it is notable that a very big population of the southern population is vegetarians. As a result several accommodative recipes have been invented. The southern has a mixture of both vegetarians as well as non vegetarians. As a result the southern India has present very adorable menus for both the vegetarians and non vegetarians. The amalgamation of the Andhra Pradesh and Deccani styles are always characterized by excessive use of chillies which is always to enrich the taste of foods. The town of Kerala is always characterized by some of its distinct delicacies such as the lamb stew which is taken with appams, idlis, fried prawns of Malabar and the famous fish molie which is taken with rice puttu, rice puttu is a ground rice pawder which is steamed in a bamboo shoot (Pireira, 2003). Another famous item in the coastal India is the sweetened coconut milk; the milk is a traditional drink among the coastal region habitats. Rice is the major staple food that is served with almost every meal, such as meat, fish and lots of green vegetables. In the eastern of India, the Bngalis style relatily resemble the Coatal region. The Bengali staple food is a combination of rice and fish. The Bengalis feed on the different types of sea fishes. The Bengalis have adopted a special way of cooking; their delicacy is prepared by wrapping the uncooked meal in a pumpkin leaf then cooking it. This method of cooking is known as ‘Hilsa. The Bengali also has the common bamboo shoot cooking. The West regions Indians also have a characteristic form of cooking and food habits. The western parts are rather dry and not much likely comparable to the other parts of the sub continents. A variety of dals and pickles form major part of their diets. The western people consume both rice and wheat products in their diets in combination to the vegetables the Portuguese influence in cooking has also been observed in most dishes in the western region. The most common dishes known to the Eastern regions are like the sweet and sour Vindaloo, duck baffae, etc. meal in some of the Western regions cannot be considered complete without fish. Foods in some communities such as the Goans are always sea based; while some of the Eastern communities such as the Gujarati are basically vegetarians. The Gujarati basic meal is made from wheat flour, used to make the famous Indian chapattis, which I always made according to a families taste and preference of taste and style. The Gujarati diets change seasonally with the availability of vegetable that is in season (Pereira, 2003). During the mango season, mango pulp often makes the major constituent of the meal. This trend is witnessed by the spices used as well, like the garam masala will often be used during the summer period (Pireira, 2003). The North Indian foods are always prepared around the main course of the meal which is rice. The northern cooking is always influenced by the central India type of cooking. Like the central delicacy of saag is also found in the North as well (Dukart, 1988). Some communities in the North such as the Punjab, Haryana and Utta Pradesh have shown a preference to wheat chapatti consumption over rice. The northern region is commonly characterized with mughlai foods. Generally three quatres of the Northern Indian foods are for vegetarians. As a result to the widespread of the vegetarian population habit, India is well known for its tradition of vegetarianism, ( Dukart, 1988). The adherence to vegetariasm which is also known as sattvik has made its importance in the South probably because of the Brahmins, where it has gained popularity even among the non-Brahmins who have followed the meritorious lifestyle. The vegetarian nature of the Brahmins were due to different reasons and believes, the Brahmins believed that vegetarianism made their minds pure and to perform various rituals. It is believed that all the Brahmins are vegetarians and thus gives the southern India a reputation of vegetariasm. With the increase of globalization and exposure, Indian societies are undergoing a significant change that is impacted by Western influences and lifestyles. The food industry in India has had a change in its food consumption patterns (Food Industry, 2006). The Indian foods have been introduced into the outside markets and gained dominance is some places. According to the Britain Food Standard Agency, a value of $3.2 billion is accounted for all eatings in the Indian restaurants alone in the United Kingdom. A survey in 2007 showed that Indian food products that could be more than 1200 are already in the United States market since the year 2000. Indian foods have been common in the South East of Asia, this can be contributed for by the fact that the inhabitants have a strong Hindu and Buddhist historical background. A big number of Southern and Northern Indian restaurants have been established in Malaysian and Singapore. Several cuisines have borrowed styles from the Indian cuisine, such cuisines with Indian blend of cookery are like the Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The general wide demarcation of food patterns in India persist to date. India has always been a sub continental home for many people and culture over many centuries, and like many other cultures, the Indian cultures have been influenced by foreign elements that have always seeped into the Indian cultures over time. The Islam infiltration has had a great influence into the Indian society. The Islam revolution created a link between the non-vegetarian and the highly conserved rich graves that were indigenous to the Indian societies; this resulted to the Mughlai cuisine. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Customers behaviors can be related to the choice of product, purchase, use of disposition of products and services. Consumer behavior can also be related to experiences the consumed products and services a customer get satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the consumers needs and demands. (Solomon, 2000). Three perceived quality factors, good value, tasty food, and employees knowledge of the menu mostly affect the customers satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Jinsoo Hwang, 2010). Consumers satisfaction is regarded as a crucial factor in the competitive industry and customer satisfaction has become a major topic of study in the industry. There is always no guarantee that a customer will always return to the restaurant a next time unless the customer liked the service offered in the restaurant. If restaurant owners or marketers know which perceived factors have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, they could potentially identify the chief elements of success or failure in a restaurants management. This has contributed to the pro active changes that focus on customers satisfaction. With the increased rate of globalization in business, most business managers are in turn increasingly focusing on the need to keep up with the management and financial requirements for a globalised business organization. Operations management has never been as vital as it is now with the era of globalization, and has therefore become a subject of study, research and practice. By definition, operations management is the management practice that deals with the design and management of business products, services, processes and supply chains (Cunill 2009). Within the scope of business operational management, there is the aspect of consideration of the acquisition, utilization and the development of resources that each firm needs in order to deliver its products to the market place (Chase Aquilano Jacobs 2003). Operations management, as a business practice, requires applications of strategies aimed at realizing the overall profits for the business. Strategic issues within the scope of o perations management for business organizations is inclusive of determination of size and location of the manufacturing sector, determining and deciding the structure of the servicers, the telecommunication networks and designing the technology for the supply chains. One of the major factors of operational management is the application of the five elements of OM; that is quality, cost, speed, flexibility and dependability in order to achieve specific goals in management (Cunill 2009). Hotel chains as well as individual hotels located in various parts of the world have the best example of organizations where operations management works best. Hilton hotels international and the Etap provide some of the best examples of the organizations where operations management is emphasized on, but with different approaches to the five elements of operational management. Considering the operations management from its five elements as the guiding principles, it is possible to determine the differences and similarities in the management between Etap and Hilton hotels international. Operations management: budget hotels (Etap) versus luxury hotels (Hilton) In the early years of hotel industry, the conventional definition of the word hotel was that a hotel is an establishment which provides lodging to persons on payment and on short term basis. The accommodation in the time was merely a room with a bed a cupboard and other items such as a table and washstands (Cunill 2009). However, the modern description of a hotel has evolved over time, and now includes modern facilities as air conditioning, telephone connections, televisions sets, internet connectivity (wireless fidelity-Wi-Fi) and bars with snakes, drinks and other items. However, the modern classification of hotel has created a difference in the type of hotel available in a given place, based on the service provide and the price as well as specific place of location. Although these differences come in most other aspects, the factor of price is the most important one (Cunill 2009). Currently, the two main varieties or categories of hotels are the budget Consumer Analysis of Restaurant Industry Consumer Analysis of Restaurant Industry Abstract The aim of the study was to examine customers definition of quality when it comes to restaurant services and the preferences and opinions in restaurants choice. The study was also to find out if the customers have idea of the existence of the ABC restaurant in specific. The study was specifically carried out in a restaurant called the ABC restaurant in the city Chennai in India. Chennai is a city in the Southern coast of India. ABC is an adult person restaurant and thus a self administered questionnaire was filled in by willing customer. This study was a qualitative study, whose focus was to determine the preferences of Restaurant industry customers in Chennai city, India. These are the factors that contribute to the customers satisfaction in restaurants, it only through knows the customers need that can make it better to enhance better services. The study utilized questionnaires, which were easy to understand and respond to. The researchers hypothesized that there existed customers values and preferences in the larger Chennai area, which affects the Restaurant industries and the affinity of customers to new ideas and technologies within the Restaurants industry. This study was a qualitative study, whose focus was to determine the preferences of Restaurant industry customers in Chennai city, India. The study utilized questionnaires, which were easy to understand and respond to. The study focused on a number of variables as described in the variable description table. The restaurants clients at all have times got a direct personal consideration at a very reasonable price. The customers also obtain the maximum quality of client service available. The employees to the company have undergone an extensive and quality training, a good work place, and incentives in order to build trust in them and thus encourage them to work to achieve not only their goals, but those of the company and the customers. This, in turn, is expected to build customer trust and thus retain t hem as return customers The target population was thus set at 384, and was taken as a representative of the total customers in the city, whose totals could not be established. Analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Across group comparisons of medians was determined using Kruskal-Wallis tests, while Chi-square analyses was used to examine differences between proportions. Mann-Whitney U tests was used for pair wise comparisons. Multivariate logistic regression, controlling for the confounders was used to examine the association between the different responses given by customers. The reference group was dependent on each other between those who agreed to a situation, those who disagreed and those who were undecided and remained neutral giving no response or not knowing a response to give. Statistical significance was defined as p  £ 0.05. Introduction Eating habits differs from one region to the other, eating in restaurants or away from homes eating is currently a common phenomenon that is embraced in many communities. Eating in restaurant has evolved from a long way; it goes way from just the mere thought of getting ones fill to a form of recreation. People have always gone out to the restaurants and eating places to quench their hunger and desire for food, in the process they always expect to derive pleasure get satisfaction from it all. Restaurants and like forms of investments continuously change the face of the business to catch up with the constantly dynamic customers demands (Olsen Connolly, 2000). Restaurant owners or managers have always had to make intensive changes that are customer preference oriented. In such a dynamic industry, factors such as quality and technology are very important issues to consider in order staying up put in the very competitive dynamic environment. In the town of Chennai town alone, 459,000 re staurants locations nationally, the direct sale of these restaurants sums up to $32 billion a year and more than $ 0.98 billion a day (Jinsoo Hwang 2010). The restaurant industry has contributed to a great impact to the Indian economy, contributing an average of 1 billion in one year (Tam 2000). Fine dining is a type of restaurant that offers the finest foods, services and atmospheres within the hospitality industry. The major characteristic with this type of restaurant is its operation price that escalates above any other type of restaurant. The fine dining offers fine menus, fine customer service, fine atmosphere to dine in, thus making it one of the best dining places for the restaurants. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Family restaurants are types of restaurants with that have mixed menus and their prices are often fixed. Meals are offered with the dinners seated communally at a table with bench seats. Just like their names, the family restaurants are mostly run by families. One good example is the Brennan family restaurants that are run by family members from Louisiana and New Orleans, with the name, Owen Brennan (â€Å"Brennans New Orleans†, 2010). Other than in Orleans where the children of Brennan operate the restaurant, the rest are operated by the Brennan descendants. The restaurants have opportunities for expansion since just like Brennan the restaurants are operated by family members making it a continuous business entity even with the demise of the founders. The restaurants develop with each generation of new managers and this increases the opportunities for growth. The managers and restaurant owners have to find a great deal in the marketing strategy in order to stay in the competitive market, considering customers satisfaction a basic factor in the success in the industry by maintaining their status in the market. Customers service satisfaction has been the major factor in determining the success of failure in the industry. Thus customer satisfaction has always been the crossroad in determination of the success in the industry. Generally customer satisfaction is a crucial factor that is directly proportional to the quality services in the industry. It is common to everyone to get quality services for their spent money. A reputable high quality restaurants or any other kind of business will always. In the studies conducted by the U.S. department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure survey, the sum up cost of food constitutes one third of all expenses, while half of the food expenses is spent in food away from home. Creativity and innovations is the major determinant and influential factors that determines the success and growth of the management of the service industry hence leading to a significant increase in the economic growth. Creativity has always been the back bone secret in the restaurant business and this can always be determined by the direct proportion relation to the sale output. The more the creative offers the more the sales output experienced in the restaurants. It thus very important to identify the quality perceived factors that will have a strong effect on the customers satisfaction or dissatisfaction as well. The aim of this research is to find out the factors that customers consider for their restaurant preference choices. The study was also to find out customers opinions and definition of quality services in the restaurants industry. The study was specifically carried out in a restaurant called the ABC restaurant in the city Chennai in India. Chennai is a city in the Southern coast of India. India is a country with many various religious groups as well besides the ethnic groups. The religion differentiation is also a major determinant in the food patterns in the country. The Hindu which is the dominant religion, do not allow the followers to take meat. As far as I know cows are considered sacred and are worshiped among the Hindu religion. The high castle Hindu is strict vegetarians and they dont feed on meat products as far as eggs. The lower castle is not very strict and could feed on meat but not beef. Pork is not also any part of their meal as pigs are considered unholy and are always reared in very dirty environment. The Islam community in India does not feed on pork due to religious issues. The rest of the population which comprises of the Christians, Jews, Sikh and the Pagans do not have such religious regulations and they feed on meat and its products. Rice is a staple food in India for more than half of the population, and the rice is served with almost every meal. The rest of the populations rely on wheat, which they use to make the famous Indian chapatti. The others staple food is maize, millet and sea foods for those in the southern of India. It is thus evidenced that the Indian food habits depends on the climate, geographical distribution and location and majorly religion plays a major part in food habit patterns in India. The major differentiation is the two groups of feeders, the vegetarians and those who feed on meat. Indian foods are famous for their delicacies and have an international recognition, the Indian foods are now being incorporated in the international cuisines, and they can as well be found into other ethnic restaurants. The Indian food market is always characterized by a specific trend in their food habits. India is a large continental country with more than one billion people constituting its population. There are over 17 ethnic groups with more than 30 different spoken languages. This calls for a very wide range of cultures and believes as well as eating habits. Chennai town has undergone urbanization as well as westernization, and like the major urban centers, there are many restaurants and fast foods joints that are a common trend in the homogenized global etiquette. It has been observed that the mainland of Chennai still holds a unique traditional Indian etiquette. The towns food industry has grown immensely and there are many investors such as; pizza restaurants, Thai restaurants, multicuisine restaurants Mediterranean restaurants, Japanese restaurants and many other foreign restaurants. Eating away from home has then become an increasingly ingrained in the culture of the Chennai dwellers (2003 Restaurant Industry Forecast). It is thus worth having a research study that determines the consumer behavior in the food and service industry in this town. The study was designed to try to determine if the customers or the consumers preference on restaurants choices was based on the quality services offered in the restaurants, and any other factors that affect customers relations to a restaurant service provider. This study also was to try to reveal the kind of information sources that act as influential factors in customers choices of restaurants. ABC restaurant is a start up business organization that was aimed at providing, catering services for the vegetarian at the Chennai town; Chennai town has developed from a slumbering fishing town, to the current prestigious city. Being a budget rather than a luxury restaurant, ABC was aimed at providing the services to people in low and middle-income people throughout the Chennai, as they come to the city. Restaurant business is an old industry within the entire Indian subcontinent, but which is highly competitive yet profitable industry. This shall illustrate the markets segments of ABC restaurant and the strategies to be employed to target, attract and retain customers in order to create a solid stream of annual revenue within the business scope. The Restaurant shall not be just like any other common Restaurant within the city and beyond. Its unique focus of creating quality and affordable services with a new preference in the market shall give the company an added competitive adva ntage over the competitors. This is to be affected by providing the customers with a new outlet that is both highly affordable compared to other existing Restaurants, quality foodstuffs in addition to other services not common in budget Restaurants in the area (Brotherton, 2009). This shall fill a long-standing need in the area, where customers have for a long time been seeking for quality services at affordable prices (Baum, 2010). Traditionally, this area has been having only three competitors, all of whom provide their services at extremely high prices, yet their services are not of high quality. The restaurant has always aimed at targeting the people who normally want to get these services yet they cannot due to high prices charged by the existing Restaurants in the area (Baum, 2010). This study paper is to discuss about the South Indians relation to factors that affect value in a restaurant business through the management strategies and logistics. As such, the paper will dwell on product distribution and implementation of marketing strategy as well as include a plan for the implementation and launching of these restaurant services and products. After this, the paper will dwell on the development of measurements and control metrics that is to help the organization after its launch. All these aspects of management represent the last phase of management for the company and as such all the management and operational goals for the company will be realized. Literature review India is famous for its delicacies, and its image has already been approved internationally. The people of India love fine food not limited to local foods. The acceptability to foreign cuisine is very high. The more important thing is that one study found that the general consumers comprising 75% of general consumers in ethnic restaurants, (Crimm, 2000). The hospitality industry boasts as one of the highest revenue earners due to its diverse affiliation with many other industries in the both local and international market. Tourist attraction and entertainment sites couple with hotels availability to elevate the returns from the sector. Hotel industry entails various subdivisions, all which contribute to the growth and definition of the processes in the industry. One of the sectors in the hotel industry is the restaurant, which encompasses sub-sectors like fine-dining restaurants, on-site food services, and family restaurants among others. The other is the lodging sector that includes resort properties, conference hotels, and luxury hotels among others. The travel and tourism field encompasses cruise lines, destination management firms, and airlines among others. Clubs, leisure and gaming industries are also inclusive to the hospitality industry with their sub-sectors being the casinos, country clubs and theme parks among others. Ethnic restaurants offer dishes that are not familiar in a particular locality. India is a large sub continental country with more than one billion people constituting its population. There are nearly 100 5-star Restaurants in India. These are state-of-art Restaurants which offer world-class services to the revelers. In addition, there are over 100 other 4-star Restaurants in the city. These hotels are strategically positioned in areas within easy reach by the revelers. The 5-star Restaurant in the coast of India is considered as the most prestigious Restaurant in the sub continent. This therefore makes the Restaurant to be a favorite spot for the wealthy people from around the world. Executive business meetings are also held in this Restaurant. Therefore, the tourists who frequent Chennai town in search of luxurious services find many pleasant places to get good quality services. The most plausible characteristic that influences the buyers are price, quality and pleasant aspects of the goods being purchased. Luxury visits to restaurants is therefore an issue that has been on the rise especially from among the western countries. Privacy, recreation and health issues are other considerations that are made by the tourists. The individuals who frequent the country are after prestigious goods restaurants. There are many venues that are frequented by tourists in India. Age and marital status are other issues that are influence the rate with tourists frequent the city. India is mostly frequented by married individuals and older persons. The younger people frequent the city less often due to the issue of income. The older people seem to have more income than the younger people and this causes the significant gap between the numbers of people frequenting the city. Currently there are several categories of hotels within the catering and hospitality industry in India. For instance Fine dining is a type of restaurant that offers the finest foods, services and atmospheres within the hospitality industry. The major characteristic with this type of restaurant is its operation price that escalates above any other type of restaurant. The fine dining offers fine menus, fine customer service, fine atmosphere to dine in, thus making it one of the best dining places for the restaurants. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Family restaurants are types of restaurants with that have mixed menus and their prices are often fixed. Meals are offered with the dinners seated communally at a table with bench seats. Just like their names, the family restaurants are mostly run by families. One good example is the Brennan family restaurants that are run by family members from Louisiana and New Orleans, with the name, Owen Brennan (â€Å"Brennans New Orleans†, 2010). Other than in Orleans where the children of Brennan operate the restaurant, the rest are operated by the Brennan descendants. The restaurants have opportunities for expansion since just like Brennan the restaurants are operated by family members making it a continuous business entity even with the demise of the founders. The restaurants develop with each generation of new managers and this increases the opportunities for growth. There are over 17 ethnic groups with more than 30 different spoken languages. This calls for a very wide range of cultures and believes as well as eating habits. Hindu believes and cultures have played a significant role in influencing the food trends in India. A sub continental interaction of various cultures such as the Mongols and the Britain has also played a significant role in blending in the Indian cuisines. (Zee-Yuu, 2010). A significant blend of European cooking and foods was introduced into the Indian cuisines during the colonial period. The spice trade between India and Europe has seen a significant blend of the Indian and European foods. There is a distinctive difference in the in the Indian foods compared to the rest of the world, this is exhibited in their different cooking methods and taste, which is contributed by a vast blend of different cultures and over a period of time of years. Cultures have always fallen victims of civilization; food is no exception to this circumstance. The Indian food has been influenced by various forms of civilization which have lead to their current form and overall development. Indian foods have always been characterized by the extensive use of spices. From the Northern to the extensive Southern coast of India, spices have always formed a generous part of their food. The spices used have always been attributed to their healing and medicinal abilities and properties as well as their nutritional properties. The traditional Indian foods are always characterized by one main course. Instead of a variety of courses, the meals are always served around one main course meal which is rice or wheat product bread which is served with a variety of savory dishes. Indians love cottage cheese. This is always a common delicacy which is usually prepared with gravy, fried and added over pilafs. Most of the Indian foods are prepared in vegetable oils like sunflower oil, mustard oil and groundnut oil. According to other studies, Indian restaurants serve approximately 2.5 million customers every week, and the popularity of the Indian delicacy ha lead to researches that found that there are two Indian restaurants to ever one Chinese restaurant (Saren, 2007). Indian foods have always been characterized largely by their geographical location. In the Coastal region, this is the South India, fish and coconuts products have been their food components. The southern Indian foods of Tamil Nadu, application of tamarind is used to distinct and impact the sourness to the foods. Sea foods form the staple food for the residents of Andaman and Nicobar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Before the venture by investors into the southern India, the area was inhabited by indigenous tribes, due to their little interaction by other tribes, fish, fruits and vegetables were their diets. Currently, it is notable that a very big population of the southern population is vegetarians. As a result several accommodative recipes have been invented. The southern has a mixture of both vegetarians as well as non vegetarians. As a result the southern India has present very adorable menus for both the vegetarians and non vegetarians. The amalgamation of the Andhra Pradesh and Deccani styles are always characterized by excessive use of chillies which is always to enrich the taste of foods. The town of Kerala is always characterized by some of its distinct delicacies such as the lamb stew which is taken with appams, idlis, fried prawns of Malabar and the famous fish molie which is taken with rice puttu, rice puttu is a ground rice pawder which is steamed in a bamboo shoot (Pireira, 2003). Another famous item in the coastal India is the sweetened coconut milk; the milk is a traditional drink among the coastal region habitats. Rice is the major staple food that is served with almost every meal, such as meat, fish and lots of green vegetables. In the eastern of India, the Bngalis style relatily resemble the Coatal region. The Bengali staple food is a combination of rice and fish. The Bengalis feed on the different types of sea fishes. The Bengalis have adopted a special way of cooking; their delicacy is prepared by wrapping the uncooked meal in a pumpkin leaf then cooking it. This method of cooking is known as ‘Hilsa. The Bengali also has the common bamboo shoot cooking. The West regions Indians also have a characteristic form of cooking and food habits. The western parts are rather dry and not much likely comparable to the other parts of the sub continents. A variety of dals and pickles form major part of their diets. The western people consume both rice and wheat products in their diets in combination to the vegetables the Portuguese influence in cooking has also been observed in most dishes in the western region. The most common dishes known to the Eastern regions are like the sweet and sour Vindaloo, duck baffae, etc. meal in some of the Western regions cannot be considered complete without fish. Foods in some communities such as the Goans are always sea based; while some of the Eastern communities such as the Gujarati are basically vegetarians. The Gujarati basic meal is made from wheat flour, used to make the famous Indian chapattis, which I always made according to a families taste and preference of taste and style. The Gujarati diets change seasonally with the availability of vegetable that is in season (Pereira, 2003). During the mango season, mango pulp often makes the major constituent of the meal. This trend is witnessed by the spices used as well, like the garam masala will often be used during the summer period (Pireira, 2003). The North Indian foods are always prepared around the main course of the meal which is rice. The northern cooking is always influenced by the central India type of cooking. Like the central delicacy of saag is also found in the North as well (Dukart, 1988). Some communities in the North such as the Punjab, Haryana and Utta Pradesh have shown a preference to wheat chapatti consumption over rice. The northern region is commonly characterized with mughlai foods. Generally three quatres of the Northern Indian foods are for vegetarians. As a result to the widespread of the vegetarian population habit, India is well known for its tradition of vegetarianism, ( Dukart, 1988). The adherence to vegetariasm which is also known as sattvik has made its importance in the South probably because of the Brahmins, where it has gained popularity even among the non-Brahmins who have followed the meritorious lifestyle. The vegetarian nature of the Brahmins were due to different reasons and believes, the Brahmins believed that vegetarianism made their minds pure and to perform various rituals. It is believed that all the Brahmins are vegetarians and thus gives the southern India a reputation of vegetariasm. With the increase of globalization and exposure, Indian societies are undergoing a significant change that is impacted by Western influences and lifestyles. The food industry in India has had a change in its food consumption patterns (Food Industry, 2006). The Indian foods have been introduced into the outside markets and gained dominance is some places. According to the Britain Food Standard Agency, a value of $3.2 billion is accounted for all eatings in the Indian restaurants alone in the United Kingdom. A survey in 2007 showed that Indian food products that could be more than 1200 are already in the United States market since the year 2000. Indian foods have been common in the South East of Asia, this can be contributed for by the fact that the inhabitants have a strong Hindu and Buddhist historical background. A big number of Southern and Northern Indian restaurants have been established in Malaysian and Singapore. Several cuisines have borrowed styles from the Indian cuisine, such cuisines with Indian blend of cookery are like the Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The general wide demarcation of food patterns in India persist to date. India has always been a sub continental home for many people and culture over many centuries, and like many other cultures, the Indian cultures have been influenced by foreign elements that have always seeped into the Indian cultures over time. The Islam infiltration has had a great influence into the Indian society. The Islam revolution created a link between the non-vegetarian and the highly conserved rich graves that were indigenous to the Indian societies; this resulted to the Mughlai cuisine. One good example is Afraa restaurant, which is located in Calcutta, India (â€Å"Afraa†, 2010). This restaurant offers a best experience near a five star hotel and thus offering an alternative for those who cannot afford a five star hotel. It offers a good career opportunity since it provides for alternative for the revelers who would opt for cozy restaurants bud with less money for high-rated hotels. The future for the industry is promising since many people would appreciate for fast and fine services with good customer atmosphere to compensate for their money. Customers behaviors can be related to the choice of product, purchase, use of disposition of products and services. Consumer behavior can also be related to experiences the consumed products and services a customer get satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the consumers needs and demands. (Solomon, 2000). Three perceived quality factors, good value, tasty food, and employees knowledge of the menu mostly affect the customers satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Jinsoo Hwang, 2010). Consumers satisfaction is regarded as a crucial factor in the competitive industry and customer satisfaction has become a major topic of study in the industry. There is always no guarantee that a customer will always return to the restaurant a next time unless the customer liked the service offered in the restaurant. If restaurant owners or marketers know which perceived factors have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, they could potentially identify the chief elements of success or failure in a restaurants management. This has contributed to the pro active changes that focus on customers satisfaction. With the increased rate of globalization in business, most business managers are in turn increasingly focusing on the need to keep up with the management and financial requirements for a globalised business organization. Operations management has never been as vital as it is now with the era of globalization, and has therefore become a subject of study, research and practice. By definition, operations management is the management practice that deals with the design and management of business products, services, processes and supply chains (Cunill 2009). Within the scope of business operational management, there is the aspect of consideration of the acquisition, utilization and the development of resources that each firm needs in order to deliver its products to the market place (Chase Aquilano Jacobs 2003). Operations management, as a business practice, requires applications of strategies aimed at realizing the overall profits for the business. Strategic issues within the scope of o perations management for business organizations is inclusive of determination of size and location of the manufacturing sector, determining and deciding the structure of the servicers, the telecommunication networks and designing the technology for the supply chains. One of the major factors of operational management is the application of the five elements of OM; that is quality, cost, speed, flexibility and dependability in order to achieve specific goals in management (Cunill 2009). Hotel chains as well as individual hotels located in various parts of the world have the best example of organizations where operations management works best. Hilton hotels international and the Etap provide some of the best examples of the organizations where operations management is emphasized on, but with different approaches to the five elements of operational management. Considering the operations management from its five elements as the guiding principles, it is possible to determine the differences and similarities in the management between Etap and Hilton hotels international. Operations management: budget hotels (Etap) versus luxury hotels (Hilton) In the early years of hotel industry, the conventional definition of the word hotel was that a hotel is an establishment which provides lodging to persons on payment and on short term basis. The accommodation in the time was merely a room with a bed a cupboard and other items such as a table and washstands (Cunill 2009). However, the modern description of a hotel has evolved over time, and now includes modern facilities as air conditioning, telephone connections, televisions sets, internet connectivity (wireless fidelity-Wi-Fi) and bars with snakes, drinks and other items. However, the modern classification of hotel has created a difference in the type of hotel available in a given place, based on the service provide and the price as well as specific place of location. Although these differences come in most other aspects, the factor of price is the most important one (Cunill 2009). Currently, the two main varieties or categories of hotels are the budget

Women in Post-Revolutionary Russia: The Opportunities and Obstacles :: Russian Russia History

Women in Post-Revolutionary Russia: The Opportunities and Obstacles The last Tsar of Russia abdicated the throne in February of 1917. With the fall of the old regime, many old gender barriers fell, as well. The period after the Bolsheviks rose to power was a time of many changes for all Russians, but none were more affected than the women of the time. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party (later called the Communists) was greatly disturbed by the domestic enslavement of Soviet women, and almost immediately granted political equality for females throughout the nation. With this newfound freedom, women were presented with many new opportunities in all aspects of life, and many challenges, as well. Lenin reformed many civil and penal codes to the advantage of women. Almost overnight all learning institutions opened their doors to both sexes, which suddenly gave women the opportunity to strive for professional careers and higher paying jobs. Women were given equal standing in marriage, and it became possible for them to get divorced, to have abortions , and to sue for child support. Women could own property. Within the Communist party, women rose to leadership positions. In theory, there was complete equality between the sexes. However, even with the advantages of the Communist leadership, there were some pitfalls, as well. While the increased leniency of divorce laws was obviously an advantage to many unhappy wives, some men made use of the new freedom also. Some women were left to raise their children alone, and without the salary of their husbands, found it almost impossible. Although these women now had complete economic independence under the laws of Lenin, in practice all was not as simple. With several young children to watch over during the day, it was difficult for any mother to be able to engage in any work outside of family life. The realities of these women were shown clearly in Alexandra Kollontai's novel Love of Worker Bees. based on life in post-revolutionary Russia. When Mr. Feodoseev abandons his wife for another woman, she is horrified at the thought of trying to get a job while raising three school-aged children. However, in Kollontai's novel, she is seen as petty and jealous by certain m embers of the party, instead of a woman with great financial difficulties. Perhaps this shows a certain blindness that many communist leaders had to the realities of women's everyday lives and circumstances.

The Metamorphosis of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye Essay -- Catcher

The Metamorphosis of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye      Ã‚  Ã‚   Without love and guidance, young people often find themselves lost; unsure of what direction their lives are headed. Such is the case with Holden Caulfield, a character from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Holden is a sixteen-year old boy who has lost his way. Hold has suffered a great loss, the death of his Brother, Allie.       Holden is trying to reconcile his emotions since Allie's death. While dealing with their own grief, Holden's parents have neglected his needs and have therefore not addressed this with him. Holden goes searching for answers and companionship since his parents are emotionally unavailable. This story takes up with Holden on in search to all the wrong places to find these things. After a fight with his roommate at Pencey Prep School, Holden goes to Ackly's room. He strikes up some very superficial conversation and then asks if Ackly wants to play a game of cards. Ackly declines. Asking "Do you know what time it is, by any chance?"(pg.42) Holden is aware of the time but is desperate for a friend. Holden presses father asking if he could spend the night in Ackly's room. Ackly once again denied Holden's request    With that, Holden let's Ackly go back to sleep and lays alone with his thoughts, "I t was depressing out in the street. You couldn't even hear any cars anymore. I got feeling so lonesome and rotten. I even felt like waking Ackly up."(pg.50) At this point Holden decides that he is going to run away for a few days before he has to go home. On the train going into the city, Holden meets up with Mrs. Morrow. He finds her very attractive. An interesting point here is that he te... ...about the carousel."(pg.213) It started pouring rain but Holden wasn't bothered, he " felt so damned happy."(pg.213) At that point Holden was able to say goodbye to Allie and let go of his grief. Holden returns home with Phoebe, and his family get him some help. He'll be back to school in the fall and this time he's ready to put in an effort.    Sources Consulted    Davis, Robert Con, ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 56. Detroit: Gail Research Inc., 1989.   Marsden, Malcolm M. Ed. If You Really Want to Know: A "Catcher" Casebook.   Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 2002.   68-73. Internet Public Library. "Salinger Literary Criticism Collection.".Dec 2001.17 April 2002.<http://www.ipl.org/cgi- bin/ref/litcrit/litcrit.out.pl?ti=cat-202>. Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1951      

Racism - I Was Born a Middle-class, White Child Essay -- Sociology Rac

Racism and Prejudice - I Was Born a Middle-class, White Child †¦ Professor’s comment: This essay assignment was designed to equip students with an understanding of academic research, theories, and concepts on race relations and then use that as a basis from which to critically think about, analyze, and develop strategies for change, both for themselves and for the world around them. This student takes us back to his childhood in Smallville and re-examines with us his upbringing, race relations in his town, his own awareness, and ultimately his and our need for change. He does this beautifully with the use of vivid and poignant imagery, juxtaposition, and allusions. Along the way, He takes us not just to Smallville but into our own lives and minds. This paper is the best I have ever read; it is enlightening, inspiring, and rich. I was born a middle-class, white child. I was never self-conscious about it until now. I grew up in a small town, â€Å"hick-town† some have called it. Twenty years ago, when my family first moved there, the small green sign on the south side of town read, â€Å"Smallville, Elevation: 1450 feet, Population: 1350.† In twenty years, the second number on the sign has changed little more than the first. I remember when my father used to take me out through the orchards to talk with the farmers, for that’s what people do in Smallville. They farm. Pears, grapes, walnuts, and a few kiwis, all financed by big white banks, grown by plump white farmers, sold by chubby white brokers, and harvested by Mexican-Americans. What a country. My chubby father markets pears and grapes. And he would take me out into Rick Bengard’s pear orchard. And with acres and acres of pear trees all around us, he would tell me how Unc... ...a half years ago, I figured that compared to most people, I was fairly aware. Since then, the most important thing I’ve learned is how much I don’t know. I don’t know what it is like to go to class and be the only dark spot on white linen. I don’t know what it is like to have to fight mentally, physically, and spiritually to preserve a cultural identity. I don’t know what it is like to fear running at night. I don’t know what it is like to be feared if I run at night. I don’t know what it is like to live under a shroud of stereotypes. I don’t know what it is like to have people who instruct me subtly ignore me and people who sit next to me subtly avoid me. And I don’t know what it is like being an ethnic minority on this college campus, this institute of higher education, this large-scale Smallville, this sheltered little world that is only â€Å"fairly aware.†

The Brady Act: Inconsistent but Served a Purpose

The Brady Law which is technically known as The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 was signed as a law under the presidency of Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993. The law requires that whenever someone purchases a gun, he/ she should wait up to five days for a background check. As long as the Federal Bureau of Investigation has undergone the background check and for so long as the Federal Firearm License has not been issued, then a person can never obtain or own a gun (Bowling et al. , 2006).At the same time, it also required the gun dealers in each of the state should begin conducting and submitting background check requirements on their prospective buyers to the authorities to aid the process of authenticating that buyer’s capability and reliability in owning a gun (Ludwig and Cook, 2003). All states should have similar disqualifications for their applicants. These are fugitive status, court restraining orders, mental illness, and other violence convictions. Becaus e of these, of the 12 million applications that were subjected to background check by the National Bureau of Investigation, there were around 1.4 million that were rejected. However, there are also several rejections done by State and local agency background checks which were argued to be a little inconsistent to the FBI requirements (Bowling et al. , 2006). For instance, most state statutes would require firearm purchasers to have a permit or a license or an identification number right after background check to be presented to the seller before they are allowed to buy a firearm. Within these said statute laws, the background check would require around 7 to 30 days.This is inconvenient and inconsistent with the original Brady Bill because it only mandated a background check for only less than a week and 30 days is way too far from that requirement. Other state laws and agencies require that a seller should convey buyer’s information to the authorities either through mail, tel ephone, or e-mail. Accordingly, the local agencies would respond in about 7 to 10 days. The same as already mentioned, this is also a little bit inconvenient because it is only by then that they start their background check.Other than these, there were also instances were the agencies will have to encounter incomplete records of applicants in their databases which will test the capability of the buyer to purchase a firearm. There is also a discrepancy between the state and the local agencies’ reason on rejection. Federal laws would likely to applicants with domestic violence conviction or indictment. On one hand, local agencies would likely to reject applicants that are drug addicts and mentally ill. Moreover, other states provide for appeals, but only seventeen of them.All of these prove that there is discrepancy and inconsistencies in the implementation of this law (Bowling et al. , 2006). However, despite this, I think the law is still very useful in the maintenance of pea ce and security of the country. This is because the law even when it has been implemented inconsistently by the federal and the state government, it still outlines very concrete requirements and methodology in granting and denying the right of every citizen to possess firearms.This law is obviously concerned on the circumstances that would entail the irresponsible handling and owning of a dangerous weapon like the firearm. It mainly aims to secure the safety of very citizen in the United States and to prevent ruthless assassinations. References Bowling, M and Hickman, J. (2006). â€Å"Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2005†. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin. US: US Department of Justice. Ludwig, J and Cook, P. (2003). Evaluating gun policy: effect on crime and violence. USA: Brookings Institution Press.

Final Mexican History Essay

Question- The PRI dominated Mexico from 1929 to 2000. How did this party begin? Why could it claim it was a democratic party? What do you think might be its future? Opening statement- The PRI, or National Revolutionary Party in English and called the Partido Nacional Revolucionario in Spanish (PNR) was established by Plutarco Elias Calles. He was a military General turned politician and served as the Mexican president in 1924-1928. After his presidency he continued as the de facto president. In 1929 he organized military officials, politicians, union bosses, and labor organizations and strong-armed and influenced them into joining his party. Factors are discussed in order- The PRI underwent several name changes and reorganizations through the years but gained momentum, power and members. The middle class was able to gain a foothold in politics into the PRI especially during the â€Å"stabilizing development† which occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. It was made up of networks of the lower and middle class, unions, members and politicians. The party thrived on relationships, favors and power. Strength was gained through overall corruption, bribery, and misuse and stealing of public money. It sought to gain popularity by exchanging services and favors for votes. In this way it may have appeared to be a party of the people and a democratic entity. Especially during elections goods flowed freely in exchange for loyalty and votes. It reigned freely and had complete control and could claim they were a party of democracy. President Salinas, elected in 1988 worked hard to reform the party’s image. He attempted to downplay his relationship with big business and emphasized his support for the little guy in order to gain more popularity, votes and favor with the Mexican people and former enemies such as the Roman Catholic Church and other long alienated industries. Salinas also attempted to restructure the Mexican economy by privatization, but the decades of corruption and absolute rule made this difficult and it wasn’t enough to save the doomed and defunct party. Conclusion and opinion- On July 2, 2000 Vicente Fox won the Mexican Presidential election in what could be called a â€Å"landslide†. This marked a historic victory of a new era for Mexican politics. It also was the end for the longest rule of a governing Party in the world, the PRI. The history for the party doesn’t look so bright. After being such a ruthless and cruel political party its reputation and credibility is in tatters. In 2003 it was nearly exterminated in the Federal District. It is doubtful that the PRI could make a resurgence without cleaning house and reorganizing significantly. As long as the Mexican people continue to stand up and strongly demand accountability and transparency in their government, democracy and real change is possible. Works Cited: Diamond, Larry â€Å"What the Democratization of Mexico Means for The World† Hoover Institute Stanford University (2000) volume no. 4 Knowledgerush (2009) Partido Revolucionario Institucional 8 May 2010 http://www. knowledgerush. com/kr/encyclopedia/Partido_Revolucionario_Institucional/ U. S Library of Congress â€Å"Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)† 8 May 2010 http://countrystudies. us/mexico/84. htm Wuhs, Steven T, Savage Democracy University Park, PA, Penn State Press, 2008