Battle of Issus Essay Example for Free

Battle of Issus Essay The Battle of Issus Sometime around 310 BCE an artist by the name of Philoxenus of Eretria created a mosaic (creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored material) of the Battle of Issus that has long been considered one of the greatest artworks of antiquity. Found at the House of the Faun in Pompeii in 1831 the mosaic is composed of about one and a half million tiny individual colored tiles called tesserae. The artwork illustrates the battle in which invading troops led by Alexander of Macedonia defeated the army led by King Darius III of Persia. When looking at the piece the viewer cannot help but be impressed by the psychological intensity of the drama taking place. On the Persian side of the piece the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the prominent figure of Darius shown in his chariot. A look of pure desperation, and perhaps even fear, is etched in Darius’ face as victory slips through his hands. As his steely eyed charioteer turns to rein his horses for a fast retreat to safety Darius stretches out his hand toward Alexander either in disbelief that Alexander has beaten him, or perhaps in grief over the death of one of his â€Å"immortals†. Around him are his Persian soldiers who mill in confusion in the background, their faces filled with fear and determination. On the same side, there are two other figures that are quite notable and demonstrate the artist’s technical mastery. The first is the artist’s depiction of the rearing horse right below Darius which is seen in a three-quarter rear view. The rider, his terror evident upon his face, glances back at the battle as he attempts to control his horse. This kind of depiction is very impressive and is much more accomplished then other similar attempts such as the shading in the Pella mosaic or the Vergina mural (Kleiner 142). The second, perhaps even more impressive, is the artist’s portrayal of the Persian in the foreground who has fallen onto the ground and raises a small shield in a pathetic attempt to prevent being trampled. The man’s terrified face is reflected on the polished surface of the shield moments before the chariot crushes him under its ornate wheels. On the Macedonian side of things the viewer’s eye is of course drawn to Alexander. This portrait of Alexander is one of his most famous. His breastplate depicts Medusa the Gorgon. He leads the charge into battle on his horse Bucephalus, without even a helmet to protect him, and maintains an aura of unshaken confidence in direct contrast to Darius. As Alexander surges forward in a supreme effort he drives his spear straight through one of Darius’s trusted â€Å"immortals† who puts himself between him and the King of Persia. As the impaled Persian collapses to the ground, Alexander fixes his gaze upon Darius in utter hatred. Although the deteriorated condition of the mosaic makes it difficult to distinguish much on the Macedonian side a cavalryman wearing a Boeotian helmet with a golden wreath can been seen behind Alexander. Looking at the mosaic as a whole there are a few important details that grab ones attention. First is the fact that the landscape is very minimal, only one gnarled tree trunk appearing in the background and a few discarded weapons and rocks in the foreground. Secondly, everywhere in the scene men, animals, and weapons cast shadows on the ground. This unusual attention to detail is what enhances the intensity of the piece and gives it an aspect of realism that truly shows the horror and confusion of battle. The viewer cannot help but be drawn into the conflict and become a part of the drama as it unfolds. To me this mosaic is not only a truly great piece of art but also has furthered my understanding of Roman artwork, Macedonian warfare and the emotion in Hellenistic-styled mosaics. It is easy to understand how Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder concluded that Philoxenus’ depiction of the Battle of Issus was â€Å"inferior to none† (Kleiner 142).

The Role Of Customs And Excise Agency

The Role Of Customs And Excise Agency The rapid pace of globalisation is inevitable. Such a rapid global trade is driven by technological changes on transportation and communication, the increasing of population, and multilateral trade agreements. In some aspects, global trade has brought many benefits. It opens up a whole range of job opportunities to the citizens, provides affordable goods and services, accelerates economic growth and offers prosperity to the country. Then, participating in the global trade is desirable. Even though the gains from global trade are obvious, economist agree that the greatest gains go to the country that slashes its own barrier (World Trade Organizations, 2013). There are many forms of trade barrier such as tariffs, quotas, and antidumping duties that may impede market integrations. Thus, trade barriers have become a critical issue to be solved. Reducing tariffs and non-tariffs barriers have become a way to overcome trade barrier issues. However, this prescription has not always led developing countries to achieve desirable gains from global trade. Wulf (2005) pointed out that there are some factors that lead to the failure of many developing countries to generate economic benefits such as poor trade logistics environment and high transaction costs including customs clearance costs. Further, as the growth of global trade, the movement of people, goods, and services across around the globe has increased rapidly. It brings serious challenges in which demand some forms of revenue collection as well as border protection. In this point, Customs and Excise agency as one of key border agencies should take in place. Customs and Excise agency are expected to perform properly to meet the global trade challenges. Indonesia, the largest archipelago country in the world, has a strategic position across major sea lanes from Indian to Pacific Ocean. Its strategic position has led and fostered international trade. This country has become an attractive market because its large population, its economy size and its active membership in many regional trading arrangement (Salim, 2011). On the other hand, Indonesia is not only an attractive market for traders but also it becomes a potential hotspot for transnational organised crime. These situations demand some forms of effective border protection as well as revenue collection. In this point, Customs and Excise service has responsibilities to deal with the goods crossing the borders of the country, including counter illegal cross-border activities and tackle the cross-borders threats. It is clear that Custom and Excise agency, as a border control authority, needs to overcome these new challenges. Regarding to this issue, this paper will specifically discuss the role and responsibilities of Customs and Excise agency in Indonesia. To some extent this paper also discusses the challenges that Indonesian Customs and Excise agency will be faced as it moves toward 2020. The Role of Indonesian Customs and Excise Administration In general, Indonesian Customs has its roles as trade facilitator, industrial assistance, revenue collector, and community protector (Bea dan Cukai, 2013). As changes in the international trade pattern and the world have become borderless, trade will flow toward efficient environment where barriers in trade are eliminated. It seems that the global trade simultaneously requires an efficient and competitive market. As a consequence, many regional, bilateral, and multilateral trade initiatives are trying to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers gradually. As the tariffs liberalisations are already implemented, Love and Lattimore (2009) stated that there are other main barriers of trade in developing countries, such as customs and administrative technical and procedures. Since 1994, Indonesia has adjusted its tariff to be in line with World Trade Organizations commitment (WTO, 1998). However, Indonesia-European Community (2007) pointed out that Indonesian government consistently fail to generate optimal revenues as well as offer a fair treatment for investors because of its governance problems, particularly in the customs and tax administrations. Similarly, Wakamatsu and Iwakami (2005, p. 14) pointed out that in Indonesia, customs and clearance as one of the major issues to be improved in the business and investment environment. It is clear that international trade requires efficient and effective as well as simple and clear customs procedure. In response to this challenge, Indonesian government has enacted Law Number 10 Year 1995 on Customs which later it is amended with Law Number 17 Year 2006 on the Amendment of Customs Law (Bea dan Cukai, 2013). In general, these two laws have led Customs and Excise agency to accommodate the demand of international trade as the consequence of Indonesias participation in the ratification of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and other trade agreements (Bea dan Cukai, 2013). Customs agency plays a significant role as a trade facilitator. The WTO defined trade facilitation as simplification and harmonization of international trade procedures, including activities, practices, and formalities involved in collecting, presenting, communicating and processing data and other information required for the movement of goods in international trade (WTO, 2001). Thus, carrying out its roles and responsibilities as trade facilitator requires effectiveness on customs clearance processing. In international trade, lengthy time on customs clearance does really matter. The more complicated its procedures will increase time delays on clearance, and it will increase costs of doing businesses. As a result, Indonesia will be less competitive in the international trade. Indonesian Customs has recognized this challenge. Reducing time delays on customs clearance as well as reducing the cost of doing business can be achieved by simplification and modernisation systems on customs clearance. Even though Indonesia has not signed The Revised Kyoto Convention yet, Indonesia has adopted some principles on Kyoto Convention, including simplification, harmonization and modernisation of Customs administrations. In 1997, Customs has started to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system in which it provides an alternative for the client in the procedure of lodging a customs declaration (Bea dan Cukai, 2013). Later, in 2010, Indonesia has started to implement Indonesias National Single Window (INSW) as part of Indonesias commitment to ASEAN. The development of the INSW was driven by Indonesias commitments to ASEAN under the Agreement to Establish and Implement the ASEAN Single Window that was signed in 2006 (OECD 2012, p. 53). Through this single window, it would improve the flow of exports and imports. Bayhaqi (2011) pointed out that Indonesia has achieved significant rreductions in customs clearance time and technical control for both, imports and exports. For imports, the time taken to customs clearance decreased from seven days in 2006 to four days in 2010, while for exports, it decreased from two days in 2006 to one day in 2010 (Bayhaqi, 2011). However, due to its limitation on information technology systems and legal issues related to information transfer among government agencies and private sectors, the paperless trading through the INSW is only available for a relatively small group of about a hundred traders, which have advanced and qualified technology systems for post clearance audit facilities (OECD, 2012). In the future, Indonesia needs to accommodate and facilitate other traders to use INSW as well as establish cross-border paperless connection within ASEAN countries. Conservatively, the role of Customs agency is as a gate keeper to collect revenues. However, as the vast expansion in people and goods movement, the role of customs agency is not only to collect revenue but also to facilitate trade and protect the community. The needs of Customs agency can be varied among the countries, but in an archipelago country like Indonesia, Customs plays a critical role as the first line of defence against transnational crimes, smuggling, drugs trafficking, terrorisms, illegal fishing, illegal logging, and other illegal activities. As a timber producer, Indonesia has struggled with issues related to illegal logging. Luttrel et.al (2011) calculated that the government was losing US$600 million to US$ 8.7 billion per year because of illegally harvested timber activities. Scheyvens and Casero (2010) pointed out that there are many forms of illegal logging activities that against customs law such as exporting timber without a licence or proper documents, undervaluing export prices and volumes and misclassification or misdeclaration of word products, re-routing and trans-shipment fraud of cargo, attempted bribery, and so on. Goncalves et al. (2012, p. 12) stated that Customs officials play an important role in detecting illegal logging because they are in a position to prevent the movement of unauthorized shipments across borders with false documentation. On the other hand, Scheyvens and Casero (2010, p. vi) pointed out that Customs administrations have only a little or no external support or background information to assist them, except for customs declarations and accompanying documents. In another point of view, Scheyvens and Casero (2010) stated even though exporting countries have clear procedures for wood export permit and verification, its requirements for the clearance of wood product consignments are not well known by Customs agencies in importing countries. To some extent, Customs in the importing countries may not have powers to prosecute imports of illegal timber (Scheyvens and Casero, 2010). In order to overcome this issue, one of the approaches is to prevent the flow of illegal timber entering the importing countries. It can be achieved through Customs agencies co-operation and collaboration between exporters and importers countries. Thus, information sharing among Customs agencies is crucial. Indonesia itself has engaged in many regional Customs networks, and initiatives to combat illegal logging. Through World Customs Organization (WCO), APEC, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) for example, illegal timber trade issues has been raised (Scheyvens and Casero, 2010). In bilateral level, Indonesia has arranged and signed a number of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), such as United of Kingdom-Indonesia MoU and United of States-Indonesia MoU and to tackle illegal timber trade including various forms of Customs collaboration (Scheyvens and Casero, 2010). Cantham House in Goncalves et al. (2012) reported that in 2008, illegal logging has declined, but it still contributed around 40 to 55 per cent of all logging in Indonesia. Amacher et.al (2012) stated that the major obstacle in combating illegal logging is bribery and corruption of government officials. Further, Nelleman (2012) described that illegal logging syndicates might pay export fees on the timber, but they pay little tax from the actual logging through initial under-reporting. Transparency International (2011, p.3) pointed out that often corruption and fraud have been used to falsify valuable permits from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Combating corruption across government agencies might become a big task. However, there is one small step to curb corruption: building the capacity of Customs. Transparency International (2011) pointed out that the improvement of Customs capacity will assist Customs officials to deal with any complex forms of fraud and corruption in the timber trade. Scheyvens and Casero (2010) stated that strengthening Customs integrity is necessary to combat corruption within Customs administrations. In general, there are ten elements of Customs integrity program under The Revised of Arusha Declaration, including transparency, automation, reform and modernization, audit and investigation, and relationship with the private sectors (McLinden, 2005). The implementation of these ten elements would be beneficial to curb corruption. Conclusion The role of Customs agency might be varied within countries. As the world is becoming borderless, the role of Customs agency in Indonesia has become more complex from revenue collector to trade facilitator and community protector. Carrying out its role as trade facilitator, Indonesian Customs has simplified, harmonized, and modernized its systems and procedures on customs clearance for both, exports and imports. The implementation of INSW aims to accelerate the customs clearance, reduce transaction costs and enhance national competitiveness. However, in the future, INSW needs to be improved to accommodate much more traders. Indonesian Customs has simultaneously made some efforts to combat the existence of illegal activities, particularly illegal logging. In response to this issue, Indonesia Customs has engaged in a number of international organizations as well as bilateral and multilateral agreement. As a result, the number of illegal logging has fallen, but it still has become an issue to be solved. One of the challenges is corruption issue within government agencies, including Customs agency. Thus, strengthening Customs integrity is becoming a crucial task as it is moving toward to 2020.

Diversity Statement - The Appalachian Mountains :: College Admissions Essays

Diversity Statement - The Appalachian Mountains    I was raised in an ultra-conservative Pentecostal Holiness church in the Appalachian Mountains. There were snake handlers in our church. It was thought that it tested one's faith to pick up a poisonous snake -- God wouldn't allow it to bite you if you had faith. However, I was always afraid that to pick up a snake would greatly increase God's propensity to smite me via death by snakebite. I did not have enough faith. I've never encountered a miracle -- I've never had a dream come true. I therefore can't help but lack faith.    To my great fortune, I've had many people help me along the way who didn't have to and who stood nothing to gain by helping me. Teachers gave me after-hours help; when I didn't know how I would pay for school, the financial aid office gave me a scholarship. These people helped me for no reason other than the mere fact that I am a human being, worthy of help when in need. Although I didn't have faith, they gave me hope.    This is why I have worked at a local homeless shelter for the past two years.   I feel like I can do the same thing -- help a person or two merely on the basis of our shared humanity. I enjoy paying back some of the help society has given me. I teach a computer class at the shelter, but everyone gets free therapy on the side. Most of those people aren't different in some essential way from the homed or those who have jobs, but life has often dealt them a losing hand to begin with. I tell them that I also had a losing hand, but I never gave up hope. Often, hope is all I had -- but it was enough to keep me pressing onward.

Differences Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles Essay

Investigating the Difference Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles For my investigation I decided to take stories sent in by readers to the magazines FHM and Cosmopolitan. FHM is aimed at men aged around 16 to 30, while Cosmopolitan is aimed at women of the same age. I thought it would be interesting to look at the differences between the two formats because I read FHM quite a lot, and some female friends of mine read Cosmopolitan, and I have often wondered what and how many differences and indeed similarities there are between the two magazines. I was also interested in the different ways similar topics were portrayed for the two different sexes. It helps me understand some of the language and gender issues I dealt with last year in English Language, and that is why I chose a stories page, it tells me more about the people who actually read the magazines than the people who write them. The stories I hoped would reflect the people who wrote them, and therefore the people who bought and read the magazines. It is also interesting for me because I want to become a magazine journalist when I leave university. Doing this investigation allows me to take a more in-depth look at what kind of people enjoy these kinds of magazines, and also it gives me a chance to look at the way these types of articles are presented in magazines, looking at things such as layout. I aim to find differences between the subject matter of the letters, the lexis used by the writers, the differences in grammar, the layout of the letters pages in the magazines and the general tenor of the stories. I also aim to reach a conclusion as to what... ... and "freezing my arse off". These slangy informal descriptions are very suitable for the FHM stories but hardly sensible for the Cosmopolitan story. Overall the articles conform closely with my hypothesis. The variances in the tenor were often and obvious. The male stories also conformed to my hypothesis in that they were competing as an incentive to win a prize, whereas the woman was not. The subject matters also matched my hypothesis. The male stories use mostly a different style of writing to the female articles, and indeed these contribute to them having very different effects on the reader. I think that my investigation has been a success. I have proved many of my hypotheses and my aim has been met. There is a large difference in male and female orientated magazine articles, in both style and substance.

The Real Purpose of a University Education Essay -- Argumentative Educ

The Real Purpose of a University Education All my life I knew I would be attending college. There never seemed to be any other option available as far as I knew. I never really stopped to think about whether or not it was necessary for me, or why it was so important; I was just funneled into the college curriculum in high school. I have attended the University of Arkansas for three years now, and have heard two main arguments over the purpose of a college education. One is that college is a place to train for a job, and the other is that college should be an institute of higher learning with no real focus on a future job. Challenged to form an opinion on this matter, I finally decided that neither side is absolutely right. In fact, I decided that the â€Å"purpose† of college should not even be an issue. College is what the student makes it. However they view college, all of the students will come out with some very similar experiences and benefits. I often hear professors grumbling about students who don’t value learning for the sake of learning. They feel that students who view college as job training may as well be in some vocational school, leaving university life for the more â€Å"enlightened† among us. This seems ridiculous to me. The majority of people in the United States will have to get jobs in order to support themselves or their families until retirement. So, you may as well plan to get a good job that pays well and you enjoy. What better place to plan and train for a future job that college? First of all, college provides students with an opportunity to explore different subjects and to find out what they truly love doing. Also, according to a 1994 College Board Study, college students will make an av... ...this, imagine the possibilities of a college education. Obviously, all of these things that you gain from college that I have discussed in reference to society could also be applied to finding jobs. A potential employer would find any of these qualities attractive. However, as already mentioned, this is beside the point. I think we should stop wasting time fussing over the purpose of a university education, and simply make it whatever you want it to be. If you’re here to get prepared for a job, then do it. While you’re at it, learn something you did not necessarily plan to. You may enjoy it. If you’re here to become absorb knowledge like a sponge, then do it. While you’re at it, you get ready for a future career. You may need a job someday. It doesn’t matter if you attend college to get a job or to become enlightened--the benefits will come either way.

Economics and Global Business Essay

A) Elasticity of demand is describes as the degree of percentage change in demand for a good or service due to variation in price. Elasticity measurements can be expressed by three types of demand; inelastic demand, unit elastic demand, or relatively elastic demand. To determine the percentage of change in demand for a product or service the price elasticity equation and coefficient are used. The coefficient Ed is defined as â€Å"the percentage change in quantity demanded of product divided by the percentage change in price of product X† (McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 2012, pg. 76) The three expressions of Ed are Elastic, Inelastic, and Unit Elasticity. Elastic demand occurs â€Å"if a specific percentage change in price results in a larger percentage change in quantity demanded† (McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 2012, pg. 77). For a product with inelastic demand Ed < 1. An example of elastic demand is when there is a 2% decrease in the price of chocolate that results in a 6% increase in quantity. Ed= .06/.02 = 3 Inelastic demand occurs â€Å"if a specific percentage change in price produces a smaller percentage change in quantity demanded.†(McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 2012, pg. 77) For products with inelastic demand Ed 0 .Inferior goods are goods that yield a negative income elasticity, Ei < 0. As consumer incomes increase, demand and purchases of these foods decrease. Examples of inferior goods are bus tickets, consignment clothing, and retreaded tires to list a few. D) Demand of a product will be elastic when there is a higher number of substitute available. This happens because consumers can easily swap one product for the other based on price. An example can be the purchase of soda. A consumer can go to the store to buy Pepsi but arrive and find a sale on Coke and buy Coke instead. The variety of soda a consumer can chose, makes the demand for Pepsi highly elastic. The same rule applies for inelastic demand of a product. If there is a limited number of substitute goods available the product or service is highly inelastic. An example would  be medical procedures or surgery. The alternative to surgery are very few, making medical procedures or surgery inelastic. E) The proportion of Income devoted to a good or service effects the elasticity of demand for that good or service. For goods that are of a higher proportion of income, a 15% increase in price would make the good highly elastic. But for goods that are of a lower proportion of income, a 15% increase in price would only slightly change the demand, making them lower in elasticity. An example would be a car priced at $13,000. If there is an increase by 15% the car now costs $14,950. This increase in price requires more of the consumer’s income making them highly elastic. Another example of how proportion of income devoted to a good effects elasticity of demand, is a pair shoes that cost $20.00. If there is a 15% price increase on the shoes, they now cost $23.00. The increase in the price of the shoes requires about the same proportion of income that the original price required. The lack of major proportional change to income makes the shoes elastic. F) Time is a factor that effects consumers demand elasticity of a product. â€Å"Short-run† demand for a product is often more inelastic than â€Å"long-run† demand since consumer have less time to find an alternative and normally don’t feel the effects of a price increase until â€Å"long-run.† An example would be an increase in the price of salmon. â€Å"Short-run† demand of Salmon is more inelastic since the effect if the price increase hasn’t been felt drastically by consumers. But, in the â€Å"long-run† demand for salmon will decrease making it more elastic as consumers find alternative to salmon. G) 1) Elastic demand range occurs when total revenue can be increased by decreasing price. The range for elastic demand on the graph is between $80 and $50. Total revenue increases as the price decrease. 2). Inelastic demand range occurs when total revenue can be increased by increasing price. The range for inelastic demand on the graph is between $40 and $0. Total revenue is decreasing as the price decreases. 3). Unit elastic range occurs when a  percentage change in price results in the exact same percentage change in quantity. When the price changes it does not affect total revenue on the graph. The unit elastic range for the given graph is $50-$40. References McConnell, Campbell R., Stanley L. Brue, and Sean Masaki Flynn. â€Å"Elasticity.† Economics: principles, problems, and policies. 19th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2012. 76-77. Print.

New Hire Communication Essay

The purpose of this message is to let others know about the company culture, process and procedures, as well as general information on the company for new hires. The general audience for the message will be consumers, competitors, perspective and new employees. Channels of communication will include pamphlets, a company website, email to current customers, employment agencies, and also a memo to new employees. The message to our audience will start as simple as an explanation of our company’s culture. We want the audience to know that we are customer focused with a friendly atmosphere where customers always feel welcome and excited to visit. We are employee owned with a low turnover rate and we promote from within the company. We have a management in training program where those who express interest in management can learn every job we have in the company. Our company is a metal recycling company whose process is buying metals, excluding precious metals, processing the metals, and the final product will be sold to larger recycling companies for a profit. We ensure that the metals are in the cleanest form to sell for the largest amount of profit. This process can include shredding of material, crushing of cars, removing plastics and trash, sorting of different metals, and packaging of materials to ship out. The process does not just include a buyer and a processer. It also includes managers to oversee the cleaning process, employees to package material, a cashier to pay customers, and office workers to perform everyday office functions. In order to keep costs at a minimum, there are as few employees as possible, but enough that employees do not get overwhelmed. Procedures are explained in detail when an employee starts the job. The line of communication is very open. We have an open door policy to ensure that employees are encouraged to give their input on how procedures can be changed in order to make the work more productive and make both customers and employees satisfied. Our management does not stay in an office all day, rather th ey are in the yard and warehouse running machinery, cleaning material themselves, and even unloading customers. They are always involved  with the workload of the day to ensure that employees feel that management is involved and working just hard as other employees. As stated earlier, our company is employee owned which gives us a large advantage when it comes to benefits. We offer to all full time employees some of the greatest benefits you will find in any company in Tulsa. Not only do we offer health and dental insurance, paid vacation, personal time off, and 401k, we also have an employee stock ownership program and profit sharing. We are self-insured with our health insurance and offer our own medical clinic with zero co-pays. You are 100 % vested in your 401k when you sign up and we contribute half of what you contribute, up to 6%. Our company has been in business for 70 plus years and we continue to grow. It is only in your best interest to be employed by a company who has withstood a bad economy and continues to prosper. Our customers have been coming to us for generations and will continue to be this way for decades to come. We have the culture and mission to withstand the test of time and we hope you love us as much as we do.