Huffman Trucking Company Inc. Telephony Service Profiling Essay

Huffman Trucking Company Inc. Telephony Service Profiling - Essay Example To connect to an external number or to place an outside call a trunk access code is normally pressed like 0 for operator and overseas/ international calls, or 9 for local calls after which if given the tone you can dial your outside number directly. A department normally has 2 to 3 trunk lines based on call volume load and other specific criteria. Normal features includes forwarding, conferencing, call pick up groups, intercoms and transferring. In a telephone company, one has to pay separate for these features, but with PBX everything is already built in. A gateway is needed to communicate with others within the network. In some locations like MO in Saint Louis, New Jersey and Ohio office, they are already using an upgraded VOIP like a CISCO 10mb Hub. A Voice enabled talk switch model is used to integrate VOIP and handle the traditional telephone network. This uniquely connects your cell phones and any other telephones anywhere. They are remote extensions of this talk switch which connects your mobile and teleworkers. Limitation of the subscription is only for internal or within the company premises use. A switch of the least features afforded. We shall discuss this further in the recommendations later. The main idea is the opportunity cost we get from choosing PBX phone system over other regular phone system. With the estimates that it is 50% cheaper considering add on features, we can say PBX is already a good deal in terms of cost accounting measures. But choosing PBX of minimal cost and regular features may also cost more when it comes to consideration for the present connections and features upgrade especially if we talk of the present technology re PC based call integration applications. Disadvantages: There is a time delay incurred in routing calls from the central box to the trunk lines. Somehow if the customer knows the local number they aim to eliminate seconds of the delay by automatic elimination of an operator use. If we go on a recording voice first for the identification of local trunk lines, we tend to test the patience of our callers and of our best customers who would want trucking services that are literally fast movers in every sense of the word. Susceptibility to tapping is very liable when it comes to unguarded PBX installations. Disclosure of and unauthorized recording of information by eavesdropping from the central box and routing of address data made possible thru unauthorized access including data modifications. Emergency dial is not accessible. There is a big difference in using a PBX phone line than a regular phone line for it needs to be routed to the central box before it gets to access outside lines. II. Network Protocols A. Identifying Network Protocols On locations CA office and CA Plant, MO Plant, NJ Office, NJ Plant, OH Plant uses the TCP/IP protocols. For locations MO Office and OH Office uses both IPX/SPX and Apple-Talk. TCP means Transmission Control Protocol while IP means Internet Protocol. Nature of the application sends data in 8-bit data bytes to TCP. TCP then divides these bytes to smaller segments and pass thru IP to TCP module on the

Hewlett Packard Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Hewlett Packard - Case Study Example The Business Strategy section of the report will discuss the leadership styles that the various CEOs of the company used, the need for change and its initiation, crisis management, etc. HP's competitive advantage, its growth and global business and any spinning off of divisions will also be analysed. In the second module of organisational identity, HP's core identity will be analysed from the time when Fiorina was the company's CEO, and the company's corporate image and culture will also be analysed. This report will also discuss the strategic options available to Mark Hurd, HP's new CEO. Finally, the company's organisational identity and business strategy will be linked to give an overview of the current situation, and some ideas and solutions will be proffered for the new CEO to implement to move the company forward. HP was formed by William (Bill) Hewlett and David (Dave) Packard, both graduates of Stanford University, in 1934. A garage in nearby Palo Alto was the originating point of the company where both founders used to hangout. Their partnership was formalized on January 1, 1939 and a coin toss decided that their electronics manufacturing enterprise be named the "Hewlett-Packard Company". HP incorporated on August 8, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957. Of the many projects the founders worked on, their first financially successful product was a precision audio oscillator, the Model 200A. Later on their more successful inventions became the HP calculator and the computer. Products HP (www.hp.com) has a range of products that it offers to its customer base. Their three business groups drive industry leadership in core technology areas: The Personal Systems Group: business and consumer PCs, mobile computing devices and workstations The Imaging and Printing Group: inkjet, LaserJet and commercial printing, printing supplies, digital photography and entertainment The Technology Solutions Group: business products including storage and servers, managed services and software BUSINESS STRATEGY Corporate Level Strategy HP's products in its first thirty years consisted mainly of electronic test and measurement instruments for engineers and scientists. This early strategy evolved a bit when they expanded into computers, calculators, medical electronic equipment, instrumentation for chemical analysis, and solid-state components. Even so, HP's strategy was aimed at getting business through was still its test and measurement operations up through 1979. The research and development function was dominant in HP's operations because its main customers were the engineers and cutting edge technology was a prerequisite to beat the competition. Because HP engineers developed products to serve people like themselves, marketing was not valued and was relatively weak, as were logistics and distribution. This strategy reflected the no-nonsense approach of HP's founders. HP concentrated on modestly sized market segments where its technically superior products could achieve a strong position and command high margins. Changes in Business Strategy In a fast-paced computer industry, particularly for consumer-oriented products such as HP's PCs and printers, technical innovation could no longer be the sole source of competitive advantage. Speed to market, price, service,

Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious by Lacan

Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious by Lacan Lacans View of the Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious and Implications for the Relevance of Psychoanalysis to the Social World Jacques Lacan has been called the most influential psychoanalyst since Freud. The impact of his work, both as a theory of the unconscious and as a repertoire of clinical practices, is reflected in the use of Lacanian methods by over half of psychoanalysts worldwide. Lacanian concepts and constructs also are thriving outside the consulting room, in the studies of literature and film, in feminist studies and legal studies, international relations and social policy. But what does psychoanalysis have to do with the social world? Historians, social and political scientists have contested a role for psychoanalysis in their respective social domains. There is fear that psychological reduction is inevitably results, lowering the objective social sphere to the subjective level of a culture on a couch. However, the theory and practice of psychoanalysis need not be atomistic. Freud regarded the study of institutions, languages, literature and art as a necessary prerequisite to successfully comprehending the analytic experience. Like Freud, and in his project of returning to Freud, Jacques Lacan studied and borrowed from a range of disparate fields, including philosophy, structuralist anthropology, literature, music, topography and semiology/linguistics. He agreed with Freudon the legitimacy of social analysis inspired from a psychoanalytic perspective. In A Theoretical Introduction to the Functions of Psychoanalysis in Criminology (1950), Lacan expresse d his position as follows: It may be well that since its experience is limited to the individual, psychoanalysis cannot claim to grasp the totality of any sociological object, or even the entirety of causes currently operating in our society. Even so, in its treatment of the individual, psychoanalysis has discovered relational tensions that appear to play a fundamental role in all societies, as if the discontent in civilization went so far as to reveal the very joint of nature to culture. If one makes the appropriate transformation, one can extend the formulas of psychoanalysis concerning this joint to certain human sciences that can utilize them (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 3). Anthony Elliott (1992) cited Lacans ideas as establishing the principal terms of reference for thinking about the interconnections between the psyche and social field (p. 2). In this vein, Feher-Gurewich contended that Lacans psychoanalytic approach is founded on premises that are in sharp contrast to the ones which have led to the failure of an alliance between psychoanalysis and social theory (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 14). One set of these premises is the topic of this discussion. The following is an attempt to explain Lacans claim that the unconscious is structured like a language and to discuss the bearing this claim has on the relevance of psychoanalysis to the social world. First, a brief overview of Lacans career, or project, may assist in supporting this analysis. Overview of Lacans Project Although many perceive his theoretical works as impenetrable or as an incoherent jumble, there are common threads throughout. Lacan consistently viewed his mission to be a return to Freud. The keynote for this return was his placement of language as the central construct in theory and in practice(Clement, 1983). The Mirror Stage Beginning in the late 1930s, after the publication of numerous case studies, Lacan began to focus on the emergence of the sense of self, the function of the I. He termed this emergence the Mirror Stage in the development of a childs sense of self during the first two years of life. Drawing upon revelations from his own psychoanalytic experience, together with the work of psychologists such as Henri Wallon, Charlotte BÃÆ' ¼hler, and Otto Rank, Lacan posited that the childs emergent sense of self is formed upon entry into language, the realm of the symbolic, and always in reference to some other. That other could be the childs own image in a mirror, the mother or any number of other objects with which the child associated self via Freuds mechanism of narcissistic identification. The mirror stage is the origin of a fundamental alienation or split in the individuals sense of self. The speaking subject (I) becomes de-centered from the ideal ego (me). Because self is oriented toward an other who is perceived as ideal/omnipotent, and thus as a potential rival to the self, the ego that emerges from this stage is characterized by a hostility that threatens its very existence. Lacan concluded that human identity is formed only within this intersubjective context in which alienation and aggressivity characterize the natural state. Rather than being the first step toward the formation of a healthy and stable ego, his proposal that  mà ©connaissance,  or misperception, is central to the ego formation flew in the face of a basic construct of ego psychology, that the ego is the origin and basis of psychic stability. In 1953, Lacan broke with the dominant faction of ego psychologists and formed his own professional group, the Socià ©tà © franaise de psychanalytique (SFP). The Discourse of Rome During the first meeting of this group, in Rome that year, Lacan presented a paper which quickly became known as the manifesto of the new society. He argued that speech and, more generally, language were central to psychoanalytic practice and to any theoretical conclusions that might be extrapolated from it. He drew upon and adapted the semiologic principles of Ferdinand de Saussure and the philosophical traditions of Hegel for his theoretical vocabulary. It is during this time that Lacans public focus shifted clearly from the developmental to the linguistic. Drawing from the language of music, he posited three registers of functioning, the symbolic, imaginary and real. The symbolic, a function of speech/language, was seen as central and in dynamic interaction with the imaginary. Lacans acerbic characterization of the ego as the seat of neuros is rather than the source of psychic integration and his emphasis on the symbolic organization of the human psyche opened new territory for psychoanalytic theory. Lacan credited Freud with the concept and blamed his ego-psychologist followers for obscuring the point. Meta-theory The charge that psychoanalysts had abandoned the founding texts of their profession exacerbated tensions between the ego psychology and the SFP until Lacan left the group in 1963 to form another organization, the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP). Lacan continued his close readings of Freuds texts, but he now began to introduce a number of terms and concepts not found in Freuds own work. By the time his selected essays appeared 1966, his seminars were standing-room-only. Many in the crowd associated him with structuralists such as Jacques Derrida, Claude Là ©vi-Strauss, and Michel Foucault. As with other members of this group, Lacan was often criticized for the difficulty of his style. Within the EFP itself, many of the practicing analysts were concerned about what they perceived as the increasingly theoretical and academic emphasis of Lacans work. During this stage of his career, Lacan began work toward a meta-theory of psychoanalysis, constructing ideas about Lacanian ideas. His construct of the three registers expanded to three-plus dimensions. He attempted to recast his earlier insights in the more precise language of mathematics, employing topological figures, such as the Klein bottle and Borromean knot, to illustrate and explore the relationship among his theoretical constructs. However, many of Lacans followers criticized this approach, complaining that his arguments were increasingly incomprehensible and irrelevant to clinical practice. Lacans response was the dissolution the EFP and the founding of yet another association, the École de la Cause Freudienne, which he directed until his death in 1981. The Structure of the Unconscious and Relevance to the Social World In the  Introductory Lectures to Psychoanalysis, Freud commented that the unconscious can be compared to a language without a grammar (Laplanche Pontalis, 1983). Lacan, using structuralist linguistics, attempted to systematize this contention, arguing that the unconscious is structured like a language, and that it speaks/  ca parle. A symptom, Lacan claimed, may be read as an embodied metaphor. As Freud had argued, what is at stake within a symptom is a repressed desire objectionable to the consciously accepted self-conception and values of the subject. This desire, if it is to gain satisfaction at all, accordingly needs to be expressed indirectly. For example, a residual infantile desire to masturbate may find satisfaction indirectly in a compulsive ritual the subject feels compelled to repeat. Just as one might metaphorically describe ones love as a rose, Lacan argues, here we have a repressed desire being metaphorically expressed in some apparently dissimilar bodily activity. Equally, drawing on certain moments within Freuds papers On the Psychology of Love, Lacan argues that desire is structured as a metonymy. In metonymy, one designates a whole concept (e.g.: military force) by naming a component of it (e.g.: a sword). Lacans argument is that, equally, since castration denies subjects full access to their first loveobject (the mother), their choice of subsequent love objects is the choice of aseries of objects that each resemble in part the lost object. According to Lacan, the unconscious uses the multivalent resources of the natural language into which the subject has been inducted (what he calls the battery of the signifier) to give indirect vent to the desires that the subject cannot consciously avow. While Freud is interested in investigating how the polymorphously perverse child forms an unconscious and a superego, and becomes a civilized adult, Lacans focus is on how the infant develops the illusion commonly termed as a self. His essay on the Mirror Stage describes that process, showing how the infant forms an illusion of an ego, of a unified conscious self identified by the word I. For Lacans theory, the notion that the unconscious, which governs all factors of human existence, is structured like a language is central. Freuds account of the two main mechanisms of unconscious processes, condensation and displacement, reinforce this claim. Both are essentially linguistic phenomena; meaning is either condensed (in metaphor) or displaced (in metonymy). Lacan noted that Freuds dream analyses, and most of his analyses of the unconscious symbolism used by his patients, depend on word-play (e.g., puns, associations, etc.) that are chiefly  verbal. According to Lacan, the contents of the unconscious are acutely aware of language and of the structure of language. Hence, the unconscious, structured like a language, serves to reveal a symptom of neurosis or psychosis through this medium. Lacan followed ideas laid out by Saussure, but adapted them to his use. He argued that Freud had understood the linguistic nature of human psychology but that he had simply lacked the Saussurean vocabulary necessary to articulate it. Saussure talked about the relationship between signifier and signified in the formation of a sign, and contended that language is structured by the negative relation among signs (i.e., the existence of a sign is dependent on its distinction from another sign). For Lacan, the contents of the unconscious form signifiers and these signifiers form a signifying chain. One signifier has meaning only if it is distinct from some other signifier. There are no signifieds in Lacans model; there is nothing to which a signifier ultimately refers. If there were, then the meaning of any particular signifier would be relatively stable; there would be a relation of signification between signifier and signified, and that relation would yield meaning. Lacan posited that re lations of signification do not exist in the unconscious; rather, there are only negative relations in which one signifier can exist only if it is distinct from another signifier. Because of this lack of signifieds, the chain of signifiers constantly slides and shifts in an endless series, like actors in search of a play. There is no anchor operating in the unconscious, nothing that ultimately gives meaning or stability to the system. The chain of signifiers is constantly in play, in Derridas sense; there is no point at which a definitive meaning can crystallize. Rather, one signifier only leads to another signifier, and never to a signified (Lacan, 1966). Lacan posited this as the nature of unconscious content: continually circulating chains of signifiers, with no anchor or center. This is Lacans linguistic translation of Freuds depiction of the unconscious as a chaotic realm of shifting drives and desires. While Freud attempted to bring those chaotic drives and desires into consciousness so they could be understood and made manageable, Lacan theorized that becoming an adult, a self, is the process of trying to halt the chain of signifiers so that stable meaning, including the meaning of I, becomes possible. According to Lacan, however, this possibility is an illusion, an image created by a misperception of the relation between body and self Even sexual identity is determined by the subjects relation to the signifier, not by some innate, biological predisposition. For Lacan, what Freud described as the oedipal phase is actually a moment in which the individual faces the option of accepting or rejecting the signifier in the place of the object or the imaginary other. Although Freud called this signifier the phallus, its primary characteristic is not its status as a biological organ that one may or may not possess. Rather, this primordial signifier possesses the fundamental property of being separable from the object it represents. Freud identified this possibility as castration, but Lacan claimed that it is simply the functional principle that enables the signifier to appear as such. Sexuality and, more generally, personal identity is thus not biologically determined but instead constructed through ones relation to the symbolic order. Most of Lacans work from this period traces the connections between specific properties of the signifier and their effects in human experience. He claimed that the entire structure of intersubjective relations is determined not by the individuals involved but by the way those individuals model on a moment of the signifying chain which traverses them. Because the signifier is autonomous from the signified, the link between them, ordinarily considered to constitute meaning, is an effect of the signifier itself and its relation to other signifiers in the signifying chain. Lacan described the way that illusory meaning comes about by referencing Roman Jakobsons distinction between two poles of language, metaphor and metonymy. Lacan contended that these functions account for the sense of meaning although there is a barrier between the signifier and the signified, or between the symbolic and the real. According to Lacan, meaning never consists in language, it insists in the chain of signifiers as one supplants the other metonymically. Language seems to mean in the usual sense due to displaced signifiers that function as the signified in Saussures model. Subsequent signifiers merely refer back to earlier ones, and it is this retrospective reference that sustains the  effect  of reference in the absence of a referent or an actual signified. Lacan described this effect as the creative spark of metaphor (Beneveuto Kennedy, 1986). It is, for Lacan, the seat of the subjective. Traditionally, subjectivity has been understood as a juncture of words with objects, situated on the bar between the signifier and the signified or the border between language and the world. That border, Lacan argued, is within the unconscious. Read through Saussures influence and Lacans emphasis on the autonomy of the signifier, Freuds discovery of the unconscious established an absence in the subjects relation to the object and to the self. This absence or lack, termed the other, can be thought of as the object of desire. Lacan contended that the concept of the unconscious reveals a subject constituted in relation to an Other it cannot know and oriented toward an object that it can never possess. As discussed in the Mirror Stage, this splitting is brought about by the subjects entry into the symbolic, supplanting the imaginary unity derived through identification with the other. That identification is replaced by a more complex relation to the symbolic Other. Introduced in the Discourse of Rome the Other designates a number of concepts for Lacan; e.g., death, the symbolic father, the role of the analyst, the unconscious. For Lacan, Freuds angry father becomes the Name-of-the-Father or the Law-of-the-Father. Submission to the rules of language itself; i.e., the Law of the Father, is required to enter into the Symbolic order. To become a speaking subject, you have to be subjected to, you have to obey, the laws and rules of language. Lacan designated the structure of language, and its rules, as specifically paternal, calling the rules of language the Law-of-the-Father in order to link the entry into the Symbolic, the structure of language, to Freuds notion of the oedipus and castration complexes. The Other is posited as the center of the system, that which governs the structures shape and the manner in which all the elements in the system can move and relate. The term Phallus also is used to designate the Other, emphasizing the patriarchal nature of the Symbolic order. The Phallus limits the play of elements and stabilizes the structure. It anchors the chains of signifiers with the result that signifiers can have stable meaning. Because the Phallus is the center of the Symbolic order, of language, that the term I designates the idea of the self. Lacan has referred to this anchoring effect as a point de capiton or quilting point ( Stavrakakis, 1999). This quilting point has particular significance for the useful application of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory to social domains. Without it, the practitioner is left with a postmodern concept of an endlessly fluid chain of signifiers, signifying nothing in terms of a relatively stable identity or meaning. For Lacan, the slipping chain is halted by the prominent role attributed to certain signifiers in fixing the meaning of whole chains of signifiers. Lacan described this effect as everything radiating out from and being organized around this signifier, similar to these little lines of force that an upholstery button forms on the surface of material. Its the point of convergence that enables everything that happens in this discourse to be situated retroactively and retrospectively (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 60). This is the point with which all concrete analyses of discourse in the psychoanalytic and the social world must operate. Discussion Lacans great contribution to contemporary culture is his teaching about rhetorical performance and cognition, doing and knowing. The revolutionary dimension of Lacans pedagogy for Felman (1987) is the dialogism of the performative and constative, how in practice they undermine, deconstruct, and yet inform each other. The interactions of doing and undoing form the dynamic basis, Felman said, of psychoanalysiss ineradicable newness (12), its evergreen vitality and unceasing revolutionary nature. Building on this insight, Lacan has shown experience, largely unconscious, to be structured like a language, since human behavior manifests the dialectical interaction of conscious and unconscious experience, the double writing of that which is  enacted beyond what can ever be  known  at any one moment. For example, Gallop (1987) pointed out that the psychoanalyst learns to listen not so much to her patients main point as to odd marginal moments, slips of the tongue, unintended disclosures. Freud formalized this psychoanalytic method, but Lacan has generalized it into a way of receiving all discourse (p. 23). Lacan was often and roundly criticized as a self-aggrandizing showman, a sloppy theoretician, an intentionally inscrutable speaker and author, a postmodern, post-structural want to be, and a polygamously perverse human. Many disciples justified his obtuse style of presenting ideas as an attempt to model his concepts within the instrument of his linguistic style. Others found his style to be sufficient reason for avoiding Lacans work altogether. In addition, his clinical practices, such as the abbreviated session, were frowned on by many traditionalists in the psychoanalytic community. However, Lacans linguistic approach to the unconscious serves as an important counter to the more-entrenched biological and neurological constructs. His synthesis of Freudian theory with Saussurean semiology generated new conceptual tools for critical research and reading in the social sphere. These tools allow a dynamic analysis of social process from the perspective of What is this doing? rather than What does this mean? References Beneveuto,B. Kennedy, R. (1986).  The Works of Jacques Lacan. London: Free Association. Clement,C. (1983).  The Lives and Legends of Jacque Lacan; A. Goldhammer(trans). New York: Columbia University Press. Elliott,A. (1992).  Social Theory and Psychoanalysis in Transition. Oxford: Blackwell. Felman,S. (1987).   Jacques Lacan and the Adventure of Insight: Psychoanalysis in Contemporary Culture.   Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Gallop,J. (1987).  Reading Lacan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Lacan,J. (1966). Of structure as the inmixing of an otherness prerequisite to anysubject whatever. In R. Macksey E. Donato (eds),  The Structuralist Controversy, Baltimore: John Hopkins, 1970. Laplanche,J. Pontalis, J.B. (1983).  The Language of Psychoanalysis; D.Nicholson Smith (trans.). London: Hogarth. Stavrakakis,Y. (1999).  Lacan and the Political. London: Routledge.

Antlantic city :: essays research papers

Atlantic City   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Transformation From A Casino City To a Resort Destination Atlantic City is the place to gamble on the East Coast. Although this may initially seem to be a positive characteristic, it is evident that this destination has the capability to be so much more than it already is. This point of interest has the world’s first boardwalk, which opened in 1881, has 4 miles of hotels, amusements, and casinos. Atlantic City was originally a resort town, until 1978, when it changed into a gaming city. This popular day-trip destination had over 34 million visitors in 1998 alone. Despite this amazing statistic, along with the revenue that gambling brings in, many steps are being taken in order to further promote the expansion of this great city. The renovations and improvements being made to the Atlantic City Convention Center are already increasing the amount of money coming in. There is a great deal of other things to focus on in the Atlantic City region. In end orsing local attractions in this scenic area, and in shifting the target market of this spot, this city would change back into a resort destination. When most people think of Atlantic City, the first thing that comes to mind is the casino attractions that are available. With the city’s constant shuffle and excitement, gamblers from all over go there dreaming of a big win. Many people consider Atlantic City to be the â€Å"Las Vegas of the East Coast†. There are over 12 casinos, with one building as magnificent as the next. At any given second of the day, these hopefuls may have their lives changed in an instant with just one win. These casino hotels gain most of their income from gamblers. Casinos employ almost 49,000 people every year. This number should actually jump when the Marina District opens. Although Atlantic City prospers as a gambler’s paradise, many would love to show others just how much more Atlantic City really has to offer its tourists. The Atlan tic City Convention Center, built in 1929, was renovated with $72 million in 1997. With the world’s largest pipe organ, everyone from the Beatles to Pavarotti has played there. It was designated a historic landmark in 1987. Conventions, trade shows, meetings, and public events of the greater Atlantic City area all take place here. When the renovation is finally completed, it will seat up to 12,000 people for special events.

Geo100 Brisbane Floods

ESSAY As natural disasters are inevitable, it is essential that we as humans mitigate the potential outcomes caused by these disasters. This essay will explore the 2011 floods of Brisbane and whether proper planning and preparation could have minimised the outcome. It will further explore the impact the Wivenhoe Dam had on the floods and discuss whether dam maintenance; level supplies and warnings could have helped. December 2010 and January 2011 saw Queensland experience record-breaking rainfall that has not been seen since 1960.Approximately 1 000 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in January alone, which caused the second biggest flood Brisbane has experienced since 1974 (Hornet & McAneney, 2011:1150). The 2011 floods caused severe devastation throughout Brisbane with over 26 000 people loosing their homes and over 5 000 businesses around the city either partially or completely flooded. It further caused around ninety kindergartens and sixty schools to be affected and unusable. However the greatest devastation was the loss of twenty-three people’s lives as a direct result of the floods (Calligeros, 2011:4).The Queensland Government also suffered a major financial repercussion from the floods. Over 440 million dollars was spent in repairing roads, bridges, power poles and other public facilities that were destroyed (PM With Mark Colvin 2011). This kind of spending by the Government caused speculation that if proper planning and preparation been implemented, the Brisbane floods could have been mitigated. This speculation further lead to the investigating of whether the Wivenhoe Dam helped or hindered the floods.The Wivenhoe Dam opened in 1985 after the great Brisbane floods of 1974 occurred and was seen as a solution to prevent further floods from happening again. All the dams, creeks and rivers surrounding the Wivenhoe Dam were connected that any potential overflow could run straight into the Wivenhoe and therefore have minimal risk of overflowing. H owever what occurred in 2011 was not what was planned when building Wivenhoe many years earlier. Wivenhoe Dam was built to hold a water supply of 1. 5 million millilitres of water, with a capacity to hold 1. 45 million millilitres at Full Supply Level or FSL. The 30 million-millilitre difference was allocated as a reserve for floodwaters to help mitigate flooding (Honert & McAneney, 2011:1152). Although a reserve level had been allocated in the dam, the issue was that there had been constant and heavy rainfall in the previous spring months. This led to the Wivenhoe catchments being relatively full prior to the downpour that occurred in the December 2010 and January 2011.This rain further caused the surrounding rivers and creeks to overflow causing minor river flooding, with water then starting to flow into Wivenhoe to help prevent major flooding. Leading up to the floods Wivenhoe peaked at 1. 50pm on Wednesday 12th of January reaching an astounding 2. 29 million millilitres. (See Ap pendix 1 – Table 1. 0). A day later Brisbane River peaked at 4. 46 metres at 2. 57am on Thursday 13th of January, causing major flooding to begin. (See Appendix 2 – Graph 2. 0).It was during these two days that the role the SEQWater played was questioned, as they were aware that the dams were high enough to overflow. This speculation was further fuelled when it was made known that SEQWater only released 60% of the dam’s water, moments before the flood engulfed Brisbane (See Appendix 3 – Table 3. 0). SEQWater is the company in charge of the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams and have three simple operating guidelines that they must follow (See Appendix 4 – Guidelines 4. 0).It was apparent that none of the guidelines were followed for a number of reasons. Firstly this was evident as when the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams began filling up as a result of the severe wet weather, SEQWater did not release any water from either dam until Tuesday 11th of January. As t hey had left the water idling for too long they had no other choice but to release the water at once instead of gradually releasing water like they were advised to do from the Senior Flood Operations Engineer.After the flood occurred SEQWater stated back, â€Å"The flood compartments of the dams were filled to a high level by the first flood that there was not sufficient time to release this water prior to the second flood arriving,† (Water, 2011:1158). So although the SEQWater tried to justify their actions, it can be argued that the SEQWater company and the employees were warned a few days in advance that by releasing a small amount of water at different times during the day would help minimise the amount of flooding that could have potentially occurred.Once it was discovered that the SEQWater had received numerous warning of potential warnings, the issue was studied and analysed. It was estimated that between 11:00 Tuesday 11th of January and 19:09 Wednesday 12th of Januar y that 518,000 millilitres of water was released from Wivenhoe dam making around a 60% contribution to the already rising water around the Brisbane area. (See Appendix 3 – Table 3. 0). By 6:09pm Thursday the 13th of January the water flowing past the City Gauge was estimated to be around 866,000 millilitres and was still continuing to rise. See Appendix 5 – Table 5. 0). The final detailed analysis sent out to SEQWater by the Senior Floods Operation Engineer it was analysed that if releases from the Wivenhoe dam were timed appropriately it could have minimised the flooding that occurred. (See Appendix 6 – Analysis 6. 0). The Bureau of Meteorology proved to be helpful through the disaster, by providing warnings through their rainfall data. Day-to-day rainfall charts and rainfall maps were updated online and made easily accessible to the public and those affected. See Appendix 7 and 8 – Graph and Chart 7. 0). The BOM also released a clear warning to both the government and the public that the amount of rain that was coming would have the likely strength of a La Nina event. As the information was made available to anyone with Internet access, SEQWater and the Government could have easily accessed this information. By doing so they would have been able to see the potential threat the approaching heavy rainfall could have and in turn should have helped them make a wiser decision.By choosing to ignore any sort of warning sign provided by the BOM, SEQWater and their employee’s did nothing about the almost full catchment even though more heavy rain was approaching. Leading to the conclusion that by ignoring the warnings they demonstrated poor planning and ignorance to the information provided. Throughout this essay is has been concluded that through proper planning and preparation the Brisbane Floods of 2011 could have been mitigated. Evidence and research shown throughout this essay evidently points unfavourably to the SEQWater compa ny and its team.It concluded that although many warnings were issued, the SEQWater and government chose to ignore them and therefore resulting in all the water being released at once. Even though this natural disaster could not have been prevented through proper planning and preparation it definitely could have been mitigated which would in turn also result in minimal devastation and destruction. This flood has also been dubbed a â€Å"dam release flood† by hydrologists that were appointed with the Insurance Council of Australia.Again as the evidence and research implies, with proper planning and preparation yes, the Brisbane flood of 2011 could have been mitigated. APPENDIX 1 TABLE 1. 0 – WIVENHOE APPENDIX 2 GRAPH 1. 0 – CITY GAUGE APPENDIX 3 TABLE 1. 1 – RELAEASE FROM WIVENHOE PLUS CITY GAUGE APPENDIX 4 GUIDELINES 3. 0 – OPERATING GUIDELINES * The flood storage (or catchments) should generally be kept empty by releasing all the water flowing into the flood storage system until the defined downstream flood event is reached. Releases from the storage system should then be selected to remain below the defined downstream flood event until the flood event has passed or the storage system becomes full. * If the flood storage system becomes full, the storage system must then release all the inflows but releases should never exceed inflows. APPENDIX 5 TABLE 1. 2 – ESTIMATED FLOW PAST CITY GAUGE APPENDIX 6 ANALYSIS 6. 0 – DETAILED ANALYSIS 123,000 millilitres was discharged either earlier than 11. 00 Tuesday 11th or ater than 19:00 Wednesday 12th rather than during this period, the flood level at the Brisbane City Gauge would not have exceeded the Major flood level, or if 335,000 millilitres was discharged outside the period 02:00 Tuesday 10th to 08:00 Thursday 13th rather then during the period, the flood level at the Brisbane City Gauge would not have exceeded the Moderate flood level, or if 623,000 millilitres was d ischarged outside of the period 13:00 Monday 10th to 21:00 Thursday 13th rather than during the period, there would not have been a flood at the Brisbane City Gauge. O’Brien, 2011:9) APPENDIX 7 AND 8 DAILY RAINFALL GRAPH AND CHART 7. 0 REFEERNCE LIST Apelt, Mar 2011, Joint Flood Taskforce Report March 2011, viewed 19 April 2012, Himsley, May 2011, Dams and Flood Mitigation, viewed 19 April 2012, Honert, R & McAneney J 2011, ‘The 2011 Brisbane Floods: Causes, Impacts and Implications’, Water Journal, Vol. , Iss. 4, pp 1149 – 1173, viewed 19 April 2012, < http://www. mdpi. com/2073-4441/3/4/1149/> Calligeros, M 2011, ‘Wivenhoe Dam release caused Brisbane flood: report,’ The Brisbane Times, 11 March, viewed 19 April 2012, < http://www. brisbanetimes. com. au/environment/weather/wivenhoe-dam-release-caused-brisbane-flood-report-20110311-1bqk7. html> Calligeros, M 2011, ‘Brisbane flood victims to confront the destruction,’ The Brisba ne Times, 14 January, viewed 21 April 2012, < http://www. risbanetimes. com. au/environment/weather/brisbane-flood-victims-to-confront-the-destruction-20110113-19q04. html> Seqwater, 2011, The January 2011 Flood Event, viewed 19 April 2012, Bureau of Meteorology, Feb 2011, Brisbane Metro in January 2011: A major rain event and severe flooding, viewed 21 April 2012, O’Brien, Mar 2011, Brisbane Flooding January 2011 An Avoidable Disaster, viewed 19 April 2012, Bureau of Meteorology, Jan 2011, Monthly Weather Review Queensland January 2011, viewed 21 April 2012, PM With Mark Colvin, ABC, 8 February 2011, ABC Australia, Brisbane. (Also a radio broadcast of it on < http://www. abc. net. au/pm/content/2011/s3133417. htm>)

”Medea” by Euripides Essay

‘Unclean, abhorrent child – destroyer.’ Medea’s murder of her children means she cannot be regarded as a true tragic hero. To what extent do you agree with this in view of Euripides’s presentations of Medea in the exodos? The image of Medea presented by Euripides in the exodos is undoubtedly largely horrifying and appalling to the audience. Medea manifestly presents her desire for revenge and it is difficult to sympathise with her character. However, in many respects her character fits the image of a tragic hero. Although, it is widely controversial to associate Medea with heroic aspects in modern days, from an ancient Greek’s perspective her actions and personality might well match aspects of the tragic hero such as consistency, appropriation, noble state, and tragic flaw. This essay will explore whether her presentation in the exodos as well as her actions in other circumstances justify her tragic hero status. First of all, Medea has always enjoyed a good reputation and high-rank in society. Her heroic identity symbolises the fact that she is a grand- daughter of the Sun. Moreover, Medea was a princess of Colchis and displayed a vast knowledge of enchantments and medicine. When Jason abandons her in a foreign land she becomes a ‘stateless refugee’ and her pride suffers. It has also been stated by the Chorus in the play: ‘Of all pains and hardships none is worse Than to be deprived of your native land’. [L.651-652] It seems intolerable for her to be rejected & homeless in a foreign land. We can infer this by the use of words such as ‘pains and hardships’ which emphasises her dramatic position through an accumulation of two similar meanings. Also, the word ‘deprived’ implies that Jason has taken her land almost physically. Here, the role of chorus modifies the structure in the play as they appearance break up the acts in the play. Thus, Euripides attaches an important role of the chorus to construct the play. Her behaviour has been farther explored by E.R Dodds who states that members of an ancient Greek society acknowledged ‘anything which exposes a man to the contempt or ridicule of his fellows, which causes them to â€Å"lose face,† †¦ as unbearable’. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must hold noble, respected social status. It can be argued therefore that Medea’s murder of her children in exodos was a desperate and impulsive response to ‘the pressure of social conformity’ (Dodds) and a diseased attempt to gain back her reputation. Such actions are common in Greek tragedies such as The Oresteia where Atreus admitted an even larger horrific act of revenge against his brother who had affair with Atreus’s wife. Similarly, while Medea loses face when Jason abandons her, Atreus’s reputation suffers when his wife commits adultery. Nevertheless, later Atreus’s takes care of his brother’s son. This, as opposed to Medea, can be considered as tragic hero’s sense of guilt or, perhaps, the way to dispense justice. On the other hand, Medea doesn’t regret her actions. Her sense of guilt does not exist. Contrarily, she seems to be proud of her murder as she uses cynical and sarcastic techniques while she responds to Jason’s accusations in stichomythia: ‘Go home; your wife waits to be buried.’ The mention of Jason’s would-be wife is extremely cruel and tactless as previously, Medea mercilessly murdered her. In the exodos, Medea and Jason have a short and sharp exchange after Jason sees the dead bodies of his children. Questionably, Medea appears here to be extremely exultant, victoriously using cynical techniques untypical for the tragic hero such as ‘You grieve too soon. Old age is coming’. It is clear that Medea identifies her murder with a triumph over Jason. This opposes the fact that Medea can be regarded as a tragic hero because members of an ancient Greek society, despite their desire for high reputation, had a sense of guilt and justice which is described by E.R Dodds as a ‘gradually growing sense of guilt†¦which transformed into a punishment’ and ’embodiment of cosmic justice’. This implies that Medea as a tragic hero should regret her actions however, this never occurs. Instead, at the ending of the play, Medea and the bodies of her children are taken away by the gods in the shape of Deus ex Machina. Up until the exodos, Medea has had some features of a tragic hero. However in the exodos, the absence of any kind of regrets opens up a debate over whether Medea’s presentation can be truly regarded as a tragic hero. Here, the gods seem to appear strangely sympathetic in her murderous sufferings and surprisingly shocking in supporting Medea’s actions and punishing Jason. It can be argued that the gods support Medea and Deus ex Machina occurs in order to dispense justice by not allowing Jason to bury his children and leaving him unsatisfied. Although, the gods not always seem to make ‘right’ decision and sometimes their will performs as cruel and unmoral. It isn’t just the fact that Medea kills her children that seem to be questioning Medea’s heroic aspects. It is also true that Medea does not die. The play is in fact the only surviving Greek tragedy where the tragic hero doesn’t die. Furthermore, Medea is a woman driven by ‘male desire’. Her desire for revenge leads to her overcoming the sense of maternal instinct. Therefore, the Greek audience couldn’t completely regard Medea as a tragic hero and ‘yet the audience (†¦) shudder at the ruthless of her anger and passion for vengeance’ (Easterling). It is unclear whether Medea aims to portray herself as a woman or to employ the â€Å"heroic ‘male’ weapon†. She often sympathise with females as a group ‘We were born women – useless for honest purposes, But in all kinds of evil skilled practitioners’ [l.406-407] Here, Medea uses first person plural verb in order to become a representative of females. However, the fact that she lacks her maternal instinct and kills her children in ‘reaction to her dishonour’ and ‘her violence, which she herself abhors’ follow the idea of a male desire. At this point, it is difficult to define Medea as a tragic hero because she evidently contradicts the idea of consistency in that she portrays herself sometimes as a representative of oppressed women and sometimes as a ‘male hero’. It is largely controversial to argue that Medea’s presentation in the play (particularly in the exodos) is ‘good and appropriate’ (Aristotle). The tragic hero’s character should be ‘good if the purpose is good’ (Aristotle). Euripides’s presentation of Medea at the beginning of the play is to make the audience pity her dramatic position however, if we consider the fact that previously Medea has committed two acts of murder in order to marry Jason it is difficult to sympathise her. The murder of her children is a highly horrifying act of the play as the children plead for help (‘Help, help, for the gods’ sake! She’s killing us!). The repetitiveness of a word ‘help’ and their imprecations gives us a sense of their desperation. In this way, Medea fits her image of a tragic hero because according to Aristotle, ‘fear and pity must be aroused’ in circumstances in which a ‘tragic incident between those who are near or dear to one another’. Indeed, we pity characters in the exodos as the act of murder has been done at the expense of innocent children pleading for help. On the other hand, it has been investigated by P.E Easterling that â€Å"Euripides’ many imitators have tended to present Medea’s behaviour as that of madwomen†. This is because the way in which Medea murders her children is largely brutal as she uses a sword and seem to be murdering them in a mercilessly pattern. Therefore, even the Ancient Greek audience seems to reject the idea of Medea being ‘good and appropriate’. In addition, for Medea to fully fit the image of a Greek tragic hero it is essential that she has her tragic flaw which contributes to the downfall. It is necessary for the tragic heroes to be â€Å"wrapped in the mystery (†¦) with that ‘something beyond’ which we can only see through them, and which is the source of their strength and their fate alike†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Anderson) Without this, tragedy cannot be regarded as a tragedy itself. Therefore, in context of Medea, the equivalent of ‘something beyond’ can be considered her excessive pride and obsession with the ‘laughter of my enemies’. Even if the audience does not point out any indication of the ‘laughter’ of Medea’s enemies, she still insists their presence. She does not perceive the support of the women of Corinth (meaning the Chorus) or -perhaps, she does not want to perceive it. Therefore, Medea’s obsession with the ‘laughter’ of her enemies can be considered as the catalyst of her tragic downfall. However, it might be believed that this obsession cannot be regarded as the catalyst of her tragic downfall because it is clear that Medea fully acknowledg es her flaws and in her horrific act in the exodos she recognises that what’s she’s doing is wrong. In the line 1077 she says: ‘I understand The horror of what I am going to do’ Evidently, Medea appears to be aware of her tragic flaw and to accept the consequences. In this case, Medea cannot be regarded as a tragic hero because she acknowledges her flaws. Therefore, the Greek audience could not be entertained or surprised by Medea’s actions. We do not pity her because she accepts her tragic flaws throughout the play. Medea’s self-awareness of her immorality contradicts Anderson’s belief that ‘the message of tragedy is that men are better than they think they are. The message needs to be said over and over lest the race lose faith in itself entirely’. There is a large distinction between the recognition of a tragic hero in Ancient Greece and the modern world. We associate heroic aspects with goodness, appropriation and a well-developed sense of forgiveness. The presentation of Medea in the exodos as well as her actions throughout the play, strongly contradict with the principles of Christianity and her character appears as irrelevant to modern ideas. Unfortunately, Medea from the Ancient Greek’s point of view can be regarded as a tragic hero to a significant extent. The horrific act of murdering her children is insane and sickening; however, it is without doubt that it fits with the image of a tragic hero in a several respects. Bibliography Aristotle, Poetics. Trans. S.H. Butcher. www.classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics/html Accessed 5th January 2012 P.E Easterling – ‘The Infanticide in Euripides’ Medea’, Yale Classical Studies, 25(1997) 193-225 Dodds, E.R. The Greeks and the Irrational. University of California Press, (2000). Allan, William. Euripides: Medea Duckworth Companions for Greek and Roman tragedy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, (2002) Anderson, The Essence of Tragedy Northrop Frye,† The Mythos of Autumn† Word count: 1,496