10 Facts You Didnt Know About Sicily

10 Facts You Didn't Know About Sicily Population: 5,050,486 (2010 estimate)Capital: PalermoArea: 9,927 square miles (25,711 sq km)Highest Point: Mount Etna at 10,890 feet (3,320 m) Sicily is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the largest island in the Mediterranean. Politically, Sicily and the smaller islands surrounding it are considered an autonomous region of Italy. The island is known for its rugged, volcanic topography, history, culture,  and architecture. The following is a list of ten geographic facts to know about Sicily: Geography Facts About Sicily Sicily has a long history that dates back to ancient times. It is believed that the earliest inhabitants of the island were the Sicani people around 8,000 B.C.E. Around 750 B.C.E, the Greeks began to form settlements on Sicily and the culture of the native peoples of the island gradually shifted. The most important area of Sicily at this time was the Greek colony of Syracuse which controlled most of the island. The Greek-Punic wars then began in 600 B.C.E as the Greeks and Carthaginians fought for control of the island. In 262 B.C.E, Greece and the Roman Republic began to make peace and by 242 B.C.E, Sicily was a Roman province.Control of Sicily then shifted through various empires and people throughout the Early Middle Ages. Some of these included the Germanic Vandals, the Byzantines, Arabs, and Normans. In 1130 C.E., the island became the Kingdom of Sicily and it was known as one of the richest states in Europe at the time. In 1262, Sicilian locals rose up against the government in the War of the Sicilian Vespers which lasted until 1302. More revolts occurred in the 17th century and by the mid-1700s, the island was taken over by Spain. In the 1800s, Sicily joined the Napoleonic Wars and for a time after the wars, it was unified with Naples as the Two Sicilies. In 1848, a revolution took place which separated Sicily from Naples and gave it independence. In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi and his Expedition of the Thousand took control of Sicily and the island became a part of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1946, Italy became a republic and Sicily became an autonomous region.The economy of Sicily is relatively strong due to its very fertile, volcanic soil. It also has a long, hot growing season, making agriculture the primary industry on the island. The main agricultural products of Sicily are citrons, oranges, lemons, olives, olive oil, almonds, and grapes. In addition, wine is also a major part of Sicily’s economy. Other industries in Sicily include processed food, chemicals, petroleum, fertilizer, textiles, ships, leather goods, and forest products.In addition to its agriculture and other industries, tourism plays a major role in Sicily’s economy. Tourists often visit the island because of its mild climate, history, culture,  and cuisine. Sicily is also home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These sites include the Archaeo logical Area of Agrigento, the Villa Romana del Casale, the Aeolian Islands, the Late Baroque Towns of the Val de Noto, and Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica. Throughout its history, Sicily has been influenced by a variety of different cultures, including Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Norman, Saracens,  and Spanish. As a result of these influences, Sicily has a diverse culture, as well as diverse architecture and cuisine. As of 2010, Sicily had a population of 5,050,486 and the majority of the people on the island identify themselves as Sicilian.Sicily is a large, triangular island located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from the mainland of Italy by the Strait of Messina. At their closest points, Sicily and Italy are separated by just 2 miles (3 km) in the northern part of the strait, while in the southern part the distance between the two is 10 miles (16 km). Sicily has an area of 9,927 square miles (25,711 sq km). The autonomous region of Sicily also includes the Aegadian Islands, the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria, and Lampedusa.Most of Sicily’s topography is hilly to rugged and wherever possible, the land is dominated by a griculture. There are mountains along Sicily’s northern coast, and the island’s highest point, Mount Etna, stands at 10,890 feet (3,320 m) on its eastern coast. Sicily and its surrounding islands are home to a number of active volcanoes. Mount Etna is a very active, having last erupted in 2011. It is the tallest active volcano in Europe. The islands surrounding Sicily are also home to a number of active and dormant volcanoes, including Mount Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands.The climate of Sicily is considered Mediterranean. As such, it has mild, wet winters, and hot, dry summers. Sicily’s capital Palermo has a January average low temperature of 47ËšF (8.2ËšC) and an August average high temperature of 84ËšF (29ËšC).

Employment At Will Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employment At Will - Essay Example Many people including Werhane and Radin have contested EAW. Proponents of EAW agreement argue that it does not violate respect accorded to employees since it is a free will agreement (Allhoff, & Vaidya, 2008). However, EAW interferes with respect of human rights. For instance, an employee at free will contractual agreement will find it extremely difficult to fight for basic human rights or even responsibilities such as whistleblowing (Werhane and Radin, 2004; Repa, 2010).EAW poses a threat of violations of moral obligations for both parties. It is a moral obligation for the employer, for instance, to treat the employees with dignity when at work and during termination. Explanations for termination should be morally justified and explained on humane grounds to maintain respect (SAGE, 2011). The case of Pugh v. See’s Candies, Inc., demonstrates perfectly how respect can be absent even when there is free will (Miller, & Jentz, 2010).The list of reasons is endless. The same way em ployers value and respect corporate social responsibility so should they value employees in EAW contracts. Additionally, arbitrary financial and managerial actions are not endured, why should human resource actions be arbitrary? (Pozgar, 2010)ConclusionAlthough the employees act at free will on EAW contracts, good business ethics demand that they are treated in the humane way to prevent issues of ethical and moral concerns. Only then can it be claimed that respect has been accorded to the employee.

Public Relations Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Public Relations Assignment - Essay Example Thus, the standing of Regent’s College needs to be made in a grand manner in fron to fthe media as well as the press so that the honor and goodwill of the college is raised in the eyes of the public, and this very address is able to attract a large number of students towards seeking admission in the college. The aim is to thus be able to figure out a way to be present on the maximum number of news channels as well as newspapers and print media in order to put in a short word as per the contribution of Regent’s College towards helping the President come and give his address. This is how the college will be able to provide itself as a significant figure in the entire world of institutionalization and this is what sets it apart from the rest. Keys to Success: The keys to success are: As the target people are the youth, the main aim is to not lose focus on gaining the attention of the same. It is very imperative that the plan takes steps in trying to gain the attention of t he youth through the address. Thinking beyond the box. Diversifying our tactics in order to evaluate some innovative ways for the achievement of our goals Professionalism. A professional outlook of things helps in getting a proper and practical over view of performance Various results need to be achieved because the main aim is to achieve results in the form of widespread public and media attention. Only when a large number of students revert back to the college, will the job be done. STRATEGIES: Strategies are some of the best ways of trying to achieve goals. The main aim of a PR group is to try and formulate strategies that are unique to it because otherwise, every other institution or company will be able to grab the attention of the target group. Thus, a... This paper approves that crises are not at all times essentially awful and terrible. An urgent situation or disagreement may give us the chance to reach outsized groups of people with our College’s point of view. Good quality or appalling, a small number of things are needed in the management of crises. According to the essay fundamentally, such processes can be completed effectively if the project manager and other staff associates keep a cautious check on projected media and uphold extracts from the clippings. This process will be under taken under our public relation plan so that we can keep a hard watch on those who can exploit our advertisement strategies and massive campaign. The position at which the endeavors will be considered complete will be prà ©cised in terms of either a time constituent or the accomplishment of a confirmed intention. That is our attempts will be considered complete when we will generate good will strengthen up the population of Regent’s college as per our goal. This paper talks that putting into practice a good public relations plan will help increase and extend the word about Regent’s College, at comparatively diminutive or no charge. It goes without aphorism that, whatever your current state is, the additional people who know about our college the more chance we have of attracting students. The above mentioned evaluation techniques guarantee the successful and fluid running of our plan and these techniques also ensures that the plan will be productive enough for the exploitation of this mega event to the fullest.

Gamification of the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Gamification of the Workplace Essay The paper examines a new trend in workplace design called â€Å"gamification†. Gamification is defined as using concepts derived from video games and applying them in businesses to enhance motivation, raise productivity and lower turnover. The areas of effect discussed are motivation, cooperation, productivity and employee happiness. The text looks at which characteristics of video games make them so engaging and translates them into examples from the workplace. It presents real examples of companies that have implemented similar techniques. Gamification in the Workplace: A New Way to Think About Work Georgi Ivanov American University in Bulgaria The workforce of today is composed of young, talented and creative people, who despite their potential are less loyal and are always on the lookout for the job that better suits their qualification. As managers continue to search for ways to attract, motivate and keep them they ask themselves what makes this generation different from the previous. One of the things that separate us from other generations of workforce, video game addiction, has become increasingly relevant in the last decade. The college graduates that enter the labor market have played them since kids and consider them a hobby. The older generations learn about them as because of the app store which is a platform for easily accessible casual games. There is something in video games that makes people play them and create them and that something has made the video game industry the fastest growing entertainment industry today. With millions of people playing video games and investingmoney in their hobby, many companies implement video game concepts in an effort to make work more engaging, raise productivity and motivation and lower turnover. The process is known as â€Å"gamification†. To understand why managers would look to video and computer games of all things to improve the work life of their employees we have to understand what makes a video game so appealing to the modern employee and what part of that appeal is relevant to their productivity and satisfaction on their job. We know that some games have bigger audiences than prime time television shows, which means that these people prefer to do something, to be involved, than just sitting there and taking it in. In his book The Game of Work: How to Enjoy Work As Much As Play (1984) Charles Conrad leans on the fact that people will often work harder or even pay money to improve their performance outside of work. He outlines five principles that would transfer part of this to the business environment and empower employees – better scorekeeping, clearly defined goals, frequent feedback, better scorekeeping and consistent coaching. When the book was issued video games were not the object of the author’s discussion, however the concepts are present in today’s most popular video games. It is common have a score number in a corner of the screen showing how you are doing and every action you take changes that score. Taking this one step further is a ladder system that shows your score in comparison to other people’s score. With the popularity of video games today it is evident that people are respond very well to such a system. Through extension, if people are willing to devote so much time and energy into improving their game scores so they can climb the ladder and win intangible rewards, then, if they knew where they stood among their colleagues, they would be more motivated to do better. In her WSJ article Latest Game Theory: Mixing work and play (2011), Rachel Silverman gives a couple of examples of successful â€Å"gamification† of tasks. Live Ops Inc. runs a virtual call center. Th e company awards employees with virtual badges and points for keeping calls short and closing sales with leader boards that allow agents to compare their achievements. According to the vice president, since the system was implemented call time was reduced by 15% in some employees and sales have gone up by between 8% and 12%. I saw this in myself when I worked as a sales representative. When I joined the company it was evident who the top sales people were. Everybody’s numbers were available every day for everyone to see. From the first day that I saw that I imagined my name on the firs position of the day end report on the cash register screen just like I did on my computer screen while playing a favorite game of mine. It helped. I was always eager to keep track of my sales and strive to improve and my boss nurtured that friendly competitive atmosphere in which I thrived. This helped me in the beginning a lot because I did not feel intimidated by the more experienced members’ numbers. One of the most popular types of games today is the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG). The model is basically putting millions of players from all over the world in one universe and to let them progress in this world by developing their skills and handling challenges alone or in teams of other players who have diverse skill sets for different situations. There are player rankings and guild rankings. To climb up the ladder, players need to accomplish tasks or â€Å"quests† and apart from the regular points, they get badges, if they complete the quest not in an efficient or creative manner. As you play your character increases in strength by gaining levels. Each level requires more effort to achieve than the previous and the conditions that have to be met to advance are set in stone and they never change. You know ahead of time what you need in order to progress. Every task you’ve made has an effect on the completion and your progress is clearly visible. If we take this concept to the business world, we’d have a clear employee ranking system and a company ranking system. Each employee will aim for the top places on the scoreboard, but keeping in mind that success is only possible with cooperation. This would motivate employees not only to do their best but also to be more accommodating to newcomers because they know that the better the people in your team/ department are doing, the better they would do. We do have a leveling system in the workplace – raises and promotions – but the conditions are not always as clear. If employees do not know what the requirements are and they have no guarantees that they would reach that threshold why should they work harder? Vendor invoice transactions are a tedious task, but now, with the new reward system, employees can earn points and raise their status among other SAP teams. At the end of the month, a dollar amount is awarded to a charity of the winning team’s choice. This is all done through an upgraded version of their clerk software. It adds extrinsic value to the work, makes employees contribute to a cause they can relate to. We play games because they are fun. Play is not the opposite of work as entrepreneur Steve Keil tells us in his speech â€Å"A Manifesto for play†. It is also supported by Byron Reeves, a communications professor at Stanford University and author of the book Total Engagement (2009), who says that â€Å"The idea that work is work and play is play and never shall the two meet is melting quite a bit†. Games are fun which makes them engaging and we want our employees to be engaged in their work. One of the ways we can do that is by taking down factors that restrain and choke the individual. Once our goals are clearly defined and a scoring and reward system is set up as a frame, why do we need to keep restrictions in the workplace? Changes like making workday more flexible and eradicating fear by establishing an atmosphere of trust and cooperation instead of an authority. Like the millions of gamers around the world we want our employees to feel good when they come to work because that is going to translate into better quality of work, customer service and engagement. In a MMO there is always a comfortable social network system. No matter what they are doing, a level 1 player can contact level 60 players and ask questions. There is a strong sense of community and presence, because it is easy to form contacts. When there is a task that requires 5, 10 or 20 people, the task is divided into smaller tasks and everyone’s progress in visible from start to finish. That accessibility and transparency is not always available in businesses but they would go a long way to improving communication. In his book, Byron Reeves takes this one step further saying that some people will soon do their jobs inside a game. He draws a scenario where a woman would sit on her home computer and log on to a virtual world, in which she is represented by an avatar which she herself customized with badges and clothing, earned as rewards for completed tasks. Then she would take a look at her team’s progress by meeting their avatars. This is gamification in the modern business. When implementing the strategies from above, however there are a couple of things to be mindful of. First of all, managers have to make sure that the atmosphere of friendly competition does not go out of hand. With regard to the company’s mission statement, they have to recognize at what point employees stop working for the company and start working for themselves. The goals to reach thresholds have to be balanced. A task is engaging when it is challenging, yet accomplishable with the skill set that the employee possesses. Some business may not be well suited for gamification concepts. The data on employees will make promotions and layoffs more fair and transparent but it may also undermine the importance of a manager. Certainly the concept of gamification is still young, the interest that companies show towards implementing them points to a new trend. In her article, Silverman quotes the tech industry research firm saying that â€Å"by 1214, some 70% of large companies will use the techniques for at least one business process†. What was until recent years though to be a massive waste of time now changes the way we think about our jobs. Works Cited Rachel Silverman (October 10, 2011) Latest Game Theory: Mixing Work and Play; Retrieved from online.wsj.com Charles Coonradt (September 1, 1984) How to Enjoy Work As Much As Play; Steve Keil (January 2011) â€Å"A Manifesto of Play†; Retrieved from tedxbg.com Byron Reeves (November 2, 2009) Total engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete

Anglo American Economic Geography Essay -- economics,

Discuss the intellectual history of Anglo American economic geography since the 2nd world war. Economic concepts have often been used as the foundation for geographic theory; showing a relationship between the two. When the field of economics evolves then so too does the field of economic geography. Economic geography is defined as: a field of geography that helps to describe and explain the areas where economic activities are carried out. It is centered around helping to explain the production and distribution of commodities and how resources are to be allocated and the consequences (Barnes 2009). The Second World War ceased in 1945 and after this the economies of both America and the UK changed rapidly. These economies passed through different systems; Keynesian, Marxian, Neoliberalism, and mixed an economy (Bonney 1995). This in turn meant that economic geography passed through different stages too, with the most significant change occurring directly after the war; the start of the quantitative revolution. The way that the field of economic geography changes has implication s on how the field as a whole is viewed. One of the main points is the interconnectivity with the economy; this also shows how the economy is viewed. Each period has a moment of emergence rapid efflorescence and a period of decline. To understand how economic geography has changed over the last fifty years, a brief explanation of the state of the economy should be covered Directly after the war the US economy was in a state of strong economic growth due to consumers demand increasing, this was due to there being few opportunities to consume at a desired level during the war. The US held 95% of the worlds manufacturing helping it to recover more quick... ...mic Geography. In: Leyson, A., Lee, R., Mcdowell, L. and Sunley, P. eds. 2011. The SAGE Handbook of Economic Geography. London: SAGE Publications. Bonney, R. (1995). Economic systems and state finance. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press. Hardon, J. A. (2003). The Influence of Marxism in the United States Today. [online] Available at: http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Communism/Communism_002.htm [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014]. Scott, A. J. (2000). Economic geography: the great half-century. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 24 (4), pp. 483 - 504. Trainer, T. (2010). MARXIST THEORY; A brief Introduction. [online] Available at: https://socialsciences.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/Marx.html [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014]. WiseGEEK. (2010). What Is Keynesian Economics?. [online] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-keynesian-economics.htm [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014].

Death of a Naturalist Essay

The title, Death of a Naturalist’ explains another part of the poem because it is literally about the little boy loving the warm thick slobber of frogspawn’. Then he grows older and loses some of the innocence that was present in the first stanzas. He is sickened by the gross bellied frogs’ and the naturalist in him is dead. The theme of Death of a Naturalist is also the power of nature. This is illustrated by the frogs having power over the author as a child. This powerful theme is conveyed in the second stanza, with phrases like angry’, threats’ and vengeance’. The frogs are described as being poised like mud grenades’ which brings out images of guns and strength. The writer uses emotional images, because it is the poet’s memory and he is reminiscing. Heaney uses a number of poetic devices to create images. Firstly, he uses the metaphor in the heart of the town land’ to add interest to the poem. He uses language such as sweltered’ and punishing sun’ to create an image of the hot summer that he remembered. The poet brings nature into the poem with the metaphor bluebottles wove a strong gauze of sound’. This creates a visual image of the day he went to collect frogspawn in the reader’s mind and engages their interest. He uses alliteration in the line on shelves at school, and wait and watch’, to make the tone calm and happy with soft sounds. There is childish language like ‘mammy’ used to convey an image of innocence in the first stanza. In the second stanza, the mood changes dramatically from one of nostalgia and innocence to vulgarity and almost horror, although there are hints to this tone in the preceding stanza. The poet uses words like ‘rotted’, ‘slobber’, and ‘festered’ as a hint that all is not well. In this stanza, the mood is dark, and vile, conveyed by language like ‘rank’, ‘gross’ and ‘vengeance’. Heaney creates a tense image with the bass chorus of the frogs. He describes the frogs’ necks as ‘pulsing like sails’ and their blunt heads ‘farting’ to convey his terror that his once loved frogs would wreak ‘vengeance’ on him. The frogs are described as ‘slime kings’, once again bringing out the dominance of nature. Heaney uses onomatopoeia in the words ‘slap’ and ‘pop’ to create an image in the reader’s mind. The poem concludes with the poet saying that ‘the spawn would clutch’ his hand. This communicates his terror and reflects the poem’s central theme of the power of nature.

Argumentation Teqniques Used in Martin Luther King Jr.s...

â€Å"Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity (pg. 941).† In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for leading a peaceful march in Birmingham in which the city officials issued no parade permit. From the jail cell in Birmingham, Martin Luther King Jr. composed â€Å"Letter From Birmingham Jail† in response to the eight clergymen who had attacked his character and work for civil rights through the publication â€Å"A Call For Unity†, insisting he was an â€Å"outsider† influencing the actions of hatred and violence. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes himself as an authority in the eyes of his audience, shows the trials blacks encounter in America, justifies his†¦show more content†¦936).† The purpose of direct action is to create a tension to open the door up for negotiation. If the government does not feel the pressure of change from the people , change is likely to be postponed and neglected. King uses logos to counter argument the clergymen’s claim that the actions at Birmingham were untimely. For example, â€Å"All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry (pg. 941).† King counters that claim with the logic that time itself is neutral and can be used either destructively or constructively. It’s what we do in the time were given that is important. Martin Luther declares that the white power structure left the Black community with no alternative and logically describes the actions the Negro community took and the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. He supports his claim saying that Negro leaders sought to negotiate with city fathers but they refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. Some merchants agreed to move their storesâ€℠¢ humiliating racial signs but they briefly remained unseen. As weeks