Tourism Industry in the Mauritius

Tourism Industry in the Mauritius Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Introduction Tourism was the third pillar of the Mauritian economy after the E.P.Z.(export processing zone) manufacturing sector and Agriculture. It has contributed significantly to economic growth and has been a key factor in the overall development of Mauritius since the years 1995 onwards. In the past two decades tourist arrivals increased at an average annual rate of 9 % with a corresponding increase of about 21% in tourism receipts. Tourist arrivals have been expanding consequently, thus rising from 103,000 in 1977 to 656,450 in 2000, a more than 600% increase. About 67% of the tourist arrivals are of European origin, with France supplying nearly half. The nearby Reunion French Territory is the most important short haul source market accounting for about 13% of total tourist arrivals. Asian residents provided 6% of tourist arrivals, almost half of which originated from the Indian Sub-Continent. The World Travel and Tourism council (WTTC) stated that travel and tourism was estimated at 9.3 % in 2010 and is expected to rise up to 9.7% by 2020. This increase will help to create an additional 66 million jobs by 2020, in which 50 million jobs should be created in Asia and hence help to decrease world poverty. The longer-term prospects for Travel Tourism remain positive, boosted by rising prosperity in Asia. The WTTC remains confident that the Travel and Tourism industry will remain a dynamic force for wealth and job creation all over the world. The tourism industry does not cease to grow despite the problems that it has encountered in the past years, such as the credit crunch, terrorism, continuous increasing petrol prices and the famous avian flu (bird flu). The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) states that tourism recovered strongly in 2010 according to the Advance Release of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Tourist arrivals were up by almost 7% to 935 million, following the 4% decline in 2009 the year hardest hit by the global economic crisis (http://www.unwto.org) Tourism has become one of the most important pillar and the most revenue generating activity in many small island developing states. It has become the source of job creation and revenue for small islands inhabitants. A change in the tourism demand for an island may have a major impact on the Gross Domestic Product (total value of goods and services produced in a country during a certain period of time, usually one year), the budget and the Balance of Payments. Most small islands have adopted tourism due to a lack of development opportunities. The end of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the tourism as the main pillar of small islands economies (Bonte 2006), as it is the case for Mauritius. In large part, islands and cruises have become the most wanted vacation for tourists (Harrison, 2004). Tourism is a mean to reach economic development and economic growth, but is also a way to destroy its resources (Bonte, 2006). The Barcelona field study (2006) states that it is not just necessary to satisfy tourism demands, but also to cater for its durable development. Indeed, tourism does not have only positive impacts, but does have adverse effects on the environment and on the host community. The development of high volume tourism facilities without adequate consideration to impacts, has created many â€Å"tourism disasters† (Smith and Edington 1992). Aooay (2003) states that tourism is not only dreaming landscapes on postcards, the social reality is different: movement of population and disappearance of local savoir faire, begging, prostitution, ‘folkorisation of cultures and rituals. Tourism has suffered from serious health crises including the foot and mouth disease in 2001in United Kingdom, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and the bird flu that started to expand in June 2002 (www.who.int.csr/sars/en). Tourism has also been impacted by several natural disasters including earthquakes, flooding, wild fires, hurricanes and the most devastating Tsunami in December 2004 which caused around 218000 deaths and to this day, other natural calamities, was one still having a significant impact upon the tourist movement and the tourism industry worldwide. It is a fact, not only in words but also visually that the sugar cane industry is rapidly being replaced by tourism activities. However since Mauritius is entirely banking on the tourism industry for economic revenue, the question is; what could happen to Mauritius if the tourism sector saw a rapid decline or even an imminent death. One need to bear in mind that Mauritius is not the only country around the world offering this type of product and the fact that Mauritius is situated very far from the targeted market combined with an increase in air fare or/and tourism threats or even natural calamities, what can be done so that the future generation in relation to tourism development does not become black. This present dissertation tries to address the various issues that could cause the death of tourism if not remedied 1.1 Problem Statement Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. The islands most important revenue in the 1980s was sugar cane being exported to European Countries. Nowadays it relies mostly on the tourism sector and tourism is being considered as its main pillar. The tourism industry is in fact a very young one, having emerged only in the last decade in many countries of the world. History has shown that tourism and its development have impacted in some ways, on everything and everyone that is has touched. Ideally, these impacts should be positive in terms of benefits to destinations and their residents but on the other side of the coin, this is not always the case. According to Leonard A. Jackson (2006), local peoples rebellion, environmental damages, cultural intimacy are good examples of negative impacts of tourism. Sugar cane fields are now being replaced by new projects such as the Integrated Resort scheme of Tamarina and Bagatelle at Pailles, catering for the tourism sector. This present work is being done in order to analyse the threats to tourism, its weaknesses and eventually try to evaluate whether the tourism industry will face an end like the Sri Lanka whose Balance of Payment was in deficit after the tourism injections in the economy fell after the war started between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) 1.2 Aim The aim of this present study is to assess whether the tourism industry in Mauritius could face a possible end. 1.3 Objectives In line with the problem statement and the aim of this work, the following objectives were formulated: Identify the importance of the tourism sector in Mauritius and the latters dependency on it. To Identify the threats to the tourism industry and its impacts there on. To identify the threats that are relevant to Mauritius and its tourism industry. To assess whether Mauritius is at risk of those threats. To identify possible ways of mitigating those impacts. 1.4 Research structure The study was classified into different chapters with the following purposes: Chapter 1- Introduction To introduce the subject, to define the problem, aims and objectives of the research and outline the different chapters. Chapter 2- Literature Review To give a brief account of previous research made in the field of threats to the tourism sector concentrating on small island developing states. Chapter 3- Saving the tourism industry To analyse the strengths of small islands and the factors that may save the tourism industry. Chapter 4- Methodology To outline the main steps taken to carry out this present research, providing details on the type of study used, its advantages and disadvantages, the questions set for interviewing targeted respondents and the limitations to the study. Chapter 5- Data analysis and findings To analyse and discuss the results obtained from respondents Chapter 6- Conclusion and recommendations To summarise the most important findings and to bring an end to the study and from the previous chapters to suggest any possible actions that could be considered in the near future. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.0 A global perspective of the tourism industry. â€Å"Shorter working hours, greater individual prosperity, faster and less expensive travel, and the impact of advanced technology has all helped to make the leisure and tourism industry the fastest growing industry in the world† (Edgell, Sr., 1990). Tourism has become a flourishing industry in the twentieth century, where destinations mostly rely on their natural and some manmade resources to make up their tourism industry. It is nowadays a principal element for economic development and growth. According to Lim (1997) and Crouch (1996), the economic impact of tourism has rendered the tourism industry to be considered as one of the most highly significant and integral parts of every national economy. Whilst the economic impact and the contribution of the tourism industry to a country is widely acknowledged, it is also an industry which creates thousands of jobs and a source of foreign exchange earnings. Let alone the positive benefits, it is also an industry that brings along many negative impacts on host communities. 2.1 Threats to the tourism industry 2.1.1 Competition Recently, many countries have constantly been competing for tourism. â€Å"One possible first approach to the definition of competition is to consider competition a process of resources distribution† (Loch et al. 2001). In a market, the people, firms, organisations, industries will tend to use only the very little resources to stay alive in a co operation market, but will make utilisation of full resources when they are in an extreme competitive market. Competition is also highly dependent on the availability of resources and the number of individuals, firms and organisations who wish to exploit those resources, but as the basic economic problem states, wants are unlimited but resources are scarce, thus individual tend to exploit the resources more that they should. This will result in the population being suffering as stated by Bahn and Flenley(1992) â€Å"the rise of competition can lead to such a catastrophic imbalance that the final consequence might be the extinction of the population† and the tourism industry as a whole. Competition should not only be seen as a way of boosting a market but if the competition is not well managed or even if policies with regards to competition are not clear, there may be a proliferation of tourism activities which could be to the detriment of the host community. For example the growth of hotels on the coast lines may prove to be beneficial to a countrys economy in the short term and long term if managed properly. However, if there are no proper guidelines on competition, it can become a nightmare for countries as host communities could feel alienated. 2.1.2 Increasing petrol prices The first months of 2008 witnessed the considerable increase in oil prices where it reached a record price of $100 per barrel. Prices were predicted to increase to 140$ in June 2008 (BBC, 2008). This continuous increase in the year 2008 was due to the increase demand for travelling (according to the law of demand, as demand increases, price increases) because of globalisation and increase in travelling resulting from an increase in the number of people, firms and organisations wishing to exploit resources. Moreover, the increase in price of petrol has caused an increase in tickets for travelling. An increase in air fares have caused a fall in the tourist arrival. Thus one can say that the increasing petrol prices may be one of the threats to the tourism industry because it is linked with the increase in petrol prices and an increase in air fares. 2.1.3 Criminality rate, gambling and social factors Ntuli(1998) described crime as â€Å" a universal social phenomenon in that it threatens the safety and security of the people, property, their sense of well being, as well as social order†. The case of Mrs. Harte being killed in her hotel room at the Legends Hotel, for a couple of dollars, when being on honey moon, is one which may be said to be unforgiveable. Mauritius is a famous worldwide known destination for weddings and honey moons. This crime is detrimental for its tourism industry. This news was broadcasted a few hours only after the crime had been committed, on several channels under the â€Å"Breaking News† titles and had it â€Å"Murdered honeymooner Michaela McAreavy (Harte) was strangled over a purse containing a small amount of cash.†(www.news.sky.com). This was broadcasted around the world and Mauritians were soon pointed out in lots of countries. The words of the husband inspire more sadness saying â€Å"She was my life†. The media was very quick at propagating the bad news and bad press and such publicity is not what a tourism destination wants. This act is in fact one of the greatest threat to the Mauritians tourism industry. Touri sts who were forecasting to getting married in Mauritius have surely cancelled their reservations as soon information about this tragedy spread around the whole world and this is witnessed in Ntuli (2000) who found that nowadays, crimes committed against tourist is becoming more and more detrimental to the tourism industry of a destination. As mentioned earlier, and supported by Giddens (1990) who stated that crimes committed to travellers has an impact on many categories of people, because a negative perception of tourists at a destination is often reported in the media or even tourist themselves to friends and families and this causes a negative word of mouth being spread as it is actually the case for the death of Mrs Harte. The host country will thus be badly marketed and tourist arrivals will decline as supported by Ntuli (2000). On the other hand, in a few countries like Bahamas, the heads of states think that even if the criminality rate is a worry to many Bahamians, it is not a threat to tourism, according to an official at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau (www.jonesbahamas.com). Dr Hardt, from the US embassy stated that there is now more than 200 police officers are now available to prevent crimes on tourists and that the new priorities have been stretched out concerning those crimes. From the above, one can say that crimes may not be an imminent threat to the tourism industry, provided that there is enough security officers and aims and objectives set. Gambling is often viewed as a booster for the economy of a country because usually the positive impacts of gabling outweighs the negative ones(Stokowski, 1996). Several studies such as Perdue, et al.(1995), Roehl(1994) suggest that gambling is profitable to a country because it generates a high profitability and contributes in job creation and a revenue for the government in terms of taxes. On the other hand, Tosun(2002) found that gambling results in crimes and social disruption and usually creates very bad effects for the country as a whole. Studies showing the negative aspect of gambling are various, such as Caneday et al.(1991) and Stokowski(1996). Thus the negative results from gambling should not be forgotten. Prostitution and tourists attacks result from gambling. People find that tourists are a cash cow and attack them and stealing their belongings so as to have money to gamble because gambling is like a drug. Prostitution is also generated from gambling. It is such that where the tourism industry is developing, those countries do have a good proportion of its population with very low income and tourists are seen as stated above , cash cows. Hence prostitution is the result of poor economic development and an easy way of making money and tourists have the spending power to such activity but it is important to note that most tourists do not like gambling and sein g people prostituting themselves give them a sense of unsafe surroundings and disgust. This has an adverse impact on word of mouth spreading. An example of the negative impacts of gambling is the state of Nevada in the United States where it depends much on gambling. The statistics for this state are astonishing. This state is the one which has the highest number of road accident, suicide and criminality rate (Vaknin, 2007). Gambling is related to criminality rate according to Vaknin(2007). When one talks about gambling, one may understand crimes, addiction, drug and accidents. Those impacts should be carefully monitored even if gambling brings much economic development for a country (Perdue et al 1995). Drug intake and thefts are also becoming â€Å"common† nowadays in Mauritius. Thousands of complaints are lodged at police stations concerning thefts and in this context, many tourists are attacked for their money or valuable belongings. Drug intake make more and more individual go on stealing to obtain their doses and such social factors should be tackled in order to prevent the end of tourism in Mauritius. 2.1.4 Political instability, civil wars, riots and demonstrations â€Å"Political instability is a situation where a government has been toppled, or is controlled by factions following a coup, or where basic functional pre-requisites for social-order control and maintenance are unstable and periodically disrupted. (Cook, 1990). Wilson(1996), on the other hand, defines a stable country as ‘if the regime is durable, violence and turmoil are limited, and the leaders stay in office for several years. The link between political violence and instability in Hall et al.(1996) definition of political instability as ‘‘a situation in which conditions and mechanisms of governance and rule are challenged as to their political legitimacy by elements operating from outside of the normal operations of the political system. When challenge occurs from within a political system and the system is able to adapt and change to meet demands on it, it can be said to be stable† Challenging in order to govern a country or even those who do not follow the actual political system is often solved by violence; political violence. Thus political instability and political violence are two words that can be used as synonyms. Lancaster(1971) states that tourists enjoy many different advantages that a destination offers, rather than sticking to only one advantage. Tourists can and will shift easily to another destination unless the attractions to that country are unique in the world. In other words, a tourist will go to a destination for its sea, sun and sand like it is the case for Mauritius and may shift destination if he wants unless there is only those 3s in Mauritius but it is not the case because Maldives, Seychelles offer nearly the same tourism product. Richter and Waugh(1986) state that ‘tourism is frequently an early casualty of internecine warfare, revolution, or even prolonged labour disputes. Even if the tourist areas are secure () tourism may decline precipitously when political conditions appear unsettled. Tourists simply choose alternative destinations. Taking the above example, even if Mauritius offered the unique sea, sun and sand in the world, tourism in Mauritius will be hurt if there is political violence. This shows to what extent political instability may cause the end of the tourism industry in Mauritius such as the case of Egypt which recently through severe political violence resulting in its tourism industry falling drastically. Richter and Waugh(1989) argued that tourism is for sure a political phenomenon: it will decrease sharply when political circumstance turns unstable. In 1994 Hall published his book Tourism and Political Science where he asserts that stable politics is a must for attracting international tourists, even the decisive factor for the successful development of tourism (Hall, 1994). In case of political violence, tourism being a sensitive product and therefore tourists arrivals will continue to go down for a long period of time. Tourists will only come back to this particular country only when he has eradicated this idea of violence from his mind, but it might take many years. â€Å"Countries with a negative image due to past events of violence often attempt to improve their image with aggressive advertising campaigns trying to portray themselves as entirely safe destinations† (SÃÆ' ¶nmez et al.1999). Scott(1988) showed the massive work done by tourism authorities together with travel agents and tour operators to redress the country of Fiji where there was two military â€Å"coups† on tourism. Teye(1986) and Richter and Waugh (1986) state that the effects of political violence or instability on tourism is likely to have a spill over effects on surrounding countries but Hall and OSullivan(1996) found that both the Solomon Islands and North Queens land, found near Fuji, said that they were â€Å"safe† regional alternatives compared to the military â€Å"coup† in Fiji. (See appendix A) Many articles have examined the impact of war on tourism. Most of them have shown that war has a negative impact in the short run (Radnic, 1999, Mihalic, 1996). In the long run, wars may have a positive impact in the sense that tourists are attracted to a destination to see the scenes of war (Weaver, 2000). To measure the impact of war, one may use the number of overnight stays, beds or tourists, but experts have not attempted to measure the economic impact resulting from a fall in tourism. Wars can increase the perception of a tourist in the risk that he undergoes while choosing a destination. Hostilities, demonstrations and acts of violence, for example between the Palestinians and Israelis, have often discouraged tourists from visiting Israel for the past 40 years. Besides, Israel is located in the centre of the Middle East, tourists tend to avoid visiting this country during every period of crisis in the surroundings. Riots are also one of those factors which can put an end to the tourism Industry. The case of Tunisia may be taken for example. While most Tunisians were celebrating the victory president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the countrys tourism industry witnessed a massive negative impact from the riots and tourists had to be evacuated of the country. â€Å"While President Ben Ali was a totalitarian leader, tourists from Europe and the Arab world kept streaming to the country at an ever-increasing rate. Only few of the arrivals even know that Tunisia was a dictatorship even if they came year after year† (www.getafespain.com). With the state of emergency declared in Tunisia, and with the unclear political situation after the fall of President Ben Ali, government of Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Norway have issued messages not to travel to Tunisia and this of course included tourist trips (Bernama-Afrolnews, 2011). This shows to what extent riots can have such an influence on the tourism industry. In Mauritius, such riots were witnessed in 1999 with the death of the famous singer Kaya. The capital of Mauritius, Port Louis, was forced to close down for a few days and demonstrators had blocked major roads burned about 200 vehicles and attacked police stations. It degenerated to nearly become a racial dispute where young Creole men were fighting against Hindu people. Such an tragedy caused the economy of Mauritius to operate on a go slow basis. Such news were broadcasted internationally for much more than the duration of the riots. Businessmen became worried that their business might go bankrupt because that instability could hit foreign investors (guardian.co.uk) 2.1.5 Natural Disasters A natural disaster is â€Å"a natural event with catastrophic consequences for living things in the vicinity.† (www.encyclopedian.com). Natural forces will always be with us and tourism is a major sector of the world economy. The first mentioned is and will always be a challenge for the tourism industry. Therefore, these two elements will continue to play significant roles into the future. In the past these two elements have intersected and it is likely that they will again in the future. (Beattie, 1992). A natural disaster can affect tourism in the sense that it destroys the natural environment and the things which the industry relies on. There exists a close link between tourism and natural disasters as if there is a natural disaster, the industry may be destroyed. Tourism is an important part of many countries economy and in less economically developed countries such as those affected by the tsunami, on boxing day of year 2004, whereby the affected countries relied on the tourism industrys services for living. Usually a natural calamity makes the rate of tourists arrival fall, which results in a lack of tourist spending. Businesses suffer due to lack of money generated by tourism, local small businesses close, larger businesses are in agony, leading to closure of parts of the business and jobs are lost. There are cases where natural disasters can increase tourism arrivals. In a strange manner, places that have been affected by natural disaster can become tourist attractions. Those places often become places of educational and historical interest and many people visit those areas or countries. An example of this is the village of Boscastle in United Kingdom. The village faced the worst ever flood in its history on 16th August 2004. A recorded 200.4mm of rain fell in just twenty four hours causing a 3m torrent to flow through the village (www.docstoc.com/docs; article factors affecting tourism; natural calamities). Over 100 residents were rescued by air. 116 cars were swept through the village in the harbour that particular day. It caused millions of pounds of damage to property and businesses. Following this, the small village was much on the media. After 2004, there were loads visitors which came from many places to visit the village, in such a way that accommodation became a problem because of massive number of people wanting to be accommodated.( Robyn et al.2010) The case of typhoons in the Philippines had more negative impacts on the concerned country. The typhoons named â€Å"Ondoy† and â€Å"Pepeng† have ravaged dramatically parts of the Philippines last year and have had a negative impact on tourism, as compared to the small village in the United Kingdom. Mauritius is a tropical island is frequently visited by cyclones but most of the times those create little destruction to Mauritius. some tourists perceive those cyclones as an experience, but others perceive them as a natural factor preventing them from enjoying their stay. This may lead in guests cancelling their trips to Mauritius during the cyclonic seasons (November to May) 2.1.6 Climate Change, Global Warming â€Å"Climate change represents a new challenge for tourism. It is not, however, the case that tourisms initial position will undergo a sudden, radical change. Instead, climate change has to be viewed as a catalyst that will reinforce and accelerate the pace of structural change in the tourist industry and more clearly highlight the risks and opportunities inherent in tourist developments†. (Elsasser,2002) â€Å"Glaciers are melting, islands are drowning, wildlife is vanishing. Because of global warming, our most cherished vacation spots may soon cease to exist. And travellers are part of the problem† (Tidwell, 2001) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that the ‘warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The global average temperature has increased approximately by 0.76 °C between 1850-1899 and 2001-2005. The IPCC further said that there was a more that 90% probability that the warming would increase in the coming years. â€Å"Given the growing scientific data, my fear is were all going to wake up soon and find the places we love totally gone even in our lifetime, Mallet(2001). He further added that tourism and travel would mostly suffer with the rise of the sea level by 2100 because it has been predicted that the water level would rise by 3 feet by this time; eradicating resort hotels, beaches, ports and coastal property. The IPCC states that the American coastline welcomes around 180 million recreational visitors annually. The rise in sea level would be dramatic to those regions. Wall(2001) explains that â€Å"Clearly, global warming is an issue the tourism industry must and I think will pay more and more attention to in the near future†. Wall added that tourism is at risk and now all that the industry of tourism and travel can do is to prepare for and adapt to climate-related impacts which are already occurring. Taking the case of Mauritius, such rise in sea level will be drastic for re sorts, because those hotels are situated on the coast lines of Mauritius at maximum 3 metres above sea level. A rise in sea level by 3 feet will cause many of those resorts to mostly disappear and this could cause the end of tourism in Mauritius. Air travel and transport alone, for example, add more than 500 million tons of CO2 to the Earths atmosphere each year, according to the IPCC. And as people travel more, courtesy of ever-rising Western affluence, the problem only gets worse. By 2050, a full 15 percent of the worlds CO2 could come from travel and tourism, according to Green Globe 21. Tha quthor John Berger even said that â€Å"We are loving the planet to death†. Over the years passing , many island nations have fought hard to be heard in the international conferences about the effects of global warming on them. Some islands have already been lost in the Pacific, and the forecast is that many more will go in the coming decades, especially if nothing is done to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions globally. Now the case of the Caribbean islands should be closely studied. The Caribbean islands, except Cuba and Haiti, are highly dependent on tourism, like Mauritius. Coastal development in the Caribbean for tourism is constantly increasing at a high rate despite a recent decline in tourism. In the Caribbean, tourism accounts for 15% of the gross domestic product, with higher rates in many of its islands, and over 2.4 million jobs (about 16% of the local population). It has also pushed populations towards the coasts because of the various developments. For example, in the Dominican Republic, over 50% of the population lives near coasts where a 3 feet rise in sea level would make them being submerged. Recently, the Dominican government has received a report detailing that, under their estimates, sea-level will rise by 6 meters by 2050, eliminating the tourism industry and sending the country into complete chaos. The same would happen around the Caribbean. The fast development that the region is seeing may be completely devastated by global warming, and the same case goes for much of the rest of the developing world. The outcome would be to put billions of people in situations of poverty, hunger, and violence. In terms of economic weaknesses, it was noted that small islands tend to have small economies, small land area and unfortunately do have a limitation of resources, meaning their economy relies on few primary exports like sugar and of course tourism. Furthermore, the small islands have low resistance to â€Å"external shocks† such as natural disasters, political instability, terrorism, etc..(Harrison 2003, Hotiet al.2005). Briguglioer et al.(1996) identified environmental weaknesses which included the threat of sea level rise following global warming, and the location of small islands in relation to phenomena, such as cyclones, hurricanes and seismic activity which can lead to tsunamis and eradicate the tourism industry from a small island in a few minutes. Chapter 3 Saving the Tourism Industry 3.0 Over reliance over the tourism industry â€Å"Diversifi Tourism Industry in the Mauritius Tourism Industry in the Mauritius Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Introduction Tourism was the third pillar of the Mauritian economy after the E.P.Z.(export processing zone) manufacturing sector and Agriculture. It has contributed significantly to economic growth and has been a key factor in the overall development of Mauritius since the years 1995 onwards. In the past two decades tourist arrivals increased at an average annual rate of 9 % with a corresponding increase of about 21% in tourism receipts. Tourist arrivals have been expanding consequently, thus rising from 103,000 in 1977 to 656,450 in 2000, a more than 600% increase. About 67% of the tourist arrivals are of European origin, with France supplying nearly half. The nearby Reunion French Territory is the most important short haul source market accounting for about 13% of total tourist arrivals. Asian residents provided 6% of tourist arrivals, almost half of which originated from the Indian Sub-Continent. The World Travel and Tourism council (WTTC) stated that travel and tourism was estimated at 9.3 % in 2010 and is expected to rise up to 9.7% by 2020. This increase will help to create an additional 66 million jobs by 2020, in which 50 million jobs should be created in Asia and hence help to decrease world poverty. The longer-term prospects for Travel Tourism remain positive, boosted by rising prosperity in Asia. The WTTC remains confident that the Travel and Tourism industry will remain a dynamic force for wealth and job creation all over the world. The tourism industry does not cease to grow despite the problems that it has encountered in the past years, such as the credit crunch, terrorism, continuous increasing petrol prices and the famous avian flu (bird flu). The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) states that tourism recovered strongly in 2010 according to the Advance Release of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Tourist arrivals were up by almost 7% to 935 million, following the 4% decline in 2009 the year hardest hit by the global economic crisis (http://www.unwto.org) Tourism has become one of the most important pillar and the most revenue generating activity in many small island developing states. It has become the source of job creation and revenue for small islands inhabitants. A change in the tourism demand for an island may have a major impact on the Gross Domestic Product (total value of goods and services produced in a country during a certain period of time, usually one year), the budget and the Balance of Payments. Most small islands have adopted tourism due to a lack of development opportunities. The end of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the tourism as the main pillar of small islands economies (Bonte 2006), as it is the case for Mauritius. In large part, islands and cruises have become the most wanted vacation for tourists (Harrison, 2004). Tourism is a mean to reach economic development and economic growth, but is also a way to destroy its resources (Bonte, 2006). The Barcelona field study (2006) states that it is not just necessary to satisfy tourism demands, but also to cater for its durable development. Indeed, tourism does not have only positive impacts, but does have adverse effects on the environment and on the host community. The development of high volume tourism facilities without adequate consideration to impacts, has created many â€Å"tourism disasters† (Smith and Edington 1992). Aooay (2003) states that tourism is not only dreaming landscapes on postcards, the social reality is different: movement of population and disappearance of local savoir faire, begging, prostitution, ‘folkorisation of cultures and rituals. Tourism has suffered from serious health crises including the foot and mouth disease in 2001in United Kingdom, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and the bird flu that started to expand in June 2002 (www.who.int.csr/sars/en). Tourism has also been impacted by several natural disasters including earthquakes, flooding, wild fires, hurricanes and the most devastating Tsunami in December 2004 which caused around 218000 deaths and to this day, other natural calamities, was one still having a significant impact upon the tourist movement and the tourism industry worldwide. It is a fact, not only in words but also visually that the sugar cane industry is rapidly being replaced by tourism activities. However since Mauritius is entirely banking on the tourism industry for economic revenue, the question is; what could happen to Mauritius if the tourism sector saw a rapid decline or even an imminent death. One need to bear in mind that Mauritius is not the only country around the world offering this type of product and the fact that Mauritius is situated very far from the targeted market combined with an increase in air fare or/and tourism threats or even natural calamities, what can be done so that the future generation in relation to tourism development does not become black. This present dissertation tries to address the various issues that could cause the death of tourism if not remedied 1.1 Problem Statement Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. The islands most important revenue in the 1980s was sugar cane being exported to European Countries. Nowadays it relies mostly on the tourism sector and tourism is being considered as its main pillar. The tourism industry is in fact a very young one, having emerged only in the last decade in many countries of the world. History has shown that tourism and its development have impacted in some ways, on everything and everyone that is has touched. Ideally, these impacts should be positive in terms of benefits to destinations and their residents but on the other side of the coin, this is not always the case. According to Leonard A. Jackson (2006), local peoples rebellion, environmental damages, cultural intimacy are good examples of negative impacts of tourism. Sugar cane fields are now being replaced by new projects such as the Integrated Resort scheme of Tamarina and Bagatelle at Pailles, catering for the tourism sector. This present work is being done in order to analyse the threats to tourism, its weaknesses and eventually try to evaluate whether the tourism industry will face an end like the Sri Lanka whose Balance of Payment was in deficit after the tourism injections in the economy fell after the war started between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) 1.2 Aim The aim of this present study is to assess whether the tourism industry in Mauritius could face a possible end. 1.3 Objectives In line with the problem statement and the aim of this work, the following objectives were formulated: Identify the importance of the tourism sector in Mauritius and the latters dependency on it. To Identify the threats to the tourism industry and its impacts there on. To identify the threats that are relevant to Mauritius and its tourism industry. To assess whether Mauritius is at risk of those threats. To identify possible ways of mitigating those impacts. 1.4 Research structure The study was classified into different chapters with the following purposes: Chapter 1- Introduction To introduce the subject, to define the problem, aims and objectives of the research and outline the different chapters. Chapter 2- Literature Review To give a brief account of previous research made in the field of threats to the tourism sector concentrating on small island developing states. Chapter 3- Saving the tourism industry To analyse the strengths of small islands and the factors that may save the tourism industry. Chapter 4- Methodology To outline the main steps taken to carry out this present research, providing details on the type of study used, its advantages and disadvantages, the questions set for interviewing targeted respondents and the limitations to the study. Chapter 5- Data analysis and findings To analyse and discuss the results obtained from respondents Chapter 6- Conclusion and recommendations To summarise the most important findings and to bring an end to the study and from the previous chapters to suggest any possible actions that could be considered in the near future. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.0 A global perspective of the tourism industry. â€Å"Shorter working hours, greater individual prosperity, faster and less expensive travel, and the impact of advanced technology has all helped to make the leisure and tourism industry the fastest growing industry in the world† (Edgell, Sr., 1990). Tourism has become a flourishing industry in the twentieth century, where destinations mostly rely on their natural and some manmade resources to make up their tourism industry. It is nowadays a principal element for economic development and growth. According to Lim (1997) and Crouch (1996), the economic impact of tourism has rendered the tourism industry to be considered as one of the most highly significant and integral parts of every national economy. Whilst the economic impact and the contribution of the tourism industry to a country is widely acknowledged, it is also an industry which creates thousands of jobs and a source of foreign exchange earnings. Let alone the positive benefits, it is also an industry that brings along many negative impacts on host communities. 2.1 Threats to the tourism industry 2.1.1 Competition Recently, many countries have constantly been competing for tourism. â€Å"One possible first approach to the definition of competition is to consider competition a process of resources distribution† (Loch et al. 2001). In a market, the people, firms, organisations, industries will tend to use only the very little resources to stay alive in a co operation market, but will make utilisation of full resources when they are in an extreme competitive market. Competition is also highly dependent on the availability of resources and the number of individuals, firms and organisations who wish to exploit those resources, but as the basic economic problem states, wants are unlimited but resources are scarce, thus individual tend to exploit the resources more that they should. This will result in the population being suffering as stated by Bahn and Flenley(1992) â€Å"the rise of competition can lead to such a catastrophic imbalance that the final consequence might be the extinction of the population† and the tourism industry as a whole. Competition should not only be seen as a way of boosting a market but if the competition is not well managed or even if policies with regards to competition are not clear, there may be a proliferation of tourism activities which could be to the detriment of the host community. For example the growth of hotels on the coast lines may prove to be beneficial to a countrys economy in the short term and long term if managed properly. However, if there are no proper guidelines on competition, it can become a nightmare for countries as host communities could feel alienated. 2.1.2 Increasing petrol prices The first months of 2008 witnessed the considerable increase in oil prices where it reached a record price of $100 per barrel. Prices were predicted to increase to 140$ in June 2008 (BBC, 2008). This continuous increase in the year 2008 was due to the increase demand for travelling (according to the law of demand, as demand increases, price increases) because of globalisation and increase in travelling resulting from an increase in the number of people, firms and organisations wishing to exploit resources. Moreover, the increase in price of petrol has caused an increase in tickets for travelling. An increase in air fares have caused a fall in the tourist arrival. Thus one can say that the increasing petrol prices may be one of the threats to the tourism industry because it is linked with the increase in petrol prices and an increase in air fares. 2.1.3 Criminality rate, gambling and social factors Ntuli(1998) described crime as â€Å" a universal social phenomenon in that it threatens the safety and security of the people, property, their sense of well being, as well as social order†. The case of Mrs. Harte being killed in her hotel room at the Legends Hotel, for a couple of dollars, when being on honey moon, is one which may be said to be unforgiveable. Mauritius is a famous worldwide known destination for weddings and honey moons. This crime is detrimental for its tourism industry. This news was broadcasted a few hours only after the crime had been committed, on several channels under the â€Å"Breaking News† titles and had it â€Å"Murdered honeymooner Michaela McAreavy (Harte) was strangled over a purse containing a small amount of cash.†(www.news.sky.com). This was broadcasted around the world and Mauritians were soon pointed out in lots of countries. The words of the husband inspire more sadness saying â€Å"She was my life†. The media was very quick at propagating the bad news and bad press and such publicity is not what a tourism destination wants. This act is in fact one of the greatest threat to the Mauritians tourism industry. Touri sts who were forecasting to getting married in Mauritius have surely cancelled their reservations as soon information about this tragedy spread around the whole world and this is witnessed in Ntuli (2000) who found that nowadays, crimes committed against tourist is becoming more and more detrimental to the tourism industry of a destination. As mentioned earlier, and supported by Giddens (1990) who stated that crimes committed to travellers has an impact on many categories of people, because a negative perception of tourists at a destination is often reported in the media or even tourist themselves to friends and families and this causes a negative word of mouth being spread as it is actually the case for the death of Mrs Harte. The host country will thus be badly marketed and tourist arrivals will decline as supported by Ntuli (2000). On the other hand, in a few countries like Bahamas, the heads of states think that even if the criminality rate is a worry to many Bahamians, it is not a threat to tourism, according to an official at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau (www.jonesbahamas.com). Dr Hardt, from the US embassy stated that there is now more than 200 police officers are now available to prevent crimes on tourists and that the new priorities have been stretched out concerning those crimes. From the above, one can say that crimes may not be an imminent threat to the tourism industry, provided that there is enough security officers and aims and objectives set. Gambling is often viewed as a booster for the economy of a country because usually the positive impacts of gabling outweighs the negative ones(Stokowski, 1996). Several studies such as Perdue, et al.(1995), Roehl(1994) suggest that gambling is profitable to a country because it generates a high profitability and contributes in job creation and a revenue for the government in terms of taxes. On the other hand, Tosun(2002) found that gambling results in crimes and social disruption and usually creates very bad effects for the country as a whole. Studies showing the negative aspect of gambling are various, such as Caneday et al.(1991) and Stokowski(1996). Thus the negative results from gambling should not be forgotten. Prostitution and tourists attacks result from gambling. People find that tourists are a cash cow and attack them and stealing their belongings so as to have money to gamble because gambling is like a drug. Prostitution is also generated from gambling. It is such that where the tourism industry is developing, those countries do have a good proportion of its population with very low income and tourists are seen as stated above , cash cows. Hence prostitution is the result of poor economic development and an easy way of making money and tourists have the spending power to such activity but it is important to note that most tourists do not like gambling and sein g people prostituting themselves give them a sense of unsafe surroundings and disgust. This has an adverse impact on word of mouth spreading. An example of the negative impacts of gambling is the state of Nevada in the United States where it depends much on gambling. The statistics for this state are astonishing. This state is the one which has the highest number of road accident, suicide and criminality rate (Vaknin, 2007). Gambling is related to criminality rate according to Vaknin(2007). When one talks about gambling, one may understand crimes, addiction, drug and accidents. Those impacts should be carefully monitored even if gambling brings much economic development for a country (Perdue et al 1995). Drug intake and thefts are also becoming â€Å"common† nowadays in Mauritius. Thousands of complaints are lodged at police stations concerning thefts and in this context, many tourists are attacked for their money or valuable belongings. Drug intake make more and more individual go on stealing to obtain their doses and such social factors should be tackled in order to prevent the end of tourism in Mauritius. 2.1.4 Political instability, civil wars, riots and demonstrations â€Å"Political instability is a situation where a government has been toppled, or is controlled by factions following a coup, or where basic functional pre-requisites for social-order control and maintenance are unstable and periodically disrupted. (Cook, 1990). Wilson(1996), on the other hand, defines a stable country as ‘if the regime is durable, violence and turmoil are limited, and the leaders stay in office for several years. The link between political violence and instability in Hall et al.(1996) definition of political instability as ‘‘a situation in which conditions and mechanisms of governance and rule are challenged as to their political legitimacy by elements operating from outside of the normal operations of the political system. When challenge occurs from within a political system and the system is able to adapt and change to meet demands on it, it can be said to be stable† Challenging in order to govern a country or even those who do not follow the actual political system is often solved by violence; political violence. Thus political instability and political violence are two words that can be used as synonyms. Lancaster(1971) states that tourists enjoy many different advantages that a destination offers, rather than sticking to only one advantage. Tourists can and will shift easily to another destination unless the attractions to that country are unique in the world. In other words, a tourist will go to a destination for its sea, sun and sand like it is the case for Mauritius and may shift destination if he wants unless there is only those 3s in Mauritius but it is not the case because Maldives, Seychelles offer nearly the same tourism product. Richter and Waugh(1986) state that ‘tourism is frequently an early casualty of internecine warfare, revolution, or even prolonged labour disputes. Even if the tourist areas are secure () tourism may decline precipitously when political conditions appear unsettled. Tourists simply choose alternative destinations. Taking the above example, even if Mauritius offered the unique sea, sun and sand in the world, tourism in Mauritius will be hurt if there is political violence. This shows to what extent political instability may cause the end of the tourism industry in Mauritius such as the case of Egypt which recently through severe political violence resulting in its tourism industry falling drastically. Richter and Waugh(1989) argued that tourism is for sure a political phenomenon: it will decrease sharply when political circumstance turns unstable. In 1994 Hall published his book Tourism and Political Science where he asserts that stable politics is a must for attracting international tourists, even the decisive factor for the successful development of tourism (Hall, 1994). In case of political violence, tourism being a sensitive product and therefore tourists arrivals will continue to go down for a long period of time. Tourists will only come back to this particular country only when he has eradicated this idea of violence from his mind, but it might take many years. â€Å"Countries with a negative image due to past events of violence often attempt to improve their image with aggressive advertising campaigns trying to portray themselves as entirely safe destinations† (SÃÆ' ¶nmez et al.1999). Scott(1988) showed the massive work done by tourism authorities together with travel agents and tour operators to redress the country of Fiji where there was two military â€Å"coups† on tourism. Teye(1986) and Richter and Waugh (1986) state that the effects of political violence or instability on tourism is likely to have a spill over effects on surrounding countries but Hall and OSullivan(1996) found that both the Solomon Islands and North Queens land, found near Fuji, said that they were â€Å"safe† regional alternatives compared to the military â€Å"coup† in Fiji. (See appendix A) Many articles have examined the impact of war on tourism. Most of them have shown that war has a negative impact in the short run (Radnic, 1999, Mihalic, 1996). In the long run, wars may have a positive impact in the sense that tourists are attracted to a destination to see the scenes of war (Weaver, 2000). To measure the impact of war, one may use the number of overnight stays, beds or tourists, but experts have not attempted to measure the economic impact resulting from a fall in tourism. Wars can increase the perception of a tourist in the risk that he undergoes while choosing a destination. Hostilities, demonstrations and acts of violence, for example between the Palestinians and Israelis, have often discouraged tourists from visiting Israel for the past 40 years. Besides, Israel is located in the centre of the Middle East, tourists tend to avoid visiting this country during every period of crisis in the surroundings. Riots are also one of those factors which can put an end to the tourism Industry. The case of Tunisia may be taken for example. While most Tunisians were celebrating the victory president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the countrys tourism industry witnessed a massive negative impact from the riots and tourists had to be evacuated of the country. â€Å"While President Ben Ali was a totalitarian leader, tourists from Europe and the Arab world kept streaming to the country at an ever-increasing rate. Only few of the arrivals even know that Tunisia was a dictatorship even if they came year after year† (www.getafespain.com). With the state of emergency declared in Tunisia, and with the unclear political situation after the fall of President Ben Ali, government of Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Norway have issued messages not to travel to Tunisia and this of course included tourist trips (Bernama-Afrolnews, 2011). This shows to what extent riots can have such an influence on the tourism industry. In Mauritius, such riots were witnessed in 1999 with the death of the famous singer Kaya. The capital of Mauritius, Port Louis, was forced to close down for a few days and demonstrators had blocked major roads burned about 200 vehicles and attacked police stations. It degenerated to nearly become a racial dispute where young Creole men were fighting against Hindu people. Such an tragedy caused the economy of Mauritius to operate on a go slow basis. Such news were broadcasted internationally for much more than the duration of the riots. Businessmen became worried that their business might go bankrupt because that instability could hit foreign investors (guardian.co.uk) 2.1.5 Natural Disasters A natural disaster is â€Å"a natural event with catastrophic consequences for living things in the vicinity.† (www.encyclopedian.com). Natural forces will always be with us and tourism is a major sector of the world economy. The first mentioned is and will always be a challenge for the tourism industry. Therefore, these two elements will continue to play significant roles into the future. In the past these two elements have intersected and it is likely that they will again in the future. (Beattie, 1992). A natural disaster can affect tourism in the sense that it destroys the natural environment and the things which the industry relies on. There exists a close link between tourism and natural disasters as if there is a natural disaster, the industry may be destroyed. Tourism is an important part of many countries economy and in less economically developed countries such as those affected by the tsunami, on boxing day of year 2004, whereby the affected countries relied on the tourism industrys services for living. Usually a natural calamity makes the rate of tourists arrival fall, which results in a lack of tourist spending. Businesses suffer due to lack of money generated by tourism, local small businesses close, larger businesses are in agony, leading to closure of parts of the business and jobs are lost. There are cases where natural disasters can increase tourism arrivals. In a strange manner, places that have been affected by natural disaster can become tourist attractions. Those places often become places of educational and historical interest and many people visit those areas or countries. An example of this is the village of Boscastle in United Kingdom. The village faced the worst ever flood in its history on 16th August 2004. A recorded 200.4mm of rain fell in just twenty four hours causing a 3m torrent to flow through the village (www.docstoc.com/docs; article factors affecting tourism; natural calamities). Over 100 residents were rescued by air. 116 cars were swept through the village in the harbour that particular day. It caused millions of pounds of damage to property and businesses. Following this, the small village was much on the media. After 2004, there were loads visitors which came from many places to visit the village, in such a way that accommodation became a problem because of massive number of people wanting to be accommodated.( Robyn et al.2010) The case of typhoons in the Philippines had more negative impacts on the concerned country. The typhoons named â€Å"Ondoy† and â€Å"Pepeng† have ravaged dramatically parts of the Philippines last year and have had a negative impact on tourism, as compared to the small village in the United Kingdom. Mauritius is a tropical island is frequently visited by cyclones but most of the times those create little destruction to Mauritius. some tourists perceive those cyclones as an experience, but others perceive them as a natural factor preventing them from enjoying their stay. This may lead in guests cancelling their trips to Mauritius during the cyclonic seasons (November to May) 2.1.6 Climate Change, Global Warming â€Å"Climate change represents a new challenge for tourism. It is not, however, the case that tourisms initial position will undergo a sudden, radical change. Instead, climate change has to be viewed as a catalyst that will reinforce and accelerate the pace of structural change in the tourist industry and more clearly highlight the risks and opportunities inherent in tourist developments†. (Elsasser,2002) â€Å"Glaciers are melting, islands are drowning, wildlife is vanishing. Because of global warming, our most cherished vacation spots may soon cease to exist. And travellers are part of the problem† (Tidwell, 2001) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that the ‘warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The global average temperature has increased approximately by 0.76 °C between 1850-1899 and 2001-2005. The IPCC further said that there was a more that 90% probability that the warming would increase in the coming years. â€Å"Given the growing scientific data, my fear is were all going to wake up soon and find the places we love totally gone even in our lifetime, Mallet(2001). He further added that tourism and travel would mostly suffer with the rise of the sea level by 2100 because it has been predicted that the water level would rise by 3 feet by this time; eradicating resort hotels, beaches, ports and coastal property. The IPCC states that the American coastline welcomes around 180 million recreational visitors annually. The rise in sea level would be dramatic to those regions. Wall(2001) explains that â€Å"Clearly, global warming is an issue the tourism industry must and I think will pay more and more attention to in the near future†. Wall added that tourism is at risk and now all that the industry of tourism and travel can do is to prepare for and adapt to climate-related impacts which are already occurring. Taking the case of Mauritius, such rise in sea level will be drastic for re sorts, because those hotels are situated on the coast lines of Mauritius at maximum 3 metres above sea level. A rise in sea level by 3 feet will cause many of those resorts to mostly disappear and this could cause the end of tourism in Mauritius. Air travel and transport alone, for example, add more than 500 million tons of CO2 to the Earths atmosphere each year, according to the IPCC. And as people travel more, courtesy of ever-rising Western affluence, the problem only gets worse. By 2050, a full 15 percent of the worlds CO2 could come from travel and tourism, according to Green Globe 21. Tha quthor John Berger even said that â€Å"We are loving the planet to death†. Over the years passing , many island nations have fought hard to be heard in the international conferences about the effects of global warming on them. Some islands have already been lost in the Pacific, and the forecast is that many more will go in the coming decades, especially if nothing is done to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions globally. Now the case of the Caribbean islands should be closely studied. The Caribbean islands, except Cuba and Haiti, are highly dependent on tourism, like Mauritius. Coastal development in the Caribbean for tourism is constantly increasing at a high rate despite a recent decline in tourism. In the Caribbean, tourism accounts for 15% of the gross domestic product, with higher rates in many of its islands, and over 2.4 million jobs (about 16% of the local population). It has also pushed populations towards the coasts because of the various developments. For example, in the Dominican Republic, over 50% of the population lives near coasts where a 3 feet rise in sea level would make them being submerged. Recently, the Dominican government has received a report detailing that, under their estimates, sea-level will rise by 6 meters by 2050, eliminating the tourism industry and sending the country into complete chaos. The same would happen around the Caribbean. The fast development that the region is seeing may be completely devastated by global warming, and the same case goes for much of the rest of the developing world. The outcome would be to put billions of people in situations of poverty, hunger, and violence. In terms of economic weaknesses, it was noted that small islands tend to have small economies, small land area and unfortunately do have a limitation of resources, meaning their economy relies on few primary exports like sugar and of course tourism. Furthermore, the small islands have low resistance to â€Å"external shocks† such as natural disasters, political instability, terrorism, etc..(Harrison 2003, Hotiet al.2005). Briguglioer et al.(1996) identified environmental weaknesses which included the threat of sea level rise following global warming, and the location of small islands in relation to phenomena, such as cyclones, hurricanes and seismic activity which can lead to tsunamis and eradicate the tourism industry from a small island in a few minutes. Chapter 3 Saving the Tourism Industry 3.0 Over reliance over the tourism industry â€Å"Diversifi

Cost of delivery Essay

1. The chain stores’ request to reduce cycle time by shipping directly to the stores would seriously affect the service model and delivery costs for BKI. Because, the proposed model would mean that BKI would have to process more number of deliveries in smaller quantities and transport them separately to each store. Cost of delivery will increase due to smaller quantities to be delivered directly to stores resulting in more trips, farther distances and lower economies of scale. This is in complete contrast to the more structured and systematic current model of weekly deliveries of standard quantities to the stores’ warehouses. 2. In my opinion, Joe Rutner’s proposal of establishing a set of six company-owned facilities to act as regional DCs seems to be a step in the right direction for taking on the supply chain requirements of BKI’s customers in the future. Rather than dismissing this store’s request as a one-off case and handling it on a temporary basis, Rutner has proposed a solution that is likely to take the company forward into the future. He understands that the retail stores are themselves are looking to cut costs by improving their inventory and supply chain management and such requests would become common from most if not all of the existing customers. Moreover the new retail stores mushrooming in the market are likely to have less regional facilities and would need the proposed arrangement from BKI. 3. The matter of ownership of these facilities is very important for the success of this proposed supply chain arrangement as the management of BKI needs to study the long term impact of the costs involved. In the long term it would be better if BKI goes for direct ownership of the facilities as it would benefit the profitability of the operations by keeping the costs of maintenance lower than those involved in the alternatives such as co-owned or franchisee structure. However, the management will have to consider the availability of capital resources if it opts for direct ownership. The capital required for the facilities could be lowered to an extent by going for rented building rather than constructing new premises. This would decrease the time required to implement the new proposal also.

The Red Scare Essay examples - 1067 Words

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now. Major and still important was the First Red Scare stemming from the First World War’s end and America’s Great Depression beginning to kick off. With food and living expenses drastically increasing certain propaganda began to appear. Perhaps one of the most notable of these was Lenin’s â€Å"Letter to the†¦show more content†¦After the war however a kind of two-faced attitude is quickly adopted by the United States as the Berlin Crisis occurred and fear of espionage was suspected to be on the rise. (Fitzgerald, p . 32-33) This marked the beginning of the Second Red Scare, a period of time held within the Cold War itself and seen as a main cause for a very deep-rooted hate towards communism that formed a bitter taste in the mouths of the American people. In 1950 the emergence of the Second Red Scare’s driving force, Senator Joseph McCarthy, appeared and gave a speech proclaiming that America will soon be lost to communism if the people do not stand up to combat it. He revealed that night a list of 205 people working for Soviet Russia in the United States’ State Department whose intentions were to mold America from the inside to become a socialist nation. (Fitzgerald, p. 14) It was thanks to this newfound hysteria that began to break out thanks to McCarthy’s claims that the HUAC and other like-minded organizations began to gain momentum during this time period. 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The Odyssey Heros Journey Essay - 1322 Words

The timeless story, The Odyssey, has left it’s mark in literature as one of the first narratives depicting the hero’s journey cycle. This work of creative writing has laid the foundation of storytelling that would later inspire other popular writings like, The Hunger Games, The Lord of The Rings, and Harry Potter. How has this ancient novel withstand the sands of time and remain relevant and appealing even to modern day readers? The Odyssey touches upon many topics that appear attractive to even present-day audiences. Such as adventure, romance, action, and magic. Moreover, this heart-pumping story includes many engrossing and varied personas that we are able to relate to and fathom in the real world. Many diverse characters face choices†¦show more content†¦To further explain, another particular scene in The Odyssey is the line, â€Å"But the kingly man let fly an arrow at that instant, and the quivering feathered butt sprang to the nipple of his breast as th e barb stuck in his liver...His cup, his bread and meat, were split...his head slammed on the ground† (82-87). The way Homer chronicles The Odyssey displays for the audience grisly and detailed incidents,especially during this sequence where Odysseus confronts the suitors occupying his home. This style of storytelling inspired most of the greatest tales in the later eras, such as The Hobbit, Ulysses, and Cold Mountain. Furthermore, the epic narrative incorporates a multitude of manifold characters with engrossing personalities that we slowly start to care about. For this reason, in The Odyssey it is stated, â€Å"O my lord, remember me, I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods’ wrath, while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had† (47-50). The Odyssey delineates the sorrow for Elpenor in this scene by showing him begging and supplicating for Odysseus not to leave him ungrieved for and forgotten. The text makes the audien ce feel pity and despair for him, as we can relate to the feeling of being forgotten or neglected. To put it another way, in the text, it is stated, â€Å"Now Penelope sank down, holding the weapon on her knees, and drew her husband’s great bow out and sobbed and bit her lip and let the salt tears flow.† (16-18). It isShow MoreRelatedOdyssey Essay : Heros Journey And Odyssey726 Words   |  3 PagesHero’s Journey and Odyssey Essay The â€Å"Odyssey,† written by Homer, is a long epic that describes King Odysseus’ journey back to his home from Troy. In the â€Å"Hero’s Journey† by Joseph Campbell, the steps a person takes to travel through his or her journey to reach a goal is referred to as a monomyth. In the â€Å"Odyssey,† Homer writes an epic that reflects many stages from Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. The author includes many key points involving a true â€Å"Hero’s Journey,† but the main ones that are illustratedRead MoreEssay on The Hero’s Journey in Homers The Odyssey1886 Words   |  8 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hero’s Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer’s The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. F rom the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions didRead MoreLiterary Criticism Of The Odyssey1604 Words   |  7 PagesAssessment Task 1: Essay on The Odyssey The Odyssey by Homer was written during around 700 B.C and it is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature. The Odyssey is an epic poem and can be understood through the lens of archetypal criticism which explores themes that are based on heroism and the protagonist Odysseus is an epic hero who undergoes a ten-year journey to return to Ithaca. Northrop Frye explains the value of archetypal literary criticism in helping modern readers appreciate theRead MoreOdysseus Heros Journey Essay794 Words   |  4 PagesExplanatory Essay Odyssey and â€Å"The Hero’s Journey In â€Å"The Odyssey â€Å" by Homer, Odysseus takes a very long physical and mental journey. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, encounters many different kinds of people and magical beings. In the essay â€Å"The Hero’s Journey† by Joseph Campbell, represents the overall journey that a hero takes, weather it be physical, mental, or spiritual in a book . Odysseus takes part in many of these steps. The story does not follow all the steps of â€Å"The Hero’s Journey,† but it doesRead MoreThe Aeneid, The Hero Aeneas Essay1731 Words   |  7 Pageshis way back home. In Homer’s â€Å"The Odyssey†, the hero Odysseus spends ten years trying to return to his homeland, Ithaca. Both heroes face similar challenges that they need to overcome in order to accomplish their goals. The Odyssey has two characters that hinder the hero’s journey; Calypso and Circe. The Aeneid has the character Dido who delays Aeneas’ journey. This essay will compare bo th stories, showing similarities and differences of how the hero’s journey was delayed. The Aeneid is a LatinRead MoreExamples Of Archetypes In The Odyssey1002 Words   |  5 Pagesare some of the most frequently seen archetypes in adventurous stories or poems. This epic poem was written approximately around 800 B.C. Additionally, the time period took place in 1230 B.C. ~ during the Trojan War.   Ã‚  Ã‚   One archetype shown in The Odyssey is the hero archetype. For instance, when Odysseus and his men saw Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus tried to comfort them by saying, â€Å"Friends, have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in hisRead MoreMy Name is Nobody: Postmodernism in Derek Walcotts The Schooner Flight1389 Words   |  6 PagesTales of journeys appear repeatedly throughout the expanse of literature; these sagas include the stories of Gilgamesh, King Arthur, and, more recently, The Lord of the Rings. Derek Walcott’s poem â€Å"The Schooner Flight† initially seems out of place amongst these surging legends of heroics and danger, yet through closer examination the poem flourishes as a postmodern retelling then deconstruction of the age-old heroic journey. The poem is a celebration of Greek mythology, a disruptive force againstRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 1418 Words   |  6 Pages Homer’s epic Greek tale, The Odyssey, is the story of a hero’s nostos, following the ten years after the Trojan War saga. From these tales of wanderings of Odysseus, son of Laà «rtes, ruler of Ithaka, Homer reveals that to come home a warrior must strip their ‘war’s immortality’ skin and be reborn to understand the peaceful human existence in the cosmic universe. In retelling of his tale to the Phaià ¡kians, Odysseus recaptures the inward lost by means of descriptive heroic insightRead MoreTwelve Maids: Odyssey and Penelopiad874 Words   |  4 Pages As the saying goes, there are two sides to every story. This even applies to the epic novel, Homers, The Odyssey. While the storyline may do an outstanding job of glorifying Odysseus heroism, it fails to give proper insight into the victims of his revenge. Margaret Atwoods, The Penelopiad gives an alternate view of what was going on in Ithaca during Odysseus 20 year absence. This essay will specifically focus on the maids who were hanged because of what was thought to be disloyalty. The maidsRead MoreAthena In The Odyssey1592 Words   |  7 Pages The story of homer s epic poem the The Odyssey takes place ten years after the Trojan War is over. There are many heroes of the war that come home to their families, however there are even more that are lost through the long struggling years of the war. Of the few who stayed behind, Odysseus goes through battle after battle, problem after problem, and has had the most trouble coming home. The story opens in the tenth year since the war has ended, almost 20 years since our mighty hero Odysseus

William Shakespeare s Sonnet 18 - 2829 Words

Within these respective poems, the poets explore love in various forms. In Sonnet 116 we see love as pure, immeasurable and immortal; William Shakespeare continues this conceit in Sonnet 18 too. Within My Last Duchess, love explores the submissive and possessive side effects of being completely infatuated, which similarly links with La Belle, however instead of patriarchal power, domination is shown through a woman. First Love is comparable to both Sonnets, in which love is portrayed passionately, presenting real love and the overwhelming feeling it can convey. Finally Porphyria’s Lover portrays unrequited love with a sinister background alike My Last Duchess. CONTEXT, READER The structure of the poem is a way of exploring love in a poem. Both poems by Shakespeare are written with the same structure. Sonnet 116 and Sonnet 18 are written in sonnets as this appealed to the Elizabethan audience, and a sonnet was traditionally used to represent love and therefore is an immediate indicator that the poem is linked with love. The sonnets are written in 3 quatrains with a couplet at the end. They both have a simple structure with each quatrain representing a different area of love and the final couplet reaffirming the poet s words by placing his own merit on the line; therefore detonating that if the two poems were put in separate sections, you would be able to understand them. Due to the iambic pentameter beat it gives the poems a sturdy feel, as it is a fixed formation, whichShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 181311 Words   |  6 Pages Shakespeare’s â€Å"Sonnet 18† is, on the surface, another one of Shakespeare’s poems that praises the endless and otherworldly beauty of a nameless woman, lamenting that Death will eventually take it, as he takes everything. However, there is more to this sonnet than it seems. While the aforementioned description is true, the rhyming couplet coupled with Shakespeare’s trademark mastery of language and wordplay create a completely different reading experience. It is its own self-fulfilling prophecyRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 181231 Words   |  5 PagesShakespearean sonnets are famous for conveying the most famous of love poems; they consist of three quatrains that are written in iambic pentameter. Shakespeare deviates from the regular iamb pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable to represent the effect of time and how it is limited by mortality. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 illustrates the theme of immort alization and how Shakespeare eternally captures his love for poetry. It is in his ability to immortalize hisRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 181692 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"Sonnet 18† may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare’s works, only lines such as â€Å"To be or not to be† and â€Å"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?† are better-known. On the surface, this poem is a statement of praise about the beauty of the speaker’s love interest, but when you look closely you can see how the speaker is actually praising himself for his skills. This is also Shakespeare’s first poem in the sonnets that doesn’t explicitly encourage having children. The procreationRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 18 And 130900 Words   |  4 Pages(Line 1). These are both two of the famous lines from William Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 and 130. William Shakespeare was an intelligent English playwright, poet, and dramatist during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He is known as one of the greatest playwrights of all time. Sonnet 18 and 130 are two of Shakespeareâ€℠¢s most famous poems. Sonnet 18 is a love poem about how he compares the woman’s love to a summer’s day. Sonnet 130 has a different approach. It is still a comparisonRead MoreAnalysis Of William Shakespeare ´s Sonnet 18 And Percy Shelleys Ozymandias994 Words   |  4 Pagesbeen at the epicenter of many great works. Both William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias discuss love for one’s self. Although both poets utilize figurative language to describe how love can be represented, they do so in very different ways. Shakespeare employs nature to act as a symbol for the love of life. In contrast, Shelley implements metaphor and allusion to demonstrate how love is finite. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 is a love note to a young man. It was common duringRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser771 Words   |  4 Pagesworks of William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser it is clear that some similarities are apparent, however the two poets encompass different writing styles, as well as different topics that relate to each other in their own unique ways. In Shakespeare’s â€Å"Sonnet 18† and Spenser’s â€Å"Sonnet 75†, both poets speak of love in terms of feelings and actions by using different expressive views, allowing the similar topics to contain clear distinctions. Although Edmund Spenser’s â€Å"Sonnet 75† and William Shakespeare’sRead MoreComparing And Contrasting Two Sonnets1141 Words   |  5 Pages Comparing and Contrasting Two Sonnets ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why† by Edna St. Vincent Millay are both sonnets that discuss companionship and a glimpse of each poet’s experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love, while on the contrary, in ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why† Millay feeds on the chaos between the idealRead MoreDifferent Versions Of Shall I Compare Thee And A Summer s Day?967 Words   |  4 PagesTwo Versions of Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? William Shakespeare was the original author of the famous sonnet â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?†. Shakespeare’s intentions for writing this poem was to compare his beloved to a Summer’s Day. Shakespeare wrote and published this original version of Sonnet 18 in 1609, but was rewritten in the early 1900’s by Howard Moss. Shakespeare s sonnets were published only once in his lifetime. For nearly two centuries after their first appearanceRead MoreLove in Shakespeares Sonnets 18 and 130 Essay703 Words   |  3 PagesAlmost four hundred years after his death, William Shakespeares work continues to live on through his readers. He provides them with vivid images of what love was like during the 1600s. Shakespeare put virtually indescribable feelings into beautiful words that fit the specific form of the sonnet. He wrote 154 sonnets; all of which discuss some stage or feature of love. Love was the common theme during the time Shakespeare was writing. However, Shakespeare wrote about it in such a way that captivatedRead MoreThe Sonnet By Sir Thomas Wyatt1167 Words   |  5 Pagesthere are many different types of groups within poetry. There are various types of poetry -- which include the sonnet. The sonnet was introduced by an Italian poet named Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) who introduced the creation in the 13th century (Applebee 295). He wrote over 300 love sonnets, a great number of them were dedicated to a woman named Laura. Centuries passed in which sonnets were not as popular; his work was later rediscovered by two lovelorn poets. Their names were Sir Thomas Wyatt

Battle at the Pumps Is there a solution for increasing prices Free Essays

Remember when Grandpa used to tell stories of how gasoline cost $0. 10 a gallon when he first started driving? We laughed at the thought of anything costing less than a dollar, but with today’s national average for gas sitting at $3. 00 a gallon, the 300% price increase is no laughing matter (Benton, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Battle at the Pumps: Is there a solution for increasing prices? or any similar topic only for you Order Now If the price for gas continues to increase at the rate it is now, our children will be the one’s finding humor in our silly rants of paying $90. 00 to fill our SUV tanks. Gas hikes and price gouging are issues that most Americans would rather not be associated with. Nevertheless, we all still have jobs to go to and errands to run. So, while some argue that the price increases are just a part of inflation, there are more arguing that gas pricing is a game of politics. Either way, we all will continue to pay what we have to go get from point A to point B. Targeting when gas hikes became such a hot issue dates back to the infamous â€Å"Katrina† disaster in August of 2005. In addition to the catastrophic storm, many claim that politics also play a part in price determination. Whatever the reason, a solution must be sought. Thankfully, there are a few solution-seekers out there who are actively searching for ways to make living in the days of $3. 00 plus per gallon a bit more tolerable, albeit still an, ah-hem, unpleasant issue. Collaborations between companies, innovations in vehicles, and vehicle purchasing incentives are all ways businesses are working together to keep the bitterness at bay. Nevertheless, many of us won’t be happy until we are completely dependent on our own resources for the precious commodity. So, while we will never see the same prices Grandpa paid for gasoline in our lifetime, reviewing the causes and finding solutions are the only ways we will avoid taking out a second mortgage just to put gas in the cars. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, Americans panicked, and fearful gas retailers began a practice that was, for the most part, unheard of. Lines of gasoline-starved automobiles Battle at the Pumps 3 parked themselves at gas pumps, struggling to get every last drop of gas available before it was â€Å"all gone†. Rumors of depleted gas barrel supply sent small town gasoline retailers, as well as few big city retailers into gouging mode. Within hours, prices went from $2. 00 to just over $3. 00 a gallon in states such as Texas and Louisiana, the states closest to the disaster (AP, 2005). Another spark contributing to the gas fire blazing at the pumps is the claim that election years tend to send gas prices into a rollercoaster pattern: down before elections, and up after elections. In fact, Joe Benton of ConsumerAffairs. com writes that pre-election gas prices averaged $2. 50 a gallon, and that gas prices â€Å"are sure to rise again†¦right after the midterm elections† (2006). Mr. Benton was correct. Just after the elections the national average for gas prices increased 12. 5 cents in December, and has steadily continued to rise. Though the decrease is unexplainable, rest assured that the elections have nothing to do with it. If they were the reason for the decreased gas prices, however, most Americans would vie for monthly elections! Unfortunately, for the disgruntled, the days paying less than $2. 00 a gallon for gasoline are long gone. In fact, we drivers, bus riders, airline passengers and taxi goers must continue the suffrage, as melees to locate the best gas source is continued. Until one is found, companies, manufacturers and even the government are giving a go at attempts to soften the blows of outrageously priced â€Å"petro†. The battle of fair gas prices has produced an effort among many to seek ways around getting hosed at the pump. For example, John Wakefield of Murphy Oil Corporation, states that Murphy USA’s goal is to â€Å"be a low cost provider to the communities [they] serve† (2006). To comply with this statement, Murphy USA has collaborated with discount retailer, Wal-Mart, in order to offer a minimum of a three-cent discount for those who purchase fuel with a Wal-Mart gift card. This allows Murphy USA to maintain its position in offering a below average price for Battle at the Pumps 4 gasoline throughout the nation (Wakefield, 2006). Additionally, manufacturers, such as Ford and Chevy, have joined in the labors of providing an alternative for gas guzzling vehicles. Their answer to the gas price dilemma has been to increase promotion of hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles. Hybrid vehicles, although in existence for many years, have become a popular choice for saving dollars at the pump, as have flex-fuel vehicles. Hybrid vehicles combine both the gasoline-powered and electric powered sources under the hood in order to increase the distance between fill-ups, which, in turn, saves one from filling up as often as with a strictly gas-powered vehicle (Layton, 2007) Similarly, flex-fuel vehicles (FFV), which have been around for a number of years as well, are also designed to combine power sources in order save on gasoline usage. In the FFV case, a combination of gasoline and E85 fuel work together to increase the number of miles driven between fill-ups, resulting in dollars saved (USDoE, 2007). The down side to both types of vehicles, however, is that they both cost a pretty penny, which brings us back to where we started: angry about spending mega-bucks just to drive. On the contrary, there is an up-side to the hybrid vehicle: The government offers a tax credit to those who purchase a hybrid (USDoE, 2007). That’s great†¦if you can afford the high price tag attached to the hybrid. But if you can’t, what else is the government doing to ensure that we don’t go bankrupt at the pumps? Though they sometimes seem like the bad guys, the government is making attempts to keep Americans from going into boxing matches with gas station attendants. Along with offering incentives to those who choose to finance or straight-out purchase hybrid vehicles, they are also looking out for the little people†¦those who can’t afford to pay the $4. 00 per gallon price tag that has become a frequenter of many gas stations across America post Katrina. Price gouging, or pricing above the market when demand increases, was a practice few were aware of before Battle at the Pump 5 August of 2005. However, when disaster struck, gas retailers took action, regardless of who it would affect. Soon, consumers were left with no where to turn and had no choice but to pay for overpriced fuel. Thankfully â€Å"Super Government† with its flowing red, white and blue cape came to our rescue, regulating pricing among gas retailers. Although there is no law against price gouging, suspicious pricing will entail an investigation. In August 2005, the Energy Department created a hotline for people who fell victim to price gouging (Pope, 2005). Though efforts have been made, without a law to formally enforce a â€Å"no price gouging allowed† law, the problem, though not as wide spread as it had been initially, still exists. Gradually, as demand has continues to outweigh the supply of gasoline available, price gouging has sneakily made itself an accepted practice. Investigations pending for suspected price gougers, the government is also seeking ways for America to become less dependent on international sources to keep America on the roads and in the air. As we wearily trudge to the pumps prepared to sacrifice our limbs just for a few gallons of gas, alternatives are being sought in order to use domestic sources for fuel. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel derived from sources such as vegetable oils and recycled restaurant greases, is just one of the alternative fuels being researched for common use among Americans. In May of 2005, President Bush announced that efforts in making Biodiesel a main source for fuel were in the works, and estimated that by 2010, our country will become solely dependent on itself to fuel our vehicles, planes and trains (Bush, 2005). Upon receiving the news, farmers across America gained new hope in assisting in the effort to solve the ongoing problem of finding fuel alternatives. But one can’t help but wonder: What about those folks who can’t afford to transition into a vehicle that runs on the fuel alternatives soon to be available? This is, indeed, has the Battle at the Pumps 6 potential to cripple hopes of becoming domestically dependent. Look around the next time you are on the road and you will see cars dating back to the early 60’s and beyond. For some people, driving these ‘vintage’ vehicles is a choice, but for others, it is unavoidable. It makes sense to assume that if we all had the money to drive a modern day vehicle, we would. But for those people who are stuck in that 1976 beat-up Nova, gas prices are still an issue that fuel alternatives won’t solve. Needless to say, if President Bush is determined for America to depend on ourselves for fuel, tapping into the oil sources available on our own soil is required. This, however, presents another problem: Once the soil is broken, where do those who live on the land go? The vast lands of Alaska are notorious for housing thousands of acres of untapped oil reserves. However, on those acres, life exists. Caribou, bison, bears, elk and even people inhabit these lands. For years, these habitors have been the reason that the oil reserves Alaska has to offer have gone undisturbed. Nature activists have long protested the spoiling of the majestic lands across the Artic coastline. For this, we have continued to rely on countries such as the Middle Eastern lands, for oil. Years of jokes, ridicule and mockery have been directed at presidents, past and present, as well as the government in general, for not making stronger efforts in aggressively utilizing this land, regardless of who is affected. With pretty much no choice, President Bush proposed a plan to break ground along the Artic coastline in order to make use of the untapped oil lying beneath the thick blankets of frozen land and fluffed snow (Rosen, 2003). There continues, as expected, to be protests against the efforts, to include the protests of the Inupiat Eskimos, who strongly feel that none of the villages in this region of Alaska will support the proposed project. Ultimately, someone is going to be unhappy. Battle at the Pump 7 To those who have decided to put on party hats in celebration of the anticipated Alaskan oil tapping project: don’t mess up your ‘do’s just yet. The future in gas pricing will continue a long time pattern that Grandpa, Grandma, Dad and Mom have all had the unpleasant chore of experiencing. The crystal ball of gas prices forecasts continued increases. While the rise may not be in fuel pricing, many will feel the impact of whatever solution is utilized to control this currently uncontrollable nuisance. While scientists are doing their best to resolve all issues with fuel alternatives, some alternatives, such as hydrogen, will pose an earlier predicted problem: older vehicles would have to undergo a complete replacement of their fueling systems. Alas, the efforts to seek out solutions must continue. Though many efforts have been made to resolve the long time issue of inflated gas prices, as weeks go by, Americans resume the struggle with unfair gouging and seemingly unnecessary price hikes. It seems almost impossible to consider the alternatives of spending money on gas†¦heaven forbid we actually walk anywhere. Unfortunately, this horrible predicament we’ve found ourselves in appears to be without light. The only way to pleasantly endure the task of spending money is to†¦well†¦spend money. To ensure that we survive this rain cloud, we can either cross our fingers for monthly elections (for the benefit of price drops), or we can purchase hybrid vehicles, stop in at the local Wal-Mart to purchase a gift cards, and gas up at Murphy USA. So, although solutions are being attempted, before you visit the gas pumps, be prepared to give up your first born child. References: 1. $3. 00 Gas Spreads to 7 States, D. C. (April 27, 2007) ConsumerAffairs. com: Benton, J. April 27, 2007. http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2007/04/gas_prices141. html 2. Bush plans on drilling in untapped Alaskan oil reserve. (Dec. 13, 2003) Reuters: Rosen, Y. April 27, 2007. http://www. commondreams. org/headlines03/1213-03. htm 3. Congress moves to outlaw gas gouging. (Sept. 19, 2005) SeattlePI. com: Pope, C. April 27, 2007. http://seattlepi. nwsource. com/national/241244_gouging19. html 4. Election loom; gas prices drop. (Sept. 13, 2006) ConsumerAffairs. com: Benton, J. April 27, 2007. http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2006/09/big_oil. html 5. Flex-Fuel Vehicles. (2007) FuelEconomy. Gov: US Dept. of Energy (USDoE) April 27, 2007. http://www. fueleconomy. gov/feg/flextech. shtml 6. Gov urges gas-price investigation. (Sept. 21, 2005) CBS News: Associated Press (AP). April 27, 2007 http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2005/09/21/katrina/main870784. shtml 7. How hybrid cars work. (2007) HowStuffWorks, Inc. : Layton, J Nice, K. April 27, 2007. http://auto. howstuffworks. com/hybrid-car. htm 8. Murphy USA Refining and Marketing. (2006) Murphy Oil Corporation: Wakefield, J. April 27, 2007. http://murphyusa. com/rm/retail/ 9. President discusses biodiesel. (2005) The White House: Bush, G. W. April 28, 2007. http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050516. html How to cite Battle at the Pumps: Is there a solution for increasing prices?, Papers

The music education programme Essay Example For Students

The music education programme Essay One of the great tragedies of our work as classical scholars is the demise of the availability of Ancient Greek music. In endeavours to further uncover what this music actually sounded like, research is hampered by the fact that either the musical skills of classical scholars leave a lot to be desired, or by the fact that musicians who do take an interest do not have sufficient classical knowledge to decipher the original texts still left to us. Very few individuals have this combination of skills and interests, although one man, Dimitrios Yatromanolakis, may be ideally qualified to make a breakthrough in this field, since he combines both areas of expertise. We will write a custom essay on The music education programme specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Brought up in Herakleion on the island of Crete, he earned a BA in Classics from the University of Athens, followed by a masters and DPhil from the University of Oxford. At the same time, he continued to develop his musical knowledge, to the extent that he has not only mastered the piano and guitar but also the tabla and kithara. He is of the view that ancient music cannot possibly be dead, due to all the writings on ancient musical theory that are still accessible1. Primary sources offer us a wealth of information on this topic, and one of these lies in Platos utopian opus, the Republic, in which harmonic theory (inter alia) is discussed in detail, as it is in the Philebus and the Laws as well as in works by other ancient philosophers, such as Aristides Quintilianus. However, the nature of the music education programme as set out in the Republic is a source of great interest, as it poses questions not just about the importance of Greek music and how it should be taught to the young Athenian scholars, but also about the nature of the Republic itself. What does the system entail, what does Socrates hope to achieve through the censorship of what is taught as part of music education, and (consequently) what does Plato wish to achieve in the Republic (in a more general context)? It is acknowledged right from the start of the discussion on music education that music is deeply entwined with other disciplines, and that they must be dealt with as a whole as well as being dealt with separately. At 398d, it is observed that a song is a blend of three ingredients words, music and rhythm. The gymnastics teacher would surely come very close to the domain of the music teacher in the teaching of rhythm as connected to dance, which in its turn is connected to music (particularly in the contexts of dithyramb); as would the teacher of poetry, in teaching the pupils about the multifarious rhythms of different metres and feet utilised by the great poets. It is subsequently asserted that the nature of the verbal component shouldnt differ from the nature of the musical component, and thus that suitable modes for use in the utopia should be identified. The structure of the ancient music has been most often today been compared to traditional Anglican hymns2, and thus the organisation and choice of modes within this simplistic structure would have been even more crucial. The elimination of laments and dirges earlier in the Republic means that plaintive modes must also be eliminated. However, the Locrian mode (the scale starting and ending on B) is never mentioned although it had fallen into disuse at this time, the resurrection of this mode is not considered, even for the purposes of the utopia. Socrates and his fellows also choose to keep the Phrygian mode (alongside the Dorian), which was much associated with the aulos3. Aristotle derides this decision in his Politics4 (1342a32-b12) as well as in his A Treatise on Government5:  But Socrates, in Platos Republic, is very wrong when he permits only the Phrygian music to be used as well as the Doric, particularly as amongst other instruments he banishes the flute; for the Phrygian music has the same power in harmony as the flute has amongst the instruments; for they are both pathetic and raise the mind: and this the practice of the poets proves; for in their bacchanal songs, or whenever they describe any violent emotions of the mind, the flute is the instrument they chiefly use: and the Phrygian harmony is most suitable to these subjects. .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .postImageUrl , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:hover , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:visited , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:active { border:0!important; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:active , .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041 .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u42252d6548ea449654d57d27334cd041:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Historical Periods in Music EssayIn saying this, he dubs this decision inconsistent with the earlier criticism of the aulos (a double-reeded instrument that would have produced a more multi-layered, multi-tonal sound, with a wider range of notes, than it was thought appropriate (399d)), proving that monophony was not always strictly maintained6. The main purpose of choosing the correct modes and educating the pupils in this way seems to be to prepare them to be honourable citizens, who are prepared to do battle and die for the city (399b). However, there must be more to it than this for, as outlined already in the Republic, every citizen has a purpose to their lives, and not all of them will be placed to do battle (some will be labourers, for example). Therefore, controlling music so that it builds a suitably bellicose nature is not going to be appropriate for all, and although one mode is kept for this purpose alongside one mode which captures voice whenengaged in peaceful enterprises, this slight predicament is not really explored. A major part of this conditioning, that goes beyond assigning tempi to various forms of linguistic cadence (400c), can be found in the constant use of harmony as a metaphor (e.g. the soul harmonising with justice), but more crucially in the correlation of music to the Ancient Greek theory of the four humours. Plato was most concerned about musics effect on the soul and felt it imperative that the nature of the soul was understood before attempting to understand other things (Barker 458). Equally, Wilhelms proclaims: Re-read Platos Republic, and watch how he toys speculatively with the human changes that might be wrought by poetry or music or mathematics. He saw these things so powerful that they frightened him8 perhaps why he bans laments and dirges and plaintive musical modes from ever being voiced.  The diagram given below9 shows how the different modes relate to the humours (phlegmatic humour , choleric humour , sanguine humour and melancholic humour ) and to the four elements.