Wars in the Former Yugoslavia

Wars in the Former Yugoslavia In the early 1990s, the Balkan country of Yugoslavia fell apart in a series of wars which saw ethnic cleansing and genocide return to Europe. The driving force was not age-old ethnic tensions (as the Serb side liked to proclaim), but distinctly modern nationalism, fanned by the media and driven by politicians. As Yugoslavia collapsed, majority ethnicities pushed for independence. These nationalist governments ignored their minorities or actively persecuted them, forcing them out of jobs. As propaganda made these minorities paranoid, they  armed themselves and smaller actions degenerated into a bloody set of wars. While the situation was rarely as clear as Serb versus Croat versus Muslim, many small civil wars erupted over decades of rivalry and those key patterns existed. Context: Yugoslavia and the Fall of Communism The Balkans had been the site of conflict between the Austrian and Ottoman Empires for centuries before both collapsed during World War I. The peace conference which redrew the maps of Europe created the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes out of territory in the area, pushing together groups of people who soon quarreled about how they wished to be governed. A strictly centralized state formed, but opposition continued, and in 1929 the king dismissed representative government- after the Croat leader was shot while at parliament- and began to rule as a monarchical dictator. The kingdom was renamed Yugoslavia, and the new government purposefully ignored the existing and traditional regions and peoples. In 1941, as World War II spread over the continent, Axis soldiers invaded. During the course of the war in Yugoslavia- which had turned from a war against the Nazis and their allies to a messy civil war complete with ethnic cleansing- communist partisans rose to prominence. When liberation was achieved it was the communists who took power under their leader, Josip Tito. The old kingdom was now replaced by a federation of supposedly six equal republics, which included Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia, and two autonomous regions, including Kosovo. Tito kept this nation together partly by sheer force of will and a communist party which cut across ethnic boundaries, and, as the USSR broke with Yugoslavia, the latter took its own path. As Tito’s rule continued, ever more power filtered down, leaving just the Communist Party, the army, and Tito to hold it together. However, after Tito died, the different wishes of the six republics began to pull Yugoslavia apart, a situation exacerbated by the collapse of the USSR in the late 1980s, leaving just a Serb-dominated army. Without their old leader, and with the new possibilities of free elections and self-representation, Yugoslavia divided. The Rise of Serbian Nationalism Arguments began over centralism with a strong central government, versus federalism with the six republics having greater powers. Nationalism emerged, with people pushing for splitting Yugoslavia up or forcing it together under Serb domination. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences issued a Memorandum which became a focal point for Serb nationalism by reviving ideas of a Greater Serbia. The Memorandum claimed Tito, a Croat/Slovene, had deliberately tried to weaken Serb areas, which some people believed, as it explained why they were doing relatively poorly economically compared to the northern regions of Slovenia and Croatia. The Memorandum also claimed Kosovo had to remain Serbian, despite a 90 percent Albanian population, because of the importance to Serbia of a 14th century battle in that region. It was a conspiracy theory that twisted history, given weight by respected authors, and a Serb media which claimed Albanians were trying to rape and kill their way to genocide. They we ren’t. Tensions between Albanians and local Serbs exploded and the region began to fragment. In 1987, Slobodan Milosevic was a low-key but powerful bureaucrat who, thanks to the major support of Ivan Stambolic (who had risen to be Serbia’s Prime Minister) was able to leverage his position into an almost Stalin-like seizure of power in the Serb Communist Party by filling job after job with his own supporters. Until 1987 Milosevic was often portrayed as a dim-witted Stambolic lackey, but that year he was in the right place at the right time in Kosovo to make a televised speech in which he effectively seized control of the Serbian nationalism movement and then consolidated his part by seizing control of the Serbian communist party in a battle waged in the media. Having won and purged the party, Milosevic turned the Serb media into a propaganda machine which brainwashed many into paranoid nationalism. Milosevic than gained Serb ascendance over Kosovo, Montenegro, and Vojvodina, securing nationalist Serb power in four of the region’s units; the Yugoslav government c ould not resist. Slovenia now feared a Greater Serbia and set themselves up as the opposition, so the Serb media turned its attack onto Slovenes. Milosevic then started a boycott of Slovenia. With one eye on Milosevic’s human rights abuses in Kosovo, the Slovenes began to believe the future was out of Yugoslavia and away from Milosevic. In 1990, with Communism collapsing in Russia and across Eastern Europe, the Yugoslavia Communist Congress fragmented along nationalist lines, with Croatia and Slovenia quitting and holding multi-party elections in response to Milosevic trying to use it to centralize Yugoslav’s remaining power in Serb hands. Milosevic was then elected President of Serbia, thanks in part to removing $1.8 billion from the federal bank to use as subsidies. Milosevic now appealed to all Serbs, whether they were in Serbia or not, supported by a new Serb constitution which claimed to represent Serbs in other Yugoslav nations. The Wars for Slovenia and Croatia With the collapse of the communist dictatorships in the late 1980s, the Slovenian and Croatian regions of Yugoslavia held free, multi-party elections. The victor in Croatia was the Croatian Democratic Union, a right-wing party. The fears of the Serb minority were fuelled by claims from within the remainder of Yugoslavia that the CDU planned a return to the anti-Serb hatred of World War II. As the CDU had taken power partly as a nationalistic response to Serbian propaganda and actions, they were easily cast as the Ustasha reborn, especially as they began to force Serbs out of jobs and positions of power. The Serb-dominated region of Knin- vital for the much needed Croatian tourism industry- then declared itself a sovereign nation, and a spiral of terrorism and violence began between Croatian Serbs and Croats. Just as the Croats were accused of being Ustaha, so the Serbs were accused of being Chetniks. Slovenia held a plebiscite for independence, which passed due to large fears over Serb domination and Milosevics actions in Kosovo, and both Slovenia and Croatia began arming local military and paramilitaries. Slovenia declared independence on June 25, 1991, and the JNA (Yugoslavia’s Army, under Serbian control, but concerned whether their pay and benefits would survive the division into smaller states) was ordered in to hold Yugoslavia together. Slovenia’s independence was aimed more at breaking from Milosevic’s Greater Serbia than from the Yugoslav ideal, but once the JNA went in, full independence was the only option. Slovenia had prepared for a short conflict, managing to keep some of their weapons when the JNA had disarmed Slovenia and Croatia,  and hoped that the JNA would soon get distracted by wars elsewhere. In the end, the JNA was defeated in 10 days, partly because there were few Serbs in the region for it to stay and fight to protect. When Croatia also declared independence on June 25, 1991, following a Serb seizure of Yugoslavia’s presidency, clashes between Serbs and Croatians increased. Milosevic and the JNA used this as a reason to invade Croatia to try to protect the Serbs. This action was encouraged by the U.S. Secretary of State who told Milosevic that the U.S. would not recognize Slovenia and Croatia, giving the Serb leader the impression he had a free hand. A short war followed, where around a third of Croatia was occupied. The UN then acted, offering foreign troops to try and halt the warfare (in the form of UNPROFOR) and bring peace and demilitarization to the disputed areas. This was accepted by the Serbs because they’d already conquered what they wanted and forced other ethnicities out, and they wanted to use the peace to focus on other areas. The international community recognized Croatian independence in 1992, but areas remained occupied by the Serbs and protected by the UN. Before these could be reclaimed, the conflict in Yugoslavia spread because both Serbia and Croatia wanted to break up Bosnia between them. In 1995 Croatia’s government won back control of western Slavonia and central Croatia from the Serbs in Operation Storm, thanks in part to U.S. training and U.S. mercenaries; there was counter ethnic cleansing, and the Serb population fled. In 1996 pressure on Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic forced him to surrender eastern Slavonia and pull out his troops, and Croatia finally won back this region in 1998. UN Peacekeepers only left in 2002. The War for Bosnia After WWII, the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of Yugoslavia, populated by a mixture of Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, the latter being recognized in 1971 as a class of ethnic identity. When a census was taken in the aftermath of the collapse of Communism, Muslims comprised 44 percent of the population, with 32 percent Serbs and fewer Croats. The free elections held then produced political parties with corresponding sizes, and a three-way coalition of nationalist parties. However, the Bosnian Serb party- pushed by Milosevic- agitated for more. In 1991 they declared the Serb Autonomous Regions and a national assembly for Bosnian Serbs only, with supplies coming from Serbia and the former Yugoslavian military. The Bosnian Croats responded by declaring their own power blocs. When Croatia was recognized by the international community as independent, Bosnia held its own referendum. Despite Bosnian-Serbian disruptions, a massive majority voted for independence, declared on March 3, 1992. This left a large Serb minority which, fuelled by Milosevic’s propaganda, felt threatened and ignored and wanted to join with Serbia. They had been armed by Milosevic, and would not go quietly. Initiatives by foreign diplomats to peacefully break Bosnia into three areas, defined by the ethnicity of the locals, failed as fighting broke out. War spread throughout Bosnia as Bosnian Serb paramilitaries attacked Muslim towns and executed people en masse to force the populations out, to try and create a united land filled with Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs were led by Radovan Karadzic, but criminals soon formed gangs and took their own bloody routes. The term ethnic cleansing was used to describe their actions. Those who weren’t killed or had not fled were put into detention camps and mistreated further. Shortly after, two-thirds of Bosnia came under the control of forces commanded from Serbia. After setbacks- an international arms embargo which favored the Serbs, a conflict with Croatia which saw them ethnically cleanse too (such as at Ahmici)- the Croats and Muslims agreed  to a federation. They fought the Serbs to a standstill and then took back their  land. During this period, the U.N. refused to play any direct role despite evidence of genocide, preferring to provide humanitarian aid (which undoubtedly saved lives, but did not tackle the cause of the problem), a no-fly  zone, sponsoring safe areas, and promoting discussions such as the Vance-Owen Peace Plan. The latter has been much criticized as pro-Serb  but did involve them handing some conquered land back. It was scuppered by the international community. However, in 1995 NATO attacked Serbian forces after they ignored the U.N. This was thanks in no small part to one man, General Leighton W. Smith Jr., who was in charge in the area, although their effectiveness is debated. Peace talks- previously rejected by the Serbs but now accepted by a Milosevic who was turning against the Bosnian Serbs and their exposed weaknesses- produced the Dayton Agreement after the place of its negotiation in Ohio. This produced The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croats and Muslims, with 51 percent of the land, and a Bosnian Serb republic with 49 percent of the land. A 60,000 man international peacekeeping force was sent in (IFOR). No one was happy: no Greater Serbia, no Greater Croatia, and a devastated Bosnia-Hercegovina moving towards partition, with huge areas politically dominated by Croatia and Serbia. There had been millions of refugees, perhaps half of the Bosnian population. In Bosnia, elections in 1996 elected another triple government. The War for Kosovo By the end of the 1980s, Kosovo was a supposedly autonomous area within Serbia, with a 90 percent Albanian population. Because of the region’s religion and history- Kosovo was the location of a battle key in Serbian folklore and of some importance to Serbia’s actual history- many nationalist Serbs began to demand, not just control of the region but a resettlement program to oust the Albanians permanently. Slobodan Milosevic canceled Kosovar autonomy in 1988–1989, and Albanians retaliated with strikes and protests. A leadership emerged in the intellectual Democratic League of Kosovo, which aimed at pushing as far as they could towards independence without getting into a war with Serbia. A referendum called for independence, and newly autonomous structures were created within Kosovo itself. Given that Kosovo was poor and unarmed, this stance proved popular, and amazingly the region passed through the bitter Balkan wars of the early 1990s mostly unscathed. With ‘peace’, Kosovo was ignored by the negotiators and found itself still in Serbia. For many, the way the region had been sidelined and lumped into Serbia by the West suggested that peaceful protest wasn’t enough. A militant arm, which had emerged in 1993 and produced the Kosovan Liberation Army (KLA), now grew stronger and was bankrolled by those Kosovars who worked abroad and could provide foreign capital. The KLA committed their first major actions in 1996, and a cycle of terrorism and counter-attack flared up between Kosovars and Serbs. As the situation worsened and Serbia refused diplomatic initiatives from the West, NATO decided it could intervene, especially after Serbs massacred 45 Albanian villagers in a highly publicized incident. A last-ditch attempt at finding peace diplomatically- which has also been accused of simply being a Western sideshow to establish clear good and bad sides- led the Kosovar contingent to accept terms but the Serbs to reject it, thus allowing the West to portray the Serbs as at fault. There thus began on March 24 a very new type of war, one which lasted until June 10 but which was conducted entirely from the NATO end by airpower. Eight hundred thousand people fled their homes, and NATO failed to work with the KLA to coordinate things on the ground. This air war progressed ineffectually for NATO until they finally accepted that they would need ground troops, and went about getting them ready- and until Russia agreed to force Serbia to concede. Quite which one of these was the most important is still up for debate. Serbia was to pull all its troops and police (who were largely Serb) out of Kosovo, and the KLA was to disarm. A force of peacekeepers dubbed KFOR would police the region, which was to have full autonomy inside Serbia. The Myths of Bosnia There is a myth, widely spread during the wars of the former Yugoslavia and still around now, that Bosnia was a modern creation with no history, and that fighting for it was wrong (in as much as the western and international powers did fight for it). Bosnia was a medieval kingdom under a monarchy founded in the 13th century. It survived until the Ottomans conquered it in the 15th century. Its boundaries remained among the most consistent of the Yugoslavian states as administrative regions of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires. Bosnia did have a history, but what it lacked was an ethnic or religious majority. Instead, it was a multi-cultural and relatively peaceful state. Bosnia was not torn apart by millennia-old religious or ethnic conflict, but by politics and modern tensions. Western bodies believed the myths (many spread by Serbia) and abandoned many in Bosnia to their fate. Western Lack of Intervention The wars in the former Yugoslavia could have proved even more embarrassing for  NATO, the UN, and the leading western nations like the U.K., U.S., and France, had the media chosen to report it as such. Atrocities were reported in 1992, but peacekeeping forces- which were undersupplied and given no powers- as well as a no-fly zone and an arms embargo which favored the Serbs, did little to stop the war or the genocide. In one dark incident, 7,000 males were killed in Srebrenica as UN Peacekeepers looked on unable to act. Western views on the wars were too often based on misreadings of ethnic tensions and Serbian propaganda. Conclusion The wars in the former Yugoslavia appear to be over for now. Nobody won, as the result was a redrawing of the ethnic map through fear and violence. All peoples- Croat, Muslim, Serb and others- saw centuries-old communities permanently erased through murder and the threat of murder, leading to states which were more ethnically homogenous but tainted by guilt. This may have pleased top players like Croat leader Tudjman, but it destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives. All 161 people charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for  war crimes  have now been arrested.

Scholarship award Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Award - Scholarship Essay Example My previous career choice was that of a personal trainer. This was an offshoot of my highly active lifestyle. I was taking such good care of my body and keeping so fit that it was no surprise for the people who knew me when I began training other people as well. That is why my mothers cancer battle came as such a big blow to me. Yet I used her battle to inspire me to do better as a physical trainer, hoping that I could prevent the onset of such debilitating illnesses upon my own clients when I could not prevent it from happening to my own mother. But as time progressed, I came to understand that a personal trainer could only help his clients to a certain extent. I need to study further and concentrate on more advanced subjects relating to the human body and as far as I was concerned, only Biology could help me do that. Studying Biology has been an enjoyable experience for me as I am able to connect my knowledge about exercise with the information that I became exposed to in my biology related courses. I am actually looking forward to finishing this degree very soon so that I move on to my Physical Therapy studies where I plan on combining my experience as a personal trainer with my knowledge of the human body which I learned in biology in the hopes of being able to help more people lead healthy and productive lives. I would not have been in a financial position to actively pursue these socially conscious ambitions of mine without the help of this scholarship grant as the education that I am pursuing comes at a very steep price that is not affordable to many college

Reflection Paper 2 Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection 2 - Research Paper Example In my particular case, for the past ten years, I have worked as an Instructor and Instructor Trainer of Basic Life Support (BLS) among other courses for a company owned by Jose, RN-EMT, a Florida Region American Heart Association Community Training Center (CTC) Faculty Coordinator. Jose, RN-EMT continues to limit his communication process to utilizing email with Nurse Instructors. Indeed, this communication strategy is quite good but in order to promote effective communication, there is need for improvement of this system. For instance, verbal communication through telephones and video conferencing can also act as viable strategies that can improve the communication between the parties involved. As Nurse Instructors, I think there should be more open communication channels in order to operate effectively. This enables us to create mutual understanding with different people we will be dealing with in our operations. A critical analysis of Nancy Blake and Colleen Young (2013) article t itle â€Å"How to Be an Effective Charge Nurse: Excellent communication skills, flexibility, clinical competency, and ability to make quick decisions required† shows that there are various traits that an individual should possessed in order to be an effective charge nurse. Blake and Young (2013, p.1) affirms, â€Å"The role of a charge nurse is unpredictable. It requires a person with excellent communication skills who is flexible, clinically competent and able to make decisions quickly.† In most cases, charge nurses function as liaison between middle management, staff, physicians, patients and families among other groups. Charge nurses deal with different people in their tasks hence, the reason for them to possess effective communication and leadership skills. According to Blake and Young (2013, p.1), â€Å"An effective charge nurse needs to incorporate leadership and communication skills with conflict resolution, time management and organizational techniques, delega tion, mentorship, education, and role modelling to be successful.† These characteristics are very important in as far as the effectiveness of charge nurses in dispensing their duties is concerned. This notion is supported by Grossman and Valiga (2009), who state â€Å"Leadership and followership are two separate concepts that are complementary or reciprocal, not competitive†(p. 36).   This also goes hand in hand with the aspect of culture which shapes the behavior of the employees in each department. According to Hawkins & Kratsch (2004), each unit has a culture that shapes the behavior of the people working there.   It is therefore the role of the leader to foster this culture, thus positively influence the other members to improve their performance. Non verbal communication is also important in order Aspects such as body language, facial expressions as well as tone have an impact on the way communication is carried out. The article also states that charge nurses s hould be good in delegating certain tasks to their followers in order to achieve quality patient care. One important role played by the charge nurse is to solve conflicts among the followers. This is not a very simple task since it requires someone with good communication skills in order to create mutual understanding among the warring parties. Overall, Blake and Young

Two Italian Paintings Essay Example for Free

Two Italian Paintings Essay The Madonna and Child subject matter was culled from Duccio di Buoninsegna’s (considered the father of Sienese painting) â€Å"Maestà ¡Ã¢â‚¬  which depicts â€Å"the Madonna and Child enthroned with saints and angels on the front of its two-sided panel (â€Å"Sienese Paintings†). Enriching each painting are Byzantine influences, the so-called International Gothic Style and the work of seven great Italian artists, four Sienese[1] painters and one sculptor: Duccio di Buoninsegna (active by 1278); Simone Martini (active by 1315), brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti (active 1320-44 and 1319-47 respectively), and sculptor Giovanni Pisano (active 1284-1314); one Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone (1266/76-1337) heralded as the father of Western Art; and one Roman painter Pietro Cavallini (ca. 1240 – after ca. 1330) also credited with changing the course of Italian Painting[2] (â€Å"Sienese Painting† and â€Å"Panel Painting†). Evidence of the evolving Sienese style appears in Paolo di Giovanni Fei’s and Giovanni di Paolo’s work when you consider that both reflect Simone’s tendency towards â€Å"richly tooled surfaces with elegant naturalism[3]† and the Lorenzetti brothers â€Å"native feeling for rich color harmonies and precocious interest in genre-like details† (â€Å"Sienese Painting†). To that end Paolo di Giovanni Fei ‘s work, on the same subject matter, the Madonna and Child, is a creation of deliberation as the process of creating a panel was involved. Fei’s style is â€Å"characterized by a fanciful use of color and emphasis of detail rather than rational spatial illusionism† (â€Å"Paolo di Giovanni Fei†). The wonderfully varied palette of â€Å"Madonna Nursing Her Child† , a work dating from the late Medieval Italian period, ranges from the gold ground to the deeply indigo-hued robe of the Madonna with its turquoise and agate lining and gold detailing to the pale coral of her Child’s swaddling with its chalcedony lining. The engaged frame reflects his fondness for detail, containing several medallion-like decorations, while halos, worked into the ground, surround the heads of the Madonna and Child. Present as well is Fei’s disregard for the third dimension giving the panel a negative aspect with regard to landscape which manifests as a sense of flatness behind the stylized rather than completely naturalistic figures. The nursing child appears to drink from an object more related in appearance to a chalice than the Madonna’s breast. Clearly, the Madonna and Child are the focal point of the painting as there is no apparent source of light in the painting. Rather it is infused with light, this being the overall effect of the gold ground; the oil gilding used to attach it; and the tempera, which not only gives a hard shiny glaze, but allows for the obvious hatching and crosshatching apparent in the brushstrokes. The brushstrokes bequeath a sense of layering and depth for richly luminescent color. And for all the visually apparent texture of the painting, the relief conveyed by the scrollwork and medallions, Fei still captures and coveys both the lustrous, smoothness of gold and its softness of flexibility. Some of the above characteristics are also true of Giovanni di Paolo’s â€Å"Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor†, a later work from the following Italian Renaissance period. Barring the addition of the extra figures its subject matter also draws from Duccio’s â€Å"Maestà ¡Ã¢â‚¬ , depicting the naturalistic figures of Madonna and nursing child before a backdrop noticeably more aware of the third dimension than Fei’s. As to the medium and support, Giovanni applied tempera to wood, creating a panel like Fei’s but considerably larger at, nearly five feet by three feet with a shaped top. The frame is reminiscent of early Gothic cathedrals while the luminous colors and richness of detail bring to mind a stained glass window, little touches adhering to the style called International Gothic. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, â€Å"the flesh areas of the Virgin and Child; the angels and donor, and the floor and pillow are remarkably well-preserved, but the haloes of the Virgin and Child are modern, as is the checkered cloth of honor. The red of the Virgin’s dress has been repainted and the gilt floral ornament of her cloak; which is heavily abraded is also of recent date† (Caption for â€Å"Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor†). For all their modernity the additions are in keeping with Giovanni’s palette choices as the red checked cloth echoes the Virgin’s red robe, while the addition of gilt ornamentation on her robe adds the luminosity, found in the gold ground. Giovanni covers a considerable range of hues in his palette, from the gold background to the ultramarine and viridian hued cloak with gold detailing and the crimson dress of the Virgin to the soft rose and gold trellis of the Childs swaddling blanket to the primrose, blue, and brown of the Angels tunics to the deep muddy brown of the Donor’s robes and finally the ochre, red, rose blue and brown of the pillow and floor. As with Fei’s earlier work, Giovanni’s later work after the panel tradition infuses light throughout the work as opposed to depicting a singular source to illuminate the focal point of Madonna and Child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a comparison of Fei’s â€Å"Madonna Nursing Her Child† and Giovanni’s â€Å"Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor† each, while after the Sienese panel tradition, are clearly representative of their art periods. Fei’s work, with its two dimensional use of space is closer to the Byzantine style informing late Medieval Italian paintings and the rather stylized representation of the human form in addition to the choice of tempera for medium and wood for support. Paradoxically, Giovanni uses the same medium and support, tempera and wood, despite the availability of oil paints, which came into use during the Italian Renaissance, Giovanni may have tried to reproduce the panel technique used by Fei, albeit unsuccessfully. For Fei’s work seems better preserved than Giovanni’s despite being older. In overall effect, Fei’s work seems closer to the pagan roots of Christianity, lacking an awareness of the Neo-Platonic traditions, such as the Chain of Being which seems to inform Giovanni’s work. In the latter work is an awareness of humanity, represented by the donor and therefore the purpose of the Angels and the Madonna and Child, the salvation of humanity. In Fei’s work the figures are somehow abstract and more like extreme apostrophes of salvation. In summation, the works of Paolo di Giovanni Fei and Giovanni di Paolo reflect the influences of their Sienese forbears (â€Å"Sienese Painting†). Both â€Å"Madonna Nursing Her Child† by Paolo di Giovanni and â€Å"Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor† by Giovanni di Paolo reflect the stylistic and technical qualities of their times the late Medieval Italian and Italian Renaissance periods, respectively. However, peculiar to both and in a sense unifying them under the Sienese style[4] are the artists’ choice of medium and support: tempura on wood with gold ground and subject matter the Madonna and Child and a notable Pisanesque tendency to incorporate relief, areas of sculpting into the painting (â€Å"Sienese Painting†). Works Cited Department of European Paintings. â€Å"Italian Painting of the Later Middle Ages†. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum .org/ toah/hd/pane/hd_pane.htm (October 2001) Department of European Paintings. â€Å"Italian Painting of the Later Middle Ages: Panel Painting†. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuesum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hd_iptg.htm (October 2001) Department of European Paintings. â€Å"Sienese Painting†. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sien/hd_sien.htm (October 2004) Larmann, Ralph. â€Å"Oil Painting†. Art Studio Chalkboard. University of Evansville Art Department. http://studiochalkboard.evansville.edu/ (November 2007). Delahunt, Michael. Editor â€Å"Light, Oil Gilding, Oil Paint, Ground, Gesso, Medallion, Space†. In Artlex: Art Dictionary. http://www.artlex.com (1996-2007) Anonymous. â€Å"Paolo di Giovanni Fei†. Union List of Artist Names Online: Full Record Display.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The J. Paul Getty Trust 2004. http://getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?findrole= nation=subjectid=500013966 Anonymous. â€Å"Giovanni di Paolo†. Union List of Artist Names Online: Full Record Display.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The J. Paul Getty Trust 2004. http://getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?findrole= nation=subjectid=500116438 Paolo di Giovanni Fei: Madonna and Child (41.190.13). In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hod_41.190.13.htm (October 2006) â€Å"Madonna and Child with Angels†. Scholar’s Resource. http://www.scholarsresource.com/browse/work/2144570308 [1] Siena with Florence was the chief economic, political and cultural center of Tuscany in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance (â€Å"Sienese Painting†). [2] â€Å"Maestà ¡Ã¢â‚¬  which depicts â€Å"the Madonna and Child enthroned with saints and angels on the front of its two-sided panel (â€Å"Sienese Paintings†). Duccio’ work belongs to the later medieval period which was influenced by Byzantine influences which grew in thirteenth century Italy with the fall of the Byzantine Empire at the hands of Christian armies. The work of masters such as Florentine Giotto di Bondone and Roman Pietro Cavallini not only led to the expression of more humanistic and less stylized depictions of emotions and figures but helped create a new approach to pictorial space so that the flat world of the thirteenth century became more analogous to the real world. This led to the ever evolving style of the Sienese panel painters who were fond of creating altar pieces for churches with the Madonna and Child shown on the main panel. [3] Simone’s style formed the basis for the so-called International Gothic style (â€Å"Sienese Painting†). [4] The Byzantine influences, the so-called International Gothic Style and the work of seven great Italian artists, four Sienese[4] painters and one sculptor: Duccio di Buoninsegna (active by 1278); Simone Martini (active by 1315), brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti (active 1320-44 and 1319-47 respectively), and sculptor Giovanni Pisano (active 1284-1314); one Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone (1266/76-1337) heralded as the father of Western Art; and one Roman painter Pietro Cavallini (ca.1240 – after ca. 1330) also credited with changing the course of Italian Painting[4] (â€Å"Sienese Painting† and â€Å"Panel Painting†).

Computers in the Classroom :: Technology Technological Essays Education

Computers in the Classroom Computers are being used in classrooms all over the country. Children have access to a computer while at home or at school. However, is the technology being channeled through computers being depended upon too much? Are they going to take over the role of the teacher as an educator? Many educators are asking these questions regarding the education of their students. Computers affect the students and teachers in both positive and negative ways. In this paper I am going to discuss the benefits and downfalls of computers in the classroom. In just five years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of computers being used. Computers are virtually in every home, school and library. People can access facts and ideas that they were never able to before and can also do many things that were out of reach and unimaginable. In 1995, according to the Census Bureau of the United States, fifty percent of schools had access to the internet but by 2000, the numbers rose to ninety-eight percent. In 1995, only eight percent of classrooms had access to the internet and by 2000, seventy seven percent of classrooms had access to the internet. Teachers have taken advantage of the accessibility and have begun to include the computers and the internet into their lessons everyday. In 1999, of all public elementary schools, fifty six percent of teachers were using the internet to have their students to get more practice in certain areas and producing reports and projects. However, is using the computer beneficial to the teacher and the students? With the internet being so available, students are given the opportunity to be linked with the outside world that they may never have otherwise experienced. Interactive games and simulations can now be found that give students a valuable visual representation of a place, how something works, or an experiment. Also, students can now take what the teachers have taught them in class and practice their skills and stuffy their facts on the computer. With this convenience, students are now performing better on standardized tests than ever before because they are able to practice the subjects in a fun way. [1] Student’s research will also change because instead of using books for references, students will use the internet that does not always contain as many reliable sources. A student with access to the internet is often times more eager to learn and does further research on a topic that interests them because it is within reach in seconds.

Description of Proposed Network Essay

Our proposal includes the development of a LAN able to meet the requirements of your company’s software. The computer network components include the use of a server, a switch, patch panel, and a router for the office. The selected NOS (Network Operating System) is Windows 2000 Server. This operating system provides great conveniences to the installation, configuration, and maintenance of the network. Windows 2000 Server provides the enhanced DHCP, DNS and WINS features allow a network administrator to expediently manage all clients on the network. The data communication media for the networks is UTP CAT5. This cabling follows the Ethernet standards for TCP/IP and ensures decreased propagation and noise. I understand the motivations for creating a network and can apply these technologies to improve communications and access to information, as well as support and maintain the infrastructure. Goals and Products: The following list is networking hardware that can be implemented: *Nortel Networks Passport 2430 Enterprise Router: Offers the features and performance of more expensive routers, but at a much lower price. Also, this unit is known for its quiet operation, and sleek enclosure. *Nortel Networks BayStack 350 Series Switch: supports high-utilization workgroups for high-bandwidth uplinks to servers. *Dell PowerEdge 650 Server: Cost-effective rack server performance, manageability, and serviceability. Easy to mange. Also with tape drive backup support. *Nortel Networks OPTera Metro Cabinet 5200: Free-standing structure which will hold router, switch, server, and patch panel. *16-port Patch Panel Each employee workstation is to be custom ordered from Dell. Each employee will house a Dell computer with the following options: *2 GHz Pentium 4 Processor *256MB RAM *13GB Hard Drive *Netgear FA311 10/100 Network adapters *52X CD-Rom *8 MB Video Card *17†³ Monitor (Can use current monitors if budget is exceeded) *Internal Zip Drive Fast Ethernet is the protocol of choice. The wiring is a higher quality than the Category 3 normally used by Ethernet, therefore is a bit more expensive, but a worthy advantage. Fast Ethernet defines a star topology. There are many advantages in designing a LAN based on a star topology. It allows expansion to the existing LAN without effort or disruption. Troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance can be accomplished to a failed node without holding up or disrupting work on other nodes. The first step of implementing the network involves running drops in two corners of the office. The switch, router, patch panel, and server will be located in a rack closet dedicated to LAN equipment. This rack will be placed in a location for centrality. The entire office will be cabled with category 5 unshielded-twisted pair cable. Wall faceplates to include both drops and a phone jack will be installed. Panels spanning each wall will  house cables to ensure a clean look. As can be expected, the physical cost to install these drops are minimal, the labor is the majority of this expense. The second step of implementing the network involves configuring each piece of networking equipment. The router will be set up to ensure serviceability and reliability between employees and the server. From the router there will be a switch attached. The router will service a protocol (DHCP) which will allow workstations to access the network. The patch panel will be used as a middleman between the user and the switch. 1ft cables will be used to connect the switch and patch panel with also the use of a punch-down block. The third step of implementing the network involves configuring the server. This server will be set up to store crucial data, backup data, directory services (User Management), and file and print services. From the server you will have control and full access to each employee’s machine. Specifications: Hardware plays an important role in reliability of a network. Each workstation is to be custom ordered from Dell. Each employee will house a Dell computer with the following options: *2 GHz Pentium 4 Processor *256MB RAM *13GB Hard Drive *Netgear FA311 10/100 Network adapters *52X CD-Rom *8 MB Video Card *17†³ Monitor (Can use current monitors if budget is exceeded) *Internal Zip Drive In addition the office will house a Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4000N due to estimated heavy printing volume. The network equipment will be housed in a rack mount closet. That equipment will consist of a Dell PowerEdge 650 Server with the following components: *3.06GHZ Pentium 4 Processor 512K internal L2 Cache, *1GB ECC DDR266 Memory, *Netgear FA311 10/100 Network adapter, *16x4GB SCSI Hard Drive’s, *3.5†³ Floppy Drive, CD-ROM, and Internal Zip Drive. The hard drive’s in the server will be partitioned into a public working drive and a back up drive and will also be using RAID 5. Equipment and Labor Costs: Equipment: *Passport 2430 Enterprise Router – $349.99 *BayStack 350 Series Switch – $714.99 *PowerEdge 650 Server – $1499.99 *OPTera Metro Cabinet 5200 – $1299.99 *12-port Patch Panel – $119.99 *Cabling Costs: oUTP CAT5 Cable 650FT (~60ft per workstation) – $500 o(48) RJ-45 Connecters – $200 *(10) Custom Dell Workstations featuring Windows 2000 – $6000 *(11) 17†³ Monitors – $1100 (Save this by using current monitors) *HP 4000N LaserJet Printer – $200 *Looking at a total for equipment just shy of $12,000 Labor: *Flat hourly rate of $90/HR. *Project will take 5 business days (8hr/day limit). *Looking at a total for labor- $3600 An estimated Grand-Total- $16,000* *This figure is based on new state of the art equipment and software. Every item has been carefully examined to ensure it offers the most for the needs of Creative Accounting. Cost may be cut if the need arises, however, efficiency and technology will be sacrificed. All in all, this network has been developed with the sole purpose of satisfying the company’s needs within realistic constraints. Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this proposal.

The Progressive Era Of The United States - 1558 Words

The United States is a country that has been built on political, economical and social reform. One revolutionary era in particular that has played a major role in the establishment of new laws and acts which are used today is the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era was an age of political reform during the late 1800’s to early 1920’s, which also contained a lot of social advocacy for workers’ rights. Before the social reforms began in this era, there were numerous instances where poor and immigrant individuals were abused by corrupt political systems. In order to expose the corruption, many journalists who became known as â€Å"muckrakers† began writing for popular magazines during the Progressive Era. One journalist who ultimately shed the†¦show more content†¦Sinclair uses the characterization of Jurgis, the main character in the novel, to demonstrate the harmful effects which capitalism can have on an individual in the working world. Jurgis wh o starts off in the novel as a strong able bodied man finds himself along with his family, victims to a ruthless political machine that runs Packingtown, the district where they reside in. These political machines are political organizations which commit acts of corruption and debauchery. After settling down in Chicago for work the family quickly enter the meatpacking industry to make money to support themselves. However, they soon realize that all the big businesses care about is using workers for cheap and unreasonable labor then throwing them aside once their health begins to deteriorate. Jurgis and his family experience their first misfortune when they believe that they purchase a house but are in reality only renting it then go on to be kicked out after their lack of economic funds despite already putting down so much money on it. The family goes on to face many perils such as extreme poverty, starvation and even death in Sinclair’s novelization. In a sense these occurre nces are very similar if not actual depictions of the social theory, Social Darwinism. This theory basically states that only the strong will survive while the weak, which are the