Dream Vacation Essay Example for Free

Dream Vacation Essay Eighty-five degrees, suns out, sand in your toes, a couple of brews, and you family and friends. That sounds like everyone dream vacation, but who would complain that sounds like a great time. You see during the summer I would love to take a couple of my friends to go see Dave Matthews Band play somewhere in the southwest. Seeing a concert probably isn’t the most exciting thing to do in a dream vacation, but as a group of friends we could do something so simple and have the best time ever. If my friends couldn’t come with I honestly think I would not want to go. My friends and I have all grown up together and have become so close that doing anything without one of them is just weird. We would get to this concert by car or plane, but I think if we took a car we could technically call it a road trip so it would make much more memorable. I wouldn’t bring my family because they would set rules, and on this vacation I just want to let everything go and have the best time of my life.What would be even better than just going to see Dave once, would be if my friends and I followed him on tour all summer! Unfortunately I don’t have that kind of cash, but I will have enough for this dream vacation, road trip when I start working in the summer and I can’t wait.

Geography Study Chart Places and Regions Essay Example for Free

Geography Study Chart Places and Regions Essay Studying the World Regions and Places units in your course Many students find the course content on world regions, countries, and places to be some of the most challenging material to learn. The combination of student unfamiliarity with the world regions and the large volume of information to be learned can be overwhelming. To help you organize your studies, keep in mind WGU’s intention behind this course, which is for competent students to have a strong grasp of the major human and physical geographic conditions that interact to shape our world. When you are studying world region, we want you to emphasize the 1) â€Å"big picture† of the geographic conditions in each world region, 2) the major countries of that region, and 3) how that region relates to the rest of the world. Creating a consistent framework for studying each world region may help you retain the knowledge you need to be successful in this course aspect. We recommend trying to identify the 2-3 most significant / most important physical, cultural, economic, and political characteristics that exist within each world region. We do not guarantee that you are only tested on those features, but the process of identifying the most significant characteristics from the broader range of information about each world region is an excellent study strategy that also will ensure you leave our course with a strong, general knowledge of the major geographic conditions around the world. You are welcome to use the grid, below, to help organize your study material.

Consumer Reactions Towards Product Placement In Movies Media Essay

Consumer Reactions Towards Product Placement In Movies Media Essay A review of trade and popular press over the past few years quickly reveals the interest in and growth of the product placement industry. Product placement is one of todays hottest new media, and it is getting increasing attention from advertisers, media planners, and research firms attempting to assess its effectiveness and value. It is getting increasingly popular and rapidly becoming a serious marketing discipline worldwide. Most major movie releases today contain product placements. It is a multimillion-dollar business with every frame in a movie having an opportunity for branding. From cars and cell phones, to mouth fresheners and branded tea-our heroes and heroines are the ultimate consumers. According to the PQ Media Global Product Placement Forecast Series 2006-2010 Country-by-Country Analysis, global paid product placement grew 37.2 per cent to $3.36 billion in 2006 and is forecast to grow 30.3 per cent to $4.38 billion in 2007, with growth accelerating in China, India and Australia (What Every Global 2006). Meeta Vora Munshi, Faculty (Marketing), Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies (SLIMS), Opposite St Xaviers College, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad à ¢-  Phone: 9825071663 à ¢-  email: [emailprotected] Dr Sarla Achuthan, Director, B K School of Business Management, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad à ¢-  Phone: 26304811. Product Placement In Movies Product placements have played a role in motion pictures for many decades and can be found in Hollywood movies dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s (The Economist 1991). Movie legend Joan Crawford drank Jack Daniels whiskey in the 1948 movie Mildred Pierce (Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993). In the 1950 movie Destination Moon, four space travellers rocketed to the moon drinking Coke and wearing Lee jeans (Vollmers and Mizerski, 1994). And Bollywood is not far behind. The earliest reference of product placement in Hindi movies comes in the 1940 classic Chalti ka Naam Gadi with Coca Cola. In 1967 movie An Evening in Paris, Sharmila Tagore was seen sipping delicately from a 200 ml bottle of Coke, struggling to make sure the logo was visible. Rajdoot motorbike was seen in Bobby way back in 1973. A few more recent and popular examples of product placements in Bollywood are Strohs beer in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge; ICICI Bank, Ford Ikon, Archies Cards, Tide detergent and Tata Tea in Baghban; and Times of India in Hum Tum. The practice of using branded props in movies started as a casual process. Branded items were simply donated, loaned, or purchased for particular movie scenes to enhance their artistic qualities (Spillman, 1989). But things changed with the 1982 movie ET-The Extraterrestrial, in which the alien creature was lured from its hiding place with Reeses Pieces candy. The Pieces candy sales increased by 65 per cent just 3 months after the movies release (Buss 1998, Farhi 1998, Reed 1989). It was since then that marketers began actively seeking their own product placements, fully understanding its commercial impact (Caro, 1996). LITERATURE REVIEW Several studies have investigated the attitudes and perceptions of viewers regarding the practice of product placement. These studies were efforts at determining whether moviegoers find the practice objectionable, given the stealth and deceptive nature of the product placement, as claimed by some consumer groups. Interestingly, these studies found that, in general, the majority of people in the United States dont object to the practice of product placement (Gupta and Gould, 1997; Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993; Ong and Meri, 1994). Placements are seen as adding realism to scenes, are preferred to fictitious brands and are understood to be more and more a necessary component to cost containment in the making of programmes and movies (DeLorme and Reid, 1999; Gupta and Gould, 1997). Most consumers considered product placement as a less obtrusive form of marketing communication than other advertising forms in the movie theatre, even though some of them criticized product placement as a deceptive communication strategy (Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993). Not many similar consumer studies in India were found, though a study carried out among students in India did find positive attitude towards product placement (Panda, 2004). RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Since the beginning of televised programming, advertisers in India have shelled out big bucks to promote their products on TV. The 30-second TV ad spot had been the sole reigning champion for a very long time, but no longer so today. Although the number of television channels has increased in the last decade from under 50 to over 200 today, the number of advertisers has grown much more rapidly (Surapaneni, 2006). Moreover, the bulk of advertising is limited to few popular TV channels. This has resulted in tremendous advertising clutter. Also, it has been noticed that TRPs of ad breaks have declined with channel zapping. And with marketers demanding more bang for their advertising buck, agencies were prompted to come up with innovative solutions. An association with Bollywood gives them an opportunity to look beyond the 30-second television commercial. For advertisers, the product placements provide clutter free noticeability (and possible sales!) from the huge number of Bollywood viewers in the captive atmosphere of theatres, on TV during film telecasts and at homes through DVD/VCDs. For filmmakers, the placement of appropriate brands in their films offers a legitimate and profitable source of revenue, over and above making the films more realistic. Obviously, its a win-win script for advertisers and filmmakers. The penetration and popularity of films in India can never be doubted. The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world, producing 1041 films annually. And Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, commands a huge 40 per cent share of the Indian film market (Media and Entertainment, 2007). The output of Bollywood is phenomenal. In 2006, the $3.5 billion industry produced 152 films. With a growing international market, Bollywood ticket sales are close to $4 billion every year (Bollywood-A Foretaste, 2007). The trend of product placements in Bollywood is increasing and advertisers are expecting mileage from this means of communication. This justifies the need to study the viewers reactions towards this practice in general. It could be helpful to marketers using this means of communication in understanding their target consumers. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The research objective of this study is to understand the viewers reactions towards the current practice of product placement in Bollywood. The main objective is translated into the following seven questions representing different aspects of viewers reactions: Do the product placements make the scene in a movie more realistic? Are the product placements a source of information about latest products? Should undue focus to place product be avoided? Do product placements cause irritation/distraction? Are product placements overused these days? Are product placements a means of money making for film makers? METHODOLOGY For this study a total of 121 respondents were surveyed in the city of Ahmedabad. The sampling method was convenient sampling, with care taken to include approximately equal number of respondents across demographic variables of gender and age. Considering persons below 16 years as children, only people of 16 or above were surveyed. Each respondents frequency of watching Hindi movies per month (irrespective of whether at home or theatre, on satellite TV or VCD/DVD) was also noted. The persons who mentioned watching less than 1 movie per month on an average were considered underexposed to the medium of movies and hence not included in the sample. The survey tool was a structured questionnaire consisting of a short initial description of the product placement practice to familiarize the respondents with the topic. The questionnaire was divided in two parts. In the first part, respondents were required to give personal details resulting in 3 variables, namely, gender, age and approximate frequency (of watching Hindi movies per month). The second part contained 7 items/statements which were based on product placements in general and not for any specific movie. These statements measured viewers reactions as per the questions discussed above. The variables generated by the second part of the questionnaire are as follows: Variables Questions REALISTIC makes the scene in a movie more realistic INFORMATION is a source of information about latest products SUBTLE should not be given undue focus in the scene DISTRACT causes irritation/distraction OVERUSED is overused these days MONEY is a means of money making for film makers BAN should be banned Thus a total of 10 variables, 3 based on personal details and 7 based on reactions were generated by the questionnaire. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS Out of a total of 121 respondents surveyed, 64 (ie, 53 per cent) were males and 57 (ie, 47 per cent) were females. Their age ranged from 16 years to 76 years. The approximate number of Hindi movies watched ranged from 1 movie per month to 30 movies per month. Charts indicating the profile of respondents based on personal detail variables are provided below. The response in terms of percentage of the respondents is summarized below. Variable Agree/Strongly agree Disagree/Strongly disagree Neutral REALISTIC 23% 48% 29% INFORMATION 71% 12% 17% SUBTLE 64% 18% 18% DISTRACT 21% 52% 27% OVERUSED 64% 12% 24% MONEY 85% 4% 11% BAN 21% 47% 32% A first hand glance at the above table shows that a huge 85 per cent of respondents thought product placements was a money making means for film makers and a large majority also thought placements were a good way of knowing about ongoing products. More than half of the respondents thought product placements were overused in movies these days and that they should be subtle and not overbearing. Close to half the respondents did not think scenes got more realistic with product placements. But again around half the respondents also thought product placements did not distract them and should not be banned. The process of deriving detailed results is underway. It is proposed to report difference in reactions of respondents across gender, age and movie watching habits as also correlations between the reaction variables using various statistical analysis tools of the SPSS package. CONCLUSION Though this study is limited only to Ahmedabad city and a limited sample size, the results may not be conclusive but indicative enough for marketers using this means of communication. From the preliminary results it can be said that people do have positive reactions towards the product placement practice if done subtly. So creativity and innovation can actually make this form of advertising quite paying.

Social Issues Essay -- essays research papers

The democratic society consist of the working class, it determines how much money they gain or how much tax they will be paying for the year. So they’d wanted o chose a candidate that will benefit them. He democratic society also seemed like it wanted to be heard in this year’s election. They spent million of dollars on making ads, posters, and billboards that would interest the average middle class citizen to go out and vote. The democratic society also was aware that the republicans were going to meet this election head on because a democratic had served two terms in office, and they are very anxious to change that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another significance that the elections have in a democratic society is that it made people pay more attention to what each candidate was saying. The democratic candidate didn’t nessariarly have to be voted for, that is if he wasn’t promising what we was looking for. But majority of the time it doesn’t happen that way, and the democratic society votes in a fellow democratic into office.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The final significance about a democratic society in elections is that the majority of the democratic society is in the middle class. They want someone that will make their lives better. After getting a pay raise, or better working conditions, from a democratic present the last eight years, it would be close to impossible to not support a fellow democratic if he is running for office.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, the Democratic Party has not always been as strong as it is today. In the 1950s and the early 1960s, the Democrats far outnumbered Republicans and despite their lower turnout, were successful at both the state and national levels. (150) Democrats have won one in five presidential elections since 1964, and in 1980, for the first time in twenty-four years. Although proportion of â€Å"strong Democrats† has dropped sharply, and voting defection from party devotion has increased at all levels. (150) Democratic candidates can no longer count on almost automatic majorities among urban workers, white southerners, union members, and members of certain ethnic and religious groups. This wearing away of traditional voting support cannot easily be explained by some momentary event or prominent personality. (151) Conflict over race within the Democratic Party is not a new phenomenon.   Ã‚   ... ...gations too, along with the pain and embarrassment of losing the election and the victory of winning the election.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The presidential candidate that I had planned on and voted for is in deed Vice-president Al Gore. I agree with what he represents, and from what he is campaigning, it seems as if he will help me with financial aid to attend school. And I also believe that he will keep minimum wage at a reasonable rate, because with these things thing, life as I know it would be the same. The issues that he addresses throughout the whole election are issue that I am very interested in. But the main reason why I believe that Vice-President Al Gore would make is an excellent chose for President of the United States of America because he has been in office with President Clinton for the last eight years, and I have seem nothing but progress for the United States of America. By President Clinton’s side, he has help make the country a little better for every race, culture and different income class. That is the type of work that I want to continue in the United States now and fou r years from now.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

The Real Tragedy of Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Tragedy of   Macbeth In a tragedy the main character rises to greatness, then continues to fall down a shame spiral which leads to their down fall. An example of a tragedy is Macbeth. Macbeth is driven up the hill of greatness a rise, then his untamed ambition leads him to death. The process of a tragedy is slow to let the audience become comfortable with the power and happiness of the main character. Then all of the sudden signs appear that the end is coming and the main character heads toward downfall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beggining of the play a battle goes on between King Duncan of Scotland and Macdonwald of Norway. Macbeth fought bravely on Scotland's side and even killed Macdonwald himself. King Duncan hears of Macbeth's brave and noble qualities and crowns him the new Thane of Cawdor. The king states that the old Thane should not device, "... Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth." (1.2.63-65) Macbeth is hostile to except the rank because earlier three witches prophesied that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor even though there was one at that time. Since Macbeth was crowned Thane of Cawdor, Banquo and Macbeth think that the three withches adre able to correctly tell them their fate.   Macbeth now having higher-ranking authority begins to have his ambition act up on him and crave more power. Lady Macbeth organizes King Duncans murder, which increases Macbeth's ambition and enables Macbeth to rise up to the ultimate height. The murder is carried out but not as planned and Macbeth is driven to kill the king himself. Macbeth states after everyone found the dead king," Loyal and neutral, in a moment? no man. The expedition of my violent love..." (2.3.111-112) This was the only done to destroy and thoughts that may have targeted Macbeth that he could have killed the king.   The greediness for power and the witches prophesies have made Macbeth a very disturbed man. Believing in everthing that the witches say, Macbeth hires three murders to kill both Banquo and his son. By having them killed no one shall be in line to take the crown away from Macbeth. Macbeth then hears that Macduff is pondering on ways to seek revenge so Macbeth plans for death of Macduff's family. Macbeth went for his family hoping to hurt him on the inside to show Macduff not to mess with Macbeth.

Sir William Wallace :: essays research papers

The Help of Sir William Wallace Sir William Wallace is one of Scotland’s greatest generals and was a great help towards the freedom of Scotland because he brought patriotism to the minds of his fellow Scotsmen in order fight for the freedom for which was nearly taken away by the their English neighbors. He would ride through Scotland gathering clans both from the high and lowlands. Over the years after his death, Scots have proclaimed Sir William Wallace as their countries hero and the man who made freedom run through the blood of so many who were by his side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hundreds of years before the time of Sir William Wallace, Roman troops tried to conquer parts of Scotland but failed. The savagery of the Scots put the fear in the Romans and caused them to build Hadrian’s Wall. The wall separated Scotland and England (which was part of the Roman Empire). When the great empire fell to destruction by many Germanic tribes, Scots began to live a more peaceful life. During the Norman conquest of 1066, a group of people called the Normans invaded England, killed many Anglo-Saxon and Celtic tribes, and took over the country. England was now under Norman rule and would stay that way. (Compton’s Home Encyclopedia CD Rom)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1296, English troops invaded the lowlands of Scotland burning villages, killing innocent Scots, and trying to over rule the vast countrysides of the lowlands and the highlands. The new ruler of England, King Edward I the Long Shanks, started all this. He believed that he should have control of the whole island itself. His idea about conquering Scotland was that if he can’t beat them out, then he could breed them out. He brought the old English custom called Prima Noctes; if a woman is married in the country of Scotland, an English lord has every right to take her away from her husband for a few days and have his ways with her. Clans of lowlanders came together to form an army. It took awhile for the highlanders to know about this. Conflicts brook out between the Scottish rebels and English troops. Bows and arrows and other combat weapons were taken from the Scots except for their swords and axes. (Compton’s Home Encyclopedia CD Rom)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The answer to Scotland’s problems came with the birth of William Wallace. His exact date of birth is unknown but he was born in the 1270’s.

My Thoughts on Race

As a young child, I was always thought that race meant what color a person was on the outside. From my family I was taught that there were white people, black people, and Oriental people. Those were the three races of the world. I was raised to believe that white people were the majority and even though I don’t remember being told that being white was the best race to be, I grew up with this feeling because it was inferred enough. I thought Oriental people were rare, blacks lived in cities, and I was lucky to be a white person. In school we were grouped into categories such as â€Å"white†, black†, or â€Å"other† when we had to fill out forms. Those were the three choices given out when asked to check off our race. Later, these forms were amended to include choices such as â€Å"Latino†, â€Å"Asian†, and â€Å"Native American.† Nowadays government/school forms have increased the choices and currently include selections such as â€Å"Pacific Islander† and â€Å"Hispanic/non-Latino†. As these choices increased, I began to see that there were other races beyond the original three of years back, but I still felt I was white and that was a pretty good thing. I know in my early school years we were taught that Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero to this country in a manner of speaking, but we learned little about people of color in general beyond the fact that they were brought to America as slaves hundreds of years ago. For a white child to grow up with very little contact with anybody of color, in a family and community that did not promote racial equality or exposure, I simply gave very little thought to race and just accepted my families views as my own. Somewhere along the path of my education I was taught that there are some diseases that are more likely to occur in people of color, or people with Asian ancestors, or from some European countries. One such example, which I now understand better, is the sickle-cell gene. I either learned it wrong in school or was taught it wrong at the time, but I thought that this was a genetic mutation that only people of color had. The class readings have dispelled this idea completely as now I know it is â€Å"common in tropical Africa, where malaria is widespread. Up to 40 percent of Africans in such areas carry the sickle- cell gene. It's also common in the malaria-ridden Arabian Peninsula and southern India, and rare or absent in the southernmost parts of South Africa.†(Diamond, 1994) Though I long ago kind of gave up that humans could actually be divided neatly into racial groups, this is a reminder of how things we learn long ago stay with us unconsciously. As science progresses information becomes more accurate, and we become old enough to form individual opinions, it is important to be open to this new information and willing to alter what we were taught as children. I happen to be considered white because I am Italian, but what does this really mean? It has certainly kept me from experiencing much racism, especially compared to my friend Deirdre, a woman of color who is married to a German immigrant and having what our culture terms biracial children. That is not to say I have never experienced racism, I think that every person has on some level, I am simply aware that my experiences wane in comparison to what they have probably experienced and will continue to experience. So, I check off â€Å"white† on forms, which ask for my race, or I leave it blank all together. But a Swede is also considered white too. Am I whiter because Swedes are genetically closer to some Africans than they may be to me? The more I think about it, the less sense race makes at all. Race has been debated for hundreds of years and probably longer. And, as far as I know, there has never been one consensus on how many races there are across the planet in which the world wide scientific community has agreed on, despite what was taught years ago. There are many different questions regarding how one would classify races or differences between races, and over the years many different systems of classifications have been used. However, the most used method seems to be by categorizing people based on visible physical characteristics that include skin color, eye color, and shape of the eye. In today’s world, it just makes common sense not to rely on this type of separation of peoples. With so many technological advances in modern times, which allow for very intricate internal and external evaluations, less obvious methods of categorizing people have been begun to be used. In utilizing these new advances it looks like the idea of race has actually collapsed and the theory that humans belong in different racial groups is now practically obsolete. It has been made obvious that a person’s genetic make-up is in part a reflection of where they live as well as their heredity. Each geographic location has very specific weather conditions, specific agriculture, and specific dietary habits of the population, specific diseases to fend off, and other possible factors that may have changed human genetics during the evolution of humans. So why do we still have government forms which ask people to claim they belong to a race, and why do some still even consider race a viable scientific category, and why is it still being discussed as a separator of humans? Really, how can stereotypes of race still prevail when, depending on which criteria is used, a Swede may be linked genetically closer to a Fulani than a Fulani with another person of color from the African continent? (Diamond, 1994) â€Å"People impose order on their social universe by classifying it. These classifications sometimes match genetic relationships and sometimes diverge from them significantly. How we classify is not based on nature, not determined by nature, but is a construction of our social minds that we impose on nature to help us organize things.†(Marks, 2001) Dividing people into race categories has become a comfort factor rather than a matter of science. I think the long term consequences of many whites is that they will be held responsible for the creation of races as a concept and for the ways in which early scientists classified people by race. I also think that the tensions felt between peoples of different colors may be a long-term consequence of whites proclaiming superiority over all others either by direct actions or by inferences. Some Native-Americans blame the government for the situations of their modern tribes. As such, they fought and won the right to receive special treatment by the government by being taxed less and by having certain gaming privileges, and possibly by other means I do not know of, because of the way the whites that first came to America treated them. Some people of color are actively seeking reparations from the United States government because some of their ancestors may have been slaves of America’s early white residents. Because the government allows the Native-Americans special privileges, they are conceding that the early whites in America did something wrong, which I happen to agree they did. But, by continuing to behave as if whites and Native-Americans are separate races, even if only on forms and in certain minds, the race myth will not go away. If the American government concedes to reparations to blacks for something ignorant whites did centuries ago, we will be further drawing a line between populations of humans that do not need to exist. So, the early white scientists classified race before the information known about humans today existed. They created a world that believed their scientific theories because most people did not know any better. And after hundreds of years of believing what we were told as fact and not fiction, it may very well take another hundred or more years to dispel the myth of race. The sense of comfort that propels us to sort people into groups is also a case of fear overriding reason. The Ku Klux Klan could not exist with the fear of other races, even if many racists would deny this. Just as there are many so-called white people who discriminate against blacks, Chinese, or other people, there are many non-white groups of people that discriminate against whites or other people different than themselves. A Chinese father may insist his daughter marry a Chinese man for the simple reason that he has accepted that they are of the same race, and a white man would not be, because that is how he has been taught throughout his life. Even if there were such thing as races of people, how would one define their race in a world where everybody intermingles? If a man marries a Chinese woman, what would their children’s race be? The government/school forms always ask that a person select only one race on certain forms. If their children put â€Å"white† down, they are denying their Chinese heritage. If they put â€Å"Chinese,† â€Å"Oriental† or whatever it is that a person of Chinese heritage would fit under, they would be denying another side of the family. Why should any humans be asked to deny one part of themselves and embrace only one segment of who they are? The bottom line of the future is that governments and major scientific organizations often set the tone for how populations treat and understand the concept of race. Until governments and major corporations stop circulating the concept of race and until the concept of cultures are embraced rather than race, the separation of peoples by race will never be dispelled. Sources: 1) Diamond, Jared. â€Å"Race Without Color.†Ã‚   Discover 15.11 November 1994. 2) Marks, J. (2001)   Scientific and folk ideas about heredity.   In: The Human Genome Project and Minority Communities: Ethical, Social, and Political Dilemmas, ed. by R. Zilinskas and P. Balint.   Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 53-66. My Thoughts on Race As a young child, I was always thought that race meant what color a person was on the outside. From my family I was taught that there were white people, black people, and Oriental people. Those were the three races of the world. I was raised to believe that white people were the majority and even though I don’t remember being told that being white was the best race to be, I grew up with this feeling because it was inferred enough. I thought Oriental people were rare, blacks lived in cities, and I was lucky to be a white person. In school we were grouped into categories such as â€Å"white†, black†, or â€Å"other† when we had to fill out forms. Those were the three choices given out when asked to check off our race. Later, these forms were amended to include choices such as â€Å"Latino†, â€Å"Asian†, and â€Å"Native American.† Nowadays government/school forms have increased the choices and currently include selections such as â€Å"Pacific Islander† and â€Å"Hispanic/non-Latino†. As these choices increased, I began to see that there were other races beyond the original three of years back, but I still felt I was white and that was a pretty good thing. I know in my early school years we were taught that Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero to this country in a manner of speaking, but we learned little about people of color in general beyond the fact that they were brought to America as slaves hundreds of years ago. For a white child to grow up with very little contact with anybody of color, in a family and community that did not promote racial equality or exposure, I simply gave very little thought to race and just accepted my families views as my own. Somewhere along the path of my education I was taught that there are some diseases that are more likely to occur in people of color, or people with Asian ancestors, or from some European countries. One such example, which I now understand better, is the sickle-cell gene. I either learned it wrong in school or was taught it wrong at the time, but I thought that this was a genetic mutation that only people of color had. The class readings have dispelled this idea completely as now I know it is â€Å"common in tropical Africa, where malaria is widespread. Up to 40 percent of Africans in such areas carry the sickle- cell gene. It's also common in the malaria-ridden Arabian Peninsula and southern India, and rare or absent in the southernmost parts of South Africa.†(Diamond, 1994) Though I long ago kind of gave up that humans could actually be divided neatly into racial groups, this is a reminder of how things we learn long ago stay with us unconsciously. As science progresses information becomes more accurate, and we become old enough to form individual opinions, it is important to be open to this new information and willing to alter what we were taught as children. I happen to be considered white because I am Italian, but what does this really mean? It has certainly kept me from experiencing much racism, especially compared to my friend Deirdre, a woman of color who is married to a German immigrant and having what our culture terms biracial children. That is not to say I have never experienced racism, I think that every person has on some level, I am simply aware that my experiences wane in comparison to what they have probably experienced and will continue to experience. So, I check off â€Å"white† on forms, which ask for my race, or I leave it blank all together. But a Swede is also considered white too. Am I whiter because Swedes are genetically closer to some Africans than they may be to me? The more I think about it, the less sense race makes at all. Race has been debated for hundreds of years and probably longer. And, as far as I know, there has never been one consensus on how many races there are across the planet in which the world wide scientific community has agreed on, despite what was taught years ago. There are many different questions regarding how one would classify races or differences between races, and over the years many different systems of classifications have been used. However, the most used method seems to be by categorizing people based on visible physical characteristics that include skin color, eye color, and shape of the eye. In today’s world, it just makes common sense not to rely on this type of separation of peoples. With so many technological advances in modern times, which allow for very intricate internal and external evaluations, less obvious methods of categorizing people have been begun to be used. In utilizing these new advances it looks like the idea of race has actually collapsed and the theory that humans belong in different racial groups is now practically obsolete. It has been made obvious that a person’s genetic make-up is in part a reflection of where they live as well as their heredity. Each geographic location has very specific weather conditions, specific agriculture, and specific dietary habits of the population, specific diseases to fend off, and other possible factors that may have changed human genetics during the evolution of humans. So why do we still have government forms which ask people to claim they belong to a race, and why do some still even consider race a viable scientific category, and why is it still being discussed as a separator of humans? Really, how can stereotypes of race still prevail when, depending on which criteria is used, a Swede may be linked genetically closer to a Fulani than a Fulani with another person of color from the African continent? (Diamond, 1994) â€Å"People impose order on their social universe by classifying it. These classifications sometimes match genetic relationships and sometimes diverge from them significantly. How we classify is not based on nature, not determined by nature, but is a construction of our social minds that we impose on nature to help us organize things.†(Marks, 2001) Dividing people into race categories has become a comfort factor rather than a matter of science. I think the long term consequences of many whites is that they will be held responsible for the creation of races as a concept and for the ways in which early scientists classified people by race. I also think that the tensions felt between peoples of different colors may be a long-term consequence of whites proclaiming superiority over all others either by direct actions or by inferences. Some Native-Americans blame the government for the situations of their modern tribes. As such, they fought and won the right to receive special treatment by the government by being taxed less and by having certain gaming privileges, and possibly by other means I do not know of, because of the way the whites that first came to America treated them. Some people of color are actively seeking reparations from the United States government because some of their ancestors may have been slaves of America’s early white residents. Because the government allows the Native-Americans special privileges, they are conceding that the early whites in America did something wrong, which I happen to agree they did. But, by continuing to behave as if whites and Native-Americans are separate races, even if only on forms and in certain minds, the race myth will not go away. If the American government concedes to reparations to blacks for something ignorant whites did centuries ago, we will be further drawing a line between populations of humans that do not need to exist. So, the early white scientists classified race before the information known about humans today existed. They created a world that believed their scientific theories because most people did not know any better. And after hundreds of years of believing what we were told as fact and not fiction, it may very well take another hundred or more years to dispel the myth of race. The sense of comfort that propels us to sort people into groups is also a case of fear overriding reason. The Ku Klux Klan could not exist with the fear of other races, even if many racists would deny this. Just as there are many so-called white people who discriminate against blacks, Chinese, or other people, there are many non-white groups of people that discriminate against whites or other people different than themselves. A Chinese father may insist his daughter marry a Chinese man for the simple reason that he has accepted that they are of the same race, and a white man would not be, because that is how he has been taught throughout his life. Even if there were such thing as races of people, how would one define their race in a world where everybody intermingles? If a man marries a Chinese woman, what would their children’s race be? The government/school forms always ask that a person select only one race on certain forms. If their children put â€Å"white† down, they are denying their Chinese heritage. If they put â€Å"Chinese,† â€Å"Oriental† or whatever it is that a person of Chinese heritage would fit under, they would be denying another side of the family. Why should any humans be asked to deny one part of themselves and embrace only one segment of who they are? The bottom line of the future is that governments and major scientific organizations often set the tone for how populations treat and understand the concept of race. Until governments and major corporations stop circulating the concept of race and until the concept of cultures are embraced rather than race, the separation of peoples by race will never be dispelled. Sources: 1) Diamond, Jared. â€Å"Race Without Color.†Ã‚   Discover 15.11 November 1994. 2) Marks, J. (2001)   Scientific and folk ideas about heredity.   In: The Human Genome Project and Minority Communities: Ethical, Social, and Political Dilemmas, ed. by R. Zilinskas and P. Balint.   Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 53-66.