Mozart And The Mind Essays - Intelligence, Psychometrics

Mozart And The Mind Mozart and the Mind Music appears to be one of the fundamental activities of mankind. In nearly every country around the world people are dancing, singing, jiving, or chillin to their favorite tunes. There is just something about the variations of musical notes all mixed together that can alter the way we act, feel, and even think. It is generally agreed that music causes some kind of increased arousal in those who are the least bit interested in it and are listening with some degree of concentration. In depth studies have shown that music can reduce pain in childbirth, strengthen immune systems, and give surgery patients fewer complications with a much faster recovery (Take two? 108). The latest claim is that listening to classical music can enhance ones ability to reason abstractly, in turn boosting a person's IQ (intelligence quotient). The question is, is the claim really valid? Astonishingly, this idea is taken as fact in most parts of America when really it is a theory based on much exaggeration. This idea of there being a link between classical music and a person's IQ is commonly referred to as the Mozart Effect, a term coined by Alfred Tomatis. This was first suggested about six years ago by a group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Halpern 1). Using music as treatment for psychological or physical disorders is an idea that has existed in many forms, in many cultures, and for many centuries (Marwick 267). Well, so what. Music may play a role in how a person acts or feels. But does becoming smarter by listening to this same music fall along similar lines? Braddock 2 Some agree and others disagree; nevertheless they are basing their beliefs on three areas: experimental data, scientific research on the brain, or personal experiences. Among the many supporters of the Mozart Effect is the author of The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell. The Red Book magazine reports Campbell saying in his book that 'music alters our energy patterns and affects all sorts of processes, from blood pressure and heartbeat to muscle tensions and brain waves' (Take two? 108). The main study of importance supporting Campbell's claim came from a study done by researchers from the University of Wisconsin. This study consisted of several college students listening to Mozart's Sonata of two pianos in D major for 10 minutes and then taking a specialized test (Weiss D5). The results showed that the students scored better on the tests after listening to the music, giving evidence of at least a temporary boost in IQ (D5). With studies like these surfacing, there is just to much evidence in support of the Mozart Effect for it to just be thrown away, yet the evidence presented from these same studies is not strong enough to persuade all. So the controvers y is now on the validity of studies like the one conducted by the researchers from the University of Wisconsin. These people in opposition believe that music has no relation with the way you think and how one may learn. The main arguments that the theory debunkers present have to do with the lack of scientific evidence the theory is currently holding its ground with. One strong argument against the Mozart Effect is that the only study taken tested one short piece of music: 10 minutes' worth of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. The study said that, after listening to the music, subjects only experienced a Braddock 3 temporary boost in scores (Kolata 5). So in fact the original research behind this attractive brain-altering notion said nothing about neither intelligence nor brain development. All it displayed was that a group of college students happened to do better on a battery of specialized tests shortly after listening to Mozart. Despite these claims there is still scientific research being done on music and its relationship to the mind including numerous laboratory experiments on animals and humans alike. Shown with an Electro-encephalogram, the changes of amplitude and frequency of the brain waves are evident. Therefore there is definitely something going on in the brain when musical notes vibrate through our ears, but the question of does it make a person smarter? is still present.

Arab Israeli Conflict essays

Arab Israeli Conflict essays Fighting intensifies during the last few days of British rule. The tel aviv-jerusalem road was repeatedly being tried to be cut off by the Arabian forces to prevent Jews of Jerusalem getting to the coast. 14th may 1948 Ben Gurion announced Israelis existence and the neighbouring Arab governments responded with war. 30000 Arab soldiers then invaded Palestine and although they outnumbered the Jews, lack of organisation between the Arabs and distrust with the leaders caused them to fail. King Abdullah of Jordan had overall control. He wanted to control Jerusalem and the west bank. His forces fought for the areas but lost as the Israelis resisted fiercely with the support of the US and soviet On 11th June, UN arranged a month long truce. 7 July truce ended. On the 17th of July, another truce was announced, but this truce ended when Israeli troops attacked Egyptian Forces. Israel took the coastal strip between tel aviv and Gaza and drove Arab forces out of northern Palestine. By early 1949, Israel controlled all of Palestine, except for the Gaza strip and the west bank Arab armies were forced to admit defeat. On the 24th of February 1949, an armistice agreement was signed between Israel and Egypt. - A Jewish state was established within a territory controlled by Jewish - Large numbers of Jewish migrants moved to the new state. - Only the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank remained outside - The majority of Arab Palestinians fled Israel and became refugees. Only a minority remained under Jewish control. - Governments of Arab states were humiliated by the defeat. Arab leaders were discredited and lost power as a result. - Government of Syria was overthrown in 1949 - King Abdullah of Jordan was assassinated in 1951 - King Farouk of Egypt, lost power in 1952 - Israel Occupied most the land granted to the Arabs in 1948 - 280,000 Palestinians moved to the eastern section of Pales...

Myself As the King Consumer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Myself As the King Consumer - Essay Example Therefore, I believe that I cannot make a mistake when making a purchase because it comes highly recommended by trustworthy people. Then, of course, there are the trending Tweets when it comes to the latest trends in gadgets, fashion, accessories, music, etc. There is a whole multimedia campaign going on here just because Taylor Swift wants me to go back to 1989. the question is, do I spend my hard earned money just on the say-so of the brand marketers? As a consumer, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to purchase items because of all the outside factors that involve themselves in my purchasing decision. However, I find that once I break free from the influence of the brand marketers and my family members, I am even more lost than ever before I purchase something. Why is that? There are too many brands out there that all tout themselves to be better than the other for me to make a personal judgment about the item I wish to purchase. This is when my purchases begin to enter the â€Å"Hail Mary† phase. I make a decision, don't look back, or allow the salesperson to sales talk me into looking at another item before I head to the cashier. I made my decision, I can only hope it was the right one. That is what purchasing decisions have come to these days. Too much influence from other sources has spoiled the shopping experience for me. I can't even buy a tube of toothpaste these days without comparing prices, checking coupons, and googling product reviews, right there in the middle of the supermarket! That just goes to show that there is no such thing as a King Consumer anymore. These days, people know what they want, the problem, is which brand to choose. This is when the practical side of me comes into play. I believe that if I buy something too cheap, it'll break within the day. If it is too expensive, I get bells and whistles that I don't really need. So I try to  shoot for the middle brand.

Performance Rights Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance Rights Act - Essay Example It is actually one of nine bills headed for the same thing but with a little different wordage. The plan is to require all radio performances including terrestrial radio, to pay performance license fees to artists for the broadcast of music (ecoustics.com). At this point in time webcasters , satellite companies, and cable companies all pay artists and others for the right to play recorded music but terrestrial radio is not required to do so. The nine bills that are now in Congress are meant to try to equalize this situation. Some of those bills are HR4788 sponsored by Representative Howard Berman, HR 848 presented by Representative John Conyers and another by Senator Partick Leahy. Senator Leahy states that presently it is very unfair and unjust for the radio companies not to have to pay for recordings. To them, it is there livelihood and it is unjust to not get paid for what they do as artists. The Performance Rights bill is meant to stop that unfairness(ecoustics.com). The Performance Rights bill will close an ancient loop hole in the copyright law that was created and allowed AM & FM radio stations to earn $16 million a year in advertising revenue without compensating the artists and musicians who have brought them the music in the first place. These artists bring the music to life and the music brings the listeners to the radio dial (ecoustics.com). AM & FM radio becau AM & FM radio because of the loop hole is the only platform of music that does not pay the artists and musicians a fee for the use of their music, in fact this is the only country in which this occurs. According to the artists, AM & FM radio have received a free pass. Sam Moore says, that American broadcasters have earned billions of dollars by playing the music created by these artists and all the artists want is to receive what artists in every other country around the world receives when their recordings are broadcast, fair compensation for the performance of their work. All the Performance Rights Act does is to bring the United States into line with other countries in the world. The major provisions of the act include providing a statutory license for making one payment annually under a set rate through negotiations or by the Copyright Royalty Board for all the music they play. This would be in place of the original thought of having to negotiate every copyright owner for each use of their music. This Act would accommodate small broadcasters and others by assuring balance and fairness that is not presently there. More than 75% of all commercial radio stations would pay only $1,000 per year. People like talk radio who only use music incidentally would not have to pay the fee and neither would religious radio. Most of the other 8 amendments read very close to the same way. The Future of Music Coalition has many issues going on at this point and only one of those is the Performance Rights Act. The future of the web and what it means to the music industry is part of their concern at the moment. Many artists are now using the internet to do their own open bookings of live concerts as well as selling merchandise, and booking tours. Almost all of them are building fan bases on the web. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster controversy and merger has concerned many of the artists enough to cause them to find ways to take on some of this business venture themselves. This

Both sides of free trade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Both sides of free trade - Research Paper Example ironmental sustainability, the citification mechanism of producers in exporting countries and certification of products in importing countries and creating awareness of such products among consumers of the developed world (Singh, 2001). On the other hand free trade is a global effort to carry out international trade free of negative protectionist practices such as higher tariffs on imports, subsidies to domestic producers, foreign exchange restrictions, dumping cheaper goods abroad, imposing dubious standards on imports and import substitution by propping up unwieldy domestic industries. Theoretically free trade is based on neoliberal economic principles dating back to Ricardo’s argument on the principle of comparative advantage. Free trade and fair trade aren’t necessarily the same though some of the ultimate outcomes would converge. In fact divergences between the two are many and if free trade were practiced with full force indeed, fair trade would take a back seat. Globalization has been the catch word used by many who advocate free trade. Such people vehemently support all and everything in the name of free trade. On the other hand fair trade is a distant cousin of free trade. An inevitable aspect of this relationship between the two is that the former is marginalized while the latter is well placed at the center of the global market. Fair trade is essentially replete with intricate nuances ranging from market access facilitation processes to marginalized producers to sustainability efforts. Such noble principles need some theoretical and conceptual frameworks to support them though. Free trade theories are many while the principle of comparative advantage is the most predominant among them. The basis on which free trade is advocated by its supporters is determined by a series of arguments which in turn are associated with neoliberal perspectives. In the first place globalization is the logical premise used by supporters of international free trade to

Will The Internet Drown The Travel Agents Tourism Essay

Will The Internet Drown The Travel Agents Tourism Essay November 2009, Budget travel the largest tour operator in Ireland ceased trading and closed the remaining 17 of total 31 retail shops. The company was established in May 1975 and had a 30% share of the market. The internet is a tidal waveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. It will wash over the computer industry and many others, drowning those who dont learn to swim in its waves. (Bill Gates, 1995) Travel agents used to be the purchase channel between the travellers and the suppliers; now travellers can bypass the travel agents and purchase directly from the suppliers by using the internet. Will the internet drown the travel agents, like Bill Gates predicted, or will they learn to swim in its waves? A lot of research in this area has focused on how travellers and suppliers use the internet to eliminate the middle man, this research examines how travel agents are evolving and surviving this disintermediation. This dissertation is important to the middle men (the travel agents) and will examine what future, if any, they have and what form that future will take. Also this is important to future researchers, due to the lack of recent research literatures on this topic. Background to Study Currently travellers demand more and higher quality travel services, products, information and value for their money. The internet serves as a new form of communication and distribution channel for the traveller and travel service suppliers. It enables tourism suppliers to improve their competitiveness and performance, by cutting out the middle man, bringing more profit to the tourism suppliers and allowing suppliers to provide lower fare to the travellers. Before the internet, travellers had to book though travel agents. These bookings typically consisted of a large range of bundled products; each of the products within the booking was presented to the traveller in a sequential fashion. For example, the start of the trip would almost certainly consist of a flight product; at the destination airport the traveller would possibly collect their hire car and they would then go on to their pre-booked hotel. The industry relies on linking various products from various sources at specific times and locations to create a coherent package or product for the traveller. As Longhi (2008) stated, the value chain of the travel and tourism industry could traditionally be split into five main types of actors or participants (Figure 1): Figure 1 The Travel and Tourism Industry Supplier Chain Suppliers GDS Tour operators Travel agents Traveller Suppliers and service providers. Global Distribution Systems (GDS), such as Galileo, Sabre and Amadeus, used for reservations, information search, client management and reporting. Tour operators, who bundle the tourism products from suppliers. Travel agencies, which distribute the different products from services providers and tour operators to the consumer. Travellers, the actual customers. In contrast to the traditional model above, the internet provides a way for tourism suppliers to sell their products globally to potential travellers. For these suppliers, this model represents lower distribution costs, access to a much larger market and therefore higher potential revenues. For travellers, it represents an ability to communicate directly with tourism suppliers and to purchase what they wish when they wish to; with no recourse to a middleman. To some researchers, online booking sites significantly reduce the importance of travel agencies, a trend that could ultimately result in the permanent removal of travel agents from the supplier chain (Barnett and Standing, 2001). However, Palmer and McCole (1999) argue that travel agencies provide personal information and advice to traveller and that this is their key strength. There has been a significant amount of research on how the internet has changed the way travellers purchase products, but very little has been conducted on how the internet impacts the intermediaries travel agents. With the trend towards disintermediation, the elimination of the middle men between the suppliers and the consumers, travel agents would seem to be facing extinction. Bennett(1992) claims that changes to information technology in the travel industry over the past few years have worked primarily in favour of the suppliers and at the expense of the travel agents. Caywood, Loverseed and Murray (1999) support this view and suggest that these changes are aimed at encouraging travellers to bypass travel agents altogether. It is certainly undeniable that the internet is providing the means for suppliers and consumers to communicate directly. Figures available from the Irish Central Statistic Office indicate that over the past 4 years, the number of travellers booking online has increased dramatically and, by the same token, the number booking through travel agents has substantially decreased. Number of Trips by Irish Residents (Thousand) Travel Agent Internet 2006 1729 5510 2009 1046 7496 Despite these statistics, travel agents still exist within the marketplace. The fact that they are still here means that they are somehow managing to compete with the internet. A number of arguments have been put forward to suggest why travel agents are still surviving and also what they need to do to continue to compete and flourish. Lowerngart and Reichal (1998) claim that there are opportunities available to travel agents provided they focus on specific markets and specialise their activities. Waksberg (1997) argued that travel agents should move from a focus on transaction processing to the provision of consultative services. Lovelock (1992) claims that travel agents will need to expand their advisory function and concentrate on the provision of information and details that are not available to the traveller through the internet. Beirne (1999) suggests that travel agents should become consumer advocates, finding the best deals for the traveller. The Research Questions The primary research objective is to recognize how the internet is changing the travel industry and what strategies or techniques travel agents are adopting to evolve and sustain their positions. The key research question maybe posed as How does the internet impact travel agents? From the key question than expand to sub questions as following: How has the internet changed the business of travel agents? What threats does the internet present for travel agents? How are travel agents using the internet to run and improve their businesses? In what ways are travel agents competing with online travel providers? How will travel agents utilize the internet in the future to enhance their business operations and increase their profits? Timeframe of the Study The study was conducted over a nine months period from December 2010 to August 2010. The initial proposal was established during December to February, when the research topic was decided. The main body of work commenced in March 2010. Roadmap of Chapters The dissertation is split in to five major chapters followed by reference, bibliography and appendices. A summary of the subsequent chapters is outlined below: Chapter 2 contains a brief history of travel reservation system, as well as a discussion on existing research in the area and predictions concerning the future of travel agents. Chapter 3 discusses what methodological approach has been taken, the methods used to design and develop the research instruments, detailing the rationale for selection of the focus group, interview and online survey questions. Chapter 4 contains analysis on the primary secondary data and the findings. Chapter 5 presents the conclusion of the research and future work needed in this area. Chapter 2 literature review 2.1 Introduction November 2009, Budget travel the largest tour operator in Ireland ceased trading and closed the remaining 17 of total 31 retail shops. The company was established in May 1975 and had a 30% share of the market. This chapter sets out to examine how travel agents operated before the widespread use of the internet. It contrasts this historic, or traditional, mode of operation with the way that they operate today; placing particular emphasis on how the internet has directly impacted travel agents in the modern marketplace. There is a lack of recent and current research on this very specific topic, as a result most articles cited within this chapter are quite old. However, the lack of pertinent articles is also indicative of the importance of this research. This chapter draws on selected research identified during the literature review. It outlines the relationship between the internet and travel agents and it is from this literature review that the research questions for this dissitation emerged. 2.2 Exploratory Research A list of relevant articles and other sources were initially established through searches in selected computer science, communications and social sciences databases. Additional articles were found by following references from the initial list to their sources. The following databases were searched for the keywords Travel agents, Internet vs. Travel agents, Reservation system, Distribution channel, Tourism and travel, Information system, survival of the middle man and travel agency. Electronic journals http://atoz.ebsco.com IEEE Online Journal Index http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/periodicals.jsp Stella catalogue http://stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/iii/encore/home?lang=eng Science Direct http://www.sciencedirect.com Emerald http://www.emeraldinsight.com.elib.tcd.ie/ SAGE Journals Online http://online.sagepub.com.elib.tcd.ie ISI Web of knowledge http://apps.isiknowledge.com.elib.tcd.ie Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com Fig 2 Selected database table 2.3 History Any discussion on the history of the travel industry is necessarily complicated by large scale conflicts or wars. These are events which profoundly restrict any and all international travel, effectively shutting down the travel industry. For this reason, this document will consider the history of travel industry from the late 1940s onwards. Events prior to this are outside of the scope of this research. During the period under discussion, the late 1940s, travellers were few and fares were tightly regulated. The customer would telephone the travel agent, giving them details of the required travel arrangements. The agents would then call or telex the suppliers, on receiving these details the supplier would store them on a reservation card and then file that card. The number of air travellers steadily increased during the late 1940s and 1950s, in response to this; the airline schedules grew more complex. The existing simplistic system of booking travel products had to evolve to meet the increased size and complexity of the travel marketplace. In 1959, IBM developed a Computer Reservation System (CRS, also known as a Global Distribution System (GDS)) called Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE). Initially developed for American Airlines, it was an answer to the problem of how to scale the reservation process to match the increased demand for travel. By 1964 it was the largest civil data processing system in the world (DUNCAN G.1995). Other airlines followed suit and introduced their own CRS or GDS systems. To book an air itinerary, travel agents had to call a reservation agent within the specific airline; the airline reservation agent would then make the flight reservation though a GDS terminal. The travel agent would then book any other additional travel products, such as hotel accommodation or a rental car, again using the telephone. This process created constrain on the travel agents, so they began pushing for a system that could automate their side of the process. In 1976 all airlines start grant travel agents access to their reservation system, allow agents to book ticket through their systems directly. At the same time in the UK , British Airways, British Caledonian and CCL launched Travicom, the worlds first multi-access reservation system, it has 49 airlines subscribing to it, it enable the travel agents and airlines communicate via a common distribution language and networks. From its success Travicom start implement similar system in different country, later when British Airline chose to participate in the development of the Galileo system ; Travicom changed its trading name to Galileo UK and a migration process was put in place to move agencies from Travicom to Galileo (B. Schmid, 1994). By the end of the 1990s there are nine major GDS of which 6 are still been used today. The GDS allow travel agent to a ccess its data using a terminal window through the network. Now travel agents can book flights directly with the GDS, they quickly realised that the computer terminals they are using everyday could be a convenient tool for booking other services as well. The GDS soon realised to fulfil the travel agents requirements; they need to add booking capabilities for rent cars, accommodations and other travel products (HSMAI Marketing Review, 1996). Finally travel agents can now book itinerary though one source within a network. When the internet becomes more and more popular, airlines and travel agents like other corporations start to use internet to improve their business. All GDSs can now be accessed through internet, travel agents can simply log on to the GDSs website to make search and reservation, most of the communications are done by email, the internet allows the travel agents operate more efficient. It also enables airlines to discard paper tickets, allow travellers to check in online, and travel agents will no longer has to worry about if the paper ticket will not reach the traveller on time. At the same time the internet also enable the traveller to book trips bypass the travel agents (Jo Cheyne et. Al, 2005). 2.3 Existing research of internet and travel agents Examining the key findings of some of the major studies on the relationship between the internet and travel agents. 2.3.1 The advent of the internet and disintermediation in the travel industry The internet has changed the traditional distribution channels; various studies have shown how well the internet is suited to the travel and tourism industry (Buhalis and Licate, 2002; Chirstian, 2001). With advent of the internet, suppliers can provide information on their products online, timely, up to date, to the travellers to assist their decision making. This , in turn, necessitates the balancing of perishable tourism products and changeable tourist demand, furthermore, the tourism industry is diversified, with a plethora of different suppliers that operate independently, even as tourists expect travelling to be complete experience. The resolve this mismatch, the internet offers an effective means for developing a single and sustainable electronic infrastructure for information gathering and business transactions for both travellers and suppliers. A natural outcome of this is that the suppliers can carry out one-to one marketing and mass customization. In other words, travel su pplier an now understand each customers needs, and therefore target each customer individually and deliver tailor-made products. More importantly, travel suppliers can understand how to deliver information and sell their products and services to customers directly through their website (Law, 2002). Travel services and product suppliers see the internet as an opportunity to save money on distribution costs. Inkpen (1998) stated that the internet allows the suppliers to sell their product directly to the travellers, bring them a significant cost savings. As Law (2000) contends that the internet allows the tourism suppliers to control and update their service remotely with electric speed, reaching global travellers anywhere, anytime. The benefits of an online website bring lower distribution cost, higher profit, and larger share of the market to the tourism suppliers. For the travellers, the internet allows them to bypass the travel agents, book directly with the chosen suppliers anytime, anywhere (Olmeda and Sheldon, 2001). The suppliers can reach the travellers directly, which allow suppliers reduce cost on distribution channel, hence cheaper price are offered to the travellers, this seems like a Win-Win situation for the travellers and the suppliers, which bring uncertainty to the future of the travel agents. 2.3.2 Advantage of the internet for travellers Jo Cheyne et al (2006) attested that travel agents are the key intermediary between travel suppliers and travellers; with the advent of the internet travellers and suppliers could interact directly, internet offer more information then travel agents and often provide cheaper price. Long (2000) summaries it in 4 points: The internet provide convenient and instant access for availability enquiries and bookings at times when consumers want o research and purchase travel Ability to access easily information that is detailed and also up to date, helping decision making. A cost advantage in purchasing travel online as results of the market becoming more competitive, as well as the ability for consumers to take advantage of substantial online discounts that cannot be obtained via any other traditional distribution channels and possible cost advantages for consumers as result of decreased distribution cost Avoid travel agent fees and charges. 2.3.3 Disadvantage of the internet for consumers Lang (2000) also identified the disadvantages that stop customers purchase online: Difficulty in finding the website and information they require Time consuming Online security issues Information overload Lack of trust in the technology Lack of human interaction Standing and Vasudanvan (1999) indicated that some researchers are mainly focusing on the impact of internet and threats of disintermediation, there are very littler work carried out on the strategies travel agents has adopted and the internet marketing models they are using. A large survey of Australian travel agencies website has been carried out, the findings shows that the major of agencies use internet as a yellow pages or online holiday brochure, a small percentage of websites allow the travellers to make booking, around half of the website capture the data on the travellers, but only few captured the traveller email address. The paper also suggested that travel agents should use internet as a marketing tool. 2.3.2 Implications of the internet for travel agents The internet has changed the traditional distribution channels; customers can buy products directly from the suppliers anytime anywhere. Travel services and product suppliers see the internet as an opportunity to save money on distribution costs. Inkpen (1998) stated that the internet allows the suppliers to sell their product directly to the travellers, bring them a significant cost savings. As Law (2000) contends that the internet allows the tourism suppliers to control and update their service remotely with electric speed, reaching global travellers anywhere, anytime. The benefits of an online website bring lower distribution cost, higher profit, and larger share of the market to the tourism suppliers. For the travellers, the internet allows them to bypass the travel agents, book directly with the chosen suppliers anytime, anywhere (Olmeda and Sheldon, 2001). The suppliers can reach the travellers directly, which allow suppliers reduce cost on distribution channel, hence cheaper p rice are offered to the travellers, this seems like a Win-Win situation for the travellers and the suppliers, which bring uncertainty to the future of the travel agents. Lawton and Weaver (2009) did in-depth interviews with 19 owners of successful US-based travel agencies, the paper did SWOT analysis over the 19 travel agencies, and identified that the negative public perceptions of travel agencies is the main external threat. 2.3.2 Demands for travel agents One of the most recent study on this topic, tried to identify the tourist perceptions of the potential for the elimination of travel agencies in the presence of the internet. Law et al (2004) conducted a questionnaire on selected experienced travellers, who had visited at least one travel Web site were asked to participate. The answers of 413 travellers on preference on book through internet-based or traditional distribution channels were analysed. The results show that travellers still ask travel agents for advice and their professional services. The paper proposed that from the findings both online and travel agents can coexist in the future. This is probably the most cited recent piece of research on the relationship between travel agents and internet, although some of its findings have subsequently been contested, it must still be regarded as one of the seminal works in the area. Jo Cheyne et al (2006) attested that travel agents are the key intermediary between travel suppliers and travellers; with the advent of the internet travellers and suppliers could interact directly. Main finding was the factors that influence travellers choices on using a travel agent or the internet when booking an over sea holiday, the factors are: services reliability, managing complex itinerary, guarantee, attractive deal and payment security. 2.3.2 The changing roles of travel agents Lowerngart and Reichal (1998) claim that there are opportunities available to travel agents provided they focus on specific markets and specialise their activities. Waksberg (1997) argued that travel agents should move from a focus on transaction processing to the provision of consultative services. Lovelock (1992) claims that travel agents will need to expand their advisory function and concentrate on the provision of information and details that are not available to the traveller through the internet. Beirne (1999) suggests that travel agents should become consumer advocates, finding the best deals for the traveller. Michael Bloch and Arie Segev (1997) has contend travel agents should adopt the IKEA concept, the Swedish furniture giant transformed from a traditional store to a family destinations, with restaurant, kids play ground ,etc. Travel agents can do the same, with each area set to different destinations, or type of travel products. Each area has an information point, that t ravel agents could provide information on the particular destinations, supported by video clips of the main attractions. The experience of shopping might be the only thing that internet could not replicate. 2.3.5 Importance of internet technology for travel agents Barnett and Standing (2000) have identified two major threats that the internet has on the traditional travel agents; they are disintermediation of retail agencies by the product suppliers, and the emergence of new online intermediaries. It argues that the traditional travel agents are not aligned with the demand of new travel economy, travel agents has to establish web present. Standing and Vasudanvan (1999) indicated that some researchers are mainly focusing on the impact of internet and threats of disintermediation, there are very littler work carried out on the strategies travel agents has adopted and the internet marketing models they are using. A large survey of Australian travel agencies website has been carried out, the findings shows that the major of agencies use internet as a yellow pages or online holiday brochure, a small percentage of websites allow the travellers to make booking, around half of the website capture the data on the travellers, but only few captured the traveller email address. The paper also suggested that travel agents should use internet as a marketing tool. 2.5 Research questions and objectives

The History of Puerto Rican Migration :: Historical Puerto Rico Immigration Essays

The History of Puerto Rican Migration Through out the twentieth century Puerto Rican immigrants have played a major role in the United States’ labor force, cultural identity, and in politics. From the 1920’s, when the cigar makers waged their union battles, attracting the attention of other trade unions to Puerto Rican workers. Today the Puerto Rican Political Action Committee of Connecticut (PRPAC) is a major player in state politics, by supporting candidates and getting the Puerto Rican community involved in the elections of the state, but also the city of Hartford. In the "Memoirs of Bernardo Vega: A Contribution to the History of the Puerto Rican Community in New York", Vega talk about finding a voice for the laborers of the city and fighting for equal opportunity for all workers. In Jose Cruz’s "Identity and Power: Puerto Rican Politics and the Challenge of Ethnicity", he talks about in today’s society how Puerto Ricans must stay together in the battle to be heard by the government. As a result of protests against the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs, a massive strike broke out in July of 1919. The strike stopped all cigar production in New York City, slowly spreading throughout the United States. Quickly unions began to see the importance of the Puerto Rican worker. This strike had many benefits for Puerto Rican workers. Soon after, Puerto Rican laborers began to enjoy the same wages and hours as other immigrant workers from other countries. However, the most notable result of the cigar makers’ strike was that for the first time Puerto Rican delegates were able to participate in the meetings of the union members. The cigar makers’ strike led to other strikes by different Puerto Rican laborers to call the attention of their owners to the fact that the Puerto Rican labor force was a group that was not going to be pushed around. On December 2, 1922 the Liga Puertorriquena was formed. Composed of an array of social, intellectual groups that had never before taken up the position of the workers’ struggle, Liga Puertorriquena was the first major effort to unify the concerns of the entire community. This new group now had the backing of the Puerto Rican community to make their voice heard in the city. Puerto Ricans were now able to protest and have an impact on what was going on both in the community and back on the island.