Study Of Feminism In Middlemarch English Literature Essay

Study Of Feminism In Middlemarch English Literature Essay George Eliot was a significant female writer in the 19th century; her life was close related to her works; her life experience attributed themes to her lterary works, and the relation between her works and her life experience had been studied by many researchers for a long time. George Eliots masterpiece Middlemarch, since its publication, earned many readers and critics in English society. Dorothea, in Middlemarch, was a feminist; this heroine had been studied through the views: the combination of George Eliots idealism and Vitorian realism, George Eliots view of marriage, feminist linguistic-psychoanalysis. The success or failure of Dorotheas feminism is paid close attention all the time. In this paper, the writer uses case study analysis to study Dorothea in a multidimentional view, and makes a further development of her feminist revolution. This paper will analyze the background of Victorian period, Dorotheas character, view of marriage, then based on the analysis, the author puts forward that George Eliot had a new recognition about feminism. Dorothea, the heroine in Middlemarch, to some extent, penetrated George Eliots thought, and also got new meaning of female in marriage, in life and even in society. Key words feminism; Victorian Period; George Eliot; realism; idealism; character 1. Introduction George Eliot, penname of Mary Ann Evans, was one of the greatest writers in the 19th century. She was regarded as the one of those who wrote the best novels for adults. In her writing career, controversy and outrage accompanied her. George Eliots critical reputation came from the very start when she began to issue works by using the pseudonym of George Eliot to cover her identity of the unmarried wife of George Henry Lewes. When she worked in Westerminster Review, she knew George Henry Lewes, who she thought understood her and could lead her to a wise life, then in 1854, she began to live with George Henry Lewes, an extrodinary man of letters who wrote philosophy, science, fiction, and drama. Their marriage was not accepted in English society and considered to be immoral. Under the encouragement of George Henry Lewes, in 1857, Mary Ann Evans wrote her first fiction The Sad Fortunes of Reverend Amos Barton and published in Blackwoods Magazine. It could be said without exaggeration tha t, it was George Henry Lewes who created an eximious female fictional writer George Eliot of the 19th century. In her 60s, George Eliot married John Walter Cross for a legal marriage. Because of her immoral relationship with George Henry Lewes, she faced virtual ostracism. Though many critics followed her, her intellect was never hidden; her later works earned her recognition as well as the love of the reading public. She was recognized as the greatest writer in Victorian age(the authors translation,à ©Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¦Ã‹Å"Ã… ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬, 1987:6). Virginia Woolf commented that, she was a woman of pride and model(the authors translation, Virginia, qtd. in à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à ©Ã… ¡Ã‚ ½, 2006:1); her novels stood in the list of a handful of English novels written for adults (the authors translation, Virginia, qtd. in à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à ©Ã… ¡Ã‚ ½, 2006:1). The whole life of George Eliot was rebellious, and was regarded as unsensible. She struggled between realism and idealism; she wanted to make full use of herself though she was a female, however gender was discriminated before the 20th century. As a feminist and idealist, George Eliot had a profound significance in feminism among the Victorian novelists. Her works were combined with her real life experience. Middlemarch, since its publication, had been recognized as George Eliots finest achievement, written when she was at the height of her power. Middlemarch had been recognized as George Eliots work of her combination of idealism and realism, as well as the portray of her real life. In her life, George Eliot married John Walter Cross for a husbands surname; she finally bowed to conservative society and got the forgiveness of her family. In Middlemarch, George Eliot, created a heroine, Dorothea, for feminine emancipation. Not to mention the success or the failure of Dorothea s emancipation revolution, she was the product of George Eliot under the general effect of her real life experience, her idealism and realism to the English society in the 19th century. In Middlemarch, George Eliot aimed to creat a great young lady, who had profound knowledge and a virtuous heart for human beings. For a long time, she lived in her idealistic society that a knowledgeable young lady could help to make a better life for society. While at the end of the fiction, George Eliot made her heroine back to reality; the heroine was recognized as the soul of George Eliot herself; she was also considered to be the representative of George Eliots feminine revolution. As a model of feminist, Dorothea was not like traditional women, not paying much attention to her dress; she pursued to help the prevailing society, not only living for self-admiration. With the shock of reality and personal idealism, in this novel, she had two marriages in the way of pursuing her high range of spirit and positional satisfaction. In this novel, she had objection on her ideal way. She made great efforts to marry Mr. Casaubon, who was much older than her, which was a sacrifice. Mr. Casa ubon was not that kind of great soul as she thought to be. Finally, Dorothea had a usual end. After the death of Mr. Casaubon, her heart beated strongly for finding a man and married him, who really understood her views and took women as independent and equal individual; they were equal in marital relations, and took part in social activity; both of them found their value in marriage. George Eliots masterpiece Middlemarch ¼Ã…’A. C. Dicey described it as a book which may be said, almost without exaggeration, to have made for many persons the chief happiness and interest of the last year (George Eliot, 1992:3). This book brought her many critics and approve; in Middlemarch, George Eliots heroine for femimine emancipation was an incarnation of George Eliot; she struggled for feminine emancipation under her idealism and the realism in society background. This paper is to study the life experience of George Eliot, her idealism and realism in the English sociey, in order to figure out how these factors affected her feminism in the real English society, as well as how they attributed to her heroine in Middlemarch. Thus the paper aims to make a further study of Dorotheas feminism in Middlemarch, focusing on George Eliots life experience, her idealism, and realism of Victorian period. Under the study of such factors, the writer can draw a conclusion that the feminine emancipation of Dorothea could not be a failure, but it was her new attitude toward life as well as marriage- wives were and should be the great man beside her successful husband. 2. Literature Review By the time George Eliot died on December 22, 1880, she was recognized as the greatest of comtemporary English novelists. Her whole writing life left many literary works and comments to later generations to study and research. George Eliot was a writer of appreciation and depreciation. George Eliots works reflected the politics, philosophy, science, religion, and genders. Her literary works had been studied by scholars from home and abroad since 19th century. In 1884, George Willis Cooke in George Eliot: A Critical Study of Her Life, Writing and Philosophy mentioned that George Eliot was a product of her time; some knowledge of her early home and the influences admist which her mind was formed, helped largely to an appreciation of her books and the views of life which she presented in them (George Willis Cooke, 1884). George Eliot was a realistic writer, in her works, she reflected the 19th science attainments, philosophy, and genders. In Middlemarch, George Eliot created an agloat young doctor named Lydgate, a feminist named Dorothea, an old pedant named Casaubon, and a romantic named painter Will Ladislaw. Through these roles in her works, George Eliot showed her brilliance. George Levine once commented that George Eliot had been discovered that since the Second World War it was her brilliance and intellectual depth of her fiction gave her appreciative reputation. George Levine also mentioned that George Eliot was a realist; she was sel f-reflexive in that her life experience attributed a lot of themes to her works. Besides that, as a feminist, George Eliot also showed herself struggling against men-dominated society. Kate Flint in George Eliot commneted that in George Eliots writing, alertness and acute consciousness of the injustice to which they gave rise, necessarily chafed against the doctrine of submitting to a sense of broader social duty(George Levine, 2001). George Eliots feminism was not noly seen in her life but also in her works, making clear in fields of education and marriages. In her masterpiece Middlemarch, one third of the pages penetrated her feminism. The heroine, Dorothea, thirsted for knowledge, thus had two marriges in her life. However, in the 19th century, women was decoration of men; the ideal women were the decoration in her house. Womens great importance lied in reproductiveness. Biomedical discourse defined females in terms of her reproductive function as the following description: a biological entity, a sexed body: Womans nature and her social role were said to be controlled by her womb and her ovaries, and were the inevitable and indivisible consequences of her reproductive and the female organization another (Joanne Shattock, 2001:79) At abroad, there have studies about feminism, George Eliots introdction, critical study of George Eliot, and the relation of George Eliot and the Empire. At home, many scholars have studied George Eliot from her views of marriage, feminism, philosophy, ethic, and the harmonizing and synthesizing of realism and idealism. In 2006, Wang Pei issued a thesis to discuss George Eliots view of marriage in Journal of Chongqing University of Science and Technology. She mentioned that though George Eliot had a rebellious love and marriage, she was still that kind of conservative women in 19th century. She longed for love as well as legal marriage; she also held that women could get desired happiness only when they felt satisfied with the mediocre marriage life. Her view of marriage was reflected in Dorothea, who dreamed to be a great female and contributed to society, finally back to a common housewife. Then on George Eliots feminism, in 2004, Vice Professor Dong Shumin studied in Zhejiang Social Science that George Eliot expressed her feminism in Middlemarch that females and males were unequal to the public all the time, if women wanted to show themselves, they must realize the limitation of women from the society. Women could have their distictive importance, which was to affect males, making males become some kind of man. Just as George Eliots heroine, Dorothea, she married Will Ladislaw and made him be s successful man; Dorothea herself became a common wife for love and desired happiness as well as femine fullfilment in family. Though George Eliot was a feminist, even she had idealistic and fair society for females to make full use of themselves, she had to bow to reality. In George Eliot: Harmonizing and Synthesizing Idealism and Realism, Doctor Zhang Jinfeng pointed out that George Eliot was an inborn idealist, combining her realistic aesthetics with her idealistic life and society for females, even for human beings. Even so, she could not avoid reality and finally converted to reality. In Middlemarch, she would like to creat ideal polictics, education and marriages, in which female was free. Dorothea was a role under her idealism. Dorotheas first marriage, with Casaubon, was all her idealism, she could not chage the men-dominated thought of Causobon. Finally, she would like to have a husband who really cared females, then married Will Ladislaw, and became a wife and mother. The end of Middlemarch was the surrender of idealism to realism. Based on the above analiysis, there is the information that George Eliot was a idealist as well as a realist; her works set on the real society but also embraced the profound effect of her idealism. While, social limitation made George Eliot hard to build an ideal world. All her thoughts affected in her works. Thus here is the gap that George Eliots life experience, her feminist, her idealism and realism contributed to her works, especially her heroine Dorothea in Middlemarch. In this paper the writer aims at the above mentioned factors and make a further study of Dorotheas feminism, through analyzing the difference between George Eliots ideal feminism and the feminism in Victorian period, Dorotheas character, as well as her two marriages, to illustrate that Dorothea got a new cognition of womens status and feminine emancipation in marriage, even in society. 3. Feminism in Victorian Period and George Eliots Feminism As a female writer in the 19th century in the English society, George Eliot lived in a men-dominated society; she was not satisfied with the rising condition. As a feminist against the serious society for females, George Eliot struggled between ideality and reality. 3.1 Real Feminism in Victorian Period In the 19th century, females status was discriminated and inferior to males. The English socity was a men-dominated society; men were superior to women, no matter in politics, economy, society, family and marriage. Though Queen of Victoria was at reign, womens status was not equal to mens. Women were limited to work in politics, science, education, social activities, and literary and so on. A wifehood or womanhood should be the best profession of a female. An ideal lady should be what Virginia Woolf called-the Angel of the House(Virginia Woolf, qtd. in à ¨Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ £Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ ©Ã¢â‚¬Å" ­, 2004:1) At that time, people took for granted that a woman should not be educated for self-development, but for self-renunciation. They were sent to study in girls schools, to learn how to be an ideal wife. They learned music and entertainment; they were trained to be peaceable, obedient to males, and not having personal thoughts. To the public, a lady with few opinions about their husband, society and politics was virtuous. In such a society, women were born to suffer and to be in a disadvantageous status in family, education, occupation and marriage, first as a daughter and then a wife. In family, daughters were dependent on her father or brother. After marriage, they were dependent on their husband. If left without any heritance and remaining single, daughters would lead a miserable life. In marriage, girls could not have their own choice. They were the property of their father to use for land and estate; always, they were used by men to consolidate social status. In the 16th century, when Elizabeth was at reign, a father chose a husband for his daughter, if the daughter did not agree to get married, she would be locked in a room and heavily punished. In the 19th century, women could choose their own beloved, but the beloved should be accepted by their family, most importantly by their father, if it turned out to be not, their family might disengage their relationship or would not give help when they were in trouble. Because of the limitation in occupation, education, family and marriage, women were not encouraged, even allowed to work outside the house, thus womens self satisfation was based on the success of being a wife. They seeked for inspiration to be an ideal wife, mother, and do well in housework. The following words can best describe womens feelings of being inferior: As long as I can remember, I have been discouraged, when I have endeavoured to cast the sum of my intellectual value, by finding that I did not possess, in the degree of some other men, an intuitive perception of intellectual beauty(Godwin, qtd. in Joanne Shattock, 2001:14). The 19th century could be said to be a turn of feminine status; thanks to Industrial Revolution, women could go out of homes to work in factories, but their salary was much less than mens. Moreover, their jobs were insignificant, for instance, a tutor, a nurse and so on; after Industrial Revolution, they had one more choice-a worker. In Victorian Era, literature in English was at the height of devolopment. Many female writers emerged, for example, sister Bronte, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, May Sinclair, George Eliot, and so on. However in the 19th English society, female writers were not given high recognition of their writing talent; they chose to publish their works by using pseudonym. A woman and her book are identical-or so Edgar Allen Poe reflected when reading an early collection of poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Joanne Shattodk, 2001:8). Female consciousness had been awaken, and most of their works were about seeking for feminine status in society; females w ere more independent in their opinions, thus they began to write in order to uncover their sufferings and defend for their occupations. 3.2 George Eliots Ideal Feminism Victorian Age was the trend of realistic literary. As a successful realistic novel writer, Gorge Eliot was born in a family of land agent, and spent her childhood in the rural environment within the country of Warwickshire in the mid lands. Her childhood and her living environment provided her with plenty of material for her earlier works. Due to the reality, George Eliots later works had a big change. In George Eliots later novels, characters and situations seem more and more to be projections of ideals in her mind (Zhang Jinfeng, 2005:61). George Eliot created her art out of a cluster of rebellions, particularly against reigning social, moral, and aesthetic conventions (George Levine,2001:2). George Eliots living exprience made her an idealist; she wanted to change her social status, even all feminine social status, therefore limited to the reality, she wrote down what she had in mind. A woman and her book are identical (Joanne Shattodk, 2001:8). Her unique personality, education, and moral belief made her an idealist. To begin with, she was a religious freethinker. She was sent to boarding schools together with her elder sister. In one boarding school, George Eliot met a female teacher, Maria Levis, who was a piously Evangelical. With the instruction, George Eliot became a piously Evangelical too. But her friendship with religious freethinkers in Coventry in the early 1840s reinforced her own growing doubts and led to a break with orthodox religion (George Eliot, 1992:1). From the very beginning of 1842, she claimed that she would not go to church, not to pray, not believe in God any more. Besides, George Eliot strongly held that it should be of the very importance for females to receive systematic education as well as have their own occupation. She herself went to boarding schools from 5 years old to 17 years old. She learned language, science, and piano. She was a lady who never gave up pursuing her value. The following cited event could voice her support for feminine education: She sympathized with the movement for womens education and donated 50 pounds towards the establishment of Girton, a Cambridge college for women. Her support for womens educational reforms led her to attend a series of letures at Bedford College for Ladies during these years and moved her to contribute to Emily Davess campaingn for the establishment of Girton College and to other feminist efforts to open the professions to women in the 1850s and1860s. (ibid, qtd. in à ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¹Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¨Ã…“ ¼Ã…’2007:19) Not only approving of women education, George Eliot also earned a living herself. When she was 29 years old, George Eliots father died; in Victotian English society, an unmarried, intellectual lady without any inheritance from father, would lead to a miserable life. But George Eliot decided to stay in London and earned the living herself. Later, she began to be an editor for Westminster Review. In marriage, George Eliot broke the traditional convention of marriage. She fell deeply in love with a married, acknowledgeable man, named George Henry Lewes; at that time, George Eliot had been a publicly well-known female; though she was ostracized by English society , her works was criticized, and her family was angry with that, she was determined to live with George Henry Lewes as an unmarried wife. In George Eliots mind, women could have their own choice of marriage, even though the whole world would not accept her, she still sticked to her love. Her view about marriage was somehow penetrated in Dorothea in Middlemarch. Dorothea, when 18 years old, was determined to marry a pedant who was almost twenty years older than her, which was not understood by citizens of Middlemarch. Ralph Waldo Emerson commented that George Eliot was a young lady with a not quiet and serious soul (Emerson, qtd. in à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à ©Ã… ¡Ã‚ ½, 2006:7). George Eliot was inborn ideal; life made an idealistic George Eliot. The following cited paragraph demonstrated George Eliots whole life and her idealism well: As an overly intense and bookish child in a pratical household, as a fervid evangelical adolescent Christian doctrine, as an independent woman editor and journalist in a social bohemians, and finally as the unmarried domestic partner of George Henry Lewes, George Eliot was always strecthing the norms of acceptable female behavior, and bringing social rejection upon herself. (George Levine, 2001:21) 4. The Character of Dorothea Dorothea, under the background of Victorian English, was a female representative to struggle for female emancipation. Her beauty was not like the traditonal females, and she thirsted for profound knowldege as well as made full use of herself. All these made her a unique female in Middlemarch. 4.1 Rebellious Charm of Dorothea In the 19th century, the girls of middle class attached importance to their appearance and dress.; lace, flouce, and bowknot were prevailing. The rich young ladies wore fashionable dress and jewelries. They were sent to learn music and painting, which could improve their charm. A conventional charming lady, as to the men and even to the public, should lays herself out of a little more to please us. There should be a filigree about a woman-something of the coquette. A man likes challenge. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better (George Eliot, 1992:79). Focusing on simple dress was a means of good cultivation. Dorothea held the belief that a remarkably clever woman should not pay much attention to appearance, even so, she still had her charming beauty. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters; and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to gain provincial fashion gave her plain garments (Gorge Eliot, 1992:1). She didnt like jewelries either, when Celia (Dorotheas sister) reminded her of looking at mamas jewels and divided them, she was busy drawing her building, obviously forgetting them. After opening the box, she liked none of them, except gems and a bracelet to match it. Dorothea liked the gems because of her inspiration of the Revelation of St. John, It is strange how deeply colours seem to penetrate one, like scent. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelat ion of St. John. (George Eliot, 1992:9). Though she took them, she thought wearing them was some kind of sinking. Dorothea not only didnt pay attention to her dress, but also appreciated that kind of plain appearance, which was contrary to the beauty criteon of the public. In chapter nine in Middlemarch, when Casaubon showed around his house to the Brooks, when seeing portraits, Celia said that the aunt wearing necklaces was more beautiful than Cassaubons mother; however, Dorothea pursued that kind of immortal figure, as when she entered the room, she could image that Casaubons mother- the ghost of a tight-laced lady revisiting the scence of her embroidery (George Eliot, 1992:66). To the public, females were born to please males; ladies should dress beautfully, had sweet voice and could paint, and that kind of ladies were charming. On contrary, Dorothea regarded them as silly gentlewomen. She insisted on her sense of beauty; at the party before her marriage, she came into the drawing room in her silver-grey dress-the simple lines of her dark-brown hair parted over her brow and coiled massively behind (George Eliot,1992:78). On such a significant occasion, she did still not rig out her figure gorgeous, simple as Santa Barbara as who she was pursuing. In Middlemarch, Rosamond Vincy was recognized as a representative of charm and she was a famous beauty in province , she has excellent taste in costume, with that nymph-like figure and pure blondness which gives the largest range to choice in the flow and colour of drapery(George Eliot, 1992:86). A fair lady should have charming image as well as could play an instrument, sing songs and draw; when facing people, she should keep amiable smiles. Dorothea didnt like playing any instruments, her behavior was like a saintess, which to others was quite unusual and rebellious. Even so, she was a recognized distinctively beautiful lady; her plain garments added more dignity to her statue and bearing. In contrast to her sister Celia, people might say that Dorothea was remarkbly clever, but Celia was more sensible. 4.2 Dorotheas Thirst for Knowledge Dorothea and her sister Celia were orphans; their parents died when they were very young. The sisters were sent to boarding schools, an English family and a Swiss family to receive education in order to get them ready in the market of marriage. But Dorothea didnt like ladies duities; she liked studying religion, science, and those knowledge which could do good to society. She admired those who was knowledgable and could devote himself to society. The living environment and social status attributed to Dorotheas mode of thinking during her life. She seeked for eternal theory; compared with her sister, she had less common-sense in that her mind is theoretical, and yearned by its nature after some lofty conception of the world (George Eliot, 1992:4) and since I can do no good because a woman, reach constantly at something that is near it (Gorge Eliot, 1992:3). To Dorothea, contribution to human was the most significant thing in life; she believed that a spiritual life involved eternal consequences. she was keen on religion; she was a fans of knowledge, for pursuing the so-called knowledge and spiritual life in her mind, she wore plain garments and gave up her hobby of horseriding which she thought to be most attractive, and was not in accordance with the other young ladies. Dorothea knew many passages of Pascals Pensees and of Jeremy Taylor by heart; and to her the destinies of mankind, seen by the light of a spiritual life involving eternal consequences, with a keen interest in guimp and artificial protrusions of drapery. Her mind is theoretic, and yearned by frankly include the parish of Tipton and her own rule of conduct thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gorge Eliot, 1871:4) The Victorian society was unequal for the education of girls and boys. Dorothea was thirst for knowledge, which was against the men-dominated society, and was prejudiced and unconventional to the neighbourhood. Evev so, she still grasped the precious chance to learn more knowledge-to marry a pedant, Mr. Casaubon. She admired Casaubons abundant knowledge to such an extent as to think Casaubon is a distinctive man; she said to Celia he is one of the most distinguished-looking men I ever saw. He is remarkably like the portrait of Locke. He has the same deep eye-sockets (George Eliot,1871:15). Dorothea didnt want to be an idle lady of Victorian age; she longed for a guide who would light her spiritual and intellectual life. Casaubons emergence provided her the hope, and she thought that she could have spiritual communion with him, moreover Casaubon was a man who could illuminate her principle with his widest knowledge. Thus she married Casaubon for pursuing knowldege. 5. Two Ideal Marriages of Dorothea As a young lady pursuing equal social status as men, Dorothea was not only different in character from the conventional women, she also had a distinct view about marriages. On the way of idealistic female emancipation, she had two marriages, first she married an old pedant for knowledge, and then a young man for true love. 5.1 Marriage for Knowledge George Eliot was an idealist; she lived in her own world without regard to the real outer world. She struggled for female occupation and marriage, which was treacherous to convention and also became the soul of her masterpiece Middlemarch. In Middlemarch, George Eliot put her idealism inon the creation of the heroine Dorothea. Dorothea was not only a knowledge fan but also a social contributor fan. She dreamed to be a saint to rescue the world. Her garments and behavior were distinct with the conventional young ladies. In the 19th century, females were not free to devote themselves to occupation, what they could do was to find their value in marriage no matter how remarkable the lady was. Dorothea was enthusiastic about making the society better through her knowledge and effort, but reality made her will meet much setback; she could not do anything. Dorothea, in the eyes of males, even her uncle, was childish and innocent. At the dinner party in Tipton, when Dorothea expressed her idea about land, Mr. Brook said that, young ladies dont understand political economy (George Eliot, 1992:12). Furthermore, when Dorothea delivered her wish to help her uncle sort his papers, Mr. Brook said that, No, no. I cannot let young ladies meddle my documents. Young ladies are two fighty (George Eliot, 1871:15). Dorothea wanted to do things to make herself useful, but even in her uncles house, she met a lot of obstacles. She hoped someone could come to her life and led her to a spiritual and worthy life. Casaubons e mergence was the drip in drought. Mr. Casaubons present gave her hope to live for others, to devote to society, and she thought that she was going to have room for the energies which stirred uneasily under the dimness and pressure of her own ignorance and the petty peremptoriness of the world habits (Gorge Eliot, 1992:38). Dorothea was happy that she could find her value in the marriage with Casaubon in that, she could make devote to Casaubons aim-Key to All Mythologies. Receiving Casaubons letter for marriage, Dorothea was too happay to think over whether Casaubon was a suitable husband for her ; she only considerded that she was suitable for Casaubon and she could make herself useful. While in this letter, Casaubon conveyed clearly that his marriage was for changing the solitary life; he needed a wife who could supply aid in graver labours and cast a charm over vacant hours (George Eliot,1992:37). Casaubon needed a wife as a decoration to his life; his wife should be beautiful, young and blooming, as well as easy to control and attentative to his wishes. To Dorothea, her ideal marriage was some kind of life beyond self, to which she could devote herself, and her marriage concept took its color entirely from the enthusiasm to help her husband to finish his significant work, which could also make herself glorious. As to be noble and devoted, she dreamed to be almost perfect as a saint. In the marriage relationship, the husband wanted a tame and obedient wife; the wife wanted a knowledgeble and broad-minded husband. It was obvious that Cassaubon and Dorothea were not as much as they thought they were suitable to be spouse. In such a marriage, even though they were careful, comflict and susp

The Dream Team Era Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Dream Team Era During the summer of 1992, the NBA took center stage as the world watched the greatest team in sports ever assembled joke, pose, and finally play its way to the gold medal at the summer Olympic games. The team was named the â€Å"Dream Team† and it featured eleven of the NBA’s best players. Names like Michael Jordan, Earvin â€Å"Magic† Johnson, and Larry Bird headlined the games and the play of Scottie Pippen and â€Å"Sir† Charles Barkley stole the show. After only eight games, the world of USA basketball would never be the same. Since 1992 two more teams called themselves the â€Å"Dream Team† and two were simply labeled as â€Å"Team USA† but one thing is for certain, International basketball has taken a step in the right direction thanks in part to the NBA and its Dream Team era. Over time the faces of those players may have changed, but the goal has always stayed the same and that’s the goal of bringing home the gold medal. After dominating men’s Olympic basketball for years, the men’s USA basketball team lost to the USSR in the 1988 Seoul games which cost them a shot at winning the gold medal, but they did come home with the bronze. The United States Olympic committee decided that since the rest of the world were sending their best players into the Olympic games that when it came to basketball it was time for them to do the same. The decision was made in 1989 to allow players from the NBA to represent their country in the 1992 Barcelona games. That one decision was the most important decision in the history of international basketball with one goal in mind; to put together the best possible team that they could. The goal of putting a great basketball team of NBA players together seemed impossible especially when it came to dealing with the egos of today’s athletes, but what seemed impossible became a reality. Established veterans like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and future Hall of Famers/MVP’s like Michael Jordan and best friend Charles Barkley were added to the team. Big men David Robinson and Patrick Ewing were added to control the paint and guards Clyde â€Å"The Glide† Drexler and John Stockton were added to run the show. The man picked to coach the team was Chuck Daly who had won two of the last three NBA Championships with the Detroit Pistons. Knowing that no other team would ever be as potentially great as this one, sportswriters around the world dubbe... ...could secure an 85-83 win, but only after Lithuania’s game winning shot fell short at the buzzer (Games). Even though Team USA wasn’t as star-studded as the previous two Olympic teams, they still achieved the goal of winning a gold medal, but the path that they took to get there was much tougher than the path of teams in the past. With that being said, Team USA helped the United States Men’s basketball program to reach 109 wins with only two losses spread across 14 different Olympic games. Despite the fact that the era and aura of the Dream Team was destroyed, the memories of the games will live on forever. Names like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Vince Carter will always be remembered for having great NBA careers, but also for bring home the gold medal for their country and doing it with a class and a grace that will never be seen again. Works Cited â€Å"Games of the XXVth Olympiad—2000.† 17 Oct. 2003 Taylor, Phill. â€Å"Slam Dunk.† Sports Illustrated August 1996: 48-53. The Dream Team: Simply the Best. Videocassette. Xenon Entertainment Group, 1997. 73 min. USA Basketball: â€Å"96 Olympic Gold.† Videocassette. CBS FOX Video Sports, 1996. 50 min.

Learning Styles: Differences In Children’s Minds Essay -- essays paper

Learning Styles: Differences In Children’s Minds Many Community college students are unable to exit remedial college preparatory programs and advance into credit courses (Rochford 2003). Experts may say it is due to the inability of teachers to teach using methods. Different people may have different learning styles. Student populations have become more diverse, the ability to teach to the needs of different learners has become increasingly important (Haar, Hall, Schoepp, & Smith 2002). Learning styles refer to the way students concentrate on, process, internalize, and recall new and difficult information. Most people have preferences, but individual preferences differ. The stronger the preference, the more important it is to provide compatible instructional strategies (Rochford 2003). The Dunn and Dunn Learning-style model illustrates elements that influence that way people learn new material. Great achievement while introducing new material may be achieved if certain stimuli are considered:  · Environmental - sound, light, temperature, design  · Emotional – motivated, persistent, structure, responsible  · Sociological – alone, pair, peers, team, adult, varied  · Physiological – food, time, mobility  · Psychological – global, analytic (Rochford 2003). Understanding these stimuli is the first step in mastering the art of teaching the correct method to the correct learning style. The three basic learning styles include the visual, the auditory, and the kinesthetic learner. Each type of learner has distinct characteristics and skills. Visual Learning Visual learners need to see the material. Information seen in charts, diagrams, or pictures is remembered... ... http://bcps.org/offices/lis/models/tips/styles/html Miller, S, (2000). The learning styles survey. Retrieved October 16, 2004 from http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/fourls.htm Penn State York University. Auditory learners. Retrieved November 20, 2004 from the world wide web: http://www.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/auditory.html Rochford, R. (2003). Assessing learning styles to improve the quality of performance of community college students in development writing programs: a pilot study. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 27.8, 665-677. Sabry, K., & Baldwin, L. (2003). Web-based learning interaction and learning styles. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34.4, 443-454. Svati, C. & Pratibha, M. Visual learners. Retrieve November 20, 2004 from the world wide web: http://www.nalandainstitute.org/aspfiles/visual.asp

Mass Media :: essays research papers

Issue # 14 1. Media Monopolies: Are the Dangers of Concentration Overstated? Yes, by Eli M. Noam and Robert N. Freeman No, by Ben H. Bagdikian 2. The main focus behind the two articles are the concentration of media. Through the Telecommunications Act of 1996 attempts were made to limit the amount of monopolies in media. However this opened the door for other large businesses to merge and gain even more control, therefor creating more concentration in the media. Are the â€Å"media monopolies† doing their job in surveying national and local issues and are they acting in the public interest? The article also analyzes the vastly growing corporate elite who control media, and their ability to censor public awareness. 2. Eli Noam and Robert N. Freeman believe that there is more competition in U.S. media and it is only moderately concentrated. They justify their claim through U.S. Department of Justice procedure for identifying concentrated markets. They show several graphs indicating the shares of companies and the moderate increase that has occurred in recent years. Noam and Freeman show graphs that show both an increase in the total concentration of the media industry as well as graphs that depict a slight decline. They also support their claim by describing the drops that occurred in telecommunications services, computers TV programming and in music. They discuss how the market shift moved away from mainframes to microcomputers, where there is very little domination of the market by one company. Bagdikian lacks evidence of his claim, and supports it with his own opinions. He explains the reality of the situation in media concentration and control. He tells about the dominance of Microsoft and G eneral electric, who own NBC and radio and cable networks across the globe. He shows how Rupert Murdoch used media control to control politics which then made him immune to the restrictions applied to media, and allowed him to form FOX network. Bendikian emphasizes that companies who have control over politics can do whatever they want. 3. Both sides of the issue support their side through examples in the media market. Noam and Freeman show the various firms and corporations, who compete and take over the other companies, slowly increasing their control of the market. Bendikian analyzes the major corporations who have influence over the media, such as GE and FOX who are growing and killing off the other competitors. He also shows the raising role that cyber media and computers are playing in the market and the how companies are finding ways around the restrictions by merging.

Dr Jack Perry Motivation case Essay

This case revolves around Dr. Jack Perry, the protagonist, is proprietary dentist clinic. Dr. Perry is a successful dentist in a small town of Cromwell in Canada. He had purchased the practice from a retiring dentist and has been successful in his practice considerably. However, he now faces a management problem of motivating his employees who are suffering from low morale and do not seem to be working as hard as they could to help increase the revenue of the clinic. Dr. Perry, had attended a dental conference in Chicago in 2005, and recalled two approaches to profit sharing which would help in motivating the employees. He now faces the dilemma as to which one of the two pay structures would be best suited for his practice as selecting a wrong pay structure could lead to further de-motivation of his employees. BACKGROUND OF THE CASE Dr. Jack Perry has managed to run a thriving dentistry practice in Cromwell which had a population of only 3000 and served an additional 7000 people from the surrounding areas. He had little competition in the form of 3 other dentists. Dr. Perry has sound financials and is witnessing a growth rate of 15 % annually. In conformance with industry norms Dr. Perry employs three categories of employees namely, receptionists, hygienists and assistants. At present he employs two part time receptionists, two full time hygienists, one full time assistant and one part time assistant. His employees were paid their wages at competitive hourly rates prevalent in the market. In addition to their hourly wages, they were given an Annual cash bonus of $400 during Christmas which was well appreciated by his employees. Dr. Jack Perry was quite involved with his staff by regularly discussing their work and salary on an informal basis. He allowed his employees 3 weeks holidays in a year. As a result Dr. Perry had virtually no staff turnover. Despite the his easy going manner, competitive salary and a pleasant work environment, Sandi the receptionist, had concluded that the morale was low among the staff, an observation Dr. Perry had made himself. OBJECTIVES To study the benefits and drawbacks of the two pay structures , its financial impact on the employees and how they would help him resolve the issue of low morale in the organization. To suggest the best suited pay-structure for Dr. Perry’s practice which would help him increase his collections by motivating his employees. CHARACTER SKETCH OF DR.PERRY Dr. Jack Perry is a dentist who has completed his graduation from an Ontario University dental school in 2011. He was a sole practitioner dentist in Cromwell, Ontario. Becoming a dentist in Canada was a rigorous process which required a lot of hard work and which included three years of study at the undergraduate level, followed by four years at an accredited dental school. Perry was happy with his work as he was giving competition to other three dentists in Cromwell. He was doing far better than his competitors and was proud of the financial success which came along with it. His business was now growing at 15 per cent annually. Perry had created a comfortable and easy going environment at the workplace. He used to have informal meetings with the staff annually to discuss the work and salary. His staffs were given three weeks of holiday per year. Not only this, but he also allowed his staff to take further unpaid vacation time as long as they can provide him with another staff member to handle their shifts. This gave the flexibility to the staff members as this thing made easier for them to spend some time with their families. All the team plans and organize the Christmas party before Christmas holidays. He used to give cash bonus for their hard work throughout the year. He was a benevolent boss. CASE ANALYSIS 1. The main reason for the decaying employee morale was the quick growth of the business. Dr. Perry’s employees were well compensated at competitive market rates and enjoyed a pleasant working environment. The annual growth of the business (15%) meant that his employees were making relatively less money than Dr. Perry himself. The current pay structure did not have any provision for any category of employees to earn a proportion of the profits. Every employee has a fixed hourly salary. Thus, a bigger business meant that they felt like slave labourers since they were aware of the increase in the practice’s revenues and number of patients. 2. Dr. Perry’s revenues largely depended on the hygienists who generated about 40% of the revenues. Even the receptionists played a vital role in adding to the revenue by filling in cancelled appointments. His assistants too contributed by playing the role of nurses by comforting the patients which further helped in patient retention. Thus it would seem only fair that a part of the profits must be shared with the employees in the form of a variable pay structure. 3. As per the conference which Dr. Perry had attended, the first approach of remunerating the employees focused on the contribution of the hygienists only. As per this approach, the hygienists would be paid purely on a commission basis of around 40% of the total earnings. The main advantages of this system are: It recognises the direct effect of the hygienists’ efforts on the revenues of the practice and rewards them for the same. A 40% commission would be financially more beneficial to the hygienists assuming the current level of collections. Also it is forecasted that such a pay structure would result in an increase in the billings by about 13%. The major drawback of this system is that it simply does not completely recognize the contribution of the receptionists and the assistants in the revenue generation of the firm. The pay structure does not clearly define how commission would be linked to the total earning of the receptionists and the assistants. Also, by making the earnings of the hygienists completely dependent on the revenue, it may lead to dissatisfaction of the hygienists of the collections did not increase. 4. The second approach states that the employees should be given a share of the profits at a pre established percentage over and above their hourly wage rates. This method ensured that : Some parts of the profits were distributed to all the categories of employees. At the same time since the employees would receive their hourly rates in any case, it would give them a sense of security and eventually help in maintaining the pleasant work atmosphere. However, this method did not distinguish between the categories of employees who contributed more to the revenues than those who contributed comparatively less. This could lead to de-motivation of the hygienists who had a direct impact on the revenues of the companies. Solutions/Suggestions For Hygienist : 1. Perry’s Clinic should recognise best skilled hygienists. Perry should conduct special trainings for the underperformers and bring them to the same level. 2. Targets of hygienists need to be on a similar alignment as that of the firm. 3. Teamwork needs to be motivated through annual bonus. 4. Incentives can be introduced to keep the results persistent. 5. The firm should control the cost through effective pay strategy. The above decisions could have the following effect on the hygienists – their income would increase; the effort put in by an individual would benefit him/her i.e. every individual is responsible for his/her incentives. Thirdly they would get an opportunity to work with an efficient peer group thereby nurturing each other. For Assistants & Receptionists: 1. The firm should encourage wage earners to spend time on highly skilled tasks. 2. Decrease interoffice concern about peer pay. Pay should be based on training level. 3. The weekly payroll should be known. 4. Annual bonus would motivate team work and coordination. By implementing these they would have stable pay, little daily pressure to up sell services. Their pay easily calculated each week. It would allow them to take time off providing high quality of work. CONCLUSIONS In the scenario where Dr. Perry business is growing at a healthy rate it is important to continuously monitor pay structure of the firm and revise it from time to time since remuneration is directly related to the motivation level of the employees. Dr. Perry must change the pay structure to accommodate profit sharing with the employees in the form of a bonus which would be a percentage of the total profits of the practice, in the case of increased revenues for that particular year. This method is better for the business at this stage because the practice is still in a growth stage. The profits can be divided among the different categories of employees in a number of ways. A drastic change in the pay structure from fixed to completely variable is not recommended because in case of lower collections in any particular year, it may lead to lower earnings for the employees. This pay structure can be further revised in the future to increase the profit sharing element in the remuneration of the employees as the firm grows bigger. MANAGERIAL LEARNINGS 1. Monetary benefits motivate people to perform better in most cases. It is important for managers to understand the link between the pay structure and the motivation levels of employees. Merely high wage rates may not be sufficient to motivate the employees and they must given a fair share of the profits earned by the firm. 2. Performance linked Variable Pay (PLVP) is a salary component present in most of the MNCs. This keeps the employees motivated to continuously increase their productivity rather than a fixed salary which may lead to a laid back style of working thereby impacting the performance negatively. 3. It is important for mangers to know the contribution of individual employees and different categories of employees and must frame the pay structure in accordance with the same. This would ensure that employees are rewarded sufficiently for better performances. 4. Keeping the market standards in mind, pay – structures must be constantly monitored and should be revised along with the growth of the firm in terms of revenue earned and the volume of business for employees of all levels. 5. Firms disclose their revenue generated through Quarterly/Semi Annual Meets. Managers must make sure that the employees understand not only the revenue aspect of a growing firm but also the increased costs associated with them and therefore emphasise on the need for higher productivity from the employees.

Net Neutrality Paper

Capitalism is an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. (Merriam-Webster Online, 2010) The United States of America is considered a â€Å"free market†, in some cases. Internet Seen,'ice Providers own the tangible cables and pipes providing the service of connectivity to the internet. They are the bridge. They own the bridge. In a free market, they can regulate heir bridge how they see fit, within the parameters of the law.This same model is expressed by cell phone companies in the communication industry as well as cable companies in the television industry. Cellular phone companies own all the variables that make up their network. They then sell you service to connect to their network based off of their interpretation of what the market will allow. They dictate wha t you pay, how much usage you are allowed and what types of usages are allowed. Cable companies evolved in the same manner. Once a free entertainment source is now a billion dollar year industry marked with the footprints of capitalism.Cable companies put forth the ground work to make the cable experience what it is today. In return, they profit from their investments to do so. They also dictate what we pay and what types of usage we are allowed. These cable and cellular communication companies have thrived in our free market mentality but in the same instance have been regulated by government when it applies to the internet. In the same way they own the physical cables, the pipes underground, the satellites and the air space, they are providing the bridge.Without their bridges, the consumer cannot access the internet. In a free market society, we tell companies to manage their business according to what the market will allow. The market has allowed the cell phone industry to operat e without regulation. The cable companies have thrived without regulation under the allowance of the market. The internet is no different. Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned or possessed by a person or jointly by a group of people. Property is synonymous with ownership.Ownership is the exclusive right to possess and dispose of what oh own. â€Å"When you pull out the government, you take out socialism, and when you remove the rights of ownership and place the benefits broadly on the least able to pay for them, you have communism. It isn't yet clear if socialism will work in the U. S. , and it is doubly doubtful that communism (aka â€Å"Net neutrality†) will ever work. † (Ender, 2010) In economic terms, calculability is the ability to exclude others from use of a good. Rivalry is when one person's use of a good diminishes another's ability to use that good.When you have a resource that doesn't have calculability but does display rivalry you hav e what is known as ‘Tragedy of the Commons† which is an overused, under maintained resource (aka â€Å"the free-rider problem†). In Africa arose the possibility of the elephant becoming extinct from humans killing them for their hides and tusks. Two countries decided to act against this problem, Kenya and Rhodesia. Kenya took the approach of placing a ban on elephant poaching while Rhodesia gave property owners Private Property Rights to the elephants with incentives for elephant maintenance.Jenny's elephant population decreased while Rhodesia increased dramatically. The conclusion of when property rights are given, ownership of property motivates protection and care for the property more efficiently than federal regulations. In economic terms the internet would be classified as an Clubbable resource. The classification of rival or non-rival is debatable due to bandwidth. However if we look at this example from the rival standpoint, it bears identical resemblance of the private goods industry.When property rights are given with incentives, the elephant will prosper. If ownership is revoked and regulations are implemented by government, we have Tragedy of the commons. Sip's currently don't have incentives to make broadband bandwidth accessible in all parts of our country due to lack of profitability. Therefore our elephant population (internet) will decrease. This is a simple example of how capitalism is a great model for economical success. It is the same model that has molded our country for over two centuries. Why the model is continually changing I do not know.The Internet is not public property. Telecommunications companies have spent billions Of dollars on network infrastructure all over the world. They did so in the hope of selling communications services to customers willing to pay for them. The government has no right to effectively nationalize Sip's by telling them how run their networks. Proponents of net neutrality love to invent hypothetical scenarios of ways companies could abuse customers. It is true that a free society gives people the freedom to be stupid, wrong, and even malicious.The great thing about capitalism is that it also gives people the freedom to decide whom they want to do business with. A socialized Internet takes away that freedom and turns it over to politicians and lobbyists. Why do â€Å"net neutrality' advocates ridicule politicians for impairing the Internet to a â€Å"series of tubes,† and then trust them to regulate it? (vessels, 2007) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the ability to regulate wireless network providers by reclassifying them as Title II common carrier services, essentially equating them with cable and phone companies.That type of regulation would allow the FCC to impose traffic equality laws on all carriers, where under Washman's proposal wireless providers would have been exempt. Verizon, AT and wireless association ACTA have opposed the PC's m easures, while Google, Faceable and Keep, among various public interest groups strongly supported them. (Prism, 2010) Phone and cable companies have argued that increased regulation of Internet practices could have a detrimental effect on the industry. They argue that tough regulations could deter network investments and hinder the expansion of broadband infrastructure.The free-speech objection to net neutrality has also gained some ground recently. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCAA) and AT&T began citing First Amendment objections to net neutrality in public discussions and in filings with the FCC this year. The free-speech argument states that, by interfering with how phone and cable companies deliver Internet traffic the government would be manipulating the free-speech rights of providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Compass. Jerome, 201 0) The Federal Communications Commission first established rules in 1 965 for cable systems which received signals by micro wave antennas. In March 1 966, the Commission established rules for all cable systems (whether or not served by microwave). The Supreme Court affirmed the Commission's jurisdiction over cable in United States v. Southwestern Cable Co. , 392 US. 157 (1968). The Court ruled that â€Å"the Commission has reasonably concluded that regulatory authority over CATV is imperative if it is to perform with appropriate effectiveness certain of its responsibilities. The Court found the Commission needed authority over cable systems to assure the preservation of local broadcast service and to effect an equitable distribution of broadcast services among the various regions of the country. In March 1 972, new rules regarding cable television became effective. These rules required cable television operators to obtain a certificate Of compliance from the Commission prior to operating a cable elevation system or adding a television broadcast signal.The rules applicable to cable operators fell into se veral broad subject areas franchise standards, signal carriage, network program non-duplication and syndicated program exclusivity, non-broadcast or cable casting services, cross-ownership, equal employment opportunity, and technical standards. Cable television operators who originated programming were subject to equal time, Fairness Doctrine, sponsorship identification and other provisions similar to rules applicable to broadcasters.Cable operators were also required to maintain certain records ND to file annual reports with the Commission concerning general statistics, employment and finances. In succeeding years, the Commission modified or eliminated many of the rules. Among the more significant actions, the Commission deleted most of the franchise standards in 1 977, substituted a registration process for the certificate of compliance application process in 1978, and eliminated the distant signal carriage restrictions and syndicated program exclusivity rules in 1980.In 1 983, th e Commission deleted its requirement that cable operators file financial information. In addition, court actions led to the deletion of the pay cable programming rules in 1977. In October 1 984, the U. S. Congress amended the Communications Act of 1 934 by adopting the Cable Communications policy Act of 1984. The 1 984 Cable Act established policies in the areas of ownership, channel usage, franchise provisions and renewals, subscriber rates and privacy, obscenity and lockers, unauthorized reception of services, equal employment opportunity, and pole attachments.The new law also defined jurisdictional boundaries among federal, state and local authorities for regulating cable elevation systems. Following the 1984 Cable Act, the number of households subscribing to cable television systems increased, as did the channel capacity of many cable systems. However, competition among distributors of cable services did not increase, and, in many communities, the rates for cable services far ou tpaced inflation. Responding to these problems, Congress enacted the Cable Television Consumer protection and Competition Act of 1992.The 1 992 Cable Act mandated a number of changes in the manner in which cable television is regulated. In adopting the 1 992 Cable Act, Congress dated that it wanted to promote the availability of diverse views and information, to rely on the marketplace to the maximum extent possible to achieve that availability, to ensure cable operators continue to expand their capacity and program offerings, to ensure cable operators do not have undue market power, and to ensure consumer interests are protected in the receipt of cable service.The Commission has adopted regulations to implement these goals. In adopting the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress noted that it wanted to provide a pro-competitive, De-regulatory national policy ramekin designed to accelerate rapidly private sector deployment of advanced telecommunications and information technologies and services to all Americans by opening all telecommunications markets to competition. The Commission has adopted regulations to implement the requirements of the 1996 Act and the intent of Congress. General Cable Television Industry and Regulation Information Fact Sheet, 2000) In the end life contains complex decision making decisions that come from those with opposing opinions. If we take positive economic results from the past and try to replicate them today, it might begin with clear and concise repertory rights pertaining to the internet. Let the free and open market drive competition to fuel creativity and innovation.

Public Meeting Okaloosa County Commissioners

Public information update included Stillwell Park, which had replaced an old sewage plant. Two future additions to the park include a water feature and special needs section. Reported that a plaque, US Saloons PAP 21 9 was present to the County and placed in one of the County buildings. The County Administrator updated the board about money saved by purchasing TV less expensive vehicles to complete work in the county. He related that it is normal business to discuss these items with the board, but felt that when employees save monies for the County he wanted to bring this to the Boards for acknowledgement.Commissioners updated section included them commenting about employ awards, and the great staff that the County has to sustain the County. Commissioner Goodwin discuss the need to evaluate how well the contracted lobbyists are representing the County. He suggested adding this to agenda to discuss coming up with quantitative measures to evaluate the lobbyist's effectiveness for the c ounty. Several of the County Commissioners attended the Florida Association of Counties meeting in Tampa where they discuss priority list for the upcoming legislative session.Some of the priorities that were mention were set funding priorities, priority sit for upcoming legislative session, and collecting monies from DEJA. Commissioner Bowels volunteered to prepare the packet for the next meeting for both the funning priorities and the priority list for the FACE. He also related that the City League has requested placement on the next agenda for a round table discussion about reported cross–jurisdictional issues that both the County and sister cities in Saloons County are experiencing.They also brought up in the meeting to set up an ordinance in the county for assisting residents with road grading on non-county roads by using County equipment and staff. The Commissioner reiterated that the County would receive consent from the effected residents and bill them for the services . They approved the recommendation from the Saloons County School board to add Dewy Destine to the of ORCA committee. Visitor, Dry. Karen Chapman provided a presentation to the Board on status and history of Bola virus.A Public hearing request for plan amendment and rezoning was heard and the board approved the plan amendment and rezoning as requested of T. Davis Gordon. Consent agenda where they approved 22 of the 23 items and discussed item number 16. They discussed Medicaid Amendment for approval the contract for transportation to assist medically needy patients. Change orders to extend time limit for completing of the contract at West Hangar Area Parking Facilities. Request for approval of five FOOT Airport Grants more change orders to reduce contract amounts on the Administration Building and Sheriffs New Building.New business on the agenda was a request from board member to select for Chairman and Vice Chairman for 201 5, and discussion of County Administrator selection. They unanimous elected a new chair and vice chair for County Commissioners Board. All parties agreed to elect the current acting County Administrator because he has done an outstanding job. The Commissioners open the floor for comment and Tim Anderson owner of an Airport Shuttle / Taxi business requested to address the Board.He reported that he was unsure as o how he went about making a request. He wanted to request a change in how Valparaiso conducted business. He reported that he had a letter for each of the Board members to read. The Chairperson advised him that he could pass the letter to the clerk for their review and they would contact him. Attending this meeting was very educational by learning the recess to petition the board for a hearing or about other request and concerns that we might have for our neighborhood and community.Speaking with our County Commissioners could make a change for the community and people who need assistance. It is important to be prepared and confident about any request that you plan on making. Lastly, the board controls the monies that legislators approve for the county level. An Advocate could use this venue to request funds to provide services to clients or even use of a county building. My impression of the speakers who address the board meeting from the audience seem direct and to the point, UT seemed a little nervous about the process.