Saturday, August 31, 2019
Biblical Worldview Essay
Introduction In Romans we learn so many aspects of Christianââ¬â¢s life. It tells us how we as Christianââ¬â¢s should view the natural world, our identity and our relationship with others, our culture, and civilization. There is so much more we could learn from this book. In Romans 1-8 we will find that the information in it is so much that we will not get the full meaning of all the things it is saying unless we look deeper into it. Romans 1-8 takes us from our total inability to walk in good works, to Godââ¬â¢s faithfulness in justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us by our faith through Godââ¬â¢s grace. The Natural World We all know that God through his own words formed the natural world. God spoke the universe and everything that existence in it. As Christianââ¬â¢s we should know this because as believers, we believe the bible is a revelation of God and that it is not just a book written by human hands. Paul writes in Romans 1:20-21 ââ¬Å"For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by things that made, even in his eternal power and God head, so that they are without excuse, 21- because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkenedâ⬠. God made everything and he is showing those that disrespect him in his face with their sin himself so that when they know that there is a God and he created everything. Human Identity Our human Identity of who we as a mankind is that we all were made in Godââ¬â¢s image. God created us equally, but he also gives us the free will to choose to serve him or not. In Psalm 8:5 it says ââ¬Å"For you have made him a little lower than the angels; and you have crowned him with glory and honor.â⬠And in Genesis 2:15 ââ¬Å"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.â⬠We have many things that are wrong with us that we canââ¬â¢t fix, so we need Jesus to justify, sanctify, and glorify us. We need all three those that we can be connected to Christ, live life, serverà him and when we die we will get to enjoy eternal heaven with him, and have everlasting life. Human Relationship In Romans 12:8 it says ââ¬Å"he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he shows mercy, with cheerfulness.â⬠What that verse is saying to all Christians is that our ethic is based all on love. We as humans know that relationships very confusing and are hardest part of life. We all have a sin against own bodies and souls, but it is a sin that is against others who were created in Godââ¬â¢s image. If you are going to steal from your neighbor you might as well steal from God. We were all created in his image and we need to love and respect others just like we would God. Culture Paul says in Romans 11 that God will save some in Israel because most of them were elect by the Patriarchs. Romans 12 says as Christians we are to live as a living sacrifice to Christ, while doing all these thing in love and showing our love to others through service. We as believers are to be humble and serve others with joy, as believers we are to work with others to Christââ¬â¢s redemptive work. Christ is merciful, righteous, sovereign, and just God. He wants us to love another like he loves the world. Conclusion ââ¬Å"No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 8:39.â⬠Itââ¬â¢s so refreshing to know that I can always count on God to love me. Even when Iââ¬â¢m unable to love myself God will. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I can have a relationship with God, where and whatever I do, or say or think will never make him not love me. God will always love and be with me no matter what. God wants us to live for him. He also wants us to lead others to him. References New King James Version Bible (NJKB)
Friday, August 30, 2019
GIS – Harrow
For my report I've chosen 4 GIS maps from the Harrow council's official website (to make the results more reliable) that show the differentiation between the standards of living across the London borough of Harrow. The GIS maps that I chose (and copied as evidence) include: population density, life expectancy, street crime, and income levels; I have analysed them and described what the variations in each map are and what they show us. To conclude my report I have compared the variations in all the maps, and described what they show us. This map shows the main wards in the borough of Harrow. Pop. Density This map (see above) shows the population density levels in wards across Harrow. The map shows us that there is a mix of both high and low population density levels across the borough. The north east and west of the borough is the most sparsest, as it's got the lowest amount of people per hectare- 5-less than 40 people and 40-less than 55 High per hectare. Population density levels are more concentrated in the centre of the borough, where wards like Wealdstone, headstone north, Kenton west, and Marlborough are located, with equally high density levels spreading towards the south of the borough-towards the south east, where high pop. density levels are also highly concentrated, Kenton east is situated there. The south west of the borough has more of a mix of pop. density levels, as they're between mostly 40-less than 50 people per hectare, and 83-less than 107 people per hectare. (Wards like Roxbourne, and West Harrow which are situated in the south west of the borough have higher population density levels). Life expectancy This map (see above) shows the life expectancy levels in wards, across Harrow. The map shows us that the life expectancy levels across the borough are generally low- they're mostly around 78.5 years to less than 80 years, and 80 years to less than 81 years. The map shows us that generally the centre of the borough has got the lowest life expectancy levels in the borough, with a life expectancy of 76-less than 78.5 years and 78.5-less than 80 years. The areas with the highest life expectancies in the borough are the far north east where Cannons is located, with a high life expectancy of 81.5-less than 83 years, and the far south east, where Edgware is located, with a life expectancy of 81-less than 81.5 years. In general, I think that the graph shows us that the west-north /west of the borough has got the highest life expectancy, with mostly a life expectancy of 81.5-less than 83 years; the north-west has got a high life expectancy of 81-less than 81.5 years. Street crime-darker area=more street crime This map (see above) shows the levels of street crime in wards, across Harrow. The map shows us that generally, fairly high levels of street crime are quite widely dispersed across the borough, the fact that there is no legend available for this map makes it less reliable. The centre of the borough seems to have the most amount of street crime, as generally, there're darker areas are more concentrated, with Greenhill in the south having the highest level of crime as it is the darkest area. The whole of the eastern section of the borough also seems to have a high indicator for crime levels- where wards like Cannons and Edgware are located, as there're lots of dark areas and they're highly concentrated. The north/ west have got the lowest indicator levels for street crime, as there're a lot of light areas that are fairly highly concentrated, wards like Pinner, Hatch End, Headstone north, and Pinner south are located. Income-darker=less income, lighter=more income. This map (see above) shows us the levels of income in wards, across Harrow. The map shows us that generally fairly low income levels are widely dispersed across the borough, the fact that there is no legend available for this map makes it less reliable. The south of the borough seems to have a lower indicator level for income, as these areas are darker and highly concentrated, where wards like Greenhill, Marlborough, and Kenton are situated. Generally the east of the borough seems to have the low levels of income too (second after the centre). The north west section of the borough seems to have fairly low levels of crime as there are lighter areas, wards like Pinner, Hatch End, Rayners Lane, and Headstone north are located. Conclusion By comparing the 4 variations between the standards of living in Harrow for all 4 of the GIS maps, I have found that in general, the north west of the borough has got the lowest indicators for street crime, and population density, while having the highest indicators for life expectancy, and income. I think this is due to the fact that the categories may be interdependent. I think that because people in the north west generally have a higher income compared to the rest of the borough, so this could've had an impact on the other results from the other categories, e.g. the reason why there is a low indicator for population density in the area could be because the house prices are higher in this area, so people can't really afford to live in this area (as the majority of the rest of the borough seem to generally have a lower income level). Also, the results suggest that street crime levels are generally low in this area because of the low indicator of population density in this area. I have also found that in general, the south/west of the borough has got the highest indicator for population density levels, street crime levels, low income levels, and a low indicator for life expectancy levels. I think that this is due to the fact that the categories may have a correlation. I think that because people in the north west generally have a high indicator for population density levels, as they may have a low income compared to the north west of the borough (which has a high indicator for income), so they can't really afford to live in the north west, this could also be the reason why generally street crime levels are higher in the south east, because of the high indicator for population density. Also, the reason that the area in general has a low indicator for life expectancy may be because of the larger amount of people who live there.
Queen Elizabeth Rhetorical Analysis of Tilbury Speech
Queen Elizabethââ¬â¢s speech invigorated the troops and ensured her faith in them and her capability as a leader through the use of repetition, juxtaposition, persuasion, amplification and diction. In the beginning sentence Elizabeth includes herself in the fight by using ââ¬Å"weâ⬠thereby establishing a common ground with the troops. She uses emotional argument to instill a sense of nationalism. Elizabeth repeatedly refers to her people affectionately with phrases like ââ¬Å"my loving peopleâ⬠(line 1) or ââ¬Å"my faithful and loving peopleâ⬠(line 5).By complementing the soldiers, asserting nationalism, and giving them a purpose, she inspires them to proudly defend England. Queen Elizabeth referenceââ¬â¢s God and country throughout the speech, evoking a strong sense of English patriotism through the use of repetition. The Queen juxtaposes her ââ¬Å"weak and feebleâ⬠(line 14) form as a woman, to her strong spirit and bravery, likened to that of a king of England, thus further appealing to the audienceââ¬â¢s nationalism. She elevates her status above the oppressing sexism of the times, she suggests that she is as capable of success as any shrewd, hard-stomached king.When speaking of the defense of the county, the Queen proposes that she herself will fight amongst them, Elizabeth repeats ââ¬Å"myselfâ⬠as amplification of her dedication to her country. Elizabeth places her full trust in her people, denouncing any thought of distrust. Her unwavering trust is a reassurance to her people. She does not feel the need to control and regulate her subjects for fear of rebellion, she gives them the power to defend and protect the homeland. Her people respect her for this and remain loyal to her. The final persuasion is promise of ââ¬Å"rewards and crownsâ⬠(line 21) for those concerned with monetary and influential matters.The Queen promises to reward for valour and virtue on the battlefield. The repetition of ââ¬Å"yourâ⠬ in the closing sentence serves as an appraisal and importance of the troops. Elizabeth uses the value of trust, nationalism, faith, relation, and material reward as a means to convince her troops to defend their homeland. By assimilating herself as their equal and asserting her willingness to give everything for her country, she makes the idea of dying in battle more comfortable to the soldiers. She gives them a cause, and they rise to the occasion.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Evaluate the importance of women disciples in Mark Essay
Evaluate the importance of women disciples in Mark - Essay Example In the Gospel of Mark, women are presented as the ones who faithfully remained with Jesus Christ during His passion till His death3. In the Gospel of Mark we read the following ââ¬Å"There were also women working on a far off; among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less, and of Joses, and Salome; Who also, when he was I Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women who came up with him unto Jerusalemââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢4 . In the Gospel of Mark therefore, women disciples are contrasted with the male disciples who ran away during the passion of Jesus Christ. Even Simon peter, who had early promised Jesus Christ that he would never abandon him, eventually abandoned Jesus Christ. Women therefore are presented in the Gospel of Mark as faithful disciples, who are ready to endure all manner of sufferings for the sake of their faith. Again, as we have seen in the above quotation, the women who remained faithfully with Jesus Christ during his passion had been with Jesus Christ, throughout his ministry, ministering to him. This fact shows that women disciples were quite important in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Besides enduring sufferings and remaining faithfully with Jesus Christ during his passion, women disciples also discovered, as it were, Jesusââ¬â¢ suffering messiahship before the male disciple. On this view, the feminist Bible scholar Elisabeth Fiorenza in her book, A Feminine Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, states that it was a woman who recognized Jesusââ¬â¢ suffering messiahship, and in a prophetic sign-action, the woman anointed Jesus for his burial, while some of the male disciples of Jesus Christ reprimanded her5. The women disciples in the book of Mark, therefore, are presented as having a clear knowledge of the mission of Jesus Christ as a suffering Messiah. In the Gospel of Mark, in the healing miracles of Jesus Christ, women are portrayed as a model of Jesus Christââ¬â¢s
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I - Essay Example Eventually, it was still Elizabeth's word against them when she said that the people's interests were more important. Centuries after the Queen's death, investigations were being done to claim that indeed, there was a secret marriage with two secret sons to boot. One of the sons accordingly was Francis Bacon, a writer turned critic of the Queen. Whether this was true or not, the Francis Bacon Society is promoting the truth of this belief now. In fact, some of the sources used in this paper come from sirbacon.org, a website for Francis Bacon. Queen Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533, to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, King of Great Britain.1 The King then had Catherine of Aragon for a wife who could not bear him a son that he changed the course of his country's history to marry Boleyn. Instead, she bore Elizabeth. Eventually, Anne was charged with incest and beheaded on May 19, 1536, before Elizabeth was even three years old. Meanwhile, Elizabeth grew up but is a reminder to Henry of Anne, Elizabeth was sent away from Court.2 From 1534 to 1585 or for a period of 51 long years, dukes, archdukes, princes, knights, and kings courted Elizabeth. The first suitor on record was Charles, Earl of Angouleme, 3 but the nature of such courtship has not been explained. In 1534, Elizabeth was only a year old, having been born in 1533. 4 Elizabeth became queen on November 17, 1558, at the age of 25. 5 Therefore 21 nobles may have courted her before she was ever crowned, and 13 when she became queen.6 Upon the queen's coronation, Felipe II, the King of Spain, instantly became a suitor, taking after his son, Don Carlos, coming ahead by three years in 1556.7. When she was last being wooed in 1585 she was already 52.8 The Queen died on March 24, 1603, at the age of 70 9 having had 34 principal suitors .10 The list of suitors The following list 11 includes only the principal suitors of queen Elizabeth according to period: 1534, Charles, Earl of Angouleme; 1536, Duke of Orleans et de Chtellerault; 1542-1545, Duke of Bourbon, third son of Francois I; - 1538, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria; 1542, a Prince of Portugal; 1543 James Hamilton, Son of James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran; 1544, Prince Felipe; 1547, Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley; 1551, Brother of the Duke of Guise; 1551, Alfonso D'Este; 1533-1597, Son of Hercules D'Este Duke of Ferrara; and 1551, Son of Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence; - 1552, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1553, Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire; 1554 Henry Fitzalan, BaronMaltravers, Son of the Earl of Arundel; 1554, Duque de Segorbe; 1554, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor; 1554, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1555, Christopher II Zahringen, and 1536, then again in1577, Margrave of Baden; - 1555, Philibert Emanuel, Duke of Savoy; 1556 Prince Eric of Sweden; 1556, Don Carlos (son of Felipe II); 1559, Felipe II; 1559, Prince Eric of Sweden; 1559, Son of Johann Friedrich I, 1556, Duke of Saxony who also tried two years before; 1559, Sir William Pickering; 1559,James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran, father of the one who courted the Queen in 1543; - 1559, Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel; 1559, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; 1560, King Eric XVI of Sweden; 1560, Adolphus of Gottorp, Duke of Holstein and Knight of the Garter;Ã 1560,Ã King Charles IX of France; 1560,Ã Henri De Valois, Duke of Anjou.Ã
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Effects of Technology in Administrative Office Systems Essay - 1
Effects of Technology in Administrative Office Systems - Essay Example ed turnaround such as Smartphone, the Internet and tablet PCs has shown signs of certain disadvantages that may have long-lasting effects if not addressed timely. Since connectivity to the internet is not an issue anymore it is possible to access both personal and office related work via the internet just about any time during the day. All one needs to do is to log into the internet and begin to access your work while even sitting at your home. " Typically, the concern about our dependence on technology is that it detracts from our time with family and friends in the real world. ... It may be that the immediacy of the Internet, the efficiency of the iPhone and the anonymity of the chat room change the core of who we are." (Pope, 2010) Administrative Offices have many managerial tasks at hand. It is imperative that their details be discussed in order to narrate the changes that would be bought with the fusion of technology in them. For a conventional office system administrative tasks may merely be as simple as the maintenance of records of the employees working for an organization and the maintenance and generation of their payroll, regularly, on a monthly basis to the strategic tasks as those involving major business decision making. Managing of administrative knowledge, in a knowledgeable manner is the key to betterment in the implementation of these processes. Shannak researched the effect of managing knowledge upon administrative decision making and quotes the following as part of his research, "Knowledge Management is a technique that seeks to improve the performance of individuals and organizations by making use of the present and future value of knowledge assets. It is presumed that the performance will be improved by providing the right knowledge to the right people at the right time." (Shannak, 2010) The introduction of technology has revolutionized the nature of administrative office tasks. The transition from manually entered official data in a
Monday, August 26, 2019
Drug Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Drug Abuse - Essay Example As the research stresses the problem affects the victim in numerous ways because they are not good for the body, that is, they are harmful to the body. Drug abuse can harm the body system of an individual in numerous ways, such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and also the brain. These organs can be heavily damaged by the introduction of the harmful drugs into the body system. From the report it is clear men, women and teenagers within the United States are widely experiencing the effects of drug abuse and have become addicted victims. Drugs such as Alcohol, cocaine, heroin and meth. Marijuana is among the drugs that are often abused, although, it is not technically addictive. All these drugs fall under the prohibited drugs in the American Law. However, Marijuana has been legalized in other places. Some other states are still in a discussion regarding the legalization of marijuana. These drugs are by all mean destructive as they lead to loss of job, families as well as homes. Drug abuse is a problem that has been relevant in the public domain for several decades. Some drugs such as cocaine, are rather expensive and used by individuals from wealthier families. The drug has physical and psychological effects on the victim. Methamphetamine is another seriously effective drugs and among the fastest growing in the United States. The effects are relatively harsh to the user and can be awfully concerning. Addicts experience a decline in appetite, high blood pressure, high body temperature, and violent behavior.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Franklin Roosevelt Against the Great Depression and World War II Research Paper
Franklin Roosevelt Against the Great Depression and World War II Difficulties - Research Paper Example Franklin D. Roosevelt was an effective leader in office and a powerful leader in the history of America presidents. He was self-confident, could interact with all people easily and determined public servant who provided America with a clear vision and used his political skills to get all people focused towards achieving the vision (Franklin, 2013). His life was spent in public service. He began his public service career as a New York State Senator. Then he became the assistant secretary of the navy and was once a vice presidential candidate. Later he served as the New York governor before running for the presidency and serving as the 32nd president of the United States of America (Berlin, 1955). A policy is made after wide consultation and evaluation of its effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages. Then the collected views are subjected to the discussion by lawmakers and finally, the president assents to the policy making it legal. A policy is made from concrete facts. The presid ent is not solely responsible for decision-making. There are many other decision-making organs involved in decision making such as the Judiciary, Attorney General, and lawmaking institutions. President Franklin Roosevelt could speak at length on any matter with his charisma to link with people. He could project his voice loud enough with charismatic, intimate and yet commanding speech that was hugely appreciated by Americans. He restored hope to Americans through his speech. In March 1933, he delivered the first speech that made Americans write thousands of appreciation letters to him for giving them hope during the great economic depression.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Cesaer Beccaria & Classical Theories of Crime and Punishment Research Paper
Cesaer Beccaria & Classical Theories of Crime and Punishment - Research Paper Example Crime is any action that violates basic believes and values of a society. These beliefs are values are the laws that the society observes, in maintaining peace and order. A person who violates these laws has to face its consequences and this is referred to as punishment. Crime and punishment classical theories are based on the philosophy of utilitarian. Cesare Beccaria was a classical school philosopher who argued that people are free to decide on how to act, and secondly, human beings are hedonists, who look for pleasure while avoiding pain and the weight of benefits and costs of the actions consequences. This theory, however, ignores motivational factorsââ¬â¢ possibility like unconscious drives and irrationality of individuals. The theory states that: punishment of sufficient severity is the only way of stopping people from committing crime because its costs are more than the benefits. However, punishment severity should be proportional to the crime. The more certain and swift t he punishment is, the more effective itââ¬â¢s likely to be in preventing behaviors of crime. However, his views contrast and compare to the contemporary theory of Rational Choice Theory. Classical Theories The theory states that individuals freely choose their own actions and that avoiding such acts is only possible if the benefits that the individual expects are less than the costs, for example facing severe punishment. Therefore, the assumptions of classical theory are; all people are by nature self seeking, and hence are responsible to committing crimes. An agreement to protect private property power among others, and people deliberately enter into social agreements with the government in order to maintain peace, law is only a sign of moral agreement coherence as all people are rational and finally, every individual is responsible for his own actions. The theory also states that the behavior of law breaking is as a result of irrational actions of some people, who because of th eir shortcomings are unable to uphold an agreement with their nation or state. According to the classical theory of crime, people who disobey the law are punished in order to stop them from destructing other peoplesââ¬â¢ rights, and this gives the government a choice to punish them and implement the penalty, since the society is independently established by people. Furthermore, the theory says that penalties must equal the interest that the crime violates and concentration should be centered on the act (Beccaria, 1764). The classical theory argues that laws should be few and execution settled down on time. Penalty should also aim at compensating valuable activity and reprimanding destructive activities. According to these theories, a penalty application should not fail when based on the committed crime and excusive cases or moderating conditions should not exist. Betham observes that anything done should aim at providing the greatest happiness to as many people as possible. Furth ermore, he says that penalty strictness was so high, to give rise to death punishment. Theory Policies Beccaria appealed for reasoning principle where he called for state understanding as a kind of contract, and utility principle, above all, as of the biggest happiness for the biggest number. He openly condemned penalty of death on two grounds: first, he argued that the state has no right to take away lives and secondly, he said that capital punishment is not a useful form of punishment.
Friday, August 23, 2019
Stem Cell Research Ethical Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Stem Cell Research Ethical Dilemma - Essay Example The functionalities of stem cells allow the body to repair itself internally as they can divide through mitosis so as to replenish other cells. While dividing, stem cells can either remain as it is, that is a stem cell, or can develop into any other body cell such as nerve cell, white blood cell, red blood cell, or muscle cell. It is there unique qualities ââ¬â as unspecialized cells as well as ones that can be induced to be specialized to perform certain functions ââ¬â that they have attracted such attention and research from the scientific community. However, the extent to which these cells can be induced under particular conditions is arguable especially due to its association with ethical concerns. While many characteristics can be induced upon the cells by exposing it to different conditions without any harm, the fact that there is a potential danger from such exposition takes over progressive research on the subject. Also, several stem cell experiments on human embryoni c cells for IVF (in vitro fertilization) and somatic cells presents ethical concerns which is seen by many as ââ¬Ëtinkeringââ¬â¢. It is important to consider that science has forwarded and developed as a result of research. Since its early days, the various researches conducted by scientists and theorists have played a central roles in the advancement of scientific knowledge. However, this fact does not ignore the moral and ethical responsibilities of a scientific researcher while she or he is on his path to conduct experiments. Most stem cell research experiments are looked upon as essential discoveries that can lead to a transformation of the modern world. More researcher in the field can provide answers to several of the scientific questions and can also resolve problems associated with human reproduction. The debate revolving around embryonic stem cells is its position on the value of life which may considers an embryo as a person or otherwise. Since embryo is considered to be an early form
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Week 4 question 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Week 4 question 8 - Assignment Example On the other hand, an organization that focuses on cost minimisation like Wal-Mart should have a mechanistic structure. Through centralization of power and authority, it can be observed that the nature of business follows a particular routine and costs are minimised since there are few people involved in the decision making process that is vital for the operations of the organization as a whole. 2. Organizational culture refers to ââ¬Å"a system of shared meaning held by the members that distinguishes the organization from the other organizations,â⬠(Sanchez, 2014, p.4). In many ways, organizational culture is beneficial when it fosters innovation and risk taking. Organizational culture is also beneficial when the employees are innovative. More importantly, organizational culture is beneficial when it is people, organization and team oriented. Another sign that shows that organizational culture is beneficial is when it creates stability in the firm. However, organizational culture becomes a liability if it is resistant to change since it will be counterproductive. A culture that hinders diversity in the organization is also a liability. A diverse workforce is productive since the members can share their ideas and
Threats ISIS poses on the US Essay Example for Free
Threats ISIS poses on the US Essay They arent just threatening they are also following through have killed multiple americans Are known to be even more extreme than al qaeda à if isis isnt killed and destroyed it will only recruit more and become stronger Isis could attack in revenge if U.S does anything We still have not detected direct potting towards the U.S. ISIS hasnââ¬â¢t made a direct threat towards the U.S. other than the brutal murders. The ground troops should not come from the U. S but ground troops are necessary. The ground troops should come from the places that are the most threatened by ISIS. We have no threat yet. Hello, this is a letter concerning troops being put into Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS. We have proven to ourselves in the past that this is not an easy job. We will not be able to go in there and wipe the terrorists out with ease. For instance, during the war on Al Qaeda we sent over 806 billion dollars and have had troops deployed for 12 years. We didnââ¬â¢t plan on being in Iraq and Afghanistan for that many years but the Taliban werenââ¬â¢t easy to take down. ISIS has proven to be even more organized, powerful, and more secretive than the Taliban and Al Qaeda. They have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria in a matter of months and have spread into other countries. It will be a large expense to put ground troops into both countries and maybe more if they spread. We will also waste a lot more money if we send ground troops in. Continuing airstrikes would be more reasonably cost wise and would decrease the loss in life. In the 12 years we fought the Taliban we lost 6,639 troops, mostly ground troops. If we go into Iraq and Syria with ground troops like we did with the Taliban we will lose more troops than necessary. There have only been 2 Americans killed so far and sending ground troops in will only cause more deaths than need to happen. As long as we protect our borders without deploying ground troops we will be safe here.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Enigma and Lorenz Machines Their Contribution to Computing
Enigma and Lorenz Machines Their Contribution to Computing The purpose of this report is to understand the working of cryptography by studying the working of Enigma and Lorentz machines which were used by Germans during World War II. The report will also discuss the effect of the invention of this machines on modern day cryptography. Cryptography has been helping humans to transmit information in secured way but the popularity of cryptography was limited to certain individuals and it was not used widely. During World War II the demand of cryptography increased which resulted in invention of Lorentz and Enigma machine by Germans. The encrypted information was important to Britains to gain an edge over the Germans war strategies, hence a research center was constructed in Britains to decode the encoded information. The report discusses the working of Enigma and Lorentz machine and the various methods adopted by Britains to decode the encoded information. The report will conclude by studying the effect of the creation of the encrypting and decrypting machines on the modern-day computing. Cryptography play an important role in humans daily interaction with technological devices, with the advent of computing devices and internet it has become extremely important to hide private information. We often wonder how we can transfer money through internet or by using ATM cards. The sensitive personal information such as bank details are transferred securely through internet which is available to everyone. This paper tracks the events which contributed to the development of modern day cryptography and discusses the development in the field of cryptanalysis. Cryptography is the science of secretly transferring information from one point to another so that the information is reliably transferred from one point to another, which is unintelligible to all receiver of information except the intended user. The aim of the cryptography is to prevent eavesdroppers from understanding the message. (A. Eskicioglu and L. Litwin, 2001) The human want of secrecy of information has resulted in the invention of cryptography. Ciphers were created to hide personal information. The need to securely transmit information has increase with the advent of modern communication. Confidential information such as Business plan, financial transaction which are send over internet needs to be transferred in a secured way. Since, internet is available to everyone it important to encrypt the information which is being transferred (Zwicke, 2003). The basic working of encryption can be divided into three parts: Encryption: Cryptography works by modifies the original information (termed plain text in cryptography) which is in readable form to encrypted form (termed ciphertext in cryptography) which is not easily interpreted by unauthorized person. The encryption process scrambles the plaintext by combining it with a key which is a random sequence of letters or numbers and produces ciphertext. Transmission Once the information is encrypted it is transferred to the intended user by various methods. For example, it could be transferred by writing it on paper or can be send via complicated modern wireless system. Decryption: After the information is received by the intended person the person tries to decode the information with a key. The key is unique and usually only the receiver has the key to decode the information (An introduction to cryptography, n.d.). 3.1 Stream cipher Stream cipher is an encryption algorithm which encrypts one bit of data in one cycle of its operation. The stream cipher uses infinite stream of pseudorandom bits of key to encrypt the plaintext. The robustness of the stream cipher depends on the algorithm which is used to produce the key. Since, repetition in the key can cause the stream cipher to be easily predicted and the encrypted text could be easily decrypted (Villanueva, 2015). The working of the stream cipher is explained below: As discussed above encryption works by combining the plain text Xi with key Si to produce ciphertext Ci . The combining process uses modulo 2 operation which is the modulus between the bits of the plaintext and ciphertext. We can denote this mathematically as Ci = Xi à ¢Ã
â⬠¢ Si To decrypt the message the same key stream is used which was used for encrypting the message. Mathematically this can be stated as Xi = Ci à ¢Ã
â⬠¢ SiÃâà (C. Paar, J. Pelzl) The diagram below summarizes the entire process: Figure 1 Encryption and decryption with stream cipher. Reprinted from Understanding cryptography, by C. Paar, J. Pelzl, (n.d.), Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2mEit9i Copyright by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 Enigma machine eliminated the human effort of encryption by automating the process of encryption. The use of enigma machine during World War II was done to secretly transmit the classified information to remote military units. The enigma was electro-mechanical machine which encoded the character stream to cypher text. The simplest version of the enigma machine had three motors which are interconnected with each other. It also has a plug board which is a board to interconnect letters to improve the encryption of the enigma machine. A keyboard was used to input the characters to be encoded by the machine. A light board was used to display the encrypted letter of the plaintext character. Figure 2 Enigma How the machine worked. Reprinted from The guardian website, by Hern, Alex, (2014, Nov 14), Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/14/how-did-enigma-machine-work-imitation-game Copyright Simon Singh. 4.1à Working The working of enigma machine was simple. When the operator types the letter on keyboard electric signal is generated. The signal then passes through the plug board which substitutes the letter per the connection of the plug board. The signal then passes through the three rotors with internal wiring. This is where the actual encryption takes places. As mentioned above each motor consists of 26 steps of rotation before making one complete cycle. The arrangement of the three motors was such that when the first motor completes a full rotation the second motor would move by one step. The same step is applicable for third motor. After passing through the connection of motors the signal is then reflected and again passes thorough the plug board. After passing through the plug board the signal lights up the appropriate letter on the light board providing the encrypted letter of the plain text character. The Lorentz machine was developed by C. Lorentz in Berlin. In 1940s Germans saw the need to establish secured communication between German high command in Wà ¼nsdorf close to berlin and German army throughout Europe. With the invention of mechanical machine and electronic boards it became possible to build a machine capable of encrypting the message which was send to remote army. The Lorenz machine was used for sending tactical information (Smart, n.d.). Lorentz machine uses Lorentz cipher which was based on Baudot code. Lets discuss about the working of Baudot code. Baudot Code: It used five bit of data to encode characters. Baudot code was a standard means of communication via teleprinter. Since five bits were insufficient to represent all the characters on the keyboard. Hence the code was divided into two states called letter shifts and figures shifts. To toggle between the two states a control character was used, there were other characters which had special functions such as space. To understand the working of Baudot code lets take an example of encrypting the word Hello. The first step is to fill the Paper tape with holes and insert the paper tape into telegraph to send the message. To punch holes in the paper tape the position of the holes needs to be determined which was obtained from the Baudot code table. These holes were converted to bits and then transferred by teleprinter. Figure 3 The Baudot printing telegraphy system. Second Edition. Reprinted from Circuitousroot website, by Pendry, H, W. (1919) Retrieved from http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/telegraphy/tty/codes/ 5.1 Lorenz Cipher The Baudot code is taken as input by the Lorenz cipher. The Lorenz cipher consisted of 12 motors which are separated into 3 pairs. Each motor had different number of pins on it as shown in figure below: Figure 4 An Enigma machine rotor. Reprinted from Plus magazine website, by Ellis Claire. (2005, Mar 1). Picture retrieved from https://plus.maths.org/content/exploring-enigma Copyright by Simon Singh Each pin could store either 0 or 1 based on the configuration of the machine. The configuration of the machine (setting the starting position of each motor) was performed by the operator of the machine and the same configuration of the machine was used at the receiving end to decrypt the message. The Lorentz machine was divided into three pairs of motors as shown below: Figure 5 The internal working of the Lorentz cipher machine. Reprinted from the Rochester institute website, by Payne, Japnce. (n.d.), Retrieved from https://people.rit.edu/japnce/payne/images/rotorsall.png The three pair of motors are termed as K, M, and S. The description of each pair of motors is discussed below: K motors: These consist of 5 motors with following pin configuration K1=41, K2=31, K3=29, K4=26, K5=23. This set of motors shift by one pin for every character which was encoded. M motors: These consist of 2 motors with following pin configuration M1=61, M2=37. This set of motors shift by one pin for every character which was encoded. Further the output of the M motors decided whether the S motors should be rotated by one pin or should remain unchanged. S motors: These consist of 5 motors with following pin configuration S1=43, S2=47, S3=51, S4=53, S5=59. This set of motors shift by one pin based on the output of M motors. Working The 5 bits of the characters are first X-OR with the 5 bits of K motor. The output is then again X-OR with the 5 bits of S motors to get the cypher text. At the receiving end since the Lorentz cipher is a symmetric cipher, the same configuration is used to set up the Lorentz machine at receiving end and the encrypted message is decrypted. The mathematical formula of the encryption and decryption process is as follows: Suppose Message = M, Cipher text = C, Cypher = E M à ¢Ã
â⬠¢ E = C (Encryption) C à ¢Ã
â⬠¢ E = M (Decryption) (Smart, n.d.) Most of the technology that was in existence during World War II was like that which was used in World War I. The telegraph, which was type-printed using a typewriter was widely used commercially and by military personnel. In the late 1800s an Italian scientist, Guglielmo Marconi discovered the radio communication. However, it wasnt until the early 1900s that this technology was adopted for military purposes. It was the year 1914 and most major military powers of the world has started relying extensively on this technology but there was a problem there were no security mechanisms in place for a wireless signal to hide the messages being transmitted. The U.S. soon used a more sophisticated version of this technology as soon as Frequency Modulation was invented in 1920. Figure 6 Soldier during World War II using telegraphic switchboard Another important element of communication technology invented before and during the World War II was the RADAR technology. Developed by the U.S. navy for military use, these were signals sent in the microwave wavelength. It was an entirely new way of surveillance that enabled the allies to see in total darkness and find out about enemy ships in the distant sea or air.Ãâà Radar used small-short signals that were sent into a direction using an antenna. This would return the position and speed of an object which would serve as a critical early warning tool. Radar navigation implementation by the German bombers meant that the previous tactics of indiscriminate, area-based bombing was now replaced by more accurate precision targeting. Then there were the German fire control radars, Lichtenstein SN2 was mounted on top of airplanes and had an effective range of 2.5 miles. A methodology that had been in existence for a quite a while but was found of prime use during the World War II was Cryptography. Cryptography emerged as the saving grace to answer all questions about the immense need of secrecy. Cryptography had been in existence for over a thousand years but it wasnt until the early 19th century that mathematicians came together to build a machine that would be used for a very specific purpose send messages during times of war. During this period, Cypher machines were developed under extreme secrecy. These machines were of the mechanical and electromechanical kind. Out of the two, the later were developed by Germans into what they called the Enigma machine Allies and enemies developed and adopted the use of cryptographic communications of all sorts during this period. While Germans were focusing on techniques to build machines for encryption, the UK was busy trying to perform cryptanalysis on these machines. Numerous machines came out of Germany that used cryptography in its own unique way. FISH, as the UKs Bletchley Park codenamed them, were a series of German stream ciphers developed during the World War II era. The enigma in the early 1920s which was of the electro-mechanical sort that used a keyboard, rotors and a spindle to do the tricks. Another machine known as the Lorenz cipher was simultaneously developed as a form was a rotor stream cipher and started its use in military since 1941 in a SZ form. The tunny cipher as it was called was used for wireless telegraphy which eventually and unfortunately for the Germans, quite soon led to the interception of its messages. Poland came up with its own cryptographic machine called Bomba, which meant cryptographic bomb in Polish. While there is less information available about why it was named so, Bomba was a glorified Enigma machine in more ways than one. It was developed after the mathematician and its creator, Marian Rejewski studied by breaking apart an Enigma. Put simply, it was a multiple Enigma machine that used an electrical power aggregate of six Enigmas. Most countries like Poland, United States and the UK devoted their time and resources in cryptanalysis of these machines. Bletchley Park in England was extremely instrumental in bringing about a new era with the cryptanalysis or code breaking of messages that were being transmitted by the Germans during the World War II. The Lorenz machine was a stream cipher that encoded/streamed electrical pulses over a telephone line. The technique used was something we call XOR today which is an addition operation. A key property of XOR is that if one was to run the Ciphertext through the same key again, the original message could be found. The exploitation of this very concept of the Lorenz cipher led to its success cryptanalysis. One day after a 4000-letter message was sent out to Vienna, the sender who encodes the message received a response from the receiver asking to resend the message since they had not received the message. The sender reset the Lorenz machine and started to abbreviate a few words to make the process quicker. At this time, Bletchley Park had two copies of the same message and the prime mistake was that both were sent using the same key. The folks at Bletchley park were not just great mathematicians, but they also had an exceptional sense of awareness. They proceeded to add the two messages together, essentially cancelling out the keys. They were now left with two messages added together and then John Tiltman, an experience code breaker who not just able to figure out the message, but also figured out the key. John Tiltman gave this key to Bill Tutte, a young graduate from Cambridge who liked solving puzzles. He was able to out the length of the key by writing it down in rows with the aim to find out patterns. Bill Tutte found that the pattern of the wheel on the right had a period of 41. However, the pattern was not perfect and had an element of randomness which suggested that a wheel on the left was used that moved only sometimes. This information was enough for other mathematicians to jump onboard and fully figure out the Lorenz machine. The Enigma on the other hand had multiple variations in the structure of the machine throughout its useful life to be cracked at one go. The earlier versions of the Enigma were using a 3-rotor structure which was used as the main subject by the Polish Cipher Bureau. Marian Rejewski who worked for the bureau made significant developments in breaking the Enigma, without having much access to any of the official information about its inner workings. Rejewski developed a bomba machine in the process, this cryptanalysis machine was build using the observations Rejewski gathered that showed that the first three letters of a message were the same as the second three. Rejewskis method failed when in 1938 the Germans increased the rotors to include two additional ones. It was Alan Turing who developed a sophisticated Bombe that used statistics and the Bayes law for calculating the probability to narrow down on the number of possibilities. The bombe machines were also quickly updated to test the hypothesis. Figure 7 The British Bombe currently in display at the Bletchley Park Alan Turings Bombe was composed of drums which together simulated an enigma and each drum replicated the functioning of one rotor of the machine. The objective of the Turings bombe was to find out the key used by the Enigma, the starting position of the rotors and the steckers or plugs. The drums were designed to move from a set starting position every time. The movement was designed with the help of statistics and the Bayes law, hence the key space was greatly reduced thereby reducing the run time. Alan Turing has been regarded as one of the biggest contributors to defeating the German navy by helping the Allied Forced during the World War II. It is believed that the British employed 200 Bombes during the Second World War and collectively these Bombes decoded 4000 messages on any given day. The cryptanalysis of the Enigma is believed to have contributed to saving millions of lives and is identified as a prime reason why the war ended years before what it couldve lasted. Britains World War II codebreakers were centrally located at Bletchley Park, a code-breaking center run by the United Kingdom Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS). They primarily focused on deciphering German Enigma and Lorenz communications and producing Ultra intelligence (Hinsley, 1996). Ultra was the designation for high level encrypted Axis-power intelligence the codebreakers intercepted and decrypted (Hinsley, 1993). Ultra-intelligence generated by decrypted Enigma and Lorenz signals is credited with shortening the war, and without it the outcome of the war may have been different (Hinsley, 1996). The Enigma machine was the Germans primary encryption method during the war. Alan Turing, working at Bletchley Park in 1939, created the Bombe, which was an electromechanical machine used to decrypt Enigma ciphers (Smith, 2007). Gordon Welchman refined the Bombe in 1940 with a diagonal board, increasing the Bombes efficiency (Budiansky, 2000). Welchmans diagonal board addressed the plug board vulnerability in the Enigma. The Bombe was based on the Bomba, a Polish machine designed to break Enigma ciphers, which was created by Marian Rejewski (Kozaczuk, 1984). The creation of the functional Bombes led to Allies deciphering of Enigma signals. Beginning in 1940, Germany started developing more advanced machines that used the Lorenz cipher. The first was called the SZ40 machine, which was codenamed Tunny by the British codebreakers at Bletchley Park, and was followed by subsequent versions (SZ40A, SZ40B, and SZ42 (Copeland, 2006). These machines produced more complex ciphers than the Enigma, and were ultimately defeated by the 1+2 break in method created by Bill Tutte (Copeland, 2006). Multiple advanced decryption machines were designed to combat the Lorenz ciphers. First was the British Tunny Machine, which replicated the functions of the SZ40 machines. With the proper cam settings, it was able to produce clear text from cipher text that was input into it (Hinsley, 1993). Built on the Tunny machines, the Heath Robinson, or Robinsons, were created to automate the 1+2 break in (Copeland, 2006). They ran paper tapes to find the wheel settings of the Lorenz machine. Although they were functional, issues with keeping the paper tapes synchronized and slow processing speed limited their effectiveness (Copeland, 2006). Working on the Robinsons at Bletchley Park, Tommy Flowers was instrumental in the advancement of the Colossus computer. Colossus was capable of faster processing than the Robinsons due to processing electronically. This also allowed for only one paper tape, which did not have to be synchronized with another and could be run at a faster speed, around 5,000 characters per second (Copeland, 2006). Although the Colossus computer was created first, the American ENIAC was often credited for being the first electronic digital computer ever made. This was caused by Colossus being shrouded in secrecy after World War II. The term computer originally referred to a human operator who performed mathematical computations. As the need for more demanding and complex computations increased, a push for electronic or digital computing began (Copeland, 2006). Computers like Colossus and ENIAC were called program-controlled computers, in which programs each computer was to process were not stored in the computers memory they had to be manually programmed. For Colossus and ENIAC, this involved modifying wiring by hand using plugs and switches. Modern computers utilize a stored-program concept, in which the programs a computer runs are stored in that computers memory (Copeland, 2006). The concept of the modern computer started with Alan Turing in 1936. He described a universal computing machine, containing limitless memory that stored both data and programs. A scanner would process the data based on the selected program. The use of any program with the data allowed the computer to process any calculation a human could, making it universal. Being universal allowed the computer to switch from one task to another, as opposed to a completely different and unique machine needing to be created for each individual task (Copeland, 2006). Turings concept can be seen in modern computing today, where personal computers and mobile devices (smartphones, etcetera) store both data and programs, and can easily switch between different tasks based on the users needs. Programming to achieve a particular task is relatively simple in comparison installing a program in a modern computer is much less complex compared to rewiring something like the Colossus computer or creating a completely new machine entirely. As discussed, the Germans and Axis powers used Enigma and Lorenz ciphers heavily for their encrypted communications in World War II. The decryption of Enigma and Lorenz was key for the Allies and the development of Ultra intelligence, which likely shortened the war by years. In the end, the need for decrypting Enigma and Lorenz was the initial catalyst the eventually led to modern computing. Colossus, being the first electronic computer, spearheaded the push into the modern stored-program concept that computers and modern devices use today. Without this need for computing power, the world may well have progressed in a much different way. References Budiansky, S. (2000). Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II. Free Press: 1734. Cooper, S., Leeuwen, J. (2013). Alan Turing: His Work and Impact. Saint Louis, U.S.: Elsevier Science. Copeland, B., ed. (2006). Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Parks Codebreaking Computers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Enigma Machine. (2006). In J. Merriman J. Winter (Eds.), Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction (Vol. 2, pp. 964-966). Detroit: Charles Scribners Sons. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRLsw=wu=csuf_mainv=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CCX3447000319sid=exlibrisasid=50a327ace003888aadf98172a87c0eb6 Eskicioglu, A., Litwin, L. (2001). Cryptography. IEEE Potentials, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 36-38. doi: 10.1109/45.913211 Hinsley, F. H. (1993). The Influence of ULTRA in the Second World War. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20120706194507/http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/Historical/hinsley.html Hinsley, F. H. Stripp, A. (1993). Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kidwell, P. (2007). Technology and Culture. 48(3), pp. 663-664. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from JSTOR database. Kozaczuk, W. (1984). Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two. Frederick, MD: University Publications of America. Paar, C., Pelzl, J. (2010). Understanding Cryptography. Dordrecht, London, New York: Springer-Verlag. Smart, N. (n.d.). Cryptography: An Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.cryptocellar.org/files/NP_Smart_Cryptography.pdf Smith, M. (2007) [1998]. Station X: The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park. London: Pan McMillan Ltd. The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. (n.d.). An Introduction to Cryptography. Retrieved from https://fisher.osu.edu/~muhanna.1/pdf/crypto.pdf Villanueva, J. (2015). An Introduction to Stream Ciphers and Block Ciphers. Retrieved from http://www.jscape.com/blog/stream-cipher-vs-block-cipher Welchman, G. (2005). The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes. Cleobury Mortimer, England: MM Baldwin. Zwicke, A. (2003). An Introduction to Modern Cryptosystems. SANS Institute. Retrieved from https://www.giac.org/paper/gsec/2604/introduction-modern-cryptosystems/104482
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Causes of Prejudice and Discrimination
Causes of Prejudice and Discrimination Social categorization is very serious in TSW because the population structure in TSW is special. Excluding the rich ones from Hong Kong (HK) local living in Kingswood Villas and Home Ownership Scheme, most residents living in public hosing estates in TSW are new immigrants from mainland China and come from southern Asian countries like India and Pakistan. People divide the community into distinct categories on almost any basis and result in different perceptions of Us (named as in-group) versus Them (named as out-group).à [1]à Usually, Cantonese born, grow and live in local HK for a very long period of time are classified as in-group and treat other non-HK local born people as out-groups because cultural differences is the main reason for the formation of in-group and out-group. One of the cultural differences is language. Cantonese born and live in HK for a very long time can speak Cantonese (Guangzhou language) fluently and read Chinese as in-group. For out-group, new immigrants from mainland China, they may speak Guangzhou language in their homeland dialect or speak directly in their homeland dialect or even speak in Mandarin only. Another out-group is southern Asian (also named as minority ethnic group in HK). Although some of them can speak English and Cantonese, their main spoken language is Indian or Pakistan and most of them cant write and read in Chinese. Another cultural differences is custom. Even in the out-group, they also categorize in Chinese group (in) and non-Chinese group (out). For example, in Chinese taboo, Chinese dont speak death in Chinese lunar new year but people in southern Asian countries do not know or have this taboo. In other words, people in southern Asian countries do not mind to say dead during Chinese lunar new year or makin g Chinese friends. On the other hand, Pakistans like embrace during visiting their friends and relatives but Chinese do not have too many body intimate contact. Moreover, the negative perception and behaviour of new immigrants from mainland China and minority ethnic group also cause HK local people to discriminate these two out-groups. For example, Chinese new immigrants do not have queuing habit when waiting some services and like to spit everywhere so that HK local people think them rude and unhygienic. People from southern Asian countries have blacker skins than Chinese yellow skins and the male of southern Asian countries have more body hair than male of Chinese so that HK local people feel them dirty and spread bad smell. Some HK local people prefer to choose another seats to separate when one Pakistan sits next to HK local people in a bus or a train. The feelings and beliefs are sharply contrasting between the members of in-group and out-group. In in-group, members feel favourable and positive traits but feel negative views to out-group.à [2]à Most residents living in public hosing estates in TSW are new immigrants from mainland China and come from southern Asian countries (out-group) and their social status are low because their education level are low or even have no education. They cant find any jobs in HK. Even though they are fortunate to be employed, they can only find low salary jobs like cleaning workers and coolies. Some of members of out-group receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) from Social Welfare Department. HK local people (in-group) think that people who receive CSSA are lazy and unwilling to find a job to do. This sentence becomes prejudice and gives negative label to CSSA receiver because CSSA resource is very limited and it should not be abused. At the end of 2004, a couple living in TSW c heated CSSA to travel to Thailand and came across great tsunami. Although the wife was saved luckily, HK local people did not pay any sympathy to her and discriminated CSSA receiver. At the same time, HK local people (in-group) has positive view that they would earn their living (self-sufficient) hardly more than applying CSSA. As more and more poor families live in public housing estates in TSW, the limited resources of CSSA are taken away quickly and drastically by out-group and make heavy tax burden of in-group. The realistic conflict theory can explain why competing for limited CSSA resources between in-group and out-group as a source of prejudice.à [3]à Furthermore, the social identity theory suggested that individuals seek to feel positively about the groups to which they belong, and part of their self-esteem depends on identifying with social groups. It is because people who are identified with their group are most likely to express favouritism toward their own group and a corresponding bias against out-groups, valuing our own group has predictable consequences for prejudice.à [4]à HK local people feel proud and having pride of the positive core values like hard working and high degree of freedom that they like to live in HK and recognize their HK local identity. They form their own social networks. The influx of members from out-group to TSW would destroy positive impression of local HK people. Methods to Reduce Prejudice Eliminate Discrimination Re-categorization in TSW is one of the method to reduce prejudice by shifting the boundary between HK local people and new immigrants from mainland China. It was a fact that a huge number of Chinese refugees came to HK from China mainland after the end of World War II. Why this generation of HK locally born people forget their parents and grandparents whom were immigrants from mainland China before and live in HK for many decades ? However, there was no prejudice and discrimination of Chinese immigrants within Chinese living in HK from 1945 to 1980 but adding many barriers to new immigrants from mainland China in recent years. All living Chinese in TSW and even in whole of HK should be treated equal. Another way to reduce prejudice is contact hypothesis. Mr. Shafi, the chairman of Mutual Aid Committee of one public housing estate in TSW, comes from Pakistan and he has Chinese name called Tak Brother. He was born in HK and speaks Chinese, English and Pakistan language fluently. He likes to visit the neighbour including other Pakistans, new Chinese immigrants and HK local people. When they have troubles, he likes to help them voluntarily.à [5]à Moreover, social learning is also important to reduce prejudice because holding prejudice attitude would have less enjoyable life. HK local people can appreciate the positive value of new Chinese immigrants and minority ethnic group like saving of materials. We can say no to prejudice and discrimination when some HK local people scold to new Chinese immigrants and minority ethnic group as a rubbish! Social education against prejudice is very useful. Mr. Shafi is holding a social inclusion programme in TSW that Indian or Pakistan can learn Chinese culture. On the contrary, HK local people and new Chinese immigrants can learn how to make Indian curry and cuisine. Cultural exchange can shorten the distance between in-group and out-group.à [6]à On the other hand, the mass media should take social responsibility that not to report the negative news happened in TSW and dont use the term city of sadness anymore. More positive news about TSW should be reported like the Asian Game Exhibition of 2008 would employ hundreds of temporary staffs who live in TSW at the first priority.à [7]à For eliminating discrimination, the government is now formulating the law against racial discrimination in HK. Some racial discrimination minds and behaviour like saying à ©ÃÅ"à ¿Ã ¥Ã ·Ã ® to Indian or Pakistan should be banned. Conclusion Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination are the obstacles between the relation of different social groups. The barriers are easily built but hardly to demolish because different social groups need a long period of time to understand the other groups. On the other hand, prejudice is not inevitable by increasing communication channels between different social groups.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Essays --
Beyond the Bible, written by Howard Marshall, is a compilation of essays that seek to propose a biblically sound way to move from biblical text to doctrine and application. Marshall believes that if one is going to move ââ¬Å"beyond the bible,â⬠they must do so ââ¬Å"biblically.â⬠A concern for Marshall is also how to properly apply scripture to controversial matters in the church today. The book includes more than just Marshallââ¬â¢s work, but essays written by Kevin Vanhoozer and Stanley Porter as well, which backs the idea that hermeneutics should be a discussion, not a solo speech. In Marshallââ¬â¢s first essay, ââ¬ËEvangelicals and Hermeneutics,ââ¬â¢ he summarizes the state of evangelical theology in relation to hermeneutics. Marshall describes how over the past thirty years, evangelical scholars have come to appreciate hermeneutics more than ever before. Evangelical scholars now grasp and explore hermeneutical concerns at all levels of study: general hermeneutics, exegesis, as well as exposition and application. Marshall states that while examining an authorââ¬â¢s intent is important, it overlooks the question of sensus plenior, the workââ¬â¢s deeper meaning intended by God, not necessarily by the human author. In Marshallââ¬â¢s second essay, ââ¬ËThe Development of Doctrine,ââ¬â¢ he identifies two approaches to biblical interpretation, conservative and progressive. Marshall witnessed a need for greater clarity in regards to worship practices, principles, and theology due to the varying opinions among evangelical interpreters. Marshall mentions, ââ¬Å"It is especially the duty of evangelical Christians to provide some kind of reasoned, principled approach to the question of the development of doctrine from Scriptureâ⬠(Marshall 45). Marshallââ¬â¢s third essay, ââ¬ËThe Search for Bi... ...ques approaches based on the historical-critical method, the speech-act theory, and the approach of Wittgenstein. Porterââ¬â¢s view is that Paul, himself, had his own opinions on Jesus, God, and Christianity overall. Porter suggests using the translation theory when looking to go beyond the bible. He believes one should carefully examine the core of what is being said in scripture, and then translate it into todayââ¬â¢s language. Beyond the Bible is full of useful insights regarding how to apply scripture to doctrine and everyday life. Marshall, Vanhoozer, and Porter are all well-educated theologians. How to faithfully apply Scripture to everyday life is not conclusively agreed upon and laid out in this book, but it pushes readers to think about biblical interpretation in new ways. As mentioned earlier, hermeneutics is meant to be an on-going discussion, not a solo speech.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Essay on Number Theory -- Mathematics Math
Research Paper Throughout math, there are many patterns of numbers that have special and distinct properties. There are even numbers, primes, odd numbers, multiples of four, eight, seven, ten, etc. One important and strange pattern of numbers is the set of Fibonacci numbers. This is the sequence of numbers that follow in this pattern: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc. The idea is that each number is the sum of its previous two numbers (n=[n-1]+[n-2]) (Kreith). The Fibonacci numbers appear in various topics of math, such as Pascal?s Triangle and the Golden Ratio/Section. It falls under number theory, which is the study of whole or rational numbers. Number Theory develops theories, simple equations, and uses special tools to find specific numbers. Some topic examples from number theory are the Euclidean Algorithm, Fermat?s Little Theorem, and Prime Numbers. Strangely, the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature too. One familiar way in which the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature is the rabbit family line (and bee family line as well). Another strange way in which the Fibonacci numbers relate to nature is the plant kingdom. Because of these strange relationships, I ask the question: How and why do the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature? In this paper, I will attempt to answer this question. Pascal?s Triangle - Golden Rectangle 2 The man behind the Fibonacci numbers, Leonardo Fibonacci, was born in Pisa in 1175 A.D. During his life, he was a customs officer in Africa and businessman who traveled to various places. During these trips he gained knowledge and skills which enabled him to be recognized by Emperor Fredrick II. Fredrick II noticed Fibonacci and ordered him to take part in a mathematical tournament. This place would eventuall... ...its relation to the Golden Angle, which appears in the primordia of plants in order to give the maximum number of primordia for plants. I like to think of an idea in the book, ?Life?s Other Secret,? which says that it?s not just Fibonacci Numbers that matter; it?s also the matter in which they arise (Stewart). 9 Works Cited Adam, John. Mathematics in Nature. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2003. Knott, Ron. ?Fibonacci Numbers in Nature? 18, July 2005. 03, Aug 2005. Kreith, Kurt. COSMOS Professor. Davis, California. Muldrew, Lola. COSMOS Teacher Fellow. Davis, California. Stewart, Ian. Life?s Other Secret. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. University of Cambridge. ?The Life and Numbers of Fibonacci? Sep 1997. 03, Aug 2005. Essay on Number Theory -- Mathematics Math Research Paper Throughout math, there are many patterns of numbers that have special and distinct properties. There are even numbers, primes, odd numbers, multiples of four, eight, seven, ten, etc. One important and strange pattern of numbers is the set of Fibonacci numbers. This is the sequence of numbers that follow in this pattern: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc. The idea is that each number is the sum of its previous two numbers (n=[n-1]+[n-2]) (Kreith). The Fibonacci numbers appear in various topics of math, such as Pascal?s Triangle and the Golden Ratio/Section. It falls under number theory, which is the study of whole or rational numbers. Number Theory develops theories, simple equations, and uses special tools to find specific numbers. Some topic examples from number theory are the Euclidean Algorithm, Fermat?s Little Theorem, and Prime Numbers. Strangely, the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature too. One familiar way in which the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature is the rabbit family line (and bee family line as well). Another strange way in which the Fibonacci numbers relate to nature is the plant kingdom. Because of these strange relationships, I ask the question: How and why do the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature? In this paper, I will attempt to answer this question. Pascal?s Triangle - Golden Rectangle 2 The man behind the Fibonacci numbers, Leonardo Fibonacci, was born in Pisa in 1175 A.D. During his life, he was a customs officer in Africa and businessman who traveled to various places. During these trips he gained knowledge and skills which enabled him to be recognized by Emperor Fredrick II. Fredrick II noticed Fibonacci and ordered him to take part in a mathematical tournament. This place would eventuall... ...its relation to the Golden Angle, which appears in the primordia of plants in order to give the maximum number of primordia for plants. I like to think of an idea in the book, ?Life?s Other Secret,? which says that it?s not just Fibonacci Numbers that matter; it?s also the matter in which they arise (Stewart). 9 Works Cited Adam, John. Mathematics in Nature. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2003. Knott, Ron. ?Fibonacci Numbers in Nature? 18, July 2005. 03, Aug 2005. Kreith, Kurt. COSMOS Professor. Davis, California. Muldrew, Lola. COSMOS Teacher Fellow. Davis, California. Stewart, Ian. Life?s Other Secret. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. University of Cambridge. ?The Life and Numbers of Fibonacci? Sep 1997. 03, Aug 2005.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Celebrity Endorser Influence Essay
Celebrity Endorser Influence on Attitude Toward Advertisements and Brands Bahram Ranjbarian Associate Professor of management, Department of Management The University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: Bahram1 r@yahoo.com Zahra Shekarchizade Master Student of Business Management, Department of Management University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: Shekarchi_2020@yahoo.com Zahra Momeni Master Student of Business Management, Department of Management University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: za.momeni@yahoo.com Abstract Purpose- This study aims to analyze the celebrity endorser influence on attitude toward advertisements and brands. Design/methodology/approach ââ¬â A theoretical model is developed and tested with a sample of 193 students in University of Isfahan in 2009. Structural equation modeling was used with LISREL 8.50 and the maximum likelihood (ML) method. Findings ââ¬â The findings show that attitude toward celebrity endorser can influence on attitude toward brand directly or indirectly. In indirectly approach, attitude toward advertisement is as a mediator between attitude toward celebrity endorser and attitude toward brand. On the other hand, attitude toward celebrity endorser has not significant effect on purchase intention. Originality/value ââ¬â This paper provides a model connecting attitude toward celebrity endorser, attitude toward advertisement and attitude toward brand that has been examined and validated using a sample of students in University of Isfahan. Paper type- Research paper Keywords: Endorsement, Celebrities, Brand, Attitude, Advertisement Introduction Today one of the most prevalent forms of retail advertising is through using of celebrity endorsement (White et al, 2007). In fact celebrity endorsers are being used in about 25 percent of all television advertisements in order to promote brands (Erdogan et al, 2001).These endorsers are being paid by about 10 percent of advertiserââ¬â¢s budgets (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). Marketers invest huge amounts of money in contracts with celebrity endorsers each year, since they believe that celebrities affect the process of selling of their brands or products (Katyal, 2007). A celebrity endorser is a wellknown person (e.g., actors, sports figures and artists) because of his successes in a special field other than the endorsed product class (James, 2004). Celebrity endorsers are used by firms who want to 399 European Journal of Social Sciences ââ¬â Volume 13, Number 3 (2010) support a product or service (Amos et al, 2008). Since presence of celebrity endorsers affects purchase decisions of consumers positively, producers and retailers have always preferred to use celebrity endorsements in order to sell their products (Stafford et al, 2003; Erdogan, 1999; Kamins, 1990). Kaikati (1987) believes that using of celebrities in advertisements could have many benefits and advantages including: 1) facilitating of brand identification 2) changing or impressing the negative attitude towards a brand 3) repositioning an existing brand 4) global marketing or positioning of a brand or product 5) affecting purchase intentions of consumers. Although using of celebrity endorsers as brand messengers is impressive, but it could have some risks. For instance, celebrities who are known to be guilty because of negative events (e.g., accident) may have harmful effects on the products that they endorse (Lou ie and Obermiller, 2002). Studies reveal that using of attractive celebrity causes to increase attitude towards advertisements. Such attitude towards advertisements is defined as ââ¬Å"mental states which are used by individuals to organize the way they perceive their environment and control the way they respond to itâ⬠(Haghirian, 2004). There is a considerable correlation between desirable attitudes with regard to advertising and rating of certain advertisements by respondents as being likeable, irritating, delightful, etc (Bauer and Greyser, 1968). Celebrity endorsers enhance awareness of a companyââ¬â¢s advertising, create positive feelings towards brands and are perceived by consumers as more amusing (Solomon, 2002). Thus using of a celebrity in advertising causes to influence brand attitude and purchase intentions of consumers in a positive way. Celebrity endorsement has a strong effect on consumersââ¬â¢ memory and learning approach too. Most consumers are not in a purchasing situation when they are encounter with message of the brand. Marketers use celebrity endorsement in order to help better storage of information in consumersââ¬â¢ minds which they can easily remember in purchasing situations (Schultz and Brens, 1995). However, there are many studies about celebrity endorser, but it seems that there are limited researches about the relationship between celebrity endorser and attitudes. The purpose of this study is to specify the impact of using celebrity endorsers in Iranian advertisements on attitudes of students in University of Isfahan toward those ads and brands. Literature Review Some properties such as likeability, expertise, trustworthiness and similarity cause a celebrity endorser to become a source of persuasive information and this creates a sense of certainty which has been revealed in many studies (Suranaa, 2008). Also physical attractiveness of the endorser is considerable in effectiveness of a message (Khatri, 2006). Acceptance of a message by a receiver could be influenced by celebrity endorsers as believable sources of information about a product or a firm (Amos et al, 2008). Using of celebrity endorsers to support products is explained by balance theory principles too. According to this theory, successful companies establish an emotional relation between the observer and endorser and a relation between endorser and brand too (Mowen, 2000). Before proceeding conceptual model, we describe the main constructs of this study. Celebrity Endorser McCracken (1998) has defined celebrity endorser as ââ¬Å"any individual who enjoys public cognition and who uses this cognition on behalf of a consumer by appearing wit in an advertisementâ⬠. Moreover, celebrity is used as testimonial, endorsement, actor or spokesperson by the firm. Research has demonstrated that celebrity endorsement affects consumersââ¬â¢ feelings in general and it could affect the attitude of consumers towards the advertisement and brands too. This could result in enhancing of purchase intentions and as a result enhancing of sales. Some properties like credibility, physical attractiveness and likeability of celebrity endorser influence the ability of one person to impact other person (Amos et al, 2008). Source credibility is referred to identifying of communicatorââ¬â¢s positive properties which influences acceptance of a message by the receiver (Ohanian, 1990). This consists of two main dimensions of expertise and 400 European Journal of Social Sciences ââ¬â Volume 13, Number 3 (2010) trustworthiness. Source expertise refers to the degree which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid assertion (Roozen, 2008). Source trustworthiness refers to faithfulness and reliability of the spokesperson (Khatri, 2006). Source attractiveness is the personality, likeability and similarity of endorsers to the receiver, thus to the perceived social values of the source (Solomon, 2002). Physical attractiveness of the source include being attractive, beautiful, elegant and charming. According to the studies in this ground, expertise dimension is more significant than physical attractiveness for matching of a brand with a suitable endorser (Brian and Michael, 1998). Likeability is referred to the positive or negative feelings that consumers have towards a source of information. We can define likeability as affection for the source because of its physical appearance and behavior (Erdogan, 1999). Though some research results reveal effectiveness of celebrities as endorsers (Freiden, 1984), but other researches suggest that celebrity endorsement may have different degrees of effectiveness depending on other factors like the ââ¬Å"fitâ⬠between the celebrity and the advertised product (Till and Shimp, 1998). Celebrity Endorsersââ¬â¢ Effect on Aad and Ao Marketers are especially interested in consumersââ¬â¢ attitudes towards advertisements and brands. Essentially, attitudes are our predispositions with regard to things. An attitude shows whether we like something or not. Attitudes have three basic components: affective, cognitive and behavioral. Affective is related to our liking or feelings about an object. Cognitive is referred to beliefs about an object and behavioral component regards actions we take about that object (Severin and Tankard, 2001). Attitude towards advertisement is defined as ââ¬Å"a learned tendency to respond in a consistently desirable or undes irable approach toward advertising in generalâ⬠(Haghirian, 2004). On the other side, attitude towards the advertisement (Aad) is whether the consumer likes an advertisement (Ad) or hates it. Determinants of Aad consist of attitude towards the advertiser, assessment of the Ad execution itself, the mood evoked by Ad, and the extent to which the Ad affect viewerââ¬â¢s encouragement. Assessment of brands could be influenced by attitudes towards Ads. Of course what causes an advertisement to be impressive will change noticeably cross-culturally (Arnold et al, 2004). In performed studies, Aad is focused on as a mediator of advertiserââ¬â¢s effects on brand attitudes and purchase intentions (Suhere and Ispir, 2009). In recent studies, this issue has been proved that using of celebrity endorsement has a positive impact on attitudes of the consumer towards products and brands with which they are associated brand (Seno and Lukas, 2005). Agarwal and Malhotra (2005) have defined brand attitude as consumersââ¬â¢ general evaluative judgment of a brand based on brand beliefs. Such beliefs concern product-related attributes, like practical and experimental benefits. A successful endorser is able to enhance intentions and preferences towards brands directly or indirectly. An endorser who has major source factors of credibility (like expertise, trustworthiness and effectiveness) is able to impress purchase intentions of the consumer considerably (Liu et al, 2007). Information from a credible source can impress ideas, attitudes and behavior through a process called internalization (Belch and Belch, 1993). Internalization occurs when the receiver is motivated to have an issue. The receiver learns and accepts the idea of the credible spokesperson, since he supposes that information of this person represents an accurate position on the issue. Therefore, if such spokesperson who is known to be an expert endorses a product, consumers will more probably have a desirable idea about that advertisement and brand and they will consider it in their shopping list the next time they go shopping. Researchers have used the identification process of social influence in order to explain the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers (Basil, 1996). This theory suggests that if an individual identifies with another individual, then he is more likely to accept an attitude or behavior of that individual or a group. The internalization process of social influence is occurred ââ¬Å"when an individual accepts influence because the induced behavior is congruent with his value systemâ⬠. An individual accepts the influence, since it provides a solution to a problem (Daneshvary and Schwer, 2000). In the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), individualââ¬â¢s level of motivation to process central message arguments is represented which is one of its key factors that affects the relative impact of 401 European Journal of Social Sciences ââ¬â Volume 13, Number 3 (2010) central and peripheral processing (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). When applied to an adverting context, ELM suggests that consumersââ¬â¢ motivation to centrally process brand-relevant aspects of an advertisement is enhanced, the impact of central processing on brand attitudes should be enhanced, the effect of peripheral processing on brand attitudes should be reduced and the effect of brand attitudes on purchase intentions should be enhanced (Lafferty and Goldsmith, 1999). In this theoretical model, the endorser serves as cue just during peripheral processing. Therefore, the effect of the endorser should be reduced while central processing is enhanced. Mackenzie and Lutz (1989) have stated that advertiser credibility is a central processing cue more than any other thing. Credibility of the source is considered important in influence acceptance. A consumer will accept the accurate influence (information) and apply it if there the source is perceived to be credible. It is accepted because it is ââ¬Å"demandâ⬠by ones own values. Therefore, a productââ¬â¢s endorsement by a credible source may impress purchase behavior (Danwshvary and Schwer, 2000). As a result, celebrity endorsement can increase the process of recalling and consume assessment of products (Khatri, 2006). On the other hand, celebrity endorsement has a severe effect on learning approach and memory. Researchers in the field of marketing and social psychology have studied the manner of impressing of purchase decision by celebrity endorsements. Various hypotheses have been proposed including having recall of the product by celebrity endorsement, celebrities have credibility on expertise that makes the product more desirable or increases perceptions of quality; the celebrity endorsersââ¬â¢ image is transferred to the product so that those who use the product are associated with the image. Experiments suggest that celebrity endorsement can increase recall and consume assessment of the products in certain situations (Clark and Horstman, 2003). Most of the times, making connection with the brand message is occurred when consumers are not in a purchasing situation. Marketers use celebrity endorsement so that information will be kept in consumersââ¬â¢ minds better and in the case of purchasing situation, they can easily retrieve it (Surana, 2008). A successful endorser strategy can enhance the level of consumersââ¬â¢ recalling towards product information, reinforces consumersââ¬â¢ recognition to endorsed brands, positively influences consumersââ¬â¢ attitude to low-involved products and even enhance consumersââ¬â¢ purchase intention and preference towards brands (Liu et al, 2007) Therefore, hypothesizes of the study are as follows. H1: Attitude toward ad is positively affected by attitude toward celebrity endorser. H2: Attitude toward brand is positively affected by attitude toward celebrity endorser H3: Attitude toward brand is positively affected by attitude toward advertisement. H4: Intention to buy is positively affected by attitude toward celebrity endorser Method Data Collection Information was obtained from randomly selected students from University of Isfahan through survey questionnaires during September- November 2009. University of Isfahan is one of the major universities in the fields of science, human science and engineering. A total sample of 193 participants was obtained. The sample was composed of 137 women (71 percent) and 56 men (21 percent). A cluster sampling procedure with age and degree as main control variables was applied. The age of the respondents ranged from 19 to 30 years, with a mean of 24. All questionnaires were self-administered by the participants without interference from researchers. Measures The study uses multi-item scales to measure the constructs in our model. All items in the questionnaire were measured on a five-point Likert-type scale anchored from ââ¬Å"strongly disagreeâ⬠(1) to ââ¬Å"strongly agreeâ⬠(5). Some of the measures were available in the literature, though most were adapted to suit this European Journal of Social Sciences ââ¬â Volume 13, Number 3 (2010) particular context. To measure attitude toward celebrity endorser we used ten items. Attitude toward advertisement and attitude toward brand were measured with six items and five items, respectively. In order to measure reliability of questions in the questionnaire, 30 questionnaires have been pre-tested through pilot studies. Then, amount of confidence coefficient has been calculated by method of Cronbachââ¬â¢s alpha for which 0.83 % is obtained. This number shows that the applied questionnaire enjoys confidentiality or in other words the necessary reliability. Results Measurement Model Measurement model Structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.54 and the maximum likelihood (ML) method was used to analyse the data.. LISREL is a structural equations modeling technique that traces structural relations in a set of data (Eriksson et al, 2004). Structural equation modelling was used because it allows to estimate multiple and interrelated dependence relationships and unobserved factors can be represented in these relationships. Additionally, measurement error in the estimation process is accounted for (Hair et al., 1998). The model is assessed with the comparative fit index (CFI), standardised root meanresidual (SRMR), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and Akaikeââ¬â¢s (1987) information criterion (AIC). The measurement model provided a good fit to the data: (CFI = 0:98, SRMR=0.058, RMSEA = 0.015 and AIC =396.22). All values of CFI, SRMR, and RMSEA meet the standards suggested by Hu and Bentler (1999): 0.95 for CFI, 0.08 for SRMR, and 0.06 for RMSEA.There are no Guidelines for the AIC but lower values indicate better fit. The fit of the structural model is good and is reported in Table I. In the following we will test our hypotheses and consequently report the standardised path coefficients. As shown in Table I, three of hypotheses are empirically supported and one of them is not confirmed. The effect of attitude toward celebrity endorser on attitude toward advertisement is significant (standardised path coefficient = 0:49). This shows that the higher the attitude toward endorser, the more the attitude toward advertisement. Attitude toward celebrity endorser also have significant effect on attitude toward brand (standardised path coefficient= 0.24), but this effect is comparatively weaker than its effect on attitude toward advertisement. On the other hand, the effect of attitude toward advertisement on attitude toward brand is significant (standardised path coefficient = 0:56). This clearly shows that attitude toward advertisement has the highest standardized path coefficient and therefore has the strongest influence on attitude toward brand. The results show that the effects of attitude celebrity endorser on Purchase intention is not significant (standardised path coefficient = 0.11). This means that attitud toward celebrities, does not necessarily always translates into purchase intentions. Discussion The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among attitude toward celebrity endorser and attitude toward advertisement and brand. Effects of a celebrity endorser on respondentsââ¬â¢ assessments about advertisements and products endorsed by celebrities have been studied previously. There are some interesting findings for using of celebrity endorsers in Iranian advertisements. Attitude towards a celebrity endorser has a direct positive effect on attitude towards advertisement. Attitude towards advertisement has important effects on attitude towards brands, too and its effect is comparatively stronger than the effect of celebrity endorser. But the effect of attitude toward celebrity endorser on purchase intention is not considerable. Results of this study demonstrate that attitude towards celebrity endorser has an indirect effect on attitude towards brand. This result confirms outcomes of the previous research by Agarwal and Kamakura (1995), Till and Busler (1998), and W hite et al (2008). When there is a ââ¬Å"fitâ⬠between the à European Journal of Social Sciences ââ¬â Volume 13, Number 3 (2010) endorser and the endorsed product, endorserââ¬â¢s image helps construct the image of the brand in consumersââ¬â¢ minds. In fact, using of an attractive endorser has a positive impact on consumer attitudes towards a brand, because attractive endorsers have a tendency to get more attention than less attractive ones. On the other hand, experience of celebrityââ¬â¢s negative information can have an undesirable effect on the endorsed product. Transfer of negative information between the celebrity endorser and the endorsed product could be facilitated through cognitive relational pathway. We have considered social position of artists because people have more positive attitude towards artists. So, they distribute attitude towards artists to attitude towards endorsed brand. The association between attitude towards celebrity endorser and attitude towards advertisement has been shown in numerous studies, as the relationship between sports celebrity endorsements and retail productsââ¬â¢ adverting are reported (White et al, 2008) and sports celebrity endorsements are being used in advertisements to impress brand selection. It is recognized in one study that attitude towards advertisement is considered as an interagent that influences attitude towards brand (Suhere and Ispir, 2009). Results of our study reveal that attitude towards advertisement is as an interagent between attitude towards celebrity and attitude towards brand. In our opinion, Iranians are interested in artists and know them as credible sources. So, ads makers use artists as celebrity to impress viewersââ¬â¢ attitudes towards advertisement and thereupon attitude towards brand. According to previous studies about the effect of the celebrity endorser on purchase intentions, such as Kamins (1990), Ohanian (1991), Liu et al (2007), we expected that positive attitude towards celebrities impressed purchase intentions. But results of this study confirm research outcomes of Oââ¬â¢Mahony and Meenaghan (1997). According to this study, attitude towards celebrities does not necessarily always interpret in to purchase intentions. It seems that Iranianââ¬â¢s consumer tendency for buying is influenced by other various items such as age, gender, income and education too. Limitation This study has some limitations. The primary limitation of the present research relates to generalizability. The sample was restricted to students in University of Isfahan and this limits our results to be generalized, too. Another relevant consideration is that numerous girl students in university of Isfahan are more than its boy students. Also, this study relied exclusively on questionnaires to assess influence attitude toward celebrity endorser on attitude toward advertisements and brands, whereas this relationships need to be more investigated. On the other hand, this paper could not estimate effect of attitude toward celebrity endorser on purchase intention. In addition, our results are relational and not causal; therefore, it can not be concluded from this study whether attitude toward advertisement and brand is only cause or result of attitude toward celebrity endorser. Conclusion In this study the goal was to indicate the influence of using celebrity endorsers in Iranian advertisements on attitudes of students in University of Isfahan toward those advertisements and brands. The result of this study showed that the positive and significant relationship between attitude toward celebrity endorser and attitude toward advertisements and brands. By analyzing the output resulting from testing hypotheses, it can be concluded that attitude toward celebrity endorser has directly or indirectly influence on attitude toward brand. Consequences suggested that attitude toward advertisement was as a mediator between attitude toward celebrity endorser and attitude toward brand. On the other hand, attitude toward celebrity endorser hadnââ¬â¢t significant influence on purchase intention. 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