Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated Essay

Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated - Essay Example The Sumerian Pantheon and theology were primarily populated and controlled by male deities like An, Enlil and Enki (Starr, 1965). The important Sumerian epic Gilgamesh has a male as its central character (Starr, 1965). In the Sumerian social hierarchy, the leading priestly class was male dominated (Starr, 1965). In contrast, Kramer presents Sumerian history and cosmology as an arena impregnated by both the male and female influences, in which the feminine element does hold its sway. The inscriptions of King Urukagina do prove that in the early Sumerian society, women did wield power in the Sumerian political and religious life (Kramer, 1976). Many important high priestesses like Enheduanna were esteemed for the political and literary contributions made by them (Kramer, 1976). The Sumerian Pantheon comprised of influential and powerful goddesses like Ninhursag and Inanna (Kramer, 1976). The position evinced by Kramer is more agreeable as it takes into consideration the larger body of the available historical and literary evidence, to elaborate on the position of women in the Sumerian society. This position is supported by Henk Dijkstra. As per him, women did command much power in the Sumerian legal system (Dijkstra, 1996, p. 241). K Ann Pyburn also mentions the important role played by women in the Sumerian political hierarchy (Pyburn, 2004, p. 34). As per Pyburn, the feminine element is distinctly visible in the Sumerian political history and

Pay for Performance why it doesn't work in the Workplace Essay

Pay for Performance why it doesn't work in the Workplace - Essay Example To show the extensive use of the reward system, the author writes on using rewards to recognize teamwork, monetary rewards for employees for undertaking trainings and gaining new skills. The author states that rewards often impede than they enhance performance on many tasks with specific emphasis to those that require creativity with the example of Japan and Germany countries that do not use reward incentives and are successful in employee motivation. The other further explores the fact that there are no empirical studies linking motivation to rewards showing poor implementation of compensation systems. In fact, research by Jenkins in 1986 shows no relation between quality performance and rewards (p 124). In a case where incentives were withdrawn, production decreased then after sometime rose to reach a better level than when there were incentives further showing that incentives do not motivate workers for quality or higher productivity (p 124). The author then delves into the reasons for the failure of incentives including lack of necessity that is the introduction of incentives unnecessarily resulting in lack of any impact on performance. The second reason is secrecy where there is no transparency on each employees earning leading to overestimation and belief of differences in pay resulting in low morale and turmoil at the workplace. Other reasons are lack of match between performances and pay and expense in rewards solved via using noncash rewards. The other reason is too big versus too small incentives where small incentives do not have an impact while large ones are not received by all the workers resulting in failure of incentives to motivate performance. Short-term versus long-term incentives are the other reasons for incentives failure where employees may make decisions countering long-term interests when incentives base on short-term performance. Objectivity versus subjectivity,

Determination of Nitrous oxide in gases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Determination of Nitrous oxide in gases - Essay Example The paper is a comparative review of a few of the methods used in determination of nitrous oxide in gases. It has been concluded after a time, quality and cost-benefit analysis, that the use of passive diffusion sampling methods followed by thermal desorption and analysis with an EC-GC may be the optimal choice. Ambient air bag sampling- Personnel are fitted with air bags that passively collect fumes of nitrous oxide. The gas is absorbed in an appropriate sorbant material. An active sampling involves filling a sampling bag by means of a personal pump provided with a driving device or another equivalent method. The major disadvantage of the method being that the bags can get punctured and cannot be airlifted unless they are stored in pressurized cabins. Besides the potential for leakage is higher and leak checks using the soap bubble technique have to be performed. (US Govt. NIOSH documents-http://www.cdc.gov/niosh ) Passive dosimeter badges- Workers exposed to Nitrous oxide wear the badges and these absorb the vapour by diffusion principles. The minimum time for exposure is one hour and the maximum is 40 hours (one work day). Sampling capacity 560ppm-hrs, detection limit- 2ppm-hrs, sampling rate- 0.75ml/min, functions between 10%-80% relative humidity, accuracy (Max. Total Error) 25%, functional temperature limits are between 0C-50C (affect result by 5%). The major advantages are that, "no sampling pump is required... The major disadvantage is that badges have to be analysed within one week after the sample period for accuracy. Badges must be used before the expiration date and are usually more expensive than diffusion tubes (http://www.assaytech.com; http://www.labsafety.com) Passive diffusion tubes- Steel tubes packed with molecular sieves and caped with diffusive caps. It has been found that the method is valid for detecting Nitrous oxide between 25 and 1000ppm. The quantitative detection limit is at 2 g. Passive monitors work accurate between 60-90% RH at 25C and can measure concentrations as high as 500ppm for 8 hours. The NIOSH declares the method as, "adequate," for measuring Nitrous Oxide in air as the method is not bulky, does not involve liquids and does not require pre and post calibration. Some types of tubes can be stored in temperatures between 20C-25C for a period of 30 days. Sample recoveries in 30 days were found to be 10% compared to results in day 2. Recovery rates were found to be 98%-100% is varying concentrations. The one disadvantage is because of reliance on samples being tested at the vendor site (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh) Active diffusion tubes- The sample is collected filling a sampling bag by means of a personal pump provided with a driving device or another equivalent method. They consist of a pump that pulls a constant amount of air (usually in l/min), the molecular sieve and a clip for attaching the device onto the breathing zone. No change in results were noted under a Relative Humidity (RH) of 90% under 25 C. Recovery rates were found to be between 99%-100% in varying concentration. The advantage of the method is that it is usually more

Evolution of Eating Project 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Evolution of Eating Project 3 - Assignment Example I will discuss a meal from the school cafeteria that consists of Chicken & noodles, peas, and mixed vegetables. I approached one of the cafeteria staff to get more information on the origin of the items used for the menu. The staff was kind but did not have much time, and the only thing he said is that a contracted supplier delivers all the items. The staff referred me to the manager who was a little bit hesitant. He disclosed some sources of the items and explained that the vegetables were sourced from local farms. In reference to noodles, he explained that they originate from temperate countries where wheat is the main crop. Noodles are manufactured from wheat but did not disclose the source of chicken. I appreciated the information he gave and left for class. The hominin foraging and eating behaviors were greatly influenced by the availability of the food they consumed. The choice of diet with high energy and palatable food was determined by the method of foraging game plan employed for maximum intake of energy (Ulijaszek para 1). There was a scarcity of the desired plants due to clearing in the course of gathering. The unavailability of food led to the initiation of farming as a way of producing food (Bulliet et al. 17). The introduction of agriculture has enabled human to use food in numerous ways that have led to different cultural and social structures. The practice of farming transformed human from activities of gathering and hunting into farming. The humans were also involved in animal domestication. They employed simple methods of cultivation and depended on other modes of food production. The other forms of producing food comprise of herding, hunting, foraging and pastoralism. A new dawn came when the human began cultivation of c rops on the flood plains of the river systems. The main reason this was favored is because such crops did not rely on rainfall and produced a dependable harvest. Another

The Rise and Fall of LTCM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rise and Fall of LTCM - Essay Example On the other hand, there are differences between hedge and mutual funds, whereby the hedge funds are managed more aggressively compared to the mutual funds, hence making it possible to take speculative positions in derivative securities like decisions to short sell stock. Moreover, this increases leverage and risk of the funds hence are making it possible for the funds to gain profits when the market is declining. On the other hand, mutual funds are not allowed to be involved in highly leveraged positions; hence, they are considered safer than the hedge funds. Main sources of LTCM initial success The main sources of success for LTCM were associated with a complex mathematical model that the company had established in order to benefit from fixed income arbitrage deals within the bonds of U.S.A, Japanese and European governments (Dunbar, 5). They applied the fundamental idea of the changes in the values of the long dated bonds issued a short time apart, which becomes similar. Neverthel ess, the bonds were approached at a different rate, and they were more traded bonds like the US Treasury bonds, whereby the long-term prices are approached more effectively, though they are less heavily traded and liquid. The other main of success factor was the financial transactions, which related to purchasing cheaper bonds, short selling them more expensive and liquid, hence generating profit from the difference in the value of the bonds. In fact, their capital grew, and they were willing to invest the capital somewhere; hence, they run out of outstanding bond-arbitrage bets leading to LTCM to apply strategies that were beyond their expertise (MacKenzie, 349). Nonetheless, their trading strategies were nonmarket directional, whereby they did not depend on the overall market interest rates or fluctuations of stock prices, since they had no convergence trades. Main reasons for LTCM collapse The success of the LTCM in the financial markets occurred within a short period, and this w as attributed to informational asymmetries by the fund managers, hence resulting to a downfall before the establishment of the East Asian financial crisis, in 1997. The downfall began with a reduction noted on the net returns in 1998 for the period between May that had 65% and June, 10.4%, resulting to a reduction of their capital by $461 million, in fact, when the Salomon Brothers withdrew from the arbitrage business in July 1998, the downfall was escalated. The losses were accentuated by crisis experienced in Russia during the month of August and September in 1998, when the bonds were defaulted in Russia by their government, leading to investors’ decision to sell European and Japanese bonds in order to purchase the treasury bonds in U.S.A due to their worries. Profits anticipated as the value of the bonds purchased in U.S.A resulted to losses due to convergence of bonds while their value diverged; consequently, the LTCM had incurred losses worth 1.85 billion dollars by the end of August. LTCM could no longer provide investors with annual returns of 40%; instead they were they went through a Flight–to-Liquidity, and in the beginning of September, their equity reduced from 2.3 billion dollars to 600 million dollars with no dwindling portfolio, and this resulted to a further increase in

Denver art museum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Denver art museum - Essay Example One can easily identify that Swentzell inculcated the traditional pottery making process discovered by Santa Clara potters. In the Artwork, one can see a Tewa clown with a broken horn. He is fully immersed in the process of repairing his horn, which seems to be broken. The foreground of the work consists of colors like brown and grey. The background consists of shades of black and blue. The combination of brown and black, especially the black stripes helps the viewer to realize the importance of the process of repairing the broken horn. I like this figure because it gives due importance to traditional pottery making technology. II. Tipi, Standing Bear The Artwork Tipi (see appendix -2), by Standing Bear represents the nomadic lifestyle of Native American tribal people. The Tipi is a particular dwelling place which is made up of buffalo hides. Linda A. Holley states that â€Å"As cloth material became available in the early mid- nineteenth century, covers started to change† (31 ). Now, canvas is used to make tipi. In this artwork, Standing Bear made use of drawings to decorate the same. From the artwork, one can easily identify that the construction of a tipi is simple. For instance, a number of sticks are used to make the structure. But the drawing that can be seen on the outer surface is complicated. For instance, in the Artwork, one can see a number of horses and human beings.

Most Significant Events in American History Essay

Most Significant Events in American History - Essay Example Nevertheless, America has not been immune to pitfalls and struggle during its journey of success and it is by the dint of hard work, keen foresight and sharp business acumen of its citizens that it has come to occupy the enviable position it enjoys in the world today. American history is replete with events which marked the shaping of this massive nation into its present entity. Some of the prominent events which gave direction to the overall character of the nation involved social change as well as the individual contributions of some of the most colorful and characteristic personalities churned up by the American culture. World War II was an event which left no corner of the globe unscathed with almost every country being involved in one way or the other. It fuelled a struggle for survival in its aftermath and America was no exception to the dent this event made on world history. In the post war scenario most countries initiated specific plans to rebuild their social and economic infrastructure. The following decades after the end of World War II saw a variety of influences that shaped American history. In the 1950s, one of the most prominent issues addressed was that of segregation of the minority black population in society that had plagued America for long. The notion of black people being inferior had carried over from the colonial era and was still practiced in the American society. It was unusual for a black person to be seen in certain sections of society and blacks were denied admission to some of the top educational institutions in the country. This naturally evinced pain and resentment in the intellectuals within the black population who initiated a number of legal suits to challenge this discrimination. In the year 1950, the Supreme Court of the United States was besotted with a series of cases which challenged the legal